Cross-Domain User Agent Tracking via Encrypted Master ID
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current content delivery networks (CDNs) face challenges in effectively tracking and identifying user agents across multiple domains, which limits their ability to provide personalized services, mitigate bot fraud, and facilitate data sharing between entities, as existing methods are inefficient in correlating user behavior across disparate sites.
Innovation Solution
A CDN system that generates a unique, encrypted Master ID for user agents, allowing for the tracking and classification of user behavior across domains, using cookies or passive techniques like HTTP header manipulation, to create user profiles and validate human vs. automated entities, enabling targeted services and fraud mitigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a CDN system tracks user agents across multiple domains using existing methods, then user behavior correlation is achieved, but tracking accuracy and reliability deteriorate due to domain-specific cookie limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a domain-specific identifier (DSI) as an intermediary mechanism that bridges the gap between domain-specific cookies and cross-domain tracking requirements. The DSI is embedded within cookies but designed to be recognizable and correlatable across multiple domains, serving as a mediator that enables reliable user behavior tracking without violating domain-specific cookie conventions.
Solution Approach 2:
The domain-specific identifier is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it operates as a traditional domain-specific cookie within individual domains while also functioning as a cross-domain tracking mechanism. This multi-functionality allows the same identifier to maintain reliability at the domain level while enabling accurate correlation of user behavior across domains.
2Adaptability or versatility
If cookies are shared across content domains to track user behavior, then user profiling capability improves, but system complexity and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cookie structure into distinct components: a domain-specific identifier portion that maintains domain-level functionality and a cross-domain correlation portion that enables user profiling. This segmentation allows the system to achieve versatile user profiling capabilities while managing complexity through structured, modular cookie design rather than monolithic cross-domain cookie sharing.
3Reliability
If traditional domain-specific cookies are used, then domain security is maintained, but cross-domain user behavior tracking becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested structure where the domain-specific identifier is embedded within the traditional cookie framework. The DSI is nested inside the cookie data structure, allowing it to operate within the secure domain-specific cookie paradigm while enabling cross-domain tracking functionality. This nesting approach maintains domain security boundaries while improving cross-domain tracking efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A content delivery network (CDN) service provider extends a content delivery network to gather information on atomically identifiable web clients (called “user agents”) as such computer-implemented entities interact with the CDN across different domains being managed by the CDN service provider. In one embodiment, a set of machines, processes, programs, and data comprise a data system. The data system tracks user agents, preferably via cookies, although one or more passive techniques may be used. A user agent may be a cookie-able device having a cookie store. As the user agent navigates across sites, a CDN-specific unique identifier used by the system to correlate user agents is generated. Preferably, the unique identifier is stored as an encrypted cookie. The unique identifier represents one user agent (and, thus, one cookie-able device's store). The system tracks user agent behavior on and across customer sites that are served by the CDN, and these behaviors are classified into identifiable “segments” that may be used to create a profile. CDN customers use the data system to obtain information that characterizes the user agent.