Method and apparatus for controlling content display by the cursor motion

A method for controlling display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the method comprising:

• detecting that the supplemental content is visible on the computer screen;
• refraining from displaying an interface element until a cursor is detected outside of a computer screen area in which the supplemental content is displayed;
• displaying the interface element associated with the visible supplemental content upon detecting an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion;
• defining a control region covering at least a portion of the interface element and a current position of the cursor;
• and
• canceling the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region.

A method for controlling display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the method comprising:

• detecting that the supplemental content is visible in a separate window on the computer screen;
• displaying an interface element associated with the visible supplemental content upon detecting an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion;
• defining a control region covering at least a portion of the interface element and a current position of the cursor;
• canceling the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region;
• and
• after defining the control region, changing appearance of at least a portion of the separate window to indicate that the removal of the supplemental content can be triggered by detecting the cursor outside of the control region.

A method for controlling display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the method comprising:

• detecting an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion while first supplemental content is visible in a separate window on the computer screen;
• identifying a position of the cursor at the time the occurrence was detected;
• defining a control region covering the identified position of the cursor, the control region having at least one border segment located at a predefined distance from the identified position of the cursor;
• canceling the display of the first supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region;
• detecting display of second supplemental content after canceling the display of the first supplemental content;
• detecting a second occurrence of at least one event related to the cursor motion while the second supplemental content is visible on the computer screen;
• identifying a second position of the cursor at the time the second occurrence was detected;
• defining a second control region covering the second position of the cursor, the second control region having at least one border segment that is different from a corresponding border segment of the control region associated with the first supplemental content;
• and
• canceling the display of the second supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the second control region.

A method for controlling display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the method comprising:

• detecting an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion while the supplemental content is visible on the computer screen, wherein detecting the occurrence of at least one event related to the cursor motion includes detecting the absence of the cursor motion over a predetermined time interval;
• identifying a position of the cursor at the time the occurrence was detected;
• defining a control region covering the identified position of the cursor, the control region having at least one border segment located at a predefined distance from the identified position of the cursor;
• and
• canceling the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region.

An apparatus to control display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the apparatus comprising:

• a content detector to detect whether the supplemental content is displayed on the computer screen, the display of the supplemental content being controlled by a cursor position relative to a predefined first region;
• an interface element controller to trigger display of an interface element associated with the supplemental content when a cursor is positioned inside the first region;
• a control region identifier to define a second region covering at least a portion of the interface element and a current position of the cursor;
• and
• a content removal controller to continue the display of the supplemental content when the cursor is positioned outside of the first region while being inside the second region.

An apparatus for controlling display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the apparatus comprising:

• a content detector to detect that the supplemental content is visible in a separate window on the computer screen;
• a cursor motion controller to detect an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion;
• an interface element controller to display an interface element associated with the visible supplemental content when the occurrence of the at least one event related to the cursor motion is detected;
• a control region identifier to define a control region covering at least a portion of the interface element and a current position of the cursor;
• a content display modifier to change appearance of at least a portion of the separate window to indicate that the removal of the supplemental content can be triggered by detecting the cursor outside of the control region;
• and
• a content removal controller to cancel the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region.

An apparatus to control display of supplemental content on a computer screen, the apparatus comprising:

• a cursor motion controller to detect an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion while the supplemental content is visible on the computer screen and to identify a position of the cursor at the time the occurrence was detected;
• a control region identifier to define a control region covering the identified position of the cursor, the control region having at least one border segment located at a predefined distance from the identified position of the cursor;
• and
• a content removal controller to cancel the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region,
• wherein the control region identifier is further to define a second control region for second supplemental content visible on the computer screen, the second control region covering a second position of the cursor and having at least one border segment that is different from a corresponding border segment of the control region associated with the prior supplemental content.

A computer readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:

• detecting that the supplemental content is displayed on the computer screen, the display of the supplemental content being controlled by a cursor position relative to a predefined first region;
• triggering display of an interface element associated with the supplemental content when a cursor is positioned inside the first region;
• defining a second region covering at least a portion of the interface element and a current position of the cursor;
• and
• if the cursor is positioned inside the second region, continuing the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the first region.

A computer readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:

• detecting that the supplemental content is visible on the computer screen;
• refraining from displaying an interface element until a cursor is detected outside of a computer screen area in which the supplemental content is displayed;
• displaying the interface element associated with the visible supplemental content upon detecting an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion;
• defining a control region covering at least a portion of the interface element and a current position of the cursor;
• and
• canceling the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region.

A computer readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed on a processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:

• detecting an occurrence of at least one event related to a cursor motion while the supplemental content is visible in a separate window on the computer screen;
• identifying a position of the cursor at the time the occurrence was detected;
• defining a control region covering the identified position of the cursor, the control region having at least one border segment located at a predefined distance from the identified position of the cursor;
• canceling the display of the supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the control region;
• detecting display of second supplemental content after canceling the display of the prior supplemental content;
• detecting a second occurrence of at least one event related to the cursor motion while the second supplemental content is visible on the computer screen;
• identifying a second position of the cursor at the time the second occurrence was detected;
• defining a second control region covering the second position of the cursor, the second control region having at least one border segment that is different from a corresponding border segment of the control region associated with the prior supplemental content;
• and
• canceling the display of the second supplemental content upon detecting that the cursor is positioned outside of the second control region.