Content display monitor

• US 8,713,428 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: comScore, Inc., Nielsen Company (US), LLC, Nuweb
• Original Assignee: comScore, Inc.
• Inventors: Blumenau, Trevor
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn, Gregory J
• Application Number:
  US11/618,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20070106792A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,678 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/205, 715/208, 715/234, 715/240, 715/267, 715/273
• US Class Current: 715/240
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/34 Recording or statistical evaluation of computer activity, e.g. of down time, of input/output operation ; Recording or statistical evaluation of user activity, e.g. usability assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/348 Circuit details, i.e. tracer hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3485 for I/O devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/875 Monitoring of systems including the internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters

Abstract

The invention can enable monitoring of the display of content by a computer system. Moreover, the invention can enable monitoring of the displayed content to produce monitoring information from which conclusions may be deduced regarding the observation of the displayed content by an observer. The invention can also enable monitoring of the display at a content display site of content that is provided by a content provider site over a network to the content display site. Additionally, the invention can enable the expeditious provision of updated and/or tailored content over a network from a content provider site to a content display site so that the content provider'"'"'s current and appropriately tailored content is always displayed at the content display site. Aspects of the invention related to transfer of content over a network are generally applicable to any type of network. However, it is contemplated that the invention can be particularly useful with a computer network, including private computer networks (e.g., America Online™) and public computer networks (e.g., the Internet). In particular, the invention can be advantageously used with computer networks or portions of computer networks over which video and/or audio content are transferred from one network site to another network site for observation, such as the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.

Claims

1. A method to monitor display of web page content, the method comprising:

receiving from an unregistered client a request for a web page at a first server, wherein the unregistered client is not registered with the first server; and

transferring a file for constructing the web page from the first server to the unregistered client, the file including;

(1) at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that when executed by the unregistered client causes detecting of display of content included with the web page; and

(2) at least one computer executable transfer instruction, that when executed by the unregistered client causes transferring of monitoring information generated by the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction to a second server which did not transfer the file and which is different from the first server;

wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction is embedded within the file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction comprises at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that when executed by the unregistered client causes monitoring of a user input relating to the web page.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the user input comprises a mouse click.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the user input comprises a keyboard input.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein monitoring of the user input comprises monitoring events transmitted by an operating system of the unregistered client.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction comprises a link to at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that resides external to the file and that causes generation of the monitoring information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer executable transfer instruction, when executed by the unregistered client, causes the unregistered client to make a request to the second server.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second server sends at least one further monitoring instruction to the unregistered client in response to the request.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the file is an HTML file.

10. A method for monitoring display of web page content, the method comprising:

receiving from an unregistered client a request for a file at a first server, wherein the unregistered client is not registered with the first server; and

transferring the file from the first server to the unregistered client, the file including;

(1) at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that when executed by the unregistered client causes detecting of display of content included with the file; and

(2) at least one computer executable transfer instruction, that when executed by the unregistered client causes transferring of monitoring information generated by the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction to a second server, which did not transfer the file and which is different from the first server;

wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction is embedded within the file.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction comprises at least one computer executable instruction that when executed by the unregistered client causes monitoring of a user input relating to the file.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction comprises a link to at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that resides external to the file and that causes generation of the monitoring information.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein monitoring of the user input comprises monitoring events recognized by an operating system of the unregistered client.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one computer executable transfer instruction, when executed by the unregistered client, causes the unregistered client to make a request to the second server.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second server sends at least one further monitoring instruction to the unregistered client in response to the request.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the file is an HTML file.

17. A method to monitor display of web page content, the method comprising:

requesting, by an unregistered client, a file from a first server, wherein the unregistered client is not registered with the first server; and

receiving the file from the first server the file including;

(1) at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that when executed by the unregistered client causes detecting of display of content included with the file; and

(2) at least one computer executable transfer instruction, that when executed by the unregistered client causes transferring of monitoring information generated by the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction to a second server, which did not transfer the file and which is different from the first server;

wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction is embedded within the file.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction comprises at least one computer executable instruction that when executed by the unregistered client further causes monitoring of a user input relating to the file.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one computer executable monitoring instruction comprises a link to at least one computer executable monitoring instruction that resides external to the file and that causes generation of the monitoring information.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein monitoring of the user input comprises monitoring events recognized by an operating system of the unregistered client.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one computer executable transfer instruction, when executed by the unregistered client, causes the unregistered client to make a request to the second server.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving, by the unregistered client, at least one further monitoring instruction that is transmitted in response to the request.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the file is an HTML file.