Methods and apparatus for freshness and completeness of information

• US 8,700,493 B2
• Filed: 09/01/2010
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Namul Applications LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cao, Yu
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg, Yogesh C
• Application Number:
  US12/873,863
• Publication Number:
  US 20100332348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,322 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/26.3, 705/37, 705/80, 705/27.1, 705/26.2, 705/26.62, 705/26.63, 705/26.8, 709/219, 715/201
• US Class Current: 705/27.1
• 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, comprising:

extracting, by a server, information from a plurality of data providers via a communication link into at least one of a plurality of predetermined categories;

normalizing, by the server, the extracted information into a searchable internal format;

providing, by the server, a consumer interface configured to receive a search query relating to purchasing of goods;

receiving, by the server, the search query;

discerning, by the server, an item from the received search query, the discerning including searching for the item from a plurality of merchants using the searchable internal format and returning search result;

determining, by the server, a purchasable bundle corresponding to the discerned item, wherein the purchasable bundle includes purchasable products that originate from at least two merchants of the plurality of merchants;

ranking, by the server, the purchasable bundle based on a weighted vote that includes at least one of;

a first weight representative of number of times the purchasable bundle is forwarded by a consumer, and

a second weight representative of a purchase of the forwarded purchasable bundle;

retrieving, by the server, the purchasable bundle; and

presenting, by the server, the purchasable bundle for sale via the consumer interface.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the server, an intention to purchase the purchasable bundle at a later time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the consumer interface with a presentation of the purchasable bundle in response to:

receiving a payment from least vendor that supplies at least one of the purchasable products, and

receiving an update associated with the purchasable bundle.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the payment is in exchange for additional updates.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the payment is in exchange for exposure to a larger audience.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving the payment in exchange for full access of information associated a purchase of the purchasable bundle.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the purchasable products are available from at least two different vendors.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting the purchasable bundle includes presenting the purchasable bundle according to the ranking via the consumer interface.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving includes creating a second purchasable.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising conducting, by the server, an auction among a plurality of vendors of the purchasable products determine which vendor of the plurality of vendors is allowed to offer the second purchasable bundle for sale.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the second purchasable bundle comprises products known to a search engine.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising conducting, by the server, an auction among plurality of vendors of the purchasable products to determine which vendor of the plurality of vendors is allowed to offer the purchasable bundle for sale.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving, by the server, a payment from one of the plurality of vendors in exchange for participating in the auction.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising auctioning, by the server, the purchasable bundle as separate products from different vendors.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by the server, alerting a consumer of a better deal for the purchasable bundle.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the alerting includes sending an email to the consumer.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising;

discerning promotional information applicable to the purchasable products from the search query; and

applying the promotional information upon purchase of the purchasable bundle.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the purchasable products comprise a service.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the discerning further comprises ranking the search results.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the second weight is weighted higher than the first weight.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a computer to perform operations comprising:

extracting information from a plurality of data providers via a communication link into at least one of a plurality of predetermined categories;

normalizing the extracted information into a searchable internal format;

providing a consumer interface configured to receive a search query relating to purchasing of goods;

receiving the search query;

discerning an from the received search query;

the discerning including searching for the item from a plurality of merchants using the searchable internal format and returning a search result;

determining a purchasable bundle corresponding to the discerned item, wherein the purchasable bundle includes purchasable products that originate from at least two merchants of the plurality of merchant;

ranking the purchasable bundle based on a weighted vote that includes at least one of;

a number of times the purchasable bundle is forwarded by a consumer, and

a purchase of the forwarded purchasable bundle;

retrieving the purchasable bundle; and

presenting the purchasable bundle for sale via the consumer interface.