Content server latency determination

• US 8,949,405 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2007
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsun, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Benoit, Esther
• Application Number:
  US11/836,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20090040927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,736 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 370/508
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV

Abstract

A performance of a publisher server, a first content server, and a second content server is determined. Latency time information is determined based on the publisher server performance, the first content server performance, and the second content server performance, the latency time information representing a length of time to load content associated with each of the publisher server, the first content server, and the second content server.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining a performance of a publisher server, comprising;

transmitting, from a client device, a first request for a document to the publisher server, wherein the document includes one or more slots for presenting additional content to be received from one or more content servers different from the publisher server, and wherein the document references a script that causes retrieval and rendering of the additional content by the client device when executed in an operation mode by the client device, and prevents retrieval of the additional content by the client device when executed in a first diagnostic mode by the client device;

receiving the requested document from the publisher server in response to the first request; and

executing, by the client device, the script according to the first diagnostic mode to determine the publisher server performance including preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device while allowing retrieval of the document by the client device from the publisher server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the publisher server performance comprises:

a requesting time to retrieve the document from the publisher server; and

a rendering time to render the document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the script according to the first diagnostic mode to determine the publisher server performance further comprises:

replacing content requests to the one or more content servers with non-content-request instructions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the first request to the publisher server further comprises:

appending an indicator to a requested Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in the first request, the indicator specifying the first diagnostic mode.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a user interface; and

displaying the publisher server performance in the user interface.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein displaying the publisher server performance comprises:

displaying running time information in the user interface representing a length of time to load content associated with the publisher server.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a performance of a first content server that supplies the additional content or a reference to the additional content.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining a performance of a second, different content server that supplies content that is requested according to the reference supplied by the first content server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining latency time information based on the publisher server performance, the first content server performance, and the second content server performance, the latency time information representing a length of time to load content associated with each of the publisher server, the first content server, and the second content server.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first content server performance comprises:

a first content retrieval time to request and retrieve content or reference to content from the first content server.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the reference to the additional content refers to a second, different content server, wherein the script prevents retrieval of the additional content from the second content server when executed in a second, different diagnostic mode, and wherein determining the performance of the first content server comprises:

transmitting a second request for the document to the publisher server;

receiving the document in response to the second request; and

executing the script according to the second diagnostic mode to determine the first content server performance.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the performance of the second content server comprises:

transmitting a third request for the document to the publisher server;

receiving the document in response to the third request; and

executing the script according to the operation mode to determine the second content server performance.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein the first content server performance comprises:

a first advertisement request time to request advertisements from the first content server; and

a second advertisement request time to request advertisements from the second content server.

26. The method of claim 14, wherein the script causes retrieval of the additional content from the second content server and prevents rendering of the additional content on the client device when executed according to a second, different diagnostic mode, and wherein determining the performance of the first content server comprises:

transmitting, from the client device, a second request for the document to the publisher server;

receiving the document in response to the second request; and

executing the script according to the second diagnostic mode to determine the first content server performance.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein transmitting the second request to the publisher server further comprises:

appending an indicator to a requested Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in the second request, the indicator specifying the second diagnostic mode.

28. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

displaying a user interface; and

displaying the first content server performance in the user interface.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein displaying the first content server performance comprises:

displaying running time information in the user interface representing a length of time to load content associated with the first content server.

30. The method of claim 14, wherein the second content server performance comprises:

a rendering time to render advertisements from the second content server.

7. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

transmitting, by a client device, three requests for a document identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to a publisher server, the document including one or more slots for presenting additional content to be retrieved from two or more content servers different from the publisher server, the document containing a reference to a script, and each request including no argument, a first argument, or a second argument added to the URL and causing the script to be executed by the client device in a respective one of three different modes;

(1) an operation mode causing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from both of a first and a second content server, (2) a first diagnostic mode preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from each of the first and the second content servers, and (3) a second diagnostic mode causing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from the first content server but preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from the second content server;

receiving the document in response to each of the three requests;

executing, by the client device, the script according to the first diagnostic mode to determine a publisher server latency time, and according to the second diagnostic mode to determine a first content server latency; and

executing the script, by the client device, according to the operation mode to determine a second content server latency time based on the publisher server latency time and the first content server latency time.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying at least one of the publisher server latency time, the first content server latency time, and the second content server latency time in a user interface, the user interface including running time information representing a length of time to load content associated with at least one of the publisher server, the first content server, or the second content server.

9. A system, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory, said processor configurable to determine a performance associated with a publisher server, a first content server, and a second content server;

a client device configurable to determine latency time information based on the publisher server performance, the first content server performance, and the second content server performance, the latency time information representing a length of time to load content associated with each of the publisher server, the first content server, and the second content server, wherein;

the processor is further configurable to;

transmit three requests for a document identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the publisher server, the document including one or more slots for presenting additional content to be retrieved from two or more content servers different from the publisher server, the document containing a reference to a script, and each request including no argument, a first argument, or a second argument added to the URL and causing the script to be executed by the client device in a respective one of three different modes;

(1) an operation mode causing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from both of a first and a second content server, (2) a first diagnostic mode preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from each of the first and the second content servers, and (3) a second diagnostic mode causing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from the first content server but preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device from the second content server;

receive the document in response to each of the three requests;

execute the script according to the first diagnostic mode to determine a publisher server latency time, and according to the second diagnostic mode to determine a first content server latency time; and

execute the script according to the operation mode to determine a second content server latency time based on the publisher server latency time and the first content server latency time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the client device is further configurable to:

display at least one of the publisher server performance, the first content server performance, or the second content server performance in a user interface, the user interface including running time information representing a length of time to load content associated with at least one of the publisher server, the first content server, or the second content server.

11. A system, comprising:

a client device including a processor coupled to a memory, said processor configurable to execute instructions and perform operations comprising;

transmitting a first request for a document to a first remote location, wherein the document includes one or more slots for presenting additional content to be received from two or more other remote locations different from the first remote location, and wherein the document references a script that causes retrieval and rendering of the additional content by the client device when executed in an operation mode by the client device, and prevents retrieval of the additional content by the client device when executed in a first diagnostic mode by the client device;

receiving the requested document from a publisher server in response to the first request; and

executing the script according to the first diagnostic mode to determine the publisher server performance including preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device while allowing retrieval of the document by the client device from the publisher server; and

an interface operatively coupled to the processor and configurable to display the determined publisher server performance.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a performance of a first content server that supplies the additional content or a reference to the additional content.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a performance of a second, different content server that supplies content that is requested according to the reference supplied by the first content server.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining latency time information based on the publisher server performance, the first content server performance, and the second content server performance, the latency time information representing a length of time to load content associated with each of the publisher server, the first content server, and the second content server.

12. A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a client device including a processor, cause the client device to perform the operations of:

determining a performance associated with a publisher server, comprising;

transmitting a first request for a document to the publisher server, wherein the document includes one or more slots for presenting additional content to be received from one or more content servers different from the publisher server, wherein the document references a script that causes retrieval and rendering of the additional content by the client device when executed in an operation mode by the client device, and prevents retrieval of the additional content by the client device when executed in a first diagnostic mode by the client device;

receiving the requested document from the publisher server in response to the first request; and

executing the script according to the first diagnostic mode to determine the publisher server performance including preventing retrieval of the additional content by the client device while allowing retrieval of the document by the client device from the publisher server.

22. The computer-readable storage device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a performance of a first content server that supplies the additional content or a reference to the additional content.

23. The computer-readable storage device of claim 22, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a performance of a second, different content server that supplies content that is requested according to the reference supplied by the first content server.

24. The computer-readable storage device of claim 23, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining latency time information based on the publisher server performance, the first content server performance, and the second content server performance, the latency time information representing a length of time to load content associated with each of the publisher server, the first content server, and the second content server.