Selecting content based on user actions and preferences associates with a same time period in a previous year

1. A method comprising:

identifying a user including assigning the user a unique identifier and recognizing the user each time the user interacts with a content management system;

logging user actions and preferences as a user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a device used by the user to access web based resources, logging including storing the user actions and preferences;

receiving from the user a first request for content, the request received at the content management system; and

targeting content to the user based on the stored user actions and preferences, including:

identifying, in the stored user actions and preferences, logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are related to time;

adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and

providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in the request for content.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stored preferences of the user received on a first day have a stronger weight than stored preferences received on a prior second day.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with a user profile.

4. The method of claim 1 where the unique identifier is of a form of a user profile.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising targeting content to the user based on information explicitly associated with the user profile.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the explicit targeting is disabled based on user preferences associated with the user profile.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the immutable aspects and the mutable aspects correspond to characteristics associated with the user.

8. A non-transitory computer program product including instructions stored on a non-transitory tangible medium that when executed by a processor operate to:

identify a user including assigning the user a unique identifier and recognizing the user each time the user interacts with a content management system;

log user actions and preferences as a user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a device used by the user to access web based resources, the logging including storing the user actions and preferences;

receive from the user a first request for content, the request received at the content management system; and

target content to the user based on the stored user actions and preferences, including:

identifying, in the stored user actions and preferences, logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are related to time;

adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and

providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in the request for content.

9. The product of claim 8 , wherein the stored preferences of the user received on a first day have a stronger weight than stored preferences received on a prior second day.

10. The product of claim 8 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with a user profile.

11. The product of claim 8 where the unique identifier is of a form of a user profile.

12. The product of claim 11 , further comprising targeting content to the user based on information explicitly associated with the user profile.

13. The product of claim 12 , wherein the explicit targeting is disabled based on user preferences associated with the user profile.

14. The product of claim 8 , wherein the mutable aspects and the immutable aspects correspond to characteristics associated with the user.

15. 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:

identify a user including assigning the user a unique identifier and recognizing the user each time the user interacts with a content management system;

log user actions and preferences as a user interacts with one or more web based resources over a long time period where the long time period exceeds a life of one session and an expiration of one or more cookies residing on a device used by the user to access web based resources, the logging including storing the user actions and preferences;

receive from the user a first request for content, the request received at the content management system; and

target content to the user based on the stored user actions and preferences, including:

identifying, in the stored user actions and preferences, logged user actions and preferences that are associated with a same time period in a previous year, including identifying immutable and mutable aspects of the logged user actions and preferences that are related to time;

adjusting the mutable aspects based on the current date; and

providing, to the user, content based on the immutable aspect, the adjusted mutable aspects, and information included in the request for content.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the stored preferences of the user received on a first day have a stronger weight than stored preferences received on a prior second day.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with a user profile.

18. The system of claim 15 where the unique identifier is of a form of a user profile.

19. The system of claim 18 , further comprising targeting content to the user based on information explicitly associated with the user profile.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the mutable aspects and the immutable aspects correspond to characteristics associated with the user.