Method and apparatus for prefetching electronic data for enhanced browsing
First Claim
1. An automated method of prefetching a second page of electronic content identified by a first page, the method comprising:
- retrieving data for facilitating identification of links to pages of electronic content;
when a first page of electronic content is browsed, identifying within the first page one or more links to other pages of electronic content, including a first link to a second page;
prioritizing the one or more links;
for each of the one or more links, prefetching content from a page of electronic content identified by the link;
constructing, without displaying, an enhanced browsing window comprising said prefetched content for the first link;
detecting placement of a user interface cursor proximate to the first link; and
in response to said detecting, displaying said enhanced browsing window.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for prefetching electronic data (e.g., a web page, HTML, a document, an image) viewable in a browser. When a browser is opened to a web page (or other form of electronic data) that contains links (e.g., hyperlinks) to other content, content described by one or more of the links is prefetched. In particular, the content is retrieved before a user operating the browser selects any of the links. As a result, an enhanced browsing window can be very rapidly displayed when the user does select one of the prefetched links. Links on the browser page may be selected and/or prioritized for prefetching in several ways—by automatically selecting some or all links, by using a template customized for the page, by applying heuristics to identify links meeting certain criteria, etc.
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Citations
60 Claims
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1. An automated method of prefetching a second page of electronic content identified by a first page, the method comprising:
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retrieving data for facilitating identification of links to pages of electronic content;
when a first page of electronic content is browsed, identifying within the first page one or more links to other pages of electronic content, including a first link to a second page;
prioritizing the one or more links;
for each of the one or more links, prefetching content from a page of electronic content identified by the link;
constructing, without displaying, an enhanced browsing window comprising said prefetched content for the first link;
detecting placement of a user interface cursor proximate to the first link; and
in response to said detecting, displaying said enhanced browsing window. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of prefetching a second page of electronic content identified by a first page, the method comprising:
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retrieving data for facilitating identification of links to pages of electronic content;
when a first page of electronic content is browsed, identifying within the first page one or more links to other pages of electronic content, including a first link to a second page;
prioritizing the one or more links;
for each of the one or more links, prefetching content from a page of electronic content identified by the link;
constructing, without displaying, an enhanced browsing window comprising said prefetched content for the first link;
detecting placement of a user interface cursor proximate to the first link; and
in response to said detecting, displaying said enhanced browsing window.
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24. A computer-implemented method of prefetching content from a second electronic page linked to a first electronic page while the first electronic page is browsed, the method comprising:
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while the first electronic page is displayed within a browser, identifying a set of links to target electronic pages, wherein said set of links includes a link to the second electronic page; and
for each link in the set of links, prior to selection of the link by an operator of the browser, prefetching content from the target electronic page. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of prefetching content from a second electronic page linked to a first electronic page while the first electronic page is browsed, the method comprising:
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while the first electronic page is displayed within a browser, identifying a set of links to target electronic pages, wherein said set of links includes a link to the second electronic page; and
for each link in the set of links, prior to selection of the link by an operator of the browser, prefetching content from the target electronic page.
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36. An automated method of fetching content of a pay-per-click ad for which a payment is normally registered for each click-through of the ad, the method comprising:
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when a first page of electronic data is browsed, identifying within the first page a first link to a first pay-per-click ad;
prefetching content from the pay-per-click ad without causing a payment to be registered;
constructing, without displaying, an enhanced browsing window comprising said prefetched content; and
causing a payment to be registered for the pay-per-click ad only if a user selects the first link. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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40. An enhanced browsing apparatus for facilitating enhanced browsing of electronic data, the apparatus comprising:
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a prefetcher configured to prefetch content from a second page of electronic data while a browser displays a first page of electronic data containing a first link to the second page;
data configured to facilitate prefetching of content by said prefetcher, said data including one or more of;
link identification data configured to identify the first link; and
link prioritization data configured to prioritize the first link among a set of links within the first page;
a window generator configured to generate an enhanced browsing window comprising said prefetched content; and
a cache configured to store one or more of;
said prefetched content; and
said enhanced browsing window. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification