System and Method for Determining Related Digital Identities

Abstract

Internet advertising to users of web browser personal computer systems is a very large and mature industry. However, many new digital devices such as cellular telephones, table computer systems, and video game console are now presenting an even larger internet advertising market. Although the techniques used for targeting advertisements to web browsers on personal computers are sophisticated, the techniques for accurately targeting internet advertisements to these new digital devices are limited. To improve the quality of targeting advertisements on new digital devices a set of techniques for accurately pairing digital identities is disclosed. Once various digital identities are linked, all of the accumulated digital profile information from these linked digital identities may be used to accurately select advertisements for all of the linked digital devices.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of identifying linked digital identities, said method comprising:
 collecting a set of digital identity observations, said digital identity observations comprising a digital identity, source/destination identifier, and a timestamp;   identifying a set of potential digital identity pairings from said digital identity observations;   calculating association scores for said potential digital identity pairings using said digital identity observations; and   selecting potential digital identity pairings having the most favorable association scores as high probability digital identity pairs.   
     
     
         2 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 1  wherein identifying a set of potential digital identity pairings from said digital identity observations selecting permutations of digital identities associated with a single source/destination identifier and wherein fewer than a maximum threshold of digital identities are associated with said single source/destination identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 1  wherein identifying a set of potential digital identity pairings from said digital identity observations selecting permutations of digital identities associated with a residential source/destination identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 3  wherein said residential source/destination identifier comprises an IP address given to a residential customer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 1  wherein calculating association scores for said potential digital identity pairings are calculated with Bayesian inference. 
     
     
         6 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 5  wherein said Bayesian inference is based upon frequency counts of digital identities associated with source/destination identifier. 
     
     
         7 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 5  wherein said Bayesian inference is based upon Boolean associations between digital identities and source/destination identifiers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said digital identities comprise web browser cookies. 
     
     
         9 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said source/destination identifiers comprise Internet Protocol addresses. 
     
     
         10 . The method of identifying linked digital identities as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said selecting potential digital identity pairings having the most favorable association scores comprises selecting a digital identity pairing having a more favorable association score than competing digital identity pairings. 
     
     
         11 . A machine-readable medium, said machine-readable medium storing a set of computer instructions for performing a set of actions comprising:
 collecting a set of digital identity observations, said digital identity observations comprising a digital identity, source/destination identifier, and a timestamp;   identifying a set of potential digital identity pairings from said digital identity observations;   calculating association scores for said potential digital identity pairings using said digital identity observations; and   selecting potential digital identity pairings having the most favorable association scores as high probability digital identity pairs.   
     
     
         12 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 11  wherein identifying a set of potential digital identity pairings from said digital identity observations selecting permutations of digital identities associated with a single source/destination identifier and wherein fewer than a maximum threshold of digital identities are associated with said single source/destination identifier. 
     
     
         13 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 11  wherein identifying a set of potential digital identity pairings from said digital identity observations selecting permutations of digital identities associated with a residential source/destination identifier. 
     
     
         14 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 13  wherein said residential source/destination identifier comprises an IP address given to a residential customer. 
     
     
         15 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 11  wherein calculating association scores for said potential digital identity pairings are calculated with Bayesian inference. 
     
     
         16 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 15  wherein said Bayesian inference is based upon frequency counts of digital identities associated with source/destination identifier. 
     
     
         17 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 15  wherein said Bayesian inference is based upon Boolean associations between digital identities and source/destination identifiers. 
     
     
         18 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 11  wherein said digital identities comprise web browser cookies. 
     
     
         19 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 11  wherein said source/destination identifiers comprise Internet Protocol addresses. 
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable medium as set forth in  claim 11  wherein said selecting potential digital identity pairings having the most favorable association scores comprises selecting a digital identity pairing having a more favorable association score than competing digital identity pairings.