Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer network managing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-04
2002-10-15
Vu, Viet D. (Department: 2154)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer network managing
C709S241000, C709S219000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06466975
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to systems and methods for dynamically exchanging information electronically using an Electronic Communication Network. More particularly, the present invention relates to creating and managing personalized experiences for Visitors to a network Enterprise Site to create and maintain a dynamic virtual mutual relationship between an electronic expert system emulating a real world Enterprise Expert and the Visitor. Most particularly, the present invention relates to such systems applied to electronic commerce and specifically to electronic marketing applications.
BACKGROUND OF RELATED TECHNOLOGY
Traditional mediums of marketing and advertising have all been inherently broadcast. A message delivered on radio, television, billboards, magazines and the like is delivered to a broad base of individuals. The information received in this manner is identical to all individuals. For example, every person who opens a particular issue of a magazine or views a television advertisement sees exactly the same information. Using this traditional broadcast media, the marketer has only been able to deliver personalized messages to a broad base. For example, the marketer targets readers of a science magazine based on the facts that the readership is largely university educated with an interest in science and has a particular range of income.
With the advent of computer-driven electronic spaces, such as computer networks, and in particular the Internet, the opportunity now exists for delivering visitor information in a completely “soft” medium, i.e., where all components of information are delivered under software control. This is in contrast to delivering information in a “hard” format, such as through traditional print advertisements. A medium such as the Internet is inherently non-broadcast. For the first time in history, an inherently non-broadcast medium is available to fulfill the marketer's dream of true “one-to-one” personalization. Although banner spaces used on the Internet for advertising and the like are essentially broadcast in nature, electronic spaces offer, by way of software control, the possibility of targeting individuals uniquely, thereby permitting the delivery of personalized information to the individual.
Marketing on the Internet has thus far consisted primarily of providing advertisements to web site visitors in an essentially broadcast manner. As illustrated in
FIG. 14
, typical electronic advertising systems include an advertisement server
1
which contains advertisements
3
provided by content providers
5
. Individuals visiting web sites
7
,
7
′, and
7
″ are shown advertisements
3
which are transmitted from the advertisement server
1
to the web sites
7
,
7
′, and
7
″ over the Internet
8
. New advertisements
3
are typically selected at established intervals to replace those being shown to the visitor. While these advertisements
3
are often shown randomly to the visitor, they may be selected based on information which is known about the visitor, such as when facts about the visitor have been stored in a profile database
9
.
Typically, when a visitor selects an advertisement
3
, such as by clicking on an advertisement banner using a mouse, the visitor is sent to the advertiser's web site. Generally, the web site owner is compensated for displaying the advertisements
3
and is additionally compensated each time a visitor clicks on an advertisement
3
. To the extent that advertisements
3
on an owner's web site
7
,
7
′, or
7
″ are not inconsistent with the interests of the owner, the owner is not generally concerned with the content of the advertisements
3
. This is similar to traditional broadcast advertising in magazines.
As noted, some companies offer advertisement-server technology which utilize systems involving profiles in order to personalize electronic marketing. Profiles, which can be edited and are often updated by tracking the behavior of individuals on the World Wide Web, can be used to determine the particular advertisements, including their background, coloration, etc. that an individual will experience when visiting a web site. As an individual navigates a web site, provides information, and makes purchases, her profile is updated accordingly, thereby allowing for a more customized visitation experience. However, such systems are very limited in their ability to provide the visitor with a unique visitation experience as they are limited to comparing and matching information contained in various databases (e.g., a profile database and an advertisement database). These systems are also limited to advertising. Their purpose is not to manage the relationship or personalize the experience directly with the Ad hosting sites
7
,
7
′, and
7
″.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,811 (Angles et al.) describes a system for delivering customized electronic advertisements in an interactive communication system. The customized advertisements are selected based on consumer profiles and are then integrated at different web sites. The consumer provides data which is used to establish her profile. When the consumer selects content on a web site, an advertising request is sent to an advertisement provider computer which then generates a custom advertisement based on the consumer's profile.
Customized advertising is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,061, assigned to DoubleClick
SM
, Inc. This patent essentially uses data from a user profile to select an appropriate advertisement from a data bank of advertisements most appropriate to display to the user. This system requires an advertising server, a content provider, a user mode, an affiliate web site, and an advertising web site. When a user visits a web page which is affiliated with the advertising server, the affiliated page includes an embedded reference to an object provided by the advertising server which causes the advertising server to provide the advertising image which will appear on the web page displayed by the user's browser. The server uses information about the user which is passed on by the browser to select an appropriate advertisement for the particular user. Data is compiled about the user, such as the user's name, Internet Protocol address, domain type, time zone, location, particular advertisements seen, and the number of times each are seen. This data is then compared with various ads to select an appropriate match.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,923, assigned to Intel® Corporation, describes another method of Ad serving. This method includes customizing electronic information, such as advertisements, to the preferences of an individual user. This method compares user preference data in a user profile database to a unit of electronic information to generate a customized unit of electronic advertising information. The user profile is updated using a client activity monitor which allows for further customization of electronic information.
The aforementioned advertising systems do not allow for particularly effective personalized marketing. They are very limited in their ability to present the user with a customized web site visitation experience, relying primarily on correlating particular advertisements with certain information known about the visitor. Customization of the visitation experience is limited to utilizing information contained in a profile database, which may be updated as the visitor navigates the web site. However, advertising is but a small part, and even not the most important part, of a visitation experience. As an example, what is more important when visiting a web store is the web store itself, not the advertising therein. The goal of one-to-one marketing on the web is not to focus on the advertisements of a web site, but on the visitor experience at the site itself.
To date, efforts to create computer-driven network systems to manage personalized relationships in electronic space have suffered from the failure to apply the right t
Digital Connexxions Corp.
Vu Viet D.
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