Privacy-preserving behavior targeting for digital coupons

US8874485B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated · US

Inventors

• Kurt E. Partridge · Palo Alto, US
• Ersin Uzun · Campbell, US
• Cong Wang · Beijing, CN
• Manas Pathak · Sunnyvale, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 16, 2011
• Grant date: Oct 28, 2014
• Expiry date: May 17, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q30/0207
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A smart coupon-delivery system provides targeted coupons to a user using a criteria-encoded message received from a coupon server. The criteria-encoded message is generated by the coupon server from a behavior-criteria vector that indicates criteria for selecting a recipient of a digital coupon. The system then generates a user-behavior vector to indicate one or more behavior patterns of an end-user, and encodes the user-behavior vector to produce a behavior-encoded message. The system then determines whether the end-user is eligible to receive the digital coupon based on the criteria-encoded message and the behavior-encoded message. If the system determines that the end-user is eligible, the system presents the digital coupon to the end-user.