Patent Grant
10062094
The present disclosure is generally directed to a user interface for a browser on a computing device, and more particularly to a browser interface that facilitates the user's ability to view and/or purchase a product referenced on a web page.
It has become common for all different types of organizations to develop individualized application programs known as applets (or “apps”) for use on computing devices. The applets enable the user to obtain information about, and/or interact with, the organization in a variety of different ways. For instance, the user may manage a bank account, reserve a room at a hotel, order a product for purchase, obtain reviews about an event or establishment, etc.
One mechanism for the organizations to offer their applets to users is to advertise the applets on the organization's own website, and possibly the websites of other entities. Typically, the advertisements appear on web pages and include a link that can be selected by the user to initiate the purchase and/or download of the desired applet. When the user selects the link, it causes the browser executing on the computing device to retrieve a page associated with the site from which the applet can be obtained. For instance, this site may be an online applet store that provides applets suitable for use with the operating system of the user's device.
This type of transaction is not specific to the purchase of applets, or other forms of digital media. Rather, it is commonly employed with any type of product that can be viewed and/or purchased via a reference in a web page.
It is desirable to facilitate a user's ability to view information about, and/or purchase, a product advertised on a web page. In accordance with described embodiments, information pertaining to a product advertised on a web page is presented separately, but concurrently with the content of the web page. In one embodiment, the information about the product may be automatically presented in a banner, or the like, that is displayed adjacent the content of the web page. The user can interact with controls on the banner to initiate the display of further information, and/or purchase the product. In the case of digital content, the banner can provide direct access to that content once it is downloaded to the computing device. In another embodiment, the display of the product information may be triggered by user selection of a link associated with a product. In this case, the information about the product may appear in an overlay sheet displayed in front of the original web page. The user can interact with controls on the sheet to initiate purchase or download of the product, or can dismiss the overlay sheet to continue viewing the content of the web page.
Web page context can be encoded in an object, such as a tag, that causes the banner to be displayed. When the user returns to the web page with the tag after purchasing an applet, the interface of the banner displays download progress. After the download is complete, the user is able to launch the installed applet directly from the web page, and the browser passes the context specified by the web page to the applet. This permits the user to resume in the applet just where he or she left off in the web page.
In some embodiments, when a banner or overlay sheet is displayed to provide information about, and/or initiate the purchase of, an advertised product, the browser does not navigate away from the web page that the user was initially viewing, to present a new page associated with the product of interest. Rather, the banner or overlay sheet contains suitable functionality to enable the viewing and/or purchasing to be directly implemented therein. Once the user has finished reading about the product, and/or completed a purchase, the banner or overlay sheet can be dismissed, so that the user is back at the original web page of interest, without having to manually navigate to it.
Further features and advantages of these and other embodiments are described hereinafter with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
To facilitate an understanding of the concepts and principles underlying the disclosed invention, a description is presented hereinafter with particular reference to examples involving the purchase and/or download of applets that are advertised on a web page. It will be appreciated, however, that the practical implementations of the invention are not limited to that particular type of transaction. Rather, various features and behavior of the disclosed browser can be employed in conjunction with other types of advertised products, including other forms of digital media that can be downloaded onto the user's device, such as music and videos, as well as non-digital products that can be purchased for physical delivery. Moreover, some features described herein are not limited to purchasing transactions. Rather, they are generally applicable to accessing any type of information that is associated with a product or service that is advertised, or otherwise referenced, on a web page.
The web page 18, which is referenced by the URL in the address field 14, appears in the central portion of the interface. In the illustrated example, the web page pertains to an organization that provides reviews and other information about area establishments. This organization may offer an applet for the information it provides. Conventionally, the availability of the applet may be announced by a link, or other form of advertisement, that is embedded in the content of the web page 18. In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, information about the available applet is presented in a user interface object that is separate from the content of the web page 18. In the illustrated example, the user interface object is a banner 20. The banner presents a view that is provided by an online applet store, or other suitable site, through which the applet can be obtained. In the illustrated example, the banner contains a thumbnail image 22 associated with the applet, a short description 24 of the applet, in this case the name of the applet, the entity who is providing it, and the price to purchase the applet. In this particular example, the applet is free. A close control button 25 enables the user to dismiss the banner from the display if the applet is not of interest.
If the user may possibly be interested in the applet, tapping or clicking on an action button 26 causes the browser to access the online store from which the applet can be obtained. As illustrated in
Once the downloading and installation of the applet begins, the user can return to browsing on the web. If the user returns to the original page, or goes to another page that includes a reference to the applet, the banner 20 again appears, as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the banner associated with the advertised applet can automatically appear as the content of the web page is being displayed by the browser. This functionality can be achieved by placing a tag in the content of the web page. As the web page data is being downloaded and analyzed, when the browser detects the tag, it can automatically display the banner in accordance with information contained in the tag.
One example of an HTML tag that can be employed for this purpose is <meta name=“online-store-app” content=“app-id=[app ID in Online Store], affiliate-data=[affiliate string], app-argument=[data for app launch]”>. In this example, the first component of the tag, meta name=“online-store-app”, is an identifier of the resource from which the information about the applet is obtained, in this case an online applet store. This identifier acts as a flag to inform the browser that a banner is to be displayed. The content portion of the tag contains an applet identifier, app-id=[app ID in Online Store], for the particular applet whose information is to be displayed.
The content can also include two optional items of information. One item, app-argument=[data for app launch], is the context that the web page developer desires the applet to go to. For instance, in the example of
The third item of information that can be included in the tag content is affiliate data, affiliate-data=[affiliate string]. This data provides a way for the owner of the website being displayed to receive credit for advertising the product that the user accesses, in this case the applet.
As noted previously, when the initial image of the banner appears as shown in the example of
This behavior is dependent only upon the identification of the banner itself, and is independent of the particular web page in which the banner identifier appears. Since each banner pertains to a particular product, in this case an applet, a unique identifier of that product can be stored in the list. Thus, if the developer advertises an applet via a number of different web sites, once the user has indicated that he or she is not interested in the applet by dismissing the banner, the banner will no longer appear on the user's device, regardless of whether the user accesses the same web page, or any of the other web pages that are used to advertise the applet.
It may be the situation that, after the user has dismissed a banner pertaining to an applet, the user installs that applet on his or her device through some other interface, e.g. by directly going to the online applet store. In that case, once the applet is installed, the display indicator for that applet can be changed from N to Y (yes). Thereafter, whenever the user accesses a web page containing an identifier for the applet, the browser will display the banner as shown in
In the example described above, the HTML tag contains information for one applet. It is also feasible to include multiple applet identifiers in a single tag. In this case, each identified applet is displayed in a separate banner. When multiple banners are displayed simultaneously, if the user taps the close button 25 to dismiss one of the banners, only the display indicator for that banner is recorded with a flag set to N, so that the banner associated with that applet will be blocked from further display. However, the banners for the other applets identified in the HTML tag are not blocked.
In the preceding examples, clicking or tapping on the action button 26 when the banner appears, as shown in
If the user may possibly be interested in the applet, tapping or clicking on an action button 26 switches its functionality, and its displayed label, to change. As illustrated in
Once the user has been authenticated, the applet is installed on the user's device 10. Referring to
In some cases, the user may not desire to have the banner displayed while the applet is being installed. In that case, the close button 25 can be tapped, or clicked upon, to remove the display of the banner during the installation. In such a situation, it may be desirable to display a notification 30, such as that shown in
The banner that is employed to present information about an advertised product, and to enable the user to obtain that product, is generated by the operating system of the user device. In the illustrated examples, the banner is placed immediately above the content of the web page, by the browser. It will be appreciated, however, that other locations for the banner are also feasible. Normally, the banner is pinned to the web page, so that as the user moves down the page, the banner scrolls off the top of the browser viewing screen. It may be preferable, however, that during the time the applet is being installed (as depicted in
Since the banner is generated by the operating system of the computing device, it is separate from the content of the web page via which the product identification was delivered. This separation of the purchasing functionality from the web page content offers a number of advantages. First, it enables the user to obtain information about the advertised product, and purchase or otherwise download the product, without navigating away from the web page, or otherwise interfering with the user's ability to continue to view the content of the web page. Second, the separation of the purchasing transaction, and entry of information pertaining thereto, from the web page content reduces privacy concerns. Since the entry of passwords and other identification information is controlled by the browser interface, and not by the content of the web page, the user can be more comfortable that he or she is not interacting with a fake banner that is tracking his or her actions.
Third, since the banner is separate from the content of the web page, it can be separately displayed in a thumbnail view. Thus, for example, if the user switches from a display of the browser to a home page, the banner can be displayed as a separate icon on the home page, rather than being incorporated in a thumbnail view of the browser.
In the preceding exemplary embodiments, the information pertaining to an advertised product is automatically displayed in the context of a banner, upon detection of a suitable tag in the content of a web page that is being downloaded. In accordance with another embodiment, the user interface object need not be automatically displayed upon opening the web page. Rather, the display can be triggered by an action of the user. For instance, an advertisement for a product on the web page may contain a link that enables the user to obtain information, and/or purchase the product. If the user clicks or taps on the link, the browser does not navigate to a new web page that is identified by the link, in the conventional manner. Rather, the resource referenced by the link appears in a user interface object that is displayed in front of the current web page, such as an overlay sheet.
To reinforce to the user that the original web page remains accessible, the display of the overlay sheet can be carried out with an animation that shows the sheet moving or otherwise evolving into position over the web page.
Referring to
The functionality provided by the overlay sheet 36 is similar to that described previously with respect to the banner 20. Through a sequence of screens displayed in response to successive taps or clicks on the action button 44, the user can initiate the process of purchasing the applet, confirm his or her desire to purchase it, authenticate himself or herself to the online applet store, and download the applet for installation on the computing device. After the installation is complete, the overlay sheet 36 may present an image such as that shown in
In the example of
The illustrated examples of the browser interface depict its appearance on a hand-held computing device, such as a smartphone. It will be appreciated that the implementation of the browser is not limited to this type of device. Rather, it is capable of being used in any type of computing device, including but not limited to tablet computers, laptop computers, desktop computers, and the like. Referring to
The program instructions to implement the browser described herein are preferably stored in a non-volatile form of memory, such as ROM, flash drive, disk drive, etc., and loaded into RAM for execution.
If the tag is detected in the content of the web page at step 72, the browser proceeds to step 74 to check whether the product identified in the tag is recorded in the list of previously displayed banners, e.g. of the type shown in
If no match was detected at step 75, or if the flag is determined to be Y at step 77, the browser proceeds to step 78 and uses the information in the tag to retrieve the data to be displayed in the banner. In the example described above, the meta-name of the tag identifies the resource from which to obtain the data. In the case of an applet, the browser uses the applet identifier to access a database at the online applet store and obtain the data for that applet. As in the examples of
Although not shown in the flowchart of
The flow chart of
If activation of the action button is detected at step 88, the browser sends a message at step 94 to the identified resource, e.g. the online applet store, indicating that the user wishes to obtain the product. In return, the resource may request authentication of the user, and/or other user information. In response, the browser displays an appropriate dialog screen for the user to enter the requested information, at step 96. In an alternative embodiment, the browser may be programmed to automatically display the dialog screen when activation of the action button is detected at step 88, without the need to contact the resource first.
Once the requested information has been entered by the user, it is forwarded to the resource at step 98. The resource returns an acknowledgement if the information is correct, which is detected by the browser at step 100. In response, the browser changes the label on the display at step 102 to indicate that the product is being downloaded and installed. Upon completion of the installation, which is detected in step 104, the browser changes the banner at step 106 to become a launch button, for example as shown in
In the case of a physical product rather than digital content, the resource might return a confirmation of purchase, along with shipping information, at step 100. This information would be displayed at step 102, and the subsequent steps are not performed.
The flow chart of
If the banner is determined to be in its initial state at step 114, the banner is removed from the display at step 118. In addition, the product ID 32 is added to a banner display list, and the display flag 34 associated with the product is set to N, at step 119.
At a subsequent point in time, the user may install an applet on the computing device via a mechanism other than a banner, e.g. through a direct purchase at the online applet store. The browser might register with the operating system to receive a notification each time a new applet is installed on the computing device. At step 120, the browser detects that a new applet has been installed. In that case, it checks the identifier for the applet against those stored in the banner list, at step 122. If no match is detected, no further action is taken, and the browser returns to its normal processing at step 124. If a match is detected at step 122, the browser determines the state of the applet's associated display flag at step 126. If the flag is set to N, the browser changes the flag's value to Y at step 128, so that the banner associated with that applet will again be displayed. On the other hand, if the flag's value is Y at step 126, no further action is taken.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the disclosed browser provides a mechanism for a user to view information about a product referenced in the content of a web page that is being displayed, and purchase that product if desired, without having to navigate away from the web page. In disclosed embodiments, pertinent information and control elements to purchase the product are provided in a banner that is displayed adjacent the content of the web page, or in an overlay sheet that is displayed on top of the web page content. In both cases, the user can easily continue to view the content of the web page without having to navigate the browser to that page. Moreover, the mechanism for conducting the purchase transaction is separate and apart from the web page content, so the user can be comfortable that the privacy of information entered during the transaction remains secure.
It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosed user interface can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presently disclosed embodiments are considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalence thereof are intended to be embraced therein.
This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/492,879, filed Jun. 10, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8161370 | Nguyen | Apr 2012 | B2 |
| 9317878 | D'Auria et al. | Apr 2016 | B2 |
| 20030023754 | Eichstadt et al. | Jan 2003 | A1 |
| 20040181448 | Hartsman et al. | Sep 2004 | A1 |
| 20050119935 | Boss et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
| 20060053048 | Tandetnik | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20080004954 | Horvitz | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20080091549 | Chang et al. | Apr 2008 | A1 |
| 20090197582 | Lewis et al. | Aug 2009 | A1 |
| 20090254824 | Singh | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20100070529 | Gokturk et al. | Mar 2010 | A1 |
| 20100083191 | Marshall | Apr 2010 | A1 |
| 20110022468 | Muster et al. | Jan 2011 | A1 |
| 20110246296 | Howard et al. | Oct 2011 | A1 |
| 20120227035 | Obasanjo et al. | Sep 2012 | A1 |
| 20120246003 | Hart et al. | Sep 2012 | A1 |
| 20120284247 | Jiang et al. | Nov 2012 | A1 |
| 20120323732 | Rothman et al. | Dec 2012 | A1 |
| 20120323898 | Kumar et al. | Dec 2012 | A1 |
| 20130103498 | Wei | Apr 2013 | A1 |
| 20130166376 | Cohen et al. | Jun 2013 | A1 |
| 20130332318 | D'auria et al. | Dec 2013 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 104364783 | Feb 2015 | CN |
| 112013002870 | Mar 2015 | DE |
| 1020080060898 | Jul 2008 | KR |
| WO-2013188270 | Dec 2013 | WO |
| WO-2013188270 | Dec 2013 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Examiner Interview Summary dated Sep. 9, 2015”, 3 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Examiner Interview Summary dated Dec. 16, 2014”, 3 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Final Office Action dated Feb. 3, 2015”, 19 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Non Final Office Action dated Jun. 8, 2015”, 17 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Non Final Office Action dated Sep. 19, 2014”, 20 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Notice of Allowance dated Dec. 10, 2015”, 10 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Response dated May 4, 2015 to Final Office Action dated Feb. 3, 2015”, 13 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Response filed Aug. 27, 2014 to Restriction Requirement dated Jun. 27, 2014”, 9 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Response dated Nov. 9, 2015 to Non Final Office Action dated Jun. 8, 2015”, 13 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Response dated Dec. 19, 2014 to Non Final Office Action dated Sep. 19, 2014”, 15 pgs. |
| “U.S. Appl. No. 13/492,879, Restriction Requirement dated Jun. 27, 2014”, 7 pgs. |
| “International Application Serial No. PCT/US2013/044928, International Search Report dated Apr. 15, 2014”, 3 pgs. |
| “International Application Serial No. PCT/US2013/044928, Written Opinion dated Apr. 15, 2014”, 7 pgs. |
| Gary, Anthens, “Invasion of the Mobile Apps”, Communicaotin of the ACM. vol. 54. No. 9., (Sep. 2011). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160247208 A1 | Aug 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13492879 | Jun 2012 | US |
| Child | 15131215 | US |
