Selection of advertisements to present on a web page or other destination based on search activities of users who selected the destination

• US 8,312,002 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gula Consulting Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: GERE DEV Applications LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Zwicky, Richard Kazimierz, Hooge, Todd William, Dunn, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIM T
• Application Number:
  US13/272,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20120036117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 397 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706, 707/728
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A tracking system passively tracks and records searches conducted by actual search engine users. The recorded data for each search event preferably includes the search query submitted, the search engine used, the search result item (e.g., web page) selected, the position (e.g., page number) of this item, and the user'"'"'s IP address. The collected data is aggregated and analyzed to generate data regarding the search queries used to locate and access particular destinations (e.g., web pages and sites). This data may be used for various purposes, such as (1) to generate reports showing, e.g., how users reach a particular destination from different search engines and geographic locations, (2) to select content to display on a destination page, such that the content is relevant to search queries commonly used to locate that page, and (3) to update the database of one search engine to reflect searches conducted on other search engines.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

obtaining search event data for a plurality of search events resulting in a referral to a particular document, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of search engines, a return of search results associated with the search query, and a selection of a search result associated with the particular document, and wherein the search event data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the plurality of search events;

identifying a particular search query from the plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the search event data based on an analysis of a number of occurrences of the particular search query in the plurality of different search queries in the search event data;

updating a set of keywords associated with the particular document to include the particular search query in response to determining that the particular search query is not substantially similar to the one or more keywords in the set of keywords; and

selecting supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular document comprises a webpage.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the supplemental content comprises at least one advertisement.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the supplemental content comprises:

receiving a request to access the particular document;

determining that the request to access the particular document was made based upon a referral from a particular search engine of the plurality of search engines; and

selecting the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on an identity of the particular search engine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the search event data for each of the plurality of search events further comprises an indication of a geographic location from which the search query was submitted.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the supplemental content comprises:

receiving a request to access the particular document;

determining a geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated; and

selecting the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on the geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated.

7. A computer-readable medium non-transitory having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to obtain search event data for a plurality of search events resulting in a referral to a particular document, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of search engines, a return of search results associated with the search query, and a selection of a search result associated with the particular document, and wherein the search event data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the plurality of search events;

instructions to identify a particular search query from the plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the search event data based on an analysis of a number of occurrences of the particular search query in the plurality of different search queries in the search event data;

instructions to update a set of keywords associated with the particular document to include the particular search query in response to determining that the particular search query is not substantially similar to the one or more keywords in the set of keywords; and

instructions to select supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the document comprises a webpage.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the supplemental content comprises at least one advertisement.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions to select the supplemental content comprise:

instructions to receive a request to access the particular document;

instructions to determine that the request to access the particular document was made based upon a referral from a particular search engine of the plurality of search engines; and

instructions to select the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on an identity of the particular search engine.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the search event data for each of the plurality of search events further comprises an indication of a geographic location from which the search query was submitted.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions to select the supplemental content comprise:

instructions to receive a request to access the particular document;

instructions to determine a geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated; and

instructions to select the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on the geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated.

13. A system comprising:

one or more memories having stored thereon search event data for a plurality of search events resulting in a referral to a particular document, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of search engines, a return of search results associated with the search query, and a selection of a search result associated with the particular document, and wherein the search event data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the plurality of search events; and

one or more computing devices configured to;

identify a particular search query from the plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the search event data based on an analysis of a number of occurrences of the particular search query in the plurality of different search queries in the search event data,

update a set of keywords associated with the particular document to include the particular search query in response to determining that the particular search query is not substantially similar to the one or more keywords in the set of keywords, and

select supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the particular document comprises a webpage and wherein the supplemental content comprises at least one advertisement.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to:

receive a request to access the particular document;

determine that the request to access the particular document was made based upon a referral from a particular search engine of the plurality of search engines; and

select the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on an identity of the particular search engine.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the search event data for each of the plurality of search events further comprises an indication of a geographic location from which the search query was submitted, and wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to:

receive a request to access the particular document;

determine a geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated; and

select the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on the geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated.

17. A computing system comprising:

means for obtaining search event data for a plurality of search events resulting in a referral to a particular document, wherein each of the plurality of search events comprises a submission of a search query to one of a plurality of search engines, a return of search results associated with the search query, and a selection of a search result associated with the particular document, and wherein the search event data comprises indications of a plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the plurality of search events;

means for identifying, by the computing system, a particular search query from the plurality of different search queries submitted to one or more of the plurality of search engines in the search event data based on an analysis of a number of occurrences of the particular search query in the plurality of different search queries in the search event data;

means for updating, by the computing system, a set of keywords associated with the particular document to include the particular search query if the particular search query is not substantially similar to the one or more keywords in the set of keywords; and

means for selecting supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords.

18. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the particular document comprises a webpage and wherein the supplemental content comprises at least one advertisement.

19. The computing system of claim 17, the system further comprising:

means for receiving a request to access the particular document;

means for determining that the request to access the particular document was made based upon a referral from a particular search engine of the plurality of search engines; and

means for selecting the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on an identity of the particular search engine.

20. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the search event data for each of the plurality of search events further comprises an indication of a geographic location from which the search query was submitted, and wherein the system further comprises:

means for receiving a request to access the particular document;

means for determining a geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated; and

means for selecting the supplemental content for inclusion in the particular document based on the updated set of keywords and based on the geographic location from which the request to access the particular document was initiated.