User identification in the header of data packets

Abstract

Several ways of identifying users and collecting demographic information and market information are disclosed, including branding a browser with a unique identification in each user request, identifying a user by his key strokes or mouse clicks, gathering demographic information using multiple data sets and by monitoring network traffic. Additionally, user requested content is distinguished from other, non-user content, and the performance of a server can be monitor and analyzed from a client a client perspective. Further, an Internet user's Internet data is routed to a known domain on the Internet, from which it is routed on to the intended recipient. The domain includes proxy servers which proxy the user's data requests to the domain, and database servers, which filter and build a database of the user's Internet usage. Particular data concerning certain behaviors of interest, such as purchasing data, is filtered into the database, and can form the basis for numerous market measures.

Description

[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 358,391, filed Feb. 5, 2003, now allowed, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 532,890 filed on Mar. 22, 2000, and U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60 / 355,785, filed on Feb. 12, 2002, and 60 / 353,993, filed on Feb. 5, 2002, the entirety of each being herein incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1) Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to systems and methods useful in identifying a computer user and the user's demographic and other user specific information from his or her activities on the computer, particularly from the user's activities on a network, as well as differentiating between user requested data and automatically generated data.[0004]2) Brief Description of the Related Art[0005]Knowing the actual identity of a computer user can be invaluable for many reasons. As explained herein below, when a user accesses the Internet,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent describes a method for collecting data about a user's usage over a network, such as transactions and address information. The data is sent to a known domain and assigned a unique identifier. The method also includes recording at least some of the data and sending it back onto the network. Additionally, the patent describes a method for identifying a user based on their keystroke dynamics or monitoring for keywords in a user demographic dictionary. Finally, the patent also discusses how user requested content can be distinguished from automatically generated or server-side directed content."

Problems solved by technology

Even when user identification information is provided in a communication, such as when using AOL and CompuServe, this information is generally limited to a user's e-mail address or a user name, rather than an actual name or user's identity.

However, this limited information is not available and does not often provide enough useful information about the user, particularly when the user may have multiple accounts each with their own distinct user-defined profile, for instance.

It is particularly disadvantageous when trying to derive user demographic information for market research.

A problem common to general protocols for performing consumer-oriented market research is collating consumers' activities and spending habits to the consumers' demographic profiles.

However, for Internet-activity monitoring, the process of asking the user to provide this information is cumbersome.

A challenge for each of server-side, client side and intermediary server-side systems is to collect and relate data about the consumer, such as age, income level, marital status, and other demographic, economic, and personal information to the user's activities, which would allow the data to be compared with consumer databases from other sources, without noticeably affecting the user's experience.

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