Identifying interactions performed by users of an online system with third party content based on information received by the online system from a tracking mechanism

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by an online system, one or more rules, each rule identifying an action performed by a user of the online system on a webpage from a third party system, the webpage from the third party system including a tracking mechanism and presented to the user on a client device, a rule identifying the action performed by the user of the online system on the webpage from the third party system corresponding to a combination of: an identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism, and one or more characteristics of the client device the rule also comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system;

receiving, by the online system, a request for content to render the tracking mechanism included in the webpage from the third party system, the request received from the client device presenting the webpage from the third party system to the user of the online system by the client device;

retrieving, by the online system, from the request for content, the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, an identifier of the user of the online system, information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism, and one or more characteristics of the client device;

selecting, by the online system, a rule from the one or more rules that includes the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, and one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request, the selected rule comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system; and

storing, by the online system, based on the selected rule, an association between the identifier of the user of the online system and the action performed by the user of the online system on the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device identified by the selected rule.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

associating the identifier of the user of the online system with a set of users of the online system based on the selected rule.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing, by the online system, based on the selected rule, an association between the identifier of the user of the online system and the action performed by the user of the online system comprises:

identifying a conversion event matching the action performed by the user of the online system on the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device identified by the selected rule; and

storing an association between the identifier of the user of the online system and the conversion event.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the conversion event is selected from a group consisting of: adding a product to an online shopping cart maintained by the third party system, viewing the webpage presented to the user, viewing the webpage presented to the user for at least a specified amount of time, adding the product to a list of products associated with the user by the third party system, requesting information from the third party system, subscribing to a service provided by the third party system, storing content to the third party system, storing content provided by the third party system to the client device, and any combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the conversion event is selected from a group consisting of: indicating a preference for the webpage presented to the user, sharing the webpage presented to the user with another user, providing a comment associated with the webpage presented to the user, and any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting, by the online system, the rule from the one or more rules that includes the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, and one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request, the selected rule comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system comprises:

selecting a rule including an identifier of a webpage presented to the user of the online system matching the received identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting, by the online system, the rule from the one or more rules that includes the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, and one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request, the selected rule comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system comprises:

selecting a rule including an identifier of a webpage presented to the user of the online system matching the received identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, including the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, and including information describing one or more client devices matching the received information identifying a type of the client device received from the request.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request are selected from a group consisting of: an operating system executing on the client device, a type of the client device, a model of the client device, a type of network connection by the client device, an application executing on the client device that presented the webpage from the third party system, and any combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the online system further retrieves, from the request for content, a date and a time when the client device presented the webpage from the third party system, and wherein one or more of the rules includes dates and times.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein selecting, by the online system, the rule from the one or more rules that includes the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, and one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request, the selected rule comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system comprises:

selecting a rule including an identifier of a webpage presented to the user of the online system matching the received identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, including the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, including one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request and including a date and a time matching the received date and time when the client device presented the webpage from the third party system.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive, by an online system, one or more rules, each rule identifying an action performed by a user of the online system on a webpage from a third party system, the webpage from the third party system including a tracking mechanism and presented to the user on a client device, a rule identifying the action performed by the user of the online system on the webpage from the third party system corresponding to a combination of: an identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism, and one or more characteristics of the client device the rule also comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system;

receive, by the online system, a request for content to render the tracking mechanism included in the webpage from the third party system, the request received from the client device presenting the webpage from the third party system to the user of the online system by the client device;

retrieve, by the online system, from the request for content, the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, an identifier of the user of the online system, information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism, and one or more characteristics of the client device;

select, by the online system, a rule from the one or more rules that includes the identifier of the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device, the information identifying content presented to the user of the online system by the client device prior to presenting the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism retrieved from the request, and one or more characteristics of the client device retrieved from the request, the selected rule comprising content to render the tracking mechanism in the webpage from the third party system; and

store, by the online system, based on the selected rule, an association between the identifier of the user of the online system and the action performed by the user of the online system on the webpage from the third party system including the tracking mechanism and presented to the user of the online system by the client device identified by the selected rule.