WO2001090942A1

WO2001090942A1 - Cobranding portal services and normalizing advertisements delivered

Info

Publication number: WO2001090942A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/014751
Authority: WO
Inventors: Subhash Sankuratripati; Ji Hoon Lee; Ramakrishna Satyavolu
Original assignee: Yodlee.Com, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-05-19
Filing date: 2001-05-07
Publication date: 2001-11-29
Also published as: AU2001261255A1

Abstract

A network server (31) dedicated for the purpose of controlling the service function of disparate ad servers (23) (25) and (27) operating on the network is provided. The server (31) utilizes a data port for communicating with ad servers (23) (25) and (27) connected to the network, a data storage facility (29) for storing data, a data processing means (17) for manipulating and controlling stored data, and a software means (35) for creating, updating, and maintaining data associations among the stored data. The server (31) functions to broker advertisements from disparate ad servers (23) (25) and (27) such that they are normalized, and in some embodiments, personalized when they appear in the target interfaces.

Description

COBRANDING PORTAL SERVICES AND NORMALIZING ADVERTISEMENTS DELIVERED

by inventors Subhash Sankuratripati, Ji Hoon Lee, and Ramakrishna Satyavolu

Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the field of Internet navigation and browsing, and pertains more particularly to methods and apparatus for co-branding portal services and normalizing ads sent to subscribers of those services from separate ad-service companies.

Cross-Reference to Related Documents

The present invention is a continuation-in-part (CIP) to a us patent application S/N 09/208,740 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Providing and Maintaining a User-Interactive Portal System Accessible Via Internet or Other Switched-Packet- Network", Filed on 12/08/98, disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

Background of the Invention

The information network known as the World Wide Web (WWW), which is a subset of the well-known Internet, is arguably the most complete source of publicly accessible information available. Anyone with a suitable Internet appliance such as a personal computer with a standard Internet connection may access (go on-line) and navigate to information pages (termed web pages) stored on Internet-connected servers for the purpose of garnering information and initiating transactions with hosts of such servers and pages.

Many companies offer various subscription services accessible via the Internet. For example, many people now do their banking, stock trading, shopping, and so forth from the comfort of their own homes via Internet access. Typically, a user, through subscription, has access to personalized and secure WEB pages for such functions. By typing in a user name and a password or other personal identification code, a user may obtain information, initiate transactions, buy stock, and accomplish a myriad of other tasks. One problem that is encountered by an individual who has several or many such subscriptions to Internet-brokered services is that there are invariably many passwords and/or log-in codes to be used. Often a same password or code cannot be used for every service, as the password or code may already be taken by another user. A user may not wish to supply a code unique to the user such as perhaps a social security number because of security issues, including quality of security, that may vary from service to service. Additionally, many users at their own volition may choose different passwords for different sites so as to have increased security, which in fact also increases the number of passwords a user may have.

Another issue that can plague a user who has many passworded subscriptions is the fact that they must bookmark many WEB pages in a computer cache so that they may quickly find and access the various services. For example, in order to reserve and pay for airline travel, a user must connect to the Internet, go to his/her book-marks file and select an airline page. The user then has to enter a user name and password, and follow on-screen instructions once the page is delivered. If the user wishes to purchase tickets from the WEB site, and wishes to transfer funds from an on-line banking service, the user must also look for and select the personal bank or account page to initiate a funds transfer for the tickets. Different user names and passwords may be required to access these other pages, and things get quite complicated. Although this preceding example is merely exemplary, it is generally known that much work related to finding WEB pages, logging in with passwords, and the like is required to successfully do business on the WEB.

A system known to the inventor and described in the cross-reference section above, provides an interactive Internet portal that enables users to store their WEB pages, user names, passwords, and a system that performs pre-defined tasks such as navigation and interaction between WEB servers based on user pre-programming (user profiles). Such a system greatly simplifies on-line or network-based business transactions. It is known in the art, that certain providers of Web services such as portal services, which include data-aggregation services from multiple sites, often work with partners representing other companies offering similar services. These partnerships are termed cobrand partnerships in the art.

An example of a cobrand relationship would be that of a company A offering services through a company B to subscribers of company B as if the added services were provided and maintained by company B. In a typical case of cobranding, subscribers to the cobrand partner are not aware that the added services are actually provided by a company other than the cobrand partner, or in this case, company A. A problem with cobranding services in prior art involves the amount of cooperation, engineering, configuration, and so on that must be performed by both the service-providing company and the cobrand partner.

For example, knowledge workers from both companies must interface and cooperate in order to provide a functional interface and mechanism for subscribers of the cobrand partner to utilize in order to receive the extra value-added services. It is also known in the art, that a large part of attracting Internet users to certain

Websites is so that an opportunity may exist to advertise to such users. Advertising to Internet users is typically accomplished through streaming what are termed banner ads into the Web pages visited by the users. Banner ads are typically created and served by advertising companies using ad servers to deliver the ads according to keywords. For example, if an Internet user is invoking a search engine provided by AltaVista™, for example, a keyword used in the search may be related to a particular banner ad provided by an advertising company. Therefore, when a user enters a keyword, a related advertisement appears within view of a user operating the search engine.

One limitation with the way banner ads are targeted to users is that they are only based on keywords used in a search function, or keywords contained within a user interface. Some companies work with ad servers to stream ads based on content within a user's interface. For example, if a user has a personalized content within a particular interface, then keywords extracted from that content may be used to equate to banner ads within an ad server. It is desired by many companies offering Web services, to have banner ads streamed into their customer interfaces, with the ads representing types of ads and a user may want to invoke. Advertising companies compete with each other, and therefore do not use the same keywords for the same types of advertising. If a user is, for example, operating a search engine provided by AltaNista™, a particular keyword would invoke a particular ad from the advertising company doing business with AltaNista ™. If the same user changes from AltaNista™ to Excite™, the same keyword will likely invoke a very different ad from a separate advertising company doing business with Excite™.

It has occurred to the inventor, that by relating cobrand services to the way banner ads are delivered into cobrand interfaces, an opportunity exists for normalizing banner ads such that similar ads from unrelated advertising companies could be delivered to a same user having separate cobrand interfaces. Furthermore, such banner ads may be more personalized to individual users operating through cobrand interfaces. What is clearly needed, is a method and apparatus for streamlining implementation of cobranding services among multiple partners wherein separate advertising companies doing business with the partners may .deliver similar and personalized advertisements to subscribers using the cobranding interfaces. Such a method and apparatus would simplify cobranding in general, and increase revenue for advertisement companies, cobrand partners, and a service-providing companies. Summary of the Invention

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a network server dedicated for the purpose of controlling the service function of disparate ad servers operating on the network is provided. The network server has a data port provided thereon for communicating with ad servers connected to the network, a data storage facility for storing data, a data processing means for manipulating and controlling the stored data. The server also has a software means installed therein, the software means dedicated for creating, updating, and maintaining data associations among the stored data.

In a preferred embodiment, the operating network is a data-packet-network. In this case, the preferred data-packet-network is the Internet network. Data stored in the server comprises ad keywords, ad descriptions, and broker keywords. The software means functions to create associations between the broker keywords and ad keywords. The associations created between the broker keywords and ad keywords are used, in preferred aspects, to cause the disparate ad servers to serve similar advertisements. In this case, the advertisements are interactive banner ads served to user interfaces operational on the network. In another aspect, a networked system-architecture for controlling the way banner ads are served to connected user-interfaces is provided. The system architecture includes, but is not limited to, a first network server connected to the network and dedicated for the purpose of ad brokering, a second network server connected to the network and accessible to the first network server, the second network server dedicated for the purpose of ad serving, a third network server connected to the network, accessible to the first and second network servers, the third network server dedicated for the purpose of providing interactive data services for network-connected users, and, a software application installed and running on the first network server, the software application dictating the kinds of ads delivered to the third network server from the second network server. In preferred application, the system architecture is employed on a data-packet- network. In this aspect, the preferred network is the Internet network. In some aspects, keyword and key phrase associations are used in the determination of what types of ads are delivered. Also, in preferred aspects there are multiple ad servers and multiple user interfaces controlled by one broker server, hi preferred aspects the user interfaces are cobranded user-interfaces maintained by the entity hosting the system architecture.

In yet another aspect, a method for controlling specific types of ads served from an ad server to a user interface over a data-packet-network is provided. The method includes the steps of (a) collecting all of the keywords and associated ad descriptions stored in the ad server, (b) reviewing and selecting desired ad descriptions from the collected ad descriptions, (c) creating new keywords for association with collected keywords associated with selected ad descriptions, and (d) exerting the new associations on behalf of the user interface targeted for ad delivery by the ad server.

In preferred application the method is practiced on a data-packet-network, which is the Internet network. Also in preferred applications of the method, there are multiple network-connected ad servers and multiple user-interfaces targeted for ad delivery. In one aspect of the method, existing keywords generic to ad servers are discarded in favor of keywords created by the ad broker, which are then associated with selected ads. In all embodiments, the ads are automatically triggered by the new associations whether resulting from exerted keywords, or whether resident at a user interface.

For the first time, ads delivered from disparate ad servers to user interfaces may be normalized from interface to interface and, in some cases, be of a scope relative to user status. Various aspects of the present mvention are detailed below. Brief Description of the Drawing Figures

Fig. 1 is an overview of an Internet portal-system and network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary plan view of a personalized Portal home page application as it may be seen on a display monitor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating user interaction with the Internet portal of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an overview of cobrand architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a cobrand control panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a cobrand user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is an overview of a communication network wherein banner advertising is practiced according to prior art.

Fig. 8 is an overview of a communications network wherein banner advertising is practiced according to the present invention.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a unique

Internet portal is provided and adapted to provide unique services to users who have obtained access via an Internet or other network connection from an Internet-capable appliance. Such an interface provides users with a method for storing many personal WEB pages and further provides search function and certain task-performing functions. The methods and apparatus of the present invention are taught in enabling detail below.

Fig. 1 is an overview of an Internet portal system 11 and Internet network 13 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Portal system 11, in this embodiment, operates as an ISP in addition to a unique network portal, but may, in other embodiments be implemented as a stand-alone Internet server. In yet other embodiments the service and apparatus described herein may also be provided by such as a search and listing service (AltaNista™, Yahoo™) or by any other enterprise hosting a WEB-connected server. Internet 13 is representative of a preferred use of the present invention, but should not be considered limiting, as the invention could apply in other networks and combinations of networks.

ISP 15 in this embodiment comprises a server 31, a modem bank 33, represented here by a single modem, and a mass storage repository 29 for storing digital data. The modem bank is a convenience, as connection to the server could be by another type of network link. ISP 15, as is typical in the art, provides Internet access services for individual subscribers. In addition to well-known Internet access services, ISP 15 also provides a unique subscription service as an Internet portal for the purpose of storing many WEB pages or destinations along with any passwords and or personal codes associated with those pages, in a manner described in more detail below. This unique portal service is provided by execution of Portal Software 35, which is termed by the inventors the Password- All suite. The software of the invention is referred to herein both as the Portal Software, and as the Password-all software suite. Also, in much of the description below, the apparatus of the invention is referred to by the Password- All terminology, such as the Password-All Server or Password-All Portal.

ISP 15 is connected to Internet 13 as shown. Other equipment known in the art to be present and connected to a network such as Internet 13, for example, IP data routers, data switches, gateway routers, and the like, are not illustrated here but may be assumed to be present. Access to ISP 15 is through a connection-oriented telephone system as is known in the art, or through any other Internet/WEB access connection, such as through a cable modem, special network connection (e.g. TI), ISDN, and so forth. Such comiection is illustrated via access line 19 from Internet appliance 17 through modem bank 33. In a preferred embodiment a user has access to Internet Password- All Portal services by a user name and password as is well-known in the art, which provides an individualized WEB page to the subscriber. In another embodiment wherein a user has other individuals that use his or her Internet account, then an additional password or code unique to the user may be required before access to portal 31 is granted. Such personalized Portal WEB pages may be stored in repository 29, which may be any convenient form of mass storage.

Three Internet servers 23, 25, and 27, are shown in Internet 13, and represent Internet servers hosted by various enterprises and subscribed to by a user operating appliance 17. For example, server 23 may be a bank server wherein interactive on- line banking and account managing may be performed. Server 25 may be an investment server wherein investment accounts may be created and managed. Server 27 may be an airline or travel server wherein flights may be booked, tickets may be purchased, and so on. In this example, all three servers are secure servers requiring user ID and password for access, but the invention is not necessarily limited to just secure services.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a subscribing user operating an Internet-capable appliance, such as appliance 17, connects to Password- All Portal system 11 hosted by ISP 15, and thereby gains access to a personalized, interactive WEB page, which in turn provides access to any one of a number of servers on Internet 13 such as servers 23, 25, and 27, without being required to enter additional passwords or codes. In a preferred embodiment the software that enables this service is termed Pass word- All by the inventors. Password- All may be considered to be a software suite executing on the unique server, and in some instances also on the user's station (client). Additional interactivity provided by portal software 35 allows a connected user to search his listed pages for information associated with keywords, text strings, or the like, and allows a user to program user- defined tasks involving access and interaction with one or more Internet-connected servers such as servers 23, 25, and 27 according to a pre-defined time schedule. These functions are taught in enabling detail below. Fig. 2 is an illustration of a personalized portal page as may be seen on a display monitor according to an embodiment of the present invention, provided by Password- All Portal software 35 executing on server 31, in response to secure access by a subscriber. Page 32 presents an interactive listing 34 of user-subscribed or member WEB pages, identified in this example by URL, but which may also be identified by any convenient pseudonym, preferably descriptive, along with user name and typically encrypted password information for each page. Listed in a first column under destination, are exemplary destinations LBC.com, My Bank.com, My Stocks.com, My shopping.com, Mortgage.com, and Airline.com. These are but a few of many exemplary destinations that may be present and listed as such on page 33. In order to view additional listings listed but not immediately viewable from within application 33, a scroll bar 35 is provided and adapted to allow a user to scroll up or down the list to enable viewing as is known in the art.

Items listed in list 34 in this example may be considered destinations on such as servers 23, 25, and 27 of Fig. 1. Typically the URL associated with an item on this list will not take a user to a server, per se, but to a page stored on a server. User names and password data associated with each item in list 34 are illustrated in respective columns labeled user name, and password, to the right of the column labeled destination. Each listing, or at least a portion of each listing, is a hyperlink invoking, when selected, the URL to that destination. In some instances a particular service may have more than one associated URL. For example, My Bank.com may have more than one URL associated for such as different accounts or businesses associated also with a single subscriber. In this case there may be a sub-listing for different destinations associated with a single higher-level listing. This expedient is not shown, but, given this teaching the mechanism will be apparent to those with skill in the art. In some embodiments one page 33 may be shared by more than one user, such as a husband and wife sharing a common account and subscription. An instance of this is illustrated herein with respect to the server labeled Mortgage.com wherein both a John and a Jane Doe are listed together under the column labeled user name. In another embodiment, a network of individuals, perhaps business owners, authorized co-workers, investment parties, or the like may share one application. In this way, system 11 may be adapted for private individuals as well as business uses.

After gaining access to application 33 which is served via Internet portal server 31 of Fig. 1, a user may scroll, highlight, and select any URL in his or her list 34 for the purpose of navigation to that particular destination for further interaction.

Application 33 already has each password and user name listed for each URL. It is not necessary, however, that the password and user name be displayed for a user or users. These may well be stored transparently in a user's profile, and invoked as needed as a user makes selections. Therefore, a user is spared the need of entering passwords and user names for any destinations enabled by list 34. Of course, each list 34 is built, configured and maintained by a subscribing user or users, and an editing facility is also provided wherein a user may edit and update listings, including changing URL's adding and deleting listings, and the like.

In another aspect of the invention new listings for a user's profile, such as a new passthrough to a bank or other enterprise page, may be added semi-automatically as follows: Typically, when a user opens a new account with an enterprise through interaction with a WEB page hosted by the enterprise, the user is required to provide certain information, which will typically include such as the user's ID, address, e-mail account, and so forth, and typically a new user name and password to access the account. In this process the user will be interacting with the enterprise's page from his/her browser. A Password- All plug-in is provided wherein, after entering the required information for the new enterprise, the user may activate a pre-determined signal (right click, key stroke, etc.), and the Password-All suite will then enter a new passthrough in the user's Password. All profile at the Password- All Portal server. In a related method for new entries, the enterprise hosting the Password- All Portal may, by agreement with other enterprises, provide log-in and sign-up services at the Password- All Portal, with most action transparent to the user. For example, there may be, at the Password- All Portal, a selectable browser list of cooperating enterprises, such as banks, security services, and the like, and a user having a Password- All Portal subscription and profile may select among such cooperating enterprises and open new accounts, which will simultaneously and automatically be added to the Password- All Portal page for the user and to the server hosted by the cooperating enterprise. There may be some interactivity required for different accounts, but in the main, much information from the user's profile may be used directly without being re-entered.

The inventors have anticipated that many potential users may well be suspicious of providing passwords and user names to an enterprise hosting a Password-All Portal Server executing a service like Password-All according to embodiments of the present invention. To accommodate this problem, in preferred embodiments, it is not necessary that the user provide the cleartext password to Password- All. Instead, an encrypted version of each password is provided. When a user links to his passthrough page in Password-All at the Password- All Portal server, when he/she invokes a hyperlink, the encrypted password is returned to the user's system, which then, by virtue of the kept encryption key or master password, invokes the true and necessary password for connection to the selected destination. It is thus not necessary that cleartext passwords be stored at the Password- AU Portal server, where they may be vulnerable to attack from outside sources, or to perceived misuse in other ways as well. In a related safety measure, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a user's complete profile is never stored on a single server, but is distributed over two or more, preferably more, servers, so any problem with any one server will minimize the overall effect for any particular user.

Password- All, as described above, allows a user to access a complete list of the user's usual cyberspace destinations, complete with necessary log-on data, stored in an encrypted fashion, so a user may simply select a destination (a hyperlink) in the Password- All list, and the user's browser then invokes the URL for the selected destination. In an added feature, Password- All may display banner ads and other types of advertisement during the navigation time between a hyperlink being invoked and the time the destination WEB page is displayed.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, a user/subscriber need not access the Password- All page to enjoy the advantages of the unique features provided. In this variation, a Plug-In is provided for the subscriber's WEB browser. If the subscriber navigates by use of the local browser to a WEB page requiring a secure log-in, such as his/her on-line banking destination, when the subscriber is presented with an input window for ID and Password, the plug in may be activated by a predetermined user input, such as a hot key or right click of the mouse device. The plug-in then accesses, transparently, the Password-All page (which may be cached at the client), and automatically accesses and provides the needed data for log-on. In yet another aspect of the invention a search option 37 allows a user to search list 34 for specific URL's based on typed input such as keywords or the like. In some cases, the number of URL's stored in list 34 can be extensive making a search function such as function 37 an attractive option. A criteria dialog box 51 illustrated as logically separated from and below list 34 is provided and adapted to accept input for search option 37 as is known in the art. In one embodiment, search option 37 may bring up a second window wherein a dialog box such as box 51 could be located.

In another aspect of the invention the search function may also be configured in a window invoked from window 33, and caused to search all or selected ones of listed destinations, and to return results in a manner that may be, at least to some extent, configured by a user. For example, a dialog box may be presented wherein a user may enter a search criteria, and select among all of the listed destinations. The search will then be access each of the selected destinations in turn, and the result may be presented to the user as each instance of the criteria is found, or results may be listed in a manner to be accessed after the search. Preferably the search function is a part of the Password- All Portal software, available for all users, and may be accessed by hyperlinks in user's personal pages. In some embodiments users may create highly individualized search functions that may be stored in a manner to be usable only by the user who creates such a function. In many aspects of the present invention a knowledge of specific WEB pages, and certain types of WEB pages, is highly desirable, hi many embodiments characteristics of destination WEB pages are researched by persons (facilitators) maintaining and enhancing Password- All Portal software 35, and many characteristics may be provided in configuration modules for users to accomplish specific tasks. In most cases these characteristics are invoked and incorporated transparent to the user, h yet another aspect of the present invention, the Pass word- All suite is structured to provide periodic reports to a user, in a manner to be structured and timed by the user, through the user's profile. For example, reports of changes in account balances in bank accounts, stock purchases, stock values, total airline travel purchases, frequent-flier miles, and the like may be summarized and provided to the users in many different ways. Because the Password- All Portal server with the Password- All software site handles a broad variety of transactional traffic for a user, there is an opportunity to summarize and collect and process statistics in many useful ways. In preferred embodiments of the invention such reports may be furnished and implemented in a number of different ways, including being displayed on the user's secure personal WEB page on the Password- All Portal.

In addition to the ability of performing tasks as described above, task results including reports, and hard documents such as airline tickets may be sent over the Internet or other data packet-networks to user-defined destinations such as fax machines, connected computer nodes, e-mail servers, and other Internet-connected appliances. All tasks may be set-up and caused to run according to user-defined schedules while the user is doing something else or is otherwise not engaged with the scheduled task.

In another embodiment of the present invention, recognizing the increasing use of the Internet for fiscal transactions, such as purchasing goods and services, a facility is provided in a user's profile to automatically track transactions made at various destinations, and to authorize payment either on a transaction-by-transaction basis, or after a session, using access to the user's bank accounts, all of which may be preprogrammed and authorized by the user. Other functions or options illustrated as part of application 35 include a last

URL option 41, an update function 43, and an add function 45. Function 41 allows a user to immediately navigate to a last visited URL. Update function 43 provides a means of updating URL's for content and new address. An add function enables a user to add additional URL's to list 34. Similarly, function 45 may also provide a means to delete entries. Other ways to add accounts are described above. It should be noted that the services provided by the unique Password- All Portal in embodiments of the present invention, and by the Password- All software suite are not limited to destinations requiring passwords and user names. The Password-All Portal and software in many embodiments may also be used to manage all of a user's bookmarks, including editing of bookmarks and the like. In this aspect, bookmarks will typically be presented in indexed, grouped, and hierarchical ways.

There are editing features provided with Password- All for adding, acquiring, deleting, and otherwise managing bookmarks. As a convenience, in many embodiments of the invention, bookmarks may be downloaded from a user's Password- All site, and loaded onto the same user's local browser. In this manner, additions and improvements in the bookmark set for a user may be used without the necessity of going to Password- All. Further, bookmarks may be uploaded from a user's local PC to his/her home page on the Password- All site by use of one or more Password-All plug-ins. It will be apparent to the skilled artisan, given the teaching herein, that the functionality provided in various embodiments of the invention is especially applicable to Internet-capable appliances that may be limited in input capability. For example, a set-top box in a WEB TV application may well be without a keyboard for entering IDs and Passwords and the like. In practice of the present invention keyboard entry is minimized or eliminated. The same comments apply to many other sorts of Internet appliances.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, once a subscriber-user is in Password- AU, only an ability to point-and-click is needed for all navigation. To get into the Password-All site, using a limited apparatus, such as an appliance without a keyboard or keypad, a Smartcard or embedded password may be used, or some other type of authentication.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that an interactive application such as application 33 may be provided in a form other than a WEB page without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, an application such as application 33 may be provided as a downloadable module or program that may be set-up and configured off-line and made operational when online.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating user interaction with the Internet Password- All Portal of fig. 1. The following process steps illustrated, according to an embodiment of the present invention, are intended to illustrate exemplary user-steps and automated software processes that may be initiated and invoked during interaction with an Internet portal of the present invention such as portal 31 of Fig. 1. In step 53 a user connects to the Internet or another previously described switched-packet network via a compatible appliance such as Internet appliance 17 of Fig. 1.

At step 55, a user enters a user-name and password which, in one embodiment, may simply be his ISP user name and password. In another embodiment, a second password or code would be required to access an Internet portal such as portal server

31 of Fig. 1 after logging onto the Internet through the ISP. In some cases, having a special arrangement with the ISP, there may be one password for both Internet access through the ISP and for Pass word- All. At step 57 a personal WEB page such as page

32 of Fig. 2 is displayed via Internet portal server 31. At minimum, the personalized WEB page will contain all user configured URL's, and may also be enhanced by a search function, among other possibilities. In step 58 a user will, minimally, select a URL from his or her bookmarked destinations, and as is known by hyperlink technology, the transparent URL will be invoked, and the user will navigate to that destination for the purpose of normal user interaction. In this action, the Password- All Portal software transparently logs the user on to the destination page, if such log-on is needed.

At step 60 the user invokes a search engine by clicking on an option such as described option 37 of Fig. 2. At step 62, the user inputs search parameters into a provided text field such as text field 51 of Fig. 2. After inputting such parameters, the user starts the search by a button such as button 52. The search engine extracts information in step 64. Such information may be, in one option, of the form of URL's fitting the description provided by search parameters. A searched list of URL's may be presented in a separate generated page in step 66 after which a user may select which URL to navigate to. In an optional search function, the user may provide search criteria, and search any or all of the possible destinations for the criteria. In another embodiment wherein WEB pages are cached in their presentable form, information extracted in step 64 may include any information contained in any of the stored pages such as text, pictures, interactive content, or the like. In this case, one displayed result page may provide generated links to search results that include the URL associated with the results. Perhaps by clicking on a text or graphic result, the associated WEB page will be displayed for the user with the result highlighted and in view with regards to the display window.

Distributed Co-Brand Application

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a cobrand architecture 67 is provided and adapted to enable efficient cobranding between a service provider and multiple cobrand partners. Architecture 67 comprises a mix of elements, which are known in the art, and those which are provided to enable practice of the present invention. Elements, which are known and existing in the art will be described as such while elements new to the art will be described within the scope of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an overview of cobrand architecture 67 according to an embodiment of the present invention. An Internet backbone of 75 is illustrated herein and represents all of the known lines, connection points, and equipment that make up the Internet network as a whole. Therefore, there is no geographic limit to the practice of the present invention. Connected to Internet backbone 75, are 4 exemplary servers. These are, a portal server 103, a portal server 77, a portal server 79, and a portal server 81. In this example, each portal server 103 through 81 is connected to backbone 75 by virtue of network connections as is known in the art.

Portal server 103 represents a server hosted by a main service provider seeking to cobrand services to business partners termed cobrand partners by the inventor. Server 77 represents a portal server hosted, in this example, by a company known as Yahoo™, which provides search and portal services to users. Server 79 and server 81 are hosted, in this example, by the well-known companies AltaNista™ and Excite™ respectively. Each of the three aforementioned companies specialize in providing search capabilities and limited portal services to registered users and/or subscribers. The companies hosting servers 77, 79, and 81 may be termed cobrand partners of a service-providing company hosting server 103. Servers 77-81 may be adapted for other services and may be hosted by other companies than the services and companies mentioned in this example without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The inventor chooses to illustrate server 77-81 as being hosted by the aforementioned companies simply because they are well-known and enjoy a large customer base. It may be assumed in this example, that each company hosting a portal server has at least one knowledge worker under employ as illustrated in this example by a knowledge worker 107 associated with portal server 103, a knowledge worker 109 associated with portal server 77, a knowledge worker 111 associated with portal server 79, and a knowledge worker 113 associated with portal server 81. Knowledge workers 107-113 are endowed with various computer programming and engineering skills that are required for successful function of each hosting company. In actual practice, there would likely be many more knowledge workers under the employ of each company than are illustrated in this example. The inventor deems that the illustration of 4 such knowledge workers is adequate for the purpose of explanation of the present invention. In this example, knowledge workers 107 - 113 have connections to Internet backbone 75 and separate data connections to associated servers 103 - 81. It may be assumed that knowledge workers 107-113 are operating powerful personal computers as illustrated herein by computer icons.

Also illustrated as connected to Internet backbone 75, are servers 91, 93, and 95. Servers 91-95 represent Internet servers hosted by a company (service-providing company) also hosting server 103. Server 91, also labeled YS (Yahoo Server) is provided for cobrand subscribers visiting server 77. Similarly, server 93, also labeled ANS (Altavista server) is provided for a cobrand subscribers visiting server 79. The same is true for server 95, also labeled EX (Excite). Servers 103, 91, 93, and 95 have data repositories connected thereto and adapted for storing information about subscribers such as account information, profile information, user name and password information, and any other data about subscribers that may be deemed applicable for storage. For example, a data repository 105 is connected to portal server 103. Similarly, data repositories 97, 99, and 101 are connected to servers 91, 93, and 95 respectively. Data repositories 105-101 may, in one embodiment, be internal repositories instead of external repositories. Furthermore, servers 77, 79, and 81 may also be assumed to have data repositories connected thereto although none are shown.

A user 69, illustrated herein by an Internet appliance icon, connects to an Internet service provider (ISP) 73 by virtue of a telephone line 71. ISP 73 is adapted to provide standard dial-up Internet connections as is known in the art. ISP 73 is connected to Internet backbone 75 by virtue of an Internet-access line of 74. Telephone line 71 may be a normal connection-oriented-switched-telephony (COST) telephone line, or it may be a digital service line adapted for fast Internet connection such as a digital subscriber line (DSL), an integrated-services-digital-network (ISDN) line, or any other type of telephone line. User 69 may also access Internet 75 via a wireless connection without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. All that is required for user 69 to access Internet 75, is an Internet appliance capable, by virtue of software, for accessing the Internet and an appropriate connection means such as to ISP 73. It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that there are many alternative methods for connecting to an Internet network.

In this example, user 69 represents any number of users accessing the Internet for the purpose of interacting with Web services provided by the companies hosting servers 77, 79, 81, and in some embodiments, server 103. For purpose of discussion, it is assumed herein the user 69 is a regular patron of at least Yahoo™, Alatavista™, and Excite™. Furthermore, the skilled artisan will appreciate that there they may be many more services hosted by still more companies that are accessible to users through Internet 75 that are not represented in this example. It is restated herein, that the company hosting portal server 103 also maintains and hosts servers 91, 93, and 95, on behalf of companies hosting servers 77, 79, and 81, in the spirit of a unique cobrand relationship between the companies. It is to this aspect that the method and apparatus of the present invention relates.

A novel cobrand software application (CSW) 82 is illustrated herein as accessible to KW 107. CSW 82 is provided and adapted as a self-contained configuration application which enables a cobrand service to be created and implemented without requiring extensive software engineering, software installation, hardware reconfiguration, or other extensive effort normally required of a service- providing company engaged in implementing cobrand services through Web interfaces maintained by cobrand partners, represented in this example, by Yahoo™, Altavista™, and excite™. CSW 82 is termed a cobrand control panel by the inventor, and may be referred to, hereinafter in this specification, as a cobrand control panel or simply control panel. It is noted herein, that instances of cobrand control panel (CSW) are illustrated as resident in servers 77, 79, and 81, and accessible to KWs 109,111, and 113 respectively. These instances of control panel are labeled with element numbers 83, 85, and 89. Control panel instances 83-89, running on servers 77-81 respectively, represent a received versions of cobrand control panel 82 distributed over Internet backbone 75 by a company hosting portal server 103 and providing cobrand services.

In practice of the present invention, the existence of cobrand control panel 82 in combination with cobrand architecture 67 provides a streamlined and efficient method for creating and implementing cobrand services on behalf of cobrand partners hosting servers 77-81.

Instead of attempting to install cobrand functionality to servers 77-81, the company providing cobrand services, which in this example, is a company hosting portal server 103 provides and maintains Web servers 91-95 has dedicated cobrand Web sites for the companies hosting servers 77-81. Distributed instances of control panel 82 (83-89) are self-contained toolkits which may be manipulated by KWs 109- 113 respectively for the purpose of selecting offered services and authoring HTML Web pages that will be installed in servers 91-95 respectively. Each cobrand partner controls the look and feel of authored cobrand Web pages such that individual users, represented herein by user 69, are unaware that the added functionality made available by the providing company is not generic to a cobrand partner's normal service.

A general process for implementing successful cobrand services on behalf of a cobrand partner maybe understood through discussion of the following example. KW 107 distributes generic control panel 82 over Internet backbone 75 to server 77 (Yahoo™) where it appears as distributed control panel 83. Control panel 83 contains complete description of all offered services and the appropriate Web-building tools for creating Web interfaces. An example of such a tool would be an HTML editor. KW 109 accesses control panel 83, selects services, and builds WEB pages giving access to the selected services. Control panel 83 allows KW 109 to import features generic to existing Yahoo™ interfaces for creating cobrand Web pages that mirror Yahoo's look and feel.

When KW 109 has completely configured control panel 83, it is submitted back to its source (portal server 103) and is again accessible to KW 107. KW 107 reviews and approves the completed control panel and installs the complete package into reserved server 91 and data repository 97. A hyperlink to server 91 is provided and embedded on such as a main page within server 77 along with an interactive registration form if applicable. In one embodiment, only a hyperlink is provided and server 77 and user registration takes place and server 91. A hyperlink provided within a portal page hosted on server 77 linking to a page hosted in server 91 may be a simple icon labeled my accounts, or some other applicable name.

After cobrand services are installed and active within server 91, user 69 may access server 77 during the course of normal Internet navigation and interaction. Upon noticing and invoking the provided linked to server 91, user 69 may be prompted to register for receiving added functionality, after which, he or she may ad Web accounts for servicing. In this example, the company hosting portal server 103 specializes and data gathering and aggregation through a single interface. However, this should not be construed as a limitation to practice of the present invention. A service providing company may offer a wide variety of disparate Internet services, and may cobrand such services using the method and architecture of the present invention. Once user 69 is registered and authorized two use cobrand services setup and running in server 91, he or she may also register for and setup accounts for cobrand services offered through server 79 and 81. In this way, data gathering an aggregation services may be obtained for all of a user's Web accounts and/or services with through Web interfaces frequently visited by and known to user 69. In one embodiment, the service-providing company handles all registration requirements for new users. That is to say that once user 69 clicks on an appropriate hyperlink embedded in a main page posted in one of server 77-81, he or she will be immediately directed to the appropriate cobrand server 91-95 to begin registration. In this embodiment, every aspect of servicing users is performed by the service-providing company. The only requirement of a cobrand partner in this case is to maintain a link to an appropriate cobrand server. The exact implementation of individual responsibility with respect to registration and billing will depend on the nature of agreement between the participating companies. There are many possibilities. More detail about a cobrand • control panel will be provided below. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a cobrand control panel 117 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Cobrand control panel 117, in this example, is analogous to control panel 82 illustrated in Fig. 4 above. Control panel 117 is a self- contained toolkit as previously described with reference to control panel 82 of Fig. 4. In this example, a control-panel window is displayed on an appropriate PC monitor upon invocation of software 117, which may first appear as a control panel .exe icon. In this embodiment, control panel 117 represents an installable application, which would be installed as a permanent program on an appropriate computer connected to a receiving server, or on the receiving server accessible by a connected computer. In another embodiment, control panel 117 maybe provided installed in a separate server, which is accessed over the Internet by knowledge workers of cobrand prospects. There are many possibilities.

Control-panel window 119 comprises, in this example, a tool bar 121, a tool bar 123, and a cobrand workspace 125. Tool bar bars 121 and 123 are provided and adapted with controls, which may be invoked by a knowledge worker configuring a cobrand service-package. In place of active tool bars, a drop-down menu or menus may be provided without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. There are many possible implementations. For example, tool bar 123 contains an edit, function labeled as such, that is provided for enabling editing of completed portions of control panel 117. A view function, labeled as such, is provided within tool bar 123 and adapted for enabling viewing of various portions or steps of cobrand configuration process. A services function, labeled as such, enables a knowledge worker to browse and select offered services for implementation. A colors function, labeled as such, is provided within tool bar 123, and enables a knowledge worker to implement color schemes and so on to works in progress. In import function, labeled as such, is provided within tool bar 123, and is adapted to enable a knowledge worker to import features and functionality generic to the particular cobrand partner. Proprietary logos, copyrighted material, images, proprietary search interfaces, and so on are examples of imported features. Tool bar 121 contains additional exemplary functions, which will be described individually as follows. An options function is provided within tool bar 121 and adapted to enable a knowledge worker to browse various options available in configuring cobrand package. In a dialog function, labeled as such, is provided within tool bar 121 and adapted to enable a knowledge worker to create interactive dialog functions and embed them into cobrand Web pages. A multimedia function, labeled as such, in spite of within tool bar 121 and adapted to enable a knowledge worker to create and embed multimedia functionality into cobrand Web pages. A save function, labeled as such, is provided within tool bar 121 and adapted to enable a knowledge worker to save completed works. A submitted function, labeled as such, is provided within two or 121 and adapted to enable a knowledge worker to submit a completed cobrand package to a service-providing company. A cobrand workspace 125 is provided within cobrand window 119 and adapted as a workspace for generating HTML pages, testing various functions, and so on.

The inventor intends that control panel 117, as described in this example, represent just one possibility among many alternative possibilities for implementing an interactive and self-contained control panel for configuring cobrand services. Furthermore, the functions represented within tool bars 121 and 123 are intended to be exemplary only of types of functions that may be provided within control panel 117. One with skill in the art will appreciate that there may be many alternative presentations. Control panel 117 contains all of the functions required in order to successfully create, configure, and implement a cobrand-service.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a cobrand user interface 127 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Cobrand-user interface 127 is, in preferred embodiments, an interactive web page created from within control panel 117 of Fig. 5, and hosted on one of cobrand servers 91-95 of Fig. 4. Interface 127 may be assumed to be a main cobrand web page as seen by a user interacting with cobranded services. In a case wherein a service-providing company is a data aggregation service, then interface 127 may represent a starting page or a portal page from whence numerous accounts may be aggregated and summarized for data. A title for interface 127 may be as simple as a title illustrated herein as My Accounts and labeled with element number 137. In the particular example, a text notation labeled Driven by AltaNista™ and represented by element number 135, identifies the particular cobrand partner. As previously described, interface 127 may have although look and feel of a main public interface hosted by AltaNista™ such that a user is not aware of the involvement of a service-providing company and providing value-added services.

A search interface 131 is provided an embedded within interface 127 and is adapted to enable a user to perform a keyword search. Interface 131, may be a version of the interface that is available on a cobrand partner's main web page. Preferably, the look and function of interface 131 is identical to a standard search function provided by a cobrand partner made available to it's standard user fair. A tool bar 139 is provided an embedded within interface 127. Tool bar 139 contains interactive selections of the user accounts added to page 127, presumably after a user has completed registration. Listed accounts are, from top to bottom, My Bank, My Travel, My Stocks, and My books. These exemplary accounts are intended to represent just some of possible accounts that may be configured to cobrand services by a user. Tool bar 139 also contains a scheduler function and a summarize function. An update function 133 is provided within interface 127 and adapted to enable a user to obtain periodic updates concerning accounts list 139 up to left.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that there may be many more functions provided an embedded in web page interface 127 that are illustrated in this example without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The inventor intends that the functional elements represented herein are only exemplary of many such possible functions and interfaces that may be embedded into Web page 127. In this particular example, a user accessing cobrand web page 127 may retrieve data summaries from the configured accounts illustrated in tool bar 139 by selecting each account and then selecting summarize using a summarize function, labeled as such, and provided within tool bar 139. In one embodiment, data may be retrieved from all of the listed accounts and summarized. A scheduling function, labeled as such, is provided within tool bar 139 allows a user to specify the time or time period for obtaining data, performing summaries, and so on. An update function 133 is available within interface 127 and adapted to allow a user to simply update any of the accounts listed in tool bar 139.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art, that interface 127 may contain functionality and user-operated controls that are different than what is represented herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The exact functionality built into interface 127 will depend on the services provided by the service providing company and the extent that such services are harnessed by cobrand partners. It will also be apparent to one with skill in the art, that by providing a self- contained cobrand control panel 117 to be utilized in conjunction with cobrand architecture illustrated more particularly with servers 91, 93, and 95, of Fig. 4, much of the time and resource associated with prior-art cobranding techniques and architecture may be eliminated.

Ad-Broker Architecture

As described in the background section, prior-art advertising wherein ad servers are used to deliver banner ads over a data-packet-network (DPN) into common user interfaces is rather limited in efficiency by virtue of the fact that the various ad servers delivering ads do not associate similar ads with similar key words. As a result, disparate ads are routinely delivered to a same user that uses multiple interfaces. The inventor provides a method and apparatus that acts to normalize advertisements sent by disparate advertisement companies such that similar ads are delivered to multiple interfaces frequented by a same user. Fig. 7 is an overview of a communication network 139 wherein banner advertising is practiced according to prior-art. Network 139 utilizes an Internet network represented herein by element number 147 as a medium of commumcation. Internet 147 is chosen as a preferred communications medium in this prior-art illustration because of it' s high public access characteristic.

A user 141 is illustrated, in tins prior art example, as connected to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 145 using an Internet capable appliance such as a personal computer running Internet capable software. Access to ISP 145 may be accomplished through a connection-oriented telephone network such as the well-known public- switch telephony network (PSTN) as is known in the art. An Internet access line 143 represents such as a cable-modem connection, a typical dial-up connection, an ISDN connection, a wireless digital connection, and so on. In this prior art example, ISP 145 is implemented as a dedicated provider using an Internet connection server (not shown) for providing Internet access. The arrangement illustrated herein for enabling user 141 to access Internet 147 is generally known in the art.

ISP 145 is connected to Internet 147 by virtue of an Internet access line as illustrated. Other equipment known in the art to be present and connected to a network such as Internet 147, for example, IP data routers, data switches, gateway routers, and the like, are not illustrated in this prior art example, but may be assumed to be present.

Four Internet file servers 149, 151, 153 and 155, are illustrated as connected to Internet 147, which is also represented by a double arrow intended to illustrate an Internet backbone. In this prior-art example, server 149 represents a portal server hosted by Yahoo™, which is a well-known company providing on-line search services. Server 151 represents yet another portal server hosted, in this example, by Alta Vista™ , which is another well-known data-search provider.

Yahoo™ and Alta Vista™ are examples of well-known companies that provide, Internet portal services including user WEB-directories and/or search engine interfaces for performing data searches on the Internet. Other similar services known in the art are hosted by such companies as Hotbot™, Dog Pile™, Info-Search™, and so on. Functionality provided by servers 149 and 151 is typically dependent on the exact nature of services offered by the hosting companies. Generally speaking, however, it may be assumed that user 141 may access Internet 147 and perform, at least, a data- search operation from either server 149 or server 151. Servers 153 and 155 are intended to represent advertising servers and are labeled AS1 and AS2, herein. As is well known in the art, banner advertisements are advertisements that are sent to Internet users. These ads are, in one aspect, generated based on keywords or search phrases that a user exerts at a search engine prompt. In another aspect, banner ads are associated with embedded keywords or phrases associated with a user's interface. Each banner advertising company uses a unique keyword selection to generate a certain banner ad. For example, if a user exerted the keyword travel while searching from server 149 hosted by Yahoo™, a banner ad may be sent from ad server 153 (AS 1) soliciting a trip to Hawaii. If a same user exerted the same keyword travel while searching from server 151 hosted by Alta Vista™, a banner ad may be sent from ad server 155 (AS 2), soliciting a trip to Florida. Dotted- line connectors 157 and 159 are used to draw an association between Yahoo™ server 149 and ad server 153, and between Alta Vista™ server 151 and ad server 155. This association is a business one and is typical in prior art practice. That is to say, that one advertising company will generally service one portal company. Therefore, ad servers 153 and 155 will use different key-word associations, which trigger differing advertisements. It may be assumed in this example, that servers 153 and 155 are hosted by disparate advertising companies in competition with each other.

According to prior-art practice, user 141 connects to Internet 147 via connection 143 and ISP 145. User 141 may elect to perform a search at Yahoo™ server 149 or at Alta Vista™ server 151. Although not shown herein, user 141 exerts a keyword or search phrase during a data-search session as is known in the art. Based on the entered keywords or phrases, various URLs are retrieved from each search- engine's or directory's data-base and the results are then displayed at the user interface. As keywords or phrases are entered, such keywords or phrases may be used to cause banner ads from either server 153 or 155 (depending on which portal server is in use) to be delivered into the appropriate and associated user interface.

As described above, servers 153 and 155 are hosted by disparate advertising companies who create and provide banner ads to user interfaces at servers 149 and 151 respectively. Examples of advertisement companies engaged in banner advertising on Internet 147 would include such known companies as Double Click™ and Net Gravity™. The aforementioned advertising companies present their banner ads on behalf of the advertised company in exchange for a commission. For Example, Double Click™ may have an agreement with an airline company, such as American Airlines™. The agreement may be such that if a user is searching for airline tickets to Hawaii at server 151 (Alta Vista™), for example, and exerts a keyword phrase tickets to Hawaii, an American Airlines™ ad might be sent by virtue of the ad server 155, to the associated user interface. If, for example, user 141 responds to this ad by either clicking on the banner ad or elects to make a purchase of tickets from American

Airlines™, it is assumed that a revenue of that click-through or sale would be paid to Double Click™ and perhaps a portion thereof to Alta Vista™. This business practice is well-known in the art.

In this prior-art example, banner ads are sent to a user based solely on exerted keywords or phrases exerted during a data-search and are rather impersonal. Furthermore, because servers 153 and 155 are not affiliated, there is no standardization of keywords to types of banner ads. As a result, there is a limited success or hit rate (user click) connected to delivered banner ads. Furthermore, a same user may get widely differing ads from portal to portal even though a same keyword or phrase is used in search engines. Similarly, active, in-depth, profiling of users is not typically performed by most service providers. Therefore, an ad agency does not have the ability to decide whether to send, for example, an ad from a real estate company that has featured homes in a $100,000 bracket or from a company that has featured homes in the $750,000 bracket. It would be ineffective to send an ad for a higher priced home to a moderate wage earner. The inventor provides a unique solution to the above-described limitations. Such a solution is described in detail below.

Fig. 8 is an overview of a communications network 161 wherein banner advertising is practiced according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example of the present invention, the well-known Internet network, represented herein with element number 169 is chosen by the inventor as a preferred medium of communication for the same reasoning described in Fig. 7. However, this should not be considered limiting, as the invention could apply in other networks and combinations of networks. In this embodiment, a user represented herein by element number 163

(Internet-appliance icon) is illustrated as connected to an ISP 167 by virtue of an Internet connection line 165. In turn, ISP 167 is connected to Internet network 169 via an Internet access line as is known in the art. User 163, line 165, and ISP 167, may be assumed to be analogous to user 141, line 143, and ISP 145, as described in Fig. 7. Also as described in Fig. 7, additional equipment known in the art to be present and connected to an Internet network such as Internet Network 169 may be assumed to exist in this example. Examples of such equipment include, but are not limited to, IP data routers, data switches, gateway routers, and the like. It may also be assumed in this example, that Internet connection is achieved through a connection-oriented network such as the well-known PSTN.

A double-arrowed line illustrated with an Internet network 169 represents an Internet backbone and may be assumed to contain all of the lines, connection points, and equipment known to make up the Internet network as a whole. Therefore, there's no geographic limit to the practice of the present invention. In this example, three advertisement servers are illustrated as connected to the backbone of network 169. These are, ad server 173 (AS 1), ad server 175 (AS 2), and ad server 177 (AS 3). As described above, ad servers are hosted by advertising companies that send banner ads to a user interface based on search functions, and in some cases content keywords contained in within a user interface. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a unique server labeled herein with element number 171 is provided within network 169 and adapted as a broker-server that communicates with each of servers 173-177. Server 171 is termed an ad-broker by the inventor. According to a unique method, ad-broker of 171 is dedicated to brokering the activities of servers 173- 177 such that a standardization is created with respect to ad similarity in association with similar keyword attributes. Negotiation between ad broker 171 and servers 173-177 is illustrated herein by a dotted connector- tree 181.

A unique broker-software application 191 is provided and adapted to associate a specific set of keywords or phrases to individual ones of the banner-ads stored and servers 173-177. Application 191 is manipulated, in a preferred embodiment, by an ad-broker knowledge worker or administrator (not shown), the presence of which, may be assumed in this example. In actual practice, an ad-broker administrator would command a computerized workstation connected to the backbone of network 169, and would have access to server 171 and subsequently, servers 173-177. More about the function of application 191 will be provided below.

The example illustrated herein represents an embodiment wherein cobrand services are utilized as described with respect to fig.'s 4-6 above. In this regard, 2 cobrand servers are provided and illustrated herein as connected to the Internet backbone of Internet network 169. These are, cobrand server 183 and cobrand server 187. Servers 183 and 185 may be assumed to be analogous to servers 91-95 of fig. 4 above. Also illustrated, is a portal server 185, which may be assumed to be analogous to portal server 103 of fig. 4.

It was described further above, that cobranded services provide added functionality for subscribers to cobrand partners by redirecting them from partner- maintained servers to a user interfaces maintained in a server hosted by the service- providing company. In this way, users enjoy the benefit of existing services with added capability of managing multiple accounts from a single interface (data aggregation). It is desired by the inventor in this case that the banner ads streaming into these cobrand interfaces are somewhat normalized and personalized for users operating from within those interfaces. More particularly, it is desired that when a single user has multiple cobrand interfaces, that banner ads delivered thereto from disparate and companies are at least similar if not reflecting somewhat the status of the user as determined through profiling, and perhaps keywords or phrases derived from user content included within an interface.

Referring now back to fig. 8, servers 183 and 187 are cobrand servers maintained in this example, by a company hosting portal server 185. Servers 149 and 151 of fig. 7 are not illustrated in this embodiment, but may be assumed to be present. For example, server 183 might be a cobrand server setup for Yahoo™. Server 187 might be a cobrand server setup for Alta Vista™. There are many possibilities. It may be assumed in this example, that user 163 has registered for a user interface in servers 183, 185, and 187. It may also be assumed in this embodiment, that one of servers 173-177 serves banner ads to one of servers 183-187 through an extension of normal contractual arrangement pre-existing between the advertisement companies and the cobrand partner companies previously described. Because servers 173-177 are not affiliated with one another and do not return similar ads based on similar keywords or phrases, it is the job of ad broker 171 to insure that similar keywords or phrases exerted from, or in some embodiments, embedded into user interfaces invoke the presence of similar advertisements sourced from disparate ad servers 173-177.

In order to accomplish the above-described goal, the company hosting ad broker 171, which in this case, is the same company hosting portal server 185, must work closely with each of the companies hosting servers 173-177. For example, all of the keywords and associated banner-ad descriptions must be obtained from server 173. The just-described process must be repeated for servers 175 and 177 respectively.

This process is illustrated logically within application 191 by an arrow tree associating ad-broker keywords to disparate sets of ad-server keywords.

In one embodiment, a set of generalized keywords generic to ad-broker 171 is mapped to existing keywords used at each of ad servers 173-177. In this embodiment, each ad description is reviewed in order to determine if the particular ad it is appropriate for a particular ad-broker-generated keyword. In this case, a broker keyword travel may be mapped to existing keyword vacation with respect to ad server 173, resort with respect to ad server 175, and lodge with respect to ad server 177. In each case, the actual advertisements equated to each existing keyword with respect to ad servers 173-177 would be carefully reviewed to insure that they are appropriate and similar in scope with respect to each other.

In another embodiment, ad broker keywords are used in-place of existing ad server keywords at the location of each ad server hundred 173-177. In this case, each ad server 173-177 would utilize two sets of keywords. One for delivering ads to normal interfaces and one for delivering ads to cobranded interfaces. Standard

Internet address recognition may be used to determine whether an ad is destined for a normal interface or a cobranded interface.

Information about users subscribing to cobranded interfaces may be solicited for the purpose of assisting ad broker 171 in creating a flexible set of keywords that function to return ads from servers 173 - 177 that are not just normalized, but also somewhat personalized to the status of a user. For example, an annual income reported by a user may be used to enhance ads streamed to that user. For example, a keyword travel may be created by administrator working with application 191 such that the keyword has three states. Each state of the keyword may reflect a certain income range of a user. If a user's annual income is over $ 150,000 annually, then the keyword travel a may be employed. Users earning between $80,000 and $150,000 annually may be assigned travel b. Users earning between 0 and $80,000 annually may be assigned travel c. Banner ads stored within servers 173-177 may be carefully selected and associated with various states of keywords or phrases. It is noted herein, that the analytical process that must be performed for reviewing banner ads and mapping broker keywords to existing ad keywords, or replacing ad keywords with broker keywords is performed by an administrator or knowledge worker as previously described. However, and one embodiment this determination process may be performed electronically using knowledge-base technology. h one embodiment, keywords may be parsed from user interfaces and complied electronically. For example, instead of a knowledge worker making a logical determination pertaining to which keywords will be broker keywords, keywords may be randomly parsed from the HTML or other language contained within banner ads themselves. A banner ad may have the keywords, "cross-stitching", "knitting" and "women" contained therein. Banner ads of this nature, would only be sent to a user interface wherein profile information indicates that the particular user enjoys crafts and is of the female gender. In this case, a keyword set parsed from a particular banner ad is matched with the particular keyword set describing a user. Electronic matching of keywords sets may be accomplished from within ad broker 171 by virtue of broker application 191.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, user 163 may be a subscriber at portal server 185, which in this embodiment is not a cobrand server, but the portal server maintained by the same company hosting ad broker 171. It might be, that ad server 175 serves ads to portal server 185. In this case, ad broker 171 brokers ads for server 185 as well as servers 183 and 187, which cobrand servers.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a user subscribing to a portal service providing co-branded services may also utilize other portal services as described above. Through benefit of having an extensive profile knowledge of a particular user, the service-hosting company may work with advertising companies to extend ad normalization and customization to such users when they are utilizing normal portal interfaces such as Altavista™ or Yahoo™. Advertisements may be personalized to the extent of knowledge about a particular user by tracing the user's identity when he visits a non-cobranded interface. This can be accomplished through cookie exchange. In this way personalized ads may be caused to follow the user at other popular interfaces.

The inventor intends that the architecture, as well as, the general process illustrated herein represent exemplary embodiments for practicing the present invention. There are many other embodiments wherein the method and apparatus of present invention may be practiced. The method and apparatus of the present invention may be practiced via private individuals on the Internet, businesses operating on a WAN connected to the Internet, businesses operating via private WAN, and so on. There are many customizable situations.

The present invention as taught herein and above should be afforded the broadest of scope. The spirit and scope of the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A network server dedicated for the purpose of controlling the service function of disparate ad servers operating on the network comprising: a data port for communicating with ad servers connected to the network; a data storage facility for storing data; a data processing means for manipulating and controlling stored data; and a software means for creating, updating, and maintaining data associations among the stored data.

2. The network server of claim 1, wherein the network is a data-packet-network.

3. The network server of claim 2,wherein the data-packet-network is the Internet network.

4. The network server of claim 3, wherein the stored data comprises ad keywords, ad descriptions, and broker keywords.

5. The network server of claim 4, wherein the software means functions to create associations between the broker keywords and ad keywords.

6. The network server of claim 5, wherein the associations created between the broker keywords and ad keywords cause the disparate ad servers to serve similar advertisements.

7. The network server of claim 6, wherein the advertisements are banner ads.

8 A networked system-architecture for controlling the way banner ads are served to connected user-interfaces comprising: a first network server connected to the network and dedicated for the purpose of ad brokering; a second network server connected to the network and accessible to the first network server, the second network server dedicated for the purpose of ad serving; a third network server connected to the network, accessible to the first and second network servers, the third network server dedicated for the purpose of providing interactive data services for network-connected users; and a software application running on the first network server, the software application dictating the kinds of ads delivered to the third network server from the second network server.

9. The networked system-architecture of claim 8, wherein the network is a data- packet-network.

10. The networked system-architecture of claim 9, wherein the data-packet-network is the Internet network.

11. The networked system-architecture of claim 10, wherein keyword and key phrase associations are used in the determination of what types of ads are delivered.

12. The networked system-architecture of claim 11, wherein there are multiple ad servers and multiple user interfaces controlled by one broker server.

13. The networked system-architecture of claim 12, wherein the user interfaces are cobranded interfaces.

14. A method for controlling specific types of ads served from an ad server to a user interface over a data-packet-network comprising steps of:

(a) collecting all of the keywords and associated ad descriptions stored in the ad server; (b) reviewing and selecting desired ad descriptions from the collected ad descriptions;

(c) creating new keywords for association with collected keywords associated with selected ad descriptions; and

(d) exerting the new associations on behalf of the user interface targeted for ad delivery by the ad server.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the data-packet-network is the Internet network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein in step (a), there are multiple network- connected ad servers.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein in step (d), there are multiple user-interfaces targeted for ad delivery.

18. Method of claim 17, wherein in step (c), existing keywords are discarded in favor of created keywords, which are then associated with selected ads.