Network resource monitoring and measurement system and method
View Patent ↗A method and system for analysing and measuring multiple sources of data over a communications network ( 18 ) so as to ascertain information or usage of one or more resources, such as resource servers ( 2 ). A data collection and processing means ( 20 ) collects and processes the data sources which are forwarded to a reporting server ( 34 ) as a combined data source made available to interested parties.
1. A method of measuring usage of internet resources, the method comprising:
receiving a request for an internet resource at a proxy server from a user's browser;
transmitting the request from the proxy server to a resource server that serves the internet resource;
receiving the internet resource at the proxy server from the resource server;
inserting, using a processor, computer executable measurement instructions to monitor usage of the internet resource at a user location into the internet resource at the proxy server;
transmitting the internet resource including the computer executable measurement instructions from the proxy server to the user's browser;
receiving measurement data from the computer executable measurement instructions at a data collection server;
combining the measurement data with second measurement data collected from second computer executable measurement instructions included in the internet resource stored at the resource server; and
comparing the measurement data and the second measurement data to determine a weighting factor for the measurement data that compensates for a difference between the measurement data and the second measurement data.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving measurement data from the computer executable measurement instructions at a data collection server; and
identifying the user at the data collection server via an identification sent with the measurement data.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identification is a cookie.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable measurement instructions are computer executable instructions embedded in an HTML page.
5. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving third measurement data for a second internet resource from the computer executable measurement instructions;
determining a total number of accesses of the second internet resource by applying the weighting factor to the third measurement data.
6. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising instructing the user to configure the user's browser to utilize the proxy server.
7. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to the user a software program to configure the user's browser to utilize the proxy server.
8. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising sending a request to the user to participate in a program for providing monitoring information.
9. The method as defined in claim 8 , further comprising:
in response to the request, receiving the user's agreement to participate in the program; and
in response to the agreement, providing instructions for configuring the user's browser to utilize the proxy server.
10. The method as defined in claim 9 , wherein the instructions are software instructions.
11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:
receive a request for an internet resource at a proxy server from a user's browser;
transmit the request from the proxy server to a resource server that serves the internet resource;
receive the internet resource at the proxy server from the resource server;
insert computer executable measurement instructions to monitor usage of the internet resource at a user location into the internet resource at the proxy server;
transmit the internet resource including the computer executable measurement instructions from the proxy server to the user's browser;
receive measurement data from the computer executable measurement instructions at a data collection server;
combine the measurement data with second measurement data collected from second computer executable measurement instructions included in the internet resource stored at the resource server; and
compare the measurement data and the second measurement data to determine a weighting factor for the measurement data that compensates for a difference between the measurement data and the second measurement data.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to at least:
receive measurement data from the computer executable measurement instructions at a data collection server; and
identify the user at the data collection server via an identification sent with the measurement data.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the computer executable measurement instructions are computer executable instructions embedded in an HTML page.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to at least:
receive third measurement data for a second internet resource from the computer executable measurement instructions;
determine a total number of accesses of the second internet resource by applying the weighting factor to the third measurement data.