User-targeted advertising

Abstract

Structured data sets including one or more attributes are identified, each structured data set associated with, for example, a particular user. Values corresponding the at least one of the one or more attributes in each structured data set are identified. A condition established by a content provider, for instance, an advertiser, is compared to the identified values to determine if the condition is satisfied. When the condition is satisfied, one or more content items are identified to the users associated with the structured data sets containing identified values satisfying the condition.

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 identifying a plurality of structured data sets, each structured data set associated with a user and comprising one or more attributes;   identifying values corresponding to at least one of the one or more attributes in each structured data set;   comparing a condition established by a content provider to one or more of the identified values; and   determining a number of structured data sets having the one or more of the identified values that satisfy the condition established by the content provider.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a revised condition from the content provider. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising comparing the revised condition to one or more of the identified values. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising determining a number of structured data sets having the one or more of the identified values that satisfy the revised condition established by the content provider. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying one or more content items to users associated with the structured data sets having the one or more of the identified values that satisfy the condition established by the content provider. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising identifying a click through rate associated with displayed one or more content items. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more attributes represent characteristics of the user associated with each structured data set. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more attributes are selected from the group of attributes consisting of age, gender, number of friends, interests, zip code, and length of time since previous login. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the condition from the content provider, where the condition identifies one or more required values associated with at least one of the one or more attributes. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising comparing the one or more required values with the identified values. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising determining when the identified values satisfy the condition. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more attributes comprises one or more public attributes. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more attributes comprises one or more private attributes. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising displaying the one or more public attributes to the content provider. 
   
   
       15 . A computer program product, encoded on a computer readable medium, operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a plurality of structured data sets, each structured data set associated with a user and comprising one or more attributes;   identifying values corresponding to at least one of the one or more attributes in each structured data set;   comparing a condition established by a content provider to one or more of the identified values; and   determining a number of structured data sets having the one or more of the identified values that satisfy the condition established by the content provider.   
   
   
       16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a revised condition from the content provider.   
   
   
       17 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 comparing the revised condition to one or more of the identified values.   
   
   
       18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 determining a number of structured data sets having the one or more of the identified values that satisfy the revised condition established by the content provider.   
   
   
       19 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 displaying one or more content items to users associated with the structured data sets having the one or more of the identified values that satisfy the condition established by the content provider.   
   
   
       20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a click through rate associated with displayed one or more content items.   
   
   
       21 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more attributes represent characteristics of the user associated with each structured data set. 
   
   
       22 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more attributes are selected from the group of attributes consisting of age, gender, number of friends, interests, zip code, and length of time since previous login. 
   
   
       23 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 receiving the condition from the content provider, where the condition identifies one or more required values associated with at least one of the one or more attributes.   
   
   
       24 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 comparing the one or more required values with the identified values.   
   
   
       25 . The computer program product of  claim 24 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 determining when the identified values satisfy the condition.   
   
   
       26 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more attributes comprises one or more public attributes. 
   
   
       27 . The computer program product of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more attributes comprises one or more private attributes. 
   
   
       28 . The computer program product of  claim 27 , further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 displaying the one or more public attributes to the content provider.