Method and apparatus for providing content to users

• US 9,483,772 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2012
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Shuster, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ludwig, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US13/652,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20130036163A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,478 Days
• Field of Search: 715/204, 715/234, 715/745, 715/749, 709/224, 709/219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/022 Centralised management of display operation, e.g. in a server instead of locally
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/146 Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests

Abstract

Embodiments of the instant invention are directed to a method and apparatus for presenting unsolicited data to users without interrupting the user'"'"'s activities, wherein the presentation of the unsolicited data is monitored and is available for review by the user at the user'"'"'s convenience. Embodiments of the invention comprise a content and display manager, wherein the content and display manager include a display monitor, a content delivery system and a content controller. The display monitor selects the display of content to the users, in part, by reviewing a marker which defines the last time that content was displayed to the user and the type of content displayed. The content delivery system transmits a content window to a user computer via the controller.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a server computer, a previous request from an application at a user computer, wherein the previous request is for content associated with a first web page;

based on the previous request, sending, by the server computer, first server selected content to the user computer, wherein the first server selected content includes the content associated with the first web page and a first item of unrequested content;

the server computer instructing the application at the user computer to store a set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content, wherein the set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content includes one or more attributes corresponding to the first item of unrequested content;

subsequent to receiving the previous request, receiving, by the server computer, a current request for content from the application at the user computer, wherein the current request is for content associated with a second web page;

based on the current request, the server computer receiving, from the application at the user computer, the set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content and that was previously stored by the application at the user computer;

based on the one or more attributes corresponding to the first item of unrequested content included in the set of information, the server computer determining to exclude unrequested content from being included in a response to the current request; and

the server computer sending to the user computer the response to the current request, wherein the response to the current request does not include the unrequested content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of information includes a cookie.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the content associated with the first web page is displayable in a first browser window.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the server computer instructing the application at the user computer to display the first item of unrequested content and the content associated with the first web page in a first browser window and a second browser window respectively, wherein displaying of the first browser window at least partially obscures displaying of the second browser window for a predetermined interval of time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of information further includes at least one attribute indicative of a content preference of a user associated with the first web page.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based on the one or more attributes corresponding to the first item of unrequested content, determining, by the server computer, that a threshold time has not been met, wherein the determining includes a calculation that an elapsed time since at least a portion of the first item of unrequested content was sent to the user computer is less than the threshold time; and

based at least on the determining, the server computer withholding from sending to the user computer the unrequested content until after that the threshold time has elapsed.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequent to receiving the current request, the server computer receiving a subsequent request for content associated with a third web page; and

the server computer determining to include at least a second item of unrequested content in a response to the subsequent request.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based on the one or more attributes, the server computer determining a time stamp that identifies a time of sending the first item of unrequested content to the user computer; and

based on information indicating that a difference between the time of sending the first item of unrequested content and a time associated with receiving the current request is below a threshold value, the server computer sending to the user computer the content associated with the second web page without the unrequested content.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computer system to cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:

receiving a user request from an application at a user computer, wherein the user request is for content associated with a first web page displayable by the application;

in response to receiving the user request, sending first server selected content to the user computer, wherein the first server selected content includes content associated with the first web page and a first item of unrequested content;

instructing the application at the user computer to store a set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content, and wherein the set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content includes at least one attribute corresponding to the first item of unrequested content;

subsequent to the instructing, sending a server request to the user computer, wherein the server request is for the user computer to transmit to the computer system the set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content and that was previously stored by the application;

in response to receiving a response to the server request, detecting that the response to the server request includes a transmittal of the set of information that was previously stored, wherein the set of information corresponds to the first server selected content; and

based on the set of information that corresponds to the first server selected content, withholding from sending to the user computer, until after a particular time interval has elapsed, a second item of unrequested content for display by the application at the user computer.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on the detecting, determining that the at least one attribute includes a time parameter of the first item of unrequested content, wherein the time parameter is indicative of a time associated with sending the first item of unrequested content to the user computer; and

determining a timing for sending the second item of unrequested content based on a comparison between a threshold amount of time and the time indicated by the time parameter.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

subsequent to the instructing, receiving a second user request for content associated with a second web page; and

prior to sending to the user computer the second item of unrequested content, sending the content associated with the second web page to the user computer.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a prioritization of available unrequested content, the at least one attribute, selecting the second item of unrequested content.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the user computer, the response to the server request.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the response to the server request, wherein the response includes a parameter indicative of an operational condition of the user computer; and

selecting, among unrequested content, the second item of unrequested content such that the second item corresponds to the parameter.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor;

one or more computer-readable memories configured to communicate with the at least one processor, the one or more computer-readable memories having instructions stored thereupon that are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform operations including;

receiving a request from an application at a user computer, wherein the request is for particular content associated with a website;

based on the request, sending first content to the user computer, wherein the first content includes the particular content and a first item of unrequested content;

instructing the application at the user computer to store a set of information that corresponds to the first content, wherein the set of information that corresponds to the first content includes one or more attributes corresponding to the first item of unrequested content;

receiving another request for content from the application at the user computer, wherein the other request is for content associated with another website;

subsequent to receiving the other request, receiving, from the user computer, the set of information that corresponds to the first content and that was previously stored by the application;

in response to receiving the set of information that corresponds to the first content, determining whether to exclude, from a response to the other request, unrequested content; and

sending to the user computer the response to the other request indicative of a result of the determining.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on timing information indicating that a time elapsed from sending the first item of unrequested content to the user computer exceeds a threshold value, sending to the user computer the response to the other request including a second item of unrequested content.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing one of the one or more attributes to a threshold time; and

based on a result of the comparing indicating that the attribute is below the threshold time, determining to exclude the unrequested content from being included in the response sent to the user computer.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first content includes HTML content.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a result of the determining indicating that at least a second item of unrequested content should be sent to the user computer, selecting the second item to be different from the first item of unrequested content.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

based on a result of the determining indicating that at least a second item of unrequested content should be sent to the user computer, instructing the application at the user computer to display the second item of unrequested content at a position on the user computer different from a display of the content associated with the other website.