IP Library Granted Patent US 9,130,828
Granted Patent B2
US 9,130,828 · App. 13/942,577 · Granted Sep 8, 2015

Content delivery network with customized tracking of delivery data

Inventors: Joshua D. Gagliardi (Lake Mary, FL); Timothy S. Munger (Phoenix, AZ); Donald W. Ploesser (Reynoldsberg, OH); Deborah A. Spencer (Apopka, FL)
Assignee: Highwinds Holdings, Inc.
H04L43/045G06F17/30864
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,130,828
App. No.
13/942,577
Granted
Sep 8, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

A custom tracking system can provide functionality for operators of content sites to specify types of content delivery data to be tracked in a content delivery network. The custom tracking system can propagate operator tracking preferences to edge nodes in the content delivery network, such as delivery servers, which can track delivery data according to the preferences. The custom tracking system can use one or more tracking filters to reduce the storage burden of certain tracking requests while still providing relevant results. The custom tracking system can output results of the custom tracking for presentation to the content site operator.

Claims (20)

1. A method of allowing an operator of a content site to specify content delivery statistics to be gathered by a content delivery network, the method comprising:

hosting content associated with a content site on a content delivery network, the content delivery network comprising one or more delivery servers operative to deliver the content to end users of the content site;

outputting a custom tracking user interface for presentation to the operator of the content site with one or more processors, the custom tracking user interface providing functionality for the operator of the content site to specify one or more types of content delivery data to be tracked by the content delivery network and to specify one or more data sources for tracking the selected type of content delivery data;

receiving a custom tracking request from the content site operator with the custom tracking user interface, the custom tracking request identifying a selected type of content delivery data to be tracked and one or more selected data sources for tracking the selected type of content delivery data, wherein the selected one or more data sources comprise one or both of an HTTP cookie and an HTTP header;

instructing the one or more delivery servers to track the selected type of content delivery data using the specified one or more data sources;

receiving content delivery data from the one or more delivery servers responsive to said instructing; and

outputting a reporting user interface comprising at least a portion of the content delivery data for presentation to the content site operator.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said instructing the one or more delivery servers comprises instructing the one or more delivery servers to access key-value data associated with the specified one or more sources.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the key-value data comprises one or more of the following: user preferences, end user device types, end user operating system types, end user demographic information, affiliate marketing codes, and redirections to user information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the custom tracking user interface further comprises functionality for the operator of the content site to specify one or more reporting formats of the content delivery data to be shown in the reporting user interface.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more reporting formats include one or more of the following: a table, a histogram, a percentage, a ratio, a sum, and a map.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein instructing the one or more delivery servers to track the selected type of content delivery data comprises communicating the selected type of content delivery data to the one or more delivery servers using a web service.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reporting user interface is configured to push the content delivery data to a computer system of the operator of the content site.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cross-tabulating the delivery data with the one or more delivery servers to produce condensed delivery data and providing the condensed delivery data from the one or more delivery servers to a usage server, such that as delivery traffic increases in the content delivery network, a volume of the cross-tabulated delivery data increases at a slower rate than a rate of increase in the delivery traffic.

9. A system for allowing an operator of a content site to specify content delivery data to be gathered by a content delivery network, the system comprising:

a computer storage device storing:

content management code executing on a content delivery network, the content management code operative to provide a first user interface accessible by an operator of a content site, the first user interface providing functionality for the operator of the content site to upload content to a content delivery network, the content delivery network operative to deliver the content to end users of the content site from one or more delivery servers in response to receiving requests to serve the content, the one or more delivery servers being edge nodes in the content delivery network;

custom tracking code, the custom tracking code operative to output a second user interface for display to the operator of the content site with one or more processors, the second user interface providing functionality for the operator of the content site to specify types of content delivery data to be tracked by the content delivery network and to specify one or more data sources for tracking the specified types of content delivery data, the second user interface further operative to provide the types of content delivery data to be tracked to the one or more delivery servers, such that the one or more delivery servers are operative to obtain the content delivery data using the one or more data sources, wherein the one or more data sources comprise one or more of the following: an HTTP cookie and an HTTP header; and

reporting code operative to output the content delivery data for presentation to the operator of the content site in a reporting user interface.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the data comprises one or more of the following: key-value pairs, user preferences, end user device types, end user operating system types, end user demographic information, and affiliate marketing codes.

Assignments (5)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 26, 2021
From: HIGHWINDS HOLDINGS, INC.
To: STACKPATH, LLC
Reel/Frame 055732/0601 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 10, 2020
From: WHITEHORSE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC (F/K/A WHITEHORSE LENDING, LLC)
To: ABRY PARTNERS VIII, LP
Reel/Frame 051478/0014 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 5, 2019
From: ANTARES CAPITAL LP
To: HIGHWINDS HOLDINGS INC.; SECURED CONNECTIVITY, LLC; FIREBLADE HOLDINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 048803/0554 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 7, 2017
From: HIGHWINDS HOLDINGS, INC.; SECURED CONNECTIVITY, LLC
To: WHITEHORSE LENDING, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 041191/0014 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 3, 2017
From: HIGHWINDS HOLDINGS, INC.
To: ANTARES CAPITAL LP, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 041624/0784 →
Continuity (6)
Continuation 12545018 · Aug 20, 2009
Continuation In Part 12334430 · Dec 12, 2008
Continuation In Part 12334426 · Dec 12, 2008
Provisional Application 61013584 · Dec 13, 2007
Provisional Application 61014682 · Dec 18, 2007
Related Publication 20140025811A1 · Jan 23, 2014