Patent Application
20180197209
The present invention concerns systems for selling goods online via a global computer network.
Keyword advertising is booming across the internet today, and behind the scenes, money changes hands with every click of a user's mouse. Since the end user fuels the economics of online advertising, shouldn't a portion of the generated cash flow be directed towards that user? Logically, he or she is entitled to a piece of the action. Enter U-Ad/YOUniverse. YOUniverse system is constructed as a coop, owned by its users. Thus, any profit generated that is not fed back into the growth of the company is distributed among its members, the end users.
When signing up for YOUniverse, the end user downloads a profile generator to the hard drive and a customizable profile is securely stored for use by the YOUniverse engine.
A key to this profile is that it is completely up to the individual user how much information to provide. There are NO required fields except for the most standard information to set up a deposit/credit account with YOUniverse.
Beyond this, any information provided by the end user performs two main functions:
Once created, the user profile is uploaded to the coop's user profile database. However, this profile database is dynamic, and any alterations the user wishes to make to the desktop profile will automatically upload to the online user profile database.
The search engine page has a standard, simple search engine interface for use as a standard search engine. It also has a user login option on the side. A user can only make money when he is logged into U-Ad. The standard search engine option may be useful for allowing people to get comfortable with the site and brand name before signing up.
Once logged in, the user can get paid while browsing, as well as manage his online U-Dollars account. The U-Dollars account works as a completely self-sufficient online banking system to add another level of security to online transactions by filtering them all through the U-Ad system. The online retailer no longer obtains any information from the end user during the transaction because the purchase is paid for using U-Dollars and paid out through YOUniverse. This further protects the end user from unsuspectingly giving out personal information and compels retailers/advertisers to join the YOUniverse, because otherwise they cannot gather information about the types of users buying their products.
How the YOUniverse U-Dollars account online banking system works:
The search bar resembles any other search engine. Beneath the search bar, however, is a list of possible intentions that the user can click to tailor the search results and advertisements to his needs for that keyword search:
After an intention is specified and the keyword search is submitted, the results are organized according to a user-specified ranking of factors. The advertisement results are dynamic columns that can be reorganized and reranked by:
The ads displayed in response to a search query have a few additional features compared to other search engine advertisements. Underneath the standard ad display, the YOUniverse ads display:
The Focus Spectrum is one of the most dynamic and uniquely appealing aspects of the YOUniverse search engine. In the profile generator, users specify not only their personal information, but the range of interests to which they would like their ads tailored. For example, a high-income user might want to only view ads for high-end consumer products. Rather than allow the advertiser to determine what the user wants to see, the engine uses a statistical grouping formula to determine other users with similar profiles in the specified area. Thus, a high-income user who selects income as a key focus spectrum factor would see the click and purchase choices of other high-income users displayed beneath the advertisements. The statistics show the percentage of similar users who decided to click on the product and the smaller percentage that followed through with a conversion.
The user also specifies the range of the Focus Spectrum to narrow or broaden the focus group. A simple focus statistics toolbar above the listing of advertisements has a customizable percentage that jumps between discreet amounts to change the range of the focus group. As the user expands or restricts the focus group size, the engine recalculates the relevancy of advertisements and adjusts their rankings accordingly.
All of the ads displayed in response to search queries are preapproved and within the YOUniverse network to ensure end user privacy in all click-throughs from a YOUniversal search. Our software/transfer page interface checks for cookies on landing sites to prevent pages within the ad network from tracking end users.
A user's click value directly affects the amount that user is offered by advertisers for clicking on an ad. The click value is based on:
The click quality formula shows that the longer a user browses without making any purchases or other types of advertiser-defined conversions (leads, signups, page views, etc.), the lower the user's quality score drops.
Each advertiser can specify what aspects of a user's profile most enhance the click value to that advertiser. Thus, advertiser's can target demographics, income levels, interests, geographic locations, and search intentions to fit their specific product or goal, but only for each individual end user insofar as that user supplies the information. However, the advertiser can not obtain the identity of the specific end user. This is a part of the security promise of the YOUniverse system.
The focus spectrum uses complex statistical analysis of end user profile data to quantify the similarity of two users. The end user specifies what similarities are most important to him or her, and each keyword search groups other user data accordingly. The focus spectrum can be shifted based on:
One or more factor can be selected to filter the advertisements even more thoroughly. For example, let's say an 18 year old female is searching for digital cameras online. The focus spectrum uses the groupings according to her demographic (16-20, persay) and expressed interest in professional photography to quantify the relevancy of the advertisements based on other similar users. The resulting ad rankings display the advertisements for higher-end cameras that garnered the most click-throughs and conversions among the 16-20 year old demographic. If she wanted to expand the search to high-end digital cameras among all ages, she could deselect the demographic factor and focus solely on the most popular and successful advertisements among those with an interest in professional photography.
Click quality=conversions/clicks
The system described herein can also be implemented through interactive television or radio, particularly via satellite television and radio systems and cable televisions systems.
Keyword advertising is booming across the internet today, and behind the scenes, money changes hands with every click of a user's mouse. Since the end user fuels the economics of online advertising, shouldn't a portion of the generated cash flow be directed towards that user? Logically, he or she is entitled to a piece of the action. Enter YouWe.
The YOUniverse system is constructed as a coop (or a standard corporation or a hybrid of the two), owned in a greater of lesser degree by its users (and investors, in the latter cases). Thus, some portion of profit generated that is not fed back into the growth of the company is distributed among its members, the end users.
When signing up for the YOUniverse system, the end user downloads (or fills out online) a profile generator to the hard drive and a customizable profile is securely stored for use by the YOUniverse engine.
The key to this profile is that it is completely up to the individual user how much information to provide. There are NO required fields except for the most standard information to set up a deposit/credit account with the YOUniverse system.
Beyond this, any information provided by the end user performs two main functions:
Once created, the user profile is uploaded to the coop's user profile database and formulates a number to place them within a range of people within the database. That number defines how that user will be shown to the advertiser as buying potential. However, this profile database is dynamic, and any alterations the user wishes to make to the desktop profile will automatically upload to the online user profile database. Could be limited by honesty/normalcy tolerances provided by the Coop.
The search engine page has a standard, simple search engine interface for use as a standard search engine. It also has a user login option on the side. A user can only make money when he is logged into U-Ad. The standard search engine option may be useful for allowing people to get comfortable with the site and brand name before signing up.
Once logged in, the user can get paid while browsing, as well as manage his online U-Dollars account. The U-Dollars account works as a completely self-sufficient online banking system to add another level of security to online transactions by filtering them all through the U-Ad system. The online retailer no longer obtains any information from the end user during the transaction because the purchase is paid for using U-Dollars and paid out through the YOUniverse system. This further protects the end user from unsuspectingly giving out personal information and compels retailers/advertisers to join the YOUniverse system, because otherwise they cannot gather information about the types of users buying their products.
How the YOUniverse U-Dollars account online banking system works:
The search bar resembles any other search engine. Beneath the search bar, however, is a list of possible intentions that the user can click to tailor the search results and advertisements to his needs for that keyword search:
After an intention is specified and the keyword search is submitted, the results are organized according to a user-specified ranking of factors. The advertisement results are dynamic columns that can be reorganized and reranked by:
The ads displayed in response to a search query have a few additional features compared to other search engine advertisements. Underneath the standard ad display, the YOUniverse ads display:
The Focus Spectrum is one of the most dynamic and uniquely appealing aspects of the YOUniverse search engine. In the profile generator, users specify not only their personal information, but the range of interests to which they would like their ads tailored. For example, a high-income user might want to only view ads for high-end consumer products. Rather than allow the advertiser to determine what the user wants to see, the engine uses a statistical grouping formula to determine other users with similar profiles in the specified area. Thus, a high-income user who selects income as a key focus spectrum factor would see the click and purchase choices of other high-income users displayed beneath the advertisements. The statistics show the percentage of similar users who decided to click on the product and the smaller percentage that followed through with a purchase/conversion.
The user also specifies the range of the Focus Spectrum to narrow or broaden the focus group. A simple focus statistics toolbar above the listing of advertisements has a customizable percentage that jumps between discreet amounts to change the range of the focus group. As the user expands or restricts the focus group size, the engine recalculates the relevancy of advertisements and adjusts their rankings accordingly.
All of the ads displayed in response to search queries are preapproved and within the YOUniverse network to ensure end user privacy in all click-throughs from a YOUniversal search. Our software/transfer page interface checks for cookies on landing sites to prevent pages within the ad network from tracking end users.
A user's click value directly affects the amount that user is offered by advertisers for clicking on an ad. The click value is based on:
The click quality formula shows that the longer a user browses without making any purchases or other types of advertiser-defined conversions (leads, signups, page views, etc.), the lower the user's quality score drops.
Each advertiser can specify what aspects of a user's profile most enhance the click value to that advertiser. Thus, advertiser's can target demographics, income levels, interests, geographic locations, and search intentions to fit their specific product or goal, but only for each individual end user insofar as that user supplies the information. However, the advertiser can never obtain the identity of the specific end user unless the user agrees to provide some personal info. This is crucial to the security promise of the YOUniverse system.
The matching of users with relevant advertisers has a general formula based on the user-specified profile. With each keyword search, the engine uses a combination of overall click value and more significant and targeted keyword-specific click value to determine how much the advertiser is willing to pay.
The first factor in matching the user with relevant and interested advertisers is relevancy, which is based on:
The relevant advertisers then scale the user based on:
The focus spectrum uses complex statistical analysis of end user profile data to quantify the similarity of two users. The end user specifies what similarities are most important to him or her, and each keyword search groups other user data accordingly. The focus spectrum can be shifted based on:
One or more factor can be selected to filter the advertisements even more thoroughly. For example, let's say an 18 year old female is searching for digital cameras online. The focus spectrum uses the groupings according to her demographic (16-20, persay) and expressed interest in professional photography to quantify the relevancy of the advertisements based on other similar users. The resulting ad rankings display the advertisements for higher-end cameras that garnered the most click-throughs and conversions among the 16-20 year old demographic. If she wanted to expand the search to high-end digital cameras among all ages, she could deselect the demographic factor and focus solely on the most popular and successful advertisements among those with an interest in professional photography.
Click quality=conversions/clicks
The focus spectrum uses complex statistical analysis of end user profile data to quantify the similarity of two users. The end user specifies what similarities are most important to him or her, and each keyword search groups other user data accordingly. The focus spectrum can be shifted based on:
Certain factors come into play more often than others. For example, geographic location is a much less significant factor than income, especially when searching for computer hardware, persay. The geographic location may come into play much more when searching for sleeping bags. In this way, the combination and weight of the different qualifiers in creating a focus spectrum for each individual search is dynamic and largely dependent on the keyword itself.
One or more factor can be selected to filter the advertisements even more thoroughly. For example, let's say an 18 year old female is searching for digital cameras online. The focus spectrum uses the groupings according to her demographic (16-20, persay) and expressed interest in professional photography to quantify the relevancy of the advertisements based on other similar users. The resulting ad rankings display the advertisements for higher-end cameras that garnered the most click-throughs and conversions among the 16-20 year old demographic. If she wanted to expand the search to high-end digital cameras among all ages, she could deselect the demographic factor and focus solely on the most popular and successful advertisements among those with an interest in professional photography.
The number derived from the focus spectrum is the Relevancy Factor of the ad for those within the spectrum. This percentage is displayed underneath each advertisement to show how relevant other users thought that advertisement to be.
The percentage is based not solely on click-throughs, but also on conversions. A conversion is worth significantly more than a click-through. Accordingly, the number generated, although a percentage, is not solely (clicks)/(impressions) for the focus group. It may look something more like [(clicks)+100*(conversions)]/(impressions)
For a definite buyer, (conversions)/(clicks) for the focus spectrum may be more useful information.
The user then logs in to U-Ad and selects an intention, specifiying a choice of definite buyer, potential buyer, research to buy, just browsing or rather not say. The user then performs standard keyword searches for items and the YOUniverse system returns advertisement results based on the Focus Spectrum Statistics, Click Value, relevancy and product price. The user then has a yes/no choice to rerank the results based on any of these factors. Choosing yes allows the user to rerank the results and obtain a new set of advertisement results based on the user's choice. Choosing no allows the user to continue to make a purchasing decision. Depending on the nature of a purchasing decision, the YOUniverse system assigns a conversion value based on Sale=1; Subscription=0.5; Lead=0.75; Page View=0.05×(# of pages); and No Action=0.
Purchasing decision information is used to adjust Click Value. A positive performance adds to Click Quality and a negative performance subtracts from Click Quality. These Click Quality values are then used to adjust the user's Click Value.
In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the disclosed invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the illustrated embodiments are only preferred examples of the invention and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/462,465, filed Aug. 18, 2014, entitled “ADVERTISING AND FULFILLMENT SYSTEM,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/465,938, filed May 7, 2012, entitled “ADVERTISING AND FULFILLMENT SYSTEM,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/899,421, filed Oct. 6, 2010, entitled “ADVERTISING AND FULFILLMENT SYSTEM,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/831,919, filed Jul. 31, 2007, entitled “ADVERTISING AND FULFILLMENT SYSTEM,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application No. 60/820,943, filed Jul. 31, 2006, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60820943 | Jul 2006 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14462465 | Aug 2014 | US |
| Child | 15913675 | US | |
| Parent | 13465938 | May 2012 | US |
| Child | 14462465 | US | |
| Parent | 12899421 | Oct 2010 | US |
| Child | 13465938 | US | |
| Parent | 11831919 | Jul 2007 | US |
| Child | 12899421 | US |
