Automated click type selection for content performance optimization

1. A method for optimizing content performance, the method comprising:

receiving, at a processing circuit, a request for third-party content for presentation on a client device, the request comprising an indication of a serving context for the third-party content;

identifying, by the processing circuit, based on the serving context, a plurality of potential click types that are available to a content item selected for serving responsive to the request, each identified potential click type defines different criteria for triggering an event that occurs in response to a user interaction with the content item that satisfies the defined criteria of the identified click type;

using a click type performance model and the serving context for the content item to calculate, by the processing circuit, a predicted performance metric of the content item for each of the plurality of identified potential click types;

selecting, by the processing circuit, a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types based on the predicted performance metrics;

generating, by the processing circuit, responsive to the request, a content item having the selected click type, the generated content item configured to trigger the event responsive to a user interaction that satisfies criteria defined by the selected click type; and

serving the generated content item for presentation on the client device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

collecting and storing event data describing user actions with respect to content items having each of the plurality of identified potential click types; and

using the event data as feedback for training the click type performance model.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the different criteria defined by the plurality of identified potential click types comprise different types of user interactions with the content item.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of identified potential click types defines different criteria for calculating the performance metric.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a button click type, the method further comprising:

defining the criteria for triggering the event as a user interaction with a first portion of the content item excluding user interactions with a second portion of the content item separate from the first portion; and

rendering a clickable button that occupies only the first portion of the content item.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a whole content item click type, the method further comprising:

defining the criteria for triggering the event as a user interaction with any portion of the content item; and

rendering an entire display area of the content item as a clickable element.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a confirmation click type, the method further comprising:

displaying a confirmation prompt in response to a first user interaction with the content item; and

defining the criteria for triggering the event as a second user interaction with the content item occurring after the first user interaction and while the confirmation prompt is displayed.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the serving context comprises at least one of a type of the client device, a platform of the client device, and a resource in conjunction with which the content item will be presented.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a click type associated with an extremum of the predicted performance metrics for the potential click types.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing the predicted performance metric with a threshold value wherein selecting one of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises:

selecting a first click type of the plurality of identified potential click types if the predicted performance metric is less than the threshold value, and

selecting a second click type of the plurality of identified potential click types if the predicted performance metric is not less than the threshold value.

11. A system for optimizing content performance, the system comprising: a processing circuit having a processor and memory, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

receive a request for third-party content for presentation on a client device, the request comprising an indication of a serving context for the third-party content;

identify, based on the serving context, a plurality of potential click types that are available to a content item selected for serving responsive to the request, each identified potential click type defines different criteria for triggering an event that occurs in response to a user interaction with the content item that satisfies the defined criteria of the identified click type;

use a click type performance model and the serving context for the content item to calculate a predicted performance metric of the content item for each of the plurality of potential click types;

select a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types based on the predicted performance metrics;

generate, responsive to the request, a content item having the selected click type in response to the request, the generated content item configured to trigger the event responsive to a user interaction that satisfies criteria defined by the selected click type; and

serve the generated content item for presentation on the client device.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

collect and store event data describing user actions with respect to content items having each of the plurality of identified potential click types; and

use the event data as feedback for training the click type performance model.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the different criteria defined by the plurality of identified potential click types comprise different types of user interactions with the content item.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of identified potential click types defines different criteria for calculating the performance metric.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a button click type, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

define the criteria for triggering the event as a user interaction with a first portion of the content item excluding user interactions with a second portion of the content item separate from the first portion; and

render a clickable button that occupies only the first portion of the content item.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a whole content item click type, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

define the criteria for triggering the event as a user interaction with any portion of the content item; and

render an entire display area of the content item as a clickable element.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a confirmation click type, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

configure the content item to cause a confirmation prompt to be displayed in response to a first user interaction with the content item; and

define the criteria for triggering the event as a second user interaction with the content item occurring after the first user interaction and while the confirmation prompt is displayed.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the serving context comprises at least one of a type of the client device, a platform of the client device, and a resource in conjunction with which the content item will be presented.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises selecting a click type associated with an extremum of the predicted performance metrics for the potential click types.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

compare the predicted performance metric with a threshold value, wherein selecting a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types comprises:

selecting a first a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types if the predicted performance metric is less than the threshold value, and

selecting a second a click type of the plurality of identified potential click types if the predicted performance metric is not less than the threshold value.