In-Page Installer

• US 20080235680A1
• Filed: 03/21/2007
• Published: 09/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Boerries, Marco, Speaks, Johnny J., Strauss, Jonathan, Whittle, Derrick, Gandhi, Ashit
• Granted Patent: US 8,065,675 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/178
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/51 at application loading time, e.g. accepting, rejecting, starting or inhibiting executable software based on integrity or source reliability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2105 Dual mode as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method of notifying a user about the existence of relevant software and facilitating the installation of such software using a browser. A user'"'"'s interactions with the browser are monitored to determine a context for a given browsing session, and it is determined whether software relevant to the context is available. If such software is available, it is recommended to the user, and if the user wishes to install the software, the installation can be performed via the browser. The software can be recommended to the user through a variety of means, including incorporating the recommendation in a static web page, incorporating the recommendation in a dynamic web page, and delivering the recommendation as part of advertising content. The recommendation may include a link to installation scripts or the like which facilitate the installation of the software by the browser.

Claims

1. A method of notifying a user about the existence of relevant software and facilitating the installation of such software, comprising:

monitoring user interactions with a browser running on a computing device during a browsing session;

determining a context for the browsing session based on the monitored user interactions;

determining whether software relevant to the context is available;

recommending the determined software to the user; and

,

facilitating the installation of the determined software through an in-page installer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitating step further comprises:

determining whether the browser is a supported browser and facilitating the installation of the determined software through a standard installer if the browser is not a supported browser;

determining whether the necessary code libraries are installed on the computing device and installing any needed code libraries on the computing device;

obtaining from a central application server an installation script; and

,

causing the browser to initiate the installation script.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of the installation script is digitally signed.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the portion of the installation script that is digitally signed comprises instructions that need elevated privileges to run.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

verifying that the installation script is from a trusted source based on the digital signature.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

refusing to perform the installation if the installation script is not verified.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

informing the user that the installation script cannot be verified;

requesting from the user authorization to proceed with the installation; and

exiting the method if the user does not authorize the installation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising building a profile for the user based on the monitored user interactions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined software is recommended to the user through an advertisement.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined software is recommended to the user through content dynamically incorporated into a web page appearing in the browser.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the context is determined in part based on results from a search performed by the user via the browser.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the search comprises a search of a computer software application repository.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the context is determined in part based on keywords in the page currently displayed by the browser.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the context is determined in part based on metadata associated with the page currently displayed by the browser.

15. A system for facilitating software installation, comprising:

an application server;

an application dependency database; and

,

a set of commands, interpretable by a browser operating on a computing device, wherein the set of commands, when interpreted by the browser, facilitate;

obtaining an installation script from the application dependency database;

obtaining files referenced in the installation script from the application server;

verifying that at least the portions of the installation script that require elevated privileges to operate are digitally signed by a trusted source; and

executing the installation script to install the software.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the application server comprises the application dependency database.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising a first code library, installed on the computing device, wherein the first code library facilitates interaction between an operating system running on the computing device and the browser.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a second code library, installed on the computing device, wherein the second code library facilitates obtaining information about the operating system and other software applications installed on the computing device.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first code library and the second code library are incorporated into a single code library.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of commands further comprises instructions for informing the user if at least a portion of the trusted script is not digitally signed by a trusted source and requesting from the user authorization to proceed with the installation.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of commands further comprises instructions for determining a context for a browser session.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the context is determined in part based on results from a search performed by the user via the browser.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the search comprises a search of a computer software application repository.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the context is determined in part based on keywords in the page currently displayed by the browser.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the context is determined in part based on metadata associated with the page currently displayed by the browser.

26. A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, the computer program product comprising instructions for notifying a user about the existence of relevant software and facilitating the installation of such software, comprising:

instructions for monitoring user interactions with a browser running on a computing device during a browsing session;

instructions for determining a context for the browsing session based on the monitored user interactions;

instructions for determining whether software relevant to the context is available;

instructions for recommending the determined software to the user; and

,

instructions for facilitating the installation of the determined software through an in-page installer.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

instructions for determining whether the browser is a supported browser and facilitating the installation of the determined software through a standard installer if the browser is not a supported browser;

instructions for determining whether the necessary code libraries are installed on the computing device and installing any needed code libraries on the computing device;

instructions for obtaining from a central application server an installation script; and

,

instructions for causing the browser to initiate the installation script.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising instructions for verifying that the installation script is from a trusted source based on the digital signature.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising instructions for refusing to perform the installation if the installation script is not verified.

30. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising:

instructions for informing the user that the installation script cannot be verified;

instructions for requesting from the user authorization to proceed with the installation; and

instructions for aborting the installation if the user does not authorize the installation.

31. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising instructions for building a profile for the user based on the monitored user interactions.

32. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising instructions for recommending the determined software to the user through an advertisement.

33. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising instructions for recommending the determined software to the user through content dynamically incorporated into a web page appearing in the browser.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein the context is determined in part based on results from a search performed by the user via the browser.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the search comprises a search of a computer software application repository.

36. The method of claim 26, wherein the context is determined in part based on keywords in the page currently displayed by the browser.

37. The method of claim 26, wherein the context is determined in part based on metadata associated with the page currently displayed by the browser.

38. A system for facilitating software installation, comprising:

a web server;

an application server;

an application dependency database;

a communication path via which the web server can communicate with a browser capable of rendering content presented by the web server; and

,

a set of commands, interpretable by the browser, wherein the set of commands facilitate;

obtaining an installation script from the application dependency database;

obtaining files referenced in the installation script from the application server;

verifying that at least the portions of the installation script that require elevated privileges to operate are digitally signed by a trusted source; and

executing the installation script to install software on a computing device.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the application server comprises the application dependency database.

40. The system of claim 38, further comprising a first code library, installed on the computing device, wherein the first code library facilitates interaction between an operating system running on the computing device and the browser.

41. The system of claim 40, further comprising a second code library, installed on the computing device, wherein the second code library facilitates obtaining information about the operating system and other software applications installed on the computing device.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the first code library and the second code library are incorporated into a single code library.

43. The system of claim 38, wherein the set of commands further comprises instructions for informing the user if at least a portion of the trusted script is not digitally signed by a trusted source and requesting from the user authorization to proceed with the installation.

44. The system of claim 38, wherein the set of commands further comprises instructions for determining a context for a browser session.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the context is determined in part based on results from a search performed by the user via the browser.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the search comprises a search of a computer software application repository.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the context is determined in part based on keywords in the page currently displayed by the browser.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein the context is determined in part based on metadata associated with the page currently displayed by the browser.