Detecting a change to the content of information displayed to a user of a website

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for detecting a change in web content of a web page. In particular, executable instructions may be inserted into a web page such that a first fingerprint of the web page is created when viewed on a client device. The first fingerprint may then be compared to a previously created fingerprint to determine if the web page has been modified. The fingerprints may be based on one or more elements of the web page.

1 . A method for detecting a change in content of a web page, comprising:
 creating a server-side fingerprint based on one or more elements of the web page;   injecting executable instructions into the web page such that upon execution at a client device, the executable instructions create a client-side fingerprint of a web page containing the executable instructions based on the one or more elements;   receiving the client-side fingerprint; and comparing the client-side fingerprint to the server-side fingerprint.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a change in the content of the web page is detected if the server-side fingerprint and the client-side fingerprint do not match. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 providing a second web page when the change in web content is detected.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the server-side fingerprint is based on a combination of two or more elements of the web page and the client-side fingerprint is based on the same combination of two or more elements of the web page. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more elements of the web page include at least one of a Document Object Model (DOM) element, an iFrame, a Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) tag, an HTML element, an HTML attribute, and HTML content. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: receiving an indication of a number of values sent from a client, wherein a change in the content of the web page is detected based on the server-side fingerprint and the client-side fingerprint not matching and the indication of the number of values sent from the client. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein creating the server-side fingerprint comprises generating a hash value based on the one or more elements. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the server-side fingerprint comprises generating a hash based on the one or more elements. 
     
     
         9 . A method comprising:
 generating a first fingerprint of a web page, wherein the first fingerprint is based on one or more elements of a first instance of the web page;   receiving a second instance of a web page;   injecting executable instructions into the received second instance of the web page such that upon execution at a client device, the executable instructions create a second fingerprint of the web page, wherein the second fingerprint is based on the one or more elements of the web page; and   comparing the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein a change in the content of the web page is detected if the server-side fingerprint and the client-side fingerprint do not match. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: providing a second web page when the change in web content is detected. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first fingerprint is based on a combination of two or more elements of the web page and the second fingerprint is based on the same combination of two or more elements of the web page. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more elements of the web page include at least one of a Document Object Model (DOM) element, an iFrame, a Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) tag, an HTML element, an HTML attribute, and HTML content. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein generating the first fingerprint comprises generating a hash value based on the one or more elements. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the server-side fingerprint comprises generating a hash based on the one or more elements. 
     
     
         15 . A system for detecting a change in web content, the system comprising: a code injection module;
 a server device including:
 a processor; 
 a communication interface; 
 data storage; and 
 a server application stored on the data storage that is executable by the processor, wherein the server application is operable to create a server-side fingerprint based on one or more elements of a web page and provide the web page, utilizing the communication interface, to a code injection module, wherein the code injection module injects executable instructions into the web page such that upon execution at a client device, the executable instructions create a client-side fingerprint of a web page containing the executable instructions based on the one or more elements, wherein the server application is further operable to receive the client-side fingerprint and compare the client-side fingerprint to the server-side fingerprint. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein a change in content of the web page is detected if the server-side fingerprint and the client-side fingerprint do not match. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 16 , further comprising: providing, by the server application, a second web page when the change in web content is detected. 
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the server-side fingerprint is based on a combination of two or more elements of the web page and the client-side fingerprint is based on the same combination of two or more elements of the web page. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the one or more elements of the web page include at least one of a Document Object Model (DOM) element, an iFrame, a Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) tag, an HTML element, an HTML attribute, and HTML content. 
     
     
         20 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein the server application is further operable to receive an indication of a number of values sent from a client device, wherein a change in content of the web page is detected based on the server-side fingerprint and the client-side fingerprint not matching and the indication of the number of values sent from the client.