SUBSTANTIVE AND COMMERCIAL CONTENT

[0001] This application is being filed 16 October 2014, as a PCT International Patent application and claims priority to U.S. Application No. 61/891,756, filed on October 16, 2013, and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SORTING AND DISPLAYING SUBSTANTIVE AND COMMERCIAL CONTENT, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Mobile communication technologies have seen explosive growth, which has been fueled by the widespread availability of wireless service providers as well as the increased amount of information that is accessible through the internet. As a result, users are spending an ever-increasing amount of time online looking for information.

[0003] With the increase in mobile communication technology comes a corresponding decrease in demand for traditional content sources, such as print newspapers, magazines, and the like. As a result, the providers of such content are increasingly turning to mobile communication technologies in order to deliver their content.

[0004] As content providers make the transition toward mobile communication technologies, however, the content providers need to be mindful of how the transition may affect their advertisers, because advertising revenue can be an important part of a content provider's business. Improved techniques for conveying both the substantive content as well as the commercial content on mobile computing devices are desired.

SUMMARY

[0005] In general terms, this disclosure is directed to a system and method for displaying substantive and commercial content. In one possible configuration and by non-limiting example, a content sorting and display engine presents both substantive content and commercial content. Various aspects are described in this disclosure, which include, but are not limited to, the following aspects.

[0006] One aspect is a method for displaying content on a mobile computing device, the method comprising: accessing each of substantive content and commercial content from one or more sources; providing a display template, wherein the display template includes one or more columns, each column comprising two or more distinct content holders wherein at least one of the content holders is a commercial content holder which is allocated specifically to commercial content, and at least one of the content holders is a substantive content holder which is allocated specifically to substantive content; assigning each of the content holders a placement value representing the vertical location of the content holder within each of the one or more columns; assigning the placement value to a leading commercial content holder in each of the one or more columns such that the placement value of the leading commercial content holder in any one column is different from that of a commercial content holder in any neighboring column in the template; selecting a cardinality for every column in the display template, such that, within each column: the count of substantive content holders vertically following each commercial content holder in succession is equal to the selected cardinality; a commercial content holder immediately follows the last substantive content holder in the succession of substantive content holders; the placement value of any one commercial content holder in any one column is different and unequal from the placement value of any other commercial content holder in any of its neighboring columns; assigning substantive content holders one of the placement values such that one or more substantive content holders vertically following each commercial content holder, and the count of substantive content holders is equal to the selected cardinality for every column; assigning commercial content holders to placement values such that one commercial content holder vertically follows the succession of one or more substantive content holders; populating each of the one or more allocated commercial content holder with commercial content only when the allocated commercial content holder is visible within the display template on a user interface of the mobile computing device; and populating each of the one or more allocated substantive content holders with substantive content only when the allocated substantive content holder is visible within the display template on a user interface of the mobile computing device.

[0007] Another aspect is a system for sorting and displaying commercial and substantive content, the system comprising a mobile computing device, wherein the mobile computing device comprises: a content presentation engine that generates mobile device user-side page layout of content based on display template parameters; the mobile computing device being configured to receive substantive content from a substantive content server, wherein the substantive content server receives substantive content from one or more publishers; and the mobile computing device being further configured to receive commercial content from a commercial content server, wherein the commercial content server receives commercial content from one or more publishers.

[0008] A further aspect is a method of generating a content display on a mobile computing device, the method comprising: receiving content items with the mobile computing device, comprising: receiving substantive content items from a substantive content source; and receiving commercial content items from a commercial content source; generating a content display having a plurality of columns, wherein each of the columns includes a plurality of content holders; and assigning the content items to the content holders in each column, wherein commercial content items assigned to adjacent columns are assigned to content holders having different vertical positions within the columns.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example system for presenting substantive and commercial content.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example structure of a substantive content server, a substantive content database, and a content sorting and display engine of the system shown in FIG. 1.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example data structure of the substantive content feed.

[0012] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a commercial content server, publishers and other substantive content providers, a commercial content network, a the mobile computing device.

[0013] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example data structure of the commercial content feed.

[0014] FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example mobile computing device.

[0015] FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example relationship between the commercial and the substantive content server, the commercial content server, the mobile computing device, and the substantive content sorting and display engine.

[0016] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example data structure of the substantive content feed.

[0017] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example data structure of the commercial content feed.

[0018] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example data structure of the parameters in the user interface generator.

[0019] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a user preferences selection.

[0020] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a substantive content organization page.

[0021] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram representing example relationship between the commercial content carousel and a homepage display template.

[0022] FIG.14 is a representative layout of a homepage display template.

[0023] FIG. 15 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an exemplary homepage display.

[0024] FIG. 16 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an alternative exemplary homepage display.

[0025] FIG. 17 is a representative layout of a content display template.

[0026] FIG. 18 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an exemplary content display of commercial content.

[0027] FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an exemplary content display of substantive content.

[0028] FIG. 20 is an example navigational flow of homepage display use.

[0029] FIG. 21 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example processing of user inputs by the content sorting and display engine.

[0030] FIG. 22 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example execution of content sorting and display by the content sorting and display engine.

[0031] FIG. 23 is a further exemplary embodiment of a substantive content organization page.

[0032] FIG. 24 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating a further embodiment of an exemplary content display of commercial content.

[0033] FIG. 25 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating a further embodiment of an exemplary content display of substantive content. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the claims attached hereto. Additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims.

[0035] As used herein, the term "or" is an inclusive "or operator, and is equivalent to the term "and/or," unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term "based on" is not exclusive and allows for being based on additional factors not described, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Additionally, the meaning of "a," "an," and "the" include plural references, and the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on."

[0036] Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of a system 100 is shown in which aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented, which includes sorting and display of substantive and commercial content. In this example, the system 100 includes substantive content server 102, commercial content server 104, network 106, and mobile computing device 108.

[0037] The substantive content server 102 is a source that supplies substantive content 116 to the network 106. The substantive content server 102 includes a substantive content feed generator 110 that generates substantive content 116. A description of the substantive content 116 is provided below in the context of an example data structure 128 of the substantive content, in the discussion of FIG.3.

[0038] The commercial content server 104 is a source that supplies commercial content 118 to the network 106. The commercial content server 104 includes a commercial content feed generator 112 that generates the commercial content 118. The mobile computing device 108 is a means by which the commercial and substantive content are received and displayed. The mobile computing device 108 includes a content sorting and display engine 114. The content sorting and display engine 114 presents information to a user U, who receives the information through use of a user interface. The user interface can, for example, present a Homepage Display 120. A model embodiment of 120 is presented and discussed below, for example, in conjunction with FIG.14 and FIG.15. [0039] The substantive content server 102 is a computing tool that communicates substantive content 116 across the network 106, and handles substantive content from the point of retrieval from substantive content sources, up to the point they are ready to be delivered to the mobile computing device 108. In some embodiments, the substantive content server 102 is a server that operates to host substantive content feed generator 110, which transmits substantive content 116. The substantive content 116 is provided by the substantive content server 102 as a Really Simple Syndication, RDF Site Summary, or Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed through the network 106. RSS refers to any of the multiple formatting standards used to distribute syndicated content from an information provider to multiple subscribers. Although this application refers to RSS feeds, other web content syndication protocols can also be used. A more detailed description of a possible embodiment of substantive content server 102 is discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 2.

[0040] The commercial content server 104 is a computing device that communicates commercial content 118 across network 106, and handles commercial content from the point of retrieval from external sources, up to the point they are ready to be delivered to the mobile computing device 108. In some embodiments the commercial content server 104 is a server that operates to host commercial content feed generator 112. In some embodiments the commercial content 118 is provided by the commercial content server 104 as an RSS feed through the network 106. A more detailed discussion of the commercial content server 104 follows in the description of FIG 4. In addition, a description of the commercial content 118 is provided below in the context of an example data structure 148 of the commercial content, in the discussion of FIG.5.

[0041] The content sorting and display engine 114 is an application that is configured to receive content, either directly or indirectly, from network 106. For example, the content presentation engine is configured to receive graphics, text, multimedia, and the like, employing virtually any web-based language. The content sorting and display engine 114 may engage one or more content distribution systems via a mobile computing device. In one implementation, the content distributors may receive from content sorting and display engine 114 one or more data feed (RSS feed) selections at substantive content server 102 and/or commercial content server 104, the selection comprising at least a data feed address designation. The content presentation engine may, in one embodiment, be downloaded onto mobile computing device 108. The structure and functions of the mobile computing device 108 will be discussed in greater depth in conjunction with the detailed description of FIG.6. Additionally, an exemplary process driven by the content sorting and display engine 114 is detailed below in the discussion of FIG. 7.

[0042] Network 106 is one or more data communication networks which permit the communication of digital data from one computing device to another computing device. In this example, the network 106 permits data communication between the mobile computing device 108 and the substantive content server 102 and commercial content server 104. In some embodiments the network 106 is or includes the Internet. In some embodiments the network also or alternatively includes other communication networks, such as one or more cellular communication networks, one or more wireless communication networks, and one or more local-area networks (LAN).

[0043] In some embodiments, mobile computing device 108 is a computing device capable of wireless communication through which the content sorting and display engine 114 may be downloaded and implemented. An example view of the content sorting and display engine 114, seen by the user U, is presented on the homepage display 120, shown in the FIG. l as an representative layout of the substantive content 116 and the commercial content 118. In some embodiments, mobile computing device 108 is a portable computing device capable of communicating over the network 106 to send and receive information. Examples of the mobile computing device 108 include portable devices such as tablets, smart phones, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), display pagers, laptop computers, wearable computers handheld computers, devices combining one or more of any of the preceding devices, and the like. One example embodiment of mobile computing device 108 is described in more detail in conjunction with FIG.6.

[0044] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram depicting a structure of the substantive content server 102, a substantive content database 126, and the mobile computing device 108. The substantive content server 102 receives the substantive content 116 from the substantive content database 126 and sends the substantive content 116 to the mobile computing device 108.

[0045] In the exemplary arrangement shown in FIG. 2, the substantive content server 102 includes a substantive content handling engine 122, a substantive content feed generator 110, and a substantive content feed sender 124. The substantive content database 126 is a database that obtains information from one or more providers and sends the information in the form of 116 to the substantive content handling engine 122, which is adapted to update and manage the substantive content 116. The substantive content feed generator 110 is adapted to accept data from 122 and generate a substantive content 116 as a feed file according to user data and content data, and the substantive content feed sender 124 is adapted to send the substantive content 116 to the mobile computing device 108. The mobile computing device 108 receives the substantive content 116 from the Substantive Content Feed Sender 124. An example of the data structure of the substantive content 116 is discussed below with respect to FIG. 3. The structure and functions of the mobile computing device 108 will be discussed in greater depth with regards to a detailed description of FIG.6 provided below.

[0046] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing exemplary data structure 128 of the substantive content feed. The data structure in FIG. 3 contains information about each item of substantive content including, for example, a substantive content ID 130, image 132, text 134, category 136, and date/time 138. The substantive content ID 130 serves as a unique identifier for each item of substantive content.

[0047] The image 132 comprises digital data that are packaged into one or more image files, and can be in various image file format types that store data in, for example, uncompressed, compressed, or vector formats. Note that other possible categories of image file formats can be used, and the presently described system is intended to include each such category. As a further example, the image 132 can be stored in a variety of exemplary graphic file formats that include, but are not limited to: JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), Exif (Exchangeable image file format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), and PNG (Portable Network Graphics). Note that the image 132 is an example option of the type of information included in the data structure 128 of substantive content; some examples of substantive content items can contain no images.

[0048] The text 134 is the written or text portion of the substantive content. The category 136 is the subject matter group that the substantive content belongs to, for example "Sports" or "Politics" in the case of a newspaper. Further discussion on the category 136 is provided below in the context of the selection of user preferences in the description of FIG. 11, as well as in the context of the ordering of content by the user described in conjunction with FIG. 12. The date/time 138 is the date and time that the substantive content was most recently updated or retrieved. [0049] The data structure shown in FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the one or more information package associated with the substantive content 116 that is collected, processed, and stored in the substantive content server 102, previously discussed with respect to FIG. 2. The information in the data structure of the substantive content feed in FIG.3 is sent to a substantive content feed reader 198 on a mobile computing device 108, as shown in FIG. 2. A more detailed discussion about the substantive content reader 198 and its relationship within the content sorting and display engine 114 is provided in conjunction with the description of FIG.7 below.

[0050] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an example relationship between the commercial content server 104, the publishers and other substantive content providers 146, a commercial content network 144, and the mobile computing device 108. The commercial content server 104 is connected to a mobile computing device 108, which acts as a receiver terminal provided with a means for receiving and reading the commercial content feed. The commercial content server 104 is also connected to one or more publishers and other substantive content providers 146, and to the commercial content network 144.

[0051] The commercial content server 104 includes a commercial content handling engine 140, a commercial content feed generator 112, and a substantive content feed sender 142. The commercial content handling engine 140 is configured to update and manage the commercial content 118 obtained from the publishers and other substantive content providers 146 and the commercial content network 144. The commercial content feed generator 112 is configured to generate a feed file containing the commercial content 118 according to user data and content data. The commercial content feed sender 148 is configured to send the commercial content 118 obtained from the commercial content feed generator 112 to the mobile computing device 108.

[0052] In one embodiment of the presently described system, the overall function of the commercial content server 104 includes: detection of new items in news sources and fetching of items and conversion of different news formats into internal representation (via the commercial content handling engine and commercial content feed generator). The mobile computing device 108 will be discussed in more detail herein with reference to FIG.6.

[0053] FIG. 5 is a diagram that represents an example data structure 148 of the commercial content 118. The data structure 148 contains information about each item of commercial content including, for example, a commercial content ID 150, image 152, title 154, and date/time 138.

[0054] The commercial content ID 150 serves as a unique identifier for each item of commercial content. The image 152 comprises digital data that are packaged into one or more image files, and can be in various image file types that store data in, for example, uncompressed, compressed, or vector formats. Note that other possible categories of image file formats can be used, and the presently described system is intended to include each such category. As a further example, the image 152 can be stored in a variety of exemplary graphic file formats that include, but are not limited to: JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), Exif (Exchangeable image file format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), and PNG (Portable Network Graphics).

[0055] The Title 154 is the heading or label of the commercial content 118, and can be derived from various features of the commercial content item, such as but not limited to, for example, the text found within the item, the owner of the commercial content item, the business that the commercial content is associated with, any of the providers of the commercial content, the category group that the commercial content can be identified with, and the like. The date/time 156 is the date and time that the commercial content was most recently updated or retrieved.

[0056] The data structure shown in FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the one or more information packages associated with the commercial content 118 that is collected, processed, and stored in the commercial content server 104, previously discussed with respect to FIG. 4. The information in the data structure of commercial content feed in FIG.5 is sent to a commercial content feed reader 206 on a mobile computing device 108, as shown in FIG. 4. A more detailed discussion about the commercial content feed reader 206 and its relationship within the content sorting and display engine 114 is provided in conjunction with the description of FIG.7 below.

[0057] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a computing device that can be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure, including any of the plurality of the content sorting and display engine 114, the substantive content server 102, the commercial content server 104, and any of the systems, programs, modules and applications that the aforementioned servers and engines can include and involve.

The computing device illustrated in FIG. 6 can be used to execute the operating system, application programs, and software modules (including the software engines) described herein. By way of example, the computing device will be described below as the mobile computing device 108. To avoid undue repetition, the description of the mobile computing device will not be separately repeated herein for each of the other computing devices, including portable devices such as tablets, smart phones, cellular telephones, radio frequency (RF) devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), display pagers, laptop computers, wearable computers handheld computers, integrated devices combining one or more of any of the preceding devices, and the like., but such devices can also be configured as illustrated and described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0058] The mobile computing device 108 includes, in some embodiments, at least one processing device 158, such as a central processing unit (CPU). A variety of processing devices are available from a variety of manufacturers, for example, Intel or Advanced Micro Devices. In this example, the mobile computing device 108 also includes a system memory 172, and a system bus 166 that couples various system components including the system memory 172 to the processing device 158. The system bus 166 is one of any number of types of bus structures including a memory bus, or memory controller; a peripheral bus; and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

[0059] Examples suitable for the mobile computing device 108 include a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a mobile computing device (such as a smart phone, an iPod® or iPad® mobile digital device, or other mobile devices), or other devices configured to process digital instructions. Aspects of the present disclosure are also implemented on immobile computing devices including a desktop computer along with its full scope of equivalents and alternatives.

[0060] The system memory 172 includes read only memory 174 and random access memory 176. A basic input/output system 178 containing the basic routines that act to transfer information within mobile computing device 108, such as during start up, is typically stored in the read only memory 174.

[0061] The mobile computing device 108 also includes a secondary storage device 170 in some embodiments, such as a hard disk drive, for storing digital data. The secondary storage device 170 is connected to the system bus 166 by a secondary storage interface 168. The secondary storage devices 170 and their associated computer readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions (including application programs and program modules), data structures, and other data for the mobile computing device 108.

[0062] Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk drive as a secondary storage device, other types of computer readable storage media can be used in other embodiments. Examples of these other types of computer readable storage media include magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, compact disc read only memories, digital versatile disk read only memories, random access memories, or read only memories. Some embodiments include non-transitory media. Additionally, such computer readable storage media can include local storage or cloud-based storage.

[0063] A number of program modules can be stored in secondary storage device 170 or memory 172, including an operating system 180, one or more application programs 184, other program modules 182 (such as the software engines described herein), and program data 186. The content sorting and display engine 114, described in the present system, can be considered an example of the one or more application programs 184, for example. The mobile computing device 108 can utilize any suitable operating system, such as Microsoft Windows™, Google Chrome™, Apple OS, and any other operating system suitable for a computing device.

[0064] In some embodiments, a user provides input to the mobile computing device 108 through one or more input devices 190. Examples of input devices 190 include a keyboard 192, a pointer input device 194 (e.g., touchpad, touch sensitive display, mouse, track ball, etc.), and microphone 196. The input devices are often connected to the processing device 158 through an input/output (I/O) interface 188 that is coupled to the system bus 166. These input devices 190 can be connected by any number of input/output interfaces, such as a parallel port, serial port, game port, or a universal serial bus. Wireless communication between input devices and the I/O interface 188 is possible as well, and includes infrared, BLUETOOTH® wireless technology, 802.1 la/b/g/n, cellular, or other radio frequency communication systems in some possible embodiments.

[0065] In this example embodiment, a display device 162, such as a monitor, liquid crystal display device, projector, or touch sensitive display device, is also connected to the system bus 166 via an interface, such as a video adapter 160. In addition to the display device 162, the mobile computing device 108 can include various other peripheral devices (not shown), such as speakers or a printer. [0066] When used in a local area networking environment or a wide area networking environment (such as the Internet), the mobile computing device 108 is typically connected to the network 106 through a network interface 164, such as an Ethernet interface. Other possible embodiments use other communication devices. For example, some embodiments of the mobile computing device 108 include a modem for communicating across the network.

[0067] The mobile computing device 108 typically includes at least some form of computer readable media. Computer readable media includes any available media that can be accessed by the mobile computing device 108. By way of example, computer readable media include computer readable storage media and computer readable communication media.

[0068] Computer readable storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any device configured to store information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, random access memory, read only memory, electrically erasable programmable read only memory, flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory, digital versatile disks or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by the mobile computing device 108. Computer readable storage media does not include computer readable communication media.

[0069] Computer readable communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term "modulated data signal" refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, computer readable communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media.

[0070] The computing device illustrated in FIG. 6 is also an example of programmable electronics, which may include one or more such computing devices, and when multiple computing devices are included, such computing devices can be coupled together with a suitable data communication network so as to collectively perform the various functions, methods, or operations disclosed herein.

[0071] FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of the structures of and relationships between the substantive content server, the commercial content server, the mobile computing device 108, and the substantive content sorting and display engine 114 which is shown in this exemplary embodiment as a component of the mobile computing device 108. FIG. 7 shows that the content sorting and display engine 114 is connected to and in communication with the substantive content server 102, the commercial content server 104, and the I/O interface 188 on the mobile computing device.

[0072] The content sorting and display engine 114 includes a substantive content feed sources input 202, a substantive content feed aggregator 200, a substantive content feed results output 204, a substantive content feed reader 198 for receiving and reading the substantive content feed provided by the substantive content feed generator 110, a commercial content feed reader 206, a rotating circular commercial content carousel 208, a commercial content placement engine 210, a commercial content placement parameter engine 212, and a user interface generator 214.

[0073] The substantive content server 102 receives and processes the substantive content 116, and generates and sends the substantive content 116 to the mobile computing device 108. Substantive content server 102 includes the substantive content feed generator as discussed in the description of FIG. 2, as well as the substantive content feed sender 124 also discussed in reference to FIG. 2. The substantive content feed sender 124 transmits the substantive content to the substantive content feed reader 198 in the content sorting and display engine 114. The substantive content feed reader 198 sends the substantive content that it has processed to the substantive content feed aggregator 200, which further processes the substantive content in consideration of information from the substantive content feed sources input 202.

[0074] Substantive content feed aggregation includes, in some embodiments of the system, conversion of different content formats into internal representation, detection and normalization of substantive content, indexing and categorization of the substantive content. The substantive content feed aggregator 200 can, in example arrangements, perform the operation of archiving substantive content 116 and its associated data, which was discussed previously in reference to FIG. 3. The substantive content feed aggregator 200 sends its information to the substantive content feed results output 204, which further packages the substantive content for delivery to the user interface generator 214.

[0075] The processing of the commercial content 118 also occurs in the content sorting and display engine shown in FIG. 7. The commercial content server 104 is a system that receives, processes, generates and sends the commercial content 118, for example in the form of a feed, to the mobile computing device 108, and includes the commercial content feed generator 112 as discussed in the description of FIG. 4, as well as the commercial content feed sender 142 also discussed in reference to FIG. 4.

The commercial content feed sender 142 transmits the commercial content to the commercial content feed reader 206 in the content sorting and display engine 114. In the example process illustrated in FIG. 7, the commercial content feed reader 206 processes and sends the commercial content 118 to the rotating circular commercial content carousel 208, which sorts and stores the commercial content 118 in a circular list and dispenses to the commercial content placement engine 210. Note that the commercial content is dispensed by the commercial content carousel 208 only when the allocated commercial content holder is visible within the display template 304 on a user interface of the mobile computing device 108. For example, if the user is in the process of scrolling down the page without stopping, a commercial content holder, or substantive content holder for that matter, will not be visible. During this time, content will not be allocated to its content holder on the display template 304.

[0076] The commercial content placement engine 210 regulates the location of commercial content in consideration of information from commercial content placement engine 212. The commercial content placement engine subsequently packages the commercial content for delivery to the user interface generator 214.

[0077] In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, each and every commercial and substantive content is assigned a placement value within its column on the display template 304 (see, FIG. 13, for example) that represents its relative location with respect to content vertically preceding and following it.

Further, every column in the display template is assigned a cardinality that represents the number of substantive content holders that vertically follows each commercial content holder in succession. The last substantive content holder in the succession of substantive content holders is immediately followed by a commercial content holder. [0078] The system is configured such that no two commercial content holders in neighboring columns will be assigned the same placement value. A direct consequence of this configuration is that, all heights of the content holders in any two columns being equal, no two items of commercial content will lie horizontally adjacent to each other across any two columns.

[0079] The user interface generator 214 receives and packages the information from the substantive content feed results output 204 and the commercial content placement engine 210, and generates an interface that can be presented on the input/output interface on the mobile computing device 108 outside of the content sorting and display engine 114.

[0080] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example data structure 215 of the substantive content feed results output as it is processed in the substantive content feed results output 204. Subsequently, the information housed in the data structure 215 will be sent to the user interface generator 214. The data structure of the substantive content feed results output 204 contains information about each item of substantive content in preparation for its placement on the user interface of the mobile computing device 108. FIG. 8 shows one possible embodiment of the data structure 215, which houses information associated with each item of substantive content including, for example, a substantive content ID 216, a user preference category 218, a category ID 220, a page 222, a column 224, a source 226, and a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) link 228. The substantive content ID 216 serves as a unique identifier for each item of substantive content. The user preference category 218 is the subject matter of substantive content that the user choses to subscribe to. In the example shown in FIG. 8, some exemplary user preference categories can include baseball, movies, diet, and personal finance. The category ID 220 is an identification code that is associated with a subject matter category in which a substantive content can belong. When the user U selects a preferential category from which to receive substantive content, the title of the category is recorded in 218 and the identification code for the category is recorded in the Category ID 220 column of the data structure 215 of the substantive content feed results output 204. The page 222 is the number of the page on the homepage display 120 that the substantive content will be inserted into. Additional discussion about the page 222 can be found in illustrated examples of the user interface in conjunction with detailed descriptions of FIG. 12 and FIG. 14 below. [0081] The column 224 is the column number that the substantive content will be inserted into on any given page of the homepage display 120. In this particular exemplary embodiment of the system, there are a maximum of 4 columns per page. Therefore, for every page 222, the substantive content can be inserted into one of the 4 columns, and the column 224 displayed in the data structure 215 can be one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. Note, however, that this is just one example of the implementation of the presently described system; in other examples, there can be an alternative number of maximum columns per page, for example, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and so on.

[0082] The source 226 is the origin from which the substantive content 116 is obtained. The source 226 can be the entity that provided the substantive content 116 to the substantive content server 102. Possible sources are demonstrated in FIG. 8 as, for example, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, SELF.com, and CNN.com. These are just some examples of a variety of sources that can be listed under the source column 226, which can include but is not limited to, publications, official records, broadcast entities, business entities, government entities, organizations or corporations, or any other provider of substantive content. The URL link 228 is the uniform resource locator that functions as a web address in the form of a character string. The URL link 228 constitutes a reference for each item of substantive content 116 to a more specific resource that is associated with the source 226.

[0083] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example data structure 229 of the commercial content feed results output as it is processed in the commercial content placement engine 210. Information is retrieved from the commercial content carousel

208 and from the commercial content placement parameter engine 212. The example data structure 229 within the commercial content placement engine 210 is delivered to the user interface generator 214. The data structure 229 of the commercial content feed results output 204 contains information about each item of commercial content in preparation for its placement on the user interface of the mobile computing device

108. FIG. 9 shows one possible embodiment of the data structure 229, which houses information associated with each item of commercial content including, for example, a commercial content ID 230, a title 232, a page 234, a column 236, a start position

238, a lineup number 240, and a time/date of last update 242. The commercial content

ID 230 serves as a unique identifier for each item of commercial content. The Title

154 is the heading or label of the commercial content 118, and can be derived from various features of the commercial content item, such as but not limited to, for example, the text found within the item, the owner of the commercial content item, the business that the commercial content is associated with, any of the providers of the commercial content, the categorical group that the commercial content can be identified with, and the like. In the example shown in FIG. 8, some exemplary values for title 232 can include El Universal, Empleos, Mindshare, and Publicidad.

[0084] The page 222 is the number of the page on the homepage display 120 that the commercial content will be inserted into. Additional discussion about the page 222 can be found in illustrated examples of the user interface in conjunction with detailed descriptions of FIG. 12 and FIG. 14 below.

[0085] The column 224 is the column number that the commercial content will be inserted into on any given page of the homepage display 120. In this particular exemplary embodiment of the system, there are a maximum of 4 columns per page. Therefore, for every page 222, commercial content can be inserted into one of the 4 columns, and the column 224 displayed in the data structure 215 can be one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. Note, however, that this is just one example of the implementation of the presently described system; in other examples, there can be an alternative number of maximum columns per page, for example, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and so on.

[0086] The start position 238 is the placement of the first item of commercial content in each column with respect to the first available space for either commercial or substantive content. As a result, every item of commercial content in one particular column will share the same value for the start position 238. Notably, the start position 238 is never the same for any two adjacent columns. In the example data structure 215 in FIG. 9, the commercial content with ID 230 being 09845 WEH, which belongs to the third column on the first page, belongs to a column which has the start position 238 of 1. This means the first item of commercial content will be inserted into the first space in that column for any content, either substantive or commercial. Further details of content positions will be discussed in the descriptions of FIG. 13 and FIG. 14.

[0087] The lineup number 240 is the numerical value given to each item of commercial content 118 in order to designate the location of one item of commercial content 118 with respect to the sequence or succession of other items of commercial content, all of which are contained in the commercial content carousel 208. In the example data structure 215 shown in FIG. 9, the lineup number 240 of the commercial content with ID 230 of 09845WEH is 3, which means 09845WEH is the third item of commercial content from the first commercial content item in column 3 on page 1.

The date/time 156 shown in FIG. 9 is the date and time that the commercial content was most recently updated or retrieved.

[0088] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example data structure of parameters 243 set and processed in the user interface generator 214. Information is retrieved from the commercial content placement engine 210 and from the substantive content feed results output 204. The example data structure of parameters 243 within the user interface generator 214 contains example parameters and other information that can be set for a user interface. The user interface generator 214 sends the information in the example data structure of parameters 243 to the I/O interface 188.

[0089] FIG. 10 shows one possible embodiment of the data structure of parameters 243, which houses examples of parameters that can be determined by the system, for example by the content sorting and display engine 114. The data structure of parameters 243 contains various parameters 244 for columns on the homepage display 120. In this example arrangement in accordance with the present system, there are 4 columns for every page on the homepage display 120. However, alternative arrangements are possible that are equivalently implemented and represented by the user interface generator 214. Modifications and equivalent arrangements include, for example 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 columns per page instead of the presently described example of 4 columns per page. Additionally, various other parameters used to define the user interface in addition to those listed under the parameters 244 column in FIG. 10 are equally possible. Of course, alternative arrangements of data structure 243 may exclude parameters that are presently listed under the parameters 244 column in FIG. 10 as well.

[0090] In light of alternative arrangements, the data structure of the administrative parameters 243 include parameters 244, column 1 246, column 2 248, column 3 250, and column 4 252. Example parameters include ADS BY EACH 254, DEFAULT 256, SECTION NAME 258, SIZE 260, AUTHOR 262, ID 264, IMAGES 266, URL LINK 268, VIEW AUTHOR 270, VIEW TIME 272, and VIEW LOCATOR 274. [0091] The ADS BY EACH parameter 254 is a variable element in each column that specifies the number of substantive content items 116 that will be inserted between two commercial content items 118. In the presently described example, substantive content is inserted into space holders that are designated specifically for substantive content 116, hereafter referred to as substantive content holder 308. Likewise, commercial content is inserted in space holders that are designated specifically for commercial content 118, hereafter referred to as commercial content holder 316. The parameter 254 is set for every column, so that, within every column, one commercial content holder 316 will consistently be separated from the next commercial content holder 316 by a preset number of substantive content holders 308. Further information about the commercial content holder 316 and the substantive content holder 308 will be explored in the descriptions of FIG. 13, 14, and 15 below.

[0092] The DEFAULT parameter 256 is a designation that marks whether or not a column has been designated as a default column, hereafter referred to as default column 312. In the example embodiment of the system described here, the default column is the first column on the of the homepage display 120, on the first page. The default column is designated and marked in data structure 243 when the user U downloads and uses the content sorting and display engine 114 for the first time. The default column contains general substantive content 116 that has been pre-selected, without input from the user U, and is requisite in this example arrangement illustrated and described.

[0093] The SECTION NAME parameter 258 is the title of the column, which is associated with the subject matter classification or group category of the substantive content 116 inserted into that column. In the representative data structure 243 illustrated in FIG. 10, examples of SECTION NAME 258 includes, but is by no means limited to, Breaking News, Local Events, Editorials, and Comics. In the present example arrangement, the Breaking News column is the default column. The SECTION NAME parameter 258 is further illustrated and discussed in the detailed discussion of FIG. 15.

[0094] The SIZE parameter 260 is a delegation of the sizes of the commercial and substantive content holders 316 and 308, respectively, in each of the columns on the homepage display 120. For example, the SIZE parameter 260 indicates the height of the spaces containing truncated views of the substantive and commercial content. In the present exemplary arrangement described, the SIZE 260 indicates two size options: "completo" and "medio". The completo size is the full size, and the medio size is the half size. In addition, some embodiments further include a double size, such as useful for displaying cartoons or pictures. One example of a double sized commercial and substantive content holder is the comic shown in FIG. 15 showing a person having a gas pump as a body, which spans two full sized spaces. The double size is twice the full size. In the present example shown in FIG. 10, columns 1 and 2 present their substantive and commercial content in the full size, whereas columns 3 and 4 present their substantive and commercial content in the half size. See also, FIG. 15 for example. An example of the SIZE parameter 260 is illustrated and further discussed in conjunction with the detailed description of FIG. 15.

[0095] The AUTHOR 262 lists the creator of the substantive content in the column, if applicable. The author 262 can be, in example embodiments, a columnist whose articles the user U had elected to subscribe specifically to. In another example embodiment, the author 262 can be a blogger whom the user U had elected to follow by subscribing to the blogger's posts. In yet another example embodiment, the author 262 can be a cartoonist those illustrations the user U had selected to view in a separate column. This example is shown in FIG. 10, column 4, where the title of the column is comics, and the author is Rayma, a comic-strip illustrator. The particular example of column with an author 262 designated to it is further illustrated in a screenshot in FIG. 15.

[0096] The ID 264 is a unique identifier for the column, and can be in the form of a serial number, code, string of characters, or the like. The IMAGES 266 is an associated header image of the column, if applicable. URL LINK 268 is the relative link or website address associated with the substantive contents of the column. The VIEW AUTHOR parameter 270 specifies whether or not the author of the column, if applicable, is displayed along with the substantive content or commercial content in each of the columns 246, 248, 250, and 252.

The VIEW TIME parameter 272 is specifies whether or not the date and/or time is displayed along with the substantive content or commercial content in each of the columns 246, 248, 250, and 252. The VIEW LOCATOR parameter 274 specifies whether or not the URL link 268 is displayed along with the substantive content or commercial content in each of the columns 246, 248, 250, and 252. [0097] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a user preferences selection page 276 which allows the user U to make elections based on one or more subject matters of interest. In the present example embodiment of the system, the user preferences selection page 276 includes subjects of interest 277, general categories of interest 278, 280, or 284, a selection box 282 which allows the user U to make the election based on his/her interest, an accept option 286, an uncheck all option 288, and a decline option 290.

[0098] Each subject matter of interest is listed under a general category of interest 278, 280, or 284, displayed on FIG. 22. In one possible embodiment shown in FIG. 11 as an example, the general category of interest 278, 280, or 284 is thematic, which includes sections (for example, as in sections of a newspaper), blogs/bloggers, businesses, social networking, or any other type of subjects that the user U wishes to include in one of the columns 246, 248, 250, or 252 on each of the pages 234 in the homepage display 120.

[0099] The user U checks one or more of the selection boxes 282 next to any one or more subjects of interest 277. At any point after checking one or more of the selection boxes 282, the user U can engage the accept option 286 in order to create a column that is defined by elected subject of interest. The user U can engage the uncheck all option 288 to clear the checks in all of the selection boxes 282. Alternatively, the user U can clear the checks in individual selection boxes one at a time by engaging the previously checked selection box 282. The user U can engage the decline option 290 to cancel the actions on the user preferences selection page 276.

[0100] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a substantive content organization page 292 which allows the user U to order and arrange the columns 246, 248, 250, or 252 on each of the pages 234 in the homepage display 120.

[0101] In the present example embodiment of the system, the substantive content organization page 292 includes one or more scores representing the page number 294, one or more column boxes 296 representing one of the columns 246, 248, 250, or

252, a selection box 298, and an accept option 300. The page number 294 is presented on the homepage display 120 as page 234 in an alternative representation of the page that the user U is currently viewing. The column box 296 contains the title

232 of one of the 4 columns 246, 248, 250, or 252 which contains substantive content related to the subject of interest selected by the user. [0102] The select box 298 allows the user U to grab the column box 296 that it is adjacent to in order to arrange the columns relative to each other within one page or from page to page. The accept option 300 allows the user U to conclude the changes made on the substantive content organization page 292.

[0103] FIG. 23 illustrates a further exemplary embodiment of a substantive content organization page 592 which allows the user U to order and arrange the content categories in a column 502 on the left side of the page via the drop-down menu function 506, with the content categories ordered from top to bottom. The selected order of substantive content is reflected in the specific pictorial content links 504, which appear on the right side of the page. Specific pictorial content options within each content category are arranged in columns on the right side of the page, with the content category columns ordered from left to right. Pictorial commercial content links are interspersed amongst the columns displaying specific content. Additional columns of pictorial content options can be viewed on the right side of the page using a swipe or similar function 508, without disturbing the appearance of the content category column 502 on the left side of the page.

[0104] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram showing a system 302 representing example relationship between the commercial content carousel 208 and a homepage display template 304.

[0105] The commercial content carousel 208 contains a circular list of commercial content, shown as 118a, 118b, 118c, 118d and 118e in the example arrangement presented in FIG. 13. The homepage display template 304 includes a column holder 306, a commercial content holder 308, and a multimedia bar content holder 310. One of the commercial content items 118a-d is inserted into one of the commercial content holders 308 in one or more of the column holders 306. The media content holder 310 is a space that will be populated with a multimedia content 317. Further discussion and illustration of the homepage display template 304 is presented below in the description of FIG.14. Further discussion and illustration of the multimedia content 317 is presented below in conjunction with the description of FIG. 15.

[0106] FIG.14 is a representative layout of a homepage display template 304 into which substantive content 116, commercial content 118, and other associated information will be populated. FIG.14 is one of many possible embodiments of the presently described system, and it shows that the homepage display template 304 contains a commercial content holder 308, a multimedia content holder 310, a default column holder 312 (in this example shown as the first column of the first page of the homepage display 120), a column subject tile 314, a substantive content holder 316, the 2 ^nd column 248, the 3 ^rd column 250, the 4 ^th column 252, and the page indication 294.

[0107] FIG. 15 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an exemplary homepage display 315 as viewed by the user U. This example represents a view of the homepage display after the user choses topics of interest in order to create personalized columns of information. Commercial content 118 is displayed in each column such that no two items of commercial content 118 are adjacent to each other in neighboring columns. As shown in FIG. 15, the first column is the Default column 312, since it is the first column of the first page of the homepage display, where the page indication 294 uses the darkened circle to represent the page number shown on the user interface. The exemplary homepage display 315 also includes multimedia content 317 that has populated the multimedia content holder 310.

[0108] FIG. 16 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an alternative exemplary homepage display 120. This is a view 318 of the user interface that results when the user U makes no selections of subjects of interest 277 (shown in FIG. 11) and therefore does not select any columns 246, 248, 250, or 252. FIG.16 shows that, as a result, the default column remains on the homepage display 120.

[0109] FIG. 17 is a representative layout of a content display template 320 into which substantive content 116, commercial content 118, and other associated information will be populated. FIG.17 is one of many possible embodiments of the presently described system, and it shows that the content display template 320 contains a main selected content holder 322, an overhead navigation bar, a button 326 to return to the homepage display 120, a downloader button 328, an options button 330, a side panel 332, and one or more content holders 334 for unselected content form the same column of origin as the selected content.

[0110] FIG. 18 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an exemplary content display 336 of commercial content. As shown in FIG. 18, commercial content 118 has been populated into the main selected-content holder 322. The side navigation panel 332 on the right side displays an example of the column of content from which the selected commercial content 118 was selected by the user U. the same commercial content 118 is displayed in the navigation panel 332 as is displayed in enlarged form in the main selected-content holder 322.

[0111] FIG. 24 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating a further embodiment of an exemplary content display 636 of commercial content. As in FIG. 18, as shown in FIG. 24, the same commercial content 118 is displayed in the navigation panel 632 as is displayed in enlarged form in the main selected-content holder 622.

[0112] FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating an exemplary content display of substantive content 338. The substantive content display 338 contains a sharing option 340. The sharing option 340 allows the user U to forward information to others, by way of, for example, social media or email.

[0113] FIG. 25 is a screen shot of the example user interface illustrating a further embodiment of an exemplary content display of substantive content 738. As with the embodiment of FIG. 19, the substantive content display 738 contains a sharing option 740. The sharing option 740 allows the user U to forward information to others, by way of, for example, social media or email.

[0114] FIG. 20 is an example navigational flow 342 of user interactions with the presently disclosed homepage display 120 that includes expanding the content display page to the commercial and substantive content displays 336 and 338, respectively.

[0115] FIG. 21 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example of the method 352 of processing user inputs by the content sorting and display engine 114 shown and discussed in conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The user inputs are detected by a mobile computing device 108 (shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6). In this example, method 352 includes operations 354, 356, 358, 360, 362, 364, 366, 368, 370, 372, 374, 376, 378, 380, 382, 384, 386, 388, and 390.

[0116] The operation 354 downloads the content sorting and display engine 114 onto the mobile computing device 108, and the operation 356 opens 114 after it has been downloaded on 108. The operation 358 opens a user tutorial, which informs the user U of various functionalities of 114 and assists the user U in various ways including but not limited to frequently asked questions, tutorials, search options, etc. The operation 358 can lead to the operation 360, which opens a page 276 for the user U to select subjects of interest 277. Alternatively, the operation 356 can lead directly to the operation 360 without passing through the operation 358 if the user U chooses to skip the user tutorial. [0117] The operation 362 determines whether the engine needs to search and subscribe to additional content. If not, operation 372 leads to the homepage display 374.

[0118] If the option to search and subscribe to additional content at the operation 362 is accepted, operation 362 leads to the operation 366 which inputs the content keywords selected by the user into the search query. The operation 368 takes the content keywords from operation 366 and selects the subjects of interest 277 so that the operation 370 can subscribe to and retrieve the subjects of interest 277. Completion of operation 370 leads back to operation 362, which allows additional content to be searched for and selected. The operation 362 leads to either operation 372 if the option for additional subscriptions is denied, or repeats operations 364, 366, 368, and 370. The cycle of operations 262, 264, 366, 368, and 370 can occur any number of times.

[0119] The operation 372 leads to operation 374, which opens the homepage display 120 on which the operation 376 refreshes, orders, sorts, or otherwise rearranges individual columns as discussed above with respect to FIG. 15. From the homepage display that has undergone either operation 374 or operation 376, the substantive content or commercial content in one of the columns can be elected by operation 378, so that operation 380 can generate an expanded view of the substantive or commercial content in the form of a substantive content display 338 or commercial content display 336, respectively.

[0120] From either the substantive content display 338 or commercial content display 336, the operation 386 scrolls through and displays the full length of the substantive or commercial content. Operation 388 responds to a swiping input in order to display the full length of a substantive or commercial content either preceding or following the currently expanded and displayed substantive or commercial content. In addition or in the alternative, the operation 388 links to and displays a different image that still corresponds, and is pertinent to, the substantive or commercial content that was selected. Thus, selection of a particular piece of commercial content or substantive content can link to an expanded view of the image displayed prior to the selection and/or to an entirely different image or set of images.

To update information, operation 382 refreshes the substantive content display 338 or commercial content display 336. To view other substantive or commercial content within the same column, 384 scrolls down the side panel in order to navigate through the substantive and commercial content within the same column. Operation 390 selects the substantive or commercial content that the user U wishes to view from the side panel.

[0121] FIG. 22 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example of the method 392 of sorting and displaying substantive and commercial content by the content sorting and display engine 114 on a mobile computing device 108 (shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6). In this example, method 392 includes operations 394, 396, 398, 400, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 424, 426, 428, 430, and 432.

[0122] From the starting point 394, operation 396 allows the content sorting and display engine 114 to be opened and installed on the mobile computing device 108, and operation 398 allows 114 to be registered with the substantive content server 102 from which 1 14 will be obtaining the substantive content 116. In operation 400, the user preferences are analyzed by 114. The user preferences refer to, for example, the topics and categories chosen by the user on the user preferences selection page 276, as discussed in conjunction with the detailed discussion of FIG. 8. Operation 402 subscribes to and fetches the substantive content 116, and operation 404 analyzes and processes the substantive content 116 for insertion in operation 408, into content holders in the display template that were designated for population with substantive content in operation 406.

[0123] Concurrently, the application is registered with the commercial content server in operation 410, so that the commercial content can be pre-fetched in operation 412 and populated into the rotating circular commercial content carousel in operation 414. Operation 416 designates the content holders in the display template for the commercial content which are later assigned to the content holder in operation

418. Operation 420 determines whether the user U is scrolling through the page.

[0124] If yes, a content holder would not be available for populating with commercial content, and if not, operation 426 selects a commercial content 118 form the rotating circular commercial content carousel and operation 428 inserts the commercial content into the designated content holder. The end results of operations

428 and 418are merged by operation 430 to output the homepage display 120.

[0125] The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claims attached hereto.

Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the following claims.