51st week of 2014 patent applcation highlights part 60 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140372151 | PROVISION OF INSURANCE PRODUCTS - In embodiments, methods, storage media, and apparatuses are described that are associated with provisioning of insurance products. In various embodiments, a request for an insurance product associated with an event may be received. A plurality of insurance underwriters may be identified that agree to automated payment of individual payment amounts upon occurrence of the event. Assets and/or lines of credit of the insurance underwriters may be encumbered to provide for automated taking of the individual payment amounts upon occurrence of the event. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372152 | System and Method of Calculating the Pricing of Credit Based on Engagement with a Driver Programme - A system and method of calculating the pricing of credit based on engagement with a driver programme includes receiving data including information relating to the compliance of a driver in a plurality of programme areas related to motor vehicle driver behaviours and storing the data in a database. Points are awarded to the driver wherein the points allocated are related to the compliance of the driver in the programme areas and the points allocated are used as one factor to calculate the pricing of credit for the driver wherein the higher the degree of compliance with the programme the cheaper the pricing of the credit. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372153 | COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING THIRD PARTY COMPUTER SYSTEM DATA INCLUDING GEOGRAPHIC REGION DATA - A computer system for processing risk mitigation data includes calculating line-of-business payout factors for computing losses associated with one or more instruments such that the losses substantially replicate industry losses, and is configured to determine payout amounts based on a value of an event index based on a load factor and, for at least two lines of business, a loss index by individual geographic region, and payout factors for selected combinations of individual geographic region and line of business for at least one of one or more risk classes, each risk class representing one or more risks, and reported industry loss data. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372154 | AUTOMATED TRAVEL TRACKING SYSTEM - A system for monitoring travel of users is provided. The system includes a computing arrangement coupled via a communication network to communication devices of the users, the computing arrangement being operable to execute software products stored on machine-readable data storage media. The computing arrangement is operable to store travel itineraries of the users, to send messages to the communication devices of users when implementing their travel itineraries and enable the users to respond to the messages by sending corresponding responses from their communication devices such that the corresponding responses are checked by the computing arrangement against the travel itineraries to determine whether there arises a deviation therefrom. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372155 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PARKING RESERVATION AND FINDING PARKING SPACE SUITABLE FOR USER'S VEHICLE SIZE - In implementation, a computer-implemented method, a system, and a non-transitory computer readable medium for managing parking space availability in a parking zone is disclosed. The computer-implemented method includes obtaining a request for a parking reservation for a parking space in a parking zone for a vehicle from a client device, wherein the client device is associated with a user, a vehicle, or both the user and the vehicle; determining that a parking space is available in the parking zone for the vehicle; and providing the parking reservation to the client device. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372156 | Ticket Scalping Prevention Using a Networked System and Re-Usable Auxiliary Devices - A networked server system which can be organized in both a centralized and decentralized fashion that prevents ticket scalping, uses multi-use auxiliary devices instead of tickets allowing tickets to be transferred between individuals and resold within the system, eliminates the need for paper tickets, and provides greater anti-fraud and anti-counterfeiting security. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372157 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TIME SERIES DATA ANALYTICS MARKETPLACE - A plurality of analytics in a cloud-based environment is accessed. Each of the plurality of analytics performs an operation on time series data. Within the cloud-based environment, a selected one or more of the plurality of analytics is chosen. A set of time series data is uploaded to the cloud-based environment and the selected one of the plurality of analytics is optimized on that set of time series data. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372158 | Determining Optimal Decision Trees - The current subject matter relates to generation, modification, export, and/or import of decision trees, based on which optimal treatments (for example, offers) can be assigned to various records (for example, customers). A tree-generating application can receive constraints characterizing specifications for a decision tree desired by the user of the tree-generating application. The tree-generating application can generate a mathematical equation based on the constraints. The tree-generating application can receive, from a first database, historical data characterizing treatments provided to a plurality of representative customers having corresponding attributes. The tree-generating application can execute a simplex method of linear programming to search for the decision tree desired by the user from a plurality of decision trees stored in a second database stored in a second database. The tree-generating application can send the decision tree to a tree-using application. The tree-using application can use the decision tree to determine a treatment for a customer. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372159 | SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZATION OF GROUP INTERACTION - At least one aspect of this invention relates to a system, apparatus, and method for optimizing the interaction of large groups of people, such as, but not limited to large numbers of students enrolled in massive open online courses (MOOCs) or large audiences. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372160 | CONTEXT-AWARE MOBILE CROWDSOURCING - The subject disclosure is directed towards a context-aware mobile crowd sourcing service/system. Context information is automatically collected for a mobile device via mobile-device sensors. When a task is received that specifies context-related criteria, a worker is selected for that task based at least in part upon the context information associated with that worker's mobile device. Sensors on the device may be leveraged to capture information related to performing the task. Also described is a cross-platform task configuration that allows a task to be written once and run on different mobile device platforms. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372161 | Method for Generating a Discrete Forecasted Staff Report - A computer-implemented method is disclosed for generating a discrete forecasted staff report. The method commences with the definition of a set of shifts, each shift having daily and weekly time segments. Using these shifts, “baseline staff” coverage in then inputted into a work schedule to thereby meet, represent, or otherwise define an employer's current staff. Similarly, “projected staff” coverage is then determined in anticipation of meeting, representing, or otherwise defining a future staffing demand. With both “baseline staff” and “projective staff” in place, variance between the two is then calculated discretely throughout the work schedule for each daily and weekly time segment. The forecasted staff report is then generated such that the staffing information provided therein (such as, hiring suggestions) is composed as a function of preferably both (a) the variance and (b) at least one predefined staffing constraint. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372162 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SMART CONTEXTUAL CALENDARING BASED MEETING SCHEDULING - Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for contextual calendaring. Contextual calendaring can schedule meetings with varying states of blocking time slots based on users' behavior with respect to the participants, topics, and tasks or context of the meeting. For example, host H invites A for a meeting with the text “we must demo our ‘one-click video’ on Friday.” The contextual calendaring system knows that A isn't available on Friday, so can prioritize the task for A on Friday relative to the demo participants and schedule a ‘firm hold’ or can suggest an alternative person based on the topic and prior context who is available for the demo. The system can mine context information, and identify, based on the context information, a desired attendee and a priority. The system can place a soft hold on the calendar for the desired attendee based on the priority. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372163 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ADJUSTING COMPENSATION FOR TASKS - Method and system for dynamically adjusting compensation for one or more tasks are disclosed. The method includes estimating the compensation for each task in a batch of tasks based on at least one of a minimum wage for a task in the batch of tasks, one or more attributes associated with the worker, a number and type of tasks in the batch of tasks, or a target level of service. The compensation for the each task of the batch of tasks is then adjusted based on at least one of an observed level of service associated with the batch of tasks and the target level of service. The method is performed using a processor. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372164 | Method and System for Prioritizing a Plurality of Variable Speed Devices - A method, computer system, and computer readable medium for prioritizing a plurality of variable speed devices. The method includes: determining, for a first variable speed device, a cost dependent on an operating cost of the first variable speed device operating at part loads for a specified period of time, determining, for a second variable speed device, a second cost dependent on an operating cost of the second variable speed device operating at part loads for the specified period of time, and displaying on a graphical interface screen a listing of the first variable speed device and the second variable speed device in a priority order based on the cost and the second cost. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372165 | FAST 4-DIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCTION SCHEDUEL SIMULATION SYSTEM BASED ON OBJECT BEHAVIORS - A fast 4D construction schedule simulation systems based on object behaviors according to the present invention may comprise an object library storage for storing object data, a behavior library storage for storing behaviors according to object types of the object data, an instance behavior value input section for inputting behavior values of an instance created from the object data to be modeled, a modeling section for modelling the instance using the object data, the behaviors and the behavior values and a display for displaying a behavior of the modeled instance. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372166 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, E.G. CROP INVENTORIES - A system and a method for tracking agricultural commodities, such as crop inventories, is based on measuring a flow of crop through an equipment unit during a period of time, and determining the flow of crop through the unit to be a transfer event. More particularly, there is measured a quantity of crop in a first equipment unit; followed by a detection of a presence of one or more additional equipment units proximate the first equipment unit; and by a determination of at least one crop transfer event between the first equipment and at least one of the additional equipment units based on a change in the quantity of crop in the first equipment unit and the detection of presence. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372167 | System and Method for Providing a Capacity Reservation System for a Virtual or Cloud Computing Environment - A system and method are provided for determining workload reservations in a virtual or cloud computing environment, the method comprising: determining a workload to be booked and a time for which the booking is to be placed in the environment; modeling a future demand in the environment; modeling a future supply of hosts in the environment based on data obtained from the environment; executing a placement analysis using a future demand model, a future supply model, and at least one policy indicative of parameters of the placement; and using a result of the placement analysis in completing or rejecting a booking for the workload. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372168 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF INITIATING CONTACT WITH A PROSPECT - The technology disclosed relates to easily and efficiently initiating contact with a prospect. In particular, it relates to identifying colleagues of a sales representative that are connected to the prospect and further determining strength of relationships between the colleagues and the prospect. The strength of relationships is determined by logging levels of communication between the colleagues and the prospect on one or more communication media and calculating proximity metrics dependent on commentary provided by the colleagues about the prospect. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372169 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING BUSINESS RATINGS - The disclosed embodiments include methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for providing business ratings. The disclosed embodiments include, for example, a system that may be configured to access spending transaction data including at least a unique payor identifier, a payee description, a payee category code, and a postal code. The system may determine a payee identification for the spending transaction data by comparing the spending transaction data to a plurality of known payees having the same payee category code as the spending transaction data. Further, the system may access one or more historical spending transactions matching the payee category code, and generate a business rating score for a payee associated with the determined payee identification based on at least the determined one or more historical spending transactions. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372170 | Methods for organizing, qualifying, scoring, mapping and analyzing cultural data - A method is provided for quantification and mapping of cultural characteristics. Using an analytic engine, cultural attribute information is collected and organized by assigning binary scores to cultural tendencies. Using a cultural score engine coupled to the analytic engine, cultural attribute data is scored for each cultural attribute category to create scored data. Scored data is mapped to a graphic output using a map engine. Quantification of areas, organization priorities, or cultural tendencies associated with each graphic output is performed with an assessment engine. Comparing multiple cultures or scenarios affecting cultural attributes is executed by a comparison engine that compares multiple cultural graphic outputs in a single comparison graphic output of cultural tendencies. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372171 | Providing A Multi-Tenant Knowledge Network - A non-transitory computer-readable medium is disclosed comprising executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to effectuate a method comprising the steps of: obtaining raw data from a plurality of different data sources; analyzing the raw data to identify one or more data structures of the raw data and to tag data identifying at least one of the plurality of different data sources; generating a plurality of Universal Data Model (UDM) constructs, each UDM being based at least in part on the one or more data structures of the raw data and each UDM excluding the source-identifying data; redacting the source-identifying data from the raw data to generate anonymous raw data; and generating anonymous UDM transformed data by integrating the anonymous raw data by extracting, transforming, and loading the anonymous raw data such that the anonymous raw data conforms to the UDM construct. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372172 | METHOD AND COMPUTER SYSTEM TO FORECAST ECONOMIC TIME SERIES OF A REGION AND COMPUTER PROGRAM THEREOF - The method uses a computer device to receive as inputs socio-economic data of a region during a definite time period representing an economic time series that are stored in a first database, comprising: computing, during the same definite time period, the average values of each of a plurality of anonym and aggregated call records generated by individuals using a plurality of base stations of said region obtaining calling variables and computing from said calling variables calling variables' time series representing average temporal usage statistics that are stored in a second database; and building from said economic time series and said computed calling variables time series a model to forecast future values of the economic time series of said region. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372173 | HOME INVESTMENT REPORT CARD - A facility for forecasting the relative change in future value of a distinguished home located in a distinguished geographic area is described. Utilizing a combination of statistical and mathematical models, the facility reports the acquired relative change in future value for the distinguished home in the form of the “Home Investment Report Card” which provides easy to use information on all of the key variables affecting relative change in price through the use of letter grades. The facility then provides the Final Grade, which is the actual estimate for the distinguished home. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372174 | MULTIVARIATE REGRESSION ANALYSIS - There is disclosed apparatuses and methods for performing stepwise regression analysis on industry data. These apparatuses include a processor and memory which comprise circuits and software for performing the instructions on a storage medium comprising accessing a set of data specific to a business environment wherein the set of data comprises a set of values for a set of variables that describe a business environment; receiving a selection of a first variable from the set of variables; generating a correlation table, wherein the correlation table is generated by determining a correlation between the first variable and each remaining variable in the set of variables; and rank-ordering each of the remaining variables in the set of variables based on the correlation; and displaying the correlation table. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372175 | Method and system for detection, classification and prediction of user behavior trends - A method and system for detection, classification and prediction of user behavior trends using correspondence analysis is disclosed. The method and system reduces the n-dimensional feature space to lower dimensional space for easy processing, improved quality of emerging clusters and superior prediction accuracies. Further, the method applies the correspondence analysis so that each user is assigned with a new coordinate in the lower dimension which maintains a similarity, difference and the relationship between the variables. Once the correspondence analysis is completed, clustering or grouping of the coordinates based on the similar trends of the users is performed. Further, unlabeled cluster members are assigned class membership proportional to the labeled samples in the cluster. Finally, the method predicts the future actions of the users based on the past trends that are observed from the labeled clusters. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372176 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANONYMOUS DATA PROFILING - A method for a consumer to provide himself with timely and appropriate marketing data while remaining anonymous to the sources of the marketing data is described. The method includes self-generating an anonymous consumer profile for the consumer, providing access to the anonymous consumer profile to one or more entities, and receiving marketing data from the entities based on the anonymous consumer profile. The method also includes providing feedback on the received marketing data, the feedback becoming a part of the anonymous consumer profile, and repeating the receiving marketing data and providing feedback steps. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372177 | METHOD OF COLLECTING INFORMATION REGARDING ABSORBENT ARTICLES - Methods of collecting information from an individual regarding absorbent products are provided. A method entails collecting input information from an individual regarding absorbent product use wherein at least some of the information collected includes data generally known by most consumers. The method further entails collecting still or video image data from an individual consumer using a computing device and uploading the input information and still or video image data to a server. The input information and still or video image data is used to output data regarding the absorbent articles and to output a set of correlations between the visual data and the input information. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372178 | CORRELATING PRODUCT SALES TO STORE SEGMENTATION - Past sales data for a product sold at stores in a chain of retail stores is received by a computing device. For each segment, the stores in the chain are grouped into one or more clusters. The average sales of the product in each cluster and the average sales of the product in all of the stores are calculated based on the past sales data. A cluster variation and a total variation may be determined for each of the stores based on the past sales data. A correlation indicative of an effectiveness of the segmentation strategy to reduce sales variation between stores in each of the plurality of clusters may also be determined based on the at least cluster variation. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372179 | REAL-TIME SOCIAL ANALYSIS FOR MULTIMEDIA CONTENT SERVICE - The disclosure is related to a real-time analysis of social network service (SNS) data associated with a multimedia content service. Particularly, SNS users may be classified into active SNS users and non-active SNS users, based on an SNS activity amount. SNS data collection/analysis periods may be differently determined according to SNS user types. Furthermore, a statistical analysis result of the SNS data may be directly or indirectly provided to one or more user equipment such that the SNS data analysis result can be displayed along with a corresponding multimedia content. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372180 | MERCHANT DEMOGRAPHIC ESTIMATION METHODOLOGY - A system, a method, and a computer program product provide competitive data to a subscribing merchant regarding customers of the subscribing merchant and competing peer merchants. A computing device loads at least one microsegment hold table. The microsegment hold table is previously generated from demographic attributes regarding a plurality of individuals. The computing device identifies hashed recognition IDs associated with payment transactions completed at the subscribing merchant and competing peer merchants. The microsegment hold table and identified hashed recognition IDs are merged to generate a microsegment summary file. The microsegment summary file is transferred. The microsegment summary file and a microsegment definition file are merged to create a summary file indicating a number of identified recognition IDs associated with various statistics. The computing device is then utilized to summarize the various statistics according to microsegment demographic attributes and breaks to generate summarized demographics. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372181 | DEVICE FOR DETERMINING CONFIGURATION OF BUSINESS UNITS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING CONFIGURATION OF BUSINESS UNITS - The present invention determines a configuration of sites that enables low-cost operation under normal circumstances, and maintains the stockout rate of end products at an appropriate value when trouble occurs. A device for determining the configuration of sites, comprising: a storage unit for storing information about sites, including information about the names and classification of the sites, transportation information including information pertaining to supply routes between the sites, cost information including the cost generated by the manufacture and procurement of products and commodity items, and trouble probability information including the probability of trouble occurring at the sites; and a stockout rate and cost evaluation unit for calculating the stockout rate and cost of the end products by setting the lowermost stream of the information about the sites as the starting point and creating a plurality of combinations for the configuration of the sites while varying the allocation ratios of the supply routes included in the transportation information, setting a commodity item in the site constituting the uppermost stream in the information about the sites as a starting point for each of the resulting combinations for the configuration of the sites and tracing end users in accordance with the supply routes included in the transportation information, calculating the stockout rate of each of the commodity items for each of the sites from the trouble probability information, calculating the cost of each of the commodity items for each of the sites from the cost information, and accumulating the results. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372182 | REAL-TIME TRAILER UTILIZATION MEASUREMENT - A technique for real-time trailer utilization measurement includes a three-dimensional depth monitor operable to monitor loading of a trailer and a processor operable to determine trailer utilization in real-time during loading of the trailer using image information from the monitor. A graphical user interface can receive utilization information from the processor and display a visual representation of real-time loading of the trailer. Utilization is a ratio of cumulative package volume to currently loaded volume of the trailer, wherein the cumulative package volume is determined from dimensional scans of packages to be loaded in the trailer and the currently loaded volume is determined by the monitor. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372183 | TRAILER LOADING ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING - A technique for trailer loading assessment includes imaging loading of a trailer using a monitor. A next step includes detecting loading incidents related to package stacking quality during loading of the trailer using image information from the monitor. A next step includes bookmarking detected loading incidents. A next step includes scoring loading incidents. A next step includes displaying, on a graphical user interface, a visual representation of the loading incidents. The monitor can be an infrared three-dimensional depth camera operable to measure distance to a stacked wall of loaded packages, and a video camera operable to provide an optical image to detect loading incidents. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372184 | Quality control management system - The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing quality review of products and services using computer implemented technology. A wireless mobile device can be used to access information regarding products and services and enables the user to provide quality review data regarding those products and services. The reported user information regarding the quality of goods or services can be provided in real or near-real time and stored in a database or data warehouse to provide business intelligence for enrolled businesses. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372185 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATED CELLULAR PARKING WITH OCCUPANCY CONTROL - Methods for automatic parking of cars in a controlled parking occupancy-status area with unmarked parking spaces, and automatic cellular parking systems (ACPS) enabling such methods. The methods are performed without use of a dedicated in-car device and comprise monitoring of vehicles and parking space occupancy by parking sensors, association of a particular identified parking car with a precise unmarked parking space address and automatic start and termination of a parking session. In some embodiments, the identity of the parking car and associated parking space address are provided by the parking sensors without driver involvement. In some embodiments, the identity of the parking car is provided by the drives using cellular communications. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372186 | On-Demand Generating E-Book Content with Advertising - A method of providing fixed computer-displayable content in response to a consumer request for content is presented. Upon obtaining a digital image corresponding to the requested content, an advertisement is selected. The advertisement is to be included in an on-demand electronic content corresponding to the requested content. The advertisement is included with the digital image corresponding to the requested content. A fixed computer-displayable content corresponding to the requested content is generated. The fixed computer-displayable content is then provided to the consumer. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372187 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC PERSONALIZATION OF ELECTRONIC COUPON DISTRIBUTION AND REDEMPTION VIA MOBILE DEVICE - A computer-implemented method for generating coupons is provided. The method comprises receiving a request for a coupon from a publisher; responsive to the request selectively generating a coupon, said coupon comprising: (a) a unique coupon id; (b) code associated with a clipping button which when executed on a customer device configured to display the coupon together with media content and an ad unit associated with the media content, causes the customer device to send a clipping notification message including the coupon id to the coupon server system upon selection of the clipping button by a customer; sending the coupon to the publisher for displaying with said media content on the customer device; receiving the coupon clipping notification message from the customer device upon selection of the clipping button by the customer; and creating an association between the coupon id in the coupon clipping notification and the customer. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372188 | LOOPED INCENTIVE COMMERCE SYSTEM - A native virtual currency is awarded to parties of the system, for example potential customers of commercial parties, for use in commerce. The awarding entity, the system, itself accepts native virtual currency toward payment for system services provided to members, for example advertising a party's willingness to accept a native virtual currency in transactions and other commerce related services. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372189 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSUMER-BASED STORING, RETRIEVING AND TRANSMITTING OF PROMOTIONAL CONTENT TO OTHER CONSUMERS - A system and method for targeted delivery of promotional messages from a sender to a receiver are disclosed. The system includes a website providing access to a plurality of promotional messages, and comprises a web-based user interface enabling the sender to create a set of promotional targeting records. A promotional targeting record comprises the sender's communication identifier, a targeted destination's communication identifier, and a selected promotional message. The created promotional targeting records are stored in a database. After a communication transmission from the sender to the receiver, system application software is used to: obtain the communication identifiers of the sender and the receiver; search the database to identify a promotional targeting record with matching sender and receiver communication identifiers; and after identifying such a promotional targeting record, retrieve from the database and deliver to the receiver the promotional message associated with the identified promotional targeting record. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372190 | Methods for Providing Digital Incentives Including a Digital Incentives Switch for Matching Transactions and Incentives - Systems and methods for providing digital incentives or financial offsets including the steps of: providing a financial platform operable on a server computer and at least one database in electronic, digital communication over a network, the financial platform operable for financial services transactions; providing a database of profile data for the at least one user; developing a digital incentive program for stimulating financial transactions by at least one user, the digital incentive program including profile factors from the profile data of the at least one user; automatically providing at least one digital incentive to corresponding of the at least one user, the at least one digital incentive available for a redemption by each of the users, wherein the digital incentive has an electronic financial transaction value available for the redemption on any electronic financial transaction media, and wherein the redemption of the electronic financial transaction value of the digital incentive does not occur at a merchant level of the financial transactions. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372191 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE TRANSACTION INITIATION - A system and method for automatically issuing a machine credit in response to some electronic communications action by a user, enabling the distribution of physical rewards for actions such as updating their social status with their mobile device. The components of Applicant's invention include a dispensing machine connected to a network and a central server which can remotely issue a credit upon command. In one embodiment, a system monitor and a validation module housed in a central server, and a redemption module housed on a dispensing machine, which work in concert to provide a user with credit on the dispensing machine in response to the user performing certain requested or directed actions in a social media setting with their mobile device on otherwise on their mobile device. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372192 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY VALUING SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE IN REMOTE TRANSACTION INITIATION - A system and method for assigning a value to an electronic communications action by a user based on the social media profile of the user in the initiation of transactions based on some electronic communications action by a user, such as updating their social status with their mobile device. The value of the reward or distribution is variable as it is determined in real time from a calculation using the user's social media influence. The components of Applicant's invention include a system monitor, a validation module, and a redemption module, which work in concert to provide a user with a tangible and immediately usable reward of some value, or credit towards the same, in response to the user publishing or sending certain social status updates, messages, or posts with their mobile device, with the value awarded determined in real time. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372193 | CARD-LINKED ADVERTISEMENTS - Embodiments of the present invention automatically link users to card-linked offers. A card-linked offer is an incentive tied to a user's credit card or other form of electronic payment. To be eligible to receive offers, a user may choose to link one or more of their credit cards within the service. The incentive associated with the offer is automatically given to the user when a payment method linked to this service is used to make the purchase. Embodiments of the present invention automatically associate linked offers with users who are presumed to have an interest in the offer. Machine learning algorithms and classifiers may be used to identify a user's interests and match them with offers for a product or service that fits their interests. When an offer is autolinked, the user receives a notification. Various methods of providing the notification are possible including email, text, and geolocation-based notification. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372194 | EVENT SALE SYSTEM USING SOCIAL AUCTION AND METHOD THEREOF - Disclosed are an event sale system using a social auction and a method thereof capable of providing a balanced discount between sellers and purchasers by allowing the reserved purchasers to competitively select and determine a discount rate on their own until a predetermined accumulated discount rate is completely exhausted and the sellers to perform discount processing on the determined discount rate, and strengthening competitiveness using marketing tools differentiated due to various conditions further set by each seller. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372195 | ELECTRONIC REWARD SYSTEM - Data is detected from transaction systems, the data including a party's financial inflows, holding, outflows, payables and receivables. Data is also detected from location systems, the data including a party's proximity to a place or further party. Data is processed to determine if a reward should be triggered. Rewards are expressed as an amount of a virtual currency. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372196 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTING PROMOTIONAL CERTIFICATES - A system for distributing promotional certificates includes a system server and a user device. The system server has a processor and a memory. The memory is in communication with the processor and has at least one database embodied thereon. The database defines a plurality of users, a plurality of participating businesses, and a plurality of promotional certificates associated with the participating businesses. The processor is configured to associate in the memory each of the users with either an individual one of the participating businesses or a provider of the system server. The user device is associated with one of the users, and is in communication with the system server. The user device has a software application that is configured to present the promotional certificates for redemption at the participating businesses. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372197 | SYSTEMS, APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A PRICE POINT TO A CONSUMER FOR PRODUCTS IN AN ELECTRONIC SHOPPING CART OF THE CONSUMER - Systems, apparatuses and methods for dynamic targeting of advertising campaigns to consumers are described, which systems, apparatuses and methods may enable a merchant to offer an exclusive price point to one or more consumers that may be particularly receptive to the exclusive price point. An example system for providing an exclusive price point to a consumer for products in an electronic shopping cart of the consumer includes a processor, storage, and memory with instructions for hosting an electronic marketplace, gathering and generating product and consumer data, and/or providing affinity data to a merchant for use in targeting an advertising campaign. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372198 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COLLECTING AND MANIPULATING TRANSACTION DATA - Described herein are apparatus and methods for collecting and manipulating transaction data. For example, presented herein is an apparatus including: a first I/O port configured for connection to a point of sale device; a second I/O port configured for connection to a transaction recording device, wherein, as identified to the point of sale device, the apparatus is a proxy for the transaction recording device, and as identified to the transaction recording device, the apparatus is a proxy for the point of sale device, in at least a first operating mode; a processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to, upon connection of the first I/O port to the point of sale device and connection of the second I/O port to the transaction recording device: intercept information passed from the point of sale device connected to the first I/O port; identify, from the intercepted information, a particular type of data stream; after identifying the particular type of data stream, collect, from the intercepted data, data associated with the identified data stream; identify, from the data associated with the identified data stream, transaction data; and provide (e.g., to an external computing device) the transaction data. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372199 | ELECTRONIC COUPON SYSTEM - Provided is an electronic coupon system capable of saving, in a mobile information terminal, electronic coupons having high likelihood of being used by a user, from among electronic coupons delivered by digital broadcast radio waves, whereby the user can use the electronic coupons without forgetting. The electronic coupon system ( | 2014-12-18 |
20140372200 | Offer Privacy Controls - A user interface that requests offer information for an offer provided by a vendor is provided to the vendor's computing device. The offer information is received from the vendor's computing device where the offer information includes a vendor privacy setting that indicates whether the offer is private. A request is received from a consumer's computing device for available offers and a user interface containing the offer is provided to the consumer's computing device. An indication that the consumer selected the offer is received and the offer and the vendor privacy setting are stored. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372201 | PROMOTIONAL FORMS FOR ADVERTISING - One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for generating a promotional form and/or for maintaining a promotional activity catalog. For example, a promotional activity catalog comprising one or more promotional activities may be exposed to an advertiser entity (e.g., a restaurant business). A set of promotional activities selected from the promotional activity catalog may be identified (e.g., a coupon activity, a reserve table activity, a view slideshow activity, etc.). A promotional form, such as an interactive user interface, comprising promotional activity interfaces for the set of promotional activities may be generated. Monetization schemes may be associated with such promotional activity interfaces. In this way, the promotional form may comprise various promotional activities and/or monetization schemes. The promotional form may be presented to users to promote the advertiser entity (e.g., a user may reserve a table at the restaurant business through a reservation promotional activity interface within the promotional form). | 2014-12-18 |
20140372202 | PREDICTING PERFORMANCE OF CONTENT ITEMS USING LOSS FUNCTIONS - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for providing a content item. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a content item request. A set of candidate content items that are eligible to be provided in response to the content item request is identified. A performance measure is predicted for each candidate content item based at least in part on a loss function that specifies an economic cost of incorrectly predicting the performance measure for the candidate content item. The loss function can be based in part on a distribution of competing bid values for a set of previous content item impressions. A candidate content item can be selected for presentation based on the predicted performance measure for the candidate content items. The selected candidate content item is provided in response to the content item request. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372203 | QUALITY-WEIGHTED SECOND-PRICE AUCTIONS FOR ADVERTISEMENTS - Methods, computer systems, and computer-storage media are provided for utilizing a quality-weighted generalized second-price auction to rank, price, and allocate advertisements for presentation on a results page. Advertisements responsive to a search query are identified, and a rank score is determined for each of the advertisements. The rank score is determined based on a quality score associated with each of the advertisements as well as a bid price for each of the advertisements. The satisfied click-through-rate for an advertisement is used as a proxy metric for the quality score. The quality score is further used to determine the cost-per-click of the advertisement. Certain quality metrics may also be utilized to determine the number of advertisements that should be presented on the results page in order to maximize publisher revenue and minimize user cost. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372204 | Automatically Applying Tracking Codes to Electronic Content Published Via a Social Media Service - Systems and methods for are provided for automatically applying a tracking code to content items accessible via a social media service. In one embodiment, a method is executed by a processor. The processor generates a tracking code identifying a marketing campaign. The processor publishes the content item via the social media service with a link to an electronic content source and the tracking code. The processor generates analytics based on the tracking code. The analytics track multiple interactions with the electronic content source originating from the link to the electronic content source included with the content item as published via the social media service. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372205 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELECTING AND SERVING CONTENT ITEMS BASED ON VIEW PROBABILITY - A system may select and serve content items based on a view probability. The view probability may be determined using a view probability predictive model and one or more current viewability variables. Based on the determined view probability output by the view probability predictive model, a content item may be selected and served. A script may be included with or otherwise associated with the data output to effect presentation of the selected content item. The script outputs data indicative of whether the served content item is viewed on a display of a device. The script may output data indicating that the served content item is viewed when at least a predetermined percentage of the pixels of the served content item are within a viewable region for a period of time. A served content item may be determined to not have been viewed if a predetermined period of time elapses. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372206 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR FACILITATING DISPLAY OF CONTENT WITHIN APPLICATION PROGRAMS EXECUTING ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES - An application program interface (API) is operably associated with application programs executing on an electronic device and enables the application programs to retrieve, store, and display content. The API enables application programs to communicate with other application programs and to send/retrieve content to/from other application programs. In addition, the API is configured to perform various event accounting functions. A gateway communicates with an electronic device application program via the API and is configured to retrieve content from a content server in response to receiving requests from the application programs. The gateway is configured to serve content retrieved from the content server to the electronic device, as well as to other servers and/or devices. Methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for dynamically selecting advertisements for use within user-requested content wherein the advertisements are stored locally within a user client device. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372207 | PROFIT INDEX VALUE GENERATION SYSTEM AND PROFIT INDEX VALUE GENERATION METHOD - A profit index value generation system includes a profit index value calculating unit. The profit index value calculating unit calculates a profit index value related to a link destination web page in accordance with (i) a selection probability value that indicates a probability of selection of link information, the link information being posted on a link source web page displayed on a display screen of a terminal and being linked to the link destination web page on which advertisement information is posted, and (ii) an expected profit value that indicates an amount of profit which is expected to be generated as a result of the advertisement information being displayed on the display screen together with the link destination web page. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372208 | DYNAMIC BLOCKING OF TARGETED ADVERTISEMENTS BASED ON USER EVENT OCCURRENCES - A targeted advertising method is presented here. The method receives, at a targeted advertising management system, an incident report for a user. The incident report indicates an event occurrence that involves the user. The method continues by obtaining advertisement blackout criteria based on the event occurrence, and communicating the advertisement blackout criteria to a presentation device associated with the user. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372209 | REAL-TIME ADVERTISEMENT BASED ON COMMON POINT OF ATTRACTION OF DIFFERENT VIEWERS - An apparatus for advertising includes a focal direction module that uses cameras to determine a direction of focus of attention of a plurality of persons by determining a direction of the head of each person located in a vicinity of a plurality of products. A focus extrapolation module extrapolates the direction of focus for each person. A product focus module determines, for each product, a number of persons that have a direction of focus on the product. The determination is based on the extrapolated direction of focus for each person. A ranking module ranks each product based on the number of persons with a direction of focus on a product. A advertising module displays an advertisement in view of at least a portion of the plurality of persons, and the content of the advertisement is based on a ranking by the ranking module. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372210 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SERVING ADVERTISEMENTS RELATED TO SEGMENTS OF A MEDIA PROGRAM - A system and method that receives, over a network (e.g., from a client device), an audio clip associated with a portion of a media program, determines, based on the audio clip, that the media program is a specific media program, determines a product associated with a segment of the specific media program, determines a keyword associated with the product, submits the keyword to an advertisement platform for use in a keyword auction, receives an advertisement from the advertisement platform, and communicates the advertisement to a client device at a predetermined time. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372211 | REAL-TIME ADVERTISEMENT BASED ON COMMON POINT OF ATTRACTION OF DIFFERENT VIEWERS - A method for providing real-time advertisements includes using one or more cameras to determine a direction of focus of attention of a plurality of persons by determining a direction of the head of each person of the plurality of persons located in a vicinity of a plurality of products. The method includes extrapolating the direction of focus for each person of the plurality of persons and determining, for each product of the plurality of products, a number of persons of the plurality of persons that have a direction of focus on the product where the determination is based on the extrapolated direction of focus for each person. The method includes ranking each product based on the number of persons with a direction of focus on a product of the plurality of products and displaying an advertisement where content of the advertisement is based on the ranking of each product. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372212 | RELEVANCE INDEX CORRECTION APPARATUS AND RELEVANCE INDEX CORRECTION METHOD - A relevance index correction apparatus includes an attribute information obtainer, a relevance index generator, and a specific relevance index calculator. The attribute information obtainer obtains, in response to selection of a specific piece of advertisement information that is to be posted on a web page, attribute information related to the specific piece of advertisement information. The relevance index generator generates an apparent relevance index and a mean relevance index. The apparent relevance index indicates an apparent degree of relevance of the attribute information with respect to the specific piece of advertisement information. The mean relevance index indicates a mean degree of relevance of the attribute information with respect to all of a plurality of pieces of advertisement information. The specific relevance index calculator calculates a specific relevance index that indicates a true degree of relevance of the attribute information with respect to the specific piece of advertisement information. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372213 | ADVOCATE ADVICE - Systems and methods for creating connections for advocate advice are provided. Various embodiments of the present invention relate to identifying users as experts/advocates in a particular area and connecting the experts/advocates with users of a social network. The experts/advocates can be self-identified or identified through a selection process. For example, products owned by a particular user can be identified (e.g., manually or automatically), and the particular user can opt-in as an advocate for those products. In some embodiments, various rewards can be provided to encourage participation at different levels. The experts/advocates can provide recommendations based on subject matter selected by the user (e.g., twins, pregnancy, cancer, phone type, etc.) with or without any friendship connections. In addition, the experts/advocates can be recommended to users of the social network based one or more social signals. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372214 | TARGETED MARKETING TO ON-HOLD CUSTOMER - Systems and methods are described for delivering targeted content to a customer through a voice response unit (VRU). When the customer calls into the VRU, the customer is prompted to enter identification information. A unique customer identification code (UCIC) associated with the customer is used to look up an anonymized customer profile stored by a third party server. An advertisement identification code (ADIC) associated with the anonymized customer profile is used to identify targeted offers for the customer. The customer is then informed of the targeted offers verbally by the VRU. Optionally, the customer is presented with details of the offer verbally via the VRU. According to another aspect, the customer can select alternate media for delivery of the offer details (e.g., email, text message, etc.). | 2014-12-18 |
20140372215 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ADVERTISING USING RELATED SEARCH SITE LINKS - An advertiser computer system is described. A key phrase advertising index includes a plurality of key phrases. A relational data generator generates a set of related suggestions for each key phrase. An advertisement construction module stores an advertisement for each respective key phrase and inserts the related suggestions for the respective key phrase in the advertisement. A bidding engine is used for bidding on a key phrase on a search engine computer system. A user at a user computer system selects one of the related suggestions and a related suggestion execution engine receives the request signal from the user computer system. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372216 | CONTEXTUAL MOBILE APPLICATION ADVERTISEMENTS - Aspects of the subject disclosure are directed towards retrieving advertisements relevant to application content based upon keywords extracted from the application content. In one aspect, a client-side component scrapes application page content to obtain keywords and feature-based weights for those keywords. The keywords are sent to an advertisement server, which returns an advertisement based upon one or more of the keywords. Also described is the hashing of keywords before sending to the advertisement server to protect client privacy, and the use of a Bloom filter to avoid sending keywords to the advertisement server that do not correspond to (e.g., popular) advertisement keywords. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372217 | OPTIMAL ZOOM INDICATORS FOR MAP SEARCH RESULTS - A system, method and computer program product for indicating an optimal magnification level for displaying search query results in a mapping application running in a computer device. The method comprises: obtaining search results for a business or category of interest in a geographical area; determining the search results to be displayed within a mapping application; determining an optimal magnification level corresponding to a search result; generating a magnification indicator for indicating an optimal magnification level for the search result to be displayed within the mapping application; and adjusting the display within the mapping application to change to the determined optimal magnification level responsive to selecting the magnification indicator for that search result. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372218 | SELECTIVE PLACEMENT OF PROMOTIONAL ELEMENTS WITHIN SEARCH RESULT LAYOUT - One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for selective placement of promotional elements within a search result layout. For example, a search result layout may be constructed with one or more search results relevant to a search query (e.g., images, websites, and/or other content associated with a “vacation” search query). Promotional elements may be retrieved based upon the search query, and display ranks may be assigned to such promotional elements based upon various ranking factors, such as user engagement, search result correlation, and/or relevancy, etc. In this way, promotional elements may be interspersed amongst search results within the search result layout based upon display ranks (e.g., a download vacation app promotional element may be assigned to a layout portion between a first search result and a second search result). Because promotional elements may be interspersed with search results, visual labels may be assigned to promotional elements (e.g., “AD”). | 2014-12-18 |
20140372219 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMBINING ELECTRONIC SEARCHES WITH A PLATFORM FOR FULFILLING CONSUMER REQUESTS - In some embodiments, a method of combining search and ecommerce includes receiving a search request from a consumer for a product and/or service. The method further includes executing the search request to yield one or more search results from a provider of the product and/or service. In some embodiments, the search results can include different response types from a provider to a consumer that can include an offer to fulfill the search request, a counter offer to the search request, or an executed purchase against the search request. The method also includes transmitting the one or more search results to the consumer. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372220 | Social Media Integration for Offer Searching - A list of offers that match search criteria provided by a searcher is retrieved and a list of social media site contacts that are linked to the searcher on a social media site is requested. For each offer in the list of offers, a quantity of qualified selections of the offer is determined. The quantity of qualified selections for an offer comprises a quantity of users in the list of social media site contacts who are registered users of an offer selection application and who selected the offer using the offer selection application. The list of offers is ordered based on the quantities of qualified selections to produce an ordered list of offers and a user interface is provided that displays the ordered list of offers. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372221 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR UTILIZING VEHICLE TELEMATICS - Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for a first retailer to attract users to the first retailer's location over a second retailer's location by transmitting timely promotions to the user based on the users location, the retailers location, and metrics for a vehicle associated with the user. Specifically, embodiments may determine a vehicles level of fuel is below a fuel threshold and transmit information associated with retailers that are in close proximity to the vehicle. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372222 | Transmission of Promotional Messages to a Mobile Device - Methods and systems for transmitting a promotional message associated with a promotion to a mobile device are disclosed. The method includes assigning a phone number to a promotion, receiving a call to the phone number assigned to the promotion from the mobile device, registering the call as a missed call at the mobile device, and transmitting the promotional message to the mobile device in response to receiving the call. In some embodiments, the phone number assigned to the promotion is a toll-free number. In some embodiments, the promotion is a coupon, rebate, an electronic refund, or a promotional offer. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372223 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCEPTING CLOSED LOOP CARDS OR CODES AT A MERCHANT POINT OF SALE - Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for redeeming a closed loop card/code funded with an amount of money. The system receives from a merchant point of sale an indication of use of a closed loop card/code not issued by the merchant and presented by a consumer, queries and receives a confirmation of an amount of money in an account associated with the closed loop card/code, presents the consumer with an offer to buy the closed loop card/code at a discount price, and upon accepting the offer, closes out the closed loop card/code and pays the discount price to the consumer. Paying the discount price can include applying the discount price to a purchase by the consumer at the merchant. The merchant can provide cash back to the consumer for excess value of the discount price over the consumer's purchase. Merchants can apply more than the discount price. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372224 | MULTI-PROFILE TRACKING IDENTIFICATION OF A MOBILE USER - Embodiments are directed towards employing multiple profiles to track identification of users across multiple domains. Multiple application-domain profiles and multiple web-domain profiles may each include a statistical identifier. A profile enrichment store may be generated from the application-domain profiles and web-domain profiles, where each entry in the profile enrichment store may be based on statistical identifiers. The profile enrichment store may be utilized to determine categories associated with a statistical identifier for a request from a client device. A targeted advertisement may be determined based on the determined category and may be provided to the client device. A client caching identifier may be used in a mobile web domain, in combination with the statistical identifier, to track mobile web users. If a request is associated with a profile that includes an affirmative opt-out flag, categories in the profile enrichment store for a corresponding statistical identifier may be cleaned up. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372225 | CLIENT CACHING IDENTIFICATION TRACKING - Embodiments are directed towards employing multiple profiles to track identification of users across multiple domains. Multiple application-domain profiles and multiple web-domain profiles may each include a statistical identifier. A profile enrichment store may be generated from the application-domain profiles and web-domain profiles, where each entry in the profile enrichment store may be based on statistical identifiers. The profile enrichment store may be utilized to determine categories associated with a statistical identifier for a request from a client device. A targeted advertisement may be determined based on the determined category and may be provided to the client device. A client caching identifier may be used in a mobile web domain, in combination with the statistical identifier, to track mobile web users. If a request is associated with a profile that includes an affirmative opt-out flag, categories in the profile enrichment store for a corresponding statistical identifier may be cleaned up. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372226 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING AND USING AN INTERNET SENTIMENT INDEX - Systems and methods are disclosed for online distribution of content based on a user sentiment index. The method may include receiving, over a network and from a user device, one or more user generated inputs and calculating the user sentiment index based on the one or more user generated inputs. The method may also include receiving, over the network, from a content or advertising provider, instructions on publishing content or advertising to a webpage based on the calculated user sentiment index, and publishing content for display on user devices over the network based on a comparison of the calculated user sentiment index and the received instructions. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372227 | FOCUSED ADVERTISING ACROSS MULTIPLE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS - This document describes, among other things, systems and methods for generating advertising campaigns or listings utilizing catalog information. A method comprises receiving, by an online publication system, a product catalog; accessing, by the online publication system, a merchant profile; and using the product catalog and the merchant profile to develop advertising data, wherein the advertising data includes at least one of an advertising campaign, a marketplace listing, or a store listing. The advertising campaign is published across multiple communication channels and focuses on the merchant's identity in at least one of the communication channels and specific products sold by the merchant in at least one other communication channel. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372228 | Individual or Group Profile Monetization and Mediation - A method of obtaining demographic profiles of individuals or groups of individuals and monetizing the profiles while compensating the individuals whose profiles are monetized. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372229 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PAUSING ADVERTISEMENTS BASED ON USER ATTENTION - A computer-implemented method for automatically pausing advertisements based on user attention includes rendering a digital video to a user, in response to the user initiating the digital video through a web multimedia player. The computer-implemented method also includes streaming an advertisement to the user once the user begins to watch the digital video and monitoring the user attention as the user watches the advertisement. The user attention is monitored based on keystrokes and mouse movements. Further, the computer-implemented method includes detecting one or more changes in the user attention. Furthermore, the computer-implemented method includes pausing the advertisement automatically at instance of detecting the one or more changes. Moreover, the computer-implemented method includes detecting the one or more changes that directs the user attention to the paused advertisement and resuming streaming of the advertisement. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372230 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELECTING AND SERVING CONTENT ITEMS BASED ON VIEW PROBABILITY - A system may select and serve content items based on a view probability. The view probability may be determined using a view probability predictive model and one or more current viewability variables. Based on the determined view probability output by the view probability predictive model, a content item may be selected and served. A script may be included with or otherwise associated with the data output to effect presentation of the selected content item. The script outputs data indicative of whether the served content item is viewed on a display of a device. The script may output data indicating that the served content item is viewed when at least a predetermined percentage of the pixels of the served content item are within a viewable region for a period of time. A served content item may be determined to not have been viewed if a predetermined period of time elapses. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372231 | ONLINE SELLING MECHANISM CREATION - Online selling mechanism creation is described, for example, whereby a retailer with business goals and constraints benefits from automatic generation and execution of software which controls generation of online offers so as to meet the business goals within the constraints. For example, as business goals and constraints change over time, bespoke selling mechanisms may be automatically updated. In various examples business goals are used to select selling mechanisms from a plurality of available online selling mechanisms; properties of the selling mechanisms may be taken into account. In examples, generic software implementing the selling mechanisms is used to instantiate a bespoke selling mechanism according to particular business goals and constraints. For example, a bespoke selling mechanism may be executed at a commerce server so as to control dynamic generation of offers. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372232 | SERVICES ADVERTISEMENT IN A WIRELESS MESH - A computing environment containing a mesh network that is adapted to provide a reliable transport mechanism over which services may be delivered. Nodes of the mesh can automatically select routable addresses without conflicts, which allows nodes of the mesh to be accessed, even as the mesh changes through the addition or deletion of nodes. Also, nodes communicate with a protocol that supports service advertisements. These advertisements can identify mesh nodes that supply services, such as file or print servers, for which devices that have not yet connected to the network may be searching. Advertisements can also identify services to be used by nodes in the network, allowing, for example, a node to select a gateway providing a reliable connection to an external network. The mesh network can be used as a transport for communication using protocols, such as TCP/IP, that generally exhibit poor performance when using unreliable transports. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372233 | POINT OF SALE INTERFACE FOR AN AUTOMATIC BEVERAGE DISPENSER - A point of sale (POS) interface solution is provided to interface a POS system or POS terminal to an automated bar tending system, allowing a drink order to be entered into the automated bar tending system other than by a user interface on the automated bar tending system. The POS interface provides a drink order signal to a printer for printing a drink order on a ticket for processing a drink order and/or on a bill to present to the customer. The POS interface also provides a drink order signal to the automated bar tending system for displaying the drink order on the user interface. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372234 | MERCHANT CONTROLLED POINT OF SALE - Computing systems and methods for facilitating merchant controlled point of sale (“POS”) transactions in retail and other establishments. These systems and methods include communication interfaces adapted to connect a computing system to remotely located devices having information regarding a plurality of third-party financial service providers, one or more storage components adapted to store merchant information, third-party financial service provider information, or both, and one or more processors in communication with the communication interfaces and storage components. Such processors facilitate merchant controlled point of sale transactions that involve receiving terms of or evaluating criteria of a transaction between a purchaser and the merchant and then selecting a particular third-party financial service provider from a plurality of possible providers to facilitate processing the transaction for the merchant based upon the specific terms or criteria of the transaction. Evaluation of criteria may be rule based and automatic, and selection of a third-party financial service provider may be immediate and real time. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372235 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING OFF-LINE SHOPPING IN-TRANSIT USING A MOBILE DEVICE OF A TRAVELER - Mobile device and method for operating the same to implement a personal mobile retail environment for off-line shopping for a traveler. Prior to the departure time the mobile device receives a mobile store definition that describes goods or services available for purchase during the transit period and available for delivery during the transit period or at the destination arrival location. The mobile store definition was previously generated based on a travel itinerary of the traveler. The mobile device also receives a charge limit indication representing a monetary limit for purchases available via the personal mobile retail environment. The mobile device provides an interactive shopping experience for the traveler based on the mobile store definition, including facilitating selection by the traveler of goods or services for purchase, and enforcing the monetary limit based on the charge limit indication. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372236 | Method And Apparatus For Improved Sales Program and User Interface - The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and program related to a Point of Sale (POS) web-based application/website and user interface that may be applied on any product that can be photographed, videoed, or transformed. The image created through the program can be provided to the customer electronically by email or other service who may want to purchase products or services listed in sequenced steps at a later date with auto generated links, while also allowing the retailer to be able to record the products the customer tried on or used but did not purchase. The program further enhances the shopping experience by allowing the customer or seller to record the sequenced steps with purchased and not purchased products used during any service for any product in any industry which then ties into the program's social media website or various other social media websites. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372237 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FACILITATING IN-AISLE SCANNING - Various methods are described for facilitating in-aisle scanning of one or more items to be purchased at a store. One example method may comprise scanning a barcode associated with an item. The method may further comprise adding the item to a list of items to be purchased. Additionally, the method may comprise receiving an indication that the item needs to be weighed. The method may further comprise flagging the item in the list to be weighed during checkout. Similar and related methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are also provided. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372238 | SURCHARGE AUDITING - Apparatus and methods for auditing a transaction record are provided. The transaction record may correspond to a credit card transaction. The auditing may include identifying a surcharge violation. The surcharge violation may be an unlawful surcharge. The auditing may identify patterns of double surcharging. Transaction-level auditing may include ensuring that a surcharge is returned upon a product return. A mobile wallet application may allow consumers to access and/or report merchant surcharge compliance activity. Functionality may include surcharge receipt scanning for use in crosschecking authenticity of a consumer report. Additional crosscheck functionality provided by geographic location support. Embodiments may include a registry for merchants that certify their surcharge calculations. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372239 | EVENT-BASED VERSIONING AND VISIBILITY FOR CONTENT RELEASES - The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for event-based versioning and visibility for content releases. In general, embodiments of the invention categorize content releases, wherein each release can have a different designation, such as, for example, public, limited, limited for down-level clients, etc. Content (e.g., applications, store pages, ratings, reviews, etc.) offered by a content provider (e.g., an online store) can be associated with a specified operating system/store release. Different versions of the same content can potentially be associated with different specified operating system/store releases. When a content release is unveiled, the categorization for the content release can be updated so that the corresponding content is publicly available without changes to the content itself. Accordingly, content can be tied to a system event helping ensure a consistent view of the content and minimizing the number of operations for changing content visibility. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372240 | Systems and Methods to Facilitate Selling of Products and Services - The system of the present invention provides systems and methods for selling goods and services on, over, through, and in conjunction with the Internet. The system receives session (clickstream) information on a customer's website session from the enterprise's website and may also receive customer information on the customer from the enterprise's CRM or eCRM system. The session information referred to comprises the goods or services the customer is searching and metadata about such search and the relevant products, such as the surfing pattern itself. The system determines from the received information, based on the interaction between matching rules created using the system by the enterprise and the system's matching engine, whether the customer is a candidate for assistance from a sales associate. The system creates and indexes information on available sales associates and their performance, selling capabilities and product expertise. The system further matches the customer with at least one sales associate, ideally the most appropriate sales associate, based on the customer, session, and sales profile associate information, and facilitates communication between the sales associate and the customer. Additionally, the system provides information on the customer, products or services the customer is interested in, and the collateral sales materials (both internal and external to the enterprise) and selling techniques to the sales associate based on the particular sales opportunity. The system facilitates communication between the sales associate and the customer on the basis of chat, voice over IP, email and the public switched telephone network, including the concept of bridging a chat session into a PSTN conference call during which call the sales associate and customer maintain a co-browsing session with regard to the opportunity over the Internet. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372241 | SYSTEM FOR THE SALE OF FOOD VIA AN INTERNET PLATFORM - The invention relates to a system for the sale of packaged foodstuffs via an Internet platform between a supplier and a customer. The Internet platform is designed to present the offer of the supplier to the customers and to directly or indirectly establish contact between the customer and supplier via a transport company to deliver food to the customer as packaged foodstuffs. The food is placed into reusable containers by the supplier, such that said food is kept hot or cooled. A transport company can optionally be connected to any supplier via the Internet platform to pick up an order of a customer that has been received by the Internet platform from the relevant supplier and deliver said order to the customer. A provider of reusable containers can be put into contact with any supplier to supply the latter with reusable containers. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372242 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SHARING OWNERSHIP OF AND AUTHORIZING ACCESS TO DIGITAL MEDIA - A method of sharing and managing ownership of and access to digital media works includes initially offering for sale a predetermined number of blocks of a digital media work, for example, a song, each block representing a share of ownership of the song. Access is provided to a user to use the digital media work, for example, to listen to the song, via a link provided after purchasing a block of the song. The selling price of the blocks is updated based on a demand for the digital media work. For example, the selling price can be increased in incremental amounts in proportion to a percentage of the number of blocks sold until the entire initial stash of blocks is sold. Thereafter, blocks can be sold to, and traded between, users in various gaming and other applications that promote social aspects of the method, as well as for profit. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372243 | Live Auction System - A decrementing live online auction system is provided. The auction system is capable of handling any number of potential buyers bidding on one or more items in one or more auctions. The system may be implemented on a computer and accessible by users on computers. This system may be accessible to a user even with a slow and intermittent internet connection, such as a user on a cellular network connection. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372244 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO GENERATE A LISTING IN A NETWORK-BASED COMMERCE SYSTEM - Generating a listing in a network-based commerce system Listing identification data is received from a user, and listing data associated with the listing, based on the listing identification data, is retrieved. Thereafter, a listing is generated that is at least partially based on the listing data tier posting on the network-based commerce system. In one embodiment, the user may edit the listing data prior to the listing being posted. The network-based commerce system may include a database of listing data associated with at least one of movies, music, games, books and motor vehicles. In one embodiment, the proposed listing comprises a plurality of check boxes each of which is associated with an attribute of the listing and the system automatically, without human intervention, checks attributes based on the listing data. The editing by the user may include the user selecting one or more of the check boxes. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372245 | DEALERS ELECTRONIC EXCHANGE - A dealer to dealer tool allows a dealer to post a car for sale with specific details, or search for a car with specific details, using an app or IVR system and thus untethered from computers, though a computer option is provided. A human operator response system is included as an alternative. The device requires any interested party to meet the minimum price, which may be hidden or posted. The device of the invention allows extra services such as dealer to dealer networking for advice, news, data updates, social purposes and more. If a vehicle does not change owners it is quickly timed out to a Hot List system, then a bulletin board, and then blacklisted until it has a new owner. A dealer signs up and enters a profile of vehicles and/or price ranges of interest, also listing other dealers they do not wish to work with. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372246 | Fund Raising Business Method Employing Articles of Personal Adornment - A computer implemented fund raising method for a donatable entity/organization employing the marketing of one or more articles of personal adornment such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings, key chains, and the like which are composed of, at least in part, a pattern of a group of selected colored elements in a selected order which are chosen by the entity as their unique combination; the selection, a registry of selected and available items, sales, manufacturing, delivery, and donation all managed and implemented by an internet web site in conjunction with a computer server. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372247 | Measurement of a Body Part - A method of obtaining a user's measurement for matching an item, comprising obtaining a predefined definition of a first body part; displaying on a user's handheld device instructions for measuring, using the handheld device, the first body part according to the predefined definition; utilizing a sensor of the handheld device that is adapted to measure physical displacement of the handheld device to measure a total physical displacement of the handheld device's movement over the first body part, giving rise to a first measurement; and searching for an item having a specification that matches the first measurement. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372248 | CROSS-REFERENCING COMMENTS - Methods, systems, and apparatuses, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for cross-referencing comments. In one aspect, a method includes, identifying unstructured text in a document associated with a first product or provider, in the unstructured text, identifying, by the one or more computers, a reference to a second product or provider different from the first product or provider, determining a relationship between the first product or provider and the second product or provider based on content of the unstructured text, and providing an indication of the relationship for display on a document associated with the first product or provider or the second product or provider. | 2014-12-18 |
20140372249 | Automated Creation of Collages From a Collection of Assets - A system and method are disclosed for automating the provision of social media product recommendations in an electronic commerce environment. A user selects one or more products from one or more Pick Lists, which are a pictorial grouping of products that the user has selected, assembled and named. The user then selects a Pick Collage template, which is then populated with the selected product(s). Once populated, the Pick Collage template is processed to generate a Pick Collage, which provides a more stylized presentation of the selected product(s). Once generated, the Pick Collage is provided to a website associated with a merchant that provides the selected product(s). | 2014-12-18 |
20140372250 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING RECOMMENDED CONTENT - A system and method for providing recommended content to a user. The method includes providing a Web server and receiving each of the inbound request messages from one of the Web browsers in the Web server. Selected data contained in each of the inbound request messages is recorded in a profile and associated with a user ID. The profile data includes information about entities that are related to the content accessed by each user. The method also includes analysis of a particular user's profile to identify the user's interests, identify similar users and idcntify recommended content based on the user's interests and look-a-like user interests. The method also includes automatically providing the user with access to recommended content for example, through a dashboard or window including links to the recommended content. | 2014-12-18 |