WO2008066331A1

WO2008066331A1 - The advertised method on browser using installed advertisement program on user browser

Info

Publication number: WO2008066331A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/006085
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seung Hoon Lee
Original assignee: Seung Hoon Lee
Priority date: 2006-11-30
Filing date: 2007-11-29
Publication date: 2008-06-05
Also published as: KR20080049534A

Abstract

The disclosure relates to an advertising method performed at an advertisement program installed in an Internet browser of a user system, for utilizing an error page attained at the browser. The user system receives an error page if an Internet service intended by an 'address input' typed in the address bar of the browser is missing, or errors such as broken link, or errors of a DNS or an actual corresponding service server occur. The disclosure relates to converting such error page attained at the user browser into an advertising page containing advertisement content and forwarding the advertising page instead of the error page instead of the error page, or to outputting the advertising page corresponding to the error page, instead of outputting the error page corresponding to the error code.

Description

THE ADVERTISED METHOD ON BROWSER USING INSTALLED ADVERTISEMENT PROGRAM ON USER

BROWSER

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an advertising method of a browser for utilizing an installed advertisement program upon attaining error information, and more particularly, to an advertising method of a browser for utilising an installed advertisement program to forward an advertising page, instead of an error page, upon attaining error information. Background Art

[2] A browser of a user system generally receives an error page, which is sent back when an 'address input' is typed in the address bar of a user system browser but the corresponding Internet service can not be accessed due to problems like errors in the Internet link, broken link, or errors in the DNS server or the service server. Most of the time, the error page is unfriendly to users. That is, most of users do not like to see such an error page, and also do not easily understand the reason for error from the error codes provided by the error page. The user's vexation usually increases as more error pages appear.

[3] In order to access necessary information and related websites, a user (or netizen) generally types a URL in the address bar, and starts searching to find the intended website. According to the development of Internet technology, users now can surf many related websites, simply by typing a name of the website or a search term in the address bar, instead of typing in a URL which is mostly provided in English.

[4] FIG. 1 illustrates the upper part of an Internet browser to explain the way of using the Internet browser, and FIG. 2 illustrates a page received when an error such as Internet link error is generated in the Internet browser of FIG. 1.

[5] Referring to FIG. 1, an Internet browser 10 provides an address bar 10w to input an

URL of an intended website.

[6] As explained above, a user types the URL of an intended web site in the address bar

10w to access the website.

[7] Alternatively, a user may go to a portal such as 'www.daum.net,'

'www.yahoo.com,' 'www.naver.com,' in which the user types a name or a related word of an intended website in the search window and clicks one of the items searched.

[8] The improved Internet service system also enables a user to just type an interested term in the address bar 10w of browser 10 and start searching to find the websites that are related to the input term.

[9] For example, if a user types 'flower delivery' directly in the address bar of the browser 10 instead of the search window of a portal, he can view various websites that are related to the words of 'flower delivery' and look for the best site that he can find.

[10] However, if a user types in incorrect URL or unreadable words that consist of a generally unrecognizable combination of letters and symbols, a website can not be found, and the Internet link has an error. In this case, a user receives an Internet link error page (error file) from the browser 10, stating 'Pages can not be found' as illustrated in FIG. 2.

[11] An error in the Internet link also causes the user to receive an error page, even when the user types in correct URL or the terms that are recognizable enough to enable search, if the typed URL is not registered, or is registered but the corresponding website or Internet service is missing.

[12] The Internet uses are widespread, and opening a website is now a must for operating a business. Economic and social activities have been moved from off-line to on-line world, and are even more active in on-line than off-line. This phenomenon will continue and further increase, mostly thanks to easy accessibility that the Internet provides.

[13] Considering the increase of on-line advertisement and sales promotion activities, it is more important to provide a method for utilizing an error generated in the Internet link and an error file according to the generated error. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[14] Aspects of the present invention provide an advertising method for utilizing an advertisement program installed in a browser in response to error information attained at the browser, according to which, when an error code is sent back to an Internet browser of a user system, an error page file corresponding to the error code contained in an operating system (OS) such as a Windows server is converted into an advertising page file containing advertisement content, but without changing the file name, so that when the error code reaches the user browser, the converted advertising page file is exhibited through the user browser and thus performing advertising.

[15] Another aspect of the present invention provides an advertising method for utilizing an advertisement program installed in a browser in response to error information attained at the browser, according to which, when an error page is sent back to an Internet browser of a user system, the error page is not exhibited but intercepted, so that an advertising page containing an advertisement content is exhibited through the user browser instead of the error page to thus perform advertising. Technical Solution

[16] According to aspects of the present invention, an advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser based on error information attained at the browser, is provided. The advertising method may include changing an error message file existing in a user computer to correspond to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser, so that the error message file includes predetermined advertisement content without changing a file name, measuring an exposure of the error message file containing the advertisement content through the user browser, and forwarding the exposure of each of the measured advertisement content to an advertising server, wherein the browser causes the advertisement content to be displayed, instead of an error message that corresponds to an error code being forwarded via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server or a Domain Name System (DNS) server.

[17] The advertising method may further include attaining, by the advertisement program installed at the browser, updated advertisement content from the advertising server.

[18] The measured exposure of each of the advertisement content may be recorded and aggregated upon every exposure, and the result of aggregating the exposure of each of the advertisement content may be forwarded to the advertising server according to a predetermined time unit.

[19] The advertisement content may further include a search window to input search terms.

[20] The advertisement content may further include information to indicate generation of an error.

[21] The advertisement content may further include link information linked to a virtual space on the web that provides advertisement information.

[22] The error code may include one or more of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes.

[23] According to another aspect of the present invention, an advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, is provided. The advertising method may include changing an error message file existing in a user computer to correspond to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser, so that the error message file includes predetermined advertisement content without changing a file name, attaining, by the browser, an error code forwarded via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server or a Domain Name System (DNS) server, and displaying, by the browser, the advertisement content, instead of an error message that corresponds to the error code forwarded via the ISP sever or the DNS server.

[24] According to another aspect of the present invention, an advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, is provided. The advertising method may include storing a file containing predetermined advertisement content, the predetermined advertisement content corresponding to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser, attaining, by the browser, the error code forwarded via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server 30b or a Domain Name System (DNS) server 30c, and displaying, by the browser, the file containing predetermined advertisement content, instead of an error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c.

[25] The displaying the advertisement content instead of the error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c may include blocking the error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c before being displayed through the browser, and displaying, by the browser, the advertisement content corresponding to the error code.

[26] According to another aspect of the present invention, an advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, is provided. The advertising method may include storing predetermined advertisement content corresponding to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser, attaining, by the browser, an error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server or a Domain Name System (DNS) server, and combining the stored advertisement content with the blocked error page.

[27] The combining of the advertisement content with the blocked error page may include attaining a code of the attained error page, and inserting a code that corresponds to the advertisement content to the code of the attained error page, and wherein the error page and the advertisement content are in the same Markup language.

[28] The advertising method may further include editing the code of the error page.

[29] The advertising method may include measuring an exposure of the error message file containing the advertisement content made through the user browser, and forwarding the measured exposure of each of the advertisement content to a predetermined advertising server.

[30] The advertising method may further include attaining, by the advertisement program installed at the browser, updated advertisement content from a predetermined advertising server. [31] The measured exposure of each of the advertisement content may be recorded and aggregated upon every exposure, and the result of aggregating the exposure of each of the advertisement content may be forwarded to the advertising server according to a predetermined time unit. [32] The advertisement content may further include a search window to input search terms. [33] The advertisement content may further include information to indicate generation of an error. [34] The advertisement content may further include link information linked to a virtual space on the web that provides advertisement information. [35] The error code may include one or more of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes.

Advantageous Effects

[36] By browing an error page, which is formed in a new format different from the

Internet link error pages browsed through the user browsers in a conventional Internet link, companies or individuals who are looking for a new advertising strategy on the

Internet are provided with a new concept of advertising method, and users having the

Internet link error are provided with immediate solutions.

Brief Description of the Drawings [37] FIG. 1 illustrates the top portion of an Internet explorer to explain the way of using an Internet browser; [38] FIG. 2 illustrates a page appearing when an error is generated in the Internet link of the Internet browser of FIG. 1 ; [39] FIG. 3 illustrates a user system and a server to provide the Internet service connected through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server and a domain name system (DNS) server; [40] FIG. 4 is a view to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; [41] FIG. 5 is a flowchart to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention; [42] FIG. 6 illustrates the advertisement content types exhibited through a user browser according to the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5; [43] FIG. 7 is a flowchart to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention; [44] FIG. 8 is a flowchart to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[45] FIG. 9 is a flowchart to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[46] FIG. 10 illustrates in greater detail the process of combining advertisement content with the error file according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9; and

[47] FIG. 11 illustrates the advertisement content types exhibited through the user browser according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9.

[48]

[49] [Reference numerals of the main elements of the drawings]

[50] 10: browser 10w: address bar

[51] 30a: user 30b: ISP server

[52] 30c: DNS server 30d: website server

[53] 35:advertising server

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[54] FIG. 3 illustrates a user system (client) and a server (website server) to provide the

Internet service connected through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server and a domain name system (DNS) server. FIG. 4 is a view to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[55] Referring to FIG. 3, as a user activates a browser 30a on a user system 310, types a web address in an address bar of the browser, and submits it, the process of linking a user system 310 to a website that corresponds to the typed 'address input,' is performed, mainly by the four stages of: a user browser 30a; an ISP server 30b; a DNS server 30d; and a corresponding website server 30d. The same process is performed when the user clicks on a link of an intended webpage.

[56] The ISP refers to a company or organization that provides or supplies the users with an access service to access the Internet, and the ISP server 30b provides such access service.

[57] The Domain Name System (DNS) or Domain Name Server (DNS) is a system to convert 32-bit or 128-bit IP addresses into domain names or vice versa, and the DNS server 30c performs such function.

[58] In the following description, the expression 'address input' refers to a term or any other form typed in the address bar of the user browser 30a. Therefore, the 'address input' may include a standardized URL, unstandardized or incorrect URL, or un- grammatical combination of letters or words. The expression 'address input' thus encompasses anything that is input by a user in the address bar of the user browser 30a.

[59] For example, if a user starts an Internet browser 30a such as Explorer or Netscape on his computer, types in 'address input' related to an intended website, and presses an enter key to submit it, the content of the 'address input' typed in the address bar is forwarded to the ISP server 30b at the back. Accordingly, the ISP server 30b searches the IP of the URL related to the 'address input' and connects to the website server 30d corresponding to the searched IP.

[60] The ISP server 30b forwards the URL to the DNS server 30c and the DNS server

30c searches an IP address that corresponds to the received URL. As a result, the IP address of the URL that corresponds to the 'address input' input through the browser of the user 30a is obtained, and the website server 30d that corresponds to the IP address is accessed.

[61] In the normal connection, signal to start the Internet service is transmitted from the website server 30d to the user browser 30a, so the user is able to start the Internet surfing.

[62] The present invention aims to perform advertising or to provide necessary information about the error, when the error is generated in the Internet link due to the failure of receiving an Internet service in response to the 'address input' typed in the user browser 30a. Therefore, the 'error' in the following description of the technical characteristics of the present invention refers to both when the Internet service regarding the 'address input' is not available and when the error occurs due to broken link.

[63] Mainly two types of errors are generated in response to an 'address input' typed in the address bar of the user browser 30a and these will be explained in detail below.

[64] I. Standardized domain or URL is typed in an address bar

[65] i. unregistered domain is included in the address input or URL, or

[66] ii. although domain is registered, the corresponding website or Internet service is missing, or

[67] iii. although domain is registered and provides an Internet service, the website corresponding to the domain name, address input, or URL can not provide the requested Internet service at the time the user requests the service, due to problems such as missing pages, operating failure of the website, or missing directory of the website.

[68] II. Non- standardized domain or URL is typed in an address bar

[69] i. non-standardized domain or incorrect domain is input, or

[70] ii. word or content that can not provide an Internet link is typed in.

[71] As explained above, an error is generated, if a corresponding domain name or

Internet service is not provided, or if a content that can not provide an Internet service is typed in the user browser 30a.

[72] Types and description of the error codes may be tabulated as follows, and even if the types and description of the error codes are extended, one will understand that such extended versions also correspond to the error codes intended for by the present invention and thus included in the error pages provided by the present invention according to the error codes.

[73] [74] Table 1

[75] [76] The examples of the Internet link error in each of the stages explained above with reference to FIG. 3 include: when the ISP server 30b fails to find a URL that corresponds to the 'address input'; and when the DNS server 30c attempts an access to the searched IP address but unable to locate the Internet service. When this error is occurred, a notification of the Internet link error is forwarded towards the user browser 30a in a left- ward direction of FIG. 3.

[77] Although not mentioned above, any other error that causes the failure of the Internet link applies as an Internet link error intended for by the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[78] Link error information is forwarded to the user browser 30a in the direction indicated by dotted arrows when an Internet link error is occurred. Such link error information is closely interrelated with the physical operating characteristics of the user computer version.

[79] In the implementation of the present invention, the user browser 30a plays the main role of performing advertising according to the Internet link error, with the help of an advertising server of the advertiser.

[80] As mentioned above with reference to FIG. 3, forwarding the link error information to the user browser 30a in the direction indicated by dotted arrows in response to an Internet link error, is closely interrelated with the physical operating characteristics of the user computer version. In other words, whether the user computer has a physical server version installed, or private version installed, is important. For example, as explained above, although Microsoft Windows OS have been developed since Windows 95 to Windows XP, their physical operation is defined by the server version and private version.

[81] However, one has to note that the fact that the user computer has a physical server version installed therein does not determine the user computer to be a server or client. That is, if a certain computer is providing a certain type of service and is considered to be a service provider, the certain computer is a 'server,' while the computer is a 'client,' if it is using a provided service ? although it is desirable that a corresponding computer has a physical 'server' version installed to operate as a 'server.' Therefore, the term such as 'server' or 'client' is completely a different concept from a physical version installed in the user computer.

[82] The conventional process of browsing an error file on the user browser 30a in response to the generation of an Internet link error is explained below with reference to the above explanation. If a user computer is in a physical server version, and the user browser 30a attains error information in response to an 'address input' submitted through the address bar of the browser 30a, the user computer in a physical server version, possessing in its system error files (error page files) in Markup language related to the Internet link errors, causes an OS of the user server version to browse one of its error page files that corresponds to an error code received at the user browser 30a. In this case, the error page file can be replaced by an advertising page file with the same file name so that the replacement advertising page file that corresponds to the error code is exhibited to the user.

[83] Contrarily, unlike the physical server version, the user computer in physical private version does not have error files in its system to deal with the error information attained at the user browser 30a in response to an 'address input' submitted through the address bar of the browser 30a, or in response to a link error. Accordingly, the user browser receives an error page from the ISP server 30b in the same Markup language as the link error, and browses the received page thereon, which is different from the page browsed in the server version. Although very rare, such error page file may be forwarded when the user computer is in server version.

[84] A variety of programs, such as Active-X, Plug-in, JAVA, may be installed in the user browser 30a to connect between the user systems or the websites related with the general application programs.

[85] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the user browser

30a is connected to the Internet, and in particular, connected remotely to the advertising server 35 of the advertiser regularly or irregularly to exchange information. In this circumstance, the user browser 30a plays the main role in performing advertising in response to an Internet link error.

[86] First embodiment

[87] FIG. 5 is a flowchart to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information including one of HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 500 error codes, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates the advertisement content types exhibited through a user browser according to the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5.

[88] The process of performing advertising based on the advertisement program installed in the browser in response to the error information attained at the browser will be explained below. Specifically, the process of the advertisement program installed in the user's computer for performing advertising will be explained.

[89] According to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first stage (PAl) is performed, in which the content of an error message file, existing in the user computer and corresponding to one or more error code generated during an Internet use through the Internet browser, is converted into predetermined advertisement content, without changing the file name.

[90] The advertising method utilizing error information attained at the browser according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention starts as the user turns on the computer, connects to the Internet, and activates the user browser 30a. Accordingly, in operation S 102, the advertisement program previously installed in the user browser 30a is activated and in operation S 104, the user browser 30a is connected to the advertising server 35 of the advertiser.

[91] According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in operation

S 106, the user browser 30a detects an (Internet link) error to determine whether or not the browser attains the error information, if the user browser 30a receives an error code from the server, such as the ISP server 30b, formed in back of the browser 30a. The operation S 106 of detecting an error is performed to start advertising according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when an Internet link error is generated and the error information is attained at the browser while the user is surfing the Internet.

[92] The user browser 30a attempts connection to a corresponding website, when the user submits an 'address input' through the address bar of the browser 30a. The ISP server 30b, formed in back of the user browser 30a, receives the 'address input' and searches a corresponding URL. The ISP server 30b inquires the DNS server 30c at the back based on the searched URL to obtain a corresponding IP address, and thus starts connection to the site of the searched URL.

[93] The 'error' is considered to be generated if no corresponding URL is found for the

'address input,' causing the failure of the intended Internet service. However, even if the corresponding URL exists, the present invention considers it as an error if the situation corresponds to the error generation conditions such as the failure of the intended Internet service. Accordingly, as explained above, an 'error' is generated from the site server 30d of the Internet site corresponding to the 'address input,' and the generated error is forwarded to the user browser 30a through the DNS server 30c and/or ISP server 30b,. The above process of forwarding an error applies equally to the case of broken link.

[94] The advertisement program installed in the browser 30a is preparing advertising according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. That is, the advertisement program may receive from the advertising server 35 the advertising pages corresponding to the errors to display through the user browser 30a, or may replace the errors with error files. In this process, as the user browser 30a activates for the first time the advertisement program downloaded from the advertising server 35 of the advertiser, the user browser 30a performs information exchange with the advertising server 35 regularly or irregularly, if the user computer is connected to the Internet and the advertising server 35 of the advertiser.

[95] In operation S 108, that is, after operation S 106, the advertising server 35 of the advertiser, remotely connected to the user browser 30a, charges a plurality of sponsors for a predetermined fee agreed under contract, wherein the sponsors are those who intend to display their advertisements by including the predetermined advertisement contents if the error information is attained at the browser. The advertising server 35 generates the advertisement for the error file to be displayed on the user browsers 30a based on the substance or display period of the advertisement, and databases the generated advertisement content.

[96] The first stage (PAl) may additionally include the step in which the advertisement program installed in the user browsers 30a attain updated advertisement content from the advertising server 35 of the advertiser, if the advertisement program receives a signal that indicates that the advertising server 35 of the advertiser has the updated advertisement contents.

[97] In operation Sl 10, that is, after operation S 108, as the user browsers 30a are activated and connected to the advertising server 35 via the Internet, the advertisement program of the user systems exchange information with the advertising server 35 regularly or irregularly, to forward newly generated advertisement contents to the user computers. With this process, the advertising server 35 assists advertising through the user browsers 30a, when the error related to one of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes is generated.

[98] In operation S 112, the advertisement program of the users change the existing error message files in the user systems to include not only the previously existing advertisement content, but also the updated advertisement information, or newly generated, or modified advertisement contents received from the advertising server 35 of the advertiser. This enables the advertisement contents, forwarded from the advertising server 35 of the advertiser, to be displayed on the user browsers 30a according to predetermined advertising plans, when the browser attains error information.

[99] The advertising method according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention relates to one of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes. The advertisement contents (that is, error message file incorporating the advertisement contents) may be generated to individually correspond to each of the error codes, or to share the same advertisement content. The advertisement content may also be generated independently, that is, irrespective of the error codes, considering that the advertisement is generated based on the sponsorship, and that most of users do not care about the types of error codes. However, the advertisement contents may be generated to correspond to each of the error codes, for a relatively smaller number of experts who consider error codes as important information. The advertising page may additionally include information about the error codes (such as description), and/or information about the generation of the error. This equally applies to the second and third exemplary embodiments which will be explained below.

[100] In operation Sl 14, the user browser 30a, upon starting a general Internet surfing, determines whether or not an error code is attained according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[101] After the first stage (PAl), the second stage (P A2) is performed to measure the exposure of an error message file including advertisement content through the user browser 30a.

[102] In the second stage (P A2), the advertisement program first carries out operation

Sl 16 so that the error files including advertisement contents, which are modified and stored in the user computer, are brought to the user browser 30a and displayed, and autonomously recorded and stored.

[103] In operation Sl 18, it is measured how much the error page containing advertisement content is exposed to each user. That is, the user system autonomously records therein the information such as the error codes, advertisement content, and the period of time in which the exposure is activated, regarding the exposed error page. The records are then forwarded to the advertising server 35 of the advertiser according to a predetermined time unit set by the advertisement program, or upon completion of the exposure of the error file containing advertisement content. This will be explained below.

[104] Referring to FIG. 6, the error file containing advertisement content is forwarded by the advertising server 35 of the advertiser to the user system, based on the Internet link error. The error file containing advertisement content may additionally include a search window to input search terms as illustrated in FIG. 6A. This configuration allows the initial user to check the accuracy of the 'address input' typed in the address bar of the user browser 30a, and if incorrect, to re-type in a new term or corrected term and submit it. The advertisement content may be combined with this as illustrated in FIG. 6A.

[105] FIG. 6B shows another example in which the error page shows the notification about the generation of an error, combined with the advertisement content alone.

[106] FIG. 6C illustrates yet another example in which the error page shows the notification about the generation of an error, combined with a link-type advertisement content.

[107] Of course, the error file, newly formed to include the advertisement content, may also be configured to include the intermediate text browsed in the conventional general error file as illustrated in FIG. 2, but as explained above, it is also possible that the advertisement content alone is displayed, by overlapping the conventional error text.

[108] The third stage (PA3) is performed after the second stage (PA2), in which the result of measuring the exposure of the advertisement content is forwarded to the advertising server.

[109] In the third stage (PA3), operation S 120 is first carried out to check and determine whether or not the error file exposed through the user browser 30a is in activated state. If yes, operation S 120 keeps the checking process, that is, without making particular changes to the process performed so far, until the error file is determined to be in deactivated state.

[110] In operation S 122, the information obtained about the exposure of the error file until the deactivation is forwarded to the advertising server 35 of the external advertiser, if the checking process finally determines that the exposure of the error file has ended, so that the following processes are performed, including the process in which the advertising server 35 of the advertiser performs accounting based on the information about the exposure.

[I l l] The first exemplary embodiment has been explained so far, from the view of the advertisement program installed in the user computer, regarding the advertising process activated based on the error information attained in the browser. Since the advertising server 35 of the advertiser can create an advertisement to be incorporated into the error file according to the external sponsoring companies, process the advertising, and autonomously database the operation status of the advertising, the advertising server 35 can provide the effective advertisement as expected by the sponsoring companies (or sponsoring person).

[112] Second embodiment

[113] FIG. 7 is a flowchart to explain advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information including one of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[114] The advertising method according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained below, which will be substantially in line with the first exemplary embodiment, but is somewhat distinct from the first exemplary embodiment since the second exemplary embodiment is explained from the view of the user browser 30a.

[115] The first stage (PB 1) according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention corresponds to operations S 102 to Sl 12 of the first exemplary embodiment, in that the content of an error message file (or error file), existing in the user computer and corresponding to one or more error code generated during an Internet use through the Internet browser, is converted into predetermined advertisement content, without changing the file name.

[116] After the first stage (PB 1), the user browsers 30a carry out the second stage (PB2) to attain error codes forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c. [117] As explained above, the user browser 30a plays the main role in the second exemplary embodiment. Therefore, in operation S214 of the second stage (PB2), the user browser 30a checks if an error code is forwarded from the servers at the back, such as ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c, and attains the error code as it is sent back to the user browsers 30a.

[118] The process that the user browsers 30a attain the error information at the browsers will not be explained, since this has already been explained in the first exemplary embodiment with respect to operation Sl 14.

[119] After the second stage (PB2), the third stage (PB3) is carried out. Accordingly, in operation S216, the error page (or error file) containing advertisement content modified in operation S212 is exposed, so that the user browsers 30a display the advertisement content instead of the error message according to the error code sent back through the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c.

[120] Necessary processes then follow, such as measuring the exposing time of the advertisement content and forwarding the measured result to the advertising server 35 of the advertiser for accounting according to each user IP. However, since these are separate processes from the user browsers 30a, reference is made to the explanation provided above with respect to the first exemplary embodiment, and so will not be explained for the sake of brevity.

[121] Third embodiment

[122] FIG. 8 is a flowchart to explain an advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information including one of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[123] The third embodiment relates to advertising when a user computer is installed with a private (client) OS. If the user computer is private OS, the user computer does not have error page files to correspond to the error codes. Therefore, the error page to browse the error is forwarded from the DNS server 30c connected via the Internet, or from the corresponding Internet site server 30de.

[124] In other words, the third exemplary embodiment is distinct from other embodiments using the user browsers 30a having server version of OS and the user systems having error pages, and thus will be explained below mainly focusing on such differences. Mainly two methods are employed to convert the error page into an advertising page containing advertisement content, or into an error page containing advertisement content. The first method is to block the exposure of the returning error page, replace the error page with the error page containing advertisement content, and expose the replaced error page containing advertisement content to the user. The second method is to block the exposure of the returning error page, modify the returning error page to include advertisement content, and expose the error page containing modified advertisement content. The advertisement content is of course forwarded from the advertising server 35, and the advertisement program installed in the browser performs the processes such as blocking of exposure, replacing of error page, or modification of the error page content.

[125] First, according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first stage (PCl) is performed to store a file which contains predetermined advertisement content to correspond to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through the Internet browser.

[126] The first stage (PCl) includes operations S302 to 308, which are in line with operations S 102 to S 108 of the first exemplary embodiment, and operations S202 to S208 of the second exemplary embodiment.

[127] Unlike the first and second exemplary embodiments, the third exemplary embodiment focuses on the operations carried out by the advertising server 35 of the advertiser, that is, to generate error files in Markup language to contain advertisement contents and to forward the error files to the user browsers 30a to expose them. Therefore, the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes operation S310, performed after operation S308, in which the advertising server 35 of the advertiser generates error files to correspond to the error codes.

[128] After operation S310, operation S312 is carried out, in which the users activate the browsers 30a, connect to the advertising server 35 through the Internet, and receive error files containing newly generated advertisement content or the advertisement content to the user computers, through the interoperation between the advertisement program installed in the user systems and the advertising server 35. The above process is carried out so that when the browsers attain error information, the advertising is carried out through the user browsers 30a as planned. The advertising server 35 of the advertiser may store the newly generated error files, but it is also possible that the user systems may do so.

[129] After the first stage (PCl), the second stage (PC2) is carried out, in which the user browsers 30a attain error pages sent back through the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c.

[130] Accordingly, as explained above, in operation S314, the user browsers 30a check if an error page is sent back from the servers at the back, such as the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c, and if determining the generation of the error page, attain the error page returning to the user browsers 30a.

[131] The generation of the Internet link error based on the 'address input' submitted through the user browsers 30a has been explained above in the first and second exemplary embodiments, and thus will not be explained below for the sake of brevity. [132] After the second stage (PC2), the third stage (PC3) is performed, in which the user browsers 30a display an advertising file containing advertisement content, instead of an error page corresponding to the error code, which is forwarded through the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c.

[133] Since the error page is forwarded from the servers such as ISP server 30b or DNS server 30c at the back of the browser 30a, operation S316 is first carried out to block the original error page forwarded from the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c.

[134] Next, in operation S318, the error page (or error file) containing the advertisement content forwarded in operation S312 is exposed.

[135] Necessary processes then follow, such as measuring the exposing time of the advertisement content and forwarding the measured result to the advertising server 35 of the advertiser for accounting according to user IPs. However, since these are separate processes from the main feature of this exemplary embodiment, reference is made to the relevant explanation provided above with respect to the first or second exemplary embodiment, and so will not be explained for the sake of brevity.

[136] Fourth embodiment

[137] FIG. 9 is a flowchart to explain advertising performed at a browser in response to the attained error information, by utilizing an advertisement program installed in the browser, according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[138] The fourth exemplary embodiment focuses on an advertising method, according to which advertisement content is combined with a general conventional error page in Markup language forwarded from the servers such as ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c formed at the back of the user browser 30a, and browsed on a corresponding user browser 30a. The advertisement content may include necessary advertising images or text form of link tags.

[139] According to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first stage (PDl) is performed by storing predetermined advertisement content to correspond to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through the Internet browser.

[140] The first stage (PDl) includes operations S402 to 410, which are in line with operations S 102 to Sl 10 of the first exemplary embodiment, and operations S202 to S210 of the second exemplary embodiment.

[141] Unlike the preceding exemplary embodiments, the fourth exemplary embodiment focuses on combining advertisement content, forwarded from the advertising server 35 of the advertiser, with a general conventional error page forwarded from the servers such as ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c formed at the back of the user browser 30a, and browsing on a corresponding user browser 30a. Therefore, the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes operation S412, performed after operation S410, to store the advertisement content forwarded from the advertising server 35 of the advertiser to a predetermined location of the user computer.

[142] [116] After the first stage (PDl), the second stage (PD2) is performed so that the user browsers 30a attain error pages forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c. .

[143] Accordingly, as explained above, in operation S414, the user browsers 30a check if an error page is sent back from the servers at the back, such as the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c, and if determining the generation of the error page, attain the error page returning to the user browsers 30a.

[144] The process of attaining error codes and error pages based on the error information attained at the user browsers 30a has been explained above in the preceding exemplary embodiments, and thus will not be explained below for the sake of brevity.

[145] After the second stage (PD2), the third stage (PD3) is performed so that in operation

S416, the error pages attained in operation S414 are blocked before being disposed through the user browsers 30a.

[146] The fourth stage (PD4) then follows, in which advertisement content stored in the user system in operation S412 are combined with the error pages stored in the user system.

[147] According to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the following operations for accounting may additionally be provide.

[148] After the fourth stage (PD4), the fifth stage (PD5) may additionally be provided, to measure the exposure of the error page containing advertisement content through the user browser 30a.

[149] In the fifth stage (PD5), operation S418 is carried out, so that the error files including advertisement contents are brought to the user browser 30a and displayed, and autonomously recorded and stored.

[150] In operation S422, it is measured how much the error page containing advertisement content is exposed to each user. That is, the user system autonomously records therein the information such as the error codes, advertisement content, and the period of time in which the exposure is activated, regarding the exposed error page. The records are then forwarded to the advertising server 35 of the advertiser according to a predetermined time unit set by the advertisement program, or upon completion of the exposure of the error file containing advertisement content. This will be explained below.

[151] The sixth stage (PD6) may also be additionally provided, to forward the measured result of the content exposure to the advertising server after completion of the fifth stage (PD5).

[152] In operation S424, it is checked to determine whether the error file exposed through the user browser 30a is in activated state. If determining that the error file is in activated stage, the checking continues, without making particular changes to the processes performed so far, until determining the deactivation of the error file.

[153] In operation S426, the information obtained about the exposure of the error file until the deactivation is forwarded to the advertising server 35 of the external advertiser, if the checking process finally determines that the exposure of the error file has ended.

[154] Accordingly, the following processes follow, including the process in which the advertising server 35 of the advertiser performs accounting based on the information about the exposure.

[155] FIG. 10 illustrates in greater detail the process of combining advertisement content with the error file according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9.

[156] Operation S418 explained above, which is carried out to combine advertisement content with the attained error file according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present, may additionally include operation S4182 to attain codes that construct the attained error page. In operation S4184, the codes, such as 'html,' that correspond to those of the attained error page may be inserted. That is, operations S4182 and S4184 are carried out to form the error file and the advertisement content in the same Markup language.

[157] Operations S4182 and S4184 may also additionally include operation S418a (not illustrated) to edit the codes of the error page.

[158] Furthermore, regarding operation S412 in which a variety of advertisement content, such as advertising images or link tags to be combined with the general conventional error page, is received from the remote advertising server 35 of the advertiser and stored in a predetermined location, additional stage (PDs, not illustrated) may be carried out if the predetermined advertising server 35 of the advertiser has updated advertisement content, in which the advertisement program installed in the user browser 30a attains the updated advertisement content.

[159] FIG. 11 illustrates the advertisement content types exhibited through the user browser according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of FIG. 9.

[160] As illustrated in the result of advertising performed through the user browser 30a according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the advertisement content intended by the present invention appears on the right-hand side of the general conventional error page, and in such an error page, the original content may not be displayed. Therefore, one will understand that the drawings of FIG. 11 show only some of the examples in which the content of the error page is displayed. Similar to FIG. 6, FIG. 1 IA illustrates the format that additionally includes a search window to type in search terms (the advertisement content may be combined), FIG. 1 IB illustrates the format that includes the notification of an error combined with the advertisement content, and FIG. 11C illustrates the format that includes the text type link information, or the link type of advertisement content in image form, linked to the virtual space on the web. Alternatively, various forms of advertisement content may be included for advertising.

Claims

[1] An advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, the advertising method comprising: changing an error message file existing in a user computer to correspond to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser, so that the error message file includes predetermined advertisement content without changing a file name; measuring an exposure of the error message file containing the advertisement content through the user browser; and forwarding the exposure of each of the measured advertisement content to an advertising server, wherein the browser causes the advertisement content to be displayed, instead of an error message that corresponds to an error code being forwarded via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server or a Domain Name System (DNS) server.

[2] The advertising method of claim 1, further comprising attaining, by the advertisement program installed at the browser, updated advertisement content from the advertising server.

[3] The advertising method of claim 1, wherein the measured exposure of each of the advertisement content is recorded and aggregated upon every exposure, and the result of aggregating the exposure of each of the advertisement content is forwarded to the advertising server according to a predetermined time unit.

[4] The advertising method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement content further comprises a search window to input search terms.

[5] The advertising method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement content further comprises information to indicate generation of an error.

[6] The advertising method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement content further comprises link information linked to a virtual space on the web that provides advertisement information.

[7] The advertising method of claim 1, wherein the error code comprises one or more of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes.

[8] An advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, the advertising method comprising: changing an error message file existing in a user computer to correspond to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser, so that the error message file includes predetermined advertisement content without changing a file name; attaining, by the browser, an error code forwarded via an Internet Service

Provider (ISP) server or a Domain Name System (DNS) server; and displaying, by the browser, the advertisement content, instead of an error message that corresponds to the error code forwarded via the ISP sever or the

DNS server.

[9] An advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, the advertising method comprising: storing a file containing predetermined advertisement content, the predetermined advertisement content corresponding to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser; attaining, by the browser, the error code forwarded via an Internet Service

Provider (ISP) server 30b or a Domain Name System (DNS) server 30c; and displaying, by the browser, the file containing predetermined advertisement content, instead of an error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c.

[10] The advertising method of claim 9, wherein the displaying the advertisement content instead of the error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c comprises: blocking the error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via the ISP server 30b or the DNS server 30c before being displayed through the browser; and displaying, by the browser, the advertisement content corresponding to the error code.

[11] An advertising method by an advertisement program installed at a browser, based on error information attained at the browser, the advertising method comprising: storing predetermined advertisement content corresponding to one or more error code generated during the use of the Internet through an Internet browser; attaining, by the browser, an error page corresponding to the error code forwarded via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) server or a Domain Name

System (DNS) server; and combining the stored advertisement content with the blocked error page.

[12] The advertising method of claim 11, wherein the combining of the advertisement content with the blocked error page comprises: attaining a code of the attained error page; and inserting a code that corresponds to the advertisement content to the code of the attained error page, and wherein the error page and the advertisement content are in the same Markup language.

[13] The advertising method of claim 12, further comprising editing the code of the error page.

[14] The advertising method of claim 11, comprising: measuring an exposure of the error message file containing the advertisement content made through the user browser; and forwarding the measured exposure of each of the advertisement content to a predetermined advertising server.

[15] The advertising method of claim 11, further comprising attaining, by the advertisement program installed at the browser, updated advertisement content from a predetermined advertising server.

[16] The advertising method of claim 14, wherein the measured exposure of each of the advertisement content is recorded and aggregated upon every exposure, and the result of aggregating the exposure of each of the advertisement content is forwarded to the advertising server according to a predetermined time unit.

[17] The advertising method of claim 11, wherein the advertisement content further comprises a search window to input search terms.

[18] The advertising method of claim 11, wherein the advertisement content further comprises information to indicate generation of an error.

[19] The advertising method of claim 11, wherein the advertisement content further comprises link information linked to a virtual space on the web that provides advertisement information.

[20] The advertising method of claim 11, wherein the error code comprises one or more of the HTTP 401 to 412 and 500 to 505 error codes.