Method and apparatus to allocate and recycle telephone numbers in a call-tracking system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- in response to receiving an advertisement request from a first of multiple demand partners, allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement;
receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement;
charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and
responsive to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time, unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, the invention provides a method. The method includes dynamically allocating a telephone number to an advertisement on a just-in-time basis; and if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time then unallocating the telephone number.
339 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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in response to receiving an advertisement request from a first of multiple demand partners, allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement; receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement; charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and responsive to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time, unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A system, comprising:
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a means for allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via a first of multiple demand partners, in response to receiving an advertisement request from the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement; a means for receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement; a means for charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and a means for unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement, in response to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A computer-readable medium, having stored thereon a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:
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in response to receiving an advertisement request from a first of multiple demand partners, allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement; receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement; charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and responsive to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time, unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification