Dynamic telephone number assignment

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus include computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium for dynamic telephone number assignment. A method includes: providing a content item to a user device, the content item including a control for initiating a call to a content sponsor associated with the content item; assigning a telephone number from a pool to the content item; receiving a control interaction indication; facilitating a connection between the user and the content sponsor based on the interaction; storing an association between a user identifier, the telephone number, and a content sponsor identifier such that future calls from the user to the telephone number can be routed to the content sponsor, even after the telephone number has been returned to the pool; and linking a content item impression with the connection such that a report can be generated that shows an effectiveness of the content item impression.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method comprising:
 identifying an opportunity to deliver a content item to a user;   evaluating, by one or more processors, a data structure to locate a given forwarding telephone number that has not been previously assigned to a combination of the user and a content sponsor of the content item;   assigning the given forwarding telephone number from the pool of forwarding telephone numbers to the content item;   receiving an indication of a user interaction with a control that initiates a call to the given forwarding telephone number;   facilitating, based on the initiation of the call to the given forwarding telephone number, a call between the user and the content sponsor at a telephone number of the content sponsor that differs from the given forwarding telephone number to which the call was initiated;   after facilitating the call between the user and the content sponsor, reassigning the forwarding telephone number to a different content item provided by a different content sponsor;   after reassigning the forwarding telephone number to the different content item, identifying, by the one or more processors, a subsequent telephone call from the user to the forwarding telephone number; and   after reassigning the forwarding telephone number to the different content item and in response to identifying the subsequent telephone call from the user to the forwarding telephone number, connecting the user to the telephone number of the content sponsor of the content item rather than the different content sponsor of the different content item that is assigned the forwarding telephone number after the reassigning, wherein the connecting is performed based on the interaction with the control that previously initiated the call to the given forwarding number while the given forwarding number was assigned to the content sponsor.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the pool of forwarding telephone numbers includes a plurality of telephone numbers that have been previously assigned to other content items, but are now available for reassignment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the control is a graphical button that does not include a visible telephone number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the user interaction with the control is a click of the graphical button. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein facilitating the call between the user and the content sponsor comprises:
 receiving the call to the given forwarding telephone number from the user based on the interaction; and   connecting the received call to the telephone number of the content sponsor.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising determining that the subsequent telephone call is from the user that previously interacted with the control based on an identifier corresponding to the user being stored in association with the given forwarding telephone number, wherein connecting the user to the telephone number of the content sponsor of the content item rather than the different content sponsor of the different content item that is assigned the forwarding telephone number after the reassigning is performed based on the identifier corresponding to the user being stored in association with the given forwarding telephone number. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein receiving an indication of a user interaction with a control that initiates a call to the given telephone number comprises receiving, from a mobile device, the indication of the user interaction. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more memory elements including instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 identifying an opportunity to deliver a content item to a user; 
 evaluating a data structure to locate a given forwarding telephone number that has not been previously assigned to a combination of the user and a content sponsor of the content item; 
 assigning the given forwarding telephone number from the pool of forwarding telephone numbers to the content item; 
 receiving an indication of a user interaction with a control that initiates a call to the given forwarding telephone number; 
 facilitating, based on the initiation of the call to the given forwarding telephone number, a call between the user and the content sponsor at a telephone number of the content sponsor that differs from the given forwarding telephone number to which the call was initiated; 
 after facilitating the call between the user and the content sponsor, reassigning the forwarding telephone number to a different content item provided by a different content sponsor; 
 after reassigning the forwarding telephone number to the different content item, identifying a subsequent telephone call from the user to the forwarding telephone number; and 
 after reassigning the forwarding telephone number to the different content item and in response to identifying the subsequent telephone call from the user to the forwarding telephone number, connecting the user to the telephone number of the content sponsor of the content item rather than the different content sponsor of the different content item that is assigned the forwarding telephone number after the reassigning, wherein the connecting is performed based on the interaction with the control that previously initiated the call to the given forwarding number while the given forwarding number was assigned to the content sponsor. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the pool of forwarding telephone numbers includes a plurality of telephone numbers that have been previously assigned to other content items, but are now available for reassignment. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the control is a graphical button that does not include a visible telephone number. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the user interaction with the control is a click of the graphical button. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein facilitating the call between the user and the content sponsor comprises:
 receiving the call to the given forwarding telephone number from the user based on the interaction; and   connecting the received call to the telephone number of the content sponsor.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform operations further comprising determining that the subsequent telephone call is from the user that previously interacted with the control based on an identifier corresponding to the user being stored in association with the given forwarding telephone number, wherein connecting the user to the telephone number of the content sponsor of the content item rather than the different content sponsor of the different content item that is assigned the forwarding telephone number after the reassigning is performed based on the identifier corresponding to the user being stored in association with the given forwarding telephone number. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein receiving an indication of a user interaction with a control that initiates a call to the given telephone number comprises receiving, from a mobile device, the indication of the user interaction. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, upon execution by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 identifying an opportunity to deliver a content item to a user;
 evaluating a data structure to locate a given forwarding telephone number that has not been previously assigned to a combination of the user and a content sponsor of the content item; 
 assigning the given forwarding telephone number from the pool of forwarding telephone numbers to the content item; 
 receiving an indication of a user interaction with a control that initiates a call to the given forwarding telephone number; 
 facilitating, based on the initiation of the call to the given forwarding telephone number, a call between the user and the content sponsor at a telephone number of the content sponsor that differs from the given forwarding telephone number to which the call was initiated; 
 after facilitating the call between the user and the content sponsor, reassigning the forwarding telephone number to a different content item provided by a different content sponsor; 
 after reassigning the forwarding telephone number to the different content item, identifying a subsequent telephone call from the user to the forwarding telephone number; and 
 after reassigning the forwarding telephone number to the different content item and in response to identifying the subsequent telephone call from the user to the forwarding telephone number, connecting the user to the telephone number of the content sponsor of the content item rather than the different content sponsor of the different content item that is assigned the forwarding telephone number after the reassigning, wherein the connecting is performed based on the interaction with the control that previously initiated the call to the given forwarding number while the given forwarding number was assigned to the content sponsor. 
   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the pool of forwarding telephone numbers includes a plurality of telephone numbers that have been previously assigned to other content items, but are now available for reassignment. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the control is a graphical button that does not include a visible telephone number. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the user interaction with the control is a click of the graphical button. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein facilitating the call between the user and the content sponsor comprises:
 receiving the call to the given forwarding telephone number from the user based on the interaction; and   connecting the received call to the telephone number of the content sponsor.   
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform operations further comprising determining that the subsequent telephone call is from the user that previously interacted with the control based on an identifier corresponding to the user being stored in association with the given forwarding telephone number, wherein connecting the user to the telephone number of the content sponsor of the content item rather than the different content sponsor of the different content item that is assigned the forwarding telephone number after the reassigning is performed based on the identifier corresponding to the user being stored in association with the given forwarding telephone number.