Granted Patent B2

US 7,933,969 · App. 11/457,451 · Granted Apr 26, 2011

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. A method of delivering information across a computer network, comprising:

receiving, at a server computer, a first request from a client program for user-selected information;

transmitting, from the server computer, a provider-selected message to the client program for display, in response to the first request, if the provider-selected message has not been previously transmitted to the client program within a time period, the provider-selected message being configured to cause the client program to transmit a second request for the user-selected information;

receiving, at the server computer, the second request; and

transmitting, from the server computer, in response to the second request, the user-selected information to the client program for display, if the provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time period is determined by the server computer.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the client program to 1) display the provider-selected message for a limited time, and 2) then automatically transmit the second request for the user-selected information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the client program to 1) display the provider-selected message for a limited time, and 2) then automatically transmit the second request for the user-selected information.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provider-selected message is transmitted without the user-selected information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provider-selected message comprises a commercially-sponsored message.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user-selected information is transmitted without the provider-selected message.

8. An apparatus for delivering information across a computer network, comprising:

a computer network; and

a server configured to receive a first request for user-selected information from a client program;

wherein the server is configured to transmit a provider-selected message to the client program for display, in response to the first request, if the provider-selected message has not been previously transmitted to the client program within a time period;

wherein the server is further configured to transmit the user-selected information to the client program for display, if the provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period;

wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the client program to transmit a second request for the user-selected information, and

wherein the server is further configured to receive the second request, and to transmit the user-selected information in response to the second request.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the time period is determined by the server.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the client program to 1) display the provider-selected message for a limited time, and 2) then automatically transmit the second request for the user-selected information.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the client program to 1) display the provider-selected message for a limited time, and 2) then automatically transmit the second request for the user-selected information.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the server is further configured to transmit the provider-selected message without the user-selected information.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the provider-selected message comprises a commercially-sponsored message.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the server is further configured to transmit the user-selected information without the provider-selected message.

15. A method of delivering information across a computer network, comprising:

sending, from a client computer, a first request to a server for user-selected information; and

receiving, at the client computer, a provider-selected message from the server for display, in response to the first request, if the provider-selected message has not been previously received within a time period, the provider-selected message being configured to cause the client program to send a second request for the user-selected information;

sending, from the client computer, the second request to the server for the user-selected information; and

receiving, at the client computer, the user-selected information from the server for display, in response to the second request, if the provider-selected message has been previously received within the time period.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the time period is determined by the server.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising displaying, at the client computer, the provider-selected message for a limited time, before sending the second request to the server for the user-selected information.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the second request to be sent automatically.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying, at the client computer, the provider-selected message for a limited time, before sending the second request to the server for the user-selected information.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the second request to be sent automatically.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the user-selected information is received without the provider-selected message.

22. The method of claim 15 , wherein the provider-selected message is received without the user-selected information.

23. The method of claim 15 , wherein the provider-selected message is configured to cause the second request for the user-selected information, to be automatically sent from the client computer to the server.

24. The method of claim 15 , wherein the provider-selected message comprises a commercially-sponsored message.

25. The method of claim 15 , wherein the user-selected information is received without the provider-selected message.

26. The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying the provider-selected message on a display at the client computer.

27. The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying the user-selected information on a display at the client computer.

28. The method of claim 15 , wherein the provider-selected message is received without the user-selected information.

Assignments (12)