Web browser toolbar

• US 10,095,378 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2011
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otello Corp. ASA
• Original Assignee: Performance And Privacy Ireland Ltd.
• Inventors: Bhandari, Nitin, Marzano, James, Benson, Geoffrey D., Patel, Ronakkumar, Fassett, Ethan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kujundzic, Dino
• Application Number:
  US13/300,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20120137221A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,517 Days
• Field of Search: 715719
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A system and a method are disclosed for displaying page elements embedded on a webpage displayed on a handheld computing device. Tools provide one or more functionality to a user, including an ability to view a webpage, to share a webpage, to view webpages within a domain that are popular with the user'"'"'s connection in a social networking system, etc. The tools are received and rendered within a toolbar interface including a toolbar icon for each tool. The tool interfaces associated with each icon may be displayed on the handheld computing device automatically or responsive to a user request.

Claims

1. A method for providing online functionality in association with webpages requested by an application of a client device, the method comprising:

interfacing with the application to determine identifying information about a webpage when the webpage is requested by the application for each of a plurality of webpages requested by the application;

transmitting, in response to the application requesting the webpage, the identifying information about the webpage to a plurality of servers, at least one server associated with a third party service;

identifying video content items within the webpage for optimization;

receiving one or more different webpage specific tools from different ones of the plurality of servers based on the identifying information transmitted to the servers to comprise a set of tools in a tool bar received independently from the webpage, a tool in the set of tools configured to enable a user of the client device to perform an action specific to the webpage and associated with the user on the third party service through the server from which the tool was received based on the identifying information about the webpage transmitted to the server, the application displaying the webpage;

rendering a toolbar interface including a set of toolbar icons corresponding to the set of received tools;

rendering, in response to receiving a selection of a toolbar icon, a tool interface overlaying the application and comprising a selectable element representative of the action associated with the user on the third party service;

rendering the selectable element within the tool interface in association with a given video content item, the selectable element indicating optimization of the video content item for the user;

transmitting, in response to a selection of the selectable element, instructions compatible with the interface of the server associated with the third party service that cause the server to optimize the content of the given video content item for the user and stream optimized video for the given content item to the client device; and

providing for display the optimized video within the tool interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a set of tools independently from the webpage comprises:

interfacing with the application to determine identifying information about the user of the client device; and

transmitting the identifying information about the user to at least one of the servers, the at least one server providing one or more tools in the set of tools responsive to the identifying information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the third party service is an optimization service and the tool in the set of tools received is an optimized video tool, the optimized video tool having functionality enabling the user of the client device to request optimization of video content within the webpage requested by the application for the user through the optimization service within the tool interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a second tool in the set of tools is a webpage specific tool configured to enable the user of the client device to perform an action within the webpage and/or a website associated with the webpage.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tools comprises at least one of a video tool configured to playback videos within a tool interface, a feed tool configured to display a feed within a tool interface, a share tool configured to recommend content of the requested webpage to other users, a check-out tool configured to automate a purchase with the requested webpage, and a view popular tool configured to recommend content to the user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving additional content from the server associated with the third party service for the tool and updating the toolbar icon correspondence to the tool with a badge in response to the additional content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the third party service is a social network platform and the tool is a social networking system tool, the social networking system tool having functionality enabling the user of the client device to request the social networking system recommend, for the user, content of the webpage to other users of the social networking platform.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering a tool interface overlaying the application comprises:

generating a frame overlaying the application; and

rendering content of the tool interface within the frame, wherein the content of the tool interface includes the selectable element representative of the action associated with the user on the third party service.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein content of the tool interface identifies video content items within the website for playback within the tool interface.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device receives the tool in the set of tools responsive to transmitting the identifying information about the webpage to the server.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device receives the tool in the set of tools responsive to further transmitting information about an online account of the user of the client device to the server.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program instructions for providing online functionality in association with webpages requested by an application of a client device, the instructions when executed performing steps comprising:

interfacing with the application to determine identifying information about a webpage when the webpage is requested by the application for each of a plurality of webpages requested by the application;

transmitting, in response to the application requesting the webpage, the identifying information about the webpage to a plurality of servers, at least one server associated with a third party service;

identifying video content items within the webpage for optimization;

receiving one or more different webpage specific tools from different ones of the plurality of servers based on the identifying information transmitted to the servers to comprise a set of tools in a toolbar received independently from the webpage, a tool in the set of tools configured to enable a user of the client device to perform an action specific to the webpage and associated with the user on the third party service through the server from which the tool was received based on the identifying information about the webpage transmitted to the server;

rendering a toolbar interface including a set of toolbar icons corresponding to the set of received tools;

rendering, in response to receiving a selection of a toolbar icon, a tool interface overlaying the application and comprising a selectable element representative of the action associated with the user on the third party service;

rendering the selectable element within the tool interface in association with a given video content item, the selectable element indicating optimization of the video content item for the user;

transmitting, in response to a selection of the selectable element, instructions compatible with the interface of the server associated with the third party service that cause the server to optimize the content of the given video content item for the user and stream optimized video for the given content item to the client device; and

providing for display the optimized video within the tool interface.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein receiving a set of tools independently from the webpage comprises:

interfacing with the application to determine identifying information about the user of the client device; and

transmitting the identifying information about the user to at least one of the servers, the at least one server providing one or more tools in the set of tools responsive to the identifying information.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the third party service is an optimization service and the tool in the set of tools received is an optimized video tool, the optimized video tool having functionality enabling the user of the client device to request optimization of video content within the webpage requested by the application for the user through the optimization service within the tool interface.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein a second tool in the set of tools is a webpage specific tool configured to enable the user of the client device to perform an action within the webpage and/or a website associated with the webpage.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the set of tools comprises at least one of a video tool configured to playback videos within a tool interface, a feed tool configured to display a feed within a tool interface, a share tool configured to recommend content of the requested webpage to other users, a check-out tool configured to automate a purchase with the requested webpage, and a view popular tool configured to recommend content to the user.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising receiving additional content from the server associated with the third party service for the tool and updating the toolbar icon correspondence to the tool with a badge in response to the additional content.

18. A system for providing online functionality in association with webpages, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising stored computer program instructions for a toolbar engine, the instructions when executed causes the processor to;

interface with an application to determine identifying information about a webpage when the application retrieves the webpage for each of the webpages;

transmit, in response to the application retrieving a webpage, the identifying information about the webpage to a plurality of servers, at least one server associated with a third party service;

identify video content items with the webpage for optimization;

receive one or more different webpage specific tools from different ones of the plurality of servers based on the identifying information transmitted to the servers to comprise a set of tools in a toolbar received independently from the webpage, a given tool in the set of tools configured to enable the user of the client device to perform an action specific to the webpage and associated with the webpage through a server associated with functionality of the given tool from which the tool was received based on the identifying information about the webpage;

render a toolbar interface including a set of toolbar icons corresponding to the set of received tools, the toolbar engine rendering the toolbar interface as an overlay of the application;

render, in response to receiving a selection of the given tool within the toolbar interface, a tool interface overlaying the application and comprising a selectable element associated with the functionality of the given tool;

render the selectable element within the tool interface in association with a given video content item, the selectable element indicating optimization of the video content item for the user;

transmit, in response to a selection of the selectable element, instructions compatible with the interface of the server associated with the third party service that cause the server to optimize the content of the given video content item for the user and stream optimized video for the given content item to the client device; and

provide for display the optimized video within the tool interface.