Systems and methods to provide communication references based on recommendations to connect people for real time communications

• US 8,837,466 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2012
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thryv, Inc. (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: Yp Interactive LLC
• Inventors: Altberg, Ebbe, Faber, Scott, Hirson, Ron, Van der Linden, Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): Jagannathan, Melanie
• Application Number:
  US13/666,771
• Publication Number:
  US 20130124275A1
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/356
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to selectively present communication references based on recommendations from related entities to connect people for real time communications. One embodiment includes: receiving from a user a selection of a first listing, including a reference to be used to request a connection for real time communications between the user and a first entity; responsive to the selection of the first listing, determining one or more entities related to the first listing; selecting a second listing based at least in part on data representing one or more recommendations from the one or more entities; and presenting to the user the second listing, the including a reference for the user to request a connection with a second entity for real time communications. In one embodiment, the first and second entities provide services over connections established via the references included in the first and second listings for real time communications.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a selection of a first listing from a user, the first listing including a reference to be used to request a connection for real time communications between the user and a first entity;

responsive to the selection of the first listing, determining one or more entities related to the first listing, the one or more entities including a prior customer of the first entity;

selecting a second listing based at least in part on data representing one or more recommendations from the one or more entities, wherein the second listing is selected based on the prior customer recommending both the first entity and the second entity, and wherein the prior customer recommending the first entity and the second entity includes the prior customer providing ratings for the first entity and the second entity above a threshold after receiving paid services from the first entity and the second entity; and

presenting the second listing to the user, the second listing including a reference for the user to request a connection with a second entity for real time communications.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference included in the first listing comprises a telephone number of a connection server without an extension, a telephone number of a connection server with an extension, a session initiation protocol (SIP) uniform resource identifier (URI), a user identifier of an instant messaging network, or a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) user identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to a selection of the first listing, a connection server establishing a first Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call with the user using the reference included in the first listing;

determining a telephonic reference of the first entity based on the reference used to established the first VoIP call;

the connection server establishing a second Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call to the first entity using the telephonic reference of the first entity; and

establishing a media channel that does not go through the connection server to bridge the first and second VoIP calls and to connect the user and the first entity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second listing is presented via an interactive voice response system (IVR) of the connection server after a conversation between the user and the first entity.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the second listing is selected further based on a determination that a time gap between the prior customer receiving services from the first entity and the second entity is less than a threshold.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second listing is selected based on a count of prior customers recommending both the first entity and the second entity.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the second listing is selected based on the prior customer recommending both a first service of the first entity presented in the first listing and a second service of the second entity presented in the second listing.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

charging the user a service fee on behalf of the first entity for a service of the first entity delivered via a connection established via the reference included in the first listing.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the connection established via the reference included in the first listing is a peer to peer connection between a terminal used by the user and a terminal used by the first entity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the presenting the second listing to the user comprises presenting the second listing to the user on the terminal used by the user to make the peer to peer connection.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second listing is displayed on the terminal used by the user during the conversation between the user and the first entity.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more entities include the first entity;

and the second listing is selected based on the first entity recommending the second entity for a second service related to a first service of the first entity featured in the first listing.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first entity provides the first service over a connection established via the reference provided in the first listing for real time communications;

and the second entity provides the second service over a connection established via the reference provided in the second listing for real time communications.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more entities include the first entity;

and the second listing is selected based on the first entity recommending the second entity for a product related to a product of the first entity featured in the first listing.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

charging the first entity an advertisement fee per connection established via the reference included in the first listing.

16. A tangible, non-transitory machine readable media embodying instructions, the instructions causing a machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a first listing from a user, the first listing including a reference to be used to request a connection for real time communications between the user and a first entity;

responsive to the selection of the first listing, determining one or more entities related to the first listing, the one or more entities including a prior customer of the first entity;

selecting a second listing according to one or more recommendations of the one or more entities, wherein the second listing is selected based on the prior customer recommending both the first entity and the second entity, and wherein the prior customer recommending the first entity and the second entity includes the prior customer providing ratings for the first entity and the second entity above a threshold after receiving paid services from the first entity and the second entity; and

presenting the second listing to the user, the second listing including a reference for the user to request a connection with a second entity for real time communications.

17. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a selection of a first listing from a user, the first listing including a reference to be used to request a connection for real time communications between the user and a first entity;

means for determining one or more entities related to the first listing responsive to the selection of the first listing, the one or more entities including a prior customer of the first entity;

means for selecting a second listing according to one or more recommendations of the one or more entities, wherein the second listing is selected based on the prior customer recommending both the first entity and the second entity, and wherein the prior customer recommending the first entity and the second entity includes the prior customer providing ratings for the first entity and the second entity above a threshold after receiving paid services from the first entity and the second entity; and

means for presenting the second listing to the user, the second listing including a reference for the user to request a connection with a second entity for real time communications.