Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10110413B2/en
Timestamp: 2020-08-09 15:51:49
Document Index: 794257712

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2011', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 11', 'Application No. 11740527', 'Application No. 2012', 'Application No. 201180017998', 'Application No. 201180017998']

US10110413B2 - Communicating information in a social network system about activities from another domain - Google Patents
US10110413B2
US10110413B2 US13/023,197 US201113023197A US10110413B2 US 10110413 B2 US10110413 B2 US 10110413B2 US 201113023197 A US201113023197 A US 201113023197A US 10110413 B2 US10110413 B2 US 10110413B2
US13/023,197
US20110231240A1 (en
2011-02-08 Priority to US13/023,197 priority patent/US10110413B2/en
2011-06-08 Assigned to FACEBOOK, INC. reassignment FACEBOOK, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: KENDALL, TIMOTHY, DINGLE, GREGORY LUC, SCHOEN, KENT MATTHEW
2011-09-22 Publication of US20110231240A1 publication Critical patent/US20110231240A1/en
2018-10-23 Publication of US10110413B2 publication Critical patent/US10110413B2/en
230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 11
238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 69
In one embodiment, a method is described for tracking information about the activities of users of a social networking system while on another domain by maintaining a profile for each user of the social networking system, each profile identifying a connection to other users of the social networking system and including information about the user, receiving communications from a third party website having a different domain than the social network system, each message communicating an action taken by a user of the social networking system on the third party website, logging the actions taken on the third-party website in the social networking system, each logged action including information about the action, and correlating the logged actions with one or more advertisements presented to the one or more users on the third-party website as well as correlating the logged actions with a user of the social networking system.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/302,494 filed Feb. 8, 2010, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
Advertising Related to User Actions on a Website
In particular embodiments, the social network system receives messages from these third-party websites that communicate the actions taken by users while in the third-party websites. More particularly, in various example embodiments, when a user takes one or more certain actions on a third party website such as, for example, making a purchase on the third-party website, the third-party website may transmit a page (herein referred to as a “conversion page”), such as a “thank you” or “confirmation” page to the user's client device. Generally, a conversion page is a page hosted by a third-party website that is displayed to a user to confirm the completion of a desired action. In particular embodiments, the conversion page includes a conversion tracking tag which may be a code snippet or segment (e.g., one or more of JavaScript and HTML) that is configured to, when the conversion page is executed or rendered by the user's client device, to make a call or transmit a request or message to the social network system to inform the social network system of the particular action. In particular embodiments, an executable JavaScript code snippet may cause a tracking pixel to be generated in the conversion page. Alternately, an iFrame, <img> tag or other HTML code may be used to generate such a tracking pixel. The tracking pixel may then be communicated to the social network system as a result of executing the code snippet. In particular embodiments, the tracking pixel includes parameters such as, the user ID of the user (as it is registered with the social network system), an ID for the third-party website, a product or service ID, product or service information concerning the product or service purchased by the user on the third party website, as well as timestamp information indicating when the action was taken (e.g., product or service was purchased).
The advertisements served to users of the social networking systems can be banner or text ads, the creative or content for which are created by the advertisers. In some embodiments, the social network system can generate advertisements and other messages based on the activities of the users on the other websites and/or gauge the effectiveness of previously shown advertisements. For a particular user, for example, the social network system may generate an informational message for the user, wherein the informational message communicates a logged action that is associated with another user of the website with whom the user has a connection. The informational message (e.g., a “social advertisement”) is then provided on a web page (e.g., a home page, profile page, newsfeed, etc.) that the social network system serves to the user. In this way, the user can be informed of online activities that the user's friends have taken outside the social network system. Although the present disclosure contemplates the tracking of conversions and actions related to virtual any type of advertisement displayable in conjunction with the social network system, in some embodiments, a news feed may serve as a social ad, and thus, a news feed may be correlated with any of the described logs to determine the effective of the news feed or other “social ad” in making a conversion. By way of example, as used herein, a “social ad” may refer to an advertisement in the form of a news feed, a post on a user's profile, home, or other page, or simply in the form of a more traditional advertisement such as a banner ad, for example, that informs the user that a friend (or a number of friends) of the user has purchased a particular item from a third-party website, will attend an event sponsored by an advertiser, or has added a connection to a profile for a business or other entity. Social ads allow advertisers to leverage one user's actions to promote specific content to others who might be interested in that information—not only because they might have similar interests, but also because of their connection with the user. This mode of advertising may be more effective because users are more likely to be influenced to respond to an advertiser's message in the presence of information that their friends or other connections have also taken an action related to the advertiser. Social ads thus allow advertisers to enjoy the credibility that consumers naturally give to their friends through word of mouth advertising. Beyond simple targeting of ads that merely chase demand, therefore, this approach may be better able to create or generate demand by providing the socially related information to users about their friends' actions.
In particular embodiments, third-party websites, including advertisers that advertise their or others products on pages hosted by the social networking system, generate conversion tracking tags specific to the respective advertiser. As used herein, a “conversion” may refer to an action, especially an action taken on or at a third-party website, but also potentially an action taken within the social network system (e.g., an action within the social network system that indicates interaction/engagement with an advertised product or service after advertisement exposure), in which a user of the social networking system converts a transaction, registration, download, or other suitable action or event; that is, purchases a product or registers for a service offered by the third-party website. An example of an “internal” conversion may be that a user posts about a product, becomes a fan of the product, emails a link to a friend with that product or the product's associated third-party website, installs an application or gives a gift related to the product or service, and shares this back to the social networking system.
In a particular implementation, the advertiser uses an <img> or other tag as an advertising pixel that points to an endpoint at the social networking system (e.g., facebook.com/impression.php). The URL generated for each pixel can be made unique by a tracking ID and a hash of the tracking ID. At creation time, the advertiser is prompted to set a category for the pixel, like “purchase” or “sign-up”, to facilitate reporting on the pixels and aggregate across advertisers. As discussed above, the advertiser can optionally supply additional info that is meaningful to it: sku and value. These metrics can be used for grouping and summing respectively in advertiser-facing reports. To ensure that pixels are requested on every page load of the host page, the following HTTP headers can be set: cache-control: no-cache; expires: time( )-1.
<script language=“JavaScript” src=“http://static.ak.facebook.com/connect.php/ AdConversionTracking”></script> <script language=“JavaScript” type=“text/javascript”> <!-- var fb_conversion_tracking_params = { ‘id’ : 23498234, ‘hash’ : ‘324fe3234c’, ‘type’ : ‘Purchase’ ‘sku’ : ‘334-E2-234’, ‘value’ : 1 }; FB.trackConversion(fb_conversion_tracking_params); //--></script>
The JS script tag can automatically pull in any additional information and generate an <img> tag to point to <img src=“http://www.facebook.com/impression.php> and pass in desired parameters.
A social network system offers its users the ability to communicate and interact with other users of the website. In use, users join the social network system and then add connections to a number of other users to whom they desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers to any other user or entity to whom a user has formed a connection, association, or relationship and which is defined via the social network system. Connections may be added explicitly by a user, for example, the user selecting a particular other user to be a friend, or automatically created by the social networking site based on common characteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the same educational institution). Connections in social network systems are usually in both directions, but need not be, so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference. For example, if Bob and Joe are both users and connected to each other in the website, Bob and Joe, both users, are also each other's friends. The connection between users may be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of a social network system allow the connection to be indirect via one or more levels of connections. Also, the term friend need not require that users actually be friends in real life, (which would generally be the case when one of the users is a business or other entity); it simply implies a connection in the social network system.
In addition to interactions with other users, the social network system provides users with the ability to take actions on various types of items supported by the website. These items may include groups or networks (where “networks” here refer not to physical communication networks, but rather social networks of people) to which users of the website may belong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested, computer-based applications that a user may use via the website, and transactions that allow users to buy or sell items via the website. These are just a few examples of the items upon which a user may act on a social network system, and many others are possible.
The social network system may also enable users to add applications to their profiles. These applications provide enhanced content and interactivity within the social network system 100, which maintains an application object 120 for each application hosted in the system. The applications may be provided by the website operator and/or by third party developers. An example application is an enhanced messaging service, in which users can send virtual objects (such as a “gift” or “flowers”) and an optional message to another user. The use of any functionality offered by the application may thus constitute an action by the user in connection with the application 120. In addition, continuing the example from above, the receipt of the virtual gift or message may also be considered an action in connection with the application 120. It can therefore be appreciated that actions may be passive and need not require active participation by a user.
One particular type of object shown in the example of FIG. 1 is a transaction 125. A transaction object enables users to make transactions, such as buying, selling, renting, trading, or exchanging with other users or other third-party websites. For example, a user may post a classified ad on the social network system 100 to sell a car. The user would thus define a new transaction 125, which may include a description of the car, a picture, and an asking price. Other users can then view this information and possibly interact further with the transaction 125 by posting questions about the car and accepting the offer or making a counteroffer. Each of these interactions—view, question posting, offer, and counteroffer—are actions that are associated with the particular transaction 125.
As described above, in particular embodiments, the social network system 100 also logs actions that a user takes on a third party website 140. The social network system 100 may learn of the user's actions on the third party website 140 via any of a number of methods. In particular embodiment, in response to certain actions such as, a user registering with a third-party website 140, purchasing a product from a third-party website 140, downloading a service from a third-party website 140, or otherwise making a conversion, the third-party website 140 transmits a conversion page, such as a confirmation or “thank you” page to the user at the user's client device. In particular embodiment, this page includes an embedded call or code segment (e.g., JavaScript) in the HTML or other structured document code (e.g., in an HREF (Hypertext REFerence) that, in particular embodiments, generates a tracking pixel that, when executed by the client's browser or other rendering application, generates a tracking pixel or image tag that is then transmitted to the social network system (whether the user is logged into the social network system or not). The tracking pixel or image tag then communicates various information to the social network system about the user's action on the third-party website. By way of example, the tracking pixel or call may transmit parameters such as the user's ID (user ID as registered with the social network system), a product ID, information about the third-website, timestamp information about the timing of the purchase or other action, etc. In one example, if the third party website 140 is a commercial website on which users may purchase items, the third party website 140 may inform the social network system 100 in this manner when a user of the social network system 100 buys an item on the third party website 140.
After an amount of time, the action log 160 will become populated with a number of entries that describe actions taken by the users of the social network system 100. In particular embodiments, action log 106 includes both tracked actions taken by users at third-party websites as well as conversion tracking associated with advertisements seen or clicked-on by users. The action log 160 thus contains a very rich set of data about the actions of the users, and can be analyzed and filtered to identify trends and relationships in the actions of the users, as well as affinities between the users and various objects. In particular embodiments, the actions (e.g., purchases) made by a user at a third-party website may be correlated with the user's advertisement history and tracked conversions. In this way, social network system can determine if certain ads such as banner ads and the heredescribed social ads for example, whether clicked-on or not, likely contributed to the user or the user's friends actually purchasing the advertised product or service. Such quantifiable gauging of advertising effective may be useful in generating leverage with ad providers such as ad networks that generally run advertisement campaigns on behalf of third-party website, for example.
In particular embodiments, at some point in its operation, the social network system 100 may obtain an ad 180 to display on the website. As described herein, ads may be banner ads, text ads, video ads, audio ads, and any other form of advertising distributed over a network. The ads may be created by advertisers and submitted to the social network system 100 for distribution according to various CPM or CPC models as described above. The ads may also by social ads as described herein. FIG. 1 illustrates a process in which an aforedescribed social ad is generated for one of the friends of the user. To generate such a social ad 180 for one of the user's friends, the website 100 accesses the action log 160 and a database of ad requests 175. The database of ad requests 175 include a number of requests that define criteria for creating an ad 1800. Using the ad requests 175 and the action log 160, the website 100 applies a social ad generation algorithm 170 to create one or more social ads 180 tailored for the particular friend. Each generated ad 180 comprises an advertising message that communicates a message about at least one user action from the action log 160. In one embodiment, the ad 1800 communicates a message about the actions of some number of friends of the user. For example, a user may receive a message like “Three of your friends have joined the “Yale Alumni Network.” The advertising message may also include additional content from the advertiser. The advertising message is communicated to the friend, for example as a message on the friend's home page, in an email message, in a list or newsfeed of other advertising messages and stories describing various actions taken, or any other electronic communication medium. The ad requests 175 and the ad generation algorithm 170 are described in more detail below.
FIG. 2 is a high level block diagram illustrating a system environment suitable for operation of a social network system 100. The system environment comprises one or more client devices 210 also referred to as user devices 210 or member devices 210), one or more third-party websites 140, a social network system 100, and a network 220. In alternative configurations, different and/or additional modules can be included in the system.
The client devices 210 comprise one or more computing devices that can receive user input and can transmit and receive data via the network 220. For example, the client devices 210 may be desktop computers, laptop computers, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or any other device including computing functionality and data communication capabilities. The client devices 210 are configured to communicate via network 220, which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, using both wired and wireless communication systems. As described above, the third party website 140 and the action terminal 150 are coupled to the network 220 for communicating messages to the social network system 100 about the users' actions off the website 100.
Also contained within these newsfeed stories, in this example, is a social ad 830. This example social ad 830 communicates to the user that one of the user's friends associated their user profile with a business. (In this example, adding a link to another business profile, rather than to another user profile, is called becoming a “fan” of that business, rather than a “friend” of the other user.) This social ad 830 is an example of brand advertising, where an advertiser merely wishes to extend the recognition and value of the brand, instead of making a particular sale. In other embodiments, the social ad 830 may also contain content, such as a link to the advertiser's own website, and/or a call to action for the advertising.
The title field 1105 and body field 1110 may be used by the website to publish the social ad in a story format. For example, the social ad may include the title field 1105 as the header and then a textual story in a format as shown in FIG. 7. For example, the body field 1110 may specify: “[User.Name] has purchased tickets for [Event.Name].” The resulting social ad would contain this text, with the names of the User and Event objects associated with the action that the social ad is describing inserted into the text as indicated. The link field 1115 may also be added to the content of the social ad, for example, for providing the call to action of the ad. Lastly, the ad request 1100 may contain additional advertising content 1130 to be appended to the social ad. This content 1130 may include any type of media content suitable for presentation on a web page, including pictures, video, audio, hyperlinks, and any other suitable content.
FIG. 12 illustrates a process in which actions from third party websites 140 are communicated to and used by a social network system 100 to generate ads, as described above. In the example shown, a user makes a purchase on a third party website 140 hosted on a different domain than the social network system 100. The fact of this purchase is then communicated to the social network system 100, which uses the information to publish “social” or more conventional ads to one or more friends of the user. As described above, this communication from third-party website 140 to social network system 100 may include multiple communications; More particularly, a conversion (e.g., confirmation or thank you) page may be transmitted to the user's client device as a result of making the purchase. A JavaScript call or tracking pixel included in the conversion page then ultimately communicates the action and associated identifying parameters to social network system 100. Although described in the context of a purchase on the third party website 140, the technique is not limited to purchases. Any other user actions on a third party website 140 may be communicated to the social network system 100 for use thereby, including registering for an account, viewing an item, saving an item to an account, renting an item, making a reservation, participating in an activity, or service, downloading or uploading content, interacting with content, subscribing to an information resource, or any other action which the operator of the third party website decides to select for such tracking. More specific examples of other types of actions in other domains that may be useful for generating ads on the social network system 100 include purchasing an article of clothing, subscribing to a blog, storing an item in a wish list, purchasing tickets to a concert, registering for a marathon, making a flight or restaurant reservation, and donating to a charity.
In the example of FIG. 12, a user operates a client application, such as a web browser, to view a web page at the online store hosted by a third party website 140. The user decides to purchase an item, for example a widget. The user will typically be presented with a purchase page 1210 on which the user can confirm the purchase, for example by clicking on a “Buy” button. The third party website 140 generates a message that identifies the third party website 140 and describes the type of action (e.g., indicating whether the action is a purchase, a rating, a request for information, a subscription, or the like, as well as any other information needed to describe the action, such as the item that was purchased). In this example, the message would identify the action as a purchase and would describe the item that was purchased. The third party website 140 then transmits 1220 this message to the social network system 100 directly or indirectly by way of tracking pixels or JavaScript code snippets that are first sent with the confirmation page, and which then themselves transmit the message to social network system 100.
After the social network system 100 receives the message communicating the action information from the third party website 140, it generates a confirmation message 1230 to be displayed to the user on the third party website 140. For example, the confirmation message may provide a sample of the story that could be published to the user's friends based on the user's actions on the third party website 140. In this example, the message is: “John Smith bought <something> at <Partner Site>” (where the user would be “John Smith,”<something> would be replaced by the name of item purchased, and <Partner Site> would be replaced by the name and a link to the third party website 140). The confirmation message 1230 is passed 1240 back to the third party website, where it is displayed in the web page 1210 on the domain of the third party website 140.
Once the third party website receives this information, it can present the information to the user. For example, when viewing the page for a movie that is on sale via the third party website, the third party website may present a message to the user that a certain number of the user's connections from the social network system have rated the movie positively. For example, the message might read: “Ten of your friends have liked this movie.” The user is thus encouraged to purchase the movie on the third party website because the user's friends from the social network system like the movie.
In particular implementations, the social network system 100 generates conversion data from social and other ads to provide advertisers with insights as to the performance of the ads the place on the system. In one implementation, social network system 100 tracks the impressions for advertisements provided to users that later may be correlated to conversions, as described herein. In some implementations, tracking a conversion can involve weaving isolated events into a story of cause and effect. The data structures outlined below contain the info used to construct a story of user, ad impression, optional click and conversion. When the information is joined together, the social networking system can report meaningful statements like “10 users bought an Obama t-shirt on threadless.com after seeing 55 impressions from the ad ‘Unicorn t-shirt’ between 15 Aug. and 22 Aug. 2011.” Furthermore, the reports can distinguish between social ads and other advertisement types to allow advertisers to compare their relative effectiveness.
pixel table pixel_id run_status name time_created time_updated account_id
impression.php params id h type sku value debug
unattributed conversion log user_id client_ip client_flags server_ip user_agent event_machine_cookie event_referer_string conversion_time conversion_tracking_id conversion_advertiser_event_type conversion_advertiser_string conversion_advertiser_value conversion_logged_in
ad_imps bucket_hint ad_id db_id user_id imp_location imp_page imp_time client_ip client_flags imp_bid_type imp_bid imp_price imp_social_score imp_ectr imp_qrt_experiment imp_qrt_version imp_page_type imp_cluster_id imp_social_action imp_position imp_num_positions server_ip imp_load_type imp_discount imp_page_tab imp_adnetwork_id imp_region_id imp_social_items imp_usd_bid imp_usd_price imp_country imp_queue_slot
dim_admarket_campaign_map account_id campaign_id campaign_name campaign_status campaign_start campaign_end adgroup_id adgroup_name ad_id obj_id ad_status ad_start ad_end location account_name account_type ds
attributed conversions hive table conversion_ts account_id tracking_id user_id adid (multiple adids per conversion possible) impression_count impression_most_recent_ts time_diff conversion_logged_in conversion_advertiser_value conversion_advertiser_string conversion_advertiser_event_type
pixel-user association table pixel_id user_id time data
FIG. 13 illustrates an example method for processing a message generated by activation of a tracking pixel. As described herein, when a browser or other client application processes a web page with a tracking pixel, it transmits a request to the social network system 100. When the social network system 100 receives the tracking pixel message (1302), it validates the tracking pixel message (1304) by, for example, validating the tracking identifier of the message using the hash value. The social network system 100 then accesses a user identifier of the user associated with the tracking pixel message (1306). In one implementation, the tracking pixel message may include a browser cookie that includes information that resolves to a user identifier or a user identifier account. In one implementation, the social network system 100 also determines whether the user is currently logged in to the social networking website and records this information in connection with the association. The social network system 100 then adds an entry to the pixel-user association table (see above) (1308) and passes the entry to a log_conversion function to add the entry to an unattributed conversion log for possible attribution in a batch data processing step (1310).
FIG. 14 illustrates an example method implemented by a log_conversion function that operates in a batch process to attribute ad impressions and/or ad clicks to conversions recorded in the pixel-user association table. In one implementation, the log_conversion function augments the ad_imps table with the dim dim_admarket_campaign_map (1402) and filters out the entries corresponding to ad impressions related to advertisers that do not track conversions (1404). The log_conversion function then joins the augmented ad_imps table with clicks from ad_clicks_annotated table (1406) and further joins the resulting table with the augmented ad_imps table with unattributed_conversions on account ID and user ID (1408). The log_conversion function then filters the joined table into table of conversions paired with most recent ad_imps entry (1410), groups attributed conversions by tracking ID, then successively by adgroup, campaign and account ID (1412), and loads the resulting tables into an analytics databases (1414) from which conversion tracking reports for advertisers can be generated.
In addition, a tracking report can be created that presents conversion metrics from the point of view of the named tracking pixels, like “sign-up”. This will allow an advertiser to see how each ad or campaign has performed on specific events in the advertiser's sales funnel. The report may also show more detailed metrics about conversions. In one implementation, the report may include the following fields: date, conversion event name, SKU, number of conversions, conversion value (average), conversion rate, number of conversions 28 days from impression, number of conversions 7 days from impression, and number of conversions 1 day from impression.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example computing system architecture, which may be used to implement one of the computing systems described above, such as web servers, and the like. In one embodiment, hardware system 1500 comprises a processor 1502, a cache memory 1504, and one or more executable modules and drivers, stored on a tangible computer readable medium, directed to the functions described herein. Additionally, hardware system 1500 includes a high performance input/output (I/O) bus 1506 and a standard I/O bus 1508. A host bridge 1510 couples processor 1502 to high performance I/O bus 1506, whereas I/O bus bridge 1512 couples the two buses 1506 and 1508 to each other. A system memory 1514 and one or more network/communication interfaces 1516 couple to bus 1506. Hardware system 1500 may further include video memory (not shown) and a display device coupled to the video memory. Mass storage 1518, and I/O ports 1520 couple to bus 1508. Hardware system 1500 may optionally include a keyboard and pointing device, and a display device (not shown) coupled to bus 1508. Collectively, these elements are intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems, including but not limited to general purpose computer systems based on the x86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as any other suitable processor.
Hardware system 1500 may include a variety of system architectures; and various components of hardware system 1500 may be rearranged. For example, cache 1504 may be on-chip with processor 1502. Alternatively, cache 1504 and processor 1502 may be packed together as a “processor module,” with processor 1502 being referred to as the “processor core.” Furthermore, certain embodiments of the present invention may not require nor include all of the above components. For example, the peripheral devices shown coupled to standard I/O bus 1508 may couple to high performance I/O bus 1506. In addition, in some embodiments, only a single bus may exist, with the components of hardware system 1500 being coupled to the single bus. Furthermore, hardware system 1500 may include additional components, such as additional processors, storage devices, or memories.
An operating system manages and controls the operation of hardware system 1500, including the input and output of data to and from software applications (not shown). The operating system provides an interface between the software applications being executed on the system and the hardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may be used, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh Operating System, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIX operating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operating systems, and the like. Of course, other implementations are possible. For example, the nickname generating functions described herein may be implemented in firmware or on an application specific integrated circuit.
1. A method comprising, by one or more processors associated with one or more computing devices of a social networking system:
maintaining, by one or more of the processors, a profile for each of one or more users of the social networking system, wherein the profile for each user comprises information about the user and information identifying connections to one or more other users of the social networking system;
tracking, by one or more of the processors, actions taken by one or more of the users of the social networking system on third-party websites by:
receiving one or more tracking pixel messages generated by a browser client associated with one or more of the users of the social networking system, respectively, the browser client having accessed a tracking pixel associated with a third-party website having a different domain than the social networking system, each tracking pixel message comprising information about an action taken by one or more of the users of the social networking system on the third-party website, wherein each tracking pixel message points to an endpoint at the social networking system, and wherein each tracking pixel message is generated based on a tracking identifier, a hash of the tracking identifier, a category of the action, and a value associated with the category of the action;
validating each tracking pixel message by validating the tracking identifier of the tracking pixel message using the hash value;
identifying a user of the social networking system associated with the tracking pixel message by accessing a user identifier associated with the tracking pixel message, the user identifier corresponding to the user; and
recording, for each validated tracking pixel message, the action taken by the user on the third-party website in a pixel-user association table;
correlating, by one or more of the processors, each of the actions on the third-party website recorded in the pixel-user association table with one or more social advertisements presented to one or more of the users of the social networking system, wherein each social advertisement presented to a particular user of the social networking system comprises information identifying an action taken by one or more other users of the social networking system on the third-party website, wherein each of the one or more other users are connected within the social networking system as friends to the particular user to whom the social advertisement is presented; and
generating a tracking report for display to an advertiser associated with the one or more social advertisements, the tracking report comprising statistical data that associates one or more user profile attributes to one or more of the social advertisements and actions on the third-party website that correlate to respective ones of the social advertisements.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical data comprises a conversion rate for at least one social advertisement presented to one or more users on the social networking system based on a number of impressions for the at least one social advertisement and a number of logged actions that have been correlated to the at least one social advertisement.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the statistical data further comprises a click thru rate for the at least one social advertisement presented to one or more users on the social networking system based on the number of impressions for the at least one social advertisement and a number of logged clicks that have been correlated to the at least one social advertisement.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical data comprises, for at least one social advertisement presented to one or more users on the social networking system, a number of conversions that have been correlated to an ad impression, wherein the conversion occurred within a specified period of time from the correlated ad impression.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the social advertisements are generated from data recorded from activities of one or more users by the social networking system.
receiving a plurality of advertisement requests to advertise on the social networking system, each advertisement request identifying a type of action on which to base a social advertisement; and
matching an advertising request to a logged action, wherein the logged action matches the type of action identified in the advertising request, and wherein the logged action is associated with another user of the social networking system with whom the user has a connection,
generating a social advertisement directed to the user, wherein the social advertisement comprises an informational message that communicates the matching logged action, and
providing content to the user, the content comprising the social advertisement.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the activities of the one or more users are actions taken by the one or more users on the third-party website.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein each profile further includes information specifying whether the user associated with the profile has opted-in or opted-out of allowing social advertisements to reference the user's actions on the third-party website.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the social advertisements are presented to users of the social networking system on a webpage of the social networking system.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the social advertisements are presented to users of the social networking system on a webpage of the third-party website.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the social advertisements are presented to users of the social networking system on a webpage of another third-party website.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising logging, by one or more of the processors, the actions taken on the third-party website, each logged action including information about the action.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein each tracking pixel message further comprises a product identifier or service identifier associated with the action.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein each tracking pixel message further comprises information identifying a product or service purchased by one or more of the users.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical data comprises post-impression conversion data for each social advertisement.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a report comprising a comparison of conversion data for one or more social advertisements and one or more other advertisement types that are presented to the one or more of the users of the social networking system.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the action taken by the user on the third-party website comprises making a purchase on the third-party website.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the action taken by the user on the third-party website comprises downloading content from the third-party website.
19. A social networking system comprising: one or more processors; a memory comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors; and the one or more processors coupled to the memory and operable to execute the instructions, the one or more processors being operable when executing the instructions to:
maintain a profile for each of one or more users of the social networking system, wherein the profile for each user comprises information about the user and information identifying connections to one or more other users of the social networking system;
track actions taken by one or more of the users of the social networking system on third-party websites by:
correlate each of the actions on the third-party website recorded in the pixel-user association table with one or more social advertisements presented to one or more of the users of the social networking system, wherein each social advertisement presented to a particular user of the social networking system comprises information identifying an action taken by one or more other users of the social networking system on the third-party website, wherein each of the one or more other users are connected within the social networking system as friends to the particular user to whom the social advertisement is presented; and
generate a tracking report for display to an advertiser associated with the one or more social advertisements, the tracking report comprising statistical data that associates one or more user profile attributes to one or more of the social advertisements and actions on the third-party website that correlate to respective ones of the social advertisements.
20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions operable to cause one or more processors associated with one or more computing devices of a social networking system to:
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Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:SCHOEN, KENT MATTHEW;DINGLE, GREGORY LUC;KENDALL, TIMOTHY;SIGNING DATES FROM 20110429 TO 20110607;REEL/FRAME:026408/0529