Mass Generation of Individual Virtual Servers, Virtual Web Sites, and Virtual Web Objects

Abstract

Techniques for inducing a contact to invoke a resource prepared by a promoter when the resource resides on a network include generating a resource location description for the resource that includes a name of the contact. The promoter provides access to the resource at a location on the network according to the resource location description and also prepares a message to notify the contact about the resource location description. Thus a promoter can provide a website for each contact whom the promoter has identified, the website having a domain name that prominently displays the contact's identity. The displayed website content is determined according to the website domain name for the contact. The system may optionally maintain a record of access for a particular website domain and display website content that is determined according to the frequency and type of prior access to the website domain.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for inducing a contact to invoke a resource prepared by a promoter on a network, the method comprising:
 generating a resource location description for the resource, the resource location description including a name of the contact, wherein the resource location description is configured as at least one canonical subdomain name linked at least by at least one separator character to a higher level domain name, the canonical subdomain name containing at least the name of the contact;   providing access to the resource at a location on the network according to the resource location description; and   notifying the contact about the resource location description for the resource.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tailoring content in the resource in response to the resource location description used to access the resource. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , said providing access to the resource at the location comprising configuring an operating system to divert a request for the resource at the location to a second location where the resource resides. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a request for the resource includes the resource location description; and   the method further comprises generating content for the document dynamically in response to the resource location description in the request.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 logging activity involving the resource; and   changing content in the resource in response to the activity logged.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 setting up a contact database; and   automatically retrieving the contact name from the contact database before said generating the resource location description.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising repeating said steps of generating the resource location description, providing access, and notifying the contact for a plurality of contacts from the contact database. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the resource location description is a universal resource locator address. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the resource location description includes a directory name; and   said generating comprises using the contact name in the directory name.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , said generating further comprising making the resource location description unique among a plurality of other resource location descriptions corresponding to the plurality of contacts. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , said generating further comprising, if an original name of the contact includes a character prohibited for a resource location description, changing the prohibited character to an allowed character. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising terminating access to the resource at the location when a promotion associated with the resource ends. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising changing content in the resource when a promotion associated with the resource reaches a predetermined stage. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising repeating said notifying the contact when a promotion associated with the resource reaches a predetermined stage and the activity logged is less than a predetermined threshold of activity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , said generating further comprising making a subdomain name in the resource location description unique among a plurality of other document location descriptions corresponding to the plurality of contacts and sharing a common higher level domain name. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 7 , said generating further comprising, if a subdomain name in the resource location description is not unique within one higher level domain name, then using the subdomain name with a different higher level domain name. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 2 , said tailoring further comprising including information associated with the contact in a contact database into the content of the resource. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 2 , said tailoring further comprising selecting alternative resource content elements into the content of the resource based on information associated with the contact in a contact database. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising denying access to the resource if a request for the resource does not include a predetermined authentication. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising dynamically tailoring content in the resource in response to authentication in a request for the resource. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the resource is a website. 
     
     
         22 . A method for inducing a contact to invoke a resource prepared by a promoter on a network, the method comprising:
 generating a resource location description for the resource, the resource location description including a name of the contact, wherein the resource location description is configured as at least one host name, the host name containing at least the name of the contact;   providing access to the resource at a location on the network according to the resource location description; and   notifying the contact about the resource location description for the resource.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising updating a domain name file to include the host name for use by a domain name server.