System and method for tracking web campaign effectiveness

Abstract

Events generated by customer interaction during an internet-based session are made available for use by a system for tracking the effectiveness of web advertising campaigns. Event occurrences are collected for evaluation to determine whether campaign goals are being met. Campaigns are defined by rules indicating which ad content is to be displayed to which customers. Event types to be reported are selected depending on the needs of the particular campaign.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for tracking the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a set of rules defining when advertisement content for the campaign will be displayed on a web page;    generating event messages when selected events occur as a result of customer input;    sending the generated messages to a message handler associated with the campaign;    storing a selected subset of messages; and    reporting statistics of campaign effectiveness based upon analysis of the stored subset of messages.    
     
     
         2 . The method of    claim 1   , wherein the selected subset includes messages indicating that an ad has been displayed to a customer, that a customer has selected the ad, and that a customer has purchased a product associated with the ad.  
     
     
         3 . The method of    claim 1   , wherein the generated event messages are routed through an event router to the message handler.  
     
     
         4 . A system for managing a web-based advertising campaign, comprising: 
 an interface for providing content to a customer over a computer network;    a plurality of rules defining a campaign, wherein the rules control when an advertisement corresponding to the campaign will be displayed to a customer;    means for generating messages when an event of a selected type occurs, wherein the event is based upon an action taken by the customer;    a message handler for receiving the messages and storing data relating to a selected subset thereof; and    a storage device for retaining the data relating to the selected subset of messages, wherein analysis of the effectiveness of the advertising campaign can be conducted on the stored data.    
     
     
         5 . The system of    claim 4   , wherein the selected subset includes messages indicating that an ad has been displayed to a customer, that a customer has selected the ad, and that a customer has purchased a product associated with the ad.