Mobile Ad Targeting via Location and Merchant Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Selecting advertisements for mobile applications is challenging due to the lack of contextual information available, making it difficult for content providers to deliver relevant ads to users.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that determines a user's location and adds merchant information to their profile, allowing for the selection and delivery of targeted advertisements based on previous visits and interactions, using a profiler module to generate candidate merchants and select relevant ads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If contextual information is used for advertisement selection (search query or web page content), then advertisement relevance is improved, but this approach cannot be directly applied to mobile applications due to lack of available contextual information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from using contextual information within the application (二维 limitation) to using location-based information from the external environment (三维 expansion). By incorporating GPS coordinates and geographic data, the system creates a new dimension for advertisement selection that works specifically for mobile applications, resolving the contradiction between information availability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces location data as an intermediary between the user and advertisement selection. Instead of directly using application context (which is unavailable), the system uses location information from the mobile device as a mediator to infer user interests and select relevant advertisements, bridging the information gap.
2Measurement precision
If location information is collected and stored in user profiles, then advertisement targeting accuracy is improved, but user privacy concerns may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using location information selectively and locally - only collecting data when the user is physically present at a merchant location, and only storing minimal profile information necessary for advertisement matching. This localized approach improves targeting accuracy while minimizing privacy intrusion compared to continuous location tracking.
Data Source
AI summary
A content provider can provide content, such as advertisements or other promotional material, for display by a mobile application. As contextual information is typically limited for mobile applications, the content provider can use other information in addition to or in place of contextual information to select advertisements. This information can include location information, user activity with regards to the mobile application, information regarding a recipient of the advertisement, such as demographic information, information regarding the mobile application, such as information regarding the type of mobile application, and product inventory information. A user profile also may be used to select advertisements. The user profile can include a set of merchants and merchant types, for example clothing retailers, to which a user may be more responsive. The user profiles can be generated and updated by logging merchants that the user visits or interacts with via advertisements.