Location-targeted online services
View Patent ↗Described are various implementations of location-targeted online services. When a user accesses the Internet from a supported location, he'll be able to use premium or exclusive online services (premium content, member-only discounts etc.) for free and without going through an elaborate subscription process. The location owner may promote these services before the user enters the location. Example: in addition to mentioning “free Internet”, the hotel owner can attract new customers by mentioning “free Netflix movies” or “free access to premium content, from Zagat reviews to stock reports”. It allows the location owner to utilize a network (WIFI) service provider as a means of increasing its core business and not just as a source of incremental advertisement income.
1. A system for accessing premium content, the system comprising at least one central processing unit, at least one memory unit, at least one data storage unit and at least one network interface unit, the system further comprising:
a user computer initiating a request for premium content
a proxy server:
obtaining an authorization cookie from outside of the user computer;
appending the authorization cookie to the request for premium content; and
forwarding the request for premium content;
a content server receiving the forwarded request and returning premium content upon detecting the appended authorization cookie,
wherein the content server responds with a cookie upon receiving the forwarded request, and wherein the proxy server further stores the cookie from the content server outside of the user computer;
wherein a pointer to the cookie from the content server is stored on the user computer, the request for the premium content sent from the user computer contains said pointer and wherein the proxy server dereferences the pointer to retrieve the stored cookie from outside of the user computer and appends the stored cookie to a request for premium content.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the proxy server is further forwards an IP address to the content server, and wherein the content server returns premium content if the IP address corresponds to a targeted location.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the content server returns a request for a login and password if no valid authorization cookie is received with the request for premium content.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising authorization software to connect the user computer to the proxy server.
5. A system for accessing premium content, the system comprising at least one central processing unit, at least one memory unit, at least one data storage unit and at least one network interface unit, the system further comprising:
a user computer initiating a request for premium content from a content server, said request comprising a first cookie, with said first cookie being different from an authorization cookie required to retrieve requested content;
a proxy server:
modifying the first cookie to produce the authorization cookie,
appending the authorization cookie to the request for premium content; and
forwarding the request for premium content;
a content server receiving the forwarded request and returning premium content upon processing the appended authorization cookie,
wherein the content server responds with a cookie upon receiving the forwarded request, and wherein the proxy server further stores the cookie from the content server outside of the user computer;
wherein a pointer to the cookie from the content server is stored on the user computer, the request for the premium content sent from the user computer contains said pointer and wherein the proxy server dereferences the pointer to retrieve the stored cookie from outside of the user computer and appends the stored cookie to a request for premium content.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein modifying the first cookie further comprises decrypting the first cookie to produce the authorization cookie.
7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the content server responds with a cookie upon receiving a request from the user's computer, and wherein the proxy server further encrypts said cookie from the content server and stores the encrypted cookie on the user computer.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising authorization software to connect the user computer to the proxy server.
9. A system for accessing premium content, the system comprising at least one central processing unit, at least one memory unit, at least one data storage unit and at least one network interface unit, the system further comprising:
a user computer initiating a request for premium content which is redirected to a partner web service, wherein the partner web service modifies request for premium content by using a modified universal resource locator (URL);
a content server comprising premium content;
a proxy server
processing the modified URL into a URL associated with the content server;
redirecting the user computer to the content server using the URL associated with the content server; and
retrieving premium content,
wherein the content server responds with a cookie upon receiving the request for premium content, and wherein the proxy server further stores the cookie from the content server outside of the user computer;
wherein a pointer to the cookie from the content server is stored on the user computer, the request for the premium content sent from the user computer contains said pointer and wherein the proxy server dereferences the pointer to retrieve the stored cookie from outside of the user computer and appends the stored cookie to a request for premium content.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the modified URL link is encrypted and wherein the proxy server processes the modified URL by decrypting the encrypted URL to determine the URL associated with the content server.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein URL associated with a content server are stored in a database, and wherein the modified URL contains an index referencing the database, and wherein the proxy server uses the index to determine the URL associated with the content server.
12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the modified URL has a modified query portion, and wherein the modified URL is stored onto the user computer.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the proxy server retrieves a query based on the modified query to determine the URL associated with the content server.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein decrypting the URL further comprises decrypting a user name and password contained in the URL, thereby allowing a user to bypass a login page on the content server.
15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the proxy server further forwards an authorization cookie to the content server.
16. The system of claim 9 , further comprising authorization software connecting the user computer to the proxy server.
17. A system for accessing premium content, the system comprising at least one central processing unit, at least one memory unit, at least one data storage unit and at least one network interface unit, the system further comprising:
a user computer initiating a request for premium content, said request containing a first universal resource locator (URL) comprising a host and a query portion, the host portion being the same as the host portion of URL of the content server;
a proxy server:
modifying the query portion of the first URL;
appending the modified query portion to the host portion of the first URL to produce a second URL comprising a location identifier addressing the requested premium content; and
processing the modified URL into a URL associated with the content server;
redirecting the user computer to the content server using the URL associated with the content server; and
requesting the premium content referenced by the second URL;
a content receiving the request and returning premium content from the location addressed by the second URL;
wherein the content server responds with a cookie upon receiving the request for premium content, and wherein the proxy server further stores the cookie from the content server outside of the user computer;
wherein a pointer to the cookie from the content server is stored on the user computer, the request for the premium content sent from the user computer contains said pointer and wherein the proxy server dereferences the pointer to retrieve the stored cookie from outside of the user computer and appends the stored cookie to a request for premium content.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the query portion of the first URL is encrypted and stored on user computer together with an unmodified host portion, and modifying the query comprises decrypting the query portion to produce the second URL.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein a query portion of the second URL is stored in a database outside of the user computer, and wherein the query portion of the first URL contains an index referencing the database, and wherein the proxy server uses the index to determine the query portion of the second URL.