Methods and apparatus for selection of information and web page generation

• US 20080071929A1
• Filed: 09/18/2006
• Published: 03/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Marcus Gill Greenwood, Yann Emmanuel Motte
• Original Assignee: Marcus Gill Greenwood, Yann Emmanuel Motte
• Inventors: Greenwood, Marcus Gill, Motte, Yann Emmanuel
• Application Number:
  US11/522,857
• Publication Number:
  US 20080071929A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers

Abstract

A method and apparatus for generating new web pages using pre-existing web pages as a template, and a method and apparatus for selection of information from a database or index based on user-allocated ratings, where the selected information may be used to provide content for a web site or for broadcast on TV, radio or other media. For the web page creation, preferably each web page is provided with a “remix” button, which a user can click on to create an editable copy of the web page. The user may subsequently edit individual components of the web page to customise it. A ranking system for web pages, modules, content and users may be implemented, and may be used to automatically select highly rated content. The automatic selection may also use meta data such as “tags” specifying the subject matter of the web site, and meta data relating to the particular user who is viewing the web site. The automatic selection process may use “tag clouds” comprising groups of related tags, in order to improve the search and matching process. The selected content may include advertising material or any other web site content, such as news feeds, blogs, pictures, etc. Where advertising material is selected for display, the selection criteria may take into account the user allocated ratings of each advert, as well as the price that advertisers are willing to pay in order to have the advert displayed.

Claims

1. A method of automatically generating a web page, the method comprising:

receiving an instruction from a user to generate a first new web page and receiving an identifier of an existing web page that is accessible over a network;

using information defining the existing web page to generate information defining the first new web page;

providing user editing controls to allow a user to input user edits to edit content, layout, modules and/or access rights of the first new web page, and modifying said information defining the first new web page in accordance with said user edits; and

sending said information defining the first new web page to an information store which is accessible over the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generation of information defining the first new web page comprises copying instructions to invoke code run on a web server from said information defining the existing web page to said information defining the first new web page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving an instruction comprises receiving an instruction that has been automatically generated as a result of the user operating a web page replication control in said existing web page.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising

providing information defining a plurality of web page components;

receiving a user selection of a web page component; and

adding information defining the selected web page component to the information defining the first new web page.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first new web page includes a user control which, on activation by a user, sends an instruction to a server to generate information defining a second new web page using said information defining the first new web page, said instruction including information identifying the first new web page to the server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said original web page comprises a plurality of functional modules, and wherein said using information defining the existing web page to generate information defining the first new web page comprises copying all modules of the original web page, for which the user has read access, to the first new web page.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein copying a module comprises copying access right settings defining user access rights to the module.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said access rights comprises a list of users who have read access and/or write access to the existing web page or to a predefined part of the existing web page.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information defining the original web page comprises meta data, the method further comprising:

copying meta data from the information defining the original web page to the information defining the first new web page.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said meta data comprises tags or labels identifying subject matter of the web site and/or the individual modules of the web site.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing editing controls to allow a user to edit the meta data, and using the edited meta data to automatically select content for at least one module of the first new web page.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising using stored information identifying interests of a user to automatically select content for at least a part of the first new web page.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein a combination of meta data relating to the web site content and information about the user are used to select content for at least a part of the first new web page.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically allocating rating points to the original web page each time it is used as a template for a new web page.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a hyperlink from the first new web page to the original web page, and/or a hyperlink from the original web page to the first new web page.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a hyperlink on the first new web page, the hyperlink linking the first new web page with any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a hyperlink linking to the first new web page, on any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or on any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a history list identifying the relationship between the first new web page, the original web page, and any previous web pages that were used to generate either the original web page or another of said previous web pages.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a list identifying any web pages that have been generated using the first new web page.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying user access rights of said user from whom said instruction is received;

copying information defining modules and content for which said user has read access, from the information defining the original web page to the information defining the new web page; and

allocating user access rights to the modules of the new web page, based on the user access rights of the corresponding modules in the original web page.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising setting the read access level for each module to any one of the following:

single user only;

any user in a predetermined list of users;

any logged on user, or unrestricted public access; and

/or setting the write access level for each module to any one of the following;

single user only;

any user in a predetermined list of users;

any logged on user, or unrestricted public access.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the access level for each module comprises a setting to indicate whether the module is suitable for viewing on a mobile computing device.

213. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing information defining an existing webpage;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 1.

227. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to automatically generate a web page by performing the method of claim 1.

23. A method of automatically generating a web page, the method comprising:

displaying an existing web page that is accessible over a network; and

in response to an instruction from a user;

sending an instruction to generate a first new web page to a server and sending an identifier of said existing web page to said server;

receiving said first new web page from the server and displaying said first new web page, wherein information defining said first new web page has been generated using information defining the existing web page;

providing user editing controls to allow a user to input user edits to edit content, layout, modules and/or access rights of the first new web page;

sending said user edits to said server to modify said information defining the first new web page in accordance with said user edits, said modified information defining the first new web page being stored in an information store which is accessible over the network; and

updating the display of said first new web page to include said user edits.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said instruction from a user comprises an instruction that has been automatically generated as a result of the user operating a web page replication control in said existing web page.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising

displaying a list of web page components;

receiving a user selection of a web page component; and

sending said user selection to said server for modifying of said information defining the first new web page by addition of information defining the selected web page component.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the first new web page includes a user control which, on activation by a user, sends an instruction to a server to generate information defining a second new web page using said information defining the first new web page, said instruction including information identifying the first new web page to the server.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein said original web page comprises a plurality of functional modules, and wherein said receiving said first new web page comprises receiving a copy of all modules of the original web page, for which the user has read access.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein receiving a copy of a module comprises receiving copied access right settings defining user access rights to the module.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein said access rights comprises a list of users who have read access and/or write access to the existing web page or to a predefined part of the existing web page.

30. The method of claim 23, wherein the information defining the original web page comprises meta data, and wherein said receiving said first new web page comprises receiving a copy of said meta data.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said meta data comprises tags or labels identifying subject matter of the web site and/or the individual modules of the web site.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising providing editing controls to allow a user to edit the meta data, sending said edited meta data to the server, and receiving content for at least one module of the first new web page from said server, said content having been automatically selected using the edited meta data.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising sending information identifying interests of a user to said server, and receiving content for at least a part of the first new web page from said server, said content having been automatically selected using said information identifying interests of a user.

34. The method of claim 30, comprising receiving content for at least a part of the first new web page from the server, said content having been selected using a combination of meta data relating to the web site content and information about the user.

35. The method of claim 23, further comprising displaying a hyperlink from the first new web page to the original web page.

36. The method of claim 23, further comprising displaying a hyperlink on the first new web page, the hyperlink linking the first new web page with any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page.

37. The method of claim 23, further comprising displaying any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or on any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page, wherein said displayed web page includes a hyperlink linking to the first new web page.

38. The method of claim 23, further comprising displaying a history list identifying the relationship between the first new web page, the original web page, and any previous web pages that were used to generate either the original web page or another of said previous web pages.

39. The method of claim 23, further comprising displaying a list identifying any web pages that have been generated using the first web page.

40. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

displaying modules and content copied to the first new web page from said original web page, for which said user has read access, to said user; and

blocking the display of said modules and content to another user who does not have read access to the corresponding modules and content of the original web page.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising receiving information from the server indicating whether a module is suitable for viewing on a mobile computing device.

214. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing information defining an existing webpage;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 23.

228. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to automatically generate a web page by performing the method of claim 23.

42. A method of automatically generating a web page, the method comprising:

receiving a user selection or automatic selection of a topic for said web page;

using said topic selection to search a database for information associated with said topic;

selecting items of information within the search results using rating values associated with the items of information;

generating a web page comprising a plurality of said selected items of information arranged using predetermined layout information.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein using rating values comprises calculating scores using rating values and using said scores to select items of information within the search results, wherein the score for each item of information is dependent on the age of the item of information or the time at which the item of information was last updated or confirmed to be current.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the selected topic is associated with one or more additional topics, and said search of the database comprises searching for items of information associated with the selected topic and/or at least one additional topic, and wherein using rating values comprises calculating scores using rating values and using said scores to select items of information within the search results, wherein the score for each item of information is dependent on which of the selected topic and additional topics are associated with each item of information.

215. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing information associated with a plurality of different topics;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 42.

229. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to automatically generate a web page by performing the method of claim 42.

45. A method of automatically selecting information from an information store or index wherein each item of information has meta data comprising a rating value and one or more tags, the method comprising:

retrieving data associated with one or more users;

generating a search query using said retrieved data associated with the one or more users;

searching said information store or index with said search query and selecting items of information having at least one tag corresponding to the search term;

awarding a score to each selected item of information, using the rating values of each item of information;

ranking the selected items of information according to their scores; and

outputting at least one of the selected items of information with a score in a top part of the ranking.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said top part of the ranking is the top 20%.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein said top part of the ranking is the highest ranked item.

48. The method of claim 45, further comprising removing an item of information from the ranking after said information has been outputted;

and

outputting a further item of said selected information which has a score in a top part of the revised ranking.

49. The method of claim 45, further comprising using said ranking to select information for output for a selected time period, and generating a new search query to generate a new ranking after the expiry of said time period.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein said time period is selected according to the type of medium to which the information is outputted and/or using statistics on the user'"'"'s browsing behaviour on said medium.

51. The method of claim 45, further comprising adjusting the scores using weightings that are determined according to a creation date of each item of information.

52. The method of claim 45, further comprising adjusting the scores according to the number of times each item of information has previously been viewed by users.

53. The method of claim 45, further comprising adjusting the scores according to the source locations of the items of information.

54. The method of claim 45, wherein outputting the selected items of information comprises outputting said selected items to be published on an internet web site, to be broadcast on television or radio, or to be displayed on an electronic billboard, wherein said information associated with a user may comprise information associated with a single user or information associated with a group of users.

55. A method of generating a new modular web page using the method of claim 45, the method further comprising, for a module of said modular web site:

generating said search query using the retrieved information associated with the user and using tags associated with said module;

wherein said outputting the selected items of information comprises outputting the selected items of information with the highest scores which are suitable for output within said module.

56. The method of claim 45, wherein said awarding a score comprises using rating values that have been allocated only by members of a restricted group of users.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein said restricted group of users comprises users in a predetermined age range, users of a predetermined gender, users located in a predetermined geographical area, or some combination of these restrictions.

58. The method of claim 45, further comprising selecting a plurality of module types for a modular web page according to the results of the search of the information store or index.

216. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing information or an information index, each item of information having meta data comprising a rating value and one or more tags;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 45.

230. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to automatically select information from an information store or index by performing the method of claim 45.

59. A method of selecting content for display on a web page using predetermined user interest information from a user, said predetermined user interest information being stored on a server, the method comprising:

receiving a request from the user to view the web page;

using the user interest information to select content for display on the web site from an information content store or index; and

displaying the selected content on the web page.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the selected content is selected using a combination of the user interest information and user assigned ratings assigned by a plurality of users, which are associated with the content.

61. The method of claim 59, wherein the selected content is selected using a combination of the user interest information and meta data associated with said web page.

62. The method of claim 59, wherein the selected content comprises advertising material selected from one or more databases of adverting material.

63. The method of claim 59, further comprising using said user interest information to modify the web page layout.

217. Apparatus for automatically selecting content for display on a web page, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing predetermined user interest information from a user;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 59.

231. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to automatically selecting content for display on a web page by performing the method of claim 59.

64. A method of outputting information to a user, the method comprising:

retrieving from a tag store tags from one or more of the following categories;

tags representing interests of a user;

tags relating to published web page content of the user;

tags relating to a web page that a user has most recently requested to view; and

tags relating to topics for which a user has requested to received advertising material, wherein individual tags may be in multiple categories;

providing each individual tag of said retrieved tags with a score, wherein said score is determined using the number and type of categories in which said individual tag is included;

using a predetermined number of tags with the highest scores to search an information database or index to locate information relating to the tags in this predetermined number of tags; and

outputting at least some of said located information to the user.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising using the number of categories in which one or more of the predetermined number of tags occurs to select a format for displaying said located information.

66. The method of claim 64, wherein the located information comprises advertising material, and the number of categories in which one or more of the predetermined number of tags occurs is used to select an advertising format.

67. The method of claim 64, wherein a text format is selected if each said tag associated with particular located information is only in one of said categories.

68. The method of claim 64, wherein a multimedia format is selected if at least one of the tags associated with particular located information is in a predetermined number of categories.

69. The method of claim 64, further comprising determining scores for each tag in each category according to the time at which each tag was initially generated or confirmed by a user to be currently valid.

70. The method of claim 64, further comprising generating scores for individual tags that are present in multiple categories by allocating a score to each occurrence of an individual tag in any category, and summing the scores for said individual tag over a plurality of categories.

78. The method of claim 74, further comprising providing a user interface comprising a visual representation of said tag cloud, wherein said user interface is configured to allow a user to select any topic in said tag cloud, and to generate and display a new tag cloud using the method of claim 67 using the topic selected by the user as said specified topic.

218. Apparatus for outputting information to a user, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing tags from one or more of the following categories;

tags representing interests of a user;

tags relating to published web page content of the user;

tags relating to a web page that a user has most recently requested to view; and

tags relating to topics for which a user has requested to received advertising material, wherein individual tags may be in multiple categories;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 64.

232. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to output information to a user by performing the method of claim 64.

71. A method of rating a web page, web page component or user, the method comprising:

providing user controls to allow users to rate a web page, web page component or user by adding new tags to a tag cloud describing the web page, web page component or user, and/or by rating the tags in said tag cloud; and

storing data defining said tag cloud and said ratings in a data store.

72. The method of claim 71, further comprising providing user controls to rate a web page, web page component or user by allocating a numerical score, and storing said numerical store in said data store.

73. The method of claim 71, further comprising providing user controls to rate a web page, web page component or user by providing user comments, and storing said user comments in said data store.

219. Apparatus for rating a web page, web page component or user, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing user rating data for web pages, web page components and/or users;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 71.

233. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to store a rating for a web page, web page component or user by performing the method of claim 71.

74. A method of generating a tag cloud for a specified topic, the method comprising searching a database comprising meta data relating to each of a plurality of items of information, wherein said meta data indicates the subject matter of the information, and identifying items of information which have meta data matching said specified topic;

generating a list of meta data that is associated with the items of information identified in said search, said list including meta data that does not match said specified topic;

generating weights for each item of meta data in said list, using the number of times each item of meta data is associated with any item of information identified in the search; and

generating a tag cloud for the specified topic using said list and said weights.

75. The method of claim 74, further comprising using only the items of meta data which have weights above a predetermined threshold to generate said tag cloud.

76. The method of claim 74, wherein said weights are modified using any combination of the following factors:

popularity of each tag;

time since generation of each tag;

time since last update of information associated with said tag;

ratings values of said tag.

77. The method of claim 74, further comprising providing a search interface to allow a user to enter a search term, setting said specified topic to be said search term, and returning said tag cloud as search results.

220. Apparatus for generating a tag cloud for a specified topic, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing meta data relating to each of a plurality of items of information and indicating the subject matter of each item of information;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 74.

234. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to generate a tag cloud for a specified topic by performing the method of claim 74.

79. A method of displaying a tag cloud, comprising storing tags of the tag cloud, ratings for each tag, and information about users who created and rated each tag, the method comprising:

providing user controls to allow a user to specify a sub group of users according to a user criteria;

generating weightings for each tag in the tag cloud using only ratings that have been allocated by users in said selected group of users; and

displaying the tag cloud with said generated weightings.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein said user criteria comprises any combination of gender, age or age group, geographical location, type of employment, political views.

81. The method of claim 79, wherein said weightings are further determined according to the time at which each tag was created.

221. Apparatus for displaying a tag cloud, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing tags, ratings for each tag, and information about users who created and rated each tag;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 79.

235. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to display a tag cloud by performing the method of claim 79.

82. A method of automatically selecting an advert to be served to a user or a group of users, the method comprising:

ranking a list of adverts using price categories paid by advertisers for said adverts and using ratings allocated to the adverts by users;

selecting an advert from a top part of said ranked list; and

serving said selected advert to said user or group of users.

83. The method of claim 82, further comprising obtaining said list of adverts by searching a database of advert information using information specific to a user or group of users to whom the advert will be served.

84. The method of claim 83, wherein said selected advert is served to a web page, and said information specific to a user or group of users includes any of the following criteria:

stated interests of the user or group of users;

published content of web pages owned by the user or group of users;

advertising topics that the user or group of users has specified;

information associated with the web page to which the advert will be served;

information relating to the geographical location of the user or group of users;

a language used by the user or group of users, and/or

a preferred advert format selected by the user or group of users.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein at least some of said criteria are assigned weighting values to determine their relative importance, and said weighting values are used to determine search terms for searching a database of adverts to obtain said ranked list.

86. The method of claim 83, wherein said top part of the ranked list comprises the top 20% of the ranked list.

222. Apparatus for automatically selecting an advert to be served to a user or a group of users, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing advert pricing data and advert rating data;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 82.

236. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to automatically select an advert to be served to a user or a group of users by performing the method of claim 82.

87. A method of generating a plurality of keywords for use in the selection of advertising material for a target web site, the method comprising:

retrieving keywords relating to one or more of the following sources;

the content of the target web site;

the author of the target web site;

the user who is requesting to view the target web site; and

other web sites owned by said user;

using weighting values to assign weights to the retrieved keywords according to the keyword source and the time at which the keyword was assigned to said keyword source;

generating a ranked list of keywords using said assigned weights;

comparing said ranked list of keywords to the keywords associated with individual adverts; and

selecting adverts in dependence upon the result of the comparison.

88. The method of claim 87, wherein said sources of keywords comprise tags associated with information in an information store.

89. The method of claim 87, further comprising

using a paid price of each selected advert and a user rating of said selected advert to assign a priority rating to the advert;

serving an advert to the target web site, said advert being chosen using said priority rating.

90. The method of claim 89, further comprising serving only adverts with a priority rating above a threshold value.

223. Apparatus for generating a plurality of keywords for use in the selection of advertising material for a target web site, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing keyword weighting values;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 87.

237. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to generate a plurality of keywords for use in the selection of advertising material for a target web site by performing the method of claim 87.

91. A method of selecting an advert format for serving an advert to a user, the method comprising:

searching a plurality of categories of stored information associated with the user to determine the number of categories in which an advert keyword occurs; and

selecting an advert format from a plurality of advert formats according to the number of said categories in which the advert keyword is found.

92. The method of claim 91, wherein the categories comprise one or more of the following:

interests of a user;

published web page content of the user;

a web page that a user has most recently requested to view; and

topics for which a user has requested to received advertising material.

93. The method of claim 91, wherein the categories each comprises one or more tags, and searching a category comprises searching the tags of a category.

94. The method of claim 91, wherein a text format is selected if said keyword is associated with only one of said categories.

95. The method of claim 91, wherein a multimedia format is selected if said keyword is associated with a predetermined number of categories.

224. Apparatus for selecting an advert format for serving an advert to a user, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing a plurality of categories of stored information associated with the user;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 91.

238. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to manage a display of adverts by performing the method of claim 91.

96. A method of management of displayed adverts, the method comprising:

storing identifiers of adverts that have been served to a user on one or more web pages during a time period; and

providing user controls for displaying adverts corresponding to the stored identifiers and for sorting and/or searching adverts corresponding to the stored identifiers, in response to a user input.

97. The method of claim 96, wherein the time period is selected by the user.

98. The method of claim 96, further comprising sorting adverts according to any of the following criteria, in response to a corresponding user selection:

time of serving of advert;

time of publication of advert;

content of the adverts;

previous user interest in the adverts;

previous labelling of adverts by the user;

referrals of adverts by another user.

225. Apparatus for management of displayed adverts, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing identifiers of adverts that have been served to a user on one or more web pages during a time period;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 96.

239. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to generate and share revenue from advertising by performing the method of claim 96.

99. A method of generating and sharing revenue from advertising, the method comprising:

serving an advert to a first web page owned by a first user, wherein the first web page has been generated using a second web page as a template, or using a web page that has been directly or indirectly derived from the second web page as a template;

charging an advertising fee to an advertiser for serving said advert;

allocating a first predetermined portion of the advertising fee to the first user; and

allocating a second predetermined portion of the advertising fee to a second user who owns the second web page.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein the second web page is a web page that was used as a template by the first user to create the first web page or to create a web page from which the first web page was directly or indirectly derived.

101. The method of claim 99, wherein the second web page has been generated using a third web page as a template, or using a web page that has been directly or indirectly derived from the third web page as a template, the method further comprising:

allocating a third predetermined portion of the advertising fee to a third user who owns the third web page.

102. The method of claim 99, wherein the third web page is a web page that was used as a template by the second user to create the second web page or to create a web page from which the second web page was directly or indirectly derived.

103. The method of claim 99, wherein the first predetermined portion is larger than the second predetermined portion, and the second predetermined portion is larger than the third predetermined portion.

104. The method of claim 99, wherein the sum of said predetermined portions does not exceed 50% of the advertising fee.

105. The method of claim 99, wherein the remainder of the advertising fee is allocated to an owner of a web server hosting said web pages.

106. The method of claim 99, wherein the first user is allocated only said first portion of the advertising fee if the first web site was generated using another web site belonging to said first user as a template.

226. Apparatus for generating and sharing revenue from advertising, the apparatus comprising:

data memory storing data relating to advertising revenue;

code memory storing implementable code; and

a processor adapted to implement the code in the code memory, the code in the code memory comprising code to control the processor to perform the method of claim 99.

240. A carrier medium carrying computer readable code for controlling a computer to manage a display of adverts by performing the method of claim 99.

107. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving an instruction from a user to generate a first new web page and receiving an identifier of an existing web page that is accessible over a network;

editing means for using information defining the existing web page to generate information defining the first new web page;

providing user editing controls to allow a user to input user edits to edit content, layout, modules and/or access rights of the first new web page, and modifying said information defining the first new web page in accordance with said user edits; and

sending means for sending said information defining the first new web page to an information store which is accessible over the network.

108. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to generate said information defining the first new web page by copying instructions to invoke code run on a web server from said information defining the existing web page to said information defining the first new web page.

109. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein said receiving means is configured to receive an instruction that has been automatically generated as a result of the user operating a web page replication control in said existing web page.

110. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein said editing means is configured to provide information defining a plurality of web page components;

said receiving means is configured to receive a user selection of a web page component; and

said editing means is configured to add information defining the selected web page component to the information defining the first new web page.

111. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the first new web page includes a user control which, on activation by a user, sends an instruction to a server to generate information defining a second new web page using said information defining the first new web page, said instruction including information identifying the first new web page to the server.

112. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein said original web page comprises a plurality of functional modules, and wherein said editing means is configured to copy all modules of the original web page, for which the user has read access, to the first new web page.

113. The apparatus of claim 112, wherein the editing means is configured to copy access right settings of the modules, defining user access rights to the module.

114. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein said access rights comprises a list of users who have read access and/or write access to the existing web page or to a predefined part of the existing web page.

115. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the information defining the original web page comprises meta data, and wherein said editing means is configured to copy meta data from the information defining the original web page to the information defining the first new web page.

116. The apparatus of claim 115, wherein said meta data comprises tags or labels identifying subject matter of the web site and/or the individual modules of the web site.

117. The apparatus of claim 115, wherein said editing means is configured to provide editing controls to allow a user to edit the meta data, and to use the edited meta data to automatically select content for at least one module of the first new web page.

118. The apparatus of claim 115, wherein said editing means is configured to use stored information identifying interests of a user to automatically select content for at least a part of the first new web page.

119. The apparatus of claim 115, wherein the editing means is configured to use a combination of meta data relating to the web site content and information about the user to select content for at least a part of the first new web page.

120. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein said editing means is configured to automatically allocate rating points to the original web page each time it is used as a template for a new web page.

121. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to create a hyperlink from the first new web page to the original web page, and/or a hyperlink from the original web page to the first new web page.

122. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to create a hyperlink on the first new web page, the hyperlink linking the first new web page with any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page.

123. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to create a hyperlink linking to the first new web page, on any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or on any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page.

124. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to generate a history list identifying the relationship between the first new web page, the original web page, and any previous web pages that were used to generate either the original web page or another of said previous web pages.

125. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to generate a list identifying any web pages that have been generated using the first new web page.

126. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the editing means is configured to identify user access rights of said user from whom said instruction is received;

to copy information defining modules and content for which said user has read access, from the information defining the original web page to the information defining the new web page; and

to allocate user access rights to the modules of the new web page, based on the user access rights of the corresponding modules in the original web page.

127. The apparatus of claim 126, wherein the editing means is configured to set a read access level for each module to any one of the following:

single user only;

any user in a predetermined list of users;

any logged on user, or unrestricted public access; and

/or to set a write access level for each module to any one of the following;

single user only;

any user in a predetermined list of users;

any logged on user, or unrestricted public access.

128. The apparatus of claim 126, wherein the access level for each module comprises a setting to indicate whether the module is suitable for viewing on a mobile computing device.

129. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

display control means for displaying an existing web page that is accessible over a network on a display; and

sending means for sending an instruction to generate a first new web page to a server and sending an identifier of said existing web page to said server;

receiving means for receiving said first new web page from the server and displaying said first new web page, wherein information defining said first new web page has been generated using information defining the existing web page;

editing means for providing user editing controls to allow a user to input user edits to edit content, layout, modules and/or access rights of the first new web page;

wherein said sending means is configured to sending said user edits to said server to modify said information defining the first new web page in accordance with said user edits, said modified information defining the first new web page being stored in an information store which is accessible over the network; and

wherein said display control means is configured to update the display of said first new web page to include said user edits.

130. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein said sending means is configured to send an instruction from a user that has been automatically generated as a result of the user operating a web page replication control in said existing web page.

131. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display a list of web page components;

the receiving means is configured to receive a user selection of a web page component; and

the sending means is configured to send said user selection to said server for modifying of said information defining the first new web page by addition of information defining the selected web page component.

132. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the first new web page includes a user control which, on activation by a user, sends an instruction to a server to generate information defining a second new web page using said information defining the first new web page, said instruction including information identifying the first new web page to the server.

133. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein said original web page comprises a plurality of functional modules, and wherein said receiving means is configured to receive a copy of all modules of the original web page for which the user has read access.

134. The apparatus of claim 133, wherein the receiving means is configured to receive a copy of access right settings of each module, defining user access rights to the module.

135. The method of claim 129, wherein said access rights comprises a list of users who have read access and/or write access to the existing web page or to a predefined part of the existing web page.

136. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the information defining the original web page comprises meta data, and wherein said receiving means is configured to receive a copy of said meta data.

137. The apparatus of claim 136, wherein said meta data comprises tags or labels identifying subject matter of the web site and/or the individual modules of the web site.

138. The apparatus of claim 136, wherein said editing means is configured to providing editing controls to allow a user to edit the meta data;

said sending means is configured to send said edited meta data to the server, and said receiving means is configured to receive content for at least one module of the first new web page from said server, said content having been automatically selected using the edited meta data.

139. The apparatus of claim 136, wherein said sending means is configured to send information identifying interests of a user to said server, and said receiving means is configured to receive content for at least a part of the first new web page from said server, said content having been automatically selected using said information identifying interests of a user.

140. The apparatus of claim 136, wherein the receiving means is configured to receive content for at least a part of the first new web page from the server, said content having been selected using a combination of meta data relating to the web site content and information about the user.

141. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display a hyperlink from the first new web page to the original web page.

142. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display a hyperlink on the first new web page, the hyperlink linking the first new web page with any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page.

143. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display any web page in a chain of web pages from which the first new web page was generated, or on any web page in a chain of web pages that has been generated using said first new web page, wherein said displayed web page includes a hyperlink linking to the first new web page.

144. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display a history list identifying the relationship between the first new web page, the original web page, and any previous web pages that were used to generate either the original web page or another of said previous web pages.

145. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display a list identifying any web pages that have been generated using the first web page.

146. The apparatus of claim 129, wherein the display control means is configured to display modules and content copied to the first new web page from said original web page, for which said user has read access, to said user;

and to block the display of said modules and content to another user who does not have read access to the corresponding modules and content of the original web page.

147. The apparatus of claim 146, wherein said receiving means is configured to receive information from the server indicating whether a module is suitable for viewing on a mobile computing device.

148. Apparatus for automatically generating a web page, the apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a user selection or automatic selection of a topic for said web page;

search means for using said topic selection to search a database for information associated with said topic;

selection means for selecting items of information within the search results using rating values associated with the items of information;

generating means for generating a web page comprising a plurality of said selected items of information arranged using predetermined layout information.

149. The apparatus of claim 148, wherein said selection means is configured to calculate scores using the rating values and to use the scores to select items of information within the search results, wherein the score for each item of information is dependent on the age of the item of information or the time at which the item of information was last updated or confirmed to be current.

150. The apparatus of claim 148, wherein the selected topic is associated with one or more additional topics, the search means is configured to search the database for items of information associated with the selected topic and/or at least one additional topic, and the selection means is configured to calculate scores using rating values and to use said scores to select items of information within the search results, wherein the score for each item of information is dependent on which of the selected topic and additional topics are associated with each item of information.

151. Apparatus for automatically selecting information from an information store or index wherein each item of information has meta data comprising a rating value and one or more tags, the apparatus comprising:

retrieving means for retrieving data associated with one or more users;

generating means for generating a search query using said retrieved data associated with the one or more users;

search means for searching said information store or index with said search query and selecting items of information having at least one tag corresponding to the search term;

scoring means for awarding a score to each selected item of information, using the rating values of each item of information, and ranking the selected items of information according to their scores; and

output means for outputting at least one of the selected items of information with a score in a top part of the ranking.

152. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said output means is configured to output at least one of the selected items in the top 20% of the ranking.

153. The apparatus of claim 152, wherein said output means is configured to output the highest ranked item.

154. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said scoring means is configured to remove an item of information from the ranking after said information has been outputted;

and

wherein said output means is configured to output a further item of said selected information which has a score in a top part of the revised ranking.

155. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said output means is configured to use said ranking to select information for output for a selected time period, and wherein said search means is configured to generate a new search query to generate a new ranking after the expiry of said time period.

156. The apparatus of claim 155, configured to select said time period according to the type of medium to which the information is outputted and/or using statistics on the user'"'"'s browsing behaviour on said medium.

157. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said scoring means is configured to adjust the scores using weightings that are determined according to a creation date of each item of information.

158. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said scoring means is configured to adjust the scores according to the number of times each item of information has previously been viewed by users.

159. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said scoring means is configured to adjust the scores according to the source locations of the items of information.

160. The apparatus of claim 151, wherein said output means is configured to output said selected items to be published on an internet web site, to be broadcast on television or radio, or to be displayed on an electronic billboard, wherein said information associated with a user may comprise information associated with a single user or information associated with a group of users.

161. The apparatus of claim 152, configured to generate a new modular web page,

wherein said generating means is configured to generate said search query using the retrieved information associated with the user and using tags associated with a module of said modular webpage;

wherein said output means is configured to output the selected items of information with the highest scores which are suitable for output within said module.

162. The apparatus of claim 153, wherein said score means is configured to award a score using rating values that have been allocated only by members of a restricted group of users.

163. The apparatus of claim 162, wherein said score means is configured to award said score using rating values that have been allocated only by a group of users in a predetermined age range, of a predetermined gender, in a predetermined geographical area, or some combination of these restrictions.

164. The apparatus of claim 153, further comprising selecting means for selecting a plurality of module types for a modular web page according to the results of the search of the information store or index.

165. Apparatus for selecting content for display on a web page using predetermined user interest information from a user, said predetermined user interest information being stored on a server, the apparatus comprising:

receiving means for receiving a request from the user to view the web page;

selection means configured to use the user interest information for selecting content for display on the web site from an information content store or index; and

display control means for displaying the selected content on the web page on a display.

166. The apparatus of claim 165, wherein the selection means is configured to select content using a combination of the user interest information and user assigned ratings assigned by a plurality of users, which are associated with the content.

167. The apparatus of claim 165, wherein the selection means is configured to select content using a combination of the user interest information and meta data associated with said web page.

168. The apparatus of claim 165, wherein the selection means is configured to select content comprising advertising material from one or more databases of adverting material.

169. The apparatus of claim 165, further wherein said selection means is configured to use said user interest information to modify the web page layout.

170. Apparatus for outputting information to a user, the apparatus comprising:

retrieving means for retrieving from a tag store tags from one or more of the following categories;

tags representing interests of a user;

tags relating to published web page content of the user;

tags relating to a web page that a user has most recently requested to view; and

tags relating to topics for which a user has requested to received advertising material, wherein individual tags may be in multiple categories;

scoring means for providing each individual tag of said retrieved tags with a score, wherein said score is determined using the number and type of categories in which said individual tag is included;

search means configured to use a predetermined number of tags with the highest scores to search an information database or index to locate information relating to the tags in this predetermined number of tags; and

output means for outputting at least some of said located information to the user.

171. The apparatus of claim 170, wherein said output means is configured to use the number of categories in which one or more of the predetermined number of tags occurs to select a format for displaying said located information.

172. The apparatus of claim 170, wherein the located information comprises advertising material, and the output means is configured to use the number of categories in which one or more of the predetermined number of tags occurs to select an advertising format.

173. The apparatus of claim 170, wherein the output means is configured to use a text format if each said tag associated with particular located information is only in one of said categories.

174. The apparatus of claim 170, wherein the output means is configured to use a multimedia format if at least one tag associated with particular located information is in a predetermined number of categories.

175. The apparatus of claim 174, wherein said scoring means is configured to determine scores for each tag in each category according to the time at which each tag was initially generated or confirmed by a user to be currently valid.

176. The apparatus of claim 170, wherein said scoring means is configured to generate scores for individual tags that are present in multiple categories by allocating a score to each occurrence of an individual tag in any category, and to sum the scores for said individual tag over a plurality of categories.

177. Apparatus for rating a web page, web page component or user, the apparatus comprising:

rating means for providing user controls to allow users to rate a web page, web page component or user by adding new tags to a tag cloud describing the web page, web page component or user, and/or by rating the tags in said tag cloud; and

storage means for storing data defining said tag cloud and said ratings.

178. The apparatus of claim 177, wherein said rating means is configured to provide user controls to rate a web page, web page component or user by allocating a numerical score, and storing said numerical store in said data store.

179. The apparatus of claim 177, wherein said rating means is configured to provide user controls to rate a web page, web page component or user by providing user comments, and storing said user comments in said data store.

180. Apparatus for generating a tag cloud for a specified topic, the apparatus comprising

search means for searching a database comprising meta data relating to each of a plurality of items of information, wherein said meta data indicates the subject matter of the information, and for identifying items of information which have meta data matching said specified topic;

and

processing means for generating a list of meta data that is associated with the items of information identified in said search, said list including meta data that does not match said specified topic;

for generating weights for each item of meta data in said list, using the number of times each item of meta data is associated with any item of information identified in the search; and

for generating a tag cloud for the specified topic using said list and said weights.

181. The apparatus of claim 180, wherein said processing means is configured to use only the items of meta data which have weights above a predetermined threshold to generate said tag cloud.

182. The apparatus of claim 180, wherein said processing means is configured to modify said weights using any combination of the following factors:

popularity of each tag;

time since generation of each tag;

time since last update of information associated with said tag;

ratings values of said tag.

183. The apparatus of claim 180, wherein said search means further comprises a search interface to allow a user to enter a search term, wherein said specified topic is set to be said search term, and wherein said processing means comprises means to return said tag cloud as search results.

184. The apparatus of claim 180, further comprising display control means for displaying a visual representation of said tag cloud, wherein said user interface is configured to allow a user to select any topic in said tag cloud, and to generate and display a new tag cloud having the topic selected by the user as said specified topic.

185. Apparatus for displaying a tag cloud, the apparatus comprising:

storage means for storing tags of the tag cloud, ratings for each tag, and information about users who created and rated each tag;

selection means for providing user controls to allow a user to specify a sub group of users according to a user criteria;

processing means for generating weightings for each tag in the tag cloud using only ratings that have been allocated by users in said selected group of users; and

display control means for displaying the tag cloud with said generated weightings on a display.

186. The apparatus of claim 185, wherein said user criteria comprises any combination of gender, age or age group, geographical location, type of employment, political views.

187. The apparatus of claim 185, wherein said processing means is configured to determine weightings according to the time at which each tag was created.

188. Apparatus for automatically selecting an advert to be served to a user or a group of users, the apparatus comprising:

selection means for ranking a list of adverts using price categories paid by advertisers for said adverts and using ratings allocated to the adverts by users; and

selecting an advert from a top part of said ranked list; and

output means for serving said selected advert to said user or group of users.

189. The apparatus of claim 188, wherein said selection means is configured to obtain said list of adverts by searching a database of advert information using information specific to a user or group of users to whom the advert will be served.

190. The apparatus of claim 189, wherein said output means is configured to serve said selected advert to a web page, and said information specific to a user or group of users includes any of the following criteria:

stated interests of the user or group of users;

published content of web pages owned by the user or group of users;

advertising topics that the user or group of users has specified;

information associated with the web page to which the advert will be served;

information relating to the geographical location of the user or group of users;

a language used by the user or group of users, and/or

a preferred advert format selected by the user or group of users.

191. The apparatus of claim 190, wherein said selection means is configured to assign weighting values to at least some of said criteria to determine their relative importance, and to use said weighting values to determine search terms for searching a database of adverts to obtain said ranked list.

192. The apparatus of claim 189, wherein said top part of the ranked list comprises the top 20% of the ranked list.

193. Apparatus for generating a plurality of keywords for use in the selection of advertising material for a target web site, the apparatus comprising:

retrieving means for retrieving keywords relating to one or more of the following sources;

the content of the target web site;

the author of the target web site;

the user who is requesting to view the target web site; and

other web sites owned by said user;

weighting means for using weighting values to assign weights to the retrieved keywords according to the keyword source and the time at which the keyword was assigned to said keyword source; and

generating a ranked list of keywords using said assigned weights; and

selection means for comparing said ranked list of keywords to the keywords associated with individual adverts; and

selecting adverts in dependence upon the result of the comparison.

194. The apparatus of claim 193, wherein said retrieving means is configured to use tags associated with information in an information store as a source of keywords.

195. The apparatus of claim 193, wherein said selection means is configured to use a paid price of each selected advert and a user rating of said selected advert to assign a priority rating to the advert;

the apparatus further comprising;

output means for serving an advert to the target web site, said advert being chosen using said priority rating.

196. The apparatus of claim 195, wherein said output means is configured for serving only adverts with a priority rating above a threshold value.

197. Apparatus for selecting an advert format for serving an advert to a user, the apparatus comprising:

searching means for searching a plurality of categories of stored information associated with the user to determine the number of categories in which an advert keyword occurs; and

selection means for selecting an advert format from a plurality of advert formats according to the number of said categories in which the advert keyword is found.

198. The apparatus of claim 197, wherein the categories comprise one or more of the following:

interests of a user;

published web page content of the user;

a web page that a user has most recently requested to view; and

topics for which a user has requested to received advertising material.

199. The apparatus of claim 197, wherein the categories each comprises one or more tags, and the searching means is configured to search the tags for each category.

200. The apparatus of claim 197, wherein the searching means is configured to select a text format if said keyword is associated with only one of said categories.

201. The method of claim 197, wherein the searching means is configured to select a multimedia format if said keyword is associated with a predetermined number of categories.

202. Apparatus for management of displayed adverts, the apparatus comprising;

storage means for storing identifiers of adverts that have been served to a user on one or more web pages during a time period; and

providing means for providing user controls to display adverts corresponding to the stored identifiers and for sorting and/or searching adverts corresponding to the stored identifiers, in response to a user input.

203. The apparatus of claim 202, wherein the time period is selected by the user.

204. The apparatus of claim 202, further comprising sorting means for sorting adverts according to any of the following criteria, in response to a corresponding user selection:

time of serving of advert;

time of publication of advert;

content of the adverts;

previous user interest in the adverts;

previous labelling of adverts by the user;

referrals of adverts by another user.

205. Apparatus for generating and sharing revenue from advertising, the apparatus comprising:

output means for serving an advert to a first web page owned by a first user, wherein the first web page has been generated using a second web page as a template, or using a web page that has been directly or indirectly derived from the second web page as a template; and

processing means for calculating an advertising fee to be charged to an advertiser for serving said advert;

said processing means being configured to allocate a first predetermined portion of the advertising fee to the first user; and

to allocate a second predetermined portion of the advertising fee to a second user who owns the second web page.

206. The apparatus of claim 205, wherein the second web page is a web page that was used as a template by the first user to create the first web page or to create a web page from which the first web page was directly or indirectly derived.

207. The apparatus of claim 205, wherein the second web page is a web page that was generated using a third web page as a template, or using a web page that has been directly or indirectly derived from the third web page as a template, wherein the processing means is configured to allocate a third predetermined portion of the advertising fee to a third user who owns the third web page.

208. The apparatus of claim 207, wherein the third web page is a web page that was used as a template by the second user to create the second web page or to create a web page from which the second web page was directly or indirectly derived.

209. The apparatus of claim 207, wherein the first predetermined portion is larger than the second predetermined portion, and the second predetermined portion is larger than the third predetermined portion.

210. The apparatus of claim 205, wherein the sum of said predetermined portions does not exceed 50% of the advertising fee.

211. The apparatus of claim 205, wherein the processing means is configured to allocate the remainder of the advertising fee to an owner of a web server hosting said web pages.

212. The apparatus of claim 205, wherein the processing means is configured to allocate only said first portion of the advertising fee to the first user if the first web site was generated using another web site belonging to said first user.