WO2000042536A1

WO2000042536A1 - A method of conducting business

Info

Publication number: WO2000042536A1
Application number: PCT/AU2000/000016
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Roger Collins
Original assignee: Webmatchit Interactive Marketing Limited
Priority date: 1999-01-13
Filing date: 2000-01-13
Publication date: 2000-07-20

Abstract

A method of conducting business to provide a subsidised internet connection to a user is disclosed. The method involves establishing that a link exists between the user and a participating internet service provider (ISP). A program is installed and executed by the user after the link is established and a window is displayed on a display visible to the user. The window remains active and has priority at all times whilst the program is active and periodically displays in the window a selected banner advertisement in return for which the internet connection to the user is subsidised.

Description

A METHOD OF CONDUCTING BUSINESS This invention relates to a method of conducting business. In particular, the invention concerns a method of conducting business to users with internet access via a participating Internet Service Provider. Presently to obtain an internet connection a fee must be paid to an internet service provider (ISP). In return for that fee the user secures connection access to the internet via a node to which the ISP has his equipment connected. For that fee the connection is available for a predetermined time period and sometimes additional charges are incurred for bandwidth over a predetermined limit. Sometimes no bandwidth limit exists and the fee paid for the connection may consist just of a flat connection fee or may consist of that flat fee for a predetermined number of hours of connection to the internet with an hourly fee for connection over and above the predetermined number of hours. One known method for providing free internet connection involved providing a connection which periodically displayed a full screen advertisement to the user. The advertisement was displayed for a predetermined time period and whilst the advertisement was being displayed all internet functions were lost and only the advertisement could be seen. Internet functionality resumed once the advertisement was no longer being displayed. The owner of the advertisement paid a fee for having his advertisement displayed in this manner. The internet service provider secured either all of or some of that fee and in return made the connection to the internet available gratis for the user on the proviso that the user accepts periodic display of advertising. One difficulty with this method of providing free internet connection to the user, was that internet connectivity was unavailable while the advertisement was being displayed. In addition time outs often occurred and the connection to the node via the ISP was lost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of conducting business to subsidise internet connection to a user through a participating ISP which minimises the disadvantages referred to above. According to one aspect the invention provides a method of conducting business for subsidising users' internet connection through a participating internet service provider (ISP), the method including the steps of:

(a) establishing that a link exists between the user and the participating (ISP) ;

(b) installing and executing a program after the link is established;

(c) displaying a window on a display visible to the user, the window retaining priority at all times whilst the program is active and the program once executed by the user subsidising the link between the user and the internet; and

(d) periodically displaying in the window a selected banner advertisement from a set of such banner advertisements.

The extent to which the internet connection is subsidised may vary between a partial subsidisation of costs for the internet connection to a total subsidation of the connection.

The predetermined time before the program is executed may be such that if the program is not executed before the expiry of that time, the connection to the internet is lost. The program when executed within the predetermined time period may establish a link between the computer of the user and the internet. The link may preferably be established employing TCP/IP or any other suitable protocol. The predetermined time period may be any suitable length of time but preferably is about 120 seconds.

It is preferred that the program is executed within a predetermined time period after the link has been established. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The display of the advertisement may be discontinued after a predetermined period of time.

The connection to the internet, in return for having advertisements displayed to the user, may be free or may be provided at a reduced cost. The program may simply be run once installed or the user may be required to accept and acknowledge the program in order to be provided with avail of the subsidised connection to the internet. The link to the ISP provider is established employing dial up networking or any other suitable protocol.

The window opened on the display when the program is executed remains active and open until the program is closed by the user. The window is always "on top" of or superimposed over other material displayed on the user's display and occupies a minor part of the viewable area of the display and thus connectivity is not lost. The window may be arranged to always remain in one set location on the display or the program may function to cause the window to be displayed in a constantly varying or different position on the screen. The positioning of the window and its movement about the display may be random, pseudo random or follow a predetermined pattern of movement. The user may determine the positioning of the window by clicking and dragging it to the desired position on the screen.

The advertising banner appears in the window. A series of advertising banners may be available for display to the user and the banners may be coded in any desired manner to denote advertising content or other attributes of the banner. The banners from the series may be displayed randomly or be selectively displayed according to a profile established for the user.

The program, once executed, stays open and in contact with an advertising server. The advertising server has the series of advertising banners in storage and may determine a schedule of when the banners are to be shown, may store URL information identifying sites visited by the user and may store classification information. The program may open a link to a user profiles database on the advertising server. A unique code is assigned to the user and is stored in the database along with profile information such as user access times, length of time on line and advertising banners accessed by the user by clicking on the banner with a pointing device such as a mouse or the like.

The program may first evaluate integrity of program cache files and by checking the date/time and size of the advertising banner in the cache with date/time and size of the banner on the advertising server or database on that server and a CRC check may be carried out to establish that the cached banner is intact. The program may read this information from a banner advertisement code database. Any improper or illegal files may be removed. The program then registers a request with the database for a suitable banner to be displayed for the user. An encoded key signal may also be sent and the program validates a return code when it receives a reply. The banner displayed to the user may be displayed for a predetermined time period within the window established by the program. Typically, the banner is displayed for 30 seconds although it may be displayed for more or less than 30 seconds. During this display time, the program may request a subsequent banner code from the database. If the required banner is already stored in cache its integrity is checked with information from the advertisement banner database and is displayed when required. If the banner is not in cache or was not intact the requested banner will be downloaded by background file transfer protocol from the advertisement database. If the requested banner is unavailable for whatever reason, a charity or ISP identifying information banner stored on the user's equipment will be displayed instead.

If a displayed banner is "clicked" by a user, a default web browser is used to open a web page associated with that banner. The user profile database will be updated to identify the user's interest in the particular classification of that advertising banner.

After the user initially connects to the internet, the user profile database is given the unique code for the user and the 120 second count down starts. If the program is not executed in time the program sends a signal to the communication port on the user's computer. Information on how long it takes each user to access the user profile database is logged and details sent to the ISP concerned. The program provides both advertising and interface security. The advertisers provide revenue to pay for the provision of this Method of Conducting Business in return for accepting advertising banners.

The method of the invention may be used to conduct surveys. For example, questions may be displayed in the banner displayed to the user and which require a response from the user. The response may be stored and processed. The attached figures provide flow charts useful in understanding how the method of the invention and the program employed by the method function. These flow charts are given by way of example only.

Flowchart 1 shows the display banner process, Flowchart 2 shows the process for providing free internet connection, Flowchart 3 shows the process for database access and Flowchart 4 shows details of a monitor program.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of conducting business for subsidising users' internet connection through a participating internet service provider (ISP) the method of including the steps of: (a) establishing that a link exists between the user and the participating ISP;

(b) installing and executing a program after the link is established;

(c) displaying a window on a display visible to the user, the window retaining priority at all times whilst the program is active and the program once executed by the user subsidising the link between the user and the internet; and,

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the extent to which the internet connection is subsidised is between a partial subsidisation to a total subsidation.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the program is executed within a predetermined time period after the link has been established.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predetermined period is about 120 seconds.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the window remains at a predetermined position on the display.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the window is displayed in a constantly varying position on the display.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the window is displayed in a randomly or pseudo randomly different varying position on the display.

8. The method of anyone of claims 1 to 7, wherein the banner is selected from the series banners stored on a server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the banner is randomly selected from the series or is selected according to a user profile established for the user.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the banner is coded to denote advertising content or a particulate attribute of the banner.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the user profile is established by identifying URL sites visited by the user or by logging details of banners accessed by the user.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the program performs an integrity check of cache files with banners maintained on the server.

13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the banner is displayed in the window for a predetermined time period.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the banner is displayed for about 30 seconds.