System for automated trading of informational items and having integrated ask-and -post features

A machine-supported method for performance with aid of an instructable first machine where the first machine is operatively connectable to a second machine and the second machine can enroll the first machine under one or more subscriptions for receiving sneak peek transmissions and thereafter send to the first machine sneak peek transmissions representing full or partial sneak peeks at previously withheld details concerning informational items that have been at least once bid upon within the second machine, the machine-supported method comprising:

• (a) causing the first machine to automatically determine whether a current sneak peek subscription under evaluation is resulting in an excessive number of rejections for informational items offered under the sneak peek subscription such that maintenance of the sneak peek subscription in its current configuration is not economically acceptable.

A machine-supported method for performance with aid of an instructable first machine where the first machine is operatively connectable to a plurality of second machines and the second machines can conditionally enroll under one or more subscriptions for receiving sneak peek transmissions and for thereafter receiving sneak peek transmissions representing full or partial sneak peeks at previously withheld details concerning informational items that have been at least once bid upon, the machine-supported method comprising:

• (a) causing the first machine to automatically determine how many response time-out violations one of the second machines is responsible for over a predetermined duration and under a sneak peek subscription maintained for the given second machine.

A machine-implemented competitive process carried out on blind bids electronically provided by competing bidders for bid-upon informational items where one or more of said competing bidders can subscribe to sneak peek privileges which provide the subscriber with opportunities to take closer looks at details of the bid-upon informational items than may be had without the privileges and where participants who take such closer looks may elect to not participate further in given rounds of the competitive process after having been given opportunities to take closer looks at the informational items of those rounds, where said elections to not participate include at least one of rejecting an informational item or not responding after having been given an opportunity to take a closer look at the informational item, the machine-implemented competitive process comprising:

• (a) altering a competition score assigned to a given bidder in response to a recorded history of the given bidder's electing to not participate further in given rounds of the competitive process after having been given opportunities to take closer looks at the informational items of those rounds.

A match and bid system that provides sneak peek services to bidders who wish to see more details concerning a bid-upon informational item, where the system provides blast mode sneak peeks substantially simultaneously to a plurality of bidders, the system further comprising:

• (a) multi-award means for awarding the informational item to a plurality of no more than K accepting bidders after a blast mode sneak peek session is commenced, where K is a system defined integer.

A match and bid system that provides sneak peek services to bidders who wish to see more details concerning a bid-upon informational item, where the system provides for sequential sneak peek sessions with each of the sequential sneak peek sessions being limited to one or a blast mode plurality of participants who are given the sneak peek substantially simultaneously, and where said one or more participants of a sneak peek session can all rejected the peeked-at informational item, the system further comprising:

• (a) global timer means for keeping track of the total amount of time that a given informational item spends moving from one of the sequential sneak peek sessions to the next without being accepted;
• and
• (b) graceful intervention means for picking up the not-yet accepted informational item after the global timer means meets or exceeds a predefined time out limit and for passing control over the not-yet accepted informational item to a human or robotic system operator.