Google Files for Behavioral Targeting Patents

Search Engine Journal reports that Google recently filed two patents dealing with ad targeting based on user search history behavior and personalization in what seems an attempt to leverage their Gmail/personal search/toolbar data, reminding us that all those free tools are not as free as we thought...

The first Google patent filing is ‘Determining ad targeting information and/or ad creative information using past search queries‘. The patent abstract describes this patent as follows:

Ad information, such as ad targeting keywords and/or ad creative content for example, may be determined using aggregated selected document-to-query information associations. For example, popular terms and/or phrases also associated with a selected document may be used as ad targeting keywords and/or ad creative content for an ad having the document as a landing page. Query information may be tracked on a per document level, a per domain level, etc. The determined ad information may be used to automatically populate an ad record, or may be provided to an advertiser as suggested or recommended ad information.

The second major Google AdWords patent filed deals with profiling Google users based on their search history in order to personalize Google ads with behavioral targeting. The patent, Results based personalization of advertisements in a search engine, is described in the abstract as:

Personalized advertisements are provided to a user using a search engine to obtain documents relevant to a search query. The advertisements are personalized in response to a search profile that is derived from personalized search results. The search results are personalized based on a user profile of the user providing the query. The user profile describes interests of the user, and can be derived from a variety of sources, including prior search queries, prior search results, expressed interests, demographic, geographic, psychographic, and activity information.

It seems we're creeping closer and closer to "The Perfect Search", and its inherent problems.
[via Search Engine News]

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