Characteristic identifying system and method

ES 2 396 069 T3

DESCRIPTION

Characterization system and method

Invention sector

The present invention relates generally to a method and system for characterizing access to data accessible at network locations within a public network and are particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for characterizing such access to data when data delivery is measured, such as when data is delivered to terminals connected to mobile networks.

Background of the invention

As is well known, the Internet provides access to huge numbers of web pages; Increasingly, web pages include links and nested objects, the delivery of which can sometimes require a significant amount of bandwidth. Typically, this is not a problem for requests received from terminals that are permanently connected to the internet (both directly and through one or more network parts) and, of course, the transmission of the data within the internet, prior request, it is free. However, with the arrival of the broad take-off of 3G networks, more and more requests are received from terminals connected to wireless networks. Unlike data transmission within fixed line networks, data transmission within mobile networks is typically measured on the basis of transmissions. As a result, mobile terminals face hitherto unseen costs to access websites.

US2007 / 0100805 discloses a wireless search platform architecture that helps process user-initiated queries entered into a mobile communication system. This communication system links with a wireless service provider, which has access to databases from which it can obtain relevant information for the user, such as business rules of carriers and characteristics of mobile subscribers, through which the Wireless service provider provides access to servers and databases over the internet.

Document US2003 / 0040297 shows how to provide cost information in real time for communication applications, for example, for transactions carried out by wireless mobile communication devices, before carrying out a transaction.

WO2006 / 11948 discloses how to present a series of search results within a graphical user interface and how to present a reputation indicator in relation to at least one of a series of search results within the results. Search GUI search results.

US 2004/0122926 discloses a method for automating web service selection.

Summary

According to at least one embodiment of the invention, methods, systems, and software are provided to support or implement functionality to provide downloadable information processing, as specified in the independent claims. This is achieved by a combination of characteristics defined in each independent claim. Accordingly, the dependent claims prescribe more detailed implementations of the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for providing access to network resources in response to a request is disclosed, the method comprising:

receiving a request that includes a data item in relation to the data to be transmitted to a device on the network, the data item being indicative of one or more requested items;

accessing a storage system for the purpose of identifying data listings that have items that match the data item;

retrieving data indicative of a network location for a data listing that corresponds to the matching data item or each matching data item, the network location providing access to a data set that corresponds to a list of data; and retrieval of parameter data relative to the data set accessible through the

ES 2 396 069 T3 network location;

the method being characterized by executing a software component arranged to evaluate, based on i) the parameter data and ii) the stored subscription data representing a network subscription associated with the device -2-, -4-, a characteristic the use of network resources in relation to access to the data set, this characteristic may vary depending on the data set and the network subscription data, the stored subscription data being accessible, by said software component, through a subscriber identification module (SIM) -419- or a network operator.

Arrangements according to embodiments of the invention include arrangements in which one or more data items in the set are accessible from a mobile device. The mobile device may be arranged to display the data listings as a list of selectable links, which can be displayed depending on the usage characteristic of the network resources, for example, the amount of resource usage. of the network to be accounted for in the mobile subscription.

Links can be classified based on the amount of use of network resources to be accounted for in the network subscription, examples of such classifications include fully subsidized, partially subsidized and unsubsidized.

Arrangements according to embodiments of the invention include arrangements in which data indicative of current use of network resources and / or an allocation of resources allocated by the system is transmitted to a billing system maintained by the network operator. associated with the network subscription. The current usage can be used to reduce an account balance or, in the case where the resource allocation is posted to access the data, the resource allocation can be used to increase an account balance associated with the subscription of the network.

In some embodiments, resource allocation may be weighted based on the size of one or more data items accessible from the network location, the number of nested links, and / or the classification data associated with the network location. by which to assess said current use.

In some arrangements, embodiments of the invention provide a method of recording the allocation of resources in response to a request, the method comprising:

receiving a request for a data item to be transmitted to a device on the network, the request comprising data indicative of one or more requested items;

access to a storage system for the purpose of identifying data listings that have items that match the requested data items;

retrieving data indicative of a network location corresponding to the matching data item or to each matching data item, the network location providing access to a data set corresponding to the matching data item;

retrieving data indicative of a quantity of data and an allocation of the resources associated with the set of data accessible through the network location;

based on a subscription of the network associated with the device and the amount of data, assessing the current use of network resources when accessing the set of data;

in the case in which all the data is accessed from the network location, deviating from the current use valued with respect to the allocation of resources in order to identify an amount of use of network resources to be accounted for in network subscription; and updating a record associated with said list of data in order to record said resource allocation event.

Arrangements according to embodiments of the invention provide means for compensating access to data from a given network location based on an allocation of resources associated with the network location, for example a website. This can be specified in advance by the information provider associated with the website. Preferably, the data is transmitted to the device from which the request has been received, such as a mobile device, and the assessment is carried out by it. However, in other arrangements, the amount of data, the allocation of the resources and the location of the corresponding network are transmitted to a device other than the mobile device. Requested items can be keywords to make a search request or

ES 2 396 069 T3 can be names of websites that indicate websites of interest to a user associated with the mobile device.

In each arrangement, data indicative of the transport costs associated with the network subscription are retrieved and, when the device that carries out the valuation is the mobile device associated with the network subscription, the costs of transport from the removable storage device associated with it, or from data provided by the corresponding network operator or entered manually.

In arrangements according to embodiments of the invention, one or more data items are retrieved from the set by the mobile device, and data indicative of current use of network resources is transmitted to a billing system maintained by the operator of the network. the network associated with the network subscription. Actual usage can be used to reduce an account balance or, in the event that resource allocation is posted after accessing the data, actual usage of network resources can be used to increase the balance of an account associated with the network subscription.

In some embodiments, resource allocation may be weighted based on the size of one or more data items accessible from the network location, the number of nested links, and / or the classification data associated with the location of the network. network through which said current use is valued.

The mobile device can be arranged to display the data listings as a list of selectable links, which are ordered depending on the amount of use of the network resources to be accounted for in the network subscription. Links can be classified based on the amount of network resource usage to be accounted for in the network subscription, examples of such classifications include fully subsidized, partially subsidized or unsubsidized.

The arrangements according to the embodiments of the invention may also comprise sending information about the location of the network to the mobile device, before retrieving the data indicative of a quantity of data and the allocation of the resources associated with the data set accessible through of the network location, typically this involves transmitting the accessible data set through the network location to the device and receiving data indicative of selected elements of the data set. These selected items can then be used to adjust the amount of data (and thus the valued usage) associated with the data set. Typically, the selection of a given item indicates that the item should be excluded from downloading data from the network location, thereby effectively reducing the amount of data to be taken into account in the assessment. The selection process may depend on the amount of data to download, the number of nested links, the classification applied to the data, and other characteristics.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile terminal configured to assess the need for resources in relation to accessing data from a given network location.

Embodiments of the invention are particularly well suited for use in the context of providing search results to a wireless mobile terminal, because data transmission in wireless networks can be counted.

In some arrangements of the invention a method is provided for identifying a characteristic of a set of data accessible through a link that specifies a location in the network; characteristics include the size of the items in the dataset, the classification applied to the dataset, the amount of resources that have been allocated relative to the items in the dataset, and so on. and the method comprises:

receiving a request for said characteristic to be transmitted to a device on the network, the request comprising data indicative of said link;

the identification of a list of links that generate a match with the requested link, said list of links can be identified from a list comprising a series of link lists;

the retrieval of data indicative of a set of accessible data from the list of identified links;

identifying said feature from the set of retrieved data based on a predefined feature request criteria; and transmitting the data indicative of the identified characteristic to the device.

According to some provisions of the present invention, a user interface is provided for a device

ES 2 396 069 T3 mobile, the user interface to be used in designating a data item having a type of download status (such as "not downloadable" or "downloadable"). The user interface preferably comprises display means arranged to display the data set in combination with a number of selectable display objects, each being assigned to a given element of the data set. The display means are responsive to the selection of a given display object for the purpose of designating the data item corresponding thereto having a first type of download status and the mobile station is arranged to transmit the data indicative of the items that it they have said first type of download status to a node of the network for use in controlling the data subsequently transmitted to the mobile station.

Thus, this provides means to explicitly select or deselect individual elements of the transmission to the mobile station.

According to further aspects of the system, a system for providing access to network resources in response to a request according to the method described above is disclosed, and the computer software is arranged to implement the method described above.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of aspects of the invention, offered by way of example only, made with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood other embodiments can be used and functional and structural modifications can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a distributed information system within which embodiments of the invention can operate;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing fields from various records stored within the search database shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the components of the search engine shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the components of a mobile terminal configured in accordance with embodiments of the invention;

Figure 5 is a timing diagram showing the flow of data between the components of the distributed information system of Figure 1 when operating in accordance with a process of an embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 6a and 6b are schematic diagrams showing an example web page delivered by the search engine during the process shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing an alternative distributed information system within which embodiments of the invention may operate;

Figure 8 is a timing diagram showing data flows between the components of the distributed information system of Figure 7 when operating in accordance with a process of one embodiment of the present invention; ^Y Figure 9 is a schematic flow diagram showing additional steps associated with the embodiment shown in Figure 8.

Detailed description of the invention

As described above, embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the allocation of resources to provide providers and / or end users with access to publicly accessible material through devices such as mobile terminals. The nature of the process to quantify the allocation of resources and the criteria related thereto are described in detail below, but first a description of the infrastructure necessary to support some embodiments of the invention will be presented with reference to Figure 1 , which shows an example of a distributed information system -1-. The current embodiment refers to a search request service, that is, requests for content corresponding to keywords, however, as will be appreciated from a complete reading of the specifications, the invention applies to a search service. a range of request types and is therefore not limited to the domain of search engine technologies.

ES 2 396 069 T3

In the current embodiment, the distributed information system -1- comprises a series of information providers -6a-, -6b-, -6c-, at least some of which are arranged to store content and information, and a search -10-, all of which are connected to a network -12- either directly or indirectly (for example, via the internet, local area networks (LAN), other wide area networks (WAN), and regional networks accessible by telephone line, such as business information services). The mobile terminals -2-, -4- are adapted to communicate with the various information providers -6a-, -6b-, -6c- through mobile networks -14- and a suitable GW gateway, as shown; the terminals -2-, -4- may be mobile phones or PDAs, laptops and the like, and the mobile network -14- may comprise an authorized network part (such as that provided by mobile networks using global system technology for mobile communications (GSM), broadband code division multiple access (WCDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA, WiMax) and / or unauthorized network parts (such as those provided by wireless LANs and Bluetooth technology). The gateway GW can be a GPRS support node (GGSN) that is part of the mobile network -14-.

The mobile terminals -2-, -4- comprise navigation programs adapted to locate and access data from websites corresponding to the information provider or to each of the information providers -6a-, -6b-, -6c-. Navigation programs allow users of terminals -2-, -4- to enter specific website addresses, typically in the form of a uniform resource locator, or URL, and are typically adapted to receive and display web pages. and WAP pages, in the event that a given terminal -2- is only capable of processing and displaying only WAP pages, the translation of a web page can be done by a network device or by a suitable translation software running on the device -2-. As is known in the art, any given web page may include nested links therein, which, when selected, may provide access to other pages or data such as plain text information, or digitally encoded multimedia content, such as software programs, audio signals, video, graphics, etc. Consequently, the selection of said links results in the transmission of additional data to the terminals -2-, -4-.

According to conventional systems, the search engine -10- can function to receive keywords of interest to the users of the terminals -2-, -4-, and, accessing the data stored in the search database -20 -, generate search results related to them. Search results are organized into a list of hypertext links to content that contains the information relevant to these search terms; each link generally corresponding to a network location corresponding to a given information provider -6a-, -6b-, -6c-.

As described above, embodiments of the invention are related to the allocation of resources to provide access to publicly accessible material through devices such as mobile terminals, and to provide a mechanism to assess delivery costs to Subscriber charge and present the results in combination with these costs; these could be different from actual delivery costs, since information providers can allocate resources to use in compensation for actual delivery costs.

For each information provider -6a-, -6b-, -6c-, the search database -20- may contain the allocation records that comprise the data indicative of an allocation of the resources to be used in the compensation of the delivery costs associated with providing access to your content. Allocation records can comprise parameters that specify an allocation in absolute terms or in relative terms (for example, as a percentage of overall delivery costs), together with parameters that specify time data and location data that control the applicability of the assignments. Furthermore, the search database 20 may contain classification records comprising classification data gathered from third parties and recipients who have already accessed the content. These ranking data preferably refer to the usability of a given website from the point of view of a user of a mobile device, and can be collected automatically or manually. The search database -20- can additionally contain the records of the needs of the resources, which specify data such as the size of the web page accessible through the URL associated with the information provider -6a-, -6b-, -6c-, links that are nested within the web page, and objects accessible through the web site.

Instead of being stored within the search database -20-, one or more allocation, storage and / or classification records may alternatively be contained in a database (not shown) maintained by a third party or third parties, in which case, the search engine -10- may consult the third-party database in order to retrieve this information when comparing the search results.

These data of the needs of the allocation and of the resources can be specified by an information provider -6a-, -6b-, -6c- given through a form or similar (not shown) and, in the case of Data of

ES 2 396 069 T3 resource needs, the software components associated with the search database -20- can be made available to download the web page in order to verify, or correct, the data sent. Once the data has been verified, the search database -20- stores the same in a database record corresponding to the information provider -6a-; An example of a suitable schematic is shown in Figure 2. As has been observed, in this representation, any given -R- record comprises a series of fields: the URL corresponding to the information provider is stored in field -201-, the keywords in field -203-, the quantities of resource allocation in the field -205-, the classifications of the sites in the field -207-, and the needs of the resources in the field -209-. It will be appreciated that Figure 2 is highly schematic and that, for example, in the case of field -207-, there the schema will most likely include subfields corresponding to the respective elements thereof, for example, there could be a subfield corresponding to generated classifications automatically, manually generated classifications and classifications specified by other users. Any given record may also include other fields such as an account balance for the information provider (as will be described in more detail below), on the contrary any given record may comprise a subset of the fields shown in the figure 2.

The processes involved in comparing search results will now be described with reference to Figure 3, which shows the components of the search engine 10. The search engine -10- is preferably represented as a web server, and comprises a standard operating system, storage, processor, input / output interfaces, together including various software components -301-, -303-, -305- tailored. These software components are arranged, respectively, to receive a search request, identify keywords within the request (component -301- of software for receiving the request), to consult the search database -20- in base on the keywords and generate corresponding search lists (component -303- of the database query software), the search listings are preferably accompanied by the resource allocation data -205-, the classification data -207-, the resource needs data -209- in the search database -20- as described above. The software component -301- for receiving the request is also arranged to identify the terminal -2- to which the search listings are transmitted, so that the software component -305- to compare the search results You can send the results and accompany the data to this terminal -2 in the form of a results message -M1-. While shown as individual units in Figure 1, it will be appreciated that the search engine -10- and the database -20- may comprise a series of units distributed over the internet -12-.

Therefore, it will be appreciated that at least in some embodiments the data returned to the mobile terminal -2- includes, for any given search listing and thus the information provider -6a- identified as having content in relation to the keywords sent by the mobile terminal -2-, the data indicative of the amount of recoverable data from the information provider -6a-, the data indicative of the amount of resources that have been allocated by the information provider -6a- to offset the costs of the mobile terminal -2- that accesses the content, and the data indicative of the classifications applied to the content of the information provider - 6a-. Consequently, the mobile terminal -2- includes custom software processing components arranged to process this data in order to organize the results in various categories such as "free access", "subsidized access", "fully countable". These software components will now be described with reference to Figure 4, which shows components of the mobile terminal -2-.

The mobile terminal -2- has an antenna -401- to communicate with the network -14- in a known way and provides a user interface having a keyboard -403- and a display screen -405-, a speaker -407 - and a microphone -409-; alternatively, the user interface may comprise components such as touch screens, touch panels, and the like. The device also comprises a processor -411-, an operating environment -413 and various standard software applications such as a browser (as described above), the mobile terminal -2- also has a smart card reader -417- of a type known to interface with a detachable or non-detachable SIM or UICC -419-, which can be provided with a processor, operating environment and software applications. In order to process the data according to the embodiments of the invention, the mobile terminal -2- includes a software component -415- for processing the search results that can be included in the browser or it can be a separate application that runs in the mobile terminal -2-. It will be appreciated that the results processing component -415- may comprise means for sending the search request first and thus be configured to control the message -M1- of the search results in response to the query according to standard methods.

The operation of the various components of the distributed information system -1- when a search request is executed will now be described with reference to Figure 5, which is a timing chart showing the various messages and the data transmission between the components -2-, -10-, -20-, -6a- and -16-. In step S5.1, the mobile terminal -2- sends a search request to the search engine -10- using the browser application of the terminal -2-, the search request comprising one or more keywords of interest. In addition, information related to the terminal can be sent, such as data that identifies the subscriber and the

ES 2 396 069 T3 terminal used by the subscriber associated with the terminal -2-, the search engine -10- (or a different network component, which is in communication with the search engine -10-), this data of Identification are preferably encrypted and can include the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), the Mobile ISDN Subscription number (MSIS-DN), the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), the type of terminal, memory configuration, software configuration, browser type and other identifiers available from SIM -419- or terminal -2- or a database of terminal -2-.

The search request is received by the search engine -10-, having been transmitted through the mobile network -14-, the GW gateway and other network parts, and the component -301- for receiving the request extracts the keywords of the search request, formulating a query based on them and sending it to the search database -20- (step 55.3). The search database -20- carries out a search against the keywords and retrieves the data indicative of the network location and other data stored in the fields -201-, -203-, -205-, -207-, etc. and create an M1 message as described above. The message M1 is subsequently sent to the mobile terminal -2- (step S5.5).

Once the M1 message has been received, the software component -415- for the processing of the search results is arranged to identify the respective search listings therein, that is, data specifying the URL, the assignment of the resources, the classification and the needs of the resources corresponding to the information providers -6a- to -6c- that have been identified as having content relevant to the keywords contained within the search request. This data is then processed by component -415- for the processing of the results using various algorithms in order to identify which content from the information providers can be accessed for free or at a subsidized rate and, optionally, to identify the classifications applicable to the content (step S5.7).

For example, suppose that the information provider -6a- has a resource requirement of 3 MB (2 MB + 5 through links), and that the provider -6a- has specified an allocation of € 1 to offset the costs of accessing its content, then the software component -415- for the processing of the results values ​​a subsidy per kbyte of the content of € 1/3 MB = € 0.0003 / kbyte. As described above, this effectively represents an amount that the sponsor is willing to subsidize for the mobile terminal -2 to receive its location data from the network. Assuming that provider -6b- has a resource need of 20 kbytes and has specified that it will pay € 0.2 to offset the costs of accessing its content, then the grant amount to access the provider's network location -6b- is 0.2 / 20 = € 0.01 / kbyte, in addition, assuming the information provider -6c- has a global resource need of 120 kbytes (100 kbytes + 2 objects) and a “100% sponsorship” has been specified to access its content, then the global cost to access the content will be compensated by the information provider -6c-.

Subsequently, these amounts are compared with respect to the current transport costs associated with the delivery of data from the various locations of the network to the terminal -2-; This information can be obtained from the delivery plan data stored either in the SIM -419-, or delivered, upon request, to the terminal, from the operator with respect to which the terminal -2- is a subscriber, or can be enter manually. For example, supposing that the transport costs to the terminal -2- are P = 0.007 € / kbyte, then the data access costs from the information providers -6a-, -6b-, -6c- are as follows:

· Information provider -6a-: € 1 / 2MB = € 0.0003 / kbyte, which is less than the transport costs, so that, although the data is subsidized, it will nevertheless be delivered at a cost.

· Information provider -6b-: 0.02 / 20 kbyte = € 0.01 / kbyte, which is higher than the transport costs, so the data will be delivered free of charge.

Information provider -6c-: 0.3 / 120 kbyte = € 0.0025 / kbyte, which is less than the transport costs, in any case, the information provider -6c- has indicated that it will bear all costs transport, so that the data will be delivered free of charge.

The previous paragraphs assume that all the information providers listed in the search database -20- have presented a non-zero allocation of the resources to be used to offset the costs of accessing their content. However, the search database -20- also contains entries for information providers who are not interested in subsidizing access to their content. Since the query made by the software component -303- to query the database will return all the data corresponding to all the information providers that have entries in the database -20- associated with the keywords specified in the request search, message M1 will include entries for payment and non-payment information providers.

Search listings can be assigned one of the access categories mentioned above

ES 2 396 069 T3 (“free access”, “subsidized access”, “cost access”) and be presented to the recipient in the form of a URL link together with an indication of the assigned category. The classification data can be further presented in conjunction with the category, thus providing an indication to the recipient about a generally accepted value of the accessible content of the respective information providers -6a-, -6b-, -6c- . Examples of possible graphical representations of this information are shown in Figures 6a and 6b, which show various forms of a results page W1 that can be output by the software component -415- for the processing of the results. It will be appreciated that these are examples of possible ways to represent the output and that combinations of the various representations are possible.

When a link is selected within the search listings, this causes the terminal -2- to send an account identifier and a URL corresponding to the selected listing to the search engine -10-, the search engine -10-; more specifically the software component 307 for updating the account thereof, is then responsible for updating the respective account in addition to providing means to redirect the request to the URL of the selected listing. Typically, the account identifier is included as a parameter in the URL, but it could be included in a cookie, which is transmitted to the terminal -2- and kept there together with the results message M1.

Assuming that the user selects one of the links that appears within the subsidized part (for example, the information provider -6a-), the M2 message comprising an account identifier and / or the selected URL is transmitted to the search engine -10- (step S5.9). When received, the account update component 307 sends a standard HTTP retrieval request having, as a source address, a network identifier corresponding to the terminal -2 (step S5.11).

Alternatively, the search engine -10- returns the information, such as a redirect URL, to the browser running on the mobile terminal -2-. As an example, the M2 message may comprise the following data:

http://www.searchservice.com/url?sa=L= 0wSrvIS3D QoAgBUN z- & q-http:

//www.infoprovider6a.com/P=1eurosponsor sKpNrit4Aw.

The M2 message will be analyzed by the search engine -10-, generating a redirection message to http://www.inforpovider6a.com that will be returned to the terminal -2-.

The data is then transmitted to the terminal -2- under the control of the information provider -6a- corresponding to the selected URL in response to the access redirection request transmitted from the search engine -10 in step S5.11. It should be noted that the data can be modified and / or selected based on the capabilities of the terminal -2-, these being requested from the terminal -2- or obtainable from the information source -6a based on the information contained in the search engine -10- (for example, based on the information transmitted from the terminal to steps S5.1 or 55.9).

While this is shown in Figure 5 (step S5.13), it will be appreciated that the transmission of the data from the network location takes place independently of the components of the data information system -1-, and is sample for completeness only.

The software component 307 for updating the account accesses the database 20 based on the account identifier retrieved from the message M2, and in step S5.15 indicates that the data of this provider has been accessed. information -6a-.

In one arrangement, step S5.9 may further involve the mobile terminal -2- transmitting an additional message M3 to the search engine -10-, which includes data identifying the cost of accessing the information provider's data. -6a- (as identified by the software component -415- for processing the results in step 55.7). The message can include the data that identifies the subscriber associated with the terminal -2- (preferably encrypted); These identification data preferably correspond to those data sent in step 55.1 and may include the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), the Mobile ISDN Subscription number (MSIS-DN), the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). ), memory configuration, software configuration, browser type and other identifiers available from SIM -419- or terminal -2- or a database of terminal -2-. In response to the receipt of the M3 message, the account update software component 307 may then update the account balance to account for the transportation costs associated with delivering the content to the terminal -2. In said arrangements, in which the transport costs are taken into account in real time, the search engine -10- can then send an M4 message to the billing system -16- associated with the part -14- of the mobile network shown in figure 1. This message M4 includes data identifying the subscriber associated with the mobile terminal -2-, obtained from the message M3 sent in step S5.9, and again formatted, preferably, in an encrypted form. Going back to the

ES 2 396 069 T3 Figure 5, the data indicative of the current cost for the subscriber to receive the data from the selected information provider -6a- are thus transmitted to the billing system -16- in step S5.17, to be used in the increase in the subscriber's balance in order to take into account the fact that the content delivery has been promoted by the information provider -6a-.

In a particularly advantageous arrangement, this data is transmitted to the billing system at the same time or before the content request is transmitted to the information provider -6a- in step S5.11, thus ensuring that the balance of the Subscriber has been 'recharged' to include subsidized costs or to ensure data connection is allowed.

As an alternative to the mobile terminal -2- transmitting the valued transport costs to the search engine -10- in step S5.9, the software component 307 for updating the account can independently assess the costs of transport based on any data plan associated with the mobile terminal network operator -2-, having been obtained from the various network operators by virtue of an agreement between the network operator and the search provider. In such provisions, the message M3 would simply include data that identifies the subscriber of the mobile terminal -2- so that the software component -307- to update the account can identify the transport costs applicable to the delivery of the data to this subscriber. .

In the previous embodiments, the mobile terminal -2- is described as sending queries of web pages and documents accessible through the web in relation to the keywords of interest to the user, and there is a search engine -10- arranged as intermediary, coordinating and managing the account for the user to access said content. However, embodiments of the invention could also be applied to arrangements such as those shown in Figure 7, where there is a service 12 that can simply provide access to a list of websites. The service -12- is connected to a database -24- of services, which is arranged to contain records corresponding to those shown in figure 2, without including or including the keywords that characterize the data accessible from the websites . In such arrangements, the mobile terminal -2 would be additionally equipped with a request (not shown) to access the service -12- and would request information about the various sites, in particular, links and objects that are accessible from a given site. In view of the fact that access to data and objects on a given site incurs transportation costs, the application would be able to receive the user's input by identifying those parts of the website that the user does not wish to receive on the mobile terminal ( typically resource intensive links or objects). This process is shown in figure 8, and broadly reflects the steps previously described in relation to figure 5, the notable differences with respect to the first embodiment are found in the content sent in the message M5 in step S8.5: this includes details of the objects and links that are accessible through the URL listed as a website accessible through the service -12-. Furthermore, step S8.7 involves executing an application that allows the user to select objects and links that they do not want, or that they want to receive from the website, while the message M6 transmitted in step S8.9 additionally includes, details of the selected objects and links. As a result, the service -12- acts as a filter in relation to the content accessible from the information provider -6a-: as shown in figure 8, the service -12- requests the data from the website to transmit them to it. (step S8.11), thus allowing the service -12- to eliminate those objects and links specified by the details contained within the m6 message. Consequently, the data that is transmitted to the mobile station -2 in step S8.17 is a subset of the accessible data of the information provider, -6a-. Clearly, in view of the fact that resource needs etc. associated with the links and objects are specified in the data transmitted in the message M5 transmitted in step S8.5, the transport costs can be assessed based on this selected subset of data.

Thus, this embodiment of the invention implies that the mobile terminal -2- includes an application with a user interface that displays the data accessible from a specified website and allows the user to select it from there. Alternatively, the browser or application running on terminal -2 can be configured to automatically request specific types of objects and elements, said request can be formulated based on the selection rules stored in terminal -2- , these rules specify the size of the object (including the resolution in the case of images and the size of the file in relation to the file types generally), delivery costs, data plan associated with terminal -2-, etc.

Alternatively, the mobile terminal -2- could be equipped with an application that allows the user to enter data indicative of a website for which transport costs, etc. are required. associated with links accessible through the website, etc. (that is, those links in which clicking on the link would lead to the transmission of additional data to the mobile terminal), in these provisions, the content of the website corresponding to the URL entered by the user is downloaded to the mobile terminal and, subsequently, it is forwarded from the mobile terminal to the service -12-. This process flow is shown in Figure 9, and when the content of the information provider -6a- is received, the step S8.1 shown in Figure 8 begins. The subsequent forwarding of the content to the service -12- can take place with or without manual intervention by the user, in the case of manual intervention, the user can specify those particular parts of the website that should be filtered

ES 2 396 069 T3 from the website. In cases involving the automatic forwarding of data to the service -12-, the application can be configured with access to the rules that automatically initiate step S8.1 in response to the detection of certain data within the data downloaded from the source of information -6a-.

Additional details and modifications

The embodiments described in relation to figure 8 describe that the mobile terminal -2- is configured with a user interface that allows the user to select elements from a website that are to be included or excluded as accessible to the user. The user interface may further include means for the user to transmit data indicative of a rating applied by the user to the content associated with any given information provider -6a-, -6b-, -6c-, These ranking data can be transmitted to the search database -20- (or database -24-) or to a third party responsible for maintaining the ranking data (which feeds the ranking data to databases -20-, -24- in the manner described above).

Requests delivered in step S5.1 can be delivered from a terminal other than the terminal to which the search results are to be delivered; for example, requests could be delivered as part of an automatic process, which includes, as one of the input fields, an identifier corresponding to the terminal -2- destined to receive the search results. Additionally, search requests could be typed or entered through speech recognition software.

Each record Ri of the search database 20 corresponding to an information provider may additionally comprise a field related to an account balance for the information provider. The balance is quantified in terms of resources, which can be money or use of different types of communication services. The latter type of resource is particularly convenient for embodiments of the invention, since the communication resources could be negotiated directly rather than being translated into financial amounts.

While in the above embodiment, the results message M1 is delivered directly to the mobile terminal -2-, the search results could alternatively be transmitted to a search results service, for further processing of the search results. the results or their delivery to the mobile device.

The term "sponsored link" should be understood as subsidized access to content associated with any of the links listed in the M1 message.

By way of clarification, the term "non-sponsored link" should be understood as including (but not limited to) a link to a network location associated with an information source whose presence in a results list is purely defined. regarding the relevance of the content of the data elements associated with the application web page and is not related to any subsidy that could be applied to carry out the delivery thereof.

Additionally, when the terminal -2- requests data from a service such as the information provider -6a-, the browser or the application -415- running on the terminal -2- may be configured to request the associated classification or another. related information, for example, the nested links associated with the information provider -6a- from the service -12-. The information of the service -12- can be used by an application or a browser of the terminal -2- to inform the user about certain characteristics of the links through the user interface. The information requested may include the information of the classification, the mobile facility, the feasibility of the content behind the link for the target terminal, the size of the content, the price of delivery, etc. and this information allows the user to decide whether or not to access the information provider's data -6a-. The user interface can block or hide some of the links based on the predefined screening rules contained in the mobile terminal -2-. These screening rules can include rules regarding, for example, the feasibility of access to a link and type of content and can be manually configured by the user of the terminal or automatically set by other authorized users such as parents or employees. Said screening rules can be set automatically based on the information sent to the service -12- by authorized users and subsequently downloaded to the mobile terminal -2- to be used to control access to it.

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples of the invention. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any embodiment can be used individually or in combination with other features described and can also be used in combination with one or more features of any of the embodiments or any combination of any of the embodiments. . Furthermore, equivalences and modifications not described above can also be used without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.