SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A REFERRAL NETWORK IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING ENVIRONMENT

• US 20100287282A1
• Filed: 05/10/2010
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Itrustit Social Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Itrustit Social Incorporated
• Inventors: MacLaughlin, Edwin John
• Granted Patent: US 9,256,855 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A user-content generated network is provided for presenting business listings, as well as commentary and reviews of businesses, by participants of the network. In an embodiment, businesses can participate in the network and receive referrals from members of the network. The network can track and monitor referrals that individual businesses receive as a mechanism for promoting the business to other users in the network'"'"'s user base.

Claims

1. A method for promoting an organization on a social network environment, the method being implemented by one or more computers and comprising steps of:

associating a network resource to an organization, the network resource providing a medium on which the organization can provide information about itself and/or its products or services;

associating each participant in a population of participants of a social network with a corresponding network resource;

enabling the organization to request (i) individual participants in the population who have a relationship with the organization, and/or (ii) other organizations, to link their respective corresponding network resource with the network resource of the organization;

storing information that identifies (i) a plurality of organizations, (ii) individual participants in the population, and (iii) links between each of the plurality of organizations and individual users in the population and/or other organizations in the plurality of organizations, wherein the links between each of the plurality of organizations and the individual users include referral links.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a list of businesses to a given user of the social networking, wherein the list incorporates data from referral links made to businesses in the list that are participants of the social network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein presenting the list includes presenting a ranked listing of organizations, including identifying, from the plurality of organizations, a set of organizations that are of a particular category, wherein the ranked listing is based at least in part on a tally of individuals who have referral linked to each organization in the list.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein presenting the list includes determining information about a viewer of the list, and wherein presenting the list further comprises incorporating data about referral links that are made to businesses in the list and which from individuals who are pertinent to the viewer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining information about a viewer includes determining one or more participants who are linked to the viewer, and wherein presenting the list further comprises incorporating data about referral links that are made to businesses in the list from the one or more participants who are linked to the viewer.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining information about a viewer includes determining one or more participants who have a common classification or geographic characteristic with the viewer, and wherein presenting the list further comprises incorporating data about referral links that are made to businesses in the list from the one or more participants who have the common classification or geographic characteristic with the viewer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling referral searching by any user of the social network environment, including enabling a given user to specify, as search criteria, (i) information that identifies a type of organization, and (ii) a person or class of persons who have made a referral link to a business of the type.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising using the search criteria to identify, from the stored information, one or more organizations that are of the type specified in the search criteria and which are linked to the referring user or organization.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising presenting a ranked listing in response to receiving the search criteria, the ranked listing incorporating data from the referral link of the person or class of persons.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a user action, presenting a list of business participants to a user, wherein individual business participant in the list are presented with data that is determined from referral links made to that business.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein presenting the list includes incorporating a tally of all referral links made for individual business participants in the list.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein presenting the list includes incorporating a tally of referral links made by either a particular participant, or class of participants, for individual business participants in the list.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the user action includes a search operation initiated by the user.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the user action includes a participant viewing another participant'"'"'s directory page.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the network resource assigned to each organization or each user is a web page.

16. A system for promoting an organization on a user-content generated network, the system comprising:

a database system that stores information that identifies participants of a user-content generated network, the participants including persons and businesses, wherein the database system stores information that also includes link data that identifies participant specified links between participants of the user-content generated network;

one or more modules that communicate with the database system in order to;

publish content specified by individual participants; and

include, as part of the published content, one or more referral links, the one or more referral links being specified by participants that are persons and linking to participants that are businesses, the one or more referral links being provided with context to indicate the participant persons recommendation or endorsement of the business that is being linked with the referral link.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more modules are configured to enable users of the network to perform a referral search for a business by specifying, as search criteria, (i) information about the business, and (ii) information about referral links.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the information about referral links include information that identifies a person, or a class or group of persons, who has or have recommended businesses of a particular type or characteristic.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the information about referral links include information that identifies a business of a particular type or characteristic that has received a threshold quantity of referral links from participants of a particular class.

20. A computer-readable medium that stores instructions, including instructions that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:

associating a network resource to an organization, the network resource providing a medium on which the organization can provide information about itself and/or its products or services;

associating each participant in a population of participants of a social network with a corresponding network resource;

enabling the organization to request (i) individual participants in the population who have a relationship with the organization, and/or (ii) other organizations, to link their respective corresponding network resource with the network resource of the organization;

storing information that identifies (i) a plurality of organizations, (ii) individual participants in the population, and (iii) links between each of the plurality of organizations and individual users in the population and/or other organizations in the plurality of organizations, wherein the links between each of the plurality of organizations and the individual users include referral links.