Automatic, profile-free web page recommendation

• US 7,054,900 B1
• Filed: 11/20/2000
• Issued: 05/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NetZero Incorporated (B. Riley Financial, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: NetZero Incorporated (B. Riley Financial, Inc.)
• Inventors: Goldston, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Caldwell, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLETT, STEPHAN F
• Application Number:
  US09/718,604
• Time in Patent Office: 2,017 Days
• Field of Search: 709/233, 709/238, 709/245, 709/225, 709/203, 709/217, 345/736, 345/853, 705/14, 707/7
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An electronic content recommendation service is provided which can act as an aid to a user in obtaining electronic content. A user'"'"'s browsing of electronic content is monitored. For each unit of electronic content output by the user'"'"'s browser, one or more units of electronic content (e.g., web pages) are recommended to the user. The user may then load a recommended unit of electronic content. Recommendation is based upon a system of categorization. A number of units of electronic content are identified as fitting into predefined categories of human interest. During a user'"'"'s browsing, the unit of electronic content loaded in the user'"'"'s browser is determined to be in at least one of the predefined categories. Recommendations of electronic content to browse are drawn from lists of units of electronic content which were previously placed into the category of the current unit of electronic content.

Claims

1. A method of recommending web pages comprising the steps of:

providing plural categories of human interest, the categories having associated therewith respective scopes

activating a client on a local device, the local device having an input device, an output device and a web browser

the client monitoring browsing activity of an unregistered user who has not entered a profile of any kind

the web browser requesting a first web page

in response to the web browser requesting the first web page, the client automatically obtaining a first one of the plural categories of human interest in which the first web page belongs

after the first one of the plural categories of human interest is obtained, the client automatically obtaining a first recommendation of a second web page which is in the first one of the plural categories of human interest

wherein the first recommendation is based on the first one of the plural categories of human interest and not on a user profile of any kind, any particular information about the unregistered user, or any past browsing activity of the unregistered user

while the web browser displays the first web page, the client outputting a message to the output device which informs the unregistered user of the availability of the first recommendation

the unregistered user providing input to the client indicative of the unregistered user'"'"'s desire to activate the first recommendation, and in response the client causing the web browser to request the second web page

the web browser requesting the second web page

the web browser outputting the second web page to the output device.

2. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 wherein the step of the client obtaining the first recommendation is performed after the step of the unregistered user providing input.

3. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 wherein the client is an independent program.

4. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 wherein the step of automatic obtaining first one of the plural categories of human interest in which the first web page belongs is performed by the steps of:

providing a page categorization database comprising identifiers of web pages correlated to the plural categories of human interest

looking up the first web page in the page categorization database to thereby obtain a first one of the categories of human interest corresponding to the first web page.

5. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:

the web browser storing a first resource locator corresponding to the first web page into an address bar object

the client copying the first resource locator from the address bar object and using the first resource locator for looking up the first web page in the correlation table.

6. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 5 wherein the first resource locator comprises a uniform resource locator.

7. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 further comprising the step of providing the unregistered user with the option to access a next recommended web page.

8. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 wherein the output device comprises a display, and the web browser outputs web pages on the display.

9. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

the client automatically obtaining a second recommendation of a third web page which is in the first one of the plural categories of human interest

after the step of the web browser outputting the second web page to the output device, the unregistered user providing input to the client indicative of the unregistered_user'"'"'s desire to activate the second recommendation, and in response the client causing the web browser to request the third web page

the web browser outputting the third web page to the output device.

10. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 wherein the recommendation is provided to the unregistered_user for free.

11. The method of recommending web pages to an unregistered user of claim 1 further comprising, after the step of the unregistered_user providing input, assessing a charge against an account for making the first recommendation.

12. A computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructions for causing a computer to:

monitor a browser on the computer and determine that the browser has requested a first web page

in response to the computer determining that the browser has requested a first web page, automatically obtain a first one of the plural categories of human interest in which the first web page belongs

automatically obtain a first recommendation of a second web page which is in the first one of the plural categories of human interest

while the browser displays the first web page, output a message to the output device which informs an unregistered user who has not entered a profile of any kind of the availability of the first recommendation

wherein the first recommendation is based on the first one of the plural categories of human interest and not on a user profile of any kind, any particular information about the unregistered user, or any past browsing activity of the unregistered user

accepting a first unregistered user input which shows the unregistered user'"'"'s desire to activate the first recommendation,

cause the browser to request the second web page.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the first recommendation is obtained after the unregistered user input is accepted.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to determine the first one of the plural categories of human interest in which the first web page belongs.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the instructions for causing the computer to automatically obtain a first one of the plural categories of human interest in which the first web page belongs include instructions for causing the computer to look up the first web page in a page categorization database comprising identifiers of web pages correlated to the plural categories of human interest to thereby determine the first one of the categories of human interest corresponding to the first web page.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to copy a first resource locator from an address bar object of the browser and use the first resource locator for looking up the first web page in the page categorization database.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to provide the unregistered user with the option to access a next recommended web page.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to:

automatically obtain a second recommendation of a third web page which is in the first one of the plural categories of human interest

accept a second unregistered user input which shows the unregistered user'"'"'s desire to activate the second recommendation

cause the browser to request the third web page.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to assess a charge against an account for making the first recommendation.

20. A local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories, the local device comprising:

an input device

an output device

a browser for requesting units of electronic content and for outputting the units of electronic content to the output device

a client for recommending units of electronic content to an unregistered user of the local device, wherein the unregistered user is a user who has not entered a profile of any kind, the client including instructions to

monitor the browser and determine that the browser has requested a first unit of electronic content

in response to the determination that the browser has requested a first unit of electronic content, automatically obtain a first one of the plural categories in which the first unit of electronic content belongs

automatically obtain a first recommendation of a second unit of electronic content which is in the first one of the plural categories

wherein the first recommendation is based on the first one of the plural categories and not on a user profile of any kind, any particular information about the unregistered user, or any past browsing activity of the unregistered user

while the browser displays the first unit of electronic content, output a message to the output device which informs the unregistered user of the availability of the first recommendation

accept a first unregistered user input which shows the unregistered user'"'"'s desire to activate the first recommendation,

cause the browser to request the second unit of electronic content.

21. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20 wherein the first recommendation is obtained after the unregistered user input is accepted.

22. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20, the client further comprising instructions to determine the first one of the plural categories in which the first unit of electronic content belongs.

23. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20 wherein the instructions to automatically obtain a first one of the plural categories in which the first web page belongs include instructions to look up the first unit of electronic content in a categorization database comprising identifiers of web pages correlated to the plural categories to thereby determine the first one of the categories corresponding to the first unit of electronic content.

24. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20, the client further comprising instructions to copy a first resource locator from an address bar object of the browser and use the first resource locator to look up the first unit of electronic content in the categorization database.

25. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20, the client further comprising instructions to provide the unregistered user with the option to access a next recommended web page.

26. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20, the client further comprising instructions to:

automatically obtain a second recommendation of a third unit of electronic content which is in the first one of the plural categories

accept a second unregistered user input which shows the unregistered_user'"'"'s desire to activate the second recommendation,

cause the browser to request the third unit of electronic content.

27. The local device for browsing units of electronic content in conjunction with plural categories of claim 20 further comprising instructions for causing the computer to assess a charge against an account for making the first recommendation.

28. A method of recommending electronic content comprising the steps of:

providing plural categories

activating a client on a local device, the local device having an input device, an output device and a browser

the client monitoring browsing activity of an unregistered user, wherein the unregistered user is a user who has not entered a profile of any kind

the browser requesting a first unit of electronic content

in response to the browser requesting the first unit of electronic content, the client automatically obtaining a first one of the plural categories of human interest in which the first unit of electronic content belongs

after the first one of the plural categories is obtained, the client automatically obtaining a first recommendation of a second unit of electronic content which is in the first one of the plural categories

wherein the first recommendation is based on the first one of the plural categories of human interest and not on a user profile of any kind, any particular information about the unregistered user, or any past browsing activity of the unregistered user

while the web browser displays the first web page, the client generating a message on the output device which informs the unregistered user of the availability of the first recommendation

the unregistered user providing input to the client indicative of the unregistered user'"'"'s desire to activate the first recommendation

the browser outputting the second unit of electronic content to the output device.

29. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 wherein the step of the client obtaining the first recommendation is performed after the step of the unregistered user providing input.

30. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 wherein the client determines the first one of the plural categories in which the first unit of electronic content belongs.

31. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 wherein the client is an independent program.

32. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 wherein the step of automatic obtaining first one of the plural categories in which the first unit of electronic content belongs is performed by the steps of:

providing a categorization database comprising identifiers of unit of electronic content correlated to the plural categories

looking up the first unit of electronic content in the categorization database to thereby obtain_a first one of the categories corresponding to the first unit of electronic content.

33. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 further comprising the step of providing the unregistered user with the option to access a next recommended unit of electronic content.

34. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 wherein the output device comprises a display, and the web browser outputs unit of electronic content on the display.

35. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 further comprising the steps of:

the client automatically obtaining a second recommendation of a third unit of electronic content which is in the first one of the plural categories

after the step of the browser outputting the second unit of electronic content to the output device, the unregistered user providing input to the client indicative of the unregistered_user'"'"'s desire to activate the second recommendation, and in response the client causing the browser to request the third unit of electronic content

the browser outputting the third unit of electronic content to the output device.

36. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 wherein the recommendation is provided to the unregistered_user for free.

37. The method of recommending electronic content to an unregistered user of claim 28 further comprising, after the step of the unregistered user providing input, assessing a charge against an account for making the first recommendation.