Generating product catalogs using tracking pixels
An online system aggregates content item from third party systems for presentation to users of the online system. To do so, the online system accesses the web pages of third party systems to trigger tracking pixels that have been previously placed by the third party systems. A triggered tracking pixel sends a server call to the online system that includes tracking pixel data such as information about the content item that was available on the web page. Based on the information gathered through various tracking pixels, the online system generates a catalog of the content item that can then be presented to a user of the online system such that the user can browse content items of the third party system while accessing the online system.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
accessing, by an online system, a plurality of web pages hosted by third party systems external to the online system, each web page of the plurality of web pages corresponding to a product sold by a third party system and comprising product information for the product sold by the third party system, wherein the online system stores a set of interests for each user of the online system;
for each webpage of the plurality of web pages,
triggering, by the online system, a tracking pixel on the web page, wherein the triggering causes the online system to receive tracking pixel data from the web page;
responsive to receiving the tracking pixel data at the online system, determining product information for a product on the web page, wherein the product information and the product are stored by the online system;
responsive to identifying a user of the online system to be presented a product catalog,
ranking, based on a set of interests for the identified user, each product included in the tracking pixel data received from tracking pixels on the plurality of web pages for the identified user using the determined product information and information describing the identified user of the online system such that the ranking represents an interest of the identified user in each product included in the tracking pixel data;
aggregating each product included in the tracking pixel data ranked above a threshold ranking into a product catalog comprising products of interest to the user; and
presenting, to the identified user of the online system, the product catalog.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking pixel data comprises descriptive categories that describe each product on the web page.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking pixel is placed on the web page by the third party system hosting the webpage.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tracking pixel is previously provided by the online system to the third party system hosting the webpage.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
identifying a responsible party that triggered the tracking pixel; and
responsive to determining that the online system is the responsible party, storing product information included in the received tracking pixel data.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the responsible party comprises identifying user identifier information received from a stored cookie.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified user sends a request to the online system to view the product catalog.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein ranking each product included in the tracking pixel data received from tracking pixels on the plurality of web pages for the identified user based on the determined product information and information describing the identified user of the online system comprises:
for each product included in the tracking pixel data:
assigning a weight to each descriptive category of the product obtained from the received tracking pixel data;
adjusting each weight based on the set of interests for the identified user of the online system; and
generating a score for the product based on the adjusted weights.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of interests for the identified user of the online system corresponds to one or more actions that the user has previously performed.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the product catalog is presented to the identified user of the online system on a web page hosted by the online system.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer code that, when executed by a processor of a computer, causes the processor to perform the steps comprising:
browsing, by an online system, a plurality of web pages hosted by third party systems external to the online system, each web page of the plurality of web pages corresponding to a product sold by a third party system and comprising product information for the product sold by the third party system, wherein the online system stores a set of interests for each user of the online system;
for each webpage of the plurality of web pages,
triggering, by the online system, a tracking pixel on the web page, wherein the triggering causes the online system to receive tracking pixel data from the web page;
responsive to receiving the tracking pixel data at the online system, determining product information for a product on the web page, wherein the product information and the product are stored by the online system;
responsive to identifying a user of the online system to be presented a product catalog,
ranking, based on a set of interests for the identified user, each product included in the tracking pixel data received from tracking pixels on the plurality of web pages for the identified user using the determined product information and information describing the identified user of the online system such that the ranking represents an interest of the identified user in each product included in the tracking pixel data;
aggregating each product included in the tracking pixel data ranked above a threshold ranking into a product catalog comprising products of interest to the user; and
presenting, to the identified user of the online system, the product catalog.
12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the tracking pixel data comprises descriptive categories that describe each product on the web page.
13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the tracking pixel is placed on the web page by the third party system hosting the webpage.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the tracking pixel is previously provided by the online system to the third party system hosting the webpage.
15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 further comprising computer code that, when executed by a processor of a computer, causes the processor to perform the steps comprising:
identifying a responsible party that triggered the tracking pixel; and
responsive to determining that the online system is the responsible party, storing product information included in the received tracking pixel data.
16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein identifying the responsible party comprises identifying user identifier information received from a stored cookie.
17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the identified user sends a request to the online system to view the product catalog.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein ranking each product included in the tracking pixel data received from tracking pixels on the plurality of web pages for the identified user based on the determined product information and information describing the identified user of the online system comprises:
for each product included in the tracking pixel data:
assigning a weight to each descriptive category of the product obtained from the received tracking pixel data;
adjusting each weight based on the set of interests for the identified user of the online system; and
generating a score for the product based on the adjusted weights.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the set of interests for the identified user of the online system corresponds to one or more actions that the user has previously performed.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the product catalog is presented to the identified user of the online system on a web page hosted by the online system.