Ulllted States Patent [19]
`Gri?iths
`
`[54] SYSTEM USING FIRST BANNER REQUEST
`THAT CAN NoT BE BLOCKED FROM
`
`REACHING A SERVER FOR ACCURATELY
`COUNTING DISPLAYS 0F BANNERS 0N
`NETWORK TERMINALS
`
`[75] Inventor: 2,2165%] John Gn?iths’ Broom?eld’
`'
`[73] Assignee: MatchLogic, Inc., Westminister, COlO.
`
`[21] Appl- NOJ (HS/872,971
`[22] Flled.
`Jun 11’ 1997
`
`-
`
`_
`
`US006014698A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`6,014,698
`Jan. 11, 2000
`
`5,781,550
`5,781,739
`5,793,972
`5,794,210
`5,796,952
`
`7/1998 Templin et al. ................. .. 395/200.48
`7/1998 Bach et al. ....................... .. 395/200.57
`8/1998 Shane ............................... .. 395/200.49
`8/1998 Goldhaber et al
`. 395/200.48
`8/1998 Davis et al. ..................... .. 395/20054
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`“Reload, Redraw, Repeat”, Paul Boutin, download from
`electronic webcite address as of May 16, 1997 of: httw://
`mwpacket~COm/PaCket/b0utm/ 97/ 17/geek>htm1#1>
`PP~
`“Advertisers, Privacy Advocates Clash Over Giving Users
`More ‘Cookie’ Control,” Angela Drolte, Electronic Infor
`' P l' y &L R p
`2 21 530 531 1997
`
`matzon 0 1c
`
`aw e 0rt ,
`
`:
`
`—
`
`.
`
`_
`_
`Related U-S- Apphcatlon Data
`
`[51]
`
`[63] Continuation-in-part of application No. 08/858,650, May
`19, 1997.
`7
`Int. Cl. .................................................... .. G06F 13/00
`U-S- Cl- ......................... ..
`[58] Field of Search ........................... .. 345/428; 709/224,
`709/217, 219
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U-S~ PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5 247 670 9/1993 Matsunaga ............................ .. 395/650
`5’289’371
`2/1994 Abel et ai _
`364/401
`5:341:477
`8/1994 Pitkin et a1_ _____________________ __ 395/20056
`5,347,632
`9/1994 Filepp et al. .......................... .. 395/200
`5,430,729
`7/1995 Rahnema
`270/94-1
`5,442,771
`8/1995 FilePP et a1~
`395/650
`giccatvale ~~
`
`Primary Examiner—Le Hien Luu
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Scott B. Allison; Chrisman
`B num & Johnson
`y
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A System for delivering information on a Computer network
`and allowing the information to be accessed
`terminals
`connected to the computer network, either directly or
`through intermediary devices such as local or proXy servers,
`including computer or web sites storing pages which are
`requested by terminals for display. The pages may include
`references for the display of banners. The terminal initiates
`access or connection to a desired computer or web site to
`access a desired Page- After the desired Page is downloaded
`and served to the terminal from the computer or web site, the
`terminal initiates and sends an initial banner request signal
`to an information server. The information server returns a
`redirect signal to the terminal telling the terminal the loca
`tion of the desired banner on the computer network, which
`may be the information server, the computer site, or some
`
`,
`
`,
`
`1 e e a .
`
`.
`
`-
`
`-
`
`.
`
`.
`
`_
`
`~ ~ ~ ~~ 397793
`5,572,643 11/1996 Judson ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
`395/200.01
`5,583,991 12/1996 Chatwam et al
`39500001
`575987532
`1/1997 Liron ________ __
`5,602,991
`2/1997 Berteau ............................ .. 395/200.01
`5,617,540
`4/1997 Civanlar et al. ................. .. 395/20011
`5,621,884
`4/1997 Beshears et al. .
`395/182.08
`5,628,009
`5/1997 Kikllta et al- --
`------ -- 395/610
`5,712,979
`1/1998 Grab“ ct a1~ ~~
`395/200-11
`5,715,453
`2/1998 Stewart "" "
`395/615
`5,727,129
`3/1998 Barrett et al. ..
`.... .. 395/12
`5742 768 4/1998 Gennaro et a1.
`395/20033
`5:764:235
`6/1998 Hunt et al.
`...... .. 345/428
`5,764,906
`6/1998 Edelstein et al. ................ .. 395/200.48
`5,774,660
`6/1998 Brendel et al. .................. .. 395/200.31
`
`Z5811? 351E312? iiilifétiiil?u?esililn‘illf ‘i335’ ‘1532?;
`p
`.
`'
`.
`.
`a second banner request signal to the location of the desired
`banner and the banner is downloaded to the terminal for
`display on the terminal, unless the requested banner has
`previously been stored or cached in the terminal’s memory
`or in the memory of a local or proXy server connected to the
`terminal, in which case the second banner request signal is
`not sent across the computer network and the banner is
`1 d d d~ U f
`th t
`-
`1,
`th
`oa e
`1rec y rom e ermma s memory or
`e proxy
`Server
`
`49 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`nnEs
`Y PAGEBDNTMN N
`mums
`7
`
`s8
`
`SEND \NlTlAL BANNER
`REQUEST S/GNAL
`
`‘
`
`11A
`
`BANNER
`RREVIBNSLY
`STOREB \N
`ERNlNAl
`
`'
`
`92
`
`N
`
`B4
`
`SENB SECOND
`REQUEST
`FDR BANNER
`FROM TERMINAL
`
`DlSPLAV REQUESTED
`AND SYoREB BANNER
`
`RVE ANB STBRE
`SE
`BANNER
`PROXY SERVER
`
`sENB SlcoNu
`REoUEsr FDR BANNER
`FROM PROXY SERVER
`
`SERVE ANu SmRE BANNER
`FROM BANNER-SITE
`
`Google Inc.
`GOOG 1001
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,014,698
`
`Page 1 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 11,2000
`
`Sheet 1 of4
`
`6,014,698
`
`PRIMARY r54
`
`COMPUTER
`N ETWORK
`
`‘ TERMINAL
`
`-
`
`L
`
`TERMINAL
`I 44
`
`H617
`
`Page 2 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 11,2000
`
`Sheet 2 of4
`
`6,014,698
`
`rs2
`/
`
`[~60
`
`XYZ COMPANY
`
`68 ’\do COMPANY HISTORY
`7O,~v@ PRODUCT LINE
`
`“J F/GZ
`
`L66
`
`Page 3 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 11,2000
`
`Sheet 3 0f 4
`
`6,014,698
`
`F72
`/8O
`
`SEND REQUEST
`FOR PAGE FROM‘
`TERMINAL
`
`SERVE AND STORE
`PAGE FROM
`PROXY SERVER
`
`SEND REQUEST
`FOR PAGE
`FROM PROXY
`SERVER
`
`86 I
`SERVE AND STORE
`PAGE FROM COMPUTER SITE
`
`DISPLAY
`REQUESTED AND
`STORED PAGE
`
`DISPLAYED REQUESTED
`AND STORED BANNER
`
`‘T
`
`CEND}
`
`I96
`
`SEND REQUEST
`FOR BANNER
`‘ FROM TERMINAL
`/1 O0
`SERVE AND STORE ‘
`BANNER FROM
`PROXY SERVER
`
`SEND REQUEST
`FOR BANNER
`FROM PROXY SERVER
`
`SERVE AND STORE BANNER
`FROM BANNER-SITE
`
`H615
`(PR/0R A
`
`Page 4 of 21
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jan. 11,2000
`
`Sheet 4 of4
`
`6,014,698
`
`SEND REQUEST
`FOR PAGE FROM
`TERMINAL
`
`SERVE AND STORE
`PAGE FROM
`PROXY SERVER
`
`SEND REQUESTI
`FOR PAGE
`FROM PROXY
`SERVER
`
`85
`1
`SERVE AND STDRE
`PAGE FROM cQMPuTER SITE
`
`DISPLAY
`REQUESTED AND
`STORED PAGE
`
`N
`
`1121 ‘
`SEND INITIAL BANNER
`REQUEST SIGNAL
`T
`RETURN BANNER ADDRESS
`LQcATIoN T0 TERMINAL .
`
`88
`J
`QPTIQNAL BANNER
`SELEcTIoN
`__________ ___i
`
`113
`F"
`
`98
`
`114/]
`
`I
`
`[-115
`SEND SECOND
`REQUEST
`FOR BANNER
`FROM TERMINAL
`/1OO
`94
`'
`; SERVE AND STQRE
`Y
`BANNER FROM
`DISPLAY REQUESTED
`AND STQRED BANNER
`PROXY SERVER
`
`SEND SECOND
`REQUEST FOR BANNER
`FROM PROXY SERVER
`104\
`TI
`SERVE AND STORE BANNER
`FROM BANNER-SITE
`
`END L
`LTJ‘
`
`H614
`
`Page 5 of 21
`
`

`

`1
`SYSTEM USING FIRST BANNER REQUEST
`THAT CAN NOT BE BLOCKED FROM
`REACHING A SERVER FOR ACCURATELY
`COUNTING DISPLAYS OF BANNERS ON
`NETWORK TERMINALS
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`INVENTION
`
`This application is a continuation-in-part of application
`Ser. No. 08/858,650, ?led May 19, 1997, noW pending, and
`entitled Information Storage and Delivery Over A computer
`NetWork Using CentraliZed Intelligence to Monitor and
`Control the Information Being Delivered.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`This invention relates to the system for the storage,
`management, and delivery of information on a computer
`netWork and, more speci?cally, to the ef?cient and accurate
`counting of advertising information displayed on terminals
`connected to the computer netWork.
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`During recent years there have been rapid advancements
`in computers and computer netWorking. In particular, the
`World-Wide netWork of computers commonly referred to as
`the Internet has seen explosive groWth The Internet com
`prises a vast netWork of smaller Wide area and local area
`computer netWorks connected together so as to alloW the
`sharing of resources and to facilitate data communication
`betWeen computers and users. The rapid groWth of the
`Internet is due, in large part, to the introduction and Wide
`spread use of graphical user interfaces called broWsers
`Which alloW users easy access to netWork servers and
`computers connected to the Internet and, more particularly,
`the World Wide Web.
`The World Wide Web forms a subset of the Internet and
`includes a collection of servers, computers, and other
`devices. Each server may contain documents formatted as
`Web pages or hypertext documents that are accessible and
`vieWable With a Web compliant broWser, such as the
`Netscape NavigatorTM broWser or the MosaicTM broWser.
`Each hypertext document or Web page may contain refer
`ences to graphic ?les or banners that are to be displayed in
`conjunction With the hypertext document or Web page. The
`?les and banners may or may not be stored at the same
`location as the hypertext document or Web page.
`A hypertext document often contains hypertext links to
`other hypertext documents such that the other hypertext
`documents can be accessed from the ?rst hypertext docu
`ment by activating the hypertext links. The servers con
`nected to the World Wide Web utiliZe the Hypertext Transfer
`Protocol (HTTP) Which is Widely knoWn protocol Which
`alloWs users to use broWsers to access Web pages and the
`banners or ?les associated With Web pages. The ?les,
`banners, hypertext documents, or Web pages may contain
`text, graphics, images, sound, video, etc. and are generally
`Written in a standard page or hypertext document description
`language knoWn as the Hypertext Markup Language
`(HTML). The HTML format alloWs a Web page developer to
`specify the location and presentation of the graphic, textual,
`sound, etc. on the screen displayed to the user accessing the
`Web page. In addition, the HTML format alloWs a Web page
`to contain links, such as the hypertext links described above,
`to other Web pages or servers on the Internet. Simply by
`selecting a link, a user can be transferred to the neW Web
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`6,014,698
`
`2
`page, Which may be located very different geographically or
`topologically from the original Web page.
`When using a conventional broWser, a user can select
`Which Web page or hypertext document the user Wishes to
`have displayed on the user’s computer or terminal by
`specifying the Web page’s Universal or Uniform Resource
`Locator (URL) address. Each server has a unique URL
`address and, in fact, so does each Web page and each ?le
`needed to display the Web page. For example, the URL
`address for the US. Patent and Trademark Of?ce is currently
`http://WWW.uspto.gov. When a user types in this URL
`address into a broWser, the user’s terminal establishes a
`connection With the US. Patent and Trademark Of?ce and
`the initial Web page for the US. Patent and Trademark Office
`is transmitted from the server storing this Web page (Which
`may or may not be actually located at the US. Patent and
`Trademark Office) to the user’s terminal and displayed on
`the user’s terminal. The Web page may include a number of
`graphic images or elements, often referred to as banners,
`Which are to be displayed on the user’s terminal in conjunc
`tion With the Web page. Each of the graphic images is
`typically stored as a separate ?le on the server and has its
`oWn URL address. When the Web page is initially transmit
`ted from the server to the user’s terminal, the broWser
`receives the URL addresses for the graphic images and then
`requests that they be transmitted from the server on Which
`they are stored to the user’s terminal for display on the user’s
`terminal in conjunction With the Web page. The server(s) on
`Which the graphic images are stored may or may not be the
`same server on Which the original Web page is stored. More
`speci?cally, since the URL’s addresses for the included
`graphic images are all processed separately using the HTML
`protocols, it is possible and, in fact, common, for these
`graphic images to be stored on separate and even Widely
`distributed computers or hosts, all of Which are accessible to
`the user’s terminal via a computer netWork. For purposes of
`the present invention, the term “banner” is meant to be
`construed very broadly and includes any information dis
`played in conjunction With a Web page Wherein the infor
`mation is not part of the same ?le as the Web page. That is,
`a banner includes anything that is displayed or used in
`conjunction With a Web page, but Which can exist separately
`from the Web page or Which can be used in conjunction With
`many Web pages. Banners can include graphics, textual
`information, video, audio, animation, and links to other
`computer sites, Web sites, Web pages, or banners.
`The groWth of easy access to the World Wide Web and the
`ability to create visually pleasing Web pages have helped
`increase the amount of advertising and other promotional
`materials created for use and display With Web pages. For
`example, a car manufacturer may have a Web page describ
`ing the company and the cars and car parts that the company
`manufactures and sells. Part of the Web page may include
`advertising information or banners such as, for example,
`images of current car models sold by the manufacturer or the
`types and numbers or cars the manufacturer has in stock. The
`car manufacturer may also contract With the oWners or
`operators of other Web pages to have the car manufacturer’s
`advertisement banners displayed When users access these
`other Web pages. Similarly, an advertising agency may
`contract With various Web sites to have the advertisement
`banners of the agency’s clients displayed When users access
`the Web pages stored on the Web sites. For example, an
`advertising agency or ad-netWork ?rm may contract With a
`Web site containing general information about cars to have
`advertising information or banners included on the Web
`pages displayed to a user accessing the Web site. The
`
`Page 6 of 21
`
`

`

`6,014,698
`
`3
`advertising banners may contain graphics, text, etc. about
`car models or car parts manufactured by on of the adver
`tising agency’s clients. Furthermore, the advertisement ban
`ners may not be stored on the same server or computer or
`Web site on Which the Web page is stored. Rather, all or a
`signi?cant portion of the advertisement banners created by
`an advertising agency may reside on one or more informa
`tion or ad servers. Typically, an advertising agency Will pay
`a ?xed amount of money for a ?xed number of displays of
`its advertisement banners on a single Web page or group of
`Web pages. Therefore, advertising agencies are understand
`ably very interested in knoWing Which advertisement ban
`ners have been displayed With Which Web pages and hoW
`often each advertisement banner has been displayed on
`terminals or otherWise served to terminals.
`Unfortunately, the current state of the art is such that
`accurate counts are not made of hoW many times an banner,
`even a banner containing an advertisement, is displayed to
`users or served to terminals. Furthermore, nature and extent
`of the problem of miscounting displays of banners is not
`Well-knoWn or even understood in the industry or by people
`of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, despite the Well
`developed state of the art in the displaying of information,
`banners, and advertisements in conjunction With Web pages,
`documents, or other information, there is still a need for a
`system for storing and delivering information and banners
`on a computer netWork Where accurate counts of the number
`of times each piece of information and banner is displayed
`can be made and the information and banners are displayed
`quickly and ef?ciently to users or terminals. In addition,
`there is a need for a highly reliable, even fault-tolerant,
`system for storing and delivering the information and ban
`ners that Will not signi?cantly reduce the ef?ciency of the
`Internet or the servers on Which the information and banners
`are stored, While providing for accurate monitoring and
`counting of the information and banners displayed to a user
`or served to a terminal.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention
`to provide a system for storing and delivering information
`on a computer netWork.
`It is a speci?c object of the present invention to provide
`a system for the storage, delivery monitoring, and tailoring
`of advertising information on a computer netWork.
`It is another general object of the present invention to
`provide a system for storing and delivering information on
`a computer netWork Wherein accurate counts of the number
`of times the information is displayed or served to users or
`terminals can be made.
`It is a speci?c object of the present invention to provide
`a system for storing and delivering information on a com
`puter netWork Wherein the operation of the computer net
`Work is not signi?cantly affected.
`It is another general object of the present invention to
`provide a system for storing and delivering information on
`a computer netWork Wherein the system maintains a high
`degree of reliability and fault tolerance.
`Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the
`invention shall be set forth in part in the description that
`folloWs, and in part Will become apparent to those skilled in
`the art upon examination of the folloWing or may be learned
`by the practice of the invention. The objects and the advan
`tages may be realiZed and attained by means of the instru
`mentalities and in combinations particularly pointed out in
`the appended claims.
`
`4
`To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accor
`dance With the purposes of the present invention, as embod
`ied and broadly described herein, the system includes ter
`minals connected to a computer netWork, either directly, or
`indirectly through an intermediary device such as a local or
`proxy server, that access computer or Web sites also con
`nected to the computer netWork to doWnload or transmit
`pages, documents, or other information from the computer
`or Web sites for storage or display on the terminals, Wherein
`the pages, documents, or other information served to the
`terminals contain references to banners to be displayed in
`conjunction With the pages, documents, and information.
`The terminal initiates access or connection to a desired
`computer or Web site to access a desired page. After the
`desired page is transmitted and served to the terminal from
`the computer or Web site, the terminal initiates and sends an
`initial banner request signal to an information server either
`requesting that unspeci?ed banner be served to the terminal
`or that a speci?ed banner be served to the terminal. The
`information server returns a redirect signal to the terminal
`telling the terminal the location on the computer netWork of
`the banner requested or speci?ed by the terminal or selected
`by the information server, Which location may be the infor
`mation server, the computer site, or some other information
`server, computer site, or location accessible to the terminal
`via the computer netWork. The terminal then initiates a
`second speci?c banner request signal to the location of the
`banner requested or speci?ed by the terminal or selected by
`the information server and the banner is transmitted to the
`terminal for display on the terminal, unless the requested or
`selected banner has previously been stored or cached in the
`terminal’s memory or in the memory of a local or proxy
`server connected to the terminal, in Which case the second
`banner request signal is not sent across the computer net
`Work and the banner is loaded and/or displayed directly from
`the terminal’s memory or served to the terminal from the
`proxy server. Each display of a banner on a terminal is
`counted, preferably by an information server, so that accu
`rate counts of banner displays can be made.
`
`In a second embodiment, a primary information server
`and at least one mirror information server are connected to
`the computer site, but may be separated either geographi
`cally or netWork topologically. The banner information
`stored in the primary information server is also stored in
`each of the mirror information servers. All of the initial
`banner request signals are sent to the primary information
`server Which determines Which information server is best
`suited for delivering the banner to the terminal sending the
`initial banner request signal. As in the ?rst embodiment, the
`banner may be speci?cally requested by the terminal or may
`be selected by the primary information server. The primary
`information server then sends a signal to the terminal
`indicating to the terminal Which information server the
`terminal should request the requested or selected banner
`from. The terminal then generates the second banner request
`signal to serve or transmit the banner from the information
`server selected by the primary information server. Should
`the primary information server go of?ine, one or more of the
`mirror information servers can become a neW primary
`information server.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`65
`
`The accompanying draWings, Which are incorporated in
`and form a part of the speci?cation, illustrate the preferred
`embodiments of the present invention, and together With the
`descriptions serve to explain the principles of the invention.
`
`Page 7 of 21
`
`

`

`6,014,698
`
`5
`
`In the Drawings:
`FIG. 1 illustrates a computer network over Which the
`present invention can be implemented;
`FIG. 2 shoWs an representative Web page accessible from
`a computer site connected to the computer netWork of FIG.
`1;
`FIG. 3 shoWs a ?oWchart diagram of a prior method for
`storing and delivering information across the computer
`netWork of FIG. 1; and
`FIG. 4 shoWs a ?oWchart diagram of the preferred method
`of the present invention for storing and delivering informa
`tion across the computer netWork of FIG. 1.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`A representative computer netWork 30 is illustrated in
`FIG. 1 and includes computers or terminals 32, 34, 36, 38,
`40, 42, 44 With Which users can access or connect to the
`computer netWork 30 and the resources connected to the
`computer netWork 30 such as the computer or Web sites or
`servers 46, 48. The computer netWork 30 can include
`satellite links, microWave links, ?ber optic transmission
`lines, local area netWorks, Wide area netWorks, etc.
`Terminals, such as the terminals 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, may be
`connected to the computer netWork 30 via local or caching
`proxy servers 50, 52 or other intermediary devices (not
`shoWn). Proxy servers alloW multiple terminals to access the
`computer netWork 30, While reducing the number of physi
`cal connections to the computer netWork 30, as Will be
`discussed in more detail beloW. A primary information
`server 54 and mirror information servers 56, 58 may also be
`connected to the computer netWork 30 to facilitate the
`serving and displaying of information or banners to the
`terminals 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, as Will also be discussed
`in more detail beloW. The computer netWork 30 illustrated in
`FIG. 1 is only meant to be generally representative of
`computer netWorks for purposes of elaboration and expla
`nation of the present invention and other devices, netWorks,
`etc. may be connected to the computer netWork 30 Without
`departing from the scope of the present invention. The
`computer netWork 30 is also intended to be representative of,
`and include, the Internet, the World Wide Web, privately or
`publicly oWned or operated netWorks such as, for example,
`Tymnet, Telenet, America On-Line, Prodigy, Compuserve,
`Information America, and the Microsoft NetWork, and other
`local or Wide area computer netWorks. The computer net
`Work 30 can also include or be representative of corporate or
`other private intranets, Which are privately oWned netWorks
`using Internet protocols. It should also be noted that the
`distinction betWeen information servers, Web site, computer
`sites, and generic servers is made only for the purposes of
`elaboration and explanation of the present invention and that
`a device can function simultaneously or alternatively as a
`computer site, Web site, information server, generic server,
`or other device, or combinations thereof Without falling
`outside the scope of the present invention.
`By Way of general introduction, in a typical computer
`netWork, a user located at a terminal can access the resources
`connected to the computer netWork. For example, a user at
`the terminal 34 or terminal 36 can access the Web site or
`computer site 46 and the information stored thereon. The
`computer site or server 46 may contain Web pages, such as
`the Web page 60 illustrated in FIG. 2, that the user can
`doWnload for display on the terminal 34. For purposes of
`this invention, the term “Web page” shall be de?ned broadly
`and Will include any hypertext document, information,
`screen displays, etc. that a user can doWnload or otherwise
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`6
`retrieve from a computer or Web site for display and/or
`storage on the user’s terminal, and shall not be limited to
`only the information, pages, or documents retrievable by a
`user connected to the World Wide Web. Therefore, the term
`“Web page” Will be used generically to refer to information
`transmitted or served to a terminal from a computer site, Web
`site, server, or other device, Wherein the Web page may
`contain banners or references to banners that can be served
`to the terminal and displayed in conjunction With the Web
`page. The Web page 60 may contain textual information,
`such as “XYZ COMPANY” and “Company History,” and
`information con?gured in banners, such as the banners 62,
`64, 66. The banners 62, 64, 66 may contain graphics, text,
`video, etc. As Will be discussed in more detail beloW, the
`banners associated With a Web page may not be stored at the
`same place as the Web page and may be doWnloaded or
`served to a user’s terminal separately from the Web page. A
`signi?cant feature and advantage of the present invention is
`in the Way the banner information is selected and doWn
`loaded or served to a user’s terminal from computer sites or
`information servers connected over a same computer
`netWork, as Will be discussed in more detail beloW. The
`current state of the art is such that the counts of banner
`displays are largely inaccurate, banners are not targetable to
`large segments of the population using caching proxy
`servers, and suffers When the performance gains provided by
`proxy servers are not taken into account in prior art methods
`of counting banner displays, as Will also be discussed in
`more detail beloW.
`In a conventional Web page, such as the Web page 60, if
`a user clicks on, or otherWise activates, the button associated
`With the textual information, a neW Web page might be
`displayed on the user’s terminal. For example, if the user
`clicks on the button 68 associated With the textual informa
`tion “Company History,” a neW Web page devoted to the
`history of the XYZ company might be served from the
`computer site 46 to the user’s terminal 34 and displayed on
`the user’s terminal 34. Similarly, if the user clicks on the
`button 70 associated With the textual information “Product
`Line,” a neW Web page devoted to the product line of the
`XYZ company might be served from the computer site 46 to
`the user’s terminal 34 and displayed on the user’s terminal
`34. Each Web page may contain similar “links” to other Web
`pages, hypertext documents, Web sites, etc. Activating a link
`available on a Web page or hypertext document, therefore,
`provides the user With an ability to navigate or move to and
`display or doWnload different documents, pages, banners,
`sites, or other information via the computer netWork 30.
`When a user has a Web page displayed on the user’s
`terminal, the Web page and its associated banners are often
`stored or cached in the terminal’s memory for a period of
`time. In this fashion, if the user desires or requests that a Web
`page previously displayed to the user on the terminal be
`reaccessed and displayed on the user’s terminal, the Web
`page and the banners associated With the requested Web page
`can be loaded directly from the terminal’s memory Without
`reconnecting to the computer or Web site on Which the Web
`page is stored and from Which the Web page Was originally
`served and Without reconnecting to the computer site or
`information server on Which the banners are stored and from
`the banners Were originally served, thereby reducing the
`time needed to display the Web page. Similarly, if the user’s
`terminal is connected to a local or proxy server, the Web
`page and the banners associated With the Web page may be
`stored in the memory of the proxy server. Should the user at
`a terminal request a redisplay of a Web page previously
`displayed on the user’s terminal or previously displayed on
`
`Page 8 of 21
`
`

`

`6,014,698
`
`7
`any other terminal connected to the same proxy server, the
`Web page and the banners associated from the Web page can
`be served from the proxy server to the terminal for display
`on the terminal Without connecting to the computer or Web
`site on Which the Web page is stored and from Which the Web
`page Was originally doWnloaded or served and Without
`connecting to computer site or information servers on Which
`the banners are stored and from Which the banners Were
`originally transmitted or served. Note that, in the case that
`the information is retrieved from a copy of the information
`previously stored held Within a proxy server connected to
`the terminal, the serving of the information to the terminal
`Will typically be completed by sending the information from
`the proxy server to the terminal, i.e., Without the participa
`tion of the computer site or server. Therefore, it is dif?cult
`for the computer site or server 46 to maintain an accurate
`count of the terminals 36, 38, etc. on Which the information
`is displayed if the terminals are connected to caching proxy
`servers, if the performance bene?ts offered by the caching
`proxy server are desired.
`As previously discussed above, a signi?cant feature and
`advantage of the present invention is in the Way the banner
`information is selected and transmitted and served to the
`user’s terminal from computer sites or information servers
`connected over a same computer netWork. More speci?cally,
`the method of the present invention alloWs banner informa
`tion to be served over a computer netWork to a terminal,
`computer, etc. in a Way Which takes advantage of the
`performance enhancements offered by caching proxy serv
`ers and such that the operation of the computer netWork is
`not signi?cantly affected While providing the ability to
`accurately track or count the number of times the banner
`information has been displayed on terminals connected to
`the computer netWork, as Will be discussed in more detail
`beloW. It is not uncommon for banners to contain up to ?fty
`kilobytes
`of information, thereby making the limiting
`of banner transmissions across a computer netWork very
`signi?cant to the efficiency and operation of the computer
`netWork and to banner serving computer systems.
`For purposes of elaboration and explanation of the present
`invention, the conventions and protocols of the World Wide
`Web, and broWsers therefore, Will be used as examples, in
`particular, the concept of a Uniform Resource Locator
`(URL), the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the Hyper
`text Markup Language (HTML), and the Transmission Con
`trol Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). It should be noted,
`hoWever, that the concepts underlying the present invention
`can be used for computer netWorks using other or different
`types of conventions and protocols. For more details on
`these protocols, the reader is directed to: Kevin Washburn
`and Jim Evans, T CP/IP running a successful network, 2nd
`Ed. (1996), published by Addison-Wesley, Douglas E.
`Comer, Internetworking with T CP/IR 3rd Ed. (1995), pub
`lished by Prentice Hall, John December and Mark Ginsberg,
`HTML 3.2 and CGI Unleashed Professional Reference Edi
`tion (1996), published by Sams.net Publishing, and Jerry
`Honeycutt et al., Using HTML 3.2, 3rd Ed (1997), published
`by Que Corporation, all of these references of Which are
`incorporated herein by reference. Other information about
`the HTTP, HTML, TCP/IP and other netWork protocols can
`also be found in US. Pat. No. 5,617,540 issued to Civanlar
`et al., US. Pat. No. 5,572,643 issued to Judson, and US. Pat.
`No. 5,442,771 issued to Filepp et al., all of Which are also
`incorporated herein by reference. The linking of one Web
`page or hypertext document to another is commonly done
`using a hypertext markup comment tag. When the user
`clicks on or otherWise activates the hypertext markup com
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`8
`ment tag, a link to the neW Web page or hypertext docume