Method, memory, product, and code for displaying pre-customized content associated with visitor data

• US 6,330,592 B1
• Filed: 12/05/1998
• Issued: 12/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Optimize Technology Solutions LLC (SBJ Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Vignette Corporation (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Makuch, Michael K., Webber, Neil
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Krisna
• Application Number:
  US09/205,077
• Time in Patent Office: 1,102 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/223, 709/217, 711/118, 707/10
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Visitor interests can be tracked by including “keyword directives” in content contained within the web site. These keyword directives specify a keyword indicating the type of category of information represented by the content. As the content is delivered to the visitor in the form of a web page, the number of keyword directives attached to the content is accumulated into a specified visitor profile. Over time, this visitor profile can represent the types of information the visitor has viewed and serve as an indicator of his or her preferences. In this way, the invention can accumulate a visitor profile unobtrusively, without requiring the visitors to fill out a survey or questionnaire. The profile may also be augmented with explicit information the visitor provides over time, such as a name or address provided when ordering a product from the site. The invention then delivers personalized pages to the visitor by examining such visitor'"'"'s profile.

Claims

1. A method of customizing a web site, said method comprising:

labeling content of the web site;

when at least one visitor accesses the content of a web site, registering the labeled accessed content in a personalized data file;

storing the data file for the at least one visitor;

generating at least one pre-customized display for a first visitor;

caching the at least one pre-customized displays on the server computer;

displaying the at least one pre-customized display to the first visitor;

analyzing the data file of a second visitor and associating the second visitor with the at least one pre-customized display, wherein analyzing is performed after generating; and

displaying the at least one pre-customized display to the second visitor, wherein the at least one pre-customized display is not regenerated before displaying the at least one pre-customized display to the second visitor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein labeling the content of the web site comprises attaching at least one category to each web content item.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein registering the labeled accessed content comprises accumulating the number of accesses to each category in the personalized data file.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein analyzing the data file comprises:

prioritizing the categories in the data file; and

associating the highest weighted category with at least one pre-customized display.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the pre-customized display is an insert to be placed within a web content item.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the pre-customized display is a web page.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating of a pre-customized display is not generated until a first visitor first requires such a display.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein storing the data file can be performed by multiple servers operating in parallel, without loss of information.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the displaying of the pre-customized display comprises inserting a plurality of pre-customized displays onto a web page accessed by the visitor.

10. A computer-readable medium having computer executable software code stored thereon, the code for personalizing a web site without dynamically generated web pages for each visitor, the code comprising:

code for labeling the content of a web site with selected categories;

code for generating a data file for a visitor;

code for accumulating information regarding labeled content, to place such information in the visitor data file;

code for determining the selected category associated with the visitor'"'"'s interest, wherein such determination is based on the accumulated information in the visitor data file; and

code for presenting cached pre-selected web content to the visitor, wherein such pre-selected web content is associated with the selected category.

11. A computer readable memory that can direct a web site server computer to function in a specified manner, comprising:

visitor files stored in said computer memory of said web site server computer;

pre-customized web content items stored in said computer memory of said web site server computer; and

executable instructions stored in said computer memory of said web site server computer, said executable instructions including

(a) instructions to access an existing visitor file for a visitor;

(b) instructions to review data in existing visitor file to determine visitor preferences; and

(c) instructions, based on said visitor preferences, to provide pre-customized files to visitor.

12. The computer readable memory of claim 11 wherein the pre-customized files are pre-customized web content items.

13. The computer readable memory of claim 11 wherein the existing visitor file contains visitor preference data.

14. The computer readable memory of claim 13 wherein the visitor preference data contains a count of keywords.

15. The computer readable memory of claim 14 wherein the keywords have a weighted value dependent upon the time of access of associated web content.

16. A computer program product for operating a web site on a server computer, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for searching, said computer readable program code means comprising;

means for labeling the content of a web site;

when at least one visitor accesses the content of a web site, means for registering the labeled accessed content in a personalized data file;

means for storing the data file for at least one visitor;

means for generating a set of pre-customized displays;

means for caching the set of pre-customized displays on the server;

when the at least one visitor accesses a Web Site, means for analyzing the data file of the visitor and associating the user with a precustomized display; and

means for displaying the pre-customized display onto a web page accessed by the visitor.

17. Computer executable software code stored on a computer readable medium on a web site server computer, the code for personalizing a web site, the code comprising:

code for labeling the content of a web site with selected categories;

code for generating a data file for a visitor;

code for accumulating information regarding labeled content, to place such information in the visitor data file;

code for determining the selected category associated with the visitor'"'"'s interest, wherein such determination is based on the accumulated information in the visitor data file; and

code for presenting cached pre-selected web content to the visitor, wherein such pre-selected web content is associated with the selected category.

18. The computer executable software code of claim 17 further comprising code for weighting accessed information based on at least one specified variable.

19. The computer executable software code of claim 18 wherein the at least one specified variable is time of access.