Access to network content

• US 9,141,722 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Burkard, Timo, Jain, Arvind
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn, Gregory J
• Application Number:
  US13/633,431
• Publication Number:
  US 20140095966A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,085 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/205, 715/208
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching

Abstract

A method and system for improving access to network content are described. Aspects of the disclosure minimize the delay between a navigation event and a network response by prerendering the next navigation event. For example, the method and system may predict a likely next navigation event during web browsing to preemptively request content from the network before the user selects the corresponding link on a web page. The prediction operation may identify correlations between metadata associated with a navigation history. The metadata may include the relationship of the selected navigation events to a web page. By making predictions using link page relationships links may be accurately predicted in circumstances where two links share common relationships to their source page but different destination addresses.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for accessing web content, the method comprising:

storing, in a memory, at least one selected uniform resource locator and a set of metadata associated with the at least one selected uniform resource locator, the set of metadata describing a relationship between the selected uniform resource locator and at least one web page, the relationship being other than a destination address of the at least one selected uniform resource locator, and the set of metadata comprising at least one of a screen location of the selected uniform resource locator, a style of text associated with the selected uniform resource locator, or a location of the selected uniform resource locator within a document object model associated with the at least one web page;

identifying, with a processor, at least one correlation between the set of metadata and a user navigation history;

predicting, using the processor, a likely user navigation event using the identified at least one correlation; and

prerendering, using the processor, content related to the likely user navigation event prior to a user selection of the likely user navigation event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one web page comprises a plurality of web pages, each of the plurality of web pages being associated with the user navigation history.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one web page comprises a plurality of web pages, each of the plurality of web pages being of a same content type; and

the at least one correlation relates to each of the plurality of web pages of the same content type within the user navigation history.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one correlation indicates that a user is less likely to select a particular link with a particular metadata value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one correlation comprises a correlation across multiple types of metadata.

6. A computer-implemented method for accessing web content, the method comprising:

storing, in a memory, at least one selected link and a relationship of the selected link to a web page from which the selected link was selected, the relationship comprising at least one of a screen location of the selected link, a style of text associated with the selected link, or a location of the selected link within a document object model associated with the at least one web page;

navigating to the web page subsequent to the storing of the at least one selected link and the relationship of the selected link to the web page;

identifying a second link associated with the web page, the second link having a destination address different from the selected link and the second link having the same relationship to the web page as the selected link;

determining, with a processor, a correlation between the second link and the selected link;

identifying, using the processor, the second link as a likely navigation event based on the determined correlation; and

prerendering, using the processor, content related to the second link prior to a user selection of the likely navigation event.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which computer-readable instructions are stored, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for accessing web content, the method comprising:

storing, in a memory, at least one selected uniform resource locator and a set of metadata associated with the at least one selected uniform resource locator, the set of metadata describing a relationship between the selected uniform resource locator and at least one web page, the relationship being other than a destination address of the at least one selected uniform resource locator, and the set of metadata comprising at least one of a screen location of the selected uniform resource locator, a style of text associated with the selected uniform resource locator, or a location of the selected uniform resource locator within a document object model associated with the at least one web page;

identifying, with a processor, at least one correlation between the set of metadata and a user navigation history;

predicting, using the processor, a likely user navigation event using the identified at least one correlation; and

prerendering, using the processor, content related to the likely user navigation event prior to a user selection of the likely user navigation event.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which computer-readable instructions are stored, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for accessing web content, the method comprising:

storing, in a memory, at least one selected link and a relationship of the selected link to a web page from which the selected link was selected, the relationship comprising at least one of a screen location of the selected link, a style of text associated with the selected link, or a location of the selected link within a document object model associated with the at least one web page;

navigating to the web page subsequent to the storing of the at least one selected link and the relationship of the selected link to the web page;

identifying a second link associated with the web page, the second link having a destination address different from the selected link and the second link having the same relationship to the web page as the selected link;

determining, with a processor, a correlation between the second link and the selected link;

identifying, using the processor, the second link as a likely navigation event based on the determined correlation; and

prerendering, using the processor, content related to the second link prior to a user selection of the likely navigation event.

9. A system, comprising:

memory storing at least one selected uniform resource locator and a set of metadata associated with the at least one selected uniform resource locator, the set of metadata describing a relationship between the selected uniform resource locator and at least one web page, the relationship being other than a destination address of the at least one selected uniform resource locator, and the set of metadata comprising at least one of a screen location of the selected uniform resource locator, a style of text associated with the selected uniform resource locator, or a location of the selected uniform resource locator within a document object model associated with the at least one web page;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to;

identify at least one correlation between the set of metadata and a user navigation history,

predict a likely user navigation event using the identified at least one correlation, and

prerender content related to the likely user navigation event prior to a user selection of the likely user navigation event.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the at least one web page comprises a plurality of web pages, each of the plurality of web pages being of a same content type; and

the at least one correlation relates to each of the plurality of web pages of the same content type within the user navigation history.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one correlation indicates that a user is less likely to select a particular link with a particular metadata value.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one correlation comprises a correlation across multiple types of metadata.

13. A system, comprising:

memory storing at least one selected link and a relationship of the selected link to a web page from which the selected link was selected, the relationship comprising at least one of a screen location of the selected link, a style of text associated with the selected link, or a location of the selected link within a document object model associated with the at least one web page;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to;

navigate to the web page subsequent to the storing of the at least one selected link and the relationship of the selected link to the web page;

identify a second link associated with the web page, the second link having a destination address different from the selected link and the second link having the same relationship to the web page as the selected link;

determine a correlation between the second link and the selected link;

identify the second link as a likely navigation event based on the determined correlation; and

prerender content related to the second link prior to a user selection of the likely navigation event.