Dynamic telephone number assignment

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus include computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium for dynamic telephone number assignment. A method includes: providing a content item to a user device, the content item including a control for initiating a call to a content sponsor associated with the content item; assigning a telephone number from a pool to the content item; receiving a control interaction indication; facilitating a connection between the user and the content sponsor based on the interaction; storing an association between a user identifier, the telephone number, and a content sponsor identifier such that future calls from the user to the telephone number can be routed to the content sponsor, even after the telephone number has been returned to the pool; and linking a content item impression with the connection such that a report can be generated that shows an effectiveness of the content item impression.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing an impression including providing a content item for presentation on a device associated with a user, the content item including a control for initiating a call to a content sponsor associated with the content item;   assigning a telephone number from a pool of available telephone numbers to the content item, wherein assigning includes associating the telephone number with the content item;   receiving an indication of an interaction with the control;   facilitating a connection between the user and the content sponsor based on the interaction;   storing an association between an identifier associated with the user, the assigned telephone number and an identifier for the content sponsor such that future calls from the user to the telephone number can be routed to the content sponsor, even after the assigned telephone number has been returned to the pool of available telephone numbers; and   linking an impression of the content item with the connection such that a report can be generated that shows an effectiveness of the impression of the content item.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the content item is an advertisement. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the assigning occurs either at a time of impression or after receiving the indication of an interaction. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the control is a button that does not include a visible telephone number. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the pool includes a plurality of telephone numbers which may or may not have been previously assigned to other content items but are now available for assignment. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising returning the assigned telephone number back to the pool after either a predetermined amount of time after assignment to a content item, or after a pre-determined amount of time after assignment without receipt of an interaction by a user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the interaction is a click and facilitating includes receiving a call from the user based on the interaction and connecting the received call to a telephone number associated with the content sponsor. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the identifier associated with the user is a caller telephone number and wherein the method further includes receiving a call to a telephone number that is in the pool, identifying a caller number for the received call, determining whether the caller number is the same as the stored caller number and when so, connecting the call to the content sponsor. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein assigning includes assigning a number to the content item that has historically been assigned to the content sponsor previously. 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 a content management system;   a telephony system; and   an available telephone number pool;   wherein the content management system is configured to:
 provide an impression including providing a content item for presentation on a device associated with a user, the content item including a control for initiating a call to a content sponsor associated with the content item; and 
 receive an indication of an interaction with the control; and 
   wherein the telephony system is configured to:
 assign a telephone number from the available telephone number pool to the content item, wherein assigning includes associating the telephone number with the content item; 
 facilitate a connection between the user and the content sponsor based on the interaction with the control; 
   store an association between an identifier associated with the user, the assigned telephone number and an identifier for the content sponsor such that future calls from the user to the telephone number can be routed to the content sponsor, even after the assigned telephone number has been returned to the available telephone number pool; and   link an impression of the content item with the connection such that a report can be generated that shows an effectiveness of the impression of the content item.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the assigning occurs either at a time of impression or after receiving the indication of an interaction. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the control is a button that does not include a visible telephone number. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the pool of available telephone numbers includes a plurality of telephone numbers which may or may not have been previously assigned to other content items but are now available for assignment. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the telephony system is further configured to return the assigned telephone number back to the pool after either a predetermined amount of time after assignment to a content item, or after a pre-determined amount of time after assignment without receipt of an interaction by a user. 
     
     
         16 . A computer program product tangibly embodied in a computer-readable storage device and comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 provide an impression including providing a content item for presentation on a device associated with a user, the content item including a control for initiating a call to a content sponsor associated with the content item;   assign a telephone number from a pool of available telephone numbers to the content item, wherein assigning includes associating the telephone number with the content item;   receive an indication of an interaction with the control;   facilitate a connection between the user and the content sponsor based on the interaction;   store an association between an identifier associated with the user, the assigned telephone number and an identifier for the content sponsor such that future calls from the user to the telephone number can be routed to the content sponsor, even after the assigned telephone number has been returned to the pool of available telephone numbers; and   link an impression of the content item with the connection such that a report can be generated that shows an effectiveness of the impression of the content item.   
     
     
         17 . The product of  claim 16  wherein the assigning occurs either at a time of impression or after receiving the indication of an interaction. 
     
     
         18 . The product of  claim 16  wherein the control is a button that does not include a visible telephone number. 
     
     
         19 . The product of  claim 16  wherein the pool includes a plurality of telephone numbers which may or may not have been previously assigned to other content items but are now available for assignment. 
     
     
         20 . The product of  claim 16  further comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to return the assigned telephone number back to the pool after either a predetermined amount of time after assignment to a content item, or after a pre-determined amount of time after assignment without receipt of an interaction by a user.