EP1045547A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Monitoring of individual internet usage
Assignee: NetZero Inc
•
Filing: 2000-03-06
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2020-03-06
Abstract
Abstract Disclosed is a device and method in which the on-line activities of an on-line user are monitored and stored. Information regarding the user's activities are used as a basis for targeting advertisements to the user. Monitoring is performed by a client monitoring application, which performs monitoring without intruding on the user's activities. According to one aspect of the invention, URLs in the address bar of the browser application are obtained by the client monitoring application. According to another aspect of the invention, the stream of URLs transmitted by the browser application are obtained by the client monitoring application. According to another aspect of the invention, information in displayed web pages is obtained by the client monitoring application.
Inventors
- 👤 Stacy Haitsuka
- 👤 Marwan Zebian
- 👤 Harold Mackenzie
- 👤 Ronald Burr
- 👤 Terry Warren
- 👤 Shane Blaser
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 21:51
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06Q; G06Q30/00; G06Q30/02; H; H04; H04L; H04L67/00; H04L67/50; H04L67/75
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 45
Claim 1
Independent Claim
233 words
A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by
means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a
display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window
on the display and for requesting web pages, the browser window including a display
pane and an address bar, the display pane comprising a first region of the browser
window wherein the browser application causes web pages obtained by the browser
application to be displayed, the address bar comprising a second region of the browser
window through which the browser application displays resource locator strings
corresponding to displayed web pages, the method comprising the steps of: (a) activating a client monitoring application on the client computer; (b) the browser application activating on the client computer; (c) the user using the input device and the browser application to request a first
web page desired by the user from a web server; (d) the browser application displaying a first resource locator string
corresponding to the first web page in the address bar; (e) the client monitoring application copying the first resource locator string
from the address bar; and (f) the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring information
derived from the copied resource locator string to a monitoring server; whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user's
use of the browser application.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the input device comprises a keyboard, and the method further comprises, in the
step of the user using the input device and the browser application to request the
first web page, the user using the keyboard to enter the first resource locator string
into the address bar.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
127 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim, wherein the
input device comprises a pointing device, and the method further comprises: after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the
browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane
including a hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink is associated with the first resource locator
string; and in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to
request the first web page, the user using the pointing device to click on the hyperlink; wherein the browser application displays the first resource locator string in the
address bar in response to the user using the mouse to click on the hyperlink.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
96 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, the
method further comprising: after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the
browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane
including a data entry field; and in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to
request the first web page, the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the
data entry field; whereby the first resource locator string includes the keyword.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the web server is part of the Internet.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the first resource locator string comprises a top level domain name and a second level
domain name, and wherein the monitoring information comprises the top level domain
name and the second level domain name.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 1, wherein
the web server is part of an intranet.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
216 words
A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by
means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a
display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window
on the display, the browser window including a display pane, the browser application
further for requesting web pages and displaying web pages in the display pane, wherein
the user causes the browser application to request web pages through use of the input
device, the method comprising the steps of: (a) activating a client monitoring application on the client computer; (b) the browser application activating on the client computer; (c) the user using the input device to identify to the browser application a
desired first web page; (d) the browser application transmitting a first resource locator string
corresponding to the desired first web page to a first web server; (e) the client monitoring application copying the first resource locator string
from the transmission by the browser application of the first resource locator string to
the first web server; and (f) the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring information
derived from the copied first resource locator string to a monitoring server; whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user's
use of the browser application.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
109 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein the browser window further includes an address bar, the address bar
comprising a second region of the browser window through which the browser
application receives resource locator strings entered by the user, and the resource
locator strings entered by the user correspond to web pages which the user desires to be
displayed in the display pane; the method further comprising, in the step of the user using the input device to
identify to the browser application the desired first web page, the user entering the first
resource locator string into the address bar.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
128 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein
the input device comprises a pointing device, and the method further comprises, after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer, the
browser application displaying a second web page in the display pane, the display pane
including a hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink is associated with the first resource locator
string; and in the step of the user using the input device and the browser application to
request the first web page, the user using the pointing device to click on the hyperlink; wherein the browser application displays the first resource locator string in the
address bar in response to the user using the mouse to click on the hyperlink.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
130 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, the
method further comprising: (a) after the step of the browser application activating on the client computer,
the browser application displaying a second web page, wherein the second web page
includes a data entry field; (b) in the step of the user using the input device to identify to the browser
application the desired first web page, the user using the input device to enter a
keyword into the data entry field; (c) in the step of the browser application transmitting the first string to the web
server, the first resource locator string including the keyword; (d) in the step of the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring
information, the monitoring information identifying the keyword.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
88 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 11, after the step of the client monitoring application copying the first resource
locator string, the client monitoring application testing whether the first resource locator
string includes a predefined second string; if the first resource locator string includes the predefined second string, then the
client monitoring application parsing the first resource locator string and deriving the
keyword from the first resource locator string, and otherwise omitting the step of the
identifier identifying the keyword.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 0, wherein
the source of web pages comprises the Internet.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein
the first resource locator string comprises a top level domain name and a second level
domain name, and wherein the monitoring information transmitted by the client
monitoring application comprises the top level domain name and the second level
domain name.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 8, wherein
the source of web pages comprises an intranet.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
208 words
A method of monitoring web browsing by a user, wherein the user browses by
means of a browser application on a client computer, the client computer comprising a
display and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window
on the display, the browser window including a display pane, the browser application
further for requesting web pages and displaying web pages in the display pane, wherein
the user causes the browser application to request web pages through use of the input
device, the method comprising the steps of: (a) activating a client monitoring application on the client computer; (b) the browser application activating on the client computer; (c) the browser application receiving a first web page from a first web server,
the first web page comprising a data entry field; (d) the browser application displaying the first web page in the display pane; (e) the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field; (f) the client monitoring application copying the keyword from the displayed
first web page; and (g) the client monitoring application transmitting an identifier of the keyword to
a predetermined server; whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user's
use of the browser application.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 16, wherein
the identifier comprises the keyword.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
100 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 16, wherein
the first web page has associated therewith a first resource locator string, the method
further including the steps of: the client monitoring application testing whether the first resource locator string
includes a predefined second string; if the first resource locator string includes the predefined second string, then
performing the step of the client monitoring application copying the keyword from the
displayed first web page, and otherwise omitting the steps of the client monitoring
application copying the keyword and transmitting the identifier of the keyword.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 18, wherein
the first web server includes a search engine and the predefined second string identifies
the search engine.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of monitoring web browsing by a user as set forth in claim 19, wherein
the predefined second string is selected from the group consisting of: "yahoo," "excite,"
"altavista," "lycos," "infoseek" and "go."
Claim 21
Independent Claim
275 words
A method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device, the local device including an input device and an output
device, the local device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the
Internet using a browser application operative on the local device, the browser
application for generating a browser window on the output device and for requesting
web pages, the browser window including a display pane and an address bar, the
display pane comprising a first region of the browser window wherein the browser
application causes web pages obtained by the browser application to be displayed, the
address bar comprising a second region of the browser window through which the
browser application displays resource locator strings corresponding to displayed web
pages in the display pane, the method comprising the steps of: (a) the user causing the local device to connect to a web server; (b) the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a
monitoring server; (c) the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the
monitoring server; (d) the user identifying to the browser application a first web page desired by
the user into the browser window's address bar using the input device wherein a first
resource locator string is associated with the first web page; (e) the client monitoring application copying the first resource locator string
from the address bar; and (f) the client monitoring application deriving monitoring information from the
first resource locator string, the monitoring information comprising at least a part of the
first resource locator string; and (g) the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring information to
the monitoring server.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 21, wherein the first resource locator string
includes a second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the
second level domain name.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 21, wherein the client monitoring application
transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
194 words
A method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device, the local device including an input device and an output
device, the local device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the
Internet using a browser application operative on the local device, the method
comprising the steps of: (a) the user causing the local device to connect to a first web server; (b) the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a
monitoring server; (c) the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the
monitoring server; (d) the user using the input device, the output device and the browser
application to interact with the first web server, wherein the browser application
transmits resource locator strings to the first web server to request specific data from
the first web sewer; (e) concurrently with the user interacting with the first web server, the client
monitoring application monitoring the resource locator strings transmitted to the first
web server; (f) the client monitoring application deriving monitoring information from each
such resource locator string; and (g) the client monitoring application transmitting the monitoring information to
the monitoring server string.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 24, wherein the resource locator string includes a
second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the second level
domain name.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 24, wherein the client monitoring application
transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
265 words
A method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client application on a
local device, the local device including an input device and an output device, the local
device accessing the Internet and providing interaction with the Internet using a browser
application operative on the local device, the method comprising the steps of: (a) the user causing the local device to connect to a first web server; (b) the client monitoring application establishing a communication link to a
monitoring server; (c) the client monitoring application transmitting identifying information to the
monitoring server; (d) the browser application displaying a first web page in the display pane, the
first web page comprising a data entry field; (e) the user using the input device to enter a keyword into the data entry field; (f) the browser application transmitting a first resource locator string to the first
web server, wherein the first resource locator string includes the keyword; (g) the client monitoring application copying the first resource locator string
from the transmission by the browser application of the first resource locator string to
the first web server; and (h) the client monitoring application testing whether the first resource locator
includes a predefined second string; and (i) if the first resource locator string includes the predefined second string, then: (1) the client monitoring application parsing the first resource locator
string and deriving the keyword from the first resource locator string; and (2) the client monitoring application transmitting monitoring
information to the monitoring server, the monitoring information comprising at least a
part of the first resource locator string.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 27, wherein the first resource locator string
includes a second level domain name and the monitoring information includes the
second level domain name.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 27, wherein the client monitoring application
transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 27, wherein the web server includes a search
engine and the predefined second string identifies the search engine.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of monitoring a user's usage of the Internet using a client monitoring
application on a local device of claim 30, wherein the second string includes a second
level domain name selected from the group consisting of: "yahoo," "excite," "altavista,"
"lycos," "infoseek" and "go."
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
287 words
A local device comprising a display and an input device for providing browsing
to a user by means of a browser application on a client computer, and further for
monitoring web browsing by the user by means of a client application, (a) the browser application comprising computer readable program code and
operative on the local device for generating a browser window on the
display and for requesting web pages, the browser window including a
display pane comprising a first region of the browser window wherein the
browser application causes web pages obtained by the browser application
to be displayed, the displayed web pages having associated therewith
respective resource locator strings, the browser application defining an
address bar object in which, at any given time, the browser application
stores the resource locator string corresponding to the then-displayed web
page, the browser application comprising computer readable program
code for causing the local device to: (1) accept a request by the user, using the input device, for the browser
application to display a first web page from a web server; (2) request the first web page from the web server; (3) receive the first web page from the web server; (4) display the first web page in the display pane; (5) store in the address bar a first resource locator string corresponding
to the first web page; (b) the client application comprising computer readable program code for
causing the local device to: (1) obtain the first resource locator string from the address bar object; (2) derive monitoring information from the first resource locator
string; (3) transmit the monitoring information to a monitoring server; whereby browsing by the user is monitored without interfering with the user's use
of the browser application.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
80 words
The local device as set forth in claim 32 wherein the input device comprises a
keyboard, the browser application further comprises an address bar comprising a second
region of the browser window in which the browser application displays the resource
locator string corresponding to the ten-displayed web page, the browser application
further comprises computer readable program code for causing the local device to accept
from the keyboard the user's entry of the first resource locator string into the address bar.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
67 words
The local device as set forth in claim 32, wherein browser application includes
computer readable program code for causing the local device to display a second web page in the display pane, the displayed web page including
a data entry field; and accepting the user's entry of a keyword using the input device into the data entry
field; wherein the first resource locator string includes the keyword.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
18 words
The local device as set forth in claim 32, wherein the web server is part of the
Internet.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
44 words
The local device as set forth in claim 35, wherein the first resource locator string
comprises a top level domain name and a second level domain name, and wherein the
monitoring information comprises the top level domain name and the second level
domain name.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
18 words
The local device as set forth in claim 32, wherein the web server is part of an
intranet.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
43 words
The local device as set forth in claim 32, the client monitoring application further
comprising computer readable program code for causing the local device to: establish a communication link to the monitoring server; and transmit information identifying the user to the monitoring server.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
34 words
The local device as set forth in claim 32, the client monitoring application further
comprising computer readable, program code for encoding the monitoring information
prior to transmitting the monitoring information to the monitoring server.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
194 words
A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a
client monitoring application comprising computer readable program code embodied
therein for monitoring web browsing by a user of a local device, the user browsing on
the local device by means of a browser application, the local device comprising a display
and an input device, the browser application for generating a browser window on the
display and for requesting and displaying web pages, wherein the displayed web pages
have associated therewith respective resource locator strings, the browser application
defining an address bar object in which, at any given time, the browser application stores
the resource locator string corresponding to the then-displayed web page, the client
monitoring application comprising computer readable code for operating the local device
to: (a) receive from the user information identifying the user to the monitoring
server; (b) transmit the identifying information to the monitoring server to thereby
establish a session with the monitoring server; (c) obtain a first resource locator string from the address bar object of the
browser application; (d) derive monitoring information from the first resource locator string; and (e) transmit the monitoring information to the monitoring server.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
40 words
The computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a
client monitoring application for monitoring web browsing by a user of a local device as
set forth in claim 40, wherein the first resource locator string comprises a URL.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
47 words
The computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a
client monitoring application for monitoring web browsing by a user of a local device as
set forth in claim 41, wherein the monitoring information comprises a top level domain
name and a second level domain name.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
127 words
The computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a
client monitoring application for monitoring web browsing by a user of a local device as
set forth in claim 40, wherein the resource locator strings for at least some of the
displayed web pages include keywords, the client monitoring application further
including computer readable code for operating the local device to: receive from the monitoring server a match string; test whether the first resource locator string includes the match string; if the first resource locator string includes the match string, then: test whether the resource locator string includes a keyword, if the resource locator string includes a keyword, then: obtain the keyword from the first resource locator string; transmit the obtained keyword to the monitoring server;.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
48 words
The computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a
client monitoring application for monitoring web browsing by a user of a local device
as set forth in claim 40, wherein the client monitoring application transmits the
monitoring information to the monitoring server in a coded format.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
21 words
A local device comprising the computer program product comprising a
computer usable medium having a client monitoring application of claim 40.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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