TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEM FOR REVENUE SHARING IN AN ONLINE STOREFRONT

• US 20120130850A1
• Filed: 11/19/2010
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Clifford Akihiko
• Application Number:
  US12/950,228
• Publication Number:
  US 20120130850A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

Techniques to provide dynamic revenue sharing among product providers in an online storefront are described. In an embodiment, products are bundled into packages. When a package is purchased, licensed or subscribed to, the payment received may be shared with online storefront, and among the product providers according to the rank of the products in the package. Partners of the online storefront may design their own packages and receive a portion of the payment. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

bundling products in an online storefront together into packages for sale, wherein at least one product is developed by a third-party entity different from the online storefront host;

receiving a payment for a package;

sharing a first portion of the payment with the online storefront host; and

sharing a second portion of the payment with the third-party.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

bundling products for a partner of the online storefront host in a partner package; and

sharing a third portion of a payment for the partner package with the partner.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the package products are developed by a plurality of third-party entities, the method further comprising:

ranking the products in the package; and

sharing the second portion of the payment among the plurality of third-party entities according to the product rank.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein ranking comprises:

ranking according to ranking factors comprising at least one of;

product usage, product reputation, and product quality.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

calculating rank as a weighted average of at least two ranking factors.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

sorting the ranked products into at least two revenue sharing tiers, wherein the tier determines a percentage of the second portion of the payment that the third-party will receive.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

sharing a larger percentage with a third-party having a higher ranked product in a first tier; and

sharing a smaller percentage with a third-party having a lower ranked product in a second tier.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein bundling products comprises removing a product from a bundle when the product rank falls below a threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving payments periodically for the package.

10. An article comprising a storage medium containing instructions that when executed cause a system to:

receive a payment at an online storefront for a package comprising bundled products, wherein at least one product is developed by a third-party entity different from the online storefront host;

share a first portion of the payment with the online storefront host; and

share a second portion of the payment with the third-party.

11. The article of claim 10, wherein the package products are developed by a plurality of third-party entities, the article further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

rank the products in the package; and

share the second portion of the payment among the plurality of third-party entities according to the product rank.

12. The article of claim 11, wherein the instructions to rank comprise instructions that when executed cause the system to:

compute a weighted average of at least two of;

a number of views of the product;

an amount of time the product was used;

a number of times the product was launched;

a number of unique users of the product;

a quality measure of the product; and

a reputation of the product; and

sort the products according to the weighted average.

13. The article of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

sort the ranked products into at least two revenue sharing tiers, wherein the tier determines a percentage of the second portion of the payment that the third-party will receive.

14. The article of claim 13, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

share a larger percentage with a third-party having a higher ranked product in a first tier; and

share a smaller percentage with a third-party having a lower ranked product in a second tier.

15. The article of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

automatically generate a package based on top ranked products.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a logic device;

an online storefront executing in the logic device to share a first portion of a payment with the online storefront host, wherein the payment is for a package comprising bundled products, wherein at least one product is developed by a third-party entity different from the online storefront host, and to share a second portion of the payment with the third-party.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the package products are developed by a plurality of third-party entities, the online storefront further to:

rank the products in the package; and

share the second portion of the payment among the plurality of third-party entities according to the product rank.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, the online storefront further to:

sort the ranked products into at least two revenue sharing tiers;

share a larger percentage with a third-party having a higher ranked product in a first tier; and

share a smaller percentage with a third-party having a lower ranked product in a second tier.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, the online storefront further to:

rank according to ranking factors comprising at least one of;

product usage, product reputation, and product quality

20. The apparatus of claim 16, the online storefront further to:

bundle products for a partner of the online storefront host in a partner package; and

share a third portion of a payment for the partner package with the partner.