Retail proximity marketing

A method for an advertising server to process accounts related to transmitting marketing information, comprising:

• storing a first account for a host, a second account for a central server, and a third account for an advertiser;
• storing marketing information and marketing conditions received from the advertiser;
• receiving in the advertising server a message from the central server that indicates a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual was within proximity of a proximity broadcast receiver associated with the host;
• identifying the advertiser based on the received message and the stored marketing information and the marketing conditions;
• crediting the first account associated with the host by a first amount in response to receiving the message;
• crediting the second account associated with the central server by a second amount in response to receiving the message;
• and
• debiting the third account associated with the identified advertiser a third amount in response to receiving the message.

A server configured for delivering marketing information to customers based on their proximity to a marketing location, comprising:

• a server processor configured with server-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• receiving in the server a sighting message that includes an identifier of a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual;
• identifying marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter and a proximate marketing area when the wireless identity transmitter is known and the sighting message is related to a host;
• and
• transmitting a first message to a computing device that includes the identified marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter.

A server configured to process accounts related to transmitting marketing information, comprising:

• a server processor configured with server-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• storing a first account for a host, a second account for a central server, and a third account for an advertiser;
• storing marketing information and marketing conditions received from the advertiser;
• receiving in the server a message from the central server that indicates a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual was within proximity of a proximity broadcast receiver associated with the host;
• identifying the advertiser based on the received message and the stored marketing information and the marketing conditions;
• crediting the first account associated with the host by a first amount in response to receiving the message;
• crediting the second account associated with the central server by a second amount in response to receiving the message;
• and
• debiting the third account associated with the identified advertiser a third amount in response to receiving the message.

A server configured for delivering marketing information to customers based on their proximity to a marketing location, comprising:

• means for receiving in the server a sighting message that includes an identifier of a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual;
• means for identifying marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter and a proximate marketing area when the wireless identity transmitter is known and the sighting message is related to a host;
• and
• means for transmitting a first message to a computing device that includes the identified marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter.

A server configured to process accounts related to transmitting marketing information, comprising:

• means for storing a first account for a host, a second account for a central server, and a third account for an advertiser;
• means for storing marketing information and marketing conditions received from the advertiser;
• means for receiving in the server a message from the central server that indicates a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual was within proximity of a proximity broadcast receiver associated with the host;
• means for identifying the advertiser based on the received message and the stored marketing information and the marketing conditions;
• means for crediting the first account associated with the host by a first amount in response to receiving the message;
• means for crediting the second account associated with the central server by a second amount in response to receiving the message;
• and
• means for debiting the third account associated with the identified advertiser a third amount in response to receiving the message.

A non-transitory server-readable storage medium having stored thereon server-executable instructions configured to cause a server to perform operations for delivering marketing information to customers based on their proximity to a marketing location, the operations comprising:

• receiving in the server a sighting message that includes an identifier of a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual;
• identifying marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter and a proximate marketing area when the wireless identity transmitter is known and the sighting message is related to a host;
• and
• transmitting a first message to a computing device that includes the identified marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter.

A non-transitory server-readable storage medium having stored thereon server-executable instructions configured to cause a server to perform operations for processing accounts related to transmitting marketing information, the operations comprising:

• storing a first account for a host, a second account for a central server, and a third account for an advertiser;
• storing marketing information and marketing conditions received from the advertiser;
• receiving in the server a message from the central server that indicates a wireless identity transmitter associated with an individual was within proximity of a proximity broadcast receiver associated with the host;
• identifying the advertiser based on the received message and the stored marketing information and the marketing conditions;
• crediting the first account associated with the host by a first amount in response to receiving the message;
• crediting the second account associated with the central server by a second amount in response to receiving the message;
• and
• debiting the third account associated with the identified advertiser a third amount in response to receiving the message.

A system, comprising:

• a central server;
• a wireless identity transmitter;
• and
• a proximity broadcast receiver,
• wherein the wireless identity transmitter comprises:
• a first memory;
• a first transceiver configured to broadcast short-range wireless signals capable of being received by the proximity broadcast receiver;
• and
• a first processor coupled to the first memory and the first transceiver, and configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• generating an identifier periodically via an algorithm that uses a unique device identifier of the wireless identity transmitter that is associated with an individual;
• and
• periodically broadcasting via the first transceiver a short-range wireless signal including the identifier of the wireless identity transmitter, and
• wherein the proximity broadcast receiver comprises:
• a second memory;
• a second transceiver configured to receive short-range wireless signals from the wireless identity transmitter;
• a network transceiver configured to communicate with the central server via a long-range network;
• a second processor coupled to the second memory, the second transceiver, and the network transceiver and configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• receiving via the second transceiver short-range wireless signals including the identifier broadcast by the wireless identity transmitter;
• generating a sighting message in response to the received signal, wherein the sighting message includes the identifier and associated data;
• and
• transmitting the sighting message via the long-range network using the network transceiver, and
• wherein the central server is configured with server-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• receiving the sighting message transmitted by the proximity broadcast receiver;
• identifying marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter and a proximate marketing area when the wireless identity transmitter is known and the sighting message is related to a host;
• and
• transmitting a first message to a computing device that includes the identified marketing information relevant to the wireless identity transmitter.