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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems and, in particular, to an apparatus and method for delivering customized advertisements within interactive communications systems.
2. Background
Recently, a wide range of interactive devices have been developed to provide information to consumers. These interactive devices include, for example, computers connected to various computer on-line services, interactive kiosks, interactive
television systems and the like. In particular, the popularity of computer on-line services has grown immensely in popularity over the last decade.
Computer on-line services are provided by a wide variety of different companies. In general, most computer on-line services are accessed via the Internet. The Internet is a global network of computers. The structure of the Internet is a
network backbone with networks branching from the backbone. These branches, in turn, have networks branching from them, and so on. Routers move information packets from network to network, until the information packets reach their destination. For a
more detailed description of the structure and operation of the Internet, please refer to "The Internet Complete Reference," by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout, published by McGraw-Hill, 1994.
One popular part of the Internet is the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web contains computers which display graphical and textual information. Computers which provide information on the World Wide Web are typically called "websites." A website
is defined by an Internet address which has an associated electronic page, often called a "home page." Generally, a home page is an electronic document which organizes the presentation of text, graphical images, audio and video into a desired display.
These websites are operated by a wide variety of entities which are typically called "content providers."
A user may access the Internet using a home personal computer (PC) equipped with a conventional modem. Special interface software is installed within the PC so that when the user wishes to access the Internet, an attached modem is automatically
instructed to dial the telephone number associated with the local Internet host server. The user can then access information at any address accessible over the Internet. Two well-known software interfaces, for example, are the Netscape Navigator
developed by Netscape, Inc. and the Microsoft Internet Explorer developed by Microsoft Corporation.
Information exchanged over the Internet is typically encoded in HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) format. The HTML format is a scripting language which is used to generate the home pages for different content providers. In this setting, a
content provider is an individual or company that places information (content) on the Internet so that it can be accessed by others. As is well known in the art, the HTML format is a set of conventions for marking different portions of a document so
that each portion appears in a distinctive format. For example, the HTML format identifies or "tags" portions of a document to identify different categories of text (e.g., the title, header, body text, etc.). When a web browser accesses a HTML
document, the web browser reads the embedded tags in the document so it appears formatted in the specified manner.
A HTML document can also include hyper-links which allow a user to move from one document to another document on the Internet. A hyper-link is an underlined or otherwise emphasized portion of text which, when selected using an input device such
as a mouse, activates a software connection module which allows the user to jump between documents (i.e., within the same website or to other websites). Hyper-links are well known in the art, and are sometimes referred to as anchors.
Although the Internet and the World Wide Web, together with other interactive devices, are used widely to share information among different users, the full range of possibilities for use of these interactive computer services have not yet been
fully developed.
As the popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web has increased over the years, more companies are trying to find ways of promoting their product in a cost-effective manner. Thus, there has been a tremendous proliferation of corporate
advertising across the Internet. For example, some companies such as Yahoo Corporation offer free services, such as the ability to search for particular sites on the Internet, but post advertising messages to consumers to help offset the cost of their
service. Unfortunately, there is so far no effective way of targeting particular advertisements to those consumers most likely to use the product or service being offered. Therefore, a tremendous amount of advertising is wasted on promoting goods or
services to an improper audience. As the number of people accessing the Internet increases, it will become more important to specifically target advertising to those individuals most likely to purchase the goods or services being offered. It will also
be important for advertisers to know how effective a particular ad has become by tracking the responses of individual consumers. Unfortunately, there is currently no convenient mechanism for predetermining which users might be interested in a particular
category of advertised goods or services. There is also no current method for tracking consumer responses to particular advertisements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The system of the present invention overcomes the difficulties discussed above by providing an on-line advertising service which can custom tailor specific advertisements to particular consumers and track consumer responses to the advertisements. In particular, the present invention is a system and method for delivering customized advertisements to users of interactive devices. The interactive devices of the present invention can include computers connected to on-line services, interactive
kiosks, interactive television systems and the like. In broad terms, the present invention includes a communications system having at least three different entities which communicate with each other. The entities include: a content provider, an
advertisement provider and a consumer.
In the preferred embodiment, the invention is directed to delivering custom advertisements to consumers who use their computers to view information offered by different content providers existing on the Internet. Preferably, when a consumer
accesses a content provider, the content provider transmits an electronic document to the consumer. Embedded within the electronic document is a advertisement request. When the consumer's computer displays the electronic document, the embedded
advertisement request directs the consumer computer to communicate with an advertisement provider. In response, the advertisement provider provides a customized advertisement. The advertisement provider then tracks the consumer's response to the
customized advertisement.
The advertisement provider operates a computer which is also connected to the Internet. The advertisement provider's computer stores demographic information about consumers, and sends customized advertisements to the consumers based on the
consumers demographic profile and tracks consumer responses to the customized advertisements. For example, when accessing a content provider's website, a consumer with a demographic profile indicating an interest in farming would be sent customized
advertisements for farm products by the advertisement provider. Customer requests for more information about the advertised farm products are also monitored.
A consumer who wishes to receive customized advertisements first registers with the advertisement provider by entering pertinent demographic information into the advertisement provider's demographic database. The advertisement provider then
retains a demographic profile of the consumer. In return, the advertisement provider assigns the consumer a unique member code. In an alternate embodiment, the consumer is sent unique software which enhances the consumer's Internet browser so that
custom advertisements can be merged with electronic documents obtained from the content provider.
The content provider websites also register with the advertisement provider before they can receive the customized advertisement services. During registration, the advertisement provider assigns a custom member code to the content provider,
creates a program called a "content provider script" for each content provider, and transfers an "advertisement request" to the content provider which identifies the content provider script. Preferably, the content provider script contains the content
provider's member code. The advertisement request, on the other hand, contains commands which invoke the content provider script.
After obtaining the advertisement request, the content provider embeds the advertisement request into its electronic documents. When a registered consumer accesses a content provider's website, the content provider website transfers the
electronic document and the embedded advertisement request to the consumer's computer. The embedded advertisement request directs the consumer computer to invoke the referenced content provider script in the advertisement provider computer. The
advertisement provider executes the content provider script and obtains the content provider member code. The advertisement provider uses the content provider member code to track the number of advertisements displayed by a particular content provider.
In addition, to executing the content provider script, the advertisement provider also obtains the consumer's member code from the consumer computer. The advertisement provider uses the consumer member code to identify the consumer's demographic
profile and preferences. The advertisement provider then selects an appropriate advertisement based on the consumer's profile and sends the customized advertisement to the consumer computer. The consumer computer then merges the content provider's
electronic document with the advertisement provided by the advertisement provider to create a single displayed document to the consumer.
Another feature of the invention is directed to monitoring the particular advertisements which are viewed by particular consumers. With this information, advertisers can pay for advertising directed at specific demographic target groups.
Additionally, advertisers may be billed by the advertisement provider based on actual delivery of the advertisements to pertinent consumers.
The invention also supports custom advertisements which can contain hyper-links to other information. The hyper-links typically direct the user's Internet browser to access different websites on the Internet. For example, if a consumer wishes
to obtain additional information about an advertised product or service, the consumer may simply use a mouse to select an embedded hyper-link in the custom advertisement and be immediately transported to an advertiser's website. At the advertiser's
website, the user may receive a directed sales pitch, more information or a purchase order request form.
An additional feature of the invention allows the advertisement provider to monitor the number of advertisements viewed by consumers associated with a particular content provider. With this information, the content providers can receive
advertising revenue based on the number of consumers who access their websites. This frees the content providers from having to generate advertising data, from having to individually contact advertisers, from having to negotiate advertising payment
fees, and from having to maintain an advertising administrative staff.
Another aspect of the invention relates to the addition of a fourth category of entities--the Internet providers. An Internet provider is a service which provides Internet access to consumers. Examples of Internet providers include American
On-line, the Microsoft Network, Prodigy, Compuserve, and Network Intensive. Many users pay monthly access fees to the Internet providers to obtain local telephone connections, a variety of help services and an organized format for accessing the
Internet.
When a consumer registers with the advertisement provider, this aspect of the present invention obtains information about the consumer's Internet provider and stores this information in the demographic profile. The system of the present
invention can then monitor the number of advertisements viewed by consumers associated with a particular Internet provider. Accordingly, the system of the present invention can pay an Internet provider based on the number of advertisements viewed by its
consumers. The Internet providers can then use this advertising revenue to reduce consumer access fees.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a high level block diagram of the preferred system of the present invention and illustrates the interaction between the consumer computer, content provider computer, and advertisement provider computer.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the preferred system of the present invention showing the interaction of many consumer computers and content provider computers with an advertisement provider computer.
FIG. 3 is a high level flow diagram of the preferred process for sending electronic information and custom advertisements to a consumer computer.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the preferred system of the present invention showing the flow of information among the consumer computer, content provider computer and advertisement provider computer through a communication medium.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the preferred process of registering a consumer with an advertisement provider.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the preferred process of registering a content provider with an advertisement provider.
FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the preferred process whereby a consumer accesses a content provider and is thereafter sent an electronic document and customer advertisement.
FIG. 8 is a detailed flow diagram of the preferred process where by the advertisement provider computer delivers the customized advertisement to the consumer computer.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the customized advertisement is sent through the content provider computer prior to reaching the consumer computer.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the content provider computer requests the customized advertisement and the advertisement computer then sends the customized advertisement directly to the
consumer computer.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention showing the flow of information among the consumer computer, content provider computer and advertisement provider computer through a communication medium.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is an apparatus and method for providing customized advertisements to consumers. In a preferred embodiment, the customized advertisements are generated by an advertisement provider computer whenever a consumer accesses a
content provider website. Although the present invention is described herein with reference to a preferred interactive communications system, the invention is not so limited, and can be used in a variety of other contexts in which it is desirable to
provide customized advertisements to consumers.
To facilitate a complete understanding of the invention, the remainder of the detailed description is arranged within the following sections and subsections:
I. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
II. Overview of the Preferred Interactive Communication System
III. Implementation of the Preferred Interactive Communication System
A. The Communication Medium
B. The Consumer Computers
C. The Content Provider Computers
D. The Advertisement Provider Computer
IV. Registration and Customized Advertisement Processing
A. Consumer Registration
B. Content Provider Registration
C. Customized Advertisement Processing
V. Other Embodiments
VI. Conclusion
I. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
The following terms and acronyms are used throughout the detailed description:
Client-Server. A model of interaction in a distributed system in which a program at one site sends a request to a program at another site and waits for a response. The requesting program is called the "client," and the program which responds to
the request is called the "server." In the context of the World Wide Web, the client is typically a "Web browser" which runs on a user's computer; the program which responds to Web browser requests at a website is commonly referred to as a "Web server."
Common Gateway Interface (CGI). A standard interface which specifies how a Web server (or possibly another information server) launches and interacts with external programs (such as a database search engine) in response to requests from clients. For example, when a consumer Web user fills out an on-screen form which is linked to a database query, the on-screen form will invoke a common gateway interface program (called a CGI "script") which processes the desired database query. For more
information on the common gateway interface, see Ian S. Graham, The HTML Source Book, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1995 (ISBN 0471-11894-4), pp. 231-278.
Digital Cash. In digital cash commerce, a consumer who maintains an electronic bank account and a payee who maintains an electronic bank account can engage in on-line transactions. When the consumer purchases a good or service with digital
cash, the consumer's bank account is automatically debited and the payee's bank account is automatically credited. Likewise, when providing a digital cash refund or transfer, the payee can debit its own bank account while crediting the consumer's bank
account.
Internet. A collection of interconnected (public and/or private) networks that are linked together by a set of standard protocols to form a distributed network. While this term is intended to refer to what is now commonly known as the Internet,
it is also intended to encompass variations which may be made in the future, including changes and additions to existing standard protocols.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML). A standard coding convention and set of codes for attaching presentation and linking attributes to informational content within documents. (HTML 2.0 is currently the primary standard used for generating Web
documents.) During a document authoring stage, the HTML codes (referred to as "tags") are embedded within the informational content of the document. When the Web document (or "HTML document") is subsequently transferred from a Web server to a Web
browser, the codes are interpreted by the Web browser and used to parse and display the document. In addition to specifying how the Web browser is to display the document, HTML tags can be used to create links to other websites and other Web documents
(commonly referred to as "hyper-links"). For more information on HTML, see Ian S. Graham, The HTML Source Book, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1995 (ISBN 0471-11894-4).
Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). The standard World Wide Web client-server protocol used for the exchange of information (such as HTML documents, and client requests for such documents) between a Web browser and a Web server. HTTP includes
a number of different types of messages which can be sent from the client to the server to request different types of server actions. For example, a "GET" message, which has the format GET <URL>, causes the server to return the document or file
located at the specified Universal Resource Locator (URL).
Persistent Client State Cookies (Cookie). A file stored on the client computer which contains information such as user names and preferences. In the preferred embodiment, the Cookie in the consumer computer stores a member code which uniquely
identifies each consumer. The specification for Cookies can be found at http://www.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie.sub.-- spec.html.
Plug-in. A plug-in is a custom application which allows developers to customize or enhance features of Web browsers and Web servers. Thus, a plug-in works in concert with the Web browser or a Web server to provide additional features.
Typically, a HTML tag exists in a HTML document which commands the Web browser or Web server to launch the plug-in. For example, a HTML tag may command a Web browser to execute a plug-in which communicates with an external database. The plug-in
specification documentation can be found at http://www.netscape.com and http://www.microsoft.com.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). A standard Internet protocol (or set of protocols) which specifies how two computers exchange data over the Internet. TCP/IP handles issues such as packetization, packet addressing,
handshaking and error correction. For more information on TCP/IP, see Volumes I, II and III of Comer and Stevens, Internetworking with TCP/IP, Prentice Hall, Inc., ISBNs 0-13-468505-9 (vol. I), 0-13-125527-4 (vol. II), and 0-13-474222-2 (vol. III).
Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A unique address which fully specifies the location of a file or other resource on the Internet. The general format of a URL is protocol://machine address:port/path/filename. The port specification is optional,
and if none is entered by the user, the Web browser defaults to the standard port for whatever service is specified as the protocol. For example, if HTTP is specified as the protocol, the Web browser will use the HTTP default port.
World Wide Web ("Web"). Used herein to refer generally to both (1) a distributed collection of interlinked, user-viewable hypertext documents (commonly referred to as "Web documents" or "electronic pages" or "home pages") that are accessible via
the Internet, and (2) the client and server software components which provide user access to such documents using standardized Internet protocols. Currently, the primary standard protocol for allowing applications to locate and acquire Web documents is
the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and the electronic pages are encoded using the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). However, the terms "Web" and "World Wide Web" are intended to encompass future markup languages and transport protocols which may be
used in place of or in addition to the HyperText Markup Language and the HyperText Transfer Protocol.
II. Overview Of The Preferred Interactive Communication System
This section provides an overview of an interactive communication system in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A block diagram of the preferred interactive communication system is shown in FIG. 1. The interactive communication
system 10 includes a consumer computer 12, a content provider computer 14 and an advertisement provider computer 18 which communicate with each other by use of a communication medium 20.
In operation, a consumer directs the consumer computer 12 to communicate with the content provider computer 14 via the communication medium 20. Once the consumer computer 12 establishes a communication link with the content provider computer 14,
the content provider computer 14 transfers an electronic page 32 to the consumer computer 12. The preferred electronic page 32 contains an embedded advertisement request 26.
When the consumer computer 12 receives the electronic page 32, it executes the embedded advertisement request 26. The embedded advertisement request 26 directs the consumer computer 12 to establish a communications link with the advertisement
provider computer 18. Furthermore the embedded advertisement request 26 directs the advertisement provider computer 18 to execute a content provider script (not shown). The content provider script exists on the advertisement provider computer 18 and
contains a content provider member code (not shown). The advertisement provider computer 18 uses the content provider member code to track the number of advertisements viewed by the consumer computers 12 connected to a particular content provider
computer 14.
In addition, the consumer computer 12 contains a consumer member code 22 which uniquely identifies the consumer. The advertisement provider computer 18 obtains the consumer member code 22 and uses the consumer's member code 22 to access the
consumer's profile in a demographic database (not shown). Based on the consumer's profile, the advertisement provider computer 18 selects an appropriate customized advertisement 30. The advertisement provider computer 18 then sends the customized
advertisement 30 to the consumer computer 12. As discussed in more detail below, the consumer computer 12 merges the electronic page 32 and customized advertisement 30.
As shown in FIG. 2, a single advertisement provider computer 18 also supports an interactive communication system with multiple consumer computers 12 and multiple content provider computers 14. As different consumer computers 12 access different
content provider computers 14, the content provider computers 14 communicate with the advertisement provider computer 18 as discussed above. In the preferred embodiment, the advertisement provider computer 18 is configured to respond to each of the
content provider 14 computers in a timely manner. It should be noted that a single advertisement provider 18 can manage requests from numerous content providers and act like a "clearing house" for advertisements.
Referring to FIG. 3, an overview of the process of a consumer requesting an electronic document is shown. At start state 300 the process initializes and moves to state 302 wherein the consumer computer 12 requests an electronic page 32 from the
content provider computer 14. As discussed in more detail below, the consumer computer 12 uses internet browsing software (not shown) to access the content provider's URL address. The consumer browser software then accesses an electronic document 32
stored on the content provider computer 14.
Moving to state 304, the content provider computer 14 sends the electronic document 32 and the embedded advertisement request to the consumer computer 12. Proceeding to state 306, the consumer computer executes the advertisement request 26 and
establishes a communications link with the advertisement provider computer 18. Proceeding to state 308, the advertisement request 26 directs the advertisement provider computer 18 to execute a content provider script which contains the content provider
member code. In addition, during state 308, the advertisement provider computer 18 obtains the consumer member code 22 stored on the consumer computer 12.
Proceeding to state 310, the advertisement provider computer 18 uses the consumer member code 22 to access the consumer's profile. The advertisement provider computer 18 selects an appropriate advertisement based on the consumer's profile and
then sends the customized advertisement 30 to the consumer computer 12.
Proceeding to state 312, the process combines the electronic page 32 from the content provider computer 14 and the customized advertisement 30 from the advertisement provider computer 18 into a displayable page. Once the combined page has been
displayed to the consumer, the process ends at end state 314.
III. Implementation Of The Preferred Interactive Communication System
A. The Communication Medium
Focusing now on the communication medium 20 as shown in FIG. 2, the presently preferred computer medium includes the Internet 33 which is a global network of computers. The structure of the Internet 33, which is well known to those of ordinary
skill in the art, includes a network backbone with networks branching from the backbone. These branches, in turn, have networks branching from them, and so on. Routers move information packets between network levels, and then from network to network,
until the packet reaches the neighborhood of its destination. From the destination, the destination network's host directs the information packet to the appropriate terminal, or node. For a more detailed description of the structure and operation of
the Internet 33, please refer to "The Internet Complete Reference," by Harley Hahn and Rick Stout, published by McGraw-Hill, 1994.
In one advantageous embodiment, the Internet routing hubs comprise domain name system (DNS) servers, as is well known in the art. DNS is a Transfer Control Protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) service that is called upon to translate domain names
to and from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The routing hubs connect to one or more other routing hubs via high speed communication links.
One of ordinary skill in the art, however, will recognize that a wide range of interactive communication mediums can be employed in the present invention. For example, the communication medium 20 can include interactive television networks,
telephone networks, wireless data transmission systems, two-way cable systems, customized computer networks, interactive kiosk networks, automatic teller machine networks, and the like.
In addition to the Internet 33, the communication medium 20 may also contain Internet providers 34. An Internet provider 34 is a computer system which provides Internet 33 access to the consumer computers. Examples of Internet providers 34
include American On-line, the Microsoft Network, Prodigy, Compuserve, and Network Intensive to name a few. Many users pay monthly access fees to the Internet providers 34 because the Internet providers 34 provide local telephone connections, a variety
of help services and an organized format for accessing the Internet 33.
The Internet providers 34 are optional, and in some cases, the consumer computers 12 may have direct access to the Internet 33. For example, the consumer computers 12 may be connected to a local area network which in turn is directly connected
to the Internet 33. It should be understood that the local area network may also connect to the Internet 33 via a conventional telephone line; however, since local area networks typically have a higher volume of data traffic, it is advantageous to
include a high-speed connection to support the volume of information which the local area network will transfer to and from the Internet 33.
As further depicted in FIG. 2, an Internet provider 34 connects a consumer computer 12 to the Internet 33. Typically, the Internet provider 34 is connected to an Internet routing hub via a high speed communications link. The communication
links, in turn, connect to the content provider computers. When a consumer desires to access information available on the Internet 33 via an Internet provider 34, the consumer initiates a connection with the Internet provider 34 from his or her consumer
computer 12.
For example, the consumer invokes a browser which executes on the consumer computer 12. The browser, in turn, establishes a communication link directly with the Internet 33 or with the Internet provider 34 via a communications link. Once
connected to the Internet provider 34, the consumer can direct the browser to access information provided by one of the content provider computers 14. The Internet provider 34 then communicates with the Internet 33 to establish a communications link
between the consumer computer 12 and the desired content provider computer 14.
One popular part of the Internet 33 is the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web contains different computers which store HTML documents capable of displaying graphical and textual information. The content provider computers 14 which provide
information on the World Wide Web are typically called "websites." A website is defined by an Internet address which has an associated electronic page. Generally, an electronic page is a document which organizes the presentation of text, graphical
images, audio and video. As discussed above, these websites are operated by a wide variety of content provider computers 14.
B. The Consumer Computers
Focusing now on the consumer computer 12 as illustrated in FIG. 4, the consumer computer 12 is a device which allows a consumer to interact with the communication medium 20. In the preferred embodiment, the consumer computer 12 is a conventional
computer which is equipped with a conventional modem. Preferably, the consumer computer 12 runs an appropriate operating system such as the Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM. 3.1, Microsoft.RTM. Windows 95, Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM. NT, the Apple.RTM.
MacOS.RTM., or IBM.RTM. OS/2.RTM. operating systems. As is conventional, the preferred operating system includes a TCP/IP stack which handles all incoming and outgoing message traffic passed over the Internet 33.
In other embodiments, the consumer computer 12 could, for example, be a computer workstation, a local area network of individual computers, an interactive television, an interactive kiosk, a personal digital assistant, an interactive wireless
communications device or the like which can interact with the communication medium 20. While in such systems, the operating systems will differ, they will continue to provide the appropriate communications protocols needed to establish communication
links with the communication medium 20.
In the preferred embodiment, the consumer computer 12 utilizes several operational modules including a consumer browser module 40, a consumer member code 22 and an advertising storage medium 44. The consumer browser module 40 (hereinafter
referred to as the consumer browser) is a software program which allows a consumer to access different content providers through the communication medium 20. In the preferred embodiment, the consumer browser 40 is the Netscape.RTM. Navigator developed
by Netscape, Inc. or the Microsoft.RTM. Internet Explorer developed by Microsoft Corporation. One of ordinary skill in the art, however, will recognize that numerous other types of access software could also be used to implement the present invention. These other types of access software could, for example, be other types of Internet browsers, custom network browsers, two-way communications software, cable modem software, point-to-point software and the like.
The consumer member code module 22 stores a code which uniquely identifies each consumer. In the preferred embodiment, the consumer member code module 22, which is hereinafter referred to as the consumer member code 22, is a set of alpha-numeric
characters. The consumer member code 22, as is discussed in more detail below, is assigned when the consumer registers with the advertisement provider computer 18. Thus, when a consumer registers with the advertisement provider computer 18, the
consumer is assigned a unique member code. A copy of the consumer member code 22 is then stored on the consumer computer 12 in a "cookie".
A "cookie" is a small piece of information which a web server (via a CGI script) can store with a web browser and later read back from that browser. This is useful for having the browser remember some specific information across several pages;
for example, when the consumer browses through a "virtual shopping mall" and add items to his "shopping cart," a list of the items he has picked up is kept in the consumer browser's cookie file so that the consumer can pay for all the items at once he
has finished shopping.
To create a cookie, a web server sends a "Set-Cookie" HTTP header line in response to a URL access from a browser:
Set-Cookie: NAME=VALUE; expires=DATE; path=PATH; domain=DOMAIN.sub.-- NAME; secure
NAME and VALUE are the actual information to include in the cookie. DATE is the time at which the cookie information expires and will be "forgotten" by the browser. DOMAIN is a host or domain name for which the cookie is valid. PATH specifies
a subset of the URLs at that server for which the cookie is valid. If "secure" is included in the cookie, then the cookie will only be transmitted over a secure network connection. All of these fields except NAME=VALUE are optional.
Whenever the browsing software sends a HTTP request for a URL on a server for which it has stored cookies, it includes a line in the form: Cookie: NAME=VALUE; NAME=VALUE; . . . which lists all cookies that apply to that particular URL. The
following is a sample CGI program (a Unix shell script) that sends a cookie to a particular URL.
#!/bin/sh
echo "Content-type: text/html"
echo "Set-cookie: codeno=12345A; expires=Thursday, Jan. 1, 1998-12:00:00 GMT"
echo ""
echo "& 1 t; H1 & gt; Here is the member code number & 1 t; /H1 & gt; "Codeno=123456"" (This is stored with the browser)
(end)
The following is an exemplary script which reads a cookie:
#!/bin/sh
echo "Content-type: text/html"
echo ""
echo "Here is the member code: & 1 t; P & gt;"
echo "$HTTP.sub.-- COOKIE & 1 t; P & gt;"
(end)
An advertising storage medium 44 can also be included in the consumer computer 12, but is optional. In one embodiment, the advertising storage medium 44 is a compact disk drive and a compact disk. The compact disk stores a variety of
advertisements which can be retrieved and displayed by the consumer computer 12. T | | |
