Method And Apparatus For Remotely Monitoring A Social Website

Abstract

A computer method, apparatus, system and computer program product for remotely monitoring a social website includes monitoring user activity (events) and producing user activity data. The resulting data may be processed separately from the social website. The processed user activity data may be stored and information indicative of the data may be reported. Monitoring user activity may be in response to a call from a social website. Thus, a plurality of websites may be monitored and data from these websites may be normalized. Remotely monitoring a plurality of social websites allows the invention system to identify activity/data trends, such as individual or group user trends, or larger societal trends identifiable across the plurality of websites. The invention may monitor user activity in a substantially real-time manner or alternatively may store indicative user activity data for later processing. User activity data may also be encrypted/decrypted and/or authenticated to ensure data integrity.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method to remotely monitor a social website, comprising:
 monitoring user activity on a remote social website, resulting in user activity data;   processing the user activity data separate from the social website;   storing the processed user activity data; and   reporting information indicative of the processed user activity data.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein monitoring user activity is in response to a call from the social website triggered by user activity at the social website. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2  wherein the call is an API call. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein monitoring includes polling a monitoring service installed on the remote social website periodically, aperiodically, or on an event driven basis. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the step of monitoring effectively logs or records user activity. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5  wherein user activity data is represented in the form of a uniform resource locator (URL). 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein processing includes parsing the user activity data from at least one social website and normalizing the parsed user activity data. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein storing includes storing the processed results in a centralized, searchable data store. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein processing includes performing on-the-fly analysis of the user activity data. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1  further including querying a classification service (CS) prior to displaying a requested web page at the social website, wherein the CS determines user target information. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein reporting includes communicating the stored processed user activity data to a third-party location. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein monitoring includes locally tracking and accumulating user activity at the social website and communicating the resulting user activity data to a classification service (CS), wherein the CS determines user target information periodically, aperiodically, or on an event-driven basis. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein reporting includes reporting user activity data represented by metadata. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein reporting includes generating a targeted advertisement based on user activity data. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein reporting includes communicating data representative of user activity to an advertisement server. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein processing includes processing user activity data in a substantially real-time manner. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the method remotely monitors a plurality of social websites. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the social website is a website allowing use of tagging or bookmarking associated with website content. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus to remotely monitor a social website, comprising:
 a monitoring unit configured to monitor user activity on a remote social website, resulting in user activity data;   a processing unit configured to process the user activity data separate from the social website;   a storage unit configured to store the processed user activity data; and   a reporting unit configured to report information indicative of the processed user activity data.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the monitoring unit is configured to monitor user activity in response to a call from the social web site triggered by user activity at the social website. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus according to  claim 20  wherein the call is an Application Programming Interface (API) call. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the monitoring unit configured to poll a monitor service installed on the remote social website on a periodic, aperiodic, or event-driven basis. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein monitoring unit configured to effectively log or record user activity. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus according to  claim 23  wherein user activity data is represented in the form of a uniform resource locator (URL). 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the processing unit is configured to parse the user activity data from at least one social website and normalize the parsed user activity data. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the storage unit is configured to store the processed results in a centralized, searchable data store. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the processing unit is configured to perform on-the-fly analysis of the user activity data. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  further including a querying unit configured to query a classification service (CS) prior to displaying a requested web page at the social website, wherein the CS determines user target information. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the reporting unit is configured to communicate the stored processed user activity data to a third-party location. 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the monitoring unit is configured locally track and accumulate user activity at the social website and communicate the user activity data to a classification service (CS), wherein the CS determines user target information on a periodic, aperiodic, or event-driven basis. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the reporting unit is configured to report user activity data represented by metadata. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the reporting unit is configured to generate a targeted advertisement based on user activity data. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the reporting unit is configured to report data representative of user activity to an advertisement server. 
     
     
         34 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the processing unit is configured to process user activity data in a substantially real-time manner. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the apparatus is configured to remotely monitor a plurality of social websites. 
     
     
         36 . The apparatus according to  claim 19  wherein the social website is a website where users associate a tag or bookmark with website content. 
     
     
         37 . A computer program product for remotely monitoring a social website, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, which, when loaded and executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
 monitor user activity on a remote social website, resulting in user activity data;   process the user activity data separate from the social website;   store the processed user activity data; and   report information indicative of the processed user activity data.   
     
     
         38 . A system to remotely monitor a social website, comprising:
 means for monitoring user activity on a remote social website, resulting in user activity data;   means for processing the user activity data separate from the social website;   means for storing the processed user activity data; and   means for reporting information indicative of the processed user activity data.