Methods and Apparatus for Freshness and Completeness of Information

• US 20080249887A1
• Filed: 05/21/2007
• Published: 10/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Platformation Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Cao, Yu
• Granted Patent: US 7,809,610 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0235 constrained by time limit or expiration date
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0607 Regulated
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 : Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 : Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 : Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A system that facilitates publishing and consuming information that is of time sensitivity, for example, price information. Methods are employed to achieve completeness and freshness in information for a given domain. A preferred embodiment is a shopping site that is capable of comparing prices, purchasing bundled products and dealing with coupons.

Claims

1. A method of publishing, comprising:

providing a publication site that includes first time-sensitive data from a first data provider and second time-sensitive data pushed from a second data provider; and

the site differentially updating the first and second data according to a fee schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data is replaced at least daily.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data is replaced at least hourly.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule associates first and second data with first and second update delays, respectively.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule associates first and second data with first and second update queues, respectively.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule provides for differential delays in crawling first and second websites of the first and second data providers, respectively.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule provides for differential delays in crawling a first and second portions of a website.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining additional data for publication on the publication site by action of a human digger not associated with either of the data providers.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the additional data comprises a correction to the first data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the publication site comprises a searchable price comparison website.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second data comprises a price of at least one of goods and services.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second data comprise prices of items within a bundled combination.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the publication site includes prices for at least 10,000 items.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data comprises a coupon.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the publication site falls within the group consisting of websites, bulletin boards, forums, and blogs.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of differentially updating is implemented as a function of a result of an auction.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the auction involves associating the first and second data with first and second update delays, respectively.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the auction involves associating differential delays in crawling first and second websites related to the first and second data, respectively.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the auction is operated in a partially blind manner.