Url shortening based online advertising

Abstract

Methods of the present inventions allow for URL shortening based online advertising. An exemplary method may comprise the steps of receiving a URL that resolves to a first network resource, parsing the URL into keyword(s), transmitting the keyword(s) to an online advertisement provider, receiving online advertisement(s) from the online advertisement provider, generating a second network resource (comprising the first network resource and one or more online advertisements), and generating a shortened resource locator that resolves to the second network resource.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising a server hardware computing device coupled to a network and comprising at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions within a memory, which, when executed, cause the system to:
 receive a uniform resource locator (URL) via a transmission from a graphical user interface (GUI) control displayed on a client hardware computing device coupled to the network, the URL resolving to a first network resource;   identify a token, comprising a sequence of characters, within the URL;   digitally encode the token for transmission to at least one online advertisement generation software module;   receive an online advertisement generated in response to the transmission of, and relevant to, the token;   automatically generate:
 a second network resource, stored on a storage device accessible to the server hardware computing device, and incorporating the online advertisement for display; and 
 a shortened URL resolving to the second network resource, the shortened resource locator not resolving to the first network resource. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first network resource comprises a web page. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one online advertisement generation software module is operated by a contextual advertising service. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the contextual advertising service maintains a database of advertising content including at least one contextual online advertisement associated with at least one keyword. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second network resource comprises a web page. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the web page includes a frame containing a plurality of web page content for the web page. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the web page includes the online advertisement. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the online advertisement comprises a text-highlighted advertisement displayed on the web page. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the shortened URL comprises a user identifier identifying a user. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, by a server hardware computing device coupled to a network and comprising at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions within a memory, a uniform resource locator (URL) via a transmission from a graphical user interface (GUI) control displayed on a client hardware computing device coupled to the network, the URL resolving to a first network resource;   identifying, by the server hardware computing device, a token, comprising a sequence of characters, within the URL;   digitally encoding, by the server hardware computing device, the token for transmission to at least one online advertisement generation software module;   receiving, by the server hardware computing device, an online advertisement generated in response to the transmission of, and relevant to, the token;   automatically generating, by the server hardware computing device:
 a second network resource, stored on a storage device accessible to the server hardware computing device, and incorporating the online advertisement for display; and 
 a shortened URL resolving to the second network resource, the shortened resource locator not resolving to the first network resource. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first network resource comprises a web page. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one online advertisement generation software module is operated by a contextual advertising service. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the contextual advertising service maintains a database of advertising content including at least one contextual online advertisement associated with at least one keyword. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the second network resource comprises a web page. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the web page includes a frame containing a plurality of web page content for the web page. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the web page includes the online advertisement. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the online advertisement comprises a text-highlighted advertisement displayed on the web page. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the shortened URL comprises a user identifier identifying a user.