Auction notification system
First Claim
1. A method, comprising the steps of:
- storing a plurality of selection specifications in a server, each of the selection specifications providing at least one search parameter for performing a search for a type of commercial transaction, where at least one user is mapped to each of the selection specifications;
determining whether a new selection specification received in the server from a new user matches one of the selection specifications stored in the server;
associating the new user with one of the selection specifications when the new selection specification matches the one of the selection specifications;
for each selection specification, periodically performing a search in a commercial transaction data store based on the selection specification to identify an existence of at least one previously unidentified commercial transaction for the at least one user mapped to the selection specification; and
sending a notification to the at least one user that informs the at least one user of the existence of the at least one previously unidentified commercial transaction.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for generating notifications of auctions based on user notification requests. In one embodiment, the notification system receives from users selection specifications that specify the types of auctions for which the user is to be notified. The selection specifications may include a category of the auctions, keywords for identifying auctions, and values for attributes associated with the category. When the notification system receives a selection specification, it determines whether that selection specification is the same as or nearly the same as other selection specifications that have been received. The notification system periodically determines whether any new auctions satisfy a selection specification by submitting a query to an auction database and then notifies the users when new auctions are identified. The notification may include a list of auctions that is sorted based on access patterns of users who are presented with lists of auctions using selection specifications with similar category, attribute, or keyword values.
16 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method, comprising the steps of:
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storing a plurality of selection specifications in a server, each of the selection specifications providing at least one search parameter for performing a search for a type of commercial transaction, where at least one user is mapped to each of the selection specifications; determining whether a new selection specification received in the server from a new user matches one of the selection specifications stored in the server; associating the new user with one of the selection specifications when the new selection specification matches the one of the selection specifications; for each selection specification, periodically performing a search in a commercial transaction data store based on the selection specification to identify an existence of at least one previously unidentified commercial transaction for the at least one user mapped to the selection specification; and
sending a notification to the at least one user that informs the at least one user of the existence of the at least one previously unidentified commercial transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system, comprising:
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a processor-based system; logic executable in the processor-based system configured to; store a plurality of selection specifications, each of the selection specifications providing at least one search parameter for performing a search for a type of commercial transaction, where at least one user is mapped to each of the selection specifications; determine whether a the new selection specification received in the server from a new user matches one of the selection specifications stored in the server; associate the new user with one of the selection specifications when the new selection specification matches the one of the selection specifications for each selection specification, periodically perform a search in a commercial transaction data store based on the selection specification to identify an existence of at least one previously unidentified commercial transaction for the at least one user mapped to the selection specification; and send a notification to the at least one user that informs the at least one user of the existence of the at least one previously unidentified commercial transaction. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification