1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to the field of presenting users with content over a network. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to a method for referrer-based web site personalization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Web site personalization refers to a process of gathering and storing information about web site visitors, analyzing the information, and delivering appropriate information to each visitor based on the analysis. The objective of collecting visitor information is to develop a profile that describes a site visitor's interests. The most common techniques are explicit profiling, implicit profiling, and using legacy data.
Explicit profiling asks each visitor to fill out information or questionnaires. This method has the advantage of letting customers tell the site directly what they want to see. Once the data is collected, the web site dynamically constructs a personalized Web page accordingly. Implicit profiling tracks the visitor's behavior. This technique is generally transparent to the visitor. Browsing and buying patterns are the behaviors most often assessed. Browsing patterns are usually tracked by saving specific visitor identification and behavior information in a “cookie” stored by the user's browser and updated during each visit. For example, a web site may log each customer's buying history and, based on that history, recommends specific purchases. Recommendations may also be made based on users sharing similar profile characteristics.
Legacy data refers to information about an individual not directly related to a profile or a web visit. Using legacy data accesses legacy data for valuable profile information, such as credit applications and previous purchases. For existing customers and known visitors, legacy data often provides a rich source of profile information. At the same time, personalizing a web site is difficult for a first-time (or relatively new) visitor, where minimal or no profile information or visitor behavior has previously been gathered.