Methods and systems for providing a gift registry

• US 7,603,292 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Galloway, Thomas Y., Bragg, Richard William, Fox, Kevin David, Brazil, Michael John Souza, Buyukkokten, Orkut
• Primary Examiner(s): Pond; Robert M.
• Application Number:
  US10/882,699
• Time in Patent Office: 1,931 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 705/26.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a gift registry are described. In one described method, gift interest data is identified. A gift registry comprising a gift indicator associated with the gift interest data is generated. An audience criterion is identified, and an inquiry signal is received. The inquiry signal is evaluated for satisfaction of the audience criterion, and the gift registry is output if the inquiry signal satisfies the audience criterion.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a gift registry, the method executed by a computer and comprising:

generating a profile for a gift recipient in response to receiving information about the gift recipient;

storing the gift recipient'"'"'s profile in a profile database;

implicitly generating gift interest data based at least in part on the gift recipient'"'"'s stored profile;

generating a gift registry for the gift recipient comprising a gift indicator associated with the implicitly generated gift interest data;

identifying an audience criterion that indicates a relationship requirement between the gift recipient and a member that must be met in order for the member to access the gift registry, wherein the relationship requirement specifies conditions for a relationship requirement path in a data structure that represents members of a social network, the data structure comprising vertices representing profiles of the members of the social network and edges representing relationships between pairs of profiles, the relationship requirement path extending between a vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile and comprising one or more edges;

receiving an inquiry indication from a gift giver to view the gift registry, wherein the gift giver has a profile;

identifying in the data structure a first vertex associated with the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a second vertex associated with the gift giver'"'"'s profile in response to receiving the inquiry indication;

identifying a path between the first vertex and the second vertex;

determining the identified path satisfies the relationship requirement; and

displaying the gift registry to the gift giver responsive to satisfaction of the relationship requirement.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an advertisement based, at least in part, on the gift interest data.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying the advertisement with the gift registry.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a reminder indication.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reminder indication comprises a pointer to the gift registry.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the reminder indication comprises a pointer to the gift indicator.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a purchase indication; and

altering the gift registry to reflect the purchase indication.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising searching an information network for a gift associated with the gift indicator.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising searching an information network for a vendor of a gift associated with the gift indicator.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising searching an information network for a price associated with a gift associated with the gift indicator.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the price comprises a lowest price associated with the gift.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a request indication, the request indication requesting permission to add a proposed gift indicator to the gift registry.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising purchasing a gift associated with the gift indicator using an electronic currency.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising purchasing a gift associated with the gift indicator using a proprietary currency.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift interest data comprises a gift category comprising a gift associated with the gift indicator.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift interest data comprises an attribute of a gift associated with the gift indicator.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift interest data comprises a specific product.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift recipient'"'"'s profile comprises information about the gift recipient selected from the group consisting of information about the gift recipient'"'"'s sex, age, and hobbies.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship requirement path comprises a degree of separation between the vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and the vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the degree of separation comprises a type-specific degree of separation.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship requirement path comprises an association between the vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and the vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift recipient is a member of the social network and the gift recipient'"'"'s profile comprises information about the gift recipient that the gift recipient has made available to other specified members of the social network.

23. A computer-implemented method for providing a gift registry, the method executed by a computer and comprising:

generating a profile for a gift recipient in response to receiving information about the gift recipient;

storing the gift recipient'"'"'s profile in a profile database;

implicitly generating gift interest data based at least in part upon the gift recipient'"'"'s stored profile;

searching an information network for a gift associated with the implicitly-generated gift interest data;

generating a gift registry for the gift recipient comprising a gift indicator associated with the gift;

identifying an audience criterion that indicates a relationship requirement between the gift recipient and a member that must be met in order for the member to access the gift registry, wherein the relationship requirement specifies conditions for a relationship requirement path in a data structure that represents members of a social network, the data structure comprising vertices representing profiles of the members of the social network and edges representing relationships between pairs of profiles, the relationship requirement path extending between a vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile and comprising one or more edges;

providing to a gift giver a reminder indication comprising a pointer to the gift registry;

receiving an inquiry indication from the gift giver to view the gift registry, wherein the gift giver has a profile;

identifying in the data structure a first vertex associated with the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a second vertex associated with the gift giver'"'"'s profile in response to receiving the inquiry indication;

identifying a path between the first vertex and the second vertex;

determining the identified path satisfies the relationship requirement;

displaying the gift registry to the gift giver responsive to satisfaction of the relationship requirement;

receiving a purchase indication of a gift from the gift registry; and

altering the gift registry to reflect the purchase indication.

24. A computer-readable medium on which is encoded program code executable on a computer processor, the program code comprising:

program code for generating a profile for a gift recipient in response to receiving information about the gift recipient;

program code for implicitly generating gift interest data based at least in part on the gift recipient'"'"'s profile;

program code for generating a gift registry for the gift recipient comprising a gift indicator associated with the implicitly generated gift interest data;

program code for identifying an audience criterion that indicates a relationship requirement between the gift recipient and a member that must be met in order for the member to access the gift registry, wherein the relationship requirement specifies conditions for a relationship requirement path in a data structure that represents members of a social network, the data structure comprising vertices representing profiles of the members of the social network and edges representing relationships between pairs of profiles, the relationship requirement path extending between a vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile and comprising one or more edges;

program code for receiving an inquiry indication from a gift giver to view the gift registry, wherein the gift giver has a profile;

program code for identifying in the data structure a first vertex associated with the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a second vertex associated with the gift giver'"'"'s profile in response to receiving the inquiry indication;

program code for identifying a path between the first vertex and the second vertex;

program code for determining the identified path satisfies the relationship requirement; and

program code for displaying the gift registry to the gift giver responsive to satisfaction of the relationship requirement.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for generating an advertisement based, at least in part, on the gift interest data.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising program code for displaying the advertisement with the gift registry.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for providing a reminder indication.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the reminder indication comprises a pointer to the gift registry.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the reminder indication comprises a pointer to the gift indicator.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising:

program code for receiving a purchase indication; and

program code for altering the gift registry to reflect the purchase indication.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for searching an information network for a gift associated with the gift indicator.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for searching an information network for a vendor of a gift associated with the gift indicator.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for searching an information network for a price associated with a gift associated with the gift indicator.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the price comprises a lowest price associated with the gift.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for generating a request indication, the request indication requesting permission to add a proposed gift indicator to the gift registry.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for purchasing a gift associated with the gift indicator using an electronic currency.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising program code for purchasing a gift associated with the gift indicator using a proprietary currency.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the gift interest data comprises a gift category comprising a gift associated with the gift indicator.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the gift interest data comprises an attribute of a gift associated with the gift indicator.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the gift interest data comprises a specific product.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the gift recipient'"'"'s profile comprises information about the gift recipient selected from the group consisting of information about the gift recipient'"'"'s sex, age, and hobbies.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the relationship requirement path comprises a degree of separation between the vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and the vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 42, wherein the degree of separation comprises a type-specific degree of separation.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the relationship requirement path comprises an association between the vertex that represent the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and the vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile.

45. A computer-readable medium on which is encoded program code executable on a computer processor, the program code comprising:

program code for generating a profile for a gift recipient in response to receiving information about the gift recipient;

program code for implicitly generating gift interest data based at least in part upon the gift recipient'"'"'s profile;

program code for searching an information network for a gift associated with the implicitly generated gift interest data;

program code for generating a gift registry for the gift recipient comprising a gift indicator associated with the gift;

program code for identifying an audience criterion that indicates a relationship requirement between the gift recipient and a member that must be met in order for the member to access the gift registry, wherein the relationship requirement specifies conditions for a relationship requirement path in a data structure that represents members of a social network, the data structure comprising vertices representing profiles of the members of the social network and edges representing relationships between pairs of profiles, the relationship requirement path extending between a vertex that represents the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a vertex that represents the member'"'"'s profile and comprising one or more edges;

program code for providing to a gift giver a reminder indication comprising a pointer to the gift registry;

program code for receiving an inquiry indication from the gift giver to view the gift registry, wherein the gift giver has a profile;

program code for identifying in the data structure a first vertex associated with the gift recipient'"'"'s profile and a second vertex associated with the gift giver'"'"'s profile in response to receiving the inquiry indication;

program code for identifying a path between the first vertex and the second vertex;

program code for determining the identified path satisfies the relationship requirement;

program code for displaying the gift registry to the gift giver responsive to satisfaction of the relationship requirement;

program code for receiving a purchase indication of a gift from the gift registry; and

program code for altering the gift registry to reflect the purchase indication.

46. A computer-implemented method for providing a gift registry, the method executed by a computer and comprising:

generating a profile for a gift recipient in response to receiving information about the gift recipient;

storing the gift recipient'"'"'s profile in a profile database;

implicitly generating gift interest data based at least in part on the gift recipient'"'"'s stored profile;

generating a gift registry for the gift recipient comprising a gift indicator associated with the implicitly generated gift interest data;

identifying a requirement that must be met in order for a member to access the gift registry, wherein the requirement specifies conditions for a relationship requirement path in a data structure that represents members of a social network, the data structure comprising vertices representing members of the social network and edges representing relationships between pairs of members, the relationship requirement path extending between a vertex that represents the gift recipient and a vertex that represents the member and comprising one or more edges;

receiving a request from a gift giver to access the gift registry;

identifying in the data structure a first vertex associated with the gift recipient and a second vertex associated with the gift giver in response to receiving the request;

identifying a path between the first vertex and the second vertex;

determining the identified path satisfies the relationship requirement; and

displaying the gift registry to the gift giver responsive to determining that the identified path satisfies the relationship requirement.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the relationship requirement path comprises a degree of separation between the vertex that represents the gift recipient and the vertex that represents the member.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the degree of separation comprises a type-specific degree of separation.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the relationship requirement path comprises an association between the vertex that represents the gift recipient and the vertex that represents the member.