# US 8,571,947 B2 · Techniques for creating and updating of affiliate website > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,571,947 B2 - Document ID: US8571947B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/755,118 - Filed: 2013-01-31 - Published: 2013-06-27 - Granted: 2013-10-29 - Earliest claimed: 2004-06-15 - Applicants: David Greaves; Thomas Creaven - Inventors: David Greaves; Thomas Creaven - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8571947B2 ## CPC - G06Q 30/0613: {using intermediate agents} - G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising - G06Q 30/0201: Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data - G06Q 30/0601: Electronic shopping [e-shopping] - G06Q 30/0619: {Neutral agent} - G06Q 30/0621: {by configuring or customising goods or services} - G06Q 30/0623: {by investigating goods or services} - G06Q 30/0641: {utilising user interfaces specially adapted for shopping} - 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 The present disclosure is directed to techniques for retrieving a large number of product codes from one or more Vendor Websites. A search of a Vendor Website is conducted based on a keyword list created by a registered affiliate and product codes are acquired including graphic data and descriptive text for products obtained in the search. A unique identification code is inserted into the product codes, which are stored in a products database and displayed along with manually activatable editing buttons which allow the registered affiliate to edit the products database. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor websites over a network and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: acquiring a unique identification code of the affiliate for each of the plurality of vendor websites; creating a single keyword list containing one or more keywords; storing the single keyword list; establishing over the network a connection to a selected one of the plurality of vendor websites; searching the selected vendor website for products offered for sale relating to the one or more keywords of the single keyword list; acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text for products obtained in the search of the selected vendor website along with a link to the selected vendor website; inserting the affiliate's unique identification code into the acquired product codes; repeating the steps of establishing, searching, acquiring, and inserting for each remaining vendor website of the plurality of vendor websites; storing the product codes of the plurality of vendor websites in a products database; displaying the product codes of the plurality of vendor websites along with manually activatable editing buttons which allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update products to modify the products database; and uploading the products database to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase the products. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the creating a keyword list comprises entering one or more words from the group consisting of movie titles, actors' names, musical performers, authors, artists, and sports figures. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the unique identification code in the products database along with each individual product. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising storing code in the Affiliate Website to allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update products to modify the products database directly from the Affiliate Website. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying the product codes further includes displaying a drop-down list containing all of the keywords to enable the user to display all products corresponding to a selected one of the keywords. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying the product codes comprises simultaneously displaying product codes for ten products obtained in the search. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the manually activatable editing buttons which allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update products include a refresh button for allowing the user to search for new product codes from the Vendor Website and replace a previously displayed product with a new product. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the manually activatable editing buttons which allow a user to individually and globally select, deselect and update products include a clear button to erase a displayed product and allow a new product to be displayed therefor. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the manually activatable editing buttons which allow a user to individually and globally select, deselect and update products include a padlock icon which allows a user to lock a displayed product into the products database Window so that it cannot be de-selected or replaced without first removing the lock. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a web page template containing the product codes. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any Website for the products database of the Affiliate Website, provided the commission earning product itself originates from the Vendor Website. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the identified products are commission earning products, and further comprising identifying a commission rate associated with the selected Vendor Website. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) A method according to claim 1, further comprising grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any website, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor websites. ### Claim 14 A non-transitory computer-readable medium with an executable program stored thereon for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor websites over a network for insertion into an affiliate website of an affiliate by a computer, the executable program having instructions that configure the computer to: store search routines that conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor websites; store unique tracking identification codes of the affiliate for the respective vendor websites; create a single keyword list containing one or more keywords; receive selection of any one of the plurality of vendor websites from a displayed list of the plurality of vendor websites for conducting a product search; search the selected vendor website for commission earning products offered for sale relating to the single keyword list in response to execution of the stored search routine associated with the selected vendor website; acquire and display product codes including graphic data, descriptive text and vendor website links for identified products obtained in the search of the selected vendor website; insert the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the selected vendor website into the product codes of the identified products associated with the selected vendor website; store in a products database the product codes with the inserted affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the identified products associated with selected vendor website; and upload the products database to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase the products associated with the selected vendor website. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions to cause the computer to create the at least one keyword list includes instructions to enter one or more words from the group consisting of movie titles, actors' names, musical performers, authors, artists, and sports figures. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to identify a commission rate associated with the selected Vendor Website. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to store in the Affiliate Website code allowing a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update the identified products to modify the products database directly from the Affiliate Website. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update the identified products, and to display a drop-down list containing all of the one or more keywords to enable the user to display all products corresponding to a selected one of the one or more keywords. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to selectively grab a product code of a commission earning product from any Website, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of Vendor Websites. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to search for new commission earning products from any one of the plurality of Vendor Websites and to replace a previously displayed product with a new product. ### Claim 21 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to erase a displayed product and display a new product therefor. ### Claim 22 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to selectively lock a displayed product into the products database so that a locked product cannot be de-selected or replaced without first removing the lock. ### Claim 23 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium ct of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to create a web page template containing the product codes. ### Claim 24 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to prompt a user to enter the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the selected vendor website. ### Claim 25 A system for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor websites over a network and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: means for storing search routines that conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor websites; means for storing unique tracking identification codes of the affiliate for the respective vendor websites; means for creating at least one keyword list containing one or more keywords; means for searching a selected vendor website of the plurality of vendor websites for commission earning products offered for sale relating to the at least one keyword list in response to execution of the stored search routine associated with the selected vendor website; means for acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text and a vendor website link for identified products obtained for the searched selected vendor website; means for inserting the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the searched selected vendor website into the product codes of the identified products associated with the searched selected vendor website; means for generating a products database of the identified products; and means for uploading the products database having the identified products to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase through the affiliate website one or more of the identified products associated with the selected vendor website. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, wherein the means for creating comprises means for entering one or more words selected from the group consisting of movie titles, actors' names, musical performers, authors, artists, and sports figures. ### Claim 27 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for storing the affiliate's unique tracking identification code in the products database along with each individual product. ### Claim 28 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for storing code in the Affiliate Website to allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update the identified products to modify the products database directly from the Affiliate Website. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for displaying a drop-down list containing all of the one or more keywords to enable the user to display all products corresponding to a selected one of the one or more keywords. ### Claim 30 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for simultaneously displaying product codes for ten identified products obtained in the search. ### Claim 31 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for selectively searching for new commission earning products from the searched selected Vendor Website and means for replacing a previously displayed product with a new product. ### Claim 32 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for displaying the identified products and means for erasing a displayed product and allowing a new product to be displayed therefor. ### Claim 33 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for selectively locking one or more of the identified products into the products database so that the one or more of the identified products cannot be deselected or replaced without first removing the locking. ### Claim 34 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for creating a web page template containing the product codes. ### Claim 35 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for selectively grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any Website, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of Vendor Websites for the product database of the Affiliate Website. ### Claim 36 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, further comprising means for identifying a commission rate associated with a respective one of the Vendor Websites. ### Claim 37 (depends on 25) The system of claim 25, wherein the means for creating the at least one keyword list creates a single keyword list. ### Claim 38 A method for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor websites over a network and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: storing on an affiliate computer search routines for the respective vendor websites, the search routines being operable to conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor websites; storing on the affiliate computer a unique tracking identification code of the affiliate for each of the vendor websites; storing on the affiliate computer at least one keyword list containing one or more keywords; searching selected ones of the vendor websites for commission earning products offered for sale relating to the stored at least one keyword list in response to execution of the stored search routines for the selected vendor websites; acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text and a vendor website link for identified products obtained by the searching step for each selected vendor website; inserting the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for each selected vendor website into the product codes of the identified products associated with each selected vendor website; generating a products database of the identified products having the product codes into which the affiliate's unique tracking identification code of each selected vendor website has been inserted; and uploading the products database having the identified products to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase through the affiliate website one or more of the identified products associated with the selected vendor websites. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, wherein the storing of at least one keyword list comprises entering one or more words selected from the group consisting of movie titles, actors' names, musical performers, authors, artists, and sports figures. ### Claim 40 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising storing the affiliate's unique tracking identification code in the products database along with each individual product. ### Claim 41 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising storing code in the Affiliate Website to allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update the identified products to modify the products database directly from the Affiliate Website. ### Claim 42 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising displaying a dropdown list containing all of the one or more keywords to enable the user to display all products corresponding to a selected one of the one or more keywords. ### Claim 43 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising simultaneously displaying product codes for ten identified products obtained in the search. ### Claim 44 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising selectively searching for new commission earning products from the selected Vendor Websites and replacing a previously displayed product with a new product. ### Claim 45 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising displaying the identified products and erasing a displayed product and allow a new product to be displayed therefor. ### Claim 46 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising selectively locking one or more of the identified products into the products database so that the one or more of the identified products cannot be de-selected or replaced without first removing the locking. ### Claim 47 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising creating a web page template containing the product codes. ### Claim 48 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising selectively grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any Website for the product database of the Affiliate Website, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of Vendor Websites. ### Claim 49 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, further comprising identifying a commission rate associated with the selected vendor website. ### Claim 50 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, wherein the creating the at least one keyword list includes creating a single keyword list. ### Claim 51 A system for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor websites over a network and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: a storage medium that stores a set of instructions including search routines that conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor websites; and an affiliate computer that executes the set of instructions stored in the storage medium for causing the computer to: store unique tracking identification codes of the affiliate for the respective vendor websites; execute the stored search routine for the respective vendor websites; automatically search the respective vendor websites and retrieve multiple products based on a single keyword list in response to execution of the stored search routines for the respective vendor websites; and automatically insert the affiliate's unique identification tracking codes corresponding to the respective vendor websites into product codes of the retrieved multiple products acquired during the automatic search before displaying the retrieved multiple products on the affiliate website where viewers of the affiliate website can purchase, through the affiliate website, one or more of the retrieved multiple products. ### Claim 52 (depends on 51) The system of claim 51, wherein the set of instructions executed by the affiliate computer causes the computer to grab a product code of a commission earning product from any website, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor websites. ### Claim 53 A method for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor product databases over a network and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: acquiring a unique identification code of the affiliate for each of the plurality of vendor product databases; creating a single category list containing one or more product categories; storing the single category list; searching the selected vendor product database for products offered for sale relating to the one or more product categories of the single category list; acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text for products obtained in the search of the selected vendor product database; inserting the affiliate's unique identification code into the acquired product codes; repeating the steps of searching, acquiring, and inserting for each remaining vendor product database of the plurality of vendor product databases; storing the product codes of the plurality of vendor product databases in a products database; displaying the product codes of the plurality of vendor products databases along with manually activatable editing buttons which allow a user to individually and globally select, de-select and update products to modify the products database; and uploading the products database to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase the products. ### Claim 54 (depends on 53) The method of claim 53, further comprising grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any product database, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor product databases. ### Claim 55 A non-transitory computer-readable medium with an executable program stored thereon for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor websites over a network for insertion into an affiliate website of an affiliate by a computer, the executable program having instructions that configure the computer to: store search routines that conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor product databases; store unique tracking identification codes of the affiliate for the respective vendor product databases; create a single category list containing one or more product categories; receive selection of any one of the plurality of vendor product databases from a displayed list of the plurality of vendor product databases for conducting a product search; search the selected vendor product database for commission earning products offered for sale relating to the single category list in response to execution of the stored search routine associated with the selected vendor product database; acquire and display product codes including graphic data and descriptive text for identified products obtained in the search of the selected vendor product database; insert the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the selected vendor product database into the product codes of the identified products associated with the selected vendor product database; store in a products database the product codes with the inserted affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the identified products associated with selected vendor product database; and upload the products database to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase the products associated with the selected vendor product database. ### Claim 56 (depends on 55) The computer-readable medium of claim 55, further comprising instructions to cause the computer to selectively grab a product code of a commission earning product from any product database, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor product databases. ### Claim 57 A system for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor product databases and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: means for storing search routines that conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor product databases; means for storing unique tracking identification codes of the affiliate for the respective vendor product databases; means for creating at least one category list containing one or more product categories; means for searching a selected vendor product database of the plurality of vendor product databases for commission earning products offered for sale relating to the at least one category list in response to execution of the stored search routine associated with the selected vendor product database; means for acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text for identified products obtained for the searched selected vendor product database; means for inserting the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for the searched selected vendor product database into the product codes of the identified products associated with the searched selected vendor product database; means for generating a products database of the identified products; and means for uploading the products database having the identified products to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase through the affiliate website one or more of the identified products associated with the selected vendor product database. ### Claim 58 (depends on 57) The system of claim 57, further comprising means for selectively grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any database, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor product databases for the product database of the affiliate website. ### Claim 59 A method for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor product databases over a network and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: storing on an affiliate computer search routines for the respective vendor product databases, the search routines being operable to conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor product databases; storing on the affiliate computer a unique tracking identification code of the affiliate for each of the vendor product databases; storing on the affiliate computer at least one category list containing one or more product categories; searching selected ones of the vendor product databases for commission earning products offered for sale relating to the stored at least one category list in response to execution of the stored search routines for the selected vendor product database; acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text for identified products obtained by the searching step for each selected vendor product database; inserting the affiliate's unique tracking identification code for each selected vendor product database into the product codes of the identified products associated with each selected vendor product database; generating a products database of the identified products having the product codes into which the affiliate's unique tracking identification code of each selected vendor product database has been inserted; and uploading the products database having the identified products to a server to serve the products database along with the affiliate website so that viewers of the affiliate website can purchase through the affiliate website one or more of the identified products associated with the selected vendor product databases. ### Claim 60 (depends on 59) The method of claim 59, further comprising selectively grabbing a product code of a commission earning product from any product database for the product database of the affiliate website, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor product databases. ### Claim 61 A system for retrieving product codes from a plurality of vendor product databases and inserting the product codes into an affiliate website of an affiliate, comprising: a storage medium that stores a set of instructions including search routines that conduct searches for products associated with the respective vendor product databases; and an affiliate computer that executes the set of instructions stored in the storage medium for causing the computer to: store unique tracking identification codes of the affiliate for the respective vendor product databases; execute the stored search routine for the respective vendor product databases; automatically search the respective vendor product databases and retrieve multiple products based on a single category list in response to execution of the stored search routines for the respective vendor product databases; and automatically insert the affiliate's unique identification tracking codes corresponding to the respective vendor product databases into product codes of the retrieved multiple products acquired during the automatic search before displaying the retrieved multiple products on the affiliate website where viewers of the affiliate website can purchase, through the affiliate website, one or more of the retrieved multiple products. ### Claim 62 (depends on 61) The system of claim 61, wherein the set of instructions executed by the affiliate computer causes the computer to grab a product code of a commission earning product from any product database, provided the product itself originates from any one of the plurality of vendor product databases.