Event History Server for Real-Time Web Personalization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing web site systems lack the capability to capture and utilize detailed and structured event data from user browsing sessions effectively for real-time personalization, as current clickstream data is limited and web logs are poorly suited for analysis, leading to stale and incomplete information for personalization applications.
Innovation Solution
An event history server system that persistently stores event data associated with user IDs, providing real-time access and using a cache layer for immediate data retrieval and a persistent storage layer for long-term data management, along with Bloom filters for efficient query evaluation, to support detailed personalization applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If web server access logs are maintained to contain detailed chronological records of every HTTP request, then more detailed browse history information is available, but the task of mining a large web log takes many hours or days, rendering the extracted data stale
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into two distinct layers: a cache layer for real-time event data storage and retrieval, and a persistent storage layer for long-term archival. This segmentation allows the system to maintain detailed event data without the performance penalties of mining large web logs, as the cache layer provides immediate access to recent browsing events while the persistent layer stores historical data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an event history server as an intermediary component between the web server and personalization applications. This server maintains an in-memory cache of recent user events, eliminating the need for applications to directly mine large web logs. The intermediary provides real-time access to event data through standardized interfaces, ensuring both information completeness and data freshness.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional clickstream data is captured to personalize web pages, then personalization is enabled, but the captured data provides only very limited information about each user's browsing history
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal event data structure that can capture multiple types of browsing events (page views, clicks, searches, navigation) in a unified format. This event object structure is designed to be comprehensive yet flexible, allowing it to support various personalization applications simultaneously. The standardized event format enables rich personalization capabilities while maintaining complete browsing history information.
3Measurement precision
If web logs are mined for personalization information, then detailed information is extracted, but much of the detailed information contained in a web log is disregarded during the mining process and is thus effectively lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by capturing and structuring event data as it is generated, rather than attempting to extract information later from raw web logs. The event history server maintains pre-processed event objects with all relevant information already organized and accessible. This eliminates the need for time-consuming mining operations and prevents information loss, as data is prepared for personalization use in advance.
Data Source
AI summary
A web site system includes an event history server system that persistently stores event data reflective of events that occur during browsing sessions of web site users, and makes such data available to other applications and services in real time. The server system may, for example, be used to record information about every mouse click of every recognized user, and may also be used to record other types of events such as impressions and mouse-over events. The event data of a particular user may be retrieved from the server system based on event type, event time of occurrence, and various other criteria. In one embodiment, the server system includes a cache layer that caches event data by session ID, and includes a persistent storage layer the persistently stores the event data by user ID. Also disclosed are various application features that may be implemented using the stored event data.