Web browser with dynamic display of information objects during linking

A method of browsing in a computer network having at least one client connectable to one or more servers, the client having an interface for displaying a first hypertext document with at least one link to a second hypertext document located at a server, comprising the steps of:

• contacting the server in response to activation of the link to initiate downloading of the second hypertext document from the server to the client;
• in response to activation of the link, retrieving an information object that has been stored in the client prior to the activation of the link;
• and
• displaying the retrieved information object on the interface during at least a portion of a time period between the activation of the link and completion of the downloading of the second hypertext document from the server to the client to provide information to a user during a process of linking from the first hypertext document to the second hypertext document;
• wherein the information object includes copyright management information for the second hypertext document.

A method of browsing in a computer network having at least one client connectable to one or more servers, the client having an interface for displaying a first hypertext document with at least one link to a second hypertext document located at a server, comprising the steps of:

• contacting the server in response to activation of the link to initiate downloading of the second hypertext document from the server to the client;
• in response to activation of the link, retrieving an information object that has been stored in the client prior to the activation of the link;
• and
• displaying the retrieved information object on the interface during at least a portion of a time period between the activation of the link and completion of the downloading of the second hypertext document from the server to the client to provide information to a user during a process of linking from the first hypertext document to the second hypertext document;
• wherein the information object includes an advertisement.

A method of browsing the World Wide Web of the Internet using a client machine supporting a browser, comprising the steps of:

• storing an information object;
• activating a link from a first hypertext document to initiate downloading of a second hypertext document;
• retrieving the stored information object in response to activating the link;
• and
• displaying the information object during at least a portion of a time period between activation of the link and completion of the downloading of the second hypertext document to provide information to a user of the client machine as the browser links from the first hypertext document to the second hypertext document;
• wherein the information object is stored within the first hypertext document and is not displayed until after activating the link that initiates downloading of the second hypertext document.

In a computer having a browser for retrieving hypertext objects from servers in a computer network, the improvement comprising:

• means, responsive to activation of a link from a hypertext object that initiates downloading of a linked hypertext object, for retrieving an information object downloaded to the computer prior to activation of the link;
• and
• means for outputting the information object during at least a portion of a time period between activation of the link and completion of the downloading of the linked hypertext object to thereby provide information to a user of the computer as the browser links from the hypertext object to the linked hypertext object:
• wherein the information object is an advertisement.