Electronic registration manager for business directory information

• US 20040204958A1
• Filed: 04/27/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wood, Timothy E., Tutt, William J., Teng, Chia-Chi, Perkins, Gilma A.Z.
• Application Number:
  US10/832,656
• Publication Number:
  US 20040204958A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A system and method providing electronic registration and maintenance of business directory listings and advertisements. In a computer system hosting an online business directory, it is advantageous to provide interested businesses with the ability to register their business listing information and/or advertisements such that the user may have direct input into the categorization the business listing(s) or advertisement(s) in the business directory. In an illustrative implementation, the system and methods of the present invention may be realized as an Internet based registration computing application cooperating with a business directory storing and displaying business directory listing information. This registration computing application may be employed as part of an Internet business directory listing information offering deployed on a Web site that offers business listing information services. The registration computing application may comprise a user interface to accept business listings and advertisement information from participating businesses, and instruction sets directed to the storage, maintenance, and modification of this information in a cooperating business directory listing data store.

Claims

1. An Internet-based method for the registration of business directory listings and advertisements, comprising the following acts:

(a) providing a Web site having a user interface (UI), wherein the UI includes dialog fields for the entry of business directory listing data in accordance to predefined categories;

(b) receiving at the Web site at least one input indicative of business listing and/or advertisement information, said input indicating preferred category information for said business directory listing and/or advertisement in accordance with predefined categories offered by said Web site; and

(c) formatting said input by said Web site to create business listings having predefined categorizations.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein said Web site resides on a server computer in communication with the Internet, said server computer running a computing application to receive and process said at least one input.

3. The method recited in claim 1, wherein said dialog fields comprise a set of fields listing business categories for association with inputted business directory listing information.

4. The method recited in claim 3, wherein said user interface cooperates with a business directory listing data store to retrieve said business categories, said business categories indicative of editorial nodes of a business data taxonomy tree.

5. A computer-readable medium bearing computer-readable instructions for instructing a computer to carry out the steps recited in claim 1.

6. A package of business listing data generated in accordance with the following acts:

(a) providing a server computer in communication with the Internet;

(b) receiving input from a user by way of the Internet, said input providing a parameter indicative of a request for the creation of business listings and advertisements for storage in a business directory;

(c) retrieving selected instructions for the creation of said business listings and advertisements from a cooperating computing application wherein said instructions are selected based upon the parameter input the user input; and

(d) generating said package of business listing data as a function of said computer application instructions.

7. The method recited in claim 6, wherein said parameter comprises preferred business categories for the categorization of the generated package of business listing data.

8. The method recited in claim 7, wherein said preferred business categories comprise editorial nodes of a business data taxonomy tree, said business data taxonomy tree residing on a cooperating data store.

9. A computer-readable medium bearing computer-readable instructions for instructing a computer to carry out the steps recited in claim 6.