52nd week of 2014 patent applcation highlights part 63 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140379459 | SOFTWARE SYSTEM WHICH PRESENTS DATA ABOUT THE USED AND THE AVAILABLE HOSTING RESOURCES OF A COMPUTING DEVICE AS WELL AS THE PRICING OF HOSTING RESOURCES THAT NEED TO BE PURCHASED FOR ENSURING THE PROPER OPERATION OF SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS INSTALLED ON A COMPUTING DEVICE - A software system which visually presents data about the used and available hosting resources of the computing device or devices specified by the user of invention via an user application as well as data about the pricing of the hosting resources that need to be purchased for ensuring the proper operation of software applications installed on the computer device or devices specified by the user of invention via an user application. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379460 | REAL-TIME UPDATES TO DIGITAL MARKETING FORECAST MODELS - Techniques are disclosed for automatically creating or updating predictive models, including digital marketing forecast models. A predictive model is updated in real-time or near real-time using a stochastic gradient descent optimization method based on one or more predictive values associated with an advertising impression that is won in an online advertising auction. Each predictive value, which is obtained from the predictive model, is encoded as an argument in a uniform resource locator (URL) corresponding to the ad impression being auctioned. If and when the ad impression is won, the predictive value(s) and other information can be tracked and immediately available for updating the model using information encoded in the URL. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379461 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - There is provided an information processing apparatus including a circuitry configured to initiate an outputting of advertisement information through a display device associated with a person, initiate a generation of an effect measurement information based on at least one of a reach metric and an effectiveness of the outputted advertisement information, and initiate an adjustment of the advertisement information based on the effect measurement information. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379462 | REAL-TIME PREDICTION MARKET - A real-time prediction market is described. A plurality of predictor agents set forth respective predictions as to a likelihood that an advertisement will be selected when displayed together with certain publisher content. The advertisement is selected from amongst a plurality of advertisements based upon the plurality of predictions set forth by the plurality of predictor agents. Third parties corresponding to the predictor agents are compensated or penalized as a function of predictive accuracy of the predictor agents. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379463 | ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT METHOD - An advertisement distribution management apparatus according to an embodiment includes an estimation unit, an assignment unit, an inquiry unit, and a selection unit. The estimation unit estimates an expected profit value in a case in which advertising content is distributed by a first advertisement distribution apparatus in response to an advertisement request. The assignment unit assigns a price rank to the advertisement request on the basis of the expected profit value. The inquiry unit inquires of one or more second advertisement distribution apparatuses whether to distribute the advertising content at the price rank in response to the advertisement request. The selection unit selects the first advertisement distribution apparatus as a distribution source of the advertising content corresponding to the advertisement request when there is no second advertisement distribution apparatus, in response to the inquiry, which distributes the advertising content at the price rank in response to the advertisement request. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379464 | BUDGET DISTRIBUTION IN ONLINE ADVERTISING - A method for budget distribution in online advertising, the method comprising using at least one hardware processor for: receiving a definition of a single advertiser budget to be spent on advertising multiple ad entities in an online advertising platform; receiving historical performance data associated with the multiple ad entities, wherein the historical performance data comprises multiple proportional performance metrics for each of the multiple ad entities; computing a health index for each of the multiple ad entities, the health index being a weighted average of multiple components comprising the multiple proportional performance metrics, wherein the multiple components are each monotonic with respect to spend; and proportionally distributing the single advertiser budget between the multiple ad entities, based on the health indices of the multiple ad entities. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379465 | Providing Advertisement Opportunities During Presentation of Shopping List - The present invention provides advertisement opportunities during presentation of a shopping list, while displaying ingredients of a recipe, or during a similar display of items to a consumer. When a type of product is displayed to a consumer as part of a shopping list, recipe, or other similar display, the present invention can provide a product manufacturer or supplier with the opportunity to advertise its product to the consumer in conjunction with the display. In this way, the present invention can enable product manufacturers or suppliers to provide targeted advertisements for a product at the moment when consumers are making a decision to purchase a product. Because these targeted advertisements can be more effective at influencing a consumer to purchase a particular product, a manufacturer or supplier can spend less money to promote its products than when other forms of general advertising are used. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379466 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CURSOR-BASED CONTENT DELIVERY - A method of providing dynamic cursor related content is disclosed. The method can include sending a request for content to a server from a user device; receiving instruction code from the server in response to the sent request, the instruction code operable to collect cursor information related to a cursor position and dwell time on a display of the user device; and sending from the user device the cursor information collected in response to execution of the instruction code to generate from the received cursor information an indication of relative interest between regions displayed on the user device; and changing the content based on the indicated relative interest. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379467 | In-Store Promotion Techniques For Electronic Devices - In-store promotion techniques for alerting an electronic device user of local in-store promotional events are disclosed. The in-store promotion mode may determine the user's taste profile based on the user's shopping cart, wish list, search history, purchase history, content ratings, favorite authors, and/or event preferences. A promotion notification relating to promotions matching the user's taste profile may be displayed to the user, for example, with a pop-up window, a message on the user's welcome screen or home page, or other notification displayed to the user on the device screen. The promotion notifications may be limited to promotional events taking place at the user's local retail store, and the user may designate the local retail store. The promotion notification may be a generic message notifying the user of the existence of a promotion, and upon visiting the retail store a welcome message including the promotion details may be displayed on the device. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379468 | METHODS, DEVICES AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR AUGMENTED REALITY SHOPPING - The present invention provides a method and system for augmented reality shopping. A visual code of the product can be scanned by a portable device. A set of information can be extracted by a web server, whereby the set of information can include a set of providers, offering the product within a location of the portable device. A provider of the product can be selected by a comparing module, where the provider offers a best price of the product. The product as offered by the selected provider can be added to a shopping cart. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379469 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROMOTING ITEMS RELATED TO PROGRAMMING CONTENT - A system, apparatus, and method of promoting and discovering items related to programming content are disclosed. In one aspect, the system includes a first interface to a programming content supplier system, the first interface configured to receive data relating to any items available for promotion that are displayed in the programming content. The system includes a second interface to one or more promotion systems, wherein each promotion system includes item details on the items available for promotion, the second interface configured to receive, from a promotion system, item details. The system includes a promotion generator configured to match items displayed in the programming content with the items available for promotion from the promotion system. The system includes an interface generator configured to display items that are available for promotion to a user, and provide the user with an option to accept a promotion associated with the displayed items. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379470 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LINKING MOBILE DATA AND TRANSACTION DATA FOR IMPROVED LOCATION BASED TARGETING - A method for assigning a spend profile to a mobile device based on location and transaction data includes: storing a spend profile including a plurality of transaction data entries, each entry related to a transaction involving a common consumer and including a location identifier, transaction data, and timing information; receiving a plurality of location data entries, each entry including a geographic location of a related mobile device and a time and/or date at which the location was identified; matching the mobile device to the spend profile based on a number of received location data entries that correspond to transaction data entries included in the spend profile based on the geographic location and time and/or date and the location identifier and timing information, and a predetermined tolerance level; and associating the mobile device with the spend profile. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379471 | System for Handling Multiple Simultaneous Campaigns That Improves Advertisement Performance Through Shape Based Targeting and Real-Time Impression Acquisition - A system for handling multiple simultaneous campaigns that improves advertisement performance through shape based targeting and real-time impression acquisition is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving a bid request, creating a possible advertisement set based on the bid request, filtering the possible advertisement set to produce a reduced advertisement set, creating one or more tradezones. Creating a tradezone comprises clustering data sets according to one or more of offline data, online data, and geographic distribution of a plurality of IP addresses to form custom shapes, and mapping the custom shapes to the plurality of IP addresses. Remaining advertisements are targeted in the reduced advertisement set, wherein remaining advertisements are targeted based on a selected tradezone, and wherein the selected tradezone is selected based upon a set of parameters representative of a desired audience. The bid request is transmitted including display instructions associated with an advertisement when the bid is selected, and the advertisement is displayed. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379472 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR INTERACTIVE MARKETING WITH ATTRIBUTION USING PROXIMITY SENSORS - Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to systems, methods and devices for interactive marketing with attribution using proximity sensors. Embodiments include interactive marketing displays coupled to an interactive marketing display controller, that provide marketing information to a shopper and allow the shopper to interact with it such that the interactive marketing display controller records interaction data with the shopper and a timestamp of interaction. Further, embodiments include data sensors that are in proximity to an interactive marketing displays such that the data sensor senses a shopper's mobile device, acquires a device identifier of the mobile device, and records a timestamp of when the mobile device is sensed. Additional embodiments include an interactive marketing display provider's server to combine the interaction data and the device identifier of the mobile device and provides the combined interaction data and device identifier to the retail server for attribution. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379473 | SPONSORED ONLINE CONTENT MANAGEMENT USING QUERY CLUSTERS - Aspects of the subject disclosure are directed towards managing sponsored online content based upon advertiser behavior. Defining mini-markets to represent such advertiser behavior may be accomplished by clustering queries that generate revenue from one or more campaigns. Query revenue data between queries and a set of campaigns may be used to determine such mini-markets. To illustrate, a query whose highest revenue is attributed to a campaign may be selected for that campaign's mini-market. When that query is entered as a search term, the campaign's mini-market helps allocate space for advertisements. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379474 | Metasearch Engine for Ordering At Least One Travel Related Item Returned in Combined Search and Database Results Using At Least One Query on Multiple Unique Hosts and At Least One Database - A process for metasearching, comprising: receiving a request from a client device by a metasearch engine to send at least one search query to a plurality of unique hosts, the request associated with at least one travel related item that may be ordered; sending the at least one search query to the plurality of unique hosts and at least one database query to at least one storage device; receiving and combining search results from the plurality of unique hosts and at least one database result from the storage device; incorporating the combined search results into a response; causing at least one advertisement associated with the at least one item that may be ordered to be displayed in the response; communicating the response from the metasearch engine to the client device; receiving another request from the client device for placing an order for the at least one item; processing the order. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379475 | CONTENT DISPLAY ON MOVING VEHICLES - Systems and methods are provided for displaying content on a vehicle with at least one display device coupled to a frame member and extending to the right or left of the license plate receiving area of the vehicle. Content can be selected and altered as desired, including based on user preferences and/or vehicle location. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379476 | METHOD AND DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS - The invention provides a method of outputting location specific data to a user interface of a mobile device, the method comprising: obtaining data representing one or more activity patterns associated with the mobile device; selecting a location specific data portion from one or more location specific data portions responsive to a determination that the data representing one or more of the one or more activity patterns meet one or more relevance criteria associated with the said location specific data portion; and outputting to the user interface data from the selected location specific data portion or data associated with the selected location specific data portion. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379477 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CROWD BASED CONTENT DELIVERY - A system and method for crowd based content delivery. A crowd of users may be associated with an electronic billboard. A profile may be generated for the crowd. A digital content item may be selected based on the crowd profile. The digital content item may be presented by the electronic billboard. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379478 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING AN INTERACTIVE MEDIA KIOSK NETWORK - An interactive media recording and broadcasting system includes an interactive digital media recording and broadcasting kiosk for interacting, recording and broadcasting media, a web server for storing and serving data, an advertising platform, and a social media network website. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379479 | ADVERTISEMENT PROVISION MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, ADVERTISEMENT PROVISION MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - There is provided an advertisement provision management apparatus including an information acquisition unit and a content selection unit. The information acquisition unit acquires, from a portable terminal that is present in the vicinity of a digital signage terminal installed at any location, identification information of the portable terminal and use information of the portable terminal. The content selection unit selects content to be displayed on the portable terminal identified by the identification information, on the basis of content-relating information stored while being associated with content displayed on the digital signage terminal and the use information acquired from the portable terminal. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379480 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR INTERACTIVE MARKETING WITH ATTRIBUTION USING PROXIMITY SENSORS - Embodiments of the present disclosure is directed to systems, methods and devices for interactive marketing with attribution using proximity sensors. Embodiments include interactive marketing displays coupled to an interactive marketing display controller, that provide marketing information to a shopper and allow the shopper to interact with it such that the interactive marketing display controller records interaction data with the shopper and a timestamp of interaction. Further, embodiments include data sensors that are in proximity to an interactive marketing displays such that the data sensor senses a shopper's mobile device, acquires a device identifier of the mobile device, and records a timestamp of when the mobile device is sensed. Additional embodiments include an interactive marketing display provider's server to combine the interaction data and the device identifier of the mobile device and provides the combined interaction data and device identifier to the retail server for attribution. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379481 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETING MESSAGES IN DESKTOP AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS - A computer implemented method and apparatus for targeting messages in desktop and mobile applications. The method comprises retrieving, on a user device, one or more policies for a software application; recording user behavior and application usage data during operation of the software application on the user device; determining whether one or more of said policies has been satisfied based on the recorded user behavior and application usage; and performing an action on the user device when it is determined that one or more of said policies has been satisfied. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379482 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CROSS-BROWSER ADVERTISING ID SYNCHRONIZATION - Systems and methods are for identifying online advertisements to display to a user based on historical user data collected across the user's use of a plurality of Internet devices. One method includes receiving, over a network, a request for an advertisement to display at a first device of the user, the request including a unique identifier stored on the user's first device; accessing, in a database, a demographic or browsing history information generated from the user's use of a second device, the demographic or browsing history information being stored in the database in relation to the unique identifier; and identifying, based on the demographic or browsing history information, an advertisement to display at the user's first device. The demographic or browsing history information is synchronized based on the unique identifier being stored on the user's first device and the user's second device. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379483 | USER-SPECIFIED DISTRIBUTION OF STORIES DESCRIBING USER ACTIONS IN A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM - A social networking system receives a sponsored story request identifying a story describing an action performed by a social networking system user and generates a sponsored story accordingly. The sponsored story request may also include a bid amount and other information for generating a sponsored story from the sponsored story request. When an action is included in a sponsored story presented to a social networking system user, the social networking system notifies the user associated with the action and provides one or more settings regulating inclusion of actions associated with the user in sponsored story requests. For example, settings allow a user to prevent generation of sponsored stories including a specified type of action, a specific action, or multiple actions associated with the user. Hence, the settings allow a user to limit or prevent generation of sponsored stories describing actions associated with the user. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379484 | Visually Generated Consumer Product Presentation - A personalization enhancement method and system. The method includes retrieving and analyzing digital content associated with a user. Characteristics describing the digital content are tagged and transferred to a profile of said the user. The profile includes additional characteristics generated during previous analysis of data from the digital content and additional digital content associated with the user. User information associated with products, a location, and a time profile is assigned. The profile is analyzed based on selection and interaction of the user with respect to a consumer Website. The profile includes the characteristics and the additional characteristics with respect to products and services of the consumer Website. A presentation color setting and a group of products and services of are determined for presentation to the user. The group of products and services are presented to the user using the presentation color setting. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379485 | Method and System for Gaze Detection and Advertisement Information Exchange - Disclosed is a method and system for displaying a content published on a broadcasting device to a user. The system comprises a plurality of sensors deployed around the user. The system further comprises an image capturing module to capture the content along with a first metadata. An activity capturing module is configured to capture one or more behavioral activity data along with a second metadata. In one aspect, the one or more behavioral activity data is indicative of interest of the user in the content and the second metadata is associated with the one or more behavioral activity data. An analytics engine is configured to analyze the first metadata and the second metadata to determine a subset of content of the content that may be relevant to the user. A display module is configured to display the subset of content on a display device for reference of the user. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379486 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING A TRANSACTION - Provided is a system for facilitating a transaction between at least one merchant and at least one consumer. The system includes at least one transaction portal located in a network environment, where the at least one transaction portal associated with at least one consumer affinity. The consumer affinity is an entity, a cause, an affiliation, an organization, a concept, a benefit, an association and/or a sponsor or any combination thereof. The system further includes a communication system for facilitating the transmission of data between the transaction portal, the at least one merchant, the at least one consumer, an entity associated with the consumer affinity or any combination thereof. Also provided is a matching system, a method for facilitating a transaction between at least one merchant and at least one consumer and a method for facilitating a credit-based transaction between at least one merchant and at least one consumer, | 2014-12-25 |
20140379487 | SOCIAL NETWORK SYSTEM AND METHOD - A social network system includes one or more participant terminals operable to act as a client on a social network and a computer operable to act as a server on the social network and to communicate with each of the participant terminals over the social network. The computer includes: a memory configured to store a set of instructions; and a processor configured to execute the set of instructions. The set of instructions cause the processor to computer instructions cause the processor to display a plurality of examples of content, to update the plurality of examples of content, and to redirect a user who has clicked on one of the plurality of examples of content to another home page. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379488 | ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT METHOD - An advertisement distribution management apparatus in an embodiment includes a distribution management unit. The distribution management unit selectively executes a first operating mode selecting a distribution source apparatus of advertising content for an advertisement request from among the advertisement distribution apparatuses on the basis of a given condition and a second operating mode defining a specific advertisement distribution apparatus as the distribution source apparatus from among the advertisement distribution apparatuses depending on a user making the advertisement request. The distribution management unit further divides the users into a plurality of groups, and performs an assignment process assigning a plurality of time periods shifted from one another within a given period of time to the respective groups as the time periods of the second operating mode. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379489 | AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT DEVICE, AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT METHOD, AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING THE PROGRAM - An affiliate management device according to one embodiment includes an access monitoring unit that, in accordance with a user's click on an affiliate link, stores click information associating a publisher of the affiliate link, a linked shop from the affiliate link and the user into a specified storage unit, an acquisition unit that acquires purchase information indicating a purchaser of an item and a selling shop of the item, a specifying unit that specifies a click history indicating click on affiliate links by the purchaser based on one or more click information corresponding to the purchaser acquired from the specified storage unit, and a determination unit that determines one or more publishers to receive an affiliate fee from the selling shop and an affiliate fee to be paid to each publisher based on the click history. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379490 | Attribution Marketing Recommendations - The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to identifying value marketing activities. In some implementations, an apparatus, systems, or methods can include receiving conversion path information including data relating to user interactions with a content item associated with a marketing activity, determining a first attribution credit by applying a first attribution model to the received information, and a second attribution credit by applying a second attribution model to the received information, determining an attribution contrast ratio based on the first and second attribution credit, identifying an opportunity based on the determined attribution contrast ratio, and presenting a recommendation for the marketing activity based on the identified opportunity. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379491 | AUCTION APPARATUS AND AUCTION METHOD - An auction apparatus according to the application includes a plan receiving unit and an auction providing unit. The plan receiving unit receives plan information indicating a plan of content from a content creator who creates the content. The auction providing unit presents the plan information received by the plan receiving unit and provides an auction service in which a bid target is a right to display an advertisement in an advertising space that is set to the content by the content creator. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379492 | AUCTION APPARATUS AND AUCTION METHOD - An auction apparatus according to the application includes a plan receiving unit and a providing unit. The plan receiving unit gradually receives plan information indicating a plan of content from a content creator who creates the content a plurality of times. The providing unit additionally presents the plan information which is gradually received by the plan receiving unit and provides an auction service in which a bid target is a right to display an advertisement in an advertising space set to the content. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379493 | AUCTION APPARATUS AND AUCTION METHOD - An auction apparatus according to the application includes a plan receiving unit and an auction providing unit. The plan receiving unit receives plan information indicating a plan of content from a content creator who creates the content. The auction providing unit presents the plan information received by the plan receiving unit and provides an auction service in which bid targets are a right to display an advertisement in an advertising space that is set to the content and a right to replace the advertisement displayed in the advertising space. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379494 | AUCTION APPARATUS AND AUCTION METHOD - An auction apparatus according to the application includes a communication unit and an auction providing unit. The communication unit communicates with a communication network. The auction providing unit presents a portion of plan information indicating a plan of content which is created by a content creator, presents the other plan information when a request is received from an advertiser who has browsed the portion of the plan information, and provides an auction service in which a bid target is a right to display an advertisement in an advertising space set to the content. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379495 | E-Mail Based Dynamic Advertising - A method includes receiving, at a proxy server, a first request for advertising content from a computing device, where the first request includes an identifier and where the first request is associated with an e-mail received by the computing device. The method also includes determining whether state information associated with the identifier is available. The method further includes, in response to determining that the state information associated with the identifier is unavailable, generating the state information associated with the identifier at the proxy server. The method also includes sending a second request for the advertising content from the proxy server to an advertising server, where the second request includes at least a portion of the state information associated with the identifier. The method also includes receiving the advertising content from the advertising server. The method further includes sending the advertising content to the computing device. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379496 | DATA MANAGEMENT PROCESS UTILIZING A FIRST-PARTY TECHNIQUE - Internet users are becoming more aware of data transfer through third-party cookies to multiple publisher sites without their consent. Subsequently, they are taking action to block or delete third-party cookies through browser controls or automated anti-spyware programs. This blocking and deleting process reduces the ability of third-party networks to accurately target users for relevant advertising. First-party cookies are less susceptible to cookie deletion and are therefore able to provide better targeting for more relevant ad delivery. There is an extended opportunity for “Trusted” First-Party networks to share non-Personally Identifiable Information (non-PII) across the network to prevent data leakage outside the trusted partners. For example, a large corporation with multiple companies that have either their own domains (domain1.com, domain2.com) or multiple subdomains (product1.domain.com, product2.domain.com) may want to share user segmentation and propensity information across their companies for cross/up sell purposes. The invention claims the benefit of U.S. Pat. No. 7,904,520, granted Mar. 8, 2011, entitled “First Party Advertisement Serving,” to leverage information in the first-party cookie mode across trusted domains and subdomains. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379497 | MIRRORING A STOREFRONT TO A SOCIAL MEDIA SITE - Method, systems, and apparatus for mirroring a storefront to a social media site. A social media interface system mirrors an online or offline storefront of a merchant to an account of the merchant on a social media site. The system receives a copy of an electronic message from a user device of the merchant. The system parses the copy of the message and determines that the message is related to the item and related to an online store or physical store of the merchant. The system then inserts a tag into the copy of the message, the tag linking the message to an online storefront of the online store or an offline storefront of the physical store. The system posts the copy of the message, including the tag, in the account of the merchant on a social media site. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379498 | DYNAMIC CATEGORIZATIONS FOR ELECTRONIC ADVERTISING - An advertiser submitting a sponsored ad to a provider can determine aspects of the ad, such as creative elements and bid price, based on a dynamic categorization of an item and/or landing page associated with the ad. An algorithm can be used that utilizes a browse tree for each item to be displayed to a user following a sponsored link, for example, and attempts to find a node in the browse tree that appears at the lowest level in the tree and with a sufficient appearance frequency. When consensus is reached for a node in the browse tree that meets these criteria, a corresponding categorization is determined, which can be used to determine appropriate aspects to be used for the sponsored ad, at least until enough information is obtained such that aspects can be determined independent of the categorization. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379499 | RESTAURANT METHOD - A method for selling restaurant food. One method, for selling food, comprises the steps of: providing a buffet restaurant; selling containers to customers of the buffet restaurant; and permitting purchasers of said containers to place therein food from the buffet for take-away purposes. Another method is for use with a buffet restaurant of the all-you-can-eat type, wherein a patron is, in exchange for payment of a fixed price, allowed to eat as much as he or she wishes from the buffet in a single sitting. This method comprises the step of: allowing said patron, for an additional price, the opportunity to retrieve a predetermined quantity of food from the buffet for take-away purposes. The additional price can be embodied in the sale of a container to the patron, the volume of the container defining the predetermined quantity. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379500 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS OVER A WIRELESS NETWORK - A system and method for controlling financial transactions is disclosed. A customer, using a wireless device, identifies a point of sale and the amount of a transaction at that point of sale is first communicated to a central service and then transmitted to the wireless device for display at the wireless device. The customer can either accept the transaction amount to complete the transaction or reject the amount to cancel the transaction. The customer may have to enter a password or personal identification number to verify the authorization to use the wireless financial system. The customer is billed for the transaction via credit, debit, ATM or other methods, such as the wireless carrier or an internet provider. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379501 | POS SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A POS SYSTEM - A POS system comprises a checkout means for carrying out a payment operation, a cash drawer which includes a storage compartment for storing money, wherein in an open condition of the cash drawer the storage compartment is open for an access and in a closed condition of the cash drawer the storage compartment is closed, a control means for controlling the cash drawer, wherein the control means is formed to generate a control signal for opening the cash drawer, and a sensor means for generating an opening signal which indicates whether the cash drawer is in its open condition. The control means is formed to evaluate whether or not an opening signal is preceded by a control signal with a predetermined time interval, in order to detect a manipulation process during opening and/or closing the cash drawer on the basis of the evaluation. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379502 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS OVER A WIRELESS NETWORK - A system and method for controlling financial transactions is disclosed. A customer, using a wireless device, identifies a point of sale and the amount of a transaction at that point of sale is first communicated to a central service and then transmitted to the wireless device for display at the wireless device. The customer can either accept the transaction amount to complete the transaction or reject the amount to cancel the transaction. The customer may have to enter a password or personal identification number to verify the authorization to use the wireless financial system. The customer is billed for the transaction via credit, debit, ATM or other methods, such as the wireless carrier or an internet provider. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379503 | UNIVERSAL SALES DATA PROCESSING DEVICE - A device capable of receiving, parsing, storing and sending sales data from multiple sales terminal devices ( | 2014-12-25 |
20140379504 | SYSTEM FOR MANAGING PERSONAL IDENTIFIERS AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT USE - A method for the secure use of a personal identifier and/or financial instrument that may take place simultaneously with traditional methods of authorization for credit card, check, funds withdraw/transfer or purchase. Authorization according to the present invention may take place as follows: A) the Owner provides a pre-approval of authorization if the request meets an array of Owner-defined parameters; B) a authorization may be granted based on proximity of the Owner to the point of use; or C) the Owner provides a real time approval by smart device. In each case the invention subjects the request for authentication to a sequential verification procedure in which the request is tested against one or more pre-defined verification protocols, the deployed authentication protocol being pre-determined by the Owner and pre-selected in accordance with a user profile that was pre-programmed by the Owner. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379505 | Electronic Transaction Record Distribution System - A system includes a computerized appliance at a point-of sale (POS) and a coupled peripheral device. The computerized appliance prepares an enhanced transaction record comprising receipt data and promotional information, and transmits the enhanced transaction record to the peripheral device, or to a third-party Internet connected repository without transmitting to the peripheral device, or transmits the enhanced transaction record to both destinations, enabling the specific consumer to contact either or both of the enterprise or the third-party, Internet-connected repository, and to interact with one or both in regard to the promotional information included in the enhanced transaction record. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379506 | TOKEN-BASED PRICING POLICIES FOR BURST-MODE OPERATIONS - Methods and apparatus for token-based pricing policies for burst-mode operations are disclosed. A pricing policy to be applied to token population changes at a token bucket used for admission control during burst-mode operations at a work target is determined. Over a time period, changes to the token population of that bucket are recorded. A billing amount to be charged to a client is determined, based on the recorded changes in token population and an associated pricing amount indicated in the pricing policy. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379507 | System of Multi-Functional Ecommerce websites each with an integrated shopping cart, a catalog of products from drop shippers or suppliers of any type, a secure payment processing gateway, a real-time merchant account activation module, a website builder that creates custom or duplicate websites with a URL, and a centralized content management module capable of modifying web-site-content to each website in the system. - A system and method of creating Ecommerce web sites which are fully integrated with products for sale, a shopping cart, and a merchant account. The created Ecommerce websites include a site builder module capable of creating other Ecommerce websites. This functionality allows a website to be partially duplicated, the partially duplicated websites having their own URL. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379508 | MERCHANT BUSINESS HOURS DATABASE VIA TRANSACTION DATA APPARATUS AND METHOD - A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium configured to determine merchant business hours using financial transactions. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379509 | MATCHING SUPPORT DEVICE, MATCHING SUPPORT SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM - A matching support device which achieve matching between demand information and supply information, quickly and accurately reflecting changes in information. The present invention is provided with an information recording unit | 2014-12-25 |
20140379510 | AUCTION APPARATUS, AUCTION METHOD, STORAGE MEDIUM, AND AUCTION SYSTEM - An auction apparatus includes a reception unit, an item information obtaining unit, a selling information generation unit, and an auction execution unit. The reception unit receives selling request including item ID and user ID. The item information obtaining unit obtains item information corresponding to the user ID and the item ID included in the received selling request from a kept item management apparatus storing item information associated with the item ID and the user ID when the reception unit receives the selling request. The selling information generation unit generates selling information including information required in an auction for selling using the item information obtained by the item information obtaining unit in response to the selling request. The auction execution unit executes the auction using the generated selling information. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379511 | METHOD FOR PROVIDING VEHICLE INFORMATION AT A LIVE AUCTION - Detailed information about a particular used motor vehicle is quickly provided to a potential buyer having a personal digital assistant equipped with a receiving means. To provide the information, it is first necessary to obtain standard information about used motor vehicle values in digital form from a provider of such information. It is then necessary to obtain specific information about an inventory of used motor vehicles from the owner or seller of the vehicles. The standard information and the specific information are then integrated on a server computer and transmitted to the potential buyer. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379512 | SYSTEM, DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FORMULA MANAGEMENT - A system, device and method involve the management of formulas. In one embodiment, the formulas are buildable through the selection of mathematical components. A formula list facilitates formula management. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379513 | Customized Deal Generation - A server receives a request for a deal from a client device of a merchant, the request for a deal including a merchant identifier. The server then accesses merchant information based on the merchant identifier, the merchant information including a merchant category and a merchant location. Additionally, the server obtains a set of candidate deals based on the merchant category and merchant location. The server then obtains historical information for each candidate deal, the historical information corresponding to one or more conversion rates of the candidate deal when the candidate deal was previously offered by one or more merchants. Next, the server determines a predicted conversion rate for each candidate deal, based on the historical information for the respective candidate deal and selects a deal based on the predicted conversion rates for the set of candidate deals. Lastly, the server communicates data corresponding to the selected deal to the client device, the data including the predicted conversion rate for the selected deal. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379514 | Name-Related Image Generation and Product - Systems, methods and computer program products are disclosed that facilitate the selection and creation of a personalized gift which will be appreciated by the intended gift recipient. The personalized gift is based on the gift giver's knowledge of the gift recipient, including superficial knowledge, such as the gift recipient's first name. In an aspect, the personalized gift is a collage comprising one or more images from locales related to the gift recipient's name. Locale and the gift recipient names may be related by possessing identical names, shortened versions of the same name, similarly-spelled names, and the like. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379515 | Method For Providing A Custom-Like Fit In Ready-To-Wear Apparel - A method to provide an improved size grid for garments is provided. Also a method to select ready-to-wear garments with a custom-like fit from the improved size grid is provided. The method uses an algorithm to select the garment size based on body measures of the customer. A method to sell and buy read-to-wear garments with a custom-like fit is also provided herein. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379516 | CONTEXT BASED RECOMMENDER SYSTEM - A method and system for a context based search recommendations is provided. A context based search can be facilitated for the construction of cold start recommender systems. Contextual information can be mined from review texts from sources such as websites, and analyzed for common traits per context group. From this context information the most applicable reviews for the user can be provided. One embodiment provides a method for providing recommendations. The method includes the steps of preprocessing one or more reviews based on features of the one or more reviews, obtaining context information about user; and determining score for user based on obtained user context information and features of the one or more reviews. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379517 | Evaluating Benefits of a Product - Systems, methods and apparatuses for quantifying a benefit associated with use of a product or service are provided. In some examples, an entity may receive information about a company to which they are going to attempt to sell a product or service. The methods, computer-readable media and apparatuses may identify a potential improvement at the company, as well as one or more products or services to sell to the company to aid in or provide the improvement. In some examples, the methods, computer-readable media and apparatuses may quantify the impact or benefits associated with use or implementation of the product or service. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379518 | LOCALIZED LIBRARY RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM - A local library recommendation system for recommending an item available for circulation from a local library. The system includes a self checkout device for use by a patron to check out an item from the local library, the self checkout device including a processor, a display for displaying information to the patron, and an item identification component. The item identification component is configured to identify the item being checked out by the patron. The display shows a recommendation of a second item based on the identification of the item being checked out by the patron, and the second item is part of the local library's collection. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379519 | E-COMMERCE CROSS-SAMPLING PRODUCT RECOMMENDER BASED ON STATISTICS - A method of recommending products during e-commerce. A computing device including a processor implements a cross sampling recommender algorithm which includes a first statistical model is provided at a website. Responsive to receiving information via the Internet from a first customer including selection of a first product offered at the website, the algorithm automatically divides historical customer' selection information into a plurality of time ordered sub-periods of time. Using the customer' selection information and the time ordered sub-periods of time as a time covariate, logistic regressions are fit to each of a plurality of cross-sampled pairs of the plurality of products involving the first product. Using the data from the logistic regressions, cross-sampled pairs are identified which meet a slope selection criteria. A recommendation to the first customer for at least a first recommended product from the cross-sampled pairs is provided from cross-sampled pairs which meet the slope selection criteria. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379520 | DECISION MAKING CRITERIA-DRIVEN RECOMMENDATIONS - The embodiments provide a system for decision-making criteria-based recommendations. The system may include a decision engine configured to receive a request for recommendations for an option problem associated with a product or service category, and determine options among a plurality of options for the product or service category based on preference information. The preference information may include activated decision-making criteria and corresponding weight values. The corresponding weight values may represent a relative importance of each activated decision-making criterion. The decision engine may be configured to determine options among the plurality of options including calculating scores for the plurality of options based on, in part, the activated decision-making criteria and the corresponding weight values and selecting the options among the plurality of options based on the calculated scores. The decision engine may be configured to provide a display of the determined options as the recommendations for the product or service category. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379521 | ACTIVITY-BASED PERSONAL PROFILE INFERENCE - The aggregation of facts from various sources about an individual may produce an individual profile that may inform personalized services. However, a compilation of facts may be supplemented by monitoring activities of the individual and formulating inferences regarding the individual's individual details, and the confidence of such inferences. Accordingly, a device may compare the detected activities with a behavioral rule set indicating correlations between activities and inferred individual details (e.g., frequently spent weekday evenings and morning departures from a residence imply that the residence is the individual's home; frequent bicycling to work, chosen over other available modes of transportation, implies that the individual is a bicycling enthusiast) to add inferred individual details to the individual profile. Continued monitoring may enable updating based on changes to the individual details. Multiple profiles may be synchronized while respecting the individual's privacy, obtaining the individual's consent to share information, and automatically resolving information conflicts. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379522 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERACTIVE SHOPPING - A method and system are disclosed for providing interactive checklist functionality to a primary user; the interactive checklist functionality is managed by a computer for the primary user. The method includes creating an interactive checklist, responsive to input from the primary user, which includes a list of items that the primary user may desire to purchase and accommodates entries of product information for particular items that satisfy items of the interactive checklist, and the entries, removals, and purchases are updated automatically by the computer. Also, the method includes enabling the primary user to shop through the interactive checklist, the interactive checklist functionality, which is responsive to input from the primary user, includes searching through the interactive checklist for at least one of the particular items that satisfy the items of the interactive checklist, selecting the at least one of the particular items that satisfy the items of the interactive checklist, and purchasing the at least one of the particular items that satisfy the items of the interactive checklist. Additionally, the method includes associating at least one of the particular items purchased by the primary user with at least one interactive checklist item, the interactive checklist is updated automatically to indicate that the interactive checklist item has been satisfied. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379523 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING GAS STATION - A system and method for monitoring a gas station can be used to prevent deceptive practices, such as a gas station that deceives a refueling amount or supplies inferior fuel. The gas station monitoring system includes: at least one telematics terminal that collects refueling information and transmits the refueling information to the outside; a credit card company server that transmits payment information of a gas station to the outside; a traffic information providing server that transmits traffic information including a position of the gas station to the outside; and a telematics server that determines the gas station to be a dishonest gas station that deceives a refueling amount by comparing information that is transmitted from the at least one telematics terminal and the payment information. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379524 | Shopper Helper - In one embodiment, a method includes monitoring an action of an individual or a certain consumer and maintaining a database stored in a memory personal to the consumer. The database can have an indication of preferences of the consumer and a purchase history of the individual consumer. The database can be based on the monitored action of the consumer. The method can further include providing a suggested product to the consumer based on the maintained database. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379525 | UTILIZING VOICE BIOMETRICS - Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for utilizing voice biometrics to provide relationship-based service are presented. In some embodiments, a computing device may receive a voice sample associated with a customer of an organization. Subsequently, the computing device may determine a voice biometric confidence score based on the voice sample. The computing device then may determine a relationship between the customer and the organization based on the voice sample and the voice biometric confidence score. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379526 | Electronic Shopping System for Retail Stores - A method and system to assist and guide a customer during a shopping experience in a “brick and mortar” type store in order to provide a more pleasant, effective, and efficient shopping environment is provided. Such a method and system allows a customer to more easily locate and access specific desired items in, for example, a large retail store. The customer can also more easily compare similar items, determine if the desired item or similar items are on sale, whether such items are in stock, issue rain checks on sale items out of stock, assess detailed information on such items, and keep a running account of the costs of the items selected. Such a method and system also provides significant benefits to the retailer, including, for example, increased customer satisfaction, direct communication and interaction with the customer, as well as better inventory control and reduced operating costs. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379527 | SHOPPING CONTEXT ENGINE - A system receives context data associated with a context and a user. The system then associates the context data to a user identifier and retrieves data associated with the context. The system then filters the data according to the context data to create result data. In another embodiment, the system also receives context data from a plurality of users, where the context data pertains to one or more attributes of a context. The system then using the context data ranks the one or more attributes of the context to create ranked data and generates a user interface based on the ranked data. In yet another embodiment, the system communicates context data associated with a context and a user to a server, and receives result data created by the server filtering data retrieved based on the context data. The system then generates a user interface based on the result data. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379528 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GRAPHICALLY BUILDING WEIGHTED SEARCH QUERIES - A system and method allows a user to define a search request by selecting and weighting graphical icons provided on a search creation interface. The graphical icons may be selected by using an icon selection feature provided on the search creation interface. The graphical icons may further be assigned relative search weights using an icon weighting feature provided on the search creation interface. The system and method generates search results based on metadata associated with the selected ones of the graphical icons and the search weights assigned to each of the selected ones of the graphical icons. The search results may comprise a ranked list of items, such as products listed for sale on an e-commerce server. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379529 | ORDER FULFILLMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS WITH CUSTOMER LOCATION TRACKING - Systems, methods, and apparatus are disclosed that provide a pickup process for items purchased from a store. In some embodiments, a mobile computing device of a customer may determine whether the mobile computing device and therefore the customer are in a pickup zone for a store. In response to determining that the mobile computing device is in the pickup zone, the mobile computing device may notify the customer and request whether the customer wishes to initiate pickup of purchased items from the store. The mobile computing device may notify a merchandise pickup system of the customer's desire to pickup the purchased items. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379530 | INTEGRATED CARWASH CLIENT SERVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH REAL-TIME WORK SCHEDULING PROCESS AND CARWASH ORDER AND RESERVATION FOR A CAR PARKING FACILITY-BASED HAND CARWASH - An integrated carwash client service management system receives a customer's carwash request, and schedules, coordinates, and manages a car parking facility-based hand carwash service. The integrated carwash client service management system includes an integrated carwash service management application executed in a computer server, an integrated carwash customer order application executed in a customer's electronic device, an integrated carwash order processing application executed in a carwash technician device, and an integrated carwash kiosk application executed in an electronic kiosk machine. A client service management database is managed and operated by the integrated carwash service management application executed in the computer server. This system provides an interactive electronic platform to schedule, view, and share a current progress of the carwash with before and after photos, messages, and status updates between the carwash technicians and the customer. The interactive electronic platform also accommodates carwash and auto detailing sales transactions. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379531 | METHOD FOR COLLECTING SALES AND USE TAX IN REAL-TIME - A system and method for collection of tax in real time from customers conducting a remote, non-in-store purchase. The system comprises a merchant shopping cart subsystem, tax calculation service, and a charging, archival, and reporting system (CARS) subsystem. Participating merchants in the system do not conduct tax calculations and will not receive tax revenue payments, and thus will not be required to maintain and provide reports to tax authorities. Tax revenue on customer purchases from merchants participating in the system will be collected by a third party authorized by the respective participating tax authority. The collected tax revenue will be held by the third party in a trust account until such time as the tax authority request the revenue. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379532 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCAN, TRY, AND BUY - A method for scan, try and/or buy may include receiving, from a mobile device, information that is representative of a clothing outfit. The clothing outfit may include a plurality of merchandise items available for purchase through a store. The information may be obtained by the mobile device by scanning a single code associated with the clothing outfit. The obtained information may be used to cause at least one user interface element associated with the clothing outfit to be displayed on the mobile device. In response to receiving a selection from the mobile device of the at least one user interface element, the plurality of merchandise items associated with the clothing outfit may be delivered to a merchandise check-out location within the store. The merchandise check-out location may be operable to receive payment from the user for the clothing outfit. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379533 | STORY BASED SELLING OF PRODUCTS - Disclosed are methods, systems, paradigms and structures for story based selling of products. An online sales event of a number of products is presented to consumers as a story. The products are presented as characters of the story. Related products are categorized into specific chapters of the story. The story can be based on a theme, a category, an occasion, an event, etc. For example, the story can be “Father's Day,” and all products that can be gifted to a father can be presented as various characters categorized under various chapters such as “Golf,” “Fishing,” “Board games” etc. Some embodiments present the story in a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI includes an introduction of the story, a table of contents, chapters, etc. for a story. The GUI presents certain characters with special features such as a different size, color, narratives, or on-character messages to distinguish them over other characters. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379534 | Digital Retail Store Featuring Digital Slotting Fees - The present invention is directed to providing a digital retail store featuring digital slotting fees. A digital retail store can be associated with or independent of a physical retail store. When associated with a physical retail store, products that are available within the physical retail store and for which a digital slotting fee has been paid can be made available within the digital retail store. A display device can be used within a physical retail store to display the digital retail store to a customer. A digital retail store can also be personalized for each customer of the digital retail store. A manufacturer can pay a digital slotting fee to have its products or services featured within the digital retail store pertaining to a particular customer. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379535 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO MONITOR PRODUCTS IN STORES - Methods and apparatus are disclosed to audit products in stores. An example method includes receiving, at a collection entity, a first request from a first entity to audit a first product, the first request including a first instruction to determine information about a second product that competes with the first product, in response to the first request, assigning a first auditor to audit the first product and to record the information about the second product, receiving, at the collection entity, a second request from a second entity to audit a third product, determining that the second request includes a second instruction to determine information about the second product identified in the first request, and in response to the second request, assigning a second auditor to audit the third product without including a further instruction to record the information about the second product. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379536 | INTEGRATED ONLINE AND OFFLINE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT - Method, systems, and apparatus for integrated online and offline sales management. A system manages both offline and online transactions and inventory in an integrated environment. An offline transaction is a sale at a point of sale (POS) system, e.g., at a typical “brick and mortar shop” physical store. An online transaction is a sale using an online store, e.g., an online shopping cart and checkout system accessed by a web browser or other application. An online store can be converted to offline store, and vice versa. An inventory management system can receive an input from a merchant device of merchant designating an item carried by the merchant as an item to be sold at the physical store, at the online store, or both. The inventory management system can modify a record of the item to respond to the input. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379537 | OPTIMIZING GENERATION OF AGENCY DEBIT MEMOS - Methods, systems, and computer program products for determining an expected value of generating an agency debit memo and/or inquiry, scheduling a task of generating the memo and/or inquiry, and determining optimal operator staffing levels. An optimizer module determines if an agency debit memo should be generated based on a probability the memo will be disputed by a travel agency and the expected value of generating the memo, and whether an inquiry should be generated in response to the dispute. Tasks of generating agency debit memos and inquiries are ranked and scheduled based on benefit density to optimize the cumulative net return for a given operator staffing level. Data is collected on execution of the tasks and ultimate outcomes and used to determine operator efficiency and to update expected value parameters. Optimum staffing levels may be determined by performing virtual task scheduling for different staffing levels. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379538 | METHODS FOR CALCULATING RETURN ON INVESTMENT FOR A CONTACT CENTER AND DEVICES THEREOF - A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and account manager device comprises obtaining a plurality of inputs associated with the contact center in response to a request to calculate the return on investment associated with the contact center, wherein the plurality of inputs includes one or more contact center historical data and one or more contact center projected data. At least a part of the obtained one or more contact center historical data is compared against the one or more contact center projected data to identify one or more improvement areas in the contact center. One or more costs to implement the identified one or more improvement areas in the contact center are determined. The return of investment associated to the contact center is determined based on the one or more determined costs. The determined return on investment associated to the contact center is provided. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379539 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING BILLING DATA OF A COMPOSITE CLOUD SERVICE - The technique relates to a system and method for generating billing data of a composite cloud service. The technique tracks and meters manual service usage along with the infrastructure and software usage to generate billing data for the composite cloud service. The technique involves receiving a user request for the composite cloud service. After receiving the user request, one or more infrastructure, software and manual resources required to fulfill the user request are provisioned. Thereafter, the consumption of the one or more infrastructure, software and manual resources in real time to fulfill the user request is measured based on a predefined monitoring metrics. Finally, billing data for the composite cloud service is generated based on the measured consumption data of the one or more infrastructure, software and manual resources, a predefined chargeback model and a predefined billing policy. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379540 | TRAVEL INFORMATION COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - Embodiments of the invention are directed to apparatus, methods, and computer program products for a travel flag communication system. In some embodiments, an apparatus is configured to: receive a first status associated with a user account; receive information from a user associated with the user account, wherein information comprises at least a start date of travel, an end date of travel, and at least one destination of travel; change status of the user account from the first status to a second status based on at least the start date of travel and the destination of travel; and revert status of the user account to the first status based on at least the end date of travel. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379541 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REMOTE CLEARING OF PAYMENT CARD TRANSACTIONS - A method and system for clearing payment card transactions using a computer device coupled to a database are provided. The method includes receiving from one or more local clearing users, financial transaction data relating to purchases made at one or more merchants by a plurality of payment card cardholder, the local clearing users located within a single clearing region, checking the received financial transaction data for errors, and performing a batch clearing process within the single clearing region on financial transaction data received in a predetermined period from the local clearing users within the single clearing region. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379542 | TRANSACTION ACCOUNT INTERFACE - A system, method and computer program product for interfacing disparate partner systems to a transaction account issuer system is disclosed. A Web server receives a request from a disparate partner system, such as a Web service, a portal and/or a partner microsite and an application server extracts a partner identifier from the request. In turn, a delegate engine delegates actions corresponding to the request to one or more handlers using predetermined rules associated with the partner identifier. A worker manager manages worker code blocks which perform the actions based on a subset of the predetermined rules associated with the partner identifier. The Web server then communicates an outcome to the partner system based on the actions performed by the worker code blocks. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379543 | FEES AND FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CALCULATION - Various methods, apparatus, and systems are disclosed for calculating a fee linked to an online financial transaction, with improved flexibility and availability through caching and refreshing of fee calculation data. In one embodiment, a method includes extracting fee calculation data into a data cache associated with a version identifier that is updated in response to refreshing of the data cache; receiving a fee calculation request linked to an online transaction associated with a fee type, a country code, and a client identifier; and then selecting, by looking up the data cache, a base fee from either a default fee determined by the fee type and the country code or from an overriding fee associated with the client identifier. The method further includes calculating a transaction fee for the online transaction based at least in part on the base fee; and verifying the version identifier to transmit the calculated transaction fee. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379544 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR EXPEDITED TRADING ACCOUNT FUNDING - A computer-implemented method is provided for opening an expedited account for a user. The method includes receiving a request from the user to make a trade associated with at least one financial instrument, in the absence of an account being opened for the user. The method includes determining a plurality of factors in response to the request, the plurality of factors including 1) a credit worthiness score of the user; 2) a source of capital identified by the user to cover the trade; and 3) a type of the at least one financial instrument associated with the trade. The method also includes opening the expedited account for the user with limited trading privileges, in which an amount of fund for trading is advanced to the user based on the plurality of factors. The method further includes allowing the user to make a trade up to the amount of fund advanced. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379545 | METHOD AND INTERFACE FOR PRESENTING LAST TRADED QUANTITY INFORMATION - Trading software may receive trading information from an exchange. The trading software may use the trading information to compute an estimate of last traded total sweep quantity. The trading software may also display the last traded total sweep quantity on a trading screen. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379546 | MULTI-BROKER ORDER ROUTING BASED ON NET POSITION - The disclosed embodiments provide tools for multi-broker order routing based on net position at a broker. The net position of a user at a broker to receive a portion of a trade order is considered when allocating the quantity for the trade order to multiple brokers. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379547 | Method for Aggregating Intellectual Property and Services In An Exchange - The present invention relates to methods of aggregating and valuing intellectual property in a financial exchange. The present invention provides means whereby holders of intellectual property rights may sell, or license intellectual property to an aggregator and receive shares of stock or cash for the contribution based on the aggregated value of the intellectual property held by the aggregator. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379548 | System and Method for Displaying Risk Data in an Electronic Trading Environment - An example graphical interface and method for displaying risk related data are described. One example graphical interface includes a data structure comprising a plurality of data nodes and at least one risk data point associated with each node, and further comprises a display grid. The display grid includes one or more cells that are used for displaying selected data nodes and risk data points. Each cell may be associated with a single data node, and may include one or more identifiers corresponding to risk data points of the data node. In one example embodiment, the identifiers are aligned along a single axis, and risk related data corresponding to each identifier is aligned with respect to each corresponding identifier. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379549 | System and Method for Aggregating Fixed Income Securities Data - Aggregating fixed income securities data from multiple market venues. Sets of data describing one or more fixed income securities are received from each of multiple market venues by a computer processor. Data contained within each of the sets of data is filtered to identify key/value data common to each set of data, the key/value data comprising, for each of the fixed income securities, securities industry identifier codes; a bid price; an ask price; a bid size; an ask size; a bid yield; an ask yield; a last trade price and quantity for executed trades; an execution time stamp; and a reference price. The filtered data is stored in a data repository. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379550 | Blending Methodology for Settling Swaption Volatility Cube and Prices - Systems and methods are provided for determining volatility levels for swaptions. End of day volatility data from swaption dealers. The data may be blended to obtain averaged data and then a modified SABR model may be used to fit a smile to the data points. The modified SABR model models density instead of implied volatility. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379551 | INSTANTLY BACK-TESTING TRADING STRATEGIES IN AN OPTIONS PORTFOLIO - A technique for options trading, and more specifically, to analyzing an options trade instantaneously that may be live or potentially initiated. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379552 | GENERATING MARKET INFORMATION BASED ON CAUSALLY LINKED EVENTS - Certain embodiments provide systems, apparatus, and methods to analyze incoming data messages and create market information constructs. An example method includes receiving a data message including an instruction to initiate a market event. The example method includes evaluating the instruction to determine whether it is associated with two or more causally linked market events. The example method also includes classifying the instruction based on the evaluating as part of a sequence of causally linked market events or as a single market event. The example method includes queuing the sequence of causally linked market events. The example method further includes detecting an end of the sequence of causally linked market events. The example method includes constructing a logically reduced market data message construct descriptive of the one or more market events represented by the queued sequence of causally linked events. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379553 | METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR SENDING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE - Disclosed is a system for reducing latency. A message sender can send to an electronic message receiver an electronic message portion comprising at least one of a plurality of data packages for transmission that an electronic message has been divided between. The plurality of data packages has more data packages than expected by the electronic message receiver. An electronic trigger information receiver can receive electronic trigger information. The message sender can send to the electrical message receiver the remaining of the plurality of data packages in response to receipt of the electronic trigger information. A data formatter can format each of the plurality of data packages to cause the electronic message receiver to hold the at least one of the plurality of data packages when received in anticipation of receiving the remaining of the plurality of data packages and subsequently combine the plurality of data packages once received. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379554 | Report Discrepancy Identification and Improvement - Systems, methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for identifying one or more discrepancies between a customer credit report or one or more credit report factors and customer information are presented. A comparison of the credit report factors may be performed to identify any discrepancy and corrective measures may be taken. In some arrangements, one or more improvement options may be identified to improve one or more credit report factors of the customer. The options may be provided to the customer. In other aspects, a comparison of various credit report factors of an individual to a group of individuals may be performed. In some examples, the group may be a peer group identified by an entity performing the comparison. In other examples, the group may be identified by the individual, such as from social media associations or based on a variety of other factors. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379555 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO COLLECTIONS CYCLE OPTIMIZATION - Methods and systems are provided for an integrated approach to collections cycle optimization including optimizing personnel, communications, and collection resolutions, resulting in reducing the variability of the collections cycle, reducing instances of foreclosure in collections, while increasing borrower satisfaction with the collections process. Candid ate loan officers are selected based on behavioral attributes, personnel history, and human resources information, among other factors. Scripts that improve the effectiveness of communication between loan collection staff and borrowers are generated. An optimized collection program to best suit the needs of a particular borrower is determined. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379556 | Credit Payment Method for Foreign Tourists - This invention provides a credit card method for foreigners includes steps: foreign tourist accesses the information management server with information on the goods provided by domestic tourism goods provider(s); foreign tourist selects desired goods on the server; a domestic financial institution creates an account; the foreign tourist makes a temporary payment to the account for the goods; the domestic financial institution credits the account with the sum of the temporary payment amount and the weighted value points and issues a means of payment that is linked to the account; foreign tourist is provided with this means of payment after entering the country; foreign tourist makes an actual payment for the goods provided by the good provider using this means of payment; and the domestic financial institution withdrawing money, in the actual amount of payment, from the account to be wired to the goods provider. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379557 | VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF ACCOUNTS - A method for visual representation of actual accounts which includes displaying by a display a plurality of visual account representations which visually represent the actual accounts and are linked to the actual accounts, the plurality of visual account representations changing shape when a transaction is performed with respect to the plurality of visual account representations; responsive to transaction input with respect to one of the visual account representations, changing shape by the display of the one visual account representation in proportion to the size of the transaction input; and responsive to the transaction input with respect to the one of the visual account representations, changing shape by the display of a second visual account representation in proportion to the size of the transaction input. Also disclosed is a computer program product for visual representation of accounts. | 2014-12-25 |
20140379558 | Extensible Interface for Synchronous and Asynchronous Payment - An applications programming interface (API) or other interface may be configured for use with a plurality of e-commerce applications and/or a plurality of payment systems. The API may be associated with an operating system of a client or may be otherwise located in an e-commerce system or network. The API may receive a call regarding a purchase transaction. The purchase transaction may be examined to determine if a payment method is synchronous or asynchronous. An appropriate payment system may be activated to perform the purchase transaction based at least in part on the determination made by the examination of the purchase transaction. A result of the purchase transaction may be sent to the e-commerce program. By revision of the API, developers of e-commerce applications are freed from the burden of revising code in response to the need to utilize additional or differently operated payment systems. | 2014-12-25 |