Enhanced graphical interfaces for displaying visual data

• US 20060265417A1
• Filed: 01/10/2006
• Published: 11/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Andreas Acquisitions, LLC
• Original Assignee: Digital Generation, Inc. (Extreme Reach, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brun, Nicolas, Amato, Jerry S., Holecek, Ales, Touma, Costa Bassem
• Granted Patent: US 8,041,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results

Abstract

Techniques and implementations for providing enhanced functionality for handling data in Internet browsers or other applications used for accessing data over a network, including providing thumbnail image displays of the current appearance of webpages referenced by URLs returned in a set of search results, providing thumbnail image displays of the webpages referenced by a list of favorite or bookmarked websites, providing thumbnail image displays of webpages which have been blocked from appearing on a user'"'"'s screen, and providing thumbnail image displays of images which have been extracted from webpages and stored for potential future use.

Claims

1. A method for visually displaying search results comprising:

receiving search result data identifying a plurality of webpages;

determining, from said search result data, network address information for a first webpage of said plurality of webpages;

retrieving said first webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said first webpage.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said representation of said first webpage is displayed in a browser window with said search result data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said representation of said first webpage is displayed separately from a display of said search result data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said representation of said first webpage is displayed in a browser toolbar.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage; and

navigating to said first webpage.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said step of navigating to said first webpage includes:

loading said first webpage from a browser cache.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting that a cursor is positioned over said representation of said first webpage; and

enlarging the display of said representation of said first webpage.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage;

storing a reference to said first webpage; and

displaying a visual indicator on said representation of said first webpage.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said visual indicator is a dogear on said representation of said first webpage.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, from said search result data, network address information for a second webpage of said plurality of webpages;

retrieving said second webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said second webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said second webpage.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said representation of said first webpage and said representation of said second webpage are displayed from left to right in a browser toolbar.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the order in which said representation of said first webpage and said representation of said second webpage are displayed from left to right is determined based on which of said first webpage and second webpage is retrieved sooner.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the order in which said representation of said first webpage and said representation of said second webpage are displayed from left to right is determined based on information in said search result data.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said information in said search result data is an indication that said first webpage is a sponsored search result.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying, before said retrieving step, said search result data with a placeholder image for said reduced size representation of said first webpage; and

replacing, after completion of said creating step, said placeholder image with said reduced size representation of said first webpage.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said placeholder image was received with said search result data and is an image of said first webpage.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said reduced size representation of said first webpage is a thumbnail image of said first webpage.

18. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to visually display search results, said steps comprising:

receiving search result data identifying a plurality of webpages;

determining, from said search result data, network address information for a first webpage of said plurality of webpages;

retrieving said first webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said first webpage.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said representation of said first webpage is displayed in a browser window with said search result data.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said representation of said first webpage is displayed separately from a display of said search result data.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said representation of said first webpage is displayed in a browser toolbar.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage; and

navigating to said first webpage.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 22 wherein said step of navigating to said first webpage includes:

loading said first webpage from a browser cache.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

detecting that a cursor is positioned over said representation of said first webpage; and

enlarging the display of said representation of said first webpage.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage;

storing a reference to said first webpage; and

displaying a visual indicator on said representation of said first webpage.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 25 wherein said visual indicator is a dogear on said representation of said first webpage.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

determining, from said search result data, network address information for a second webpage of said plurality of webpages;

retrieving said second webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said second webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said second webpage.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 27 wherein said representation of said first webpage and said representation of said second webpage are displayed from left to right in a browser toolbar.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 28 wherein the order in which said representation of said first webpage and said representation of said second webpage are displayed from left to right is determined based on which of said first webpage and second webpage is retrieved sooner.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 28 wherein the order in which said representation of said first webpage and said representation of said second webpage are displayed from left to right is determined based on information in said search result data.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 30 wherein said information in said search result data is an indication that said first webpage is a sponsored search result.

32. The article of manufacture of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

displaying, before said retrieving step, said search result data with a placeholder image for said reduced size representation of said first webpage; and

replacing, after completion of said creating step, said placeholder image with said reduced size representation of said first webpage.

33. The article of manufacture of claim 32 wherein said placeholder image was received with said search result data and is an image of said first webpage.

34. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said reduced size representation of said first webpage is a thumbnail image of said first webpage.

35. A method for visually displaying search results comprising:

receiving a search query from a requestor;

determining search result data identifying a plurality of webpages corresponding to said search query;

retrieving, after said search query is received, a first webpage of said plurality of webpages;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

transmitting said representation of said first webpage and said search result data to said requestor.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising:

retrieving, after said search query is received, a second webpage of said plurality of webpages;

creating a reduced size representation of how said second webpage would appear if displayed; and

transmitting said representation of said second webpage to said requester.

37. An system for visually displaying search results comprising:

a network interface;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to said network interface and said memory, said processor configured to;

receive, via said network interface, a search query from a requestor;

determine search result data identifying a plurality of webpages corresponding to said search query;

retrieve, after said search query is received, a first webpage of said plurality of webpages;

create a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

transmit, via said network interface, said representation of said first webpage and said search result data to said requestor.

38. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said processor is further configured to:

retrieve, after said search query is received, a second webpage of said plurality of webpages;

create a reduced size representation of how said second webpage would appear if displayed; and

transmit, via said network interface, said representation of said second webpage to said requestor.

39. A method for visually displaying search results comprising:

receiving, from a first search engine, first search result data;

determining search query information from said first search result data;

transmitting said search query information to a second search engine;

receiving, from said second search engine, second search result data identifying a plurality of webpages;

determining network address information for a first webpage of said plurality of webpages;

retrieving said first webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said first webpage and said first search result data.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein said representation is displayed in a browser window with said first search result data.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein said representation is displayed separately from said first search result data.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein said representation is displayed in a browser toolbar.

43. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

displaying a placeholder image for said representation of said first webpage; and

replacing said placeholder image with said representation of said first webpage after completion of said creating step.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein said placeholder image is an image of said first webpage that was received with said second search result data.

45. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage; and

navigating to said first webpage.

46. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to visually display search results, said steps comprising:

receiving, from a first search engine, first search result data;

determining search query information from said first search result data;

transmitting said search query information to a second search engine;

receiving, from said second search engine, second search result data identifying a plurality of webpages;

determining network address information for a first webpage of said plurality of webpages;

retrieving said first webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said first webpage and said first search result data.

47. The article of manufacture of claim 46 wherein said representation is displayed in a browser window with said first search result data.

48. The article of manufacture of claim 46 wherein said representation is displayed separately from said first search result data.

49. The article of manufacture of claim 46 wherein said representation is displayed in a browser toolbar.

50. The article of manufacture of claim 46 further comprising the steps of:

displaying a placeholder image for said representation of said first webpage; and

replacing said placeholder image with said representation of said first webpage after completion of said creating step.

51. The article of manufacture of claim 50 wherein said placeholder image is an image of said first webpage that was received with said second search result data.

52. The article of manufacture of claim 46 further comprising the steps of:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage; and

navigating to said first webpage.

53. A method for visually displaying a representation of a webpage that has been prevented from displaying comprising:

receiving a notification that a webpage is going to be displayed;

preventing said webpage from being displayed;

opening said webpage in a hidden browser window;

creating a reduced size representation of how said webpage would appear if displayed;

displaying said representation of said first webpage.

54. The method of claim 53 further comprising:

detecting a selection of said representation of said webpage; and

displaying said hidden browser window.

55. The method of claim 53 further comprising:

detecting that a cursor is positioned over said representation of said webpage; and

enlarging the display of said representation of said webpage.

56. The method of claim 53 wherein said representation of said webpage is a thumbnail image.

57. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to visually display a representation of a webpage that has been prevented from displaying, said steps comprising:

receiving a notification that a webpage is going to be displayed;

preventing said webpage from being displayed;

opening said webpage in a hidden browser window;

creating a reduced size representation of how said webpage would appear if displayed;

displaying said representation of said first webpage.

58. The article of manufacture of claim 57 further comprising the steps of:

detecting a selection of said representation of said webpage; and

displaying said hidden browser window.

59. The article of manufacture of claim 57 further comprising the steps of:

detecting that a cursor is positioned over said representation of said webpage; and

enlarging the display of said representation of said webpage.

60. The article of manufacture of claim 57 wherein said representation of said webpage is a thumbnail image.

61. A method for visually displaying a collection of network address information comprising:

receiving network address information corresponding to at least one webpage;

retrieving a first webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said first webpage.

62. The method of claim 61 further comprising:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage; and

navigating to said first webpage.

63. The method of claim 61 further comprising:

storing said representation of said first webpage; and

associating said stored representation of said first webpage with network address information corresponding to said first webpage.

64. The method of claim 63 further comprising:

repeating said retrieving, creating, storing and associating steps at predetermined intervals.

65. The method of claim 63 further comprising:

repeating said retrieving, creating, storing and associating steps whenever said first webpage is navigated to by a user.

66. The method of claim 63 further comprising:

repeating said retrieving, creating, storing and associating steps whenever said collection of network address information is loaded into a browser.

67. The method of claim 61 further comprising:

detecting that a cursor is positioned over said representation of said first webpage; and

enlarging the display of said representation of said first webpage.

68. The method of claim 61 wherein said representation of said first webpage is a thumbnail image.

69. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to visually display a collection of network address information, said steps comprising:

receiving network address information corresponding to at least one webpage;

retrieving a first webpage using said network address information;

creating a reduced size representation of how said first webpage would appear if displayed; and

displaying said representation of said first webpage.

70. The article of manufacture of claim 69 further comprising the steps of:

detecting a selection of said representation of said first webpage; and

navigating to said first webpage.

71. The article of manufacture of claim 69 further comprising the steps of:

storing said representation of said first webpage; and

associating said stored representation of said first webpage with network address information corresponding to said first webpage.

72. The article of manufacture of claim 71 further comprising the steps of:

repeating said retrieving, creating, storing and associating steps at predetermined intervals.

73. The article of manufacture of claim 71 further comprising the steps of:

repeating said retrieving, creating, storing and associating steps whenever said first webpage is navigated to by a user.

74. The article of manufacture of claim 71 further comprising the steps of:

repeating said retrieving, creating, storing and associating steps whenever said collection of network address information is loaded into a browser.

75. The article of manufacture of claim 69 further comprising the steps of:

detecting that a cursor is positioned over said representation of said first webpage; and

enlarging the display of said representation of said first webpage.

76. The article of manufacture of claim 69 wherein said representation of said first webpage is a thumbnail image.