LOCATION-BASED FILTERING AND ADVERTISING ENHANCEMENTS FOR MERGED BROWSING OF NETWORK CONTENTS

• US 20110093342A1
• Filed: 12/23/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prashant Gandhi, Robert Ennals
• Original Assignee: Prashant Gandhi, Robert Ennals
• Inventors: Ennals, Robert, Gandhi, Prashant
• Granted Patent: US 10,229,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.58
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Location-based filtering and advertising enhancements for merged browsing of network content are described herein. In various embodiments, a client device may obtain its geographic location and provide that location to a server for filtering by the server of network content fragment suggestions based at least in part on the location. The client device may then receive some or all of the filtered suggestions for utilization in merged browsing. In some embodiments, a server may further receive an indicator of content being browsed. In response, the server may determine network content fragment suggestions, and may also determine an additional suggestion or prioritize a suggestion based an advertiser'"'"'s interest. The server may then provide the suggestions and/or prioritization to the client device. In various embodiments, the server may also provide the advertisement(s) for display in a user interface of the client device along with the (prioritized) suggestions.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving from a client device, by a server, an indicator associated with content to be displayed in a user interface by the client device and a geographic location of the client device;

determining, by the server, an advertisement to be shown in the user interface of the client device based on the indicator and geographic location; and

providing, by the server, a visual representation of a network content fragment suggestion, the network content fragment suggestion in the form of a selectable input for display in the user interface,

wherein the advertisement is to be provided with the network content fragment suggestion, to the client device, the advertisement being associated with the content to be displayed and the geographic location, and the network content fragment suggestion being provided to assist the client device in merged browsing of the advertisement with the content.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein in the selectable input comprises clickable button.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the advertisement comprises at least one of a pop-up window, banner advertisement, video clip, audiovisual clip, picture, or text display located within a visual component of the user interface.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the visual component comprises at least one of a second region of a browser display or a separate display window within the user interface.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further includes

facilitating, by the server, an advertiser of the advertisement in selecting the indicator and geographic location, and

associating, by the server, the indicator and geographic location with the advertisement.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the client device, by the server, an indication of a user of the client device'"'"'s interaction with the determined advertisement, and

notifying an advertiser of the advertisement, by the server, of the client device user'"'"'s interaction.

7. A server system comprising:

a processor;

a storage device coupled to the processor and adapted to store instructions for a merged browsing service; and

the merged browsing service, to be operated by the processor and

configured to receive, from a client device, an indicator associated with content to be displayed by the client device and a geographic location of the client device,

configured to first determine at least one network content fragment suggestion to provide to the client device based on at least one of the received indicator and geographic location,

configured to provide the at least one network content fragment suggestion to the client device, wherein the at least one network content fragment suggestion comprises a visual representation of the network content fragment suggestion, the network content fragment suggestion in the form of a selectable input for display on the client device, and associated with an advertisement, and

configured to provide the advertisement associated with the network content fragment suggestion, to the client device, the advertisement being associated with the content to be displayed and the geographic location, the advertisement to be provided to assist the client device in merged browsing of the advertisement with the content.

8. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the merged browsing service is further configured to:

second determine either an additional network content fragment suggestion or a priority of the at least one network content fragment suggestion based on an advertiser'"'"'s indication of interest in at least one of the indicator and the geographic location, and

provide the at least one network content fragment suggestion and, if determined, the additional network content fragment suggestion, to the client device to assist a user of the client device in merged browsing.

9. The server system of claim 8, wherein the merged browsing service is further configured to:

prior to said second determine, facilitate the advertiser in indicating interest in the either one or both of the indicator and the geographic location by facilitating the advertiser in selecting the indicator and/or geographic location and by associating the indicator and/or geographic location with an advertiser-selected network content fragment suggestion, the advertiser-selected network content fragment suggestion being the additional network content fragment suggestion or the prioritized at least one network content fragment suggestion.

10. The server system of claim 9, wherein the merged browsing service is further configured to:

facilitate the advertiser in either one or both of browsing and searching a database of network content fragment suggestions to select the advertiser-selected network content fragment suggestion.

11. The server system of claim 9, wherein the merged browsing service is further configured to facilitate the advertiser in specifying the advertiser-selected network content fragment suggestion.

12. The server system of claim 8, wherein the merged browsing service is further configured to:

receive, from the client device, an indication of the client device user'"'"'s selection, for merged browsing, of a network content fragment corresponding to the additional network content fragment suggestion or the prioritized at least one network content fragment suggestion; and

notify the advertiser of the client device user'"'"'s selection.

13. The server system of claim 7, further comprising a database coupled to the merged browsing service, the database for storing information specifying either one or both of (a) combinations of network content fragments and categories of network content fragments with network contents or categories of network contents, and (b) previous geographic locations at which some or all of the combinations have been made by the user or another user.

14. The server system of claim 13, wherein the merged browsing service is further configured to utilize either one or both of the indicator and the geographic location as a lookup index to the information stored in the database.

15. A non-transitory computer readable method having instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed on a server computing system, cause the server to:

receive from a client device, by the server, an indicator associated with content to be displayed in a user interface by the client device and a geographic location of the client device;

determine, by the server, an advertisement to be shown in the user interface of the client device based on the indicator and geographic location; and

provide, by the server, a visual representation of a network content fragment suggestion, the network content fragment suggestion in the form of a selectable input for display in the user interface,

wherein the advertisement is to be provided with the network content fragment suggestion, to the client device, the advertisement being associated with the content to be displayed and the geographic location, and the network content fragment suggestion being provided to assist the client device in merged browsing of the advertisement with the content.

16. The medium as recited in claim 15, wherein in the selectable input comprises clickable button.

17. The medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the advertisement comprises at least one of a pop-up window, banner advertisement, video clip, audiovisual clip, picture, or text display located within a visual component of the user interface.

18. The medium as recited in claim 17, wherein the visual component comprises at least one of a second region of a browser display or a separate display window within the user interface.

19. The medium of claim 15, wherein the determining further includes instructions to:

facilitate, by the server, an advertiser of the advertisement in selecting the indicator and geographic location, and

associate, by the server, the indicator and geographic location with the advertisement.

20. The medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions to:

receive from the client device, by the server, an indication of a user of the client device'"'"'s interaction with the determined advertisement, and

notify an advertiser of the advertisement, by the server, of the client device user'"'"'s interaction.

21. A client device, comprising:

a processor coupled to a display unit and an input device for enabling user input, the display unit and input device to be collectively referred to as a user interface;

means for determining a geographic location associated with the client device;

logic unit for identifying an indicator associated with content to be viewed on the display unit;

transmission logic unit for sending the geographic location and the indicator to a server system; and

display logic unit for displaying, on the display unit, a merged browsing session comprising (a) the content to be viewed and (b) a network content fragment suggestion received from the server, wherein the network content fragment suggestion is to be displayed as a visual representation of the network content fragment suggestion, and in the form of a selectable input for display in the user interface,

wherein the network content fragment suggestion is associated with a selected advertisement to be displayed in the user interface, and wherein the advertisement is to be selected by the server based on the indicator and geographic location and to be received from the server, by the client device, and wherein the advertisement is to be received from the server with the network content fragment suggestion.

22. The client device as recited in claim 21, wherein the display logic unit is further configured to display the advertisement in the user interface, responsive to a selection of the network content fragment suggestion by a user, via the user interface.

23. The client device as recited in claim 22, wherein in the selectable input comprises clickable button in the user interface.

24. The client device as recited in claim 22, wherein the advertisement comprises at least one of a pop-up window, banner advertisement, video clip, audiovisual clip, picture, or text display located within a visual component of the user interface.

25. The client device as recited in claim 24, wherein the visual component comprises at least one of a second region of a browser display or a separate display window within the user interface.