Patent Grant
8712848
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic mail (“e-mail”) software and systems. More particularly, the present invention is related to advertiser-supported e-mail software for delivering advertisements to client computers having this advertiser-supported e-mail software installed thereon.
Electronic mail (“e-mail”) has become a ubiquitous form of communication in recent years. In general, e-mail works as follows. E-mail software is installed on a client device, e.g., a personal computer (PC), equipped or configured for communications with a multiplicity of other client devices via a communications network. Access to the communications network can be provided by a communications network service provider, e.g., an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and/or a proprietary network e-mail service provider, with whom the user establishes one or more e-mail accounts, each identified by a unique e-mail address, e.g., president@whitehouse.gov. The e-mail software, e.g., the e-mail client, enables a user of the client device to compose e-mail messages, to send e-mail messages to other client devices via the communications network, and to read e-mail messages received from other client devices via the communications network. A user can send e-mail messages to multiple recipients at a time, which capability is sometimes referred to using a mailing list or, in extreme cases, bulk mailing. The typical e-mail client supports Post Office Protocol Version 3 (POP3), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Internet Mail Access Protocol, Version 4 (IMAP4), and/or Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).
Each ISP and each proprietary network e-mail service provider independently operates and controls an e-mail communication system (or, simply, “e-mail system”). These independently-operated e-mail systems are bi-directional store-and-forward communication systems that are interconnected to one another via the Internet. Each e-mail system generally includes a number of e-mail servers that store inbound and outbound e-mail messages and then forward them, route them, or simply make them available to the users/intended recipients. Different e-mail systems are operated and controlled by independent control entities. With the advent of the Internet, the user is not restricted to a single system providing both an incoming e-mail server (or server cluster) and an outgoing e-mail server (cluster), i.e., both the incoming and outgoing e-mail servers under the control of a single entity. Most e-mail clients, other than proprietary e-mail systems such as AOL and JUNO, can be configured to receive e-mail from an incoming e-mail server (cluster) controlled by a first entity and an outgoing email server (cluster) controlled by a second, totally independent entity. It will be appreciated that most casual email users download from and upload to respective servers operated by a single entity.
Generally, when a user desires to send e-mail messages, or to check for received messages (which operations can occur automatically according to a prescribed schedule), the e-mail software is activated. Upon being activated, the e-mail software:
Exemplary e-mail software is the commercially available e-mail software marketed by the present assignee, QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, under the registered trademarks EUDORA PRO® and EUDORA LIGHT® (hereinafter sometimes referred to generically as “Eudora”). In general, the EUDORA PRO e-mail software provides the user with a “full feature set,” and the EUDORA LIGHT e-mail software provides the user with a “reduced feature set” that is a subset of the “full feature set” provided by the EUDORA PRO e-mail software. The EUDORA PRO e-mail software (the previous version of which is referred to as “EP4” in this document) must be paid for by the user (or by someone else on behalf of the user), and can thus be regarded as “Payware”, whereas the EUDORA LIGHT e-mail software is provided free of charge to registered users, and thus, can be regarded as “Freeware.” Each of the client devices that has any version of Eudora installed thereon can be regarded as a “Eudora client.” Presently, there is a very large installed base of Eudora clients.
The present assignee, QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, has recently released a new version of its popular EUDORA e-mail software that is popularly known as EUDORA Adware (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as “Adware”). This new Adware version of Eudora is contained within, i.e., is an integral part of, a new Eudora software product that contains the previously-referenced Payware and Freeware versions of Eudora. In general, each version of Eudora contained within this Eudora product release constitutes a separate operating mode of a single software product. Advantageously, the Adware Version of Eudora Pro® can be activated or switched between modes either automatically, in accordance with prescribed criteria or conditions, or manually, in accordance with prescribed user actions, e.g., registration, payment, selection, etc. This new Adware version of Eudora and the multi-moded Eudora e-mail software product that contains the same were motivated by a desire on the part of the present assignee to provide users with the “full feature set” afforded by the Payware version of Eudora free of charge to the users, by means of distributing advertisements paid for by advertisers to Eudora clients, thereby effectively shifting the source of payment/revenue from the users to the advertisers. Thus, this new Eudora software product can be regarded as “advertiser-supported” or “advertiser-subsidized” or simply “sponsored” software.
Most Internet service providers (ISPs) and e-mail service providers charge users a flat monthly subscription fee, although some providers still charge users based on usage, e.g., additional charges for on-line time beyond a prescribed level. However, there exists a population of users who desire to have basic e-mail service, but who do not require or want to pay for Internet access. A few companies have addressed the needs of this market segment by providing free e-mail service to users/subscribers who agree to receive advertisements along with their received e-mail messages. In this way, the advertisers support or sponsor the free e-mail service.
Based upon the relevant literature, it appears that the first company to propose and offer such a free e-mail service was FreeMark Communications (a.k.a. “ProductView Interactive”). The FreeMark system and method for providing free e-mail service is disclosed in PCT published patent application International Publication Number WO 96/24213, having a priority date of Feb. 1, 1995, based on U.S. application Ser. No. 08/382,118, naming as inventors Marv Goldschmitt and Robert A. Young. The disclosure of this published PCT patent application is expressly incorporated herein by reference. In short, this free e-mail system was subsidized by advertisers that appended advertisements as attachments, e.g., graphical interchange format (GIF) image file attachments, to e-mail messages transmitted to subscribers. The advertisements were stored on the subscriber's computer for viewing while the subscriber was off-line reading the received e-mail messages. In some of their promotional literature, FreeMark referred to the appended advertisements as “postage stamps”. In FreeMark's literature, each message received by the subscriber was depicted as an envelope bearing a postage stamp; the postage stamp was the advertisement.
Subsequently, a company by the name of Juno Online Services, L.P. (hereinafter simply “JUNO”) introduced a free e-mail service. The JUNO system and method for providing free e-mail service is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,242, which issued to Marsh et al. on Dec. 8, 1998, the disclosure of which is also expressly incorporated herein by reference. With the proprietary JUNO e-mail system, a plurality of advertisements are downloaded to subscribers when they connect to the proprietary JUNO e-mail server system to send and/or receive e-mail messages, with the advertisements being stored locally on the subscriber's computer for display when the subscriber is off-line composing or reading e-mail messages, i.e., when the subscriber activates Juno e-mail software previously installed on the subscriber's computer. The locally stored advertisements are displayed under the control of a display scheduler resident on the subscriber's computer, to thereby enable the advertisements to be rotated or changed in a dynamic manner. This results in a continuously-changing display of advertisements being presented to the subscriber. Various other aspects and features of the proprietary JUNO e-mail system are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,790, which issued to McAuliffe et al on Nov. 17, 1998, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,397, which issued to Marsh et al on Dec. 8, 1998; the disclosures of both of these patents are also expressly incorporated herein by reference.
With both the FreeMark and JUNO proprietary free e-mail systems, both the advertisements and the e-mail messages are stored on a single e-mail system (e.g., JUNO stores both on a single, unique server which is assigned (bound) to the user when he/she first signs up for service), and are distributed to subscribers under the direction of a common control entity that is controlling all part of the e-mail system. While this may be a desirable system architecture for providing free e-mail service, it is not a suitable system architecture for a system whose purpose is to distribute advertiser-supported e-mail software that is e-mail system-independent, i.e., which is not tied to a particular proprietary e-mail service provider but, rather, supports public standards, e.g., POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, etc. Moreover, the free e-mail system architecture is not suitable for the many people who maintain multiple e-mail accounts, e.g., business and personal e-mail accounts. As mentioned previously, the present inventors were motivated by a desire to provide a system and method for distributing advertisements to Eudora clients in order to generate advertising revenues that would allow a fully-featured version of the Eudora e-mail software to be widely distributed free of charge to end-users. Moreover, the present inventors were motivated by a desire to provide e-mail software that is both universal and e-mail system-independent, i.e., it is not tied to any particular proprietary e-mail service or service provider.
Accordingly, the present inventors have developed a novel multi-moded Eudora e-mail software product that contains the Payware, Freeware and Adware, and have also devised a novel system and method for distributing advertisements to clients equipped with this new software product. As will become fully apparent hereinafter, the purpose and architecture of this novel system are radically different than that of the proprietary FreeMark and JUNO e-mail systems. In this regard, the multi-moded Eudora e-mail software product, and the novel system and method for distributing advertisements to clients equipped with this new software product, embraces a number of different inventions that will become fully apparent from the following disclosure and the documents referenced therein.
Based on the above and foregoing, it can be appreciated that there presently exists a need in the art for a subsidized e-mail client which overcomes the above-described deficiencies. The present invention was motivated by a desire to overcome the drawbacks and shortcomings of the presently available technology, and thereby fulfill this need in the art.
In one of its aspects, the present invention encompasses e-mail software which incorporates an automatic advertisement download function for automatically downloading advertisements to be displayed when the e-mail software is activated, for the purpose of subsidizing the full e-mail software product (e.g., to provide a “Freeware” version of the e-mail software product to end-users), wherein the e-mail software is e-mail system-independent. Preferably, the e-mail software is a stand-alone product which is universal, i.e., works in conjunction with virtually any e-mail service provider or e-mail system, including those service which comply with open standards. The present invention also encompasses a system and method for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices which have this e-mail software installed thereon.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides an e-mail client for receiving and sending e-mail messages to at least one of a plurality of e-mail servers operated by respective e-mail operators, wherein the e-mail client receives at least one ad from an ad server operated by a control entity different than the control entity operating the one or more e-mail systems.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a recording medium storing e-mail client software for instantiating an e-mail client which receives e-mail messages from and sends e-mail messages to at least one of a plurality of e-mail servers operated by their respective e-mail operators, wherein the e-mail client automatically receives ads from an ad server which operates independent of the e-mail servers.
According to still another aspect, the present invention encompasses a method of operating an e-mail client, provided by an ad server operator, compatible with a plurality of independently operated e-mail servers, including ones based on open e-mail standards. Preferably, the method includes steps for periodically at least one of sending and receiving e-mail from selected ones of the e-mail servers, periodically receiving ads from the ad server operator, and displaying the received ads responsive to instructions provided by the ad server operator.
According to a still further aspect, the present invention provides an e-mail system including an incoming e-mail server storing incoming e-mail messages addressed to a plurality of users, an outgoing e-mail server for forwarding or routing outgoing e-mail messages generated by the users, and an ad server operating independently of the e-mail server, and a plurality of e-mail clients operated by respective users. Preferably, each of the e-mail clients checks for respective e-mail messages stored on the incoming e-mail server, transmits any outgoing e-mail messages stored on the e-mail client to the outgoing e-mail server, and downloads available ads from the ad server while the e-mail client is online.
In one aspect, the present invention provides software for use on a client device that is configured for communications via a communications network instantiating a communications function that effects an advertisement download communication link between the client device and an advertisement distribution server system via the communications network, at selected advertisement download times, an advertisement download function that downloads advertisements identified in a playlist(s) generated by at least one playlist server, via the advertisement download communication link, at the selected advertisement download times, an advertisement storage function for storing the downloaded advertisements on a storage medium associated with the client device, and an advertisement display function that effects display of at least selected ones of the stored advertisements.
In another aspect, the present invention provides software for use on a client device that is configured for communications via a communications network instantiating a playlist fetch function that fetches a playlist(s) from a playlist server, wherein the playlist(s) identifies advertisements to be fetched, an ad download function that downloads the advertisements identified in the playlist(s) from an advertisement distribution system, via the communications network, during one or more advertisement download sessions, an advertisement storage function for storing the downloaded advertisements on a storage medium associated with the client device, and an advertisement display function that effects display of at least selected ones of the stored advertisements on a display associated with the client device.
Many other features, aspects, uses, applications, advantages, modifications, variations, and alternative embodiments of the foregoing inventive concepts will become apparent from the technical documentation that follows. This technical documentation constitutes an integral part of this application for all purposes. Moreover, additional inventive concepts that have not been discussed above are disclosed in this technical documentation, and it is intended that this application cover such additional inventive concepts.
Furthermore, certain terms that have been used in the foregoing and following descriptions of the present invention are defined as follows:
These and various other features and aspects of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like or similar numbers are used throughout, and in which:
Illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
Referring now to specific drawings,
As shown in
Referring again to
According to one aspect of the present invention, the “software” advantageously can be provided as a single binary (per client device) file containing the software, e.g., the Eudora software, which can be employed by all users. This binary file will operate in one of three major modes of operation: Payware; Freeware; and Adware. In the Payware mode of operation, the user must pay the software provider to use the software. Freeware is free for all to use, but has fewer features than either Payware or Adware. Preferably, Payware users will prove their payment by a registration code that the software provider will provide to them at time of payment. This code will be self-validating, and contain enough data to identify what version(s) the user is entitled to operate. It should be noted that users of the Payware version of Eudora will be entitled to all versions of Eudora that are produced during the calendar year following their payment. The software preferably polls a predetermined site, e.g., a site maintained by QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, on a periodic basis in order to determine if an update for the software is available; if an update is available, the software advantageously can present the user with a small web page of options for obtaining the software update, as discussed in greater detail below.
It will be noted that Adware has all the features of Payware, but does not require payment from the user. What Adware does require is that the user display and view ads, which the user will download from the software provider's site and/or one or more sites designated by the software provider. It will also be noted that the initial state of the software is Adware.
In an exemplary preferred embodiment, each client computer downloads ads from the ad server 303 unobtrusively and without drawing significant bandwidth, as discussed in greater detail below. Moreover, the ads advantageously can be displayed in a manner that doesn't significantly detract from the use of the software, e.g., Eudora.
Some of the terminology employed in describing the functions and novel features of exemplary embodiments of the present invention was presented above. Additional terminology which facilitates a full understanding of the present invention in terms of the Eudora software is presented immediately below.
As mentioned above, the “software” advantageously can be provided as a single binary file containing the software, e.g., the Eudora software, which can be installed (if required) and employed by all users. This binary file will operate in one of three major modes of operation: Payware; Freeware; and Adware. The installation and operation of various functions of the software program according to the present invention will now be described in greater detail while referring to several state flow diagrams, which state diagrams illustrate the major user states and the transitions among them. In the flow state diagrams, the following conventions will be observed:
With the conventions noted above, the installation of the Eudora e-mail software will now be described while referring to
The path taken by EP4 users and box purchasers illustrated in
As shown in
The software provider advantageously can use a registration scheme with a self-validating registration code, so that databases do not need to be used to validate registrations. The algorithm for verification is intended to satisfy several conflicting constraints, i.e., it needs to be secure, yet easy to implement and not unduly burdensome for the user. The Eudora e-mail software checks its registration code at startup for validity. If the registration code is invalid, the user should be considered unregistered. If the user is a paid mode user, this will involve a switch to Sponsored mode, about which the user should be warned using a dialog box (not shown). This alert will be followed by an opportunity to reenter the code. The necessary inputs to generate the registration code are as follows:
It will be appreciated that a plurality of RegCode algorithms advantageously can be employed in generating a self-validating registration code. In brief, the software provider takes the inputs listed above, checksums them, mixes the inputs (including the RegName) and the checksum together in according to any one of a variety of algorithms, and encodes the result as a 16-bit number string. It will also be appreciated that the encoding and bit-mixing can be reversed and then, together with the RegName, the checksum can be used to verify the validity of the registration code.
It should be noted that the software provider will store registration codes separately for Freeware (Eudora Light), Adware (Sponsored) and Payware (Eudora Pro) software modes. Acceptance of a registrations code for one mode of operation does not imply that the registration codes for the other modes should be destroyed.
Once the registration code has been generated, the user must somehow enter the valid RegCode into the Eudora e-mail client. This can be accomplished in one of three ways:
It should also be mentioned that the software provider will allow a special-case MIME part to be mailed to the Eudora e-mail client. The user receiving this part will automatically be asked to verify and enter the information. He/she can also execute the attachment again later. However, he/she cannot forward the attachment to anyone else using the Eudora e-mail client, because a special Content-Type attribute (“regCode”) is required to activate the part, and the Eudora e-mail client can't send those.
The format of the MIME part (and the RegCode file) is that of a text file containing RFC822-header-style fields. It has a registered MIME type of application/vnd.eudora.data. The fields included in the part are:
It should be noted that the Eudora-File-Type field must be present. The other fields listed above may or may not be present.
It will be appreciated from the discussion above that RegCodes mailed to the user should be validated prior to use. In order to be used, a RegCode should meet the following tests:
Once the RegCode has been determined to meet the above tests, the user should be asked to accept the code. An exemplary acceptance dialog box is illustrated in
As mentioned above, the registration code is self-validating, since one part is a function of the other. However, there is another sense of “validation” to be considered, i.e., whether or not the registration code is “valid” for use with a particular version of Eudora. This is accomplished by comparing the ExpMonth in the registration code with a BuildMonth field the software provider will put into the application (in a place that cannot be overwritten by plug-ins, settings, etc.). If the ExpMonth and the BuildMonth correspond, the registration is deemed valid by the e-mail client.
It should also be mentioned at this point that all users will receive an Update Nag dialog box (not shown) at a predetermined interval. Eudora checks the Update Page once per week during an e-mail session. If the Update page has changed, the user is nagged to update the Eudora e-mail software. Even if the page hasn't changed, the user is nagged on a 30-day schedule to check for updates, to ensure that he/she has the latest software version. See the state flow diagram of
Having introduced the concept of nagging, this would be a convenient point to discuss various features of nagging implemented in the software according to the present invention. Two major issue are (1) how the software provider nags the user, and (2) when the software provider nags the user.
Ideally, Nag Windows are modeless windows. The user can close them using close boxes, or dismiss them by taking one of their action items, or simply leave them open and let them drift wherever they will in the window list. Due to implementation constraints, Windows Nag Windows will be slightly different in behavior than MacOS Nag Windows, which are discussed below. The Nag Windows are floating windows; the software provider expects that the user will probably dismiss the Nag Window in fairly short order. It will be appreciated that the Nag Windows will not, however, stop background tasks from executing.
It should be mentioned that there is at most one Nag Window of each variety open at a time; old windows of the same variety advantageously will be recycled. That is, if a given Nag Window is still open the next time the user is due to be nagged, that window will be reused and brought back to the top of the window stack. It should also be mentioned that all Nags applicable to the user should be available to the user by selection from the Help menu, so that the user who dismisses one of the Nag Windows inadvertently can deliberately nag him/her-self if he/she wishes, although such manual Nag invocations do not reset the Nag's timer.
Preferably, Nag Windows will be opened on top of all other windows, and no automatically opened windows, including, for example “Tip of the Day” and other dialog boxes and excluding other Nag Windows, will ever be placed above them until the user has manually brought another, non-Nag Window above them. Due to the implementation constraints in the Windows version of the Eudora e-mail software, the only windows that can obscure Nags would be other floating windows. It will be appreciated that this is chiefly due to the requirement that Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child windows be maximizable. It should be mentioned that is a standard Windows interface used by many popular Windows applications and utilities, such as the Windows Program Manager, and the Windows File Manager; the MDI interface is also part of the Common User Access (CUA) standard set by IBM. Each MDI-compliant application enables you to open child windows for file-specific tasks such as editing text, managing a database, or working with a spreadsheet, to name but a few of the possible tasks.
The placement of Nag Windows in any of the Windows environments is, in general, considerably simpler. Nag Windows simply float outside the MDI box, above other floating windows, until the user closes them. The exception to this rule is the Update Nag, which acts like a MacOS Nag Window, if the user assumes that the entire Macintosh diagram takes place inside an MDI box. Note particularly that this indicates that the Update Nag may be maximized in the Windows environment.
Although the basic concept of Nag Schedules was introduced above, a more detailed discussion of Nag Schedules at this point would facilitate the understanding of certain aspects and features of the software according to an exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the Eudora e-mail software, each schedule is a set of numbers representing (save for the last) the number of days since a given date (the Nag base). The software provider further must keep track of the last time the user was nagged (the last lag). Note that both the Nag base and last Nag should be tracked separately for each type of Nag; the software provider must not mix values for Registration Nags and Update Nags, for example. The last number of the Nag Schedule is a repeat interval. Once the other Nags are all exhausted, the user is nagged each time this last number of days passes.
The best way to understand a Nag Schedule is to view the schedule as a timeline, as illustrated in
It should be mentioned that once the Nag Window has been opened, the last Nag is reset to the current day. It should also be mentioned that a final Nag interval of 0 indicates that the Nag is not done any more after the defined period has expired. It will be appreciated that the Eudora e-mail software advantageously includes a software subroutine which determines whether any Nags are due at application startup and at the completion of each mail check. With respect to the latter case, the software checks the modification date on the Update Page once per week during a mail check. If the Update Page has been modified during the past week, the software provider will download update information during the mail check, and nag the user to update his/her software, e.g., the Eudora e-mail software. See
The preceding discussion also touched briefly on various issues with respect to ads; these issues will be developed more fully immediately below. More specifically, the major client issues involving ads are how the software displays the ads, when the software displays the ads, how the software obtains the ads, how the software provider obtains and transmits demographic information, and how the software provider verifies that ads are actually being displayed.
Referring again to
It will be appreciated that the actual information that the software provider can accept from advertisers will be relatively simple. For standard ads, such as that depicted in the lower left-hand corner of
Moreover, the Toolbar icons will be requested in GIF format as well, but will actually be delivered to the client in a composite format and transformed into standard icons. In addition, placards for sponsors of the Freeware version illustrated in
It should be mentioned here that when the user clicks on an ad, the software provider will normally take the user to the software provider's click-through counter and then redirect the user's browser to the link listed with the ad. The click-through counter advantageously can be one of the software provider's servers, e.g., one of servers 302 and 303. It will be appreciated that this will require that the software provider will compose a URN which includes a server name, some tracking information, and the ultimate destination URN, and then the server will redirect the user's browser to the destination URN.
One complication occurs if the user is offline at the time that the click-through is attempted. When the user is offline, several possible actions by the software are possible. For example, the software could initiate an online session. Alternatively, the software could simply flag the link using the link history facility. See
Moreover, the software advantageously may be constructed to permit the user's browser respond to the click-through. It will be appreciated that some browsers have sophisticated features of their own for dealing with offline conditions, and the software provider shouldn't discount the idea that the user might wish to rely on them. Alternatively, the software may permit transmission of the link to the browser for subsequent handling by the browser when it is online, i.e., the software can allow the user to tell the software provider to send the link to the user's browser the next time he/she is online.
In summary, the software provider will, in an exemplary and non-limiting case, mandate that the following standard for all advertisements submitted by advertisers:
It should be mentioned that Toolbar buttons, i.e., the buttons in the upper right-hand corner of
With respect to the co-brand spot ad illustrated in the lower right-hand corner of
One troublesome issue regarding the ad placement illustrated in
Since one of the major reasons for providing an Adware version of software such as the Eudora e-mail program is to provide a mechanism by which advertisers can subsidize the cost of the software, the software provider is clearly motivated to ensure that all Eudora users are actually looking at the ads. Stated another way, displaying an ad on the screen of the client computer 100a, for example, while the user is in another room does not justify the expense of the ad for the advertiser. For that reason, the software includes functions which permit measurement of the actual time that the user is in front of the computer while the ad is present.
Absent some sort of positive ocular fastening device, the best thing the software can do to measure user attention is to monitor for user input to the client computer 100a, thus verifying the user's presence in front of the display device 208. Given that the primary user input devices to the client computer 100a are the mouse 204 and the keyboard 203, the e-mail client will monitor for both mouse and keyboard operation by the user when the Adware version of the Eudora e-mail client is frontmost, and periodically report this activity back to, for example, the software provider. In other words, the user will be considered “present and accounted for” if the mouse moves significantly, if a mouse button states change, or if keys are pressed or released. Moreover, the software will consider a period before and after such an event as “face time” for the ad. In an exemplary case of the software according to the present invention, the software measures the period and refers to the total length of this period as kFaceInterval. There is no need to be overly precise about this value, e.g., a kFaceInterval of sixty (60) seconds, which begins with a user event, is employed in the exemplary, non-limiting case being discussed.
Having discussed the format of the ads being displayed by the software, a detailed discussion of the methodology by which the ads are actually obtained for display will now be presented. The general methodology for obtaining ads for display is to connect to a QUALCOMM INCORPORATED site during a mail check, or some other time when the software senses a live network connection, and download ads into a local cache. It will be appreciated that the act of downloading the ad can be the trigger for billing the advertiser, in order to avoid the necessity of collecting billing information from individual clients. In contrast, proprietary systems such as that provided by JUNO, upload ad display data to the designated e-mail server whenever the user accesses his/her e-mail account for any reason.
In order to make reasonable decisions about how to download ads, the software provider needs to have some idea of what impact the ad downloads will have on users. In order to assess that impact, the software provider must make assumptions (or gather information) about what a typical Eudora user's habits are, and what the ads will be like in terms of transmission characteristics. Part of the Adware process is to add instrumentation in the software client so that the software provider can begin to answer these questions intelligently, rather than by guesswork. However, one must start with some basic assumptions. For example,
In order to determine what ads are to be shown for a particular user class, as well as in order to transmit particular ad parameters, the software provider advantageously employs a PlayList. The PlayList is in its essence a list of URNs from which to fetch the actual ads as well as a set of attribute-value pairs, on a per-ad basis. The exact format of the PlayList is discussed in greater detail shortly. PlayLists will specify the complete set of ads the client should have, along with parameters for displaying those ads, as discussed immediately below. It should be noted that ads may appear in a PlayList but not be scheduled for display for a long time (or even at all). The presence of such ads in the PlayList will cause the client to retrieve the ads for storage on the client for future display. The general requirements for the PlayList are as follows:
1) The request for a PlayList will contain information to help the PlayList server determine what ads a copy of Eudora is required to fetch.
2) The PlayList can also contain parameters for Eudora as a whole, including the ability to modify how often New PlayLists are checked for.
3) PlayLists are allowed to specify whether or not they should replace all older PlayLists or merely be merged with them. It should be mentioned that the merge function will allow a more web-like advertising model, e.g., a model employing a rotating ad pool, should the software provider choose to employ such a model.
The basic ad fetch process will now be described while referring to
Advantageously, the client software performs a check for a New PlayList every three days. It should be mentioned that the 3 day interval between PlayList checks is arbitrary and applicable only to the exemplary preferred embodiments of the present invention being discussed. It should also be mentioned that the ads preferably will be fetched as needed to fill the PlayList, possibly over many mail checks. Moreover, the ad fetch process will be limited to one minute per mail check, irrespective of the tasking of either the e-mail client software or the client computer 100a. After one minute, the client software will disconnect from the ad server 303. This will often mean that the e-mail client software has not filled the PlayList when the ad fetch operation is terminated. This is acceptable. The software will utilize the available ads while the remaining ads are being downloaded.
Furthermore, the software provider advantageously can provide for multiple servers on a peer with ads.eudora.com server 303. It will be appreciated that these servers will provide extra ads for some Eudora user communities, e.g., all of the users at a company serviced by one ISP, etc. Stated another way, an ISP which provides additional services such as local and long distance telephone access may wish to cross promote these services to its own customer base. Thus, the ISP advantageously can contract for such localized promotion. The PlayLists transmitted to the ISP's branded Adware e-mail clients would be linked to an ad server 303″ maintained by the ISP in that instance.
Given a set of available ads, the software still needs to choose which ad to display next. It will be appreciated that this is a matter of much excitement in the Web ad industry, where many choices are allegedly made to maximize the profit of the advertiser. In particular, ads that generate better user response are preferred because such ads generate extra revenue—such ads are frequently tied to the content of the Web page upon which they are displayed. However, it is unlikely that either the software provider or the client software will be able to derive a significant benefit from the ad scheduling algorithms currently run on ad services. This is in part due to the fact that the ads being displayed by the e-mail client software are divorced from the content being displayed, i.e., neither the software provider nor the client software are cognizant of the content of any particular ad that the user is looking at, and in part due to the fact that the e-mail client software will be requesting ads in a batch for later display, rather than requesting them in “real time”.
As mentioned above, the PlayLists provide certain global inputs to the ad scheduling algorithm, including the parameters listed in the table immediately following.
In addition, the per-ad inputs in the PlayList associated with ad scheduling are set forth in the following table.
There are some values the software provider computes that are also input to the scheduling algorithm. These global values are listed in the table which follows.
The software also keeps track of and reports these values to the software provider for every ad:
Advantageously, the software provider implements three major states of the ad scheduler, the regularState, the runoutState, and the rerunState. In the regularState, the e-mail client software advantageously is showing regular ads and accounting for them. It will be appreciated that this is what actually generates charges for the bulk of the ads displayed on the e-mail client. In contrast, the runoutState is selected when the e-mail client software has shown enough regular ads to fill the assigned faceTimeQuota, and the ad cache includes one or more runout ads available for showing. In the rerunState, the e-mail client software has exhausted both its regular ad quota and the runout ads, i.e., the e-mail client software is now reshowing the regular ads, but the software provider is not charging for them.
It should be mentioned here that the software provider advantageously can provide a custom installer to various ISPs, book publishers, etc., that will label or brand the copies of Eudora that they have distributed. The software provider will then credit these distributors with a percentage of the ad revenue generated by the clients they distribute. It will be appreciated that these credits may be offset by cross promotional activities associated with each branded version of the Adware e-mail client, for the reasons previously discussed.
Given the discussion presented immediately above, a more detailed explanation of various aspects of the exemplary e-mail client software according to the present invention can now be provided.
As previously noted, the PlayList is a way to control the fetching and display of ads in software, e.g., in the Eudora e-mail client. The primary benefits associated with the PlayList are the separation of ad parameters from ad images, insulation of the Eudora client from intimate knowledge of ad image servers, and centralized server intelligence in ad distribution, without requiring user registration or centralized user databases. Thus, it will be appreciated that PlayLists are extremely malleable objects. In an exemplary case, the PlayLists can exert varying degrees of control over how the Eudora client behaves, from specifying the exact set of ads Eudora runs to simply transmitting abstract URNs which will choose their own ads. If PlayLists are used to their fullest advantage, they will give the software provider a powerful tool in controlling ad display in software such as Eudora; if PlayLists are later deemed irrelevant, the PlayLists cost the software provider one extra, brief network connection per day.
As discussed above with respect to
The PlayList Request, which is sent by the Eudora client to the PlayList server 302 in order to initiate the ad fetch process, is not a simple burst of binary code. The PlayList Request is a block of extensible markup language (XML) code employed to provide the server 302 with sufficient information to build or select the proper New PlayList for the user. The information in the PlayList Request is shown in the following table.
It will be appreciated that not all of these parameters are likely to be actively used at the same time; some are present to support particular modes of operation (see below), and will not be used in other modes. It should be mentioned here that every PlayList Request is checksummed with MD5. See RFC1321—“The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm” at http://www.facs.org/rfcs/rfc1321.html. The PlayList server 302 preferably ignores requests that fail checksum verification.
After the client makes a PlayList Request, the server 302 replies with a PlayList Response. Preferably, the PlayList Response is divided into two major sections; the ClientInfo section, which updates general client behavior regarding ads, i.e., speed with which the ads turn over, and the New PlayList itself, which describes the ads the client should fetch. It should be mentioned that the PlayList Server, e.g., server 302, may also return an empty response, meaning that the e-mail client should continue on its course with the ads it already has. It should also be mentioned that every PlayList Response is checksummed with MD5, just as the PlayList Request is. The MD5 digest is encoded in hexadecimal and put in a “CheckSum” header in the PlayList Response. Advantageously, the e-mail clients ignore PlayLists that fail checksum verification.
Before describing the sections of the PlayList Response, it should be mentioned that the e-mail client sometimes becomes, for lack of a better term, befuddled due to old client bugs, server bugs, etc. Sometimes the bad data inherited by even an updated client is too garbled for the system to function properly. While the client could be programmed to detect this condition, it is preferable to leave the task, i.e., error detection, to the server, which can be changed more easily. Thus, when the server detects that a client is “befuddled,” the PlayList server 302 responds with just a single command: reset. No ClientInfo should follow, no PlayList should follow, just the reset command. On receiving the reset command, the client discards its accumulated ad databases and records, including PlayLists, faceTime history, ad history, ad caches, etc. Everything is reset to the pristine condition that the e-mail client software had before the Adware software was run for the very first time. It should be mentioned that Link History is exempted from the reset command, both for reasons of practicality and because it is so user-visible. The only other item of ad data that reset does not affect is the ad failure counter, which should be retained across a reset. The client should then recognize that it has no PlayList, and make another request to the PlayList Server for the needed PlayList.
The ClientInfo section updates various client parameters. The parameters are listed immediately below.
From the discussion above, it will be appreciated that the ClientInfo section is a powerful feature of PlayLists. It allows the software provider to control the application in a global way, including segueing smoothly from one ad model to another. It will be appreciated that if this were the only benefit the software provider derived from PlayLists, it alone would make implementation of PlayLists worthwhile.
As mentioned above, the PlayList Response is divided into two major sections; the ClientInfo section, which updates general client behaviors, and the New PlayList itself, which describes the ads the client should fetch. The New PlayList itself has one global value, PlayListID. This id is the id value that the client returns to the PlayList server the next time the client computer 100a connects to the PlayList server 302. It will be appreciated that this PlayListID advantageously can be included in the PlayList Request, or can be separately uploaded to the PlayList server in a myriad of forms, e.g., as a cookie. The remainder of the PlayList is a list of ads. Each ad is allowed to have many parameters, although it's likely not all of them will be used with any single ad, and it is possible that some of them will never be used at all. The parameters include the scheduling parameters, which are described in detail above, and ad information, which includes the information listed immediately below.
It should be mentioned that the term Uniform Resource Name (URN) indicates a generic set of all names/addresses that are short strings that refer to resources available via the Internet. Thus, URN encompasses both a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), which is subset of URN schemes that have explicit instructions on how to access a particular resource on the Internet, and a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), which is another subset of URNs. It will be appreciated that the URL and URI subsets may overlap. It will also be appreciated that the terms URN, URL, and URI advantageously can be used interchangably; whichever term is used is meant to address the named resource in its broadest possible sense.
It has been mentioned in passing that not all parameters are likely to be used at one time. In fact, PlayLists are flexible enough to support many ad models. PlayLists are crucial to some ad models, to others they are helpful but not central, to still others they are marginally useful, but do not present significant impediments. The use of PlayLists does not predispose the software provider towards any specific ad model; the PlayLists advantageously can be used to support any ad models that the software provider chooses. Indeed, PlayLists permit the software provider to switch between ad models midstream, should the software provider decide to do so. In the discussion that follows, several ad models will be discussed with respect to
With respect to the short-lived ad model, it will be appreciated that the software provider accepts many ads; either from many advertisers or only a few advertisers. Ads do not persist for many days; they're used up and discarded at a relatively rapid rate. In this model, PlayLists will be used additively. Each time the client runs low on ads, it will ask for another PlayList which will describe a few more ads to mix with the clients' existing ads. When ads exceed their allotted time, the ads are discarded. In this ad model, the PlayList server really only serves to transmit parameters for ads. However, that is acceptable, since the parameters have to be transmitted somehow, after all.
Suppose the software provider wants to mix ad models, e.g., desires to provide a mix of long-running ads and short-lived ads. How this situation is handled depends on the stoichiometry. If the cache is or will be filled with mostly persistent ads and only a few short-lived ones, the software provider can merely increase the reqInterval and use PlayLists as in the Persistent Ad Model. In other words, the software provider merely picks a few random ads to go on each PlayList, and picks a few more random ads to go on the next PlayList, which the client will fetch the next day. If, on the other hand, the cache will contain mostly short-lived ads and only a few persistent ads, the computer system 10 will use multiple PlayLists. One PlayList will list the persistent ads, as discussed above; the remaining facetime will be filled using PlayLists of short-lived ads.
The above discussion illustrates how PlayLists can be used to support widely differing ad models. The reason PlayLists can do this is that they're really only an extra level of server control and in between Eudora and its ads.
Given the importance of ads to Adware e-mail software, one of the software provider's key concerns is “what happens if the Adware does not receive ads?” For example, users or ISPs may simply shut off the flow of ads to Eudora by using firewalls or other means. Alternatively, the user may simply delete ads or Playlists (or both) from, for example, his/her computer on a random or periodic basis. If this happens, then users will have no ads to display, i.e., the users get the full-featured version of Eudora without either seeing ads or paying. This would defeat one significant aspect of the exemplary software according to the present invention. On the other hand, users may have hardware or software problems or other issues that keep them from fetching ads, or the software provider's ad servers might even be down for some reason. Users should not be punished for this.
The software provider will distinguish between these two situations by asking a simple question, i.e., is the user sending or receiving mail? If the answer is yes, the software provider will assume that the blocking of ads is something the software provider needs to address. The way the software provider addresses this issue is with an escalating series of Ad Failure Nags. These will continue for two weeks or until the software receives ads. For every two days the software does receive ads, the software will decrement the Ad Failure Nag timer by one day. If the timer runs out, the software will display an apology to the user, revert to the Freeware version, and mark the user's software as owned by a Deadbeat User. Deadbeat Users will only be allowed to return to Adware if the ad server can be connected to at the time the user attempts to return to Adware. See
Alternatively, the e-mail client advantageously includes several more sophisticated functions for determining that an ad failure condition requires the employment of the Ad Failure Nag discussed above. For example, the client device can identify an ad download failure condition when a corresponding ad download function has failed to downloads during a predetermined period of time. In addition, the e-mail client device can identify an ad display failure condition when a corresponding ad display function has failed to display ads for a predetermined time period, e.g., the time(s) specified in the New PlayList received from the PlayList server and/or the current PlayList(s) stored for use by the e-mail client device. Either condition invokes the Ad Failure Nag function discussed above.
One of the things the software provider will need to know is that the ads the software provider thinks are being displayed are actually being displayed, thus confirming that the ads are being displayed as frequently and for as long as the software provider thinks they are being displayed. It will be appreciated that this will be crucially important to maintaining credibility with advertisers. An exemplary audit scheme contains the following features:
The various state flow diagrams illustrated, for example, in
It will be appreciated that it will be helpful for the client to give the server information to help the server direct the user to the proper location or to assist the user by prefilling certain items on Web page based forms. That is the function of the query part of the URNs. The elements that might go in query parts are listed below. It will be noted that the query parts are divided into two groups. The first group includes items which are considered personal, and great care should be taken to transmit them only when appropriate; the second group includes items which are not considered to be privacy-sensitive.
Typically, all of the software provider's non-ad URNs begin with: http://jump.eudora.com/jump.cgi?action=whatever
The “action” value determines what function the user wishes to perform. The software provider then appends various other query parts to the URN, suitably %-escaped, i.e., separated by a percentage (%) or ampersand (&) symbol (for example), according to the chart illustrated in
Having discussed the client side of the overall system illustrated in
In particular, the PlayList Server (PLS) or Servlet, i.e., the applet responding to the PlayList Request, shall now be described in detail. The PLS is a server side program which services HTTP requests and returns HTTP responses. It will be appreciated that each request launches a different thread, and that the data format of communications between the client and the PLS is XML-encoded in the exemplary embodiment. The PLS advantageously can be instantiated using the following Java® packages.
What follows is an explanation of task flow in the PLS when the Servlet doPost method is invoked. See
It will be appreciated that the PlayList Request can be received from a plurality of e-mail clients residing on the client computers generally denoted 100n through any given day. When issuing the same SQL statement repeatedly, it will be appreciated that it is more efficient to use a Prepared Statement rather then generating a new Statement in response to a query. In the logging operation, the software provider advantageously can employ the following semantic to avoid repetitive Statement generation:
PreparedStatement ps=conn.prepareStatement(“INSERT INTO ClientUpdate (date, userAgent, PlayListId, Y) values (?, ?, ?, ?, . . . )”);
It should be mentioned that in generating a New PlayList, the Servlet advantageously can employ both SQL queries and programming filtering. It will also be appreciated that these processes are synchronized in order to prevent conflicts when accessing the database. Appropriate pseudo code of generating a PlayList is depicted in
When generating XML, it is often useful to generate comments, processing instructions, and so on. The package XP Writer provides a set of methods for creating specific kinds of nodes in the output XML code, i.e., file. The following is a short list of methods PLS employs in generating the XML output.
The PLS stores the information generated in response to a request in two tables, a PlayList general response table, which holds the client info section and PlayList general information, and a PlayList specific response, which holds the entry section. It will be appreciated that the PLS advantageously can use the prepared statement API to optimize performance in response to a query.
Referring again to
Turning now to
It will be appreciated from
In summary, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention encompasses software for converting a general purpose computer into a specialized PlayList server for supplying a PlayList Response to a client device for exchanging information with an information server system over a communications network and storing ads. More specifically, the software instantiates a PlayList Response generation function for generating a PlayList Response identifying a plurality of selected ads to be presented by the client device, and a first communications function that completes a PlayList Response send communication link with the client device via the communications network over which the PlayList Response is transmitted to the client device, wherein the information server system and the PlayList server are independently controlled. It will be appreciated that, while the PlayList directs the presentation, e.g., display, of ads on the client device, e.g., an e-mail client, the ads advantageously may be delivered to or retrieved by the client device in any number of ways in this preferred embodiment. In this exemplary embodiment, the PlayList Request preferably includes ad identifiers and ad presentation instructions; corresponding uniform resource names (URNs) can be included but may be omitted.
According to another exemplary embodiment, the present invention encompasses software for converting a general purpose computer into a specialized PlayList server for supplying a PlayList Response to a client device exchanging information with an information server system and receiving ads from an ad server over a communications network. The software advantageously includes a PlayList Response generation function for generating a PlayList Response identifying a plurality of selected ads to be presented by the client device, and a first communications function that effects a PlayList Response send communication link with the client device via the communications network over which the PlayList Response is transmitted to the client device. Preferably, the information server system and the PlayList server are independently controlled. It will be appreciated that this exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention contemplates a specific communications channel between the client device and a dedicated ad server (system) for delivery of ads defined by the PlayList. It will also be appreciated that the PlayList Request employed by this exemplary embodiment includes both information dictating presentation of the ads and/or operation of the client device with respect to ad presentation functions, and the name and URN for ads included in a New PlayList.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides software for converting a general purpose computer into a specialized PlayList server for supplying a PlayList Response to a client device exchanging information with an information server system and receiving ads from an ad server over a communications network, including:
wherein the information server system and the PlayList server are independently controlled.
Preferably, the PlayList Request parsing function includes an extensible markup language (XML) parsing function for verifying the wellformedness of the PlayList Request, a PlayList analysis function receiving the PlayList Request after verification by the XML parsing function for generating an object, and a database driver function receiving the object for building a query from the object and applying the query to a PlayList server database.
It should be noted that the PlayList Response generation function is initiated by receipt of a PlayList Request, which, in an exemplary case, includes the name of the current PlayList(s) employed by the client device providing the PlayList Request. While each of the numerous client devices connected to an information server generate a PlayList Request, the discussion of this specific aspect of the present invention, i.e., the PlayList server, can best be understood from the point of view of a system including only one client device; the actual implementation of the, for example, e-mail client device contemplates the use of thousands of client devices.
The PlayList Request advantageously can include information regarding the currently running PlayList(s) on the client device, and user data fields that store data regarding the progress made by the client device in presenting, e.g., displaying, the ads stored by the client device. An exemplary and non-limiting list of the information that can be provided to the PlayList server via the PlayList Request includes:
Advantageously, the PlayList Request parsing function can extract selected information from the PlayList Request and employ the selected information and other information, e.g., information provided by the entity controlling the PlayList server, in generating the PlayList Response. It will be appreciated that the PlayList Request may include all or a subset of the information listed immediately above; the PlayList Request parsing function extracts information contained in at least one of the user data fields. In any event, the receipt of the PlayList Request by the PlayList server initiates generation of the PlayList Response.
In response to the PlayList Request, the PlayList Response generation function generates one of an action command and the PlayList Response. With respect to the former, the PlayList Response generation function advantageously can generate the action command in response to receipt of a garbled PlayList Request. This can be generally thought of as an error code directing the client device to send a New PlayList Request. It will be appreciated that the action command can include an associated error message, which is presentable to the user by the client device. Alternatively, the action command may cause the client device to delete all of the ads received and/or stored by the client device responsive to a command issued to the PlayList server by an entity controlling the PlayList server. In other words, there are times when the software provider may wish to flush the existing ads; the entity controlling the PlayList server, e.g., the software provider, sends a command to the PlayList server, which command causes the PlayList server to respond with a flush command to either specific PlayList Requests, e.g., PlayList Requests generated by a particular software version, of all PlayList Requests. With respect to the latter, a detailed discussion follows.
As discussed above, the PlayList Response advantageously includes both client information, information regarding how the client device, e.g., a PDA device, is to present, e.g., display, the selected ads, i.e., the ads that during the time period following receipt of the PlayList Response by the client device, and a New PlayList. For example, selected parameters included in the client information advantageously can switch the client device from between a persistent presentation mode and a short-lived presentation mode of presenting the ads. The client information can, in an exemplary case:
For example, when the ads available to the client device include both current ads (paid ads) and expired ads (free ads), the client information includes a minimum time period during which the client device presents the current ads before the client device presents the expired ads. The client information may also establish a maximum time period during which the client device is permitted to present the expired ads. In any event, the PlayList Response advantageously may include commands or selected parameters which direct the client device to either concatenate the New PlayList to the current PlayList(s) or discard the current PlayList(s) in favor of the New PlayList. The command, or the selected parameters, controlling this facet of the client device operation is executed upon receipt of the PlayList Response by the client device over the effected communications link.
The New PlayList included in the PlayList Response includes a name and a corresponding Uniform Resource Name (URN) for each of the selected ads. It will be appreciated that the URN can correspond to one of a storage location of the respective named ad on an ad server or a location on the ad server redirecting the client device to a location on another storage device for the respective named ad. Alternatively, the URN specifies a location on the ad server redirecting the client device to an ad storage location collocated on the ad server for the respective named ad. It should be mentioned at this point that, in addition to the name and URN of each of the selected ads, the New PlayList may also include information identifying an ad type, i.e., postage stamp ad, toolbar ad, or placard ad, for each one of the respective selected ads.
It should be noted that in at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the PlayList server instantiated by software stored on the server computer 302 advantageously responds to a PlayList Request written, i.e., coded, in extensible markup language (XML). One of ordinary skill in the art of documents generated in XML will appreciate that these documents, e.g., the PlayList Request, advantageously can have an associated document type definition (DTD). In order to optimize system performance, the PlayList server should have the DTD available, i.e., available to the PlayList Request parsing function. There are several options for ensuring that the DTD is available to the PlayList server. First, the DTD for each of different types of client devices, e.g., e-mail client device or PDA, is stored by the PlayList server. In that case, the PlayList Request need only include a DTD tag, which identifies the particular DTD to be employed by the PlayList Request parsing function. Second, the DTD advantageously can be embedded in the PlayList Request. In either case, both the PlayList server and the client device implicitly use the same DTD.
It should be mentioned that the software provider should make provisions with respect to ad security. There are really two security issues to consider. One is whether or not the client is getting valid ads (call this client security), and the second is whether or not a valid client is fetching ads (call this server security).
Client security is of relatively small importance. If a given person manages to trick Eudora into displaying some ads other than those transmitted by the software provider, it probably doesn't matter a great deal. This is not to say that it could not become problematic if large numbers of clients at one or more sites began doing it; however, a carefully worded license agreement should make at least large sites avoid actions which would cause this particular problem. However, to avoid trivial attacks, PlayLists and ads advantageously can be checksummed with MD5 (or another mechanism), and the checksums recorded in the PlayList. Then the client can checksum the PlayList and ads using the same secret seed, and compare its checksums to those in the PlayList. If it fails to get the proper ads, this will be treated as a failure to get ads at all.
Server-side security is potentially a much bigger problem. The software provider intends to charge advertisers for ads, based on the understanding that the software provider's users will actually see the ads the software provider is charging for. To do this with confidence, the software provider should ascertain that it is actually Eudora that is downloading the ads, and not some rogue process written to fetch many ads. Why would someone bother to fetch ads? While the software provider can't discount the “because they can” motivation of the amateur hacker, the real issue is the ad revenue, i.e., ad bounty. Because every ad fetch can generate revenue for a third party, there is a very significant financial incentive for that third party to cause a lot of ad fetches. It thus becomes imperative that the software provider prevent (and/or detect) ad fetches not made by copies of Eudora. Given that such fetches may be in violation of the agreement the software provider signed with the distributor, these fetches could constitute a form of fraud.
There are several different approaches to fraud detection which advantageously can be implemented in the software running, for example, on Ad server 303. Whatever method the software provider eventually uses to prevent fraud, it will be important also to detect fraud should it occur. There are two broad classes of fraud detection; authentication and statistical analysis.
Authentication is easily understood; if the program fetching the ads fails to prove that it is a valid copy of Eudora, the software provider will be alerted to possible fraud. However, authentication provides challenges of its own, and may be impossible or impractical or simply unnecessary.
Statistical analysis has some significant benefits, but also significant drawbacks. The benefits include minimal work in the client (and hence no vulnerability to disassembly, etc.), no run-time burdens on either the client or the server, i.e., everything can be done “after the fact” during accounting runs, easily changeable from the software provider's end, ability to be applied retroactively, etc. The drawbacks to statistical analysis include that statistical analysis will never be entirely certain, and that the software provider may not collect the proper statistics, etc.
A listing of parameters or statistical measures that the software provider may gather or compute is presented immediately below.
Given the raw data available from monitoring the parameters listed above, the following is an exemplary and non-inclusive list of possible statistical measures which can be generated.
One of the issues which the software provider must be very cognizant of is the protection of the user's privacy, i.e., the user generally does not want to receive ads based on information that the user unknowingly submitted to the software provider. There is an extremely vocal and paranoid subset of the user community, who object to practically all forms of information gathering, even the most benign. Even relatively innocent devices like serial numbers are considered something to be completely avoided. While the serial number of a software program may seem like a trivial matter to the software supplier, users who object to this type of “tagging” exist, and the software provider should be cognizant of such users. In order to avoid such concerns to the maximum extent possible, the software provider should adopt a Confidential Information Policy which includes the following provisions:
In summary, the present invention encompasses a multi-moded software product, e.g., e-mail software, which includes three “self-contained” different versions (or, “modes”), including a “first full feature set” version which is activated when the software product is paid for by the user (i.e., a “Payware version”), a “second full feature set” version which is activated when the user agrees (e.g., either by default or by explicit agreement) to accept advertisements delivered to the client device in order to subsidize the software product (i.e., an “Adware” version), and a “reduced feature set” version which is activated when the software product is not paid for (i.e., a “freeware” version) and the “second full feature set” version is not activated. The present invention also encompasses a system and method for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have such multi-moded software installed thereon. It will be appreciated that the first and second full feature sets are identical with respect to e-mail support features; it will also be appreciate that the second full feature set includes PlayList and ad fetching and display features which are dormant in the first full feature set.
Moreover, the present invention further encompasses multi-moded software as set forth above, wherein the multi-moded software includes a mode switching function which automatically switches from the “Adware” version to the “freeware” version upon detecting a prescribed condition (e.g., based upon monitored user activity level, and/or less than a prescribed number of ads having been downloaded, i.e., “deadbeat user” criterion). The present invention also encompasses a system and method for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have such multi-moded software installed thereon.
It will be appreciated from the discussion above that the present invention further encompasses multi-moded software as set forth above, wherein the multi-moded software includes a mode switching function which automatically switches from the “Adware” version to the “freeware” version upon detecting occurrence of a prescribed “ad failure condition”, e.g., less than a prescribed number of ads having been received and/or displayed by the client device within a prescribed time period, and an “Ad Failure Nag” function which monitors “time since last Nag” and which generates an “Ad Failure Nag” according to a “Nag Schedule” which is dynamically varied based on the monitored “time since last Nag” information and/or based on cumulative ad download/display statistics or information. The present invention also encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this multi-moded software product installed thereon.
In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention further encompasses multi-moded software as set forth above, wherein the multi-moded software includes a Nag function which generates different types of Nags dependent upon the current mode of the software product which is currently activated, and/or based upon time since the last Nag was generated, and/or based on cumulative ad download/display statistics or information, and/or based on other monitored conditions. For example, the different types of Nags could include a “Registration Nag”, a “Payware Nag”, an “Adware Nag”, an “Update Nag”, and an “Ad Failure Nag”. The present invention also encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this multi-moded software product installed thereon.
In another exemplary embodiment, the present invention encompasses a software product (e.g., e-mail software) that incorporates an automatic advertisement download function for automatically downloading advertisements to be displayed when the software is activated, and a control function for monitoring user activity levels and for controlling the display of downloaded advertisements at the client device based upon the monitored user activity levels (e.g., based upon “discrete” and/or “cumulative” ad display parameters). The present invention also encompasses a system and method for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this software product installed thereon.
The present invention also encompasses an e-mail software product that incorporates a control function for automatically downloading advertisements from a remote server system which is separate and independent from the e-mail server system, as well as the system and method for automatically distributing the advertisements to client devices which have this e-mail software product installed thereon. In particular, the system includes an ad server system that manages, administers, and controls the distribution of advertisements, and which is controlled by a control entity (e.g., one operated by the present assignee, QUALCOMM INCORPORATED) which is separate and independent from the control entity which controls the e-mail server system which provides e-mail services to any particular client device which has this e-mail software product installed thereon. Thus, in sharp contrast to the Juno Online Services system, in accordance with this aspect of the present invention, the ad server system and the e-mail server system are operated independently, i.e., under the control of separate and independent control entities.
Advantageously, the present invention also encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, which incorporates an automatic advertisement files download function for automatically downloading advertisements from a remote server system to a client device on which the software product is installed, and a control function for locally controlling the display of downloaded advertisements at the client device based upon ad parameters included in the downloaded advertisement files, e.g., including (for each ad), various combinations and sub-combinations of the following ad parameters, namely, the maximum ad display time, or face time, for any given display of that particular ad, the maximum total/cumulative ad display time, or face time, for that particular ad, the maximum number of times to display that particular ad per day, the date/time before which that particular ad should not run, and the date/time after which that particular ad should not run. The present invention also encompasses a system and method for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this software product installed thereon.
It will be appreciated that the present invention also encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, which incorporates an automatic advertisement download function which fetches a PlayList from a remote server system (e.g., a PlayList server system) which specifies the advertisements to be fetched by the client device on which the software product is installed and the source addresses (e.g., URNs) of the ad servers on which the specified advertisements are stored, fetches the advertisements specified in the fetched PlayList, and stores the fetched advertisements on the client device. The present invention further encompasses a system and method for distributing advertisements to client devices which have this software product installed thereon, including a PlayList server (or PlayList server system) which, in response to a PlayList Request from a particular client device that includes a client PlayList identifier, compares a client PlayList identified by the client PlayList identifier with a current PlayList (which may optionally be customized to that particular client device) stored on the PlayList server, and then sends back to the client device a New PlayList which specifies the new advertisements to be fetched by the client device, and the source addresses of the ad servers on which the specified new advertisements are stored.
Optionally, the above-described automatic advertisement download function of the software product installed on the client device can delete (discard) all or PlayList server-specified ones of the advertisements which are currently stored on the client device, e.g., those which are not specified in the current PlayList; and/or the above-described automatic advertisement download function of the software product installed on the client device can merge the New PlayList with the current client PlayList. The present invention also encompasses several variations and details of implementation of this novel PlayList/ad fetch process utilized in the Eudora Adware scheme.
Moreover, the present invention encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, which incorporates a custom installer which identifies the specific software product distributor that distributed that software product. The present invention further encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, which incorporates an automatic advertisement download function for automatically downloading advertisements from a remote server system to a client device on which the software product is installed, and a custom installer which identifies the specific software product distributor which distributed that software product, for the purpose of facilitating apportionment of advertising revenue the software product vendor receives from advertisers to specific software product distributors. The present invention also encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices which have this software product installed thereon, wherein the system includes a centralized control facility which receives software product distributor ID information from the client devices and uses this software product distributor ID information to facilitate apportionment of advertising revenue the software product vendor receives from advertisers to specific software product distributors. Alternatively, or additionally, a central database function which identifies (e.g., by means of cross-referencing and/or correlation tables) the software product distributor ID for each software product distributed by the software vendor, e.g., based on a serial number or reference code associated with each copy of the software product, can be utilized.
Furthermore, the present invention encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, that incorporates an automatic advertisement download function for automatically downloading advertisements from a remote server system to a client device on which the software product is installed, and a control function which utilizes a built-in “deadman timer” to impose a time limit for each particular advertisement download session, e.g., the client device will be disconnected from the remote server system upon expiration of the time limit imposed by the “deadman timer”. The present invention also encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this software product installed thereon.
It will also be appreciated that the present invention can be characterized as a software product, e.g., e-mail software, that incorporates an automatic advertisement download function for automatically downloading advertisements from a remote server system to a client device on which the software product is installed, and an instrumentation and auditing module having various novel features/functions, e.g., maintaining a rotating log of ad-related statistics and/or performing random and/or statistically-based ad effectiveness audits with user permission. The present invention also encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this software product installed thereon, wherein the system includes a centralized control facility for obtaining ad-related statistical information from selected client devices, in a random or statistical manner, e.g., for the purpose of monitoring the integrity and/or effectiveness of the advertisement distribution system.
Moreover, the present invention encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, that incorporates an automatic advertisement download function for automatically downloading advertisements from a remote server system to a client device on which the software product is installed, and a “link history” function which enables the user to review previously-viewed advertisements, e.g., by providing a graphical user interface (GUI) which includes a link history window that lists links the user has previously visited and ads that have been previously displayed to the user, along with some status information on each. Preferably, a mechanism will be provided to enable the user to select an ad listed in the link history window for display, e.g., by single-clicking the appropriate ad link, and to enable the user to visit the source Web site of any given ad listed in the link history window, e.g., by double-clicking the appropriate ad link. The present invention also encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this software product installed thereon.
Furthermore, the present invention encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, which incorporates a “Nag” function that monitors “time since last Nag” and that “nags” the user according to a “Nag Schedule” which is dynamically varied based on the monitored “time since last Nag” information.
Finally, the present invention encompasses a software product, e.g., e-mail software, that incorporates a download function that downloads separate file portions representing a single image during separate communication sessions with a remote server (e.g., separate file portions of an advertisement file, e.g., a GIF file). The present invention further encompasses a system (and method) for automatically distributing advertisements to a multiplicity of client devices that have this software product installed thereon.
Although presently preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it should be clearly understood that many variations and/or modifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught, which may appear to those skilled in the pertinent art, will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/209,392, filed Jun. 1, 2000, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/609,123, filed Jun. 30, 2000, now abandoned, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/169,622, filed Dec. 8, 1999. These patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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| Child | 11470591 | US |
