INTERACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA TICKER

• US 20140089099A1
• Filed: 09/25/2012
• Published: 03/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2012
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Overstock.com Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Overstock.com Incorporated
• Inventors: Money, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US13/626,682
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089099A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.66
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Systems, programs, non-transitory computer readable media, and methods of providing gift recommendations to a user of a social media website hosted by a social media server are described. For example, the user may grant an administrator server authorization to interface with the social media server such that the administrator server can identify important life events of the user'"'"'s social media contacts, such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and other events. If a social media contact of the user is determined to have an upcoming life event, then the administrator server generates a post containing (i) an advertisement that invites the user to review gift recommendations, and (ii) a link to a product page of an e-commerce website. Once generated, the post with the advertisement is streamed to a user device where it is displayed to the user in a ticker format along with other social media content.

Claims

1. A method of aggregating social media content posted on social media websites, the method comprising:

receiving at a user device social media content from an administrator server, the social media content comprising social media content posted on a first social media server;

forming a first ticker bar on a display of the user device using a processor of the user device; and

scrolling the social media content posted on the first social media server in the first ticker bar across the display of the user device using the processor of the user device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the social media content received at the user device from the administrator server further comprises social media content posted on a second social media server, and the method further comprises:

forming a second ticker bar on the display of the user device using a processor of the user device; and

scrolling the social media content posted on the second social media server in the second ticker bar across the display of the user device using the processor of the user device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the social media content received at the user device from the administrator server further comprises social media content posted on a third social media server, and the method further comprises:

forming a third ticker bar on the display of the user device using a processor of the user device; and

scrolling the social media content from the third social media server in the third ticker bar across the display of the user device using the processor of the user device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an interactive advertisement using the administrator server that solicits a user to purchase a product;

sending the advertisement from the administrator server to the user device; and

scrolling the interactive advertisement with the social media content in the first ticker bar across the display of the user device using the processor of the user device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

opening a link to a product page in a web browser in response to user interaction with the interactive advertisement as it scrolls across the display of the user device in the first ticker bar; and

consummating an e-commerce transaction for the product.

6. A method of providing advertisements to a user of a social media website hosted by a social media server, the method comprising:

establishing an interface over a network between an administrator server and a social media server based on user profile information provided by the user;

accessing user profile information of social media contacts of the user on the social media website using the administrator server;

determining an upcoming life event of one of the social media contacts of the user based on the user profile information of that social media contact using the administrator server;

generating an advertisement using the administrator server that solicits the user to purchase a gift for the one of the social media contacts in response to the upcoming life event; and

sending the advertisement from the administrator server to a user device associated with the user such that the advertisement is displayed to the user on a display of the user device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising scrolling the advertisement across the display of the user device on a ticker bar.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending social media content posted on the social media website from the administrator server to the user device such that the social media content is scrolled across the display of the user device on the ticker bar.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the social media content comprises posts made by the social media contacts of the user on the social media website.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying product recommendations to the user on the user device in response to user interaction with the advertisement, the product recommendations comprising a list of recommended products for the one of the social media contacts, wherein the list of recommended products is determined based on the user profile of the one of the social media contacts on the social media website.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a link to a product recommendation page in association with the advertisement, the product recommendation page containing the product recommendations.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the product recommendation page is generated by an e-commerce server hosting an e-commerce website.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising generating the list of recommended products at the administrator server.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the life event is of a birthday, an anniversary, or a wedding.

15. A system for providing advertisements to a user of a social media website hosted by a social media server, the system comprising:

an administrator server having a processor and a memory coupled to the processor;

the memory having stored therein a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the operations of;

establishing an interface over a network between the administrator server and the social media server based on user account information provided by the user,

accessing user profile information of social media contacts of the user on the social media website,

determining an upcoming life event of one of the social media contacts of the user based on the user profile information of that social media contact,

generating an advertisement that solicits the user to purchase a gift for the one of the social media contacts in response to the upcoming life event, and

sending the advertisement to a user device associated with the user such that the advertisement is displayed to the user on a display of the user device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the advertisement is scrolled across the display of the user device on a ticker bar.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of computer readable instructions is further operable to cause the processor to perform the operations of:

sending social media content posted on the social media website from the administrator server to the user device such that the social media content is scrolled across the display of the user device on a ticker bar.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the social media content comprises posts made by the social media contacts of the user on the social media website.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of computer readable instructions is further operable to cause the processor to perform the operations of:

generating a list of recommended products for the one of the social media contacts based on the user profile of the one of the social media contacts on the social media website; and

sending the list of recommended products to the user device such that the list of recommended products is displayed to the user.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of computer readable instructions is further operable to cause the processor to perform the operations of:

providing a link to a product recommendation page in association with the advertisement to the user device.

21. A computer program stored on a non-transitory computer medium, the computer program including instructions that, when executed, cause a processor of an administrator server to perform the operations of:

establishing an interface over a network between the administrator server and a social media server based on user account information provided by a user;

accessing user profile information of social media contacts of the user on the social media server;

determining an upcoming life event of one of the social media contacts of the user based on the user profile information of that social media contact;

generating an advertisement that solicits the user to purchase a gift for the one of the social media contacts in response to the upcoming life event;

sending the advertisement to a user device associated with the user such that the advertisement is displayed to the user on a display of the user device; and

sending social media content posted on the social media website from the administrator server to the user device such that the social media content is scrolled across the display of the user device on a ticker bar.

22. A method of providing advertisements to a user of a user device, the user having a user account with a social media website hosted by a social media server, the method comprising:

establishing a connection between the user device and an administrator server over a network;

authorizing the administrator server to access the social media website using user account information provided by the user;

receiving an advertisement from the administrator server over the network at the user device, the advertisement containing a solicitation to purchase a gift for a social media contact of the user on the social media website based on an upcoming life event of the social media contact;

displaying the advertisement on a display of the user device; and

providing a list of product recommendations for the gift on the display of the user device in response to the user interacting with the advertisement.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising scrolling the advertisement across the display of the user device in a ticker bar.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the advertisement comprises a link to a product recommendation page of an e-commerce website hosted by an e-commerce server.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising opening a web browser on the user device to display the list of product recommendations on the product recommendation page.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising receiving social media content from the administrator server over the network, the social media content posted by the social media contacts of the user on the social media website hosted by the social media server.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising scrolling the advertisement and the social media content across the display of the user device in a ticker bar.

28. The method claim 27, further comprising repositioning the ticker bar on the display in response to user input.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising pausing the display on the ticker bar in response to user input.

30. A user device for providing advertisements to a user, the user having a user account with a social media website hosted by a social media server, the user device comprising:

a display;

a processor and a memory coupled to the processor;

the memory having stored therein a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the operations of;

establishing a connection with administrator server over a network,

authorizing the administrator server to access the social media website using user account information of the user,

receiving an advertisement from the administrator server over the network, the advertisement containing a solicitation to purchase a gift for a social media contact of the user on the social media website based on an upcoming life event of the social media contact,

displaying the advertisement on the display, and

providing a list of product recommendations for the gift on the display in response to the user interacting with the advertisement.

31. The user device of claim 30, wherein the set of computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to perform the operation of scrolling the advertisement across the display in a ticker bar.

32. The user device of claim 30, wherein the advertisement comprises a link to a product recommendation page of an e-commerce website hosted by an e-commerce server.

33. The user device of claim 32, wherein the set of computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to perform the operations of opening a web browser and displaying the list of product recommendations on the product recommendation page in the web browser.

34. The user device of claim 30, wherein the set of computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to perform the operations of receiving social media content from the administrator server over the network, the social media content posted by the social media contacts of the user on the social media website hosted by the social media server.

35. The user device of claim 34, wherein the set of computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to perform the operations of scrolling the advertisement and the social media content across the display in an interactive ticker bar.