Patent Application
20130159081
The present innovations generally address apparatuses, methods, and systems for online advertising, and more particularly, include BIDIRECTIONAL BANDWIDTH REDUCING NOTIFICATIONS AND TARGETED INCENTIVE PLATFORM APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS (“Ad-Track”).
Merchants advertise their products to attract consumers. For example, a merchant may pay a newspaper for advertising their products by publishing a picture of their product, and/or a description of their products in the newspaper. A consumer who reads the newspaper may obtain information of the advertised product, and may be interested in purchasing the product.
The accompanying appendices, drawings, figures, images, etc. illustrate various example, non-limiting, inventive aspects, embodiments, and features (“e.g.,” or “example(s)”) in accordance with the present disclosure:
The leading number of each reference number within the drawings indicates the figure in which that reference number is introduced and/or detailed. As such, a detailed discussion of reference number 101 would be found and/or introduced in
The BIDIRECTIONAL BANDWIDTH REDUCING NOTIFICATIONS AND TARGETED INCENTIVE PLATFORM APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS (hereinafter “Ad-Track”) provides an advertising tracking and payment platform which combines online tracking of consumer behaviors and merchant advertising into purchase data. In one embodiment, Ad-Track may assist advertisers (e.g., merchants, etc.) close the loop between online/offline advertising and consumer's purchases while creating an incentive model for all participants.
Integration of an electronic wallet, a desktop application, a plug-in to existing applications, a standalone mobile application, a web based application, a smart prepaid card, and/or the like in capturing payment transaction related objects such as purchase labels, payment cards, barcodes, receipts, and/or the like reduces the number of network transactions and messages that fulfill a transaction payment initiation and procurement of payment information (e.g., a user and/or a merchant does not need to show an advertisement in the print media or obtain and send digital images of paper bills, hand in a physical payment card to a cashier, etc., to initiate a payment transaction, fund transfer, and/or the like). In this way, with the reduction of network communications, the number of transactions that may be processed per day is increased, i.e., processing efficiency is improved. In one implementation, the Ad-Track may provide customized advertisements to consumers, which reduces the volume of network communication messages of ads, and thus saves the network bandwidth usage, and improves ad network transmission efficiency and data communication latency performance.
It should be noted that although a mobile wallet platform is depicted (e.g., see
In one implementation, the Ad-Track server 120 may determine whether the consumer's purchase of the advertised product 108 should be attributed to the advertisement 103 exposure. For example, if the Ad-Track server 120 reviews the consumer's purchasing history 112 and determines that the consumer has never shopped any product with the featured brand 114, the Ad-Track server 120 may correlate the purchase with the advertisement exposure. For example, the Ad-Track server 120 may distribute a contingent advertisement fee 116 to the advertisement channel 105, wherein the advertisement fee is provided by the merchant as part of advertisement revenue sharing.
In one implementation, the Ad-Track may track such in-store advertisement exposure via a store injection component 117 instantiated with the consumer's mobile wallet 101. For example, the consumer's mobile wallet 101 may track the consumer's store check-in showing the consumer has spent significant time with the merchant store 124. In another implementation, the store injection component 117 may track the consumer's interested products in store. Further implementations of the store injection component 117 are discussed in
In one implementation, when the consumer “John Smith” 102 makes a subsequent purchase, e.g., via an Internet shopping site 122, the Ad-Track server 120 may generate heuristics that the purchase is a result of the in-store advertisement and sales work. The Ad-Track server 120 may then distribute a contingent ad fee 116 to the retailer, e.g., the computer store 150.
In one implementation, the Ad-Track server may be integrated with an Ad Network server 180 to provide ads to a consumer. In another implementation, the Ad-Track server may comprise an independent server that will feed information to the ad network server 180 as to what ads to be provided to the consumer. For example, the ad network server 180 may receive instructions to generate predictive ads 135 that does not include a TV ad. In another example, the Ad-Track server may instead feature TV related products ads to the user 135, e.g., video game equipments, home theatre system, etc. For example, if the same consumer browses an online store for electronics and searches for popular electronic products, the electronics store may not provide ads of plasma TVs but the complementary gaming gadgets to the consumer.
In one embodiment, a consumer 202, may operate a wide variety of different user devices, including communications devices and technologies within embodiments of Ad-Track operation. For example, in one embodiment, the consumer devices may include, but are not limited to, computer terminals, work stations, cellular telephony handsets, smart phones, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and/or the like. In one embodiment, the Ad-Track server 220 may be equipped at a terminal computer of the consumer 202. For example, the Ad-Track component may be instantiated on a consumer device to conduct Ad-Track analysis. In another embodiment, the Ad-Track server 220 may be a remote server which is accessed by the consumer 202 via a communication network 213, such as, but not limited to local area network (LAN), in-house intranet, the Internet, and/or the like.
In one implementation, the consumer 202 may be associated with an electronic wallet 203, which may have various registered accounts, including one or more bank accounts, an Ad-Track service account, a merchant membership account, and/or the like, possessed with the consumer 202. For example, a consumer may possess an electronic wallet linked a Bank of America checking account, a Chase credit card account, a Sam's Club membership account, and/or the like. For another example, the consumer's electronic wallet may be registered for the Ad-Track service. For another example, a consumer may operate a mobile device to access his electronic wallet to make a purchase, as further illustrated in the example screen shots in
In one embodiment, the consumer's electronic wallet may be registered with the Ad-Track server 220. For example, the consumer's electronic wallet may comprise a tag indicating the consumer electronic wallet is “Ad-Track enabled.” In one implementation, when a consumer initiates a browser session via a personal device (e.g., a laptop, a smart phone, etc.), such as opening a browsing window on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, and/or the like, the browser may state information of the session indicating the session is eligible for Ad-Track service. For example, when a consumer searches for desired products on Google, the user's browser may contain cookies of an Ad-Track label, and may notify the Google server of such Ad-Track label; the search engine may return a list of Ad-Track featured search results, e.g., listing the Ad-Track participating merchants' products/advertisements on top of the list, as shown in one example in
In alternative implementations, the consumer 202 may click on a URL link and view an online advertisement 208 from an advertising channel 230, such as a news site, a social media ad, and/or the like.
In another embodiment, upon receiving an advertisement (e.g., on the consumer's Internet browser, etc.), the consumer's activities 215 may be recorded and forwarded to the Ad-Track server 220. For example, in one implementation, the Ad-Track server may run a Java applet within the consumer's browser and monitor the consumer's interactive activities with the displayed advertisement, e.g., clicking on the advertisement link, visiting a merchant website following links provided in the advertisement, making a subsequent purchase on the merchant website, and/or the like. The Ad-Track server 220 may store the consumer activity information, and correlate it with subsequently received purchasing information to determine whether the consumer's purchase is triggered by the advertisement, as further illustrated in
For example, in one implementation, the consumer device may provide a consumer activity message 215 to the Ad-Track server 220 as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of a consumer activity message 215, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In the above example, the consumer activity message 215 includes a consumer Google search event for “men sweater,” and the consumer subsequently clicked on two advertisement links returned in the search results, e.g., the “Banana Republic” and “Armani Exchange,” and the consumer's interactions with the advertisements, e.g., click and view, or just click through, etc., and the duration that the consumer has stayed on the advertisement are recorded and included in the consumer activity message 215.
In another implementation, the Ad-Track may track consumer advertisement exposure via In-Store injection data (e.g., see 600 in
In one implementation, the consumer may submit payment information to make a purchase request 224a with the merchant 250 (e.g., either at a physical merchant store, or an online shopping site, etc.) when the consumer is interested in the advertised products. For example, in one implementation, the consumer may visit a participating merchant store's website, a third party shopping website featuring the merchant's product (e.g., Amazon.com, Zappos.com, etc.) and/or visit product advertisement via social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and/or the like, and may submit an online purchase request if a desired product by providing payment information, e.g., entering a credit card number, electronic wallet information, and/or the like.
For another example, the consumer may visit a merchant store and make an in-store purchase of the product. In one embodiment, the consumer 202 may provide his Ad-Track wallet information included in the payment request 224a to a merchant store 250 prior to his check-out. For example, in one implementation, the consumer may swipe an Ad-Track membership magstripe card at a POS terminal of the merchant store. For another example, the consumer may operate a smart phone for registration with the POS via short messages. For another example, the consumer may register with the merchant via bar code scan of the consumer's AD-Track membership card and/or the product.
For example, in one implementation, the consumer may provide a purchase request 224a to the merchant server 250 as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of a payment request 224a, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
Further implementations of a purchase transaction are discussed in
In one implementation, the Ad-Track server 220 may obtain an indication of the user purchase from a purchase request 224b received from a merchant 220. In another implementation, a payment network/issuer (e.g., Visa) 240 may receive and process the purchase request 224b from the merchant 250 and may provide a purchase confirmation 224c to the Ad-Track server 220 as an indication of purchase transaction when the transaction is finished and cleared. For example, the purchase confirmation message 224c may include fields similar to that of the purchase request, including fields such as the product information, merchant information, a timestamp, and/or the like.
In one implementation, the Ad-Track server 220 may determine whether the purchase is correlated with any prior ad exposure activity 227, e.g., see
In one embodiment, the merchant may provide an incentive rewards to the consumer, e.g., a rebate amount, etc., for using Ad-Track. For example, after the consumer has made a purchase, and the Ad-Track server has correlated the purchase to the consumer's internet activity of viewing an Ad-Track advertisement of the product, the merchant 250 may allocate 2% of the purchase price of the purchase as an incentive rewards to the consumer. In one implementation, the Ad-Track server credit the incentive rewards to the consumer's electronic wallet. In alternative implementations, a variety of incentive awards may be provided to the consumer, such as store points, coupons, sample gifts, and/or the like.
In one implementation, the merchant may provide affiliate payment to the Ad-Track server 220, which may re-distribute the affiliate payment to the consumer as incentive rewards, and affiliate payment to the advertising channels 230 for advertising fee. For example, the merchant may allocate 6% of the purchase price of a transaction to the Ad-Track server 220, and request 2% be re-distributed to an advertising channel (e.g., Google, etc.), and 2% be credited to the consumer.
In one embodiment, the Ad-Track server 220 may establish data records of registered consumers, merchants, past transactions 223 for storage in a database 219. For example, in one implementation, the consumer/merchant transaction record 223 may comprise information with regard to the purchase price, a purchase time-stamp, conditions of the purchase (e.g., whether eligible for Ad-Track affiliate payment), and/or the like.
For example, an exemplary XML record of a transaction may take a form similar to the following:
In the above XML example, the purchase includes a product from the merchant “Banana Republic,” and the merchant may specify rules for the affiliate payment eligibility, e.g., a time frame of 280 days prior to the purchase, during which the consumer did not purchase any product of the same “category,” e.g., Banana Republic men's apparel. For another example, the merchant may expand the purchase range to the entire brand name, e.g., requiring a consumer with no prior purchase of any Banana Republic products within the past 280 days, etc. The merchant may further specify that purchases made via a list of participating sites are eligible to be considered for affiliate payment, e.g., Amazon.com, etc. The merchant may further specify the affiliate payment rule, e.g., splitting 2% of the purchase price to the Ad-Track, Google and the consumer, etc.
In some embodiments, the Ad-Track server 220 may store the transaction record by issuing PHP/SQL commands to store the data to the database table (such as
With reference to
For example, in one implementation, the consumer operating a mobile wallet 203 may obtain store injection data 255a from the merchant store, and forward such injection data 255b indicating consumer activities in a physical merchant sore to the consumer data aggregator 270. In one implementation, the store injection data 255a-b may comprise the consumer's GPS location information, duration of the stay, price-checking using barcode/QR code scanning via the mobile wallet, and/or the like. For example, the mobile wallet 203 may provide an store injection data message 255b to the Ad-Track server as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of an store injection data message, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In the above example, the store injection data message 255b includes the GPS information of a physical “Banana Republic” store and indicates that the consumer “John Smith” has visited and stayed in the store for 56 minutes. In another example, other store event types may reflect in-store ad exposure to the consumer, such as price checking, etc. Another example listing of an store injection data message 225b, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In the above example, the store injection data message 255b comprise information of consumer's price check of a product using a mobile wallet. For example, the consumer may operate his/her mobile wallet device (e.g., a smartphone, etc.) to scan a QR code of the product (e.g., see 3516 in
In another implementation, the consumer data aggregator 270 may obtain social media feeds 256 from a social media platform 260. For example, a consumer's social payment (e.g., see
For example, the social media platforms 260 may provide a social media feeds message 256 to the Ad-Track server as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of a social media feeds message, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In another implementation, the consumer data aggregator 270 may obtain updates from web crawl 258 from various website 230, e.g., consumer's blog posts, browsing activities, etc. For example, the web server 230 may provide an update message 258 to the Ad-Track server as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of an web update message 258, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
Further implementations of aggregating consumer related data from social media, web, and/or various internet resources are further illustrated in
In one implementation, the consumer data aggregator 270 may aggregate consumer ad exposure data 259, and store the aggregation results in a data store. In one implementation, the Ad-Track server 220 may generate an ad exposure query 261 to the consumer data aggregator 270. For example, when the Ad-Track server 220 has received a purchase indication (e.g., see 224b in
For example, the Ad-Track server 220 may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as
In some embodiments, the Ad-Track server may receive an ad exposure data 262 query results from the consumer data aggregator 270, indicating whether there is prior ad exposure to the queries product name, or brand name. For example, the ad exposure data 262 may comprise any previously stored ad exposure record in a form similar to the received store injection data 255b, social media feeds 256, web crawl 258, and/or the like. The Ad-Track server 220 may then proceed to correlation at 227 in
In one embodiment, a merchant, e.g., a brand name product company, etc., may register with the Ad-Track by submitting merchant information 308. In another implementation, the merchant may submit a request to advertise to the Ad-Track, so that the Ad-Track may generate an advertising component for display at the consumer terminal for the merchant. In an alternative implementation, the merchant may submit information with regard to a third party advertising channel wherein the merchant's products are advertised, to the Ad-Track 120.
In one embodiment, upon registration with Ad-Track, a consumer may initiate Internet research for a desired product 315. For example, if the consumer wants to buy a sweater, he may initiate a search based on key term “sweater.” In one implementation, during the course of the Internet research for a sweater, the consumer may trigger an event which sends an indication to Ad-Track indicating the consumer is looking for a “sweater.” The consumer's device may send a query to search network, e.g., Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., or may click on certain ads. Such indication of interests may be saved as an ad cookie on the consumer device, intercepted by the use of a plug-in of the consumer's web browser, captured in log by the target of the search, e.g., web search engine, advertising networks, merchants, etc.) those targets may subsequently make the search terms available to the Ad-Track, and/or the ad networks; such information may be passed as a data structure through a HTTP POST message (e.g., se 215 in
In one implementation, the Ad-Track may receive the event trigger and query for registered related merchants 320. For example, in one implementation, if the consumer clicks on an advertisement for “new collection for men's sweaters,” the Ad-Track may receive this indication that the consumer is interested in “men's sweaters,” and may form a query in its merchant database for merchants that offer “men's sweaters.”
In one implementation, the Ad-Track may instantiate an advertisement component (e.g., on the browser, etc.) for a queried merchant 325. For example, the Ad-Track may determine “Banana Republic” offers “men's sweaters,” and may then display an advertisement for Banana Republic to the consumer. In one implementation, there may be more than one registered merchants that offer “men's sweaters.” In one implementation, the Ad-Track may sort a list of advertisements of different merchants based on a variety of metrics, such as, but not limited to relevancy, the percentage of affiliated payment the merchant is willing to pay Ad-Track, and/or the like.
In one embodiment, the consumer may view the provided advertisement and submit an indication of view the advertisement to Ad-Track 330, e.g., by clicking on the advertisement. The Ad-Track may store the indication 333, e.g., a time-stamp, an advertisement ID, a consumer ID, and/or the like. As such, to this point, the Ad-Track may operate as an ad network. In one embodiment, Ad-Track may communicate with an ad network, and otherwise shed such ad network features itself, and provide indication of transactions while performing operations as follows.
In one implementation, a consumer may subsequently make a purchase of the advertised product 335, e.g., a Banana Republic sweater for men as discussed in the above example. Within a variety of implementations, the consumer may purchase the product via a variety of commercial channels, such as in-store, via the merchant website, via a shopping website (e.g., Amazon.com, macys.com, etc.), and/or the like.
In one implementation, information that used to confer an eligible product has been purchased by the consumer may be obtained from the user device (e.g., an electronic wallet on a mobile device, etc.), the merchant, an issuer and/or payment network cooperating with the Ad-Track system. In one implementation, registered consumers may have all account transactions that occur with registered accounts serve as a trigger to determine if such purchased item are eligible for Ad-Track rewards.
In an alternative embodiment, when the merchant has no direct relationship with Ad-Track, a merchant may charge a consumer's payment account for the purchase, and the transaction may be processed by a payment network and/or an issuer (e.g., Visa, etc.). The Ad-Track may be disposed with communication with the payment network/issuer, and thereby may be provided the payment indication through such networks (e.g., see 224b in
Upon receiving payment from the consumer 338, the merchant may confirm purchase transaction with a payment network. For example, the Ad-Track may receive purchase confirmation 339 from the merchant, the payment network, and/or the like. In one implementation, the merchant and the Ad-Track may determine whether the purchase is eligible for a merchant affiliate payment 340, e.g., whether the merchant should pay Ad-Track for advertising. In one implementation, rules for determining the eligibility may be established in a merchant-Ad-Track agreement. In one embodiment, the Ad-Track has aggregated different types of consumer activities (e.g., 215 in
In another example, if the consumer has repeatedly clicked on the advertisement by the same merchant (e.g., Banana Republic) within a period of time (e.g., a week), the correlation rule may acknowledge a subsequent purchase as a result of ad exposure. For example, the Ad-Track may generate a query into the correlation rule table:
For another example, eligibility of the purchased item may be determined 345 upon whether the consumer has “viewed” the advertisement by retrieving an indication 333, e.g., whether the user has clicked on, followed a link by a related advertisement of the merchant's product. As such, the Ad-Track would work regardless where the purchase takes place, e.g., online purchase, in-store purchase, and/or the like.
In one embodiment, if eligible, the merchant may through pay a portion (e.g., 5%) of purchase transaction to Ad-Track as an affiliate payment 350. In one implementation, this payment may be variable based on the consumer's previous activity—for example, if they had made a purchase (or multiple purchases) at the same merchant in the last 180 days, then the payment could be lower. In one implementation, Ad-Track may split the payment. For example, a portion of the payment (e.g., 3%) may be made to the site/channel where the most relevant driving event occurred, or splitting the payment amongst channels. For another example, a portion of the payment (e.g., 1%) may be made to the consumer as an incentive for participation 355. In one implementation, Ad-Track may provide rewards as incentive to consumers in a variety of forms, such as, but not limited to cash backs, coupons for next purchase, and/or the like.
In one implementation, the Ad-Track rewards may be provided to the consumer in various ways. For example, a consumer may obtain cash back via his electronic wallet, as shown in
Upon receiving a check message 353, the data aggregator may store the consumer location indication 354 from the check-in message and monitor further store injection data. If there is a store injection event message 355 received from the mobile wallet, the aggregator may extract product/brand information 356 from the message, e.g., the consumer may operate the mobile wallet to scan a barcode of a product, price check and comparison, checkout at a merchant POS, etc. In one implementation, the aggregator may determine whether there is an external URL 358a in the store injection message, e.g., the consumer may snap the barcode/QR code to conduct Internet search on the product, and/or conduct a price match which may direct the consumer to another URL. In one implementation, if there is no external link included in the store injection event message 355 (e.g., the message is not a price match/search event, etc.), the aggregator may generate and store the shop trail record 361 including the current merchant store, e.g., the store that consumer has walked in at 351.
In another implementation, if the store injection event message includes an external link and the consumer click on the external link 358a, e.g., from the price match results, the aggregator may proceed to determine a type of the link, e.g., whether it is a store injection to a new store 358b. For example, if the external URL 358a includes an advertisement of the product on “Newsdaily.com,” then the URL is not a store injection 358b, and the aggregator may store the external channel (e.g., “Newsdaily.com”) 359 and proceed to 335.
In another implementation, if the external link is a store injection 358b, e.g., the consumer may be directed to another online store (e.g., Amazon.com, buy.com, etc.) 358b, the aggregator may include the new store into the shop trail 360, and generate and store the shop trail record 361. In one implementation, the currently injected store merchant (e.g., Amazon.com, buy.com, etc.) may receive a store check-in message e.g., at 352b. Further implementations of the store injection shop trail are discussed in
The aggregator may store the external channel 359 if it is visited by the consumer and generate/store the injection record 361. Further discussions of store injection data aggregation are provided in
For example, in one implementation, when the Ad-Track receives a purchase confirmation that a consumer has purchased a plasma TV, the Ad-Track may perform the following query for ads featuring complementary products:
In the above example, the Ad-Track may query for any complementary products which are labeled as complementary to the purchased plasma TV. For example, the complementary products may include video gaming gadgets, a TV stand, and/or the like.
In one implementation, when the Ad-Track receives a trigger event 410, e.g., the consumer has made a purchase, etc., the Ad-Track may determine related advertisement based on the generated heuristics 413 at step 406. The Ad-Track may receive a batch of triggers (e.g., transaction records, etc.), and may review and analyze each record 414 until there is no more triggers. In one implementation, for example, if the trigger event indicates a purchase of relatively long-lasting goods, e.g., a plasma TV, a mattress, etc., the Ad-Track may determine not to provide advertisements of similar products to the consumer within a period of time (e.g., 6 months, etc.), as consumer purchasing pattern may reflect that it is rare a consumer may consecutively purchase a plasma TV within 6 months.
In one implementation, upon receiving an advertisement (e.g., via an online channel, mobile wallet, social media, etc.), the consumer may interact with the ads 418, e.g., click-through, etc. Such activities may be captured by the aggregator for analysis.
In one implementation, the Ad-Track and/or the merchant may establish eligibility rule of advertisement. For example, the Ad-Track may require the purchased product and the advertisement must be within the same category, e.g., a consumer who has interacted with an advertisement on “Banana Republic collection on women's dresses” but has bought a men's sweater is not eligible. For another example, the Ad-Track and/or the merchant may have a more relaxed rule, e.g., as long as the consumer has viewed an advertisement with the brand, e.g., a consumer who viewed an ad on “Banana Republic collection on women's dresses” may likely view the men's collection as well.
If there is an Internet activity record 457 based on the eligibility rule, the Ad-Track may determine whether the ad has been “viewed” by the consumer 453, as the consumer may close the ad without viewing it. For example, the Ad-Track may determine whether the consumer has clicked on the presented ad 455. If not, the Ad-Track may determine whether the consumer has stayed on the ad 460 for a sufficient period of time, e.g., scrolling down the ad to view product listings, as shown in
In one implementation, if the correlation is established 466, the Ad-Track may move on to determine an affiliate payment, e.g., based on consumer loyalty type 470. If not, no ad revenue may be provided to either the ad channel or the consumer.
In one embodiment, the Ad-Track may retrieve the consumer's purchasing history to determine whether the consumer is a loyal consumer to the merchant, or a new consumer 470. For example, for non-frequent buyers, the merchant may issue affiliate Ad-Track payment if the consumer has not bought any brand product within the past 180 days, as a rule for the new buyer 473. For another example, for loyal consumers, even if the consumer's purchasing history shows the consumer made purchases with the merchant within the 180 days, the Ad-Track may apply another rule for affiliate payment. For example, the merchant may provide 6% of the proceeds to Ad-Track with a new buyer's purchase, 4% of the proceeds to Ad-Track for loyal consumers' purchases. In a further implementation, the merchant may not provide affiliate payment to Ad-Track for loyal purchases.
Continuing on with
In another implementation, if the injection data comprises an external link 478, e.g., price matching information which directs to another online store, an advertisement featuring the product, etc., the Ad-Track may determine whether the consumer clicks or view the external link 480, e.g., an amazon.com link, etc. Similar to the procedure to analyze Internet activities, the Ad-Track may determine whether there is a click-through, or whether the consumer makes a purchase transaction 480 via the link (e.g., Amazon.com, etc.), stay on the external link to view 481, and/or the like. If a consumer has clicked and stayed on the new link 481 (e.g., the consumer has viewed an ad link, or has injected an online store), the Ad-Track may include the clicked store/channel information 482 to provide to the correlation module 484.
For example, an injection data message may comprise information that a consumer walked in a Banana Republic retail store and operate his/her mobile wallet to conduct a price match on a sweater (e.g., see
Various rules may be established for correlation based on injection data. For example, a merchant may establish rules that if the user has clicked on a price match link of a shopping site but does not purchase the product from the same shopping site, the shopping site may not be considered as an eligible channel for ad revenue sharing. In another implementation, if the data comprises a shop trail injection event, e.g., the consumer has checked in another store (e.g., by clicking on an Amazon.com link, etc.), the Ad-Track may determine whether the merchant (e.g., Amazon.com) has been included in the shop trail 483. Further consumer history shop trail implementations are discussed in
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In another view, a virtual store aisle view (e.g., akin to a Google map Street View) may be navigated 651 when the consumer is not at the store, but would like to look for product; the directional control 651 allows for navigation up and down the aisle, and rotation and views of items at the merchant location. Additionally, consumers may tap items in the shelves and create a new product pin, which may then be added 652 to a cart or wishlist for further transacting.
In some embodiments, the server may obtain the store injection request from the client, and may parse the message, e.g., 606. For example, the client may utilize a parser such as the example parsers discussed below in the description with reference to
In some embodiments, in response to the query, a database of the server may provide the data requested by the server, e.g., 608. Using the obtained data, the server may generate a store injection response message, e.g., 609. For example, the server may provide a store injection response message to the client as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of a store injection response message, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In some embodiments, the client may obtain the store injection response message, and parse the message, e.g., 610. The client may render a visualization of the virtual store using the extracted store injection data, e.g., 611, and display the rendered visualization for the user via a display device of the client, e.g., 612.
With reference to
With reference to
In one implementation, in particular when the user has previously interacted with the item that is snapped, the user may view the details of the items 682 and the amount(s) of each item, the merchant, etc., 682. In various implementations, the user may be able to perform additional operations in this view. For example, the user may (re)buy the item 683, obtain third-party reviews of the item, and write reviews of the item 684, add a photo to the item so as to organize information related to the item along with the item 685, add the item to a group of related items (e.g., a household), provide ratings 687, or view quick ratings from the user's friends or from the web at large. For example, such systems may be implemented using the example centralized personal information platform components described below in the discussion with reference to
The history mode, in another embodiment, may offer facilities for obtaining and displaying ratings 687 of the items in the transaction. The source of the ratings may be the user, the user's friends (e.g., from social channels, contacts, etc.), reviews aggregated from the web, and/or the like. The user interface in some implementations may also allow the user to post messages to other users of social channels (e.g., TWITTER or FACEBOOK). For example, the display area 688 shows FACEBOOK message exchanges between two users. In one implementation, a user may share a link via a message 689. Selection of such a message having embedded link to a product may allow the user to view a description of the product and/or purchase the product directly from the history mode.
In some implementations, the wallet application may display a shop trail for the user, e.g., 690. For example, a user may have reviewed a product at a number of websites (e.g., ElecReports, APPL FanBoys, Gizmo, Bing, Amazon, Visa Smartbuy feature (e.g., that checks various sources automatically for the best price available according to the user preferences, and provides the offer to the user), etc.), which may have led the user to a final merchant website where the user finally bought the product. In some implementations, the Ad-Track may identify the websites that the user visited, that contributed to the user deciding to buy the product, and may reward them with a share of the revenues obtained by the “point-of-sale” website for having contributed to the user going to the point-of-sale website and purchasing the product there. For example, the websites may have agreements with product manufacturers, wholesalers, retail outlets, payment service providers, payment networks, amongst themselves, and/or the like with regard to product placement, advertising, user redirection and/or the like. Accordingly, the Ad-Track may calculate a revenue share for each of the websites in the user's shopping trail using a revenue sharing model, and provide revenue sharing for the websites.
In some implementations, the virtual wallet may provide a SmartBuy targeted shopping feature. For example, the user may set a target price 691 for the product 682 that the user wishes to buy. The virtual wallet may provide a real-time market watch status update 692 for the product. When the market price available for the user falls below the user's target price 691, the virtual wallet may automatically buy the product for the user, and provide a shipment/notification to the user.
Similarly, the discovery shopping mode 721 may provide a view of aggregate consumer response to opinions of experts, divided based on opinions of experts aggregated form across the web (see 702). For example, the centralized personal information platform components described below in the discussion with reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In one implementation, the user may select a transaction, for example transaction 806, to view the details of the transaction. For example, the user may view the details of the items associated with the transaction and the amount(s) of each item, the merchant, etc., 812. In various implementations, the user may be able to perform additional operations in this view. For example, the user may (re)buy the item 813, obtain third-party reviews of the item, and write reviews of the item 814, add a photo to the item so as to organize information related to the item along with the item 815, add the item to a group of related items (e.g., a household), provide ratings 817, or view quick ratings from the user's friends or from the web at large. For example, such systems may be implemented using the example centralized personal information platform components described below in the discussion with reference to
The history mode, in another embodiment, may offer facilities for obtaining and displaying ratings 817 of the items in the transaction. The source of the ratings may be the user, the user's friends (e.g., from social channels, contacts, etc.), reviews aggregated from the web, and/or the like. The user interface in some implementations may also allow the user to post messages to other users of social channels (e.g., TWITTER or FACEBOOK). For example, the display area 818 shows FACEBOOK message exchanges between two users. In one implementation, a user may share a link via a message 819. Selection of such a message having embedded link to a product may allow the user to view a description of the product and/or purchase the product directly from the history mode.
In some implementations, the wallet application may display a shop trail for the user, e.g., 820. For example, a user may have reviewed a product at a number of websites (e.g., ElecReports, APPL FanBoys, Gizmo, Bing, Amazon, Visa Smartbuy feature (e.g., that checks various sources automatically for the best price available according to the user preferences, and provides the offer to the user), etc.), which may have led the user to a final merchant website where the user finally bought the product. In some implementations, the Ad-Track may identify the websites that the user visited, that contributed to the user deciding to buy the product, and may reward them with a share of the revenues obtained by the “point-of-sale” website for having contributed to the user going to the point-of-sale website and purchasing the product there. For example, the websites may have agreements with product manufacturers, wholesalers, retail outlets, payment service providers, payment networks, amongst themselves, and/or the like with regard to product placement, advertising, user redirection and/or the like. Accordingly, the Ad-Track may calculate a revenue share for each of the websites in the user's shopping trail using a revenue sharing model, and provide revenue sharing for the websites.
In some implementations, the virtual wallet may provide a SmartBuy targeted shopping feature. For example, the user may set a target price 821 for the product 812 that the user wishes to buy. The virtual wallet may provide a real-time market watch status update 822 for the product. When the market price available for the user falls below the user's target price 821, the virtual wallet may automatically buy the product for the user, and provide a shipment/notification to the user.
If the user engaged in browsing activity at a current URL (1105, option “Yes”), the device may identify the URL associated with the browsing activity (e.g., if the browsing can be performed on the device across multiple windows or tabs, etc.). The device may increment an activity counter to determine a level of user activity of the user at the URL where the browsing activity is occurring, 806. The device may update the shop trail database with the activity count for the URL, 807.
If the user desires to engage in a purchase transaction, e.g., after visiting a number of URLs about the product (e.g., after reading reviews about a product at a number of consumer report websites, the user navigates to amazon.com to buy the product), see 803, option “Yes,” the device may set the current URL as the “point-of-sale” URL (e.g., the merchant at which the user finally bought the product—e.g., amazon.com), 812. The device may stop the time for the current URL, and update the shop trail database for the current URL, 813. The device may generate a card authorization request to initiate the purchase transaction, 814, and provide the card authorization request for transaction processing (see, e.g., PTA 5700 component described below in the discussion with reference to
In some implementations, the device may also invoke a revenue sharing component, such as the example STRS 820 component described below in the discussion with reference to
Accordingly, in some implementations, a server may obtain a list of URLs included in a suer's shopping trail, and their associated activity and time counts, 821. The server may identify a point-of-sale URL where the user made the purchase for which revenue is being shared among the URLs in the shopping trail, 822. The server may calculate a total activity count, and a total time count, by summing up activity and time counts, respectively, of all the URLs in the user's shopping trail, 823. The server may calculate activity and time ratios of each of the URLs, 824. The server may obtain a revenue sharing model (e.g., a database table/matrix of weighting values) for converting activity and time ratios for each URL into a revenue ratio for that URL, 825. The server may calculate a revenue share, 826, for each of the URLs in the user's shopping trail using the revenue sharing model and the revenue ratios calculated for each URL. The server may provide a notification of the revenue for each URL (e.g., to each of the URLs and/or the point-of-sale URL from whom revenue will be obtained to pay the revenue shares of the other URLs in the user's shopping trail), 827. In some implementations, the server may generate card authorization requests and/or batch clearance requests for each of the revenue payments due to the URLs in the user's shopping trail, to process those transactions for revenue sharing.
A non-limiting, example listing of data that the Ad-Track may return based on a query is provided below. In this example, a user may log into a website via a computing device. The computing device may provide a IP address, and a timestamp to the Ad-Track. In response, the Ad-Track may identify a profile of the user from its database, and based on the profile, return potential merchants for offers or coupons:
LIVRARIASICILIAN
GDPCOLTD
GOODWILLINDUSTRIES
DISCOUNTDE
BARELANCHOE
BLOOMINGDALES
PARCWORLDTENNIS
STRIDERITEOUTLET
PARCCEANOR
PONTOFRIO
FNACPAULISTA
FINISHLINE
WALMARTCENTRAL
BESNIINTERLARGOS
PARCLOJASCOLOMBO
SHOPTIMEINTER
BEDBATHBEYOND
MACYSWEST
PARCRIACHUELOFILIAL
JCPENNEYCORPINC
PARCLOJASRENNERFL
PARCPAQUETAESPORTES
MARISALJ
PARCLEADERMAGAZINE
INTERFLORA
DECATHLON
PERNAMBUCANASFL
KARSTADTDE
PARCCEAMCO
CHAMPS
ACCESSORIZE
BLOOMINGDALESDVRS
PARCLIVRARIACULTURA
PARCCEALOJA
ARQUIBANCADA
KITBAG
FREDERICKSOFHLWD
WALMART
PARCLOJASINSINUANTE
WALMARTCONTAGEM
FOOTLOCKER
PARCSANTALOLLA
RICARDOELETRO
PARCPONTOFRIO
DOTPAYPLPOLSKA
CAMICADO
KARSTADT
PARCRAMSONS
PARCGREGORY
GREMIOFBPA
WALMARTSJC
PRODIRECTSOCCERLTD
LAVIEENROSE
PARCMARISALJ
ORDERS
PARCNSNNATALNORTE
LOJASINSINUANTE
B
CITYCOUNTY
WALMARTPACAEMBU
SOHO
WALMARTOSASCO
FOSSILSTORESIINC
MENARDSCLIO
PARCPEQUENTE
BEALLS
THEHOMEDEPOT
VIAMIA
PARCLOJASRIACHUELO
PARCLOJASMILANO
NORDSTROM
WAILANACOFFEEHOUSE
LANCHOEBELLA
PUKET
WALMARTSTORESINC
PARCPERNAMBUCANASFL
SMARTSHOPPER
PARCMAGAZINELUIZASP
COLUMBIASPORTSWEARCO
BARELANCESTADA
DONATEEBAY
PARCRICARDOELETRO
PARCDISANTINNI
SCHUHCOUK
CEANOR
PARCCAMICADO
PARCCENTAUROCE
PARCMARLUIJOIAS
ALBADAH
MARTINEZ
MONEYBOOKERSLTD
MACYS
PARCRIOCENTER
PARCCASASBAHIA
PARCSUBMARINOLOJA
INC
SUBMARINOLOJA
LOJASRENNERFL
RIACHUELOFILIAL
PARCSONHODOSPES
PINKBIJU
PARCCEAMRB
KITBAG
COLUMBIASPORTSWEARCO
GREMIOFBPA
In some embodiments, the Ad-Track may provide access to information on a need-to-know basis to ensure the security of data of entities on which the Ad-Track stores information. Thus, in some embodiments, access to information from the centralized platform may be restricted based on the originator as well as application services for which the data is requested. In some embodiments, the Ad-Track may thus allow a variety of flexible application services to be built on a common database infrastructure, while preserving the integrity, security, and accuracy of entity data. In some implementations, the Ad-Track may generate, update, maintain, store and/or provide profile information on entities, as well as a social graph that maintains and updates interrelationships between each of the entities stored within the Ad-Track. For example, the Ad-Track may store profile information on an issuer bank 902a (see profile 903a), a acquirer bank 902b (see profile 903b), a consumer 902c (see profile 903c), a user 902d (see profile 903d), a merchant 902e (see profile 903e), a second merchant 902f (see profile 9030. The Ad-Track may also store relationships between such entities. For example, the Ad-Track may store information on a relationship of the issuer bank 902a to the consumer 902c shopping at merchant 902e, who in turn may be related to user 902d, who might bank at the back 902b that serves as acquirer for merchant 902f.
MERCHANT_ABC
MERCHANT_XYZ
MERCHANT_123
MERCHANT_FGH
MERCHANT_789
MERCHANT_456
MERCHANT_WER
MERCHANT_496
MERCHANT_SDF
In alternate examples, the Ad-Track may store data in a JavaScript Object Notation (“JSON”) format. The stored information may include data regarding the object, such as, but not limited to: commands, attributes, group information, payment information, account information, etc., such as in the example below:
In some embodiments, the Ad-Track may acquire the aggregated data, and normalize the data into formats that are suitable for uniform storage, indexing, maintenance, and/or further processing via data record normalization component(s) 1106 (e.g., such as described in
In some embodiments, the search engine servers may query, e.g., 1217a-c, their search databases, e.g., 1202a-c, for search results falling within the scope of the search keywords. In response to the search queries, the search databases may provide search results, e.g., 1218a-c, to the search engine servers. The search engine servers may return the search results obtained from the search databases, e.g., 1219a-c, to the pay network server making the search requests. An example listing of search results 1219a-c, substantially in the form of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)-formatted data, is provided below:
In some embodiments, the pay network server may store the aggregated search results, e.g., 1220, in an aggregated search database, e.g., 1210.
In some implementations, the client may generate a purchase order message, e.g., 1412, and provide, e.g., 1413, the generated purchase order message to the merchant server. For example, a browser application executing on the client may provide, on behalf of the user, a (Secure) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP(S)”) GET message including the product order details for the merchant server in the form of data formatted according to the eXtensible Markup Language (“XML”). Below is an example HTTP(S) GET message including an XML-formatted purchase order message for the merchant server:
In some implementations, the merchant server may obtain the purchase order message from the client, and may parse the purchase order message to extract details of the purchase order from the user. The merchant server may generate a card query request, e.g., 1414 to determine whether the transaction can be processed. For example, the merchant server may attempt to determine whether the user has sufficient funds to pay for the purchase in a card account provided with the purchase order. The merchant server may provide the generated card query request, e.g., 1415, to an acquirer server, e.g., 1404. For example, the acquirer server may be a server of an acquirer financial institution (“acquirer”) maintaining an account of the merchant. For example, the proceeds of transactions processed by the merchant may be deposited into an account maintained by the acquirer. In some implementations, the card query request may include details such as, but not limited to: the costs to the user involved in the transaction, card account details of the user, user billing and/or shipping information, and/or the like. For example, the merchant server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message including an XML-formatted card query request similar to the example listing provided below:
In some implementations, the acquirer server may generate a card authorization request, e.g., 1416, using the obtained card query request, and provide the card authorization request, e.g., 1417, to a pay network server, e.g., 1405. For example, the acquirer server may redirect the HTTP(S) POST message in the example above from the merchant server to the pay network server.
In some implementations, the pay network server may determine whether the user has enrolled in value-added user services. For example, the pay network server may query 1418 a database, e.g., pay network database 1407, for user service enrollment data. For example, the server may utilize PHP/SQL commands similar to the example provided above to query the pay network database. In some implementations, the database may provide the user service enrollment data, e.g., 1419. The user enrollment data may include a flag indicating whether the user is enrolled or not, as well as instructions, data, login URL, login API call template and/or the like for facilitating access of the user-enrolled services. For example, in some implementations, the pay network server may redirect the client to a value-add server (e.g., such as a social network server where the value-add service is related to social networking) by providing a HTTP(S) REDIRECT 300 message, similar to the example below:
In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the value-add server as part of a value add service request, e.g., 1420. For example, the pay network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message to the value-add server, similar to the example below:
In some implementations, the value-add server may provide a service input request, e.g., 1421, to the client. For example, the value-add server may provide a HTML input/login form to the client. The client may display, e.g., 1422, the login form for the user. In some implementations, the user may provide login input into the client, e.g., 1423, and the client may generate a service input response, e.g., 1424, for the value-add server. In some implementations, the value-add server may provide value-add services according to user value-add service enrollment data, user profile, etc., stored on the value-add server, and based on the user service input. Based on the provision of value-add services, the value-add server may generate a value-add service response, e.g., 1426, and provide the response to the pay network server. For example, the value-add server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the example below:
In some implementations, upon receiving the value-add service response from the value-add server, the pay network server may extract the enrollment service data from the response for addition to a transaction data record. In some implementations, the pay network server may forward the card authorization request to an appropriate pay network server, e.g., 1428, which may parse the card authorization request to extract details of the request. Using the extracted fields and field values, the pay network server may generate a query, e.g., 1429, for an issuer server corresponding to the user's card account. For example, the user's card account, the details of which the user may have provided via the client-generated purchase order message, may be linked to an issuer financial institution (“issuer”), such as a banking institution, which issued the card account for the user. An issuer server, e.g., 1408a-n, of the issuer may maintain details of the user's card account. In some implementations, a database, e.g., pay network database 1407, may store details of the issuer servers and card account numbers associated with the issuer servers. For example, the database may be a relational database responsive to Structured Query Language (“SQL”) commands. The pay network server may execute a hypertext preprocessor (“PHP”) script including SQL commands to query the database for details of the issuer server. An example PHP/SQL command listing, illustrating substantive aspects of querying the database, is provided below:
In response to obtaining the issuer server query, e.g., 1429, the pay network database may provide, e.g., 1430, the requested issuer server data to the pay network server. In some implementations, the pay network server may utilize the issuer server data to generate a forwarding card authorization request, e.g., 1431, to redirect the card authorization request from the acquirer server to the issuer server. The pay network server may provide the card authorization request, e.g., 1432a-n, to the issuer server. In some implementations, the issuer server, e.g., 1408a-n, may parse the card authorization request, and based on the request details may query 1433a-n database, e.g., user profile database 1409a-n, for data of the user's card account. For example, the issuer server may issue PHP/SQL commands similar to the example provided below:
In some implementations, on obtaining the user data, e.g., 1434a-n, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, e.g., 1435a-n. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. If the issuer server determines that the user can pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, the server may provide an authorization message, e.g., 1436a-n, to the pay network server. For example, the server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the examples above.
In some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the authorization message, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, the pay network server may generate a transaction data record from the card authorization request it received, and store, e.g., 1439, the details of the transaction and authorization relating to the transaction in a database, e.g., pay network database 1407. For example, the pay network server may issue PHP/SQL commands similar to the example listing below to store the transaction data in a database:
In some implementations, the pay network server may forward the authorization message, e.g., 1440, to the acquirer server, which may in turn forward the authorization message, e.g., 1440, to the merchant server. The merchant may obtain the authorization message, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction. The merchant server may add a record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions. For example, the merchant may append the XML data pertaining to the user transaction to an XML data file comprising XML data for transactions that have been authorized for various users, e.g., 1441, and store the XML data file, e.g., 1442, in a database, e.g., merchant database 1404. For example, a batch XML data file may be structured similar to the example XML data structure template provided below:
In some implementations, the server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g., 1443, and provide the purchase receipt to the client. The client may render and display, e.g., 1444, the purchase receipt for the user. For example, the client may render a webpage, electronic message, text/SMS message, buffer a voicemail, emit a ring tone, and/or play an audio message, etc., and provide output including, but not limited to: sounds, music, audio, video, images, tactile feedback, vibration alerts (e.g., on vibration-capable client devices such as a smartphone etc.), and/or the like.
With reference to
In some implementations, the issuer server may generate a payment command, e.g., 1458. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to deduct funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account). The issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 1459, to a database storing the user's account information, e.g., user profile database 1408. The issuer server may provide a funds transfer message, e.g., 1460, to the pay network server, which may forward, e.g., 1461, the funds transfer message to the acquirer server. An example HTTP(S) POST funds transfer message is provided below:
In some implementations, the acquirer server may parse the funds transfer message, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using the request_ID field in the example above) to the merchant. The acquirer server may then transfer the funds specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant, e.g., 1462.
In some implementations, the pay network server may determine whether the user has enrolled in value-added user services. For example, the pay network server may query a database, e.g., 1507, for user service enrollment data. For example, the server may utilize PHP/SQL commands similar to the example provided above to query the pay network database. In some implementations, the database may provide the user service enrollment data, e.g., 1508. The user enrollment data may include a flag indicating whether the user is enrolled or not, as well as instructions, data, login URL, login API call template and/or the like for facilitating access of the user-enrolled services. For example, in some implementations, the pay network server may redirect the client to a value-add server (e.g., such as a social network server where the value-add service is related to social networking) by providing a HTTP(S) REDIRECT 300 message. In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the value-add server as part of a value add service request, e.g., 1510.
In some implementations, the value-add server may provide a service input request, e.g., 1511, to the client. The client may display, e.g., 1512, the input request for the user. In some implementations, the user may provide input into the client, e.g., 1513, and the client may generate a service input response for the value-add server. In some implementations, the value-add server may provide value-add services according to user value-add service enrollment data, user profile, etc., stored on the value-add server, and based on the user service input. Based on the provision of value-add services, the value-add server may generate a value-add service response, e.g., 1517, and provide the response to the pay network server. In some implementations, upon receiving the value-add service response from the value-add server, the pay network server may extract the enrollment service data from the response for addition to a transaction data record, e.g., 1519-1520.
With reference to
In some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the authorization message, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction (e.g., 1530, option “Yes”), the pay network server may extract the transaction card from the authorization message and/or card authorization request, e.g., 1533, and generate a transaction data record using the card transaction details. The pay network server may provide the transaction data record for storage, e.g., 1534, to a database. In some implementations, the pay network server may forward the authorization message, e.g., 1535, to the acquirer server, which may in turn forward the authorization message, e.g., 1536, to the merchant server. The merchant may obtain the authorization message, and parse the authorization message o extract its contents, e.g., 1537. The merchant server may determine whether the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction. If the merchant server determines that the user possess sufficient funds, e.g., 1538, option “Yes,” the merchant server may add the record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions, e.g., 1539-1540. The merchant server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g., 1541, for the user. If the merchant server determines that the user does not possess sufficient funds, e.g., 1538, option “No,” the merchant server may generate an “authorization fail” message, e.g., 1542. The merchant server may provide the purchase receipt or the “authorization fail” message to the client. The client may render and display, e.g., 1543, the purchase receipt for the user.
In some implementations, the merchant server may initiate clearance of a batch of authorized transactions by generating a batch data request, e.g., 1544, and providing the request to a database. In response to the batch data request, the database may provide the requested batch data, e.g., 1545, to the merchant server. The server may generate a batch clearance request, e.g., 1546, using the batch data obtained from the database, and provide the batch clearance request to an acquirer server. The acquirer server may generate, e.g., 1548, a batch payment request using the obtained batch clearance request, and provide the batch payment request to a pay network server. The pay network server may parse, e.g., 1549, the batch payment request, select a transaction stored within the batch data, e.g., 1550, and extract the transaction data for the transaction stored in the batch payment request, e.g., 1551. The pay network server may generate a transaction data record, e.g., 1552, and store the transaction data, e.g., 1553, the transaction in a database. For the extracted transaction, the pay network server may generate an issuer server query, e.g., 1554, for an address of an issuer server maintaining the account of the user requesting the transaction. The pay network server may provide the query to a database. In response, the database may provide the issuer server data requested by the pay network server, e.g., 1555. The pay network server may generate an individual payment request, e.g., 1556, for the transaction for which it has extracted transaction data, and provide the individual payment request to the issuer server using the issuer server data from the database.
In some implementations, the issuer server may obtain the individual payment request, and parse, e.g., 1557, the individual payment request to extract details of the request. Based on the extracted data, the issuer server may generate a payment command, e.g., 1558. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to deduct funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account). The issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 1559, to a database storing the user's account information. In response, the database may update a data record corresponding to the user's account to reflect the debit/charge made to the user's account. The issuer server may provide a funds transfer message, e.g., 1560, to the pay network server after the payment command has been executed by the database.
In some implementations, the pay network server may check whether there are additional transactions in the batch that need to be cleared and funded. If there are additional transactions, e.g., 1561, option “Yes,” the pay network server may process each transaction according to the procedure described above. The pay network server may generate, e.g., 1562, an aggregated funds transfer message reflecting transfer of all transactions in the batch, and provide, e.g., 1563, the funds transfer message to the acquirer server. The acquirer server may, in response, transfer the funds specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant, e.g., 1564.
In some embodiments, the social network servers may query, e.g., 1817a-c, their databases, e.g., 1802a-c, for social data results falling within the scope of the social keywords. In response to the queries, the databases may provide social data, e.g., 1818a-c, to the search engine servers. The social network servers may return the social data obtained from the databases, e.g., 1819a-c, to the pay network server making the social data requests. An example listing of social data 1819a-c, substantially in the form of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)-formatted data, is provided below:
In some embodiments, the pay network server may store the aggregated search results, e.g., 1820, in an aggregated search database, e.g., 1810.
In some implementations, using the user's input, the client may generate an enrollment request, e.g., 2012, and provide the enrollment request, e.g., 2013, to the pay network server. For example, the client may provide a (Secure) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP(S)”) POST message including data formatted according to the eXtensible Markup Language (“XML”). Below is an example HTTP(S) POST message including an XML-formatted enrollment request for the pay network server:
In some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the enrollment request from the client, and extract the user's payment detail (e.g., XML data) from the enrollment request. For example, the pay network server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to
In some implementations, the pay network server may redirect the client to a social network server by providing a HTTP(S) REDIRECT 300 message, similar to the example below:
In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the social network server as part of a social network authentication enrollment request, e.g., 2017. For example, the pay network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message to the social network server, similar to the example below:
In some implementations, the social network server may provide a social network login request, e.g., 2018, to the client. For example, the social network server may provide a HTML input form to the client. The client may display, e.g., 2019, the login form for the user. In some implementations, the user may provide login input into the client, e.g., 2020, and the client may generate a social network login response, e.g., 2021, for the social network server. In some implementations, the social network server may authenticate the login credentials of the user, and access payment account information of the user stored within the social network, e.g., in a social network database. Upon authentication, the social network server may generate an authentication data record for the user, e.g., 2022, and provide an enrollment notification, e.g., 2024, to the pay network server. For example, the social network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the example below:
Upon receiving notification of enrollment from the social network server, the pay network server may generate, e.g., 2025, a user enrollment data record, and store the enrollment data record in a pay network database, e.g., 2026, to complete enrollment. In some implementations, the enrollment data record may include the information from the enrollment notification 2024.
In some implementations, the server may query a database for a normalized data record template, e.g., 2201. The server may parse the normalized data record template, e.g., 2202. Based on parsing the normalized data record template, the server may determine the data fields included in the normalized data record template, and the format of the data stored in the fields of the data record template, e.g., 2203. The server may obtain transaction data records for normalization. The server may query a database, e.g., 2204, for non-normalized records. For example, the server may issue PHP/SQL commands to retrieve records that do not have the ‘norm_flag’ field from the example template above, or those where the value of the ‘norm_flag’ field is ‘false’. Upon obtaining the non-normalized transaction data records, the server may select one of the non-normalized transaction data records, e.g., 2205. The server may parse the non-normalized transaction data record, e.g., 2206, and determine the fields present in the non-normalized transaction data record, e.g., 2207. For example, the server may utilize a procedure similar to one described below with reference to
With reference to
In some embodiments, the server may obtain the structured data, and perform a standardization routine using the structured data as input (e.g., including script commands, for illustration). For example, the server may remove extra line breaks, spaces, tab spaces, etc. from the structured data, e.g. 2231. The server may determine and load a metadata library, e.g., 2232, using which the server may parse subroutines or functions within the script, based on the metadata, e.g., 2233-3134. In some embodiments, the server may pre-parse conditional statements based on the metadata, e.g., 2235-3136. The server may also parse data 2237 to populate a data/command object based on the metadata and prior parsing, e.g., 2238. Upon finalizing the data/command object, the server may export 2239 the data/command object as XML in standardized encryptmatics format.
The server may select an unclassified data record for processing, e.g., 2403. The server may also select a classification rule for processing the unclassified data record, e.g., 2404. The server may parse the classification rule, and determine the inputs required for the rule, e.g., 2405. Based on parsing the classification rule, the server may parse the normalized data record template, e.g., 2406, and extract the values for the fields required to be provided as inputs to the classification rule. The server may parse the classification rule, and extract the operations to be performed on the inputs provided for the rule processing, e.g., 2407. Upon determining the operations to be performed, the server may perform the rule-specified operations on the inputs provided for the classification rule, e.g., 2408. In some implementations, the rule may provide threshold values. For example, the rule may specify that if the number of products in the transaction, total value of the transaction, average luxury rating of the products sold in the transaction, etc. may need to cross a threshold in order for the label(s) associated with the rule to be applied to the transaction data record. The server may parse the classification rule to extract any threshold values required for the rule to apply, e.g., 2409. The server may compare the computed values with the rule thresholds, e.g., 2410. If the rule threshold(s) is crossed, e.g., 2411, option “Yes,” the server may apply one or more labels to the transaction data record as specified by the classification rule, e.g., 2412. For example, the server may apply a classification rule to an individual product within the transaction, and/or to the transaction as a whole. In some implementations, the server may process the transaction data record using each rule (see, e.g., 2413). Once all classification rules have been processed for the transaction record, e.g., 2413, option “No,” the server may store the transaction data record in a database, e.g., 2414. The server may perform such processing for each transaction data record until all transaction data records have been classified (see, e.g., 2415).
In some implementations, upon completing such an analysis for all the products in the card authorization request, the server may sort the queue according to their associated probability quotient and prediction confidence level, e.g., 3008. For example, if the prediction confidence level of a product is higher than a threshold, then it may be retained in the queue, but not if the prediction confidence level is lower than the threshold. Also, the retained products may be sorted in descending order of their associated probability quotients. In some implementations, the server may eliminate any duplicated products form the queue, e.g., 3009. The server may return the sorted queue of products for product offer recommendation, e.g., 3010.
In one embodiment, for example, a user may select the option current items 3215, as shown in the left most user interface of
With reference to
With reference to
In one implementation, a user may select Joe P. for payment. Joe P., as shown in the user interface, has an email icon 3217g next to his name indicating that Joe P. accepts payment via email. When his name is selected, the user interface may display his contact information such as email, phone, etc. If a user wishes to make a payment to Joe P. by a method other than email, the user may add another transfer mode 3217j to his contact information and make a payment transfer. With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In one implementation, the user may combine funds from multiple sources to pay for the transaction. The amount 3315 displayed on the user interface may provide an indication of the amount of total funds covered so far by the selected forms of payment (e.g., Discover card and rewards points). The user may choose another form of payment or adjust the amount to be debited from one or more forms of payment until the amount 3315 matches the amount payable 3314. Once the amounts to be debited from one or more forms of payment are finalized by the user, payment authorization may begin.
In one implementation, the user may select a secure authorization of the transaction by selecting the cloak button 3322 to effectively cloak or anonymize some (e.g., pre-configured) or all identifying information such that when the user selects pay button 3321, the transaction authorization is conducted in a secure and anonymous manner. In another implementation, the user may select the pay button 3321 which may use standard authorization techniques for transaction processing. In yet another implementation, when the user selects the social button 3323, a message regarding the transaction may be communicated to one of more social networks (set up by the user) which may post or announce the purchase transaction in a social forum such as a wall post or a tweet. In one implementation, the user may select a social payment processing option 3323. The indicator 3324 may show the authorizing and sending social share data in progress.
In another implementation, a restricted payment mode 3325 may be activated for certain purchase activities such as prescription purchases. The mode may be activated in accordance with rules defined by issuers, insurers, merchants, payment processor and/or other entities to facilitate processing of specialized goods and services. In this mode, the user may scroll down the list of forms of payments 3326 under the funds tab to select specialized accounts such as a flexible spending account (FSA) 3327, health savings account (HAS), and/or the like and amounts to be debited to the selected accounts. In one implementation, such restricted payment mode 3325 processing may disable social sharing of purchase information.
In one embodiment, the wallet mobile application may facilitate importing of funds via the import funds user interface 3328. For example, a user who is unemployed may obtain unemployment benefit fund 3329 via the wallet mobile application. In one implementation, the entity providing the funds may also configure rules for using the fund as shown by the processing indicator message 3330. The wallet may read and apply the rules prior, and may reject any purchases with the unemployment funds that fail to meet the criteria set by the rules. Example criteria may include, for example, merchant category code (MCC), time of transaction, location of transaction, and/or the like. As an example, a transaction with a grocery merchant having MCC 5411 may be approved, while a transaction with a bar merchant having an MCC 5813 may be refused.
With reference to
Similarly, when a German user operates a wallet in Germany, the mobile wallet application user interface may be dynamically updated to reflect the country of operation 3332 and the currency 3334. In a further implementation, the wallet application may rearrange the order in which different forms of payment 3336 are listed based on their acceptance level in that country. Of course, the order of these forms of payments may be modified by the user to suit his or her own preferences.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In one implementation, the user may select a transaction, for example transaction 3415, to view the details of the transaction. For example, the user may view the details of the items associated with the transaction and the amounts 3416 of each item. In a further implementation, the user may select the show option 3417 to view actions 3418 that the user may take in regards to the transaction or the items in the transaction. For example, the user may add a photo to the transaction (e.g., a picture of the user and the iPad the user bought). In a further implementation, if the user previously shared the purchase via social channels, a post including the photo may be generated and sent to the social channels for publishing. In one implementation, any sharing may be optional, and the user, who did not share the purchase via social channels, may still share the photo through one or more social channels of his or her choice directly from the history mode of the wallet application. In another implementation, the user may add the transaction to a group such as company expense, home expense, travel expense or other categories set up by the user. Such grouping may facilitate year-end accounting of expenses, submission of work expense reports, submission for value added tax (VAT) refunds, personal expenses, and/or the like. In yet another implementation, the user may buy one or more items purchased in the transaction. The user may then execute a transaction without going to the merchant catalog or site to find the items. In a further implementation, the user may also cart one or more items in the transaction for later purchase.
The history mode, in another embodiment, may offer facilities for obtaining and displaying ratings 3419 of the items in the transaction. The source of the ratings may be the user, the user's friends (e.g., from social channels, contacts, etc.), reviews aggregated from the web, and/or the like. The user interface in some implementations may also allow the user to post messages to other users of social channels (e.g., TWITTER or FACEBOOK). For example, the display area 3420 shows FACEBOOK message exchanges between two users. In one implementation, a user may share a link via a message 3421. Selection of such a message having embedded link to a product may allow the user to view a description of the product and/or purchase the product directly from the history mode.
In one embodiment, the history mode may also include facilities for exporting receipts. The export receipts pop up 3422 may provide a number of options for exporting the receipts of transactions in the history. For example, a user may use one or more of the options 3425, which include save (to local mobile memory, to server, to a cloud account, and/or the like), print to a printer, fax, email, and/or the like. The user may utilize his or her address book 3423 to look up email or fax number for exporting. The user may also specify format options 3424 for exporting receipts. Example format options may include, without limitation, text files (.doc, .txt, .rtf, iif, etc.), spreadsheet (.csv, .xls, etc.), image files (.jpg, .tff, .png, etc.), portable document format (.pdf), postscript (.ps), and/or the like. The user may then click or tap the export button 3427 to initiate export of receipts.
With reference to
As shown, the user may enter a search term (e.g., bills) in the search bar 2121. The user may then identify in the tab 3522 the receipt 3523 the user wants to reallocate. Alternatively, the user may directly snap a picture of a barcode on a receipt, and the snap mode may generate and display a receipt 3523 using information from the barcode. The user may now reallocate 3525. In some implementations, the user may also dispute the transaction 3524 or archive the receipt 3526.
In one implementation, when the reallocate button 3525 is selected, the wallet application may perform optical character recognition (OCR) of the receipt. Each of the items in the receipt may then be examined to identify one or more items which could be charged to which payment device or account for tax or other benefits such as cash back, reward points, etc. In this example, there is a tax benefit if the prescription medication charged to the user's Visa card is charged to the user's FSA. The wallet application may then perform the reallocation as the back end. The reallocation process may include the wallet contacting the payment processor to credit the amount of the prescription medication to the Visa card and debit the same amount to the user's FSA account. In an alternate implementation, the payment processor (e.g., Visa or MasterCard) may obtain and OCR the receipt, identify items and payment accounts for reallocation and perform the reallocation. In one implementation, the wallet application may request the user to confirm reallocation of charges for the selected items to another payment account. The receipt 3527 may be generated after the completion of the reallocation process. As discussed, the receipt shows that some charges have been moved from the Visa account to the FSA.
With reference to
In one implementation, the user may decide to pay with default 3534. The wallet application may then use the user's default method of payment, in this example the wallet, to complete the purchase transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, a receipt may be automatically generated for proof of purchase. The user interface may also be updated to provide other options for handling a completed transaction. Example options include social 3537 to share purchase information with others, reallocate 3538 as discussed with regard to
With reference to
In one implementation, after the offer or coupon 3546 is applied, the user may have the option to find qualifying merchants and/or products using find, the user may go to the wallet using 3548, and the user may also save the offer or coupon 3546 for later use.
With reference to
For example, a user may go to doctor's office and desire to pay the co-pay for doctor's appointment. In addition to basic transactional information such as account number and name, the app may provide the user the ability to select to transfer medical records, health information, which may be provided to the medical provider, insurance company, as well as the transaction processor to reconcile payments between the parties. In some implementations, the records may be sent in a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant data format and encrypted, and only the recipients who are authorized to view such records may have appropriate decryption keys to decrypt and view the private user information.
With reference to
In some implementations, the Ad-Track may utilize a text challenge procedure to verify the authenticity of the user, e.g., 3725. For example, the Ad-Track may communicate with the user via text chat, SMS messages, electronic mail, Facebook® messages, Twitter™ tweets, and/or the like. The Ad-Track may pose a challenge question, e.g., 3726, for the user. The app may provide a user input interface element(s) (e.g., virtual keyboard 3728) to answer the challenge question posed by the Ad-Track. In some implementations, the challenge question may be randomly selected by the Ad-Track automatically; in some implementations, a customer service representative may manually communicate with the user. In some implementations, the user may not have initiated the transaction, e.g., the transaction is fraudulent. In such implementations, the user may cancel the text challenge. The Ad-Track may cancel the transaction, and/or initiate fraud investigation on behalf of the user.
In some embodiments, the merchant server may obtain the checkout request from the client, and extract the checkout detail (e.g., XML data) from the checkout request. For example, the merchant server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to
In some embodiments, in response to obtaining the product data, the merchant server may generate, e.g., 3816, checkout data to provide for the PoS client. In some embodiments, such checkout data, e.g., 3817, may be embodied, in part, in a HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”) page including data for display, such as product detail, product pricing, total pricing, tax information, shipping information, offers, discounts, rewards, value-added service information, etc., and input fields to provide payment information to process the purchase transaction, such as account holder name, account number, billing address, shipping address, tip amount, etc. In some embodiments, the checkout data may be embodied, in part, in a Quick Response (“QR”) code image that the PoS client can display, so that the user may capture the QR code using a user's device to obtain merchant and/or product data for generating a purchase transaction processing request. In some embodiments, a user alert mechanism may be built into the checkout data. For example, the merchant server may embed a URL specific to the transaction into the checkout data. In some embodiments, the alerts URL may further be embedded into optional level 3 data in card authorization requests, such as those discussed further below with reference to
Upon obtaining the checkout data, e.g., 3817, the PoS client may render and display, e.g., 3818, the checkout data for the user.
In some embodiments, upon authenticating the user for access to virtual wallet features, the user wallet device may provide a transaction authorization input, e.g., 4014, to a point-of-sale (“PoS”) client, e.g., 4002. For example, the user wallet device may communicate with the PoS client via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular communication, one- or two-way near-field communication (“NFC”), and/or the like. In embodiments where the user utilizes a plastic card instead of the user wallet device, the user may swipe the plastic card at the PoS client to transfer information from the plastic card into the PoS client. For example, the PoS client may obtain, as transaction authorization input 4014, track 1 data from the user's plastic card (e.g., credit card, debit card, prepaid card, charge card, etc.), such as the example track 1 data provided below:
In embodiments where the user utilizes a user wallet device, the user wallet device may provide payment information to the PoS client, formatted according to a data formatting protocol appropriate to the communication mechanism employed in the communication between the user wallet device and the PoS client. An example listing of transaction authorization input 4014, substantially in the form of XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In some embodiments, the PoS client may generate a card authorization request, e.g., 4015, using the obtained transaction authorization input from the user wallet device, and/or product/checkout data (see, e.g.,
In some embodiments, the card authorization request generated by the user device may include a minimum of information required to process the purchase transaction. For example, this may improve the efficiency of communicating the purchase transaction request, and may also advantageously improve the privacy protections provided to the user and/or merchant. For example, in some embodiments, the card authorization request may include at least a session ID for the user's shopping session with the merchant. The session ID may be utilized by any component and/or entity having the appropriate access authority to access a secure site on the merchant server to obtain alerts, reminders, and/or other data about the transaction(s) within that shopping session between the user and the merchant. In some embodiments, the PoS client may provide the generated card authorization request to the merchant server, e.g., 4016. The merchant server may forward the card authorization request to a pay gateway server, e.g., 4004a, for routing the card authorization request to the appropriate payment network for payment processing. For example, the pay gateway server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions including, but not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In some embodiments, the merchant server may query a database, e.g., merchant/acquirer database 4003b, for a network address of the payment gateway server, for example by using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database query. For example, the merchant server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as
In response, the merchant/acquirer database may provide the requested payment gateway address, e.g., 4018. The merchant server may forward the card authorization request to the pay gateway server using the provided address, e.g., 4019. In some embodiments, upon receiving the card authorization request from the merchant server, the pay gateway server may invoke a component to provide one or more services associated with purchase transaction authorization. For example, the pay gateway server may invoke components for fraud prevention, loyalty and/or rewards, and/or other services for which the user-merchant combination is authorized. The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to a pay network server, e.g., 4005a, for payment processing. For example, the pay gateway server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions including, but not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In some embodiments, the pay gateway server may query a database, e.g., pay gateway database 4004b, for a network address of the payment network server, for example by using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database query. For example, the pay gateway server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as
In response, the payment gateway database may provide the requested payment network address, e.g., 4022. The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to the pay network server using the provided address, e.g., 4023.
With reference to
In some embodiments, the pay network server may generate a query, e.g., 4024, for issuer server(s) corresponding to the user-selected payment options. For example, the user's account may be linked to one or more issuer financial institutions (“issuers”), such as banking institutions, which issued the account(s) for the user. For example, such accounts may include, but not be limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, stored (cash) value accounts and/or the like. Issuer server(s), e.g., 4006a, of the issuer(s) may maintain details of the user's account(s). In some embodiments, a database, e.g., pay network database 4005b, may store details of the issuer server(s) associated with the issuer(s). In some embodiments, the pay network server may query a database, e.g., pay network database 4005b, for a network address of the issuer(s) server(s), for example by using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database query. For example, the merchant server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as
In response to obtaining the issuer server query, e.g., 4024, the pay network database may provide, e.g., 4025, the requested issuer server data to the pay network server. In some embodiments, the pay network server may utilize the issuer server data to generate funds authorization request(s), e.g., 4026, for each of the issuer server(s) selected based on the pre-defined payment settings associated with the user's virtual wallet, and/or the user's payment options input, and provide the funds authorization request(s) to the issuer server(s). In some embodiments, the funds authorization request(s) may include details such as, but not limited to: the costs to the user involved in the transaction, card account details of the user, user billing and/or shipping information, and/or the like. An example listing of a funds authorization request 4026, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In some embodiments, an issuer server may parse the authorization request(s), and based on the request details may query a database, e.g., user profile database 4006b, for data associated with an account linked to the user. For example, the merchant server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as
In some embodiments, on obtaining the user account(s) data, e.g., 4028, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, 4029. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. Based on the determination, the issuer server(s) may provide a funds authorization response, e.g., 4030, to the pay network server. For example, the issuer server(s) may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the examples above. In some embodiments, if at least one issuer server determines that the user cannot pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, the pay network server may request payment options again from the user (e.g., by providing an authorization fail message to the user device and requesting the user device to provide new payment options), and re-attempt authorization for the purchase transaction. In some embodiments, if the number of failed authorization attempts exceeds a threshold, the pay network server may abort the authorization process, and provide an “authorization fail” message to the merchant server, user device and/or client.
In some embodiments, the pay network server may obtain the funds authorization response including a notification of successful authorization, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, e.g., 4031, the pay network server may invoke a component to provide value-add services for the user.
In some embodiments, the pay network server may generate a transaction data record from the authorization request and/or authorization response, and store the details of the transaction and authorization relating to the transaction in a transactions database. For example, the pay network server may issue PHP/SQL commands to store the data to a database table (such as
In some embodiments, the pay network server may forward a transaction authorization response, e.g., 4032, to the user wallet device, PoS client, and/or merchant server. The merchant may obtain the transaction authorization response, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction. The merchant server may add a record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions. For example, the merchant may append the XML data pertaining to the user transaction to an XML data file comprising XML data for transactions that have been authorized for various users, e.g., 4033, and store the XML data file, e.g., 4034, in a database, e.g., merchant database 404. For example, a batch XML data file may be structured similar to the example XML data structure template provided below:
In some embodiments, the server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g., 4033, and provide the purchase receipt to the client, e.g., 4035. The client may render and display, e.g., 4036, the purchase receipt for the user. In some embodiments, the user's wallet device may also provide a notification of successful authorization to the user. For example, the PoS client/user device may render a webpage, electronic message, text/SMS message, buffer a voicemail, emit a ring tone, and/or play an audio message, etc., and provide output including, but not limited to: sounds, music, audio, video, images, tactile feedback, vibration alerts (e.g., on vibration-capable client devices such as a smartphone etc.), and/or the like.
In some embodiments, upon authenticating the user for access to virtual wallet features, the user wallet device may provide a transaction authorization input, e.g., 4104, to a point-of-sale (“PoS”) client. For example, the user wallet device may communicate with the PoS client via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular communication, one- or two-way near-field communication (“NFC”), and/or the like. In embodiments where the user utilizes a plastic card instead of the user wallet device, the user may swipe the plastic card at the PoS client to transfer information from the plastic card into the PoS client. In embodiments where the user utilizes a user wallet device, the user wallet device may provide payment information to the PoS client, formatted according to a data formatting protocol appropriate to the communication mechanism employed in the communication between the user wallet device and the PoS client.
In some embodiments, the PoS client may obtain the transaction authorization input, and parse the input to extract payment information from the transaction authorization input, e.g., 4105. For example, the PoS client may utilize a parser, such as the example parsers provided below in the discussion with reference to
In some embodiments, the PoS client may provide the generated card authorization request to the merchant server. The merchant server may forward the card authorization request to a pay gateway server, for routing the card authorization request to the appropriate payment network for payment processing. For example, the pay gateway server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions including, but not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In some embodiments, the merchant server may query a database, e.g., 4108, for a network address of the payment gateway server, for example by using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database query. In response, the merchant/acquirer database may provide the requested payment gateway address, e.g., 4110. The merchant server may forward the card authorization request to the pay gateway server using the provided address. In some embodiments, upon receiving the card authorization request from the merchant server, the pay gateway server may invoke a component to provide one or more service associated with purchase transaction authorization, e.g., 4111. For example, the pay gateway server may invoke components for fraud prevention (see e.g., VerifyChat,
The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to a pay network server for payment processing, e.g., 4114. For example, the pay gateway server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions including, but not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In some embodiments, the pay gateway server may query a database, e.g., 4112, for a network address of the payment network server, for example by using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database query. In response, the payment gateway database may provide the requested payment network address, e.g., 4113. The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to the pay network server using the provided address, e.g., 4114.
With reference to
In response to obtaining the issuer server query, the pay network database may provide, e.g., 4116, the requested issuer server data to the pay network server. In some embodiments, the pay network server may utilize the issuer server data to generate funds authorization request(s), e.g., 4117, for each of the issuer server(s) selected based on the pre-defined payment settings associated with the user's virtual wallet, and/or the user's payment options input, and provide the funds authorization request(s) to the issuer server(s). In some embodiments, the funds authorization request(s) may include details such as, but not limited to: the costs to the user involved in the transaction, card account details of the user, user billing and/or shipping information, and/or the like. In some embodiments, an issuer server may parse the authorization request(s), e.g., 4118, and based on the request details may query a database, e.g., 4119, for data associated with an account linked to the user.
In some embodiments, on obtaining the user account(s) data, e.g., 4120, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, e.g., 4121. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. Based on the determination, the issuer server(s) may provide a funds authorization response, e.g., 4122, to the pay network server. In some embodiments, if at least one issuer server determines that the user cannot pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, the pay network server may request payment options again from the user (e.g., by providing an authorization fail message to the user device and requesting the user device to provide new payment options), and re-attempt authorization for the purchase transaction. In some embodiments, if the number of failed authorization attempts exceeds a threshold, the pay network server may abort the authorization process, and provide an “authorization fail” message to the merchant server, user device and/or client.
In some embodiments, the pay network server may obtain the funds authorization response including a notification of successful authorization, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, e.g., 4123, the pay network server may invoke a component to provide value-add services for the user, e.g., 4123.
In some embodiments, the pay network server may forward a transaction authorization response to the user wallet device, PoS client, and/or merchant server. The merchant may parse, e.g., 4124, the transaction authorization response, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction, e.g., 4125, option“Yes.” The merchant server may add a record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions. For example, the merchant may append the XML data pertaining to the user transaction to an XML data file comprising XML data for transactions that have been authorized for various users, e.g., 4126, and store the XML data file, e.g., 4127, in a database. In some embodiments, the server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g., 4128, and provide the purchase receipt to the client. The client may render and display, e.g., 4129, the purchase receipt for the user. In some embodiments, the user's wallet device may also provide a notification of successful authorization to the user. For example, the PoS client/user device may render a webpage, electronic message, text/SMS message, buffer a voicemail, emit a ring tone, and/or play an audio message, etc., and provide output including, but not limited to: sounds, music, audio, video, images, tactile feedback, vibration alerts (e.g., on vibration-capable client devices such as a smartphone etc.), and/or the like.
With reference to
In some embodiments, the issuer server may generate a payment command, e.g., 4227. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to deduct funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account). The issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 4227, to a database storing the user's account information, e.g., user profile database 4206b. The issuer server may provide an individual payment confirmation, e.g., 4228, to the pay network server, which may forward, e.g., 4229, the funds transfer message to the acquirer server. An example listing of an individual payment confirmation 4228, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:
In some embodiments, the acquirer server may parse the individual payment confirmation, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using the request_ID field in the example above) to the merchant. The acquirer server may then transfer the funds specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant. For example, the acquirer server may query, e.g. 4230, an acquirer database 4207b for payment ledger and/or merchant account data, e.g., 4231. The acquirer server may utilize payment ledger and/or merchant account data from the acquirer database, along with the individual payment confirmation, to generate updated payment ledger and/or merchant account data, e.g., 4232. The acquirer server may then store, e.g., 4233, the updated payment ledger and/or merchant account data to the acquire database.
The pay network server may parse the batch payment request obtained from the acquirer server, and extract the transaction data for each transaction stored in the batch payment request, e.g., 4308. The pay network server may store the transaction data, e.g., 4309, for each transaction in a pay network database. In some embodiments, the pay network server may invoke a component, e.g., 4310, to provide analytics based on the transactions of the merchant for whom purchase transaction are being cleared.
With reference to
In some embodiments, the acquirer server may parse the individual payment confirmation, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using the request_ID field in the example above) to the merchant. The acquirer server may then transfer the funds specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant. For example, the acquirer server may query, e.g. 4319, an acquirer database for payment ledger and/or merchant account data, e.g., 4320. The acquirer server may utilize payment ledger and/or merchant account data from the acquirer database, along with the individual payment confirmation, to generate updated payment ledger and/or merchant account data, e.g., 4321. The acquirer server may then store, e.g., 4322, the updated payment ledger and/or merchant account data to the acquire database.
Users, e.g., 4433a, which may be people and/or other systems, may engage information technology systems (e.g., computers) to facilitate information processing. In turn, computers employ processors to process information; such processors 4403 may be referred to as central processing units (CPU). One form of processor is referred to as a microprocessor. CPUs use communicative circuits to pass binary encoded signals acting as instructions to enable various operations. These instructions may be operational and/or data instructions containing and/or referencing other instructions and data in various processor accessible and operable areas of memory 4429 (e.g., registers, cache memory, random access memory, etc.). Such communicative instructions may be stored and/or transmitted in batches (e.g., batches of instructions) as programs and/or data components to facilitate desired operations. These stored instruction codes, e.g., programs, may engage the CPU circuit components and other motherboard and/or system components to perform desired operations. One type of program is a computer operating system, which, may be executed by CPU on a computer; the operating system enables and facilitates users to access and operate computer information technology and resources. Some resources that may be employed in information technology systems include: input and output mechanisms through which data may pass into and out of a computer; memory storage into which data may be saved; and processors by which information may be processed. These information technology systems may be used to collect data for later retrieval, analysis, and manipulation, which may be facilitated through a database program. These information technology systems provide interfaces that allow users to access and operate various system components.
In one embodiment, the Ad-Track controller 4401 may be connected to and/or communicate with entities such as, but not limited to: one or more users from user input devices 4411; peripheral devices 4412; an optional cryptographic processor device 4428; and/or a communications network 4413. For example, the Ad-Track controller 4401 may be connected to and/or communicate with users, e.g., 4433a, operating client device(s), e.g., 4433b, including, but not limited to, personal computer(s), server(s) and/or various mobile device(s) including, but not limited to, cellular telephone(s), smartphone(s) (e.g., iPhone®, Blackberry®, Android OS-based phones etc.), tablet computer(s) (e.g., Apple iPad™, HP Slate™, Motorola Xoom™, etc.), eBook reader(s) (e.g., Amazon Kindle™, Barnes and Noble's Nook™ eReader, etc.), laptop computer(s), notebook(s), netbook(s), gaming console(s) (e.g., XBOX Live™, Nintendo® DS, Sony PlayStation® Portable, etc.), portable scanner(s), and/or the like.
Networks are commonly thought to comprise the interconnection and interoperation of clients, servers, and intermediary nodes in a graph topology. It should be noted that the term “server” as used throughout this application refers generally to a computer, other device, program, or combination thereof that processes and responds to the requests of remote users across a communications network. Servers serve their information to requesting “clients.” The term “client” as used herein refers generally to a computer, program, other device, user and/or combination thereof that is capable of processing and making requests and obtaining and processing any responses from servers across a communications network. A computer, other device, program, or combination thereof that facilitates, processes information and requests, and/or furthers the passage of information from a source user to a destination user is commonly referred to as a “node.” Networks are generally thought to facilitate the transfer of information from source points to destinations. A node specifically tasked with furthering the passage of information from a source to a destination is commonly called a “router.” There are many forms of networks such as Local Area Networks (LANs), Pico networks, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Wireless Networks (WLANs), etc. For example, the Internet is generally accepted as being an interconnection of a multitude of networks whereby remote clients and servers may access and interoperate with one another.
The Ad-Track controller 4401 may be based on computer systems that may comprise, but are not limited to, components such as: a computer systemization 4402 connected to memory 4429.
A computer systemization 4402 may comprise a clock 4430, central processing unit (“CPU(s)” and/or “processor(s)” (these terms are used interchangeably throughout the disclosure unless noted to the contrary)) 4403, a memory 4429 (e.g., a read only memory (ROM) 4406, a random access memory (RAM) 4405, etc.), and/or an interface bus 4407, and most frequently, although not necessarily, are all interconnected and/or communicating through a system bus 4404 on one or more (mother)board(s) 4402 having conductive and/or otherwise transportive circuit pathways through which instructions (e.g., binary encoded signals) may travel to effectuate communications, operations, storage, etc. The computer systemization may be connected to a power source 4486; e.g., optionally the power source may be internal. Optionally, a cryptographic processor 4426 and/or transceivers (e.g., ICs) 4474 may be connected to the system bus. In another embodiment, the cryptographic processor and/or transceivers may be connected as either internal and/or external peripheral devices 4412 via the interface bus I/O. In turn, the transceivers may be connected to antenna(s) 4475, thereby effectuating wireless transmission and reception of various communication and/or sensor protocols; for example the antenna(s) may connect to: a Texas Instruments WiLink WL1283 transceiver chip (e.g., providing 802.11n, Bluetooth 3.0, FM, global positioning system (GPS) (thereby allowing Ad-Track controller to determine its location)); Broadcom BCM4329FKUBG transceiver chip (e.g., providing 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, FM, etc.), BCM28150 (HSPA+) and BCM2076 (Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, etc.); a Broadcom BCM4750IUB8 receiver chip (e.g., GPS); an Infineon Technologies X-Gold 618-PMB9800 (e.g., providing 2G/3G HSDPA/HSUPA communications); Intel's XMM 7160 (LTE & DC-HSPA), Qualcom's CDMA(2000), Mobile Data/Station Modem, Snapdragon; and/or the like. The system clock may have a crystal oscillator and generates a base signal through the computer systemization's circuit pathways. The clock may be coupled to the system bus and various clock multipliers that will increase or decrease the base operating frequency for other components interconnected in the computer systemization. The clock and various components in a computer systemization drive signals embodying information throughout the system. Such transmission and reception of instructions embodying information throughout a computer systemization may be referred to as communications. These communicative instructions may further be transmitted, received, and the cause of return and/or reply communications beyond the instant computer systemization to: communications networks, input devices, other computer systemizations, peripheral devices, and/or the like. It should be understood that in alternative embodiments, any of the above components may be connected directly to one another, connected to the CPU, and/or organized in numerous variations employed as exemplified by various computer systems.
The CPU comprises at least one high-speed data processor adequate to execute program components for executing user and/or system-generated requests. Often, the processors themselves will incorporate various specialized processing units, such as, but not limited to: floating point units, integer processing units, integrated system (bus) controllers, logic operating units, memory management control units, etc., and even specialized processing sub-units like graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, and/or the like. Additionally, processors may include internal fast access addressable memory, and be capable of mapping and addressing memory 4429 beyond the processor itself; internal memory may include, but is not limited to: fast registers, various levels of cache memory (e.g., level 1, 2, 3, etc.), RAM, etc. The processor may access this memory through the use of a memory address space that is accessible via instruction address, which the processor can construct and decode allowing it to access a circuit path to a specific memory address space having a memory state/value. The CPU may be a microprocessor such as: AMD's Athlon, Duron and/or Opteron; ARM's classic (e.g., ARM7/9/11), embedded (Coretx-M/R), application (Cortex-A), embedded and secure processors; IBM and/or Motorola's DragonBall and PowerPC; IBM's and Sony's Cell processor; Intel's Atom, Celeron (Mobile), Core (2/Duo/i3/i5/i7), Itanium, Pentium, Xeon, and/or XScale; and/or the like processor(s). The CPU interacts with memory through instruction passing through conductive and/or transportive conduits (e.g., (printed) electronic and/or optic circuits) to execute stored instructions (i.e., program code). Such instruction passing facilitates communication within the Ad-Track controller and beyond through various interfaces. Should processing requirements dictate a greater amount speed and/or capacity, distributed processors (e.g., Distributed Ad-Track), mainframe, multi-core, parallel, and/or super-computer architectures may similarly be employed. Alternatively, should deployment requirements dictate greater portability, smaller mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), etc.) may be employed.
Depending on the particular implementation, features of the Ad-Track may be achieved by implementing a microcontroller such as CAST's R8051XC2 microcontroller; Intel's MCS 51 (i.e., 8051 microcontroller); and/or the like. Also, to implement certain features of the Ad-Track, some feature implementations may rely on embedded components, such as: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”), Digital Signal Processing (“DSP”), Field Programmable Gate Array (“FPGA”), and/or the like embedded technology. For example, any of the Ad-Track component collection (distributed or otherwise) and/or features may be implemented via the microprocessor and/or via embedded components; e.g., via ASIC, coprocessor, DSP, FPGA, and/or the like. Alternately, some implementations of the Ad-Track may be implemented with embedded components that are configured and used to achieve a variety of features or signal processing.
Depending on the particular implementation, the embedded components may include software solutions, hardware solutions, and/or some combination of both hardware/software solutions. For example, Ad-Track features discussed herein may be achieved through implementing FPGAs, which are a semiconductor devices containing programmable logic components called “logic blocks”, and programmable interconnects, such as the high performance FPGA Virtex series and/or the low cost Spartan series manufactured by Xilinx. Logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed by the customer or designer, after the FPGA is manufactured, to implement any of the Ad-Track features. A hierarchy of programmable interconnects allow logic blocks to be interconnected as needed by the Ad-Track system designer/administrator, somewhat like a one-chip programmable breadboard. An FPGA's logic blocks can be programmed to perform the operation of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex combinational operators such as decoders or simple mathematical operations. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be circuit flip-flops or more complete blocks of memory. In some circumstances, the Ad-Track may be developed on regular FPGAs and then migrated into a fixed version that more resembles ASIC implementations. Alternate or coordinating implementations may migrate Ad-Track controller features to a final ASIC instead of or in addition to FPGAs. Depending on the implementation all of the aforementioned embedded components and microprocessors may be considered the “CPU” and/or “processor” for the Ad-Track.
The power source 4486 may be of any standard form for powering small electronic circuit board devices such as the following power cells: alkaline, lithium hydride, lithium ion, lithium polymer, nickel cadmium, solar cells, and/or the like. Other types of AC or DC power sources may be used as well. In the case of solar cells, in one embodiment, the case provides an aperture through which the solar cell may capture photonic energy. The power cell 4486 is connected to at least one of the interconnected subsequent components of the Ad-Track thereby providing an electric current to all the interconnected components. In one example, the power source 4486 is connected to the system bus component 4404. In an alternative embodiment, an outside power source 4486 is provided through a connection across the I/O 4408 interface. For example, a USB and/or IEEE 1394 connection carries both data and power across the connection and is therefore a suitable source of power.
Interface bus(ses) 4407 may accept, connect, and/or communicate to a number of interface adapters, frequently, although not necessarily in the form of adapter cards, such as but not limited to: input output interfaces (I/O) 4408, storage interfaces 4409, network interfaces 4410, and/or the like. Optionally, cryptographic processor interfaces 4427 similarly may be connected to the interface bus. The interface bus provides for the communications of interface adapters with one another as well as with other components of the computer systemization. Interface adapters are adapted for a compatible interface bus. Interface adapters may connect to the interface bus via expansion and/or slot architecture. Various expansion and/or slot architectures may be employed, such as, but not limited to: Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), Card Bus, ExpressCard, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA), Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral Component Interconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), Thunderbolt, and/or the like.
Storage interfaces 4409 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to a number of storage devices such as, but not limited to: storage devices 4414, removable disc devices, and/or the like. Storage interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: (Ultra) (Serial) Advanced Technology Attachment (Packet Interface) ((Ultra) (Serial) ATA(PI)), (Enhanced) Integrated Drive Electronics ((E)IDE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, Ethernet, fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), Thunderbolt, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and/or the like.
Network interfaces 4410 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to a communications network 4413. Through a communications network 4413, the Ad-Track controller is accessible through remote clients 4433b (e.g., computers with web browsers) by users 4433a. Network interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: direct connect, Ethernet (thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and/or the like), Token Ring, wireless connection such as IEEE 802.11a-x, and/or the like. Should processing requirements dictate a greater amount speed and/or capacity, distributed network controllers (e.g., Distributed Ad-Track), architectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance, and/or otherwise increase the communicative bandwidth required by the Ad-Track controller. A communications network may be any one and/or the combination of the following: a direct interconnection; the Internet; a Local Area Network (LAN); a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN); an Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI); a secured custom connection; a Wide Area Network (WAN); a wireless network (e.g., employing protocols such as, but not limited to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), I-mode, and/or the like); and/or the like. A network interface may be regarded as a specialized form of an input output interface. Further, multiple network interfaces 4410 may be used to engage with various communications network types 4413. For example, multiple network interfaces may be employed to allow for the communication over broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast networks.
Input Output interfaces (I/O) 4408 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to user input devices 4411, peripheral devices 4412, cryptographic processor devices 4428, and/or the like. I/O may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: audio: analog, digital, monaural, RCA, stereo, and/or the like; data: Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), Bluetooth, IEEE 1394a-b, serial, universal serial bus (USB); infrared; joystick; keyboard; midi; optical; PC AT; PS/2; parallel; radio; video interface: Apple Desktop Connector (ADC), BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital, DisplayPort, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), RCA, RF antennae, S-Video, VGA, and/or the like; wireless transceivers: 802.11a/b/g/n/x; Bluetooth; cellular (e.g., code division multiple access (CDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA(+)), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long term evolution (LTE), WiMax, etc.); and/or the like. One output device may be a video display, which may take the form of a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Light Emitting Diode (LED), Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), Plasma, and/or the like based monitor with an interface (e.g., VGA, DVI circuitry and cable) that accepts signals from a video interface. The video interface composites information generated by a computer systemization and generates video signals based on the composited information in a video memory frame. Another output device is a television set, which accepts signals from a video interface. Often, the video interface provides the composited video information through a video connection interface that accepts a video display interface (e.g., an RCA composite video connector accepting an RCA composite video cable; a DVI connector accepting a DVI display cable, HDMI, etc.).
User input devices 4411 often are a type of peripheral device 4412 (see below) and may include: card readers, dongles, finger print readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards, microphones, mouse (mice), remote controls, retina readers, touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackballs, trackpads, sensors (e.g., accelerometers, ambient light, GPS, gyroscopes, proximity, etc.), styluses, and/or the like.
Peripheral devices 4412 may be connected and/or communicate to I/O and/or other facilities of the like such as network interfaces, storage interfaces, directly to the interface bus, system bus, the CPU, and/or the like. Peripheral devices may be external, internal and/or part of the Ad-Track controller. Peripheral devices may include: antenna, audio devices (e.g., line-in, line-out, microphone input, speakers, etc.), cameras (e.g., still, video, webcam, etc.), dongles (e.g., for copy protection, ensuring secure transactions with a digital signature, and/or the like), external processors (for added capabilities; e.g., crypto devices 4428), force-feedback devices (e.g., vibrating motors), near field communication (NFC) devices, network interfaces, printers, radio frequency identifiers (RFIDs), scanners, storage devices, transceivers (e.g., cellular, GPS, etc.), video devices (e.g., goggles, monitors, etc.), video sources, visors, and/or the like. Peripheral devices often include types of input devices (e.g., microphones, cameras, etc.).
It should be noted that although user input devices and peripheral devices may be employed, the Ad-Track controller may be embodied as an embedded, dedicated, and/or monitor-less (i.e., headless) device, wherein access would be provided over a network interface connection.
Cryptographic units such as, but not limited to, microcontrollers, processors 4426, interfaces 4427, and/or devices 4428 may be attached, and/or communicate with the Ad-Track controller. A MC68HC16 microcontroller, manufactured by Motorola Inc., may be used for and/or within cryptographic units. The MC68HC16 microcontroller utilizes a 16-bit multiply-and-accumulate instruction in the 16 MHz configuration and requires less than one second to perform a 512-bit RSA private key operation. Cryptographic units support the authentication of communications from interacting agents, as well as allowing for anonymous transactions. Cryptographic units may also be configured as part of the CPU. Equivalent microcontrollers and/or processors may also be used. Other commercially available specialized cryptographic processors include: the Broadcom's CryptoNetX and other Security Processors; nCipher's nShield (e.g., Solo, Connect, etc.), SafeNet's Luna PCI (e.g., 7100) series; Semaphore Communications' 40 MHz Roadrunner 184; sMIP's (e.g., 208956); Sun's Cryptographic Accelerators (e.g., Accelerator 6000 PCIe Board, Accelerator 500 Daughtercard); Via Nano Processor (e.g., L2100, L2200, U2400) line, which is capable of performing 500+ MB/s of cryptographic instructions; VLSI Technology's 33 MHz 6868; and/or the like.
Generally, any mechanization and/or embodiment allowing a processor to affect the storage and/or retrieval of information is regarded as memory 4429. However, memory is a fungible technology and resource, thus, any number of memory embodiments may be employed in lieu of or in concert with one another. It is to be understood that the Ad-Track controller and/or a computer systemization may employ various forms of memory 4429. For example, a computer systemization may be configured wherein the operation of on-chip CPU memory (e.g., registers), RAM, ROM, and any other storage devices are provided by a paper punch tape or paper punch card mechanism; however, such an embodiment would result in an extremely slow rate of operation. In one configuration, memory 4429 may include ROM 4406, RAM 4405, and a storage device 4414. A storage device 4414 may employ any number of computer storage devices/systems. Storage devices may include a drum; a (fixed and/or removable) magnetic disk drive; a magneto-optical drive; an optical drive (i.e., Blueray, CD ROM/RAM/Recordable (R)/ReWritable (RW), DVD R/RW, HD DVD R/RW etc.); an array of devices (e.g., Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)); solid state memory devices (USB memory, solid state drives (SSD), etc.); other processor-readable storage mediums; and/or other devices of the like. Thus, a computer systemization generally requires and makes use of memory.
The memory 4429 may contain a collection of program and/or database components and/or data such as, but not limited to: operating system component(s) 4415 (operating system); information server component(s) 4416 (information server); user interface component(s) 4417 (user interface); Web browser component(s) 4418 (Web browser); database(s) 4419; mail server component(s) 4421; mail client component(s) 4422; cryptographic server component(s) 4420 (cryptographic server); the Ad-Track component(s) 4435; and/or the like (i.e., collectively a component collection). These components may be stored and accessed from the storage devices and/or from storage devices accessible through an interface bus. Although non-conventional program components such as those in the component collection may be stored in a local storage device 4414, they may also be loaded and/or stored in memory such as: peripheral devices, RAM, remote storage facilities through a communications network, ROM, various forms of memory, and/or the like.
The operating system component 4415 is an executable program component facilitating the operation of the Ad-Track controller. The operating system may facilitate access of I/O, network interfaces, peripheral devices, storage devices, and/or the like. The operating system may be a highly fault tolerant, scalable, and secure system such as: Apple Macintosh OS X (Server); AT&T Nan 9; Be OS; Unix and Unix-like system distributions (such as AT&T's UNIX; Berkley Software Distribution (BSD) variations such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and/or the like; Linux distributions such as Red Hat, Ubuntu, and/or the like); and/or the like operating systems. However, more limited and/or less secure operating systems also may be employed such as Apple Macintosh OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft DOS, Microsoft Windows 2000/2003/3.1/95/98/CE/Millenium/NT/Vista/XP (Server), Palm OS, and/or the like. In addition, emobile operating systems such as Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Hewlett Packard's WebOS, Microsofts Windows Mobile, and/or the like may be employed. Any of these operating systems may be embedded within the hardware of the NICK controller, and/or stored/loaded into memory/storage. An operating system may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or the like. Most frequently, the operating system communicates with other program components, user interfaces, and/or the like. For example, the operating system may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. The operating system, once executed by the CPU, may enable the interaction with communications networks, data, I/O, peripheral devices, program components, memory, user input devices, and/or the like. The operating system may provide communications protocols that allow the Ad-Track controller to communicate with other entities through a communications network 4413. Various communication protocols may be used by the Ad-Track controller as a subcarrier transport mechanism for interaction, such as, but not limited to: multicast, TCP/IP, UDP, unicast, and/or the like.
An information server component 4416 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. The information server may be an Internet information server such as, but not limited to Apache Software Foundation's Apache, Microsoft's Internet Information Server, and/or the like. The information server may allow for the execution of program components through facilities such as Active Server Page (ASP), ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts, dynamic (D) hypertext markup language (HTML), FLASH, Java, JavaScript, Practical Extraction Report Language (PERL), Hypertext Pre-Processor (PHP), pipes, Python, wireless application protocol (WAP), WebObjects, and/or the like. The information server may support secure communications protocols such as, but not limited to, File Transfer Protocol (FTP); HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP); Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), messaging protocols (e.g., America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger (AIM), Apple's iMessage, Application Exchange (APEX), ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Microsoft Network (MSN) Messenger Service, Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol (PRIM), Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), open XML-based Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) (i.e., Jabber or Open Mobile Alliance's (OMA's) Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), Yahoo! Instant Messenger Service, and/or the like. The information server provides results in the form of Web pages to Web browsers, and allows for the manipulated generation of the Web pages through interaction with other program components. After a Domain Name System (DNS) resolution portion of an HTTP request is resolved to a particular information server, the information server resolves requests for information at specified locations on the Ad-Track controller based on the remainder of the HTTP request. For example, a request such as http://123.124.125.126/myInformation.html might have the IP portion of the request “123.124.125.126” resolved by a DNS server to an information server at that IP address; that information server might in turn further parse the http request for the “/myInformation.html” portion of the request and resolve it to a location in memory containing the information “myInformation.html.” Additionally, other information serving protocols may be employed across various ports, e.g., FTP communications across port 21, and/or the like. An information server may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the information server communicates with the Ad-Track database 4419, operating systems, other program components, user interfaces, Web browsers, and/or the like.
Access to the Ad-Track database may be achieved through a number of database bridge mechanisms such as through scripting languages as enumerated below (e.g., CGI) and through inter-application communication channels as enumerated below (e.g., CORBA, WebObjects, etc.). Any data requests through a Web browser are parsed through the bridge mechanism into appropriate grammars as required by the Ad-Track. In one embodiment, the information server would provide a Web form accessible by a Web browser. Entries made into supplied fields in the Web form are tagged as having been entered into the particular fields, and parsed as such. The entered terms are then passed along with the field tags, which act to instruct the parser to generate queries directed to appropriate tables and/or fields. In one embodiment, the parser may generate queries in standard SQL by instantiating a search string with the proper join/select commands based on the tagged text entries, wherein the resulting command is provided over the bridge mechanism to the Ad-Track as a query. Upon generating query results from the query, the results are passed over the bridge mechanism, and may be parsed for formatting and generation of a new results Web page by the bridge mechanism. Such a new results Web page is then provided to the information server, which may supply it to the requesting Web browser.
Also, an information server may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
Computer interfaces in some respects are similar to automobile operation interfaces. Automobile operation interface elements such as steering wheels, gearshifts, and speedometers facilitate the access, operation, and display of automobile resources, and status. Computer interaction interface elements such as check boxes, cursors, menus, scrollers, and windows (collectively and commonly referred to as widgets) similarly facilitate the access, capabilities, operation, and display of data and computer hardware and operating system resources, and status. Operation interfaces are commonly called user interfaces. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as the Apple Macintosh Operating System's Aqua and iOS's Cocoa Touch, IBM's OS/2, Google's Android Mobile UI, Microsoft's Windows 2000/2003/3.1/95/98/CE/Millenium/CPAM: Mobile/NT/XP/Vista/7/8 (i.e., Aero, Metro), Unix's X-Windows (e.g., which may include additional Unix graphic interface libraries and layers such as K Desktop Environment (KDE), mythTV and GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME)), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java, JavaScript, etc. interface libraries such as, but not limited to, Dojo, jQuery(UI), MooTools, Prototype, script.aculo.us, SWFObject, Yahoo! User Interface, any of which may be used and) provide a baseline and means of accessing and displaying information graphically to users.
A user interface component 4417 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. The user interface may be a graphic user interface as provided by, with, and/or atop operating systems and/or operating environments such as already discussed. The user interface may allow for the display, execution, interaction, manipulation, and/or operation of program components and/or system facilities through textual and/or graphical facilities. The user interface provides a facility through which users may affect, interact, and/or operate a computer system. A user interface may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the user interface communicates with operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The user interface may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
A Web browser component 4418 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. The Web browser may be a hypertext viewing application such as Goofle's (Mobile) Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Apple's (Mobile) Safari, embedded web browser objects such as through Apple's Cocoa (Touch) object class, and/or the like. Secure Web browsing may be supplied with 128 bit (or greater) encryption by way of HTTPS, SSL, and/or the like. Web browsers allowing for the execution of program components through facilities such as ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java, JavaScript, web browser plug-in APIs (e.g., Chrome, FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari Plug-in, and/or the like APIs), and/or the like. Web browsers and like information access tools may be integrated into PDAs, cellular telephones, smartphones, and/or other mobile devices. A Web browser may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the Web browser communicates with information servers, operating systems, integrated program components (e.g., plug-ins), and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. Also, in place of a Web browser and information server, a combined application may be developed to perform similar operations of both. The combined application would similarly effect the obtaining and the provision of information to users, user agents, and/or the like from the Ad-Track equipped nodes. The combined application may be nugatory on systems employing standard Web browsers.
A mail server component 4421 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 4403. The mail server may be an Internet mail server such as, but not limited to Apple's Mail Server (3), dovect, sendmail, Microsoft Exchange, and/or the like. The mail server may allow for the execution of program components through facilities such as ASP, ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, pipes, Python, WebObjects, and/or the like. The mail server may support communications protocols such as, but not limited to: Internet message access protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)/Microsoft Exchange, post office protocol (POP3), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and/or the like. The mail server can route, forward, and process incoming and outgoing mail messages that have been sent, relayed and/or otherwise traversing through and/or to the Ad-Track.
Access to the Ad-Track mail may be achieved through a number of APIs offered by the individual Web server components and/or the operating system.
Also, a mail server may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or responses.
A mail client component 4422 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 4403. The mail client may be a mail viewing application such as Apple (Mobile) Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla, Thunderbird, and/or the like. Mail clients may support a number of transfer protocols, such as: IMAP, Microsoft Exchange, POP3, SMTP, and/or the like. A mail client may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the mail client communicates with mail servers, operating systems, other mail clients, and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or responses. Generally, the mail client provides a facility to compose and transmit electronic mail messages.
A cryptographic server component 4420 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 4403, cryptographic processor 4426, cryptographic processor interface 4427, cryptographic processor device 4428, and/or the like. Cryptographic processor interfaces will allow for expedition of encryption and/or decryption requests by the cryptographic component; however, the cryptographic component, alternatively, may run on a CPU. The cryptographic component allows for the encryption and/or decryption of provided data. The cryptographic component allows for both symmetric and asymmetric (e.g., Pretty Good Protection (PGP)) encryption and/or decryption. The cryptographic component may employ cryptographic techniques such as, but not limited to: digital certificates (e.g., X.509 authentication framework), digital signatures, dual signatures, enveloping, password access protection, public key management, and/or the like. The cryptographic component will facilitate numerous (encryption and/or decryption) security protocols such as, but not limited to: checksum, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Elliptical Curve Encryption (ECC), International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), Message Digest 5 (MD5, which is a one way hash operation), passwords, Rivest Cipher (RC5), Rijndael, RSA (which is an Internet encryption and authentication system that uses an algorithm developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman), Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), and/or the like. Employing such encryption security protocols, the Ad-Track may encrypt all incoming and/or outgoing communications and may serve as node within a virtual private network (VPN) with a wider communications network. The cryptographic component facilitates the process of “security authorization” whereby access to a resource is inhibited by a security protocol wherein the cryptographic component effects authorized access to the secured resource. In addition, the cryptographic component may provide unique identifiers of content, e.g., employing and MD5 hash to obtain a unique signature for an digital audio file. A cryptographic component may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. The cryptographic component supports encryption schemes allowing for the secure transmission of information across a communications network to enable the Ad-Track component to engage in secure transactions if so desired. The cryptographic component facilitates the secure accessing of resources on the Ad-Track and facilitates the access of secured resources on remote systems; i.e., it may act as a client and/or server of secured resources. Most frequently, the cryptographic component communicates with information servers, operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The cryptographic component may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
The Ad-Track database component 4419 may be embodied in a database and its stored data. The database is a stored program component, which is executed by the CPU; the stored program component portion configuring the CPU to process the stored data. The database may be any of a number of fault tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases, such as DB2, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, and/or the like. Relational databases are an extension of a flat file. Relational databases consist of a series of related tables. The tables are interconnected via a key field. Use of the key field allows the combination of the tables by indexing against the key field; i.e., the key fields act as dimensional pivot points for combining information from various tables. Relationships generally identify links maintained between tables by matching primary keys. Primary keys represent fields that uniquely identify the rows of a table in a relational database. More precisely, they uniquely identify rows of a table on the “one” side of a one-to-many relationship.
Alternatively, the Ad-Track database may be implemented using various standard data-structures, such as an array, hash, (linked) list, struct, structured text file (e.g., XML), table, and/or the like. Such data-structures may be stored in memory and/or in (structured) files. In another alternative, an object-oriented database may be used, such as Frontier, ObjectStore, Poet, Zope, and/or the like. Object databases can include a number of object collections that are grouped and/or linked together by common attributes; they may be related to other object collections by some common attributes. Object-oriented databases perform similarly to relational databases with the exception that objects are not just pieces of data but may have other types of capabilities encapsulated within a given object. If the Ad-Track database is implemented as a data-structure, the use of the Ad-Track database 4419 may be integrated into another component such as the Ad-Track component 4435. Also, the database may be implemented as a mix of data structures, objects, and relational structures. Databases may be consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through standard data processing techniques. Portions of databases, e.g., tables, may be exported and/or imported and thus decentralized and/or integrated.
In one embodiment, the database component 4419 includes several tables 4419a-s. A Users table 4419a may include fields such as, but not limited to: user_id, ssn, dob, first_name, last_name, age, state, address_firstline, address_secondline, zipcode, devices_list, contact_info, contact_type, alt contact_info, alt_contact_type, and/or the like. The Users table may support and/or track multiple entity accounts on a Ad-Track. A Devices table 4419b may include fields such as, but not limited to: device_ID, device_name, device_IP, device_GPS, device_MAC, device_serial, device_ECID, device_UDID, device_browser, device_type, device_model, device_version, device_OS, device_apps_list, device_securekey, wallet_app_installed_flag, and/or the like. An Apps table 4419c may include fields such as, but not limited to: app_ID, app_name, app_type, app dependencies, app access code, user_pin, and/or the like. An Accounts table 4419d may include fields such as, but not limited to: account_number, account_security_code, account_name, issuer_acquirer_flag, issuer_name, acquirer_name, account_address, routing_number, access_API_call, linked_wallets_list, and/or the like. A Merchants table 4419e may include fields such as, but not limited to: merchant_id, merchant_name, merchant_address, store_id, ip_address, mac_address, auth_key, port_num, security_settings_list, and/or the like. An Issuers table 4419f may include fields such as, but not limited to: issuer_id, issuer_name, issuer_address, ip_address, mac_address, auth_key, port_num, security_settings_list, and/or the like. An Acquirers table 4419g may include fields such as, but not limited to: account_firstname, account_lastname, account_type, account_num, account_balance_list, billingaddress_line1, billingaddress_line2, billing_zipcode, billing_state, shipping_preferences, shippingaddress_line1, shippingaddress_line2, shipping_zipcode, shipping_state, and/or the like. A Pay Gateways table 4419h may include fields such as, but not limited to: gateway_ID, gateway_IP, gateway_MAC, gateway_secure_key, gateway_access_list, gateway_API_call_list, gateway_services_list, and/or the like. A Shop Sessions table 4419i may include fields such as, but not limited to: user_id, session_id, alerts_URL, timestamp, expiry_lapse, merchant_id, store_id, device_type, device_ID, device_IP, device_MAC, device_browser, device_serial, device_ECID, device_model, device_OS, wallet_app_installed, total_cost, cart_ID_list, product_params_list, social_flag, social_message, social_networks_list, coupon_lists, accounts_list, CVV2_lists, charge_ratio_list, charge_priority_list, value_exchange_symbols_list, bill_address, ship_address, cloak_flag, pay_mode, alerts_rules_list, and/or the like. A Transactions table 4419j may include fields such as, but not limited to: order_id, user_id, timestamp, transaction_cost, purchase_details_list, num_products, products_list, product_type, product_params_list, product_title, product_summary, quantity, user_id, client_id, client_ip, client_type, client_model, operating_system, os_version, app_installed_flag, user_id, account_firstname, account_lastname, account_type, account_num, account_priority_account_ratio, billingaddress_line1, billingaddress_line2, billing_zipcode, billing_state, shipping_preferences, shippingaddress_line1, shippingaddress_line2, shipping_zipcode, shipping_state, merchant_id, merchant_name, merchant_auth_key, and/or the like. A Batches table 4419k may include fields such as, but not limited to: batch_id, transaction_id_list, timestamp_list, cleared_flag_list, clearance_trigger settings, and/or the like. A Ledgers table 4419l may include fields such as, but not limited to: request_id, timestamp, deposit_amount, batch_id, transaction_id, clear_flag, deposit_account, transaction_summary, payor_name, payor_account, and/or the like. A Products table 4419m may include fields such as, but not limited to: product_ID, product_title, product_attributes_list, product_price, tax_info_list, related_products_list, offers_list, discounts_list, rewards_list, merchants_list, merchant_availability_list, and/or the like. An Offers table 4419n may include fields such as, but not limited to: offer_ID, offer_title, offer_attributes_list, offer_price, offer_expiry, related_products_list, discounts_list, rewards_list, merchants_list, merchant_availability_list, and/or the like. A Behavior Data table 4419o may include fields such as, but not limited to: user_id, timestamp, activity_type, activity_location, activity_attribute_list, activity_attribute_values_list, and/or the like. An Analytics table 4419p may include fields such as, but not limited to: report_id, user_id, report_type, report_algorithm_id, report destination address, and/or the like. A Market Data table 4419q may include fields such as, but not limited to: market_data_feed_ID, asset_ID, asset_symbol, asset_name, spot_price, bid_price, ask_price, and/or the like; in one embodiment, the market data table is populated through a market data feed (e.g., Bloomberg's PhatPipe, Dun & Bradstreet, Reuter's Tib, Triarch, etc.), for example, through Microsoft's Active Template Library and Dealing Object Technology's real-time toolkit Rtt.Multi. A correlation rule table 4419r may include fields such as, but not limited to: rule_id, rule_name, rule_sponsor, rule_merchant_id, rule_product_id, rule_termination, rule_period, rule_fee_percentage, rule_weekly_purchase, rule_purchase_interval, rule_event, and/or the like. An ads table 4419s may include fields such as, but not limited to: ad_id, ad_name, ad_template, ad_data, ad_product_id, ad_merchant_id, ad_complementary_product_id, ad_complementary_merchant_id, and/or the like.
In one embodiment, the Ad-Track database may interact with other database systems. For example, employing a distributed database system, queries and data access by search Ad-Track component may treat the combination of the Ad-Track database, an integrated data security layer database as a single database entity.
In one embodiment, user programs may contain various user interface primitives, which may serve to update the Ad-Track. Also, various accounts may require custom database tables depending upon the environments and the types of clients the Ad-Track may need to serve. It should be noted that any unique fields may be designated as a key field throughout. In an alternative embodiment, these tables have been decentralized into their own databases and their respective database controllers (i.e., individual database controllers for each of the above tables). Employing standard data processing techniques, one may further distribute the databases over several computer systemizations and/or storage devices. Similarly, configurations of the decentralized database controllers may be varied by consolidating and/or distributing the various database components 4419a-s. The Ad-Track may be configured to keep track of various settings, inputs, and parameters via database controllers.
The Ad-Track database may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the Ad-Track database communicates with the Ad-Track component, other program components, and/or the like. The database may contain, retain, and provide information regarding other nodes and data.
The Ad-Track component 4435 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. In one embodiment, the Ad-Track component incorporates any and/or all combinations of the aspects of the Ad-Track discussed in the previous figures. As such, the Ad-Track affects accessing, obtaining and the provision of information, services, transactions, and/or the like across various communications networks. The features and embodiments of the Ad-Track discussed herein increase network efficiency by reducing data transfer requirements the use of more efficient data structures and mechanisms for their transfer and storage. As a consequence, more data may be transferred in less time, and latencies with regard to transactions, are also reduced. In many cases, such reduction in storage, transfer time, bandwidth requirements, latencies, etc., will reduce the capacity and structural infrastructure requirements to support the Ad-Track's features and facilities, and in many cases reduce the costs, energy consumption/requirements, and extend the life of Ad-Track's underlying infrastructure; this has the added benefit of making the Ad-Track more reliable. Similarly, many of the features and mechanisms are designed to be easier for users to use and access, thereby broadening the audience that may enjoy/employ and exploit the feature sets of the Ad-Track; such ease of use also helps to increase the reliability of the Ad-Track. In addition, the feature sets include heightened security as noted via the Cryptographic components 4420, 4426, 4428 and throughout, making access to the features and data more reliable and secure.
The Ad-Track component may transform consumer activity data via Ad-Track components into ad revenue sharing, and/or the like and use of the Ad-Track. In one embodiment, the Ad-Track component 4435 takes inputs (e.g., consumer activity 215, checkout request 3811; product data 3815; wallet access input 4011; transaction authorization input 4014; payment gateway address 4018; payment network address 4022; issuer server address(es) 4025; funds authorization request(s) 4026; user(s) account(s) data 4028; batch data 4212; payment network address 4216; issuer server address(es) 4224; individual payment request 4225; payment ledger, merchant account data 4231; and/or the like) etc., and transforms the inputs via various components (e.g., UPC 4441; PTA 4442; PTC 4443; STG 4444; EPGU 4445; EAA 4446; CEC 4447; ETC 4448; DFR 4449; ADRN 4450; VASE 4451; SDA 4452; TDA 4453; CTDA 4454; SRA 4455; UBA 4456; UBOR 4457; SPE 4458; SPT 4459; WSS 4460; SMCB 4461; VWSC 4462; ORE 4463; QRCP 4464; SMPE 4465; PCS 4466; UST 4467; STRS 4468; USTG 4469; and/or the like), into outputs (e.g., advertisement revenue sharing payment 237, consumer/merchant transaction record 223, checkout request message 3813; checkout data 3817; card authorization request 4016, 4023; funds authorization response(s) 4030; transaction authorization response 4032; batch append data 4034; purchase receipt 4035; batch clearance request 4214; batch payment request 4218; transaction data 4220; individual payment confirmation 4228, 4229; updated payment ledger, merchant account data 4233; and/or the like).
The Ad-Track component enabling access of information between nodes may be developed by employing standard development tools and languages such as, but not limited to: Apache components, Assembly, ActiveX, binary executables, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, database adapters, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, mapping tools, procedural and object oriented development tools, PERL, PHP, Python, shell scripts, SQL commands, web application server extensions, web development environments and libraries (e.g., Microsoft's ActiveX; Adobe AIR, FLEX & FLASH; AJAX; (D)HTML; Dojo, Java; JavaScript; jQuery(UI); MooTools; Prototype; script.aculo.us; Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP); SWFObject; Yahoo! User Interface; and/or the like), WebObjects, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the Ad-Track server employs a cryptographic server to encrypt and decrypt communications. The Ad-Track component may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the Ad-Track component communicates with the Ad-Track database, operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The Ad-Track may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
The structure and/or operation of any of the Ad-Track node controller components may be combined, consolidated, and/or distributed in any number of ways to facilitate development and/or deployment. Similarly, the component collection may be combined in any number of ways to facilitate deployment and/or development. To accomplish this, one may integrate the components into a common code base or in a facility that can dynamically load the components on demand in an integrated fashion.
The component collection may be consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through standard data processing and/or development techniques. Multiple instances of any one of the program components in the program component collection may be instantiated on a single node, and/or across numerous nodes to improve performance through load-balancing and/or data-processing techniques. Furthermore, single instances may also be distributed across multiple controllers and/or storage devices; e.g., databases. All program component instances and controllers working in concert may do so through standard data processing communication techniques.
The configuration of the Ad-Track controller will depend on the context of system deployment. Factors such as, but not limited to, the budget, capacity, location, and/or use of the underlying hardware resources may affect deployment requirements and configuration. Regardless of if the configuration results in more consolidated and/or integrated program components, results in a more distributed series of program components, and/or results in some combination between a consolidated and distributed configuration, data may be communicated, obtained, and/or provided. Instances of components consolidated into a common code base from the program component collection may communicate, obtain, and/or provide data. This may be accomplished through intra-application data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited to: data referencing (e.g., pointers), internal messaging, object instance variable communication, shared memory space, variable passing, and/or the like.
If component collection components are discrete, separate, and/or external to one another, then communicating, obtaining, and/or providing data with and/or to other components may be accomplished through inter-application data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited to: Application Program Interfaces (API) information passage; (distributed) Component Object Model ((D)COM), (Distributed) Object Linking and Embedding ((D)OLE), and/or the like), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Jini local and remote application program interfaces, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Remote Method Invocation (RMI), SOAP, process pipes, shared files, and/or the like. Messages sent between discrete component components for inter-application communication or within memory spaces of a singular component for intra-application communication may be facilitated through the creation and parsing of a grammar. A grammar may be developed by using development tools such as lex, yacc, XML, and/or the like, which allow for grammar generation and parsing capabilities, which in turn may form the basis of communication messages within and between components.
For example, a grammar may be arranged to recognize the tokens of an HTTP post command, e.g.:
where Value1 is discerned as being a parameter because “http://” is part of the grammar syntax, and what follows is considered part of the post value. Similarly, with such a grammar, a variable “Value1” may be inserted into an “http://” post command and then sent. The grammar syntax itself may be presented as structured data that is interpreted and/or otherwise used to generate the parsing mechanism (e.g., a syntax description text file as processed by lex, yacc, etc.). Also, once the parsing mechanism is generated and/or instantiated, it itself may process and/or parse structured data such as, but not limited to: character (e.g., tab) delineated text, HTML, structured text streams, XML, and/or the like structured data. In another embodiment, inter-application data processing protocols themselves may have integrated and/or readily available parsers (e.g., JSON, SOAP, and/or like parsers) that may be employed to parse (e.g., communications) data. Further, the parsing grammar may be used beyond message parsing, but may also be used to parse: databases, data collections, data stores, structured data, and/or the like. Again, the desired configuration will depend upon the context, environment, and requirements of system deployment.
For example, in some implementations, the Ad-Track controller may be executing a PHP script implementing a Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”) socket server via the information server, which listens to incoming communications on a server port to which a client may send data, e.g., data encoded in JSON format. Upon identifying an incoming communication, the PHP script may read the incoming message from the client device, parse the received JSON-encoded text data to extract information from the JSON-encoded text data into PHP script variables, and store the data (e.g., client identifying information, etc.) and/or extracted information in a relational database accessible using the Structured Query Language (“SQL”). An exemplary listing, written substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, to accept JSON-encoded input data from a client device via a SSL connection, parse the data to extract variables, and store the data to a database, is provided below:
Also, the following resources may be used to provide example embodiments regarding SOAP parser implementation:
and other parser implementations:
all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Additional implementations of the Ad-Track may include:
21. A processor-implemented advertising revenue sharing system, comprising:
a memory;
a processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:
obtain consumer activity information indicative of consumer informational exposure to a product;
receive an indication of consumer purchasing transaction of the product;
establish a correlation between the consumer purchasing transaction and the obtained consumer informational exposure;
identify an advertising channel related to the obtained consumer informational exposure based on the correlation; and
distribute an advertisement revenue sharing fee to the advertising channel.
22. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the advertising channel comprises an Internet website.
23. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the advertising channel comprises a social media platform.
24. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the advertising channel comprises a retail store.
25. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes social media feeds.
26. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes transaction information.
27. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes consumer browsing history.
28. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes consumer store injection data.
29. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes global positioning system-based location information of a consumer.
30. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information is obtained via a browser component instantiated on a consumer device.
31. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information is obtained from a centralized personal information aggregation platform 32. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer informational exposure includes consumer viewing an advertisement.
33. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer informational exposure includes consumer visiting a physical merchant store.
34. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the correlation is established based on whether the consumer purchasing transaction is a result of the consumer informational exposure.
35. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the correlation is established when a consumer has not purchased the product for at least 6 months.
36. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the advertisement revenue sharing fee is distributed to a consumer as an incentive reward.
37. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the advertisement revenue sharing fee is determined by a merchant.
38. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the obtaining consumer activity information further comprises:
providing a social transaction history feed of consumer item interest indications and dynamic consumer item interest indications to social transaction history feed trackers subject to social transaction history access controls, wherein social transaction history feed trackers may be any of social network clients and other consumer's virtual wallet.
39. The system of embodiment 21, wherein obtaining consumer activity information further comprises:
determining a consumer purchasing pattern; and
designing consumer targeted advertising schedule based on the consumer purchasing pattern.
40. The system of embodiment 39, wherein the processor further issues instructions to:
exclude an advertisement from a consumer's advertising schedule for a period of time when the consumer has already purchased the product.
41. A advertising revenue sharing processor-readable non-transitory medium storing instructions executable by a processor to:
obtain consumer activity information indicative of consumer informational exposure to a product;
receive an indication of consumer purchasing transaction of the product;
establish a correlation between the consumer purchasing transaction and the obtained consumer informational exposure;
identify an advertising channel related to the obtained consumer informational exposure based on the correlation; and
distribute an advertisement revenue sharing fee to the advertising channel.
42. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the advertising channel comprises an Internet website.
43. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the advertising channel comprises a social media platform.
44. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the advertising channel comprises a retail store.
45. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes social media feeds.
46. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes transaction information.
47. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes consumer browsing history.
48. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes consumer store injection data.
49. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information includes global positioning medium-based location information of a consumer.
50. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information is obtained via a browser component instantiated on a consumer device.
51. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer activity information is obtained from a centralized personal information aggregation platform
52. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer informational exposure includes consumer viewing an advertisement.
53. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the consumer informational exposure includes consumer visiting a physical merchant store.
54. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the correlation is established based on whether the consumer purchasing transaction is a result of the consumer informational exposure.
55. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the correlation is established when a consumer has not purchased the product for at least 6 months.
56. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the advertisement revenue sharing fee is distributed to a consumer as an incentive reward.
57. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the advertisement revenue sharing fee is determined by a merchant.
58. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein the obtaining consumer activity information further comprises:
providing a social transaction history feed of consumer item interest indications and dynamic consumer item interest indications to social transaction history feed trackers subject to social transaction history access controls, wherein social transaction history feed trackers may be any of social network clients and other consumer's virtual wallet.
59. The medium of embodiment 21, wherein obtaining consumer activity information further comprises:
determining a consumer purchasing pattern; and
designing consumer targeted advertising schedule based on the consumer purchasing pattern.
60. The medium of embodiment 39, wherein the processor further issues instructions to:
exclude an advertisement from a consumer's advertising schedule for a period of time when the consumer has already purchased the product.
61. A processor-implemented advertising incentive method, comprising:
instantiating a remote tracking component on a user device;
receiving a consumer trigger event with regard to a product via the remote tracking component;
determining a related merchant based on the trigger event, the merchant providing the product; and
providing an advertisement component advertising the merchant via the remote tracking component to the consumer.
62. A processor-implemented advertising incentive method, comprising:
receiving an indication of purchase of an advertised product made by a consumer;
determining whether the purchase is eligible for merchant affiliated payment based on pre-agreed rules;
when eligible, receiving an affiliate payment from the merchant and
dedicating a portion of the affiliate payment to the consumer.
63. A processor-implemented advertising incentive method, comprising:
instantiating a remote tracking component on a user device;
receiving a consumer trigger event with regard to a product via the remote tracking component;
determining a related merchant based on the trigger event, the merchant providing the product;
providing an advertisement component advertising the merchant via the remote tracking component to the consumer;
receiving an indication of purchase of the advertised product made by the consumer;
determining whether the purchase is eligible for merchant affiliated payment based on pre-agreed rules;
when eligible, receiving an affiliate payment from the merchant and
dedicating a portion of the affiliate payment to the consumer.
61. The method of embodiment 1, further comprising:
wherein the indication of consumer purchasing transaction of the product is provided to an ad network to seize further provision of advertising of the product to the purchasing consumer.
62. The method of embodiment 1, wherein an advertisement featuring a complementary product to the purchased product is provided to the consumer.
63. The system of embodiment 21, wherein the indication of consumer purchasing transaction of the product is provided to an ad network to seize further provision of advertising of the product to the purchasing consumer.
64, The system of embodiment 21, wherein an advertisement featuring a complementary product to the purchased product is provided to the consumer.
65. The medium of embodiment 41, wherein the indication of consumer purchasing transaction of the product is provided to an ad network to seize further provision of advertising of the product to the purchasing consumer.
66. The medium of embodiment 41, wherein an advertisement featuring a complementary product to the purchased product is provided to the consumer.
In order to address various issues and advance the art, the entirety of this application for BIDIRECTIONAL BANDWIDTH REDUCING NOTIFICATIONS AND TARGETED INCENTIVE PLATFORM APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS (including the Cover Page, Title, Headings, Field, Background, Summary, Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description, Claims, Abstract, Figures, Appendices and/or otherwise) shows by way of illustration various example embodiments in which the claimed innovations may be practiced. The advantages and features of the application are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in understanding and teach the claimed principles. It should be understood that they are not representative of all claimed innovations. As such, certain aspects of the disclosure have not been discussed herein. That alternate embodiments may not have been presented for a specific portion of the innovations or that further undescribed alternate embodiments may be available for a portion is not to be considered a disclaimer of those alternate embodiments. It will be appreciated that many of those undescribed embodiments incorporate the same principles of the innovations and others are equivalent. Thus, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and functional, logical, operational, organizational, structural and/or topological modifications may be made without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the disclosure. As such, all examples and/or embodiments are deemed to be non-limiting throughout this disclosure. Also, no inference should be drawn regarding those embodiments discussed herein relative to those not discussed herein other than it is as such for purposes of reducing space and repetition. For instance, it is to be understood that the logical and/or topological structure of any combination of any data flow sequence(s), program components (a component collection), other components and/or any present feature sets as described in the figures and/or throughout are not limited to a fixed operating order and/or arrangement, but rather, any disclosed order is exemplary and all equivalents, regardless of order, are contemplated by the disclosure. Furthermore, it is to be understood that such features are not limited to serial execution, but rather, any number of threads, processes, processors, services, servers, and/or the like that may execute asynchronously, concurrently, in parallel, simultaneously, synchronously, and/or the like are also contemplated by the disclosure. As such, some of these features may be mutually contradictory, in that they cannot be simultaneously present in a single embodiment. Similarly, some features are applicable to one aspect of the innovations, and inapplicable to others. In addition, the disclosure includes other innovations not presently claimed. Applicant reserves all rights in those presently unclaimed innovations, including the right to claim such innovations, file additional applications, continuations, continuations-in-part, divisions, and/or the like thereof. As such, it should be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functional, features, logical, operational, organizational, structural, topological, and/or other aspects of the disclosure are not to be considered limitations on the disclosure as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims. It is to be understood that, depending on the particular needs and/or characteristics of a Ad-Track individual and/or enterprise user, database configuration and/or relational model, data type, data transmission and/or network framework, syntax structure, and/or the like, various embodiments of the Ad-Track may be implemented that allow a great deal of flexibility and customization. For example, aspects of the Ad-Track may be adapted for offer targeting. While various embodiments and discussions of the Ad-Track have been directed to online advertising, however, it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be readily configured and/or customized for a wide variety of other applications and/or implementations.
This application for letters patent discloses and describes various novel innovations and inventive aspects of BIDIRECTIONAL BANDWIDTH REDUCING NOTIFICATIONS AND TARGETED INCENTIVE PLATFORM technology (hereinafter “disclosure”) and contains material that is subject to copyright, mask work, and/or other intellectual property protection. The respective owners of such intellectual property have no objection to the facsimile reproduction of the disclosure by anyone as it appears in published Patent Office file/records, but otherwise reserve all rights. This application claims priority under 35 USC §119 to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/505,597 filed Jul. 8, 2011, entitled “Advertising Incentive Apparatuses, Methods And Systems” (attorney docket no. P-42157PRV|20270-141PV), U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/620,431 filed Apr. 4, 2012, entitled “Store E-Wallet Injection Apparatuses, Methods And Systems” (attorney docket no. 234US01|20270-229PV), and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/594,063 filed Feb. 2, 2012, entitled “Centralized Personal Information Platform Apparatuses, Methods And Systems” (attorney docket no. P-42185PRV|20270-150V). This application claims priority under 35 USC §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/542,443 filed Jul. 5, 2012, entitled “Electronic Wallet Checkout Platform Apparatuses, Methods And Systems” (attorney docket no. 11US02|20270-177US). This application claims priority under 35 USC §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/520,481, filed Jul. 3, 2012, entitled “Universal Electronic Payment Apparatuses, Methods and Systems” (attorney docket no. P-42051US02|20270-136US), which is a National Stage Entry entitled to, and hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §§365, 371 corresponding to, PCT application no. PCT/US12/26205, filed Feb. 22, 2012, entitled “Universal Electronic Payment Apparatuses, Methods And Systems,” attorney docket no. P-42051WO01|20270-136PC, which in turn claims priority under 35 USC §119 to: U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/545,971 filed Oct. 11, 2011, entitled “Universal Electronic Payment Apparatuses, Methods And Systems,” attorney docket no. P-42051US01|20270-136PV1, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/538,761 filed Sep. 23, 2011, entitled “Electronic Wallet Transaction Consumer Leash Apparatuses, Methods And Systems,” attorney docket no. 93US01|20270-194PV; and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/539,969 filed Sep. 27, 2011, entitled “Apparatuses, Methods, And Systems For Finding, Storing, And Applying Discounts For Use In An Electronic Transaction,” attorney docket no. 110US01|20270-197PV. PCT application no. PCT/US12/26205 is also a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §§120, 365 to: U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 13/398,817 filed Feb. 16, 2012, entitled “Snap Mobile Payment Apparatuses, Methods And Systems,” attorney docket no. P-42032US01|20270-127US, and U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 13/348,634 filed Jan. 11, 2012, entitled “Universal Value Exchange Apparatuses, Methods And Systems,” attorney docket no. P-41948US01|20270-089US. This application is related to Patent Cooperation Treaty international application Ser No. ______ filed Jul. 7, 2012 entitled “Bidirectional Bandwidth Reducing Notifications And Targeted Incentive Platform Apparatuses, Methods And Systems” (attorney docket no. P-42157WO01|20270-141PC). The entire contents of the aforementioned applications are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61505597 | Jul 2011 | US | |
| 61620431 | Apr 2012 | US | |
| 61594063 | Feb 2012 | US | |
| 61545971 | Oct 2011 | US | |
| 61538761 | Sep 2011 | US | |
| 61539969 | Sep 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13542443 | Jul 2012 | US |
| Child | 13543825 | US | |
| Parent | 13520481 | US | |
| Child | 13542443 | US | |
| Parent | 13398817 | Feb 2012 | US |
| Child | 13520481 | US | |
| Parent | 13348634 | Jan 2012 | US |
| Child | 13398817 | US |
