Method and apparatus for generating a sale offer to selected individuals over electronic network systems

• US 20080052160A1
• Filed: 06/04/2007
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Triumvirate Systems LLC (Jeffrey M. Gross)
• Original Assignee: Luigi Forlai
• Inventors: Forlai, Luigi
• Granted Patent: US 7,801,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for generating a sale offer over an electronic network (e.g., the Internet). Such methods and systems may be used to increase the revenue of a website by offering, at a substantially discounted or virtually free basis, one or more goods and/or services to visitors of the website. In one implementation, the seller may transmit a sale offer on the website for a high quality good or service, wherein the good or service can be purchased for free or at a cost near zero. The seller may make the offer visible and available to prospective buyers, who are connected to the website at that moment. Additionally, the sale offer may be available for only a very limited amount of time and may be offered at random or unpredictable times on the website in order to increase traffic to the website.

Claims

1. A method of attracting users to an electronic network system by making a sale offer over the electronic network system, comprising:

randomly generating an advertisement to obtain a product or service on the electronic network system at a cost substantially equal to a delivery price for delivering the advertised product or service to a recipient, the delivery price being less than a current value of the advertised product or service in a competitive marketplace;

communicating the randomly generated advertisement through the electronic network system for a predetermined period of time to one or more selected users in communication with the electronic network system;

completing the sale of the product or service through the electronic network system in response to an acceptance of the advertisement by a buyer within the predetermined period of time; and

removing the advertisement from the electronic network system should the buyer not accept the offer within the predetermined period of time.

8. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said electronic network system comprises a plurality of nodes each configured for generating one or more advertisements.

9. A method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising the step of selecting users based on the presence of a software module operating in conjunction with means for connecting to the electronic network system.

10. A method as set forth in claim 9 wherein said electronic network system comprises the Internet.

11. A method as set forth in claim 10, wherein said software module operates in conjunction with Internet browser software.

12. A method as set forth in claim 11, wherein said software module comprises a plug-in operating in conjunction with a browser.

13. A method as set forth in claim 10, wherein said software module monitors the particular Internet World Wide Web (“

Web”

) sites visited by a buyer.

14. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein said monitoring includes communicating information about a visited Web site through the Internet to a sponsor of the advertisement.

15. A method as set forth in claim 14, wherein the advertisement is communicated to a user via said software module.

16. A method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the advertisement is displayed on the browser only if a buyer is browsing a Web site associated with the source of the offer.

2. (canceled)

3. An apparatus for attracting one or more users to a Web site by facilitating a transaction between a buyer and a seller, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor connected to the storage device, wherein said storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and said processor is operative with the program for;

providing, on a Web site, to one or more selected buyers, a notice of a randomly generated sale offer to obtain a product or service at a sale Price substantially equal to a delivery price for providing the product or service to the one or selected buyers, the delivery price being less than a current value of the product or service in a competitive marketplace, and an acceptance form;

receiving the acceptance form completed by the buyer, the completed acceptance form being received in response to the sale offer;

receiving a payment identifier from the buyer specifying a credit card account, the payment identifier being associated with the sale offer; and

providing payment to the seller by using the payment identifier.

18. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the notice of the randomly generated sale offer is viewable in conjunction with a program operating on a system used by the one or more selected users to view the Web site.

19. An apparatus as set forth in claim 18, wherein the program comprises a Web browser program.

4. An apparatus for attracting user traffic to an electronic system by comprising:

a random sale offer generating device configured for randomly generating an offer to obtain a product or service on an electronic system at an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price associated with providing the product or service to a recipient, the delivery price being less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace outside of the electronic network;

a communication device configured for communicating the randomly generated offer at the offer price through the electronic system for a predetermined period of time to at least one selected user in communication with the electronic system; and

a processing system configured for completing the sale of the product or service at the offer price through the electronic system in response to an acceptance of the offer by the at least one selected user in communication with the electronic system within the predetermined period of time,

wherein the processing system is configured for removing the offer from the electronic system when the at least one user does not indicate acceptance of the offer within the predetermined period of time.

5. An apparatus for attracting user to a Web site comprising:

a processing system configured to allow a sale offer parameter to be inputted into an electronic system by a seller and randomly generating at least one sale offer to at least one selected user in communication with a Web site to obtain a product or service based on the sale offer parameter inputted by the seller, the sale offer being less than a current value of the offered product or service in a competitive marketplace outside of the electronic system; and

a random generation device configured for randomly displaying the at least one sale offer to a user in communication with the electronic system at an unexpected period of time,

wherein the processing system is configured for withdrawing the randomly generated sale offer in the event the user does not indicate acceptance of the randomly generated sale offer within a predetermined period of time after the random generation device has displayed the randomly generated sale offer.

6. (canceled)

7. A system for attracting one or more users to view advertisements on an Internet web site, comprising:

a generating device for generating an electronic sale offer of a product or service based on at least one parameter defined by an operator of an Internet web site, the electronic sale offer being substantially less than a market value of the offered product or service in a commercial marketplace;

means for randomly displaying the electronic sale offer of the product or service to at least one user visiting the Internet web site at a point in time unknown to the user visiting the Internet web site; and

a timing device in communication with the generating device and the display means for withdrawing the displayed sale offer from the Internet web site if the at least one user does not indicate acceptance of the offer within a predetermined period of time.

17. (canceled)

20-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A method of attracting users to view advertisements on an electronic network system comprising:

randomly displaying at least one offer to accept a product or service at an offer price substantially equal to a delivery price for providing the offered product or service to a selected user visiting the electronic network system at an unknown start time, the delivery price being less than a current value of the product or service in a competitive marketplace;

providing an opportunity for the selected user visiting the electronic network system to accept the at least one randomly displayed offer at the offer price within a limited duration of time;

receiving an indication of acceptance of the randomly displayed offer at the offer price from the selected user visiting the electronic network system;

completing the sale of the product or service through the electronic network system in response to an acceptance of the offer by the selected user visiting the electronic network system; and

removing the offer from the electronic network system should the selected user visiting the electronic network system not accept the offer within the limited duration of time.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of randomly displaying the offer includes the step of providing a random frequency device for displaying the at least one sale offer in an unpredictable manner.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of randomly displaying the offer includes randomly displaying a plurality of offers on the electronic network system during a predetermined period of time.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising controlling the frequency of randomly displaying the plurality of offers on the electronic network system to increase the amount of user traffic visiting the electronic network system.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising selecting one of a plurality of different types of products or services offered based on a profile of the selected user visiting the electronic network system.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the profile of the selected user is based on a history of Internet web sites visited by the selected user.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein randomly displaying an offer includes randomly displaying a first type of product or service that matches content displayed at a first location within the electronic network system and randomly displaying a second type of product or service that matches content displayed at a second location within the electronic network system.

33. The method of claim 26, further comprising increasing the frequency of randomly displaying the plurality of offers on the electronic network system when the amount of user traffic visiting the electronic network system increases.

34. A method of attracting users to view advertisements on an electronic network system:

providing a random frequency device for randomly displaying an offer to a selected recipient on the electronic network system to accept a discounted product or service at a price substantially equal to the delivery price of the product or service, the randomly displayed offer having an unpredictable start time and the selected recipient being selected from a plurality of potential recipients, the delivery price of the produce or service being less than a current value of the offer product or service in a competitive marketplace;

providing an opportunity for the selected recipient of the electronic network system to accept the randomly displayed offer within a predetermined duration of time;

receiving an indication of acceptance of the randomly displayed offer from the selected recipient on the electronic network system;

completing the sale of the product or service through the electronic network system in response to an acceptance of the offer by the selected recipient on the electronic network system; and

removing the offer from the electronic network system should the selected recipient not accept the offer within the predetermined duration of time.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising controlling the frequency of randomly displaying the plurality of offers on the electronic network system to attract users to view advertisements on an electronic network system.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising selecting one of a plurality of different types of products or services offered based on a profile of the selected recipient on the electronic network system.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the profile of the selected recipient on the electronic network system is based on a history of Internet web sites visited by the selected recipient on the electronic network system.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the electronic network system comprises a plurality of rooms each displaying a different type of content, and the step of randomly generating an offer includes randomly displaying a first type of product or service that matches content displayed at a first room within the electronic network system and randomly displaying a second type of product or service that matches content displayed at a second room within the electronic network system.