Identification of users for advertising purposes

A computer system comprising a processor and a computer readable memory unit coupled to the processor, said memory unit containing instructions that when executed by the processor perform a method for identifying users for advertising purposes, said method comprising:

• identifying a plurality of users and a plurality of attributes, each attribute being a subject, an activity, or a demographic characteristic;
• identifying a first network of first web sites of the Internet accessed by the plurality of users, said access to the first web sites provided to the plurality of users by a first at least one Internet Service Provider (ISP), wherein first user data pertaining to user participation of the plurality of users in the first web sites is obtainable from the first at least one ISP providing said access of the plurality of users to the first websites;
• receiving, from the first at least one ISP, the first user data comprising content of the first web sites and time data pertaining to when each user of the plurality of users accessed the first web sites;
• analyzing the first user data to determine first attribute values comprising a first value of each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user, said first value being indicative of a level of interest in each attribute by each user, said analyzing based on an amount of time spent by each user at each website of the first web sites in relation to the content of each website of the first web sites;
• identifying a second network of second web sites of the Internet accessed by the plurality users, said access to the second web sites provided to the plurality of users by a second at least one ISP;
• deriving a plurality of keywords from content of the second web sites that were accessed by the plurality of users;
• after said deriving the plurality of keywords, said processor mapping the keywords of the plurality of keywords to the attributes of the plurality of attributes to determine a set of attributes, wherein each attribute of the set of attributes has been selected from the plurality of attributes by a keyword of the plurality of keywords that has been mapped to each attribute via said mapping, and wherein the plurality of attributes consists of the set of attributes and at least one attribute of the plurality of attributes to which no keyword of the plurality of keywords has been mapped via said mapping;
• receiving, from questionnaires completed by the plurality of users, a second value of each attribute of the set of attributes for each user, said questionnaires comprising the set of attributes determined from said mapping the keywords from content of the second web sites to the attributes of the plurality of attributes, wherein second user data pertaining to user participation of the plurality of users in the second web sites is not obtainable from the second at least one ISP providing access of the plurality of users to the second websites;
• assigning for each user a second value to each attribute of the at least one attribute to which no keyword of the plurality of keywords has been mapped via said mapping, said assigned second value consisting of a minimum attribute value of a range of attribute values, wherein a second attribute value for each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user consists of the second value of each attribute of the set of attributes for each user and the second value of each attribute of the at least one attribute for each user;
• determining third attribute values that comprise a third value of each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user, by combining the first attribute values for each user with the second attribute values for each user;
• processing the third attribute values, said processing comprising determining from the third attribute values an identification of a subset of the plurality of users to whom advertising of a product or service may be directed by:
• specifying a target profile of an ideal user of the product or service, said target profile comprising at least two target attributes and associated target attribute values, said plurality of attributes comprising the target attributes;
• for each user, computing a nearness to the target profile of each user's third attribute values as a function of a difference between each target attribute value and the corresponding third attribute value of each user;
• and
• applying nearness criteria to the computed nearness of each user's third attributes to the target profile to determine the subset of the plurality of users consisting of all users that satisfy the nearness criteria;
• and
• communicating the identification of the subset of the plurality of users to a provider of the product or service for tailoring advertising content pertaining to the product or service via utilization of user profiles of the subset of the plurality of users, said advertising content being directed to the subset of the plurality of users by the provider of the product or service.

A computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device having a computer readable program code stored therein, said computer readable program code containing instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer system perform a method for identifying users for advertising purposes, said method comprising:

• identifying a plurality of users and a plurality of attributes, each attribute being a subject, an activity, or a demographic characteristic;
• identifying a first network of first web sites of the Internet accessed by the plurality of users, said access to the first web sites provided to the plurality of users by a first at least one Internet Service Provider (ISP), wherein first user data pertaining to user participation of the plurality of users in the first web sites is obtainable from the first at least one ISP providing said access of the plurality of users to the first websites;
• receiving, from the first at least one ISP, the first user data comprising content of the first web sites and time data pertaining to when each user of the plurality of users accessed the first web sites;
• analyzing the first user data to determine first attribute values comprising a first value of each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user, said first value being indicative of a level of interest in each attribute by each user, said analyzing based on an amount of time spent by each user at each website of the first web sites in relation to the content of each website of the first web sites;
• identifying a second network of second web sites of the Internet accessed by the plurality users, said access to the second web sites provided to the plurality of users by a second at least one ISP;
• deriving a plurality of keywords from content of the second web sites that were accessed by the plurality of users;
• after said deriving the plurality of keywords, said processor mapping the keywords of the plurality of keywords to the attributes of the plurality of attributes to determine a set of attributes, wherein each attribute of the set of attributes has been selected from the plurality of attributes by a keyword of the plurality of keywords that has been mapped to each attribute via said mapping, and wherein the plurality of attributes consists of the set of attributes and at least one attribute of the plurality of attributes to which no keyword of the plurality of keywords has been mapped via said mapping;
• receiving, from questionnaires completed by the plurality of users, a second value of each attribute of the set of attributes for each user, said questionnaires comprising the set of attributes determined from said first user data first user data mapping the keywords from content of the second web sites to the attributes of the plurality of attributes, wherein second user data pertaining to user participation of the plurality of users in the second web sites is not obtainable from the second at least one ISP providing access of the plurality of users to the second websites;
• assigning for each user a second value to each attribute of the at least one attribute to which no keyword of the plurality of keywords has been mapped via said mapping, said assigned second value consisting of a minimum attribute value of a range of attribute values, wherein a second attribute value for each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user consists of the second value of each attribute of the set of attributes for each user and the second value of each attribute of the at least one attribute for each user;
• determining third attribute values that comprise a third value of each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user, by combining the first attribute values for each user with the second attribute values for each user;
• processing the third attribute values, said processing comprising determining from the third attribute values an identification of a subset of the plurality of users to whom advertising of a product or service may be directed by:
• specifying a target profile of an ideal user of the product or service, said target profile comprising at least two target attributes and associated target attribute values, said plurality of attributes comprising the target attributes;
• for each user, computing a nearness to the target profile of each user's third attribute values as a function of a difference between each target attribute value and the corresponding third attribute value of each user;
• and
• applying nearness criteria to the computed nearness of each user's third attributes to the target profile to determine the subset of the plurality of users consisting of all users that satisfy the nearness criteria;
• and
• communicating the identification of the subset of the plurality of users to a provider of the product or service for tailoring advertising content pertaining to the product or service via utilization of user profiles of the subset of the plurality of users, said advertising content being directed to the subset of the plurality of users by the provider of the product or service.

A process for supporting computer infrastructure, said process comprising providing at least one support service for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deploying computer-readable code in a computer system, wherein the code in combination with the computer system is configured to perform a method for identifying users for advertising purposes, said method comprising:

• identifying a plurality of users and a plurality of attributes, each attribute being a subject, an activity, or a demographic characteristic;
• identifying a first network of first web sites of the Internet accessed by the plurality of users, said access to the first web sites provided to the plurality of users by a first at least one Internet Service Provider (ISP), wherein first user data pertaining to user participation of the plurality of users in the first web sites is obtainable from the first at least one ISP providing said access of the plurality of users to the first websites;
• receiving, by a processor of the computer system from the first at least one ISP, the first user data comprising content of the first web sites and time data pertaining to when each user of the plurality of users accessed the first web sites;
• said processor analyzing the first user data to determine first attribute values comprising a first value of each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user, said first value being indicative of a level of interest in each attribute by each user, said analyzing based on an amount of time spent by each user at each website of the first web sites in relation to the content of each website of the first web sites;
• identifying a second network of second web sites of the Internet accessed by the plurality users, said access to the second web sites provided to the plurality of users by a second at least one ISP;
• said processor deriving a plurality of keywords from content of the second web sites that were accessed by the plurality of users;
• after said deriving the plurality of keywords, said processor mapping the keywords of the plurality of keywords to the attributes of the plurality of attributes to determine a set of attributes, wherein each attribute of the set of attributes has been selected from the plurality of attributes by a keyword of the plurality of keywords that has been mapped to each attribute via said mapping, and wherein the plurality of attributes consists of the set of attributes and at least one attribute of the plurality of attributes to which no keyword of the plurality of keywords has been mapped via said mapping;
• said processor receiving, from questionnaires completed by the plurality of users, a second value of each attribute of the set of attributes for each user, said questionnaires comprising the set of attributes determined from said mapping the keywords from content of the second web sites to the attributes of the plurality of attributes, wherein second user data pertaining to user participation of the plurality of users in the second web sites is not obtainable from the second at least one ISP providing access of the plurality of users to the second websites;
• said processor assigning for each user a second value to each attribute of the at least one attribute to which no keyword of the plurality of keywords has been mapped via said mapping, said assigned second value consisting of a minimum attribute value of a range of attribute values, wherein a second attribute value for each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user consists of the second value of each attribute of the set of attributes for each user and the second value of each attribute of the at least one attribute for each user;
• said processor determining third attribute values that comprise a third value of each attribute of the plurality of attributes for each user, by combining the first attribute values for each user with the second attribute values for each user;
• said processor processing the third attribute values, said processing comprising determining from the third attribute values an identification of a subset of the plurality of users to whom advertising of a product or service may be directed by:
• specifying a target profile of an ideal user of the product or service, said target profile comprising at least two target attributes and associated target attribute values, said plurality of attributes comprising the target attributes;
• for each user, computing a nearness to the target profile of each user's third attribute values as a function of a difference between each target attribute value and the corresponding third attribute value of each user;
• and
• applying nearness criteria to the computed nearness of each user's third attributes to the target profile to determine the subset of the plurality of users consisting of all users that satisfy the nearness criteria;
• and
• communicating the identification of the subset of the plurality of users to a provider of the product or service for tailoring advertising content pertaining to the product or service via utilization of user profiles of the subset of the plurality of users, said advertising content being directed to the subset of the plurality of users by the provider of the product or service.