Abstract:
Methods and systems are provided for measuring user engagement with an application. Heartbeat messages are sent from the application being monitored on a mobile computing device to a tracking server. Heartbeat messages may be stored on the mobile computing device for later transmission to the tracking server in situations where network connectivity is unavailable. A user session record is stored by the tracking server, and is closed upon a failure to receive a heartbeat message before a timeout interval elapses. A closed user session record may be reopened upon receiving a subsequent heartbeat message associated with the formerly closed user session.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/871742, filed Aug. 29, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Application developers and advertisers would generally like to know how much a user engages with a particular software application after the application has been downloaded and/or installed on a computing device associated with the user. Such information can help provide appropriate compensation to advertising publishers, and also can help application developers to improve their applications. What is needed are methods and systems that allow for the measurement of user engagement in software applications. 
       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 of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
         [0004]    In some embodiments, a computer-implemented method of determining end user engagement with an application installed on an end user computing device is provided. A tracking server receives a first heartbeat message from the end user computing device, wherein the heartbeat message includes a tracking identifier and a session identifier. The tracking server creates a user session record including the tracking identifier, the session identifier, and an open status. The tracking server detects that a timeout period has elapsed without receiving a subsequent heartbeat message that includes the tracking identifier and the session identifier, and the tracking server updates the user session record from the open status to a closed status. 
         [0005]    In some embodiments, a nontransitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon is provided. The instructions, in response to execution by one or more processors of an end user computing device, cause the end user computing device to perform actions for measuring user engagement with an application installed on the end user computing device. The actions performed by the end user computing device comprise generating a session identifier in response to detecting a launch of the application; creating a heartbeat message that includes the session identifier and a tracking identifier associated with the end user computing device; and creating a subsequent heartbeat message that includes the session identifier and the tracking identifier after waiting a predetermined amount of time. 
         [0006]    In some embodiments, a tracking system is provided. The tracking system comprises a storage service server and a tracking server. The storage service server is configured to provide a tracking data store. The tracking server is configured to provide a tracking engine configured to receive a first heartbeat message from an end user computing device, wherein the heartbeat message includes a tracking identifier and a session identifier; storing a user session record in the tracking data store, the user session record including the tracking identifier, the session identifier, and an open status; detecting that a timeout period has elapsed without receiving a subsequent heartbeat message that includes the tracking identifier and the session identifier; and updating the user session record from the open status to a closed status. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram that illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a tracking ecosystem according to various aspects of the present disclosure; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram that illustrates details of an exemplary embodiment of an end user computing device and a tracking system according to various aspects of the present disclosure; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart that illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method of configuring a device to report application usage for measuring user engagement according to various aspects of the present disclosure; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart that illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method of transmitting information to report application usage for measuring user engagement according to various aspects of the present disclosure; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart that illustrates a method of receiving information to analyze application usage for measuring user engagement according to various aspects of the present disclosure; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a diagram of hardware and an operating environment in conjunction with which implantations of the one or more computing devices of the system  100  may be practiced. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Tracking System Overview 
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram that illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a tracking ecosystem  100  according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The tracking ecosystem  100  may be configured to match interactions with (e.g., clicks on) advertisements with subsequent installations and usage of applications associated with the selected advertisements. This matching may allow such actions may be attributed to the appropriate party or parties that provided (e.g., distributed and/or displayed) the selected advertisements to those who interacted with the advertisements and installed the applications. The tracking ecosystem  100  may also be configured to analyze usage of the applications in order to measure user engagement. Such measurements of user engagement may then allow a value to be placed on the user, and a reward provided for the attribution of the actions to be altered accordingly. 
         [0015]    As illustrated, the system  100  includes a tracking system  120 . The tracking system  120  includes one or more computing devices  122 . In the embodiment illustrated, the computing devices  122  include a tracking server  122 A, a storage service server  122 B, and a management interface server  122 C. In alternate embodiments, the computing devices  122  may include multiple tracking servers, multiple storage service servers, and/or multiple management interface servers. In some embodiments, the storage service server  122 B is external to (and optionally remote from) the tracking system  120 . In other embodiments, the functionality of the tracking server  122 A and the storage service server  122 B may be combined on a single computing device (not shown). In some embodiments, the functionality of the tracking server  122 A and the management interface server  122 C may be combined on a single computing device (not shown). The tracking system  120  is not limited to the use of a particular number of computing devices to implement the functionality of the tracking server  122 A, the storage service server  122 B, and the management interface server  122 C. 
         [0016]    The system  100  also includes one or more computing devices  132  operated by one or more Advertisers/Merchants  130 , one or more computing devices  142  operated by one or more Mobile Advertising Networks  140 , one or more computing devices  152  operated by one or more Mobile Advertising Publishers  150 , a plurality of computing devices  162  operated by a plurality of End Users  160 , and one or more computing devices  172  operated by one or more Application Providers  170 . 
         [0017]    As is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, in some embodiments, a single entity may function as one of the Advertisers/Merchants  130 , one of the Mobile Advertising Networks  140 , and one of the Mobile Advertising Publishers  150 , even though they are illustrated in  FIG. 1  as separate entities. Such an entity may operate one or more computing devices (not shown) that perform the functions of the computing devices  132 ,  142 , and  152 . 
         [0018]    The Advertisers/Merchants  130  include companies that wish to advertise products (e.g., software applications) and/or services. As is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, to receive some services, the computing devices  162  may be required to install one or more software applications. 
         [0019]    The Mobile Advertising Networks  140  include companies that help distribute advertisements for the Advertisers/Merchants  130  for presentation to end users. The Mobile Advertising Networks  140  may provide services to Mobile Advertising Publishers  150  that allow Mobile Advertising Publishers  150  to present advertisements received from the Mobile Advertising Networks  140  to end users. Non-limiting examples of such companies include Google (the AdWords platform), Apple (the iAd platform), Millennial Media, Tapjoy, InMobi, Advertising.com, AdColony, Jumptap, Nexage, and the like. 
         [0020]    The Mobile Advertising Publishers  150  include providers of web sites and mobile applications that display advertisements. Non-limiting examples of such companies include Pandora, Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Bittorrent.com, The Weather Channel, and any other application or website provider that displays advertisements. In some embodiments, a company may act as both a Mobile Advertising Network  140  and a Mobile Advertising Publisher  150 . 
         [0021]    The End Users  160  include people who use the computing devices  162  and interact with advertisements, such as those created by the Advertisers/Merchants  130 , distributed by the Mobile Advertising Networks  140 , and/or displayed by the Mobile Advertising Publishers  150 . The End Users  160  also use the computing devices  162  to purchase, download, install, and/or interact with applications provided by the Application Providers  170 . 
         [0022]    The Application Providers  170  include companies that provide installable applications (such as those advertised by the Advertisers/Merchants  130 ) to the End Users  160 . Non-limiting examples of such companies include “app stores,” such as iTunes App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, and the like. The one or more computing devices  172  may be configured to generate a download page (not shown) from which an application may be purchased, downloaded, and/or installed. The download page may be implemented as a webpage. 
         [0023]    The computing devices  122 ,  132 ,  142 ,  152 ,  162 , and  172  are connected to one another by a network  180  (e.g., the Internet). Each of the computing devices  122 ,  132 ,  142 ,  152 ,  162 , and  172  may be implemented using a computing device similar to the computing device  12  illustrated in FIGURE QZ and described below. By way of non-limiting examples, the computing devices  162  have been illustrated as including a cellular telephone  162 A, a personal computer  162 B (e.g., a desktop computer), and a tablet computer  162 C. Each of the computing devices  162  may be configured to implement an advertisement displaying application, such as an Internet browser application, and/or a different application configured to display advertisements. 
       End User Computing Device Configured for Measuring Engagement 
       [0024]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram that illustrates details of an exemplary embodiment of an end user computing device  162 A and a tracking system  120  according to various aspects of the present disclosure. 
         [0025]    The tracking server  122 A is configured to provide a tracking engine  124  that communicates with the storage service server  122 B. In general, the term “engine” as used herein refers to logic embodied in hardware or software instructions, which can be written in a programming language, such as C, C++, Objective-C, COBOL, JAVA™, PHP, Perl, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, VBScript, ASPX, Microsoft .NET™ languages such as C#, and/or the like. An engine may be compiled into executable programs or written in interpreted programming languages. Software engines may be callable from other engines or from themselves. Generally, the engines described herein refer to logical modules that can be merged with other engines or applications, or can be divided into sub-engines. The engines can be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or computer storage device and be stored on and executed by one or more general purpose computers, thus creating a special purpose computer configured to provide the engine. 
         [0026]    The storage service server  122 B is configured to provide a tracking data store  125  that stores tracking, installation, heartbeat, and/or user session information received from the tracking server  122 A and/or the management interface server  122 C. As understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, a “data store” as described herein may be any suitable device configured to store data for access by a computing device. One example of a data store is a highly reliable, high-speed relational database management system (DBMS) executing on one or more computing devices and accessible over a high-speed network. However, any other suitable storage technique and/or device capable of quickly and reliably providing the stored data in response to queries may be used, and the computing device may be accessible locally instead of over a network, or may be provided as a cloud-based service. A data store may also include data stored in an organized manner on a computer-readable storage medium, as described further below. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that separate data stores described herein may be combined into a single data store, and/or a single data store described herein may be separated into multiple data stores, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0027]    In some embodiments, the tracking data store  125  is configured to store a set of user click records  272 , a set of session records  270 , a set of heartbeat records  212 , and a set of installation records  268 . In some embodiments, each record of the heartbeat records  212 , the session records  270 , the installation records  268 , and the user click records  272  stored by the tracking data store  125  is associated with a tracking identifier  266 . The tracking identifier  266  may be used to associate the stored records with a particular user and/or a particular end user computing device  162 . 
         [0028]    In some embodiments, the tracking identifier  266  may be generated and assigned to the user or the end user computing device  162  by the tracking system  120 . In some embodiments, the tracking identifier  266  may include device information that comprises at least one device identifier and/or other information associated with one of the computing devices  162  (see  FIG. 1 ) that was not assigned by the tracking system  122 . The device identifiers may be assigned to the computing devices  162  to uniquely identify the computing devices  162 , and may therefore be used by the tracking system  122  to uniquely identify the end user computing device  162  or the user thereof. 
         [0029]    Examples of device identifiers include, but are not limited to, a media access control (“MAC”) Address, an International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (“IMEI”), a Mobile Equipment Identifier (“MEID”), an Identifier for Advertising (“IFA”), an Identifier for Vendor (“IFV”), an Android ID, an Open Device Identification Number (“ODIN”), an Open Unique Device Identifier (“Open UDID”), combinations thereof, and the like. By way of a non-limiting example, the IMEI may be an Android IMEI. By way of another non-limiting example, the MEID may be an Android MEID. 
         [0030]    The other information associated with one of the computing devices  162  (see  FIG. 1 ) may include an Internet Protocol (“IP”) Address, browser information (e.g., browser type, browser version, etc.), combinations thereof, and the like. The other information may be usable to identify a computing device  162 , though the other information may be less reliable for uniquely identifying a computing device  162  than the device identifiers. Optionally, all or a portion of the device information may be hashed instead of being stored directly in plain text in the tracking identifier  266 . 
         [0031]    In some embodiments, the tracking engine  124  may use the tracking data store  125  to store the heartbeat records  212 . In some embodiments, the tracking system  120  may receive information relating to heartbeat events, but may use the information contained therein to update session records  270  instead of storing the heartbeat events  212  themselves in the tracking data store  125 . 
         [0032]    In some embodiments, the user click records  272  may indicate user interactions with advertisements provided by mobile advertising publishers  150 , and may be associated with other records to attribute actions taken by a user to the advertising publishers  150  that encouraged the action. Further details regarding how user click records may be used to attribute actions to advertising publishers  150  and provide credit for doing so may be found in commonly owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/902691, filed May 24, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
         [0033]    In some embodiments, the session records  270  are configured to store information about usage for an application tracked by the tracking system  120 . For example, a session record  270  may include information such as a date and/or time a user session started and/or ended, an indication of whether the user session is currently active or closed, a session identifier  206  associated with the user session, a tracking identifier  266  associated with the user session, an identifier of the application itself, and/or the like. The session records  270  allow the tracking system  120  to produce reports and provide credit based on user engagement with the application, as discussed further herein. 
         [0034]    The management interface server  122 C includes a management interface engine  123  configured to generate a management interface, described below. The management interface engine  123  is configured to access (e.g., via an Application Programming Interface (“API”) or other suitable technique) the information stored in the tracking data store  125  and use the information to generate displays (e.g., graphs, charts, lists, reports, etc.) for the management interface. 
         [0035]    The management interface engine  123  may include or communicate with web server components (not shown) configured to present conventional webpages displayable by conventional Internet browser applications executing on computing devices, such as a computing device  12  illustrated in  FIG. 6  and described below. The management interface presented by the management interface engine  123  may include one or more web pages that may be transmitted by the web server components (not shown) to other computing devices in the system  100  (see  FIG. 1 ). Such web pages may be displayed by conventional Internet browser applications executing on the recipient computing devices. 
         [0036]    As illustrated, the end user computing device  162 A includes an executing application  214  and a heartbeat data store  210 . The executing application  214  is the application for which user engagement is being tracked by the tracking system  120 , and includes a tracking Software Development Kit (SDK)  216 . The tracking SDK  216  includes functions and/or procedures that execute when selected events occur on the computing device  162 A on which the application  214  is installed. For example, the tracking SDK  216  may include computer-executable instructions that execute when the application  214  is installed and used for the first time. 
         [0037]    By way of a non-limiting example, the tracking SDK  216  may be implemented as a library file that is included in an application project used to create the application  214 . An application developer may specify which particular functions are called from the library to indicate to the tracking engine  124  when install events and/or other in-application (“in-app”) events have occurred. As another non-limiting example, in some embodiments the functionality described herein as being provided by the tracking SDK  216  is not included in a library file that is included in the application project used to create the application  214 , but is instead accessed by virtue of the application  214  performing remote function calls to an application programming interface (API) provided by the tracking engine  124  or other element of the tracking system  120 . 
         [0038]    As illustrated, the tracking SDK  216  includes a tracking identifier  266 , a session identifier  206 , a session identifier generation engine  204 , and a heartbeat engine  202 . The tracking identifier  266  is provided by the tracking system  120  and is stored by the end user computing device  162 A for identifying communications to the tracking system  120 . The session identifier  206  is generated by the session identifier generation engine  204  upon the start of a new user session in the executing application  214 . The timing of such generation may be determined by the developer of the application  214 , and may typically be timed to coincide with each time the application  214  is launched or re-launched. The heartbeat engine  202  creates heartbeat messages to be transmitted to the tracking engine  124  or stored in the heartbeat data store  210 , as discussed further below. 
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart that illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method  300  of configuring a device to report application usage for measuring user engagement according to various aspects of the present disclosure. From a start block, the method  300  proceeds to block  302 , where an end user computing device  162 A installs an application  214  that includes a tracking SDK  216 . As discussed above, in some embodiments, the tracking SDK  216  functionality may be incorporated into the application  214  by accessing an API provided by the tracking system  120 , as opposed to being directly incorporated into the application  214 , without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. A tracking SDK  216  incorporated directly into the application  214  is described for ease of discussion only, and one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that descriptions of an incorporated tracking SDK  216  also include embodiments wherein the described functionality is provided by a server-side API (unless otherwise stated). 
         [0040]    From block  302 , the method  300  proceeds to block  304 , where the application  214  is executed on the end user computing device  162 A, and the tracking SDK  216  transmits an installation notification to a tracking system  120 . At block  306 , in response to receiving the installation notification, a tracking engine  124  of a tracking server  122 A creates an installation record  268  in a tracking data store  125 . Next, at block  308 , the tracking engine  124  creates a tracking identifier  266  and stores the tracking identifier  266  in the installation record  268 . 
         [0041]    At block  310 , the tracking engine  124  transmits the tracking identifier  266  to the end user computing device  162 A. Then, at block  312 , the tracking SDK  216  on the end user computing device  162 A stores the tracking identifier  266  for later use. In embodiments wherein the tracking SDK  216  functionality is provided by an API, the tracking identifier  266  may be stored on the end user computing device  162 A by another component of the executing application  214 . The method  300  then proceeds to an end block and terminates. 
       Methods for Measuring Engagement 
       [0042]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart that illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method  400  of transmitting information to report application usage for measuring user engagement according to various aspects of the present disclosure. From a start block, the method  400  proceeds to block  402 , where a session ID generator  204  of the tracking SDK  216  generates a session identifier  206  for a new user session managed by the application  214 . In some embodiments, the session identifier is a universally unique identifier (UUID) as is known to one of ordinary skill in the art, though in other embodiments, any suitable technique may be used to generate the session identifier that is likely to generate a unique identifier for each session. For example, in some embodiments, the session identifier may be a combination of a count value and the tracking identifier  266 , wherein the count value is incremented for each new user session. 
         [0043]    The session itself is defined by the application provider  170  when developing the application. A typical user session may begin upon a launch of the application  214 , and may end when the application  214  is closed. Another typical user session may begin upon a login, a start of application  214  functionality (such as the start of a game play session), or other action within the application  214  that indicates the user has begun interacting with the application  214 , and may end upon logout or an end of a game play session even if the application  214  is still executing. 
         [0044]    The method  400  then proceeds to a while loop defined between a while loop start block  404  and a while loop end block  416 . Within the while loop  404 - 416 , the method  400  includes actions that take place while a user session is active within the executing application  214 . 
         [0045]    From the while loop start block  404 , the method  400  proceeds to block  406 , where a heartbeat engine  202  of the tracking SDK  216  generates a heartbeat message, the heartbeat message including the session identifier  206  and the tracking identifier  266 . The method  400  then proceeds to a decision block  408 , where a determination is made regarding whether the end user computing device  162 A has access to a network by which it can communicate with the tracking system  120 . In response to determining that the result of the determination is YES, the method  400  proceeds to block  410 , where the tracking SDK  216  transmits the heartbeat message to the tracking engine  124  of the tracking server  122 A. Otherwise, in response to determining that the result of the determination is NO, the method  400  proceeds to block  412 , where the tracking SDK  216  stores the heartbeat message in a heartbeat data store  210 . Once in the heartbeat data store  210 , the heartbeat message is stored until an opportunity arises to transmit the heartbeat message to the tracking engine  124 . In some embodiments, the method  400  may check, at block  410 , whether any stored heartbeat messages are present in the heartbeat data store  210 , and may transmit the stored messages to the tracking engine  124  along with a new heartbeat message. In some embodiments, the tracking SDK  216  may detect when network connectivity is restored, and may transmit heartbeat messages stored in the heartbeat data store  210  at that time. 
         [0046]    From either block  410  or block  412 , the method  400  proceeds to block  414 , where the tracking SDK  216  waits a predetermined amount of time before proceeding to generate a subsequent heartbeat message. In some embodiments, the predetermined amount of time is configured by the tracking system  120  or the application provider  170  to be a fixed amount of time, such as ten seconds. In some embodiments, the predetermined amount of time may change as time passes. For example, each time through the while loop  404 - 416 , the predetermined amount of time may increase. The increasing wait times may be used to reduce overall bandwidth use and processing time as the length of the user session increases. Slight inaccuracies introduced by increasing the wait times (that is, a user session that is ended during a longer wait time between heartbeat messages would seem longer or shorter than if a fixed wait time was used) become less significant as the overall length of the user session increases. 
         [0047]    The method  400  then proceeds to the while loop end block  416  where, if the user session is still active, the method  400  returns to the while loop start block  404 . If the user session is no longer active, then the method  400  proceeds from the while loop end block  416  to an end block and terminates. 
         [0048]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart that illustrates a method  500  of receiving information to analyze application usage for measuring user engagement according to various aspects of the present disclosure. From a start block, the method  500  proceeds to block  502 , where the tracking engine  124  of the tracking server  122 A receives a first heartbeat message from an end user computing device  162 A, the heartbeat message including a tracking identifier  266  and a session identifier  206 . One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the heartbeat message may be sent by the end user computing device  162 A using the method  400  discussed above. At block  504 , the tracking engine  124  creates a user session record  270  including the tracking identifier  266 , the session identifier  206 , and an open status, and stores the user session record  270  in the tracking data store  125 . 
         [0049]    Next, at block  506 , the tracking engine  124  continues to receive subsequent heartbeat messages that include the tracking identifier  266  and the session identifier  206 . In some embodiments, the method  506  may pause or otherwise wait in block  506  for the subsequent heartbeat message for a predetermined amount of time. The method  500  then proceeds to a decision block  508 , where a determination is made as to whether the amount of time for which the tracking engine  124  waited in block  506  exceeded a timeout value. In some embodiments, the timeout value may be a fixed value, while in some embodiments, the timeout value may increase over time, similar to the discussion above with regard to the generation of heartbeat messages. In some embodiments, the timeout value may be set based on the expected predetermined amount of time between heartbeat messages generated by the tracking SDK  216 . 
         [0050]    If the determination at decision block  508  is that the timeout value was not exceeded (in other words, the subsequent heartbeat message was received before the predetermined amount of time had elapsed), then the result of the decision is NO, and the method  500  returns to block  506  to wait for a subsequent heartbeat message. Otherwise, if the determination at decision block  508  is that the timeout value was exceeded, the result of the decision is YES, and the method  500  proceeds to block  510 . 
         [0051]    At block  510 , the tracking engine  124  updates the user session record from the open status to a closed status, and at block  512 , a management interface server  122 C makes the user session record available via a management interface  123 . The management interface  123  may provide many types of analysis of user session information. For example, an application provider  170  may be able to submit a query via the management interface  123  for a given application  214  to view statistics for user engagement across all users of the application  214 . These statistics may help the application provider  170  determine how much time users are spending engaged with their application overall. Even more powerful tools may be provided for analysis. For example, the tracking system  120  may associate user session records  270  with user click records  272  based on the tracking identifier  266 . Accordingly, attribution for the user session records  270  may be provided to a mobile advertising publisher  150 . In this way, an application provider  170  may be able to determine which mobile advertising publishers  150  are generating clicks and installs for high-value users (that is, users who spend more time engaging with the application  214 ) versus mobile advertising publishers  150  that are generating clicks and installs for low-value users (that is, users who install the application but do not engage much). In some embodiments, statistics may be provided by the management interface  123  for open user session records  270  as well, though because those sessions are not yet closed, the management interface  123  may have to make assumptions regarding the determined value of the users. In some embodiments, attribution of user session records  270  to mobile advertising publishers  150  may also be used to provide credit to the mobile advertising publishers  150 . 
         [0052]    At block  514 , the tracking engine  124  receives a new heartbeat message from the end user computing device  162 A. At decision block  516 , a determination is made by the tracking engine  124  regarding whether the newly received heartbeat message matches a previously recorded user session record, or instead indicates a new user session. To do so, the tracking engine  124  may query the tracking data store  125  for a user session record  270  having the same tracking identifier  266  and session identifier  206 . If a matching user session record is found, then the result of the determination at decision block  516  is YES, and the method  500  proceeds to block  518 , where the tracking engine  124  updates the user session record from the closed status to the open status, and the method  500  returns to block  506  to await subsequent heartbeat messages. Otherwise, if no matching user session record is found, then the result of the determination at decision block  516  is NO, and the method  500  returns to block  504  to begin tracking the new user session. 
         [0053]    Though the loop from block  502  to  518  is not illustrated as having an exit (as the method  500  represents a process that is executed for an undetermined amount of time by a tracking system  120 ), one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that, when instructed by an administrator or when otherwise no longer needed, the method  500  terminates. 
       Computing Device 
       [0054]      FIG. 6  is a diagram of hardware and an operating environment in conjunction with which implementations of the one or more computing devices of the system  100  may be practiced. The description of  FIG. 6  is intended to provide a brief, general description of suitable computer hardware and a suitable computing environment in which implementations may be practiced. Although not required, implementations are described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer, such as a personal computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. 
         [0055]    Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that implementations may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, smartphones, network-connected tablet computers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Implementations may also 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 memory storage devices. 
         [0056]    The exemplary hardware and operating environment of  FIG. 6  includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of the computing device  12 . Each of the computing devices of  FIG. 1  (including the computing devices  122 ,  132 ,  142 ,  152 ,  162 , and  172 ) may be substantially similar or identical to the computing device  12 . By way of non-limiting examples, the computing device  12  may be implemented as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a web enabled television, a personal digital assistant, a game console, a smartphone, a mobile computing device, a cellular telephone, a desktop personal computer, and the like. 
         [0057]    The computing device  12  includes a system memory  22 , the processing unit  21 , and a system bus  23  that operatively couples various system components, including the system memory  22 , to the processing unit  21 . There may be only one or there may be more than one processing unit  21 , such that the processor of computing device  12  includes a single central-processing unit (“CPU”), or a plurality of processing units, commonly referred to as a parallel processing environment. When multiple processing units are used, the processing units may be heterogeneous. By way of a non-limiting example, such a heterogeneous processing environment may include a conventional CPU, a conventional graphics processing unit (“GPU”), a floating-point unit (“FPU”), combinations thereof, and the like. 
         [0058]    The computing device  12  may be a conventional computer, a distributed computer, or any other type of computer. 
         [0059]    The system bus  23  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory  22  may also be referred to as simply the memory, and includes read only memory (ROM)  24  and random access memory (RAM)  25 . A basic input/output system (BIOS)  26 , containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computing device  12 , such as during start-up, is stored in ROM  24 . The computing device  12  further includes a hard disk drive  27  for reading from and writing to a hard disk, not shown, a magnetic disk drive  28  for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk  29 , and an optical disk drive  30  for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk  31  such as a CD ROM, DVD, or other optical media. 
         [0060]    The hard disk drive  27 , magnetic disk drive  28 , and optical disk drive  30  are connected to the system bus  23  by a hard disk drive interface  32 , a magnetic disk drive interface  33 , and an optical disk drive interface  34 , respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the computing device  12 . It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any type of computer-readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, solid state memory devices (“SSD”), USB drives, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROMs), and the like, may be used in the exemplary operating environment. As is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, the hard disk drive  27  and other forms of computer-readable media (e.g., the removable magnetic disk  29 , the removable optical disk  31 , flash memory cards, SSD, USB drives, and the like) accessible by the processing unit  21  may be considered components of the system memory  22 . 
         [0061]    A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk drive  27 , magnetic disk  29 , optical disk  31 , ROM  24 , or RAM  25 , including the operating system  35 , one or more application programs  36 , other program modules  37 , and program data  38 . A user may enter commands and information into the computing device  12  through input devices such as a keyboard  40  and pointing device  42 . Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, touch sensitive devices (e.g., a stylus or touch pad), video camera, depth camera, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  21  through a serial port interface  46  that is coupled to the system bus  23 , but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, a universal serial bus (USB), or a wireless interface (e.g., a Bluetooth interface). A monitor  47  or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus  23  via an interface, such as a video adapter  48 . In addition to the monitor, computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, and haptic devices that provide tactile and/or other types of physical feedback (e.g., a force feed back game controller). 
         [0062]    The input devices described above are operable to receive user input and selections. Together the input and display devices may be described as providing a user interface. The user interface is configured to display portions of the management interface  123  to appropriate users. 
         [0063]    The computing device  12  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer  49 . These logical connections are achieved by a communication device coupled to or a part of the computing device  12  (as the local computer). Implementations are not limited to a particular type of communications device. The remote computer  49  may be another computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a client, a memory storage device, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computing device  12 . The remote computer  49  may be connected to a memory storage device  50 . The logical connections depicted in  FIG. 6  include a local-area network (LAN)  51  and a wide-area network (WAN)  52 . Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet. The network  180  (see  FIG. 1 ) may be implemented using one or more of the LAN  51  or the WAN  52  (e.g., the Internet). 
         [0064]    Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a LAN may be connected to a WAN via a modem using a carrier signal over a telephone network, cable network, cellular network, or power lines. Such a modem may be connected to the computing device  12  by a network interface (e.g., a serial or other type of port). Further, many laptop computers may connect to a network via a cellular data modem. 
         [0065]    When used in a LAN-networking environment, the computing device  12  is connected to the local area network  51  through a network interface or adapter  53 , which is one type of communications device. When used in a WAN-networking environment, the computing device  12  typically includes a modem  54 , a type of communications device, or any other type of communications device for establishing communications over the wide area network  52 , such as the Internet. The modem  54 , which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus  23  via the serial port interface  46 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the personal computing device  12 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote computer  49  and/or the remote memory storage device  50 . It is appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of and communications devices for establishing a communications link between the computers may be used. 
         [0066]    The computing device  12  and related components have been presented herein by way of particular example and also by abstraction in order to facilitate a high-level view of the concepts disclosed. The actual technical design and implementation may vary based on particular implementation while maintaining the overall nature of the concepts disclosed. 
         [0067]    In some embodiments, the system memory  22  stores computer executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform all or portions of one or more of the methods (including the methods  300 ,  400 ,  500  illustrated in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5 , respectively) described above. Such instructions may be stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. 
         [0068]    The foregoing described embodiments depict different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or “operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. 
         [0069]    While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.