Delivering advertisements to mobile applications

Abstract

A content provider can provide content, such as advertisements or other promotional material, for display by a mobile application. As contextual information is typically limited for mobile applications, the content provider can use other information in addition to or in place of contextual information to select advertisements. This information can include location information, user activity with regards to the mobile application, information regarding a recipient of the advertisement, such as demographic information, information regarding the mobile application, such as information regarding the type of mobile application, and product inventory information. A user profile also may be used to select advertisements. The user profile can include a set of merchants and merchant types, for example clothing retailers, to which a user may be more responsive. The user profiles can be generated and updated by logging merchants that the user visits or interacts with via advertisements.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method, comprising, by a computer:
 receiving, from an application executing on a mobile network device, a current location of the mobile network device;   identifying a first merchant located proximal to the current location of the mobile network device;   identifying a second merchant located proximal to the current location of the mobile network device;   determining, from a user profile of a user of the mobile network device, a first number of visits by the user to the first merchant and a second number of visits by the user to the second merchant;   selecting, from an index, an advertisement of the first identified merchant or the second identified merchant based on a difference between the first number of visits and the second number of visits; and   transmitting the selected advertisement to the application for display in the application executing on the mobile network device.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving information regarding an advertisement with which the user interacted via the mobile network device, the advertisement being associated with a merchant; and   adding information regarding the merchant associated with the advertisement with which the user interacted to the user profile.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising formatting the advertisement to display (i) a single product available from one of the first merchant or the second merchant or (ii) products from both of the first merchant and the second merchant. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising formatting the advertisement to display a set of related products selected based on information stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising formatting the advertisement based on an application category of the mobile application. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining a category of product associated with each identified merchant; and   adding information regarding the category of product to the user profile,   wherein the selecting step further comprises selecting the advertisement from available advertisements based on merchant identity information and the category of product in the user profile.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 after transmitting the selected advertisement to the application:
 receiving a request for additional information, the request being generated in response to an interaction with the advertisement at the mobile network device; 
 updating the index based on the interaction with the advertisement; 
 providing, to the mobile network device, the additional information responsive to the request; and 
 changing an account of the user based on one or more actions performed by the user at the mobile network device. 
   
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations including:
 receiving, from an application executing on a mobile network device, a current location of the mobile network device;   identifying a first merchant located proximal to the current location of the mobile network device;   identifying a second merchant located proximal to the current location of the mobile network device;   determining, from a user profile of a user of the mobile network device, a first number of visits by the user to the first merchant and a second number of visits by the user to the second merchant;   selecting, from an index, an advertisement of the first identified merchant or the second identified merchant based on a difference between the first number of visits and the second number of visits; and   transmitting the selected advertisement to the application for display in the application executing on the mobile network device.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising:
 receiving information regarding an advertisement with which the user interacted via the mobile network device, the advertisement being associated with a merchant; and   adding information regarding the merchant associated with the advertisement with which the user interacted to the user profile.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising formatting the advertisement to display (i) a single product available from one of the first merchant or the second merchant or (ii) products from both of the first merchant and the second merchant. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising formatting the advertisement to display a set of related products selected based on information stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising formatting the advertisement based on an application category of the mobile application. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising:
 determining a category of product associated with each identified merchant; and   adding information regarding the category of product to the user profile,   wherein the selecting step further comprises selecting the advertisement from available advertisements based on merchant identity information and the category of product in the user profile.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising:
 after transmitting the selected advertisement to the application:
 receiving a request for additional information, the request being generated in response to an interaction with the advertisement at the mobile network device; 
 updating the index based on the interaction with the advertisement; 
 providing, to the mobile network device, the additional information responsive to the request; and 
 changing an account of the user based on one or more actions performed by the user at the mobile network device. 
   
     
     
         16 . A system, comprising:
 a storage device; and   a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, the processor executing application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to perform operations including:   receiving, from an application executing on a mobile network device, a current location of the mobile network device;   identifying a first merchant located proximal to the current location of the mobile network device;   identifying a second merchant located proximal to the current location of the mobile network device;   determining, from a user profile of a user of the mobile network device, a first number of visits by the user to the first merchant and a second number of visits by the user to the second merchant;   selecting, from an index, an advertisement of the first identified merchant or the second identified merchant based on a difference between the first number of visits and the second number of visits; and   transmitting the selected advertisement to the application for display in the application executing on the mobile network device.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
 receiving information regarding an advertisement with which the user interacted via the mobile network device, the advertisement being associated with a merchant; and   adding information regarding the merchant associated with the advertisement with which the user interacted to the user profile.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising formatting the advertisement to display (i) a single product available from one of the first merchant or the second merchant or (ii) products from both of the first merchant and the second merchant. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising formatting the advertisement to display a set of related products selected based on information stored in the user profile. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising formatting the advertisement based on an application category of the mobile application. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
 determining a category of product associated with each identified merchant; and   adding information regarding the category of product to the user profile,   wherein the selecting step further comprises selecting the advertisement from available advertisements based on merchant identity information and the category of product in the user profile.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising:
 after transmitting the selected advertisement to the application:
 receiving a request for additional information, the request being generated in response to an interaction with the advertisement at the mobile network device; 
 updating the index based on the interaction with the advertisement; 
 providing, to the mobile network device, the additional information responsive to the request; and 
 changing an account of the user based on one or more actions performed by the user at the mobile network device.