U.S. patent application number 15/283431 was filed with the patent office on 2018-01-18 for graphical user interface and system for viewing landing page content.
This patent application is currently assigned to Intent Media, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Intent Media, Inc.. Invention is credited to Yoaquim J. Cintron-Rosario, Ronak M. Daya, Mark J. Napier, Adam R. Pritchard, Jason A. Reid, Jessica Sachs, Anand Safi, Jean Seok, Isaac W. Woodruff.
Application Number | 20180018304 15/283431 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 60940663 |
Filed Date | 2018-01-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180018304 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Pritchard; Adam R. ; et
al. |
January 18, 2018 |
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE AND SYSTEM FOR VIEWING LANDING PAGE
CONTENT
Abstract
A web site publisher may improve user interaction with landing
pages from third-party publishers by displaying landing page
content in a navigation window offering users the ability to
interact with one or more landing pages in formats including:
carousel, multiple panes, stacks, tabs, and tiles. Pages may be
displayed in focus, below or behind the active display area, in
full size windows, in reduced windows, and so forth. Landing page
content may be loaded in advance of a user focusing on a specific
page. The navigation window offers users the ability to store
preferences, to refresh landing pages, to save searches, to search
in one landing page, and/or to have results propagate to other
landing pages.
Inventors: |
Pritchard; Adam R.; (New
York, NY) ; Daya; Ronak M.; (New York, NY) ;
Seok; Jean; (Jersey City, NJ) ; Cintron-Rosario;
Yoaquim J.; (New York, NY) ; Napier; Mark J.;
(Sunnyside, NY) ; Woodruff; Isaac W.; (Brooklyn,
NY) ; Sachs; Jessica; (Harrison, NJ) ; Safi;
Anand; (Jersey City, NJ) ; Reid; Jason A.;
(Brooklyn, NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Intent Media, Inc. |
New York |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Intent Media, Inc.
New York
NY
|
Family ID: |
60940663 |
Appl. No.: |
15/283431 |
Filed: |
October 2, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62362413 |
Jul 14, 2016 |
|
|
|
62362428 |
Jul 14, 2016 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/14 20200101;
H04L 67/02 20130101; G06F 40/106 20200101; H04L 67/2838 20130101;
G06F 3/0481 20130101; G06F 3/0484 20130101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101;
G06F 2203/04803 20130101; H04L 67/42 20130101; G06F 16/9577
20190101; H04L 67/20 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/21 20060101
G06F017/21; G06F 3/0484 20130101 G06F003/0484; G06F 17/22 20060101
G06F017/22; G06Q 30/02 20120101 G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A computer implemented method comprising acts of: receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page
content.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of presenting,
within the presentation interface, each of the respective landing
page content arranged in one or more of the formats comprising the
group of: horizontal tabs, vertical tabs, carousel, multi-pane,
staggered, or stacked.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of presenting,
within the presentation interface, a representation of each
respective landing page in one or more of the formats comprising
the group of: landing page thumbnail, loaded landing page, landing
page icon, or image representing the landing page.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one graphical user
interface comprises a first content display area having an initial
control that accepts the first content request, and the method
further comprises acts of: receiving, from a user interacting with
the initial control area of the first content display area, the
first content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one graphical user
interface displays the respective landing page content from each of
the one or more third-party publishers in a second content display
area.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first content display area is
a web page.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first content display area is
a web page.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising acts of: receiving a
second content request; identifying, responsive to the second
content request, one or more third-party publishers from which to
request landing page content; requesting, responsive to the second
content request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page
content.
9. The method of claim 4 further comprising acts of: receiving,
from a user interacting with the initial control area of the first
content display area, a second content request; requesting,
responsive to the second content request, content from the
publisher associated with the first content display area; receiving
content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; and displaying, within the first content display
area, the content.
10. The method of claim 5 further comprising acts of: receiving,
from a user interacting with the initial control area of the first
content display area, a second content request; identifying,
responsive to the second content request, one or more third-party
publishers from which to request landing page content; requesting,
responsive to the second content request, respective landing page
content from each of the identified one or more third-party
publishers; receiving the respective landing page content from each
of the identified one or more third-party publishers; and
displaying within a portion of at least one graphical user
interface a presentation interface comprising a representation of
the respective landing page content.
11. The method of claim 5 further comprising acts of: receiving,
from a user interacting with the initial control area of the first
content display area, a second content request; requesting,
responsive to the second content request, content from the
publisher associated with the first content display area; receiving
content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; displaying, within the first content display area,
the content; identifying, responsive to the second content request,
one or more third-party publishers from which to request landing
page content; requesting, responsive to the second content request,
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; receiving the respective landing page
content from each of the identified one or more third-party
publishers; and displaying within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the respective landing page content.
12. The method of claim 5, wherein a landing page displayed in the
second content display area includes at least one initial control
capable of accepting a second content request, and the method
further comprises acts of: receiving, from a user interacting with
an initial control area of a landing page in the second content
display area, a second content request; requesting, responsive to
the second content request, landing page content from the
third-party publisher associated with the landing page; receiving
the landing page content from the third-party publisher; and
displaying within a portion of at least one graphical user
interface a presentation interface comprising a representation of
the respective landing page content.
13. The method of claim 5, wherein the second content display area
includes at least one initial control capable of accepting a second
content request, and the method further comprises acts of:
receiving, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the second content display area, a second content request;
requesting, responsive to the second content request, content from
the publisher associated with the first content display area;
receiving content from the publisher associated with the first
content display area; and displaying, within the first content
display area, the content.
14. The method of claim 5, wherein the second content display area
includes at least one initial control capable of accepting a second
content request, and the method further comprises acts of:
receiving, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the second content display area, a second content request;
identifying, responsive to the second content request, one or more
third-party publishers from which to request landing page content;
requesting, responsive to the second content request, respective
landing page content from each of the identified one or more
third-party publishers; receiving the respective landing page
content from each of the identified one or more third-party
publishers; and displaying within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the respective landing page content.
15. The method of claim 5, wherein the second content display area
includes at least one initial control capable of accepting a second
content request, and the method further comprises acts of:
receiving, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the second content display area, a second content request;
requesting, responsive to the second content request, content from
the publisher associated with the first content display area;
receiving content from the publisher associated with the first
content display area; displaying, within the first content display
area, the content; identifying, responsive to the second content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the second content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page
content.
16. The method of claim 1 further comprising acts of: observing
user interactions in a distributed computer system; deciding,
responsive to at least one of the group comprising: the first
content request and the observed user interactions, to update the
presentation interface; identifying, responsive to at least one of
the group comprising: the first content request and the observed
user interactions, one or more third-party publishers from which to
request landing page content; requesting, responsive to at least
one of the group comprising: the first content request and the
observed user interactions, respective landing page content from
each of the identified one or more third-party publishers;
receiving the respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; and displaying
within a portion of at least one graphical user interface a
presentation interface comprising a representation of the
respective landing page content.
17. The method of claim 1 further comprising acts of: storing the
first content request as a stored content request; terminating a
session of the presentation interface displayed within the at least
one graphical user interface; deciding to initiate a new session of
the presentation interface; identifying, responsive to the stored
content request, one or more third-party publishers from which to
request landing page content; requesting, responsive to at least
one of the group comprising: the first content request and the
observed user interactions, respective landing page content from
each of the identified one or more third-party publishers;
receiving the respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; and displaying
within a portion of at least one graphical user interface a
presentation interface comprising a representation of the
respective landing page content.
18. The method of claim 1 further comprising acts of: observing
user interactions in a distributed computer system; storing the
first content request as a stored content request; deciding,
responsive to at least one of the group comprising: the stored
content request and the observed user interactions, to update the
presentation interface; identifying, responsive to at least one of
the group comprising: the stored content request and the observed
user interactions, one or more third-party publishers from which to
request landing page content; requesting, responsive to at least
one of the group comprising: the stored content request and the
observed user interactions, respective landing page content from
each of the identified one or more third-party publishers;
receiving the respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; and displaying
within a portion of at least one graphical user interface a
presentation interface comprising a representation of the
respective landing page content.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
62/362,413, entitled "GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE AND SYSTEM FOR
VIEWING LANDING PAGE CONTENT," filed Jul. 14, 2016, and to U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/362,428, entitled
"GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE AND SYSTEM FOR VIEWING LANDING PAGE
CONTENT," filed Jul. 14, 2016, both of which are herein
incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to Internet
technologies, specifically content distribution.
2. Discussion of Related Art
[0003] Internet publishers distribute a variety of content
according to business models that range from free, public access to
subscription services. Often, in return for displaying free
content, Internet publishers will display advertising to web site
visitors. Third-party publishers commonly pay publishers for the
opportunity to display advertising content to drive user traffic to
third-party publisher websites. One approach used to display
Internet advertising includes the use of landing page content.
Conventional approaches to providing landing page content have
included linking, such as with a text or image-based display
advertisement, to a landing page. The landing page may be hosted on
a publisher's website, an intermediary website, a mobile
application, or a third-party publisher's application or website.
If a landing page is displayed, it may appear in a separate web
browser window, as a new tab in an open web browser window, or as a
window in a software application.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0004] The inventors have recognized that a limitation of Internet
content distribution includes the realization once a landing page
is displayed to a user, the user may navigate away from the site
that originally displayed the link to the landing page. Generally,
the publisher of this first web site retains little control over
the user experience on the landing page associated with a second
web site. Also, while the conventional model may lead to the
display of multiple landing pages, only one landing page may appear
at a time. Furthermore, web browser interfaces and tools (e.g.,
mouse, cursor, and keystrokes) may limit users and their ability to
navigate from one landing page to another.
[0005] Historically, Internet content publishers, including
publishers of media, commerce, gaming, and other types of sites,
have sought to retain user attention and to discourage users from
visiting sites hosted by competing publishers. For example, the New
York Times has not historically encouraged site visitors to click
through to content hosted by the Washington Post. This has led to
an arm's length relationship between publishers in similar
categories, and as a result, content targeting networks have
emerged to enable publishers in a category to compete for user
attention when those users are visiting other websites. Following
the above example, suppose a newspaper has published a series of
articles on an upcoming presidential election--in traditional
content targeting, the newspaper could bid to display an
advertisement to attract the attention of a user engaging in any of
the following behaviors: searching for information about
presidential candidates on a search engine, visiting a political
party website, posting comments to a website, and even while
visiting the newspaper's own website. In content retargeting, a
site publisher relies on networks to deliver advertising and other
forms of content to site visitors who subsequently visit other
sites.
[0006] Historically, targeted and retargeted network content
delivery has been limited to hyperlinked text, Flash animations,
and other types of images (e.g. GIF, JPEG, TIF). Also, the
targeting and retargeting model has traditionally been focused on
retaining users and site visitors. When delivering users and site
visitors to landing page content, two models exist: "click-in" and
"click-out." A "click-in" landing page is interactive content that
links the user to a landing page within the publisher's website,
for example, where a third-party publisher pays for placing an ad
on the publisher's website. Meanwhile, a "click-out" landing page
is a landing page link that links the user to a landing page
specified by a third-party publisher (e.g., a web page on an
third-party publisher's website). In low conversion environments,
such as where users comparison shop between multiple sites,
publishers face challenges in adapting to changing landing page
content (e.g. product, pricing, and inventory searches) while
preserving a "click-in" experience for the user.
[0007] Improved methods and systems for Internet content
distribution are described herein. According to one aspect the
inventors have appreciated that on a typical e-commerce website
operated by a publisher, where certain goods and/or services are
sold, a vast majority of visitors to the first website do not
complete a sales transaction, which is referred to in the art as a
"conversion." In fact, it is realized that a typical e-commerce
website has a conversion rate of 3%-5%. Thus, it is appreciated
that visitors primarily use some e-commerce websites to browse and
research products. For instance, visitors may research product
features, price, availability, reviews, and comparison information
on many such websites without making any purchases. Often, after
acquiring the desired information about a particular product from
the website, the user will locate and purchase that product from
another source, for example on another website operated by a
different publisher or complete the transaction using another
channel (e.g., telephone order, brick-and-mortar store).
[0008] In one example, the user may find that the e-commerce
website provides a convenient place to research and/or comparison
shop, but once a purchasing decision is made, the user exercises
his or her preference for purchasing certain products directly from
a manufacturer or a trusted retailer rather than from the
publisher. Specifically, a user accesses an online travel service,
such as Expedia.RTM. online travel website available from Expedia,
Inc., to shop for airline tickets, but after locating the desired
itinerary and fare, the user ultimately purchases the tickets
directly from the airline and not from the Expedia website. In
another example, the visitor does not find what he or she is
looking for on the first website, and leaves the website without
completing a transaction.
[0009] When no transaction occurs on the website, the publisher
receives no transaction revenue from the visitor. According to one
aspect, it is appreciated that most e-commerce websites monetize
their visitors exclusively, or almost exclusively, through
transaction (or sales) revenue. In some instances, a publisher
receives a stream of advertising (or media) revenue for serving ads
on their website for various goods and services sold by others. The
media revenue, if any, is generally used to supplement the
transaction revenue. Publishers may employ various approaches to
determining when, and if, to display third-party publisher content
to a given user. Example approaches, such as hurdle rates, are
discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,527,341 and 8,527,342, both entitled
"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC ADVERTISING," both filed Jun. 4,
2010, which are both incorporated herein by reference. Also, this
application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/793,920 filed Jun. 4, 2010, which is incorporated herein by
reference.
[0010] The sharing of advertising revenue between various
publishers of travel and e-commerce sites creates a context for the
present disclosure. According to various aspects of the present
disclosure, new user interfaces and associated systems are provided
that improve how a website publisher displays content from
third-party publishers. In one embodiment, this content may extend
beyond advertising messages to include landing pages from
third-party publishers. In one implementation, a user may request
content from a publisher's website, and the publisher may provide
interface components that open additional windows and/or tabs to
display landing page content from various third-party publishers.
In another implementation, the publisher may provide components
used to display third-party landing page content in a separate
navigation window. In yet another aspect, the initial search may
originate within a mobile application, and the publisher may
display third-party landing pages within the mobile application in
a variety of ways.
[0011] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page
content.
[0012] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein each of the respective landing page content is arranged in
one or more of the formats comprising the group of: horizontal
tabs, vertical tabs, carousel, multi-pane, staggered, or
stacked.
[0013] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein, each respective landing page is presented in one or more
of the formats comprising the group of: landing page thumbnail,
loaded landing page, landing page icon, or image representing the
landing page.
[0014] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request, and the method further comprises acts of:
receiving, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the first content display area, the first content request;
requesting, responsive to the first content request, content from a
publisher associated with the first content display area; receiving
the content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; and displaying, within the first content display
area, the content.
[0015] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area.
[0016] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request, and the method further comprises acts of:
receiving, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the first content display area, the first content request;
requesting, responsive to the first content request, content from a
publisher associated with the first content display area; receiving
the content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; and displaying, within the first content display
area, the content, wherein the first content display area is a web
page.
[0017] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area, and wherein the first content display
area is a web page.
[0018] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content;
receiving a second content request; identifying, responsive to the
second content request, one or more third-party publishers from
which to request landing page content; requesting, responsive to
the second content request, respective landing page content from
each of the identified one or more third-party publishers;
receiving the respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; and displaying
within a portion of at least one graphical user interface a
presentation interface comprising a representation of the
respective landing page content.
[0019] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request, and the method further comprises acts of:
receiving, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the first content display area, the first content request;
requesting, responsive to the first content request, content from a
publisher associated with the first content display area; receiving
the content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; displaying, within the first content display area,
the content; receiving, from a user interacting with the initial
control area of the first content display area, a second content
request; requesting, responsive to the second content request,
content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving content from the publisher associated with
the first content display area; and displaying, within the first
content display area, the content.
[0020] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; displaying, within the first
content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area; receiving, from a user interacting
with the initial control area of the first content display area, a
second content request; identifying, responsive to the second
content request, one or more third-party publishers from which to
request landing page content; requesting, responsive to the second
content request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page
content.
[0021] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; displaying, within the first
content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area; receiving, from a user interacting
with the initial control area of the first content display area, a
second content request; requesting, responsive to the second
content request, content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; receiving content from the publisher
associated with the first content display area; displaying, within
the first content display area, the content; identifying,
responsive to the second content request, one or more third-party
publishers from which to request landing page content; requesting,
responsive to the second content request, respective landing page
content from each of the identified one or more third-party
publishers; receiving the respective landing page content from each
of the identified one or more third-party publishers; and
displaying within a portion of at least one graphical user
interface a presentation interface comprising a representation of
the respective landing page content.
[0022] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area, wherein a landing page displayed in
the second content display area includes at least one initial
control capable of accepting a second content request; receiving,
from a user interacting with an initial control area of a landing
page in the second content display area, a second content request;
requesting, responsive to the second content request, landing page
content from the third-party publisher associated with the landing
page; receiving the landing page content from the third-party
publisher; and displaying within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the respective landing page content.
[0023] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area, wherein the second content display
area includes at least one initial control capable of accepting a
second content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the second content display area, a second
content request; requesting, responsive to the second content
request, content from the publisher associated with the first
content display area; receiving content from the publisher
associated with the first content display area; and displaying,
within the first content display area, the content.
[0024] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area, wherein the second content display
area includes at least one initial control capable of accepting a
second content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the second content display area, a second
content request; identifying, responsive to the second content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the second content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page
content.
[0025] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content,
wherein the at least one graphical user interface comprises a first
content display area having an initial control that accepts the
first content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the first content display area, the first
content request; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, content from a publisher associated with the first content
display area; receiving the content from the publisher associated
with the first content display area; and displaying, within the
first content display area, the content, wherein the at least one
graphical user interface displays the respective landing page
content from each of the one or more third-party publishers in a
second content display area, wherein the second content display
area includes at least one initial control capable of accepting a
second content request; receiving, from a user interacting with the
initial control area of the second content display area, a second
content request; requesting, responsive to the second content
request, content from the publisher associated with the first
content display area; receiving content from the publisher
associated with the first content display area; displaying, within
the first content display area, the content; identifying,
responsive to the second content request, one or more third-party
publishers from which to request landing page content; requesting,
responsive to the second content request, respective landing page
content from each of the identified one or more third-party
publishers; receiving the respective landing page content from each
of the identified one or more third-party publishers; and
displaying within a portion of at least one graphical user
interface a presentation interface comprising a representation of
the respective landing page content.
[0026] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content;
observing user interactions in a distributed computer system;
deciding, responsive to at least one of the group comprising: the
first content request and the observed user interactions, to update
the presentation interface; identifying, responsive to at least one
of the group comprising: the first content request and the observed
user interactions, one or more third-party publishers from which to
request landing page content; requesting, responsive to at least
one of the group comprising: the first content request and the
observed user interactions, respective landing page content from
each of the identified one or more third-party publishers;
receiving the respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; and displaying
within a portion of at least one graphical user interface a
presentation interface comprising a representation of the
respective landing page content.
[0027] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content;
storing the first content request as a stored content request;
terminating a session of the presentation interface displayed
within the at least one graphical user interface; deciding to
initiate a new session of the presentation interface; identifying,
responsive to the stored content request, one or more third-party
publishers from which to request landing page content; requesting,
responsive to at least one of the group comprising: the first
content request and the observed user interactions, respective
landing page content from each of the identified one or more
third-party publishers; receiving the respective landing page
content from each of the identified one or more third-party
publishers; and displaying within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the respective landing page content.
[0028] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for
displaying third-party landing page content includes receiving a
first content request; identifying, responsive to the first content
request, one or more third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content; requesting, responsive to the first content
request, respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; receiving the
respective landing page content from each of the identified one or
more third-party publishers; and displaying within a portion of at
least one graphical user interface a presentation interface
comprising a representation of the respective landing page content;
observing user interactions in a distributed computer system;
storing the first content request as a stored content request;
deciding, responsive to at least one of the group comprising: the
stored content request and the observed user interactions, to
update the presentation interface; identifying, responsive to at
least one of the group comprising: the stored content request and
the observed user interactions, one or more third-party publishers
from which to request landing page content; requesting, responsive
to at least one of the group comprising: the stored content request
and the observed user interactions, respective landing page content
from each of the identified one or more third-party publishers;
receiving the respective landing page content from each of the
identified one or more third-party publishers; and displaying
within a portion of at least one graphical user interface a
presentation interface comprising a representation of the
respective landing page content.
[0029] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprising a client component configured to accept
a first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; and display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content.
[0030] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; and display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the
landing page content is arranged in one or more of the formats
comprising the group of: horizontal tabs, vertical tabs, carousel,
multi-pane, staggered, or stacked.
[0031] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; and display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the
landing page content is arranged in one or more of the formats
comprising the group of: landing page thumbnail, loaded landing
page, landing page icon, or image representing the landing
page.
[0032] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request; accept, from a user interacting with the initial
control area of the first content display area, the first content
request; transmit the first content request to a publisher
associated with the first content display area; receive the content
from the publisher associated with the first content display area;
and display, within the first content display area, the
content.
[0033] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; and display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content.
[0034] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; and display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the
first content display area is a web page.
[0035] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request; accept, from a user interacting with the initial
control area of the first content display area, the first content
request; transmit the first content request to a publisher
associated with the first content display area; receive the content
from the publisher associated with the first content display area;
and display, within the first content display area, the content,
wherein the first content display area is a web page.
[0036] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, a second content request; transmit the second content
request to a publishing platform; receive landing page content
responsive to the second content request; and display within a
portion of at least one graphical user interface a presentation
interface comprising a representation of the received landing page
content.
[0037] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request; accept, from a user interacting with the initial
control area of the first content display area, the first content
request; transmit the first content request to a publisher
associated with the first content display area; receive the content
from the publisher associated with the first content display area;
display, within the first content display area, the content;
accept, from a user interacting with the initial control area of
the first content display area, a second content request; transmit
the second content request to a publishing platform; receive
content from the publisher associated with the first content
display area; and display, within the first content display area,
the content.
[0038] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content; accept, from a user
interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, a second content request; transmit the second content
request to a publishing platform; receive landing page content
responsive to the second content request; and display, within the
second display area, the landing page content.
[0039] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content; accept, from a user
interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, a second content request; transmit the second content
request to a publishing platform; receive content from the
publisher associated with the first content display area; display,
within the first content display area, the content; receive landing
page content responsive to the second content request; and display,
within the second display area, the landing page content.
[0040] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content; accept, from a user
interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, a second content request; transmit the second content
request to a publishing platform; receive content from the
publisher associated with the first content display area; display,
within the first content display area, the content; receive landing
page content responsive to the second content request; and display,
within the second display area, the landing page content.
[0041] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content; accept, from a user
interacting with an initial control area of a landing page in the
second content display area, a second content request; transmit the
second content request to a publishing platform; receive content
from the publisher associated with the first content display area;
and display, within the first content display area, the
content.
[0042] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content; accept, from a user
interacting with an initial control area of a landing page in the
second content display area, a second content request; transmit the
second content request to a publishing platform; receive landing
page content responsive to the second content request; and display,
within the second display area, the landing page content.
[0043] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content, wherein the at
least one graphical user interface comprises a first content
display area having an initial control that accepts the first
content request and a second content display area; accept, from a
user interacting with the initial control area of the first content
display area, the first content request; transmit the first content
request to a publisher associated with the first content display
area; receive the content from the publisher associated with the
first content display area; display, within the first content
display area, the content; display, within the second content
display area, the landing page content; accept, from a user
interacting with an initial control area of a landing page in the
second content display area, a second content request; transmit the
second content request to a publishing platform; receive content
from the publisher associated with the first content display area;
display, within the first content display area, the content;
receive landing page content responsive to the second content
request; and display, within the second display area, the landing
page content.
[0044] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a distributed
computer system comprises a client component configured to accept a
first content request; transmit the first content request to a
publishing platform; receive landing page content responsive to the
first content request; display within a portion of at least one
graphical user interface a presentation interface comprising a
representation of the received landing page content; and observe
user interactions in a distributed computer system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0045] The accompanying drawings are not drawn to scale. In the
drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is
illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral.
For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in
every drawing. In the drawings:
[0046] FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system in
accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0047] FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system in
accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0048] FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system in
accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0049] FIG. 2 is an exemplary system diagram in accordance with one
embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0050] FIG. 3 is an exemplary system architecture diagram in
accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0051] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for delivering
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0052] FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0053] FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0054] FIG. 5C illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0055] FIG. 5D illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0056] FIG. 5E illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0057] FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary interface for depicting
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0058] FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary interface for depicting
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0059] FIG. 6C illustrates an exemplary interface for depicting
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0060] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying an
initial control in accordance with one embodiment of the present
disclosure.
[0061] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary process for delivering
landing page content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present disclosure; and
[0062] FIG. 9 is an exemplary system diagram in accordance with one
embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0063] Embodiments of this invention are not limited in their
application to the details of construction and the arrangement of
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in
the drawings. Embodiments of the invention are capable of other
embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in
various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is
for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as
limiting. The use of "including," "comprising," "having,"
"containing," "involving," and variations thereof herein is meant
to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as
well as additional items.
[0064] As discussed herein, a "content request" may include
user-driven searches for content (e.g. by a user interacting with a
search box, controls, sliders, buttons, and other tools within a
user interface), user actions (e.g. clicking on links, tags, and
other interactive material), saved search for content from prior
sessions, a prior search refreshed after a specified time, searches
driven by applications and rules (e.g. behavioral, contextual, or
other targeting software), searches driven by predictions or
predictive software algorithms, or any other command or action by a
person or a machine intended to retrieve content from an
interactive site. In some embodiments, a content request may take
the form of a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or secure
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) request to a web server.
[0065] As discussed herein, a "landing page presentation interface"
displays representations of one or more landing pages from various
websites. The landing pages may be requested with custom Uniform
Resource Locator (URL) information communicated over HTTP that
passes a content request to a website publishing platform. The
landing page may be presented in a variety of manners, including
but not limited to: as a web page employing Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML), as a display rendered in a user interface, and as
an application on a mobile computing device.
[0066] As discussed herein, a "publisher" may publish a website
(e.g. a travel or e-commerce website), a mobile application
environment, or any other interactive content available over a
network. The publisher may sell advertising or may employ content
delivery networks (e.g. advertising networks) in order to deliver
website and other interactive content to users. A publisher may
offer to sell content delivery services, such as advertising.
Interactive and web content may be delivered as a landing page. As
it relates to the publisher of a website, the term "third-party
publisher" may include other websites, other mobile applications,
other gaming sites, and other interactive publishers that may
barter for, trade, share, or purchase content delivery services
(e.g. advertising, landing pages, and the like) from the
publisher.
[0067] As discussed herein, a "website" may include any number of
interactive content sites available on the Internet or other
electronic network. Websites may be constructed using a variety of
languages and protocols, including HTML, the JavaScript programming
language, extensible markup language (XML), asynchronous JavaScript
and XML (Ajax), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), JavaScript
Object Notation with padding (JSONP), and others. Users may
interact with websites with a web browser or a dedicated software
application (e.g. a mobile application).
[0068] As discussed herein the terms "publishing platform" and
"publishing system" refer broadly to interactive online platforms
for content management, decision processes, and delivery. A
"publishing platform" or "publishing system" may include web
servers, content servers, caching systems, advertising servers,
advertising networks, content delivery networks, and so forth as
operated by a variety of parties. The terms "publishing platform"
and "publishing system" are not intended to be limiting or to refer
to operation by a single entity, such as a publisher, and more than
one entity (e.g. multiple publishers) may operate within a single
"publishing platform" or "publishing system."
[0069] Landing Pages
[0070] According to an aspect, various embodiments of systems and
methods disclosed herein address a variety of "landing page"
models. A landing page is a web page that is displayed as the
result of a content request, such as when a user selects (e.g., by
"clicking on" with a pointing device such as a mouse) a content
link displayed within the webpage. According to another aspect, the
content request may result from an application or software running
within a distributed computing system.
[0071] A "click-in" landing page includes content that links the
user to a landing page within the publisher's website, for example,
where a third party (e.g. a third-party publisher wishing to drive
user traffic to a website) pays for placing content on the
publisher's website. A publisher and/or a third-party publisher may
provide the content (or creative content) of the click-in landing
page. For example, if a user clicks on the linked content for flat
screen TVs, the user may be presented with a new web page within
the publisher's website listing flat screen TVs from a specific
manufacturer for sale. In this case the manufacturer (i.e.,
third-party publisher) may be considered a paid sponsor of the
landing page.
[0072] A "click-out" landing page includes interactive content that
links the user to a landing page specified by a third-party
publisher (e.g., a web page on an third-party publisher's website).
For example, a user may search for "red shoes" on a shopping
website and may see an ad for red shoes at Zappos.com--if the user
clicks on the Zappos interactive content, he or she may be
redirected to a landing page at Zappos.com responsive to the search
for "red shoes."
[0073] A landing page may be "pre loaded" in that a publisher, an
intermediary network, or another party may load a landing page into
a display for presentation instead of a traditional text or image
link. For example, instead of a text link indicating "Search for
red shoes at Zappos" or an image link showing a red shoe above the
Zappos logo, with both links pointing to a landing page at the
Zappos site, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a
pre-loaded landing page may include an icon representing the
landing page, a thumbnail image of the landing page as delivered,
or a full version of the landing page presented in either the same
or a separate display area. Conventionally, this type of landing
page content has been displayed either in a separate tab or a
popout window within a web browser.
[0074] The inventors have recognized, among other things, that a
key challenge for content publishers may include presenting
"click-out" landing pages in a "click-in" model. The technical
challenge is for publishers to retain control over user attention
in an interactive (e.g. web or Internet) computing environment as
the publisher displays content, such as landing pages, from
competing third-party publishers. As with traditional "click-in"
approaches, the landing pages may be displayed by the publisher or
by an intermediary network, such as a content delivery network or
an advertising network. The "click-in" landing pages may be
presented in formats that enable a publisher to offer additional
features and capabilities, potentially at a premium, to third
parties. A publisher may be able to charge third-party publishers
more for a "click-in" landing page displayed in a custom navigation
window or interface.
[0075] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a new
user interface is provided that permits more efficient user
interaction with third-party provided content. For instance, the
interface may provide a control that permits the user to more
efficiently navigate through landing page content from multiple
third-party publishers. Such content may be loaded responsive to a
single action (e.g., a search on the publisher's website or an
action taken by a user within the user interface). Further, the
landing page content may be periodically updated based on a single
user action performed in association with anyone of the landing
page content sets. For instance, a user action in one landing page
content window may cause the others to be updated (e.g., in the
case of travel search, search parameters may be used to generate
updated landing page content within each of the landing page
content sets). Because less user interaction is required to update
content, the interface is easier and more efficient for a user to
operate.
[0076] System Overview
[0077] According to one aspect of the present invention, a system
and method enables a publisher to display landing pages, from
third-party publishers, in a display area. As discussed above, a
problem unique to Internet publishers is that low conversion rates
(e.g., in the 3%-5% range) and other user valuation metrics lead
many publishers to display content from third-party publishers
(e.g., links to landing pages and other forms of landing page
content as discussed herein) to generate additional revenue.
[0078] According to one embodiment, the presented landing pages may
include, among other things, depictions of landing pages,
thumbnails, icons, and fully-loaded landing page content. According
to one embodiment, the landing pages may be presented in a variety
of formats, including: horizontal tabs, vertical tabs, carousel,
multi-pane, staggered, stacked, and so forth as well as any
combination thereof. In various embodiments, improved interfaces
are provided for presenting and updating landing page content.
[0079] According to one embodiment, a user may specifically request
content from a publisher. In other embodiments, the system and
method may enable a publisher to display content and/or third-party
landing pages without requiring a user to directly request content,
such as in publishing systems employing behavioral targeting,
contextual targeting, retargeting, and other approaches. In yet
other embodiments, an earlier content search may be coupled with
other content targeting approaches to load landing pages.
[0080] In various embodiments, landing page content may be
refreshed under a variety of circumstances. For example, if a user
is inactive or is visiting other sites for a period of time, a
publisher may refresh the third-party landing pages to accommodate
for the user's activities or to simply provide updated content,
pricing information, and the like. Thus, according to various
embodiments, the refreshing of third party landing pages may allow
the interface to be more user-friendly and operate more efficiently
requiring less user input. In some embodiments, a second content
request on the publisher's site may lead to updates on the
third-party landing pages. In yet other embodiments, a user may
request new content on one of the third-party landing pages, and a
publisher or a user may elect to update the displayed landing pages
from the other third-party sites. In embodiments, with each new
content request, a publisher decision engine may elect which
third-party landing pages, if any, to update and display. In some
further embodiments a publisher or a user may opt to close landing
pages from previously-presented third-party publishers and may
select different third-party publishers from which to request
landing page content.
[0081] According to one embodiment, a publisher may observe or
track user behavior. The tracked user behavior may include:
interactions in a distributed computing environment, interactions
with controls and links within a graphical user interface,
alphanumeric inputs, spoken inputs, user activity and timeouts, and
so forth. In a further embodiment, a user may specify the behavior
of a landing page display, including the layout of the landing
pages, the mode of user interaction (e.g. tabs, carousel, stacked,
and so forth), timeouts, refreshes, preferred third-party
publishers, and so forth.
[0082] FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C illustrate a schematic overview of
exemplary systems according to embodiments of the disclosure. Shown
is an interface of a client computer 101A, 101B or 101C, such as a
web browser, a publisher 103A, 103B or 103C of a travel website, a
publishing platform 105A, 105B or 105C, and a third-party publisher
107A, 107B or 107C, such as another travel website. Publishing
platform 105A, 105B or 105C may be a computer server or a
distributed computer system on which various embodiments of the
present disclosure may be implemented, including, but not limited
to, presenting display areas and control interfaces to users,
processing content requests, deciding which third-party publishers
from which to request content, requesting third-party content,
assembling landing pages from one or more third-party publishers,
and presenting landing pages to a user in a display area. In some
embodiments, based upon an interaction with a publishing platform
105A, 105B or 105C the interface 101A, 101B or 101C may request
landing page content directly from one or more third-party
publishers, open a display interface, assemble landing pages from
one or more third-party publishers, and/or present the landing
pages to a user in a display area.
[0083] There may be more than one interface 101A, 101B or 101C,
associated with a publisher 103A-C, and one or more third-party
publishers 107A-C. Publisher 103A, 103B or 103C provides one or
more web pages (not shown) to a user through interface 101A, 101B
or 101C. For example, the user interacts with the publisher's 103A,
103B or 103C travel website through the user interface to make a
content request, such as for information about airline schedules,
ticket prices, hotel room availability, or other item, by providing
search terms 110A, 110B or 110C. The publisher 103A, 103B or 103C
may also, or alternatively, collect other information about or from
the user. This information may be used to determine potential
content requests with or without the user entering search terms
110A, 110B or 110C. Such information may relate to the user's
intent to purchase airline tickets on a specific day, or to a
specific city, or other similar travel-related details. For
example, user information may also be based on user entry onto a
site a specific time, or user information may be derived from a
user's prior behavior or other predictive criteria associated with
a user. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not
limited to travel products but may include any products sold,
advertised, or distributed through electronic commerce or other
electronic sites.
[0084] Requesting Content from a Publisher
[0085] According to one embodiment as shown in FIG. 1A, a user may
rely on an interface 101A to interact with a publisher 103A website
that may incorporate a publishing platform 105A. The website may be
hosted by the publisher 103A or may be resident within the
publishing platform 105A. The publishing platform addresses many of
the higher-level functions associated with serving content and
advertising, as well as deciding which content to display. The
website may be built using a variety of technologies, including,
but not limited to, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax and others. The website
may comprise a variety of components hosted by numerous parties,
such as web servers, ad servers, advertising networks, content
delivery networks, distributed web services platforms (e.g. Amazon
Web Services), and so forth. In some embodiments, the publisher
103A and the publishing platform 105A are one and the same. In
other embodiments, the publisher 103A and the publishing platform
105A are distinct, may be operated by different parties, and may be
in different physical locations. In yet other embodiments, the
publishing platform 105A may include web hosting and cloud
computing resources, and the publishing platform 105A may include a
variety of content services from publishers as well as third-party
publishers.
[0086] The user may request content--usually in the form of an HTTP
or HTTPS request--such as by entering search terms 110A or other
information. The publisher 103A sends the content request 112A to
publishing platform 105A, which uses the content request 112A to
find the relevant content 114A on the publishing platform. The
interface 101A may also request the content directly from the
publishing platform 105A.
[0087] The publishing platform 105A then displays the requested
content in a web page 116A within the user interface 101A.
According to one embodiment, the publisher 103A may generate a
content request 112A based upon a number of criteria, including,
but not limited to, user behavior and actions on the publisher's
website. According to another embodiment, the user may not enter
search terms 110A and the search terms may populate automatically.
For example, if a user purchases an airline ticket on the
publisher's website, the content request 112A may include a search
for hotel rooms in the destination city on the days the user
expects to travel to that city.
[0088] FIGS. 1B and 1C also demonstrate similar content requests
112B or 112C based upon entering search terms 110B or 110C in a
user interface 101B or 101C such as a web browser. The publishing
platform 105B or 105C locates and presents content results 114B or
114C and displays the publisher's content to the user 116B or 116C,
in the interface 101B or 101C.
[0089] Requesting Content from Third-Party Publishers
[0090] Various client-based and server-based approaches exist for
requesting content from third-party publishers. Therefore,
according to various embodiments, various aspects of the invention
may operate using different architecture. An embodiment employing a
server architecture is shown in FIG. 1A; embodiments employing
client-based architectures are illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1C.
[0091] For example, in FIG. 1A, given the content request 112A, the
publishing platform may determine 118A from which, if any,
third-party publishers to request landing page content. This
decision 118A may incorporate a variety of inputs, including but
not limited to: preferences and bids from third-party publishers
107A, advertising tags, adservers, and so forth.
[0092] If the publishing platform 105A determines 118A to request
third-party landing pages, the publishing platform 105A then
requests content from the selected third-party publishers 120A. In
order to process the content request, the publishing platform 105A
may determine an appropriate Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for a
given content request from a given third-party publisher 107A. The
third-party publisher 107A, processes the request, locates
third-party landing page content 122A, and presents the content to
the publishing platform 105A, which then assembles the respective
third-party landing page content 124A in a format for delivery to
the user in a navigation window of the interface 101A. The
publishing platform 105A may control the assembly and delivery of
landing pages 124A, or this function may occur within the browser
126B, with reference to FIG. 1B to be discussed below.
[0093] FIG. 1B illustrates a schematic overview of an exemplary
system according to embodiments of the disclosure. The publisher
content request 112B is displayed to a user 116B based upon search
terms 110B entered by a user or another party as discussed above.
FIG. 1B differs from FIGS. 1A & 1C in that the interface 101B
is directly involved in requesting landing page content. At some
point in time, before, after, or during the content request 112B
from the publisher, the interface 101B may also communicate
directly with the publishing platform 105B, which may be operated
by the publisher, an intermediary content delivery or advertising
network, third-party publishers, or combinations of entities, to
decide which third-party publishers to request landing page content
from 118B.
[0094] In one embodiment, when the publisher content is displayed
to the user 116B, that content may include a tag (e.g. a content
delivery or an advertising tag) in the HTML and JavaScript content
delivered to the interface 101B (e.g. a web browser). In other
embodiments, the tag may originate in the direct communication
between the interface 101B and the publishing platform 105B. The
content delivery or advertising tag may then be triggered by an
event (e.g. an end user action, an action by an application, and so
forth) to invoke, instantiate, or open a window within the
interface 101B. In some embodiments, the window may be opened
within an already-open first display window. In other embodiments,
the window may be opened in a second display window.
[0095] The interface 101B may then load necessary code (e.g. HTML,
JavaScript, Ajax, etc.) to display in the manners discussed herein
as referenced in FIGS. 5A-E, FIGS. 6A-C, and FIG. 7, below. For
example, a user may perform a search in a website, and a publisher
may present content in a new page within the browser window. The
publisher may also display an additional navigation window for
presenting landing pages from third-party publishers. The
third-party landing page navigation window may include landing
pages, or it may include an interface (e.g. check boxes) so that
the user may request landing pages from specific third-party
publishers.
[0096] The interface 101B may request landing page content, for
example by using JavaScript to construct an HTTP or HTTPS request
for third-party landing page content. Within the publishing
platform 105B, an aspect may include a content delivery network or
an advertising network that may receive the request for third-party
landing page content 120B, and after performing business logic to
determine which third-party publishers to request content from
118B, the content delivery or advertising network may format the
request 120B for landing page content by determining appropriate
URL formats for specific third-party publishers. In FIG. 1B, the
publishing platform 105B may (e.g. using HTML, JSON, and JSONP)
pass formatted URLs to the interface 101A which then requests the
landing page content from third-party publishers 120B. FIG. 1B
shows an embodiment in which the request 120B is contained within
the publishing platform 105B; in other embodiments, the publishing
platform 105B may include webserving capabilities for a third-party
publisher; and in other embodiments, the request 120B may occur
outside the publishing platform 105B and may instead be a direct
communication between the interface 101B and a third-party
publisher 107B.
[0097] The third-party publisher 107B may then locate and present
landing page content 122B and communicate directly with the
interface 101B and display third-party landing pages to the user
126B. There may be any number of third party publishers 107B.
[0098] FIG. 1C illustrates a schematic overview of an exemplary
system according to embodiments of the disclosure. The functions of
the publishing platform 105A as referenced in FIG. 1A, above, is
split between a publishing platform 105C and a content delivery
platform 109C, such as a content delivery server or an advertising
server. The publishing platform 105C may communicate with the
content delivery platform 109C through an application programming
interface (API) in addition to HTTP, HTTPS, JavaScript, Ajax and
other protocols. The user may enter search terms 110C, which are
either communicated to the content delivery platform 109C directly
by the interface 101C or through the API from the publishing
platform 105C. At 118C, the content delivery platform 109C decides
which third-party publishers to request landing page content from.
At 120C, the content delivery platform 109C requests landing page
content from third-party publishers 107C. The content delivery
platform 109C may request the landing page content from the
third-party publisher 107C by rendering the request in a custom URL
format tailored to pass the search terms to the publisher in a
format that the third-party publisher's 107C platform will
recognize. In other embodiments, the interface 101C may, directly
request landing page content 120C from third-party publisher as
shown by 120B as discussed in reference to FIG. 1B above.
[0099] Once the third-party publisher 107C has located the landing
page content, it may present 122C the landing page content directly
to the interface 101C where the third-party landing pages are
displayed 126C to the user.
[0100] FIG. 2 illustrates various interactions of an exemplary
system according to various embodiments of the disclosure. In
comparison to the embodiments shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 further
demonstrates a system including multiple third-party publishers 206
that may deliver landing page content as presented to a user by a
display 200. Display 200, publishing platform 204, and third-party
publisher 206 may each include, respectively, display 101A, 101B or
101C, publisher 103A, 103B or 103C publishing platform 105A, 105B
or 105C, content delivery platform 109C, and third-party publisher
107A, 107B or 107C as referenced in FIGS. 1A-C, above.
[0101] As shown, the display 200 presents one or more display
areas. First, display 200 provides publisher content 201, for
example, one or more web pages, which may be viewed within a web
browser operating on a client computer of a user (not shown).
Second, display 200 also provides third-party landing pages 203,
which may be viewed within a web browser operating on client
computer of a user (not shown). The third-party landing pages 203
may also be viewed in another display area. Publisher content 201
and third-party landing pages 203 may be presented in a display 200
that may include interface 101A-C as referenced in FIGS. 1A-C,
above.
[0102] Also, as discussed with reference to FIGS. 1A-C above, those
skilled in the art will recognize that the interaction between the
display 200, publishing platform 204, and third-party publishers
206 is not fixed, and the display 200 may communicate directly with
a third-party publisher 206 to request and receive landing page
content. In some embodiments, the request by the display 200 may be
informed by an interaction with the publishing platform 204.
[0103] A publishing platform 204 includes a system 205 for
delivering content in an online environment. System 205 may
include, but is not limited to, an online auction for providing
access to display 200 from one or more third-party publishers 206.
System 205 may also include one or more components adapted to
identify and serve content including landing pages 207 to display
200 to be displayed to a visitor viewing the web pages. Third-party
publishers 206 provide one or more landing pages 207 to system 205
for display to a user within a device display. Also, the system 205
may include a publishing platform 105C and a content delivery
platform 109C as referenced in FIG. 1C above.
[0104] In one embodiment, system 205 determines and serves, based
on criteria that may include, but is not limited to: a content
request, observed user behavior, or user-generated information from
display 200, appropriate third-party publishers 206 from which to
request respective third-party landing pages 207 to be displayed in
addition to publisher content 201.
[0105] Exemplary System Architecture
[0106] FIG. 3 shows an architecture diagram of an example system
300 according to one embodiment of the invention. System 300 may,
for instance, be one implementation of the system discussed above
with reference to FIG. 2. It should be appreciated that FIG. 3 is
used for illustration purposes only, and that other architectures
may also be used to facilitate one or more aspects of the present
invention.
[0107] As shown in FIG. 3, a distributed system 300 may be used to
display one or more web pages and landing pages to a user within a
travel site. According to one embodiment, system 300 may include
one or more components that operate in cooperation with the travel
site. The components may include one or more client systems 302 and
a publishing system 304. For example, these components may execute
on one or more computer systems associated with or interconnected
to a publisher of a travel site. System 300 may include one or more
processes that respond to requests from one or more client
programs, such as a web browser or a mobile application. Process
may include, for example, an HTTP server or other server-based
process (e.g., a database server process, XML server, peer-to-peer
process) that interfaces to one or more client programs distributed
among one or more client systems. One or more third-party
publishers 306 may interact with publishing system 304 to present
landing page content to a display on a client system 302.
[0108] According to one embodiment, one or more client systems 302
may be capable of displaying web browsers and landing pages to
users. The client systems 302 may include, for example, any type of
operating system and/or application program capable of
communicating with other computer systems through a communication
network, such as the Internet. In one particular instance, the
client system 302 may include a browser application program that
communicates with one or more server processes using one or more
communication protocols (e.g., HTTP over a TCP/IP-based network,
XML requests using HTTP through an Ajax client process, distributed
objects, etc.).
[0109] The client system 302 may include one or more interfaces 310
through which web pages may be presented to the user. In one
example, web pages may be presented in an interface of a browser
program executing on a client computer system. The client system
302 may also include a navigator interface 312 for displaying
multiple landing pages from third-party publishers. In one
embodiment, the navigator interface 312 may be displayed in an
interface associated with a publisher web site within an interface
310 of the browser program.
[0110] According to another embodiment, the publishing system 304
receives one or more content requests 314 from a publisher through
the client system 302, and one or more landing pages 318 from one
or more third-party publishers 306. The publishing system 304
serves requested content to a publisher, which in turn displays the
requested content to user through, for example, interface 310. The
publishing system 304 also serves third-party landing pages to the
publisher, which in turn displays the third-party landing pages to
a user through, for example, navigator interface 312. The
publishing system 304 may include the following components: a web
engine 320, a content management engine 322, a decision engine 324,
and a landing page presentation engine 326. The publishing system
304 also includes, a web publishing database 330, a content
management database 332, and a decision database 334.
[0111] In various embodiments, different structures, may perform
the role of a state machine, monitoring application state as it
relates to user activity, inputs and so forth with respect to the
display interfaces. In some embodiments, this also relates to
re-displaying searches, and updating search information from one
landing page to another. In some embodiments, the publishing system
304 may include the publishing platform 105A as referenced in FIG.
1A above. Because the publishing platform 105A presents landing
page content to the user, the publishing platform 105A may monitor
user behavior on specific landing pages and provide updates to
other landing pages from third-party publishers as well as the
first display window associated with a publisher.
[0112] In some embodiments, the task of maintaining application
state may fall to the client system 302, the publishing system 304,
or a combination of the two. For example, the publishing system 304
may include the publishing platform 105B as referenced in FIG. 1B
above. While third-party publishers 107B display respective landing
pages to user 126B, the interface 101B receives communication, from
the publishing platform 105B, that may include instructions to open
a display interface for landing page content. The publishing
platform 105B decides which third-party publishers to request
content from 118B, and then establishes communication with the
interface 101B, which may include sending landing page URLs to use
when the interface 101B directly requests landing page content from
third-party publishers 120B.
[0113] In yet other embodiments, the publishing system 304 may
include the publishing platform 105C and content delivery platform
109C as referenced in FIG. 1C, above. Here, the content delivery
platform 109C may play as similar role to the publishing platform
105B as referenced in FIG. 1B, above, and the content delivery
platform 109C may monitor application state, the client system 302
may monitor application state, or the two structure may share
various aspects of this task.
[0114] As will be described in greater detail below, the web engine
320 processes content requests 314 and searches the web publishing
database 330 for the requested content and presents it to the
publisher, which presents the requested content to the client
system 302 for display in the interface 310. The web engine 320
also translates the content request 314 and passes the request to
the content management engine 322, which searches the content
management database 332 to determine what information to present to
the user through the interface 310 and what types of landing page
content to request, if any, from a third-party publisher 306.
According to one embodiment, the content management engine 322 may
incorporate or respond to content management or advertising serving
(adserving) code resident on the web page or the web site as
referenced in the web engine 320. Possible methods for
incorporating adserving code include tag managers, ad servers, or
other content management systems. According to one embodiment, the
web engine 320 may observe various user behaviors, as a user
interacts with the publisher's site and may pass that information
to the content management engine 322, which the content management
engine 322 may then store in the content management database
332.
[0115] According to one embodiment, the content management engine
322 and content management database 332 may incorporate observed
user behaviors, user preferences, prior user content requests, as
well as targeting and retargeting capabilities. In one example, a
user may specify which third-party publishers he or she prefers to
visit. In another example, the content management database 332 may
contain information about users and their activities, including
content requests, and the content management engine 322 may pass a
saved content request to the web engine 320 so that a returning
user may see an interface 310 displaying the results of an earlier
content request. According to one embodiment, the content
management engine 322 may connect to a retargeting platform or an
advertising network.
[0116] The content management engine 322 translates requests and
passes them to the decision engine 324, which determines from which
third-party publishers 306 to request landing page content 316. At
the publisher's option, the decision engine 324 is also capable of
dynamically suppressing landing page content for any particular
page view, such as when a user is forecasted as highly likely to
purchase on the current site. In one embodiment, when the user is
determined likely to purchase an item, the system is adapted to
suppress competing landing page content from any third-party
publisher.
[0117] The decision engine 324 operates in conjunction with the
decision engine database 334 to employ predictive models to compute
the expected transaction value associated with a current page view,
factoring a number of runtime attributes, including a calculation
of user intent, landing page bids, other preferences shared by
third-party publishers 306, and other factors. The decision engine
324 may include one or more of the following sub-systems: a
proprietary adserver (or equivalent) built by the publisher; a 3rd
party adserver (or equivalent) that a publisher is licensing for
their own use; an adserver (or equivalent) offered by an
advertising network or advertising platform; or an adserver (or
equivalent) offered by an ad exchange; or some other equivalent
component. Ultimately, the decision engine 324 is responsible for
making sure third-party publishers 306 are matched to landing page
content requests 314 and 316 according to all the constraints of
the publishing system 304, making sure that users receive optimal
landing page content, based on system optimization functions. The
decision engine 324 may also use an auction, or another algorithm,
to determine which landing page content to request.
[0118] The decision database 334 may include information about
third-party publishers, landing page inventory, potential bids for
landing page displays, and so forth. The decision engine 324 may
incorporate this information, among other things, in determining
from which third-party publisher 306 to request 316 landing page
content 318. The request may take the form of a custom URL that
passes content request data to a third-party publisher 306.
[0119] The publishing system 304 receives landing page content 318
from a third-party publisher 306 and assembles, within the landing
page presentation engine 326, landing page content for presentation
to the publisher. The publisher then passes the formatted landing
page content to the client system 302 for presentation in the
navigator interface 312. The landing page presentation engine 326
may include various web servers, content delivery servers,
advertising servers, and so forth, and various parties may control
various aspects of the landing page presentation engine 326. In
some embodiments, such as those illustrated in FIG. 1A, above, the
landing page presentation engine 326 may be within the control of a
publisher. In other embodiments, such as those illustrated in FIGS.
1B and 1C, above, the landing page presentation engine 326 may
include a web server operated by a third-party publisher, with each
landing page presented to the client system 302 and rendered as a
web page within the presentation interface such as a web
browser.
[0120] Exemplary Method
[0121] FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of a process for delivering
landing pages 400. Process 400 may be, for instance, one
implementation of system 300 as discussed above with reference to
FIG. 3. Process 400 begins at start block 402. At block 404 the
publisher of a travel website receives a content request. According
to one embodiment, the content request may come from a user
interacting with a browser 310 on a client system 302 as referenced
in FIG. 3, above. According to another embodiment, the content
request may come from a content management engine 322, also
referenced in FIG. 3 above, responding to a set of rules defined by
a publisher. For example, a publisher may determine a set of
behaviors suggesting an intent to purchase a hotel room--the
publisher may implement a rule at that decision point to request
content related to rental cars and to display that content along
with the hotel reservation information. For instance, the content
may be displayed in a separate window, below the content, or in any
other window and/or orientation with the display. Block 404
initiates two steps indicated by block 406 and block 412.
[0122] At block 406, the publishing system accepts the content
request and searches for content on, for example, the web engine
320 and web publishing database 330 as referenced in FIG. 3, above.
At block 408, the publishing system determines which, of the
requested and retrieved content, to present to the user. The
decision at block 408 may incorporate intelligence, such as
behavioral and contextual inputs, targeting, retargeting, and
network information available from the content management engine
322 as referenced in FIG. 3 above. At block 410, the publishing
system presents content to a user in a display, such as a web page
as shown in browser 310 on a client system 302 as referenced in
FIG. 3 above.
[0123] At block 412, as initiated by block 406, the publishing
system determines whether to request landing page content from one
or more of a number of third-party publishers. According to one
embodiment, the third-party publishers may be travel websites on
which a user may be comparison shopping for an airline ticket. The
step at block 412 may be performed by decision engine 324 as
referenced in FIG. 3 above. Once the publishing system has
determined from which third-party publishers to request landing
page content, at block 414, that request is passed to each of the
respective third-party publishers, either: (a) directly, by
contacting each third-party publisher, (b) indirectly, by
contacting an intermediary network, such as an advertising network;
or (c) directly by processing HTTP requests from a client, such as
a client system 302 or a browser 310 as referenced in FIG. 3
above.
[0124] At block 416, the publishing system receives landing page
content from third-party publishers. At block 418, the publishing
system assembles landing page content for presentation in a display
area, such as navigator interface 312 as referenced in FIG. 3
above. At block 420, the publishing system passes the landing page
content to the publisher, which presents the landing page content,
such as that contained within navigator interface 312, to the user.
The steps at 416, 418, and 420 may each be performed by a structure
such as landing page presentation engine 326 as referenced in FIG.
3 above.
[0125] At block 422, process 400 ends.
[0126] It is worth noting that, as discussed with reference to
FIGS. 1A-C and FIG. 3, above, other structures, including client
software, web browsers and the like may also perform steps of
process 400 as described in FIG. 4.
[0127] Presentation of Landing Pages
[0128] The inventors have recognized that the presentation of
landing page content is important in comparison shopping, because
only 3-5% of users buy in a given session, and even minor
improvements in shopper conversion can lead to tremendous benefits
for publishers. In comparison to conventional approaches (e.g.
browser windows and tabs), the inventors have recognized an
opportunity to make it easier for users to view and navigate
multiple landing pages at once.
[0129] According to one embodiment, landing page content from one
or more third-party publishers may be rendered in a browser window,
such as the browser window from which a user makes a content
request. According to another embodiment, landing page content may
be rendered as an overlay or a lightbox display. According to one
embodiment, landing page content may be displayed in a second
display area, and in embodiments, the display area may be presented
in front of or behind the first display area (e.g. the window from
which the user made the original content request). In another
embodiment, landing page content may be displayed in a new browser
tab or window. In yet another embodiment, when user focus is on a
publisher web page, landing page content may be displayed
separately in focus or out of focus with respect to a user, and the
landing page presentation interface may receive user input (e.g.
selection with a cursor, keyboard input, or text entry). In a
further embodiment, when user focus is on a landing page provided
by a third-party content provider, landing page content from other
third-party content providers may be displayed as a representation
of a landing page within the presentation interface. In one
embodiment, landing page content may be displayed as one or more
fully-loaded landing pages.
[0130] According to one embodiment, a user may specify how
third-party landing page content displays. According to another
embodiment, a user may specify from which third-party publishers a
publisher should request landing page content. According to another
embodiment, various third-party publishers may specify how (e.g. in
a popover or popunder browser window) landing page content is
displayed.
[0131] According to one embodiment, a user may interact with a
landing page in a display, and as a result of that interaction, the
landing page may subsequently display in a dedicated display area,
such as a browser tab or a dedicated browser window (e.g., a popout
window).
[0132] Additional embodiments addressing the presentation and
display of landing page content are discussed below.
[0133] FIGS. 5A-5E show various embodiments of landing pages
arrayed in a display area. FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5D and 5E show three
landing pages, and FIG. 5C shows four landing pages; however any
number of landing pages is possible in any of the display areas
shown in FIGS. 5A-5E. According to one embodiment, a user makes a
first content request in a first display window (e.g. a web
browser) associated with a publisher (e.g. a publisher of a web
site). Upon receiving this content request, the publisher decides,
as discussed in the exemplary method as referenced in FIG. 4,
above, whether to display landing page content from third-party
publishers. The publisher, the publishing platform, an intermediary
network (e.g. a content delivery network or an advertising
network), or a user then selects the third-party publishers from
which to request landing page content. Upon receipt of landing page
content, the publisher, or an intermediary such as a network (e.g.
a content delivery network, an advertising network) arranges the
landing pages for presentation in a variety of array formats.
Landing page content may be displayed in the first display area or
a second display area as described above. Notably, the landing page
content is derived from multiple third-party publishers is
presented within a navigation area that makes it easier for users
to view alternate content that is updated in real-time.
[0134] FIG. 5A depicts an embodiment of a display area 500A with
landing pages arrayed in a carousel format in which a user may
rotate through the available landing pages 501A, 502A, and 503A by
gesturing with a mouse, finger, or other element. In comparison to
conventional approaches, which often limit display to a single
browser or tab, the carousel display offers the benefit of allowing
a user to see multiple landing pages while focusing on a specific
one. The user may also rotate through the landing pages by
selecting an arrow button 510A at either side of the display. As
shown in FIG. 5A, landing page 502A is displayed in the center of
the carousel and is the current focus of the user's attention.
[0135] FIG. 5B depicts an embodiment of a display area 500B with
landing pages arrayed in a tiled or multi-pane format in which a
user sees one or more landing pages 501B, 502B, and 503B in a set
of vertical or horizontal panes inside the browser window. In
comparison to conventional approaches, which often limit display to
a single browser or tab, the tiled or multi-pane display offers the
benefit of allowing a user to see multiple landing pages while
focusing on a specific one. Upon selecting a landing page, the
selected landing page may be enlarged, presented in front of the
other landing pages, popped out, or otherwise displayed to the
user.
[0136] FIG. 5C depicts an embodiment of a display area 500C with
landing pages arrayed in a horizontal tab format in which a user
may select a tab (e.g. by clicking on the tab) to view the
available landing pages 501C, 502C, and 503C. In comparison to
conventional approaches, which limit the available display options
for information within a given tab, the tab format offers
publishers the ability to display images as well as text in the
displayed tab of an unfocused window. Upon selecting a landing
page, the selected landing page may be presented in front of the
other landing pages. As shown in FIG. 5C, landing page 501C is
displayed on top of the tab display and is the current focus of the
user's attention. One or more of the landing pages 502C, 503C, or
504C as represented by the tabs may be preloaded when the display
area is first instantiated or may optionally be loaded only once
the user selects the corresponding tab.
[0137] FIG. 5D depicts an embodiment of a display area 500D with
landing pages arrayed in a stacked or staggered format in which a
user sees the landing pages staggered or stacked on top of each
other. The user may select (e.g. by clicking on) one of the
available landing pages 501D, 502D, and 503D. In comparison to
conventional approaches, which often limit display to a single
browser or tab, the stacked or staggered display offers the benefit
of allowing a user to see multiple landing pages while focusing on
a specific one. Upon selecting a landing page, the selected landing
page may be presented in front of the other landing pages. As shown
in FIG. 5D, landing page 501D is displayed on top of the stack or
staggered display and is the current focus of the user's
attention.
[0138] FIG. 5E depicts an embodiment of a display area 500E with
landing pages arrayed in a vertical tab format in which a user may
select a tab (e.g. by clicking on the tab) to view the available
landing pages 501E, 502E, and 503E. In comparison to conventional
approaches, which limit the available display options for
information within a given tab, the tab format offers publishers
the ability to display images as well as text in the displayed tab
of an unfocused window. Upon selecting a landing page, the selected
landing page may be presented in front of the other landing pages.
As shown in FIG. 5E, landing page 501E is displayed on top of the
tab display and is the current focus of the user's attention. As
with FIG. 5C, the landing page for each tab may be pre-loaded upon
display instantiation, or loading may be deferred until user
selects any such tab. In one embodiment, the multiple sets of
landing page content, may be updated in real time, and may be
responsive to additional user input, changes in parameters,
historical data and/or other third party data sources, or other
criteria.
[0139] According to one embodiment, the display area may
incorporate visual cues to indicate to the user that the system is
loading landing page content. According to one embodiment, a user
may select a control within the interface to enlarge a specific
display area. In another embodiment, a user may see a swipe prompt
at the top of a display area, with the swipe prompt encouraging the
user to view additional landing pages by swiping an interactive
gesture across the display interface.
[0140] According to one embodiment, the display area incorporating
multiple landing pages may include multiple distinct display areas,
arranged so as to give the perception to the end user of a
fully-integrated landing page navigation display. For example, in
certain web browsers, such as Apple's Safari browser, iFrame
security rules embedded within the browser prevent a publisher from
displaying landing page content in the methods described above. In
one embodiment, a publishing platform 105A as referenced in FIG.
1A, above, may render a display area so that it appears that each
landing page is displayed in the same window (including positioning
and sizing all relevant windows correctly) even though the
publishing platform 105A actually renders the landing page content
as separate windows.
[0141] FIGS. 6A-6C shows various embodiments of landing page
depictions in a display area. FIG. 6A shows an embodiment of a
pre-loaded landing page in a carousel array within display area
600A. The center pre-loaded landing page 601A is in focus and is
presented to the user. The other two landing pages 602A and 603A
are also pre-loaded with the landing page content and are displayed
behind the center pre-loaded landing page 601A and may be darkened
or displayed in a manner so as to convey that these pages are not
the focus page. Control buttons 610A are visible in front of
landing pages 602A and 603A.
[0142] FIG. 6B shows an embodiment of a pre-loaded landing page in
a tile or multi-pane array with a display area 600B. The primary
pre-loaded landing page 601B is the focus of the user's attention
and is displayed in a larger tile or pane. The secondary landing
page 602B is also pre-loaded with landing page content but is
displayed in a smaller tile or pane. A user may direct his or her
attention to the secondary landing page 602B by selecting the
"expand" button 610B within the display. Alternatively, a user may
further select landing page 601B by selecting the "expand" button
610B, which may cause the landing page 601B to pop out or to
display in a separate window.
[0143] FIG. 6C shows an embodiment of a pre-loaded landing page in
a horizontal tab array within a display area 600C. The primary
pre-loaded landing page 601C contains a landing page comprising a
search window displaying a banner advertisement 608C. Other tabs
602C, 603C, 604C, 605C, 606C, and 607C contain logos representing
additional third-party publisher landing pages. These third-party
publisher landing pages may already be loaded by the publishing
platform 105A as referenced in FIG. 1A (e.g., they may be
preloaded), above, or the landing pages may load when a user clicks
on the tab.
[0144] According to one embodiment, landing page content may be
displayed as an image in various forms including, but not limited
to: an icon or logo representing a third-party publisher, an icon
or logo representing the publisher of the initial page from which
the content request was made, a "wait screen" indicating that the
landing page has not yet loaded, and so on and so forth.
[0145] FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of an initial control 701 within
a display area 700. Controls may include a text box 702 for text
entry, a date selector 703, and a drop-down list 704. Additional
controls are possible, including sliders, buttons, numeric value
inputs, check boxes, user-selectable tags, and so forth. In one
embodiment, an initial control may be found in first display area,
such as a web page. In another embodiment, an initial control may
be found in a landing page which may, or may not, be in the first
display area. In some embodiments, landing pages may be presented
in a second display area, and initial controls may be presented
within the landing pages.
[0146] While not shown in FIG. 7, in one embodiment, the initial
control 701 may include a series of checkboxes for identifying
third-party publishers from which to request landing page content.
In another embodiment, the initial control 701 may include a series
of boxes, tabs or other graphical elements that may also include
third-party publisher logos to allow a user to select a third-party
content provider site to highlight in the display area 700. In yet
another embodiment, the initial control 701 may appear in a display
area 700 presented in popover format in front of open windows and
display areas.
[0147] Content Requests
[0148] Content requests, such as content request 112A as referenced
in FIG. 1A above, may originate in a variety of manners. As
discussed above, according to one embodiment, a user may request
content from a publisher. According to other embodiments, a content
request may originate within a publishing platform 105A as
referenced in FIG. 1A above.
[0149] According to one embodiment, a request for content, such as
the request for content received in block 404 as referenced in FIG.
4 above, may initiate a number of steps to display publisher
content and/or landing pages from third-party publishers.
[0150] According to another embodiment, a publisher may store or
save a request for content. This request for content may be
associated with a user as identified in any number of ways,
including: browser cookie, browser pixel, media access control
(MAC) sublayer address, device identifier, user ID, mobile device
identifier, login information, and so forth. In subsequent user
sessions, a publisher, or a third-party publisher, may desire to
display content or landing page content responsive to that content
request. For example, a publisher may wish to display airline
ticket information for flights to Los Angeles, Calif. to a user who
searched for hotels in Los Angeles, Calif. in a prior session.
Alternatively, a publisher may wish to display the same hotel
search to the user if the prior session terminated recently.
Similarly, these options may extend to landing pages presented by
third-party publishers, and a publisher may present pre-loaded
landing pages responsive to saved searches from prior sessions.
[0151] Content Refresh
[0152] According to one embodiment, a publisher may observe user
activity within a distributed computing system and may configure a
structure, such as a publishing system 304 as referenced in FIG. 3
above, or a publishing platform 105A as referenced in FIG. 1A
above, to refresh content automatically in order to ensure that
publisher and third-party landing page content is accurate and up
to date. The publisher may select one of any number of events to
trigger a content request (and ultimately an update of publisher
and/or third-party landing page content), including but not limited
to: time (e.g. automatically refreshing after an elapsed period of
time); user actions (e.g. demonstrating an intent to purchase or
closing or minimizing a display area); a request from a third-party
publisher to refresh a landing page; and so forth.
[0153] Search Update
[0154] According to one embodiment, once a display area has been
populated with content responsive to a content request, a user,
publisher, or third-party publisher, may make a second content
request. This second content request may form the basis for an
update of the publisher content and/or the third-party landing page
content. For example, after requesting new content (e.g. searching)
on the initial publisher display area (e.g. browser window), a user
may be prompted (e.g. with an interactive interface in the display
area incorporating the text "Compare All Prices") to update the
search within the third-party landing pages.
[0155] FIG. 8 shows one embodiment of a process for updating a
search and delivering landing pages 800. Process 800 may, for
instance, be one implementation of system 300 as discussed above
with reference to FIG. 3. Process 800 begins at start block 802. At
block 804 the publisher of a travel website receives a second
content request. According to one embodiment, the content request
may come from a user interacting with a browser 310 on a client
system 302 as referenced in FIG. 3, above. According to another
embodiment, the content request may come from a content management
engine 322, also referenced in FIG. 3 above, responding to a set of
rules defined by a publisher. For example, a publisher may
determine a set of behaviors suggesting an intent to purchase a
hotel room--the publisher may implement a rule at that decision
point to request content related to rental cars and to display that
content alongside the hotel reservation information. Block 804
initiates two steps indicated by block 806 and block 814.
[0156] At block 806 the publishing system decides whether or not to
update the publisher's display area associated with the second
content request. If not, the process terminates at block 826. If
the publishing system decides to update the publisher's display
area, the process proceeds to block 808.
[0157] At block 808, the publishing system accepts the content
request and searches for content on, for example, the web engine
320 and web publishing database 330 as referenced in FIG. 3, above.
At block 810, the publishing system determines which, of the
requested and retrieved content, to present to the user. The
decision at block 810 may incorporate intelligence, such as
behavioral and contextual inputs, targeting, retargeting, and
network information available from the content management engine
322 as referenced in FIG. 3 above. At block 812, the publishing
system presents content to a user in a display, such as a web page
as shown in browser 310 on a client system 302 as referenced in
FIG. 3 above.
[0158] At block 814 the publishing system decides whether or not to
update the landing page content area associated with the second
content request. If not, the process terminates at block 826. If
the publishing system decided to update the publisher's display
area, the process proceeds to block 816.
[0159] At block 816, the publishing system decides from which
third-party publishers to request landing page content. According
to one embodiment, the third-party publishers may be travel
websites on which a user may be comparison shopping for an airline
ticket. The step at block 816 may be performed by decision engine
324 as referenced in FIG. 3 above. Once the publishing system has
determined from which third-party publishers to request landing
page content, at block 818, that request is passed to each of the
respective third-party publishers, either directly, by contacting
each third-party publisher, or indirectly, by contacting an
intermediary network, such as an advertising network.
[0160] At block 820, the publishing system receives landing page
content from third-party publishers. At block 822, the publishing
system assembles landing page content for presentation in a display
area, such as navigator interface 312 as referenced in FIG. 3
above. At block 824, the publishing system passes the landing page
content to the publisher, which presents the landing page content,
such as that contained within navigator interface 312, to the user.
The steps at 820, 822, and 824 may each be performed by a structure
such as landing page presentation engine 326 as referenced in FIG.
3 above.
[0161] At block 826, process 800 ends.
[0162] It is worth noting that, as discussed with reference to
FIGS. 1A-C, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, above, other structures, including
client software, web browsers and the like may also perform steps
of process 800 as described in FIG. 8.
[0163] According to one embodiment, a user may make a first content
request by searching on fly.com for flights from NYC to SFO. The
publishing system displays landing page content in a popunder
window displayed behind the fly.com display area, and loads content
for NYC-SFO for selected third-party publishers. The user then
changes the search on fly.com from SFO to LAX, and the publishing
platform automatically refreshes third-party landing page content
to reflect LAX as the destination airport. According to one
embodiment, this search may propagate from the fly.com display area
to the third-party landing pages through a number of methods
including: direct message from fly.com, a mutually-readable local
or server-side cookie, or another storage and communication
technique.
[0164] According to one embodiment, a user may make a first content
request by searching on fly.com for flights from NYC to SFO. The
publishing system displays landing page content in a popunder
window displayed behind the fly.com display area, and loads content
for NYC-SFO for selected third-party publishers. The user may then,
in a third display area, visit Orbitz.com (which belongs to the
same content delivery or advertising network as fly.com) and may
make a second content request by performing a search for NYC to SEA
there. Because the two publishers share an intermediary network,
fly.com may update the search on the fly.com display area and/or
update the search in the third-party landing page content displayed
as a popunder window in a second display area.
[0165] Exemplary General Purpose Computer System
[0166] Various embodiments according to the present invention may
be implemented on one or more computer systems. These computer
systems may be, for example, general-purpose computers such as
those based on the Intel Core.RTM. processor, Apple "A" Series
processors, AMD Athlon and A-Series processors, Qualcommm
Snapdragon, processors, or any other type of processor. It should
be appreciated that one or more of any type computer system may be
used to determine ad placement according to various embodiments of
the invention. Further, the system may be located on a single
computer or may be distributed among a plurality of computers
attached by a communications network.
[0167] A general-purpose computer system according to one
embodiment of the invention is configured to perform any of the
described functions, including but not limited to, observing user
interactions within a distributed computer system, displaying a
graphical user interface to the user of a distributed computer
system, presenting web pages to visitors of a publisher or
third-party publisher website, receiving content requests,
receiving controls from user interactions with a graphical user
interface, searching for content, deciding whether to request
landing page content, selecting third-parties from which to request
landing page content, receiving landing page content, assembling
landing page content, and presenting landing page content to an
interface. It should be appreciated that the system may perform
other functions, including, but not limited to, storing and/or
managing the historical behavior of users, monitoring the
conversion of return users, maintaining a database of third-party
publishers, maintaining a database of landing page inventors,
maintaining a database of landing page bid requests, etc., and it
should also be appreciated that the invention is not limited to
having any particular function or set of functions.
[0168] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a general purpose computer
and network system 900 in which various aspects of the present
invention may be practiced. For example, various aspects of the
invention may be implemented as specialized software executing in
one or more computer systems including general-purpose computer
system 901 shown in FIG. 9. Computer system 901 may include a
processor 904 connected to one or more memory devices 905, such as
a disk drive, memory, or other device for storing data. Memory 905
is typically used for storing programs and data during operation of
the computer system 901. Components of computer system 901 may be
coupled by an interconnection mechanism such as network 910, which
may include one or more busses (e.g., between components that are
integrated within a same machine) and/or a network (e.g., between
components that reside on separate discrete machines). The
interconnection mechanism enables communications (e.g., data,
instructions) to be exchanged between system components of system
901.
[0169] Computer system 901 also includes one or more input/output
(I/O) devices 906, for example, a keyboard, mouse, trackball,
microphone, touch screen, a printing device, display screen,
speaker, etc. In addition, computer system 901 may contain one or
more interfaces (e.g., network communication device 908) that
connect computer system 901 to a communication network (in addition
or as an alternative to the network 910).
[0170] Storage system 909 typically includes a computer readable
and writeable nonvolatile recording medium in which signals are
stored that define a program to be executed by the processor or
information stored on or in the medium to be processed by the
program. The medium may, for example, be a disk or flash memory.
Typically, in operation, the processor causes data to be read from
the nonvolatile recording medium into another memory that allows
for faster access to the information by the processor than does the
medium. This memory is typically a volatile, random access memory
such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or static memory
(SRAM). The memory may be located in storage system 909, as shown,
or in memory system 905. The processor 904 generally manipulates
the data within the integrated circuit memory 904, and then copies
the data to the medium associated with storage 909 after processing
is completed. A variety of mechanisms are known for managing data
movement between the medium and integrated circuit memory element
and the invention is not limited thereto. The invention is not
limited to a particular memory system or storage system.
[0171] The computer system may include specially-programmed,
special-purpose hardware, for example, an application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC). Aspects of the invention may be
implemented in software, hardware or firmware, or any combination
thereof. Further, such methods, acts, systems, system elements and
components thereof may be implemented as part of the computer
system described above or as an independent component.
[0172] Although computer system 901 is shown by way of example as
one type of computer system upon which various aspects of the
invention may be practiced, it should be appreciated that aspects
of the invention are not limited to being implemented on the
computer system as shown in FIG. 9. Various aspects of the
invention may be practiced on one or more computers having a
different architectures or components than that shown in FIG.
9.
[0173] Computer system 901 may be a general-purpose computer system
that is programmable using a high-level computer programming
language. Computer system 901 may be also implemented using
specially programmed, special purpose hardware. In computer system
901, processor 904 is typically a commercially-available processor
such as the well-known Core.RTM. series processor available from
the Intel Corporation, although many other processors are
available. Such a processor usually executes an operating system
which may be, for example, the Android mobile operating system
available from Google, Inc., the iOS mobile operating system
available from Apple Computer, various Windows-based operating
systems available from the Microsoft Corporation, the MAC OS
operating system available from Apple Computer, or one or more of
the Linux-based and UNIX-based operating system distributions
(e.g., the Enterprise Linux operating system available from Red Hat
Inc.) available from various sources. It should be understood that
the invention is not limited to any particular operating
system.
[0174] The processor and operating system together define a
computer platform for which application programs in high-level
programming languages are written. It should be understood that the
invention is not limited to a particular computer system platform,
processor, operating system, or network. Also, it should be
apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is
not limited to a specific programming language or computer system.
Further, it should be appreciated that other appropriate
programming languages and other appropriate computer systems could
also be used.
[0175] One or more portions of the computer system may be
distributed across one or more computer systems coupled to a
communications network. These computer systems also may be
general-purpose computer systems. For example, various aspects of
the invention may be distributed among one or more computer systems
(e.g., servers) configured to provide a service to one or more
client computers, or to perform an overall task as part of a
distributed system. By way of further example, various aspects of
the invention may be performed on a client-server or multi-tier
system that includes components distributed among one or more
server systems that perform various functions according to various
embodiments of the invention. These components may be executable,
intermediate (e.g., IL) or interpreted (e.g., Java) code which
communicate over a communication network (e.g., the Internet) using
a communication protocol (e.g., TCP/IP).
[0176] It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited
to executing on any particular system or group of systems. Also, it
should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to any
particular distributed architecture, network, or communication
protocol.
[0177] Various embodiments of the present invention may be
programmed using an object-oriented programming language, such as
Java, C++, or C# (C-Sharp). Other object-oriented programming
languages may also be used. Alternatively, functional, scripting,
and/or logical programming languages may be used. Various aspects
of the invention may be implemented in a non-programmed environment
(e.g., documents created in HTML, XML or other format that, when
viewed in a window of a browser program, render aspects of a
graphical-user interface (GUI) or perform other functions). Various
aspects of the invention may be implemented as programmed or
non-programmed elements, or any combination thereof.
[0178] Various aspects of this system can be implemented by one or
more systems within system 900. For instance, the system may be a
distributed system (e.g., client server, multi-tier system). In one
example, the system includes software processes executing on a
system associated with a user (e.g., a client system). These
systems may permit the user to determine a user's context and/or
intent as expressed within an ecommerce site, and to provide
advertisements from other ecommerce sites, and to display them to
the user.
[0179] Having thus described several aspects of at least one
embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various
alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to
those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and
improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are
intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of
example only.
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