Title: Network resource access method, product, and apparatus
Abstract: When a user retrieves a web page from a network and it is determined that the web page can be accessed from the network with a resource location request including a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) having one or more URI components, one or more domain names can be generated from at least one of a one or more URI components and at least a portion of the web page, and the user can be provided a copy of the web page from the network along with the ability to determine whether at least one domain name of said one or more domain names is available for registration.
Patent Number: 6,973,505 Issued on 12/06/2005 to Schneider
| Inventors:
|
Schneider; Eric (13944 Cedar Rd. #258, University Hts., OH 44118)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
644587 |
| Filed:
|
August 23, 2000 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
709/245; 709/223; 709/228 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G06F 015/16 |
| Field of Search: |
709/245,246,244,203,227,228,226,223
705/14
707/10
703/313
715/501.1
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 5649186 | Jul., 1997 | Ferguson.
| |
| 5890172 | Mar., 1999 | Borman et al.
| |
| 5907680 | May., 1999 | Nielsen.
| |
| 5913215 | Jun., 1999 | Rubinstein et al.
| |
| 5999912 | Dec., 1999 | Wodarz et al.
| |
| 6006264 | Dec., 1999 | Colby et al.
| |
| 6009459 | Dec., 1999 | Belfiore et al.
| |
| 6128623 | Oct., 2000 | Mattis et al.
| |
| 6338082 | Jan., 2002 | Schneider.
| |
| 6363433 | Mar., 2002 | Nakajima.
| |
| 6560634 | May., 2003 | Broadhurst.
| |
| 6678717 | Jan., 2004 | Schneider.
| |
| 2002/0156800 | Oct., 2002 | Ong.
| |
Other References
Network Working Group, Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): General Syntax by
T. Berners-Lee et al, Aug. 1998.
Network Working Group, Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): General Syntax by
T. Berners-Lee et al, Aug. 1998.
|
Primary Examiner: Alam; Hosain
Assistant Examiner: Bruckart; Benjamin
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The application for patent claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.
No. 60/153,594 filed Sep. 13, 1999, by Schneider and U.S. Provisional Application
Ser. No. 60/152,015 filed Sep. 1, 1999, by Schneider, et al., which are hereby
incorporated by reference.
The application for patent is also related to co-pending applications and claims
the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/643,584 filed Aug. 22, 2000,
by Schneider, et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/598,134 filed Jun. 21,
2000, by Schneider, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/532,500 filed Mar.
21, 2000, by Schneider, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Claims
1. A method for a user retrieving a web page from a network comprising:
determining that the web page can be accessed from the network with a resource
location request including a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) having one or more
URI components;
generating one or more domain names from at least one of a one or more URI components
and at least a portion of the web page; and,
providing the user with the web page from the network and providing the user
with an ability to determine whether at least one domain name of said one or more
domain names is available for registration.
2. The method, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said generating said one or more
domain names from said at least a portion of the web page includes receiving markup
language from the web page, said markup language including head information.
3. The method, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said markup language is one of
a HTML, DHTML, XML, XHTML, and SGML.
4. The method, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said head information includes
at least one of a title information and meta information.
5. The method, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said receiving said markup language
from the web page includes retrieving said at least a portion of the web page with
at least one of a HTTP HEAD request and HTTP GET request.
6. The method, as set forth in claim 1, further including selecting one or more
advertisements corresponding to at least one of a one or more domain names, one
or more URI components, and at least a portion of the web page.
7. The method, as set forth in claim 6, wherein said one or more advertisements
is selected from at least one table of advertisements.
8. The method, as set forth in claim 7, wherein said at least one table of advertisements
is organized by one or more groups and categories.
9. The method, as set forth in claim 7, wherein said at least one table of advertisements
can be accessed from an advertisement cache.
10. The method, as set forth in claim 6, wherein a first entity manages the web
page and said one or more advertisements correspond to a second entity that represents
business competition to said first entity.
11. The method, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said at least one domain name
is generated from at least one keyword extracted from said at least one of a one
or more URI components and at least a portion of the web page.
12. The method, as set forth in claim 1, further including generating one or
more keywords and search terms used to assist the user with performing an internet
search engine request corresponding to at least one of a one or more domain names,
one or more URI components, and at least a portion of the web page.
13. The method, as set forth in claim 12, further including providing the user
with an ability to request an internet search engine request from said one of a
one or more keywords and search terms.
14. A computer program product comprising computer readable program code stored
on a computer readable medium, the program code adapted to execute a method for
a user requesting a web page from a network including determining that the web
page can be accessed from the network with a resource location request including
a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) having at least one URI component, generating
one or more domain names from at least one of a one or more URI components and
at least a portion of the web page, and providing the user with the web page from
the network and providing the user with an ability to determine whether at least
one domain name of said one or more domain names is available for registration.
15. A method for a user requesting a web page from a network comprising:
determining that the web page can be accessed from the network with a resource
location request including a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) having one or more
URI components;
at least one of a generating one or more domain names from said one or more URI
components and selecting one or more advertisements from said one or more URI components; and,
providing the user with the web page from the network and providing the user
with an ability to at least one of a determine whether at least one domain name
of said one or more domain names is available for registration and view at least
one advertisement of said one or more advertisements.
16. The method, as set forth in claim 15, wherein said one or more advertisements
is selected from at least one table of advertisements.
17. The method, as set forth in claim 15, wherein said at least one table of
advertisements is organized by one or more groups and categories.
18. The method, as set forth in claim 16, wherein said at least one table of
advertisements can be accessed from an advertisement cache.
19. The method, as set forth in claim 16, wherein a first entity manages the
web page and said one or more advertisements correspond to a second entity that
represents business competition to said first entity.
20. The method, as set forth in claim 15, wherein said one or more domain names
are generated from at least one keyword extracted from said one or more URI components.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention generally relates selecting online advertisements, and more specifically
relates to a method, product, and apparatus for using a URI component to select
and provide advertising, search terms, and available identifiers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The Internet is a vast computer network consisting of many smaller networks that
span the world. A network provides a distributed communicating system of computers
that are interconnected by various electronic communication links and computer
software protocols. Because of the Internet's distributed and open network architecture,
it is possible to transfer data from one computer to any other computer worldwide.
In 1991, the World-Wide-Web (WWW or Web) revolutionized the way information is
managed and distributed.
The Web is based on the concept of hypertext and a transfer method known as Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which is designed to run primarily over a Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection that employs a standard
Internet setup. A server computer may issue the data and a client computer displays
or processes it. TCP may then convert messages into streams of packets at the source,
then reassemble them back into messages at the destination. Internet Protocol (IP)
handles addressing, seeing to it that packets are routed across multiple nodes
and even across multiple networks with multiple standards. HTTP protocol permits
client systems connected to the Internet to access independent and geographically
scattered server systems also connected to the Internet.
Client side browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and/or Microsoft Internet
Explorer (MSIE) provide graphical user interface (GUI) based client applications
that implement the client side portion of the HTTP protocol. One format for information
transfer is to create documents using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML pages
are made up of standard text as well as formatting codes that indicate how the
page should be displayed. The client side browser reads these codes in order to
display the page. A web page may be static and requires no variables to display
information or link to other predetermined web pages. A web page is dynamic when
arguments are passed which are either hidden in the web page or entered from a
client browser to supply the necessary inputs displayed on the web page. Common
Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard for running external programs from a web
server. CGI specifies how to pass arguments to the executing program as part of
the HTTP server request. Commonly, a CGI script may take the name and value arguments
from an input form of a first web page which may be used as a query to access a
database server and generate an HTML web page with customized data results as output
that is passed back to the client browser for display.
The Web is a means of accessing information on the Internet that allows a user
to "surf the web" and navigate Internet resources intuitively, without technical
knowledge. The Web dispenses with command-line utilities, which typically require
a user to transmit sets of commands to communicate with an Internet server. Instead,
the Web is made up of millions of interconnected web pages, or documents, which
may be displayed on a computer monitor. Hosts running special servers provide the
Web pages. Software that runs these Web servers is available on a wide range of
computer platforms including PC's.
A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is a compact string of characters for identifying
an abstract or physical resource. URIs, is the generic set of all names and addresses
that refer to objects on the Internet. URIs that refer to objects accessed with
existing protocols are known as URLs. A URL is the address of a file accessible
on the Internet. The URL contains the name of the protocol required to access the
resource, a domain name, Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), or IP address that
identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and a hierarchical description
of a file location on the computer. In addition, the last (optional) part of the
URL may be a "?" followed by a query string having name/value pairs for parameters
(e.g. "?size=small&quantity=3") or a "#" followed by a fragment identifier indicating
a particular position within the specified document.
The URI "http://www.example.com:80/index.html#appendix" is the concatenation
of several components where "http:" is the scheme or protocol, "//www.example.com"
is the FQDN having "www" as the host of the domain name "example.com", ":80" is
the port connection for the HTTP server request, "index.html" is the filename located
on the server, "#appendix" is the identifier to display a fragment of the HTML
file called "index". The URL "http://www.example.com" also retrieves an HTML file
called "index" on a HTTP server called "example.com". By default, when either a
port or filename is omitted upon accessing a HTTP server via a URL, the client
browser interprets the request by connecting via port 80, and retrieving the HTML
file called "index".
A domain name consists of two parts: a host and a domain. Technically, the letters
to the right of the "dot" (e.g., tut.net) are referred to as Top Level Domains
(TLDs), while hosts, computers with assigned IP addresses that are listed in specific
TLD registries are known as second-level domains (SLDs). For the domain name "tut.net",
".net" is the TLD, and "tut" is the SLD. Domain name space is the ordered hierarchical
set of all possible domain names either in use or to be used for locating an IP
address on the Internet. TLDs are known as top-level domains because they comprise
the highest-order name space available on the Internet. Second-level domains, as
well as third-level domains (3LDs) such as "king.tut.net", are subsidiary to TLDs
in the hierarchy of the Internet's DNS.
URLs are used in media and written in documents or typed within e-mail, and
data files, etc. as a means to make reference to online content that helps express
the context of the ideas one wishes to communicate. URLs are generally written
in an abbreviated manner as partial URLs or domain names (e.g., "http://www.example.com"
is the URL, "www.example.com" is the FQDN, and "example.com" is the domain name).
During the early stages of commercialization on the Internet, businesses displayed
the full URL when advertising a commercial or display ad as a means to locate such
resources on the Internet.
Improvements have been made to recognize partial URLs when entered in
the location field of a web browser or network accessible device for automatically
appending protocol information so a full URL request can be made. By submitting
a domain name or FQDN in the location field, the browser modifies the request by
adjusting the partial URL and adding "http://" in front of the domain name or FQDN
in order to construct a valid URL. As a result of this convenience, companies have
modified their advertising and distribution of URLs through print, film, radio,
television and other media as "example.com" or "www.example.com" instead of the
URL "http://www.example.com". Though a helpful mnemonic for consumers to more readily
identify and access the location and origin of goods and services on a public network
such as the Internet, the mnemonic is only applicable when using a command line
of a device or location field of a web browser program as a means to access the
advertised web site.
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/143,859 filed Jul. 15, 1999, by Schneider
entitled "Method and apparatus for generation, registration, resolution, and emulation
of name space", now abandoned, uses a domain name having a top level domain alias
(TLDA) to simultaneously access and search a given resource demonstrating the combination
of both resolution and search services. For instance, when input is received and
processed such as "http://example.44106", steps are performed to determine that
".44106" is not a resolvable TLD and may be processed instead as a search term.
Steps may then be performed to translate input into a valid URI such as "http://example.com/weather.cgi?zip=44106".
When the URI is accessed, a CGI script called "weather" is executed passing the
value "44106" for the name "zip", which in this case represents a zip code. By
so doing a fictitious name may be used to simultaneously access both a resource
and search request.
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/152,015 filed Sep. 1, 1999, by Schneider,
et al., entitled "Method and apparatus for using a portion of a URI as a search
request." generates a shorter URI on the fly as a substitute for longer URIs that
reflect the results of queries or search requests. For instance, when "http://update.to/news"
is received as input it may be determined that no such URI exists and, in response,
create the URI on the fly as a means to access content from a longer URI such as:
"http://update.to/cgi-bin/update.cgi?search=news".
This clearly demonstrates the need for methods of encouraging the creative use
of URIs to access resources. Accordingly, in light of the above, there is a strong
need in the art for a system and method to improve how resources and content including
advertising, search terms, and available identifiers may be accessed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the present invention allows portions of a URI to be used as a
search request for advertising selection. The invention allows for coupons, rebates,
offers and advertising to de displayed or printed in response to keywords extracted
from a URI or meta content corresponding with the page source of such a URI. The
present invention displays keywords extracted from Meta or Title information to
assist a user or subscriber with search terms to help form a query or search request.
The invention also displays available identifiers such as domain names in addition
to the displayed search terms. The present invention allows for keywords used as
a search request to be further used as path names to generate a shorter URI on
the fly in real time rather than displaying such search results from a longer URI.
The invention further uses extracted keywords to display advertising that represents
competition to the received URI. The present invention reduces the extra steps
of remembering or typing and possibly misspelling a recipient address, by combining
the functions of sending e-mail by only typing in a URI. The invention enables
the user to combine Boolean logic with valid URI notation to generate a search
request from the URI or vice-versa.
In general, in accordance with the present invention a method for locating a
network
resource from a first identifier having a valid accessible first URI includes the
steps of parsing at least one URI component from the first URI, selecting a first
content corresponding to said at least one URI component of the first URI, generating
a valid accessible second URI that accesses said first content, and accessing the
first URI and said second URI.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a method for processing
a search request having at least one keyword, wherein the search results of the
search request is accessed from an accessible first URI having a query component
that corresponds to the at least one keyword includes the steps of generating a
second URI having a default file that accesses the first URI and a non-query component
that corresponds to the at least one keyword, and accessing said second URI.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention a method for sending
a message to an e-mail address includes the steps of accessing an accessible first
URI, wherein said first URI is not an e-mail address, submitting the message to
be sent from said first URI, generating the e-mail address from said first URI
in response to submitting the message, and sending the message to the generated
e-mail address.
In accordance with yet additional aspects of the present invention, an apparatus
which implements substantially the same functionality in substantially the same
manner as the methods described above is provided.
In accordance with other additional aspects of the present invention, a computer-readable
medium that includes computer-executable instructions may be used to perform substantially
the same methods as those described above is provided.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described
and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed
drawings set forth in detail one or more illustrative aspects of the invention,
such being indicative, however, of but one or a few of the various ways in which
the principles of the invention may be employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
a is a block diagram of an exemplary distributed computer system
in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 1
b is a block diagram illustrating exemplary information records
stored in memory in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed by a prior art system
for accessing a URI.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generating a valid
URI in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generating a valid
URI in response to determining that an existing valid URI is inaccessible in accordance
with the present invention.
FIG. 5
a is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generating
an accessible second URI that retrieves an advertisement corresponding to components
of a first URI in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 5
b is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed generating an
accessible second URI that retrieves an advertisement corresponding advertisement
to meta-information of a first URI in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 5
c is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed generating an
accessible second URI that may access an advertisement, keywords, and available
identifiers corresponding to a first URI in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for extracting a domain
or FQDN to determine hyperlinks or advertisements based on competition associated
from a generated URI of received input in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generated an accessible
URI based upon a search request in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting how results may be displayed in a web browser
in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, wherein
like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout.
Turning first to the nomenclature of the specification, the detailed description
that follows represents processes and symbolic representations of operations by
conventional computer components, including a local processing unit, memory storage
devices for the local processing unit, display devices, and input devices. Furthermore,
these processes and operations may utilize conventional computer components in
a heterogeneous distributed computing environment, including remote file servers,
computer servers, and memory storage devices. These distributed computing components
may be accessible to the local processing unit by a communication network.
The processes and operations performed by the computer include the manipulation
of data bits by a local processing unit and/or remote server and the maintenance
of these bits within data structures resident in one or more of the local or remote
memory storage devices. These data structures impose a physical organization upon
the collection of data bits stored within a memory storage device and represent
electromagnetic spectrum elements.
A process may generally be defined as being a sequence of computer-executed steps
leading to a desired result. These steps generally require physical manipulations
of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities may take
the form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred,
combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. It is conventional for those skilled
in the art to refer to these signals as bits or bytes (when they have binary logic
levels), pixel values, works, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,
points, records, objects, images, files, directories, subdirectories, or the like.
It should be kept in mind, that these and similar terms should be associated with
appropriate physical quantities for computer operations, and that these terms are
merely conventional labels applied to physical quantities that exist within and
during operation of the computer.
It should also be understood that manipulations within the computer are often
referred to in terms such as adding, comparing, moving, positioning, placing, illuminating,
removing, altering, etc., which are often associated with manual operations performed
by a human operator. The operations described herein are machine operations performed
in conjunction with various input provided by a human operator or user that interacts
with the computer. The machines used for performing the operation of the present
invention include local or remote general-purpose digital computers or other similar
computing devices.
In addition, it should be understood that the programs, processes, methods, etc.
described herein are not related or limited to any particular computer or apparatus
nor are they related or limited to any particular communication network architecture.
Rather, various types of general-purpose machines may be used with program modules
constructed in accordance with the teachings described herein. Similarly, it may
prove advantageous to construct a specialized apparatus to perform the method steps
described herein by way of dedicated computer systems in a specific network architecture
with hard-wired logic or programs stored in nonvolatile memory, such as read only memory.
FIG. 1
a illustrates an exemplary system for providing a distributed computer
system
100 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention and may
include client computers or any network access apparatus
110 connected to
server computers
120 via a network
130. The network
130 may
use Internet communications protocols (IP) to allow clients
110 to communicate
with servers
120. The network access apparatus
110 may include a
modem or like transceiver to communicate with the electronic network
130.
The modem may communicate with the electronic network
130 via a line
116
such as a telephone line, an ISDN line, a coaxial line, a cable television line,
a fiber optic line, or a computer network line. Alternatively, the modem may wirelessly
communicate with the electronic network
130. The electronic network
130
may provide an on-line service, an Internet service provider, a local area network
service, a wide area network service, a cable television service, a wireless data
service, an intranet, a satellite service, or the like.
The client computers
110 may be any network access apparatus including
hand held devices, palmtop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), notebook,
laptop, portable computers, desktop PCs, workstations, and/or larger/smaller computer
systems. It is noted that the network access apparatus
110 may have a variety
of forms, including but not limited to, a general purpose computer, a network computer,
an internet television, a set top box, a web-enabled telephone, an internet appliance,
a portable wireless device, a game player, a video recorder, and/or an audio component,
for example.
Each client
110 typically includes one or more processors
166,
memories
168, and input/output devices
170. An input device may be
any suitable device for the user to give input to client computer system
110,
for example: a keyboard, a 10-key pad, a telephone key pad, a light pen or any
pen pointing device, a touchscreen, a button, a dial, a joystick, a steering wheel,
a foot pedal, a mouse, a trackball, an optical or magnetic recognition unit such
as a bar code or magnetic swipe reader, a voice or speech recognition unit, a remote
control attached via cable or wireless link to a game set, television, and/or cable
box. A data glove, an eye-tracking device, or any MIDI device may also be used.
A display device may be any suitable output device, such as a display screen, text-to-speech
converter, printer, plotter, fax, television set, or audio player. Although the
input device is typically separate from the display device, they may be combined;
for example: a display with an integrated touchscreen, a display with an integrated
keyboard, or a speech-recognition unit combined with a text-to-speech converter.
The servers
120 may be similarly configured. However, in many instances
server sites
120 include many computers, perhaps connected by a separate
private network. In fact, the network
130 may include hundreds of thousands
of individual networks of computers. Although client computers
110 are shown
separate from the server computers
120, it is understood that a single computer
might perform the client and server roles. Those skilled in the art will appreciate
that the computer environment
100 shown in FIG. 1
a is intended to
be merely illustrative. The present invention may also be practiced in other computing
environments. For example, the present invention may be practiced in multiple processor
environments wherein the client computer includes multiple processors. Moreover,
the client computer need not include all of the input/output devices as discussed
above and may also include additional devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate
that the present invention may also be practiced via Intranets and more generally
in distributed environments in which a client computer requests resources from
a server computer.
During operation of the distributed system
100, users of the clients
110 may desire to access information records
122 stored by the servers
120 while utilizing, for example, the Web. Furthermore, such server systems
120 may also include one or more search engines having one or more databases
124. The records of information
122 may be in the form of Web pages
150. The pages
150 may be data records including as content plain
textual information, or more complex digitally encoded multimedia content, such
as software programs, graphics, audio signals, videos, and so forth. It should
be understood that although this description focuses on locating information on
the World-Wide-Web, the system may also be used for locating information via other
wide or local area networks (WANs and LANs), or information stored in a single
computer using other communications protocols.
The clients
110 may execute Web browser programs
112, such as Netscape
Navigator or MSIE to locate the pages or records
150. The browser programs
112 enable users to enter addresses of specific Web pages
150 to
be retrieved. Typically, the address of a Web page is specified as a URI or more
specifically as a URL. In addition, when a page has been retrieved, the browser
programs
112 may provide access to other pages or records by "clicking"
on hyperlinks (or links) to previously retrieved Web pages. Such links may provide
an automated way to enter the URL of another page, and to retrieve that page.
FIG. 1
b illustrates a block diagram of a processor
166 coupled
to a storage device such as memory
168 and to input/output devices
170
in a client
110 and/or server
120 computing system. Stored in memory
168 may be information records
122 having any combination of exemplary
content such as lists, files, and databases. Such records may include for example:
user modifiable configuration settings
174, identifier generation routines
176, FDN registry
178, TLD cache
180, prefix database
182,
Templates
184, GO List
186, name translation table
188, and
advertising cache
190. These information records may be further introduced
and discussed in more detail throughout the disclosure of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed by a prior art system
for locating a network resource from an identifier by accessing a URI. A device
such as a network access apparatus
110, servlet, applet, stand-alone executable
program, or user interface element such as a text box object, command line, speech
to text interface, location field
814 of a web browser
112, may receive
and parse input such as text or voice in step
210. It then may be determined
in step
215 whether the input
210 is a URI. If the input is a URI,
then an attempt may be made in step
220 to access the URI. The URI may be
accessed when it is determined in step
222 that the URI is accessible. If
the input is not a URI, then it may be determined in step
225 whether a
URI can be generated from the input (e.g., if a scheme is missing the prefix "http://"
or another scheme prefix may be concatenated to input). If so, then a URI is generated
230 and an attempt may be made in step
220 to access the URI. If
the URI can not be generated or accessed, then a message indicating that the URI
can not be generated or accessed may be displayed in step
235.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generating a valid
URI. When it is determined in step
225 that a URI can not be generated from
the input
210 in accordance with methods known to one of ordinary skill
in the art, then it may be determined in step
310 whether it is configured
to determine whether other methods may be applied to access a valid URI corresponding
to input. If configuration
174 is not enabled, then a message indicating
that the URI can not be generated may be displayed in step
235. However,
when configuration is enabled, then at least one other method may be applied in
step
315 in sequence or parallel including methods explained in U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/532,500 filed Mar. 21, 2000, by Schneider, entitled "Fictitious
domain name method, product, and apparatus" such as retrieving information from
user modifiable configuration settings
174, template
184, GO LIST
186, name translation table
188, and registry
178 (e.g., processing
a FDN, processing a TLDA as a search request, and multiple accessibility from a
plurality of generated URIs, etc.).
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generating a valid
URI in response to determining that an existing valid URI is inaccessible. When
a valid URI is determined in step
222 to be not accessible, then a valid
URI may be generated in step
410 to access content by extracting identifiers
such as keywords from the non-query component URI (e.g., directory, domain, port,
or fragment, etc.) of the inaccessible URI and using such keywords or search terms
as a search request or as the query portion of the generated valid URI. After valid
URI generation in step
410 an attempt may be made in step
220 to
access the URI.
FIG. 5
a is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generating
an accessible second URI that retrieves an advertisement corresponding to components
of a first URI. Upon receiving or generating a valid first URI (step
215
or
230), a script may be executed in step
510 to extract at least
one keyword from any URI components and select in step
515 an advertisement
from an advertising cache
190 that may correspond to any extracted keywords
and/or to other identifiers that are similar to such extracted keywords. An accessible
second URI may be generated in step
520 that provides, renders, and/or displays
a web page having two frames. The first frame may access the selected ad and the
second frame may access the first valid URI.
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/143,859 filed Jul. 15, 1999, by Schneider
entitled "Method and apparatus for generation, registration, resolution, and emulation
of name space", now abandoned, explains how URI components such as scheme, hostname,
TLD, port, path, query, or fragment of a URI are regarded as data elements used
for generating an accessible URI. All combinations for concatenating component
data that does not form a full URI may be referred to as a Partial Uniform Resource
Identifier (PURI). The same applies for Partial Uniform Resource Locators (PURLs)
and other resource types.
For example, when the input "books.com" is received, the URI "http://books.com"
is generated and URI components "http", "books", "com" may be extracted from the
CGI script. The word "books" may be used to select an advertisement by consulting
a table of advertisements and/or advertising cache
190 relating to the keyword
"books". Many advertisers may compete for rotation frequency of their ad per group
or category. When an ad is selected, an accessible URI may be generated and when
accessed displays the advertisement and web based location field in one frame and
display the content of the URI "http://books.com" in the second frame. Another
example, is when a TLDA is received as input such as "top.stories". The URI "http://stories.top.com"
may be generated based upon a selected access method (note that a variety of access
methods may be used by the present invention to generate different accessible URIs
if need be). Keywords extracted from URI are "stories" and "top". A phrase such
as "top stories" and "stories top" may also be generated from URI components to
more specifically target ad categories for advertisers.
FIG. 5
b is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed generating an
accessible second URI that retrieves an advertisement corresponding advertisement
to meta-information of a first URI. Upon receiving or generating a valid first
URI (step
215 or
230), a script may be executed in step
540
to submit a HTTP HEAD request of the valid URI. When a HTTP response is received
then at least one keyword may be extracted in step
545 from the response
of the HEAD request from the <TITLE> and/or <META> tag of the
target URI.
It may then be determined in step
550 which ad may be selected and retrieved
from an ad cache
190 corresponding to at least one extracted keyword. After
the ad has been selected, an accessible second URI may then be generated in step
555 that when accessed displays a web page with two frames. An ad may be
accessed by the first frame including selectable keywords to assist the user in
performing further targeted searching of other search requests, while accessing
the first URI in the other frame.
For instance, before the content of URI "http://stories.top.com" may be displayed
as a result of or input "top.stories", while a URI HEAD request further extracts
keywords from the <META> tag or the <TITLE> tag from the URI
to assist in yet more specific targeted ad rotation. In addition to "top" and "stories",
words like "news", "headlines", "weather", "sports", for example, may be extracted
from the <META> tag of the URI. These extra keywords may be used to better
target ads and also provide suggested categories that may be dynamically generated
on the web page for selection to find more content specific to the user. After
words have been extracted, the keywords may be used to select an ad from an ad
cache the may reside on the client machine and/or locally through an advertising
cache
190 stored at the Internet Service Provider (ISP)/Application Service
Provider (ASP) or the like. If an ad can not be selected based on this information
then keywords may be passed to generate a URI having a query to further assist
in ad selection.
The display of suggested search terms or keywords to assist a user in refining
a search request is not limited by the components of the URI to extract <META>
or <TITLE> tag information from the next web page before displaying the
next page. Such keywords may also be selected from any accessed content and/or
the page source of the URI. In addition, such keywords may be selected from any
URI components. Another preferred implementation is based on a search page as a
front end for search engines. To date there is no such program implemented to make
use of any tagged language such as HTML, DHTML, XML, XHTML, and SGML to name a
few that extracts META information of a subsequent page to be used for extending
the range of navigation by concurrently displaying such META information separately
from the web page when accessed.
FIG. 5
c is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed generating an
accessible second URI that may access an advertisement, keywords, and available
identifiers corresponding to a first URI. Upon receiving or generating a valid
first URI (step
215 or
230), a script may be executed in step
560
to receive the page source of the first URI. Keywords may then be parsed in step
565 from URI components and/or the page source of the first URI. At least
one available identifier (e.g. domain name) may be generated in step
570
by combining selected parsed keywords and determining identifier availability.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/598,134 filed Jun. 21, 2000, by Schneider,
entitled "Method and apparatus for integrating resolution services, registration
services, and search services", explains how identifiers such as domain names may
be generated in response to receiving keywords. Combinations of keywords may be
concatenated and a TLD added to form a domain name. All generated domain names
may then be checked for availability.
Advertisements may be selected in step
575 by retrieving ads
from an ad cache that corresponds to at least one keyword or generated identifier.
After keyword extraction, identifier generation, and ad selection, an accessible
second URI may be generated in step
580 that displays a web page with two
frames having the selected ad in the first frame including links of any identifiers
available for registration, and a list of selectable keywords to assist with targeted
searching of other web pages, while the first URI is accessed in a second frame.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for extracting a domain
or FQDN to determine hyperlinks or advertisements based on competition associated
from a generated URI of received input. Upon receiving or generating a valid first
URI (step
215 or
230), a script may be executed in step
610
to parse a FQDN from the valid URI. Data that corresponds to FQDN may be retrieved
in step
615 from an ad database
190 so at least one hyperlink may
be generated or at least one ad retrieved from data that represents competition
to the FQDN. A second URI may be generated in step
620 that has at least
one hyperlink or at least one ad as content. A third URI may be generated in step
625 that displays a web page with two frames having content of the valid
URI in the first frame and the second URI in the second frame.
Ads may be targeted by displaying a combination of competitor ads and/or hyperlinks
in response to receiving the domain name or FQDN of the URI as input. The selected
advertisement may corresponds to competition of an entity that manages the URI.
For instance, the URI generated from input is "http://www.burgerking.com" and "burgerking"
is extracted and determines that a McDonalds ad, rebate, or coupon may be displayed
in conjunction with displaying the "burgerking" website. Links to a "McDonalds"
web site may also be provided. Inputting an identifier such as "burgerking.44106"
may generate the URI "http://44106.burgerking.com" and when "44106" is extracted
from the identifier, Burger King locations near the zip code "44106" may be displayed
in conjunction with the website.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed for generated an accessible
URI based upon a search request. When a keyword is parsed in step
710 from
a received search request, it then may be determined in step
715 whether
a directory exists for the keyword. If the directory exists then it may further
be determined in step
720 whether a file exists within the directory. If
a file exists then it may be determined in step
725 whether the content
of the file requires modification. If modification is needed then the content of
the file may be modified in step
730 as necessary. If the directory does
not exist then a directory may be created in step
735. When the directory
is created or when the directory exists but a file within the directory does not
exist, a file within the directory may be created in step
740 forming a
URI that accesses results of the search request. When it is determined that the
file already exists in step
720 and does not need modification in step
725
or the file is created in step
740 or the existing file is modified in step
735, then an attempt may be made in step
220 to access the URI.
For example, the home page of a website "http://update.to/index.htm" may provide
an input text box that is used as a search request front end to pass variables
to a CGI script. When the word "news" is entered and submitted as an input search
request, the URI "http://update.to/cgi-bin/update.cgi?search=news" is generated.
Before accessing the URI a script may be executed to determine whether a directory
called "news" exists on the server "update.to". When it is determined that a "news"
directory does not exist, then the directory may be created. Furthermore, a file
called "index.htm" is created in the "news" directory to generate the URI "http://update.to/news/index.htm".
The content of the "index.htm" file may include a URI redirection, a <META>
tag refresh, or a <FRAME> tag which may be used to display the content
from the URI of the search request "http://update.to/cgi-bin/update.cg i?search=news".
In effect, shorter URLs are generated in real time or on-the-fly when necessary
and used as a substitute or proxy for longer URLs. Though any filename may be used,
it is a preferred aspect to use "index.htm" as a frame or redirect so the proxy
URL is even shorter in string length. A shorter URL makes it easier for a user
to remember the URL for future use. The invention is not limited to using only
a FLD as a search request. Any directory or combination of directory levels may
be either generated on the fly or used as a search request. In addition, to using
the directory portion of a URI as a search request, a domain (e.g. SLD, 3LD) or
any combination of domain levels may in turn be used to generate a query.
Analysis from major online search engines show that more than 90% of all
search requests include three keywords or less. For instance, an accessible URI
"http://example.com/coffee/cream/sugar/index.htm" may be generated in response
processing the search request "coffee and cream and sugar". In turn, the input
"example.com/coffee/cream/sugar" may generate search results in response to processing
a web address or URI as a search request. Boolean logic may be applied to extend
variations of other search requests. In effect, URI notation may be used as a system
to generate a Boolean search request from the URI or vice-versa. For example, the
search request "coffee or cream or sugar" may yield "http://example.com/coffee.cream.sugar/index.htm"
whereas the search request "coffee or cream and sugar" may yield "http://example.com/coffee.cream/sugar/index.htm"
Another example for using a URI to reduce user steps is to make use of the
correspondence between a HTTP address and an e-mail address. For instance, web
pages may be generated such that on each web page there corresponds a hidden variable
of an e-mail address as a means to contact the owner of the web page. This is particularly
useful when the web page serves as a web based e-mail interface to contact a recipient
such as a friend, co-worker, or business entity. For instance, when "http://zipit.to/president"
is received as input and accessed, a web page may be displayed allowing anyone
viewing the web page to compose an e-mail message without having to enter the e-mail
address of the recipient. The burden of remembering or inputting and possibly misspelling
the e-mail address of a recipient is eliminated because the hidden variable "mailto:president@zipit.to"
is passed as a variable when the e-mail message is sent. After the composed e-mail
is submitted from the web page, a lookup table or database may be used to further
redirect the e-mail to a final destination designated by the recipient. In effect,
e-mail may be delivered by using protocols other than the "mailto:" protocol.
FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting how results may be displayed in a web browser
in accordance with the present invention. A client
110 web browser
112
having a web page
810 is used to connect to a server
120 via the
Internet
130 that executes a CGI script
812. The location field of
the web browser
112 is suppressed and the web page
810 displays at
least two frames. The first frame is the web based location field
814 including
room to rotate advertisements
815 and the second frame
816 may be
used to display the content
150 of a web address. An input device
170
(e.g., keyboard, mouse, pen light, touch screen, or microphone etc.) of a client
computer or network access apparatus
110 is typically used to receive a
web address as input directly from a hyperlink (not shown) in the web page
810,
or from the location field
814 of the web page
810.
A HTTP GET request may be generated from input and the browser
112 forwards
the request to a server
120, which processes the request by executing a
CGI script
812 to extract URI components for ad selection. A first URI
206
may be generated to receive a selected ad
815 for display and refresh the
web based location field
814 when accessed by the first frame. The content
150 of the URI generated from the input may be displayed in the second frame
816 of the web page
810 when accessed. The location field
814
of the first frame may either persist by displaying the input or may be cleared
out for entry of the next web address. Both the first URI and second URI may be
generated as frames and displayed as a web page
810 by the CGI script
812.
Another web page
810′ (as discussed in FIG. 5
b) having
a location field that is suppressed may be displayed by using a different CGI script
812′. The first frame
818 is the web based location field
814 including room to rotate advertisements
815′ and display
suggested keywords, available domain names
822, or search terms
825
to assist a user in selecting a more specific search.
The second frame
820 may be used to display the content
150 of
a web address. A URI GET request may be generated from input, and the browser
112
may forward the request to a server
120, which processes the request by
executing a CGI script
812 to determine validity of the input.
An accessible URI is generated from the input and then a URI HEAD request may
obtain and extract header information from the accessible URI to determine what
advertisement
815′ and/or keywords
825 may be generated and
displayed in the first frame
818 of the web page
810′ whereas
the content of the second frame
820 is the content of the URI. Both the
first URI and second URI may be generated as frames and displayed as a web page
810′ by the CGI script
812′.
Though the above aspects demonstrate how URIs may be accessed based upon a
web-based version of a location field, similar teachings may be applied to those
skilled in the art by providing a user interface element such as a text box object
as input. The text box object may be located anywhere and on any web page including
a text box that may be embedded or displayed as part of an on-line advertisement.
The text box object may be used in a stand-alone application or stored on magnetic
and/or optical media that may be non-volatile, writable, removable, or portable.
The text box object may be incorporated as an applet or servlet and embedded in
other applications. The text box may be integrated in the taskbar or any part of
the GUI's OS, or the OS bypassed and a user interface element overlaid as a graphic
on a display device based on modifications to a video card and/or it's associated
firmware or software drivers. A command line text box may be further overlaid as
an interactive object in other embodiments such as Internet television, cable television,
digital television, or interactive television through an Internet appliance or
set top box.
Those skilled in the art may make and use software program that functions as
a browser plug-in. Such a program may be downloaded and installed for integration
into the command line of a device or location field
154 of a browser program
112. Modifying the source code of the browser program
112 itself
may be more desirable, in effect, enabling tens of millions of users to take advantage
of more creative ways to use input as a means to access a valid URI. In addition,
advertising banner ads may be displayed directly as part of the GUI for the client
browser
112 rather than limited to web page based banner ad displayed in
a frame as discussed in FIG. 8.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain
preferred aspect or aspects, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications
will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this
specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions
performed by the above described items referred to by numerals (components, assemblies,
devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a "means") used
to describe such items are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated,
to any item which performs the specified function of the described item (e.g.,
that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the
disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary
aspect or aspects of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of
the invention may have been described above with respect to only one of several
illustrated aspects, such feature may be combined with one or more other features
of the other aspects, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
The description herein with reference to the figures will be understood to describe
the present invention in sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to
utilize the present invention in a variety of applications and devices. It will
be readily apparent that various changes and modifications could be made therein
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the
following claims.
*
