Search system and method for simultaneous querying and notification of multiple web sales sites
First Claim
1. A method for searching for products or services listed for sale on a plurality of web sites, said method comprising the steps of:
- (1) entering at least one search term as a keyword;
(2) identifying a plurality of web sites to be searched;
(3) providing a database of commands and protocols for entering a keyword in the plurality of web sites;
(4) formatting the keyword so that it can be entered into a native search engine at each of the plurality of web sites; and
(5) entering the formatted keyword and the commands to request a search into the native search engine used at each of the plurality of web sites.
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Abstract
A system and method for performing a search of multiple WEB sites for a desired product or service, wherein the searches are performed using the commands, protocols and native search engine of each WEB site to thereby perform the search as rapidly as possible, wherein the user does not need any knowledge of the interface to each of the WEB sites to be searched, wherein the searches can be performed automatically at a user-selectable interval, wherein the user is automatically notified whenever a desired product or service is found, and wherein subsequent updates of matching products and services are provided in incremental updates only showing additional items posted to a particular WEB site.
23 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A method for searching for products or services listed for sale on a plurality of web sites, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) entering at least one search term as a keyword;
(2) identifying a plurality of web sites to be searched;
(3) providing a database of commands and protocols for entering a keyword in the plurality of web sites;
(4) formatting the keyword so that it can be entered into a native search engine at each of the plurality of web sites; and
(5) entering the formatted keyword and the commands to request a search into the native search engine used at each of the plurality of web sites. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 35)
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16. A system for searching for products or services listed for sale on a plurality of web sites, said system comprising:
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a database for storing search criteria, parsing instruction sets, and search results;
a search scheduler and balancer for storing searches requests in a repeatable queue, and for controlling the number of searches being performed at any given time in order to avoid overloading system resources; and
an XML search document editor for creating XML documents that are used to enter at least one search keyword into a native search engine of the plurality of web sites. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A method for transmitting an offer for sale of a product or service to a plurality web sites, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) entering a name for the product or service to be offered for sale;
(2) entering a description of the product or the service;
(3) storing the name and the description of the product or the service in a database;
(4) identifying the plurality of web sites on which the product or the service is to be offered for sale;
(5) formatting the name and the description of the product or the service so that the terms can be received by each of the plurality of web sites to which the terms are transmitted; and
(6) transmitting the formatted terms to the identified plurality of web sites. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for searching for information from a plurality of web sites, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) entering at least one keyword;
(2) identifying a plurality of web sites to be searched;
(3) providing a database of commands for entering the at least one keyword in the plurality of web sites;
(4) formatting the keyword so that it can be entered into a native search engine at each of the plurality of web sites; and
(5) entering into the native search engine used at each of the plurality of web sites the formatted keyword and the commands to request a search. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method for searching a plurality of web sites, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing at least one search term;
(2) identifying a plurality of web sites to be searched;
(3) formatting the at least one search term so that it can be entered into a native search engine at each of the plurality of web sites; and
(4) requesting a search be performed from each of the plurality of web sites using the at least one search term. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
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Specification