# US 10,504,152 B2 · Platform for distributing deals via a social networking system

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- Number: US 10,504,152 B2
- Document ID: US10504152B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/181,347
- Filed: 2011-07-12
- Published: 2012-09-20
- Granted: 2019-12-10
- Earliest claimed: 2011-03-14
- Assignees: Facebook, Inc.
- Applicants: Kelly Winters; Bo Hu; Emily Clark White; Koun Han
- Inventors: Kelly Winters; Bo Hu; Emily Clark White; Koun Han
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10504152B2

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0269: {based on user profile or attribute}
- G06Q 10/42: Determination of affinities or common interests between users
- G06Q 10/46: Determination of level of influence of users within social networking services
- G06Q 10/48: using social graphs
- G06Q 30/0207: Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
- G06Q 30/0241: Advertisements
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

A social networking system acts as a platform for distributing deals from one or more deal providers. The users of the social networking system can interact with information describing the deals via a dashboard user interface provided by the social networking system. When users purchase deals on the social networking system's platform, the social networking system receives a portion of the deal price called the platform share and compensates the users for purchasing deals via the social networking system. The compensation may be funded from the revenue received by the social networking system for the purchases (the platform share). The compensation provided to a user may depend on social information associated with the user, such as the number of the user's connections also participating in the deal.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method comprising:
storing by a social networking system, information describing connections between users;
receiving information about a deal from a deal provider, wherein the deal is associated with a purchase price;
offering, by the social networking system, the deal to a plurality of users of the social networking system;
sending information describing criteria for activation of the deal for presentation via a first user interface to each of the plurality of users, wherein the criteria includes at least one condition based on an interaction of a user with the first user interface associated with the deal or a location of the user;
activating the deal responsive to the criteria being satisfied for the deal, wherein the first user interface includes an indication that the deal is activated;
receiving request for participation in the deal from one or more participating users;
receiving information describing connections of participating users as potential participants of the deal;
receiving revenue from the one or more participating users based on the purchase price associated with the deal;
transferring a portion of the received revenue from the social networking system to the deal provider, thereby leaving a platform share from the received revenue;
for each of the one or more participating users, determining a total number of connections of the user that also participated in the deal;
for each of the one or more participating users, determining, by the social networking system, a total number of connections of the user in the social networking system having more than a threshold measure of affinity with the user, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is based on the user having a threshold number of interactions via the social networking system with a connection of the user;
determining, by the social networking system, an amount of the platform share of the received revenue to provide to each of the one or more participating users, the amount of the platform share of the received revenue for each participating user determined based on the total number of connections of the participating user who also participated in the deal and the total number of connections of the participating user in the social networking system having more than a threshold measure of affinity with the user;
for each of the one or more participating users, providing the determined amount of the platform share of the received revenue back to the user; and
sending information describing an interaction of a participating user with the deal for presentation via a second user interface to one or more connections of the participating user.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein providing the amount of the platform share of the received revenue back to a participating user comprises discounting the purchase price for the participating user.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the platform share of the revenue provided back to a participating user is determined based on the total number of connections of the participating user in the social networking system.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the platform share of the revenue provided back to a participating user is determined based on actions of the connections of the participating user performed using the social networking system.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein an action comprises interactions with an object in the social networking system representing one of an image, a video, comment, or wall post.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein an action comprises uploading information describing an object in the social networking system.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein an action comprises retrieving information describing an object represented in the social networking system.

### Claim 8 (depends on 4)

The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein an action comprises communicating with users of the social networking system.

### Claim 9 (depends on 4)

The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein an action comprises providing a status update.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the platform share of the revenue provided back to the participating user is further determined based on connections of the participating user identified as potential participants of the deal.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein a connection of the user is identified as potential participant of the deal based on matching information describing the connection with information describing the participating users.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the platform share of the received revenue for each participating user is determined based on a rate of interaction of the user with the social networking system.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the rate of interaction of the user with the social networking system is determined based on the rate at which the user retrieves information from the social networking system.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the rate of interaction of the user with the social networking system is determined based on the rate at which the user provides content to the social networking system.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the rate of interaction of the user with the social networking system is determined based on the rate at which the user interacts with other users of the social networking system.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the platform share of the revenue provided back to a participating user is determined based on the total number of connections of the participating user in the social networking system with whom a rate of interaction of the user is more than a threshold.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the platform share of the revenue provided back to a participating user is determined based on a rate at which connections of the participating user in the social networking system interact with the social networking system.

### Claim 18

A computer-implemented system for compensating users for purchasing deals via a social networking system, the system comprising:
a computer processor; and
a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that cause the computer processor to:
store by a social networking system, information describing connections between users;
receive information about a deal from a deal provider, wherein the deal is associated with a purchase price;
offer, by the social networking system, the deal to a plurality of users of the social networking system;
send information describing criteria for activation of the deal for presentation via a first user interface to each of the plurality of users, wherein the criteria includes at least one condition based on an interaction of a user with the first user interface associated with the deal or a location of the user;
activate the deal responsive to the criteria being satisfied for the deal, wherein the first user interface includes an indication that the deal is activated;
receive request for participation in the deal from one or more participating users;
receive information describing connections of participating users as potential participants of the deal;
receive revenue from the one or more participating users based on the purchase price associated with the deal;
transfer a portion of the received revenue from the social networking system to the deal provider, thereby leaving a platform share from the received revenue;
for each of the one or more participating users, determining a total number of connections of the user that also participated in the deal;
for each of the one or more participating users, determining, by the social networking system, a total number of connections of the user in the social networking system having more than a threshold measure of affinity with the user, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is based on the user having a threshold number of interactions via the social networking system with a connection of the user;
determine, by the social networking system, an amount of the platform share of the received revenue to provide to each of the one or more participating users, the amount of the platform share of the received revenue for each participating user determined based on a total number of connections of the participating user who also participated in the deal and the total number of connections of the participating user in the social networking system having more than a threshold measure of affinity with the user;
for each of the one or more participating users, provide the determined amount of the platform share of the received revenue back to the user; and
send information describing an interaction of a participating user with the deal for presentation via a second user interface to one or more connections of the participating user.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The computer-implemented system of claim 18, wherein the amount of the platform share of the received revenue provided back to the participating user is determined based on interactions of the connections of the participating user with objects associated with the deal.

### Claim 20

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable code, the code comprising instructions that cause a processor to:
store by a social networking system, information describing connections between users;
receive information about a deal from a deal provider, wherein the deal is associated with a purchase price;
offer, by the social networking system, the deal to a plurality of users of the social networking system;
send information describing criteria for activation of the deal for presentation via a first user interface to each of the plurality of users, wherein the criteria includes at least one condition based on an interaction of a user with the first user interface associated with the deal or a location of the user;
activate the deal responsive to the criteria being satisfied for the deal, wherein the first user interface includes an indication that the deal is activated;
receive request for participation in the deal from one or more participating users;
receive information describing connections of participating users as potential participants of the deal;
receive revenue from the participating users based on the purchase price associated with the deal;
transfer a portion of the received revenue from the social networking system to the deal provider, thereby leaving a platform share from the received revenue;
for each of the one or more participating users, determine a total number of connections of the user that also participated in the deal;
for each of the one or more participating users, determine, by the social networking system, a total number of connections of the user in the social networking system having more than a threshold measure of affinity with the user, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is based on the user having a threshold number of interactions via the social networking system with a connection of the user;
determine, by the social networking system, an amount of the platform share of the received revenue to provide to each of the one or more participating users, the amount of the platform share of the received revenue for each participating user determined based on a total number of connections of the participating user who also participated in the deal and the total number of connections of the participating user in the social networking system having more than a threshold measure of affinity with the user;
for each of the one or more participating users, provide the determined amounts of the platform share of the received revenue back to the user; and
send information describing an interaction of a participating user with the deal for presentation via a second user interface to one or more connections of the participating user.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the amount of the platform share of the revenue provided back to the participating user is determined based on interactions of the connections of the participating user with objects associated with the deal.