Granted Patent B2

US 8,131,820 · App. 13/079,714 · Granted Mar 6, 2012

Abstract

Claims (37)

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

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

determining, at the web server, if a provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within a time period determined by the web server;

if, based on the determining step, it is determined the provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period, then transmitting, from the web server, the user-selected information to the client program for display; and

if, based on the determining step, it is determined the provider-selected message has not been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period, then: a) transmitting, from the web server, the provider-selected message to the client program for display, the provider-selected message being configured to cause the client program to transmit a second request for the user-selected information; and b) receiving, at the web server, the second request; and c) transmitting, from the web server, in response to the second request, the user-selected information to the client program for display.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein it is determined the provider-selected message has not been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period, and wherein the provider-selected message is transmitted without the user-selected information.

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.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the provider-selected message includes a link provided in an HTML document, said link being associated with other provider-selected information.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provider-selected message includes a link provided in an HTML document, said link being associated with other provider-selected information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein it is determined the provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period, and wherein the user-selected information is transmitted without the provider-selected message.

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

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

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

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

displaying, at the client computer, the provider-selected message for a limited time;

sending, from the client computer, the second request for the user-selected information, after displaying the provider-selected message for the limited time;

receiving, at the client computer, the user-selected information for display, after sending the second request; and

displaying, at the client computer, the user-selected information.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the provider-selected message is received without the user-selected information.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the provider-selected message is displayed without the user-selected information.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the user-selected information is received without the provider-selected message.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the user-selected information is displayed without the provider-selected message.

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

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

a client computer running a client browser program; and

a web server connected to the client computer through the Internet;

wherein the web server is configured to:

a) receive a first request from the client program for user-selected information;

b) determine if a provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within a time period determined by the web server;

c) transmit the user-selected information to the client program for display if it is determined the provider-selected message has been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period;

d) transmit the provider-selected message to the client program for display if it is determined the provider-selected message has not been previously transmitted to the client program within the time period, the provider-selected message being configured to cause the client program to transmit a second request for the user-selected information;

e) receive the second request; and

f) transmit, in response to the second request, the user-selected information to the client program for display.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , 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.

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

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

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the provider-selected message comprises a commercially-sponsored message.

Assignments (11)