Internet advertising via bookmark set based on client specific information

• US 6,324,566 B1
• Filed: 07/16/1998
• Issued: 11/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Uniloc 2017 LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Rodriguez, Herman, Himmel, Maria Azua, LaBaw, Jeffrey Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jean, Frantz B.
• Application Number:
  US09/116,860
• Time in Patent Office: 1,230 Days
• Field of Search: 295/200.33, 345/335, 345/357, 705/14, 707/10, 707/501, 707/104, 709/245, 709/247, 709/203, 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/919 Geographic
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

One or more searchable repositories of bookmark sets are stored in a computer system, each bookmark set can be downloaded to a client browser as a unit. Each bookmark set contains a set of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and is associated with related information such as a set of keywords, one or more topics and user specific information. The bookmark set is downloadable as a unit to the client browser. When a search query from a client containing a set of keywords is received, the stored bookmark sets are searched for one or more bookmark sets associated with at least one keyword matching a keyword from the search query. A list of bookmark sets which satisfy the query, i.e. are associated with matching keywords, are returned to the client browser. Responsive to a request for downloading a selected bookmark set, the selected bookmark is served to the client. The selected bookmark set is received and used by the client browser to access the set of URLs in the selected bookmark set.

Claims

1. A method for Internet advertising, comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of bookmark sets at a server coupled to a network, each bookmark set containing a set of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) at least one of which points to an advertising party file associated with a set of keywords and downloadable as a unit;

searching for a bookmark set associated with at least one keyword matching a keyword from a client search query and client specific data associated with the requesting client;

receiving the bookmark set at the client; and

installing the bookmark set in the client browser to access the set of URLs.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality of bookmark sets are stored at the server from a first web server belonging to a first party and the method further comprises the steps of:

establishing an account representing a given monetary value for a second party;

receiving a request to register and store a new bookmark set at the first web server from a remote device belonging to the second party;

registering and storing the new bookmark set at the first web server; and

debiting the account for a given charge for storing and serving the new bookmark set.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality of bookmark sets are stored at and served from a first web server belonging to a first party and the method further comprises the steps of:

establishing an account representing a given monetary value for a second party;

receiving a request to incorporate an advertising bookmark in a first bookmark set on a given topic at the first web server;

including the advertising bookmark in the first bookmark set at the first web server; and

debiting the account for a given charge for storing and serving the advertising bookmark with the first bookmark set.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the client specific data is determined by referring to a user profile for the requesting client.

5. A method for Internet advertising comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of bookmark sets at a server coupled to the Internet, each bookmark set including a set of information bookmarks pointing to web pages on a related topic and one or more advertising bookmarks pointing to one or more service provider web pages;

receiving a client query from a requesting client for a bookmark set on a selected topic;

determining client specific data associated with the requesting client; and

responsive to the client query, serving a bookmark set on the selected topic to the requesting client and appropriate to the client specific data,

wherein the bookmark set is installable at a client browser for retrieving the service provider and informational web pages.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising the steps of:

registering the bookmark sets at the server; and

associating each of the registered bookmark sets with one or more topics.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein the registering step includes a test to determine whether each bookmark set meets a predetermined criteria.

8. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein the client specific data is a geographic region for the client query and the one or more advertising bookmarks are selected for inclusion in the bookmark set according to the determined geographic region.

9. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein the client specific data is user profile data associated with the client.

10. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein the client specific data is client account information.

11. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein the client specific data is a client identifier associated with the client.

12. A method for Internet advertising comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of bookmark sets, each associated with a set of keywords, and each including one or more advertising bookmarks pointing advertiser files;

associating each of the advertising bookmarks with a geographic region;

responsive to a search query from a requesting client from a specific geographic region, searching for a bookmark set having associated keywords which satisfy the search query and an advertising bookmark for the bookmark set associated with the specific geographic region; and

serving a matching bookmark set with a matching advertising bookmark for the geographic location to the requesting client.

13. A computer program product in a computer readable memory for providing access to the Internet comprising:

means for storing a plurality of bookmark sets, each associated with a set of keywords, and each including one or more advertising bookmarks;

means for associating each of the bookmark sets with a geographic region;

means for responsive to a search query from a requesting client from a specific geographic region, searching for a bookmark set having associated keywords which satisfy the search query and an advertising bookmark for the bookmark set associated with the specific geographic region; and

means for serving a matching bookmark set with a match for the geographic location to the requesting client.

14. A system for Internet advertising comprising:

means for storing and organizing a plurality of bookmark sets according to respective sets of associated keywords and client specific data at a web server coupled to the Internet, each bookmark set including a set of information bookmarks pointing to informational web pages on a related topic and one or more advertising bookmarks pointing to one or more service provider web pages;

means for receiving a client search query from a requesting client for a bookmark set including a set of keywords;

means for searching the plurality of bookmark sets having associated keywords which satisfy the client search query; and

means for determining client specific data about the requesting client;

means for selecting among the plurality of bookmark sets for a bookmark set having advertiser bookmarks linked to the client specific data;

means for serving the selected bookmark sets to the requesting client;

wherein the one or more bookmark sets are installable in a client browser for retrieving the service provider and informational web pages.

15. The system as recited in claim 14 further comprising:

means for registering the bookmark sets at the server; and

means for associating each of the registered bookmark sets with one or more topics.

16. The system as recited in claim 15 wherein the registering means determines whether a party attempting to register a bookmark set at the server meets a predetermined criteria.

17. The system as recited in claim 16 wherein the means for determining client specific data determines a location of the requesting client.

18. A method for serving bookmark sets to a user, comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of bookmark sets at a server coupled to a network, each bookmark set containing a plurality of bookmarks respectively pointing to informational and advertiser web pages and downloadable as a unit;

associating keywords and client specific data with each of the bookmark sets;

responsive to a client search query from a requesting client, serving at least one bookmark set associated with keywords and client specific data associated with the client search query to the requesting client.