PTO/AIA/15 (03-13)
`Approved for use through 01/31/2014. 0MB 0651-0032
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
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`"\
`
`Attorney Docket No.
`
`14-EP-CON6
`First Named Inventor Shkedi, Roy
`
`Title
`
`Media properties selection method and system based
`on expected profit from profile-based ad delivery
`
`,
`
`UTILITY
`PATENT APPLICATION
`TRANSMITTAL
`
`\...
`
`(Only for new non provisional applications under 37 CFR 1.53/b))
`
`APPLICATION ELEMENTS
`See MPEP chapter 600 concerning utility patent application contents.
`
`ADDRESS TO:
`
`Express Moil Lobel No. n/a - filed via EFS-Web
`Commissioner for Patents
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`ACCOMPANYING APPLICATION PAPERS
`Assignment Papers
`(cover sheet & document(s))
`Name of Assignee AlmondNet, Inc.
`0 Power of Attorney
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`10. 0
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`1. □ Fee Transmittal Form
`(PTO/SB/17 or equivalent)
`2. □ Applicant asserts small entity status.
`See 37 CFR 1.27
`3. □
`Applicant certifies micro entity status. See 37 CFR 1.29.
`Applicant must attach form PTO/SB/15A or B or equivalent.
`[Toto/ Pages 26
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`serving as an oath or declaration under 37 CFR 1. 63/e))
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`a. D Newly executed (original or copy)
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`b. 0
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`A copy from a prior application (37 CFR 1.63(d))
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`* See note below.
`7.0 Application Data Sheet
`See 37 CFR 1.76 (PTO/AIA/14 or equivalent)
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`in duplicate, large table, or Computer Program (Appendix)
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`(MPEP § 503) (Should be specifically itemized)
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`(if foreign priority is claimed)
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`Under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i). Applicant must attach form PTO/SB/35
`or equivalent.
`18. □ Other:
`
`*Note: (1) Benefit claims under 37 CFR 1. 78 and foreign priority claims under 1.55 must be included in an Application Data Sheet (ADS).
`(2) For applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 111, the application must contain an ADS specifying the applicant if the applicant is an
`assignee, person to whom the inventor is under an obligation to assign, or person who otherwise shows sufficient proprietary
`interest in the matter. See 37 CFR 1.46(b).
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`I Telephone I
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`/Louis J. Hoffman/
`Louis J. Hoffman
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`Email
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`12/04/2015
`Date
`Registration No. 38918
`(Attorney/Agent)
`
`This collection of information is required by 37 CFR 1.53(b). The information is required to obtain or retain a benefit by the public which is to file (and by the USPTO
`to process) an application. Confidentiality is governed by 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.11 and 1.14. This collection is estimated to take 12 minutes to complete,
`including gathering, preparing, and submitting the completed application form to the USPTO. Time will vary depending upon the individual case. Any comments on
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`TO: Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
`If you need assistance in completing the form, ca/11-800-PTO-9199 and select option 2.
`
`AlmondNet, Inc.
`IPR2022-01064
`Ex. 2004
`Page 1 of 258
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`

`

`MEDIA PROPERTIES SELECTION METHOD AND SYSTEM
`
`BASED ON EXPECTED PROFIT FROM PROFILE-BASED AD DELIVERY
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`5
`
`This application claims the benefit of provisional application Serial No.
`
`60/804,937, filed June 16, 2006, and provisional application Serial No. 60/805,119, filed
`
`June 19, 2006, which are herein incorporated by reference.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`10
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`The present invention generally relates to profile-based behavioral targeting
`
`advertisement placement methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to
`
`electronic advertisement placement based on expected profit from the placement.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`15
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`DoubleClick's "Boomerang" is a service for advertisers that places a cookie on
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`computers of visitors to an advertiser's site for the purpose of finding those visitors on
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`other sites where DoubleClick is the ad server ("ad" is short for advertisement). When
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`the same visitors are found on those other sites, additional advertiser's ads are served to
`
`them by the DoubleClick ad sever or by the advertiser's ad server following a redirect
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`20
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`from the DoubleClick ad server.
`
`The only server that can read a cookie on a user's computer is a server operating
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`under the same domain as the server that placed the cookie on a user's computer to
`
`begin with. In other words, a cookie placed by a server operating under one domain
`
`cannot be read by another server working under a separate domain. That is why the
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`25
`
`advertiser cannot expect to place a cookie of its own (e.g., ford.com cookie) on a visitor
`
`to its site and then later expect the DoubleClick ad server ( doubleclick.com) to be able to
`
`recognize the visitor when that visitor is visiting sites where DoubleClick serves ads by
`
`reading the ford.com cookies. Only a server operating under the DoubleClick domain
`
`can read a cookie placed by a server operating under the DoubleClick domain. So,
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`30 DoubleClick needs to place a doubleclick.com cookie on visitors to the ford.com site for
`
`1
`
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`Ex. 2004
`Page 2 of 258
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`DoubleClick to later find those visitors within other sites, i.e., where the DoubleClick ad
`
`server is used to serve ads.
`
`For a site to have its ad served by an ASP-hosted ad server, such as the one
`
`operated by DoubleClick, the site needs to redirect visitors from the site to the
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`5 DoubleClick ad server, to fetch the ad from the server. Following the redirect from the
`
`site, the visitor accesses the DoubleClick ad server. Because the DoubleClick server is
`
`operating under the DoubleClick domain, it can read the DoubleClick cookie or cookies
`
`and then recognize that it encountered the same visitor in the past. In this example, the
`
`DoubleClick ad server recognizes the visitor as someone who visited the ford.com site.
`
`10
`
`AlmondNet, Tacoda, RevenueScience, and other companies (herein "BT
`
`companies"; "BT" stands for behavioral targeting) specialize in targeting ads based on
`
`observed behavior of sites' visitors. BT companies place a cookie (or cookies) on the
`
`computers of visitors to specific sections of a publisher's website or on the computers of
`
`visitors of the publisher who conducted a specific action such as search, click content,
`
`15
`
`click an ad, request information, acquire a product, etc.
`
`The placement of cookies allows those publishers or the BT company itself to sell
`
`ads to advertisers. Those ads will be presented to the visitors when they are found later
`
`on the same site or on other sites. Such sites can be either a site where the BT company's
`
`software is used or a site where the BT company has bought media. The BT company
`
`20 may buy the media on behalf of itself or on behalf of the publisher, who is interested in
`
`delivering ads to its audience outside the publisher's site.
`
`Although a BT company (AlmondNet, Tacoda, RevenueScience, etc.) acts as an
`
`agent that places cookies on the computers of publisher's visitors for the purpose of
`
`delivering targeted ads to the publisher's visitors on other sites, the publisher can work
`
`25 without an agent and place cookies or tags on the computers of the publisher's own
`
`visitors for the purpose of delivering ads to those visitors on other sites where the
`
`publisher buys ad space. Such a publisher, acting without an agent, is also included in
`
`the definition of a BT company.
`
`A publisher may also be referred to as a "profile supplier" when it transfers
`
`30
`
`profile information, such as behavioral information, demographic information, etc., to a
`
`2
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`IPR2022-01064
`Ex. 2004
`Page 3 of 258
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`

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`BT company. Therefore, a publisher that is a BT company may also be its own profile
`
`supplier. Furthermore, although the name "BT company" implies the targeting of ads is
`
`based on collected behavioral profiles, a BT company may also collect other kinds of
`
`profile information, such as demographic information or user-provided information,
`
`5
`
`and target ads to those visitors wherever found based on the collected profile
`
`information.
`
`Another kind of a BT company is a company that has software installed on a
`
`person's computer, such as toolbar software, desktop search software, weather
`
`software, or any kind of software that is used by the computer's user. Such software
`
`10
`
`also monitors the computer user's visits to different publishers' sites and media
`
`properties and collects profile information about the computer user for the purpose of
`
`delivering ads to the user within ad space of sites and media properties that the user
`
`visits based on the collected profiles.
`
`A BT company using software installed on a user's computer does not need the
`
`15
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`cooperation of a visited media property to collect information about the visitor's visit
`
`because that software monitors whatever the user is doing on his or her computer. A BT
`
`company that has software installed on a user's computer is therefore its own profile
`
`supplier. Such software can place a cookie or another kind of tag on the user's
`
`computer. Because the software is installed on the user's computer, it can write cookies
`
`20
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`readable by any domain. That means that the BT company can place a tag or cookie of a
`
`second media property, if the BT company would like the second media property to
`
`recognize the visitor when the visitor visits that second media property site, by simply
`
`having the software place a cookie operating under the domain of the second property
`
`on the visitor's computer. The software may also report the collected profiles to a
`
`25
`
`central server of the BT company.
`
`The central server may also tag the visitor or arrange for the visitor to be tagged
`
`by operators of other media properties. A BT company can place a cookie on a site's
`
`section when a visitor's computer visits that section, if a code of the company was
`
`integrated into the page of that section by the site that owns the page. The code (e.g.,
`
`30 HTML or Java) redirects to the BT company's server all visitors to the page. Also, in the
`
`3
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`case that the BT company is the publisher itself, the publisher will simply "cookie" (by
`
`itself) all visitors that either read a specific content, search, click, ask for information,
`
`make a phone call, etc.
`
`The BT company's server, which either gave the site a unique code for a page,
`
`5
`
`received from the page its URL, or received access to the page's content that could be
`
`analyzed by the BT company's server, etc., identifies the content read by the page's
`
`visitor or the keyword searched for by the user, or an ad clicked on the page, etc. The
`
`content read by the page visitor could be identified by the BT company's server
`
`whether the content was reported by the site or whether the content was identified
`
`10
`
`following the analysis of the page. The server then places a cookie on the user's
`
`computer indicating what content was read by the visitor on the page, what keyword
`
`was searched for by the user, or what ad was clicked on the page, etc. The placed cookie
`
`indicates that information (1) in the cookie per se, (2) in a central database operated by
`
`the server where the cookie ID is used as a record finder, or (3) both in the cookie and in
`
`15
`
`the database.
`
`Although the above description relates to cookies, a cookie is only one example
`
`of a possible tag. A tag generally is a unique identifier used to mark a person
`
`electronically visiting a media property, such as a web site, TV channel, radio show, or
`
`the like, using a computer, a mobile device, a TV set, a TV set top box, or any other
`
`20
`
`device.
`
`The tag is used for the purpose of delivering additional ads to a visitor to one
`
`media property when that visitor is found later on other media properties, based on the
`
`visitor's profile collected on the first media property. The profile could be the observed
`
`behavior of the visitor on the media property, demographic information collected on
`
`25
`
`the media property, profile information provided by the visitor to the media property,
`
`etc.
`
`Because the purpose of the tag is to enable the delivery of additional ads on other
`
`media properties visited by the visitor, and because the delivery of an ad requires only
`
`control of the ad space and not necessarily control of the entire media property visited
`
`30
`
`by the visitor, a media property (in the present context) can also be defined as any
`
`4
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`Ex. 2004
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`equipment that controls an ad space viewed by a visitor, including a web site, an ad
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`network's site (where the ad network represents the ad space of different sites), a TV
`
`program, some of the ad space within TV programs or TV channels (represented by a
`
`cable company), a TV network, or any ad space for which an entity is allowed to sell an
`
`5
`
`advertisement and deliver it within the ad space; whether the ad space is owned by that
`
`entity, or whether the entity pays the owner of the ad space when using its ad space to
`
`deliver an ad sold by the entity. Ad space can be on a web site, in a TV program, in a
`
`text message, in a radio show, in any broadcasted material, in any streaming video or
`
`audio, etc. An ad space can be a fixed position on a page, or the ad space can be made
`
`10
`
`available by a web site to an ad network (for example) only when the web site did not
`
`sell all of the site's ad inventory and therefore wishes to make some of the inventory
`
`available to the ad network.
`
`In the case of a media property controlling an ad space viewed by a visitor, a
`
`specific ad space on a page might be controlled only temporarily. For example, in the
`
`15
`
`case of the web site that did not sell all the ad impressions available to be delivered
`
`within an ad space on a page and therefore makes the unsold ad space available to the
`
`ad network to fill, the ad network will have temporary control of the ad space, i.e.,
`
`when that ad space is given to it by the web site. Once the site redirects the ad space on
`
`the page to the ad network (so the ad network could fill the ad space with an ad sold by
`
`20
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`the ad network), the ad network controls the ad space and has access to the visitor
`
`viewing the ad space that was redirected to the ad network by the site, and therefore the
`
`ad network's equipment is considered a media property, as it controls an ad space
`
`viewed by a visitor.
`
`The tag can be placed on the device used by the user to access the first media
`
`25
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`property where the user's profile was collected (in case of observed behavior, that
`
`behavior can be reading a specific content, searching, clicking an ad or content, making
`
`a phone call, asking for product information, acquiring a product, or taking any other
`
`kind of action). A tag placed on the device (1) could be read only by a server operating
`
`under the same domain as the server that placed the tag on the device to begin with as
`
`30
`
`in the case of a cookie for example, (2) could be placed on the device when the user
`
`5
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`Ex. 2004
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`visited the first media property, and then the tag can be read by any second media
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`property visited by the visitor, or (3) could be encrypted and, while accessed by any
`
`second media property visited by the visitor, the tag could be deciphered only by
`
`second media property computers that received the deciphering code from the first
`
`5 media property. In case of a tag placed by software installed on a user's computer, the
`
`tag could be whatever the software wants it to be, including a cookie of any domain.
`
`A tag does not have to be placed on the user's device. A tag can also be used in a
`
`central database of a BT company or a central database of any second media property
`
`visited by the visitor, where the tag could be a unique identifier either of the device or
`
`1 0
`
`of the user. In the case where the tag identifies the device, the tag might denote an IP
`
`address, a phone number, a device's manufacturer serial number, etc. A cookie placed
`
`on the device can also uniquely identify the device and the cookie therefore can be used
`
`as a tag in a central database. In the case where the tag identifies the user, the tag might
`
`denote the username and password used to access a media property, a user's name and
`
`15
`
`address, a user's e-mail, a user's social security number, or any other personal
`
`identifiable information.
`
`As already mentioned, the observed behavior of a visitor to a first media
`
`property is referred to as profile information about a specific visitor. A visitor's profile
`
`might be enhanced by the visitors' observed behavior on other media properties or by
`
`20
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`other profile information collected on other media properties.
`
`A visitor's profile can be represented by a unique tag, or the profile can be stored
`
`with the tag, whether the tag is placed on the device, on a central database, or both. For
`
`example, the profile can be stored within a cookie (tag) on a visitor's device, or the
`
`profile can be stored in a central database where the tag connected to the profile is used
`
`25
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`as a unique identifier of the visitor's device or of the visitor personally. The profile can
`
`also be saved on both the device and a central database.
`
`One of the major challenges in targeting a first site visitor on another site with an
`
`ad based on his observed behavior on sites visited by him previously (such as the first
`
`site) is actually finding the visitor on other sites.
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`6
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`Ex. 2004
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`Depending on the tag placed (or arranged to be placed) by the BT companies, the
`
`visitor could be recognized either by the entity that placed the tag to begin with (which
`
`requires access by that entity to the tag when the visitor visits a second media property)
`
`or by the second media property reading the tag (in which case the tag can be placed by
`
`5
`
`the second media property if the BT company so arranges).
`
`BT companies, acting as an agent, can find visitors tagged by them, when the
`
`tagged visitors are present on sites that use the BT companies' software ( either to serve
`
`ads or in conjunction with those sites' ad servers). BT companies (whether it is acting as
`
`an agent, is the publisher itself, or is operating with any other BT company) can find
`
`1 0
`
`visitors tagged by them, when the visitors are present on sites and ad networks where
`
`the BT companies buy media.
`
`To make the process of finding people who visited a first media property on
`
`other media properties more efficient, BT companies enable sites and ad networks (from
`
`whom the BT companies buy media) to also place their cookies on the computers of
`
`15
`
`people (visitors) on whose computers the BT company has placed its own cookie. That
`
`technique is similar to the way DoubleClick's Boomerang system places cookies on
`
`visitors to an advertiser site for the purpose of finding those visitors later on other sites
`
`where Doubleclick serves ads.
`
`An ad network ad server (or any other server of the ad network) or a site's ad
`
`20
`
`server (or any other server of the site) can place their own cookies on the computers of
`
`visitors that are redirected to them by the BT companies, for the purpose of later
`
`recognizing those visitors within their own ad space (i.e., the ad space of the ad
`
`networks or the sites).
`
`This process - where sites and ad networks place cookies on visitors' computers
`
`25
`
`redirected to them by BT companies ( or other entities interested in additional ads
`
`presented to their audience elsewhere) - is sometimes referred to as "cookie matching."
`
`For example, weather.com might place a weather.com cookie on a user's
`
`computer marking him or her as a visitor to BT company #1, following a redirect from
`
`BT company #1 server. Later, if and when the weather.com ad server recognizes that the
`
`30
`
`same visitor (previously redirected to him by BT company #1) happened to visit
`
`7
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`weather.com (weather.com will recognize the visitor by reading its own weather.com
`
`cookie, which marked the visitor as a BT company #1 visitor), the weather.com ad
`
`server can, if it wishes, redirect the visitor's computer to the BT company #1 server, to
`
`have an ad served to the visitor, either by BT company #l's ad server or another ad
`
`5
`
`server to which BT company #1 ad server further redirects the visitor. The weather.com
`
`ad server's decision, whether or not to redirect the visitor's computer to BT company
`
`#l's server can be based on the price that BT company #1 promised to pay weather.com
`
`for the presentation of an ad within weather.corn's ad space, to a visitor previously
`
`redirected to weather.com by BT company #l's server.
`
`1 0
`
`Although the above-described processes enable a second media property to
`
`recognize a first media property visitor, it is still a very inefficient process for the
`
`following reasons:
`
`(1) Media properties' ad space prices vary.
`
`(2)
`
`Profiles of media properties' visitors are worth different amounts to
`
`15
`
`advertisers depending on the profiles. For example, a person who searched for a
`
`"mortgage" on a search engine might be presented with a mortgage-related ad, for
`
`which the advertiser is willing to pay $3 if that person clicks on that ad. A person who
`
`searched for "socks" on a search engine might be presented with a socks-related ad, for
`
`which the advertiser is willing to pay $0.50 if that person clicks on that ad. A person
`
`20 who visited the mutual fund section of a site might be presented with a mutual-fund
`
`related ad (wherever the person is found, i.e., either on the same site or on other sites),
`
`in which case the advertiser is willing to pay $25 for every thousand ads (CPM)
`
`presented to people who visited that mutual fund section.
`
`(3)
`
`The same person might have several profile attributes in his or her profile
`
`25
`
`(as a result, for example, of that person conducting several different searches and
`
`visiting different sites). Different advertisers might be willing to pay different amounts
`
`for delivering ads to the person based on the specific profile attribute or attributes that
`
`the respective advertisers are looking to target.
`
`In summary, the cost of ad space at a second media property might not be
`
`30
`
`covered by revenues generated for a BT company buying the space, i.e., from an ad
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`8
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`delivered within the second media property ad space based on a profile collected in a
`
`first media property or properties. Alternatively, the revenues might cover the media
`
`cost but not deliver satisfactory margins to the BT company, when taking into account
`
`other costs, such as ad sales people cost, ad serving cost etc.
`
`5
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`According to various aspects of the invention, therefore, an automatic system is
`
`described to facilitate selection of media properties on which to display an
`
`advertisement, responsive to a profile collected on a first media property, where a BT
`
`1 0
`
`company calculates expected profit for an ad correlated with the profile and arranges
`
`for the visitor to be tagged with a tag readable by the selected media property.
`
`The profit can be calculated by deducting, from the revenues that are expected to
`
`be generated from an ad delivered based on the collected profile, at least the price of ad
`
`space at a media property where the BT company might like to deliver ads to the
`
`15
`
`profiled visitor. When the calculated profit is positive (i.e., not a loss), the BT company
`
`arranges for the visitor to be tagged with a tag readable by the selected media property
`
`through which the BT company expects to profit.
`
`The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects of the
`
`present invention, Indeed, the inventor contemplates that the invention may include all
`
`20
`
`systems and methods that can be practices from all suitable combinations of the various
`
`aspects summarized above, as well as those disclosed in the detailed description below
`
`and particularly pointed out in the claims filed with the application. Such combinations
`
`have particular advantages not specifically recited in the above summary.
`
`25
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`Figure 1 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a profit-based
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`selection method.
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`Figure 2 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a profit-based
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`selection method.
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`Figure 3 is a schematic of an exemplary embodiment of entities and associated
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`equipment used with a profit-based selection method.
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`DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
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`5
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`Referring to the embodiment of Fig. 1, responsive to receiving (1000) profile
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`information (e.g., actions) of an electronic visitor with respect to a first media property,
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`the instant method includes (i) determining (2000) anticipated revenues and/ or profit
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`resulting from placing an advertisement targeted to the visitor based on the received
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`profile, and (ii) automatically selecting (3000) at least one media property for which it is
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`1 0
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`anticipated that there will be a positive profit in delivering an ad to the profiled visitor.
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`The method includes, via an electronic communications media, for each of the selected
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`media properties, arranging (4000) for electronic storage of a tag readable by said media
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`property, wherein the tag is associated with the visitor.
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`Profit can be defined as:
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`(1) revenues expected to be generated, from an ad delivered based on the
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`collected profile, minus the ad space cost at a specific media property (i.e., Pr = Rev
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`(profile) - P (mp), where "Pr" is profit, "Rev" is revenue generated from advertising to
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`a visitor with a particular profile, and "P" is the price charged by media property "mp"
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`for advertising in an ad space);
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`(2) revenues expected to be generated, from an ad delivered based on the
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`collected profile, minus the sum of (a) the price for buying ad space on the specific
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`media property, (b) ad serving cost, (c) ad sales associated cost, and (d) desired profit
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`margin (i.e., Pr= Rev(profile)- P(mp) - C - Mar, where "C" represents costs and "Mar"
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`represents desired profit margin), or
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`(3) in other ways.
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`If the calculated profit indicates that the BT company will lose (negative profit)
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`from delivering an ad, based on the received profile on any of the possible media
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`properties where it is buying ad space, the BT company won't arrange for the visitor to
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`be tagged by a tag readable by any of those media properties, and the BT company
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`30 might even decide not to collect the profile (so the visitor's profile will not be stored).
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`Using the equation defining profit in item (2) just above, the question of whether the
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`profit is positive or negative, as stated in this paragraph, equates to testing (4) whether
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`Rev(profile) - P(mp) - C - Mar > 0, which is the same as (5) whether Rev(profile) -
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`P(mp) - C > Mar, or (6) whether Rev(profile) > P(mp) + C + Mar, or (7) whether P(mp)
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`5
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`< Rev(profile) - C - Mar. Grouping the terms on the right-hand side of the equation in
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`item (7) reduces that equation to the same as testing whether the price charged by a
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`media property is less than a price cap, with the price cap being defined as the
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`difference determined by subtracting from the revenue generated from advertising to a
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`visitor with a particular profile a selected amount, here defined by the costs and desired
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`profit margin.
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`Likewise, using the equation defining profit in item (1) just above, the question of
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`whether the profit is positive or negative equates to testing (8) whether Rev(profile) -
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`P(mp) > 0, which equates to testing (9) whether P(mp) < Rev(profile), which again is the
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`same as testing whether the price charged by a media property is less than a price cap,
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`15 with the price cap being defined in this instance simply as the available revenue
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`generated from advertising to a visitor with a particular profile.
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`The method includes the following basic steps, shown in Figs. 2 and 3:
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`1.
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`A profile supplier 20 redirects (100) a visitor 10 to a BT company 30 along
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`with the visitor's profile. In case the profile supplier 20 is also the BT company 30, this
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`20
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`step either does not take place or takes place internally, for example via an internal
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`redirect from one server to another server operating under the same domain that
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`belongs to the publisher /BT Company. In case the BT company 30 has software on a
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`user's computer 11 that enables it to monitor the user's visits to media properties (e.g.,
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`20, 40, 50) without the cooperation of the media properties, this step either does not take
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`place or takes place internally, e.g., by the software on the user's computer
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`communicating the collected profile to the BT company's central server.
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`2.
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`The BT company 30 recognizes (200) the content read by the user 10, the
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`category to which the content read by the user 10 belongs, the keyword searched for by
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`the user 10, an ad clicked by the user 10, or any other action conducted on the page/ site
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`30
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`20 by the user 10 (such as click on an item of content or an ad, purchase of a product,
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`request for more information, etc) during the site visit (110). The recognizing might be
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`as simple as pulling a keyword for which the visitor 10 searched from a URL used by
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`the profile supplier 20 to redirect the visitor 10 to the BT company 30, for example.
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`3.
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`The BT company 30 optionally can categorize (300) specific content read
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`5
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`by the user 10, or an action conducted by a user 10. An example action might be a
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`search for a keyword. To illustrate, suppose a person searched for an airline ticket to
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`Florida on a travel site. When the BT company 30 receives that information, in addition
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`to recording the search for the flight to Florida in the visitor's profile (whether the
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`profile is stored in the cookie or tag, the BT company's central database 31, or both of
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`10
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`those places), the BT company 30 may further categorize the person under the "Travel"
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`category and in the "Search for Flights" subcategory of "Travel."
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`4.
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`The BT company 30 calculates (400) expected revenues from delivering
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`ads based on the collected profile (Rev(profile) in the equations above). The revenues
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`are calculated based on the kind of collected profile: (a) Expected revenues from content
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`read by the visitor 10 can be calculated by checking, for example, how much advertisers
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`are willing to pay for delivering ads to visitors who read specific content. (b) Expected
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`revenues from delivering ads based on a keyword searched by the visitor 10 can be
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`calculated by