Methods of expanding commercial opportunities for internet websites through coordinated offsite marketing

• US 7,818,399 B1
• Filed: 01/30/2006
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: DDR Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: DDR Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Ross, D. Delano Jr., May, William R., Ross, Daniel D., Michaels, Joseph R., Anderson, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder; Patrice L
• Application Number:
  US11/343,464
• Time in Patent Office: 1,723 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0274 Split fees
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders

Abstract

An e-commerce outsourcing system and method provides hosts with transparent, context-sensitive e-commerce supported pages. A plurality of visually perceptible elements associated with and identifying a source of a host'"'"'s web page are stored in the form of data in a computer database for future use. The host includes one or more links within a page on the host website that correlate with a selected commerce object, which may be contextually related to material in the page. The commerce object can be a buying opportunity for a product of a third-party merchant, a product category containing a plurality of products of third-party merchants, or a dynamic selection indicator of a merchant'"'"'s product. A plurality of hosts may choose to link to the same commerce object. Upon activation of the link displayed by a particular host website, a visitor computer is served with a page displaying the visually perceptible elements associated with that specific host'"'"'s website and information associated with the commerce object correlated to the link. Where the commerce object is a dynamic selection indicator, the content is selected at the time of activation based upon an analysis of the page containing the activated link.

Claims

1. A method of an outsource provider serving web pages offering commercial opportunities, the method comprising:

(a) automatically at a server of the outsource provider, in response to activation, by a web browser of a computer user, of a link displayed by one of a plurality of first web pages, recognizing as the source page the one of the first web pages on which the link has been activated;

(i) wherein each of the first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;

(ii) wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active link associated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunity of a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and

(iii) wherein the selected merchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web page are each third parties with respect to one other;

(b) automatically retrieving from a storage coupled to the server pre-stored data associated with the source page; and

then

(c) automatically with the server computer-generating and transmitting to the web browser a second web page that includes;

(i) information associated with the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated, and

(ii) a plurality of visually perceptible elements derived from the retrieved pre-stored data and visually corresponding to the source page.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated is a dynamic selection indicator.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of visually perceptible elements includes a set of navigational links on the source page.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of visually perceptible elements includes the appearance of the top and left side of the source page.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of visually perceptible elements includes the appearance of the header and footer of the source page.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of visually perceptible elements includes a logo associated with the owner of the source page.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated comprises information defining an electronic catalog having a multitude of merchant offerings, and wherein the second web page contains one or more selectable navigation links connecting a hierarchical set of additional second web pages, each pertaining to a subset of the offerings in the catalog.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the second web page is generated dynamically.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the owner of the source page is party to a contract providing for receipt of a commission as a result of a transaction involving the commerce object displayed on the source page.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising computer-facilitating automatic payment to the owner of the source page, once the transaction is completed.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second web page appears to the computer user to be generated by a server associated with the source page.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the link activated by the web browser is stored in a database associated with the source page.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second web page contains a further link associated with the information associated with the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated, which link, when activated by the web browser, places data representing the commerce object into a virtual shopping cart.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second web page contains a checkout link which, when activated by the web browser, facilitates completion of a transaction associated with the commerce object in the shopping cart.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising after the transaction is completed, computer-facilitating payment from the computer user to the merchant associated with the activated link.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising after the transaction is completed, computer-facilitating payment of a commission to the owner of the source page.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the second web page again, after the commerce object is placed into the shopping cart.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the visually perceptible elements displayed on the second web page are retrieved from a database storing data associated with visually perceptible elements for each of the first web pages.

19. A system useful in an outsource provider serving web pages offering commercial opportunities, the system comprising:

(a) a computer store containing data, for each of a plurality of first web pages, defining a plurality of visually perceptible elements, which visually perceptible elements correspond to the plurality of first web pages;

(i) wherein each of the first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;

(ii) wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active link associated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunity of a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and

(iii) wherein the selected merchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web page displaying the associated link are each third parties with respect to one other;

(b) a computer server at the outsource provider, which computer server is coupled to the computer store and programmed to;

(i) receive from the web browser of a computer user a signal indicating activation of one of the links displayed by one of the first web pages;

(ii) automatically identify as the source page the one of the first web pages on which the link has been activated;

(iii) in response to identification of the source page, automatically retrieve the stored data corresponding to the source page; and

(iv) using the data retrieved, automatically generate and transmit to the web browser a second web page that displays;

(A) information associated with the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated, and (B) the plurality of visually perceptible elements visually corresponding to the source page.

20. A computer-readable memory adapted for use by an outsource provider in serving web pages offering commercial opportunities, the computer-readable memory used to direct a computer of the outsource provider to perform the steps of:

(a) in response to activation, by a web browser of a computer user, of a link displayed by one of a plurality of first web pages, automatically recognizing as the source page the one of the first web pages on which the link has been activated;

(i) wherein each of the first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;

(ii) wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active link associated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunity of a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and

(iii) wherein the selected merchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web page are each third parties with respect to one another;

(b) automatically retrieving from a storage coupled to the computer of the outsource provider pre-stored data associated with the source page; and

then

(c) automatically computer-generating and transmitting to the web browser a second web page that includes;

(i) information associated with the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated, and

(ii) a plurality of visually perceptible elements derived from the retrieved pre-stored data and visually corresponding to the source page.

21. The computer-readable memory of claim 20 wherein the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated is a dynamic selection indicator.

22. The computer-readable memory of claim 20 wherein the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated comprises information defining an electronic catalog having a multitude of merchant offerings, and wherein the second web page contains one or more selectable navigation links connecting a hierarchical set of additional second web pages, each pertaining to a subset of the offerings in the catalog.

23. The computer-readable memory of claim 20 wherein the computer-readable memory is used to direct the computer of the outsource provider to perform the further step of computer-facilitating automatic payment to the owner of the source page, once the transaction is completed.

24. The computer-readable memory of claim 20, (i) wherein the second web page contains a further link associated with the information associated with the commerce object, which, when activated by the web browser, places data representing the commerce object into a virtual shopping cart, and a checkout link which, when activated by the web browser, facilitates completion of a transaction associated with the commerce object in the shopping cart;

and (ii) wherein the computer-readable memory is used to direct the computer of the outsource provider to perform the further steps of, after the transaction is completed, computer-facilitating payment from the computer user to the merchant associated with the activated link and computer-facilitating payment of a commission to the owner of the source page.

25. The computer-readable memory of claim 20, wherein the visually perceptible elements displayed on the second web page are retrieved from a database storing data associated with visually perceptible elements for each of the first web pages.

26. A computerized system for an outsource provider serving web pages offering commercial opportunities, the system comprising:

(a) means, at a server of the outsource provider, in response to activation, by a web browser of a computer user, of a link displayed by one of a plurality of first web pages, for automatically recognizing as the source page the one of the first web pages on which the link has been activated;

(i) wherein each of the first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;

(ii) wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active link associated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunity of a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and

(iii) wherein the selected merchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web page are each third parties with respect to one another;

(c) means for automatically retrieving from a storage coupled to the server pre-stored data associated with the source page; and

(d) server means for then automatically computer-generating and transmitting to the web browser a second web page that includes;

(i) information associated with the commerce object associated with the link that has been activated, and

(ii) a plurality of visually perceptible elements derived from the retrieved pre-stored data and visually corresponding to the source page.