Claims:We Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for displaying promotional materials to a user using a browser executing on a client computer, comprising:
a. determining websites in a browsing history of the browser;
b. sending a request to one or more internet resources
c. receiving the promotional materials from the one or more internet resources comprising a plurality of advertisements;
d. Associating the received advertisements with the websites in the browsing history of the browser; and
e. Displaying websites in the browsing history of the browser together with the associated advertisements
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first area is below the second area.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more internet resources are the determined websites.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more internet resources is centralized server providing information on the promotional materials relating to the determined websites.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the request specifies likely preferences of the user determined on the client computer using online history of the user and wherein the promotional materials are based on the likely preferences of the user.
, Description:Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to methods and systems for enabling internet advertising and, to providing novel mechanism for using web browser for display of advertisements to users.
Background of the Invention
Internet advertising is very effective because of the possibility for targeting the advertising materials based on user's demographics as well as intentions/interests/preferences, which can be inferred from the user's online activity history and because more and more people prefer to engage in shopping activity via the Internet. In the recent years there have been devised numerous methods for effectively targeting the advertisements in order to achieve the greatest return on the advertising dollars spent. The way advertising materials are presented to the Internet user has not changed. Most ads are provided to the user in a form of banner ads, which are usually located on the top of the web page viewed by the user, or as ads that can be placed on web browser toolbar(s). However, it is desirable that the user is also provided with promotional information related to websites that appear, for example, in user's browser history. For instance, if the user was previously looking at buying a pair of shoes at www.shoes.com and decided against making the purchase, seeing that www.shoes.com has store-wise sale and the user can get the same shoes at a substantial discount may change the user's purchasing decision and the user may go forward with the purchase, making revenue for the advertiser. Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that provide additional advertising or promotional materials to the user using an internet browser.
Object of the Invention
The object of the present invention is provided a computer-implemented method for displaying promotional materials to a user using a browser executing on a client computer
Summary of the Invention
The inventive methodology is directed to methods and systems that substantially obviate one or more of the above and other problems associated with conventional techniques for presenting advertising materials to the user using a web browser.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-implemented method for displaying promotional materials to a user using a browser executing on a client computer. The inventive method involves: determining websites in a browsing history of the browser; sending a request to one or more internet resources, the requests being related to the determined websites; receiving the promotional materials from the one or more internet resources in response to the request; associating the received promotional materials with the websites in the browsing history of the browser; and displaying websites in the browsing history of the browser together with the associated promotional materials.
Brief Description of Drawings:
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary operating sequence of an embodiment of the inventive system.
Detailed Description of Invention:
In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing(s), in which identical functional elements are designated with like numerals. The accompanying drawings show by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, specific embodiments and implementations consistent with principles of the present invention. These implementations are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and it is to be understood that other implementations may be utilized and that structural changes and/or substitutions of various elements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be construed in a limited sense. Additionally, the various embodiments of the invention as described may be implemented in the form of a software running on a general-purpose computer, in the form of a specialized hardware, or combination of software and hardware. Aspects of the present invention provides novel systems and methods for using web browser for displaying advertisements to internet users. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary operating sequence of an embodiment of the inventive system. First, at step 1, the inventive software searches for all URLs in the browser's history and determines websites corresponding to said historical URLs. Second, at step 2, the software queries each website for promotional materials. The obtaining of the promotional materials can be done automatically by using website's API or by simply going to a predetermined location within the website and downloading a file or a page containing the target materials.
After the promotional materials have been downloaded, they are stored on the user's computer 1 at step 3 and displayed to the user at step 4.