Methods, apparatus, and systems for associating different instances of user engagement with content providers.

Abstract

The method includes receiving, at a first entity in a service provider network for a first instance of user engagement with a content provider, a first message including a first ID associated with the provision of content from the content provider, identifying a subscriber and determining an identifier for the subscriber, and transmitting the subscriber's identifier and the first ID to a second entity. The first ID is stored in association with the subscriber's identifier. This is repeated for a second instance upon receipt of a second message including a second ID from the subscriber or another subscriber device of the subscriber. The second ID is stored together with the subscriber identifier and thus with the first ID. Information indicative of the stored association is provided to the content provider, thereby enabling the content provider to associate the first instance with the second instance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and system for associating different instances of user engagement with a content provider.

Background Art

[0002] A user can engage with a content provider via the Internet using a device such as a personal computer or smartphone. As an example of engagement between a user and a content provider, the user can control the browser of the device to send a content request to the content provider (e.g., by entering the URL of the content provider into the browser) via a computer network such as the Internet, and the content provider can return a response including content (e.g., a web page) to the user device for user viewing and interaction via the computer network.

[0003] When there are multiple instances of such engagement between a user and a content provider (e.g., multiple request and response cycles), it is desirable for the content provider to know that each engagement is with the same user. For example, this may enable the website provided by the content provider to function more efficiently. For example, this allows the content provider to provide continuity across instances of engagement (e.g., maintaining a login or shopping cart across instances of engagement), and / or to provide an accurate analysis such as how many unique users have engaged with the content provider or how each user has interacted with the content provider.

[0004] It is known that cookies are used to identify a user across multiple instances of engagement with a content provider. A cookie is a packet of data sent by a content provider to the browser on a user's device, which is returned by the browser each time the browser subsequently accesses the content provider and is used to identify the user or track user access to the content provider. Cookies set by the domain with which the user is engaging (i.e., the content provider) are known as first-party cookies.

[0005] However, cookies have drawbacks. For example, cookies are set on a user's specific device's browser. Therefore, cookies do not allow content providers to know when the same user is engaging with them, even if they are using different devices. For example, cookies expire. Browsers, for instance, delete cookies when the session is closed or after a certain period of time, or the cookies themselves are set to expire after a certain period of time. Therefore, even if the same device is used across different instances of engagement, depending on the deletion and / or expiration of cookies, cookies may not allow content providers to know when the same user is engaging with them at different times.

[0006] The objective of this invention is to mitigate at least some of the drawbacks of the prior art. [Overview of the project]

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider, the method comprising: for a first instance, a first entity in the service provider network receiving a first message from the subscriber's subscriber device, wherein the first message includes a first ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the first instance; identifying the subscriber based on the received first message; determining the subscriber identifier based on the subscriber identification information; transmitting the subscriber identifier and the first ID to a second entity; and storing the first ID in association with the subscriber identifier in the second entity, the method comprising: for a second instance, a first entity in the service provider network receiving a first message from the subscriber's subscriber device or another The method includes the steps of: receiving a second message from a subscriber device, the second message including a second ID different from a first ID, the second ID being associated with the provision of content from a first content provider to a subscriber device or another subscriber device in a second instance; identifying a subscriber based on the received second message; determining a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber identification information; transmitting the identifier for the subscriber and the second ID to a second entity; and storing the second ID in association with the subscriber identifier and thereby in association with the first ID in the second entity, the method further includes the step of the second entity providing a third entity associated with the first content provider with information indicating a stored association between the second ID and the first ID, thereby enabling the third entity to associate the first instance with the second instance.

[0008] Optionally, a first ID is generated when a subscriber device retrieves content from a first content provider in a first instance, and / or a second ID is generated when the subscriber device or another subscriber device retrieves content from the first content provider in a second instance.

[0009] Optionally, a first ID is generated by the first content provider and provided to the subscriber device when the subscriber device retrieves content from the first content provider in the first instance, and / or a second ID is generated by the first content provider and provided to the subscriber device or other subscriber device when the subscriber device or other subscriber device retrieves content from the first content provider in the second instance.

[0010] Optionally, a first ID is stored as a cookie on the subscriber device by the first content provider, and / or a second ID is stored as a cookie on the subscriber device or other subscriber devices by the first content provider.

[0011] Optionally, in a first instance, content obtained by a subscriber device from a first content provider includes code or a link to code that causes the subscriber device to send a first message to a first entity in the service provider network, and / or in a second instance, content obtained by the subscriber device or another subscriber device from a first content provider includes code or a link to code that causes the subscriber device or another subscriber device to send a second message to a first entity in the service provider network.

[0012] Optionally, a second message is received from another subscriber device, and a second ID is associated with the delivery of content from the first content provider to the other subscriber device in the second instance.

[0013] Optionally, a second message is received from the subscriber device, the second ID is associated with the delivery of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the second instance, and the second instance is at a different time than the first instance.

[0014] Optionally, the second entity is outside the service provider network, and for the first instance, the step of identifying a subscriber based on a first message in the first entity includes the step of determining a first subscriber identifier for a subscriber that identifies the subscriber within the service provider network, the step of determining a subscriber identifier based on subscriber identification information includes the step of deriving a second subscriber identifier for a subscriber that identifies the subscriber in the second entity based on the first subscriber identifier, the method includes the step of modifying the first message in the first entity to include the second subscriber identifier, and sending the modified first message to the second entity to the second entity The method includes the step of using Titi to store a first ID in association with a subscriber identifier, and for a second instance, the step of identifying a subscriber based on a second message in the first entity includes the step of determining a first subscriber identifier for the subscriber, the step of determining a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber identification includes the step of deriving a second subscriber identifier for the subscriber based on the first subscriber identifier, and the method includes the step of modifying a second message in the first entity to include a second subscriber identifier, and sending the modified second message to a second entity to use for the second entity to store a second ID in association with a subscriber identifier.

[0015] Optionally, the method further includes, for a first instance, storing in a second entity the first ID in association with a second subscriber identifier, and for a second instance, storing in a second entity the second ID in association with a second subscriber identifier.

[0016] Optionally, for a first instance, the subscriber's second subscriber identifier is already stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity, and the step of deriving the second subscriber identifier includes looking up the second subscriber identifier using the first subscriber identifier, and / or the subscriber's second subscriber identifier is not already stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity, and the step of deriving the second subscriber identifier includes generating a second subscriber identifier for the first subscriber identifier.

[0017] Optionally, the first message and the second message each include a third ID that identifies a first content provider from which the content is provided, and the method includes the step of storing the third ID in association with the first ID and the second ID, respectively, in the second entity for the first and second instances.

[0018] Optionally, the step of providing the third entity with information indicating the association between the second ID and the first ID is in response to the determination that the first ID and the second ID are stored in association with the third ID.

[0019] Optionally, Message 1 and Message 2 include consent information associated with a First ID and a Second ID, respectively, and the consent information for the First ID and the Second ID indicates whether the subscriber consents to the use of the identification information of the First ID and the Second ID by the service provider network, respectively, and the method includes, for the First and Second instances, the Second Entity, storing the consent information for the First ID associated with the First ID and storing the consent information for the Second ID associated with the Second ID, respectively.

[0020] Optionally, the step of providing a third entity with information indicating an association between a second ID and a first ID responds to a determination that there is valid consent for the service provider network to use subscriber identification information for the first ID and the second ID, based on stored consent information for the first ID and the second ID.

[0021] Optionally, the consent information for the first ID includes the consent expiration date for the first ID, the consent information for the second ID includes the consent expiration date for the second ID, and the step of determining that there is valid consent for both the first and second IDs is based on a comparison between the stored consent expiration dates for the first and second IDs and the current time.

[0022] Optionally, this method includes the step of updating the stored consent expiration date for the first ID based on consent information associated with the second ID contained in the second message.

[0023] Optionally, the method includes, for a third instance, the steps of: receiving a third message in the second entity that includes a first ID and updated consent information associated with the first ID, or a second ID and updated consent information associated with the second ID; and updating the stored consent information for the first ID or the second ID in the second entity based on the updated consent information associated with the first ID and / or the second ID, respectively.

[0024] Optionally, a third message may be received by the second entity from a subscriber device via an access network other than the service provider network, and without going through the service provider network.

[0025] Optionally, the method includes the steps of: a second entity receiving a first ID and / or a second ID from a third entity, associated with browsing attributes indicating the attributes of the subscriber's engagement with the content provider in the first instance and / or the second instance; a second entity determining a subscriber identifier associated with the browsing attribute based on the received first ID and / or second ID and a stored association between the first ID, the second ID, and the subscriber identifier; a second entity storing the browsing attribute in association with the subscriber identifier; and a second entity providing the advertising entity with segment information indicating at least the browsing attribute.

[0026] Optionally, the method includes the steps of: a second entity receiving a token from an advertising entity, wherein the token has been provided to the advertising entity by the subscriber's subscriber device when the subscriber's subscriber device has requested an advertisement; and a second entity matching the token from the advertising entity with a token stored in the second entity associated with a subscriber identifier, wherein the second entity responds to the step of matching the token by providing the advertising entity with segment information indicating at least browsing attributes.

[0027] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider, the system comprising a first entity and a second entity in the service provider network, wherein the first entity, for a first instance, receives a first message from the subscriber's subscriber device, the first message includes a first ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the first instance, identifies the subscriber based on the received first message, determines the subscriber identifier based on the subscriber identification information, transmits the subscriber identifier and the first ID to the second entity, and for a second instance, receives a second message from the subscriber's subscriber device or another subscriber device, the second message includes the first ID The system includes a second ID distinct from D, the second ID being associated with the delivery of content from a first content provider to a subscriber device or another subscriber device in a second instance, identifying a subscriber based on a received second message, determining a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber's identification information, and transmitting the subscriber identifier and the second ID to a second entity, the second entity storing the first ID in association with the subscriber identifier for the first instance, storing the second ID in association with the subscriber identifier and thereby in association with the first ID for the second instance, and providing a third entity associated with the first content provider with information indicating the stored association between the second ID and the first ID, thereby enabling the third entity to associate the first instance with the second instance.

[0028] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider. The method includes, in a second entity, for a first instance, storing a first ID in association with a subscriber identifier, where the first ID is included in a first message received from a subscriber device by a first entity within the service provider network, the subscriber is identified by the first entity based on the first message, the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity based on the identification of the subscriber, the first ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted by the first entity to the second entity, and the first ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the first instance; and for a second instance, storing a second ID in association with the subscriber identifier and thereby in association with the first ID, where the second ID is included in a second message received from the subscriber device or another subscriber device by the first entity, the subscriber is identified by the first entity based on the second message, the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity based on the identification of the subscriber, the second ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted by the first entity to the second entity, and the second ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device or another subscriber device in the second instance. The method further includes, in the second entity, providing information indicating the stored association between the second ID and the first ID to a third entity associated with the first content provider, thereby enabling the third entity to associate the first instance with the second instance.

[0029] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider. The method includes, in a third entity associated with the first content provider, for a first instance, recording a first ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to a subscriber device in the first instance; for a second instance, recording a second ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device or another subscriber device in the second instance; receiving, from a second entity, information indicating an association between the first ID and the second ID, wherein the first ID and the second ID are stored by the second entity in association with a subscriber identifier, and the subscriber is identified by the first entity in the service provider network based on a first message including the first ID received from the subscriber device and based on a second message including the second ID received from the subscriber device or another subscriber device, and the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity based on the identification of the subscriber, and the first ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted from the first entity to the second entity, and the second ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted from the first entity to the second entity; and associating the first instance with the second instance based on the received information indicating an association between the first ID and the second ID.

[0030] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided that is configured to execute the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

[0031] According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to execute the method according to any one of the first, third, or fourth aspects is provided.

[0032] Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred examples of the invention, given merely as examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0033] [Figure 1] This diagram schematically shows an example network. [Figure 2] This is a signaling diagram illustrating, in a schematic manner, the communication between components of a network, as an example. [Figure 3] This is a signaling diagram illustrating communication between network components in another example. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart illustrating a general method using one example. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram showing an identifier graph as an example. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart illustrating a general method using one example. [Figure 7] This is a flowchart illustrating a general method using one example. [Figure 8] This diagram schematically shows an example network. [Figure 9] This is a signaling diagram illustrating, in a schematic manner, the communication between components of a network, as an example. [Figure 10] This is a schematic diagram showing an example of the apparatus. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0034] Referring to Figure 1, an exemplary telecommunications network 200 in which an example of the present invention can be used is shown.

[0035] The telecommunications network 200 comprises a first subscriber device 222a, a second subscriber device 222b, a service provider network 224, a cloud 230, a computer network such as the Internet 229, and a content provider 238. The service provider network 224 comprises a first entity 226 and a data store 228. The cloud 230 comprises a second entity 234 and a data store 236. The content provider 238 comprises a third entity 240.

[0036] The service provider network 224 is operated by a telecommunications service provider. Subscribers subscribe to telecommunications services provided by the telecommunications service provider in order to obtain access to the Internet 229. The telecommunications services may provide access to the Internet 229 for a given subscriber device 222a, 222b, a group of subscriber devices 222a, 222b, or for a residential or commercial facility network associated with a given subscriber. The service provider network 224 may, for example, perform subscriber authentication and may have a routing fabric for routing traffic between authenticated subscriber devices 222a, 222b and the Internet 229. The service provider may include, for example, a carrier, a mobile network operator (MNO), a wireless network operator, or an Internet service provider (ISP). Subscriber devices 222a, 222b may be, for example, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone (including a “smartphone”), a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, or a smart TV.

[0037] In some examples, the service provider network 224 may include a carrier network operated by a carrier. The carrier network can provide wired and / or wireless network access. For example, the carrier network may include a mobile network and / or an Internet service provider (ISP).

[0038] In some examples, the service provider network 224 may include a mobile network (which may be in the form of a cellular network) operated by a mobile network operator (MNO). For example, the service provider network 224 may include one or more of a Global Mobile Communication System (GSM) network and a Universal Mobile Communication System (UMTS) network, which implement one of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standards, for example. The service provider network 224 may include, for example, a radio access network and a core network coupled by one or more service edge components. The radio access network may comprise one or more base stations (such as node base stations -NB- or extended node base stations -eNB-). Subscriber devices 222a, 222b, such as user equipment (e.g., in the form of mobile phones, so-called smartphones, laptops, and tablets), may be attached to the core network via the radio access network. The core network may include a serving gateway, a packet data network gateway, and a Gateway General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) support node. Subscriber devices 222a and 222b may connect to other public packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 229, via the service provider's core network. Entities such as the first entity 226 within the service provider network 224 may be responsible for authentication, access management, billing, etc., of subscribers / subscriber devices 222a and 222b. This may be performed in association with a home subscriber server or user profile server function (or authentication center for GSM) within the service provider network 224.

[0039] In some examples, the service provider network 224 includes an Internet service provider network operated by an ISP. An ISP may provide wired network access, for example, via dial-up, (asymmetric) digital subscriber lines, cable modems, integrated service digital networks, and / or fiber optic lines.

[0040] In some examples, the service provider network 224 may, instead of or in addition to, provide telecommunications services in the form of wireless network (e.g., "Wi-Fi") access to at least one subscriber device 222a, 222b, which may replace or add to mobile access (e.g., MNO) and / or ISP functions. The broader network 229 is responsible for routing traffic (e.g., packetized data traffic encoded according to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or a secure extension of HTTP such as HTTPS) to and from one or more entities accessible via the Internet 229, such as content providers 238 and clouds 230.

[0041] In either case, the service provider network 224 can function as a gateway between subscriber devices 222a, 222b and a wider network 229, such as the public internet 229. The wider network 229 may be used, at least partially, to route data between the service provider network 224 and content provider 238 and / or one or more other server devices 234.

[0042] The telecommunications network 200 may also include several further network segments (not shown) and, as needed, several boundary / gateway / caching entities (not shown) used to cache and service commonly accessed data in order to translate between the various network protocols used in each network segment, reduce the load between network segments, and / or manage access to each network segment.

[0043] Access by subscriber devices 222a, 222b to data and / or computer-implemented services via the telecommunications network 200 can be enabled using browser software or other applications (hereinafter referred to as "browsers") on subscriber devices 222a, 222b. Other applications on subscriber devices 222a, 222b may include games or software utilities that also access content via the telecommunications network 200. For example, a user may control the browser to send a request for content to a content provider (for example, by entering the content provider's URL into the browser), and the content provider 238 may send a response containing the content (e.g., a web page) back to the user device for user viewing and interaction. A browser session on one of the subscriber devices 222a, 222b may include a series of one or more requests and responses made to and received from one or more remote entities, such as the content provider 238, via the telecommunications network 200. Browsers may be used to browse web pages, retrieve files, and perform services such as instant messaging via the telecommunications network 200. Browser session requests and responses may contain one or more data packets. Such packetized data is formatted and transmitted according to one or more network protocols used in a given portion of the network.

[0044] The content provider 238 comprises a third entity 240, which may be a web server 240. The third entity 240 may be configured to provide content to subscriber devices 222a and 222b. The third entity 240 may be configured to determine the analysis of engagement with the content provider 238. For example, the third entity 240 may comprise a data management platform (DMP) for the content provider 238, which the content provider 238 determines and remembers the analysis of engagement with the content provider 238. Although only one-third of the entities 240 are shown, it will be understood that the content provider 238 may comprise several more web servers. The content provider 238 is located outside the service provider network 224.

[0045] The content provider 238 and subscriber devices 222a, 222b can exchange network requests and responses so that content is delivered to the subscriber devices 222a, 222b. In this example, network requests and responses between subscriber devices 222a, 222b and the content provider 238 are communicated over the service provider network 224 and a wider network 229, which may be, for example, the internet. In some examples, network requests do not have to be browser-based and may relate to, for example, voice and / or data requests, location requests to a positioning system, and / or network requests sent by one or more applications or operating systems on subscriber devices 222a, 222b, among other things, processed by the service provider network.

[0046] In some examples, each network request may include an HTTP request sent between two entities within network 200. A browser session can include an HTTP session as such. An HTTP request may include a GET or POST method call. In other implementations, a network request may include a packet of data sent by another application layer protocol or another protocol within the network communication stack.

[0047] In the example, subscriber devices 222a, 222b and content provider 238 can communicate via a secure communication channel, allowing the service provider network 224 to route messages between subscriber devices 222a, 222b and content provider 238, but preventing the message content from being read. For example, subscriber devices 222a, 222b and content provider 238 can communicate by exchanging messages using an appropriate secure Layer 7 communication protocol, such as HTTPS. The routing via the service provider network 224 described herein can be implemented using policy-based routing based on the IP address of the network request.

[0048] Cloud 230 comprises a second entity 234 and a storage device 236. The second entity 234 may be implemented by one or more servers, for example, a cloud-based web server. Cloud 230, specifically the second entity 234, communicates with a content provider 240 and a service provider network 224. The second entity 234 may have an established, for example, trusted relationship with the service provider network 224. For example, as will be described in more detail below, the service provider network 224 may be configured to provide the second entity 234 with information about its subscribers. The second entity 234 may have an established, for example, trusted relationship with a content provider 238. For example, as will be described in more detail below, the second entity 234 and the content provider 238 may exchange information to enable the content provider 238 to associate different instances of engagement between subscribers and the content provider 238.

[0049] As described above, subscribers subscribe to a service provider network 224 (e.g., a mobile network operator, MNO, or Internet service provider, ISP) so that they are provided with access to the Internet 229. To provide this service, the service provider network 224 may store data about its subscribers in a storage device 228, for example. Each subscriber of the service provider network 224 may be assigned an identifier (hereinafter also referred to as a first subscriber identifier) ​​that uniquely identifies the subscriber among other subscribers of the service provider network 224. The subscriber identifier may be stored by the service provider network 224 in a storage device 228, for example, in association with other data, in order to enable the service provider network 224 to provide its services. As an example, the subscriber identifier may be stored in association with an IP address or range of IP addresses to which the ISP provides its services to the subscriber. For example, the IP address or range of addresses may be allocated by the ISP within the subscriber's premises. Therefore, with respect to requests and / or responses from subscriber devices 222a, 222b containing this IP address or an IP address from a range of IP addresses, the ISP can determine that the request / response is associated with the subscriber and, therefore, can, for example, perform billing or other functions accordingly. As another example, the subscriber identifier may be stored in association with the International Mobile Device Identification Information (IMEI) of subscriber devices 222a, 222b that the MNO provides its services to the subscriber. Therefore, with respect to requests and / or responses from subscriber devices 222a, 222b containing this IMEI, the MNO can determine that the request / response is associated with the subscriber and, therefore, can, for example, perform billing or other functions accordingly.

[0050] When there are multiple instances of user engagement with content provider 238 (e.g., multiple request and response cycles, or multiple browser sessions), it may be desirable for content provider 238 to know that each instance of engagement is with the same user. Broadly speaking, by leveraging subscriber identification by the service provider network 224, as will be described in more detail below, an example of the present invention enables content provider 238 to associate different instances of engagement between subscribers and content provider 238. Thus, content provider 238 can know that each instance of such engagement is with the same subscriber. This may, for example, enable websites provided by content provider 238 to function more efficiently. For example, this enables content provider 238 to provide continuity across instances of engagement (e.g., maintaining logins or shopping carts across instances of engagement), and / or provide accurate analytics such as how many unique users have engaged with content provider 238, or how each user interacts with content provider 238. Other benefits are described below.

[0051] Referring to Figures 2 and 3, signaling diagrams illustrating the signaling between components of network 200 in an example. In both cases, the signaling enables content provider 238 to associate different instances of subscriber engagement in service provider network 224 with content provider 238. In both Figures 2 and 3, the signaling occurring for a first instance of engagement between service provider network 224 subscribers and content provider 238 is indicated by the label "A", and the signaling occurring for a second different instance of engagement between service provider network 224 subscribers and content provider 238 is indicated by the label "B". Figure 2 shows an example where the first instance A has a first subscriber device 222a, and the second instance B has a second different subscriber device 222b. Figure 3 shows an example where the first instance A is on the first subscriber device 222a at the first time, and the second instance B is also on the first subscriber device 222a at a later time.

[0052] Referring first to Figure 2, the first subscriber device 222a and the content provider 238 exchange one or more requests and responses 330 so that the content provider 238 provides content to the first subscriber device 222a. For example, the first subscriber device 222a may request content from the content provider 238, and the content provider may respond to the first subscriber device 222a with content. As described above, these requests / responses 330 may be routed by the service provider network 224. However, these requests / responses may be encrypted between the first subscriber device 222a and the content provider 238, for example, according to the HTTPS protocol, and therefore the service provider network 224 may not be able to read the encrypted content of the requests / responses 330.

[0053] The provision of content 330 by a content provider to a first subscriber device 222a is associated with a first identifier (ID). For example, the first ID may be a universally unique ID, for example, a 128-bit string that is randomly generated and therefore unique for practical purposes. For example, the first ID may have the format "^[0-9a-f]{8}\b-[0-9a-f]{4}\b-[0-9a-f]{4}\b-[0-9a-f]{4}\b-[0-9a-f]{12}$", where "0-9a-f" indicates that the characters can be digits from 1 to 9 or letters from a to f, and the numbers in curly braces indicate the number of characters in a particular section. An example of a UUID that can be randomly generated as the first ID is "2278de4c-d790-4beb-9b12-4721090f18f6".

[0054] The first ID may be generated when the first subscriber device 222a retrieves content from the content provider 238. For example, the first ID may be generated by the content provider 238 and provided to the first subscriber device 222a when the content is provided to the subscriber device 222a. The first ID may be included in the response containing the content. For example, the first ID may be set or stored as a cookie on the first subscriber device 222a (e.g., on the browser of the first subscriber device 222a) by the content provider 238 when the content is provided by the content provider 238. As another example, the content provided to the first subscriber device 222a by the content provider 238 may include code (or a link to code that can be subsequently fetched by the subscriber device 222a) that causes the first subscriber device 222a to generate the first ID and send it to the content provider 238. In either case, the first ID is available to both the content provider 238 and the first subscriber device 222a. The content provider 238 may store the first ID in association with information relating to this first instance of engagement with the content provider 238, such as browsing attributes including the characteristics of the content provided and / or the interaction between the subscriber and the content, and / or continuity information such as language preferences or the content of the shopping cart established by the subscriber.

[0055] The first subscriber device 222a sends a first message 332 containing a first ID to a first entity 224 in the service provider network 224. For example, the content provided to the first subscriber device 222a by the content provider 238 (i.e., the content that the first subscriber device 222a obtains from the first content provider 238) may include code (or a link to code that can be further fetched by the subscriber device 222a) that causes the first subscriber device 222a to send the first message to the first entity 224. In some examples, the first message may be an HTTPS GET request that includes the first ID as a query parameter. In some examples, the first message 332 may be a "synchronous" request, i.e., a synchronous request that requests the service provider network 224 to process the request synchronously. The first message 332 may be encrypted between the first subscriber device 222a and the service provider network 238, and the service provider network may decrypt the first message 332 to obtain the first ID. In either case, the service provider network 238 obtains the first ID from the first message 332.

[0056] A first entity 226 of the service provider network 224 identifies a subscriber based on a first message 332 it has received. For example, the step of identifying a subscriber based on a received message 332 may include determining a first subscriber identifier for the subscriber that identifies the subscriber within the service provider network 224. The first entity 226 can identify a subscriber by accessing a storage device 228 in the service provider network 238. For example, the storage device 228 can store an association between the first subscriber identifier and, for example, an IP address or range of IP addresses to which the service provider network 238 provides services to the subscriber, and / or, for example, the International Mobile Device Identification (IMEI) or International Mobile Subscriber Identification (IMSI) of each of the subscriber devices 222a, 222b to which the service provider network 238 provides services to the subscriber. The first message 332 may include, for example, the source IP address to which the first message 332 is sent, and / or, for example, the IMEI or IMSI of the subscriber device 222a to which the first message is sent (e.g., in the header of the HTTPS request 332). The first entity 226 may use this information to look up a first subscriber identifier in the storage device 228 and thereby identify the subscriber. Other known methods may be used by the service provider network 224 to identify the subscriber (for example, to determine the first subscriber identifier) ​​from messages sent from subscriber devices 222a, 222b.

[0057] The first entity 226 of the service provider network 224 determines a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber's identification information. In this example, the identifier for the subscriber may be a second subscriber identifier for the subscriber that identifies the subscriber in the second entity 234 within the cloud 230. For example, the first subscriber identifier that identifies the subscriber within the service provider network 224 may not be permitted to be transmitted outside the service provider network 224. Therefore, a second subscriber identifier for the subscriber (different from the first subscriber identifier) ​​may be determined, which may be permitted to be transmitted outside the service provider network 224. For example, the first entity 226 may determine a subscriber identifier by deriving a second subscriber identifier based on the first subscriber identifier. The second subscriber identifier may uniquely identify the subscriber in the second entity 236. For example, the second subscriber identifier may be a UUID. The second subscriber identifier may be derived based on the first subscriber identifier. For example, if a second subscriber identifier for a subscriber is already stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity 226 (e.g., in the associated storage device 228), deriving the second subscriber identifier may include using the first subscriber identifier to look up the second subscriber identifier. If a second subscriber identifier for a subscriber is not already stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity 226 (e.g., in the associated storage device 228), deriving the second subscriber identifier may include generating a second subscriber identifier for the first subscriber identifier. In this case, the generated second subscriber identifier may be stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity 226 (e.g., in the associated storage device 228).

[0058] The determined subscriber identifier and first ID are sent from the first entity 226 to the second entity 234. Specifically, in this example, the second subscriber identifier and first ID are sent from the first entity 226 in the service provider network 224 to the second entity 234 in the cloud 230. For example, the first entity 224 may be configured to modify the first message 332 (which already contains the first ID) to also contain the second subscriber identifier, and then send the modified first message 336 to the second entity 234. For example, the first message 332 may be an HTTP request, and the first entity 224 may modify the HTTP request by inserting the second subscriber identifier into the header of the HTTP request.

[0059] The second entity 234 stores the first ID in a storage device 236, for example, on the cloud, in association with the determined subscriber identifier 338. For example, the second entity 234 may receive the modified first message 336, extract the second subscriber identifier and the first ID from the modified first message 336, and store the first ID in a storage device 236, for example, in association with the second subscriber identifier 338.

[0060] In either case, the second entity 234 stores the first ID in association with the determined subscriber identifier in a storage device 236, for example, within the cloud 230 338. This completes the signaling of the first instance A of user engagement with the content provider 238. At this stage, the content provider 238 has knowledge of the association of the first ID with the first instance A of subscriber engagement with the content provider 238, and the second entity has knowledge of the association of the first ID with the subscriber identified by the service provider network 224.

[0061] In the case of the second instance B of subscriber engagement with content provider 238, in this example the subscriber uses a different subscriber device 222b, but otherwise the signaling 340-348 is the same as the signaling 330-338 in the first instance A.

[0062] Specifically, in the second instance B, the second subscriber device 222b and the content provider 238 communicate 340, and content is provided to the second subscriber device 222b from the content provider 238. The second ID is associated with the provision of content from the content provider 238 to the second subscriber device 222b in the second instance B. The second ID is different from the first ID, but may be in the same format as the first ID, for example, a randomly generated UUID as described above. The second ID may be generated in the same way as the first ID, as described above. For example, the second ID may be generated when the second subscriber device 222b obtains content from the content provider 238 in the second instance. For example, the second ID may be generated by the content provider 238 when the subscriber device 222b obtains content from the content provider 238 and provided to the second subscriber device 222b. The second ID may be stored as a cookie on the second subscriber device 222b by the content provider 238. In either case, the content provider 238 may store an association between the second ID and an instance of the second engagement with the content provider (for example, by storing the second ID in association with a set of browsing attributes of the subscriber engagement with the content provider in the second instance B).

[0063] The second subscriber device 222b sends a second message 342 containing the second ID to the first entity 226 in the service provider network 238. As described for the first instance A, the content retrieved by the second subscriber device 222b in instance B may include code (or a link to code) that causes the second subscriber device 222b to send the second message 342 to the first entity 226. For example, the second message 342 may be an HTTPS GET request, such as a synchronization request, similar to the first message 332 described above.

[0064] The first entity 226 identifies the subscriber based on the second message 342. For example, in the second instance, as described for the first instance A, identifying the subscriber based on the second message may include accessing the storage device 228 344 and determining the subscriber's first subscriber identifier by searching for the first subscriber identifier in the storage device 228 (for example, based on the source IP address or IMEI or IMSI or other information contained in the second message).

[0065] The first entity 226 determines a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber's identification information. For example, the first entity 226 may use the first subscriber identifier to look up a second subscriber identifier in the storage device 228 (which, in this example, has already stored the second subscriber identifier in association with the first subscriber identifier as a result of processing the first message 332).

[0066] The first entity 226 sends a second ID and subscriber identifier (e.g., a second subscriber identifier) ​​to the second entity 234 in the cloud 230. For example, the first entity 226 may be configured to modify the second message 342 to include the second subscriber identifier and send the modified second message 346 to the second entity 234.

[0067] The second entity 234 stores the second ID in association with the first ID by storing it in a memory device 348 (for example, in a memory device 236) in association with the subscriber identifier.

[0068] In either case, the second entity 236 stores the second ID in a storage device 236, for example, in the cloud 230, in association with the determined subscriber identifier, and thus associates it with the first ID. This completes the signaling of the second instance B of user engagement with the content provider 238. At this stage, the content provider 238 knows the association between the first ID and the first instance A of subscriber engagement, and the association between the second ID and the second instance B of subscriber engagement, but does not know that the first instance A and the second instance B belong to the same subscriber. However, the second entity 234 has knowledge of the association between the first ID and the second ID and the subscriber identifier (e.g., the subscriber's second identifier), and therefore the first ID and the second ID are associated with the same subscriber in the service provider network 224.

[0069] The second entity 234 provides the third entity 240, which is associated with the content provider 238, with information indicating the association between the stored second ID and the first ID 354. This allows the third entity 240 to associate the first instance A with the second instance B.

[0070] In some examples, the second entity 234 may autonomously provide this association information, for example, in response to the fact that the second ID is stored in association with the first ID. In some examples, the second entity 234 may provide the association information at intervals, for example, at regular intervals. In some examples, the third entity 240 may request the second entity 234 to provide the association information 350. For example, the third entity 240 may request all stored association information. In another example, the third entity 240 may provide the second entity 234 with the second ID and request information on whether this second ID is associated with other stored IDs, for example, the first ID from the first instance A. The second entity 234 may search the stored associations in the storage device 236 352, generate information indicating the stored association between the second ID and the first ID, and provide it to the third entity 240.

[0071] In either case, the second entity 234 provides the third entity 240 associated with the content provider 238 with information indicating a stored association between the second ID and the first ID. The content provider 238 now has knowledge of the association between the first ID and the first instance A of subscriber engagement, the association between the second ID and the second instance B of subscriber engagement, and the association between the first ID and the second ID. Thus, the content provider 238 can associate the first instance A of user engagement with the second instance B of user engagement. For example, the content provider 238 may determine that the first instance A and the second instance B are from the same user. However, the content provider 238 has not been provided with information that identifies the subscriber, and the content provider 238 does not know the identity of the subscriber 238. Thus, the content provider can determine that the two instances A and B are from the same subscriber and are not the subscriber's identifying information.

[0072] Content provider 238 may enable the website provided by content provider 238 to function more efficiently by correlating the first A and second B instances of subscriber engagement. For example, this would enable content provider 238 to provide continuity across instances of engagement (e.g., maintaining login or shopping cart across instances of engagement), and / or provide accurate analytics such as how many unique users engaged with content provider 238 or how each user interacted with content provider 238. It should be noted that this is provided even if different instances of subscriber engagement with content provider 238 are using different subscriber devices 222a, 222b.

[0073] Referring to Figure 3, the signaling of the components of the telecommunications network 220 is shown when the first instance A and the second instance B have the same subscriber device 222a.

[0074] In the example in Figure 3, signaling 330 to 338 in the first instance A is the same as described above for Figure 2, so it will not be explained again.

[0075] In the example in Figure 3, the signaling 440-454 in the second instance B is the same as the signaling 340-354 in the second instance B described above for Figure 2, except that the engagement in the second instance B in Figure 3 is with the first subscriber device 222a.

[0076] Specifically, referring to Figure 3, in the second instance B, the first subscriber device 222a and the content provider 238 communicate 440 so that content is provided to the first subscriber device 222a by the content provider 238. The provision of content 440 in the second instance B is associated with a second ID that is different from the first ID. For example, the content provider 238 may generate a second ID when the subscriber device 222a requests content from the second instance, and the content provider 238 may set a cookie containing the second ID on the first subscriber device 222a. This can happen, for example, if the cookie containing the first ID set on the first subscriber device 222a by the content provider 238 in the first instance A has expired, or has been deleted by the browser of the first subscriber device 222a, or is not available to the first subscriber device 222a in the second instance. For example, the browser may delete the cookie containing the first ID after the session ends or after a certain period of time, or the cookie itself may expire after a certain period of time, or it may be required to expire after a certain period of time. In this case, in the second instance, the content provider 238 generates a second ID and sets a cookie containing the second ID on the first subscriber device 222a because it is not provided with a cookie containing the first ID when the subscriber device 222a requests content.

[0077] Similar to the signaling 330-338 in the first instance A described above, in the second instance B, the first subscriber device 222a sends the second ID to the first entity 226 in the second message 442. The first entity 226 identifies the subscriber based on the second message 442 444, determines the subscriber identifier (e.g., the second identifier) ​​based on the subscriber identification, and sends the subscriber identifier and the second ID to the second entity 234. For example, the first entity 226 may send a modified version 446 of the second message 442 containing the second ID and the second subscriber identifier. The second entity 234 stores the second ID in association with the subscriber identifier 448, and thus stores it in association with the first ID.

[0078] The second entity 234 provides the third entity 240, which is associated with the content provider 238, with information indicating a stored association between the second ID and the first ID 454, thereby enabling the third entity 240 to associate the first instance A with the second instance B. For example, the information may be provided in response to a request 450 from the third entity 240 for association information, and the second entity 234 retrieves the association information from the storage device 236 452.

[0079] Therefore, content provider 238 can associate the first instance A of user engagement with the second instance B of user engagement. This can provide the aforementioned advantages. It should be noted that this is provided even if the different instances of engagement between the subscriber and content provider 238 occur at different times.

[0080] In the example described above with reference to Figures 1-3, the second entity 234 is located within the cloud 230 and outside the service provider network 224. However, this is not necessarily the case, and in other examples (not shown), the second entity 234 may be part of the service provider network 224. For example, both the first entity 226 and the second entity 234 may be part of the service provider network 224, and may be implemented, for example, as part of the same device or group of devices within the service provider network 224, or as a functional unit of a server within the service provider network 224. In these cases, the subscriber identifier may be the second subscriber identifier, or possibly the first subscriber identifier. For example, the first entity 226 can identify a subscriber, determine a first identifier for the subscriber, and pass this to the second entity 234 (along with the first or second ID as described above). The second entity 234 may use the first subscriber identifier as the subscriber identifier, in these cases where the second entity 234 is located within the service provider network 224. In any case, in these examples, the second entity 234 may store the first ID and the second ID in association with the determined identifier of the subscriber, for example, within the service provider network 224. The second entity 234 may then provide the content provider 238 with information regarding the association between the first ID and the second ID. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the method can be extended to multiple service provider networks, as in the examples described above with reference to Figures 1 to 3, where the second entity 234 is outside the service provider network 224. For example, there may be multiple service provider networks 224 (not shown) rather than just one service provider network 224 as in Figure 1, and the method described above may be applied equally to each subscriber of the multiple service provider networks.

[0081] As described above, a method is provided for associating different instances A and B of engagement between subscribers of the service provider network 224 and content providers 238, as shown in the flowchart in Figure 4.

[0082] For a first instance A, the method includes, in step 402, a first entity 226 in the service provider network 224 receives a first message 332 from a subscriber's subscriber device 222a, wherein the first message 332 includes a first ID associated with the provision of content 330 from a content provider 238 to the subscriber device 222a in the first instance A, and in step 404, an identification of the subscriber based on the received first message 332. For example, the first entity 226 may identify the subscriber based on the received first message 332 by any of the exemplary methods described above. The method further includes, in step 406, a first entity 226 determining a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber identification. The method further includes, in step 408, a first entity 226 sending the subscriber identifier and the first ID to a second entity 234.

[0083] In the case of the first instance A, the method further includes, in the second entity 234, step 410, storing the first ID in association with a subscriber identifier. For example, the subscriber identifier may be the first subscriber identifier determined as described above (e.g., if the second entity 234 is within the service provider network 224) or the second subscriber identifier (e.g., if the second entity 234 is outside the service provider network 224).

[0084] In the case of a second instance B, the method includes, in step 412, receiving second messages 342, 442 from the subscriber's subscriber device 222a or another subscriber device 222b, where the second messages 342, 442 include a second ID different from the first ID, where the second ID is associated with the provision of content 330, 440 from the content provider 238 to the subscriber device 222a or other subscriber device 222b in the second instance B, and in step 414, identifying the subscriber based on the received second messages 342, 442. For example, the first entity 226 may identify the subscriber based on the received second messages 342, 442 by any of the exemplary methods described above. The method further includes, in step 416, determining a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber identification in the first entity 226. The method further includes, in step 418, the step of the first entity transmitting the subscriber identifier and the second ID to the second entity 234.

[0085] In the case of a second instance B, the method further includes steps 348, 448 in the second entity 234, in step 420, associating the second ID with a subscriber identifier and thereby associating it with the first ID for storage.

[0086] The method further includes, in step 422, a step in the second entity that enables the third entity 240 associated with the content provider 238 to associate the first instance A with the second instance B by providing the third entity 240 associated with the content provider 238 with information indicating a stored association between the second ID and the first ID.

[0087] In some examples, the method may further include a third entity 240 that associates a first instance A with a second instance B based on information indicating an association between a second ID and a first ID.

[0088] In some examples, the method may further include a third entity 240 modifying the content provided by the content provider 238 to subscriber device 222a or other subscriber device 222b in the second instance B, based on a determined association with the first instance A. For example, the third entity may modify the content to provide continuity with the first instance A, such as maintaining user logins, language preferences, and / or items such as shopping carts. In some examples, the method may also include the step of providing the modified content to subscriber device 222a or other subscriber device 222b in the second instance B. This allows the website provided by the content provider 238 to function more efficiently, for example, enabling efficient user interaction with content provided through different instances.

[0089] In some examples, the method may include a third entity 240 that stores information about a first instance A together with information about a second instance B, based on a determined association between the first instance A and the second instance B, for example, by merging information about the first instance A with information about the second instance B. For example, this may more accurately reflect the number of unique users engaged with the content provider. In some examples, the information about the instances may include, for each instance A, B, browsing attributes such as the characteristics of the content provided and / or subscriber interactions with the content, and / or continuity information such as language preferences or content in the shopping cart established by the subscriber. This allows the content provider to generate a more accurate analysis of user interactions with the content provider 238.

[0090] Referring to Figures 1 to 3, in the example described above, there is only one content provider 238. However, it will be understood that this method may be applied to multiple content providers (not shown). To facilitate this, in some examples, the first message 332 and the second messages 342 and 442 may each further include a third ID that identifies the content provider from which the content is provided. The method may also include the step of storing the third ID in the second entity 234 in association with the first ID and the second ID, respectively, for the first instance A and the second instance B.

[0091] In some examples, the third ID is a three-character code (e.g., "AAA") that uniquely identifies content provider 238 from among other content providers configured to provide association information to the second entity 234. In some examples, the third ID may be in any format and may be letters and / or numbers. The third ID may be contained in a cookie set by content provider 238 in the first and second instances A and B. The code (or link to the code) contained in the content may cause the first and second subscriber devices 222a and 222b to include the third ID in the first and second messages 332, 342, and 442, respectively. This third ID can be passed to the second entity 234 in the same exemplary manner as described above for the first and second IDs. The second entity 234 may then store the third ID in association with the first and second IDs, respectively.

[0092] In these examples, the second entity 234 providing the third entity 240 with information indicating the association between the second ID and the first ID may be in response to a determination that the first and second IDs are stored in association with the third ID. For example, the second entity 234 could simply send the association information for the first and second IDs stored in association with the third ID that identifies the content provider 238 to the content provider 238. This could help ensure that the association information is provided only to content providers 238 that the subscriber has engaged with instances A and B.

[0093] In some cases, this method can be implemented in environments where subscriber consent may be required in relation to the processing of personal data. For example, in some implementation environments, as described above, there may be a requirement that subscribers consent to the use of identification by the service provider network 224 in order to provide the ability to associate different instances of engagement between subscribers and content providers.

[0094] To implement such a consent mechanism, in some examples, the first message 332 and the second messages 342, 442 may include consent information associated with the first ID and the second ID, respectively. The consent information for the first ID and the second ID can indicate whether the subscriber consents to the use of identification by the service provider network 224 for the first ID and the second ID, respectively. In these examples, the method may include, for both the first and second instances A and B, the second entity 234, storing consent information for the first ID in association with the first ID, and storing consent information for the second ID in association with the second ID, respectively.

[0095] The consent information may take the form of a consent flag or other marker within the first / second messages 332, 342, 442, for example. In some examples, the consent information may include one or more bits indicating whether the user has provided consent for the first / second ID to which it is associated. In some examples, the consent information may include a consent expiration date. For example, consent information for the first ID may include a consent expiration date for the first ID, and consent information for the second ID may include a consent expiration date for the second ID. For example, if the subscriber consents, the consent expiration date may be set to an appropriate, for example, predetermined future time (e.g., one day in the future), and if the subscriber does not consent, the consent expiration date may be set to 0. For example, if the user gives consent, the consent expiration date may be in the form of a Unix timestamp in seconds from the epoch, and if the user does not give consent, the consent expiration date may be set to 0 (zero).

[0096] Consent information may be determined, for example, based on the subscriber's response to a dialog box or pop-up window presented to the subscriber when the subscriber devices 222a and 222b process content received from the content provider 238. For example, the content provided to subscriber devices 222a and 222b may include code (or a link to code) that causes subscriber devices 222a and 222b (e.g., their browser) to present a dialog box or pop-up window to obtain the subscriber's consent. Consent information may be stored in a cookie set by the content provider 238 on subscriber devices 222a and 222b. This code may cause subscriber devices 222a and 222b to include consent information associated with the first ID and the second ID in the first message 332 and the second messages 342 and 442, respectively. Consent information may be passed to the second entity 234 in the same exemplary manner as described above for the first ID and the second ID. The second entity 234 may then store the consent information for the first ID and the second ID, associating them with the first ID and the second ID, respectively.

[0097] In these examples, providing the third entity 240 with information indicating an association between the second ID and the first ID may be in response to a determination that there is valid consent for the service provider network 224 to use the subscriber identification information for the first ID and the second ID, based on the consent information stored for the first ID and the second ID. For example, the determination of valid consent may include determining whether the stored consent for the first ID and the second ID has expired. In some examples, if the stored consent has not expired, association information can be provided, but if the stored consent has expired, association information cannot be provided. This can help ensure that the results of subscriber identification by the service provider network 224 are used only by the second entity 234 if there is valid consent for its use.

[0098] In some cases, determining whether consent has expired may involve comparing the stored consent expiration date with the current time. For example, consent information for a first ID may include the consent expiration date for the first ID, and consent information for a second ID may include the consent expiration date for the second ID. Determining whether there is valid consent for both the first and second IDs may be based on comparing the stored consent expiration dates for the first and second IDs with the current time. For example, if the consent expiration date is in the future relative to the current time, it can be determined that the consent has not yet expired; if the consent expiration date is in the past relative to the current time, it can be determined that the consent has expired.

[0099] In some examples, subscribers can renew or revoke their consent in the event of a subsequent instance of engagement. To implement this, in some examples, consent information stored in a second entity 234 associated with a first ID (such as contained in the first message 332) may be updated based on consent information associated with a second ID (such as contained in the second messages 342, 442). For example, this method may include updating the stored consent expiration date associated with the first ID based on the consent information associated with the second ID contained in the second messages 342, 442.

[0100] Subscribers may consent to the use of both a first ID and a second ID. In these examples, updating the stored consent information for the first ID may be based on whether the consent for the first ID has expired when the consent information for the second ID is received. For example, if the second ID (and its associated consent information) is received by the second entity 234 and the stored consent for the first ID has not yet expired, the second entity 234 may update the consent expiration date for the first ID to be the same as that provided for the second ID. This may be useful in enabling the service provider network 224 to update subscriber consent for identification, for the purpose of associating instances of engagement with a particular content provider 238.

[0101] In some cases, if the consent stored for the first ID has expired when the second ID (and its associated consent information) is received by the second entity 234, the second entity 234 may simply store the second ID and its associated consent expiration date without changing the consent expiration date for the first ID. This may be helpful in enforcing consent expiration requirements.

[0102] As another example, a subscriber may consent to the use of a first ID instead of a second ID. For example, a user may provide consent for a first ID, and therefore the first message 332 may include the first ID and a consent expiration date set to a future time (e.g., one day). However, the user does not have to provide consent for a second ID, and therefore the second messages 342, 442 may include the second ID and a consent expiration date set to zero. When the second entity 234 receives the second ID with a consent expiration date set to zero, it may set the consent expiration dates stored for the first ID and the second ID to the current time. Therefore, in these examples, the first and second IDs are not used to provide association information to the third entity 240. This may be helpful in enforcing consent requirements.

[0103] In some examples, the consent stored in association with the first ID and / or the second ID may be updated by the second entity 234 upon receipt of other messages. For example, in a third instance (not shown) of engagement between a subscriber and a content provider 238, subscriber client devices 222a, 222b may send a third message containing the first ID, updated consent information associated with the first ID or the second ID, and updated consent information associated with the second ID. In these examples, the method may include updating the stored consent information for the first ID or the second ID in the second entity 234 based on the updated consent information associated with the first ID and / or the second ID, respectively. For example, the updated consent information may include a consent expiration date set to 0, indicating that the user no longer consents. In this case, the stored consent expiration dates for both the first ID and the second ID may be updated by the second entity 234 to the current time. As another example, the third message may include the first (or second) ID and updated consent for the first (or second) ID, i.e., consent with a later expiration date than that already stored for the first (or second) ID. In this case, the stored consent expiration date for the first (or second) ID may be updated and extended accordingly.

[0104] In some examples, a third message (not shown) may be similar to the first message 332 or the second messages 342, 442 in that it is sent by subscriber devices 222a, 222b to a first entity 226 in the service provider network 224, then modifies the third message, and sends the modified third message to a second entity 234 in the cloud 230. However, in other examples, the third message (not shown) may be received by the second entity 234 from subscriber devices 222a, 222b via a network other than the service provider network 224 (e.g., an access network), without going through the service provider network 224. For example, in a third instance, the subscriber may not be connected to the internet 229 and content provider 238 via the service provider network 224 (e.g., a mobile network), but rather engages with content provider 238 using subscriber devices 222a, 222b that are connected via another network (not shown, e.g., public Wi-Fi). For example, in a third instance, the content acquired by subscriber devices 222a and 222b may include code (or a link to code) that causes subscriber devices 222a and 222b to send a third message to a second entity 234 in the cloud 230, which contains a first ID (or a second ID) and updated consent information for the first ID (or for the second ID, set to, for example, 0). In this case, since subscriber devices 222a and 222b are connected to other networks (not shown), the third message is sent via other networks (not shown). For example, the domain name system (DNS, not shown) of the other network (not shown) can resolve the domain in the third message (for example, the domain specified in the GET request that constitutes the third message) to a server in the cloud 230, for example, the second entity 234, and thus the third message (not shown) can be routed to the second entity 234 in the cloud 230 by the other network (not shown).The second entity 234 may determine that the first ID (or second ID) provided in the third message is stored in the second entity and update the consent information associated with the stored first ID (or second ID) in accordance with the updated consent information. This can help enforce consent requirements, in particular, to stipulate the updating or revocation of consent to use the first ID or second ID, even if the subscriber devices 222a, 222b are not connected to the service provider network 224.

[0105] In another example, if a user does not provide consent for a specific ID (e.g., a second ID), the associated messages (e.g., second messages 342, 442) may not be sent by subscriber devices 222a, 222b. In this case, since the second ID is not available to the second entity 234, the association between the first ID and the second ID is not made in the second entity 234. This can be helpful in implementing the case where consent is not provided in a resource-efficient manner.

[0106] In some examples, the first message 332 and / or the second messages 342, 442 may include one or more fourth IDs, each providing the subscriber with an alternative identifier for the subscriber that may be known to the content provider 238. The fourth ID may be in any form. The second entity 234 may store the fourth ID in association with a determined subscriber identifier (e.g., a second subscriber identifier as described above). The fourth ID may also be associated with a consent expiration date, which may be stored by the second entity 234 in association with the fourth ID. In some examples, the fourth ID may be associated with its own consent expiration date. In examples where the fourth ID is not provided in association with a consent expiration date, the consent expiration date of the first ID (or second ID) to which the fourth ID is provided may be used instead. The association information that the second entity provides to the content provider 238 may include the fourth ID stored in association with the first ID and / or second ID. This provides the content provider 238 with further information that can perform analysis.

[0107] In cases where the fourth ID is already stored in association with a subscriber identifier (e.g., a second subscriber identifier), the stored consent expiration date may be updated by the consent expiration date associated with the fourth ID contained in the first message 332 or the second messages 342, 442. In cases where the fourth ID is already stored but is associated with a second subscriber identifier different from the one determined for the first message 332 or the second messages 342, 442, the fourth ID and consent expiration date are stored in association with the second subscriber identifier determined for the first message 332 or the second messages 342, 442, and the consent expiration date of the fourth ID stored in association with the different subscriber identifier is updated.

[0108] As illustrated above, consent can be set, updated, or revoked by a given subscriber for each content provider 238. This may offer more flexible enforcement of consent requirements compared to, for example, managing consent only on a per-subscriber basis.

[0109] According to the above, in some examples, the first message 332 and the second messages 342 and 442 are, for example, "https: / / <domain> / partner?party= <partid>&brands= <brandid>&consent= <consent>&altids= <altids>This may be implemented by a GET request having the format "domain" is the address to which the GET request is sent. "Part" is a first (or second) ID to which a particular instance of user engagement is associated, and may have a UUID format. "brandid" is a third ID to which content provider 238 is identified, and may be a 3-string. "Consent" is consent information associated with the first (or second) ID, and may take the form of consent expiration in seconds from the Unix epoch. Optional "altids" are a fourth ID to which the subscriber may otherwise be known to content provider 238. These may be provided as a coma-separated list of IDs and their associated consent information (if any) separated by colon. An example of such a GET request is "https: / / ntidsync.com / partner?partid=2278de4c-d790-4beb-9b12-4721090f18f6&brandid=123&consent=1612949292&altids=123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000:1612949999,C73BCDCC-2669-4Bf6-81d3-E4AE73FB11FD".

[0110] In some examples, the parameters of the first message 332 and the second messages 342, 442 may be validated by, for example, the second entity 236 before they are used further. For example, one or more of the first ID (or second ID), consent information, and third ID may be verified to be present and in the correct format. Alternatively, for example, the third ID may be verified to be a known value. If the parameters are validated, the second entity 236 may store the parameters as described above. However, if the parameters are not validated, the second entity 236 does not have to store the parameters. This can be helpful in implementing data privacy because it avoids storing information contained in the first message 332 and the second messages 342, 442 that was not expected to be included in those messages.

[0111] In some of the examples above, the first and second IDs are stored as cookies on subscriber devices 222a, 222b, but may also be associated with a consent expiration date. This could provide the first and / or second IDs to be semi-persistent. This could help allow content provider 238 to analyze subscriber engagement based on the same ID (e.g., the first ID) if the transaction between the subscriber and content provider 238 is on the same subscriber devices 222a, 222b and within the consent expiration date of the first ID (or second ID). This could be more efficient compared to generating a new ID for each subscriber device / content provider transaction, for example. However, the semi-persistence (i.e., expiring after a certain period of time) of the first and second IDs could help prevent a third party (e.g., a malicious third party via a "man-in-the-middle attack") from building a subscriber profile based on the first or second ID.

[0112] In some examples, data stored in relation to each other in a second entity 234 (i.e., in a storage device 236 associated with the second entity 234) is stored in the form of a graph. Referring to Figure 5, a graph is shown in one example where data can be stored in a second entity 234 (i.e., in a storage device 236 within the cloud 230). In the example in Figure 5, the nodes (represented by circles) of the graph represent stored information, and the edges (represented by arrows) represent logical links or associations between the stored information. Graphs can be implemented, for example, by a graph database.

[0113] In the example in Figure 5, a total of four subscribers are shown. These subscribers are represented by four different second subscriber identifiers, "1ntid", "2ntid", "3ntid", and "4ntid" (i.e., identifiers used to identify the subscribers in the second entity 234). The four subscribers are subscribers to two service provider networks, represented by "1teloc" and "2telco". (The service provider networks may be determined by the second entity 234 from messages 336, 346, and 446 sent to the second entity 234 by the first entity 226 in the service provider network 224, for example, from a field in the message indicating the sender of the message). In the example in Figure 5, there are five content providers, represented by a third ID, "1brand", "2brand", "3brand", "4brand", and "5brand". Content providers "1brand" and "3brand" are "children" of "2brand" in the sense that content provider "brand2" provides or controls both content providers "1brand" and "3brand". There are eight first IDs (or second IDs) associated with subscribers and content providers, represented by "1partid", "2partid", "3partid", "4partid", "5partid", "6partid", "7partid", and "8partid". For example, these are the first or second IDs provided by the content provider when a subscriber engages with the content provider in a particular instance. If consent for a first ID has expired, the graph will show "Expired Consent". This is the case, for example, for first IDs "1partid" and "7partid". The most recent first or second ID for a subscriber-content provider network combination is represented by the edge label "Known", and past combinations are represented by the edge label "More Known".Associated with subscribers and content providers, there are also five fourth IDs represented by “1altid”, “2altid”, “3altid”, “4altid”, and “5altid”. These are alternative identifiers provided by content providers, otherwise the content provider would know the subscriber. This is represented on the graph by the edges between each second subscriber identifier and each fourth ID described as “further known”.

[0114] If multiple different second subscriber identifiers from different service provider networks are associated with a common first or second ID (for example, as in the case of second subscriber identifiers "4ntid" and "1ntid" and first ID "3partid"), the second entity 234 may infer that the different subscriber identifiers are associated with the same subscriber but are using different service provider networks. For example, this could occur if subscriber devices 222a, 222b switch service provider networks between instances of engagement with a content provider.

[0115] If multiple different second subscriber identifiers for a common service provider network are associated with a common first or second ID (for example, second subscriber identifiers "2ntid" and "3ntid" and first ID "5partid"), the second entity 234 may infer that the different subscriber identifiers are associated with the same subscriber but are using different accounts within the service provider network. For example, this can occur if subscriber devices 222a, 222b switch from their own mobile data connection to a mobile (e.g., 4G) hotspot from the same service provider network during an instance of engagement with a content provider, or if, for example, the device has dual SIM capability and both SIMs are from the same service provider network, and subscriber devices 222a, 222b switch SIMs during an instance of engagement with a content provider (or, for example, if the same first or second ID is used, such as the same browser having the same cookies containing the first or second ID).

[0116] Referring to Figure 5, taking a subscriber with a second subscriber identifier "1ntid" as an example, the subscriber is a subscriber to the service provider network "1telco". The second subscriber identifier "1ntid" is stored in association with the first ID "1partid" (whose consent has expired), the second ID "3partid", and the fourth IDs "1altid" and "2altid", all of which are provided by the content provider "1brand" (which coincidentally happens to be a child of the content provider "2brand"). For example, if content provider "1brand" requests association information from second entity 234, second entity 234 may extract the IDs "1altid", "2altid", "3partid", and "1partid" that are stored in association with subscriber "1ntid" and in association with content provider "1brand", and provide content provider "1brand" with information that these IDs "1altid", "2altid", "3partid", and "1partid" are associated with each other (for example, associated with a single common subscriber).

[0117] Storing IDs in a graph in this way can provide an efficient method for storing and maintaining both IDs and the associations between them.

[0118] As described above, a particular method may be performed on a specific entity among the first entity 226, the second entity 234, and the third entity 240. To illustrate this, Figure 6 shows the method performed on the second entity 234, and Figure 7 shows the method performed on the third entity 240.

[0119] Referring to Figure 6, the method in the second entity 234 includes, for the first instance A, step 602, storing a first ID in association with a subscriber identifier, wherein the first ID is contained in a first message 332 received from subscriber device 222a by the first entity 226 in the service provider network 224, the subscriber is identified by the first entity 226 based on the first message 332, the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity 226 based on the subscriber identification, the first ID and subscriber identifier are transmitted to the second entity 234 by the first entity 226, and the first ID is associated with the provision of content from content provider 238 to subscriber device 222a in the first instance A. The method in the second entity 234 includes the step in step 604 of associating a second ID with a subscriber identifier and thereby associating it with a first ID for a second instance B, wherein the second ID is contained in second messages 342, 442 received by the first entity 226 from subscriber device 222a or another subscriber device 222b, the subscriber is identified by the first entity 226 based on the second messages 342, 442, the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity based on the subscriber identification sent to the second entity by the first entity, and the second ID is associated with the provision of content from content provider 238 to subscriber device 222a or another subscriber device 222b in the second instance B. The method in the second entity 234 includes, in step 606, providing the third entity 240 associated with the content provider 238 with information indicating a stored association between the second ID and the first ID, thereby enabling the third entity 240 to associate the first instance A with the second instance B.

[0120] Referring to Figure 7, a method is shown in which the method is performed in a third entity 240 associated with content provider 238. The method includes, in step 702, recording in first instance A a first ID associated with the provision of content from first content provider 238 to subscriber device 222a. The method includes, in step 704, recording a second ID associated with the provision of content from content provider 238 to subscriber devices 222a, 222b, or another subscriber device in second instance B. The method includes, in step 706, receiving information from a second entity 234 indicating an association between a first ID and a second ID, wherein the first ID and the second ID are stored by the second entity 234 in association with subscriber identifiers, subscribers are identified by the first entity 226 in the service provider network 224 based on a first message 332 containing a first ID received from subscriber device 222a and second messages 342, 442 containing a second ID received from subscriber device 222a or another subscriber device 222b, and subscriber identifiers are determined by the first entity based on subscriber identifiers sent from the first entity to the second entity, the first ID and subscriber identifiers sent from the first entity to the second entity. The method also includes, in step 708, associating a first instance A with a second instance A based on the received information indicating an association between a first ID and a second ID.

[0121] In some of the examples above, the first ID and the second ID are set or stored as cookies on subscriber devices 222a and 222b (for example, on the browser of subscriber devices 222a and 222b). However, in other examples, the first ID and / or the second ID do not have to be set or stored as cookies on subscriber devices 222a and 222b, or do not have to be set or stored as cookies. For example, in some examples, the first ID and / or the second ID may be stored in the local storage device of subscriber devices 222a and 222b instead, or in addition to them. Similarly, in some examples, the third ID, the fourth ID, and / or consent information may be stored in the local storage device of subscriber devices 222a and 222b instead, or additionally.

[0122] In some examples, the first ID and / or the second ID may each be used for only one session (which may include one or more transactions) between the content provider 238 and subscriber devices 222a, 222b. In this regard, the first ID and / or the second ID may each be a “per session” ID. For example, within a session in which content is provided to subscriber devices 222a, 222b by the content provider 238, the first ID (or the second ID, if applicable) may be included in a transaction between the content provider 238 and subscriber devices 222a, 222b (in some examples, if the consent expiration date has not been reached). However, the first ID and / or the second ID may each be set or controlled to expire after the session in which content is provided to subscriber devices 222a, 222b by the content provider 238, or may be deleted from subscriber devices 222a, 222b. For example, a session may be terminated when subscriber devices 222a, 222b close their browsers, or the content provider 238 may terminate the session. As described above, this may help the content provider 238 to efficiently analyze subscriber engagement within a session based on the same ID (e.g., a first ID), but may help prevent a third party (e.g., a malicious third party via a “man-in-the-middle attack”) from building a subscriber profile based on a first or second ID.

[0123] In some examples, the first ID and / or the second ID may each be a “disposable” or “one-time use” ID. For example, the first ID and / or the second ID may be used for only one transaction between the content provider 238 and subscriber devices 222a, 222b (e.g., the provision of content to subscriber devices 222a, 222b by the content provider 238). For example, as described above, the first ID and / or the second ID may be generated by the content provider 238 (or subscriber devices 222a, 222b) when the content provider 238 provides content to subscriber devices 222a, 222b, and subscriber devices 222a, 222b may include the first ID and / or the second ID, respectively, in the first message 332 and / or the second message 342 sent to the first entity 224. However, in some examples, the first ID and / or second ID may not be stored on subscriber devices 222a, 222b for subsequent use (for example, for use in subsequent transactions between subscriber devices 222a, 222b and content provider 238). For example, this may occur if subscriber devices 222a, 222b are not permitted to store the first ID and / or second ID for subsequent use, or if the first ID and / or second ID have been removed by subscriber devices 222a, 222b. In some examples, after the first message 332 and / or the second message 342 have been sent to the first entity 224, the first ID and / or second ID may be set or controlled to expire, or removed from subscriber devices 222a, 222b, respectively. The fact that the first ID and / or the second ID are "one-use" or "disposable" IDs can ensure that a third party (e.g., a malicious third party via a "man-in-the-middle attack") cannot construct a subscriber profile based on the first ID or the second ID.

[0124] The above example illustrates how providing association information to content provider 238 (and enabling content provider 238 to associate different instances of subscriber engagement) can enable content provider 238 to provide continuity between different instances of subscriber engagement and / or provide more accurate analysis. However, association information may be used for other purposes.

[0125] Specifically, in some examples, content provider 238 may determine one or more browsing attributes that indicate the attributes of a subscriber's engagement with content provider 238 in a particular instance (e.g., first instance A or second instance B). These browsing attributes may be stored by content provider 238 in association with a first (or second) ID to which the instance corresponds. In some examples, the browsing attributes may simply indicate that the subscriber engaged with content provider 238. In some examples, the attributes may include the specific content (or identifier of the specific content) delivered to the subscriber device during the engagement, one or more characteristics of the specific content delivered to the subscriber device, the duration of the subscriber's engagement, and / or the level of engagement between the subscriber and the content. Any other attributes of the subscriber's engagement with the content provider in a particular instance may be used.

[0126] In some examples, content provider 238 can categorize the first ID (or second ID) of each instance of engagement by a category of browsing attributes. For example, content provider 238 can compile a list of all first IDs (and second IDs) that correlate with instances of subscriber engagement with content provider 238, such as when the subscriber navigated to a specific webpage related to a particular car, or otherwise browsed. Content provider 238 may provide this list to a second entity 234. Alternatively, content provider 238 can provide a second entity with a list of first IDs (and second IDs) and their associated browsing attributes, and the second entity can compile a list of all first IDs (and second IDs) that have one or more browsing attributes or combinations of browsing attributes for each of one or more browsing attributes or combinations of browsing attributes. In any case, in some examples, the second entity 238 may determine subscriber identifiers in the list of first IDs (and second IDs) in the second entity based on the stored associations between them. The second entity 238 may then store one or more browsing attributes associated with the corresponding subscriber identifiers.

[0127] For example, in the case of a subscriber having first and second instances A and B of engagement with a particular content provider 238, the method may include the step of receiving from the third entity 240 a first ID and / or second ID associated with a browsing attribute that indicates the attributes of the subscriber's engagement with content provider 238 in the first and / or second instances A and B, respectively. The method may then include the step of determining the subscriber identifier (e.g., the first subscriber identifier or the second subscriber identifier) ​​associated with the browsing attribute in the second entity 234, based on the received first ID and / or second ID and a stored association between the first ID, the second ID and the subscriber identifier. The method may then include the step of storing the browsing attribute in association with the subscriber identifier in the second entity 234.

[0128] As mentioned above, this can be done for multiple subscribers. In this way, the second entity 234 may segment subscribers based on one or more specific browsing attributes. For example, the second entity 234 may determine a first subscriber ID (and / or second subscriber ID) for all subscribers who have common browsing characteristics, for example, all subscribers who have navigated to a specific web page related to a particular car, or have browsed in another way. This segmentation can be used, for example, to retarget advertisements to a specific subscriber segment. For example, as will be described in more detail below, the second entity 224 may provide the advertising entity with segment information indicating browsing attributes for use when the advertising entity delivers targeted advertisements to subscribers. In some examples, segmentation based on browsing attributes may be combined with other segmentation based on other data. For example, this may be combined with segmentation of subscribers based on subscriber attributes stored in the service provider network 224 or from other data sources.

[0129] Referring to Figures 8 and 9, an exemplary implementation in which advertisements can be retargeted using subscriber segmentation based on one or more specific browsing attributes is described. Figure 8 shows an exemplary telecommunications network 800 in which retargeting may be implemented, and Figure 9 shows exemplary signaling between components of the system.

[0130] Referring to Figure 8, the telecommunications network 800 comprises a service provider network 224 having a first entity 226 and storage device 228, the internet 229, a cloud 230 having a second entity 234 and storage device 236, and subscriber devices 222c. Subscriber devices 222c may be the same as or different from subscriber devices 222a, 222b of system 200 described above with reference to Figure 1. In this example, the network 800 also comprises an advertising platform 860 having an advertising entity 862 (e.g., an advertising server). For example, the advertising platform 860 may include a demand-side platform (DSP). The DSP may be configured to bid on subscriber devices 222c and, if successful, to fulfill advertising requests from subscriber devices 222c. For clarity, although not shown in Figure 8, the network 800 may comprise other components such as a content provider 238 and / or other components of the telecommunications network 200 described above with reference to Figure 1.

[0131] Figure 9 shows exemplary signaling between components of network 600 in an exemplary method for providing targeted advertising.

[0132] Prior to the signaling shown in Figure 9, the content provider (not shown in Figures 8 and 9) instructs the advertising platform 660 to target specific advertisements to specific segments of subscribers. For example, the content provider may want to target advertisements for a particular car to subscribers who have browsing attributes indicating they have navigated to or otherwise viewed content related to a particular car within the content provider. As described above, the content provider 238 may provide a list of first IDs (and second IDs) for instances of engagement in which subscribers viewed content related to a particular car, and the second entity 234 may determine subscriber identifiers from the first IDs (and second IDs) and store browsing attributes in association with those subscriber identifiers. In some examples, the content provider may also want to target based on other attributes, such as the subscriber's age, which may be known to, for example, the service provider network 224. In order for advertising platform 860 to properly bid on ad requests to fill advertisements related to a particular car, it would be useful for advertising platform 860 to know whether a particular ad request is from a subscriber who has viewed content related to a particular car (in some cases, from a subscriber who meets a desired age criterion). However, this should be done in a manner that does not reveal the subscriber's identity to advertising platform 860 and does not allow advertising platform 860 (or any other third party) to build a subscriber profile based on multiple such ad requests.

[0133] Referring here to Figure 9, in an exemplary method for providing targeted advertising, subscriber device 222c sends an ad request 970 to an ad entity 862 of the advertising platform 860. For example, if subscriber device 222c downloads a webpage to fill ad space, subscriber device 222c may be triggered by code within the webpage to send an ad request to fill the ad space with an ad. This process may be facilitated by programmatic advertising. For example, the ad request 970 may be sent from subscriber device 222a to a supply-side platform SSP (not shown) to fill ad space. The SSP (not shown) can then send a bid request to a DSP (and possibly other DSPs not shown) to bid on the ad space to fulfill the ad request with content provided by the DSP. In either case, the ad request 970 is sent to the ad entity 862.

[0134] Ad request 970 includes a token. The token may be a universally unique ID. A new token may be randomly generated by subscriber device 222c for each ad request 970 it sends. Thus, the token included in an ad request uniquely identifies ad request 970 from all other ad requests for practical purposes. The token may be associated with an expiration date, e.g., Time To Live (TTL), which may define the length of time the token can be used. The generated token may be included in ad request 970 by subscriber device 222c. For example, a website downloaded by subscriber device 222c may contain code (or a link to code) that causes subscriber device 222c to generate a token and include it in ad request 970.

[0135] The ad request 970 may be sent from the subscriber device 222c to the ad entity 862 using an encrypted communication channel, for example, using the HTTPS protocol. Therefore, even if the ad request 970 is sent to the ad entity 862 via the service provider network 224, the service provider network 224 may not be able to read the content of the ad request, for example, it may not be able to read the token.

[0136] At the same or similar time as the advertisement request 970, subscriber device 222c also sends a fourth message 972 to the first entity 226 of the service provider network 224. The fourth message 972 contains a token that correlates with the token contained in the advertisement request 970. For example, the fourth message 972 may contain a copy of the token contained in the advertisement request 970. The fourth message 972 may also be a synchronization request. Subscriber device 222c may be triggered by code contained in or linked to the downloaded website to send the fourth message 970 containing a copy of the generated token to the first entity 226.

[0137] The first entity 226 identifies the subscriber of the subscriber device 222c based on the fourth message 772, for example by referring to the storage device 228. For example, the first entity 226 can identify the subscriber based on the fourth message 772 in the same or similar manner as the first message 332 and the second messages 342, 442 described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4. For example, the first entity 225 can determine a first subscriber identifier for a subscriber. The first entity can determine a subscriber identifier based on the subscriber's identification information. For example, the first entity 226 can determine a second subscriber identifier for a subscriber based on the subscriber's first identifier, for example, as described above. In some examples, the first entity 226 may also retrieve subscriber information associated with the identified subscriber in the storage device 228 of the service provider network 224. For example, the storage device 228 may include a customer relationship management (CRM) database that stores information about each subscriber, such as the subscriber's age and gender.

[0138] The first entity 226 transmits the determined subscriber identifier (e.g., a second subscriber identifier for the subscriber) and token to the second entity 234 976. For example, the first entity 226 may modify the fourth message 972 to include the second subscriber identifier and transmit the modified fourth message 976 to the second entity 234. In some examples, the first entity 226 may also transmit subscriber information to the second entity 234, such as attribute value pairs of the identified subscriber, which may be determined, for example, from a lookup in the storage device 228. For example, the first entity 226 may include subscriber information in the modified fourth message 976.

[0139] The second entity 234 stores a token in the cloud 230's storage device 236 in association with the subscriber identifier 978. In an example where subscriber information (e.g., age) is also transmitted, the second entity 234 may store the token and subscriber information in association with the subscriber identifier 978. In some examples, the token may be stored in association with the subscriber identifier in a cache associated with the second entity 234. In some examples, for a given subscriber, the cloud 230's storage device 236 may store the subscriber identifier, browsing attributes provided by the content provider (e.g., whether the subscriber has seen a particular car), subscriber information provided by the service provider network (e.g., the subscriber's age), and a token for advertising requests in association with each other.

[0140] When advertising entity 862 receives an ad request 970, it determines whether the ad provided by the content provider will satisfy the ad request. For example, the DSP of advertising entity 862 can determine how much to bid for the right to satisfy the ad request with the ad provided by the content provider. To notify this decision, advertising entity 862 provides the token contained in the ad request 970 to the second entity 234 980. For example, the token may be provided using an HTTP request from advertising entity 662 to the second entity 234 980. In some examples, the receipt of request 980 may be interpreted as a request to provide segment information stored in association with the provided token (for example, in the cache of the second entity 234). In some examples, the token may provide a request for specific segment information of the subscriber who requested the ad. For example, the request for segment information may include a request for data on whether the subscriber has certain browsing attributes (i.e., has viewed content related to a particular car) and is of an age that falls within a given age range. As another example, a request for segment information may be a request to provide browsing attributes and other subscriber information stored in the second entity 234 in association with the provided token.

[0141] In either case, in response to receiving a token from advertising entity 862, the second entity 234 performs a lookup 982 to find a match with a stored token.

[0142] For example, if a token is stored in a cache associated with a subscriber identifier, the second entity 234 may use the cache to determine the subscriber identifier. The second entity 234 may then use the identifier determined for the subscriber to perform a search in the storage device 236 for segment information stored in association with the identifier determined for the subscriber.

[0143] In other examples where a token is stored in association with an identifier for a subscriber in the storage device 236, the second entity 234 may perform a search in the storage device 236 to determine a match for the provided token, and if a match is found, the associated segment information may be extracted. In some examples, if the token is also stored by the second entity 234 in association with one or more fourth IDs, the second entity 234 may perform a search in the storage device 236 for segment information stored in association with one or more fourth IDs.

[0144] In either case, if there is a match (and the token's TTL has not yet expired), the information request 980 may be accepted; however, if there is no match (and / or the token's TTL has expired), the information request 980 may be rejected by the second entity 234. In this example, the token is matched against a token stored with the identifier of the subscriber who requested the ad, and the token's TTL has not yet expired. Thus, the second entity 234 may provide at least a portion of the extracted segment information to the advertising entity 862 984. Thus, based on the received segment information, the advertising entity 862 may determine that the ad request 770 is from a subscriber who meets the targeting criteria for the ad provided by the content provider. Thus, the advertising entity 862 may, for example, appropriately bid to satisfy the ad request 970 with its ad. Thus, the advertising entity 862 may provide the ad in response to the ad request 770 986.

[0145] As described above, in some examples, the method includes the steps of: receiving a token from an advertising entity 862 in a second entity 234, the token being provided to the advertising entity 862 by the subscriber's subscriber device 222c when the subscriber's subscriber device 222c requests an advertisement; matching the token from the advertising entity 862 in the second entity 234 with a token stored in the second entity in association with a subscriber identifier; and providing the advertising entity 862 with segment information indicating at least browsing attributes in response to the token matching 984. In some examples, the segment information may further include subscriber information stored in the second entity 234 in association with a subscriber identifier and provided from a service provider network 224.

[0146] These examples may enable the implementation of a system in which advertising platform 860 can target advertisements to subscribers based on browsing attributes determined by content providers (and in some examples, also based on subscriber information provided by service provider networks). Furthermore, this may be provided without disclosing the subscriber's identity to advertising platform 660 (or content provider). That is, the advertising platform only knows the token associated with the ad request and the attributes provided by the second entity 234. In addition, the use of different tokens generated for each different ad request helps ensure that advertising platform 660 (or other third parties) cannot build a subscriber profile based on multiple such ad requests.

[0147] In some examples, a system may be provided comprising a first entity 226 and a second entity 234 within a service provider network 224. The first entity 226 and the second entity 234 can be configured to perform and / or provide functions in the manner of any one of the examples described above with reference to Figures 1 to 9. In some examples, the system may comprise any of the components of the telecommunications networks 200, 600 described above with reference to Figures 1 to 9.

[0148] Referring to Figure 10, an example of a device 1000 is shown. The device 1000 comprises a processor 1004, a memory 1006, and an input / output interface 1002. Any one of the first entity 226, the second entity 234, the third entity 240, the advertising entity 662, and the subscriber devices 222a, 222b, 222c may be provided by a device such as the exemplary device 1000 in Figure 10. For example, the memory 1006 can store instructions that, when executed by the processor 1004, cause the processor 1004 to perform any one of the functions of the first entity 226, the second entity 234, the third entity 240, the advertising entity 662, and the subscriber devices 222a, 222b, 222c as described above with reference to Figures 1 to 9. In an example where device 1000 embodies a first entity 226, a second entity 234, a third entity 240, or an advertising entity 662, device 1000 may be embodied by, for example, a web server. For example, the first entity 226 may be implemented by an Internet Content Adaptation Protocol (ICAP) server.

[0149] The above embodiments should be understood as illustrative embodiments of the present invention. Any feature described in relation to any one embodiment may be used alone or in combination with other features described, or in combination with one or more features of any other embodiment, or any combination of any other embodiment. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above can also be adopted without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.< / altids> < / consent> < / brandid> < / partid> < / domain>

Claims

1. A method for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider, Regarding the first instance, In the first entity within the aforementioned service provider network, A step of receiving a first message from the subscriber device of the subscriber, wherein the first message includes a first ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the first instance, The steps include identifying the subscriber based on the first message received, A step of determining the identifier of the subscriber based on the identification information that identifies the subscriber, The steps include transmitting the subscriber's identifier and the first ID to the second entity, In the second entity described above, The step of storing the first ID in association with the identifier of the subscriber, Regarding the second instance, In the first entity within the service provider network, A step of receiving a second message from the subscriber device of the subscriber or from another subscriber device, wherein the second message includes a second ID different from the first ID, and the second ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device or the other subscriber device in the second instance. The steps include identifying the subscriber based on the second message received, A step of determining the identifier of the subscriber based on the identification information that identifies the subscriber, The steps include transmitting the identifier for the subscriber and the second ID to the second entity, In the second entity described above, The step includes storing the second ID in association with the subscriber's identifier, thereby associating it with the first ID, The method described above applies to the second entity, The step of providing a third entity associated with the first content provider with information indicating the stored association between the second ID and the first ID, thereby enabling the third entity to associate the first instance with the second instance. Further including, method.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first ID is generated when the subscriber device obtains the content from the first content provider in the first instance, and / or the second ID is generated when the subscriber device or another subscriber device obtains the content from the first content provider in the second instance.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first ID is generated by the first content provider and provided to the subscriber device when the subscriber device obtains the content from the first content provider in the first instance, and / or the second ID is generated by the first content provider and provided to the subscriber device or the other subscriber device when the subscriber device or the other subscriber device obtains the content from the first content provider in the second instance.

4. The first ID is stored as a cookie on the subscriber device by the first content provider, and / or The second ID is stored as a cookie on the subscriber device or another subscriber device by the first content provider. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. In the first instance, the content obtained by the subscriber device from the first content provider includes, and / or a link to code that causes the subscriber device to send the first message to the first entity in the service provider network. In the second instance, the content obtained from the first content provider by the subscriber device or the other subscriber device includes code or a link to code that causes the subscriber device or the other subscriber device to transmit the second message to the first entity in the service provider network. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second message is received from the other subscriber device, and the second ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the other subscriber device in the second instance.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second message is received from the subscriber device, the second ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the second instance, and the second instance is at a different time than the first instance.

8. The second entity is located outside the service provider network, Regarding the first instance described above, The step of identifying the subscriber based on the first message in the first entity includes the step of determining a first subscriber identifier for the subscriber that identifies the subscriber within the service provider network, The step of determining the identifier of the subscriber based on the subscriber's identification information includes the step of deriving a second subscriber identifier for the subscriber that identifies the subscriber in the second entity based on the first subscriber identifier, The method includes the steps of modifying the first message in the first entity to include the second subscriber identifier, and sending the modified first message to the second entity to be used by the second entity to store the first ID in association with the subscriber's identifier, Regarding the second instance described above, The step of identifying the subscriber based on the second message in the first entity includes the step of determining the first subscriber identifier of the subscriber, The step of determining the identifier of the subscriber based on the identification of the subscriber includes the step of deriving the second subscriber identifier of the subscriber based on the first subscriber identifier, The method includes the steps of: modifying the second message in the first entity to include the second subscriber identifier; and sending the modified second message to the second entity to be used by the second entity to store the second ID in association with the subscriber's identifier. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

9. The method described above is Regarding the first instance described above, The second entity includes the step of storing the first ID in association with the second subscriber identifier, Regarding the second instance described above, The second entity includes the step of storing the second ID in association with the second subscriber identifier, The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

10. Regarding the first instance described above, The second subscriber identifier of the subscriber is already stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity, and the step of deriving the second subscriber identifier includes the step of looking up the second subscriber identifier using the first subscriber identifier, and / or The second subscriber identifier of the subscriber is not already stored in association with the first subscriber identifier in the first entity, and the step of deriving the second subscriber identifier includes the step of generating the second subscriber identifier for the first subscriber identifier. The method according to claim 8.

11. Each of the first message and the second message includes a third ID that identifies the first content provider from which the content is provided, and the method With respect to the first instance and the second instance, In the second entity, the third ID is stored in association with the first ID and the second ID, respectively. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, including

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of providing the third entity with the information indicating the association between the second ID and the first ID is in response to a determination that the first ID and the second ID are stored in association with the third ID.

13. The first message and the second message include consent information associated with the first ID and the second ID, respectively, and the consent information for the first ID and the second ID indicates whether the subscriber consents to the use of the identification information of the first ID and the second ID by the service provider network, respectively, and the method is With respect to the first instance and the second instance, The second entity stores the consent information for the first ID in association with the first ID, and stores the consent information for the second ID in association with the second ID. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, including

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of providing the third entity with the information indicating the association between the second ID and the first ID is in response to a determination that there is valid consent for the service provider network to use the subscriber's identification information for the first ID and the second ID, based on the stored consent information for the first ID and the second ID.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the consent information for the first ID includes a consent expiration date for the first ID, the consent information for the second ID includes a consent expiration date for the second ID, and the step of determining that there is valid consent for the first ID and the second ID is based on a comparison of the stored consent expiration dates for the first ID and the second ID with the current time.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the method includes the step of updating the stored consent expiration date for the first ID based on the consent information associated with the second ID contained in the second message.

17. The above method, for the third instance, The steps include receiving a third message in the second entity that includes the first ID and updated consent information associated with the first ID, or the second ID and updated consent information associated with the second ID, The steps include updating the stored consent information for the first ID or the second ID in the second entity based on the updated consent information associated with the first ID and / or the second ID, respectively; The method according to claim 14, including the method described in claim 14.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the third message is received by the second entity from a subscriber device via an access network other than the service provider network and without going through the service provider network.

19. The method described above is The second entity receives from the third entity the first ID and / or the second ID, each associated with a browsing attribute indicating the attributes of the subscriber's engagement with the content provider in the first instance and / or the second instance, The steps of determining the identifier of the subscriber associated with the browsing attribute in the second entity, based on the received first ID and / or second ID and the stored association between the first ID, the second ID and the identifier of the subscriber, The second entity includes the steps of storing the browsing attribute in association with the identifier of the subscriber, The second entity includes the step of providing the advertising entity with segment information indicating at least the browsing attribute, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, including

20. The method described above is The second entity includes the step of receiving a token from the advertising entity, wherein the token is provided to the advertising entity by the subscriber's subscriber device when the subscriber's subscriber device requests an advertisement, The second entity includes the step of matching the token from the advertising entity with a token stored in the second entity in association with the subscriber's identifier, The step of providing the advertising entity with the segment information indicating at least the browsing attribute is in response to the step of matching the token. The method according to claim 19.

21. A system for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider, The first entity within the service provider network, A second entity comprises, The first entity described above is For a first instance, a first message is received from the subscriber device of the subscriber, the first message includes a first ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the first instance, the subscriber is identified based on the received first message, the subscriber's identifier is determined based on the identification information that identifies the subscriber, and the subscriber's identifier and the first ID are transmitted to the second entity. For a second instance, the system is configured to receive a second message from the subscriber's subscriber device or another subscriber device, the second message includes a second ID different from the first ID, the second ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device or the other subscriber device in the second instance, the system identifies the subscriber based on the received second message, determines the subscriber's identifier based on the identification information that identifies the subscriber, and transmits the subscriber's identifier and the second ID to the second entity. The second entity described above is For the first instance, the first ID is stored in association with the identifier of the subscriber. For the second instance, the second ID is associated with the subscriber's identifier and stored in association with the first ID. The third entity associated with the first content provider is provided with information indicating the stored association between the second ID and the first ID, thereby enabling the third entity to associate the first instance with the second instance. system.

22. A method for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider, wherein the method comprises, in a second entity, Regarding the first instance, A step of storing a first ID in association with the subscriber identifier, wherein the first ID is included in a first message received from a subscriber device by a first entity in the service provider network, the subscriber is identified by the first entity based on the first message, the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity based on the subscriber identification, the first ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted by the first entity to the second entity, and the first ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device in the first instance; Regarding the second instance, A step of storing a second ID in association with the identifier of the subscriber, thereby in association with the first ID, wherein the second ID is included in a second message received by the first entity from the subscriber device or another subscriber device, the subscriber is identified by the first entity based on the second message, the identifier of the subscriber is determined by the first entity based on the identification of the subscriber, the second ID and the identifier of the subscriber are transmitted by the first entity to the second entity, and the second ID is associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device or the other subscriber device in the second instance, The method described above applies to the second entity, The further step includes providing a third entity associated with the first content provider with information indicating the stored association between the second ID and the first ID, thereby enabling the third entity to associate the first instance with the second instance. method.

23. A method for associating different instances of subscriber engagement in a service provider network with a first content provider, wherein the method includes, in a third entity associated with the first content provider, Regarding the first instance, A step of recording a first ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to a subscriber device in a first instance, Regarding the second instance, A step of recording a second ID associated with the provision of content from the first content provider to the subscriber device or another subscriber device in a second instance, A step of receiving information from a second entity indicating an association between the first ID and the second ID, wherein the first ID and the second ID are stored by the second entity in association with the subscriber identifier, the subscriber is identified by the first entity in the service provider network based on a first message containing the first ID received from a subscriber device and on a second message containing the second ID received from the subscriber device or another subscriber device, the subscriber identifier is determined by the first entity based on the subscriber identification, the first ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted from the first entity to the second entity, and the second ID and the subscriber identifier are transmitted from the first entity to the second entity. The steps of associating the first instance with the second instance based on the received information indicating the association between the first ID and the second ID, A method that includes this.

24. An apparatus configured to perform the method described in claim 22 or 23.

25. A computer-readable medium having stored instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 22, and 23.

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