Collaborative linking system with bi-directed variable granularity search engine
AssigneePlacelinks, Inc.
InventorsJonathan A. Bachman, Christopher J. Sole
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is a system and method for shortening response time and reducing resource utilization in an electronic advertising and customer enquiry system, operating in an interactive communications and distributed database environment. The system is designed to enable customers (01) to easily find product and service offerings that match their requirements for immediate local accessibility (A1), as well as the customer's (01) specific product desires. Where a perfect match does not exist, slightly less satisfactory solutions are offered. Such product offerings and customer (01) desires have static and dynamic characteristics that effect their electronic publication, enquiry, matching, and subsequent response.
Claims30
A computerized method to establish by a collaborative linking system, a relationship with one or more consumers, whereby e-mail deals are provided by the collaborative linking system to the one or more consumers over Internet, comprising steps of:
- by the collaborative linking system:
- A. assembling one or more e-mail deals, wherein each e-mail deal is representative of:
- i. an offer by at least one provider of at least one product or service in return for an associated consideration to the at least one provider, wherein at least one of the at least one product or service is associated with one or more product/service attributes,
- B. generating over the Internet, an offer to provide the one or more e-mail deals to the one or more consumers by posting a sign-up form for each of the one or more consumers including:
- i. an offer to provide in the future, one or more e-mail deals to the one or more consumers,
- ii. one or more queries on product/service attribute preferences of the one or more consumers with respect to one or more product/service attributes of the at least one product or service,
- iii. one or more queries on consumer personal attributes of the one or more consumers,
- C. receiving over the Internet, a consumer reply message from at least one of the one or more consumers responsive to posting of the sign-up form, and indicative of acceptance by the at least one of the one or more consumers of the offer to provide the one or more e-mail deals,
- D. receiving over the Internet,
- i. a consumer product/service attribute message from the at least one of the one or more consumers, wherein the received consumer product/service attribute message includes at least one query response by the at least one of the one or more consumers to one or more of the queries on one or more product/service attribute preferences of the at least one of the one or more consumers, wherein the at least one query response is indicative of one or more consumer-generated keywords indicative of at least one of the one or more product/service attribute preferences of the at least one of the one or more consumers, and
- ii. a consumer personal attribute message from the at least one of the one or more consumers, wherein the consumer personal attribute message includes one or more query responses by the at least one of the one or more consumers to the one or more queries on consumer personal attributes,
- E. correlating (i) at least one of the at least one query response indicative of one or more consumer-generated keywords indicative of product/service attribute preferences of a consumer from the at least one of the one or more consumers with (ii) at least one of the product/service attributes of the at least one product or service of one or more of the one or more e-mail deals, to identify one or more of the one or more e-mail deals as being appropriate email deals for the consumer, and
- F. sending over the Internet to the at least one of the one or more consumers a message representative of at least one of the one or more appropriate e-mail deals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.