INFERRING USER DEMOGRAPHICS THROUGH NETWORK ACTIVITY RECORDS

1 . A method for characterizing a user of a remotely-located computer, the method comprising:

receiving personal information from the remotely-located computer, wherein the personal information includes one or more items of data representing prior user-initiated network activity of the remotely-located computer;

for each of the items of data of the personal information:

determining that one or more predetermined demographic characteristic inference rules apply to the item of data; and

adjusting one or more demographic characteristic inferences according to the applicable predetermined demographic characteristic inference rules; and

inferring one or more characteristics of the user from the demographic characteristic inferences.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the personal information is gathered from a browser that executes in the remotely-located computer.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the personal information is hashed.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising sending customized content to the remotely-located computer wherein the customized content is determined based on the inferred characteristics of the user.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the inference rules each include a demographic value and inference weight;

wherein adjusting of a selected one of the demographic characteristic inferences according to a selected one of the inference rules comprises adjusting the selected demographic characteristic inference toward the demographic value of the selected inference rule to a degree specified by the inference weight of the selected inference rule; and

wherein the demographic value and inference weight are predetermined based on empirical evidence.

6 . A computer readable medium useful in association with a computer that includes one or more processors and a memory, the computer readable medium including computer instructions that are configured to cause the computer, by execution of the computer instructions in the one or more processors from the memory, to characterize a user of a remotely-located computer by at least:

receiving personal information from the remotely-located computer, wherein the personal information includes one or more items of data representing prior user-initiated network activity of the remotely-located computer;

for each of the items of data of the personal information data:

determining that one or more predetermined demographic characteristic inference rules apply to the item of data; and

adjusting one or more demographic characteristic inferences according to the applicable predetermined demographic characteristic inference rules; and

inferring one or more characteristics of the user from the demographic characteristic inferences.

7 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the personal information is gathered from a browser that executes in the remotely-located computer.

8 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the personal information is hashed.

9 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein execution of the computer instructions further comprises sending customized content to the remotely-located computer wherein the customized content is determined based on the inferred characteristics of the user.

10 . The computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the inference rules each include a demographic value and inference weight;

wherein adjusting of a selected one of the demographic characteristic inferences according to a selected one of the inference rules comprises adjusting the selected demographic characteristic inference toward the demographic value of the selected inference rule to a degree specified by the inference weight of the selected inference rule; and

wherein the demographic value and inference weight are predetermined based on empirical evidence.

11 . A computer system comprising:

at least one processor;

a computer readable medium that is operatively coupled to the processor;

network access circuitry that is operatively coupled to the processor; and

demographic inference logic (i) that executes at least in part in the processor from the computer readable medium and (ii) that, when executed, causes the processor to infer one or more demographic characteristics of a user of a remotely-located computer by at least:

receiving personal information from the remotely-located computer, wherein the personal information includes one or more items of data representing prior user-initiated network activity of the remotely-located computer;

for each of the items of data of the personal information:

determining that one or more predetermined demographic characteristic inference rules apply to the item of data; and

adjusting one or more demographic characteristic inferences according to the applicable predetermined demographic characteristic inference rules; and

inferring one or more characteristics of the user from the demographic characteristic inferences.

12 . The computer system of claim 11 wherein the personal information is gathered from a browser that executes in the remotely-located computer.

13 . The computer system of claim 11 wherein the personal information is hashed.

14 . The computer system of claim 11 wherein execution of the demographic inference logic further causes the processor to send customized content to the remotely-located computer wherein the customized content is determined based on the inferred characteristics of the user.

15 . The computer system of claim 11 wherein the inference rules each include a demographic value and inference weight;

wherein adjusting of a selected one of the demographic characteristic inferences according to a selected one of the inference rules comprises adjusting the selected demographic characteristic inference toward the demographic value of the selected inference rule to a degree specified by the inference weight of the selected inference rule; and

wherein the demographic value and inference weight are predetermined based on empirical evidence.