Server-side plugin checker for toll-free data service

• US 10,397,339 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2015
• Issued: 08/27/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Ren, Dahai, Wu, Shuai, Kelly, Susan, Saint-Hilaire, Hector
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheema, Umar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Anh
• Application Number:
  US14/852,884
• Publication Number:
  US 20170078404A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,443 Days
• Field of Search: 709219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/146 Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers

Abstract

A system may receive a content identifier corresponding to content to be accessed via a toll free data service (toll-free data service). The system may determine, based on the content identifier, whether a content provider device, associated with the content, is configured with a serving component associated with serving the content via the toll-free data service. The system may provide an indication of whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component. The content may be accessible via the toll-free data service when the content provider device is configured with the serving component.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing, by one or more devices, a request to determine whether content on a toll-free data service landing web page is accessible via a toll-free data service prior to accessing the content,

the toll-free data service relating to content from a content provider to be accessible to a user device via the toll-free data service, and

the one or more devices being configured to periodically provide the request;

receiving, by the one or more devices, a content identifier corresponding to content to be accessed via the toll-free data service,

the content identifier being received based upon providing the request to a campaign device;

determining, by the one or more devices and based on the content identifier, whether a content provider device, associated with the content, is configured with a serving component associated with serving the content via the toll-free data service,

the serving component including a component that enables serving of the content via the toll-free data service,

the serving component including a Server-Side Plugin (SSP) component associated with the toll-free data service, and

the SSP component being configured to modify embedded object links to identify sponsored content associated with the content provider;

providing, by the one or more devices, and to a validation server, an indication of whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component,

the validation server being configured to determine that the content is accessible with the SSP component,

the validation server storing information indicating that the content provider device is configured with the serving component, and

the content being accessible via the toll-free data service when the content provider device is configured with the serving component;

determining, by the one or more devices, a geo-location associated with the request to determine whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service;

determining, by the one or more devices, and based on the geo-location associated with the request and the indication of whether the content provider is configured with the serving component, whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service; and

providing, based on the request, a visual indication of whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service,

the visual indication being provided to a user interface of the user device to indicate whether the toll-free data service is accessible or not.

2. The method of claim 1, where determining whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component comprises:

providing, to the content provider device, a request associated with determining whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component; and

determining whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component based on a response, to the request, received from the content provider device.

3. The method of claim 1, where the serving component is configured to enable establishment of session timing records associated with accessing the content via the toll-free data service.

4. The method of claim 1, where determining whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service comprises:

determining whether a campaign, associated with the content, is active; and

determining whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service based on whether the campaign is active and based on whether the content provider device is configured with serving component.

12. The method of claim 1, where the visual indication includes displaying the content identifier in grayed-out text on the toll-free data service landing web page.

15. The method of claim 1, where the campaign device stores campaign information associated with the content provider.

18. The method of claim 1, where the serving component is configured to inspect hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) traffic associated with the content provider device or HTTP Secure (HTTPS) traffic associated with the content provider device.

5. A system, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more devices, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, to;

receive a request to determine whether content on a toll-free data service landing web page is accessible via a toll-free data service prior to accessing the content,

the toll-free data service relating to content from a content provider to be accessible to a user device via the toll-free data service, and

the one or more devices being configured to periodically provide the request;

receive a content identifier corresponding to the content to be accessed via the toll-free data service,

the content identifier being received based upon providing the request to a campaign device;

determine, based on the content identifier, whether a content provider device, associated with the content, is configured with a serving component associated with serving the content via the toll-free data service,

the serving component including a component that facilitates billing of a sponsor of the toll-free data service for data usage associated with accessing the content via the toll-free data service,

the serving component including a Server-Side Plugin component associated with the toll-free data service, and

the Server-Side Plugin component configured to modify embedded object links to identify sponsored content associated with the content provider;

provide to a validation server an indication of whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component,

the validation server configured to determine that the content is accessible with the Server-Side Plugin component,

the validation server storing information indicating that the content provider device is configured with the serving component, and

the content being accessible via the toll-free data service when the content provider device is configured with the serving component;

determine a geo-location associated with the request to determine whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service;

determine, based on the request, the geo-location associated with the request, and the indication of whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component, whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service; and

provide, based on the request, a visual indication of whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service,

the visual indication being provided to a user interface of the user device to indicate whether the toll-free data service is accessible or not.

6. The system of claim 5, where the one or more devices, when determining whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component, are to:

provide, to the content provider device, a request associated with determining whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component; and

determine whether the content provider device is configured with the serving component based on a response, to the request, received from the content provider device.

7. The system of claim 5, where the serving component is configured to enable establishment of session timing records associated with accessing the content via the toll-free data service.

13. The system of claim 5, where the visual indication includes displaying the content identifier in grayed-out text on the toll-free data service landing web page.

16. The system of claim 5, where the content identifier includes at least one of:

a uniform resource identifier (URI),

a uniform resource locator (URL),

a web address, or

a file name.

19. The system of claim 5, where the serving component is configured to inspect hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) traffic associated with the content provider device or HTTP Secure (HTTPS) traffic associated with the content provider device.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive a request to determine whether content on a toll-free data service landing web page is accessible via a toll-free data service prior to accessing the content,

the toll-free data service relating to content from a content provider to be accessible to a user device via the toll-free data service, and

the request being periodically updated;

receive a content identifier corresponding to content to be accessed via a toll free data service,

the content identifier being received based upon providing the request to a campaign device;

determine, based on the content identifier, whether a content provider device, associated with the content, is configured with a Server-Side Plugin (SSP) component that permits the content provider device to serve the content via the toll-free data service,

the SSP component configured to modify embedded object links to identify sponsored content associated with the content provider;

provide to a validation server an indication of whether the content provider device is configured with the SSP component,

the validation server configured to determine that the content is accessible with the SSP component,

the validation server storing information indicating that the content provider device is configured with the SSP component, and

the content being accessible via the toll-free data service when the content provider device is configured with the SSP component;

determine a geo-location associated with the request to determine whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service;

determine, based on the geo-location associated with the request and the indication of whether the content provider device is configured with the SSP component, whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service; and

provide, based on the request, a visual indication of whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service,

the visual indication being provided to a user interface of the user device to indicate whether the toll-free data service is accessible or not.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to determine whether the content provider device is configured with the SSP component, cause the one or more processors to:

provide, to the content provider device, a request associated with determining whether the content provider device is configured with the SSP component; and

determine whether the content provider device is configured with the SSP component based on a response, to the request, provided by the content provider device.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the SSP component is configured to enable establishment of session timing records associated with accessing the content via the toll-free data service.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to determine whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service, cause the one or more processors to:

determine a time associated with the request to determine whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service; and

determine whether the content is accessible via the toll-free data service based on the time and based on whether the content provider device is configured with SSP component.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the visual indication includes displaying the content identifier in grayed-out text on the toll-free data service landing web page.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the content identifier includes at least one of:

a uniform resource identifier (URI),

a uniform resource locator (URL),

a web address, or

a file name.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, where the SSP component is configured to inspect hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) traffic associated with the content provider device or HTTP Secure (HTTPS) traffic associated with the content provider device.