Microsoft patents method to guess user identity for ad delivery
Microsoft describes a system where a server guesses who is viewing a webpage by assigning a probability to different user identities. It then picks the most likely user profile to choose which content or ad to send, using a mix of random and data-driven selection.
In the filing’s own words
Machine learning (ML) and probabilistic techniques for identification and content delivery are described. A method comprises receiving, by a content delivery server, a request from a web server for content. The server then determines a set of user-probability pairs, each pair including a predicted user identifier and a probability that the predicted user identifier is associated with the request from the web server. The method further includes applying an objective function to the set of user-probability pairs to select one of the user identifiers with a corresponding candidate user profile. Based on the selected user identifier, a content item is selected for delivery to the web server.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method comprising: receiving, by a content delivery server, a request from a web server for content; determining, by the content delivery server, a set of user-probability pairs, wherein each of the user-probability pairs includes a predicted user identifier and a probability that the predicted user identifier is associated with the request from the web server, and wherein each pair in the set of user-probability pairs includes an attribution value associated therewith; applying, by the content delivery server, an objective function to the set of user-probability pairs to select one user identifier of the set of user identifiers with a corresponding candidate user profile, wherein applying the objective function comprises: in a first selection, selecting, by the content delivery server, a random user identifier; or in a second selection, selecting, by the content delivery server, the user identifier having a greatest attribution value associated therewith; wherein the content delivery server is configured to make a decision to execute the first selection or the second selection based on a selection parameter; accessing, by the content delivery server, the corresponding candidate user profile of the selected user identifier to determine a set of attributes of the corresponding candidate user profile; selecting, by the content delivery server and based on the request and the set of attributes, a content item from a plurality of content item options to be sent to the web server; and causing, by the content delivery server, the content item to be sent to the web server.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- Techniques for probabilistic identification for content delivery
- Patent number
- US12748813B2
- Application number
- 19073420
- Filed
- Mar 7, 2025
- Granted
- Sep 29, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 16
Classified under
G06F 16/9535 Physics & computingG06F 16/9035 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in AI & software
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.