Method and apparatus for providing dynamic information to a user via a visual display

Abstract

A client-server system for recording web site activity by web users and dynamically customizing web display apparatuses for optimal information presentation based on the users'prior activity history. The system assigns each user a user identifier that allows the system to track the user's web sessions. The system also assigns every web site an application identifier that allows the system to track the user's activities at a particular web site. The system then records the user's activities as they visit different web sites via the user and application identifiers. The system determines how the user prefers to view each web site based on their prior activity, their preferences, the web site, and various other factors. As the user surfs from web site to web site, the system dynamically configures the user's web browser and the web page information for optimum presentation based on how the user prefers to view the web site.

1 . A method for dynamically providing information to a user via a visual display associated with a user computer, the method comprising the following steps: 
 assigning the user a user identification code;    assigning an application code to at least a first website and a second website to be viewed by said user;    recording the user's activity associated with said first and second websites by monitoring said user identification code and said application code;    determining the user's viewing preference associated with said first website based on the user's activity associated with said first website;    determining the user's viewing preference associated with said second website based on the user's activity associated with said second website; and    dynamically adjusting the user's display in accordance with the user's preference associated with the website being viewed by the user.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of downloading from a system server a display application for each website where the user's activity is to be recorded.  
   
   
       3 . (canceled)  
   
   
       4 . (canceled)  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recording step comprises the further step of recording a URL associated with the website being viewed by said user.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said visual display includes a browser function and said adjusting step adjusts the browser.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a user information record associated with each user, the user information record including the user identification code, an IP address field indicating the last internet address from which the user communicated, a country code field indicating the country from which the user last communicated, and a last login field indicating the last time that the user communicated.  
   
   
       8 . (canceled)  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a user session record associated with a communication session with the user, the user session record including the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, the application code associated with a website, an IP address field indicating the last internet address from which the user communicated, session timing information, and a unique session identification code.  
   
   
       10 . (canceled)  
   
   
       11 . (canceled)  
   
   
       12 . (canceled)  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a session identifier for tracking application activities, the session identifier including the application code associated with the website and an application name field indicating the textual name associated with the website.  
   
   
       14 . (canceled)  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating an application navigation record indicating the primary location the process initially accesses when the process is first executed, the application navigation record including the application code, a navigation URL field indicating a web address to be initially accessed upon initial execution, a country code field indicating the user's country for which the URL navigation field is applicable.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating an application customization record which includes application parameters related to user behavior, the application customization record including the application code, a user behavior type indicator, and a tag name field and value name field which provide a textual information tag and an associated value, respectively, for the application.  
   
   
       17 . (canceled)  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a user behavior information record indicating weighted information about the user's behavior, the user behavior information record including the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, a behavior type field indicating information about the user's type of interests, and a weight field indicating the appropriate weighting or significance of each user behavior type.  
   
   
       19 . (canceled)  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of generating a user URL information record which indicates user URL tracking information used to generate user behavior information, the user URL information record including the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, a session identifier which identifies the session of the user for a particular URL, a domain field and page field associated with the particular URL, a page type field which identifies the type of URL, and a duration field which indicates an amount of time the user spent at a particular URL.  
   
   
       21 . (canceled)  
   
   
       22 . (canceled)  
   
   
       23 . (canceled)  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a user application information record indicating information associated with client applications the user has downloaded, the user application information record including the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, the application code for each particular application downloaded by the user, an application version field identifying the current version of each particular application, a download date field indicating the date the user downloaded the particular application.  
   
   
       25 . (canceled)  
   
   
       26 . (canceled)  
   
   
       27 . (canceled)  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating an application tracking record which contains information regarding application use, the application tracking record including the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, a date field representing the date of a particular record, an event code field indicating a particular type of event for each application, and a count field indicating the number of times a particular event has occurred for a particular application.  
   
   
       29 . (canceled)  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a message queue record indicating a list of messages to be displayed to the user, the message queue record including the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, a behavior type field indicating a user behavior for which messages in the queue will be transmitted to the user, a message number field indicating a sequential number assigned to each message, a messages field which indicates the list of messages to be transmitted to the user, and a URL field indicating a web address to be transmitted to the user.  
   
   
       31 . (canceled)  
   
   
       32 . (canceled)  
   
   
       33 . (canceled)  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating an activity log file which records user activities, the activity log file including a time field indicating when the activity log file was created, the user identification code or a similar unique identifier associated with the user, a user IP field indicating the user's last internet connection address, and an activity field indicating a description for a particular user activity.  
   
   
       35 . (canceled)  
   
   
       36 . (canceled)  
   
   
       37 . (canceled)  
   
   
       38 . (canceled)  
   
   
       39 . (canceled)  
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of optimizing the display of website information by dynamically configuring the client application in order to present website information in accordance with the user's history and preferences.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of tracking user activity in connection with locations that are specified in URL format but which are not URL locations.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein said locations that are specified in URL format include one of networked files and networked resources.  
   
   
       43 . (canceled)  
   
   
       44 . (canceled)  
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of performing at least one data count based on the user's prior usage history, and weighting the at least one data count to adjust the relevance of the at lease one data count to produce a running total score for at least one website viewed by the user.  
   
   
       46 . (canceled)  
   
   
       47 . (canceled)  
   
   
       48 . (canceled)  
   
   
       49 . (canceled)  
   
   
       50 . (canceled)  
   
   
       51 . (canceled)  
   
   
       52 . (canceled)  
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of transmitting customized messages to a user in accordance with the user's usage.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein the customized messages include at least one of promotional information, advertisements, and news.  
   
   
       55 . A method for dynamically providing information to a user via a visual display associated with a user computer, the method comprising the following steps: 
 (a) at the user computer, requesting from a remote server configuration information associated with a website being viewed by said user;    (b) reconfiguring the visual display in accordance with the configuration information;    (c) transmitting usage information associated with the website being viewed by the user to the remote server; and    (d) repeating steps (a), (b), and (c) for each website being viewed by the user.    
   
   
       56 . A computer readable medium encoded with processing instructions for performing a method for dynamically providing information to a user via a visual display associated with a user computer, the method comprising: 
 assigning the user a user identification code;    assigning an application code to at least a first website and a second website to be viewed by said user;    recording the user's activity associated with said first and second websites by monitoring said user identification code and said application code;    determining the user's viewing preference associated with said first website based on the user's activity associated with said first website;    determining the user's viewing preference associated with said second website based on the user's activity associated with said second website; and    dynamically adjusting the user's display in accordance with the user's preference associated with the website being viewed by the user.    
   
   
       57 . A computer readable medium encoded with processing instructions for performing a method for dynamically providing information to a user via a visual display associated with a user computer, the method comprising: 
 (a) at the user computer, requesting from a remote server configuration information associated with a website being viewed by said user;    (b) reconfiguring the visual display in accordance with the configuration information;    (c) transmitting usage information associated with the website being viewed by the user to the remote server; and    (d) repeating steps (a), (b), and (c) for each website being viewed by the user.    
   
   
       58 . (canceled)  
   
   
       59 . (canceled)