OFFLINE CASHBACK ADVERTISEMENTS
First Claim
1. A method for reducing merchant-related expenses owed to an advertisement-service provider in response to an offline consumer purchase, the method comprising:
- generating a coupon in response to an online query submitted by a consumer, wherein the coupon is associated with a merchant;
providing the coupon to the consumer, wherein the coupon provides an economic benefit to the consumer when the coupon is utilized offline;
receiving, from the merchant, an indication of an offline utilization of the coupon by the consumer; and
reducing a financial amount owed to the advertisement-service provider by the merchant in response to the offline utilization of the coupon by the consumer.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention relate to systems, methods and computer storage media for providing an advertisement to a consumer in an online environment for utilization in an offline environment. The offline utilization of the coupon by the consumer allows for an amount owed to an advertisement-service provider by a merchant to be reduced. The advertisement-service provider provides, for a fee, advertising services for the merchant, which includes presenting a coupon to the consumer in an online environment. The consumer is presented with the coupon by the advertisement-service provider on behalf of the merchant. In one embodiment, the consumer stores the coupon for later redemption in an offline environment. The consumer purchases goods or service in an offline environment utilizing the coupon. The advertisement-service provider reduces an amount the merchant owes as a result of the consumer'"'"'s offline redemption of the coupon.
45 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method for reducing merchant-related expenses owed to an advertisement-service provider in response to an offline consumer purchase, the method comprising:
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generating a coupon in response to an online query submitted by a consumer, wherein the coupon is associated with a merchant; providing the coupon to the consumer, wherein the coupon provides an economic benefit to the consumer when the coupon is utilized offline; receiving, from the merchant, an indication of an offline utilization of the coupon by the consumer; and reducing a financial amount owed to the advertisement-service provider by the merchant in response to the offline utilization of the coupon by the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method for reducing merchant-related expenses owed to an advertisement-service provider in response to an offline consumer purchase, the method comprising:
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receiving a request from a consumer to digitally store a coupon, the coupon entitles the consumer to an economic benefit when the coupon is utilized; storing the coupon in association with the consumer; receiving a request for the coupon; providing information of the coupon, wherein the information includes a unique identifier of the coupon useable by a merchant to apply the economic benefit of the coupon to an offline purchase by the consumer; and reducing a financial amount the merchant owes to the advertisement-service provider as a result of the offline purchase by the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 28, 29)
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20. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method for reducing merchant-related expenses owed to an advertisement-service provider in response to an offline consumer purchase, the method comprising:
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receiving a request from a merchant to provide a coupon in response to an online search query for an identified keyword; receiving an online search query from a consumer, wherein the online search query is comprised of the identified keyword; communicating the coupon to the consumer; receiving a request from the consumer to store the coupon, wherein the coupon is stored in association with an identifier of the consumer; receiving a request for the coupon from the merchant, wherein the request includes the identifier of the consumer; receiving an indication from the merchant of the utilization of the coupon by the consumer to make an offline purchase from the merchant; crediting a merchant account, wherein the credit reduces a financial amount owed to the advertisement-service provider by the merchant.
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Specification