Personally identifiable information independent utilization of analytics data

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• receiving at a computer device associated with an entity that manages a network property, wherein the network property is associated with an account identifier for a tracking account maintained by an analytics system, an application program interface configured to enable an application program executing on the computer device to interface with the analytics system, the application program operable to process one or more segment queries based on the customer identifier issued by the entity and, for each segment query, identify customer identifiers belonging to the segment;
• processing, at the computer device, a first segment query to select customer identifiers that belong to a first segment defined by the first segment query, each customer identifier in the first segment specifying a visitor that exhibited a first behavior at the network property of the entity;
• processing, at the computer device, a second segment query to select customer identifiers that belong to a second segment defined by the second segment query, wherein each customer identifier that belongs to the second segment is different from each customer identifier that belongs to the first segment, each customer identifier in the second segment specifying a visitor that exhibited a second behavior at the network property of the entity, the second behavior being different from the first behavior;
• identifying, by the application program interface, visitor identifiers that correspond to the customer identifiers, wherein each visitor identifier i) identifies a computer device used by a visitor to visit the network property ii) is issued by the analytics system, and iii) is included in tracking data communications from the computer devices that visit the network property, and wherein each tracking data communication includes one or more event statistics describing one or more events related to a visitor interaction of a visitor with the network property;
• providing, by the application program interface and to the analytics system, a first segment definition that defines the first segment of visitors to the network property and a second segment definition that defines the second segment of visitors to the network property, wherein each segment definition includes the visitor identifiers identifying the computer devices used by visitors to visit the network property and does not include the customer identifiers of the visitors;
• and
• receiving, in response to providing the segment definitions, reporting data describing a segment signal that is positively correlated with the first segment, the segment signal derived by the analytics system from the tracking data communications that include the visitor identifiers of the first segment and characterizing a respective behavior indicative of the first segment with which it positively correlates, and wherein the respective behavior is different from the first behavior and the second behavior.

An analytics system, comprising:

• a data processing apparatus;
• and
• a memory storage device storing instructions executable by the data processing apparatus and that upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, from a publisher, a first segment definition and a second segment definition, each associated with an account identifier identifying a tracking account for a network property of the publisher, and the tracking account being maintained by the analytics system, wherein:
• the first segment definition defines a first segment of visitors to the network property, each visitor in the first segment being a visitor that exhibited a first behavior at the network property of the publisher and, for each visitor in the first segment, includes a visitor identifier identifying a device used by the visitor to visit the network property, the visitor identifier being issued by the analytics system;
• and
• the second segment definition defines a second segment of visitors to the network property, each visitor in the second segment being a visitor that exhibited a second behavior at the network property of the publisher, the second behavior being different form the first behavior, the second segment of visitors being different from the first segment of visitors, and wherein the second segment definition includes, for each visitor in the second segment, a visitor identifier identifying a device used by the visitor to visit the network property, the visitor identifier being issued by the analytics system;
• determining whether the first segment and second segment definitions present a personal information exposure risk for one or more of the visitors;
• only in response to determining that the segment definitions do not present a personal information exposure risk for one or more of the visitors:
• accessing tracking data communications for the network property associated with the account identifier, each tracking data communication including a visitor identifier and one or more event statistics describing one or more events related to a visitor interaction of a visitor with the network property;
• determining one or more segment signals from the tracking data communications that include the visitor identifiers of the first and second segments, each of the one or more segment signals positively correlated with only one of the first segment or the second segment and characterizing a respective behavior indicative of the segment with which it positively correlates, and wherein each respective behavior is different from the first behavior and the second behavior;
• and
• generating reporting data describing the segment signals and the correlation of the segment signals with the respective first and second segments.

A computer readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a data processing apparatus, cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, from a publisher, a first segment definition and a second segment definition, each associated with an account identifier identifying a tracking account for a network property of the publisher, and the tracking account being maintained by the analytics system, wherein:
• the first segment definition defines a first segment of visitors to the network property and, each visitor in the first segment being a visitor that exhibited a first behavior at the network property of the publisher, for each visitor in the first segment, includes a visitor identifier identifying a device used by the visitor to visit the network property, the visitor identifier being issued by the analytics system;
• and
• the second segment definition defines a second segment of visitors to the network property, each visitor in the second segment being a visitor that exhibited a second behavior at the network property of the publisher, the second behavior being different form the first behavior, the second segment of visitors being different from the first segment of visitors, and wherein the second segment definition includes, for each visitor in the second segment, a visitor identifier identifying a device used by the visitor to visit the network property, the visitor identifier being issued by the analytics system;
• determining whether the first segment and second segment definitions present a personal information exposure risk for one or more of the visitors;
• only in response to determining that the segment definitions do not present a personal information exposure risk for one or more of the visitors:
• accessing tracking data communications for the network property associated with the account identifier, each tracking data communication including a visitor identifier and one or more event statistics describing one or more events related to a visitor interaction of a visitor with the network property;
• determining one or more segment signals from the tracking data communications that include the visitor identifiers of the first and second segments, each of the one or more segment signals positively correlated with only one of the first segment or the second segment and characterizing a respective behavior indicative of the segment with which it positively correlates, and wherein each respective behavior is different from the first behavior and the second behavior;
• and
• generating reporting data describing the segment signals and the correlation of the segment signals with the respective first and second segments.