Determining effectiveness of advertising campaigns
An identifier associated with a client machine is accessed, and parameters that define a control group of client machines for a particular advertising campaign are accessed. The advertising campaign is associated with one or more standard advertisements. Whether the client machine is a member of the control group based on the identifier associated with the client machine and the parameters that define the control group is determined. If the determination of whether the client machine is a member of the control group indicates that the client machine is a member of the control group, a control advertisement is caused to be presented on the client machine. The control advertisement is an advertisement not associated with the advertising campaign.
1. One or more computer-readable mediums coupled to one or more computers and storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request for content from a client machine;
accessing, based on the received request for content from the client machine, a user agent of a browser executing on the client machine and one or more parameters that define a control group of client machines for an advertising campaign, the user agent being accessed by executing an object referenced in the requested content, and the advertising campaign being associated with one or more standard advertisements, wherein the one or more parameters comprise an indication of at least one of a percentage or a number of client machines to include in the control group;
creating a hash based on a network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine;
automatically comparing the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine with the one or more parameters that define the control group of client machines;
automatically determining, based on the comparison, whether the client machine is a member of the control group by analyzing the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine;
causing, in response to the determination that the client machine is a member of the control group, presentation of a control advertisement on the client machine, the control advertisement being an advertisement not associated with the advertising campaign; and
causing, in response to the determination that the client machine is not a member of the control group, presentation of one or more of the standard advertisements on the client machine.
2. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
adding, in response to the determination that the client machine is not a member of the control group, the client machine to the control group when it is determined that adding the client machine to the control group satisfies the one or more parameters that define the control group.
3. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , wherein the network address comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
4. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
receiving, in response to the request sent from the browser executing on the client machine, a webpage, the webpage including a reference to the object.
5. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , wherein the hash is received in a request sent from the client machine and received by a remote server, and the received hash is analyzed by a process running on the remote server.
6. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising presenting a survey on the client machine.
7. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 6 , wherein the survey is configured to elicit information related to effectiveness of the advertising campaign.
8. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 7 , wherein the survey is configured to elicit information related to the one or more standard advertisements.
9. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 7 , wherein presenting the survey on the client machine comprises displaying the survey after presenting the control advertisement or one or more of the standard advertisements on the client machine.
10. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising storing, based on the determination that the client machine is a member of the control group, the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine in a repository.
11. The one or more computer-readable mediums of claim 1 , wherein the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine represents a unique viewing of an advertisement during an online session.
12. A method, comprising:
receiving a request for content from a client machine;
accessing, based on the received request for content from the client machine, a user agent of a browser executing on the client machine and one or more parameters that define a control group of client machines for an advertising campaign, the user agent being accessed by executing an object referenced in the requested content, and the advertising campaign being associated with one or more standard advertisements, wherein the one or more parameters comprise an indication of at least one of a percentage or a number of client machines to include in the control group;
creating a hash based on a network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine;
automatically comparing the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine with the one or more parameters that define the control group of client machines;
automatically determining, based on the comparison, whether the client machine is a member of the control group by analyzing the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine;
causing, in response to the determination that the client machine is a member of the control group, presentation of a control advertisement on the client machine, the control advertisement being an advertisement not associated with the advertising campaign; and
causing, in response to the determination that the client machine is not a member of the control group, presentation of one or more of the standard advertisements on the client machine.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
adding, in response to the determination that the client machine is not a member of the control group, the client machine to the control group when it is determined that adding the client machine to the control group satisfies the one or more parameters that define the control group.
14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving, in response to the request sent from the browser executing on the client machine, a webpage, the webpage including a reference to the object.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the hash is received in a request sent from the client machine and received by a remote server, and the received hash is analyzed by a process running on the remote server.
16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising presenting a survey on the client machine.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the survey is configured to elicit information related to effectiveness of the advertising campaign.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the network address comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising storing, based on the determination that the client machine is a member of the control group, the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine in a repository.
20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the hash based on the network address associated with the client machine and the user agent of the browser executing on the client machine represents a unique viewing of an advertisement during an online session.