System for tracking diffusion

1. A tracking system comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a programmed processor for monitoring a database, the storage medium comprising:

instructions for receiving a current shortened content address from a requesting user, the current shortened content address including a shortened content address base and an appended link identifier;

instructions for determining a content address associated with the current shortened content address;

instructions for storing the shortened content address base and the appended link identifier in the database;

instructions for determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user;

instructions for generating a new link identifier when the system has not previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user; and

instructions for recording a chain of relationships of appended link identifiers with any new link identifiers in the database.

2. The tracking system of claim 1 , further comprising:

instructions for determining a prior shortened content address associated with the requesting user when the tracking system has previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user; and

instructions for serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the prior shortened content address when the tracking system has previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user.

3. The tracking system of claim 1 , further comprising:

instructions for generating a new shortened content address when the tracking system has not previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user, the new shortened content address including the new link identifier.

4. The tracking system of claim 3 , further comprising:

instructions for serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the new shortened content address when the tracking system has not previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user.

5. The tracking system of claim 1 , further comprising:

instructions for receiving a request to track diffusion of content located at the content address; and

instructions for generating a first shortened content address for the content address, the first shortened content address including a first shortened content address base and a first appended link identifier.

6. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user comprises:

instructions for searching a device of the requesting user for a cookie associated with the content address, the cookie including a cookie link identifier.

7. The tracking system of claim 6 , further comprising:

instructions for providing the content to the device using the first shortened content address when the cookie is found on the device and the cookie link identifier is the appended link identifier.

8. The tracking system of claim 6 , further comprising:

instructions for generating the new link identifier when the cookie is not found on the device; and

instructions for serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the new link identifier when the cookie is not found on the device.

9. The tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user comprises:

instructions for searching the database for a set of shortened content addresses associated with an IP address of a device of the requesting user; and

instructions for determining whether the set of shortened content addresses includes the shortened content address associated with the content address.

10. The tracking system of claim 1 , further comprising generating a model visually illustrating the chain of relationships of appended link identifiers with any new link identifiers in the database.

11. A computer-implemented method of tracking diffusion comprising:

receiving a current shortened content address from a requesting user including a shortened content address base and an appended link identifier;

determining a content address associated with the current shortened content address;

determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user;

generating a new link identifier when the system has not previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user;

tracking relationships between appended link identifiers received in shortened content addresses and any new link identifiers; and

storing the relationships in a database.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a prior shortened content address associated with the requesting user when the tracking system has previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user; and

serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the prior shortened content address when the tracking system has previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:

generating a new shortened content address when the tracking system has not previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user, the new shortened content address including the new link identifier;

generating a relationship between the appended link identifier and the new link identifier; and

storing the generated relationship in the database.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , further comprising:

serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the new shortened content address when the tracking system has not previously received a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address associated with the content address from the requesting user comprises:

searching a device of the requesting user for a cookie associated with the content address, the cookie including a cookie link identifier;

serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the first shortened content address when the cookie is found on the device and the cookie link identifier is the appended link identifier;

generating the new link identifier when the cookie is not found on the device; and

serving content associated with the content address to the requesting user using the new link identifier when the cookie is not found on the device.

16. A computer-implemented method of tracking diffusion comprising:

receiving a current shortened content address from a requesting user including an address base and an appended link identifier;

determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address sharing the address base from the requesting user;

generating a new link identifier when the system has not previously received a request for a shortened content address sharing the address base from the requesting user;

storing relationships between appended link identifiers received in shortened content addresses and any new link identifiers in a database.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a prior shortened content address associated with the requesting user when the tracking system has previously received a shortened content address sharing the address base from the requesting user; and

serving content to the requesting user using the prior shortened content address when the tracking system has previously received a shortened content address sharing the address base from the requesting user.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:

generating a new shortened content address when the tracking system has not previously received a shortened content address sharing the address base from the requesting user, the new shortened content address including the address base and the new link identifier; and

storing a relationship indicating that the new link identifier is associated with the current shortened content address in the database.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , further comprising generating a model visually illustrating the relationship indicating that the new link identifier is associated with the current shortened content address.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein determining if the tracking system has previously received a request for a shortened content address sharing the address base from the requesting user comprises:

searching a device of the requesting user for a cookie associated with the address base, the cookie including a cookie link identifier; and

comparing the cookie link identifier to the appended link identifier.