Method, Apparatus and System for Gathering E-Commerce Website Information

• US 20120271875A1
• Filed: 10/26/2010
• Published: 10/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
• Inventors: Cai, Jingzhu
• Application Number:
  US13/059,489
• Publication Number:
  US 20120271875A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a method, apparatus and system for gathering e-commerce website information that optimizes website data gathering. A disclosed method comprises: receiving, by a server from a client, a product information request message containing a product ID and a URL; communicatively coupling to a webpage corresponding to the URL; scanning the webpage for the product ID; gathering information related to the product ID; and transmitting the gathered information to the client. In this manner, webpage data collection is significantly simplified and data gathering optimized. The present disclosure also discloses a website server and an e-commerce system.

Claims

1. A method of gathering website information, comprising:

receiving, by a server from a client, a product information request message containing a product identification (ID) and a uniform resource locator (URL);

communicatively coupling to a webpage corresponding to the URL;

scanning the webpage for the product ID;

gathering information related to the product ID; and

transmitting the gathered information to the client.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein prior to receiving the product information request message, the server conducts a verification of the client'"'"'s identity.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein scanning the webpage for the product ID comprises scanning content of the webpage and a designated region of the webpage corresponding to the product.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein gathering information related to the product ID comprises:

arranging the gathered information according to a respective upload time of each piece of information; and

filtering out information having a respective upload time that is after a predetermined time.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein gathering information related to the product ID comprises comparing the gathered information and information previously provided to the client to filter out redundant information from the gathered information.

6. A website server, comprising:

a reception unit that receives from a client a product information request message containing a product identification (ID) and a uniform resource locator (URL);

a scanning unit that communicatively couples to a webpage corresponding to the URL and scans the webpage for the product ID;

a gathering unit that gathers information related to the product ID; and

a transmission unit that transmits the gathered information to the client.

7. The website server as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

a verification unit that conducts a verification of the client'"'"'s identity.

8. The website server as recited in claim 6, wherein the scanning unit, when scanning the webpage based on the product ID, scans a designated area of the webpage related to the product ID.

9. The website server as recited in claim 7, wherein, after gathering the information related to the product ID, the gathering unit arranges pieces of the gathered information according to a respective upload time of each piece of gathered information and filters out those pieces of information having a respective upload time that is after a predetermined time to provide filtered information to the client.

10. The web server as recited in claim 7, wherein, after gathering the information related to the product ID, the gathering unit compares the gathered information with information provided to the client previously to filter out redundant information from the gathered information and provides the filtered information to the client.

11. A method of distributing website information, comprising:

sending a product information request message that contains a product identification (ID) and a uniform resource locator (URL) to a first website server which, based on the product information request message, communicatively couples to a webpage corresponding to the URL to gather information related to the product ID from the webpage;

receiving the gathered information from the first web server; and

sending the gathered information to a second website server to distribute the gathered information.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein sending the gathered information to the second website server to distribute the gathered information comprises:

determining one or more webpages related to the product ID on the second website server; and

distributing the gathered information on the one or more webpages related to the product ID.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the product ID comprises one or more product identifications.

14. A network device, comprising:

a transmission unit that sends a product information request message containing a product identification (ID) and a uniform resource locator (URL) to a first website server to direct the first website server to communicatively couple to a webpage corresponding to the URL to gather information related to the product ID;

a reception unit that receives the gathered information from the first website server; and

a distribution unit that sends the gathered information to a second website server which distributes the gathered information.

15. The network device as recited in claim 14, wherein the distribution unit determines one or more webpages related to the product ID on the second website server and causes the gathered information to be distributed on the one or more webpages related to the product ID.