SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING AND VISUALIZING ACCESS STATISTICS FOR A WEB SITE

• US 20090077221A1
• Filed: 06/01/2007
• Published: 03/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Clustrmaps, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Clustrmaps, Ltd.
• Inventors: Komzak, Jiri, Eisenstadt, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 7,801,950 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

A method for monitoring and visualizing user access made to a web site is disclosed. The method comprises: embedding in a web page to be monitored code to request a thumbnail image from a site when the page is loaded into a browser. The embedded code also includes a user-activateable link to a page within the system server. At the system server, the requested thumbnail image is returned to the web browser, and the IP address from which the thumbnail was requested is recorded. For each recorded IP address, the server determines a corresponding geographical location. The server creates and stores an image that is a geographical representation of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses, and a thumbnail representation of that image. Upon activation of the user-activateable link, the linked page within the system server that includes the image previously created is retrieved by the browser. The thumbnail image requested by the embedded code is the thumbnail image created in this step. A number of threshold, updating, clustering, storage and archiving routines are deployed to ensure large scalability.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring user visits to a web site comprising:

embedding in a web page to be monitored code to request a thumbnail image from a system server when the page is loaded into a browser and a user-activateable link to a page within the system server;

at the system server, returning the requested thumbnail image to the web browser, and recording the IP address from which the thumbnail was requested;

for each recorded IP address, determining a corresponding geographical location;

periodically creating and storing an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses, and a thumbnail representation of that image;

wherein, upon activation of the user-activateable link, the linked page within the system server that includes the image created in step d. is retrieved by the browser, and the thumbnail image requested in step a. is the thumbnail image created in step d.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the geographical representation comprises a map upon which marks are superimposed to indicate the location of visits made to the web site.

3. A method according to claim 2 in which the size of the marks is an indication of the number of visits made from the geographical location.

4. A method according to claim 2 in which the number of the marks is reduced and the size of the marks is assigned by a process of normalization when the number of visits exceeds a predetermined threshold.

5. A method according to claim 2 in which the marks are appropriately circular.

6. A method according to claim 2 in which the number of visits represented by each mark varies in dependence on the total number of visits to be represented.

7. A method according to claim 2 in which the visits are grouped and each mark represents a group of visits.

8. A method according to claim 7 in which the visits are grouped by a process of agglomerative hierarchical clustering.

9. A method according to claim 7 in which all visits are pre-grouped into clusters which are similar in some way.

10. A method according to claim 9 in which the pre-grouping is performed for map locations by rounding off their co-ordinates.

11. A method according to claim 9 in which the pre-grouping is performed for those visits having a common post-code.

12. A method according to claim 8 in which the number of visits in each cluster is reduced by a common factor.

13. A method according to claim 1 in which, at step d, a plurality of images is created, being different representations of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses.

14. A method according to claim 13 in which the images are representations of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses at different scales.

15. A method according to claim 13 in which the images are representations of geographically defined subsets of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses at different scales.

16. A method according to claim 1 in which data representing visits is recorded in a current database.

17. A method according to claim 16 in which each visit is recorded as it occurs.

18. A method according to claim 16 in which data representing visits is derived from data recorded in the logs of the system server.

19. A method according to claim 16 in which the image is generated in step d. to represent information in the current database.

20. A method according to claim 16 in which information in the current database is periodically copied to an archive.

21. A method according to claim 20 in which information is removed from the current database following its being copied to the archive.

22. A method according to claim 1 in which, prior to step d., an image generated in a previous invocation of step d. is copied to an archive.

23. A method according to claim 1 in which the image is generated in step d. periodically.

24. A method according to claim 1 in which the image is generated in response to one or more triggers.

25. A method according to claim 24 in which the triggers include one or more of elapse of a predetermined time;

a change threshold in the number of recorded visits is exceeded, and immediately before a map is archived.

26. A method according to claim 1 in which the page retrieved in step e. upon activation of the user-activateable link includes a link to a pre-stored image that is a more detailed geographical representation of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses.

27. A method according to claim 1 in which the thumbnail image comprises an element of a mechanism for counting visits to the web site.

28. A method according to claim 1 in which the number of IP addresses represented in the image created in step d is restricted to a predetermined limit.

29. A method according to claim 1 in which the number of IP addresses recorded for the monitored web site is restricted to a predetermined limit.

30. A web system that is constructed and arranged for co-operation with a web browser to monitor user visits to a web site, the system comprising:

a web page having embedded within it code to request a thumbnail image from a system server when the page is loaded into a browser, and a user-activateable link to a page within the system server;

a system server that is constructed and arranged to return the requested thumbnail image to the web browser, and to record the IP address from which the thumbnail was requested;

means for determining for each recorded IP address a corresponding geographical location;

means for periodically creating and storing an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses, and a thumbnail representation of that image;

wherein the system is constructed and arranged such that, upon activation of the user-activateable link, the linked page within the system server that includes the image created in step d. is retrieved by the browser, and the thumbnail image requested in step a. is the thumbnail image created in step d.

31. A system server that is constructed and arranged for co-operation with a web browser to monitor user visits to a web page having embedded within it code to request a thumbnail image from the system server when the page is loaded into a browser, and a user-activateable link to a page within the system server, wherein the system server is constructed and arranged to return the requested thumbnail image to the web browser, and to record the IP address from which the thumbnail was requested, the system server comprising:

means for determining for each recorded IP address a corresponding geographical location;

means for periodically creating and storing an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses, and a thumbnail representation of that image;

wherein the system server is constructed and arranged such that, upon activation of the user-activateable link, the linked page within the system server that includes the image created in step b. is retrieved by the browser, and the thumbnail image requested from the system server is the thumbnail image created in step b.