SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A REFERRAL NETWORK IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING ENVIRONMENT
First Claim
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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.
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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.
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Citations
20 Claims
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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:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for promoting an organization on a user-content generated network, the system comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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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:
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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.
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Specification