Abstract:
A method of tracking and publishing categorical user interest data, based on computer user behavior observed by a server coupled in communication with the user&#39;s computer. The method includes, as a first step, responsive to a user navigating with a browser to a first content site, receiving one or more categorical navigation history cookies. The next step constitutes categorizing the first content site into one or more subject categories (from a multiplicity of subject categories) and a sponsorship status (as hosting sponsored content or as navigation to sponsored content), which is followed by updating the categorical navigation history cookies to log by subject category and sponsorship status the user navigation to the first content site. The final step is sending to the user&#39;s browser the updated categorical navigation history cookies for persistent storage on the user&#39;s computer.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/694,533 entitled “Publishing Behavioral Observations to Customers” filed on Jun. 28, 2005. That application is incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to the field of market research, and in particular, it relates to the use of user behavior to define content offered to that user.  
         [0003]     The technique of gathering information about consumer behavior on the internet was set out in commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,066, entitled “Method and Device for Publishing Cross-Network User Behavioral Data” filed on 14 Sep. 2005. (the “&#39;066” application). That application is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.  
         [0004]     The technique of the &#39;066 application teaches how information about user behavior on the internet can be gathered. In sum, that application teaches that a behavior module can reside on a user computer, which module can observe and record user behavior in terms of keystrokes, mouse clicks and so on. Also, the behavior module can also observe information about websites visited by the user. In conjunction with software incorporated into the behavior module, data about the web site or web page can be analyzed and the site categorized into one of a set of categories defined by the behavior module. Information identifying the category, as well as information about the user&#39;s navigation behavior, such as the when the site was visited, how much time was spent there, and what the user did, can also be gathered by the behavior module. Finally, the behavior module can summarize the information and compact it into a form suitable for transmission, such the form generally known as a “cookie.” 
         [0005]     What is not taught by the &#39;066 application, and not seen in the art, is an understanding of how to employ such information to provide content to a user based on what that user wants to see. It remains to the present invention to provide such functionality to the art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     An aspect of the invention is a method of tracking and publishing categorical user interest data, based on computer user behavior observed by a server coupled in communication with the user&#39;s computer. The method includes, as a first step, responsive to a user navigating with a browser to a first content site, receiving one or more categorical navigation history cookies. The next step constitutes categorizing the first content site into one or more subject categories (from a multiplicity of subject categories) and a sponsorship status (as hosting sponsored content or as navigation to sponsored content), which is followed by updating the categorical navigation history cookies to log by subject category and sponsorship status the user navigation to the first content site. The final step is sending to the user&#39;s browser the updated categorical navigation history cookies for persistent storage on the user&#39;s computer.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a user computer connected to a network  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  depicts a network comprising user computers, servers, and a behavior-responsive server, all in coupled communication.  
         [0009]      FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  illustrate an embodiment of a process for providing advertising content to a user based on prior user behavior. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0010]     The following detailed description is made with reference to the figures. Preferred embodiments are described to illustrate the present invention, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a variety of equivalent variations on the description that follows.  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a client computer  100  interacting with a server  130  and a behavior responsive server  132 . In  FIG. 1 , an end-user on a client computer indicates their interest in a subject by submitting a search request to a search engine, typing a URL or clicking on a link or banner ad. Their interest becomes a request across on a network such as the Intenet. A search engine may perform an Internet-wide search, or a search limited to a particular web site or domain name, or a search limited in some other way. The search request may be a query comprising one or more keywords, for example. The original search engine server  130  responds to the search request by sending a search result to the client computer  100 . The search result may include a list of documents (e.g., web pages), links to documents, or other information relating to the keywords. A specific example of the just described scenario is an end-user typing the keyword “car” in a search engine and receiving back links to web sites that talk about car clubs, exotic cars, car racing, and like information.  
         [0012]     A user submits a search request because of the user&#39;s interest in a topic. To make good use of the information about a user&#39;s interest, a behavior watching and/or behavior summarizing program  120  resident in the client computer listens for requests, for instance made using a browser  110  or other hyperlink enabled programs such as word processors or presentation programs. It listens for requests for information such as a search request, a click-through on a banner ad, or entry into the browser or click through of a destination URL. When the behavior watching program  120  detects that an end-user is performing a search or otherwise indicating their interest in a web site or subject, the behavior watching program records the interest. The interest may be recorded to program memory or to a persistent memory  122 . When a user clicks on an advertisement related to the end-user&#39;s search request, the probability that the end-user will be interested in one or more related advertisements increases. In the car example, just above, the behavior watching program may note that the search was followed by certain click-throughs.  
         [0013]     The behavior watcher  120  is resident in the client computer  100  so that it can respond to an end-user&#39;s search request even when the end-user uses different search engines. That is, unlike other targeting techniques that only work when an end-user is on a particular web site, the behavior watching program observes user interest across different search engines, web sites and even browsers. An end-user may obtain the behavior watching program by itself or along with free or reduced-cost computer programs, services, and other products.  
         [0014]     The behavior responsive server  132  presents a new approach to providing content responsive to recent user behavior. User behavior has in the past been observed using a cookie with a unique user ID that allows server-side tracking. Server aggregated user behavior data is compiled among an organization of cooperating server owners. Cooperation may relate to ad serving (e.g., Double-Click), portals (e.g., Yahoo), search engines (e.g., Google) or other organizational basis. Cooperation in this sense is contractual more than technical. Server aggregated user behavior data is used, for instance, by an ad server when a web beacon (a small, null image with a URL pointing to an ad server) contacts the ad server and causes a unique user ID cookie to be transmitted. The ad server accesses a database, to update user behavior data with the new contact. The ad server could also access data from the server aggregated database, based on the unique user ID. A serious limitation of server aggregated user behavior data is that it is limited to contacts detected by cooperating servers when the user accesses cooperating web sites and the user&#39;s unique user ID cookie is transmitted. Mismatches of unique user IDs or multiple unique user IDs for the same user diminish the effectiveness of server-side aggregation. The combination of client-side user behavior tracking  120  and a reported-behavior responsive server  132  presents a new approach.  
         [0015]     A reported-behavior responsive server  132  accepts one or more messages (e.g., cookies) that report recent user behavior as a basis for deciding among potential messages (e.g., banner ads) which message to give the user. The reported-behavior responsive server  132  need not access a server-side user behavior database to decide which message to send. Those of skill in the art will recognize that the new paradigm of reported behavior could be combined with server-side aggregation and that that combination also would be novel.  
         [0016]     The ability of the cookies employed here to identify categories, as discussed below, departs from traditional uses of such cookies. The structures shown here can be termed “categorical” cookies to note this capability.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is shown a schematic diagram of a computer network. Network  200  may include one or more client computers  100 , one or more web server computers  130 , one or more behavior responsive server computers  132 , and other computers not shown. Intermediate nodes such as gateways, routers, bridges, Internet service provider networks, public-switched telephone networks, proxy servers, firewalls, and other network components are not shown for clarity. In the example of  FIG. 2 , network  200  includes the Internet; however, other types of computer networks may also be used. Computers may be coupled to network  200  using any type of connection  115  without detracting from the merits of the present invention.  
         [0018]     A client computer  100  is typically, but not necessarily, a personal computer such as those running the Microsoft Windows™, Apple Macintosh™, Linux, or UNIX operating systems. An end-user may employ a suitably equipped client computer  100  to get on network  200  and access computers coupled thereto. For example, a client computer  100  may be used to access web pages from a web server computer  130 . It is to be noted that as used in the present disclosure, the term “computer” includes any type of data processing device including personal digital assistants, digital telephones, wireless terminals, and the like.  
         [0019]     A web server computer  130  may host a web site containing information designed to attract end-users surfing on the Internet. A web server computer  130  may host or cooperate with another server that hosts advertisements, downloadable computer programs, a search engine and products available for online purchase. A web server computer  130  may also host or cooperate with an ad server for that delivers advertisements to a client computer  100 .  
         [0020]     A reported-behavior responsive server computer  132  serves message units for delivery to a client computer  100 . The message units may contain advertisements, for example. Message units are further described below. A reported-behavior responsive server computer  132  may also host downloadable computer programs and files for supporting, updating, or maintaining components on a client computer  100 .  
         [0021]     Web server computers  130  and reported-behavior responsive server computer  132  are typically, but not necessarily, server computers such as those available from Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Dell or International Business Machines. A client computer  100  may communicate with a web server computer  130  or a reported-behavior responsive server computer  132  using client-server protocol. It is to be noted that client-server computing will not be further described here.  
         [0022]     The components of a client computer  100  are not illustrated in a separate figure, but are well-understood. In one embodiment, the components of client computer  100  shown in  FIG. 1  are implemented in software. It should be understood, however, that components in the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., firmware). Software components may be in the form of computer-readable program code stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as memory, mass storage device, or removable storage device. For example, a computer-readable medium may comprise computer-readable code for performing the function of a particular component. Likewise, computer memory may be configured to include one or more components, which may then be run by a microprocessor. Components may be implemented separately in multiple modules or together in a single module.  
         [0023]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , client computer  100  may include a web browser  1110  and a behavior watching program  120 . Web browser  110  may be a commercially available web browser or web client running on a client computer  100 . In one embodiment, web browser  201  is the Microsoft Internet Explorer™ web browser. In another, it is a Mozilla, Netscape or Apple web browser. Alternatively, a web enabled word processor or presentation program may be monitored by the behavior watcher  120 .  
         [0024]     The behavior watching program  120  may be downloadable from a message server computer  103 . Behavior watching program  120  may be downloaded in conjunction with the downloading of another computer program. For example, behavior watching program  120  may be downloaded to a client computer  100  along with a utility program that is provided free of charge or at a reduced cost. The utility program may be provided to an end-user in exchange for the right to deliver messages to the end-user via behavior watching program  120 . In essence, revenue (e.g., advertising fees) from messages delivered to the end-user helps defray the cost of creating and maintaining the utility program. Other components such as operating system components, utility programs, application programs, and the like are not shown for clarity of illustration.  
         [0025]     An embodiment of a process by which the present invention can provide preference-based advertising content to a user is illustrated in  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b . As seen there, the process involves an interaction between three entities: a host company  12 , a user  14  and a behavior-responsive server  16 . The first entity develops and provides the software employed in the remainder of the process and cooperates in the process operation. The user can be any entity making use of the internet, most often an individual as described above. Similarly, the behavior-responsive server  16  corresponds to the behavior-responsive server  132  described above.  
         [0026]     Initially, the host company conducts a survey of websites and assigns categories to as many commercially oriented websites as possible, step  202 . This process is described in detail in commonly-owned U.S. Patent Application No. 11377,932 entitled “Method for Providing Content to an Internet User Based on the User&#39;s Demonstrated Content Preferences,” filed on Mar. 16, 2006. (the “&#39;932” application). That application is incorporated herein for all purposes.  
         [0027]     Results of that categorization, which can be in the form of a database containing both website identification information and associated categories, is provided to the behavior-responsive server in step  204 . Similarly, the behavior-responsive server stores advertising content associated with categories, in step  206 .  
         [0028]     The user computer installs the software developed by the host (step  208 ) and begins tracking internet navigation behavior, step  210 . As the user navigates to a website, step  212 , a cookie is updated, step  214 . The &#39;066 application discusses such cookies in detail, and at this point it suffices to note that such cookies contain navigation information, including recency and usage data. As noted above, the relationship between these cookies and the categorization process allows these cookies to be termed “categorical” cookies, and that term will be employed henceforth. The user also transmits the categorical cookie to the behavior-responsive server.  
         [0029]     The behavior-responsive server processes the received categorical cookie, step  216  which includes several distinct sub-steps. First, information about the current website location is unpacked. Then that site is categorized, employing the stored category information. Categorization of this sort is also set out in the &#39;932 application.  
         [0030]     Then, at step  218  ( FIG. 3   b ), the behavior-responsive server determines the best advertisement fits the demonstrated interests of the user. That process is also set out in the &#39;932 application, but here that process includes an analysis of the user history information contained in the categorical cookie, together with the categorization of the current site. That information is coupled with the advertising material available for display to determine the optimum advertising content to display to the particular user.  
         [0031]     At step  220 , the categorical cookie is updated to include the current site category information (recency and usage) as historical data. In this manner, two advantages are achieved. First, the storage load for retaining masses of user information is shifted to the user computers. Small amounts of such data will have no impact individually, but if the behavior-responsive server were required to do so, a significant burden would result. Second, response speed is materially improved, as the requirement to look up user history data is removed. In the environment set out here, the behavior-responsive server must respond on the fly, in real time, and streamlining a time-consuming database access assists that situation.  
         [0032]     With the appropriate content selected and the categorical cookie updated, the behavior-responsive server can transmit results to the user for display, step  222 . In the embodiment shown here, that step is accomplished by transmitting the categorical cookie and a link to the content. If desired, the content could be transmitted as well, though the bandwidth requirement for that task probably renders that solution impractical in many scenarios.  
         [0033]     The user responds to this message by first displaying the content, step  224 , which most likely involves retrieving content from a designated URL. Then, the categorical cookie is stored on the user computer, step  226 . Cookie memory  124 , seen in  FIG. 1 , is useful for that task.  
         [0034]     The behavior-responsive server continues with follow-up actions after the transmission to the user. First, it stores, and possibly aggregates user data, step  228 . It then transmits data to the host, step  230 , enabling the host to undertake update actions, step  232 .  
         [0035]     While the present invention is disclosed by reference to the preferred embodiments and examples detailed above, it is understood that these examples are intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense. It is contemplated that modifications and combinations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, which modifications and combinations will be within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims.