WO2008075883A1

WO2008075883A1 - Advertisement method by the proxy server and advertisement system operating the advertisement method

Info

Publication number: WO2008075883A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/006640
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jin Yong Joo; Sung Wook Choi; Eung Zin Kim
Original assignee: Internet Channel21 Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-12-18
Filing date: 2007-12-18
Publication date: 2008-06-26
Also published as: KR20090000036A

Abstract

An advertising system using a proxy server for relaying communication between a web server and a plurality of user terminals is disclosed. A script analysis module determines the elements of the Internet connection window by analyzing the script information of an Internet connection window transmitted from the web server. An advertisement DataBase (DB) stores the script information of respective advertisements so that one or more advertisements can be inserted into the Internet connection window. A cookie DB stores the script information of the Internet connection window. When the Internet connection window is transmitted to one o the user terminals, an advertisement replacement module replaces the specific areas of the script information of the Internet connection window with the script information of one or more advertisements found in the advertisement DB, or inserts the script information of the advertisement found in the advertisement DB into the corresponding areas.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]

ADVERTISEMENT METHOD BY THE PROXY SERVER AND ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEM OPERATING THE ADVERTISEMENT METHOD

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a method of posting advertisements using a proxy server which can place one or more new advertisements in place of one or more existing advertisements on a web page or a task window and then output the new advertisements onto a user terminal, and an advertising system for performing the method.

[Background Art]

A web page is an online space on which various types of information and advertisements are posted. A web server for operating/managing a website for the web page edits/controls the information and advertisements, and constructs a single independent website.

A user accesses websites using his or her terminal via communication means provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), and the websites are viewed in the form of web pages.

As shown in FIG. 3(a), a general web page 100 is viewed via a web browser 10 including a menu bar 11 and an address bar 12. The web page 10 includes first and second menu selection bars 110 and 160 manipulated by a user who has accessed the homepage of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (www.kipo.go.kr) to acquire necessary information, an image 120 utilized as means for expressing the atmosphere of the corresponding web page to the user, first and second advertisements 130 and 140 configured to provide various types of advertisements, and first and second guide areas 151 and 152 configured to roughly guide a user through the outlines or names of information provided by the corresponding web page 100.

Of course, even though not all of the above-described elements of the web page LOO are included, the web page 100 may include the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and the image 120, which are not requested by the user, in addition to the first and second menu selection bars 11 and 160 and the first and second guide areas 151 and 152, which are requested by the user.

However, some areas of the web page 100, such as the first and second advertisements 130 and 140, have no relationship with information provided by the corresponding web page 100, and merely correspond to advertisements posted by the company that manages the corresponding web page 100 for the purpose of making profits. Therefore, the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 are collectively included in the web page 100, and the web server transmits the web page including the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 to the user terminal when the user attempts to access the web page 100. Accordingly, advertisements, provided via the web page 100, are uniformly transmitted/output from the web server regardless of the local characteristics of a terminal, onto which the web page 100 will be output, and the age or gender of a user who has attempted to access the web page 100.

In consequence, since all users who have accessed the same web page 100 receive the same advertisements, that is, the first and second advertisements 130 and 140, a problem occurs in that advertising efficiency is low.

Meanwhile, in terrestrial broadcasting and various types of cable broadcasting, all types of high-quality content are provided for free on the condition that advertisements should be viewed. However, although high-speed ISPs have invested tens of trillions of won and provide an environment capable of supplying various types of Internet content, the ISPs often lose money. In contrast, a small number of operators of large-sized portal sites get enormous business profits. That is, new business items capable of securing benefits for high-speed ISPs are demanded.

[Disclosure] [Technical Problem] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of posting advertisements using a proxy server which can post different advertisements depending on the local characteristics of terminals onto which a web page will be output and depending on information about users who have accessed the web page, rather than a web page uniformly transmitted from a web server and output onto all terminals in the same way, and an advertising system for performing the method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of posting advertisements using a proxy server which can create advertisement media by posting advertisements on the task window of a program, installed in a user terminal (for example, a local Personal Computer (PC)) and operated in the state of being connected to the Internet, or on the task window of web version application software (Hangul or MicroSoft (MS) Office), provided for free based on advertisements, and an advertising system for performing the method.

[Technical Solution]

In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides an advertising system using a proxy server for relaying communication between a web server and a plurality of user terminals, wherein the proxy server includes a script analysis module for determining the elements of the Internet connection window by analyzing the script information of an Internet connection window transmitted from the web server, an advertisement DataBase (DB) for storing the script information of respective advertisements, having various types, formats, and sizes so that one or more advertisements can be inserted into the Internet connection window, a cookie DB for storing the script information of the Internet connection window provided by the web server, and an advertisement replacement module for, when the Internet connection window is transmitted to one of the user terminals, replacing the specific areas of the script information of the Internet connection window, transmitted from the web server or the cookie DB and analyzed by the script analysis module, with the script information of the one or more advertisements found in the advertisement DB, or inserting the script information of the advertisement found in the advertisement DB into the corresponding areas.

In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a method of posting advertisements using a proxy server, including an Internet connection window transmitting step of a web server transmitting an Internet connection window corresponding to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) entered in a web browser; a script checking step of a proxy server checking the script information of the received Internet connection window, and checking information about locations and sizes of one or more portions of the Internet connection window to which one or more new advertisements will be applied; an advertisement DB searching step of searching for advertisements corresponding to the information checked at the script checking step! a script replacing step of replacing the specific areas of the script information of a web page with the script information of found advertisements, or inserting the script information of the found advertisement into the corresponding areas; and an Internet connection window outputting step of outputting the Internet connection window, modified at the script replacing step, onto a user terminals.

[Advantageous Effects]

According to the present invention, when a user outputs an arbitrary web page or the task window of one of various types of programs, used in the state of being connected to the Internet, through a user terminal, the information of the web page or task window is changed while passing through a proxy server, with the result that the new information replaces the original information, so that the new information is included when the web page transmitted from a web server or the task window of the program is finally output through the user terminal, thereby preventing the advertisement efficiency from being lowered due to uniformity and maximizing the efficiency through strategic advertisement marketing.

Further, although terrestrial broadcasting and various types of cable broadcasting provide many types of high-quality content for free on the condition that advertisements should be viewed, high-speed ISPs continue to lose money even though the high-speed ISPs have invested tens of trillions of won and provided an environment capable of supplying various types of Internet content. In this situation, if high-speed ISPs can perform advertising like the broadcasting service providers, there are advantages in that the market of advertisements can expand, and Internet users can use an Internet network for free or at a low price.

Further, in the present invention, a proxy server relays communication between a web server and user terminals, so that illegal clicking can be prevented by checking data flow between the web server and the user terminals .

[Description of Drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an advertising system for performing a method of posting advertisements according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of performing the method of posting advertisements according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows images which show web pages to which the method of posting advertisements according to the present invention is applied. [Mode for Invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an advertising system for performing a method of posting advertisements according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of performing the method of posting advertisements according to the present invention in steps. The following description will be given with reference to this drawing.

An advertising system according to the present invention includes a proxy server 30 for communicating with a web server 50 over the Internet, and the proxy server 30 is connected to one or more user terminals 21, 22, and 23.

As is widely known, the proxy server 30 is a server that functions as an intermediary between the user terminals 21, 22, and 23 and the Internet, thereby providing security, administrative control, and caching (cookie) service. A proxy server is associated with or part of a gateway server which separates the enterprise network from the outside network, and a firewall server which protects the enterprise network from outside intrusion.

However, when the proxy server 30 receives a request for Internet service, such as a web page transmission request, from a user, the proxy server 30 checks whether a previously downloaded web page exists in its own cookie DB 32. If the web page is found, the Internet is not newly searched for the web page requested by the user, but the web page stored in the cookie DB 32 is transmitted to the user terminal 21, 22, or 23. However, if the web page requested by the user does not exist in the cookie DB 32, the proxy server 30, acting on behalf of the user, transmits a request for the web page from the server outside the Internet using one of its own Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. When the requested web page is returned, the proxy server 30 transmits the information of the corresponding web page to the user terminal 21, 22, or 23 of the user, that is, an original demander. Of course, the proxy server 30 is invisible to the user, and all Internet demands and responses appear to be directly performed with the corresponding web server 50. However, the proxy server 30 is not completely invisible to the user, and the IP address of the proxy server 30 is specified when a browser is set up.

In the advertising system according to the present invention, the proxy server 30, including the cookie DB 34, further includes a script analysis module 31, an advertisement DB 32, and an advertisement replacement module 33.

The method of posting advertisements using the proxy server 30 according to the present invention will be described.

For reference, the advertising system and the advertising method according to the present invention may be applied not to only web pages via a web browser but also to the task window of a program, such as a media player, used in the state of being connected to the Internet, and to the task window of web version application software (for example, Hangul or MS office), provided for free based on advertisements. Here, the media player includes applications for executing various types of moving pictures and sound source files and applications such as messaging applications.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below based on the insertion of advertisements or the replacement of advertisements on a web page. However, as long as a window is output through a terminal, that is, a local PC, in the state of being connected to the Internet, the technical spirit of the present invention applies to the task windows of various types of media players, which are operated in a state of being connected to the Internet and to the task windows of the web version application software as well as web pages output via a web browser.

SlO; Web page transmitting step

A user accesses the Internet using a user terminal 21, 22, or 23, inputs a specific Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and accesses a web server 50, thereby accessing a corresponding web page.

The web server 50 transmits data relevant to the web page to a user terminal 21, 22, or 23. Here, the data relevant to the web page is transmitted to a proxy server 30. Of course, although the data relevant to the web page can be directly transmitted to the user terminal 21, 22, or 23 without passing through the proxy server 30, the advertising system according to the present invention must be provided with the proxy server 30, which is an intermediation device. A description of this will be given in detail below.

Meanwhile, in the case of the above-described media player or web version application software, access to the corresponding web server may be attempted by calling a predetermined IP for execution. If the media player or web version application software is executed without the direct input of a user, an IP call operation, such as URL transmission, is performed by the media player or web version application software. Thereafter, a corresponding task window is transmitted to the user terminal 21, 22, or 23.

For reference, in the embodiment of the present invention, the advertising method of the present invention has been described by naming a web page as a window, output onto the user terminal 21, 22, or 23 in the state of being connected to the Internet. However, the advertising system and advertising method according to the present invention are not limited to web pages, as described above, and the present invention may be applied to a task window, output when a media player or web version of application software is executed. Therefore, the complete technical spirit of the present invention is claimed as the scope of the patent rights of the present invention, with the previously described 'web page' is renamed by an Internet connection window' in the claims of the present invention.

S20; Script checking step

The script analysis module 31 analyzes a script that construct the web page by checking data relevant to the web page, transmitted from the web server 50.

A script is a program or sequence of instructions that is interpreted or carried out by another program. Some languages have been conceived expressly as script languages. Among the most popular are Perl, JavaScript, REstructured extended eXecutor (REXX), used on International Business Machines (IBM) mainframes, and TcI/Tk. In the context of the World Wide Web, script languages, such as Perl and JavaScript, are often used to provide input forms or other services for a website, and are processed on the web server 50.

A JavaScript script included in a web page runs on a web browser, that is, a c1 ient side.

In general, script languages are easier and faster to code in than the more structured compiled languages, such as C and C++, and thus they are the most suitable for writing programs that can be reused by connecting to programs that have limited capabilities, or existing compiled programs. However, scripts take longer to run than compiled programs because each instruction first requires preprocessing by another program, rather than being directly handled by the basic instruction processor.

As described above, a script relevant to a web page includes various types of text, images, and linked URL information, viewed in the web page, and the script analysis module 31 can check the text, images, and linked URL information in the web page by checking the script of the corresponding web page.

FIG. 3 is an image showing a web page to which the method of posting advertisements according to the present invention is applied. The following description will be given with reference to this drawing.

Here, the script analysis module 31 checks a first menu selection bar 110, a second menu selection bar 160, an image 120, a first advertisement 130, a second advertisement 140, a first guide area 151, and a second guide area 152, which construct the web page 100, thereby determining the respective locations and occupied areas thereof in the web page 100. Meanwhile, in the case of a task window, which is open when the above- described media player or web version application software is executed, the format of the task window is predetermined. Therefore, when the proxy server 30 recognizes an IP call signal, called by the media player or web version application software so as to attempt Internet connection, the proxy server 30 checks the type of corresponding media player or web version application software and detects the format of the corresponding task window.

S30; Advertisement DB searching step

The advertisement replacement module 33 determines the information of first and second advertisements 130 and 140 checked by the script analysis module 31, and searches for replacement advertisements corresponding to the informat ion.

That is, the advertisement DB 32 stores advertisements having various types of content and advertisements having the same content but having different sizes, and searches for advertisements having sizes respectively corresponding to the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 of the corresponding web page 100 based on analysis by the script analysis module 31.

Meanwhile, reference for a search for advertisements may be user information rather than the sizes of the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 of the web page 100.

For example, a user terminal 21, 22, or 23 which has accessed the web page 100 is checked, and the user thereof is detected. Thereafter, the advertisement DB 32 is searched for an advertisement related to an educational institute or examination in the case in which the user is a student, an advertisement related to stocks or finances in the case in which the user thereof is an adult, or an advertisement related to health in the case in which the user thereof is an old person, and then the advertisement is output. Here, the detection of a user is performed by checking the holder of an IP in the case in which the user terminal has a fixed IP, or checking a subscriber who logged in to a website in the case of a specific website.

When the advertisement replacement module 33 searches the advertisement DB 32, areas to be replaced with new advertisements in the web page 100 are not limited to the first and second advertisements 130 and 140. That is, the advertisement replacement module 33 can search the advertisement DB 32 for new advertisements that will replace the first menu selection bar 110, the second menu selection bar 160, the image 120, the first guide area 151, and the second guide area 152 in addition to the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 through the designation of a user or through the modification of the search target of the advertisement replacement module 33 by a service provider.

Meanwhile, since it is demanded that the advertisement DB 32 should be updated with new advertisements, the advertisement server 40, controlled by the service provider, can update the advertisement DB 32.

Thereafter, the advertisement replacement module 33 writes the scripts of new advertisements, found in the advertisement DB 32, over the scripts of the first and second advertisements 130 and 140, which occupy the corresponding areas (first and second advertisements, but the present invention is not limited thereto) of the web page 100, thereby replacing the first and second advertisements. Of course, in the case where the scripts of the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 in the web page 100 are not eliminated, new advertisements can overlap the location of the first and second advertisements by utilizing a scripting language such as ActionScript .

The application of ActionScript can be realized through the following steps.

First, the elements of the web page are determined at the script checking step at step S30, and locations at which advertisements will overlap are determined, and corresponding parameters are sent to the advertisement DB 32 in a query, with the result that the Flash information of advertisements suitable for the corresponding locations at which advertisements will overlap is provided. Here, in the case in which two or more new advertisements should be provided on the corresponding web page 100, the Flash information outputs new advertisements, each having a Flash format, by naturally overlapping the web page 100. In general, in the case in which Flash, separated from the web page, is output, the Flash forms an html layer which is independent from the web page, and the layer may be closed when required by the user.

S50; Web page outputting step

The information of the web page 100, updated through the above- described steps, is transmitted to the user terminal 21, 22, or 23. The user terminal 21, 22, or 23, which received the information, outputs an updated web page 100' via the web browser 10.

With reference to FIG. 3(b), the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and the image 120, which existed on the original web page 100, are visually replaced with first to third advertisements, and thus the web page 100' having new features is output. Here, the fact that the first to third advertisements visually replace the existing first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and the image 120 means that the web page 100' is newly updated by eliminating the scripts of the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and image 120 existing on the original web page 100 or by writing the scripts of new advertisements, found in the advertisement DB 32, over the scripts of the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and the image 120, or means that new advertisements can visually replace the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and the image 120 through the overlap method even if the scripts of the first and second advertisements 130 and 140 and the image 120 are not replaced with the scripts of the new advertisements, as described above.

Meanwhile, the proxy server 30 according to the present invention stores web pages using cookie information. Therefore, when the user terminal 21, 22, or 23 requests a web page and the information of the web page is transmitted from the web server 50, the information of the web page is stored in the cookie DB 34. Accordingly, the script analysis module 31 determines areas corresponding to the elements of a web page by analyzing the script information of the web page stored in the cookie DB 34, and the advertisement replacement module 33 searches the advertisement DB 32 for new advertisements that will replace the predetermined areas of the original web page, replaces the predetermined areas with the new advertisements. Thereafter, the information of the updated web page is stored in the cookie DB 34. When a request for a web page transmission from the user terminal 21, 22, or 23 is checked, the information of the updated web page is transmitted to the corresponding user terminal 21, 22, or 23.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim 1]

An advertising system using a proxy server for relaying communication between a web server and a plurality of user terminals, wherein the proxy server comprises a script analysis module for determining elements of the Internet connection window by analyzing script information of an Internet connection window transmitted from the web server, an advertisement DataBase (DB) for storing script information of respective advertisements, having various types, formats, and sizes so that one or more advertisements can be inserted into the Internet connection window, a cookie DB for storing the script information of the Internet connection window provided by the web server, and an advertisement replacement module for, when the Internet connection window is transmitted to one of the user terminals, replacing specific areas of the script information of the Internet connection window, transmitted from the web server or the cookie DB and analyzed by the script analysis module, with script information of the one or more advertisements found in the advertisement DB, or inserting the script information of the advertisement found in the advertisement DB into the corresponding areas.

[Claim 2]

The advertising system according to claim 1, wherein the cookie DB stores the script information of the Internet connection window, modified through the advertisement replacement module,

[Claim 3]

A method of posting advertisements using a proxy server, comprising: an Internet connection window transmitting step of a web server transmitting an Internet connection window corresponding to a Uniform

Resource Locator (URL) entered in a web browser; a script checking step of a proxy server checking script information of the received Internet connection window, and checking information about locations and sizes of one or more portions of the Internet connection window to which one or more new advertisements will be applied; an advertisement DB searching step of searching for advertisements corresponding to the information checked at the script checking step! a script replacing step of replacing specific areas of script information of a web page with script information of found advertisements, or inserting the script information of the found advertisement into the corresponding areas; and an Internet connection window outputting step of outputting the Internet connection window, modified at the script replacing step, onto a user terminal .

[Claim 4]

The method according to claim 3, wherein: the advertisement DB searching step comprises searching for one or more advertisements having relevant similar or identical sizes based on information about locations and sizes of one or more selected from among one or more advertisements, menu bars, and empty areas of the Internet connection window, which belongs to the script information of the Internet connection window checked at the script checking step; and the script replacing step comprises replacing locations of the corresponding existing advertisements, menu bars or empty areas of the Internet connection window with the script information of the advertisements found at the advertisement DB searching step, or inserting the script information of the found advertisements into the corresponding locations of the Internet connection window.

[Claim 5]

The method according to claim 4, wherein the Internet connection window outputting step comprises outputting the advertisements in Flash form because the script information of the advertisements is written in ActionScript .