Identifying unique web visitors behind proxy servers

• US 7,032,017 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2001
• Issued: 04/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Chow, Kingsum, Chang, Yong J., Nair, Sandeep R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, David Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/961,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20030061360A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,666 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/227, 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

An arrangement is provided for identifying web site visitors. When a client behind a proxy server sends a browsing request for a web page at a web site hosted by a web server, the web server identifies a browsing session according to a session tag associated with the browsing session and uniquely identifies the client. A hit at the web page is recorded according to the session tag.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a unique visitor behind a proxy server, comprising:

sending, from a client located behind the proxy server connected to a network, a browsing request for a web page to a web server connected to the network;

receiving, by the web server, the browsing request;

determining if the browsing request includes a session tag;

generating, by the web server, a session tag to identify a unique visitor, when the browsing request lacks a session tag and associating the session tag with the browsing request;

identifying a browsing session according to a session tag associated with the browsing request; and

recording a hit at the web page from the client based on the session tag indicating that a unique visitor has accessed the web page.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending, from the web server to the client via the network, the requested web page.

3. A method for identifying a unique web visitor behind a proxy server, comprising:

receiving, by a web server, a browsing request for a web page of a web site from a client behind the proxy server;

determining if the browsing request includes a session tag;

generating, by the web server, a session tag to identify a unique visitor, when the browsing request lacks a session tag and associating the session tag with the browsing request;

identifying a browsing session according to a session tag associated with the browsing request;

generating a tagged web page based on the web page and the session tag;

sending the tagged web page to the client via the proxy server; and

recording a hit at the web page from the client based on the session tag indicating that a unique visitor has accessed the web page.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the identifying a browsing session comprises:

determining whether the browsing request from the client corresponds to a new browsing session or an existing browsing session;

identifying, if the browsing request corresponds to an existing browsing session, the session tag associated with the existing browsing session; and

generating, if the browsing request corresponds to the new browsing session, a new session tag for the new browsing session associated with the client.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the generating the session tag includes:

obtaining a next available tag to form the new session tag that uniquely identifies the new browsing session; and

registering the new browsing session as an active browsing session using the new session tag.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the generating a tagged web page includes:

generating a tagged address for the web page based on the web page and the session tag;

identifying an address associated with each link in the web page;

inserting the session tag into the address associated with each link to generate a tagged link address for each link in the web page; and

generating the tagged web page based on the web page, the tagged address, and the tagged link address for each link in the web page.

7. A method for identifying a unique web visitor behind a proxy server, comprising:

receiving, by a web server, a browsing request for a web page of a web site from a client behind the proxy server;

extracting, from the browsing request, a session tag;

determining that the browsing request corresponds to the new browsing session if the session tag can not be extracted from the browsing request; and

determining that the browsing request corresponds to the existing browsing session associated with the extracted session tag;

identifying, if the browsing request corresponds to an existing browsing session, the session tag associated with the existing browsing session;

generating, if the browsing request corresponds to the new browsing session, a new session tag for the new browsing session associated with the client;

generating a tagged web page based on the web page and the session tag;

sending the tagged web page to the client via the proxy server;

recording a hit at the web page from the client based on the session tag indicating that a unique visitor has accessed the web page.

8. A system for identifying a unique visitor behind a proxy server comprising:

a client, located behind at least one proxy server connecting to a network, for browsing web sites via the at least one proxy server; and

a web server connected to the network and representing a web site, for providing web site content through tagged web pages, generating a session tag used to identify a unique visitor and for recording a hit at the web site based on the session tag indicating that a unique visitor has accessed the web page, wherein the session tag is used to generate the tagged web pages, and the hit is recorded when a browsing request from the client lacks a session tag.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the web server includes:

a session identification mechanism for identifying a browsing session, associated with the browsing request received from the client, based on the session tag and referrer information extracted from the browsing request; and

a session based browsing control mechanism coupled to the session identification mechanism for generating a tagged web page of the tagged web pages based on the browsing request using the session tag that uniquely identifies the client during the browsing session, and for recording the hit at the tagged web page according to the session tag.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the session identification mechanism includes:

a browsing request processing mechanism for processing the browsing request to identify an active browsing session as the browsing session of the browsing request;

an active session registry for registering active browsing sessions based on the session tag associated with each active browsing session of the active browsing sessions; and

a session tag generation mechanism for generating, for a new browsing session, a new session tag which is used to register the new browsing session in the active browsing session registry.

11. The system according claim 10, wherein the session based browsing control mechanism includes:

a web page retrieval mechanism for retrieving a web page according to the browsing request from the client;

a web page tagging mechanism for tagging the retrieved web page to generate the tagged web page using the session tag associated with the browsing session corresponding to the client; and

a session tag based hit recording mechanism for recording the hit at the web page from the client according to the session tag that uniquely identifies the client.

12. A system for identifying a unique visitor behind a proxy server comprising:

a session identification mechanism for identifying a browsing session, associated with a browsing request received from a client, based on a session tag and referrer information extracted from the browsing request; and

a session based browsing control mechanism coupled to the session identification mechanism for generating a tagged web page based on the browsing request using a session tag generated by a webserver that uniquely identifies the client during the browsing session, and for recording a hit at the tagged web page according to the session tag indicated that a unique visitor has accessed the tagged web page, wherein the hit is recorded when the session identification mechanism determines that the browsing request lacks a session tag.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the session identification mechanism includes:

a browsing request processing mechanism for processing the browsing request to identify an active browsing session as the browsing session of the browsing request;

an active session registry for registering active browsing sessions identified by the browsing request processing mechanism based on the session tag corresponding to each active browsing session of the active browsing sessions; and

a session tag generation mechanism for generating, for a new browsing session, a new session tag which is used to register the new browsing session in the active browsing session registry.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the session tag generation mechanism includes:

a tag counter for recording a next available tag;

a tag counter initialization mechanism for initializing the tag counter;

a session tag generator for issuing the new session tag based on the next available tag; and

a tag registration mechanism for registering the new session tag representing the new browsing session in the active session registry.

15. The system according to claim 12, wherein the session based browsing control mechanism includes:

a web page retrieval mechanism for retrieving a web page based on the browsing request from the client;

a web page tagging mechanism for tagging the retrieved web page to generate the tagged web page using the session tag for the browsing session associated with the client; and

a session tag based hit recording mechanism for recording the hit at the web page from the client according to the session tag that uniquely identifies the browsing session associated with the client.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the web page tagging mechanism includes:

a tagged address generation mechanism for creating a tagged address using an address of the web page and the session tag;

a link identification mechanism for identifying an address of each link included in the web page; and

a tag insertion mechanism for inserting the session tag into the address of each link to generate a tagged link address for each link included in the web page.

17. A system for identifying a unique visitor behind a proxy server comprising:

a browsing request processing mechanism for processing a browsing request to identify an active browsing session as the browsing session of the browsing request;

an active session registry for registering active browsing sessions identified by the browsing request processing mechanism based on the session tag corresponding to each active browsing session of the active browsing sessions;

a session tag generation mechanism for generating, for a new browsing session, a new session tag which is used to register the new browsing session in the active browsing session registry; and

a session based browsing control mechanism coupled to the browsing request processing mechanism and the active session registry for generating a tagged web page based on the browsing request using a session tag generated by a webserver that uniquely identifies the client during the browsing session, and for recording a hit at the tagged web page according to the session tag indicated that a unique visitor has accessed the tagged web page, wherein the browsing request processing mechanism includes;

an address identifier for extracting an address of a requested web page from the browsing request;

a session tag extractor for extracting the session tag from the address of the requested web page; and

an active session determiner for identifying an active browsing session based on the extracted session tag and session tags registered in the active session registry.

18. A computer-readable medium encoded with a program for identifying a unique visitor behind a proxy server, having instructions which when executed cause:

sending, from a client located behind a proxy server connected to a network, a browsing request for a web page to a web server connected to the network;

receiving, by the web server, the browsing request;

identifying a browsing session according to a session tag associated with the browsing request, the session tag being generated by the web server; and

recording a hit at the web page from the client based on the session tag.

19. The computer-readable medium according to claim 18, further including:

sending, from the web server to the client via the network, the requested web page.

20. A computer-readable medium encoded with a program for identifying a unique web visitor behind a proxy server, having instructions which when executed cause:

receiving, by a web server, a browsing request for a web page on a web site from a client behind a proxy server;

determining if the browsing request includes a session tag;

generating, by the web server, a session tag to identify a unique visitor, when the browsing request lacks a session tag and associating the session tag with the browsing request;

identifying a browsing session according to a session tag associated with the browsing request; and

generating a tagged web page based on the web page and the session tag;

sending the tagged web page to the client via the proxy server; and

recording a hit at the web page from the client indicating that a unique visitor has accessed the web page based on the session tag.

21. The computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the identifying a browsing session includes:

determining whether the browsing request from the client corresponds to a new browsing session or an existing browsing session;

identifying, if the browsing request corresponds to an existing browsing session, the session tag associated with the existing browsing session; and

generating, if the browsing request corresponds to a new browsing session, a new session tag for the new browsing session associated with the client.

22. The computer-readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the generating a session tag includes:

obtaining a next available tag to form the new session tag that uniquely identifies the new browsing session; and

registering the new session as an active browsing session using the new session tag.

23. The computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the generating a tagged web page includes:

generating a tagged address for the web page based on the web page and the session tag;

identifying an address associated with each link in the web page;

inserting the session tag into the address associated with each link to generate a tagged link address for each link in the web page; and

generating the tagged web page based on the web page, the tagged address, and the tagged link address for each link in the web page.

24. A computer-readable medium encoded with a program for identifying a unique web visitor behind a proxy server, having instructions which when executed cause:

receiving, by a web server, a browsing request for a web page on a web site from a client behind a proxy server;

extracting, from the browsing request, a session tag;

determining that the browsing request corresponds to the new browsing session if the session tag can not be extracted from the browsing request;

determining that the browsing request corresponds to the existing browsing session that is associated with the extracted session tag;

determining whether the browsing request from the client corresponds to a new browsing session or an existing browsing session;

identifying, if the browsing request corresponds to an existing browsing session, the session tag associated with the existing browsing session; and

generating, if the browsing request corresponds to a new browsing session, a new session tag for the new browsing session associated with the client;

generating a tagged web page based on the web page and the session tag;

sending the tagged web page to the client via the proxy server; and

recording a hit at the web page from the client indicating that a unique visitor has accessed the web page based on the session tag.