Dynamic Phone Number Assignment for Offline Ad Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for tracking offline responses to online advertisements, such as phone calls, are inefficient and costly, particularly when dealing with large numbers of keywords and advertisements, as they require separate landing pages or static tracked phone numbers that can be lost if the user navigates away.
Innovation Solution
A system that dynamically assigns addresses on a second network (e.g., telephone or SMS) to be displayed on a user's device, associating these addresses with attributes indicating the source of the online activity, allowing for tracking of offline communications back to their online sources, and reassigning addresses based on criteria like recentness and frequency of use to manage a limited number of available addresses across multiple attribute combinations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If separate landing pages or static tracked phone numbers are used for each keyword/advertisement, then tracking precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
A single dynamic phone number system serves multiple advertising campaigns and keywords simultaneously. The system assigns different tracked phone numbers to different ad groups based on user interaction, allowing one infrastructure to handle diverse tracking needs without requiring separate dedicated numbers for each keyword or landing page.
Solution Approach 2:
The phone number assignment is dynamic rather than static. The system can assign different tracked phone numbers to different ad groups based on real-time user interactions and ad group assignments. This dynamic assignment allows the same infrastructure to adapt to different tracking requirements without manual reconfiguration.
2Measurement precision
If static tracked phone numbers are used for each keyword, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of information occurs when users navigate away from landing pages
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by assigning a tracked phone number to the user's device before the user actually makes a call. The dynamic phone number system is set up in advance and automatically assigns appropriate tracked numbers based on ad group assignments, ensuring that tracking information is captured from the moment of assignment rather than requiring post-call analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms to track and analyze call data back to the original ad groups and keywords. By monitoring which tracked phone numbers receive calls and cross-referencing with the assigned ad groups, the system provides feedback loops that enable precise measurement of conversion effectiveness without requiring users to remain on landing pages.
3Device complexity
If a limited number of phone numbers are reused across multiple ad groups, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates due to address recycling
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamic phone number assignment where the same physical phone number can be assigned to different ad groups at different times. The system tracks temporal and contextual information to distinguish between different ad group assignments, allowing address recycling while maintaining measurement precision through intelligent attribution logic that considers timing and assignment history.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters such as timing, ad group assignment context, and usage history to distinguish between different ad group assignments. By monitoring when a phone number was assigned to which ad group and using this contextual parameter information, the system can accurately track conversions even when the same phone number serves multiple ad groups sequentially.
4Measurement precision
If extensive infrastructure with separate landing pages is implemented, then tracking precision is improved, but loss of energy and resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamic phone number system provides universal functionality where a single infrastructure handles tracking for multiple ad groups, keywords, and campaigns. Instead of requiring separate dedicated phone numbers and landing pages for each advertising element, the system reuses and reallocates tracked numbers across different ad groups, significantly reducing the total infrastructure required and associated resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer implemented method is provided for tracking user activity across different communication networks; the method comprises receiving by a receiving device accessible on a first network, such as the internet, a request from a requesting network device, for an address on a second network, such as a telephone network or an SMS network; receiving by the receiving device from the requesting network device a combination of one or more attributes indicative of a source, such as an ad campaign, web location or keyword, that can lead a user to send a request for information over the first network; selecting a pool of addresses an addresses that is accessible on the second network; producing an association in a database between the selected address and the received attribute; and sending the selected address to the requesting network device over the first network.