this invention provides methods and apparatus for executing applications in a distributed manner employing one or more proxy servers and one origin server . the invention allows the applications to be executed primarily at the proxy servers rather than at the origin servers , thereby gaining in scalability and improved user response time . a redirection mechanism is used to direct requests to one of the proxy servers . the proxy server uses caching techniques to bring information records needed for application execution to the proxy servers . the code required for application execution is also obtained from the origin server . the invention discusses applying this technique to three web - based applications , namely web - based auctions , generating personalized content for web - users , and creating advertisements for users accessing a web page .