User Interest Evaluation Instructions – Lion Bridge

In this project, you will evaluate whether a business would want to advertise to a particular user. You will first assess a business’ products, services, and customer base by reviewing a business page, and then you will assess the user visiting a separate webpage. You will be able to determine whether the business would want to advertise to the user by comparing the user’s current interests and state of mind to the business’ products, services, and target customers.

The Task

Business Assessment

First, visit the business page and assess the following:

(1) What products or services is this business selling?

(2) Who purchases these products or services (i.e. who are the customers of this business)?

Think carefully about the customer base. Consider whether the business appeals to a broad set of customers, or a very narrow set (such as a business-to-business seller). Consider also whether customers need to spend a lot of money to purchase these products or services, or whether the prices are more broadly accessible.

You may or may not see a business category and/or a business ad creative, depending on whether this data is available. They should give you more information on what the business provides, especially if the business page is useless or confusing. Use this information only for additional context on the offerings of the business.  The appearance of the ad creative is not part of the task.

You may or may not see a list of the top search queries for the business page, depending on whether this data is available. These are typical search queries by which users have chosen to navigate to the business page. You can use these to supplement your understanding of the business, if doing so is helpful.

Only select the “Business unrateable” flag if there is no information available to make a judgement about the business. For example, if the landing page does not load but the business ad creative is available, continue to rate the task. User Assessment

Next, visit a user’s current webpage. You should develop a profile of the user’s current interests and state of mind by reviewing the page the user is visiting. Try to think about the types of products, services, and activities a user who is currently visiting this page is seeking or might be interested in. Think about the user’s state of mind and the various things they are interested in, and even the kinds of things they might become interested in impulsively while in this current state of mind.

Now that you have a good understanding of the user’s current interests and state of mind, recall your profile of the business’ customer base and its products or services. If the business is targeting customers in a specific location, you can assume the user belongs to that location:

Given the user’s current interests and state of mind, how likely is it that the business would want to advertise to this user?

Choose your rating based on these categories and descriptions:

Likely

There are good reasons to believe the user is researching the type of products or services offered by the business. The user appears to match the type of customer targeted by the business.

Possible

It is plausible that the user might become interested in the products or services offered by the business, perhaps impulsively, even though the connection with the business is weak.

Unlikely

There is no reason to believe that the user might be interested in the business more than any random internet user. It is unlikely that the user is the type of customer targeted by the business, or that the user is in the correct state of mind to consider the products or services of the business as an impulse buy.

Please carefully review the below examples:

Business Page:	Business’ Top Search Queries:	User’s Current Page:	Rating:	Explanation:
http://www.cargurus.com/	[new cars], Search for: , [buy used cars]	http://www.moneycrashers.com/should-i-buy-new-car-reasons/	Likely	The business is connecting people with car dealers, and caters to those in the market for buying a car. The page potentially captures an audience of users researching whether they should buy a used or a new car.
http://www.discoveryacademy.com/admissions/assessment/	[boarding schools], [military school for troubled youth], [free boot camp for teens], [child behaviour problems]	http://www.bootcampsforteens.com/	Likely	The business sells a program for teens with behavior problems, and caters to parents / guardians that face this issue. The site is about boot camps for troubled teens, and captures this exact audience and state of mind.
http://producttestingusa.com/13/freebies-samples	free stuff], [freebies], [free samples], [free product samples]	https://www.getitfree.us/	Likely	The business is looking for users who can test products, review them, and keep them for free. The user is currently visiting a page about getting all kinds of free stuff. The user’s state of mind is perfect for becoming interested in testing product samples for free.
http://www.scorpionwindowfilm.com	[residential window tinting], [residential window tint], [home window tinting], [window tint for home], [privacy tint for home windows]	http://www.wisediy.com/she-is-literally-painting-cornstarch-on-her-window-but-the-result-is-gorgeous/	Possible	The business is selling window tinting services for UV protection, reducing glare, safety, or privacy. The best audience would be car owners, people doing home remodeling, businesses with window issues, etc.. The user’s current page shows they are interested in improving their windows, but they are not very likely to buy because the tone is more “do-it-yourself” cheaply than contracting professional services.
http://www.fitness19offers.com/CALIFORNIA/CITRUSHEIGHTS/0enrollment.htm	[fitness 19], [fitness 19 citrus heights], [crunch fitness citrus heights], [cheap gym membership], [gym membership deals]	http://www.powerliftingzone.com/strength-battle-powerlifter-vs-calisthenics-street-workout-specialist/	Possible	The business is selling gym memberships, while the user’s webpage shows they are interested in the topic of strength training. Assuming the user is from the correct location, it is plausible the user might become interested in signing up.
http://creditcards.citicards.com/usc/Hilton/HHonors/dual/2015/Oct/PS/dual.html	[hilton hhonors credit card], [hilton credit card], [hilton visa card]	http://nocreditusa.com/easy-to-get-credit-cards	Possible	The site is selling membership to the Hilton Honors Visa credit card, which seems to be a premium credit card for affluent travelers. The user is indeed visiting a site selling credit card memberships, but targeted to people with bad credit who have trouble getting a credit card. While there is plausible connection, it is not strong.
https://www.247lendinggroup.com/apply.htm	[online cash advance], [bad credit loans], [installment loans], [quick loans online]	http://www.ehow.com/how_7916879_stuff-government.html	Possible	Business offers loans for anything to anyone, even with bad credit. The right audience is very broad: anyone who needs money now, and is not financially secure. It is possible that people looking for free stuff from the government could become interested in signing up for a quick loan.
http://www.powdersize.com	[hammer mill for sale], [hammer mill], [hammer mill rental], [custom particle reduction], [pin mill]	http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/milling	Unlikely	The business sells industrial milling machines for the pharmaceutical, medical, and food industries. The best audience would be representatives of potential client businesses. The user is on a thesaurus site trying to understand what the word milling means, an activity that does nothing to select the target audience.
http://www.gelatoproducts.com	[frozen yogurt], [gelato supplies], [how to make frozen yogurt], [ice cream games], [gelato supply]	http://www.fabartdiy.com/weve-been-using-ketchup-cups-wrong/	Unlikely	The business sells ice cream making and serving utensils. Somewhere hidden on the site they also sell ketchup paper cups for ice cream tasting. The business’ customer base is probably ice cream shop managers, restaurants, cafeterias, catering companies, and maybe some home use. It is very unlikely that the user is a target customer, and even though the topic is paper cups, an item sold by the business, it is unlikely that a user in the current state of mind would become interested in buying them.
http://thefez.com/	[halls for wedding receptions], [venues in saxonburg pennsylvania], [barn wedding venues in pittsburgh]	http://www.littlebudha.com/it-was-just-a-regular-wedding-until-this-surprise-blew-everyone-away/	Unlikely	The business is a venue catering to weddings and other events. The right audience for this business is people planning their wedding. While the page visited by the user is about something that happened at a wedding, the user is most likely visiting the site to be entertained, and there is no plausible connection with planning a wedding.