SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING RECOMMENDATIONS IN AN ONLINE MARKETPLACE

• US 20110173095A1
• Filed: 11/18/2010
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Kassaei, Farhang, Patel, Jaykumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,671,029 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.41
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A method and a system to manage recommendations in an online marketplace are presented. A social shopping interface is provided at a publisher site accessed by a first user identified by a first user identifier. A recommendation of a listing describing an item for sale and including a second user identifier corresponding to a second user is accessed from a recommendation database. The recommendation, including at least a portion of the listing and the second user identifier are displayed to the first user at the publisher site via the social shopping interface.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a social shopping interface at a publisher site, the publisher site accessed by a first user identified by a first user identifier;

accessing, from a recommendation database, a recommendation of a listing describing an item for sale and including a second user identifier corresponding to a second user;

displaying at least a portion of the listing and the second user identifier to the first user at the publisher site via the social shopping interface; and

communicating with an e-commerce server to facilitate the sale of the item for sale to the first user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the second user, the recommendation including the first user identifier and a selection of the listing describing the item for sale; and

storing the recommendation in the recommendation database at a social shopping server.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the recommendation further includes an e-commerce site identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating with the e-commerce server to facilitate the sale of the item for sale to the first user further comprises allowing the first user to watch, or place a bid on the item for sale in the listing.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an authenticated login token authenticated by an identity provider site associated with a social network, the authenticated login token containing the first user identifier corresponding to the first user; and

acquiring a link to an e-commerce site hosted by the e-commerce server and including an e-commerce account associated with the first user, the e-commerce site link to provide an e-commerce site identifier to facilitate communicating with the e-commerce server while facilitating a purchase originating from the social shopping interface at the publisher site.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying to the first user at least one of a received recommendation that the first user has received from the second user, a sent recommendation that the first user has sent to the second user, a purchased item list, a watched item list, and a list of items that the first user has bid on.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the social shopping interface is customized based on at least one characteristic of the publisher site, the publisher site characteristic being a site context, a publisher concept, or a predetermined characteristic of the first user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first user and the second user belong to a social network hosted by an identity provider site; and

the connection to the e-commerce server is established using a social shopping server.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the recommendation comprises determining that the item for sale is a fungible item and identifying a plurality of listings describing the item for sale.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying an alternate item for sale based on a relationship to the item for sale, the relationship being a different model, a different color, a different feature, or an accessory.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Receiving, from the first user, a third user identifier identifying a third user and displaying the first recommendation to the third user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the recommendation further comprises a promotional coupon or a gift certificate.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising browsing additional listings based on characteristics of the item for sale.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from the first user for further recommendations from one or more friends of the first user.

15. A system comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of recommendations of listings of items for sale, the respective recommendations including a first user identifier and a second user identifier where the second user has submitted the recommendation and the first user is to receive the recommendation; and

one or more processors to implement;

a receiving module to receive the plurality of recommendations from the second user;

a retrieval module to retrieve the recommendation to the first user from the memory and to provide the recommendation to the social shopping interface based on having received the first user identifier;

a social shopping interface module, to generate a social shopping interface at a publisher site, the social shopping interface to display the recommendation to the first user; and

a transaction module to communicate with an e-commerce server to facilitate the sale of the item for sale to the first user.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising an identity module to manage authenticated login tokens originating from an identity provider site.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

providing a social shopping interface at a publisher site, the publisher site accessed by a first user identified by a first user identifier;

accessing, from a recommendation database, a recommendation of a listing describing an item for sale and including a second user identifier corresponding to a second user;

displaying at least a portion of the listing and the second user identifier to the first user at the publisher site via the social shopping interface; and

communicating with an e-commerce server to facilitate the sale of the item for sale to the first user.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the second user, the recommendation including the first user identifier and a selection of the listing describing the item for sale; and

storing the recommendation in the recommendation database at a social shopping server.

19. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein communicating with the e-commerce server to facilitate the sale of the item for sale to the first user further comprises allowing the first user to watch, or place a bid on the item for sale in the listing.

20. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an authenticated login token authenticated by an identity provider site associated with a social network, the authenticated login token containing the first user identifier corresponding to the first user; and

linking an e-commerce site hosted by the e-commerce server to an shopping-commerce account of the first user, the e-commerce site link to provide an e-commerce identifier to facilitate communicating with the e-commerce server from the social shopping interface at the first publisher site.

21. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the first user, recommendations for respective products within a single category;

communicating the recommendations to a plurality of users;

facilitating purchases of the respective products with a plurality of users, the purchases based on the recommendations from the first user;

calculating an expert score of the first user based on the number of purchases by the plurality of users;

identifying the first user with an expert rating based on the expert score within the single category and relative to other experts in the single category; and

highlighting subsequent recommendations received from the first user.

22. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from a plurality of other users, ratings corresponding to the recommendations made by the first user;

updating the expert score of the first user based on the ratings from the plurality of other users and the number of recommendations received from the first user; and

identifying the first user with the updated expert rating within the single category relative to the other experts in the single category, the updated expert rating corresponding to the updated expert score.