Electronic mail classified advertising system
First Claim
1. A method for improving classified advertising, the method comprising:
- receiving from an advertiser information for a classified advertisement;
sending, via an LDAP interface, said received information to an e-mail service provider;
requesting said e-mail service provider to use said sent information to create a temporary e-mail account;
incorporating the address of said e-mail account into the text of said classified advertisement, whereby said e-mail account becomes associated with said classified advertisement; and
publishing said classified advertisement.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for establishing temporary electronic mail (e-mail) accounts is configured to operate with classified newspaper advertising. One of the aspects of the present invention is a file handling method that automates the process of establishing the e-mail accounts through interaction with a publisher'"'"'s system for taking orders for classified advertisements. Typical newspaper classified advertising comprises two or three lines of text which provide only basic information about an item for sale. With the present invention, advertisers would be offered the option of creating a special e-mail account with a duration tied to the run of the advertisement. The e-mail accounts would be used to receive inquiries about the item for sale. The e-mail account could be also be configured to auto-respond to each incoming message with additional descriptive information about the item being offered for sale. Responders could learn more about the item, and thereby avoid the necessity of calling the seller. Sellers, in turn, can avoid the problem of repeated phone calls to request additional information, and may also remain anonymous while responding to multiple inquiries.
103 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for improving classified advertising, the method comprising:
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receiving from an advertiser information for a classified advertisement;
sending, via an LDAP interface, said received information to an e-mail service provider;
requesting said e-mail service provider to use said sent information to create a temporary e-mail account;
incorporating the address of said e-mail account into the text of said classified advertisement, whereby said e-mail account becomes associated with said classified advertisement; and
publishing said classified advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for improving classified advertising, the method comprising:
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receiving from an advertiser information for a classified advertisement;
creating a temporary e-mail account associated with said classified advertisement;
incorporating the address of said e-mail account into the text of said classified advertisement; and
publishing said classified advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for improving classified advertising, the method comprising:
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receiving from a plurality of advertisers information for classified advertisements;
initiating creation of a plurality of temporary e-mail accounts, each account being associated with one of said classified advertisements;
incorporating the address of each said e-mail account into the text of its said associated classified advertisement;
publishing said classified advertisements; and
generating a report of the activity of said e-mail accounts. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method for improving classified advertising, the method comprising:
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receiving from a plurality of advertisers information for classified advertisements;
initiating creation of a plurality of temporary e-mail accounts, each account being associated with one of said classified advertisements;
incorporating the address of each said e-mail account into the text of its said associated classified advertisement;
publishing said classified advertisements; and
categorizing said e-mail accounts into e-mail account groups. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for improving classified advertising, the method comprising:
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receiving from an advertiser information for a classified advertisement;
initiating creation of a temporary e-mail account, said account being associated with said classified advertisement;
incorporating the address of said e-mail account into the text of said associated classified advertisement;
publishing said classified advertisement; and
initiating the forwarding of e-mails sent to said e-mail account to a predetermined fax machine.
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20. A system for improving classified advertising, comprising:
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means for receiving from an advertiser information for a classified advertisement;
means for sending, via an LDAP interface, said received information to an e-mail service provider;
means for requesting said e-mail service provider to use said sent information to create a temporary e-mail account;
means for incorporating the address of said e-mail account into the text of said classified advertisement, whereby said e-mail account becomes associated with said classified advertisement; and
means for publishing said classified advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 24, 25, 26)
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23. A system for improving classified advertising, comprising:
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means for receiving from an advertiser information for a classified advertisement;
means for creating a temporary e-mail account associated with said classified advertisement;
means for incorporating the address of said e-mail account into the text of said classified advertisement; and
means for publishing said classified advertisement.
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Specification