Anonymous Identifier Linking for Cross-Device Content Remarketing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current content delivery systems struggle to provide relevant content to users across multiple devices without storing personally identifiable information, limiting their ability to remarket content effectively based on user interests and behaviors.
Innovation Solution
The method involves anonymously linking identifiers associated with different devices using protocols like Diffie-Hellman key exchange, creating a unified interest profile, and selecting content for delivery based on user behavior across multiple devices, ensuring that content is relevant and engaging without compromising user privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If personally identifiable information is stored to track users across multiple devices, then content delivery relevance is improved, but user privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary anonymous identifier system that mediates between user devices and content delivery systems. Each device generates anonymous identifiers that can be linked across devices without exposing personally identifiable information. The content delivery system uses these anonymous identifiers to track user behavior and deliver relevant content while maintaining a privacy barrier, thus resolving the contradiction between information retention and privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates copies of user identifiers in anonymous form across multiple devices. Instead of storing and transmitting actual personally identifiable information, the system generates and uses anonymous identifier copies that represent the user across different devices. These identifier copies enable content tracking and delivery without compromising the original privacy-protecting absence of PII.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If anonymous identifiers are used to link multiple devices, then user privacy is protected, but the ability to recognize users across devices is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic anonymous identifier generation and linking mechanisms that adapt to different contexts. The system dynamically creates associations between anonymous identifiers from different devices based on observed user behavior patterns, while maintaining the anonymity property. This dynamic approach allows the system to achieve accurate user recognition across devices without static storage of personally identifiable information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs feedback loops where the content delivery system observes user interactions with content across different devices, uses this feedback to refine anonymous identifier linking, and improves content delivery accuracy over time. The feedback mechanism enables the system to learn user behavior patterns and make more accurate user recognition decisions while continuously maintaining privacy protection through anonymous identifiers.
3Productivity
If content is delivered based on aggregated user behavior across devices, then remarketing effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex task of cross-device user recognition and content delivery into manageable components: anonymous identifier generation at the device level, anonymous identifier linking at the intermediary level, and content delivery decision-making at the content server level. This segmentation allows each component to operate independently with well-defined interfaces, reducing overall system complexity while enabling effective remarketing based on aggregated user behavior.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for seamless content delivery across devices, enhancing user engagement by providing relevant content while maintaining user privacy and adhering to consent preferences, thus improving remarketing strategies for content sponsors.
Implementation Method 1
anonymously linking includes linking the two different identifiers using an identifier that does not include any personally identifiable information
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium, and including a method for selecting content. The method comprises anonymously linking plural identifiers, each associated with a user and specific requesting source. Anonymously linking includes linking at least two different identifiers associated with two different requesting sources used to access content, and linking the two different identifiers using an identifier not including any personally identifiable information. The method further comprises identifying a user list associated with a topic and including plurality of entries, each entry satisfying the topic and having an identifier associated with a requesting source and further including information about a type of requesting source. The method further comprises linking an entry in the user list to other identifiers using the anonymous linking, and selecting content for delivery to a user device associated with an entry in the user list based on the linking.