Monitoring campaign referral sources

Abstract

A method and system for tracking telephone calls made in response to advertising campaigns in electronic or other media. An advertiser is permitted to associate a specific and distinct telephone number with an associated advertising campaign. Telephone calls made to the selected telephone numbers are correlated to the referring campaign and reports are providers to advertisers of call data associated with the respective advertising campaign.

1 . A method for enabling data collection for at least one advertising campaign, comprising:
 receiving data associated with at least one request associated with at least one advertising campaign;   assigning at least one phone number to the at least one advertising campaign;   causing the at least one phone number to be displayed;   accepting at least one phone call placed to the at least one phone number;   identifying the advertising campaign associated with the at least one phone number, the identifying including correlating the receiving of the at least one request and the accepting of the at least one phone call; and   determining which advertising campaign is associated with the at least one request.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one request comprises a request to receive data via an interne accessible application. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the data comprises at least one webpage. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a uniform resource locator from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a search engine from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a search term used in a search engine from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a keyword associated with a uniform resource locator from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 generating at least one new webpage, wherein the at least one new webpage is substantially a copy of the at least one pre-existing webpage with the at least one phone number added to the at least one new webpage; wherein   causing the at least one phone number to be provided to the at least one user comprises transmitting the at least one new webpage to the at least one user.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 analyzing the at least one pre-existing webpage to identify at least one pre-existing phone number; wherein the at least one new webpage is substantially a copy of the at least one pre-existing webpage with at least one phone number inserted in place of the at least one pre-existing phone number.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one pre-existing phone number on the at least one pre-existing webpage and the at least one phone number on the at least one new webpage are displayed as text. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one pre-existing phone number on the at least one pre-existing webpage and the at least one phone number on the at least one new webpage are displayed as graphics. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting at least one cookie to facilitate future requests. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned to the at least one advertising campaign based on a bid received from an owner of the at least one advertising campaign. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising associating a revenue with the at least one advertising campaign associated with the at least one request. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising recording phone call data associated with the at least one phone call. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising playing at least one ring tone on the at least one phone call. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a time at which the at least one phone call is accepted;   determining whether the time is within business hours; and   playing a first message on the at least one phone call if the time is within business hours and playing a second message on the at least one phone call if the time is not within business hours.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating at least one report using the phone call data. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising transferring the at least one report to at least one advertiser. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transferring the at least one phone call to at least one advertiser. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising terminating the at least one phone call after recording the phone call data. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising terminating the at least one phone call after playing the first message or the second message. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying at least one phone number as a blacklisted number associated with an inactive campaign;   determining whether the at least one phone number is blacklisted after accepting the at least one phone call; and   terminating the at least one phone call if the at least one phone number is blacklisted.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising running an answer application on the at least one phone call. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising running a call wrap-up application on the at least one phone call. 
     
     
         26 . A system for enabling data collection for at least one advertising campaign, the system comprising:
 at least one server;   at least one telephony interface coupled to the at least one server;   at least one telephonic connector coupled to at least one telephone network and the at least one server; and   at least one database coupled to the at least one server and at least one telephony interface;   wherein the at least one server comprises at least one server application configured to:
 locate at least one phone number associated with each advertising campaign in the at least one database; 
 receive data associated with at least one request associated with at least one advertising campaign; and 
 cause the at least one phone number to be displayed; 
   wherein the at least one telephony interface comprises at least one telephony application configured to:
 assign at least one phone number to each advertising campaign; and 
   wherein the at least one telephonic connector is configured to:
 accept at least one phone call placed to the at least one phone number; 
 identify the advertising campaign associated with the at least one phone number by correlating the receiving of the at least one request to display the at least one pre-existing webpage and the accepting of the at least one phone call; and 
 determine which advertising campaign is associated with the at least one request. 
   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one request comprises a request to receive data via an internet accessible application. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the data comprises at least one webpage. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a uniform resource locator from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a search engine from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a search term used in a search engine from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one phone number is assigned based on a keyword associated with a uniform resource locator from which the at least one request was received. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one server application is further configured to:
 generate at least one new webpage, wherein the at least one new webpage is substantially a copy of the at least one pre-existing webpage with the at least one phone number added to the at least one new webpage; and   send the at least one new webpage.   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one server application is further configured to:
 analyze the at least one pre-existing webpage to identify at least one pre-existing phone number;   wherein the at least one new webpage is substantially a copy of the at least one pre-existing webpage with at least one phone number inserted in place of the at least one pre-existing phone number.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the at least one pre-existing phone number on the at least one pre-existing webpage and the at least one phone number on the at least one new webpage are displayed as text. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the at least one pre-existing phone number on the at least one pre-existing webpage and the at least one phone number on the at least one new webpage are displayed as graphics. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one server further comprises at least one proxy server. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the server application is further configured to transmit at least one cookie to facilitate future requests. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one telephony application is further configured to assign the at least one phone number to each advertising campaign based on a bid received from an owner of each advertising campaign. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one server application is further configured to associate a revenue with at least one advertising campaign associated with the at least one request. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 26 , further comprising:
 at least one recording server comprising at least one recording application configured to record phone call data associated with the at least one phone call.   
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one telephony application is further configured to:
 identify at least one phone number as a blacklisted number associated with an inactive campaign;   determine whether the at least one phone number is blacklisted after accepting the at least one phone call; and   terminate the at least one phone call if the at least one phone number is blacklisted.   
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one telephonic connector is configured to play at least one ring tone on the at least one phone call. 
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein:
 the at least one telephony application is further configured to determine a time at which the phone call is accepted and determine whether the time is within business hours, and   the at least one telephonic connector is further configured to play a first message on the at least one phone call if the time is within business hours and play a second message on the at least one phone call if the time is not within business hours.   
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one server application is further configured to generate at least one report using the phone call data. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the at least one server application is further configured to transfer the report to at least one advertiser. 
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one telephonic connector is further configured to transfer the phone call to at least one advertiser. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the telephonic connector is further configured to terminate the phone call after the phone call data is recorded. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 44 , wherein the telephonic connector is further configured to terminate the phone call after playing the first message or the second message. 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one telephonic connector is further configured to run an answer application on the at least one phone call. 
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one telephonic connector is further configured to run a call wrap-up application on the at least one phone call.