Methods and apparatus for connecting consumers to advertisers
First Claim
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1. A method of connecting a consumer to an advertiser, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing advertiser information in a first database, the advertiser information including a first yellow page heading and a first contact channel, the first yellow page heading being selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser;
storing consumer information in a second database, the consumer information including a second yellow page heading and a second contact channel, the second yellow page heading being determined by scanning a machine readable symbol indicative of the second yellow page heading, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer;
determining that the advertiser information is compatible with the consumer information; and
communicating at least a portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel.
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Abstract
A system for connecting consumers to advertisers using bar-coded yellow page headings and bar-code scanning Internet devices is disclosed. Advertisers register with a server by providing information such as which yellow page headings the advertiser is associated with and how the advertiser is to be contacted. Consumers make requests to the server by scanning yellow page bar-code headings and indicating how the consumer prefers to be contacted. The server then finds matches between consumers and advertisers and facilitates communication between them.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method of connecting a consumer to an advertiser, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing advertiser information in a first database, the advertiser information including a first yellow page heading and a first contact channel, the first yellow page heading being selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser;
storing consumer information in a second database, the consumer information including a second yellow page heading and a second contact channel, the second yellow page heading being determined by scanning a machine readable symbol indicative of the second yellow page heading, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer;
determining that the advertiser information is compatible with the consumer information; and
communicating at least a portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of connecting a consumer to an advertiser using bar-coded yellow page headings, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing advertiser information in a first database, the advertiser information including a first yellow page heading, a first contact channel, a second contact channel, advertiser contact sequencing data, and a first subcategory, the first yellow page heading being selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an email address associated with the advertiser, the advertiser contact sequencing data being indicative of a precedence order for the first contact channel and the second contact channel, the first subcategory further specifying a product/service under the first yellow page heading;
storing consumer information in a second database, the consumer information including a second yellow page heading, a third contact channel, a fourth contact channel, consumer contact sequencing data, time dependency data, and a second subcategory, the second yellow page heading being determined by scanning a machine readable symbol indicative of the second yellow page heading, the third contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer, the fourth contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer, the consumer contact sequencing data being indicative of a precedence order for the third contact channel and the fourth contact channel, the time dependency data being indicative of a first time frame during which the third contact channel should be used and a second time frame during which the fourth contact channel should be used, the second time frame being different than the third time frame, the second subcategory further specifying a product/service under the second yellow page heading;
determining that the advertiser information is compatible with the consumer information;
communicating at least a portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel; and
communicating at least a portion of the advertiser information to the consumer via the second contact channel.
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26. An apparatus for connecting a consumer to an advertiser, the apparatus comprising:
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a network interface circuit;
an advertiser database;
a consumer database;
a processing unit operatively coupled to the network interface circuit, the advertiser database, and the consumer database; and
a memory device operatively coupled to the processing unit, the memory device storing a software program capable of being executed by the processing unit, the software program being structured to cause the processing unit to;
receive advertiser information from the network interface circuit;
determine a first yellow page heading and a first contact channel from the advertiser information, the first yellow page heading being previously selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser;
store at least a first portion of the advertiser information in the advertiser database;
receive consumer information from the network interface circuit;
determine a second yellow page heading and a second contact channel from the consumer information, the second yellow page heading being previously selected by scanning a machine readable symbol indicative of the second yellow page heading, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer;
store at least a first portion of the consumer information in the consumer database;
determine that the advertiser information is compatible with the consumer information; and
transmit at least a second portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel using the network interface circuit. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An apparatus for connecting a consumer to an advertiser, the apparatus comprising:
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an advertiser database storing advertiser information, the advertiser information including a first yellow page heading and a first contact channel, the first yellow page heading being previously selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser;
a consumer database storing consumer information, the consumer information including a second yellow page heading and a second contact channel, the second yellow page heading being previously selected by scanning a machine readable symbol indicative of the second yellow page heading, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer;
a heading comparator operatively coupled to the advertiser database and the consumer database, the heading comparator being structured to compare the first yellow page heading and the second yellow page heading;
a network interface circuit; and
a dispatcher operatively coupled to the heading comparator and the network interface, the dispatcher being structured to communicate at least a portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of connecting a consumer to an advertiser, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing advertiser information in a first database, the advertiser information including a first yellow page heading and a first contact channel, the first yellow page heading being selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser;
storing consumer information in a second database, the consumer information including a second yellow page heading and a second contact channel, the second yellow page heading being determined by receiving a selection in an electronic directory, the selection being indicative of the second yellow page heading, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer;
determining that the advertiser information is compatible with the consumer information; and
communicating at least a portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel.
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37. An apparatus for connecting a consumer to an advertiser, the apparatus comprising:
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an advertiser database storing advertiser information, the advertiser information including a first yellow page heading and a first contact channel, the first yellow page heading being previously selected from a plurality of predetermined yellow page headings, the first contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the advertiser and an e-mail address associated with the advertiser;
a consumer database storing consumer information, the consumer information including a second yellow page heading and a second contact channel, the second contact channel including at least one of a telephone number associated with the consumer and an e-mail address associated with the consumer;
a heading comparator operatively coupled to the advertiser database and the consumer database, the heading comparator being structured to compare the first yellow page heading and the second yellow page heading;
a network interface circuit; and
a dispatcher operatively coupled to the heading comparator and the network interface, the dispatcher being structured to communicate at least a portion of the consumer information to the advertiser via the first contact channel.
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Specification