Intermediary Redirection Service for Personalized Web Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users are often forced to use web services chosen by content creators, rather than their preferred services, when accessing services through other websites, leading to a lack of personalization in service usage.
Innovation Solution
A redirection service that allows users to specify their preferred service providers for different types of services, such as mapping, weather, and search, by translating abstract requests into specific service provider formats and remembering user choices for future use, while respecting user privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If web sites link to specific service providers chosen by content creators, then the service provider selection is simplified for content creators, but users cannot access their preferred services
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a redirection service as an intermediary between web sites and service providers. The redirection service receives abstract service requests from web sites, identifies the user's preferred service provider through cookies or other recognition mechanisms, and redirects the request to the appropriate provider. This resolves the contradiction by allowing content creators to link to a neutral redirection service while enabling users to access their preferred services through the intermediary.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the redirection service asks users to choose a service provider each time, then the service can adapt to user preferences, but the user experience becomes repetitive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having users select their preferred service providers once, and then storing these preferences in cookies on the user's machine. The redirection service recognizes returning users through these cookies and automatically directs them to their previously selected service providers without requiring re-selection. This eliminates repetitive service selection while maintaining preference adaptation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback through cookies to remember user preferences across multiple interactions. The redirection service reads the cookie data to identify the user and retrieve their stored service provider preferences, creating a feedback loop that personalizes the service experience without requiring repeated user input.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the redirection service translates abstract requests to specific service formats, then compatibility with different service providers is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The redirection service acts as an intermediary that handles the complexity of request translation. It receives abstract service requests from web sites, translates them into the specific formats required by different service providers, and manages the compatibility requirements centrally. This concentrates the translation complexity in one component rather than requiring each web site to handle multiple service formats.
Solution Approach 2:
The redirection service provides universal functionality by supporting multiple service providers and request formats through a single interface. It maintains a mapping between abstract service requests and provider-specific implementations, allowing one redirection service to handle compatibility with numerous different service providers without requiring separate translation logic for each.
Data Source
AI summary
A redirection service may be used to direct a user's request to specific providers of various types of services. When a user requests a web service (e.g., mapping, search, bookmarks, weather reports, etc.), the request is received by a redirection service. The redirection service identifies a provider of the service, and issues a redirect instruction to the user's browser that redirects the browser to the identified service provider. The service provider may be determined by user selection, by default, or by any other mechanism. In one example, the user's request for a service comes by selecting a link included in a web page. In another example, a user issues a direct request for the service in the form of a command. The command may be entered, in one example, through a browser or desktop search box.