TECHNIQUE FOR IMPLEMENTING BROWSER-INITIATED USER-TRANSPARENT NETWORK-DISTRIBUTED ADVERTISING AND FOR INTERSTITIALLY DISPLAYING AN ADVERTISEMENT, SO DISTRIBUTED, THROUGH A WEB BROWSER IN RESPONSE TO A USER CLICK-STREAM

• US 6,990,630 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Issued: 01/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Andreas Acquisitions, LLC
• Original Assignee: Unicast Communications Corporation (Extreme Reach, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Wei-Yeh, Landsman, Rick W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Maikhanh
• Application Number:
  US10/162,622
• Publication Number:
  US 20030028565A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,334 Days
• Field of Search: 715/500, 715/513, 715/501, 709217-219, 709203-235, 709/231, 705/1, 705/10, 705/14, 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 715/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0247 Calculate past, present or future revenues
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0262 during computer stand-by mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation

Abstract

A technique for implementing in a networked client-server environment, e.g., the Internet, network-distributed advertising in which advertisements are downloaded, from an advertising server to a browser executing at a client computer, in a manner transparent to a user situated at the browser, and subsequently displayed, by that browser on an interstitial basis, in response to a click-stream generated by the user to move from one web page to the next. Specifically, an HTML advertising tag is embedded into a referring web page. This tag contains two components. One component effectively downloads, from an distribution web server and to an extent necessary, and then persistently instantiates an agent at the client browser. This agent “politely” and transparently downloads advertising files (media and where necessary player files), originating from an ad management system residing on a third-party advertising web server, for a given advertisement into browser cache and subsequently plays those media files through the browser on an interstitial basis and in response to a user click-stream. The other component is a reference, in terms of a web address, of the advertising management system. This latter reference totally “decouples” advertising content from a web page such that a web page, rather than embedding actual advertising content within the page itself, merely includes an advertising tag that refers, via a URL, to a specific ad management system rather than to a particular advertisement or its content. The ad management system selects the given advertisement that is to be downloaded, rather than having that selection or its content being embedded in the web content page.

Claims

1. Apparatus for use in rendering an information object in response to a first web page containing an embedded code, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory connected to the processor and storing both computer executable instructions and the first web page, the first web page having a plurality of computer readable instructions representing page content and the embedded code; and

an output device operative in conjunction with the processor;

wherein the processor, in response to the executable instructions and as a result of executing the code through a web browser, downloads an agent, from a first server, into the memory and subsequently executes the agent under control of the browser, wherein the agent;

monitors a click-stream produced by the user to detect a user navigation event signifying a user action to transition from a first web page to a next successive web page and which signifies a start of a next interstitial interval; and

in response to the user navigation event, processes at least one file so as to render an information object through the output device to the user during the interval.

2. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein the agent downloads, from a network server, said one file which is to be subsequently employed, by the process, to render the information object.

3. The apparatus in claim 2 wherein the information object comprises a web advertisement, the code comprises advertising code and the one file comprises an advertisement file.

4. The apparatus in claim 3 wherein the user navigation event comprises an affirmative action taken by the user, through the browser, to navigate from the first web page to the next successive web page, wherein the action comprises a mouse click, a key depression or a user-invoked state change in a stored history of web pages previously visited by the user.

5. The apparatus in claim 4 wherein the advertisement file comprises an Ad Descriptor file or at least one advertising file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, the advertising file being either a media file or a player file.

6. The apparatus in claim 5 wherein the processor, in response to execution of the agent, overrides default life cycle methods defined in the browser with corresponding substitute methods such that the agent persistently remains in browser storage as the browser transitions across successive web pages and different web sites.

7. The apparatus in claim 6 wherein the life cycle methods comprise at least one of start, run, stop, initialize and destroy methods.

8. The apparatus in claim 7 wherein the agent comprises a Transition Sensor applet and an Ad Controller applet, and the processor, during execution of the Transition Sensor:

instantiates and starts execution of the Ad Controller applet; and

monitors the click-stream so as to detect the user-initiated event, such that the processor;

instructs the Ad Controller applet to download the Ad Descriptor file for the web advertisement from the second server into the browser storage on the computer; and

in response to an occurrence of the event, instructs the Ad Controller applet to cease any download of a further advertisement file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, to the extent any downloading of said further advertisement file is then occurring, and initiates processing through the browser, of files for an advertisement that has been previously downloaded and is currently ready to be rendered so as to render the previously downloaded advertisement during the next interstitial interval to the user.

9. The apparatus in claim 8 wherein the processor in response to executing the advertising code:

determines, through the agent, whether a new version of either the Transition Sensor applet or the Ad Controller applet then resides on a distribution server relative to a corresponding version, if any, of the Transition Sensor and Ad Controller applets, respectively, then residing in the browser storage; and

if said new version exists on the distribution server, downloads the new version from the distribution server into the browser storage and executes the new version in lieu of the corresponding version.

10. The apparatus in claim 9 wherein the Ad Controller applet comprises a play queue, wherein, the processor during execution of the Ad Controller applet:

once all the advertising files specified in an associated Ad Descriptor file for a corresponding advertisement reside in the browser storage on the computer, inserts the associated Ad Descriptor file into an end of the play queue; and

in response to the user navigation event and during the ensuing interstitial interval, processes advertising files specified in a specific Ad Descriptor file then situated at a head of the play queue so as to render, through the output device, an advertisement, corresponding to the specific Ad Descriptor file, to the user.

11. The apparatus in claim 10 wherein the agent, in response to the occurrence of the user navigation event, generates a stop event which, when processed by the agent, suspends the downloading of further advertisement files and initiates processing of files specified in the Ad Descriptor file, then situated at the head of the play queue, so as to render the web advertisement associated therewith during the ensuing interstitial interval.

12. The apparatus in claim 11 wherein the Transition Sensor applet monitors user click stream so as to detect the user navigation event and, in response thereto, produce the stop event, and wherein Ad Controller applet processes the stop event to suspend said downloading of further advertisement files and to render the advertisement associated with the Ad Descriptor file then situated at the head of the play queue.

13. The apparatus in claim 12 wherein the output device is a display.

14. The apparatus in claim 12 wherein the first and second servers are the distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

15. The apparatus in claim 14 wherein the advertising code further comprises a component specifying the advertising file server.

16. The apparatus in claim 15 wherein the processor, during execution of the Ad Controller applet and in response to the component contained in the code, downloads the Ad Descriptor file originating from the advertising file server specified in the second component.

17. The apparatus in claim 10 wherein, if the Ad Controller applet is not executing at the occurrence of the user navigation event, the processor, in response to the stored instructions, processes the one advertisement file, so as to render the web advertisement, only after both the Ad Controller applet has started execution and a next successive user navigation event has occurred.

18. The apparatus in claim 10 wherein the output device is a display.

19. The apparatus in claim 10 wherein the first and second servers are the distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

20. The apparatus in claim 5 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a manifest of names of a plurality of predefined advertising files and associated configuration information necessary to properly play the downloaded advertisement through the browser.

21. The apparatus in claim 20 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a list having:

a name of each player and media file that constitutes the downloaded advertisement, a corresponding network address at which said each file can be accessed, configuration information for at least one of the player files for properly configuring the corresponding player to render an associated media file.

22. The apparatus in claim 4 wherein the advertising code comprises an advertising tag and the processor, in response to execution of the tag:

dynamically writes a plurality of predefined applet tags that collectively implement a script into the first web page; and

downloads, in response to subsequent execution of the script, the agent from the first server into the memory and thereafter instantiates and executes the agent.

23. The apparatus in claim 22 wherein the advertisement file comprises an Ad Descriptor file or at least one advertising file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, the advertising file being either a media file or a player file.

24. The apparatus in claim 23 wherein the processor, in response to execution of the agent, overrides default life cycle methods defined in the browser with corresponding substitute methods such that the agent persistently remains in browser storage as the browser transitions across successive web pages and different web sites.

25. The apparatus in claim 24 wherein the life cycle methods comprise at least one of start, run, stop, initialize and destroy methods.

26. The apparatus in claim 25 wherein the agent comprises a Transition Sensor applet and an Ad Controller applet, and the processor, during execution of the Transition Sensor:

instantiates and starts execution of the Ad Controller applet; and

monitors the click-stream so as to detect the user-initiated event such that the processor;

instructs the Ad Controller applet to download the Ad Descriptor file for the web advertisement from the second server into the browser storage on the computer; and

in response to an occurrence of the event, instructs the Ad Controller applet to cease any download of a further advertisement file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, to the extent any downloading of said further advertisement file is then occurring, and initiates processing through the browser, of files for an advertisement that has been previously downloaded and is currently ready to be rendered so as to render the previously downloaded advertisement during the next interstitial interval to the user.

27. The apparatus in claim 26 wherein the processor in response to executing the tag:

determines, through the agent, whether a new version of either the Transition Sensor applet or the Ad Controller applet then resides on a distribution server relative to a corresponding version, if any, of the Transition Sensor and Ad Controller applets, respectively, then residing in the browser storage; and

if said new version exists on the distribution server, downloads the new version from the distribution server into the browser storage and executes the new version in lieu of the corresponding version.

28. The apparatus in claim 27 wherein the Ad Controller applet comprises a play queue, wherein, the processor during execution of the Ad Controller applet:

once all the advertising files specified in an associated Ad Descriptor file for a corresponding advertisement reside in the browser storage on the computer, inserts the associated Ad Descriptor file into an end of the play queue; and

in response to the user navigation event and during the ensuing interstitial interval, processes advertising files specified in a specific Ad Descriptor file then situated at a head of the play queue so as to render, through the output device, an advertisement, corresponding to the specific Ad Descriptor file, to the user.

29. The apparatus in claim 28 wherein the agent, in response to the occurrence of the user navigation event, generates a stop event which, when processed by the agent, suspends the downloading of further advertisement files and initiates processing of files specified in the Ad Descriptor file, then situated at the head of the play queue, so as to render the web advertisement associated therewith during the ensuing interstitial interval.

30. The apparatus in claim 29 wherein the Transition Sensor applet monitors user click stream so as to detect the user navigation event and, in response thereto, produce the stop event, and wherein Ad Controller applet processes the stop event to suspend said downloading of further advertisement files and to render the advertisement associated with the Ad Descriptor file then situated at the head of the play queue.

31. The apparatus in claim 30 wherein the output device is a display.

32. The apparatus in claim 30 wherein the first and second servers are the distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

33. The apparatus in claim 26 wherein, if the Ad Controller applet is not executing at the occurrence of the user navigation event, the processor, in response to the stored instructions, processes the one advertisement file, so as to render the web advertisement, only after both the Ad Controller applet has started execution and a next successive user navigation event has occurred.

34. The apparatus in claim 26 wherein the output device is a display.

35. The apparatus in claim 26 wherein the first and second servers are a distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

36. The apparatus in claim 23 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a manifest of names of a plurality of predefined advertising files and associated configuration information necessary to properly play the downloaded advertisement through the browser.

37. The apparatus in claim 36 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a list having:

a name of each player and media file that constitutes the downloaded advertisement, a corresponding network address at which said each file can be accessed, configuration information for at least one of the player files for properly configuring the corresponding player to render an associated media file.

38. The apparatus in claim 22 wherein the advertising tag further comprises first and second components, the first and second components specifying the script and the advertising file server, respectively.

39. The apparatus in claim 38 wherein the processor, during execution of the Ad Controller applet and in response to the second component contained in the tag, downloads the Ad Descriptor file originating from the advertising file server specified in the second component.

40. A method for use in rendering, through a computer, an information object in response to a first web page containing embedded code, the computer having a processor, a memory connected to the processor and storing both computer executable instructions and the first web page, the first web page having a plurality of computer readable instructions representing page content and the embedded code, and an output device operative in conjunction with the processor, wherein the method comprises the steps, performed by the processor and in response to the executable instructions and as a result of executing the code through a web browser, of:

downloading an agent, from a first server, into the memory and subsequently executing the agent under control of the browser, wherein the method further comprises the steps, performed by the agent, of;

monitoring a click-stream produced by the user to detect a user navigation event signifying a user action to transition from a first web page to a next successive web page and which signifies a start of a next interstitial interval; and

in response to the user navigation event, processing at least one file so as to render the information object through the output device to the user during the interval.

41. The method in claim 40 further comprising the step of downloading, from a network server, said one file which is to be subsequently employed, by the processor, to render the information object.

42. The method in claim 40 wherein the information object comprises a web advertisement, the code comprises advertising code and the one file comprises an advertisement file.

43. The method in claim 42 wherein the user navigation event comprises an affirmative action taken by the user, through the browser, to navigate from the first web page to the next successive web page, wherein the action comprises a mouse click, a key depression or a user-invoked state change in a stored history of web pages previously visited by the user.

44. The method in claim 43 wherein the advertisement file comprises an Ad Descriptor file or at least one advertising file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, the advertising file being either a media file or a player file.

45. The method in claim 44 further comprising the step, performed by the processor in response to executing the agent, of over-riding default life cycle methods defined in the browser with corresponding substitute methods such that the agent persistently remains in browser storage as the browser transitions across successive web pages and different web sites.

46. The method in claim 45 wherein the life cycle methods comprise at least one of start, run, stop, initialize and destroy methods.

47. The method in claim 46 wherein the agent comprises a Transition Sensor applet and an Ad Controller applet, and the method comprises the steps, performed by the processor during execution of the Transition Sensor, of:

instantiating and starting execution of the Ad Controller applet; and

monitoring the click-stream so as to detect the user-initiated event, the monitoring step comprising the steps of;

instructing the Ad Controller applet to download the Ad Descriptor file for the web advertisement from the second server into the browser storage on the computer; and

in response to an occurrence of the event, instructing the Ad Controller applet to cease any download of a further advertisement file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, to the extent any downloading of said further advertisement file is then occurring, and initiating processing through the browser, of files for an advertisement that has been previously downloaded and is currently ready to be rendered so as to render the previously downloaded advertisement during the next interstitial interval to the user.

48. The method in claim 47 further comprising the steps, performed in response to executing the advertising code, of:

determining, through the agent, whether a new version of either the Transition Sensor applet or the Ad Controller applet then resides on a distribution server relative to a corresponding version, if any, of a Transition Sensor and Ad Controller applets, respectively, then residing in the browser storage; and

if said new version exists on the distribution server, downloading the new version from the distribution server into the browser storage and executing the new version in lieu of the corresponding version.

49. The method in claim 48 wherein the Ad Controller applet comprises a play queue, wherein the method comprises the steps performed by the processor during execution of the Ad Controller applet, of:

once all the advertising files specified in an associated Ad Descriptor file for a corresponding advertisement reside in the browser storage on the computer, inserting the associated Ad Descriptor file into an end of the play queue; and

in response to the user navigation event and during the ensuing interstitial interval, processing advertising files specified in a specific Ad Descriptor file then situated at a head of the play queue so as to render, through the output device, an advertisement, corresponding to the specific Ad Descriptor file, to the user.

50. The method in claim 49 further comprising the step, performed by the agent, in response to the occurrence of the user navigation event, of generating a stop event which, when processed by the agent, suspends the downloading of further advertisement files and initiates processing of files specified in the Ad Descriptor file, then situated at the head of the play queue, so as to render the web advertisement associated therewith during the ensuing interstitial interval.

51. The method in claim 50 further comprising the step, performed by the Transition Sensor applet, of monitoring user click stream so as to detect the user navigation event and, in response thereto, produce the stop event, and processing, by the Ad Controller applet, the stop event to suspend said downloading of further advertisement files and to render the advertisement associated with the Ad Descriptor file then situated at the head of the play queue.

52. The method in claim 51 wherein the first and second servers are the distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

53. The method in claim 52 wherein the advertising code further comprises a component specifying the advertising file server.

54. The method in claim 53 comprising the step performed by the processor, during execution of the Ad Controller applet and in response to the component contained in the code, of downloading the Ad Descriptor file originating from the advertising file server specified in the second component.

55. The method in claim 49 further comprising the step, performed, by the processor, of processing, in response to the stored instructions and if the Ad Controller applet is not executing at the occurrence of the user navigation event, the one advertisement file, so as to render the web advertisement, only after both the Ad Controller applet has started execution and a next successive user navigation event has occurred.

56. The method in claim 49 wherein the first and second servers are the distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

57. The method in claim 44 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a manifest of names of a plurality of predefined advertising files and associated configuration information necessary to properly play the downloaded advertisement through the browser.

58. The method in claim 57 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a list having:

a name of each player and media file that constitutes the downloaded advertisement, a corresponding network address at which said each file can be accessed, configuration information for at least one of the player files for properly configuring the corresponding player to render an associated media file.

59. The method in claim 43, wherein the advertising code comprises an advertising tag, further comprising the steps, performed by the processor, in response to execution of the tag, of:

dynamically writing a plurality of predefined applet tags that collectively implement a script into the first web page; and

downloading, in response to subsequent execution of the script, the agent from the first server into the memory and thereafter instantiates and executes the agent.

60. The method in claim 59 wherein the advertisement file comprises an Ad Descriptor file or at least one advertising file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, the advertising file being either a media file or a player file.

61. The method in claim 60 further comprising the step, performed by the processor, in response to the executing applet, of over-riding default life cycle methods defined in the browser with corresponding substitute methods such that the agent persistently remains in browser storage as the browser transitions across successive web pages and different web sites.

62. The method in claim 61 wherein the life cycle methods comprise at least one of start, run, stop, initialize and destroy methods.

63. The method in claim 62 wherein the agent comprises a Transition Sensor applet and an Ad Controller applet, and the method comprises the steps, performed by the processor, during execution of the Transition Sensor, of:

instantiating and starting execution of the Ad Controller applet; and

monitoring the click-stream so as to detect the user-initiated event such that the processor, wherein the monitoring step comprises the steps of;

instructing the Ad Controller applet to download the Ad Descriptor file for the web advertisement from the second server into the browser storage on the computer; and

in response to an occurrence of the event, instructing the Ad Controller applet to cease any download of a further advertisement file specified in the Ad Descriptor file, to the extent any downloading of said further advertisement file is then occurring, and initiating processing through the browser, of files for an advertisement that has been previously downloaded and is currently ready to be rendered so as to render the previously downloaded advertisement during the next interstitial interval to the user.

64. The method in claim 63 further comprising the steps, performed in the processor, in response to executing the tag, of:

determining, through the agent, whether a new version of either the Transition Sensor applet or the Ad Controller applet then resides on a distribution server relative to a corresponding version, if any, of the Transition Sensor and Ad Controller applets, respectively, then residing in the browser storage; and

if said new version exists on the distribution server, downloading the new version from the distribution server into the browser storage and executes the new version in lieu of the corresponding version.

65. The method in claim 64 wherein the Ad Controller applet comprises a play queue, wherein, the method comprises the steps, performed by the processor during execution of the Ad Controller applet, of:

once all the advertising files specified in an associated Ad Descriptor file for a corresponding advertisement reside in the browser storage on the computer, inserting the associated Ad Descriptor file into an end of the play queue; and

in response to the user navigation event and during the ensuing interstitial interval, processing advertising files specified in a specific Ad Descriptor file then situated at a head of the play queue so as to render, through the output device, an advertisement, corresponding to the specific Ad Descriptor file, to the user.

66. The method in claim 65 further comprising the step, performed by the agent, in response to the occurrence of the user navigation event, of generating a stop event which, when processed by the agent, suspends the downloading of further advertisement files and initiates processing of files specified in the Ad Descriptor file, then situated at the head of the play queue, so as to render the web advertisement associated therewith during the ensuing interstitial interval.

67. The method in claim 66 further comprising the step, performed by the Transition Sensor applet, of monitoring user click stream so as to detect the user navigation event and, in response thereto, produce the stop event, and the step of processing, by the Ad Controller applet, the stop event to suspend said downloading of further advertisement files and to render the advertisement associated with the Ad Descriptor file then situated at the head of the play queue.

68. The method in claim 67 wherein the first and second servers are the distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

69. The method in claim 63 further comprising the step performed, by the processor, of processing, in response to the stored instructions and if the Ad Controller applet is not executing at the occurrence of the user navigation event, the one advertisement file, so as to render the web advertisement, only after both the Ad Controller applet has started execution and a next successive user navigation event has occurred.

70. The method in claim 63 wherein the first and second servers are a distribution server and an advertising file server, respectively.

71. The method in claim 60 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a manifest of names of a plurality of predefined advertising files and associated configuration information necessary to properly play the downloaded advertisement through the browser.

72. The method in claim 71 wherein the Ad Descriptor file comprises a list having:

a name of each player and media file that constitutes the downloaded advertisement, a corresponding network address at which said each file can be accessed, configuration information for at least one of the player files for properly configuring the corresponding player to render an associated media file.

73. The method in claim 59 wherein the advertising tag further comprises first and second components, the first and second components specifying the script and the advertising file server, respectively.

74. The method in claim 73 comprising the step performed by the processor, during execution of the Ad Controller applet and in response to the second component contained in the tag, of downloading the Ad Descriptor file originating from the advertising file server specified in the second component.