System and Method for Selecting and Displaying Webpages

Abstract

A server having one or more processors and memory associates one or more link categories with a first user and receives a request from the browser on the client device to display a new webpage in the browser. In response to the request, the server accesses a list of one or more webpages associated with the first user, where the list is generated based on the one or more link categories associated with the first user, and selects a randomly chosen webpage from a set of webpages including the list of one or more webpages. When the randomly chosen webpage is a webpage associated with the respective link category generated by the second user, the server facilitates display, on the client device, of the randomly chosen webpage from the respective link category generated by the second user.

1 . A method of dynamically selecting and presenting a webpage, comprising:
 at a server having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of:
 associating one or more link categories stored at the server with a first user, wherein each link category is a list, stored at the server, of one or more links to webpages, and the one or more link categories include a respective link category that is generated by a second user different from the first user, wherein the second user is not a content provider associated with webpages in the respective link category; 
 receiving a request from the browser on the client device to display a new webpage in the browser; and 
 in response to the request, automatically, without human interaction:
 accessing a list of one or more webpages associated with the first user, wherein the list is generated based on the one or more link categories associated with the first user; 
 selecting a randomly chosen webpage from a set of webpages including the list of one or more webpages; and 
 when the randomly chosen webpage is a webpage associated with the respective link category generated by the second user, facilitating the display, on the client device, of the randomly chosen webpage from the respective link category generated by the second user. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending the randomly chosen webpage to the client device for display. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the facilitating comprises sending instructions to the client device to obtain the randomly chosen webpage. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more webpages includes webpages corresponding to a plurality of the bookmarks of the browser. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more webpages includes webpages corresponding to a plurality of search results from one or more search engines. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further including:
 receiving a subsequent request, at the server, from the browser on the client device to display a new webpage in the browser;   automatically selecting a different webpage from the set of webpages; and   facilitating the display of the different webpage in accordance with predefined criteria.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the predefined criteria includes which websites should be displayed at particular times of the day, day of the week, or day of the year, and wherein the method further comprises, before the selecting, determining the time or date at the server. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically displaying subsequent webpages from the set of webpages in accordance with predefined criteria. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the predefined criteria is a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request from the client device to display a new webpage in the browser is initiated by the first user launching the browser on the client device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request from the client device to display a new webpage in the browser is initiated by the first user opening a new browser window in the browser. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more webpages includes at least one webpage hosted on a web server distinct from the server. 
     
     
         13 . A system for dynamically selecting and presenting a webpage, comprising:
 memory;   one or more processors; and   one or more programs stored in memory and configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
 associating one or more link categories stored at the server with a first user, wherein each link category is a list, stored at the server, of one or more links to webpages, and the one or more link categories include a respective link category that is generated by a second user different from the first user, wherein the second user is not a content provider associated with webpages in the respective link category; 
 receiving a request from the browser on the client device to display a new webpage in the browser; and 
 in response to the request, automatically, without human interaction:
 accessing a list of one or more webpages associated with the first user, wherein the list is generated based on the one or more link categories associated with the first user; 
 selecting a randomly chosen webpage from a set of webpages including the list of one or more webpages; and 
 when the randomly chosen webpage is a webpage associated with the respective link category generated by the second user, facilitating the display, on the client device, of the randomly chosen webpage from the respective link category generated by the second user. 
 
   
     
     
         14 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for use in conjunction with a computer system having a processor, the computer readable storage medium comprising one or more programs executable by the processor, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
 associating one or more link categories stored at the server with a first user, wherein each link category is a list, stored at the server, of one or more links to webpages, and the one or more link categories include a respective link category that is generated by a second user different from the first user, wherein the second user is not a content provider associated with webpages in the respective link category;   receiving a request from the browser on the client device to display a new webpage in the browser; and   in response to the request, automatically, without human interaction:
 accessing a list of one or more webpages associated with the first user, wherein the list is generated based on the one or more link categories associated with the first user; 
 selecting a randomly chosen webpage from a set of webpages including the list of one or more webpages; and 
 when the randomly chosen webpage is a webpage associated with the respective link category generated by the second user, facilitating the display, on the client device, of the randomly chosen webpage from the respective link category generated by the second user. 
   
     
     
         15 . A method of dynamically selecting and presenting a webpage, comprising:
 at a server having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of:
 associating a link category stored at the server with a first user, wherein the link category is a list of one or more links to webpages that is generated by a second user different from the first user, where the second user is not a content provider associated with webpages in the respective link category; 
 receiving a request from the browser on the client device to display a new webpage in the browser; and 
 in response to the request, automatically, without human interaction:
 selecting a randomly chosen link from the link category; and 
 facilitating the display, on the client device, of a webpage associated with the randomly chosen link.