Method and apparatus for extracting relevant content based on user preferences indicated by user actions

A computer-readable memory medium having stored thereon data representing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

• monitoring usage of a web browser of a computer by a computer user during a usage session;
• recording information at the computer including hypertext links selected by the user during the monitored session;
• analyzing the recorded hypertext links at the computer to determine a user interest for the session;
• automatically generating a search engine query by the computer based on the determined interest;
• transmitting the generated search engine query from the computer to at least one remote web site to query the at least one remote web site;
• and
• receiving query results at the computer from the at least one remote web site based on the query.

A computer system comprising:

• a processor;
• a network connection;
• an activity monitor to monitor computer usage of a web browser of the computer system by a computer user during an Internet session, to record information at the computer system including hypertext links selected by the user during the monitored session, and to analyze the recorded hypertext links at the computer system to determine a user interest for the session;
• and
• a query engine to automatically generate search engine queries at the computer system based on the user interest, to transmit the queries from the computer system to search engines on a plurality of remote Internet web sites, and to receive query results at the computer system from the plurality of remote web sites based on the automatically generated query.