Multi-site message sharing

• US 20070043617A1
• Filed: 07/13/2006
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mark D. Bonham
• Original Assignee: Perogo Inc.
• Inventors: Alexander, Daniel, Stein, Jeremy, Pettinelli, Eugene, Bonham, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 8,660,900 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.640
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices

Abstract

A computer application is used for the serving and creation of user-annotated web pages, which may include associated advertisements, to client devices. The user is able to submit comments to one or more web servers wherein the web server or servers appends the submitted comment or comments and updates them for use and display on one or more web pages at one or more client devices. The comments are also distributed for viewing or listening, potential annotation, and update by other users viewing the same or related annotations across multiple websites. Annotated advertisements are an embodiment of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of distributing Web content to a plurality of users, comprising

a) maintaining a Web page on an annotatable server,

b) in response to a request from a first user transmitted from a first user client device to the annotatable server through a Web server, making the Web page available for viewing by the said first user on the said first user client device,

c) in response to input received from the said first user, adding a user comment provided by the said first user to the Web page,

d) in response to a request from a second user transmitted from a second user client device to the annotatable server through a Web server, making the Web page including the user comment provided by the first user available for viewing by the second user on the said second user client device, and

e) making the Web page including at least one user comment available for viewing by subsequent users in response to requests from said subsequent users, and adding at least one further user comment provided by at least one subsequent user to the Web page in response to at least one input received from at least one of said subsequent users.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each comment provided by a user is filtered prior to being added to the advertisement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one user is notified upon at least one further user comment being added to the Web page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a user registers prior to providing a user comment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a user registers prior to viewing user comments.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein user comments are organized into categories.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein user comments are ranked.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one user comment may only be viewed by users on a list of approved users associated with the said user comment.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the list of approved users associated with a user comment is provided by the user who provided the said user comment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one subsequent user may provide a user comment related to content of a prior user comment.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a user may select at least one rule to determine which user comments are viewable by the said user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a personal computer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a mobile device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a device configured for the user to engage in a game.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a device configured for the user to send and receive instant messages.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one user edits content of the Web page.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the content edited is a user comment.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the user who provided the said user comment may reject the edit to the said user comment.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein each user comment is of a type selected from a group comprising audio, video, image and text.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the user comments are organized in a thread.

21. A system for distributing Web content to a plurality of users, comprising

a) an annotatable server configured to maintain a Web page, make the Web page available for viewing in response to a request from at least one user received from a client device through a Web server, and add a user comment to the Web page in response to input received from the said at least one user,

b) at least one client device configured to transmit user requests for Web pages, permit user viewing of Web pages, and transmit input comprising user comments related to the content of a Web page viewed, and

c) at least one Web server configured to transmit a request from at least one client device to the annotatable server for a Web page.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the client devices is a personal computer.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the client devices is a mobile device.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the client devices is configured for the user to engage in a game.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the client devices is configured for the user to send and receive instant messages.

26. A method of distributing Web content to a plurality of users, comprising

a) maintaining an advertisement on an ad server,

b) in response to a first input from a first user transmitted from a first user client device, making the advertisement available for viewing by the said first user on the said first user client device, wherein the advertisement is viewed in association with a Web page maintained on a content server,

c) in response to a second input from the said first user, adding a user comment provided by the said first user to the advertisement maintained on the ad server,

d) in response to an input from a second user transmitted from a second user client device, making the advertisement including the user comment provided by the first user available for viewing by the second user on the said second user client device, wherein the advertisement is viewed in association with a Web page maintained on a content server, and

e) making the advertisement including at least one user comment available for viewing in association with at least one Web page by subsequent users in response to input from said subsequent users, and adding at least one further user comment provided by at least one subsequent user to the advertisement in response to at least one input received from at least one of said subsequent users.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one comment provided by a user is filtered prior to being added to the advertisement.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the filtering of a comment is based upon the content of the said comment.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the filtering of a comment is based upon the identity of the user providing the said comment.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one user is notified upon at least one further user comment being added to the advertisement.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein a user must register prior to providing a user comment.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein a user must register prior to viewing user comments.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein user comments are organized into categories.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein user comments are ranked.

35. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one user comment may only be viewed by users on a list of approved users associated with the said user comment.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the list of approved users associated with a user comment is provided by the user who provided the said user comment.

37. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one subsequent user may provide a user comment related to content of a prior user comment.

38. The method of claim 26, wherein a user may select at least one rule to determine which user comments are viewable by the said user.

39. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a personal computer.

40. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a mobile device.

41. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a device configured for the user to engage in a game.

42. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the user client devices is a device configured for the user to send and receive instant messages.

43. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one user edits content of the advertisement.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the content edited is a user comment.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the user who provided the said user comment may reject the edit to the said user comment.

46. The method of claim 26, wherein each user comment is of a type selected from a group comprising audio, video, image and text.

47. The method of claim 26, wherein the user comments are organized in a thread.

48. The method of claim 26, wherein the user comments are identified when viewed by one or more pieces of information selected from a group comprising date, time, user name, and user address.

49. The method of claim 26, wherein the advertisement is made available for viewing in association with a plurality of Web pages.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein each user comment is made available for viewing on each Web page with which the advertisement is associated.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein each user comment is made available for viewing only on the Web page which the user who provided the said comment was viewing when providing the said comment.

52. The method of claim 26, wherein the advertisement available for viewing by a user may be updated to make available user comments added to the advertisement since the advertisement was previously made available to the user.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the advertisement available for viewing by the user may be updated in response to a user comment being added to the advertisement.

54. The method of claim 26, wherein a client side application resident on the client device:

a) presents the Web page for viewing by the user,

b) requests the advertisement for viewing by the user in association with the Web page,

c) presents the advertisement for viewing by the user in association with the Web page,

e) in response to user input, determines that the user is authorized to add comments to the advertisement, and

f) forwards the user comments to the ad server.

55. The method of claim 26, wherein the content server forwards the Web page to the client device.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the ad server forwards the advertisement to the client device.

57. The method of claim 55, wherein the content server forwards the advertisement to the client device.

58. The method of claim 26, wherein the ad server distributes the advertisement to the content server.

59. The method of claim 26, wherein the ad server distributes the advertisement to the client device.

60. The method of claim 26, wherein the Web page viewed by the second user is the same as the Web page viewed by the first user.

61. The method of claim 26, wherein the Web page viewed by the second user is different from the Web page viewed by the first user.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the Web page viewed by the second user is maintained on the same content server as the Web page viewed by the first user.

63. The method of claim 61, wherein the Web page viewed by the second user is maintained on a different content server from the Web page viewed by the first user.

64. A system for distributing Web content to a plurality of users, comprising

a) at least one content server configured to maintain a Web page, and make the Web page available for viewing in response to a request from at least one user received from a client device,

b) an ad server configured to maintain an advertisement, make the advertisement available for viewing in response to a request from at least one user received from a client device, and add a user comment to the advertisement in response to input received from the said at least one user, which user comment is related to content of advertisement, and

c) at least one client device configured to transmit user requests for Web pages, permit user viewing of Web pages and advertisements, and transmit input comprising user comments.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein at least one of the client devices is a personal computer.

66. The system of claim 64, wherein at least one of the client devices is a mobile device.

67. The system of claim 64, wherein at least one of the client devices is configured for the user to engage in a game.

68. The system of claim 64, wherein at least one of the client devices is configured for the user to send and receive instant messages.

69. The system of claim 64, wherein a client side application is resident on the client device, and

a) presents the Web page for viewing by the user,

b) requests the advertisement for viewing by the user in association with the Web page,

c) presents the advertisement for viewing by the user in association with the Web page,

d) in response to user input, determines that the user is authorized to add comments to the advertisement, and

e) forwards the user comments to the ad server.

70. The system of claim 64, wherein the content server forwards the Web page to the client device.

71. The system of claim 70, wherein the ad server forwards the advertisement to the client device.

72. The system of claim 70, wherein the content server forwards the advertisement to the client device.

73. The system of claim 64, wherein the ad server distributes the advertisement to the content server.

74. The system of claim 64, wherein the ad server distributes the advertisement to the client device.

75. A method for creating an annotated web page, the method comprising:

a) submitting, from a client device, at least one user comment to an annotatable server;

b) appending, at the annotatable server, the at least one user comment to the annotated content; and

c) updating the annotated comment on one or more client devices.

76. The method of claim 75 wherein the at least one user comment is submitted through the web page.

77. The method of claim 75 wherein the at least one user comment is subjected to a filtering process.

78. A system for use in an environment including a client device and an annotatable server, said system comprising:

a) at least one comment submitted by a user using a client device;

b) means for receiving submitted comments by an annotatable server;

c) means for appending submitted comments to annotated content;

d) means for updating said annotated content on one or more client devices;

e) means for formatting said annotated content for a specific client device type; and

f) means for distributing said annotated content.

79. The system of claim 78 wherein the at least one user comment is subjected to a filtering process.

94. The system of claim 78 in which the user can click and add the annotated advertisement to a web page

95. The system of claim 78 in which the comments are threaded.

80. A method for creating an annotated advertisement, the method comprising:

a) submitting at least one user comment from a client device to an ad server;

b) appending, at the ad server, the at least one user comment to the advertisement; and

c) updating the advertisement in the client device.

81. The method of claim 80 wherein the at least one user comment is submitted through the annotated advertisement.

82. The method of claim 80 wherein the at least one user comment is subjected to one or more filtering processes.

83. A system for use in an environment including a client device and an ad server, said system comprising:

a) at least one comment submitted by a user, from an advertisement on a client device;

b) means for receiving submitted comments by an ad server;

c) means for appending submitted comments to the advertisement;

d) means for updating said advertisement one or more client devices;

e) means for formatting said annotated content for a specific client device type; and

f) means for distributing said advertisement.

84. The system of claim 83 wherein the at least one user comment is subjected to a filtering process.

85. A method as in claim 83 in which an email is sent to an electing user when a new comment is appended.

86. A method as in claim 83 in which a comment is a change to the advertisement.

87. A method as in claim 86 whereby the change is indicated by a change in the properties of the display of the comment.

88. A method as in claim 83 in which an electing user is informed when user comments change based on a pre-defined set of rules.

89. A method as in claim 83 in which the comments are tagged by category.

90. A method as in claim 83 in which the user can share the content of the annotated advertisement with a list of other users.

91. A method as in claim 83 in which the user can invite others to contribute to the ad.

92. A method as in claim 83 in which the user can provide comments on the comments.

93. A method as in claim 92 in which the comments can be ranked.

96. A method as in claims 83 in which the user can select the rules to determine what content is displayed to the user.