Monitoring of individual internet usage

• US 6,366,298 B1
• Filed: 06/03/1999
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NetZero Incorporated (B. Riley Financial, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: NetZero Incorporated (B. Riley Financial, Inc.)
• Inventors: Haitsuka, Stacy, Burr, Ronald, MacKenzie, Harold, Zebian, Marwan, Warren, Terry, Blaser, Shane
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US09/324,747
• Time in Patent Office: 1,034 Days
• Field of Search: 345/346, 345/356, 345/357, 345/340, 345/127, 345/760, 345/752, 345/743, 345/736, 345/735, 345/772, 345/811, 345/804, 345/806, 345/854, 707/10, 348/348, 709/219
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for monitoring the on-line activities of an on-line user are disclosed. Information regarding the user'"'"'s activities are used as a basis for targeting advertisements to the user. Monitoring is performed by a client monitoring application, which performs monitoring without intruding on the user'"'"'s activities. In monitoring, URLs in the address bar of the browser application are obtained by the client monitoring application, or the stream of URLs transmitted by the browser application are obtained by the client monitoring application, or information in displayed web pages is obtained by the client monitoring application.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the display and for requesting web pages, the browser window including a display pane and an address bar, the display pane comprising a first region of the browser window wherein the browser application causes web pages obtained by the browser application to be displayed, the address bar comprising a second region of the browser window through which the browser application displays resource locator strings corresponding to displayed web pages, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) activating a client monitoring application on the client computer;

(b) the browser application activating on the client computer;

(c) the user using the input device and the browser application to request a first web page desired by the user from a web server;

(d) the browser application displaying a first resource locator string corresponding to the first web page in the address bar;

(e) the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string from the address bar; and

(f) the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring information derived from the first resource locator string to a monitoring server;

whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user'"'"'s use of the browser application.

2. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein the input device comprises a keyboard, and the method further comprises, in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the keyboard to enter the first resource locator string into the address bar.

3. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein the input device comprises a pointing device, and the method further comprises:

after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane including a hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink is associated with the first resource locator string; and

in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the pointing device to click on the hyperlink;

wherein the browser application displays the first resource locator string in the address bar in response to the user using the mouse to click on the hyperlink.

4. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, the method further comprising:

after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane including a data entry field; and

in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field;

whereby the first resource locator string includes the keyword.

5. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein the web server is part of the Internet.

6. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first resource locator string comprises a top level domain name and a second level domain name, and wherein the monitoring information comprises the top level domain name and the second level domain name.

7. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein the web server is part of an intranet.

8. A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the display, the browser window including a display pane, the browser application further for requesting web pages and displaying web pages in the display pane, wherein the user causes the browser application to request web pages through use of the input device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) activating a client monitoring application on the client computer;

(b) the browser application activating on the client computer;

(c) the user using the input device to identify to the browser application a desired first web page;

(d) the browser application transmitting a first resource locator string corresponding to the desired first web page to a first web server;

(e) the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string from the transmission by the browser application of the first resource locator string to the first web server; and

(f) the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring information derived from the copied first resource locator string to a monitoring server;

whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user'"'"'s use of the browser application.

9. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8,

wherein the browser window further includes an address bar, the address bar comprising a second region of the browser window through which the browser application receives resource locator strings entered by the user, and the resource locator strings entered by the user correspond to web pages which the user desires to be displayed in the display pane;

the method further comprising, in the step of the user using the input device to identify to the browser application the desired first web page, the user entering the first resource locator string into the address bar.

10. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein the input device comprises a pointing device, and the method further comprises,

after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane including a hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink is associated with the first resource locator string;

and

in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the pointing device to click on the hyperlink;

wherein the browser application displays the first resource locator string in the address bar in response to the user using the mouse to click on the hyperlink.

11. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, the method further comprising:

(a) after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the browser application displaying a second web page, wherein the second web page includes a data entry field;

(b) in the step of the user using the input device to identify to the browser application the desired first web page, the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field;

(c) in the step of the browser application transmitting the first string to the web server, the first resource locator string including the keyword;

(d) in the step of the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring information, the monitoring information identifying the keyword.

12. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 11,

after the step of the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string, the client monitoring application testing whether the first resource locator string includes a predefined second string;

if the first resource locator string includes the predefined second string, then the client monitoring application parsing the first resource locator string and deriving the keyword from the first resource locator string, and otherwise omitting the step of the identifier identifying the keyword.

13. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein the source of web pages comprises the Internet.

14. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein the first resource locator string comprises a top level domain name and a second level domain name, and wherein the monitoring information transmitted by the client monitoring application comprises the top level domain name and the second level domain name.

15. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein the source of web pages comprises an intranet.

16. A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the display, the browser window including a display pane, the browser application further for requesting web pages and displaying web pages in the display pane, wherein the user causes the browser application to request web pages through use of the input device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) activating a client monitoring application on the client computer;

(b) the browser application activating on the client computer;

(c) the browser application receiving a first web page from a first web server, the first web page comprising a data entry field;

(d) the browser application displaying the first web page in the display pane;

(e) the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field;

(f) the client monitoring application obtaining the keyword from the displayed first web page; and

(g) the client monitoring application transmitting an identifier of the keyword to a predetermined server;

whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user'"'"'s use of the browser application.

17. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 16, wherein the identifier comprises the keyword.

18. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 16, wherein the first web page has associated therewith a first resource locator string, the method further including the steps of:

the client monitoring application testing whether the first resource locator string includes a predefined second string;

if the first resource locator string includes the predefined second string, then performing the step of the client monitoring application obtaining the keyword from the displayed first web page, and otherwise omitting the steps of the client monitoring application obtaining the keyword and transmitting the identifier of the keyword.

19. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 18, wherein the first web server includes a search engine and the predefined second string identifies the search engine.

20. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 19, wherein the predefined second string is selected from the group consisting of:

“

yahoo,”

“

excite,”

“

altavista,”

“

lycos,”

“

infoseek” and

“

go.”

21. A method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device, the local device including an input device and an output device, the local device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the Internet using a browser application operative on the local device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the output device and for requesting web pages, the browser window including a display pane and an address bar, the display pane comprising a first region of the browser window wherein the browser application causes web pages obtained by the browser application to be displayed, the address bar comprising a second region of the browser window through which the browser application displays resource locator strings corresponding to displayed web pages in the display pane, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) the user causing the local device to connect to a web server;

(b) the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a monitoring server;

(c) the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the monitoring server;

(d) the user identifying to the browser application a first web page to be retrieved, wherein a first resource locator string is associated with the first web page;

(e) the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string from the address bar;

(f) the client monitoring application deriving monitoring information from the copy of the resource locator string; and

(g) the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring information to the monitoring server.

22. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 21, wherein the first resource locator string includes a second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the second level domain name.

23. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 21, wherein the client monitoring application transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.

24. A method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device, the local device including an input device and an output device, the local device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the Internet using a browser application operative on the local device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) the user causing the local device to connect to a first web server;

(b) the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a monitoring server;

(c) the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the monitoring server;

(d) the user using the input device, the output device and the browser application to interact with the first web server, wherein the browser application transmits resource locator strings to the first web server to request specific data from the first web server;

(e) concurrently with the user interacting with the first web server, the client monitoring application monitoring the resource locator strings transmitted to the first web server;

(f) the client monitoring application deriving monitoring information from each such resource locator string; and

(g) the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring information to the monitoring server.

25. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 24, wherein the resource locator string includes a second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the second level domain name.

26. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 24, wherein the client monitoring application transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.

27. A method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client application on a local device, the local device including an input device and an output device, the local device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the Internet using a browser application operative on the local device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) the user causing the local device to connect to a first web server;

(b) the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a monitoring server;

(c) the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the monitoring server;

(d) the browser application displaying a first web page in the display pane, the first web page comprising a data entry field;

(e) the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field;

(f) the browser application transmitting a first resource locator string to the first web server, wherein the first resource locator string includes the keyword;

(g) the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string from the transmission by the browser application of the first resource locator string to the first web server;

(h) the client monitoring application testing whether the first resource locator includes a predefined second string; and

(i) if the first resource locator string includes the predefined second string, then;

(1) the client monitoring application parsing the first resource locator string and deriving the keyword from the first resource locator string; and

(2) the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring information to the monitoring server, the monitoring information comprising at least a part of the first resource locator string.

28. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 27, wherein the first resource locator string includes a second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the second level domain name.

29. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 27, wherein the client monitoring application transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.

30. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 27, wherein the web server includes a search engine and the predefined second string identifies the search engine.

31. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 30, wherein the second string includes a second level domain name selected from the group consisting of:

“

yahoo,”

“

excited”

altavista,”

“

lycos,”

“

infoseek” and

“

go.”

32. A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the display and for requesting web pages, the browser window including a display pane and an address bar, the display pane comprising a first region of the browser window wherein the browser application causes web pages obtained by the browser application to be displayed, the address bar comprising a data object in which a resource locator string corresponding to a displayed web page is stored, the method comprising the steps of:

a client monitoring application activating on the client computer;

the browser application activating on the client computer;

the user using the input device and the browser application to request a first web page desired by the user from a web server;

storing a first resource locator string corresponding to the first web page in the address bar;

the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string from the address bar;

the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring information derived from the first resource locator string to a monitoring server;

whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user'"'"'s use of the browser application.

33. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 32, wherein the input device comprises a keyboard, and the method further comprises, in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the keyboard to enter the first resource locator string into a second region of the browser window corresponding to the address bar.

34. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 32, wherein the input device comprises a pointing device, and the method further comprises:

after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane including a hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink is associated with the first resource locator string; and

in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the pointing device to click on the hyperlink;

wherein the first resource locator string is stored in the address bar in response to the user using the mouse to click on the hyperlink.

35. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 32, the method further comprising:

after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane including a data entry field;

in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the first web page, the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field;

whereby the first resource locator string includes the keyword.

36. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 32, wherein the web server is part of the Internet.

37. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 32, wherein the first resource locator string comprises a top level domain name and a second level domain name, and wherein the monitoring information comprises the top level domain name and the second level domain name.

38. The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 32, wherein the web server is part of an intranet.

39. A method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device, the local device including an input device and an output device, the local device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the Internet using a browser application operative on the local device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the output device and for requesting web pages, the browser window including a display pane and an address bar, the display pane comprising a first region of the browser window wherein the browser application causes web pages obtained by the browser application to be displayed, the address bar comprising a data object in which a resource locator string corresponding to a displayed web page is stored, the method comprising the steps of:

the local device connecting to a web server;

the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a monitoring server;

the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the monitoring server;

the user identifying to the browser application a first web page to be retrieved, wherein a first resource locator string is associated with the first web page;

the client monitoring application obtaining the first resource locator string from the address bar;

the client monitoring application deriving monitoring information from the copy of the resource locator string;

the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring information to the monitoring server.

40. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 39, wherein the first resource locator string includes a second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the second level domain name.

41. The method of monitoring a user'"'"'s usage of the Internet using a client monitoring application on a local device of claim 39, wherein the client monitoring application transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.