SYSTEMS AND METHODS RELATING TO AN OPPORTUNITY DISTRIBUTION ENGINE AND DISTRIBUTION SIMULATION
First Claim
1. A processor-implemented opportunity distribution engine configured to populate a table with stored data about candidate businesses for a business opportunity available for purchase, wherein said stored data includes a least four different types of data values for each candidate business, said opportunity distribution engine further configured to further populate said table with additional data values about said candidate businesses, wherein said additional data values are derived, at least in part, from said stored data values, said opportunity distribution engine further configured to select, based at least in part on said data values in said populated table, a set of one or more candidate businesses which may purchase said business opportunity.
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Abstract
Opportunity distribution systems and methods distribute business opportunities received from lead sources for routing to one or more destination businesses that will make use the opportunity, such as an opportunity to place a webpage advertisement on a webpage that is being served to a viewer. The system identifies a set of most profitable destinations for each opportunity, for each routing, while complying with business rules associated with the opportunity source and the destination businesses. System variables associated with the lead source and the destinations may be advantageously adjusted to maintain desired flow rate and quality levels of leads to each destination and to maximize profit to the system. A system administrator module and log of lead transactions allows the system to review previous performance and to carry out simulations in order to identify desired adjustments to system variables.
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Citations
21 Claims
- 1. A processor-implemented opportunity distribution engine configured to populate a table with stored data about candidate businesses for a business opportunity available for purchase, wherein said stored data includes a least four different types of data values for each candidate business, said opportunity distribution engine further configured to further populate said table with additional data values about said candidate businesses, wherein said additional data values are derived, at least in part, from said stored data values, said opportunity distribution engine further configured to select, based at least in part on said data values in said populated table, a set of one or more candidate businesses which may purchase said business opportunity.
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13. A method for maintaining an opportunity distribution system, comprising:
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using tables, populated with stored data about businesses that are candidates for purchasing available business opportunities, in order to select a set of one or more preferred candidate businesses that may purchase the business opportunities, wherein the stored data includes at least five different types of data for each candidate business; storing, for a selected time period, the data from the populated tables and the sets of one or more preferred candidate businesses; using modified versions of the stored data to re-populate one or more of the tables in order to select, for each table, a simulated set of preferred candidate businesses; comparing a business benefit accrued from allowing the stored sets of preferred candidate businesses to purchase the business opportunities with a simulated business benefit associated with allowing the simulated sets of preferred candidate businesses to simulate purchasing the business opportunities; and modifying the stored data, based at least in part on the comparison, so that future selections of preferred candidate businesses result in a better business benefit going forward.
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14. A lead distribution engine, comprising:
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a processor-readable storage medium that comprises information about lead sources, lead users, and lead intermediaries; a lead source interface module that accepts information from a lead source about a business lead being offered for sale by the lead source; a collection module configured to receive information about lead users who are interested in purchasing the business lead and about lead intermediaries who are interested in providing the business lead to one or more of the lead users, the collection module further configured to organize the information by identifying pairs, each pair comprising a lead user and a lead intermediary who is interested in providing the business lead to the lead user; and a selection module configured to receive the information about the pairs from the collection module, and to access, for each pair, a score from the processor-readable storage medium that is indicative of a level of monetary profit and business gain associated with sale of the business lead to the pair, the selection module further configured to identify a preferred subset of the pairs, such that each of the pairs in the subset are associated with a desirable score and such that the lead users from the pairs in the subset are different from one another. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A processor-implemented method for distributing a business opportunity available from a source, said method comprising:
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partially populating a table with stored data values associated with a set of candidate businesses for purchase of said business opportunity; further populating the table with additional data values that are derived, at least in part, from the stored values; and selecting, based at least in part on the stored values and on the derived values, a set of one or more preferred candidate businesses for purchasing the business opportunity.
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20. A system for maintaining an opportunity distribution system, comprising:
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means for using tables, populated with stored data about businesses that are candidates for purchasing available business opportunities, in order to select a set of one or more preferred candidate businesses that may purchase the business opportunities, wherein the stored data includes at least five different types of data for each candidate business; means for storing, for a selected time period, the data from the populated tables and the sets of one or more preferred candidate businesses; means for using modified versions of the stored data to re-populate one or more of the tables in order to select, for each table, a simulated set of preferred candidate businesses; means for comparing a business benefit accrued from allowing the stored sets of preferred candidate businesses to purchase the business opportunities with a simulated business benefit associated with allowing the simulated sets of preferred candidate businesses to simulate purchasing the business opportunities; and means for modifying the stored data, based at least in part on the comparison, so that future selections of preferred candidate businesses result in a better business benefit going forward.
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21. A processor-implemented method for offering an opportunity to place an advertisement on a webpage currently being served to a viewer, said method comprising:
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partially populating a table with stored data values associated with a set of candidate businesses for purchase of the webpage advertisement space; further populating the table with additional data values that are derived, at least in part, from the stored values; and selecting, based at least in part on the stored values and on the derived values, a set of one or more preferred candidate businesses for purchasing the webpage advertisement space.
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Specification