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Abstract

The present invention is a method for improving delivery of content to a client communicating with a server on the Web. The client is categorized based on information about the client that can be determined by the server. That information is used to help drive tailored actions on the part of Web servers. Users with poor connectivity may choose not to spend much time at a Web site if it takes a long time to receive a page, even if the Web server at the site is not the bottleneck. Retaining such clients may be of interest to a Web site. Better-connected clients may be able to receive enhanced representations of Web pages such as with higher quality images. Once a client is characterized as poor, a variety of server actions can be taken by the server, including altering the manner in which content is delivered, including guiding server policy decisions, aiding in caching decisions or deciding when to redirect the client to a mirror site. The method may also use network-aware client clustering techniques to provide client categorization. Such a cluster categorization can then be used to categorize subsequent clients from that cluster, even if a client-specific categorization is not available.

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First Claim