Abstract:
In one embodiment, a first message and a second message are sequentially displayed in the same presentation vehicle. Initially, the first message may be displayed in the presentation vehicle. The second message may replace the first message in the presentation vehicle if the presentation vehicle is about to be closed. Sequentially displaying two messages in the same presentation vehicle minimizes the number of presentation vehicles on a computer screen and provides at least two chances to attract an end-user&#39;s attention. It provides end-users with another alternative choice without taking up any more display space. When employed to display advertisements, for example, this provides more value to end-users and enables more advertisers to reach their target audience.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly but not exclusively to techniques for presenting messages to end-users in a computer network. 
     2. Description of the Background Art 
     Advertising serves the same purpose on the Internet as in radio and television. In radio and television, advertising allows listeners and viewers to have free access to programming. Similarly, on the Internet, advertising provides end-users free access to services and web sites. For example, a web site may display advertising along with web pages. Revenue from the advertising not only generates profits, but also pays for the maintenance of the web site. As another example, a software developer may provide free utility programs in return for the right to deliver advertising to end-users. In essence, revenue from the advertising helps defray the cost of developing and maintaining the utility programs. 
     On the Internet, an advertisement may be displayed in a variety of presentation vehicles. Examples of presentation vehicles include pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, web browser windows, and the like. Typically, a single presentation vehicle is employed to display a single advertisement. For example, one advertisement may be displayed in one pop-up, while another advertisement may be displayed in another pop-up. An end-user may click on an advertisement to learn more about the product being advertised. Clicking on an advertisement may result in the end-user being directed to a web site of the product advertiser. An end-user may also choose to close a presentation vehicle containing an advertisement if she is not interested in it. For example, an end-user may choose to close a pop-up by clicking on the pop-up&#39;s close button. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, a first message and a second message are sequentially displayed in the same presentation vehicle. Initially, the first message may be displayed in the presentation vehicle. The second message may replace the first message in the presentation vehicle if the presentation vehicle is about to be closed. Sequentially displaying two messages in the same presentation vehicle minimizes the number of presentation vehicles on a computer screen and provides at least two chances to attract an end-user&#39;s attention. It provides end-users with another alternative choice without taking up any more display space. When employed to display advertisements, for example, this provides more value to end-users and enables more advertisers to reach their target audience. 
     These and other features of the present invention will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the entirety of this disclosure, which includes the accompanying drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  schematically shows a computer network in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows a presentation vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 3(   a ),  3 ( b ), and  3 ( c ) show further details of the presentation vehicle of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  show search results in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  shows a method for presenting messages to an end-user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     The use of the same reference label in different drawings indicates the same or like components. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the present disclosure, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of apparatus, components, and methods to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details. In other instances, well-known details are not shown or described to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention. For example, the mechanics of monitoring an end-user&#39;s browsing activity, such as determining where an end-user is navigating to, what an end-user is typing on a web page, when an end-user clicks on a button, tracking a cursor on a computer screen, and the like, is, in general, known in the art and not further described here. 
     The invention is described in the context of advertisement delivery over the Internet. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not so limited and may be generally used in other applications where messages are displayed for viewing by end-users. Furthermore, it is to be noted that as used in the present disclosure, “advertising” or “advertisement” includes any type of message provided to end-users for the purpose of getting their attention on something. Typically but not necessarily, an advertisement is with regards to products, which may be goods or services. However, an advertisement may also be related to an election campaign, a cause (e.g., “save the planet”), an announcement, etc. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a schematic diagram of a computer network  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Network  100  may include one or more client computers  101 , one or more web server computers  102 , one or more message server computers  103 , and other computers not shown. Intermediate nodes such as gateways, routers, bridges, Internet service provider networks, public-switched telephone networks, proxy servers, firewalls, etc. are not shown for clarity. In the example of  FIG. 1 , network  100  includes the Internet; however, other types of computer networks may also be used. Computers may be coupled to network  100  using any type of connection without detracting from the merits of the present invention. 
     A client computer  101  may be a personal computer running the Microsoft Windows™ operating system, for example. An end-user may employ a suitably equipped client computer  101  to get on network  100  and access computers coupled thereto. For example, an end-user may employ a client computer  101  to access web pages from a web server computer  102 . It is to be noted that the term “computer” includes any type of information processing device including personal digital assistants, digital telephones, wireless terminals, etc. 
     A web server computer  102  may be a web site containing information designed to attract end-users surfing on the Internet. A web server computer  102  may include advertisements, downloadable computer programs, and products available for online purchase. A web server computer  102  may also be an ad server for delivering advertisements to a client computer  101 . 
     A message server computer  103  may include the functionalities of a web server computer  102 . Additionally, in one embodiment, a message server computer  103  may include messages and presentation vehicles for delivery to a client computer  101 . The messages may comprise advertisements, for example. A message server computer  103  may also include downloadable computer programs and files for supporting, updating, or maintaining components on a client computer  101 . An example message server computer is disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/152,204, entitled “Method And Apparatus For Displaying Messages In Computer Systems,” filed on May 21, 2002 by Scott G. Eagle, David L. Goulden, Anthony G. Martin, and Eugene A. Veteska, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It is to be noted that the present invention does not have to be employed with particular message servers. 
     Web server computers  102  and message server computers  103  are typically, but not necessarily, server computers such as those available from Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, International Business Machines, etc. A client computer  101  may communicate with a web server computer  102  or a message server computer  103  using client-server protocol. Client-server computing is well known in the art and will not be further described here. 
       FIG. 2  shows a presentation vehicle  200  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Presentation vehicle  200  may display messages received from a server computer, such as a web server computer  102 , a message server computer  103 , or an ad server. In the example of  FIG. 2 , presentation vehicle  200  is depicted as a pop-up window over a web browser  201  (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer™ web browser). In light of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that presentation vehicle  200  may also be a slider, a pop-under, or other types of closeable presentation vehicle. Presentation vehicle  200  may be displayed separately from web browser  201  as shown in  FIG. 2 , or displayed in web browser  201 . For example, presentation vehicle  200  may be part of a web page being displayed in web browser  201 . Also shown in  FIG. 2  is a cursor  203 , which may be a cursor of a pointing device (e.g., mouse, trackball, joystick). Web browser  201 , cursor  203 , and presentation vehicle  200  may be displayed on a computer screen of a client computer  101 . 
       FIGS. 3(   a ),  3 ( b ), and  3 ( c ) show further details of presentation vehicle  200  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, presentation vehicle  200  is implemented in computer-readable program code (i.e., in software) readable using Macromedia Flash Player 5 reader and later versions. Macromedia Flash Player reader is commercially available from Macromedia, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif. 
     In the example of  FIG. 3(   a ), presentation vehicle  200  is a window displaying a message  320 . In one embodiment, message  320  comprises an advertisement. Message  320  includes a forward button  314  that when clicked on will open another window (not shown) containing more information about the advertisement. In the example of  FIG. 3(   a ), clicking on forward button  314  will result in the end-user receiving another window containing more information about the loan offering being advertised. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3(   a ), presentation vehicle  200  may have a close button  312  and an information button  313 . Clicking on information button  313  may open another window displaying help information, for example. In one embodiment, clicking on close button  312  closes presentation vehicle  200 . For example, using a mouse to point cursor  203  over close button  312  as shown in  FIG. 3(   b ), and then clicking a button of the mouse will result in presentation vehicle  200  being closed. Presentation vehicle  200  is “closed” when it is removed from the computer screen, such as when it is minimized, removed from the display buffer of the client computer, or not viewable by the end-user. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, message  320  is replaced with another message when presentation vehicle  200  is about to be closed. For example, the advertisement currently displayed in presentation vehicle  200  may be replaced with another advertisement when the end-user performs an action that indicates a desire to close the presentation vehicle. This allows a single presentation vehicle  200  to sequentially present two advertisements, thereby minimizing the amount of presentation vehicles displayed on a computer screen and increasing the amount of advertisements displayed to the end-user. In addition, sequentially displaying two advertisements in the same window provides two chances to attract an end-user&#39;s attention. 
     In one embodiment, message  320  is replaced with another message when cursor  203  is over close button  312 .  FIG. 3(   c ) illustrates the replacement of message  320  (see  FIG. 3(   b )) with message  321  when cursor  203  is pointed over close button  312 . In  FIG. 3(   c ), presentation vehicle  200  is relabeled as “ 200 - 1 ” to indicate that message  321  has replaced message  320 . That is, presentation vehicle  200 - 1  is the same window as presentation vehicle  200  except for the new message. 
     In the example of  FIG. 3(   c ), message  321  comprises an advertisement related to that in message  320 . More specifically, messages  320  and  321  both comprise an advertisement for loans. In light of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that messages  320  and  321  may also comprise unrelated advertisements. For example, message  320  may comprise an advertisement for cars, while message  321  may comprise an advertisement for books. Message  321  may provide a back button  326  to allow the end-user to go back to message  320 . That is, clicking on back button  326  will redisplay message  320  in the presentation vehicle. Generally, depending on implementation, presentation vehicle  200  (i.e.,  200 ,  200 - 1 , . . . ) may include both forward and back buttons to allow an end-user to scroll through multiple messages, such as more than 2 advertisements. 
     Also in the example of  FIG. 3(   c ), message  321  provides a user interface for performing an Internet search. For example, entering the keywords “mortgage rates” and clicking on search button  324  may open another window containing search results for the aforementioned keywords. An example search results is shown in  FIG. 4  as search results  401  displayed in browser window  402 . Search results  401  comprise a listing of links to web sites relating to “mortgage rates.” Each of the links in search results  401  may be a paid advertisement, for example. 
     Search results  401  may be served by a search engine (not shown) over the Internet. The keywords “mortgage rates” may be passed to the search engine, which then performs a search using the keywords. The resulting search results may then be posted on a designated web page, where browser window  402  is pointed to. Note that generation of search results on the Internet, in general, is known in the art. Example techniques for generating search results are also described in commonly-assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/289,123, entitled “Responding To End-User Request For Information In A Computer Network,” filed on Nov. 5, 2002 by Eugene A. Veteska, David L. Goulden, and Anthony G. Martin, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     In the example of  FIG. 3(   c ), message  321  also provides the end-user an option to run a pre-configured search. A pre-configured search performs a search using a predetermined keyword not entered by the end-user. For example, clicking on link  322  may result in an Internet search for the keyword “loans.” An example pre-configured search results is shown in  FIG. 5  as search results  501  displayed in a browser window  502 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , there is shown a method  600  for presenting messages to an end-user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Method  600  may be implemented as computer-readable program code running in a client computer. For example, method  600 , may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a disk drive, and then loaded into memory for execution by a microprocessor. 
     Beginning in step  602 , a first message is displayed in a presentation vehicle. The first message may be an advertisement and the presentation vehicle may be a window, for example. The window displaying the first message may be a window separate from a browser window, or integrated with a web page displayed in a browser window. 
     In step  604 , an act by an end-user indicative of a desire to close the presentation vehicle is detected. Step  604  may be performed by detecting for the presence of a cursor over a close button, for example. 
     In step  606 , a second message is displayed in the presentation vehicle if the presentation vehicle is about to be closed. The second message may be an advertisement. The advertisement of the second message may or may not be related to that of the first message (e.g., advertisements for different products), and the advertisements may or may not be from the same company. As can be appreciated, displaying the second message in the same presentation vehicle used to display the first message minimizes the amount of advertising windows in a computer screen, and also provides a second chance to attract an end-user&#39;s attention. 
     While specific embodiments of the present invention have been provided, it is to be understood that these embodiments are for illustration purposes and not limiting. Many additional embodiments will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art reading this disclosure.