Method and device for temporally displaying advertising content on a webpage

A computing device for temporally displaying advertising content around a first visual component of a webpage, said webpage comprising a plurality of textual, graphical and audio/video components, said device comprising:

• a display;
• a processor operable to:
• based on a position and size of said first visual component in said web page, overlay an image on all of said webpage so as to cover a first area occupied by said first visual component and a second area surrounding said first area, said image being fully transparent throughout said first area and being opaque throughout said second area so as to hide original content of said webpage at said second area, said image hiding only said original content at said second area and not said original content at said first area, said image, at said second area, comprising advertising content;
• increase transparency of said image at said second area over a time interval so that said original content at said second area of said webpage is increasingly visible through said image over said time interval;
• wherein said original content at said first area is visible throughout said time interval and at the end of said time interval said advertising content is no longer visible and said original content at said second area is fully visible.

A system for displaying advertising content comprising:

• a first computing device operable to:
• serve a webpage over a communications network to a recipient device, said webpage comprising original content, said original content comprising a plurality of textual, graphical and audio/video components;
• serve advertising content over said communications network to said recipient device;
• and
• serve instructions over said communication network to said recipient device, said instructions, which when executed by said recipient device, cause said recipient device to:
• based on a position and size of a first visual component in said web page, overlay an image on all of said webpage at the beginning of a time interval so as to cover a first area occupied by said first visual component and a second area surrounding said first area, said image being initially fully transparent throughout said first area and opaque throughout said second area so as to hide said original content of said webpage at said second area, said image hiding only said original content at said second area and not said original content at said first area, said image, at said second area, comprising said advertising content;
• display said original content at said first area throughout said time interval;
• increase transparency of said advertising content over said time interval so that said original content at said second area of said webpage is increasingly visible through said advertising content over said time interval;
• and
• at the end of said time interval, display said original content of said webpage at said second area such that at the end of said time interval said advertising content is no longer visible and said original content at said second area is fully visible.