Resource Usage Reduction via Incentives

Conservation of a utility resource is incentivized by a method in which a utility customer records utility meter readings with a smart phone and submits the readings to a server for processing. The server processes the meter readings and awards the customer with credit awards contingent upon customer compliance with behavior that is being incentivized by the system, e.g., reduced resource use during peak hours, resource use below a target level set by the server, resource use below a goal set by the customer, frequent and accurate resource meter submissions, or verification of resource submissions of other customers. Cumulative awarded credits may be redeemed by a customer in exchange for participation in a micro-raffle or other game of chance. Preferably, a consumer awarded more credits has a greater chance of winning a prize, and a greater chance of winning a larger prize, than a user awarded fewer credits. 1. A method for incentivizing efficient use of a utility resource , the method comprising:recording by a user device a current utility meter reading;sending from the user device to a server the recorded current utility meter reading;awarding by the server to the user a credit award if the recorded current utility meter reading indicates that the user engaged in desired energy use behavior;redeeming by the server the credit award for user participation in a micro-raffle.2. The method of wherein the user device is a smart meter.3. The method of wherein the user device is a portable smartphone.4. The method of further comprising processing by the server an image of the current utility meter reading to recognize a digital value representing a meter reading.5. The method of further comprising comparing the recognized digital value with a digital value submitted by the user.6. The method of further comprising:displaying by the user device a utility meter avatar while the user is taking a meter reading.7. The method of further comprising:registering by the server a ...

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE DISPLAY OF ADVERTISEMENTS

Methods and systems that allow a user (e.g., an Internet distribution partner of an advertisement listings provider, etc.) to selectively adjust the display of advertisements through an online interface. For example, an embodiment of the present invention allows users (e.g., publishers, account managers, etc.) to adjust the targeting of content advertisements on individual URLs, domains, properties, etc. Users can manually replace advertisements or apply various filters used to generate advertisements.

Columnar storage representations of records

A computer system accesses a collection of data records. Each record in the collection includes a plurality of data values and a plurality of data elements that identify semantics of corresponding data values from the plurality of data values. One or more of the data records each include multiple instances of a same data element and include data values that correspond to the multiple instances of the same data element. The computer system generates a collection of columnar stripes. The collection of columnar stripes includes the data values from each data record in the collection of data records. Each columnar stripe in the collection of columnar stripes includes all data values that correspond to a specific data element from each of the records in the collection of records.

Web Crawler Scheduler that Utilizes Sitemaps from Websites

Systems and methods for scheduling documents for crawling are disclosed. In some implementations, a method includes obtaining sitemap information for a plurality of websites; and analyzing the sitemap information to identify a website, in the plurality of websites. The website has sitemap information that is at least potentially out of date. The method also includes updating the sitemap information for the identified website by downloading updated sitemap information for the identified website; and scheduling documents for crawling in accordance with the updated sitemap information for the identified website.

Serving advertisements based on content

Advertisers are permitted to put targeted ads on page on the web (or some other document of any media type). The present invention may do so by (i) obtaining content that includes available spots for ads, (ii) determining ads relevant to content, and/or (iii) combining content with ads determined to be relevant to the content.

MOBILE SITEMAPS

A method of analyzing documents or relationships between documents includes receiving a notification of an available metadata document containing information about one or more network-accessible documents, obtaining a document format indicator associated with the metadata document, selecting a document crawler using the document format indicator, and crawling at least some of the network-accessible documents using the selected document crawler. 1. (canceled)2. A computer implemented method , comprising:accessing a mapping document that represents an organization of related network-accessible documents within a website, at least some of the network-accessible documents whose organization is represented by the mapping document being mobile content;receiving an indication that at least some of the network-accessible documents whose organization is represented by the mapping document are mobile content;selecting, based on the indication that at least some of the network-accessible documents whose organization is represented by the mapping document are mobile content, a mobile content crawling mode to crawl the network-accessible documents of the website that are mobile content;crawling the website based on the mapping document to obtain information from the network-accessible documents, wherein the network-accessible documents that are mobile content are crawled in the mobile content crawling mode;adding the information from at least some of the network-accessible documents to a search engine index;receiving a search request from a mobile device; andtransmitting search results to the mobile device, the search results responsive to the search request and identified at least in part using information in the search engine index.3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the mapping document comprises a list of document identifiers.4. (canceled)5. (canceled)6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving a notification that the mapping document is available claim 2 , ...

PROVIDING INSTANT ROUTING OPTIONS

Routing options are provided to a user automatically and in real-time as the user pans over an interactive map. In operation, to provide the routing options in real-time, a map server receives a selection of a focal point overlaid on an interactive map displayed to a user. The location of the focal point relative to the display of the interactive map remains static such that, as the user pans the map, the location of the focal point remains the same but the corresponding location represented by the map changes. As the panning interaction is ongoing, the map server determines the new location corresponding to the focal point and determines routing options from an origin location to the new location. The determined routing options may be displayed to the user. 1. A computer-implemented method for providing routing options to a user in real-time , the method comprising:determining that a stack of geographic maps is visible in a user interface provided on a device, the stack of geographic maps including an interactive map that is in focus on the user interface and at least one collapsed map that is out of focus on the user interface; identifying an origin location and a plurality of endpoint locations associated with the map; and', 'simultaneously computing a set of routing options based on the origin location and a corresponding endpoint location, each of the routing options specifying a different series of steps needed to travel from the origin location to the corresponding endpoint location; and, 'for each map in the stack of geographic maps,'}providing the set of routing options corresponding to at least one endpoint location in the interactive map for display on the user interface.2. A computer-implemented method for providing routing options to one or more users in real-time , the method comprising:determining a plurality of endpoint locations associated with at least one on-screen map;determining an origin location identifying a location associated with the user; ...

Web Crawler Scheduler that Utilizes Sitemaps from Websites

Systems and methods for scheduling documents for crawling are disclosed in which sitemap information is updated for a first website identified by a sitemap by downloading updated sitemap information for the first website and scheduling documents for crawling in accordance with the updated sitemap information for the first website. The sitemap information includes one or more sitemap indexes, where each respective sitemap index in the one or more sitemap indices includes a list of URLs corresponding to documents stored at a corresponding website in a plurality of websites, the plurality of websites including the first website, and each sitemap index in the one or more sitemap indexes includes information identifying one or more of: a last modification date of a URL in the list of URLs, a change frequency of a document specified by the URL, a document title, an authority of the document, and a priority of the document. 1. A method of scheduling documents for crawling , performed on a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors , the method comprising:identifying an updated sitemap using a last change date in a sitemap index, the sitemap index including a list of sitemaps for a website, each sitemap having a URL and a last change date;updating sitemap information for the sitemap by downloading updated sitemap information, whereinthe sitemap information includes a list of URLs corresponding to documents stored at the website and each URL is associated with two or more of: a last modification date for the URL, a change frequency of a document specified by the URL, and a priority of the document; andscheduling documents for crawling in accordance with the updated sitemap information.2. (canceled)3. (canceled)4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sitemap is generated using (i) an access log claim 1 , (ii) a pre-made URL list claim 1 , and (iii) information obtained from a content ...

Content-targeted advertising using collected user behavior data

A content-targeting ad system is provided with a user behavior (e.g., selection (e.g., click), conversion, etc.) feedback mechanism. The performance of individual ads, or groups of ads, may be tracked on a per document (e.g. per URL) and/or on a per host (e.g. per Website) basis. The performance of ad targeting functions may also be tracked on a per document, and/or per host basis. Such user behavior feedback data may be processed (e.g., aggregated) into useful data structures. Such user behavior feedback data (raw or processed) may then be used in a content-targeting ad system to improve ad quality, improve user experience, and/or maximize revenue.

Identifying and/or blocking ads such as document-specific competitive ads

A content owner partner (e.g., a Website/Web page publisher) can easily block entire broad or narrow categories of ads, and can specify objectionable ad content or targeting. Concepts may be associated with a property and ads related to those concepts may be blocked for the given property. Further, terms may be associated with a property and ads including any of the terms may be blocked for the given property.

Improving content-targeted advertising using collected user behavior data

A content-targeting ad system is provided with a user behavior (e.g., selection (e.g., click), conversion, etc.) feedback mechanism. The performance of individual ads, or groups of ads, may be tracked on a per document (e.g. per URL) and/or on a per host (e.g. per Website) basis. The performance of ad targeting functions may also be tracked on a per document, and/or per host basis. Such user behavior feedback data may be processed (e.g., aggregated) into useful data structures. Such user behavior feedback data (raw or processed) may then be used in a content-targeting ad system to improve ad quality, improve user experience, and/or maximize revenue.

Serving content-relevant advertisements with client-side device support

A client-side application (such as a browser, a browser plug-in, a browser toolbar plug-in, etc. on an end user’s computer) (510) is used to support the serving of content-relevant ads (580) to the client device. The client-side application may provide such support by sending document information (such as a document identifier, document content, content relevance information, etc.) to a content ad server (530). The client-side application may also be used to combine content of the document and the content-relevant ads. For example, the client-side application may combine content of the document and the ads in a window (e.g., in a browser window), may provide the ads in a window above, below, adjacent to a document window, may provide the ads in “chrome” of the browser, etc.

Identifying and/or blocking ads such as document-specific competitive ads

A content owner partner (e.g., a Website/Web page publisher) can easily block entire broad or narrow categories of ads, and can specify objectionable ad content or targeting. Concepts may be associated with a property and ads related to those concepts may be blocked for the given property. Further, terms may be associated with a property and ads including any of the terms may be blocked for the given property.

Columnar storage representations of records

A computer system accesses a collection of data records. Each record in the collection includes a plurality of data values and a plurality of data elements that identify semantics of corresponding data values from the plurality of data values. One or more of the data records each include multiple instances of a same data element and include data values that correspond to the multiple instances of the same data element. The computer system generates a collection of columnar stripes. The collection of columnar stripes includes the data values from each data record in the collection of data records. Each columnar stripe in the collection of columnar stripes includes all data values that correspond to a specific data element from each of the records in the collection of records.

Improving content-targeted advertising using collected user behavior data

A content-targeting ad system is provided with a user behavior (e.g., selection (e.g., click), conversion, etc.) feedback mechanism. The performance of individual ads, or groups of ads, may be tracked on a per document (e.g. per URL) and/or on a per host (e.g. per Website) basis. The performance of ad targeting functions may also be tracked on a per document, and/or per host basis. Such user behavior feedback data may be processed (e.g., aggregated) into useful data structures. Such user behavior feedback data (raw or processed) may then be used in a content-targeting ad system to improve ad quality, improve user experience, and/or maximize revenue.

Serving content-relevant advertisements with client-side device support

A client-side application (such as a browser, a browser plug-in, a browser toolbar plug-in, etc. on an end user's computer) is used to support the serving of content-relevant ads to the client device. The client-side application may provide such support by sending document information (such as a document identifier, document content, content relevance information, etc.) to a content ad server. The client-side application may also be used to combine content of the document and the content-relevant ads. For example, the client-side application may combine content of the document and the ads in a window (e.g., in a browser window), may provide the ads in a window above, below, adjacent to a document window, may provide the ads in “chrome” of the browser, etc.

Sitemap Generating Client for Web Crawler

Methods and systems for a sitemap generating client for web crawlers are described. The client accesses one or more sources of document information about the documents available on a website, such as the file system, access logs, or pre-made URL lists. Document information is extracted from the sources and one or more sitemaps are generated based on the extracted document information. A notification is transmitted to a remote computer, informing that the sitemap(s) are available for access and likely have been updated. If the remote computer is associated with a web crawler, the remote computer may access the sitemap(s) and use the sitemaps to schedule a crawl of documents included or available on the website.

Serving advertisements based on content

Advertisers (110) are permitted to put targeted ads on page on the web (or some other document of any media type) (Figure 1). The present invention may do so by (i) obtaining content that includes available spots for ads (120), (ii) determining ads relevant to content, and/or (iii) combining content with ads determined to be relevant to the content.

Improving content-targeted advertising using collected user behavior data

A content-targeting ad system is provided with a user behavior (e.g., selection (e.g., click), conversion, etc.) feedback mechanism. The performance of individual ads, or groups of ads, may be tracked on a per document (e.g. per URL) and/or on a per host (e.g. per Website) basis. The performance of ad targeting functions may also be tracked on a per document, and/or per host basis. Such user behavior feedback data may be processed (e.g., aggregated) into useful data structures. Such user behavior feedback data (raw or processed) may then be used in a content-targeting ad system to improve ad quality, improve user experience, and/or maximize revenue.

Serving advertisements based on content

Advertisers (110) are permitted to put targeted ads on page on the web (or some other document of any media type) (Figure 1). The present invention may do so by (i) obtaining content that includes available spots for ads (120), (ii) determining ads relevant to content, and/or (iii) combining content with ads determined to be relevant to the content.

Identifying and/or blocking ads such as document-specific competitive ads

A content owner partner (e.g., a Website/Web page publisher) can easily block entire broad or narrow categories of ads, and can specify objectionable ad content or targeting. Concepts may be associated with a property and ads related to those concepts may be blocked for the given property. Further, terms may be associated with a property and ads including any of the terms may be blocked for the given property.

Serving advertisements based on content

Advertisers (110) are permitted to put targeted ads on page on the web (or some other document of any media type) (Figure 1). The present invention may do so by (i) obtaining content that includes available spots for ads (120), (ii) determining ads relevant to content, and/or (iii) combining content with ads determined to be relevant to the content.

Column-oriented memory representations of data records

Im Allgemeinen kann der in dieser Patentschrift berogrammprodukten ausgeführt werden. Ein Computersystem greift auf eine Sammlung von Datensätzen zu. Jeder Datensatz in der Sammlung umfasst eine Vielzahl von Datenwerten und eine Vielzahl von Datenelementen, welche die Semantik von entsprechenden Datenwerten aus der Vielzahl von Datenwerten identifizieren. Einer oder mehrere der Datensätze umfassen jeweils mehrere Exemplare des gleichen Datenelements und umfassen Datenwerte, die den mehreren Exemplaren des gleichen Datenelements entsprechen. Das Computersystem erstellt eine Sammlung von spaltenförmigen Streifen. Die Sammlung von spaltenförmigen Streifen umfasst die Datenwerte aus allen Datensätzen in der Sammlung von Datensätzen. Jeder spaltenförmige Streifen in der Sammlung von spaltenförmigen Streifen enthält alle Datenwerte, die einem bestimmten Datenelement aus allen Datensätzen in der Sammlung von Datensätzen entsprechen.

System and method for delivery of electronic data

System and method for compressing data with the use of an Adaptive Progression Pattern and/or Logical Frequency Lexicon. The system and method may also comprise a adaptive learning scheme to update the Adaptive Progression Pattern and/or Logical Frequency Lexicon.

Columnar storage representations of records

A computer system accesses a collection of data records. Each record in the collection includes a plurality of data values and a plurality of data elements that identify semantics of corresponding data values from the plurality of data values. One or more of the data records each include multiple instances of a same data element and include data values that correspond to the multiple instances of the same data element. The computer system generates a collection of columnar stripes. The collection of columnar stripes includes the data values from each data record in the collection of data records. Each columnar stripe in the collection of columnar stripes includes all data values that correspond to a specific data element from each of the records in the collection of records.

Rendering content-targeted ads with e-mail

An asynchronous and opportunistically available scheme under which a user's e-mail (or a document including e-mail content) is rendered immediately, and later updated with appropriate advertisements if and when they became available, is described. This scheme ensures that the availability of advertisements will not adversely affect the rendering of the e-mail content. For example, a Web-based e-mail server may facilitate the serving of advertisements with e-mail by (a) accepting a request for a document including e-mail, (b) generating a request identifier, (c) serving the requested document in association with the request identifier, and (d) obtaining at least one ad relevant to content of the e-mail. The Web-based e-mail server may further (e) store. The obtained ad(s), (f) accept an ad request, (g) read the stored ad(s) using information from the ad request, and (h) serve the ad(s).

Mobile sitemaps

A method of analyzing documents or relationships between documents includes receiving a notification of an available metadata document containing information about one or more network-accessible documents, obtaining a document format indicator associated with the metadata document, selecting a document crawler using the document format indicator, and crawling at least some of the network-accessible documents using the selected document crawler.

Privacy-sensitive cookies

Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer program products, for generating cookies. Multiple advertisements for multiple advertisers are stored on an ad server. Hostnames specific to each of the multiple advertisers are generated dynamically. The generated hostnames identify the ad server. A reference is generated identifying a particular advertisement of the multiple advertisements and the ad server. The ad server is identified in the reference with the generated hostname associated with the advertiser of the advertisement. The reference is provided to a client. A request is received from the client for the advertisement. The request includes the generated hostname. In response to the request, a client cookie, which includes a unique identifier, is sent to the client.

System and method for delivery of electronic data

Generating sitemaps

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for generating sitemaps. The method includes scanning network traffic between a server and one or more clients requesting resources from the server, the network traffic including resource request messages from the one or more clients and resources served by the server in response to the resource request messages. The method also includes automatically extracting data from the traffic served by the server to the one or more clients, the extracted data including one or more Uniform Resource Locators that identify the resources served by the server to the one or more clients. The method automatically generates a sitemap from the extracted data, and stores the sitemap in a computer-readable memory.

Determining content to be provided by an entity for rendering via a resource in a target document or notifying an alternative entity of the availability of the resource

A method and system for allowing a resource associated with a target document usable for ad rendering by a first entity to be used for rendering of content by a second entity. Depending on one or more conditions, the first entity either uses the resource to render at least one ad or allows a second entity to use at least a portion of the resource to render content.

Web Crawler Scheduler that Utilizes Sitemaps from Websites

Methods and systems for a web crawler scheduler that utilizes sitemaps from websites are described. A web crawler scheduling system receives a notification from a website or web server. In response to the notification, the system accesses one or more sitemap(s) for documents associated with the website or web server. The system schedules crawls of the documents based on information identified from the sitemaps. The system crawls at least a subset of the documents scheduled for crawling.

Determining content to be provided by an entity for rendering via a resource in a target document or notifying an alternative entity of the availability of the resource

A method and system for allowing a resource associated with a target document usable for ad rendering by a first entity to be used for rendering of content by a second entity. Depending on one or more conditions, the first entity either uses the resource to render at least one ad or allows a second entity to use at least a portion of the resource to render content.

Variable rate media delivery system

Variable rate media delivery system

A method and apparatus for delivering variable bit rate media files delivers media files to client systems. The media server can dynamically detect when a client can accept a different bit rate version of a media content. The media server can smoothly switch between different bit rate versions of the media content as it delivers the media content to client systems. A client system can also request different bit rate versions of a media content while it is playing the media content.

Variable rate media delivery system

A method and apparatus for delivering variable bit rate media files delivers media files to client systems. The media server can dynamically detect when a client can accept a different bit rate version of a media content. The media server can smoothly switch between different bit rate versions of the media content as it delivers the media content to client systems. A client system can also request different bit rate versions of a media content while it is playing the media content.

Privacy-sensitive cookies

Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer program products, for generating cookies. Multiple advertisements for multiple advertisers are stored on an ad server. Hostnames specific to each of the multiple advertisers are generated dynamically. The generated hostnames identify the ad server. A reference is generated identifying a particular advertisement of the multiple advertisements and the ad server. The ad server is identified in the reference with the generated hostname associated with the advertiser of the advertisement. The reference is provided to a client. A request is received from the client for the advertisement. The request includes the generated hostname. In response to the request, a client cookie, which includes a unique identifier, is sent to the client.