Device and method for replacing terms in documents with hyperlinks

• US 7,949,791 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2009
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Pictures Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Serena, Frank David
• Primary Examiner(s): NEURAUTER, GEORGE C
• Application Number:
  US12/392,961
• Publication Number:
  US 20090158133A1
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/246
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0258 Registration

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of controlling content includes receiving an input from the user and monitoring content in an application program or content exchanged between the application program and an operating system residing at the user'"'"'s computer system. The method includes determining whether monitored content corresponds to a predetermined advertisement. If the monitored content corresponds to the predetermined advertisement, the predetermined advertisement is replaced with another predetermined advertisement based on the user input.

Claims

1. An observation program stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions to cause a processor to:

receive content which includes at least one term;

generate a replacement rule based on a user preference, the replacement rule comprising a term to be replaced and a hyperlink relating to said term to be replaced;

identify each instance of the term to be replaced in the at least one term of the received content; and

replace said each instance of the term to be replaced with the hyperlink according to the replacement rule,

wherein the replacement rule comprises an identifier associated with the user and wherein said each instance of the term to be replaced is replaced with the hyperlink based, at least in part, on the identifier associated with the user of the content.

2. The observation program of claim 1, wherein the content is a document.

3. The observation program of claim 1, wherein the content is a web page.

4. The observation program of claim 1, wherein the observation program further comprises instructions to cause the processor to display the content to the user after said each instance of the term to be replaced has been replaced.