System for analyzing and visualizing access statistics for a web site
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring visits by visitors to a web site, comprising the following computer-implemented steps:
- a. embedding in a web page to be monitored code to request a thumbnail map from a system server when the page is visited and loaded into a browser, said thumbnail map providing both a user-activateable link to a page within the system server and an element of a mechanism for counting visits by the visitors who are currently visiting the site;
b. at the system server, returning the requested thumbnail map to the web browser, and recording the IP address from which the thumbnail map was requested;
c. for each recorded IP address, determining a corresponding geographical location from which the web page was visited;
d. grouping the visits into clusters according to their geographical locations, the visits being grouped by a clustering process that includes both agglomerative hierarchical clustering and also pre-grouping of visits from similar locations, wherein the agglomerative hierarchical clustering is speeded up by the pre-grouping of visits from locations that are deemed similar by rounding off their coordinates and also by similarity of postal codes, and normalizing each cluster via reduction by a common factor; and
e. periodically creating and storing a detailed map and a thumbnail map, each map being an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the clusters of recorded IP addresses, each cluster being represented on the map by a mark that indicates the location of the cluster and varies in dependence on the total number of visits in that cluster, wherein the detailed map has a larger scale and contains more detail than the thumbnail map,wherein, upon activation of the user-activateable link provided by the thumbnail map, the linked page within the system server that includes the detailed map is retrieved and displayed by the browser.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for monitoring and visualizing user access made to a web site is disclosed. The method comprises: embedding in a web page to be monitored code to request a thumbnail image from a site when the page is loaded into a browser. The embedded code also includes a user-activateable link to a page within the system server. At the system server, the requested thumbnail image is returned to the web browser, and the IP address from which the thumbnail was requested is recorded. For each recorded IP address, the server determines a corresponding geographical location. The server creates and stores an image that is a geographical representation of the geographical distribution of the recorded IP addresses, and a thumbnail representation of that image. Upon activation of the user-activateable link, the linked page within the system server that includes the image previously created is retrieved by the browser. The thumbnail image requested by the embedded code is the thumbnail image created in this step. A number of threshold, updating, clustering, storage and archiving routines are deployed to ensure large scalability.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring visits by visitors to a web site, comprising the following computer-implemented steps:
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a. embedding in a web page to be monitored code to request a thumbnail map from a system server when the page is visited and loaded into a browser, said thumbnail map providing both a user-activateable link to a page within the system server and an element of a mechanism for counting visits by the visitors who are currently visiting the site; b. at the system server, returning the requested thumbnail map to the web browser, and recording the IP address from which the thumbnail map was requested; c. for each recorded IP address, determining a corresponding geographical location from which the web page was visited; d. grouping the visits into clusters according to their geographical locations, the visits being grouped by a clustering process that includes both agglomerative hierarchical clustering and also pre-grouping of visits from similar locations, wherein the agglomerative hierarchical clustering is speeded up by the pre-grouping of visits from locations that are deemed similar by rounding off their coordinates and also by similarity of postal codes, and normalizing each cluster via reduction by a common factor; and e. periodically creating and storing a detailed map and a thumbnail map, each map being an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the clusters of recorded IP addresses, each cluster being represented on the map by a mark that indicates the location of the cluster and varies in dependence on the total number of visits in that cluster, wherein the detailed map has a larger scale and contains more detail than the thumbnail map, wherein, upon activation of the user-activateable link provided by the thumbnail map, the linked page within the system server that includes the detailed map is retrieved and displayed by the browser. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22)
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20. A web system comprising a server computer that is constructed and arranged for co-operation with a web browser to monitor visits by visitors to a web site, the system comprising:
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a. a web page having embedded within it code to request a thumbnail map from a system server when the page is visited and loaded into a browser, said thumbnail map providing both a user-activateable link to a page within the system server and an element of a mechanism for counting visits by the visitors who are currently visiting the site; b. a system server that is constructed and arranged to return the requested thumbnail map to the web browser, and to record the IP address from which the thumbnail map was requested; c. means for determining for each recorded IP address a corresponding geographical location from which the web page was visited; d. means for grouping the visits into clusters according to their geographical locations, by a clustering process that includes both agglomerative hierarchical clustering and also pre-grouping of visits from similar locations, wherein the agglomerative hierarchical clustering is speeded up by the pre-grouping of visits from locations that are deemed similar by rounding off their coordinates and also by similarity of postal codes, and normalizing each cluster via reduction by a common factor; and e. means for periodically creating and storing a detailed map and a thumbnail map, each map being an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the clusters of recorded IP addresses, each cluster being represented on the map by a mark that indicates the location of the cluster and varies in dependence on the total number of visits in that cluster, wherein the detailed map has a larger scale and contains more detail than the thumbnail map, wherein the system is constructed and arranged such that, upon activation of the user-activateable link provided by the thumbnail map, the linked page within the system server that includes the detailed map is retrieved and displayed by the browser.
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21. A system server comprising a server computer that is constructed and arranged for co-operation with a web browser to monitor visits by visitors to a web page having embedded within it code to request a thumbnail map from the system server when the page is visited and loaded into a browser, said thumbnail map providing both a user-activateable link to a page within the system server and an element of a mechanism for counting visits by the visitors who are currently visiting the site, wherein the system server is constructed and arranged to return the requested thumbnail map to the web browser, and to record the IP address from which the thumbnail was requested, the system server comprising:
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a. means for determining for each recorded IP address a corresponding geographical location from which the web page was visited; b. means for grouping the visits into clusters according to their geographical locations, by a clustering process that includes both agglomerative hierarchical clustering and also pre-grouping of visits from similar locations, wherein the agglomerative hierarchical clustering is speeded up by the pre-grouping of visits from locations that are deemed similar by rounding off their coordinates and also by similarity of postal codes, and normalizing each cluster via reduction by a common factor; c. means for periodically creating and storing a detailed map and a thumbnail map, each map being an image that is a representation of the geographical distribution of the clusters of recorded IP addresses, each cluster being represented on the map by a mark that indicates the location of the cluster and varies in dependence on the total number of visits in that cluster, wherein the detailed map has a larger scale and contains more detail than the thumbnail map, wherein the system server is constructed and arranged such that, upon activation of the user-activateable link provided by the thumbnail map, the linked page within the system server that includes the detailed map is retrieved and displayed by the browser.
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Specification