Patent ID: 7921039

Claim:
A processor implemented method for operating a client computing device to allow a user to interact with network sites over a network interface, the method comprising: initiating via a processor operation of browser software on said client computing device; retrieving from said client computing device a set of stored preference information including a system generated ranking of preferred ones of said plurality of network sites; automatically configuring said browser software using the retrieved set of preference information stored at said client computing device, said preference information including the ranking of preferred ones of said plurality of network sites, said ranking previously established based on characteristic information stored at said client computing device and automatically measured based on previous network activity of said user; operating said browser software to interact with a plurality of network sites; detecting at said client computing device interactions with said plurality of network sites; updating said characteristic information stored at said client computing device based on said detected interactions, said characteristic information including information identifying the duration and frequency of visits to each of said plurality of network sites; and updating said ranking of preferred ones of said plurality of network sites based on said updated characteristic information to automatically reconfigure user preferences indicated by said browser software.