Improving Ad Relevance and PLTs using Intelligent Tor Relay Selection

When users browse the internet via a VPN or a service such as Tor, the some ads that they are shown are relevant to the country that they are using as a proxy. This means that the ads shown to the user are useless since the ads are irrelevant to the extent that the ads may not even be in a lang

Project Title

Improving Ad Relevance and PLTs using Intelligent Tor Relay Selection

Project Area of Specialization

Information & Communication Technology

Project Summary

When users browse the internet via a VPN or a service such as Tor, the some ads that they are shown are relevant to the country that they are using as a proxy. This means that the ads shown to the user are useless since the ads are irrelevant to the extent that the ads may not even be in a language comprehensible to the user. This drastically reduces click through rates of ads and websites face a huge drop in revenue. 

One of the biggest reasons for the internet being free are ads since websites make most of their money through advertising. If the advertisements are no longer accurate they cease to be profitable. Due to rising privacy concerns, the number of users that now browse the internet through a VPN or similar service is increasing exponentially. 

In order to keep the internet a free service, our aim is to show relevant ads to users regardless of whether they are using a VPN or not while still ensuring privacy. We also aim to reduce page load times as traditionally VPNs and similar services increase pageload times often by several magnitudes. 

Project Objectives

1) Increase the relevance of ads shown to users that browse the internet via a VPN or similar service such as Tor. 

2) Reduce Page Load Times (PLTs) that users face when browsing the internet via a VPN or similar service such as Tor

3) Perform internet measurements that measure the impact of browsing websites from different locations and comparing the ad sets and PLTs obtained from different locations. 

Project Implementation Method

Our design goal is to maximize ad relevance while reducing page load times. We have been running experiments using techniques that were used in LasTor (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6234431/) in an attempt to reduce our PLTs. To maximize ad relevance, we use the techniques used in the paper Online Advertising under Internet Censorship(https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3152434.3152455).

By restricting the exit relays to countries that speak the user’s language, we can ensure that the ads that are displayed are in a language that the user can comprehend.

To reduce page load times we intelligently select relays based on geographical distances. The locations of the user and destination are used in the calculations while placing restrictions that keep the ads relevant. 

Benefits of the Project

1) Keeping the internet a free service by making sure advertisements remain effective. 

2) Improving Ad Relevance for users that access the internet via a VPN or similar service

3) Reducing page load times for users that access the internet via a VPN or similar service

4) Obtain internet measurements that can be used for further improve anonymous networks. 

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

• Research Paper
• Working prototype of a system that improves ad relevance while preserving privacy
• Working prototype of a system that reduces page load times
• In depth study of the impact on ads while using a VPN or similar service
• This prototype can be in the form of a software, plugin, or a standalone service

Final Deliverable of the Project

Software System

Core Industry

IT

Other Industries

Core Technology

Others

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com