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:
 collecting, by one or more computers, geographic location information of a mobile device over a period of time;   determining, by the one or more computers and based on the geographic location information, a number of times that the mobile device has been located at a specified point of interest that is at a specified geographic location;   detecting, by the one or more computers, a current geographic location of the mobile device;   transmitting, by the one or more computers, content to the mobile device while the mobile device is at the current location, including:
 transmitting first content corresponding to the point of interest when the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest more than a specified number of times; and 
 transmitting second content corresponding to a different point of interest when the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest is less than the specified number of times. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining a number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest comprises determining a number of times that the mobile device has been located at a particular merchant location. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein detecting a current geographic location of the mobile device comprises obtaining geographic positioning system (GPS) data specifying the current geographic location of the mobile device, the method further comprising determining that the GPS data indicates that the mobile device is currently located at the particular merchant location. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein:
 transmitting the first content corresponding to the point of interest comprises transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location when (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location more than the specified number of times, and (ii) a particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device; and   transmitting the second content corresponding to a different point of interest comprises transmitting information corresponding to a different merchant location when either (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location fewer than the specified number of times, or (ii) an application other than the particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising selecting the information corresponding to the particular merchant based on historical interactions with the particular mobile application by a user of the mobile device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising formatting the information to display (i) a single offering available from one of the particular merchant location or the different merchant location or (ii) offerings from both of the particular merchant location and the different merchant location. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location comprises transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location only when (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location more than the specified number of times, (ii) a particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device, and (iii) the current time is within a specified time period for distributing the information corresponding to the particular merchant location. 
     
     
         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:
 collecting geographic location information of a mobile device over a period of time;   determining, based on the geographic location information, a number of times that the mobile device has been located at a specified point of interest that is at a specified geographic location;   detecting a current geographic location of the mobile device;   transmitting content to the mobile device while the mobile device is at the current location, including:
 transmitting first content corresponding to the point of interest when the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest more than a specified number of times; and 
 transmitting second content corresponding to a different point of interest when the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest is less than the specified number of times. 
   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein determining a number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest comprises determining a number of times that the mobile device has been located at a particular merchant location. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein detecting a current geographic location of the mobile device comprises obtaining geographic positioning system (GPS) data specifying the current geographic location of the mobile device, the method further comprising determining that the GPS data indicates that the mobile device is currently located at the particular merchant location. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein:
 transmitting the first content corresponding to the point of interest comprises transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location when (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location more than the specified number of times, and (ii) a particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device; and   transmitting the second content corresponding to a different point of interest comprises transmitting information corresponding to a different merchant location when either (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location fewer than the specified number of times, or (ii) an application other than the particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more computers to perform operations further comprising selecting the information corresponding to the particular merchant based on historical interactions with the particular mobile application by a user of the mobile device. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 13 , further comprising formatting the information to display (i) a single offering available from one of the particular merchant location or the different merchant location or (ii) offerings from both of the particular merchant location and the different merchant location. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location comprises transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location only when (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location more than the specified number of times, (ii) a particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device, and (iii) the current time is within a specified time period for distributing the information corresponding to the particular merchant location. 
     
     
         16 . A system, comprising:
 a storage device; and   one or more processors communicatively coupled to the storage device, the one or more processors configured to execute application code instructions that are stored in the storage device and that cause the system to perform operations including:   collecting geographic location information of a mobile device over a period of time;   determining, based on the geographic location information, a number of times that the mobile device has been located at a specified point of interest that is at a specified geographic location;   detecting a current geographic location of the mobile device;   transmitting content to the mobile device while the mobile device is at the current location, including:
 transmitting first content corresponding to the point of interest when the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest more than a specified number of times; and 
 transmitting second content corresponding to a different point of interest when the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest is less than the specified number of times. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein determining a number of times that the mobile device has been located at the specified point of interest comprises determining a number of times that the mobile device has been located at a particular merchant location. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein detecting a current geographic location of the mobile device comprises obtaining geographic positioning system (GPS) data specifying the current geographic location of the mobile device, the method further comprising determining that the GPS data indicates that the mobile device is currently located at the particular merchant location. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein:
 transmitting the first content corresponding to the point of interest comprises transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location when (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location more than the specified number of times, and (ii) a particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device; and   transmitting the second content corresponding to a different point of interest comprises transmitting information corresponding to a different merchant location when either (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location fewer than the specified number of times, or (ii) an application other than the particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions cause the system to perform operations further comprising selecting the information corresponding to the particular merchant based on historical interactions with the particular mobile application by a user of the mobile device. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location comprises transmitting information corresponding to the particular merchant location only when (i) the number of times that the mobile device has been located at the particular merchant location more than the specified number of times, (ii) a particular mobile application corresponding to a service provided at the particular merchant location is being executed at the mobile device, and (iii) the current time is within a specified time period for distributing the information corresponding to the particular merchant location.