Enhanced network based promotional tracking system

• US 7,778,877 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2002
• Issued: 08/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten USA, Inc. (Rakuten Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Linkshare Corporation (Rakuten Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Meng, Jianhao, Ho, Cheryl, Messer, Stephen D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US10/192,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20040111381A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,961 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/21, 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 705/21
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0855 involving a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

A novel communications network tracks and manages Merchant and Affiliate promotional efforts in a seamless, integrated fashion. Operative characteristics include central control over new, Rich Media promotional links, allowing sophisticated promotions employing Java-based presentations or similar to be easily applied across a broad network of connected Affiliate sites. The system accomplishes this, in part, by providing a selective API for use in wrapping the promotional links. In accordance with this protocol, these links may be hosted by the Clearinghouse or Merchant, and sourced from a variety of third-party vendors.

Claims

1. A Clearinghouse system in communication with a computer network that includes a plurality of Merchant sites and a plurality of content provider web pages, each Merchant site providing computer-based access to at least one of goods and services, the system comprising:

a first software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the first software module when executed causes a computer to configure promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said first software module causes said computer to configure said promotions so that;

said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from said Clearinghouse system, and said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse system, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing promotional presentations based on said common coding protocol, wherein each of said promotional presentations is associated with a promotion in a content provider web page;

a second software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the second software module when executed causes said computer to handle Web browser requests for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, wherein said second software module causes said computer to retrieve from said computer-readable medium said promotional presentation associated with said promotion, and communicates said promotional presentation to said Web browser; and

wherein said system includes a clearinghouse server that tracks commerce associated with said promotions.

2. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1, further comprising a partitioned Web Site program that provides separate areas for Merchant and Affiliate access to promotional presentations for selective uploading and downloading.

3. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1, wherein the promotional presentations are selected from the group consisting of:

e-mail, search box, text, banner, and storefront.

4. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1, wherein said common coding protocol is Java script.

5. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1, wherein one or more Affiliates access the Clearinghouse sever for selective review of one or more Merchant offerings.

6. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1, further comprising a module that tracks User interactions with the promotional presentations.

7. A computer implemented method for managing promotional presentations in an Internet-based computer network, the method comprising:

a) configuring, by a computer, promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said promotions are configured so that;

said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from a Clearinghouse server, and

said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse server, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;

b) providing, by said computer, a plurality of promotional presentations based on said common coding protocol, wherein each of said plurality of promotional presentations is associated with a promotion on a content provider web page;

c) in response to a request from a Web browser for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, communicating, from said computer, said promotional presentation associated with said promotion to said Web browser; and

further comprising tracking commerce associated with the promotions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the promotional presentations are selected from the group consisting of:

a search box, e-mail, dynamic text, Java script promotion, and applet-driven promotion.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the common coding protocol is Java script.

10. A Clearinghouse system in communication with a computer network that includes a plurality of Merchant sites and a plurality of content provider web pages, each Merchant site providing computer-based access to at least one of goods and services, the system comprising:

a first software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the first software module when executed causes a computer to configure promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said first software module causes said computer to configure said promotions so that;

said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from said Clearinghouse system, and

said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse system, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing URLs of Web sites which contain promotional presentations, wherein each of said URLs is associated with a promotion in a content provider web page;

a second software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein said second software module when executed causes a computer to handle Web browser requests for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, wherein said second software module when executed causes said computer to retrieve from said computer-readable medium a URL associated with said promotion, and communicates a common coding protocol instruction to said Web browser which causes said Web browser to request said promotional presentation from said URL; and

wherein said system includes a clearinghouse server that tracks commerce associated with said promotions.

11. The Clearinghouse system of claim 10, wherein at least one of said URLs points to one of said plurality of Merchant sites.

12. The Clearinghouse system of claim 10, wherein the computer network further includes a plurality of hosting computers distinct from sail plurality of Merchant sites, wherein at least one of said URLs points to one of said plurality of hosting computers.

13. A computer implemented method for managing promotional presentations in an Internet-based computer network, the method comprising:

a) configuring, by a computer, promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said promotions are configured so that;

said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from a Clearinghouse server, and

said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse server, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;

b) providing a plurality of URLs of Web sites that contain promotional presentations, wherein each of said plurality of URLs is associated with a promotion in a content provider web page; and

c) in response to a request from a Web browser for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, accessing, by said computer, said URL associated with said promotion, and communicating, from said computer, a common coding protocol instruction to said Web browser which causes said Web browser to request said promotional presentation from said URL associated with said promotion; and

further comprising tracking commerce associated with the promotions.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of said URLs points to a Merchant site.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of said URLs points to a hosting computer distinct from any Merchant site.