Methods and apparatuses for expanding targets of creatives based on signatures

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining a first indication of a user of a communication device browsing a first website associated with a first vendor, obtaining a second indication of the user of the communication device browsing a second website associated with a second vendor that is different from the first vendor, determining, in accordance with the first indication and the second indication, that the first vendor and the second vendor operate in a common marketplace, responsive to the determining, obtaining an advertisement of the first vendor to provide to the communication device, and providing the advertisement to the communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 a processing system including a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:   identifying at least one activity engaged in by a user equipment;   generating or modifying a signature based on the identifying of the at least one activity;   identifying inventory that is available in a content item requested by the user equipment;   anonymizing the signature, resulting in an anonymized signature;   providing the anonymized signature to a first advertiser and a second advertiser;   obtaining a first bid from the first advertiser and a second bid from the second advertiser responsive to the providing of the anonymized signature;   selecting at least one advertisement to populate the inventory based on the first bid and the second bid, resulting in a selected at least one advertisement; and   providing the selected at least one advertisement to the user equipment.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one activity includes a plurality of activities. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the providing of the selected at least one advertisement to the user equipment comprises providing the selected at least one advertisement with a first portion of the content item to the user equipment. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity is based on a verification of a credential. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 4 , wherein the credential identifies: the user equipment, a user of the user equipment, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity includes identifying a sequence of a browsing to a first website and a browsing to a second website, and wherein the generating or modifying of the signature is based on the identifying of the sequence. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 6 , wherein when the sequence includes a gap between the browsing to the first website and the browsing to the second website the selected at least one advertisement corresponds to a first advertisement, and wherein when the sequence does not include the gap between the browsing to the first website and the browsing to the second website the selected at least one advertisement corresponds to a second advertisement that is different from the first advertisement. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity includes identifying a social media activity of a user of the user equipment, and wherein the generating or modifying of the signature is based on the identifying of the social media activity. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity includes identifying a communication session engaged in by the user equipment, and wherein the generating or modifying of the signature is based on the identifying of the communication session. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity includes identifying a purchase activity engaged in by the user equipment, and wherein the generating or modifying of the signature is based on the identifying of the purchase activity. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the identifying of the purchase activity includes: identifying a product or a service placed into a virtual shopping cart, a completion of a transaction for the product or the service, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity is based on a monitoring of cookies. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the at least one activity includes identifying a change in a location of the user equipment from a first location to a second location, and wherein the generating or modifying of the signature is based on the identifying of the change in location. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 obtaining metadata associated with the content item,   wherein the selecting of the at least one advertisement is further based on an analysis of the metadata.   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the identifying of the inventory that is available in the content item is based on the analysis of the metadata. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the metadata identifies a creator of the content item, a distributor of the content item, a genre of the content item, a location of the inventory within the content item, a dimension associated with the inventory, a size of the inventory, and a duration of the inventory. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 identifying a first activity engaged in by a communication device;   identifying a second activity engaged in by the communication device;   identifying a gap between the first activity and the second activity in terms of: an occurrence of a third activity between the first activity and the second activity, a passage of time between the first activity and the second activity in an amount greater than a threshold, or a combination thereof;   based on the identifying of the first activity, the identifying of the second activity, and the identifying of the gap, selecting a creative to provide to the communication device; and   providing the creative to the communication device.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the creative includes an advertisement. 
     
     
         19 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining, by a processing system including a processor, a first indication of a user of a communication device browsing a first website associated with a first vendor;   obtaining, by the processing system, a second indication of the user of the communication device browsing a second website associated with a second vendor that is different from the first vendor;   generating, by the processing system, a signature for the user based on the first indication and the second indication;   anonymizing, by the processing system, the signature, resulting in an anonymized signature;   providing, by the processing system, the anonymized signature to the first vendor and the second vendor;   obtaining, by the processing system, a first bid from the first vendor and a second bid from the second vendor responsive to the providing of the anonymized signature;   based on the first bid and the second bid, obtaining, by the processing system, an advertisement of the first vendor to provide to the communication device; and   providing, by the processing system, the advertisement to the communication device, a second communication device of the user, or a combination thereof.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 providing, by the processing system, the first indication and the second indication to the first vendor;   providing, by the processing system, a third indication of an extent of a gap between the browsing of the first website and the browsing of the second website to the first vendor, wherein the first bid is based on the first indication, the second indication, and the third indication; and   charging, by the processing system, the first vendor a fee based on the providing the advertisement to the communication device, the second communication device, or the combination thereof.