Determining content sessions using content-consumption events

1. A method, comprising operations of:

obtaining a plurality of events chronologically generated by a plurality of users of an online content service during a specified period of time, wherein each of the plurality of events is a content-consumption event;

identifying any content items associated with each event and annotating each of the content items with (a) a plurality of metadata attributes associated the tent item and (b) a plurality of metadata attributes associated with the online content service;

sorting the plurality of events based on user identifier or browser identifier and based on content identifier and ordering sorted events for a specific content item and a specific user of the plurality of users based on timestamp;

determining events that make up respective content sessions for the specific content item and for each specific user of the plurality of users, using ordered events for the specific content item and a look-back time period and a look-ahead time period, wherein the look-back time period is usable to determine a landing path describing a first sequence of events that occur proximately before the each specific user arrived at the specific content item, and wherein the look-ahead time period is usable to determine an exit path describing a second sequence of events that occur proximately after the each specific user stops engaging with the specific content item;

receiving a request from a client device of a user that is not included in the plurality of users for additional content website of the online content service, the user interacting with the specific content item via the client device during a present session; and

providing, to the client device in response to the request, an additional content item based on the look-back time period and the look-ahead time period as determined for the specific content item and for the each specific user of the plurality of users;

wherein each operation is executed by one or more processors.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein metadata attributes associated with a content item include content duration or size.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein metadata attributes associated with the online content service include property name, business family name, and region name.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the present content session ends if timestamps for consecutive events differ by at least thirty minutes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the specific content item is a video.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the look-back time period and the look-ahead time period are based at least in part on a confidence interval derived from a measure of central tendency and a measure of dispersion for a probability distribution.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each user identifier is annotated with metadata attributes associated with the user identifier.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional content item is provided in a newsfeed provided by the online content service.

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media persistently storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the following operations:

obtain a plurality of events chronologically generated by a plurality of users of an online content service during a specified period of time, wherein the plurality of events are content-consumption events;

identify any content items associated with each event and annotate each of the content items with (a) a plurality of metadata attributes associated with the content item and (b) a plurality of metadata attributes associated with the online content service;

sort the plurality of events based on user identifier or browser identifier and on the basis of content identifier and ordering sorted events for a specific content item and a specific user based on timestamp;

determine events that make up respective content sessions for the specific content item and for each specific user of the plurality of users, using ordered events for the specific content item and a look-back time period and a look-ahead time period, wherein the look-back time period is usable to determine a landing path describing a first sequence of events that occur proximately before the each specific user arrived at the specific content item, and wherein the look-ahead time period is usable to determine an exit path describing a second sequence of events that occur proximately after the each specific user stops engaging with the specific content item;

receive a request from a client device of a user that is not included in the plurality of users for additional content at a website of the online content service while the user interacts with the specific content item via the client device during a present content session; and

provide, to the client device in response to the request, an additional content item based on the look-back time period and the look-ahead time period as determined for the specific content item and for the each user of the plurality of users.

10. The computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein metadata attributes associated with a content item include content duration or size.

11. The computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein metadata attributes associated with the online content service include property name, business family name, and region name.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the present content session ends if timestamps for consecutive events differ by at least thirty minutes.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the specific content item is a video.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the look-back time period and the look-ahead time period based at least in part on a confidence interval derived from a measure of central tendency and a measure of dispersion for a probability distribution.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein each user identifier is annotated with metadata attributes associated with the user identifier.

16. The computer readable media of claim 9 , wherein the additional content item is provided in a newsfeed provided by the online content service.

17. A method, comprising operations of:

obtaining an event associated with a user identifier of an online content service, wherein the event is a recent event in a stream of a plurality of events that are content-consumption events;

identifying any content items associated with the event and annotating each content item with (a) a plurality of metadata attributes associated with the content item and (b) a plurality of metadata attributes associated with the online content service;

determining that the event is part of respective content sessions for a specific content item and for each specific user of a plurality of users based on a look-back time period and a look-ahead time period, wherein the look-back time period is usable to determine a landing path describing a first sequence of events that occur proximately before the each specific user arrived at the specific content item, and wherein the look-ahead time period is usable to determine an exit path describing a second sequence of events that occur proximately after the each specific user stops engaging with the specific content item;

receiving a request from a client device of a user that is not included in the plurality of users for additional content at a website while the user interacts with the specific content item via the client device during a present content session; and

providing, to the client drive in response to the request, an additional content item based on the look-back time period and the look-ahead time period as determined for the specific content item and for the each specific user of the plurality of users;

wherein each operation is executed by one or more processors in real-time or near real-time.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the user identifier is annotated with metadata attributes associated with the user identifier.