18th week of 2014 patent applcation highlights part 65 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140122156 | Food Supply Chain Automation Farm Tracking System and Method - A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically receiving monitoring information related to one or more farming related production factors involved with farming related production of one or more ingestible materials; and electronically associating at least a portion of said monitoring information one or more farming related production factors involved with farming related production of one or more ingestible materials with one or more identifiers accessible through one or more tracers, said one or more tracers logged as being at least momentarily in physical proximity with said one or more ingestible materials. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122157 | CALENDAR FEATURE FOR CREATING A TRIP OBJECT - Display data to cause the display of a calendar feature having one or more date elements may be output. A selection of a date element or date elements and user input for creating a trip object may be received. The trip object may be created in response and the start and end fields for the trip object may be populated based on the selected date elements. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122158 | License Meta-Model for Automatic License Reasoning - Techniques, a system and an article of manufacture for generating a license meta-model for automatic license reasoning. A method includes creating an object-oriented information model to describe a hardware infrastructure, a software deployment environment, and an organization structure corresponding to a software license deployment, creating a set of property functions to formulate one or more items of information related to the hardware infrastructure, one or more users, and the organization structure, creating a set of license metrics by defining license metric capacity unit and license metric capacity calculation logic that leverage at least one existing property function and/or at least one of the created property functions, and leveraging the license metrics to model the software license. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122159 | License Meta-Model for Automatic License Reasoning - Techniques, a system and an article of manufacture for generating a license meta-model for automatic license reasoning include creating an object-oriented information model to describe a hardware infrastructure, a software deployment environment, and an organization structure corresponding to a software license deployment, creating a set of property functions to formulate one or more items of information related to the hardware infrastructure, one or more users, and the organization structure, creating a set of license metrics by defining license metric capacity unit and license metric capacity calculation logic that leverage at least one existing property function and/or at least one of the created property functions, and leveraging the license metrics to model the software license. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122160 | Optimized License Procurement - Techniques, a system and an article of manufacture for automatically determining a license procurement decision include identifying one or more license types for a software product, identifying, for each license type, one or more types of hardware configuration and software usage information to collect for a product license procurement decision, collecting said identified one or more types of hardware configuration and software usage information, populating a license decision matrix with said collected one or more types of hardware configuration and software usage information, and automatically generating a license procurement decision for the product based on analysis of the license decision matrix. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122161 | WORKFLOW-BASED PROJECT MANAGEMENT - Systems and techniques are described for performing workflow-based project management. An embodiment can receive a scope tree and a sequence of steps, stages, and/or phases that one or more items in the scope tree go through. The embodiment can then generate a set of subprojects, streams, and/or tasks based on the received scope tree and the sequence of steps, stages, and/or phases. Note that each subproject, stream, or task is associated with an item in the scope tree and an item in the sequence of steps, stages, and/or phases. Next, the embodiment can generate a set of interdependencies between the set of subprojects, streams, and/or tasks based on the scope tree and the sequence of steps, stages, and/or phases. The embodiment can then create the project plan that includes the set of subprojects, streams, and/or tasks and the set of interdependencies between the set of subprojects, streams, and/or tasks. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122162 | Efficiency System - A system, and related method and computer program product are disclosed. The system may comprise a loading machine, a first fleet, a second fleet, and a controller operably connected to the loading machine(s) and the first fleet and the second fleet. The controller may be configured to determine a FF System Efficiency for a first scenario based on a FF Mining Efficiency and a FF Percent Shift Time Difference. The controller may be further configured to determine a SF System Efficiency for a second scenario based on a SF Mining Efficiency and a SF Percent Shift Time Difference. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122163 | EXTERNAL OPERATIONAL RISK ANALYSIS - Analyzing external operational risk comprises receiving data associated with an organization from a data source over a network. Data associated with a plurality of third parties is received from a plurality of data sources over the network. A processor categorizes the organization data and the third party data according to operational risk categories and analyzes the categorized organization data and the third party data. A report is created based on the analysis and communicated to a computer. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122164 | System and method for analyzing commuting metrics - A system and method for analyzing commuting metrics. One exemplary embodiment includes a method that includes receiving, via a computer interface, location data for a set of locations associated with an entity, the location data including physical location data, the computer interface selected from at least one of a user interface or network communications interface; receiving commuter data for a set of commuters, the commuter data for each commuter from the set of commuters including commute start location data; determining a set of values of a commuting metric, each value from the set of values of the commuting metric being based on one of the physical location data and one of the commute start location data; and generating an electronic file including at least one of the set of values of the commuting metric. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122165 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SYMMETRICAL OBJECT PROFILING FOR ONE OR MORE OBJECTS - A system is described that implements symmetrical object profiles across one or more objects, wherein an object profile is influenced by other object profiles with which it interacts. In particular, the system includes a configuration for a first object profile that is associated with a first object, wherein the first object profile comprises a set of attributes having a first set of valuations. The system includes a configuration for a second object profile that is associated with a second object, wherein the second object profile comprises said set of attributes having a second set of valuations. The system includes a profile updater for managing the first object profile and the second object profile, wherein in a transaction involving the first and second objects, corresponding object profiles are updated based on valuations in the first and second set of valuations. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122166 | CROWDSOURCED BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing crowdsourced contest for a behavior modification plan such as a plan to modify a user's diet, spending habits, or meals. A contest definition may be formulated based on a request received from the user and an analysis of the user's purchase history. The contest may be published to potential respondents based on analysis of the respondent's own purchase history. Payments may be authorized upon selection of a respondent's plan. The user's purchasing activity may be monitored and reported to the selected respondent to facilitate coaching. Coaching activity may be facilitated and or detected and payment authorized for such activity. Achievement of goals may be verified using the purchase activity of the user and payment authorized to the selected respondent to the extent goals are achieved. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122167 | Food Supply Chain Automation Grocery Information System And Method - A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically storing grocery operations information regarding at least in part one or more grocery implementation aspects pertaining to grocery related merchandizing of one or more commercial grocery products; and electronically associating at least a portion of grocery operations information concerning at least in part one or more grocery implementation aspects pertaining to grocery related merchandizing of one or more commercial grocery products with identification information obtainable through one or more tags said one or more tags logged as being at least temporarily within at least a vicinity of one or more food based substances. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122168 | Food Supply Chain Automation Residential Information System And Method - A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically accumulating residential food management information including one or more food related residential conditions affecting residential service of one or more residential food items; and electronically indicating informational connection between at least a portion of residential food management information including one or more food related residential conditions affecting residential service of one or more food items and between one or more descriptors logged as contained by one or more label carriers, said one or more label containers logged as being at least temporarily within at least a vicinity of said one or more residential food items. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122169 | Food Supply Chain Automation Residential Food Management Interface System And Method - A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically transmitting one or more residential food management information requests associated with at least in part one or more food related residential conditions affecting residential service of one or more residential food items; and electronically receiving, subsequent to said electronically transmitting, at least a portion of residential food management response information associated with at least in part one or more food related residential conditions affecting residential service of one or more residential food items, said residential food management response information including description logged as accessible through one or more physical accessories and including description of said one or more physical accessories as at least temporarily near to one or more food items. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122170 | DETECTION OF GUEST POSITION - The present disclosure relates to a system configured to manage a dining experience for guests at a food service establishment. In some implementations, the system may comprise one or more guest identification devices, one or more sensors, one or more host systems, and one or more processors. The system may be configured such that real-time detailed information about the food service establishment, guests of the food service establishment, food orders placed by guests of the food service establishment, table states of the tables in the food service establishment, and tasks performed by staff members is provided to the staff members of the food service establishment. The information may facilitate a unique guest experience for guests of the food service establishment wherein the guests may place a food order remotely, arrive at the food service establishment and self-select a table, and receive delivery of their food order at their selected table. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122171 | Method and System for Credit Card Holder Identification - The present invention is associated with a method that takes a subsequence of a credit card number, in particular the suffix (or last n digits), and transaction data associated with the cardholder. For each subsequence of the credit card number, a set of data may be used in order to uniquely identify the cardholder. The identification of the cardholder may be performed in a particular search space that is composed of all possible credit card numbers and includes the transaction data associated with the cardholder. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122172 | Electronic Transaction Receipt System and Method - In connection with a sales transaction, an electronic receipt is issued to the buyer that includes hyperlinks. A hyperlink can be associated with post-sale interaction with the product seller, the product manufacturer or parties acting on their behalf that involves the product itself, such as a product return procedure, a product warranty procedure, receiving rebate notices and recall notices, product registration procedures and similar functions. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122173 | ESTIMATING SEMI-PARAMETRIC PRODUCT DEMAND MODELS - Methods, systems, and computer-readable and executable instructions are provided for estimating semi-parametric product demand models. Estimating a semi-parametric product demand model can include identifying a set of products from input market sales data, analyzing the market sales data to determine a relationship between a plurality of factors of the set of products, and estimating the semi-parametric product demand model based on the determined relationship using iterative estimation of a plurality of incremental data trees. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122174 | TECHNIQUES FOR FORECASTING RETAIL ACTIVITY - Techniques for forecasting retail activity are provided. External events to a retailer are evaluated in view of attributes and associations of the retailer and in view of operational metrics associated with the retailer. Based on the evaluation, recommendations for forecasting resources are dynamically presented to the retailer. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122175 | SIMULATION DEVICE FOR LIQUIDATION OF FARMLAND - A device is provided that predicts in advance a farm that will be liquidated due to farm retirement or finds a renter of the farm. CPU | 2014-05-01 |
20140122176 | PREDICTIVE MODEL OF RECURRING REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES - A set of offers for renewal of service assets within a sales period can be differentiated. A set of parameters representative of each offer in the set of offers can be analyzed. The set of parameters can include at least one user-provided constraint on an expected outcome of each offer. A predicted outcome can be calculated for the set of offers based on an applied predictive model using the set of parameters as inputs. The at least one constraint for at least one offer of the set of offers can be updated based on at least one sales outcome occurring during the sales period, and a predicted outcome for the set of offers can be recalculated based on the set of parameters comprising the updated at least one constraint. Related methods, systems, and computer program products are described. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122177 | ELECTRIC POWER DEMAND RESPONSE SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present invention provides an electric power demand response system and method. The system includes an agent group including at least one agent, a total load calculation module and an electricity price calculation module; wherein each agent is adapted to receive electricity price data output by the electricity price calculation module and simulate electricity consumption behavior of a user under the effect of the electricity price, and output load data of the user; the total load calculation module is adapted to receive load data output by all the agents in the agent group and thereby calculate a total load of the agent group; and the electricity price calculation module is adapted to receive the total load of the agent group calculated by the total load calculation module and receive policy data, and thereby calculate a proper electricity price data. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122178 | METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING NEW VEHICLE INVENTORY FOR A CAR DEALERSHIP - A computer implemented method for optimizing automobile dealer inventory includes determining at least one future purchase intention metric for a catchment area in which a dealer is located, determining expected future retail sales of a vehicle type based on the determined future purchase intention metric, comparing the expected future retail sales of the vehicle type to an expected inventory of the vehicle type for at least one time period, and outputting a recommended adjustment to at least one of a current inventory of the vehicle type and an on-order inventory of the vehicle type, thereby ensuring that a more desirable stock level is maintained for the at least one time period. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122179 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING LONG RANGE DEMAND FORECASTS FOR PRODUCTS INCLUDING SEASONAL PATTERNS - An improved method and system for forecasting product demand using a causal methodology, based on multiple regression techniques. The improved causal method identifies year-over-year trending effects within historical product demand data, removes the trending effects from the calculation of seasonal factors used in determining product demand forecasts, calculates trend factors from the identified trending effects, and applies the trend factors and de-trended seasonal factors to initial product demand forecasts when determining final demand forecasts for the products. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122180 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING PRODUCT ORDERS DURING REPLENISHMENT SOURCE CHANGES - A method and system for adjusting product store order quantities when a retail store is moving a replenishment source from a current distribution center to a new distribution center. The method determines a last delivery date for a last product order from the current distribution center to be placed prior to a product replenishment source change date, and a first delivery date for a first product order from the new distribution center to be placed following the product replenishment source change date; and compares the two delivery dates to determine which delivery will occur first. When the first delivery date for new distribution center predates the last delivery date for the current distribution center, the last product order from the current distribution center is suspended. When the last delivery date for the current distribution center predates the first delivery date for the new distribution center, the quantity of product associated with the last product order from the current distribution center is increased to avoid a product deficiency at the retail store. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122181 | DEMAND RESPONSE LOAD FORECASTER - A demand response system having an improved load forecaster connected to a decision engine. A basis of the improved forecaster may be an introduction of an explanatory variable which is a time-based shaping function that allows capturing a demand response (DR) lead and DR rebound effect, and the like, capturing a shape of load reduction, given by an applied DR action. The engine may receive information from the forecaster and utility relative to behavior of a DR customer, market price, renewable energy generation, grid status, and so on. The engine may provide optimal timing, selection of resources, and so forth, to a DR automation server, which in turn may provide DR signals to customers. The customers may provide data consumption data to a database. Electricity generation data may also be provided to the database. Selected relevant data from the database and weather information may go to the load forecaster. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122182 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSESSING PRODUCT MATURITY - A method and system to evaluate maturity level of a software product is provided wherein the evaluation is based on four maturity levels, the maturity levels being Basic, Established, Differentiated, and Leadership in dimensions of key focus areas namely Product planning, Technology Tools & Methodology, Product Code & Quality, Release & Configuration Management, Usability, Security & Supply chain, and Intellectual Property Rights, and competency areas of Process, Infrastructure, Architecture, and People. A checklist having plurality of conformance requirements is provided at each maturity level for each key focus area to assess the maturity level of the software product. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122183 | PULSED-SURVEY SERVICE SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A pulsed-survey service may be provided by obtaining a question sequence including a number of survey questions, and determining a base survey-pulse rate, such as once per week, but no more frequent than once per day. During each pulse period, for each of a number of subscriber entities, a pulsed survey is performed. Each survey pulse poses and collects responses for at least one, but no more than ten percent of the survey questions. Both intra- and inter-entity benchmark statistics are determined for the pulsed-survey responses, and the statistics and survey results are provided for presentation to the subscriber entity via a survey-results interface. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122184 | Food Supply Chain Automation Grocery Information System And Method - A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically storing grocery operations information regarding at least in part one or more grocery implementation aspects pertaining to grocery related merchandizing of one or more commercial grocery products; and electronically associating at least a portion of grocery operations information concerning at least in part one or more grocery implementation aspects pertaining to grocery related merchandizing of one or more commercial grocery products with identification information obtainable through one or more tags said one or more tags logged as being at least temporarily within at least a vicinity of one or more food based substances. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122185 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENGAGEMENT ANALYTICS FOR A BUSINESS - Described is a method for engagement analytics. The method includes identifying criteria, and sub-criteria of each of the criteria, associated with a plurality of engagements between a vendor and a client, and identifying influencor sub-criteria and influencee sub-criteria amongst the sub-criteria. First levels of influence of the influencor sub-criteria of each of the criteria with respect to the influencee sub-criteria of each of the criteria; second levels of influence of the plurality of engagements with respect to the sub-criteria of all the criteria; and third levels of influence of the sub-criteria of all the criteria with respect to the engagements, are estimated. Further, a selection order of the plurality of engagements is determined based on the first, the second and third levels of influence. The selection order has priority values indicative of a level of realization of each of the engagements for the selection of the at least one engagement. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122186 | USE OF VIDEO TO MANAGE PROCESS QUALITY - Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for using video footage to manage the performance of business processes in a restaurant. In some embodiments, certain types of events to be evaluated are identified, such as those which relate to an order received from a customer in which the customer requests that a standard menu offering be customized in some way. Data describing various aspects of restaurant operations may be queried to identify occurrences of the specified event type, and records describing these occurrences may be identified. Information in the records may be used to retrieve corresponding video footage depicting the processes being performed, and the video footage may be analyzed to verify that processes are being performed as specified. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122187 | Fleet Vehicle Management Systems and Methods - Some embodiments of a system for communicating vehicle information can provide equipment for use inside a fleet vehicle to facilitate prompt and efficient transfer of vehicle and driver information. In particular embodiments, the system may include an electronic onboard recorder mountable in a vehicle and a mobile communication device that is configured to wireless communication with the electronic onboard recorder. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122188 | PREDICTING FUTURE PERFORMANCE OF MULTIPLE WORKERS ON CROWDSOURCING TASKS AND SELECTING REPEATED CROWDSOURCING WORKERS - Systems and methods of a job distribution platform for aggregating performance data in a worker profile for workers in performing crowd sourced tasks are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a method, which may be implemented on a system, of generating and storing performance data when a worker performs one or more tasks distributed online to their respective computing devices by a job distribution platform which crowd sources tasks over a network to remote workers. The tasks can span current jobs and a history of previous jobs distributed to the worker and the job performance data for the worker is collected for current and previous jobs. New jobs can be assigned to a worker selected based on performance data of the worker. Other types of worker information may also be tracked and generated for multiple workers in various worker pools (channels), for example, psych questions or other more subjective data collected from a worker or contributor in addition to performance. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122189 | Policy Selection System - A policy selection system that enables selection of a policy that reflects a change in public opinion after an election in a timely manner is provided. There are included means for for allowing a voter and an election winner in a predetermined electoral district to cast online votes from predetermined online voting terminals | 2014-05-01 |
20140122190 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DETECTION AND SELECTION OF A RESOURCE AMONG AVAILABLE RESOURCES - Detecting whether a resource is available and facilitating the selection of a resource from a set of resources, some of which may be available or unavailable at any given time can be a challenge. One such resource is a suitable place to park a vehicle including automobile, motorcycle, and bicycle. Finding parking can be a significant challenge in population dense environments. Certain embodiments of the present invention are configured to assist users with quickly and efficiently finding a parking slot near his or her location or destination. The system may be configured to generate parking slot suggestions based on one or more of a wide range of individual or group preference criteria. Advantageously, facilitating quick and efficient parking reduces traffic congestion and pollution. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122191 | ENCOURAGING SHOPPING ASSISTANCE BY CHILDREN USING DIGITAL SHOPPING LISTS - Systems and methods are disclosed for encouraging participation of children in a shopping trip. A parent assigns a number of items or specific items of a shopping list to a child and the assignment is transmitted to a child's device. A child's selection of a reward item is received from the child's device. An interface on the child's device enables check off of the items as the child retrieves them. Upon completion of the assignment, a parent may authorize check off of the reward item and this authorization may be transmitted to the child device. Check off of the reward item may then be enabled on the child device. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122192 | SELECTING PAYMENT PLATFORMS FOR ONLINE-TO-OFFLINE TRANSACTIONS - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing online offers for rewards that can be tracked to offline transactions for redemption. In order to protect sensitive consumer information, payment processing details such as credit card numbers and other authorizing data are redirected through a secure network to payment processing platforms, and then tokenized for subsequent use in relatively less secure data network communications and transactions. After a secure payment processing platform has authorized a transaction such as a reward for purchases, the payment processing platform can detect qualifying retail activity and generate corresponding rewards, which may be signaled to the customer through any suitable communications medium. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122193 | LEVERAGING PROCUREMENT ACROSS COMPANIES AND COMPANY GROUPS - A method and system for providing procurement services to customer companies. A user profile for each user, in a computer database, specifies: (i) each user is authorized by a first customer company of the customer companies to access procurement resources and the procurement services for purchasing items and (ii) the first customer company and a first company group of related customer companies. Access to volume discounts with respect to vendors is provided to all customer companies in the first company group. Companies are authorized to have access to and share each procurement resource, by providing a resource profile specifying for each procurement resource a set of customer companies authorized for accessing and sharing each procurement resource to be shared among the users. Access to the procurement resources is controlled resources based on: the first company group, the first customer company, and the resource profile for each procurement resource. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122194 | Cross-Platform Targeting - A system and method for cross-platform targeting includes: receiving as input calendar entries from an on-line calendar associated with a first user, the calendar entries designating specified time slots associated with scheduled events; marking the specified time slots associated with the scheduled events as unavailable time slots; eliminating the unavailable time slots from the calendar associated with the first user; determining from remaining time slots those time slots wherein the first user is deemed unlikely to be available; removing those time slots from the calendar, providing free time slots; and presenting the free time slots as optimal time slots for serving digital information to the first user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122195 | Systems and Methods for Tracking and Analyzing the Redemption of Promotional Content - Certain embodiments herein are directed to tracking and analyzing the redemption of promotional content, such as coupons, discounts, or similar offers. The redemption of the promotional content may be tracked such that a source or provider of the promotional content may be identified and associated with the promotional content at the point of redemption. Requests to redeem promotional content may be verified by comparing information received at the point of redemption with information previously stored in association with providing promotional content to a user device seeking to redeem the promotional content. Such information may include a unique identifier for the promotional content, a unique identifier for the user device, and a unique identifier for the source of the promotional content. Information associated with historical redemptions of promotional content may be analyzed to target user devices and/or sources of the promotional content for receiving future distributions of the promotional content. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122196 | SECURE VAULT FOR ONLINE-TO-OFFLINE TRANSACTIONS - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing online offers for rewards that can be tracked to offline transactions for redemption. In order to protect sensitive consumer information, payment processing details such as credit card numbers and other authorizing data are redirected through a secure network to payment processing platforms, and then tokenized for subsequent use in relatively less secure data network communications and transactions. After a secure payment processing platform has authorized a transaction such as a reward for purchases, the payment processing platform can detect qualifying retail activity and generate corresponding rewards, which may be signaled to the customer through any suitable communications medium. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122197 | TRACKING REDEMPTION OF ONLINE-TO-OFFLINE TRANSACTIONS - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing online offers for rewards that can be tracked to offline transactions for redemption. In order to protect sensitive consumer information, payment processing details such as credit card numbers and other authorizing data are redirected through a secure network to payment processing platforms, and then tokenized for subsequent use in relatively less secure data network communications and transactions. After a secure payment processing platform has authorized a transaction such as a reward for purchases, the payment processing platform can detect qualifying retail activity and generate corresponding rewards, which may be signaled to the customer through any suitable communications medium. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122198 | AFFILIATE NETWORK TRACKING FOR ONLINE-TO-OFFLINE TRANSACTIONS - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing online offers for rewards that can be tracked to offline transactions for redemption. In order to protect sensitive consumer information, payment processing details such as credit card numbers and other authorizing data are redirected through a secure network to payment processing platforms, and then tokenized for subsequent use in relatively less secure data network communications and transactions. After a secure payment processing platform has authorized a transaction such as a reward for purchases, the payment processing platform can detect qualifying retail activity and generate corresponding rewards, which may be signaled to the customer through any suitable communications medium. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122199 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF COLLECTING, STORING AND SHARING DIGITAL COUPONS, REBATES AND OFFERS UTILIZING A UNIFORM DATA FORMAT COMMUNICATED BETWEEN MULTIPLE PROVIDERS, PLATFORMS, AND PROVISIONING SYSTEMS - A system and method for collecting storing, distributing and tracking digital coupons. The system and method include a platform/interface of a computing system for a plurality of businesses to submit digital coupons to a central coupon database of an application programming interface, and a platform/interface for consumers to create a user account with a user coupon database. The system and method further include a performance tracking database that stores information regarding coupons that are selected and redeemed by each user of the computing system. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122200 | MARKETING PROMOTION GENERATION, MANAGEMENT, AND DISTRIBUTION - This disclosure is drawn to methods, systems, devices and/or apparatus related to generating, managing, operational management, distributing, administering, and/or analyzing simple to extremely complex marketing promotion campaigns. Specifically, the disclosed methods, systems, devices and/or apparatus relate generating, managing, distributing, administering, and/or analyzing a variety of marketing promotion campaigns simultaneously (including sweepstakes, user-generated contests, instant win campaigns, coupons, group buying promotions, sales incentives, trivia games, loyalty programs, donation promotions, and the like) on simultaneous media channels the Internet, social networks, and/or mobile platforms. There are many types of promotions, which may be combined for use in a single marketing promotion campaign. Example systems may include a promotion builder engine, a user interface design engine, a user management component, a prize management component, a rules generation engine, an award selection and notification component, and/or an analytics component. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122201 | APPARATUS, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR ONLINE SOCIAL MARKETING - An apparatus, method, and computer program product are disclosed for online social marketing. A media module is configured to present multimedia content on a webpage featuring a user, the webpage comprising a theme selected by the user. An advertising module is configured to display advertising content on the webpage, the advertising content associated with the theme of the webpage. An icon module is configured to display one or more icons on the webpage, the one or more icons selected by the user, an icon representing one or more of a promotion and a cause associated with the user. A posting module is configured to post a link to the webpage on one or more social networking platforms associated with the user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122202 | MANAGING VENDOR OFFERS - A system, method, and computer-readable media are described for facilitating management of vendor offers. In one embodiment, at least a portion of an electronic fundraising card is presented, for example, via a display screen of a mobile device. The electronic fundraising card includes a plurality of offers associated with a vendor that are accessible by a mobile device. Subsequently, an indication to utilize an offer provided on the electronic fundraising card is received. Upon redeeming the offer, an indication that the offer is unavailable is provided. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122203 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING A MULTI-MERCHANT ELECTRONIC SHOPPING CART FOR A SHOPPING SERVICE - A system, method, and computer program are provided for providing a multi-merchant electronic shopping cart within a web browser. The shopping cart can be used at a plurality of unrelated merchant shopping sites and remains within the browser regardless of the displayed website. When a user selects the shopping cart, a user interface is displayed with information about a product on the website without navigating to a new webpage. If the product has options, the user is able to select for the options via the user interface. The user is also able to save products from a plurality of shopping sites to the shopping cart or purchase products from the shopping cart at one time. For each product to be purchased, a purchase transaction is conducted, on behalf of the user, with the merchant associated with the website from which the user added the product to the shopping cart. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122204 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING DIGITAL BUNDLING SERVICES TO MULTIPLE USERS AT DISCOUNTED PRICES - Systems and methods are disclosed for aggregating digital services in a bundle for a user. In accordance with one implementation, a method includes displaying, on a device of the user, a plurality of available digital services, the plurality of available digital services being implemented by more than one service provider. The method also includes receiving, from the user, a selection of a set of services from the plurality of available digital services. In addition, the method includes providing, by at least one processor, a bundle to enable the user to access and use the set of selected services. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122205 | MANAGEMENT OF COUPONS USED FOR PURCHASING ITEMS OF GOODS - A coupon issuing system and a method for managing coupons used for purchasing items of goods. A coupon issuing device receives a request from a user for a coupon pertaining to purchasing an item of goods. The coupon issuing device issues to the user ticket information corresponding to the item. The ticket information includes a coupon identifier (ID) that identifies a coupon for purchasing the item, information pertaining to the user, and a current discount for discounting the item's purchase price. A coupon issuance control server receives notification that the user has exercised the coupon for purchasing the item. The coupon issuance control server transmits a calculated number of remaining exercisable coupons to an advertising contents management server to facilitate display of the number of remaining exercisable coupons to users requesting coupons for purchase of the item. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122206 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING TRANSACTIONS WITH A PORTABLE COMPUTING DEVICE - A method and system include verifying credentials for gaining access to a transactional controller with the portable computing device. The transactional controller may receive a merchant identifier corresponding to a merchant and then it may compare the merchant identifier against loyalty account data stored in a database. The transactional controller may also receive product scan data and compare the product scan data against one of offer data and coupon data in a database. After these comparisons, any matches of product scan data to offer data or coupon data may be sent to the PCD and the POS controller. Similarly, any matches of the merchant identifier to loyalty account data may be transmitted to the POS controller. During or after the purchase transaction, a message may be generated by the transaction controller which lists one or more preferred payment options that may be selected using the PCD to complete a purchase. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122207 | VIRTUAL COUPONING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE WITH CONSUMER KIOSK - A method and apparatus for distributing, generating, and redeeming discount Virtual Coupons™, rebate or gift certificates or the like which may be used on conjunction with a frequency card program or the like. Virtual Coupons™ may be distributed electronically, for example, in the form of a diskette or CD-ROM software. Software on the diskette or CD-ROM may prompt a consumer to call a 1-800 number for a validation number or code. During the phone call, telemarketing personnel may request consumer demographic and or identification information which may be entered into a centralized database. Once the software is validated, a consumer may print out a list selected Virtual Coupons™ displayed on a Graphical User Interface (GUI). When a product is purchased, the UPC code of the product may be compared electronically with a list of Virtual Coupons™ authorized for a particular consumer. An appropriate coupon discount may then be applied and the Virtual Coupon™ may be considered “redeemed”. Once redeemed, consumer ID information and Virtual Coupon™ information may be retrieved electronically and used to update a central database. Accurate data may then be produced illustrating which consumers or groups of consumers are redeeming which Virtual Coupons™. Such data may be used for marketing purposes or to generated further diskettes for distribution targeting specific consumers or groups of consumers with specific classes of Virtual Coupon™ offerings. The use of Virtual Coupons™ eliminates or reduces fraud, and allows a frequency card discount to be applied only a limited number of times. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122208 | CROWDSOURCED BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing crowdsourced contest for a behavior modification plan such as a plan to modify a user's diet, spending habits, or meals. A contest definition may be formulated based on a request received from the user and an analysis of the user's purchase history. The contest may be published to potential respondents based on analysis of the respondent's own purchase history. Payments may be authorized upon selection of a respondent's plan. The user's purchasing activity may be monitored and reported to the selected respondent to facilitate coaching. Coaching activity may be facilitated and or detected and payment authorized for such activity. Achievement of goals may be verified using the purchase activity of the user and payment authorized to the selected respondent to the extent goals are achieved. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122209 | CROWDSOURCED BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION - Systems and methods are disclosed for providing crowdsourced contest for a behavior modification plan such as a plan to modify a user's diet, spending habits, or meals. A contest definition may be formulated based on a request received from the user and an analysis of the user's purchase history. The contest may be published to potential respondents based on analysis of the respondent's own purchase history. Payments may be authorized upon selection of a respondent's plan. The user's purchasing activity may be monitored and reported to the selected respondent to facilitate coaching. Coaching activity may be facilitated and or detected and payment authorized for such activity. Achievement of goals may be verified using the purchase activity of the user and payment authorized to the selected respondent to the extent goals are achieved. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122210 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DELIVERING AND REDEEMING ELECTRONIC COUPONS - A method of verifying the authenticity of an electronic coupon is described. The method includes transmitting the electronic coupon to a mobile device of a consumer and verifying the authenticity of the electronic coupon. The electronic coupon includes an image with one or more visual elements for display on the mobile device at least one of which is capable of moving when activated by a user of the electronic device. Observation of the movement of the moving visual element after activation confirms the authenticity of the electronic coupon. A computer readable medium comprising instructions to manipulate a processor is also described. The medium includes instructions to send display data for an electronic coupon image including one or more visual elements as described above to a mobile device of a consumer and instructions to activate the moving visual element when an input is received from a user of the mobile device. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122211 | Method and System for Recognizing Energy Efficient Certified Devices Through a Gateway - A broadband gateway, which enables communication with a plurality of devices, may be operable to identify an energy efficient certified device from the plurality of devices. The broadband gateway may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. Information related to the identified energy efficient certified device, including usage information of the device, may be communicated to one or more entities. The broadband gateway may acquire the usage information of the energy efficient certified device by monitoring whether the device is operating in an energy efficient mode. The broadband gateway may obtain a credit and/or a reward from the one or more entities based on the usage information of the energy efficient certified device. The broadband gateway may deposit the credit and/or the reward to an account associated with the energy efficient certified device. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122212 | MANAGING VENDOR OFFERS - A system, method, and computer-readable media are described for facilitating management of vendor offers. In one embodiment, a loyalty card, or portion thereof, is presented, the loyalty card having a plurality of loyalty portions associated with a vendor that indicate loyalty of a user based on interaction with the vendor. Subsequently, an indication to fulfill one of the loyalty portions provided on the loyalty card is received. Upon fulfilling one of the loyalty portions, an indication that one of the loyalty portions is completed is provided. In one embodiment, the vendor is a school or a non-profit organization. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122213 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPARING INCENTIVE PROGRAMS - A method of comparing reward programs is provided. The method comprises retrieving reward program benefit rules of use for a least one card from a first computing device, creating a user profile at a second computing device, calculating a cash value for each credit card of the at least one credit card, according to the user profile and the reward program benefit rules of each credit card, and displaying the cash value. The user profile comprises a user's card information and a user's desired usage of the user's at least one credit card. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122214 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING THIRD PARTY REWARD POINTS TO PAY FOR AN ITEM VIA A SEARCH ENGINE - A system and method for implementation of product searches via a search engine over a networked computer system such as the Internet. In particular, a user may execute a search for product offers that are accompanied with reward components (e.g. reward points, rebates, coupons, etc.) and/or those that allow payment in whole or in part with payment components (e.g. reward points, rebates, coupons, etc.). | 2014-05-01 |
20140122215 | TECHNIQUES TO MAXIMIZE RETAIL TRAFFIC - Techniques for maximizing retail traffic are provided. A retailer defines or provides a service to automatically define a promotion to increase retail traffic and business. The promotion is dynamically delivered to specific consumers based on defined criteria for selecting the specific consumers. The promotion is automatically turned off when a desired level of traffic is reached at the retailer. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122216 | POINT OF SALE PAYMENT METHOD - The invention concerns a method of making a payment transaction between a customer and a merchant using a payment card ( | 2014-05-01 |
20140122217 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING DIGITAL BUNDLES OF SERVICES - Systems and methods are disclosed for bundling digital services for users. In accordance with one implementation, a method comprises storing, in a memory device, information related to a set of digital services, the set digital services being implemented by a plurality of different service providers. The method also includes aggregating, based on the stored information, the set of digital services into a bundle and providing, to a user, access to the bundle of digital services through a graphical user interface. The method may also include generating, with at least one processor, a set of tokens, each token associating the user with at least one digital service in the bundle. Additionally, the method may include providing at least one token, from the set of tokens, to one of the plurality of different service providers in order to activate one of the digital services for the user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122218 | GENERATING TARGETED GROUP BASED OFFERS TO INCREASE SALES - A method, system and computer program product for increasing the sales of a retailer. A unit, referred to herein as the “retailer promotions device,” generates a group offer for a set of users/customers to purchase a product based on intelligent analytics (e.g., real-time attributes/dynamics such as the strategy in selling the remaining inventory). A group offer refers to an offer to sell a product at a promotional price if a number of users (e.g., users of mobile devices and/or customers online and/or customers in a physical store) agree to purchase the product at the promotional price within a time period. The group offer is sent to targeted users/customers via online and mobile devices as well as via electronic displays and kiosks in the physical store. By using real-time attributes/dynamics to generate group offers that can be sent to targeted users/customers, the sales of the retailer are likely to be increased. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122219 | CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - A method of analyzing customer relationships in response to promotional efforts is disclosed. The method includes: enabling gaming activity by patrons; providing a server that includes an interaction database that stores interaction data, wherein the interaction data includes gaming activity and patron information; accessing data from the server, using a data retrieval system, based on patron information; defining a promotional group of the patrons; defining a control group of the patrons, wherein the patrons in the promotional group and the patrons in the control group have all engaged in gaming activity; initiating promotional efforts only to the promotional group of the patrons; and enabling retrieval and analysis of data from the interaction database, using a promotional analyzer, related to interactions involving patrons in the promotional group after the promotional efforts. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122220 | APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MEASURING, AND FOLLOWING UP ON USER PREFERENCES AMONG OFFER TYPES AND RESPONSE OPTIONS IN A MARKETING CAMPAIGN - Apparatuses, methods and systems for sharing content among users of an information acquisition system. A processor operating on a server accumulates interest activity information and user situational information provided by a mobile device. The interest activity information comprises user identifying information. A dynamic portion of a user profile associated with the user identifying information is updated with the accumulated user activity information and the accumulated user situational information. A first rule is applied to the user profile to select information from an information database. The user profile comprises a quasi-static portion and the updated dynamic portion. A second rule is applied to the selected content to identify the selected information as shared content or as private content in the user profile. A reply message is generated using the selected information and sent to the mobile device. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122221 | OPTIMIZING BIDDING WITH MULTIPLE CAMPAIGN TYPES - A method, system, and computer program product for optimizing bidding over multiple advertising campaigns having a least two campaign types. The optimization is subjected to at least one constraint quantifying a multiple campaign spending limit amount. The method commences by identifying a collection of the multiple advertising campaigns, then evaluating each of the constituent member advertising campaigns to determine its respective optimized spending amount. Then the method calculates (e.g., sums) an aggregate spending amount by aggregating the individual campaign spending amounts. When the aggregate spending amount is greater than the multiple campaign constraint, then the method apportions the multiple campaign spending limit amount to the constituent member advertising campaigns which is in turn used to determine a reduced spending limit. The time period under which the spending is optimized can be any time period suited for forming bids to bid on inventory of impressions into which advertisements can be placed. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122222 | CUSTOMIZING ONLINE CONTENT FOR A USER - A first content includes a set of first components. A first feedback mechanism is associated with at least one first component. A second feedback mechanism is associated with the first content. A user response to the first and second feedback mechanisms is received. A second component is provided based on the user response for use in displaying at a user interface in place of at least one of the first components. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122223 | ENHANCED ADSERVING METRIC DETERMINATION - A user can view creative from multiple locations (same laptop) and multiple devices (work computer, home computer, tablet, smartphone). The user can also adjust their privacy settings on their browser to accept or reject cookies and/or have anti-spam/spyware software that regularly deletes cookies. An enhanced counting method uses first-party cookie technology to track users across access channels and across privacy settings on their browser. The non-acceptance and deletion of cookies causes the accuracy of the traditional third-party cookie calculated reach and frequency calculations to vary widely. First-party cookies reduce this variability but are still subject to non-acceptance or deletion so additional actions need to be taken to provide the opportunity for accurate reports. Additional steps to increase the accuracy of reach and frequency reporting are provided. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122224 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING PREVALENCE OF DIGITAL CONTENT ON THE WORLD-WIDE-WEB - The present invention is a system, method and computer program product for tracking and measuring digital content that is distributed on a computer network such as the Internet. The system collects online advertisement data, analyzes the data, and uses the data to calculate measurements of the prevalence of those advertisements. The system processes raw traffic data by cleansing and summarizing the traffic data prior to storing the processed data in a database. An advertisement sampling system uses site selection and definition criteria and a probe map to retrieve Web pages from the Internet, extract advertisements from those Web pages, classify each advertisement, and store the data in a database. A statistical summarization system accesses the processed raw traffic data and the advertisement data in the database to calculate advertising prevalence statistics including the advertising frequency, impressions, and spending. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122225 | ADVERTISER DRIVEN ENGAGEMENT FOR PRODUCT SEARCHES - An advertiser-driven single page product search and purchase process may be simplified for consumers. When a product search is performed, a single page may be rendered to the consumer that includes the necessary information to enable a consumer to avoid multiple searches and switching frequently between other tabs and pages. The single page may also provide an option to the advertiser to monitor these interactions so that the advertiser may perform an active role in the product search and purchase process. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122226 | HYBRID ADVERTISING SUPPORTED AND USER-OWNED CONTENT PRESENTATION - A computer implemented method and media performance apparatus. Content items include user owned content and advertising supported content. A determination is made as to whether a next content item for presentation is an advertising supported content item or a user-owned content item. The content item is present if the next content item for presentation is a user-owned content item, and, if not, add to a count if the next content item is an advertising supported content item. An advertisement is presented prior to performing any next advertising supported content item when the count reaches a threshold number. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122227 | TARGETING MARKETING MESSAGES BASED ON USER PREFERENCES - Methods, computer systems, and computer-storage medium for generating an advertisement-targeting profile based on learned user preferences are provided. An indication that a user is interacting with marketing messages on one or more Web pages is received. Each marketing message comprises a plurality of attributes. A set of attributes that is shared across the marketing messages is determined; the set of attributes comprises, in part, a subset of incentives. An advertisement-targeting profile comprising user preferences related to the set of attributes is generated. The advertisement-targeting profile is used, in part, to generate predefined marketing-message elements that may be used to modify marketing messages to increase user responsiveness to the messages. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122228 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EMERGENT DATA PROCESSING - A method and system for emergent data processing are described. A system having one or more servers operable to handle retail data can receive content including customer data and product data. The content can be normalized and stored into a hyper-graph structure in the servers. The system can be used to select a portion of the hyper-graph structure based on a particular customer and to generate a recommendation for the particular customer based on the content in that portion of the hyper-graph structure. The system can also generate personal catalogs based on the information in the hyper-graph structure. The system can perform competitive analysis between products from different sources and include the results in the recommendations. Moreover, the system can perform a vertical analysis of consumable products to provide recommendations for tools or products that can be used in connection with the consumable products. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122229 | TECHNIQUES FOR RECOMMENDING A RETAILER, RETAIL PRODUCT, OR RETAIL SERVICES - Techniques for recommending a retailer, retail products, or retail services are provided. Retail preferences and preferences for specific products and services of a specific retail type are aggregated for a consumer. These preferences are analyzed and clustered with other consumers so that retailer, retail product, and retail service recommendations can be automatically and dynamically made to the consumer. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122230 | QUEUE MANAGEMENT - Disclosed are methods and devices for queue management that allow a person waiting in the queue to choose to receive at least one warning communication, for example on a wireless communication device such as a cellular telephone. In some embodiments, the person agrees to “buy” the warnings and concomitant free time by agreeing to pay for at least one warning communication and/or by agreeing to accept advertisements. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122231 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERACTIVE PROMOTION OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES - A method and system for interactively promoting the sale of a product or service are described. The method and system includes capturing an image of a consumer with a video camera. Next, a biometric scan of the image may be conducted to determine if at least one biometric has been recognized from the scan. The biometric scan usually comprises a facial recognition scan. If one biometric has been recognized from the scan, the system may access a database comprising biometrics associated with at least one of browsing history, purchase history, and preference data associated with a consumer. The system may then display advertising images on a display device comprising a product or service augmented with one or more images of the consumer and which correspond with data stored in the database. The system may convey options for initiating a sale and preserving the sale of the product or service. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122232 | DYNAMIC ADVERTISING - Embodiments of the present invention dynamically generate customized online advertisements. A dynamic advertisement may take the form of a paid search result. The advertisement is dynamic in the sense that all of or portions of the advertisement are generated using content from a web page operated by an entity associated with the advertisement. The web page used to generate the dynamic ad may be the entity's most responsive web page within normal search results. Embodiments of the invention use content from the most responsive web page to generate one or more dynamic ad features. Possible dynamic ad features include the title of the advertisement, a landing page of the advertisement, a caption on the advertisement, and a dynamic annotation of the advertisement. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122233 | USER-ADVERTISER BARGAINING IN SEARCH RESULTS - As disclosed in this document, various methods, computer-readable media, and/or computer systems are described for providing search-related services. These search-related services include providing an item list to one or more computer users in which a computer user can add an item for monitoring and/or bargaining with an advertiser. In responding to a search query, a search results page is generated that includes responsive search results. The search results page further includes one or more advertised items. Proximate to at least some of these advertised items is a user-actionable control which, when activated by a computer user, causes the advertised item to be placed on an item list corresponding to the computer user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122234 | ENTITY BASED ADVERTISEMENT TARGETING - Various aspects of the subject technology relate to systems, methods, and machine-readable media for targeting an advertisement based on an entity. A system is configured to receive a search query submitted by a user, identify an entity in a concept entity graph based on the search query, determine whether an advertisement corresponds to the identified entity, and provide, if the advertisement corresponds to the entity, the advertisement for display to the user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122235 | DETERMINING AD TARGETING INFORMATION AND/OR AD CREATIVE INFORMATION USING PAST SEARCH QUERIES - Ad information, such as ad targeting keywords and/or ad creative content for example, may be determined using aggregated selected document-to-query information associations. For example, popular terms and/or phrases also associated with a selected document may be used as ad targeting keywords and/or ad creative content for an ad having the document as a landing page. Query information may be tracked on a per document level, a per domain level, etc. The determined ad information may be used to automatically populate an ad record, or may be provided to an advertiser as suggested or recommended ad information. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122236 | SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING OFFERS USING A BILLING STATEMENT - A billing statement according to one aspect of the invention includes a description of a transaction and an offer pointer associated with the transaction, wherein the offer pointer includes information that may be used to review an offer. In one example of this aspect, a telephone number or a hyperlink is provided adjacent to a total amount owed listed on a statement (e.g., an electronically-displayed billing statement). The offers reviewed may be customized, for example, based on details of the transaction such as the product purchased or the amount of the purchase, the identity of the consumer, and/or on other data. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122237 | CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES AMONG PARTICIPANTS OF MULTIPLE CHANNEL MARKETING NETWORKS - A marketing system, also referred to as a platform, is disclosed which facilitates centralized management of marketing activities among multiple participants of multiple channel marketing networks, where the marketing activities may include determination of one or more consumers to which marketing content is to be presented and a provision of marketing content thereto. In particular, the disclosed technology platform allows members of a channel marketing network, including, for example, sponsors/OEMs, distributors, buying groups, and resellers, to link to each other to create connections that allow a secure and managed exchange of marketing content, funding and contact data, for the purpose of executing shared business processes, such as co-marketing related processes, and having access to the results thereof. An advertising platform is provided which facilitates participant discovery and channel network formation, segregates marketing activities between channel marketing networks and among the participants of a particular channel marketing network, generates and conducts marketing campaigns on behalf of participants based on internally generated and/or participant provided marketing content and directed to participant identified contacts, facilitates the funding of those marketing campaigns by one or more participants, and facilitates gathering and evaluation of the results thereof. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122238 | COUPON OFFER PERSONALIZATION - A method for coupon offer personalization includes receiving information related to a location and a search criterion for coupon offers, and outputting coupon offers for selection based on the location and the search criterion. The method includes evaluating a selection history of coupon offers selected by a user from the output coupon offers. The method further includes determining if the selected coupon offers are a predetermined distance apart, and determining if a number of the selected coupon offers exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the selected coupon offers are the predetermined distance apart and if the number of the selected coupon offers exceeds the predetermined threshold, the method includes designating a location of the selected coupon offers as a location of interest to the user. The method further includes determining additional coupon offers in proximity to the location of interest to the user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122239 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TARGETING MESSAGES TO TRAVELERS - A computer-implemented method of targeting electronic messages to travelers, comprising performing processing associated with: utilizing geographic information comprising itinerary information, to determine where the travelers are currently and/or are projected to be during a given time period; creating a list of travelers which categorizes the geographic information and/or traveler information about the travelers on the list; electronically notifying a merchant with information related to the list and the current geographic information and/or current traveler information of the travelers on the list; receiving an electronic request from the merchant to transmit an electronic targeted message to some or all of the travelers on the list; and transmitting the electronic targeted message to some or all of the travelers on the list. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122240 | RECURRING REVENUE ASSET SALES OPPORTUNITY GENERATION - A filtered set of service assets can be selected for use as a source population for opportunity generation in a recurring revenue management system. The selecting can include applying a filter to a data set comprising service asset data for a plurality of service assets. Each service asset in the plurality of the service assets can include an expiration date. The filter can include a range of expiration dates corresponding to a targeted selling period. Anew service offer can be created based on at least one specific rule defined for the commercial entity for service assets in the selected set. The creating Can include applying one or more offer creation parameters, determining reference information for expiring assets in the data asset model, and verifying a chosen service level. The new service offer can be assigned to at least one sales team. Related methods, systems, and computer program products are described. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122241 | Method and Apparatus for Injecting Advertisements into Mobile Documents - Techniques for injecting advertisements into mobile documents delivered to mobile devices are presented. Mobile documents are generated that are dynamically sized to the display of the mobile devices and relevant advertisements are also dynamically sized for use in the mobile documents. The mobile documents include an optical code that is encoded with information about a purchase by a customer and allow the customer access to the purchase, for example, an airline boarding pass, event pass or the like. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122242 | PRE-ASSOCIATION MECHANISM TO PROVIDE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF WIRELESS SERVICES - In an example embodiment, an apparatus comprising a transceiver configured to send and receive data and logic coupled to the transceiver. The logic is configured to determine from a signal received by the transceiver whether an associated device sending the signal supports a protocol for advertising available services. The logic is configured to send a request for available services from the associated device via the transceiver responsive to determining the associated device supports the protocol. The logic is configured to receive a response to the request via the transceiver, the response comprising at least one service advertisement and a signature. The logic is configured to validate the response by confirming the signature. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122243 | Managing Sponsored Content for Delivery to Mobile Communication Facilities - A system for targeted delivery of advertising of a first or second sponsor to a plurality of cellular phones of a first or second type by way of a real-time competitive bid auction process includes (a) presenting to a first and second sponsor data corresponding to a model of the first type and the second type of cellular phone; (b) receiving from each sponsor advertising corresponding to the rendering capability associated with each model of cellular phone; (c) attributing a priority to the delivery of the advertising based upon a resultant yield determination; and (d) transmitting the appropriate advertising to the types of cellular phones having the corresponding rendering capabilities of the advertising. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122244 | PERSONAL AUGMENTED REALITY ADVERTISING - Personal augmented reality advertising involves detecting a proximity between a participant's mobile device and a viewer's mobile device. An identifier of the participant's mobile device and biometric data that describes the participant have both been made publicly available. The biometric data is obtained in response to detecting the proximity between the participant's mobile device and the viewer's mobile device. A match is detected between the biometric data of the participant and an image captured from a sensor of the viewer's mobile device. In response to detecting the match, the captured image and an advertisement presented with the captured image is presented in the viewer's mobile device. The advertisement is associated with the participant. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122245 | METHOD FOR AUDIENCE PROFILING AND AUDIENCE ANALYTICS - Embodiments of a method for generating reports are illustrated. In an embodiment, the method includes receiving a log record from a tracking component that is located on a plurality of web pages. The method includes extracting a plurality of user features for a plurality of users based on the at least one log record. The method further includes determining a first mapping between the plurality of users and a plurality of user features, and a second mapping between the plurality of users and a plurality of advertisement campaign descriptors. The method also includes merging the first mapping and the second mapping to create a merged data model, and analyzing the merged data model to generate reports. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122246 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGEMENT OF EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS - Systems, programs, non-transitory computer readable mediums, and methods of managing multiple and concurrent online advertising campaigns to eliminate user fatigue are disclosed. In particular, a campaign management server generates multiple target lists of users from a data warehouse for a plurality of pre-defined online advertising campaigns. The users on the target lists are selected to receive electronic communications, such as email or text, containing advertisements based upon target profiles associated with the campaigns as determined by marketing objectives. The advertising campaigns are prioritized such that users on a target list of a higher prioritized campaign are suppressed from lower prioritized campaigns in order to insure that the users receive a predetermined number of electronic communications within a set time frame. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122247 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ORDERING PRODUCTS - The present invention relates to a system for product ordering in a communications network ( | 2014-05-01 |
20140122248 | Digital Advertising System - A digital advertising system includes an advertisements module that provides a number of digital advertisements for display on a digital display device. A digital al sign module including the digital display device displays digital advertisements provided by the advertisements module, and captures video analytics data relating to previous viewers of the digital advertisements displayed by the digital sign module. A data mining module retrieves the video analytics data from the digital sign module and generates trained advertising models based thereon using a data mining algorithm. A content management system module coupled to the advertisements module and the data mining module receives the digital advertisements and the trained advertising models and generates a subset of the advertisements for display based on the trained advertising models. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122249 | SPONSORED STORY CREATION USING INFERENTIAL TARGETING - A method includes monitoring an activity stream to identify actions that match stored sponsored story specifications, for providing one or more sponsored stories to a viewing user. The sponsored story specifications include a visual specification for the sponsored story, and matched sponsored stories are ranked for a viewing user. Users can set privacy preferences related to sponsored stories. The ranking and privacy settings contribute to which sponsored stories are provided for display to the viewing user. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122250 | PROVIDING ONLINE PROMOTIONS THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORK PLATFORMS - Systems and methods for providing online promotions integrated with social network-based platforms are disclosed. Promotion details such as rules, offered prizes, incentives and descriptions, survey questions, display banners, terms and conditions, privacy policy, and social networks to integrate the promotion with, are provided by the sponsoring organization to a server. The server generates a custom promotion application or widget for integrating with the organization's social network webpage external to social networks. A participant enters the promotion through these webpages or other links and lists friends in the social network to receive an invitation to enter the promotion. Viral features such as friend invite features, newsfeeds, minifeeds, other features that display online activities of users and people in the users' social network, notifications, requests, and other social media-based platform features to deliver messages to members of the one or more social networks further spread the word about the organization's promotion. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122251 | CONTENT FILE DOWNLOADING OVER A NETWORK WITH USAGE RIGHTS - A method of distributing content over a network comprising: providing a content file comprising media content from a content source; providing an advertisement file comprising advertisement content from an advertisement provider, combining said content file and said advertisement file into a combined file in playable format, configured such that a location within said combined file of said advertisement content is substantially indistinguishable without playing said combined file; receiving requests from users for said content; debiting said advertisement provider with an advertisement fee; crediting said content source with said advertisement fee; and downloading said combined file to requesting users for playing thereof. The method allows a copyright holder to be paid for the download whilst the download remains free to the end user. The method may for example be applied to file sharing systems or to websites wishing to offer a ‘freebie’ to induce more site visiting. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122252 | CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES SYSTEM AND APPARATUS - Systems, methods, distributed networks, and computer-readable media are provided that relate to recruiting and employment services. Background information associated with talent-capability attributes is received from talent. Job description information is received from employers. Prospective matches are identified between employers and talent, and employers and talent are given an opportunity to consent to exchange of talent contact information. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122253 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING BID ADJUSTMENTS IN AN ONLINE ADVERTISEMENT EXCHANGE - A system and method for implementing bid adjustments in an online advertisement exchange are disclosed. A plurality of bids from a plurality of advertisers may be received for an online advertisement opportunity. A first advertiser may be associated with a first bid bias value. In some embodiments, if the first advertiser is associated with a first bid bias value, then the bid received from the first advertiser may be adjusted based on the first bid bias value. For example, an adjusted bid may be calculated based on the bid received from the first advertiser and the first bid bias value. The online advertisement exchange may conduct an online auction with the adjusted bid from the first advertiser. If the first advertiser wins the auction based on the adjusted bid, then the first advertiser may be charged the value of the bid received from the first advertiser instead of the adjusted bid value. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122254 | COMPOSITE BIDDING SYSTEM - Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media that may be used to allow composite bidding in auctions are provided. One method includes receiving a plurality of initial bids. Each initial bid includes a bid amount for a content item to be displayed. The method further includes receiving one or more supplemental bids. Each of the supplemental bids is associated with one or more of the plurality of initial bids and comprises a supplemental amount. The method further includes determining, for each of the initial bids, a combined bid amount based on the bid amount of the initial bid and the supplemental amount of any supplemental bids associated with the initial bid. The method further includes determining one or more of the plurality of initial bids to win the auction based on the combined bid amounts. | 2014-05-01 |
20140122255 | STORY-BASED, MULTI-SCREEN ADVERTISING FRAMEWORK - A responsive advertising system is described herein that provides an advertising solution for responsive, multi-screen website design. The system allows an advertisement to change based on events, actions of the user, or other criteria that the advertiser specifies, such that the actual content of the advertisement evolves in a kind of story line. If a user first accesses a website with an embedded advertisement on the user's desktop computer, the user may see a first version of the advertisement. If the user accesses the site again from the user's smartphone or other mobile device, then the system can serve a different version of the advertisement. Thus, the system provides an advertisement authoring and serving platform that allows for the creation of a new type of highly responsive advertisement that changes over time and across devices to tell a cohesive story and does so in a unified advertising unit format. | 2014-05-01 |