Brite Smart Corp. v. Google Inc.

Filing 1

COMPLAINT for Patent Infringement against Google Inc. ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0540-4739057.), filed by Brite Smart Corp.. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Exhibit D, #5 Civil Cover Sheet)(Davis, Stafford)

EXHIBIT B
United States Patent No. 7,953,667

111111

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US007953667Bl

United States Patent

(10)

Zuili

c12)

(45)

(54)

METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DETECT
INVALID AND FRAUDULENT IMPRESSIONS
AND CLICKS IN WEB-BASED
ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEMS

(75)

Inventor:

(73)

Assignee: Britesmart Corp., Boca Raton, FL (US)

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Notice:

Patrick Zuili, Boca Raton, FL (US)

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 731 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

(21)

Filed:

6,125,352
6,285,987
6,775,831
7,020,622
7,043,471
7,136,860
200110007097
200110037314
2003/0216930
2006/0041505

US 7,953,667 Bl
*May 31, 2011

A
9/2000 Franklin eta!.
B1
9/2001 Roth eta!.
B1
8/2004 Carrasco et a!.
B1
3/2006 Messer
B2
5/2006 Cheung eta!.
B2
1112006 Doliov
A1
7/2001 Kim
A1
1112001 Ishikawa
A1
1112003 Dunham eta!.
A1 * 2/2006 Enyart ............................ 705/40

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Mulhall, "How Real a Threat Does Computer Crime Represent?",
Aug. 1, 1996, Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin.*

(Continued)

Appl. No.: 11/781,716

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Patent No.:
Date of Patent:

Jul. 23, 2007
Related U.S. Application Data

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(51)
(52)
(58)

Continuation-in-part of application No. 10/360,688,
filed on Feb. 7, 2003, now Pat. No. 7,249,104.
Int. Cl.
G06F 21100
(2006.01)
U.S. Cl. ......................................................... 705/52
Field of Classification Search . ... ... ... ... . 705/26-27,
705/52-54, 64-67, 75-78; 713/168-169;
707 /705-788; 726/1-5, 26-30
See application file for complete search history.

(56)

References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,848,396 A
5,991,740 A

12/1998 Gerace
1111999 Messer

Primary Examiner- Mary Cheung
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm- John R. Kasha; Kasha Law
LLC

(57)

ABSTRACT

This invention improves upon existing pay-per-click arrangements periodically generating a code associated with the
search-engine users. This code, preferably in the form of a
serial number, is compared to the user of the website, such
that by observing a metric like the number of clicks for a given
period of time, be it a short time or a longer period, such as a
day or a week, the system can automatically determine if
certain clicks are illegitimate. This allows the pay-per-click
company to more fairly invoice the merchants, thereby preventing fraudulent over use.
26 Claims, 1 Drawing Sheet

US 7,953,667 Bl
Page 2
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Anupam, Vinod, et a!., On the Security of pay-per-click and other
Web advertising schemes, Computer Networks 31 (1999)1091-1100.
Jakobsson, Markus, et al., Secure and lightweight advertising on the
Web, Computer Networks 31 (1999) 1101-1109.
Sherman, Chris, Ask the Search Engine: Coping with Fraudulent
Pay-Per-Click Traffic, Apr. 18, 2002.
Blundo, Carlo, eta!, SAWM: A Tool for Secure and Authenticated
Web Metering, SEKE 2002, Jul. 15-19, Ischia, Italy.

Who's Clicking Who? Membership Details, http://web.archive.org/
web/20020907125 231/www.whosclikcingwho .corn/auditor.html.
NY Internet World Convention, Lycos InSite Adbuyer Program,
Click Fraud, http://web.archive.org/web/20021204202939/www,
submitexpress.com.
Who'sClickingWho?.com, Pay-Per-Click Auditing Service,
WCWReporter PPC Traffic Audit Report, http://web.archive.org/
web/200212241 0 533 5/www/whosclickingwho .corn/wcwreporter.
Tuzhilin, Alexander, The Lane's Gift v. Google Report.

* cited by examiner

U.S. Patent

US 7,953,667 Bl

May 31,2011

INVOtCE TO WEBSITE LINK TO HEAl CUCK USAGE

PAY PER CLICK

PAY PER CLICK
COMPA_N_Y--~0

.120

130
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122

WEBSITE

VERlfY THAT THE SERIAL NUMBER

lS UNIQUE

SEARCH ENGINE
102~

104
SEARCH ENGINE
RESULT wm; PAY PER
CLICK UNK OIFFERENT

<0>
.

110

FOR EACH llStR

~0-.

~
SEARCH ENGINE WRIT£
A SERIAL NUMBER

XMLLINK

XML GET S&\RGH ENGINE
COOKtE SERIAl NUMB£R

LOCATED ON END
USER COMPUTER
AND AOO IT fO

IHE UNK. XML .
TECHNOLOGY PERMIT
TO PASS THRU

ON THE COOKIE VIA
ACTWEX, JAVAt}AVASCRIP!l
,.. TECHNOLOG r BASED Ort
END USER GU!D~ QR /AND

fiREWALl

NEnNORK CARTOGRAPHY

OtNERATEO PEWODICALLY
FOR EACH USER ON EACH

SEARCH ENGINE

HREWALL

FIG. 1

US 7,953,667 Bl
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METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DETECT
INVALID AND FRAUDULENT IMPRESSIONS
AND CLICKS IN WEB-BASED
ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEMS

day or a week, the system can automatically determine if
certain clicks are illegitimate. This allows the pay-per-click
company to more fairly invoice the merchants, thereby preventing fraudulent over use.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
APPLICATION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/360,688, entitled "Pay-per-click system and method that determine whether a requested link to a
merchant website is legitimate or fraudulent" filed Feb. 7,
2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,104 and naming as inventors
Patrick Zuili, which is incorporated by reference in its
entirety for all purposes as if completely and fully set forth
herein.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to network computing of
the type which occurs over the Internet, for example, and,
more particularly, to a method of protecting the providers of
pay-per-click services from multiple illegitimate usages.

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

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Over the last few years in particular, the capabilities of the
Internet have grown dramatically, with the introduction of
new protocols (i.e., XML), advanced browsers, electronic
commerce capabilities, and other features.
Numerous commercial enterprises are now attempting to
somehow profit through this new infrastructure, in many
cases by providing services that attach a smaller incremental
monetary value to a particular transaction.
One such type of capability is the pay-per-click search
engine popularized by Google and other companies. In accordance with such a capability, a user goes to a website, and
inputs the name of goods or services that they would like the
pay-per-click company to find. Various providers of goods
and services register their websites with the company, and
these are provided to the user in a list which is prioritized by
the level of compensation which the merchant will give the
pay-per-click company if the user is routed to their site. For
example, using such a system, if a user types in "binoculars,"
the pay-per-click system might return five potential links,
with the most prominent one being associated with that supplier ofbinoculars which will compensate for a penny or a few
cents more than the links presented below.
One problem with existing systems, is that a user may
cause an undesirable level of expenditure on the part of the
merchant by overclicking on a particular link. In some cases,
it has been known that some users have done this simply for
the purpose of undermining a particular provider or competitor. Since the existing systems have no way of knowing
whether a link through is legitimate or bogus, the provider of
the goods/services winds up having to pay the pay-per-click
provider excess sums, with the fraudulent perpetrator remaining unreprimanded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention improves upon existing pay-per-click
arrangements periodically generating a code associated with
the search-engine users. This code, preferably in the form of
a serial number, is compared to the user of the website, such
that by observing a metric like the number of clicks for a given
period of time, be it a short time or a longer period, such as a

FIG. 1 is a diagram which illustrates a per-per-click system
incorporating a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

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Reference is made to FIG. 1 which illustrates a typical
configuration associated with a pay-per-click implementation. It is noted that although the diagram includes certain
interconnected graphical blocks, these are not taken to mean
"hardware" or "software," but may include any combination
of hardware/software necessary to implement a particular
function. In addition, although lines are drawn between the
various components, this is not meant to imply that they are
necessarily implemented in close proximity to one another,
since in many cases these capabilities will be remote.
The search engine 102 provides a result along path 104
which is indicative of a link associated with different users.
Engine 102 may be any existing or yet-to-be-developed system, including findwhat.com, Google Adwords, overture,
looksmart.com, kanoodle.com, and so forth.
In addition to the result generated along path 104, according to this invention, the search engine generates a code,
preferably in the form of a serial number utilizing a cookie via
active X, Java, Javascript, or any other type of technology
based upon the end-user's Global Unique Identifier (GUID).
In addition, or as an alternative, network cartography may be
generated periodically for each user based upon their use of
the search engine 102.
Although the encoded serial number is shown being written to a floppy disk 106, again, it will be appreciated by those
of skill in the art that any type of storage capability, such as a
flash memory, and so forth may alternatively be utilized. The
code (e.g., a serial number) generated by the search engine
along path 105 is concatenated with the result along path 104
through XML link 110. Given the serial number provided
through the cookie, this allows the concatenation to occur
through firewalls and other devices which may otherwise
block the transmission as unauthorized.
As the pay-per-click company 120, information is received
regarding a click to website 122, but at the same time, the
serial number is transmitted to the company 120 along path
130. This allows the pay-per-click company 120 to invoice
the website 122 only when the serial numbers received.
According to the invention, a legitimate serial number may be
generated in different ways, including the first use of a different user having a unique IP address, or, if multiple requests
are made by the same user, they may be considered legitimate
if they are sufficiently spaced apart in time to be indicative of
a legitimate as opposed to fraudulent access to the website
122.
What is claimed is:
1. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system, comprising:
(a) providing a search engine on a server side;
b) receiving, at said server side, a search request from a
client;
c) generating a unique code on the server side, for identifYing said client;

US 7,953,667 Bl
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d) transmitting said code to said client from the server side;
e) transmitting to said client from the server side, in
response to said search request, a plurality oflinks associated with a plurality of websites associated with a
plurality of merchants;
f) generating website information regarding a website
selected by the client when said client clicks one of said
plurality of links;
g) transmitting said code and said website information
together from said client to said server side;
h) receiving said code and said website information at the
server side, and detecting fraudulent activity by measuring the duration between clicks by said client to said
selected website by examining said code and website
information.
2. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:
storing said code at said client.
3. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:
storing said code in a cookie.
4. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 3 wherein said storing step is performed using at least one of the following: active, Java, and
Javascript.
5. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:
concatenating said code with at least one of said links to
said websites.
6. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 wherein said code is based on a
global unique identifier of said client.
7. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 wherein said code is based on a
network cartography of said client.
8. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 wherein said code is a serial number.
9. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:
preventing a click-through to at least one of said websites
associated with merchants if fraudulent activity is
detected.
10. In an advertising system including a search engine on a
server side, the search engine providing a plurality of links
associated with a plurality of web pages to a user at a device
on a client side, the method for identifYing fraud comprising
the steps of:
generating a code on the server side, the code identifying
said device on the client side;
sending said code to said device;
receiving data from said device, said data including said
code and information about one or more selections by
the user of at least one of said plurality of web pages;
determining from said data whether said at least one of said
selections of said at least one web page is fraudulent; and
examining a duration between a time of one of said selections of said at least one web site and a time of another of
said selections of said at least one web site.
11. In an advertising system including a search engine on a
server side, the search engine providing a plurality of links
associated with a plurality of web pages to a user at a device
on a client side, the method for identifying fraud as in claim
10 wherein said code is based on a global unique identifier of
said device.

12. In an advertising system including a search engine on a
server side, the search engine providing a plurality of links
associated with a plurality of web pages to a user at a device
on a client side, the method for identifying fraud as in claim
10 wherein said code is based on a network cartography of
said client.
13. In an advertising system including a search engine on a
server side, the search engine providing a plurality of links
associated with a plurality of web pages to a user at a device
on a client side, the method for identifying fraud as in claim
10 wherein said code is a serial number.
14. A method for detecting fraud in an advertising system
including a search engine on a server side comprising the
steps of:
generating a code on the server side, the code identifying a
device on a client side;
generating on the server side, a plurality oflinks associated
with a plurality of web pages in response to a search
initiated at the device on the client side wherein at least
one of said links includes said code;
sending said plurality oflinks to the device;
receiving data from said device, said data including said
code and information about one or more clicks by the
user on at least one of said plurality of links associated
with the plurality of web pages;
determining from said data whether said at least one of said
clicks on said at least one link is fraudulent; and
examining a duration between a time of one of said clicks
on said at least one link and a time of another of said
clicks on said at least one link.
15. A method for detecting fraud in an advertising system
including a search engine on a server side as in claim 14
wherein said code is based on a global unique identifier of
said device.
16. A method for detecting fraud in an advertising system
including a search engine on a server side as in claim 14
wherein said code is based on a network cartography of said
client.
17. A method for detecting fraud in an advertising system
including a search engine on a server side as in claim 14
wherein said code is a serial number.
18. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system, comprising:
(a) providing a search engine on a server side;
b) receiving, at said server side, a search request from a
client;
c) generating a unique code on the server side, for identifYing said client;
d) transmitting said code to said client from the server side;
e) transmitting to said client from the server side, in
response to said search request, a plurality oflinks associated with a plurality of websites associated with a
plurality of merchants;
f) receiving, on said server side, website information
regarding a website selected by the client together with
said code, when said client clicks one of said plurality of
links;
g) detecting fraudulent activity by measuring the duration
between clicks by said client to said selected website by
examining said code and website information.
19. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 18 further comprising the step of:
storing said code at said client.
20. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 19 wherein said storing step is performed using at least one of the following: active, Java, and
Javascript.

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21. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-per-

25. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-per-

click system as in claim 18 further comprising the step of:
storing said code in a cookie.
22. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 18 further comprising the step of:
concatenating said code with at least one of said links to
said websites.
23. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 18 wherein said code is based on a
global unique identifier of said client.
24. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 18 wherein said code is based on a
network cartography of said client.

click system as in claim 18 wherein said code is a serial
number.
26. A method for detecting fraudulent activity in a pay-perclick system as in claim 18 further comprising the step of:
preventing a click-through to at least one of said websites
associated with merchants if fraudulent activity is
detected.

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Disclaimer
7,953,667-Patrick Zuili, Boca Raton, FL (US); METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DETECT INVALID AND
FRAUDULENT IMPRESSIONS AND CLICKS IN WEB-BASED ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEMS. Patent
dated May 31, 20 II. Disclaimer filed May 26, 2011, by the Assignee, Britesmart Corp.
The term of this patent, subsequent to the patent number 7,249, I04 has been disclaimed.
(Official Gazette January 24, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION
PATENT NO.
APPLICATION NO.
DATED
INVENTOR(S)

: 7,953,667 B1
: 11/781716
:May31,2011

Page 1 of 1

: Patrick Zui1i

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 32, "active X" should be change to --ActiveX--.
Column 3, line 25, "active" should be changed to --ActiveX--.
Column 4, line 66, "active" should be changed to --ActiveX--.

Signed and Sealed this
Nineteenth Day of February, 2013

Teresa Stanek Rea
Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office