Ad Hoc IMAP Object Injection for Bandwidth and Storage Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IMAP servers lack a mechanism to efficiently insert additional information into email lists beyond sending it as emails, making advertising and alerts difficult to manage and track due to spam filters and logging challenges.
Innovation Solution
The method involves injecting IMAP objects into IMAP folders without storing them physically, using a single location for each object and inserting a pointer into user mailboxes, allowing for efficient distribution and logging of user interactions, with flags like 'seen' and 'deleted' being managed by the server to mimic regular emails.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If additional information is sent as emails to IMAP server, then advertising and alert distribution is possible, but network bandwidth and storage consumption increases and spam filters interfere
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a pointer (copy reference) to the IMAP object stored in a single location and inserts this pointer into multiple user mailboxes. This allows the same content to be accessed by multiple users without duplicating the actual data, thereby reducing network bandwidth and storage consumption while maintaining content distribution capability
Solution Approach 2:
The IMAP object stored in one location serves multiple users simultaneously through the pointer mechanism. A single IMAP object can be referenced by numerous mailboxes across different users, making the storage system universal and eliminating the need for separate email transmissions to each recipient
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional information is sent as emails to IMAP server, then advertising and alert distribution is possible, but storage consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of storing duplicate copies of advertising or alert content in each user's mailbox, the system stores a single IMAP object and creates lightweight pointer references. This dramatically reduces storage consumption while maintaining the ability to distribute content to multiple users
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the content storage function with the mailbox system by storing IMAP objects in a centralized location that is accessible to multiple mailboxes. This consolidation eliminates redundant storage across multiple mailboxes while preserving content distribution functionality
3Productivity
If advertising emails are sent to recipients, then content distribution is achieved, but tracking user interactions becomes difficult due to spam filters and deletion issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms by monitoring IMAP flag changes (such as READ, DELETED, ANSWERED flags) on the injected IMAP objects. When users interact with the content, the flag changes are detected and logged, providing actionable feedback on user behavior without relying on email delivery status
Solution Approach 2:
The system preliminarily sets up tracking infrastructure by injecting IMAP objects with known identifiers and monitoring capabilities before user interaction occurs. This allows for automatic detection and logging of user actions such as reading or deleting content, ensuring interaction data is captured regardless of spam filter interference
Data Source
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AI summary
Some embodiments include a method to inject ad-hoc IMAP objects into results of IMAP commands. These IMAP objects may appear in the inbox or in any other IMAP user folder of a user on any IMAP capable device, and may feel like an Email to the user, although the IMAP objects were never sent over an SMTP server or protocol. Information5 that is stored in these IMAP objects can include advertising, promotions, service alerts or any other content. When a MAIL client requests a list of emails for an IMAP user folder from the IMAP server, the IMAP server will ad-hoc inject IMAP objects into the result list. The rules that define which objects are to be injected and in which schedule and to which target persons and the position of them in the result list may depend on object-10 and/or user-profiles and other targeting parameters.