Value regulation based advertising

• US 8,458,024 B1
• Filed: 05/07/2012
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gao, Tia, Compain, Adam J. Spanky
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): STIBLEY, MICHAEL R
• Application Number:
  US13/465,949
• Time in Patent Office: 393 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.16
• US Class Current: 705/14.16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0211 Determining the effectiveness of discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0221 Re-usable coupons
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization

Abstract

An initiator computing device may acquire a digital coupon having a first value. The initiator computing device may share the digital coupon with a recipient computing device. An advertisement server may be notified that the initiator computing device has shared or has an intent to share the digital coupon with the recipient computing device. The advertisement server may calculate a second value associated with the digital coupon and assign the second value to the digital coupon responsive to the initiator computing device sharing the digital coupon with the recipient computing device. Further, the advertisement server may receive logging information associated with sharing the digital coupon. The logging information can facilitate monitoring the influence of the digital coupon.

Claims

1. A method for sharing a digital coupon, comprising:

receiving, at an advertisement server, a share signal indicating a transfer of a digital coupon having a first value from an initiator computing device to a recipient computing device over a near-field communication (NFC) link;

determining, at the advertisement server, a second value of the digital coupon based on a set of predetermined criteria responsive to receiving the share signal;

assigning, at the advertisement server, the second value to the digital coupon when the digital coupon is received by the recipient computing device;

receiving, at the advertisement server, a re-share signal indicating a transfer of the digital coupon having the second value from the recipient computing device to a second recipient computing device over a second NFC link;

determining, at the advertisement server, a third value of the digital coupon based on the set of predetermined criteria responsive to the transfer of the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device;

assigning, at the advertisement server, the third value to the digital coupon when the digital coupon is received by the second recipient computing device;

providing, by the advertisement server, a recipient consideration to the recipient computing device responsive to sharing the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device;

providing, by the advertisement server, an additional recipient consideration to the recipient computing device when the digital coupon is redeemed by the second recipient computing device; and

providing, by the advertisement server, a second initiator consideration to the initiator computing device responsive to sharing the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the second value to the digital coupon further comprises:

transmitting the second value of the digital coupon to a virtual wallet associated with the recipient computing device to update the value of the digital coupon stored in the virtual wallet to the second value responsive to receiving the share signal,

wherein the virtual wallet is represented by an online storage device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a first initiator consideration to the initiator computing device responsive to receiving the share signal.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an additional first initiator consideration to the initiator computing device when the digital coupon is redeemed by the recipient computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of predetermined criteria is at least one of:

a number of times the digital coupon is shared, and

a degree of separation between two of an initiator user, a recipient user and a second recipient user.

6. A computer implemented method, comprising:

acquiring, by an initiator computing device, a digital coupon having a first value from an advertisement media;

responsive to acquiring the digital coupon, presenting, by the initiator computing device, a subset of users with whom to share the digital coupon, wherein the subset of users is selected from a set of users based on the content of the digital coupon;

ranking, by the initiator computing device, the subset of users based on a probability of each user in the subset sharing the digital coupon with another user;

displaying a prompt, by the initiator computing device, to share the digital coupon with a recipient computing device selected from the subset of users;

sharing the digital coupon with a recipient computing device over a peer to peer wireless communication link;

transmitting a share signal to an advertisement server to determine a second value of the digital coupon by the advertisement server responsive to receiving the share signal,

wherein the share signal indicates the sharing of the digital coupon from an initiator computing device to the recipient computing device over a peer to peer wireless link;

receiving a first consideration responsive to sharing the digital coupon with the recipient computing device;

receiving a second consideration responsive to the recipient computing device sharing the digital coupon with a another recipient computing device; and

displaying, by the initiator computing device, a trail associated with the sharing of the digital coupon.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second value is assigned to the digital coupon when the recipient computing device receives the digital coupon shared by the initiator computing device.

8. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a recipient computing device, a digital coupon having a first value transmitted from an initiator computing device over a near-field communication (NFC) link;

transmitting, by the recipient computing device, a share signal to an advertisement server to determine a second value of the digital coupon by the advertisement server responsive to receiving the share signal,

wherein the share signal indicates a sharing of the digital coupon from an initiator computing device to the recipient computing device over the NFC link;

storing the digital coupon having the second value in a virtual wallet associated with the recipient computing device;

sharing the digital coupon having the second value with a second recipient computing device;

initiating a change in value of the digital coupon having the second value responsive to sharing the digital coupon with the second recipient computing device;

transmitting a re-share signal to the advertisement server to determine a third value of the digital coupon based on a set of predetermined criteria responsive to sharing the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device,

wherein the third value is assigned to the digital coupon when the digital coupon is received by the second recipient computing device; and

receiving, by the recipient computing device from the advertisement server, a recipient consideration responsive to sharing the digital coupon with the second recipient computing device.

9. A system, comprising:

an advertisement server configured to;

receive a share signal indicating a transfer of a digital coupon having a first value from an initiator computing device to a recipient computing device over a peer to peer wireless link;

determine a second value of the digital coupon based on a set of predetermined criteria responsive to receiving the share signal;

assign the second value to the digital coupon when the digital coupon is received by the recipient computing device;

transmit the second value of the digital coupon to a virtual wallet associated with the recipient computing device to update the value of the digital coupon stored in the virtual wallet;

receive a re-share signal indicating a transfer of the digital coupon having the second value from the recipient computing device to a second recipient computing device over a second peer to peer wireless link;

determine a third value of the digital coupon based on the set of predetermined criteria responsive to the transfer of the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device;

assign the third value to the digital coupon when the digital coupon is received by the second recipient computing device;

receive logging information for the digital coupon,

wherein the logging information is embedded in at least one of the share signal, a notify signal and the re-share signal;

determine an influence of the digital coupon based on the logging information; and

display the influence of the digital coupon via an output module of the advertisement server.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the advertisement server is configured to receive, from the initiator computing device, a notify signal indicating an intent to share the digital coupon with the recipient computing device.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the advertisement server is configured to provide a first initiator consideration to the initiator computing device responsive to receiving the share signal.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the advertisement server is configured to provide the first initiator consideration to the initiator computing device when the digital coupon is redeemed by the recipient computing device.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the advertisement server is configured to:

provide a recipient consideration to the recipient computing device responsive to sharing the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device;

provide an additional recipient consideration to the recipient computing device when the digital coupon is redeemed by the second recipient computing device; and

provide a second initiator consideration to the initiator computing device responsive to sharing the digital coupon from the recipient computing device to the second recipient computing device.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the set of predetermined criteria is at least one of:

a number of times the digital coupon is shared, and

a degree of separation between two of an initiator user, a recipient user and a second recipient user.