Systems and methods for opting-out of targeted advertising in an online advertising environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11830035-B2
Application number	US-201916576351-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2019
Priority date	Feb 11, 2015
Publication date	Nov 28, 2023
Grant date	Nov 28, 2023

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for opting-out of targeted advertising in online advertising environments. One method includes receiving an opt-out verification request, the opt-out verification including an IP address of a user device and HTTP header fields of an HTTP request of the user device; determining a geographic area of the user device based on the IP address of the user device; accessing an opt-out database having entries of user devices that opted-out of receiving targeted advertising based on at least one HTTP header field of the HTTP request; determining whether the user device has opted-out of receiving targeted advertising based on the determined geographic area of the user device, the HTTP header fields of the HTTP quest, and the entries of user devices of the opt-out database; and transmitting a verification acknowledgement when the user device is determined to have opted-out of receiving targeted advertising.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for opting-out of targeted advertising in online advertising environments, the method comprising:
receiving, at a server, over an electronic network, from a web browser executing a graphical user interface (GUI) on a user device associated with a user, an opt-out request identifying one or more ad networks selected by the user, wherein the opt-out request is an HTTP request that includes an IP address of the user device and a user-agent value of the web browser;
hashing, by the server, the user-agent value of the web browser;
determining, by the server, a geographic area of the user device based on the IP address of the user device;
generating, by the server, an opt-out value based on the determined geographic area, the hashed user-agent value, and a timestamp, wherein the timestamp indicates a time and date the opt-out request was received;
encrypting, by an encryption system, the generated opt-out value using asymmetric key pairs;
verifying, by the server, the received opt-out request by:
accessing an opt-out database based on at least one of the generated opt-out value and the encrypted opt-out value, the opt-out database including entries of user devices that have opted-out of receiving targeted advertising;
comparing, by the server, the determined geographic area of the user device and the user agent value of the web browser included in the received opt-out request; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether the verification is successful;

generating, by the server, an opt-out response, wherein the opt-out response includes the encrypted opt-out value and one of a verification acknowledgement message, in a case in which the verification is determined to be successful, and a verification failure message, in a case in which the verification is determined not to be successful;
transmitting, by the server, over the electronic network, the generated opt-out response to the web browser executing at the user device; and
receiving, at the server, over the electronic network, through the graphical user interface (GUI), an automatic opt-out request selection by the user, wherein the automatic opt-out request will automatically opt-out of additional one or more ad networks practicing behavioral tracking.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising decrypting, by the server, the encrypted opt-out value, wherein accessing the opt-out database is further based on the decrypted opt-out value.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting, by the server, the verification failure message when the user device is determined to have not opted-out of receiving targeted advertising.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, by the server, in the opt-out database, the timestamp indicating when the opt-out request was received in an entry of the user device based on at least one HTTP header field of the received opt-out request.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timestamp further indicates a time and date the opt-out value was generated.

6. A system comprising at least one processor for performing a method for opting-out of targeted advertising in online advertising environments, the method comprising:
receiving, at a server, over an electronic network, from a web browser executing a graphical user interface (GUI) on a user device associated with a user, an opt-out request identifying one or more ad networks selected by the user, wherein the opt-out request is an HTTP request that includes an IP address of the user device and a user-agent value of the web browser;
hashing, by the server, the user-agent value of the web browser;
determining, by the server, a geographic area of the user device based on the IP address of the user device;
generating, by the server, an opt-out value based on the determined geographic area, the hashed user-agent value, and a timestamp, wherein the timestamp indicates a time and date the opt-out request was received;
encrypting, by an encryption system, the generated opt-out value using asymmetric key pairs;
verifying, by the server, the received opt-out request by:
accessing an opt-out database based on at least one of the generated opt-out value and the encrypted opt-out value, the opt-out database including entries of user devices that have opted-out of receiving targeted advertising;
comparing, by the server, the determined geographic area of the user device and the user agent value of the web browser included in the received opt-out request; and
determining, based on the comparing, whether the verification is successful;

generating, by the server, an opt-out response, wherein the opt-out response includes the encrypted opt-out value and one of a verification acknowledgement message, in a case in which the verification is determined to be successful, and a verification failure message, in a case in which the verification is determined not to be successful;
transmitting, by the server, over the electronic network, the generated opt-out response to the web browser executing at the user device; and
receiving, at the server, over the electronic network, through the graphical user interface (GUI), an automatic opt-out request selection by the user, wherein the automatic opt-out request will automatically opt-out of additional one or more ad networks practicing behavioral tracking.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises decrypting the encrypted opt-out value, wherein the accessing the opt-out database is further based on the decrypted opt-out value.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises:
transmitting a the verification failure message when the user device is determined to have not opted-out of receiving targeted advertising.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises:
storing, in the opt-out database, a the timestamp indicating when the opt-out request was received in an entry of the user device based on at least one HTTP header field of the received opt-out request.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises storing, in the opt-out database, the timestamp indicating when the opt-out request was received in an entry of the user device based on at least one HTTP header field of the received opt-out request.

11. The system of claim 6 , wherein the timestamp further indicates a time and date the opt-out value was generated.

12. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor of a computer, implement a method for opting-out of targeted advertising in online advertising environments, the method comprising:
receiving, at a server, over an electronic network, from a web browser executing a graphical user interface (GUI) on a user device associated with a user, an opt-out request identifying one or more ad networks selected by the user, wherein the opt-out request is an HTTP request that includes an IP address of the user device and a user-agent value of the web browser;
hashing, by the server, the user-agent value of the web browser;
determining, by the server, a geographic area of the user device based on the IP address of the user device;
generating, by the server, an opt-out value based on the determined geographic area, the hashed user-agent value, and a timestamp, wherein the timestamp indicates a time and date the opt-out request was received;
encrypting, by an encryption system, the generated opt-out value using asymmetric key pairs;
verifying, by the server, the received opt-out request by:
accessing an opt-out database based on at least one of the generated opt-out value and the encrypted opt-out value,

Assignees

• Oath Inc
• Yahoo Ad Tech Llc

Inventors

• Wilson Jeffrey Todd

Classifications

• G06Q30/0257 Primary

  User requested · CPC title

• H04L67/02

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• H04L67/52

  specially adapted for the location of the user terminal · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L69/22

  Parsing or analysis of headers · CPC title