Abstract:
When rendering a page for display, objects in the page are marked as visible, partially visible, or visible, based on the size and position of each object and the position and size of the page in the display area. This information is tracked as the impression data and can be used to provide better recommendations, advertising revenue and pricing information, and other business uses. In the end, business intelligence based on impressions and click-throughs can be based on what a user actually saw, not just what was rendered.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    When an object, such as a page from a web site, is displayed on a client computer, such as in a web browser, the fact that the object is displayed typically is tracked and sent to a server computer which provided the object. Whether an object is displayed typically is called an “impression.” If a user manipulates that object, such as by performing a gesture through a user interface that activates a hyperlink associated with that object, the manipulation also is tracked. Whether an object is manipulated typically is called a “click-through.” 
         [0002]    Page impressions and click through data commonly is tracked and stored by server computers. This information in turn is used for a variety of business purposes, such as for determining advertising revenue and pricing, recommending content, and the like. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
         [0004]    One weakness of current implementations that track impressions is the assumption that if a page is rendered for a display, such as in a web browser, all of its contents are viewed by the user. However, often the actual display area is smaller than the rendered page, and less than all its contents are visible. 
         [0005]    When rendering a page for display, objects on the page are marked as visible, partially visible, or visible, based on the size and position of the object and the size and position of page in the display area. Sub objects of each object can be similarly processed. This information is tracked as the impression data and can be used to provide better recommendations, advertising revenue and pricing information, and other business uses. In the end, business intelligence based on impressions and click-throughs can be based on what a user actually saw, not just what was rendered. 
         [0006]    In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific example implementations of this technique. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computer system in which the visibility of objects is tracked. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a diagram explaining visibility of rendered data in a display. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart describing an example implementation of rendering by an application in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart describing an example implementation of an application in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart describing an example implementation of a business intelligence engine in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an example computing device with which components of such a system can be implemented. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    The following section provides an example operating environment in which visibility tracking of objects can be implemented. 
         [0014]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an application  100  receives content  102  from a recommendation engine  104 . The application  100  can be a browser application. The application  100  typically is run on a client computer, whereas the recommendation engine  104  is run on one or more server computers. Such client computers and server computers are connected by and communicate over a computer network. In response to a request to one of the server computers from the application  100  on the client computer, the recommendation engine  104  provides the content  102  to the application  100 , which in turn renders the content  102  into display data  106 , which is presented to a user through a display  108 . Through an input device  110 , the user provides user input  112  to the application  100 . 
         [0015]    When the application  100  displays the content  102 , it determines which portions of the content are visible, partially visible and not visible in the display  108 , and provides information  120  about the visible objects to a business intelligence engine  122 . The application also can provide information  124  about the user input, such as whether a displayed object had been manipulated, to the business intelligence engine. 
         [0016]    The business intelligence engine  122  can be implemented using one or more server computers, which are connected to and communicate with the client computer for the application over a computer network. The business intelligence engine  122  can reside on different server computers or the same server computers as the recommendation engine  104 . 
         [0017]    The business intelligence engine  122  collects the data from the application  100  in the form of name and value pairs, including but not limited to data describing the user&#39;s screen resolution, objects rendered on the page, location of each object on the page, and visibility of each object. The collected data are processed using standard techniques to determine a visible impression for each object, which is stored in a database in the form of facts and dimensions. This data is tracked per-user over multiple users. 
         [0018]    The data generated by the business intelligence engine is shared (as shown at  126 ) with the recommendation engine  104 . The data  126  could be passed through memory, or over a computer network, depending on the implementation of the engines  122  and  104 . 
         [0019]    The recommendation engine  104  uses data  126  to recommend content. The content is recommended based on actual visible impressions seen by users with similar interests (as determined by collaborative filtering), thus providing higher quality, more meaningful recommendations for the user. 
         [0020]    Collecting the visible property information provides an actual count of similar users actually viewing the content and interacting with the provided content  102 . For example, the business intelligence engine can track which objects have been manipulated by the user in the past. This history of object manipulations can be used to infer interest in a topic, which can then be used to select content such as advertising, news stories and the like that might be of interest to the user. 
         [0021]    When tracking visibility information about objects displayed on the display, objects in general can be visible, partially visible or not visible, such as shown by way of example in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  illustrates a display area  200  which includes the user&#39;s view of a page  202 . When the page is rendered, such as in memory, the actual image (in this example) has a size shown by the box  204 . In this example, objects  1  through  6  are visible in display area  200 , while object  7  is only partially visible. Objects  8  through  14  are not visible. An object also may have subobjects. For example, in Object  7 , there are subobjects  7 - 1  and  7 - 2 . Subobject  7 - 1  is visible; subobject  7 - 2  is not. When information is reported back from the application to the business intelligence engine, it does not merely report that page  202  has been viewed. It also indicates that objects  1 - 6  are visible, object  7  is partially visible and subobject  7 - 1  is visible. 
         [0022]    Given this context, an example implementation will be described in more detail in connection with  FIGS. 3-5 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart describing how a page is rendered so as to identify visibility of objects. 
         [0024]    A page typically is defined in a markup language such as XML, HTML or the like, and can identify one or more objects. Since the page is so defined, and in fact can be defined in the form of a template defining a structure in which content can be customized on demand for a user, the size and position of each object can be known in advance of rendering the page, and/or can be specified within the page itself. An object can be rendered using a control that is accessed by the application, such as an AJAX control implemented on the AJAX framework. 
         [0025]    In one implementation using an AJAX control, when the AJAX control renders an object, it fires an event to determine the visibility of the object. This event provides, for example, an object identifier, an identifier (such as a uniform resource locator (URL)) of the page, and a title of the object. This data helps to easily identify the object content when content refreshes. 
         [0026]    As an example implementation, the control can fire an explicit visible view event with object properties, such as: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 FirePageViewEvent: function (biDataObject, targetUrl, title) 
               
               
                   
                 { 
               
               
                   
                 } 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0027]    In addition to this call that obtains the objects visibility information, the additional system variables such as operating system and browser information can be collected as a part of an instrumentation script, while an SKU, screen resolution, page identifier, all object identifiers, including non-visible ones, can be collected by an event call. An example instrumentation call that provides object properties is the following: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 LogCustomBiEvent: function (biDataObject, element) 
               
               
                   
                 { 
               
               
                   
                 } 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0028]    The process of rendering a page starts with identifying  300  a first object from the page. The object is rendered  302 . The object position and extent is compared  304  to the size of the display area. If the object is entirely visible in the display area, as determined at  306 , then the object is noted as visible  308 . For example, if the corners of a bounding box containing the object are within the display area, then the object is considered entirely visible. If the object is partially visible in the display area, as determined at  310 , then the object is noted as partially  312 . For example, if one of the corners of a bounding box containing the object is within the display area, but another of the corners of the bounding box is not within the display area, then the object is partially visible in the display area. Otherwise, the object is considered not visible. While an object can be marked as not visible, such marking is unnecessary as the lack of a visibility designation allows it to be inferred that the object is not visible. If all of the objects on the page have been processed, as determined at  316 , then the process is complete, otherwise, the next object can be identified ( 318 ) and the process ( 302 - 316 ) can be repeated for the next object. 
         [0029]    If an object has subobjects, the process of  FIG. 3  can be repeated for each subobject of an identified object, by repeating steps  302 - 314  for each subobject, and so on recursively for its subobjects as well. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart describing an example implementation of an application in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0031]    The application receives  400  content from the recommendation engine. The content is rendered and displayed  402 , such as described above in connection with  FIG. 3 . From such rendering, the visibility of the objects in the content is determined  404 , which in turn can be reported  406  to the business intelligence engine. In one implementation, a data collection script sends the visibility information of objects and users environment settings in name and value pairs to the business intelligence engine. The application also can use controls implemented using the AJAX framework to provide for the communication with the business intelligence engine. When the application receives  408  input from the user, such input is processed so as to manipulate an object, update the display, access other content, or the like. The processing of such inputs can result in a variety of information being provided from the application to the business intelligence engine. For example, if the input is for manipulating an object that is displayed, as determined at  410 , information about such manipulation can be sent  412  to the business intelligence engine. If the input is for updating the display, as determined at  414 , then the updated content is rendered (if the content is changed) and the display is updated by returning to step  402 . For example, the input can be a gesture, resulting in a scroll, snap, drag or other user interface event intended to cause another part of the page to be displayed. When the page is updated  414 , its visibility information also is updated and reported ( 404 ,  406 ). Other user inputs that neither update the display nor manipulate an object are processed ( 416 ), and further user input continues to be received  408  and processed accordingly. 
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart describing an example implementation of a business intelligence engine in  FIG. 1   
         [0033]    The business intelligence engine periodically receives  500  the visibility data of objects from a page currently displayed in a display area to a user by the application. The visibility data also may include, or may be followed by, action data related to the displayed objects. Such information also is received  502  by the business intelligence engine. The visibility and action data are compiled and stored  504  in a database for analysis, along with data for the page as previously displayed to the user. The compiled data thus describe the visibility of the objects from the page as displayed to the user over time. In one implementation, the data are stored in the form of facts and dimensions. The compiled data are provided to or made available to  506  the recommendation engine, which in turn selects or recommends content to be displayed. 
         [0034]    Having now described an example implementation, a computing environment in which such a system is designed to operate will now be described. The following description is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which this system can be implemented. The system can be implemented with numerous general purpose or special purpose computing hardware configurations. Examples of well-known computing devices that may be suitable include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices (for example, media players, notebook computers, cellular phones, personal data assistants, voice recorders), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, game consoles, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. 
         [0035]      FIG. 6  illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment. The computing system environment is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of such a computing environment. Neither should the computing environment be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the example operating environment. 
         [0036]    With reference to  FIG. 6 , an example computing environment includes a computing machine, such as computing machine  600 . In its most basic configuration, computing machine  600  typically includes at least one processing unit  602  and memory  604 . The computing device may include multiple processing units and/or additional co-processing units such as graphics processing unit  620 . Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, memory  604  may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combination of the two. This most basic configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 6  by dashed line  606 . Additionally, computing machine  600  may also have additional features/functionality. For example, computing machine  600  may also include additional storage (removable and/or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG. 6  by removable storage  608  and non-removable storage  610 . Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer program instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Memory  604 , removable storage  608  and on-removable storage  710  are all examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by computing machine  600 . Any such computer storage media may be part of computing machine  600 . 
         [0037]    Computing machine  600  may also contain communications connection(s)  612  that allow the device to communicate with other devices. Communications connection(s)  612  is an example of communication media. Communication media typically carries computer program instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal, thereby changing the configuration or state of the receiving device of the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. 
         [0038]    Computing machine  600  may have various input device(s)  614  such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, camera, touch input device, and so on. Output device(s)  616  such as a display, speakers, a printer, and so on may also be included. All of these devices are well known in the art and need not be discussed at length here. 
         [0039]    Such a system may be implemented in the general context of software, including computer-executable instructions and/or computer-interpreted instructions, such as program modules, being processed by a computing machine. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so on, that, when processed by a processing unit, instruct the processing unit to perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. This system may be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote (processing, devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices. 
         [0040]    The terms “article of manufacture”, “process”, “machine” and “composition of matter” in the preambles of the appended claims are intended to limit the claims to subject matter deemed to fall within the scope of patentable subject matter defined by the use of these terms in 35 U.S.C. §101. 
         [0041]    Any or all of the aforementioned alternate embodiments described herein may be used in any combination desired to form additional hybrid embodiments. It should be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific implementations described above. The specific implementations described above are disclosed as examples only.