Patent ID: 7461120

Claim:
A method of identifying a visitor at a network site comprising: receiving, at a website server, a network address of a visitor server computer and a first characteristic of a requesting visitor computer from the visitor server computer over a first network, wherein the visitor server computer is communicatively coupled to the requesting visitor computer over a second network and wherein the first characteristic of the requesting visitor computer is obtained, by the visitor server computer, from a header portion of a request for information sent from the requesting visitor computer to the visitor server computer over the second network; determining, at the website server, if a second characteristic of the requesting visitor computer is needed from the visitor server computer; requesting, by the website server, additional information regarding the second characteristic of the requesting visitor computer, wherein said requesting additional information comprises sending, by the website server, a request for the second characteristic of the requesting visitor computer to the visitor server computer over the first network; receiving, at the website server, the additional information regarding the second characteristic of the requesting visitor computer from the visitor server computer over the first network, wherein the second characteristic is obtained, by the visitor server computer, from the header portion of the request sent from the requesting visitor computer to the visitor server computer over the second network; and generating, at the website server, a first visitor identifier using the network address provided by the visitor server computer, the first characteristic of the requesting visitor computer and the second characteristic of the requesting visitor computer.