Mobile App Tag Auditing via Intermediary Server Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Auditing mobile applications presents unique challenges due to the variety of mobile applications and the difficulty in creating a standard test environment, making it hard to ensure that tags embedded within web content are operating correctly, which can result in lost advertising revenue if tags do not properly track visitors.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for auditing tags within mobile applications by directing network communications through an audit server or an application interface layer, which can detect and analyze identifiable tag signatures, record information about fired tags, and generate reports, allowing for the verification of proper tag firing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mobile applications access web content with embedded tags, then advertising tracking functionality is provided, but it becomes difficult to verify whether tags are operating correctly due to the variety of mobile applications and lack of standard test environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an audit server as an intermediary component that sits between the mobile application and the external server. This audit server intercepts network communications, captures tag firing events, and analyzes them to verify proper tag operation. The intermediary approach allows verification of tag functionality without modifying the mobile application or external server, resolving the difficulty of detecting and measuring tag operations in diverse mobile environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-verification by having the mobile application itself generate test requests that trigger tag firings. The application interface layer on the desktop computer executes the mobile application and captures its network communications, allowing the system to audit its own tag functionality. This self-service approach eliminates the need for external test environments while maintaining reliable verification.
2Adaptability or versatility
If web content is customized for mobile applications, then mobile-specific user experience is improved, but auditing of mobile content becomes separate from conventional web-based content auditing
Solution Approach 1:
The audit server is designed with universal functionality that can handle both conventional web-based content auditing and mobile application auditing through a single unified interface. The system accepts network communications from various sources (desktop browsers, mobile applications executed on desktop, mobile devices) and applies the same auditing logic to all. This multi-functional design allows the system to adapt to different content types and delivery platforms without requiring separate auditing systems, thereby managing complexity while maintaining versatility.
3Loss of information
If tags are embedded in web content to track visitor information, then advertising revenue tracking is enabled, but lost advertising revenue occurs when tags do not properly track visitors
Solution Approach 1:
The audit server implements continuous feedback by monitoring each network communication for tag firing events and immediately analyzing whether tags are functioning correctly. When a tag fails to fire or fires incorrectly, the system generates alerts and detailed reports providing feedback to developers about the specific issue. This real-time feedback mechanism enables immediate detection and correction of tag problems, preventing loss of advertising revenue information while maintaining reliable tracking.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for auditing tags launched within a target mobile application comprises analyzing a network communication generated by a target mobile application to determine if an identifiable tag signature is present within the network communication. An identifiable tag signature can comprise one or more attributes that are associated with the firing of a tag. Based upon a detected tag signature, the method can further comprise determining that a particular tag fired. Further the method can comprise recording information associated with the particular tag.