Abstract: The current document is directed to a query-as-a-service system (“QAAS system”) that collects enormous volumes of data from network-connected entities, referred to as “Things” in the phrase “Internet of Things,” persistently stores the collected data and provides a distributed-query-execution engine that allows remote clients to continuously execute queries against the collected data. In a described implementation, both the raw data and query results are persistently stored in the QAAS system, with the raw data stored for significantly longer periods of time. Query results generated by the query-processing engine are securely transmitted to QAAS remote clients for distribution to file systems, storage appliances, applications, and other data sinks within client systems.

Abstract: The current document is directed to methods and systems for testing web sites. In certain implementations of the methods and systems, a testing service collects customer page-access and conversion information on behalf of a web site. The testing service is straightforwardly accessed and configured, through a web-site-based user interface, and is virtually incorporated into the web site by simple HTML-file modifications. A more efficient web-site-testing system nonuniformly distributes web-site accesses among web-page variants in order to more quickly and computationally efficiently determine a most effective web-page variant among a set of tested web-page variants. In certain implementations, nonuniform distribution of web-site accesses among web-page variants is facilitated by a Bayesian-inference method.

Abstract: The current document is directed to automated electronic testing, optimization, and/or analysis systems that collect sufficient data from instrumentation, maintain sufficient user status, and provide sufficient communications between instrumentation and testing, optimization, and/or analysis systems in order to follow, reconstruct, and record temporal threads of user activity that span multiple user contexts. In one implementation, JSON-encoded information is collected through instrumentation and supplemented by testing, optimization, and/or analysis systems in order to provide many different types of information about remote-information-accessing users and the device and program contexts from which they access remote information.

Abstract: The current application is directed to methods and systems for designing and configuring web-site testing and analysis. In certain implementations, a testing service collects customer page-access and conversion information on behalf of a web site. The testing service is straightforwardly accessed and configured, through a web-site-based graphical user interface, and is virtually incorporated into the web site.

Abstract: The current document is directed to automated market-segment-discovery methods and systems that may be incorporated within, or used in combination with, various types of analysis and optimization automated systems for automated discovery of market segments for subsequent use in targeted marketing and information distribution. In one implementation, a log of visitor records collected by an analysis and/or optimization system is processed to generate a segment-discovery tree. Construction of the segment-discovery tree produces a set of candidate market-segment-defining rules. Various different techniques and metrics can be applied to produce a set of market-segment-defining rules from these candidate rules. The market-segment-defining rules can then be exported to marketing systems or subsystems to facilitate targeted marketing and information distribution.

Abstract: A method for constructing a customized web analytics application comprises providing a base analytics code, including a base data mining code and a plurality of tokens corresponding to unincorporated code snippets, and incorporating code snippets as selected to create the application where each code snippet is configured to track a different custom web analytic. The system displays a selection of at least one web analytic to track and receives user selection of at least one displayed web analytic to track over a wide area network. Once selected, an unincorporated code snippet corresponding to each selected displayed web analytic is retrieved from a library of such code snippets. The code snippet is then substituted in place of its corresponding token within the base analytics code to create a customized analytics code. The customized code is finalized by removing the remaining tokens and the finalized code transmitted to the user for incorporation into their web pages.

Abstract: Web traffic reporting methods that rely upon third-party cookies suffer in accuracy when those tracking cookies are frequently refused by web users or deleted once they have been accepted. The invention described herein circumvents this problem by employing first-party cookies instead. This is accomplished by a client-side script that maintains the first-party cookie (as placed by the web site in question) and sends a site-maintained visitor ID to a tracking service for analysis. The effect is to improve the accuracy of traffic statistics that rely on that cookie.

Abstract: A method for constructing a customized web analytics application comprises providing a base analytics code, including a base data mining code and a plurality of tokens corresponding to unincorporated code snippets, and incorporating code snippets as selected to create the application where each code snippet is configured to track a different custom web analytic. The system displays a selection of at least one web analytic to track and receives user selection of at least one displayed web analytic to track over a wide area network. Once selected, an unincorporated code snippet corresponding to each selected displayed web analytic is retrieved from a library of such code snippets. The code snippet is then substituted in place of its corresponding token within the base analytics code to create a customized analytics code. The customized code is finalized by removing the remaining tokens and the finalized code transmitted to the user for incorporation into their web pages.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for tracking and reporting traffic activity on a web site whereby cookie data is compiled at the visitor computer using cookie processing script embedded within the web page downloaded over the Internet and operable on the visitor computer. Data mining code within the downloaded web page is operable on the visitor computer to obtain web browsing data. The cookie processing script operates in consideration of this web browsing data and an old cookie previously stored on the visitor computer and associated with the visited web page to obtain new cookie values. These new cookie values are then stored on the visitor computer and also attached to an image request sent to a data collection server where they are processed and posted for viewing by the web page owner. As cookie processing and writing occurs completely within the visitor computer, cookie-blocking technologies are circumvented.

Abstract: Different web pages on a web server are associated with different qualification profiles, each of which is assigned a value by the web-site proprietor. Traffic data hits at the web-site are analyzed to determine which web pages the visitor viewed on the web server. Each qualifying visitor is thereafter associated with a qualification profile and a corresponding value. In another aspect of the invention, visitors arriving as a result of an advertisement on a remote web-site are tracked. The web-site proprietor is consequently able to determine a return on advertising investment based on the value of visitors brought to the site by the tracked advertisement.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for tracking and reporting traffic activity on a web site whereby cookie data is compiled at the visitor computer using cookie processing script embedded within the web page downloaded over the Internet and operable on the visitor computer. Data mining code within the downloaded web page is operable on the visitor computer to obtain web browsing data. The cookie processing script operates in consideration of this web browsing data and an old cookie previously stored on the visitor computer and associated with the visited web page to obtain new cookie values. These new cookie values are then stored on the visitor computer and also attached to an image request sent to a data collection server where they are processed and posted for viewing by the web page owner. As cookie processing and writing occurs completely within the visitor computer, cookie-blocking technologies are circumvented.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for tracking and reporting traffic activity on a web site whereby cookie data is compiled at the visitor computer using cookie processing script embedded within the web page downloaded over the Internet and operable on the visitor computer. Data mining code within the downloaded web page is operable on the visitor computer to obtain web browsing data. The cookie processing script operates in consideration of this web browsing data and an old cookie previously stored on the visitor computer and associated with the visited web page to obtain new cookie values. These new cookie values are then stored on the visitor computer and also attached to an image request sent to a data collection server where they are processed and posted for viewing by the web page owner. As cookie processing and writing occurs completely within the visitor computer, cookie-blocking technologies are circumvented.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed for tracking and reporting electronic commerce activity over a web site that is stored on a first server coupled to a wide area network. The web page is programmed to include data fields reflecting commerce transaction activity and data mining code. The web page is uploaded to a visitor computer responsive to a request over the wide area network from the visitor computer. Commerce information is accepted within the data fields of the web page at the visitor computer to form a completed web page. The data mining code is operated on the visitor computer to obtain technical and commercial data and sent to a second server on the wide area network for logging and analysis.

Abstract: A machine-controlled method can include estimating expected conversion rates for ads by applying an estimated conversion rate statistical model to each ad, estimating an expected AOV for each ad by applying an estimated AOV statistical model to each ad, applying an inference algorithm, and determining auction bids based on the estimated expected conversion rate and the estimated expected AOV for the ads.

Abstract: A system, method and storage medium embodying computer-readable code for analyzing traffic data in a distributed computing environment are described. The distributed computing environment includes a plurality of interconnected systems operatively coupled to a server, a source of traffic data hits and one or more results tables categorized by an associated data type. Each results table includes a plurality of records. The server is configured to exchange data packets with each interconnected system. Each traffic data hit corresponds to a data packet exchanged between the server and one such interconnected system. Each traffic data hit is collected from the traffic data hits source as access information into one such record in at least one results table according to the data type associated with the one such results table. Each of the records in the results table corresponds to a different type of access information for the data type associated with the results table.

Abstract: Web traffic reporting methods that rely upon third-party cookies suffer in accuracy when those tracking cookies are frequently refused by web users or deleted once they have been accepted. The invention described herein circumvents this problem by employing first-party cookies instead. This is accomplished by a client-side script that maintains the first-party cookie (as placed by the web site in question) and sends a site-maintained visitor ID to a tracking service for analysis. The effect is to improve the accuracy of traffic statistics that rely on that cookie.

Abstract: Web traffic reporting methods that rely upon third-party cookies suffer in accuracy when those tracking cookies are frequently refused by web users or deleted once they have been accepted. The invention described herein circumvents this problem by employing first-party cookies instead. This is accomplished by a client-side script that maintains the first-party cookie (as placed by the web site in question) and sends a site-maintained visitor ID to a tracking service for analysis. The effect is to improve the accuracy of traffic statistics that rely on that cookie.

Abstract: Systems and methods of tracking activity over networks and, in particular, tracking web activity over the Internet are described. Exemplary systems and methods may include a receiver for receiving a request from a visitor for a data object, a processor for providing a cookie to track the visitor's web activity, and a transmitter for transmitting the cookie to the visitor in response to the request. The cookie may comprise tracking information for a plurality of web sites visited by the visitor.

Abstract: Systems and methods of tracking activity over networks and, in particular, tracking web activity over the Internet are described. Exemplary systems and methods may include a receiver for receiving a request from a visitor for a data object, a processor for providing a cookie to track the visitor's web activity, and a transmitter for transmitting the cookie to the visitor in response to the request. The cookie may comprise tracking information for a plurality of web sites visited by the visitor.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed for tracking and reporting electronic commerce activity over a web site that is stored on a first server coupled to a wide area network. The web page is programmed to include data fields reflecting commerce transaction activity and data mining code. The web page is uploaded to a visitor computer responsive to a request over the wide area network from the visitor computer. Commerce information is accepted within the data fields of the web page at the visitor computer to form a completed web page. The data mining code is operated on the visitor computer to obtain technical and commercial data and sent to a second server on the wide area network for logging and analysis.