PEER TO PEER NETWORK PERSONAL ASSISTANT

• US 20090276284A1
• Filed: 05/01/2008
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: YOST, DAVID
• Granted Patent: US 8,224,714 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Methods and computer storage media for communicating an electronic gift suggestion for a first user to a second user are provided. Accessing an online social network profile for a first user created by the first user in an online social network. Determining one or more gift suggestions for the first user and displaying the one or more gift suggestions in the online social network account of a second user. In some embodiment, the gift suggestions for the first user may be based on the social profile of the first user, based on the social profile of the first user utilizing an electronic gift wish list, or based sales data of purchasers having similar personal information and purchasing history as personal information accessed from the first user'"'"'s social profile.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable storage media having computer-readable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of communicating an electronic gift suggestion for a first user to a second user, the method comprising:

accessing an online social network profile for a first user created by the first user in an online social network;

determining one or more gift suggestions for the first user based on the social profile of the first user; and

displaying the one or more gift suggestions in the online social network account of a second user.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the first user and the second participate in a same online social network or different online social networks.

3. The media of claim 2, wherein the same online social network and the different online social networks are peer-to-peer networks.

4. The media of claim 2, further comprising receiving one or more inputs from the second user about the first user.

5. The media of claim 4, wherein receiving the one or more inputs comprises receiving one or more dates associated with the first user and receiving an entry in a contact list of the second user.

6. The media of claim 3, wherein the first user and the second user are the same.

7. The media of claim 1, wherein the one or more gift suggestions for the first user are determined based on an electronic gift wish list of the first user in the social profile of the first user or linked to the social profile of the first user.

8. The media of claim 1, wherein the one or more gift suggestions for the first user are determined based on demographic information for the first user from the social profile and third party sales data.

9. The media of claim 1, wherein the one or more gift suggestions for the first user are determined based on prior purchasing data in the social profile of the first user and third party sales data.

10. One or more computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of electronically suggesting one or more gifts for a first user, the method comprising:

accessing an online social network profile for a first user created by the first user in an online social network;

determining one or more gift suggestions for the first user based on the social profile of the first user utilizing an electronic gift wish list of the first user in the social profile of the first user or linked to the social profile of the first user; and

displaying the one or more gift suggestions in the online social network account of a second user.

11. The media of claim 10, further comprising:

accessing the social profile for the first user in response to an event on the calendar of the second user'"'"'s online account.

12. The media of claim 11, further comprising:

displaying an event reminder and the one or more gift suggestions to the second user.

13. The media of claim 10, wherein the electronic gift wish list for the first user is from an online merchant.

14. The media of claim 10, wherein the first user and the second participate in a same online social network or different online social networks.

15. The media of claim 10, wherein the same online social network and the different online social networks are peer-to-peer networks.

16. The media of claim 10, wherein the second user selects the one or more gift suggestions displayed and purchases a product from the gift wish list of the first user.

17. A computer-implemented method for automatically displaying gift suggestions, the method comprising:

accessing a social profile for a first user in an online social network, wherein the social profile includes personal information for the first user;

accessing one or more third-party databases to retrieve at least one of sales data of purchasers having similar personal information and purchasing history for the purchasers;

utilizing the sales data and the purchasing history to determine one or more gift suggestions for the first user; and

displaying the one or more gift suggestions in the online social network account of a second user.

18. The media of claim 17, wherein accessing the one or more third-party databases comprises accessing one or more online merchant databases.

19. The media of claim 18, wherein the first user and the second user are members of an online social network which is a peer-to-peer network.

20. The media of claim 19, wherein the first user and the second user are the same.