Electronic information appraisal agent

A method of automatically accessing electronic advertisements in an electronic information distribution network, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) initiating an electronic advertisement appraisal agent in a client system, wherein the client system is a consumer consumption device which provides an interface to a consumer that allows the consumer to consume electronic information units;
• (b) the appraisal agent accessing a yellow pages server which contains a plurality of electronic advertisements, wherein the yellow pages server is coupled to the client system;
• (c) comparing electronic advertisements in the yellow pages server to search criteria provided to the appraisal agent;
• (d) determining whether an electronic advertisement of the plurality of electronic advertisements matches the search criteria based on the comparing;
• (e) returning a set of the plurality of electronic advertisements to the client system, provided the comparing results in a match;
• and
• (f) periodically repeating the steps (b)-(e).

A method of obtaining a product in an electronic information distribution network, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) initiating an electronic information appraisal agent in a client system, wherein the client system is a consumer consumption device which provides an interface to a consumer that allows the consumer to consume electronic information units;
• (b) the appraisal agent accessing an electronic information server which contains a plurality of electronic information units, wherein the electronic information server is coupled to the client system;
• (c) comparing electronic information in the electronic information server to a set of search criteria corresponding to the product provided to the appraisal agent;
• (d) determining whether an electronic information unit of the plurality of electronic information units matches the set of search criteria based on the comparing;
• (e) purchasing a product associated with the electronic information unit, provided the comparing results in a match;
• and
• (f) periodically repeating the steps (b)-(e).

An apparatus comprising:

• a session manager to transfer data to and from an electronic information distribution network;
• and
• an electronic information appraisal agent, coupled to the session manager, to automatically and periodically,
• access an electronic information server of the electronic information distribution network which contains a plurality of electronic information units,
• compare electronic information in the electronic information server to a set of search criteria provided to the appraisal agent,
• determine whether an electronic information unit of the plurality of electronic information units matches the set of search criteria based on the comparison, and
• return the electronic information unit to the session manager, provided the comparison results in a match.