GIFT INCENTIVE ENGINE

• US 20100280879A1
• Filed: 05/01/2009
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Davis, Marc E., O'Sullivan, Joseph, Higgins, Christopher W., Paretti, Christopher T.
• Application Number:
  US12/434,580
• Publication Number:
  US 20100280879A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A system and method to facilitate efficient gift giving is disclosed herein. Gift giver, gift recipient, advertisers/sponsors, and third party service providers participate in providing input at the gift evaluation, selection, purchase, delivery, and consumption stages to increase the likelihood of the gift recipient'"'"'s satisfaction and consumption of the gift. The interactive environment facilitates opaque gathering of information from the relevant parties relative to each other.

Claims

1. A method performed using a processor for facilitating gift giving, comprising:

providing an initial set of gift suggestions for a gift event for a gift recipient;

receiving feedback from each of the gift recipient and a gift giver for the gift event for the gift recipient;

refining the initial set of gift suggestions based on the received feedback;

providing a final set of gift suggestions and matching incentives to the gift giver; and

receiving a gift selection from the gift giver.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving registration of the gift event by at least one of the gift giver, the gift recipient, a third party, or an automated mechanism.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving indication of interest in the registered gift event by at least one of the gift giver, the gift recipient, a third party, or an automated mechanism.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving feedback comprises:

receiving feedback of the initial set of gift suggestions from the gift giver; and

receiving feedback of a refined initial set of gift suggestions from the gift recipient.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the gift giver of the gift feedback.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein notifying the gift giver includes notifying prior to purchase of the selected gift.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein notifying the gift giver includes notifying after purchase of the selected gift.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising receiving acceptance or rejection of the gift feedback from the gift recipient.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the initial set of gift suggestions includes receiving at least one gift suggestion from at least one of the gift giver, the gift recipient, a third party, a social contact of the gift giver, an advertiser, a sponsor, a market researcher, or a buying specialist.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift giver includes a third party acting as a proxy for an actual gift giver.

11. A system for providing incentives during selection of a gift, comprising:

a server operable to provide initial potential gifts to a gift giver, provide final incentives matching final potential gifts, and receive a gift feedback from among the final potential gifts from the gift giver, wherein the final incentives are successively refined based on successive feedback of the initial potential gifts by each of the gift giver and a gift recipient.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein feedback from the gift giver causes determination of first potential gifts related to the initial potential gifts and feedback from the gift recipient causes determination of second potential gifts related to the first potential gifts.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein feedback from the gift giver is at least one of selection from among the final potential gifts, ranking the final potential gifts, rating the final potential gifts, or specifying new potential gifts.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the server is operable to initiate a purchase of the gift feedback from a matching one of the final incentives.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the final incentives comprise at least one sponsor, merchant, advertisement, marketer, promotion, link, or content relating to the final potential gifts.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the server communicates with at least one of a sponsor or a third party network to receive the final incentives.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the initial potential gifts correspond to a particular gift event for the gift recipient.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the gift giver includes a third party acting as a proxy for an actual gift giver.

19. A computer-readable medium including computer-readable instructions for mediating selection of gifts, the computer-readable instructions for causing performance of a method comprising:

obtaining selection of a second set of gift suggestions from a first set of gift suggestions, wherein the first set of gift suggestions correspond to a gift event for a gift recipient;

refining the second set of gift suggestions based on data relating to the gift event, a gift giver, or a gift recipient;

obtaining selection of a third set of gift suggestions from the refined second set of gift suggestions;

refining the third set of gift suggestions; and

obtaining from the gift giver, selection of a gift from the refined third set of gift suggestions.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the second set of gift suggestions is selected by the gift giver and the third set of gift suggestions is selected by the gift recipient.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein third parties provide the first set of gift suggestions.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein refining the third set of gift suggestions is based on spatial, temporal, social or topical data related to the third set of gift suggestions, a gift event register, the gift giver, or the gift recipient.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, the computer-readable instructions further for communicating the selection of the gift to the gift recipient.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, the computer-readable instructions further for requesting an acceptance of the gift from the gift recipient prior to purchase of the gift.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, the computer-readable instructions further for purchasing the gift.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, the computer-readable instructions further for notifying the gift recipient of the purchased gift.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, the computer-readable instructions further for arranging delivery of the gift to the gift recipient.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, the computer-readable instructions further for obtaining matching sponsors or sponsor content for each of the refined third set of gift suggestions.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the gift giver includes a third party acting as a proxy for an actual gift giver.