Internet Draft                                                  A. Beck
                                                             M. Hofmann
Expires: May 2001                                   Lucent Technologies
Document: draft-beck-opes-esfnep-00.txt               November 17, 2000
Category: Informational



               Example Services for Network Edge Proxies

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026 [1].

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   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt

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Table of Contents

   1  Introduction...................................................2
   2  Content Adaptation for Alternate Web Access Devices............3
   2.1  Abstract.....................................................3
   2.2  Business model...............................................4
   2.3  Technical Challenges.........................................4
   3  Insertion of Ad Banners........................................4
   3.1  Abstract.....................................................4
   3.2  Business model...............................................5
   3.3  Technical Challenges.........................................5
   4  Insertion of Regional Data.....................................5
   4.1  Abstract.....................................................5
   4.2  Business model...............................................6
   4.3  Technical Challenges.........................................6
   5  Language Translation...........................................6
   5.1  Abstract.....................................................6
   5.2  Business model...............................................7
   5.3  Technical Challenges.........................................7
   6  Bandwidth Adaptation...........................................7
   6.1  Abstract.....................................................7
   6.2  Business model...............................................8

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   6.3  Technical Challenges.........................................8
   7  Virus Scanning.................................................8
   7.1  Abstract.....................................................8
   7.2  Business model...............................................8
   7.3  Technical Challenges.........................................9
   8  Content Adaptation for Alternate Browser Types.................9
   8.1  Abstract.....................................................9
   8.2  Business model...............................................9
   8.3  Technical Challenges........................................10
   9  Adaptation of Streaming Media.................................10
   9.1  Abstract....................................................10
   9.2  Business model..............................................10
   9.3  Technical Challenges........................................10
   10 Caching of Personalized/Customized Web Pages..................10
   10.1  Abstract...................................................10
   10.2  Business Model.............................................11
   10.3  Technical Challenges.......................................11
   11 Search Engine Index on Cached Web Pages.......................11
   11.1  Abstract...................................................11
   11.2  Business model.............................................12
   11.3  Technical Challenges.......................................12
   12 Request Filtering.............................................12
   12.1  Abstract...................................................12
   12.2  Business model.............................................12
   12.3  Technical Challenges.......................................12
   13 Request Filtering through Content Analysis....................13
   13.1  Abstract...................................................13
   13.2  Business model.............................................13
   13.3  Technical Challenges.......................................13
   14 Creation of Anonymous User Profiles...........................14
   14.1  Abstract...................................................14
   14.2  Business model.............................................14
   14.3  Technical Challenges.......................................14
   15 Author's Addresses............................................14
   16 References....................................................15





1  Introduction


   The rapid growth of the Internet and the increasing number of
   Internet users have led to a wide deployment of network edge caching
   proxies. These systems have been very successful in accelerating Web
   content delivery and reducing the load on origin Web servers.

   However, the specific role of these network edge caching proxies as
   a gateway between Web users and content providers suggests utilizing
   them for intelligent services beyond simple caching.

   There are already a variety of existing or proposed approaches that
   implement particular services on top of a proxy platform. ICAP [3]
   extends the basic idea of implementing value-added services on


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   proxies by handling transport of web objects between proxies and
   content modification servers, thus, enabling remote call out
   mechanisms. EPSF [2] describes an extended framework to provide
   general services on top of an open proxy platform.

   This document discusses several service examples possibly being
   implemented on top of an open proxy platform as described in [2].
   Each of the following service description consists of three
   subsections: a short abstract that describes the service idea, a
   description of the underlying business model, and finally a section
   that mentions technical challenges to be addressed when implementing
   these services.



2  Content Adaptation for Alternate Web Access Devices



   2.1 Abstract


   Recently there has been an increasing diversity and heterogeneity in
   terms of the types of client devices and network connections that
   people use to access the Web.  Especially cell phones and PDAs are
   being used more and more often to access the Internet. However,
   these appliances are characterized by relatively limited display
   capabilities, storage, processing power, as well as slow network
   access. As a result, Internet access is still constrained on these
   devices and users are limited to only a small fraction of the total
   number of Web pages available in the Internet today. Users of non-
   desktop access devices can only view those pages that have been
   adapted to the specific limitations of the access device the user
   holds. Since the number of different access devices is growing
   constantly content providers cannot be expected to provide different
   versions of their Web pages for each and every Web access device
   that is available in the market.

   Therefore it seems reasonable to adapt the general full-fledged Web
   pages at some point on their way from the origin server to the user
   so that they are optimized for (or at least adapted to) the end
   usersÆ specific requirements.

   Possible adaptations to meet the special requirements of different
   Web access devices are:

   - Conversion of HTML pages to WML (Wireless Markup Language) pages
   - Conversion of JPEG images to black and white GIF images
   - Conversion of HTML tables to plain text
   - Reduction of image quality
   - Removal of redundant information
   - Stripping of Java applets / JavaScript
   - Audio to text conversion
   - Video to key frame or video to text conversion
   - Content extraction




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   2.2 Business model


   With the above-mentioned service in place, Web content providers
   could reach a much wider audience and the manufactures of novel Web
   access devices could offer potential customers access to a bigger
   part of the Internet content, which should make a very good selling
   point. It would encourage more people to buy non-desktop Web access
   devices like cell phones and PDAs.

   Once installed this service can be offered as an additional feature
   to ISP customers who want to access the Web through different Web-
   enabled devices. Also, content providers might be willing to pay for
   this service if that meant that they could serve their existing
   content to more users.


   2.3 Technical Challenges


   We have to ensure that the automatic adaptation process will not
   make changes to a Web page that are unwanted by either the content
   provider or the recipient. One approach to achieve this would be to
   allow the content provider as well as the client to define their
   preferences as to how they want Web pages to be adapted. The actual
   adaptation decisions would then be made based on the given
   preferences and a set of transformation rules. If neither the
   content provider nor the client has expressed his preferences, it
   would probably be best to not adapt the requested Web page.

   If we wanted to allow the Web users and content providers to express
   their preferences, we would have to find a way of doing this. ISP
   customers could set their preferences through a Web interface on the
   ISP Web site. Content providers could express their preferences by
   adding meta tags to their Web pages. The content provider could for
   instance offer the content adaptation server a number of
   alternatives and the content adaptation server could then pick the
   most appropriate one. The drawback would be the increase in size of
   Web pages. Another possibility for the content provider would be to
   provide an adaptation policy to all ISPs that want to adapt Web
   pages for alternate Web access devices. This policy could consist of
   general transformation rules or actual code modules that perform the
   adaptation.



3  Insertion of Ad Banners



   3.1 Abstract


   Many Internet companies rely heavily on revenue made by selling
   advertisement space on their Web pages. In fact, nearly all
   commercial Web sites have one or more ad banners on their Web pages.
   Whenever advertisement banners are inserted dynamically depending on
   who requests the page, they cannot be cached, even when the content
   of the page itself is static. This behavior prevents Web pages from
   being cached, although their static content would allow for it.


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   Therefore it seems reasonable to cache the static part of those Web
   pages at a caching proxy near the client and to insert ad banners
   into the cached Web pages before serving them to the client.


   3.2 Business model


   This service could be sold to Internet advertising networks. They
   could profit from less traffic on their own Web servers by
   distributing the banner images to caching proxies. Also, content
   providers who do not want to outsource their ad space management and
   sales might be interested in providing banner images and insertion
   rules to proxies/content adaptation servers to accelerate the
   delivery of their Web pages.

   Recently there have also been a number of ISPs that offer free
   Internet access to customers. These so-called Free ISPs usually
   provide Internet access through a special kind of software that
   displays ad banners on the customersÆ desktops whenever they are
   online. An ad insertion module at the caching proxy of the Free ISP
   could insert ad banners (in addition to any ad banners from the
   content provider) into every Web page requested by a customer. That
   way the customers of the Free ISP will not have to install any
   special software in order to use its service.


   3.3 Technical Challenges


   The caching proxy would have to recognize when and where to insert
   ad banners into a Web page before serving it to the client. The
   proxy could for instance scan the Web page for a specific marking
   (e.g. a special tag). In the case of a Free ISP ad banners would
   probably always be inserted at the same position (e.g. in a frame at
   the top of each page) or in a separate pop-up window.

   If we wanted to insert advertisements based on the user and his
   interests, we would have to identify the user (by using cookies for
   example) and create user profiles. The user profiles could also be
   provided by the content provider.



4  Insertion of Regional Data



   4.1 Abstract


   If a content provider wants to add user-specific regional
   information (weather forecasts for certain areas for example) to his
   Web pages, he has little choice but to have the user select his
   location from a list of regions. Usually it is not possible for
   origin servers to reliably detect from where Web users connect to
   Web sites because user requests can get routed through a number of
   proxy servers on their way from the client to the origin server.




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   In a network edge caching proxy environment user requests are
   usually redirected to the nearest proxy that is available to respond
   to the request.  Regional information that is relevant to all users
   who are likely to connect to a certain proxy could be stored at the
   corresponding caching proxy. Whenever the proxy receives a user
   request, a module on the caching proxy could insert the regional
   information into the requested Web page. If the Web page does not
   contain any user-specific non-cacheable content other than the
   inserted regional information, the Web page content can now be
   cached for future requests.


   4.2 Business model


   This service could be sold to content providers who want to offer
   regional information on their Web sites and want to accelerate the
   delivery of their Web content. There are many cases in which a
   content provider could profit from knowing the location of the user.
   Users could be targeted with regional advertisement banners (see
   also ad insertion scenario). Regional distinctions (e.g. sales
   taxes, differing laws etc.) could be taken into consideration when
   the Web pages are prepared for the client. It would not be necessary
   any more to ask the user for his location prior to presenting him
   relevant information.


   4.3 Technical Challenges


   The regional content that is to be inserted into the Web pages would
   have to be distributed to the corresponding caching proxies. Since
   the regional content represents only a component of a whole Web
   page, it cannot be cached in the same way a complete Web page can be
   cached (unless it is an image). We have to find a mechanism to
   determine when a regional text component needs to be updated (or if
   the content provider should be responsible for this).



5  Language Translation



   5.1 Abstract


   Soon the majority of all Internet users will be non-English
   speaking. As most of the current Web content is written in English,
   it becomes desirable to be able to translate the English content to
   the Web userÆs local language, even if the content provider does not
   offer translations of his Web content. An automatic translation
   service for all Web pages could be implemented with an IPWorX
   content adaptation server.

   The proxy server will recognize the Web user's native language and
   ask whether the foreign content requested should be translated into
   the user's native language. If the content is to be translated, the
   proxy will forward the Web content to a translation server where the
   page then is automatically translated. The proxy could also locally



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   store translated content eliminating the need to repeat translations
   for different users.


   5.2 Business model


   The automatic language service will help break language barriers and
   open new markets for e-commerce. The average non-English speaking
   Web user will have access to more Web content. ISPs, especially
   those with customers in non-English speaking countries, could offer
   this service to their customers.


   5.3 Technical Challenges


   The automatic translation of text found on Web pages is not a
   trivial task. It will not be possible to translate a Web page
   automatically without running the risk of rendering parts of it
   incomprehensible. Worse yet, the original meaning could be changed
   and it is not said the reader of the translated page will notice the
   change in meaning. It is questionable whether content providers
   would even tolerate this kind of translation service.

   Therefore it is very important that the client authorizes this
   translation service and is fully aware of its potentially faulty
   behavior. It should also be considered to mark translated pages in a
   specific way to remind the user of the machine translation.

   Other technical challenges include the automatic detection of the
   language used in the original document and the clientÆs local
   language.



6  Bandwidth Adaptation



   6.1 Abstract


   Today, Internet users can choose from a wide variety of Internet
   connection speeds. Therefore it seems desirable to adapt the
   requested Web content to the userÆs bandwidth.

   Possible adaptations to reduce the size of Web objects are:

   - Reduction of image quality
   - Replacement of images by their ALT text
   - Removal of redundant information
   - Removal of HTML comments
   - Stripping of Java applets / JavaScript
   - Audio to text conversion
   - Video to key frame or video to text conversion
   - Text summarizing
   - Content extraction





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   6.2 Business model


   One of the main benefits is to decrease the Web access time for
   users. If a Web site loads too slowly, users tend to leave the site
   even before it has completed loading the home page. The improved
   perceived quality of service by adaptive content delivery means that
   users are more likely to stay and return, thus resulting in a
   greater profit for e-commerce sites. This can also result in higher
   hit rates and return rates, which can lead to higher sales for e-
   commerce sites and higher advertising revenues.


   6.3 Technical Challenges


   We would have to find a reliable way of measuring the bandwidth
   between the client and the proxy cache. One way of doing this would
   be to measure the round trip time (RTT) to determine the connection
   speed. It is crucial that this bandwidth detection method works more
   or less exact or otherwise the client will either experience very
   slow Web browsing or be cut off of some (or all) of the rich Web
   content. This service requires authorization by the user like any
   other adaptation service that changes the content and or format of
   Web pages.

   The mapping of a userÆs connection speed to appropriate page
   adaptations requires defining a set of adaptation rules.



7  Virus Scanning



   7.1 Abstract


   Viruses, Trojan Horses, and worms have always posed a threat to
   Internet users. Just recently we have seen a number of e-mail based
   worms that have hit millions of Internet users worldwide within a
   few hours.

   With the help of a content scanning and filtering system at the
   caching proxy level, Web pages and also file transfers could be
   scanned for malicious content prior to sending them to the user. In
   Web pages active content like ActiveX, Java and JavaScript could be
   scanned for harmful code (e.g. code exploiting security holes). File
   transfers could be scanned for known viruses. If a virus is found,
   the adaptation server could try to remove it or deny the delivery of
   the infected content. A general rule could be that the caching proxy
   may store and/or deliver content only, if it has been scanned by the
   content adaptation server and no viruses are found.


   7.2 Business model


   This service could be offered as an additional feature to ISP
   customers who are concerned about security issues. Likewise
   enterprises could be interested in this solution to prevent any
   malicious content from entering the company network.


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   7.3 Technical Challenges


   Web pages/files should be scanned for viruses by sending them to a
   separate server where virus-scanning software would analyze them.
   That way the virus scanning operations will not affect the
   performance of the caching proxy.

   If HTTP file transfers are to be scanned for viruses and the
   requested file cannot be found in the cache, we have to use a
   different approach than for Web pages. It would not be feasible, if
   the proxy waited for the requested file to be received completely
   before sending it over to the content adaptation server for the
   virus scan. This approach would lead to a long delay at the userÆs
   end, which is not acceptable. Instead, we would have to scan the
   file transfer continuously, as it is being sent to the user (similar
   to streaming media).



8  Content Adaptation for Alternate Browser Types



   8.1 Abstract


   The two commonly used Web browsers û Microsoft Internet Explorer and
   Netscape Navigator û both have proprietary extensions that are not
   part of any Web standard, but are yet widely used and considered
   essential by many Web page authors. As these proprietary extensions
   differ between the Internet Explorer and the Navigator (and even
   between different browser versions), Web pages have to be adapted in
   order to work well with both browsers. In the past this has been
   achieved by either writing two or more versions of the same page or
   by adding JavaScript to the Web page to alter the page at the client
   depending on what browser type and version the user is running.
   Although the Internet Explorer is used by far more users than any
   other browser type, there is still a substantial number of people
   who want to or must (UNIX) use alternative browser types. Yet, not
   all service providers write their Web pages so that they can be
   viewed with different browser types.

   A content adaptation module at the caching proxy could provide a
   remedy for this problem. Prior to serving a page (from the cache or
   the origin server) to the client, the proxy would send it to the
   adaptation module along with some client information (browser type
   and OS) received with the request. The content adaptation module
   would then make the necessary changes to the page to adapt it to the
   userÆs browser type and send it back to the proxy from where it is
   served to the client.


   8.2 Business model


   This service could be offered to ISPs who in turn could offer their
   customers a browser adaptation service. They could be sure to always
   receive pages that are optimized for their browser types. The


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   customer should have the option to turn this service off at any
   time. This approach has the potential of leading to objections by
   content providers as they lose control over the final layout of
   their pages. Allowing for a mechanism to mark pages that are not to
   be touched by the content adaptation server could reduce these
   concerns.



   8.3 Technical Challenges


   We would have to find general rules of how to convert pages. In
   order to do this we would have to identify all incompatibilities
   between the supported browser types and different versions thereof.
   These rules would have to be fail-safe, especially when they are
   applied to all requested pages without the page ownerÆs approval. We
   would have to recognize if a page contains JavaScript to adapt it to
   different browser types. If that should be the case, we could either
   remove the JavaScript and optimize the page for the clientÆs browser
   type or leave the page unchanged.



9  Adaptation of Streaming Media



   9.1 Abstract


   Some of the above-mentioned services could not only be applied to
   Web pages but also to streaming media like audio and video streams.
   In particular, media streams could be adapted to meet the bandwidth
   of the userÆs connection. It would also be possible to insert pre-
   recorded advertisements into audio or video streams. Even content
   analysis and content filtering could be applied to streaming media.


   9.2 Business model


   The business models for streaming media adaptation are similar to
   those for Web page adaptation services.


   9.3 Technical Challenges


   The adaptation of streaming media will add more complexity to the
   caching proxy platform and the technical challenges of these kind of
   services have yet to be explored.



10 Caching of Personalized/Customized Web Pages



   10.1 Abstract


   Many Web sites (e.g. Yahoo) offer a service where users can create
   their own personalized version of the Web site (e.g. MyYahoo). It
   basically means that a user can choose from a number of components
   (e.g. stock information, weather forecasts, news etc.) and create a
   personalized Web page with them. This leads to dynamic Web pages


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   that usually cannot be cached. If, however, the components of the
   personalized Web page could be cached, then it would be possible to
   have a service module on the server create the user-specific Web
   pages by assembling the cached Web site components. In that case the
   origin server would not have to be contacted again and the page
   could be served to the client directly from the network edge caching
   proxy.


   10.2 Business Model


   This service would be another method of accelerating the delivery of
   Web content to the user, particularly the delivery of
   personalized/customized Web pages that would not be cacheable
   otherwise.

   Content providers who offer their customers the possibility of
   personalizing their Web pages are likely to be willing to pay for
   this kind of service.


   10.3 Technical Challenges


   We would have to find a caching mechanism for the separate
   components of the personalized Web pages (unless a component
   consists of an image only). These components could be stored at the
   caching proxy.

   The page components would have to be refreshed just like complete
   Web page whenever they become stale.



11 Search Engine Index on Cached Web Pages



   11.1 Abstract


   A proxy usually contains the most frequently requested Web pages of
   the Web users whose Web requests are routed through it. If we
   indexed the content of all Web pages currently contained in one or
   more proxies, we would have an index of Web pages that Web users are
   very likely to request (since they have been the most popular in the
   past). A search engine based on this index could therefore yield a
   high hit rate when used by a group of users who have similar
   interests and usually connect to the same caching proxies. The
   benefit of this approach would be that the index could be created
   very fast (there is no Web crawling to do) and that the search
   results could be returned to the user directly from the network edge
   caching proxy. The drawback, however, is that this search engine
   would index only a small fraction of the existing Web pages. Web
   users have to be aware of this fact when they use the cache-based
   search index service. Another approach would be to display the proxy
   search results first while a global search engine prepares the
   results of a global search in the meantime. As soon as the global
   search results become available, they will be sent to the user.



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   11.2 Business model


   The search engine service described above could be sold to big
   companies who have users with similar interests and want to provide
   a fast search engine. Companies offering traditional search engines
   could be interested in combining their services with a cache-based
   search engine service to accelerate the delivery of their search
   results.


   11.3 Technical Challenges


   If the cached Web pages of more than one caching proxy were to be
   indexed, we would have to find a way of replicating the search index
   to all affected caching proxy servers.



12 Request Filtering



   12.1 Abstract


   The success of Web filtering/blocking systems like NetNanny
   (http://www.netnanny.com) and WebSense (http://www.websense.com)
   shows that there is a great need for solutions that let the owner of
   a Web access device control what kind of Web content can be accessed
   with his device. Parents, for instance, often demand a means of
   blocking off offending material when their children browse the Web.
   Also, companies might want to have control over what kind of Web
   pages their employees can have access to. Companies might also want
   to prevent their employees from using the available bandwidth
   excessively for non-work related activities.

   A request filtering service could provide a solution for all of the
   above. If all Web page requests of a specific user are routed
   through a caching proxy server, the content adaptation server could
   analyze the requests prior to fulfilling them. The service module
   would have to identify the user and determine the userÆs access
   level. The next step would be to look up the classification of the
   requested Web page in a database.



   12.2 Business model


   This service could be offered to enterprises and to ISPs. A database
   of Web pages that contain offending material could be obtained from
   companies that have specialized in Web blocking systems.


   12.3 Technical Challenges


   The database on the proxy caching platform that contains the Web
   page classifications needs to be updated on a regular basis. If the
   database is provided by third parties, we have to provide them with
   a secure way of updating the database.



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   If a Web access device is shared among different users who have
   different access levels, it is not sufficient to identify the Web
   access device. Therefore it will probably be necessary that
   different users of a Web access device use different user accounts.

   The owner of a Web access device must be able to define and change
   the access rights of the user(s) of his device. This could be done
   through a Web interface provided by the ISP/company.



13 Request Filtering through Content Analysis



   13.1 Abstract


   While this service is very similar to the one previously described,
   it works more dynamically in that the content adaptation server
   analyzes the Web content once it has been retrieved from either the
   proxy cache or the origin server prior to sending it to the client.
   Through the use of sophisticated content analysis algorithms it
   should be possible to classify the analyzed Web content. If the
   classification of the Web page matches the userÆs access level, the
   page will be delivered to the client. Otherwise, the client will be
   denied the page. The analyzed page along with its classification
   should be stored in the proxy cache so that future requests for the
   same page do not require the cached Web to be analyzed again. This
   will result in a better Web page delivery performance for popular
   Web pages. The main benefit of this approach is that there is no
   need to provide or maintain lists of forbidden Web sites, a process
   that per definition must always lag behind the creation of new Web
   sites. If common characteristics of a category of unwanted Web pages
   can be defined, it should be possible to automatically detect
   whether a requested Web page falls in a forbidden category.


   13.2 Business model


   This service could be offered to enterprises and ISPs. The content
   analysis software could be obtained from software companies that
   have specialized in this field.


   13.3 Technical Challenges


   In addition to the technical challenges described in the previous
   service scenario, we would have to find a way of storing the
   classification information of Web pages once they have been
   analyzed. One way to do this would be to add a meta tag (possibly
   using the Resource Description Framework (RDF,
   http://www.w3.org/RDF) specification) with content rating
   information to a Web page before it is cached. Subsequent requests
   of the same Web page would then require the request filtering
   service module to scan the cached Web page for this metadata in
   order to determine the content rating of the requested page.




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14 Creation of Anonymous User Profiles



   14.1 Abstract


   If all Web requests of a certain Web user were routed through a
   certain caching proxy platform, it would be easy to log them in
   order to create a profile of the userÆs Web browsing behavior. These
   user profiles could be created anonymously with no personal data
   (e.g. name or e-mail address) stored in the access log files.

   Once a sufficient number of requests has been logged by the content
   adaptation server, we could start analyzing the log files. In most
   cases it should be possible to derive the userÆs interests by
   analyzing what kind of Web sites the user visits and how often he
   goes there.


   14.2 Business model


   Companies that want to advertise on Web pages are very interested in
   knowing more about the recipients of their advertisement campaigns
   so that they can target their advertisements at people who are
   interested in the kind of products/services that the company wants
   to sell. These companies are also willing to pay for information
   that can help them targeting their campaigns at interested users. As
   explained above, we could derive the userÆs interests from his Web
   browsing behavior and use this information to send the user only
   those advertisements that match his interests/needs. This will most
   likely result in a higher ad banner click-rate per user.

   This service could be sold separately or in combination with the ad
   insertion service.


   14.3 Technical Challenges


   The creation of anonymous user profiles requires a mechanism to
   identify Web users. The ISP could provide a mapping from the userÆs
   (possibly dynamic) IP number to some unique user ID. Another
   alternative would be to use cookies, provided that the user has not
   disabled them in his Web browser.




15 Author's Addresses


   Andre Beck
   Markus Hofmann
   Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies
   101 Crawfords Corner Rd.
   Holmdel, NJ 07733
   Phone: (732) 332-5983
   Email: {abeck, hofmann}@bell-labs.com



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          Example Services for Network Edge Proxies       September 2000



16 References


   1  Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP
      9, RFC 2026, October 1996

   2  Tomlinson, G., et al., "Extensible Proxy Services Framework",
      http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-tomlinson-epsfw-00.txt,
      July 2000



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