Method and system for directly targeting and blasting messages to automatically identified entities on social media

• US 9,407,587 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2014
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dun & Bradstreet Corp., DUN & Bradstreet Incorporated (Dun & Bradstreet Corp.), Hoover's Incorporated (Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dun & Bradstreet Corp.
• Inventors: Stibel, Jeffrey M., Stibel, Aaron B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Daftuar, Saket K
• Application Number:
  US14/278,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20140250199A1
• Time in Patent Office: 810 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42382 Text-based messaging services in telephone networks such as PSTN/ISDN, e.g. User-to-User Signalling or Short Message Service for fixed networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4786 e-mailing message switching systems, e.g. electronic mail systems H04L51/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/9994 Distributed or remote access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99941 Database schema or data structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a communication tool that directly sends messages to accounts of different entities across different social media sites by automatically identifying and associating the accounts of the entities when the entities are referenced in the contents of the messages. Such identification and association is performed without the message originator manually specifying the accounts as intended recipients for the messages. The communication tool also automatically sends messages to different social media accounts of the message originator. The communication tool also blasts messages to an information aggregator that aggregates messages to develop a database from which the messages that target a particular entity can be presented irrespective of whether the particular entity has registered an account with any social media site, irrespective of which social media site the messages are originally destined for, and irrespective of whether a recipient is explicitly specified for the messages by the message originator.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a communication tool running on a user device with network connectivity, the communication tool for publishing messages to a plurality of different accounts registered with any of a plurality of different online social media sites, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a message composed by a user in a message interface of the communication tool, the message interface displaying said message as said message is composed with an input interface of the communication tool;

identifying by operation of a processor of the user device executing the communication tool, a particular entity that is referenced in body text of the message by detecting an alphanumeric identifier of the particular entity in the body text as the alphanumeric identifier is inserted in the message interface, and wherein the particular entity is not specified as an intended recipient of the message;

obtaining using the alphanumeric identifier, an account identifier identifying an account that is registered to the particular entity at a particular social media site of the plurality of different online social media sites;

embedding a hyperlink in said message based on the account identifier, the hyperlink automatically addressing an Internet Protocol (IP) packet containing the message to the account at the particular social media site without the user manually specifying the account as an intended recipient; and

publishing said message to the account at the particular social media site by passing the IP packet containing said message according to the addressing of the hyperlink.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the alphanumeric identifier comprises any of the particular entity name, address, telephone number, email address, and web address.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein detecting the alphanumeric identifier comprises parsing the message into a plurality of message fragments, querying each message fragment of the plurality of message fragments against a database storing identifying information about a plurality of known entities, and identifying at least one message fragment that matches identifying information about at least one entity of the plurality of known entities.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the account identifier comprises matching the alphanumeric identifier to information that was used in registering the account at the particular social media site.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the account identifier is a first account identifier and the particular social media site is a first social media site, the computer-implemented method further comprising obtaining using the alphanumeric identifier, a second account identifier identifying a second different account that is registered to the particular entity at a second social media site, embedding a different second hyperlink in said message based on the second account identifier, and wherein publishing said message further comprises passing the message to the account at the second social media site according to the second hyperlink contemporaneously with passing of the message to the account at the first social media site.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising presenting the account identifier to the user for confirmation prior to said publishing.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising presenting the particular social media site to the user prior to publishing the message.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising obtaining using the alphanumeric identifier, at least one of an advertisement and promotional content that is relevant to the particular entity regardless of the user composing the message and any intended recipient receiving the message and passing the advertisement or promotional content to the user.

9. A electronic communication device comprising:

a memory storing computer-executable instructions;

an input interface providing entry of alphanumeric characters;

a message interface displaying a message composed by a user using the input interface and mirroring alphanumeric characters of the message to a processor of the electronic communication device as the alphanumeric characters are entered;

said processor in communication with the memory and the message interface, the computer-executable instructions programming the processor in;

obtaining a plurality of account identifiers, each account identifier identifying a different account that is registered to the user at a different social media site; and

generating at least first and second Internet Protocol (IP) packets (i) with the first IP packet encapsulating said message in a first social media messaging protocol used in publishing posts to a first social media site having a first registered account of the user and (ii) with the second IP packet encapsulating said message in a different second social media messaging protocol used in publishing posts to a different second social media site with a second registered account of the user; and

publishing the message to each of the first and second registered accounts of the user by specifying the first account identifier as a destination of the first IP packet at the first social media site and by specifying the second account identifier as a destination of the second IP packet at the second social media site without the user manually specifying the first and second account identifiers as intended recipients and without the user separately logging into each of the first and second social media sites.

10. The electronic communication device of claim 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions further program the processor in configuring the memory with the plurality of account identifiers.

11. The electronic communication device of claim 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions further program the processor with user login information for each account of the plurality of accounts.

12. The electronic communication device of claim 11, wherein publishing the message comprises using the user login information to access the first and second registered accounts at each of the first and second social media sites.

13. The electronic communication device of claim 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions further program the processor in identifying a particular entity that is referenced in body text of the message by detecting an alphanumeric identifier of the particular entity in the body text, and wherein the particular entity is not specified as an intended recipient of the message.

14. The electronic communication device of claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions further program the processor in obtaining using the alphanumeric identifier, an account identifier identifying an entity account that is registered to the particular entity at a social media site and passing the message to the entity account using the account identifier without the user manually specifying the account as an intended recipient.

15. A computer-implemented method for uniquely identifying an entity from a plurality of different entities having similar identification, the computer-implemented method comprising:

with at least one machine having a processor;

receiving a message from a communication device, wherein the communication device is usable for transmitting the message to at least one recipient;

extracting from the message, an alphanumeric identifier that identifies in some respect each entity of the plurality of different entities having similar identification;

obtaining geolocation information identifying a location of the communication device;

determining a particular entity from the plurality of different entities with a location in closest proximity to the location of the communication device;

generating an Internet Protocol (IP) packet encapsulating said message according to a particular messaging protocol of a particular social media site having a registered account of the particular entity;

embedding a hyperlink in said IP packet, the hyperlink automatically addressing the IP packet to the registered account of the particular entity at the particular social media site; and

publishing the message to the registered account of the particular entity without a user composing said message specifying the registered account as an intended recipient.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising obtaining an account identifier identifying an account that is registered to the particular entity at a social media site.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising identifying at least one of an advertisement and promotional content that is relevant to the particular entity and passing the advertisement or promotional content to a composer of the message.