System and Method For Contextual Advertising and Merchandizing Based On User Configurable Preferences

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method for contextual advertising and merchandizing based on user configurable preferences is disclosed. The system in an example embodiment includes an advertising (ad) preferences service to obtain user preference information related to advertising, enable user configuration of the user preference information related to advertising, and modify the presentation of advertising to the user based upon the user configured preference information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining behavior information for a user profile based on monitored interactions of the user profile with displayed content of one or more webpages;   obtaining demographic information of the user profile from previous user interactions;   automatically classifying the user profile into categories based on the behavior information and the demographic information;   displaying a user interface that includes indications of the categories and further includes user interface elements displayed in association with each indication of a category, the user interface elements being selectable to deactivate, in connection with providing targeted content, only a respective category into which the user profile was classified;   responsive to input to select one of the user interface elements, deactivating, for the user profile, the respective category, relative to which the selected user interface element is displayed and keeping activated other categories; and   targeting content to the user profile using activated categories and not using the deactivated respective category.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising excluding the targeted content corresponding to the deactivated respective category from being presented to the user profile. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving input to activate a previously deactivated category and using the previously deactivated category for targeting the content to the user profile. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the input to activate the previously deactivated category is received in relation to a respective user interface element. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the respective user interface element indicates that the previously deactivated category is deactivated before the input to activate the previously deactivated category is received. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying the targeted content to the user profile in an additional user interface, the additional user interface including an additional user interface element displayed in association with the targeted content, and the additional user interface element being operable to direct the user profile to information regarding the categories. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising displaying the user interface that includes the indications of the categories and further includes the user interface elements based on selection of the additional user interface element. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating information in the user profile with information in an additional user profile. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising associating the categories into which the user profile is classified with an additional user profile. 
     
     
         10 . A system, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform operations including:
 obtaining behavior information for a user profile based on monitored interactions of the user profile with displayed content of one or more webpages; 
 obtaining demographic information of the user profile from previous user interactions; 
 automatically classifying the user profile into categories based on the behavior information and the demographic information; 
 displaying a user interface that includes indications of the categories and further includes user interface elements displayed in association with each indication of a category, the user interface elements being selectable to deactivate, in connection with providing targeted content, only a respective category into which the user profile was classified; 
 responsive to input to select one of the user interface elements, deactivating, for the user profile, the respective category, relative to which the selected user interface element is displayed and keeping activated other categories; and 
 targeting content to the user profile using activated categories and not using the deactivated respective category. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further include excluding the targeted content corresponding to the deactivated respective category from being presented to the user profile. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further include receiving input to activate a previously deactivated category and using the previously deactivated category for targeting the content to the user profile. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the input to activate the previously deactivated category is received in relation to a respective user interface element. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the respective user interface element indicates that the previously deactivated category is deactivated before the input to activate the previously deactivated category is received. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further include displaying the targeted content to the user profile in an additional user interface, the additional user interface including an additional user interface element displayed in association with the targeted content, and the additional user interface element being operable to direct the user profile to information regarding the categories. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further include displaying the user interface that includes the indications of the categories and further includes the user interface elements based on selection of the additional user interface element. 
     
     
         17 . One or more computer-readable storage media storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors to perform operations including:
 obtaining behavior information for a user profile based on monitored interactions of the user profile with displayed content of one or more webpages;   obtaining demographic information of the user profile from previous user interactions;   automatically classifying the user profile into categories based on the behavior information and the demographic information;   displaying a user interface that includes indications of the categories and further includes user interface elements displayed in association with each indication of a category, the user interface elements being selectable to deactivate, in connection with providing targeted content, only a respective category into which the user profile was classified;   responsive to input to select one of the user interface elements, deactivating, for the user profile, the respective category, relative to which the selected user interface element is displayed and keeping activated other categories; and   targeting content to the user profile using activated categories and not using the deactivated respective category.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further include excluding the targeted content corresponding to the deactivated respective category from being presented to the user profile. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further include displaying the targeted content to the user profile in an additional user interface, the additional user interface including an additional user interface element displayed in association with the targeted content, and the additional user interface element being operable to direct the user profile to information regarding the categories. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more computer-readable storage media of  claim 19 , wherein the operations further include displaying the user interface that includes the indications of the categories and further includes the user interface elements based on selection of the additional user interface element.