PCT
`INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)
`WO 99/60504
`
`WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION
`International Bureau
`
`(51) International Patent Classification 6 :
`G06F 17/60
`
`(11) International Publication Number:
`
`Al
`
`(43) International Publication Date:
`
`25 November 1999 (25.11.99)
`
`(21) International Application Number:
`
`PCT/US99/10707
`
`(22) International Filing Date:
`
`14 May 1999 ( 14.05.99)
`
`(30) Priority Data:
`09/080,165
`09/237,718
`
`15 May 1998 (15.05.98)
`26 January 1999 (26.01.99)
`
`us
`us
`
`(71) Applicant: UNICAST COMMUNICATIONS CORPORA(cid:173)
`TION [US/US]; 9th floor, 650 Fifth Avenue, New York,
`NY 10019 (US).
`
`(72) Inventors: LANDSMAN, Rick, W.; 8 Rampart Pass, Wac(cid:173)
`cabuc, NY 10597 (US). LEE, Wei-Yeh; Apartment 9-C,
`140 W. 58th Street, New York, NY 10019 (US).
`
`(74) Agent: MICHAELSON, Peter, L.; Michaelson & Wallace,
`Parkway 109 Office Center, 328 Newman Springs Road,
`P.O. Box 8489, Red Bank, NJ 07701 (US).
`
`(81) Designated States: AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR,
`BY, CA, CH, CN, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, Fl, GB, GD,
`GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP,
`D,KZL~L~ll,Ll,UL~~.MD,M~MK
`MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG,
`SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZW,
`ARIPO patent (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, UG,
`ZW), Eurasian patent (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ,
`TM), European patent (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI,
`FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OAPI patent
`(BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE,
`SN, TD, TG).
`
`Published
`With international search report.
`Before the expiration of the time limit for amending the
`claims and to be republished in the event of the receipt of
`amendments.
`
`(54) Title: A TECHNIQUE FOR IMPLEMENTING BROWSER-INITIATED NETWORK-DISTRIBUTED ADVERTISING AND FOR
`INTERSTITIALLY DISPLAYING AN ADVERTISEMENT
`
`(57) Abstract
`
`A technique for implementing in a networked client-server environment, network-distributed advertising in which advertisements
`are downloaded from an advertising server to a browser executing at a client computer and subsequently displayed by that browser on an
`interstitial basis, in response to a click-stream generated by the user. An HTML advertising tag is embedded into a referring web page. This
`tag contains two components. One component effectively downloads from a distribution web server and persistently instantiates an agent at
`the client browser which downloads advertising files originating from an AD management system residing on a third-party advertising web
`server, for a given advertisement into browser cache and subsequently plays those media files through the browser on an interstitial basis.
`The other component is a reference of the advertising management system. This latter reference totally "decouples" advertising content
`from a web page such that a web page, merely includes an advertising tag that refers, via a URL, to a specific AD management system.
`The AD management system selects the given advertisement that is to be downloaded.
`
`
`
`
`Twitter Exhibit 1032
`Twitter, Inc. v. BlackBerry Ltd.
`Page 00000
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`FOR THE PURPOSES OF INFORMATION ONLY
`
`Codes used to identify States party to the PCT on the front pages of pamphlets publishing international applications under the PCT.
`
`AL
`AM
`AT
`AU
`AZ
`BA
`BB
`BE
`BF
`BG
`BJ
`BR
`BY
`CA
`CF
`CG
`CH
`CI
`CM
`CN
`cu
`CZ
`DE
`DK
`EE
`
`Albania
`Annenia
`Austria
`Australia
`Azerbaijan
`Bosnia and Herzegovina
`Barbados
`Belgium
`Burkina Faso
`Bulgaria
`Benin
`Brazil
`Belarus
`Canada
`Central African Republic
`Congo
`Switzerland
`Cote d'Ivoire
`Cameroon
`China
`Cuba
`Czech Republic
`Germany
`Denmark
`Estonia
`
`ES
`FI
`FR
`GA
`GB
`GE
`GH
`GN
`GR
`HU
`IE
`IL
`IS
`IT
`JP
`KE
`KG
`KP
`
`KR
`KZ
`LC
`LI
`LK
`LR
`
`Spain
`Finland
`France
`Gabon
`United Kingdom
`Georgia
`Ghana
`Guinea
`Greece
`Hungary
`Ireland
`Israel
`Iceland
`Italy
`Japan
`Kenya
`Kyrgyzstan
`Democratic People's
`Republic of Korea
`Republic of Korea
`Kazakstan
`Saint Lucia
`Liechtenstein
`Sri Lanka
`Liberia
`
`LS
`LT
`LU
`LV
`MC
`MD
`MG
`MK
`
`ML
`MN
`MR
`MW
`MX
`NE
`NL
`NO
`NZ
`PL
`PT
`RO
`RU
`SD
`SE
`SG
`
`Lesotho
`Lithuania
`Luxembourg
`Latvia
`Monaco
`Republic of Moldova
`Madagascar
`The former Yugoslav
`Republic of Macedonia
`Mali
`Mongolia
`Mauritania
`Malawi
`Mexico
`Niger
`Netherlands
`Norway
`New Zealand
`Poland
`Portugal
`Romania
`Russian Federation
`Sudan
`Sweden
`Singapore
`
`SI
`SK
`SN
`sz
`TD
`TG
`TJ
`TM
`TR
`TT
`UA
`UG
`us
`uz
`VN
`YU
`zw
`
`Slovenia
`Slovakia
`Senegal
`Swaziland
`Chad
`Togo
`Tajikistan
`Turkmenistan
`Turkey
`Trinidad and Tobago
`Ukraine
`Uganda
`United States of America
`Uzbekistan
`Viet Nam
`Yugoslavia
`Zimbabwe
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`WO 99/60504
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`PCT/US99/10707
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`A TECHNIQUE FOR IMPLEMENTING BROWSER-INITIATED NETWORK-DISTRIBUTED ADVERTISING AND FOR
`INTERSTITIALLY DISPLAYING AN ADVERTISEMENT
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
`
`1.
`
`Field of the Invention
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`The invention relates to a technique,
`specifically apparatus and accompanying methods, for
`implementing in a networked client-server environment,
`
`such as the Internet, network-distributed advertising in
`which an advertisement is downloaded, from an advertising
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`server to a web browser executing at a client computer,
`
`in a manner transparent to a user situated at the
`browser, and subsequently displayed, by that browser and
`on an interstitial basis, in response to a click-stream
`generated by the user to move from one web page to the
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`next.
`
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`
`Currently, Internet usage, and particularly
`that of the World Wide Web (henceforth referred to as
`
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`
`simply the "web"), is growing explosively, particularly
`
`as the number of web sites and users that have access to
`
`the Internet continue to rapidly and to a great extent,
`
`exponentially, expand.
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`In essence, after establishing a suitable
`network connection to the Internet, a user at a client
`
`computer can easily employ a graphical web browser, such
`as the Internet Explorer ("IE") browser presently
`available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,
`
`Washington, to connect to a web site and then download a
`
`desired web page by simply supplying a specific address
`(known as a URL or uniform resource locator) of that page
`
`to the browser. The URL identifies both an address of
`the site, in terms of its Internet domain name, and a
`page of information at that site, in terms of its
`
`corresponding file name. Each web site stores at least
`
`one, and often times substantially more pages all
`arranged in a pre-defined hierarchy, generally beginning,
`
`at its root, with a so-called "home page". Each such
`page is written in HTML (hypertext markup language) form.
`A page, in this context, refers to content accessed via a
`single URL, including, e.g., text, graphics and other
`
`information specified in HTML code for that particular
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`page. Once a user supplies a URL of interest, the
`
`browser operated by that user sends an appropriate
`
`command, using a TCP/IP protocol (transmission control
`protocol/internet protocol), to a remote HTTP (hypertext
`transport protocol) server, located at the web site and
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`which stores that page, to access and download a
`corresponding file for that page.
`In response, the
`
`server then sends, using the TCP/IP protocol, a stored
`
`file containing HTML code that constitutes that page back
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`to the browser. As the file that constitutes the page
`itself is received by the browser, the browser interprets
`and executes the HTML code in that file to properly
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`assemble and render the page on, e.g., a monitor to a
`user situated at the client computer. Such a page may
`itself contain HTML commands that reference other files,
`
`residing on the same or different web sites, which, when
`these commands are appropriately interpreted and executed
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`by the browser, result in those files being downloaded
`
`and their resulting content properly assembled by the
`
`browser into the rendered page. Once all the content
`associated with the page is rendered, the user can then
`position his(her) mouse cursor on a suitable hypertext
`link, button or other suitable user input field
`
`(whichever here implements a "hotlink") displayed on that
`
`page and then, through, e.g., a mouse "click",
`
`effectively download a file for and render another
`desired page in succession until the user has finished
`his(her) visit to that site, at which point, the user can
`transition through a hotlink to a page at another site,
`
`and so forth. A hotlink specifies a complete web address
`of an associated page, including a domain name of its
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`hosting web site at which that page is situated.
`
`Consequently, by simply and successively positioning and
`"clicking" his(her) mouse at an appropriate hotlink for
`each one of a number of desired web pages, the user can
`
`readily retrieve an HTML file for each desired page in
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`succession from its corresponding web site and render
`
`that page, and, by doing so, essentially effortlessly
`jump from site to site, regardless of where those sites
`are physically located.
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`Ever since their introduction several years
`
`ago, HTML and accompanying browser software, now
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`including, e.g., attendant programming languages such as
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`Java and JavaScript languages ("Java" is a registered
`
`trademark of Sun Microsystems in Mountain View,
`
`California; "JavaScript" is a trademark of Netscape
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`Communications in Mountain View, California), have
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`undergone rather rapid and continual evolution. A major
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`purpose of which has been and continues to be to provide
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`web page authors with an ability to render increasingly
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`rich content through their pages and, as a result,
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`heighten a "user experience" for those users who visit
`
`these pages. Consequently, web pages are no longer
`
`limited to relatively simple textual displays -- as
`
`occurred with early versions of HTML and browser
`
`software, but can now encompass even full-motion
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`multimedia presentations and interactive games that use
`
`rather sophisticated graphics.
`
`The simplicity of browsing the web coupled with
`
`the relative low-cost of accessing the Internet, and the
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`relative ease through which a web site can be established
`
`are collectively fueling unparalleled growth and
`
`diffusion of the Internet itself, web sites and the
`
`Internet user community throughout the world.
`
`In that
`
`regard, by establishing web sites, merchants, vendors and
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`other information providers have an unparalleled
`
`opportunity, basically unheard of as little as 5-10 years
`
`ago, to reach enormous numbers of potential consumers -(cid:173)
`
`regardless of where these consumers reside -- at costs
`
`far less than previously thought possible. Moreover,
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`given the staggering amount and wide diversity of
`
`information currently available on the web, web browsing
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`is becoming so popular a past-time for sufficient numbers
`
`of individuals that browsing is beginning to divert
`significant viewership away from traditional forms of
`
`mass entertainment, such as television and cable. While
`such diversion is relatively small at present, it is
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`likely to rapidly grow. Moreover, given the ease and
`convenience with which users, situated at their personal
`computers and with basically nothing more complicated
`
`than a few mouse clicks, can effectively interact with
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`remote web sites, electronic commerce, through which
`goods and services are ordered through the Internet
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`without ever visiting a physical store, is rapidly
`emerging as a significant sales medium. This medium is
`likely to significantly challenge and possibly, over a
`relatively short time, may even alter traditional forms
`
`of retailing.
`
`Given the wide and ever-growing reach of the
`web as a source of consumer information and the
`increasing consumer acceptance of electronic commerce,
`
`advertisers have clearly recognized the immense potential
`
`of the web as an effective medium for disseminating
`
`advertisements to a consuming public.
`
`Unfortunately, conventional web-based
`advertising, for various practical reasons -- some being
`technical in nature and others relating to a nature of
`
`traditional web advertisements themselves, has generally
`yielded unsatisfactory results and thus has usually been
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`shunned by most large advertisers.
`
`In that regard,
`
`several approaches exist in the art for implementing web
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`based advertisements. However, all suffer serious
`
`limitations of one form or another that have sharply
`restricted their desirability and use.
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`Currently, a predominant format, referred to as
`
`a "banner", for a web advertisement takes the form of a
`rectangular graphical display situated, typically at a
`
`fixed location, in a rendered web page. A banner, which
`
`can be static or animated, can be situated anywhere
`
`within a rendered web page but most often is situated at
`a top or bottom, or along a vertical edge of that page.
`A banner, depending on its size, can extend across an
`entire page width or length, and usually contains, in a
`
`graphical eye-catching form, a name of a product or
`service being advertised.
`
`Increasingly, a banner for a
`given product or service implements a hotlink to enable a
`
`consumer to "click-through" the banner (i.e., generate a
`mouse click on the banner) in order to transition, via
`his browser, to a web site maintained by a corresponding
`
`advertiser and, from that site, fetch a web page to
`provide additional information regarding that product or
`
`service. Hence, the consumer could easily obtain more
`
`information by a click-through; while an advertiser,
`
`monitoring counts of such click-throughs that occur in a
`given period of time, could gain feedback on the
`effectiveness of the corresponding banner.
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`A banner is generally produced by properly
`embedding specific HTML code for that banner within the
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`HTML coding for a given web page in which the banner is
`
`to appear. A client browser, as it interprets and
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`sequentially executes the HTML code for a fetched page,
`will, in turn, compile and execute the embedded code for
`
`the banner and hence display the banner, as part of a
`rendered page and at a specified location thereon.
`
`In implementing a banner, whether static or
`
`even animated, its HTML coding generally involved
`downloading an appropriate file, for that banner, to a
`
`client browser. The file may be stored on the same
`server that stores the HTML file for the page, or
`accessed from a remote server. The file may contain a
`
`graphic itself, such as in a GIF (graphic interchange
`
`format) file, or a Java applet which, once interpreted
`and executed by the browser, generates and renders a
`
`desired animated graphic. This file, whether it be a
`graphic or applet, requires time to download and must be
`downloaded and assembled by the browser on the page prior
`to that page being fully rendered. The download time for
`
`that file, particularly as it increases in size, clearly,
`a priori, lengthens a time interval during which that
`
`page would completely download, thereby extending the
`time to fully render the page, including the banner,
`
`after a user transitioned to that page. Channel
`bandwidth to a client computer (e.g., personal computer
`PC), such as that provided through a modem connection,
`
`is often rather limited. Consequently, if the file size
`
`for the banner were relatively large
`
`as would
`
`certainly be the case for relatively "rich" content,
`e.g., audio or video content, the delay in downloading
`
`such a file over such a limited bandwidth connection
`could be excessive, and consequently highly frustrating
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`to the user. Hence, a user would likely wait a
`considerable amount of time before all the page
`components for multimedia content are fully downloaded to
`permit that page to be rendered. Such delay, if
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`encountered during a page transition, can be rather
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`frustrating to a user, even to the point at which the
`user, just to end his(her) waiting, will prematurely
`
`terminate the download and transition to another page.
`Therefore, in an effort to preserve an appropriate
`"editorial experience" for a user, content suppliers
`
`sharply limit the file size, of such banners to be
`rendered on their pages, in order to minimize page
`
`download and hence latency times.
`
`Unfortunately, such restricted file sizes
`effectively limit the richness of the content of a banner
`to a rather simplistic advertisement -- even with
`animation. Thus, banners often failed, as advertisers
`
`soon recognized by relatively low click-through counts,
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`to attract sufficient viewer attention to justify their
`
`use and expense.
`
`In an effort to overcome the content limitation
`
`associated with banners, the art teaches the use of a
`different advertising modality: so-called "interstitial"
`
`advertisements. See, e.g., United States patent
`5,305,195 (issued to A. J. Murphy on April 19, 1994
`hereinafter the "Murphy" patent) which discloses the
`
`concept of using interstitial advertisements though not
`in the context of web advertising. As described in the
`Murphy patent, pre-stored advertisements are displayed at
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`specific intervals on each one of a group of networked
`
`In
`ATM (automated transaction machines) terminals.
`particular, the advertisements are downloaded, either
`
`directly or via a server, from a remote computer and
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`locally stored on each such terminal and subsequently
`
`displayed on that terminal while it waits for a response,
`
`from a remote mainframe transaction server, to a
`transaction initiated at that terminal.
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`Generally speaking and with specific reference
`
`to web advertising, interstitial ads are displayed in an
`interval of time that occurs after a user has clicked on
`
`a hot-link displayed by a browser to retrieve a desired
`web page but before that browser has started rendering
`that page. Such an interval, commonly referred to as an
`"interstitial", arises for the simple reason that a
`
`browser requires time, once a user clicks on a hotlink
`
`for a new page, to fetch a file(s) from a remote web
`
`server(s) for that particular page and then fully
`assemble and render that page. The length of an
`interstitial interval, which is quite variable, is
`
`governed by a variety of factors, including, e.g., a
`number of files required to fully render the new page and
`
`the size of each such file, and network and server
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`congestion and attendant delays occurring when the user
`
`activated the hotlink.
`
`Interstitial web advertising is taught in,
`e.g., United States patents 5,737,619 and 5,572,643 (both
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`of which issued to D. H. Judson but on April 7, 1998 and
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`November 5, 1996, respectively -- hereinafter the
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`"Judson" patents). The Judson patents disclose the
`concept of embedding an advertisement, as an information
`object, in a web page file in such a manner that the
`object will remain hidden and not displayed when the file
`is executed to render the page. Rather than being
`
`displayed, the information object is locally cached by
`the browser during execution of the code for that page.
`Then, during a transition initiated by user activation of
`a hotlink to move from that page to a next successive
`page, i.e., during an interstitial, the browser accesses
`the advertisement from local cache and displays it until
`such time as that next successive page is downloaded and
`rendered. See also, published International patent
`application WO 97/07656 (to E. Barkat et al and published
`on March 6, 1997) which teaches the concept of "polite"
`downloading. Here, a browser, on a local computer (e.g.,
`a client PC) downloads, from a remote advertising system
`server and ostensibly as a background process, file(s)
`for a web advertisement only during those intervals when
`bandwidth utilization of a communication channel (link)
`connected to the browser is less than a pre-established
`threshold. Such "polite" downloading is intended to
`minimally interfere with other communication
`applications, then executing on the client PC, which will
`utilize the link. The browser displays the downloaded
`ad(s) to the user only after the user has not interacted,
`as detected by a conventional screen saver process, with
`his(her) PC for a predefined period of time, such as by
`neither moving a mouse nor depressing a key on a keyboard
`during that period. The server selects those
`advertisements for download to the client PC based on a
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`user-ID and preference information of the user, who is
`then situated at that PC, and configuration information
`of that PC, which, when a connection is established
`between the client PC and the server, the client PC
`uploads to the server. Though the files associated with
`an interstitial advertisement can be large, these files
`are advantageously fetched by a client browser during
`those intervals when otherwise the browser would be idle
`and hence bandwidth utilization of its network connection
`would be relatively low. Such "idle times" would occur,
`in the absence of processing an interstitial ad, after
`the browser has fully rendered a web page and a user is
`viewing the page but has not yet clicked on a hotlink to
`transition to another page. During such an idle time,
`the browser would simply wait for further user input.
`
`By reducing, if not eliminating, problems,
`inherent in banners and engendered by download latency,
`interstitial web advertisements, by employing idle time
`downloading and local caching, provide a theoretical
`promise of conveying very rich media content with a
`pleasing "user experience". However, interstitial
`advertisements, as conventionally implemented, have
`serious practical deficiencies which have severely
`limited their use.
`
`Conventional interstitial, as well as other
`forms of current, web advertisements
`here not unlike
`banners -- rely on embedding HTML ad code, as, e.g., a
`separate non-displayable object, within HTML coding for a
`web page. Unfortunately, this approach, inherent in that
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`taught by the Judson patents, can be inflexible and
`expensive for an advertiser to implement and particularly
`later should that advertiser, for whatever reason, seek
`to modify his(her) ad content.
`In particular and
`presently, ad coding is manually inserted into each and
`
`every content web page that is to carry advertising.
`Consequently, insertion of increasingly sophisticated
`embedded advertising, such as multi-media or video or
`audio, in existing web site content requires a large
`investment in terms of human resources, time and cost as
`web sites, particularly large sites, increase a number of
`content pages available for advertising.
`In that regard,
`where a banner usually required insertion of, e.g., a
`single line of HTML code, content rich advertisements,
`such as those now implemented by parameterized embedded
`Java advertising applets, often consist of an entire page
`of coding and hence require far more extensive and
`increasingly labor-intensive and costly insertions.
`Moreover, over time, advertisers do change their ads
`such as by replacing one ad with a totally new version.
`However, once HTML ad coding is embedded within a number
`of web pages, it can be quite impractical and rather
`costly for an advertiser to access each and every page in
`which his(her) ad coding has been inserted and then
`manually change the ad coding, as desired. The
`impracticality and attendant cost compound if these pages
`are copied to other web sites and hence diffuse through
`the Internet.
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`Given these deficiencies, the art teaches a
`concept of implementing web advertising through using
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`so-called "push" technology. See, e.g., United States
`patent 5,740,549 (issued to J. P. Reilly et al on
`April 14, 1998
`hereinafter the "Reilly et al" patent)
`In essence and as described in the Reilly et al patent, a
`client PC, through execution of a "push" application
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`program (called "administration manager"), establishes a
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`network connection with an information server, i.e., a
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`"push" web server, typically during off-hours, such as in
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`the late evening or early morning, or at a predefined
`interval (e.g., every four hours). The information
`server then downloads, i.e., "pushes", to the
`administration manager, content files, such as for
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`advertisements and/or other predefined information, that
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`are to be played to the user sometime later. The
`administration manager, i.e., the "push" application, in
`turn, stores all the "pushed" content files into a local
`database (referred to as the "information database") on a
`local hard disk and, in response to instructions received
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`from the information server, deletes those previously
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`"pushed" content files which have already been displayed.
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`The administration manager also maintains a user profile,
`which specifies user preferences as to the specific
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`advertising and/or other information (s)he wants to
`receive, in the information database. As such, through
`each connection, the information server, by selecting
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`content from its database relative to preferences
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`specified in the user profile, attempts to "push" fresh
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`content to the client PC that is likely to be of interest
`to the user but without duplicating that which was
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`already displayed. Stored "pushed" content is later
`displayed, using a data viewer, either on user demand or
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`during those times when the user is not interacting with
`the system, here too detected by a conventional screen
`saver procedure.
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`While push technology reduces download latency,
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`by shifting downloads to occur at off-hours, this
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`technology also suffers serious drawbacks which have
`greatly restricted its practical acceptance.
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`In particular, to access "pushed" content, a
`user must initially download and install to his(her)
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`client PC a separate, platform-specific, software
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`application program, as well as subsequent updates to
`that program as new push capabilities are released by the
`manufacturer of the program. Unfortunately, these
`application programs can often extend to tens of
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`megabytes in length. Since typical Internet users
`establish modern connections to their Internet service
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`provider, these users will find that downloading these
`relatively large program files, even in compressed form,
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`will consume an inordinate amount of time and is
`generally impractical while (s)he is actively using
`his(her) client PC. Consequently, these users are
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`constrained to purchasing, at some cost, an off-the-shelf
`version of the application program or downloading that
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`program, typically at no cost for the program itself, at
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`off-hours, when network congestion is relatively light.
`Furthermore, while some efforts are underway in the art
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`to automatically "push" and install incremental software
`updates to a client PC, thus eliminating a need for a
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`user to manually do so, the user still faces the burden
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`associated with the initial download and installation of
`the "push" application program.
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`In addition, "push" application programs
`continue to increase in size, often considerably, as they
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`provide added capabilities to a user. Downloading and
`then regularly updating a push application will reduce,
`sometimes considerably, the amount of disk space
`available to the user on his(her) client PC.
`Furthermore, "push" applications rely on periodically
`"pushing" large quantities of media content from a push
`server to the client PC and storing that content on the
`hard disk of that PC pending subsequent display. This
`content, depending on its volume, can consume inordinate
`amounts of hard disk space. Furthermore, advertisers
`have discovered, not surprisingly, that relatively few PC
`users will undertake any affirmative action, such as by
`downloading and installing an application program
`almost regardless of its size, to receive advertisements
`and other such information.
`
`Faced with these practical, and rather acute,
`deficiencies inhering in web advertising conventionally
`provided on either an interstitial or "push" basis, web
`advertisers have apparently relegated their efforts to
`displaying their advertisements on a banner-like
`approach, through real-time downloading and rendering of
`advertising HTML files. Here, the advertising files are
`sited on remote web servers, rather than being embedded
`within given web page HTML files, with appropriate HTML
`tags, which reference the ad files, being embedded into
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`the web page files themselves. Such a tag specifies when
`and where, within the page, an advertisement is to
`appear.
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`To surmount the latency problems inherent in
`such banner-like advertisements, various proprietary
`media formats have appeared in the art. These formats
`employ increasingly sophisticated data compression,
`sometimes in conjunction with video and/or audio
`streaming. Rather than waiting for a media file to fully
`download prior to its being rendered, streaming permits
`content in a "streamed" media file to be presented in
`real-time to the user as that content arrives at his(her)
`client browser. While this approach clearly provides
`enhanced richness in content over that obtainable through
`a conventional banner and thus can heighten a "user
`experience", it nevertheless relies, to its detriment, on
`a continuous real-time network connection existing to a
`remote web server.
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`Unfortunately, any network or server congestion
`which stops the download, even if temporary, can suspend,
`i.e., freeze, or totally halt the "streamed" media
`presentation to the user prior to its completion. This
`interruption, if noticeable and sufficiently long, will
`likely frustrate the user and degrade the "user
`experience".
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`In spite of these drawbacks, particularly with
`respect to interstitial advertisements and push
`technology, and apparently for lack of a better
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`alternative, most web advertising currently in use
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`employs real-time streaming of graphic files with their
`content being rendered by the browser.
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`Web advertisements, like other forms of mass
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`advertising, do generate revenue, often in the form of an
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`on-going stream of payments to the host of the ads, in
`this case web site owners. Accurate user accounting is
`essential to ensure that an advertiser is not over- or
`under-charged given an extent to which an ad is actually
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`disseminated. Hence, these payments are often tied to a
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`function of the number of web users whom the ad reached.
`But with web advertisements, accurately ascertaining that
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`number has been difficult and problematic at best, and,
`given a basic technique employed to do so, manifestly
`error-prone, thereby causing unreliable user counts and
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`erroneous ad charges.
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`In particular and as conventionally employed,
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`delivery of a web advertisement, such as, e.g., a
`streamed ad, is logged as a "user impression" at a web
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`server at an instant an advertising file(s), e.g., a
`streamed file, is served, rather than after the browser
`has completely rendered the advertisement to the user.
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`Unfortunately, serving these ad files does not guarantee
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`that these files will be ultimately and completely
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`rendered by a client browser to a user. Consequently,
`web server generated "user impressionu counts can be
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`grossly over- or under-stated. For example, if a user
`navigates to a new content page after an advertisement
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`has started playing but before that advertisement
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