Delivery system and method for uniform display of supplemental content

• US 20030212762A1
• Filed: 05/08/2002
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: You Software, Inc. (Attensa Corp.)
• Original Assignee: You Networks, Inc.
• Inventors: Barnes, Craig, Hayes, Eric
• Application Number:
  US10/142,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20030212762A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A system of the present invention receives and stores supplemental content for display to an end user upon request. The supplemental content (450) corresponds to a known digital content substrate (410). A unique identifier can be determined via a checksum procedure to identify the known digital content substrate (410). A software routine (404) then assesses an item presented to an end user for display. A candidate identifier can be determined for the display item and matched to the stored unique identifier to identify the display item as the known digital content substrate (410). An interactive indicator symbol (414) can signify availability of supplemental content (450), and uniformly formatted supplemental content (450) can be displayed in a substantially instantaneous manner in response to the user interacting with the interactive indicator symbol (414).

Claims

1. A method for delivering supplemental content to an end user on a data communications network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a digital content substrate for presentation to an end user over a data communications network;

(b) determining a unique identifier for the digital content substrate;

(c) associating supplemental content with the unique identifier;

(d) detecting the unique identifier upon presentation of the digital content substrate to the end user;

(e) responsive to the detection of the unique identifier, providing the end user an interactive indicator tendering the supplemental content; and

(f) responsive to the end user selecting the interactive indicator, delivering the supplemental content to the end user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein steps (d)-(f) are implemented by a software routine provided to the end user.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the software routine is provided to the end user over the data communications network by a remote server.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the software routine is embodied in a plug-in program.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the software routine is embedded in the digital content substrate presented to the end user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplemental content is specified by an originator of the digital content substrate.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplemental content is formatted into a standardized display panel.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the supplemental content is formatted through a graphical user interface.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the presentation of the digital content substrate includes displaying the digital content substrate to the end user; and

the delivering of the supplemental content formatted into the standardized display panel includes displaying the standardized display panel positioned proximate to the display of the digital content substrate.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the displayed standardized display panel is positioned adjacent to the displayed digital content substrate so as to approximate a contiguous display.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising at least one module for formatting the supplemental content.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one module provides predetermined functionality.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of detecting the unique identifier includes:

monitoring data transmitted to the end user over the data communications network, the data including a bit sequence representing the digital content substrate;

determining a candidate unique identifier by applying a checksum procedure to the bit sequence; and

matching the candidate unique identifier to the unique identifier determined for the digital content substrate.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said providing the interactive indicator includes displaying an unobtrusive symbol atop the digital content substrate.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the unobtrusive symbol is displayed intermittently to mitigate occlusion of the digital content substrate.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

responsive to the detection of the unique identifier, transparently storing the supplemental content in a memory storage location for a display system of the end user; and

wherein said delivering the supplemental content includes reading the supplemental content from the memory storage location and displaying the supplemental content via the display system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the memory storage location comprises cache memory.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of associating an expiration date with the supplemental content stored in the memory storage location.

20. A method for providing on-demand display of supplemental content corresponding to a digital content substrate, the method comprising the steps of:

assembling supplemental content corresponding to a digital content substrate;

identifying the digital content substrate from among one or more display elements on a display of an electronic device;

displaying an indicator symbol atop the digital content substrate to indicate an availability of the supplemental content; and

displaying the supplemental content responsive to a user input associated with the indicator symbol.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said displaying an indicator symbol does not alter the digital content substrate.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the indicator symbol is displayed in a transparent display window overlaying the digital content substrate on the display of the electronic device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the display of the electronic device includes a Web browser program and the transparent display window is a DHTML layer.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the display of the electronic device includes a Web browser program and the transparent display window is a new instantiation of a browser window by the Web browser program.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the supplemental content is provided by an originator of the digital content substrate.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein said distinguishing the digital content substrate among the one or more display elements includes:

determining a digital fingerprint for each of the one or more display elements; and

comparing each determined digital fingerprint to a predetermined digital fingerprint for the digital content substrate.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein the indicator symbol is intermittently displayed so as not to occlude the digital content substrate.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein said assembling supplemental content includes formatting the supplemental content into a predetermined display template.

29. A method for uniformly displaying, via an electronic device, formatted content gathered from a plurality of disparate sources, the formatted content supplementing a plurality of digital content substrates, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting a plurality of digital content substrates;

determining a unique identifier for each of the plurality of digital content substrates;

providing an interface for gathering supplemental content corresponding to each of the digital content substrates and formatting the corresponding supplemental content into a corresponding plurality of content display panels, each content display panel employing to a standard display format;

providing a software routine to an electronic device for, upon the delivery of one or more of the digital content substrates to the electronic device for display;

identifying the one or more digital content substrates by detecting the corresponding unique identifier;

displaying an indicator symbol atop each of the identified one or more digital content substrates, the indicator symbol indicating availability of the corresponding one or more content display panels;

responsive to the selection of the indicator symbol displayed atop a first digital content substrate, displaying a first content display panel corresponding to the first digital content substrate.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the indicator symbol is intermittently viewable so as not to occlude the one or more digital content substrates displayed by the electronic device.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the indicator symbol is displayed without altering the one or more digital content substrate.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the supplemental content for each content display panel is supplied by an entity supplying each corresponding digital content substrate.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising the step of allowing the supplying entity to periodically update the supplemental content.

35. A system for delivering supplemental display content to an end user on a data communications network, the system comprising:

a primary content sever providing a displayed digital content substrate to an electronic display device of an end user;

a supplemental content server storing;

a known unique identifier representing a known digital content substrate; and

supplemental content corresponding to the known digital content substrate;

a software routine for comparing a candidate identifier, representing a graphic element on the electronic display device, to the known unique identifier, representing the known digital content substrate; and

an interactive indicator displayed atop the displayed digital content substrate in response to a favorable comparison of the candidate identifier and the known unique identifier, the interactive indicator for indicating an availability of the supplemental content, receiving a request from the end user to display the supplemental content, and, in response to the request, displaying the supplemental content.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the interactive indicator is intermittently viewable so as to mitigate occlusion of the displayed digital content substrate.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein:

the displayed digital content substrate is displayed in a first display layer on the electronic device; and

the interactive indicator is displayed in a second display layer of the electronic device, the second display layer overlaying the first display layer.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein the digital content substrate is chosen from a group consisting of:

a banner advertisement, a computer graphic, a Web site, a URL, a browser display screen, a streaming audio/video display, an e-mail message, a computer application display, and an iTV display.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the digital fingerprint is a 64-bit checksum result.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the digital content substrate comprises insufficiently few bits for the 64-bit checksum result, and the digital fingerprint is created by repeating and concatenating the insufficiently few bits until sufficient bits are available for the 64-bit checksum result.

42. The system of claim 35, wherein the known digital content substrate and the supplemental content are from a same source.

43. An electronic networking device software routine for displaying supplemental content corresponding to a digital content substrate, the routine comprising:

a first subroutine for identifying a unique identifier of a displayed digital content substrate;

a second subroutine for comparing the unique identifier to a stored unique identifier, the stored unique identifier representing a known digital content substrate having corresponding supplemental content; and

a third subroutine for displaying an interactive indicator symbol atop the displayed digital content substrate, detecting a user interaction with the interactive indicator, and, in response to the detected interaction, displaying the supplemental content.

44. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as a plug-in.

45. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as an interpreted script.

46. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as a JavaScript.

47. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as code embedded in the displayed digital content substrate.

48. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the third subroutine displays the interactive indicator symbol intermittently at a predetermined frequency.

49. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the supplemental content is displayed adjacent the displayed digital content substrate.

50. The software routine of claim 49, wherein:

the displayed digital content substrate is displayed in a first display layer; and

the interactive indicator symbol and the supplemental content are displayed in a second display layer overlaying the first display layer.

51. The software routine of claim 43, wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.