Additionally, stored information may include web sites the user has accessed, time spent on each web site, and any searches performed by the user.

The profile information may be utilized by the proxy to conduct targeted advertising and to associate a cost with certain demographic information.

The profile information may be evaluated by the ISP for advertisement insertion.

Alternatively, the profile information may be forwarded to an advertiser or advertising agency that evaluates and forwards back an advertisement for the proxy to transmit to the user.

This invention relates to the field of computer software, and, more specifically, to advertising on the internet.

Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection.

The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

In a computer network environment and the internet, advertising is increasingly utilized by owners of web sites (referred to as web hosts) as a revenue source and for the advertisers to gain publicity and web site access.

Web hosts sell advertising space on their web site and distribute web pages including the advertisements to internet users or clients.

It is desirable for advertisements to target specific audiences and persons that may be interested in the specific good or service being advertised.

Prior art advertising schemes poorly target audiences and create excessive internet traffic when retrieving and transmitting advertisements.

These problems can be understood by reviewing networks, internets, advertising and how they work.

In modern computing environments, it is commonplace to employ multiple computers or workstations linked together in a network to communicate between, and share data with, network users.

A network also may include resources, such as printers, modems, file servers, etc., and may also include services, such as electronic mail.

A network can be a small system that is physically connected by cables (a local area network or "LAN"), or several separate networks can be connected together to form a larger network (a wide area network or "WAN").

Other types of networks include the internet, tel-com networks, the World Wide Web, intranets, extranets, wireless networks, and other networks over which electronic, digital, and/or analog data may be communicated.

Computer systems sometimes rely on a server computer system to provide information to requesting computers on a network.

When there are a large number of requesting computers, it may be necessary to have more than one server computer system to handle the requests.

The Internet is a worldwide network of interconnected computers.

An Internet client accesses a computer on the network via an Internet provider.

An Internet provider is an organization that provides a client (e.g., an individual or other organization) with access to the Internet (via analog telephone line or Integrated Services Digital Network line, for example).

A client can, for example, read information from, download a file from or send an electronic mail message to another computer/client using the Internet.

To retrieve a file or service on the Internet, a client must search for the file or service, make a connection to the computer on which the file or service is stored, and download the file or service.

Each of these steps may involve a separate application and access to multiple, dissimilar computer systems.

The World Wide Web (WWW) was developed to provide a simpler, more uniform means for accessing information on the Internet.

The components of the WWW include browser software, network links, servers. and WWW protocols.

The browser software, or browser, is a user-friendly interface (i.e., front-end) that simplifies access to the Internet.

A browser allows a client to communicate a request without having to learn a complicated command syntax, for example.

A browser typically provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying information and receiving input.

Examples of browsers currently available include Mosaic, Netscape Navigator and Communicator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Cello.