How Websites Use Your Cookie Data to Show Targeted Ads
Adobe's patent describes a system where website administrators create custom rules to match a user's browser cookie data with specific advertisements or content.
Original patent title: “Browser cookie analysis and targeted content delivery”
Adobe's patent describes a system where website administrators create custom rules to match a user's browser cookie data with specific advertisements or content. Granted to Adobe Systems Inc in 2015 with 21 claims and 2 forward citations.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a centralized system that collects data from browser cookies across multiple visitors and stores it in a central repository. A website administrator uses a special interface to define 'custom segments' by picking specific cookie parameters (like a product category) and setting logical relationships such as 'equals' or 'contains.' When a new visitor arrives, the system checks their cookies against these rules. If the data matches a segment, the system automatically serves the pre-selected content, such as a specific banner ad, to that user.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover tracking users across different devices or browsers using fingerprinting techniques.
- Does not cover real-time bidding exchanges where ad inventory is auctioned to the highest bidder.
- Does not cover server-side session management that does not involve user-defined segment rules.
- Does not cover privacy-preserving technologies that block or anonymize cookie data collection.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The innovation lies in the administrative interface that allows non-technical marketers to define complex logic ('contains', 'approximates') for cookie data, effectively turning raw browser data into actionable marketing segments on the fly.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Adobe Experience Cloud
Targeted banner advertisements on retail websites
Personalized website landing pages based on previous browsing history
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent represents the infrastructure behind the personalized web experience common in the 2010s. It provided a framework for marketers to move away from generic advertising toward granular, data-driven content delivery without needing deep programming knowledge.
Filed
March 13, 2013
Granted
December 8, 2015
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Adobe continues to integrate these concepts into their Experience Cloud suite. Major digital marketing platforms and customer data platforms (CDPs) have built upon these foundational methods for segmenting audiences based on behavioral data.
Market impact
This patent helped standardize how marketing teams manage personalized content delivery at scale. It enabled the growth of 'marketing automation' tools that allow companies to serve dynamic content without manual intervention for every individual user.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a centralized system that collects data from browser cookies across multiple visitors and stores it in a central repository. A website administrator uses a special interface to define 'custom segments' by picking specific cookie parameters (like a product category) and setting logical relationships such as 'equals' or 'contains.' When a new visitor arrives, the system checks their cookies against these rules. If the data matches a segment, the system automatically serves the pre-selected content, such as a specific banner ad, to that user.
The clever bit
The innovation lies in the administrative interface that allows non-technical marketers to define complex logic ('contains', 'approximates') for cookie data, effectively turning raw browser data into actionable marketing segments on the fly.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover tracking users across different devices or browsers using fingerprinting techniques.
- Does not cover real-time bidding exchanges where ad inventory is auctioned to the highest bidder.
- Does not cover server-side session management that does not involve user-defined segment rules.
- Does not cover privacy-preserving technologies that block or anonymize cookie data collection.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
10/40
Early citations
Claim breadth
14/20
Broad claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
5/20
Granted 10–20 years ago
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$38K – $122K
Midpoint $76K · 6.7 yr remaining · industry ×1.4
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
21 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Field, K. C. (2015). How Websites Use Your Cookie Data to Show Targeted Ads (U.S. Patent No. 9,210,222). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9210222/facebook-login
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Websites Use Your Cookie Data to Show Targeted Ads cover?
Adobe's patent describes a system where website administrators create custom rules to match a user's browser cookie data with specific advertisements or content.
Who owns patent US 9210222?
Adobe Systems Inc owns this patent, granted in 2015.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on December 8, 2035, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US 9210222 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 2 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This patent represents the infrastructure behind the personalized web experience common in the 2010s. It provided a framework for marketers to move away from generic advertising toward granular, data-driven content delivery without needing deep programming knowledge.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover tracking users across different devices or browsers using fingerprinting techniques.
Patent monitoring