Measuring conversion of an online advertising campaign including referral offers from an offline merchant

Abstract

A technique for determining the effectiveness of an offer includes analyzing views, clicks, acceptances and satisfactions of the offer. Transaction data is retrieved to determine whether criteria of the offer has been satisfied. As a result, a total cost per transaction may be determined for an advertisement campaign that incorporates the offer. Further, detailed queries may be issued to identify areas in which the offer needs improvement.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method for measuring conversion of an online advertising campaign for an offline merchant by determining completion of transactions between respective customers and the offline merchant in response to the respective customers receiving and accepting an online offer from the offline merchant via a webpage advertisement rendered by web browsers coupled to the Internet and used by the respective customers to view the online offer, wherein the online offer specifies at least one criterion for the respective customers to satisfy the online offer and thereby complete the transactions with the offline merchant, the method comprising:
 storing, by an offer engine coupled to the Internet, offer information for the online offer, wherein the offer information includes an electronic merchant identifier of the offline merchant and the at least one criterion for the customers to satisfy the online offer, wherein the electronic merchant identifier uniquely identifies, to a payment processor, the transactions between the offline merchant and the customers of the offline merchant;   determining, by the offer engine, that a first customer of the respective customers viewing the webpage advertisement including the online offer via a first web browser clicked on the webpage advertisement including the online offer, via at least one of a browser cookie and Internet Protocol (IP) address tracking;   providing, by the offer engine via the Internet, an interface for display on the first web browser of the first customer to register a first customer account with the offer engine to accept the online offer;   receiving, by the offer engine via the Internet, in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account, a first payment account number of a first payment account for the first customer at a first customer financial institution, wherein the first payment account includes at least one of a customer credit card, a customer debit card, and a customer prepaid card issued by the first customer financial institution;   transmitting, by the offer engine via the Internet to the payment processor, only the electronic merchant identifier included in the offer information and information corresponding to respective payment accounts associated with the respective customers for the transactions between the respective customers and the offline merchant, the respective payment accounts including at least the first payment account, wherein the payment processor is communicatively coupled to the first customer financial institution and a merchant financial institution of the offline merchant to facilitate, at least a first offline transaction between the first customer and the offline merchant corresponding to the online offer;   receiving, by the offer engine via the Internet from the payment processor, based on the electronic merchant identifier, one or more offline transactions for an in-store purchase at a brick-and-mortar location of the offline merchant, wherein the one or more offline transactions received by the offer engine from the payment processor do not include the identification of the online offer; and   determining, by the offer engine based on the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor and the at least one criterion specified by the online offer in the stored offer information, whether the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer by:
 determining if the at least one criterion specified by the online offer is satisfied in the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor; and 
 for each offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions in which the at least one criterion specified by the online offer is satisfied:
 determining if one offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions is the first offline transaction completed by the first customer, based at least in part on the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer received by the offer engine via the Internet in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account. 
 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 calculating, by the offer engine, a cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign by the offline merchant, based at least in part by dividing a total cost of the online advertising campaign by a number of the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor that satisfy the at least one criterion specified by the online offer; and   transmitting, from the offer engine via the Internet to a second web browser, a second interface for display on the second web browser, wherein the second interface comprises:
 a menu to allow a first selection of the online advertising campaign from a plurality of different online advertising campaigns and a second selection to generate a report for at least one of:
 online offers viewed vs. online offers clicked by the respective customers; 
 online offers clicked vs. online offers accepted by the respective customers; 
 online offers accepted vs. online offers satisfied by the respective customers; and 
 the cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign; and 
 
 an output to display the at least one of the online offers viewed vs. online offers clicked by the respective customers, the online offers clicked vs. online offers accepted by the respective customers, the online offers accepted vs. online offers satisfied by the respective customers, and the cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign. 
   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 responsive to determining that the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer, performing, by the offer engine, at least one operation comprising at least one of:
 providing at least one of an electronic discount or an electronic reward to the first customer; 
 determining a location at which the online offer was satisfied by the first customer; or 
 providing a metric for display that is based on the first customer receiving the online offer and satisfying the online offer. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more offline transactions are compiled for the payment processor by one or more of a merchant system of the offline merchant, a payment card issuer that issues the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card to the first customer, a payment processor system that processes the in-store sale using the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card for the offline merchant, a point of sale system that processes the in-store sale for the offline merchant using the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card, or a financial institution that maintains financial funds for at least one of the first customer or the offline merchant. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining if the one offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions is the first offline transaction completed by the first customer further comprises:
 extracting, by the offer engine, a hashed transaction payment account number included in the one offline transaction;   comparing the extracted hashed transaction payment account number against a first hashed account number corresponding to the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer received by the offer engine via the Internet in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account; and   determining that the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer if the extracted hashed transaction payment account number matches the first hashed account number corresponding to the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining whether the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer comprises:
 determining whether the first customer performed an action comprising at least one of:
 purchasing a certain quantity of a good or service, 
 spending a certain amount in a particular purchase, 
 making a purchase at a particular time, or 
   making a number of purchases within a particular amount of time.   
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to measure conversion of an online advertising campaign for an offline merchant by determining completion of transactions between respective customers and the offline merchant in response to the respective customers receiving and accepting an online offer from the offline merchant via a webpage advertisement rendered by web browsers coupled to the Internet and used by the respective customers to view the online offer, wherein the online offer specifies at least one criterion for the respective customers to satisfy the online offer and thereby complete the transactions with the offline merchant, wherein upon execution of the instructions, the one or more processors:
 store offer information for the online offer, wherein the offer information includes an electronic merchant identifier of the offline merchant and the at least one criterion for the customers to satisfy the online offer, wherein the electronic merchant identifier uniquely identifies, to a payment processor, the transactions between the offline merchant and the customers of the offline merchant;   determine that a first customer of the respective customers viewing the webpage advertisement including the online offer via a first web browser clicked on the webpage advertisement including the online offer, via at least one of a browser cookie and Internet Protocol OP) address tracking;   provide, via the Internet, an interface for display on the first web browser of the first customer to register a first customer account with the offer engine to accept the online offer;   receive via the Internet, in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account, a first payment account number of a first payment account for the first customer at a first customer financial institution, wherein the first payment account includes at least one of a customer credit card, a customer debit card, and a customer prepaid card issued by the first customer financial institution;   transmit, via the Internet to the payment processor, only the electronic merchant identifier included in the offer information and information corresponding to respective payment accounts associated with the respective customers for the transactions between the respective customers and the offline merchant, the respective payment accounts including at least the first payment account, wherein the payment processor is communicatively coupled to the first customer financial institution and a merchant financial institution of the offline merchant to facilitate, at least a first offline transaction between the first customer and the offline merchant corresponding to the online offer;   receive, via the Internet from the payment processor, based on the electronic merchant identifier, one or more offline transactions for an in-store purchase at a brick-and-mortar location of the offline merchant, wherein the one or more offline transactions received by the offer engine from the payment processor do not include the identification of the online offer; and   determine, based on the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor and the at least one criterion specified by the online offer in the stored offer information, whether the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer by:
 determining if the at least one criterion specified by the online offer is satisfied in the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor; and 
 for each offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions in which the at least one criterion specified by the online offer is satisfied:
 determining if one offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions is the first offline transaction completed by the first customer, based at least in part on the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer received by the offer engine via the Internet in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account. 
 
   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 calculate a cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign by the offline merchant, based at least in part by dividing a total cost of the online advertising campaign by a number of the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor that satisfy the at least one criterion specified by the online offer; and   transmit, via the Internet to a second web browser, a second interface for display on the second web browser, wherein the second interface comprises:
 a menu to allow a first selection of the online advertising campaign from a plurality of different online advertising campaigns and a second selection to generate a report for at least one of:
 online offers viewed vs. online offers clicked by the respective customers; 
 online offers clicked vs. online offers accepted by the respective customers; 
 online offers accepted vs. online offers satisfied by the respective customers; and 
 the cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign; and 
 
 an output to display the at least one of the online offers viewed vs. online offers clicked by the respective customers, the online offers clicked vs. online offers accepted by the respective customers, the online offers accepted vs. online offers satisfied by the respective customers and the cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign. 
   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 responsive to determining that the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer, perform at least one operation comprising at least one of:
 providing at least one of an electronic discount or an electronic reward to the first customer; 
 determining a location at which the online offer was satisfied by the first customer; or 
 providing a metric for display that is based on the first customer receiving the online offer and satisfying the online offer. 
   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more offline transactions are compiled for the payment processor by one or more of a merchant system of the offline merchant, a payment card issuer that issues the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card to the first customer, a payment processor system that processes the in-store sale using the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card for the offline merchant, a point of sale system that processes the in-store sale for the offline merchant using the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card, or a financial institution that maintains financial funds for at least one of the first customer or the offline merchant. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine if the one offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions is the first offline transaction completed by the first customer further comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
 extract a hashed transaction payment account number included in the one offline transaction;   compare the extracted hashed transaction payment account number against a first hashed account number corresponding to the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer received by the offer engine via the Internet in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account; and   determine that the first customer has completed the first of transaction corresponding to the online offer if the extracted hashed transaction payment account number matches the first hashed account number corresponding to the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine whether the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
 determine whether the first customer has performed an action comprising at least one of:
 purchasing a certain quantity of a good or service, 
 spending a certain amount in a particular purchase, 
 making a purchase at a particular time, or 
   making a number of purchases within a particular amount of time.   
     
     
         14 . A system to measure conversion of an online advertising campaign for an offline merchant by determining completion of transactions between respective customers and the offline merchant in response to the respective customers receiving and accepting an online offer from the offline merchant via a webpage advertisement rendered by web browsers coupled to the Internet and used by the respective customers to view the online offer, wherein the online offer specifies at least one criterion for the respective customers to satisfy the online offer and thereby complete the transactions with the offline merchant, the system comprising:
 a computer processor; and   a memory to store instructions that are executable by the computer processor to:
 store offer information for the online offer, wherein the offer information includes an electronic merchant identifier of the offline merchant and the at least one criterion for the customers to satisfy the online offer, wherein the electronic merchant identifier uniquely identifies, to a payment processor, the transactions between the offline merchant and the customers of the offline merchant; 
 determine that a first customer of the respective customers viewing the webpage advertisement including the online offer via a first web browser clicked on the webpage advertisement including the online offer, via at least one of a browser cookie and Internet Protocol (IP) address tracking; 
 provide, via the Internet, an interface for display on the first web browser of the first customer to register a first customer account with the offer engine to accept the online offer; 
 receive via the Internet, in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account, a first payment account number of a first payment account for the first customer at a first customer financial institution, wherein the first payment account includes at least one of a customer credit card, a customer debit card, and a customer prepaid card issued by the first customer financial institution; 
 transmit, via the Internet to the payment processor, only the electronic merchant identifier included in the offer information and information corresponding to respective payment accounts associated with the respective customers for the transactions between the respective customers and the offline merchant, the respective payment accounts including at least the first payment account, wherein the payment processor is communicatively coupled to the first customer financial institution and a merchant financial institution of the offline merchant to facilitate, at least a first offline transaction between the first customer and the offline merchant corresponding to the online offer; 
 receive, via the Internet from the payment processor, based on the electronic merchant identifier, one or more offline transactions for an in-store purchase at a brick-and-mortar location of the offline merchant, wherein the one or more offline transactions received by the offer engine from the payment processor do not include an identification of the online offer; and 
 determine, based on the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor and the at least one criterion specified by the online offer in the stored offer information, whether the first customer has completed a first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer by:
 determining if the at least one criterion specified by the online offer is satisfied in the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor; and 
 for each offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions in which the at least one criterion specified by the online offer is satisfied:
 determining if one offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions is the first offline transaction completed by the first customer, based at least in part on the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer received by the offer engine via the Internet in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account. 
 
 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the computer processor to:
 calculate a cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign by the offline merchant, based at least in part by dividing a total cost of the online advertising campaign by a number of the one or more offline transactions received from the payment processor that satisfy the at least one criterion specified by the online offer; and   transmit, via the Internet to a second web browser, a second interface for display on the second web browser, wherein the second interface comprises:
 a menu to allow a first selection of the online advertising campaign from a plurality of different online advertising campaigns and a second selection to generate a report for at least one of:
 online offers viewed vs. online offers clicked by the respective customers; 
 online offers clicked vs. online offers accepted by the respective customers; 
 online offers accepted vs. online offers satisfied by the respective customers; and 
 the cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign; and 
 
 an output to display the at least one of the online offers viewed vs. online offers clicked by the respective customers, the online offers clicked vs. online offers accepted by the respective customers, the online offers accepted vs. online offers satisfied by the respective customers, and the cost per transaction of the online advertising campaign. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the computer processor to:
 responsive to determining that the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer, perform at least one operation comprising at least one of:
 providing at least one of an electronic discount or an electronic reward to the first customer; 
 determining a location at which the online offer was satisfied by the first customer; or 
 providing a metric for display that is based on the first customer receiving the online offer and satisfying the online offer. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more offline transactions are compiled for the payment processor by one or more of a merchant system of the offline merchant, a payment card issuer that issues the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card to the first customer, a payment processor system that processes the in-store sale using the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card for the offline merchant, a point of sale system that processes the in-store sale for the offline merchant using the at least one of the customer credit card, the customer debit card, and the customer prepaid card, or a financial institution that maintains financial funds for at least one of the first customer or the offline merchant. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine if the one offline transaction of the one or more offline transactions is the first offline transaction completed by the first customer further comprise instructions executable by the processor to:
 extract a hashed transaction payment account number included in the one offline transaction;   compare the extracted hashed transaction payment account number against a first hashed account number corresponding to the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer received by the offer engine via the Internet in response to providing the interface to register the first customer account; and   determine that the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer if the extracted hashed transaction payment account number matches the first hashed account number corresponding to the first payment account number of the first payment account for the first customer.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions that are executable by the computer processor to determine whether the first customer has completed the first offline transaction corresponding to the online offer comprise instructions executable by the computer processor to:
 determine whether the first customer has performed an action comprising at least one of:
 purchasing a certain quantity of a good or service, 
 spending a certain amount in a particular purchase, 
 making a purchase at a particular time, or 
   making a number of purchases within a particular amount of time.