| eBay Inc. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20120131486 | ONLINE LOGO TOOL - An online tool allows a user, such as an online merchant, to access a page of a service provider, select a format, customize funding sources and designs, and copy and paste the code to the merchant page to quickly and easily create a customized funding source graphic. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120130895 | TRANSACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A MOBILE DEVICE - Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for transactions associated with a mobile device are discussed. A method can include receiving a merchant identifier, sending an identification data, receiving a transaction, and processing a funds transfer. The receiving the merchant identifier is from a mobile device associated with a user registered with a central payment service. The identification data is associated with the user and the identification data includes multiple identifying data items. The transaction data details a transaction between the merchant and the user. The funds transfer is between the merchant and the user based on the transaction. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120130864 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO ANALYZE A SELLER INVENTORY OFFERED FOR SALE ON A NETWORK-BASED MARKETPLACE - Systems and methods to analyze a seller inventory on a network-based marketplace | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120129553 | LOCATION-BASED SERVICES - Provided herein are methods and systems relating to location-based services such as providing a geofencing, outputting location-based information on a mobile device, varying transmissions to and from a mobile device, and providing location-based alerts. More specifically, a method can include receiving a selected location on a mobile device, monitoring a current location of the mobile device, determining when the current location of the mobile device is within the geofence, and initiating an action on the mobile device associated with the geofence and the selected location. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120128239 | IMAGE QUALITY ASSESSMENT TO MERCHANDISE AN ITEM - Image-based features may be significantly correlated with click-through rates of images that depict a product, which may provide a more formal basis for the informal notion that good quality images will result in better click-through rates, as compared to poor quality images. Accordingly, an image assessment machine is configured to analyze image-based features to improve click-through rates for shopping search applications (e.g., a product search engine). Moreover, the image assessment machine may rank search results based on image quality factors and may notify sellers about low quality images. This may have the effect of improving the brand value for an online shopping website and accordingly have a positive long-term impact on the online shopping website. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120126974 | LOCATION-BASED SERVICES - Provided herein are methods and systems relating to location-based services such as providing a geofencing, outputting location-based information on a mobile device, varying transmissions to and from a mobile device, and providing location-based alerts. More specifically, a method can include receiving a task on a mobile device, associating the task with a location, generating a geofence around the location associated with the task, tracking a current location of a the mobile device, and generating an alert associated with the task when the current location is within the geofence. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120124192 | USING BEHAVIORAL DATA IN RATING USER REPUTATION - In a system and method for using user behavior and interaction data to rate a reputation of a user, a processor-implemented tracking component tracks an interaction of a user with a network-based publisher. A processor-implemented reputation component generates a reputation value for the user from the tracked user interaction. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120124057 | EXTERNAL USER IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION USING REPUTATION DATA - In a system and method for user identification and verification using reputation data, a processor-implemented feedback component receives feedback data pertaining to a user of a network-based community in response to a transaction in which the user is a party. A processor-implemented tracking component tracks transaction data and metadata associated with the transaction data and the feedback data. A processor-implemented aggregation component aggregates the received feedback data and the tracked data and metadata to yield an aggregated set of data pertaining to the user. A processor-implemented reputation component generates a reputation value for the user from the aggregated set of data. If the reputation value is greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user is considered trustworthy, and if the reputation value is not greater than the predetermined threshold value, the user is not considered trustworthy. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120123892 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REAL-TIME BIDDING - A method and a system to provide real-time bidding in online auction. For example, a system may comprise a notification module to generate and transmit a notification to a client machine. The notification may be generated based on a defined end time of a selected auction. A subscription module may establish electronic communication with the client machine responsive to a subscription message received from the client machine in response to the notification. In some instances, the electronic communication is established using a push technology. An event filter may filter an event from a plurality of events related to the selected auction where the filtered event is a highest received bid in the selected auction. The filtered event may then be pushed to the client machine by the subscription module. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120123841 | SMART WALLET - A service provider provides one or more “best” total value suggestions for one or more items specified by a user. The suggestions are based on one or more of user preferences, user location, available funding options, available local merchant incentives, available manufacturer incentives, and local merchants offering the item. In one embodiment, the “best” total value is the lowest price available to the user. The user may make a purchase using a suggestion or a revised suggestion. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120116926 | CONSOLIDATING LEADS INTO A LEAD GROUP - In some example embodiments, a system and method are illustrated to consolidate leads received from multiple user devices used by a single user. The system and method may include identifying a first plurality of leads received from one or more user devices as being submitted by a same user via the one or more user devices. The first plurality of leads may be directed to a listing provided by a lister. The first plurality of leads may be added to a lead group. Then, a second plurality of leads received from one or more users including the same user may be forwarded to the lister. The forwarding may include notifying the lister of a first count of the second plurality of leads. The first count may include the lead group counted as one lead. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120116925 | SECURE IN-LINE PAYMENTS FOR RICH INTERNET APPLICATIONS - Methods and systems are provided for making secure financial transactions, such as purchase payments, using rich Internet applications (RIA) running an RIA runtime (also referred to as a platform or framework) on the user's smart phone or other mobile device. Embodiments differ from the usual way of re-directing a user from a third-party application and authenticating the user by providing secure in-line payments from a rich Internet application running on an RIA runtime. A system includes: a mobile device executing a rich Internet application running on an RIA runtime; a payment library communicating with the RIA runtime and a service provider, for which the payment library communicates with the service provider to authenticate the rich Internet application; and in response to authentication by the service provider, facilitates secure financial transactions via the rich Internet application. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120116823 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SHIPPING INSURANCE AS A SERVICE - A shipping insurance service application has an electronic marketplace platform interface, a shipping insurance module, and an insurance provider module. The electronic marketplace platform interface communicates with at least one electronic marketplace application. The shipping insurance module provides a shipping insurance policy to a seller of the corresponding electronic marketplace application and processes a claim from the seller of the corresponding electronic marketplace application based on the shipping insurance policy. The carrier module obtains the shipping insurance policy from an insurance provider among a plurality of insurance providers. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120116822 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC PRICING OF AN INSURANCE POLICY - A storage device stores a profile of a seller of an electronic marketplace. An insurance pricing generator module computes a shipping insurance rate for the seller based on the profile of the seller. The shipping insurance rate for the seller is computed based on the insurance coverage selected by the seller. The profile of the seller has an electronic marketplace profile of the seller and an insurance profile of the seller. A record of the shipping insurance elected by a seller eligible to purchase the shipping insurance at the shipping insurance rate for an item to be shipped to a buyer is maintained. A claim and complaint module receives a complaint from the buyer and a claim from the seller. A claim processing module processes the claim from the seller based on the corresponding complaint from the buyer. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120116821 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CORRELATING A SELLER'S INSURANCE CLAIM WITH A BUYER'S COMPLAINT - A method and a system for maintaining a record of a shipping insurance elected by a seller eligible to purchase the shipping insurance for an item to be shipped to a buyer are described. A claim and complaint module receives a complaint from the buyer and a claim from the seller. A claim processing module processes the claim from the seller based on the corresponding complaint from the buyer. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120110634 | AUTOMATIC PIN CREATION USING PASSWORD - A PIN is automatically generated based on at least one rule when the user enters a password through a user device. In one example, the PIN is a truncated version of the password where each character in the truncated version is mapped onto a number. The mapping can be a truncation at the beginning or end of the password, or the mapping can be with any pattern or sequence of characters in the password. This PIN generation may be transparent to the user, such that the user may not even know the PIN was generated when the password was entered. When the user attempts to access restricted content, the user may enter the PIN instead of the password, where the user may be notified of the rule used to generate the PIN so that the user will know the PIN by knowing the password. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120110017 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PRESENTING SEARCH REQUESTS IN A PLURALITY OF TABS - Systems and methods for providing search results in a plurality of tabs are described. In one example embodiment, a search term is received. In response, one or more keywords associated with the search term are obtained. Next, respective searches using respective keywords of the one or more keywords are performed to obtain respective results. The results are presented to a client machine for presentation. The presentation comprises a plurality of tabbed pages where each tabbed page of the plurality of tabbed pages including a respective keyword and a respective portion of the results corresponding to the respective keyword. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120109780 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO SUPPLEMENT A LISTING VIA A THIRD PARTY TRUST PROVIDER - Various embodiments include a method and system to supplement a listing via a third party trust provider. Responsive to an event associated with an item listing, supplemental trust information is requested from a third party trust provider using at least one predetermined criterion from the item listing. At least a portion of the supplemental trust information may be stored in the item listing. A notification may be presented in response to a trigger based on the at least a portion of the STI stored in the item listing. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120102180 | CONFIGURING A SERVICE BASED ON MANIPULATIONS OF GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ABSTRACTIONS OF RESOURCES - A method to enable defining of a profile of a service through manipulation of graphical representations of abstractions of resources in a data center is disclosed. The profile of the service is accessed. A graphical representation of an abstraction of the first resource type is presented. A graphical representation of an abstraction of a second resource type is presented. A manipulation of the graphical representation of the abstraction of the second resource type is detected with respect to the graphical representation of the abstraction of the first resource type. Based on the manipulation, a correspondence between the abstraction of the second resource type and the profile of the service is identified and a relationship between the abstraction of the second resource type and the abstraction of the first resource type is identified. The profile of the service is updated to include information identifying the correspondence and the relationship. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120102038 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CATEGORIZING ITEMS IN BOTH ACTUAL AND VIRTUAL CATEGORIES - Systems and a method are described. The method includes identifying and presenting a plurality of data items comprised of receiving a selection that identifies a parent category; identifying a first plurality of categories based on the parent category, the first plurality of categories including a first category, the plurality of data items not being user-classifiable under the first plurality of categories; identifying the plurality of data items based on a link from the first category to a second category, the second category being included in a second plurality of categories that are respectively associated with the first plurality of categories, the plurality of data items being user-classified under the second category; and communicating, over a network, a user interface response to the receiving the selection, the user interface including the plurality of data items. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120095975 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO FACILITATE A SEARCH OF AN INFORMATION RESOURCE - Methods and systems to facilitate a search of an information resource is disclosed. In various embodiments, a distribution of a plurality of data items across a plurality of attribute value ranges corresponding to an attribute is identified. The attribute may be shared by at least two of the plurality of data items. Based on a determining that the distribution of the plurality of data items across the plurality of attribute value ranges includes at least two peaks, the distribution of the plurality of data items across the plurality of attribute value ranges corresponding to the attribute is communicated. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120095873 | ESCROW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR MARKETPLACES - An escrow management system is described. Transaction information between the seller and the buyer from the online marketplace application is received. A shipping transaction information associated with the transaction of a shipping vendor of the marketplace is received. The transaction information and the shipping transaction information are communicated to a financial journaling system. A balance manager module provides collection and payment for the transaction and the shipping transaction in real time, provides a real time journal of the transaction and the shipping transaction, and synchronizes with the financial journaling system without having to manually reconcile with the online market application and the shipping vendor. The balance manager module provides an integrated system to track cash flows related to the collection and payment corresponding to the transaction and shipping transaction. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120095864 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MOBILE PUBLICATION - Methods and system for mobile publication are described. A captured image may be accessed. A bar code may be decoded from the captured image. An item associated with the bar code may be identified. An item listing of the item may be generated in accordance with the identifying of the item. The item listing may be utilized for posting with a listing manager. One or more item listings for the item may be identified. At least one item listing of the one or more item listings may be provided for presentation in accordance with the searching of the plurality of item listings. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120089899 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REDISPLAYING A WEB PAGE - A method and system for redisplaying a web page is provided. An example method comprises accessing a web page received at a computer system, analyzing the structured text of the web page, and identifying a plurality of content sections. A rendering module renders a web page view comprising the plurality of sections. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089520 | TRUSTED SERVICE MANAGER (TSM) ARCHITECTURES AND METHODS - A client device comprises a first secure element and a second secure element. The first secure element comprises a first computer-readable medium having a payment application comprising instructions for causing the client device to initiate a financial transaction. The second secure element comprises a second computer-readable medium having a security key, a payment instrument, stored authentication data and instructions for generating a secure payment information message responsive to the payment application. The secure payment information message comprises the payment instrument and is encrypted in accordance with the security key. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089509 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING PAYMENT RECONCILIATION OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a system and method for facilitating electronic commerce over a network includes communicating with a user via a user device and a merchant via a merchant device over the network, receiving a purchase request from the merchant via the merchant device over the network on behalf of the user, generating an invoice with an invoice identifier related to the purchase request, printing the generated invoice with the invoice identifier, sending the printed invoice with the invoice identifier to the user via a postal service, receiving an invoice payment request from the user via the user device over the network, obtaining the invoice identifier from the invoice payment request, reconciling an invoice payment on behalf of the user via the user device over the network, and storing information related to the reconciled invoice payment. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089483 | ESCROW PAYMENT TO FACILIATE ON-LINE TRANSACTIONS - A system and method enables sellers to define a secret shared with an on-line payment provider when listing an item or service for purchase. Consumers deposit funds into an on-line escrow or holding account before committing to a financial on-line transaction or purchase. Once an item is located, the consumer may contact the seller for additional information. By placing funds in escrow, the seller may be more willing to spend the time and effort to deal with the consumer. The consumer, in turn, receives more information to make a purchasing decision. If the transaction is to be completed, the consumer instructs the payment provider maintaining the escrow account to release the funds to the seller's account. The seller is notified by the payment provider, where the notification includes the secret. This enables the seller to authenticate the confirmation message. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120084199 | AUTOMATIC FORM FILLING - A user, such as a merchant, populates a form, such as an on-boarding form from a payment provider, with information unique to the user. In one embodiment, the user enters a URL address. The information is communicated to the payment provider, who then obtains additional information about the user based on the information. In one embodiment, web scraping results in a name, address, a phone number, and/or an email address for the user. The form is populated with this information by the payment provider and returned to the user for confirmation or correction. As a result, the form filling is easier for the user. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084177 | LOCATION BASED TRANSACTIONS - A user's location is determined by location information communicated by a user device, such as a smart phone. Merchants near the user location are determined and selected. Merchant payment information is transmitted to the user device so that the user can easily make a payment to the merchant through the user device. Merchant offerings may also be sent to the user device for purchase and subsequent payment, where the merchant offerings may be specifically selected for the user. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120079087 | ONLINE HELP SYSTEM USING SESSION DETAILS - An on-line help method is provided for a user involved in an on-line session. A plurality of session details related to the on-line session, a help request from the user, and session identification information are received during the on-line session. The plurality of session details are retrieved using the session identification information, and agent help information that includes the plurality of session details is created. The agent help information is associated with the help request and sent to a help agent device. In an embodiment, the agent help information includes a plurality of web pages navigated by the user during the on-line session, and the plurality of web pages are organized according to an order in which the user navigated them. A help agent using the help agent device may use the agent help information to quickly and accurate diagnose any issues with the on-line session. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078887 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LIMITING SHARE OF VOICE OF INDIVIDUAL USERS - In various example embodiments, a system and method for limiting shares of voice of individual users in a result set are provided. In example embodiments, a listing user providing each listing in a result set of a search is identified. Sorting criteria indicating a number of listings a same listing user is allowed within a number of consecutive listings of the result set are reviewed. Using the sorting criteria, a sorted result set is generated by sorting the plurality of listings in accordance with the sorting criteria. The sorted result set is provided to a searching user. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078825 | SEARCH RESULT RANKING USING MACHINE LEARNING - Various embodiments include systems and methods for search result ranking using machine learning. A goal model can be created using machine learning. Responsive to a search query, a plurality of data factors can be inputted into the goal model to create a model output. Search results can be presented to a user based on the model output. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078789 | OFFLINE TO ONLINE PAYMENT - A payer submits a payment request when there has been no connection established with an online payment provider. The payment request is stored on the payer's device, such as a phone, and is transmitted to the payment provider when a connection is established. The payer can submit a plurality of offline payment requests, all of which can be transmitted and processed when received by the payment provider. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078788 | TRANSACTIONS BY FLICKING - A user can transfer items, such as a money, a payment request, virtual goods, listings, etc., by flicking the item on a user device, such as a smart phone. The selected item then moves out of the display and onto the display of a recipient device. The transfer can be completed when the user and recipient have an established trust relationship or authorize the transfer. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078765 | Instant Financial Account Verification Using Direct Connect Data Communication Protocol And Open Financial Exchange Data-Stream Format - A method for verifying a user's account, e.g., a checking account, at a financial institution, e.g., a bank, includes establishing a direct connection with the bank's account data server over a network, e.g., the Internet, using the Direct Connect peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol and the Open Financial Exchange (OFX) data-stream format, sending a request to the account data server for a data file including data that verifies at least the existence and ownership of the user's account, and receiving a response from the account data server of a data file that includes data verifying at least the existence and ownership of the user's account at the financial institution. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078757 | Portable Computing Device for Posting Goods to an Electronic Marketplace - A method and apparatus for creating a computerized market for used and collectible goods by use of a plurality of low cost posting terminals and a market maker computer in a legal framework that establishes a bailee relationship and consignment contract with a purchaser of a good at the market maker computer that allows the purchaser to change the price of the good once the purchaser has purchased the good thereby to allow the purchaser to speculate on the price of collectibles in an electronic market for used goods while assuring the safe and trusted physical possession of a good with a vetted bailee. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120078749 | IDENTIFIER-BASED CHARGE ON DELIVERY TRANSACTION - Guaranteed funds from a buyer are held until a delivery to the buyer is confirmed by a payment provider. The funds are then released to the seller immediately upon confirmation. Confirmation may be accomplished by the buyer entering an identifier upon delivery or some other confirmation by the shipper, where the identifier was provided to the buyer during the transaction with the seller. In other embodiments, the identifier generated by the payment provider is provided partially to the buyer and partially to the seller. Upon receiving a match of the identifier from the buyer and seller on delivery, buyer funds are released to the seller. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120072339 | HYBRID ACCOUNT - A system, according to one embodiment, includes a hybrid account provided by an issuer to a user, the hybrid account having a balance, the balance being either positive, zero, or negative; and a financial instrument including a hybrid card, the hybrid card providing access to the hybrid account, in which transactions using the hybrid card provide interchange income to the issuer, the issuer charges interest to the hybrid account when the balance is negative, and the issuer pays interest to the hybrid account when the balance is positive. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072314 | CUSTOMIZING AN ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE FOR A USER - A method for customizing an online shopping experience for a user is disclosed. The method includes receiving at a marketplace system a request from a user system to transmit instructions for a rendering by the user system of a predetermined user interface relating to a product, using a processor to select one of a plurality of other user interfaces relating to the product, and transmitting to the user system instructions for the rendering by the user system of the one of the plurality of other user interfaces. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072306 | Payment Service Provision With Reduced Transaction Costs - A method for providing on-line payment services is provided where a payment service provider pays for a plurality of purchases that are made by a user during a plurality of on-line shopping sessions. An authorization is received for the payment service provider to collect a reimbursement amount from a financial institution of the user. The reimbursement amount is at least equal to a cumulative amount of the payments for the plurality of purchases made by the user during the plurality of on-line shopping sessions. The payment service provider collects the reimbursement amount in a single transaction from the financial institution of the user and pays a fee to the financial institution of the user. The fee is based on the single transaction carried out to collect the reimbursement amount rather than being applied to each of the plurality of purchases or assessed as a percentage of the reimbursement amount, which allows the payment service provider to reduce the costs associated with providing payment services. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072305 | TRANSACTION SPLIT FEES - A transaction fee imposed by a payment provider may be allocated between the parties to an on-line transaction in any way and at any time. This adds flexibility to the transaction and allows the parties to allocate the transaction fee on a per transaction basis that best suits the parties. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120066243 | MINING PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION FROM QUERY REFORMULATIONS - In various example embodiments, systems and methods to mine product recommendations from query reformulation is provided. In example embodiments, a search query is mapped to a particular product. Transition data for the particular product is accessed. The transition data includes values reflecting a number of search transitions between the particular product and other products in session sets of previous queries. One or more recommendations based on the transition data is determined and provided to the user. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120066208 | SIZING CONTENT RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM - In various example embodiments, systems and methods to provide sizing content recommendations are provided. Search parameters are received from a user. In response, sizing data for the user is accessed. Using the sizing data, content from a marketplace matching the sizing data and the search parameters are determined. The matching content comprises a list of one or more items available from the marketplace. The matching content is prioritized for presentation to the user. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120066090 | ONLINE QUICK KEY PAY - A quick pay option is provided so that a user can make a payment from a merchant site by simply entering in a user identifier in a pop-up window. Limits are set for the quick pay option and may vary between different merchants. The payment provider is able to determine the merchant, user, and transaction information automatically, such that the user may only be required to enter the identifier to process and complete the payment. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120066055 | GENERATING A USER INTERFACE BASED ON PREDICTED REVENUE YIELD - A method and a system to place secondary content in predetermined slots in a graphical user interface based on a predicted revenue yield is provided. In example embodiments, in response to a request for primary content, a plurality of pieces of secondary content are identified. A graphical user interface (GUI) is identified that has at least one available slot to be populated with secondary content. For each respective piece of secondary content, a revenue yield is calculated based on a position of slots in the GUI. The revenue yields are analyzed according to a combinatorial optimization algorithm. Finally, instructions to place the plurality of the secondary content in the slots are generated. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120066040 | VIRTUAL-WORLD BENEFIT TO MOTIVATE PHYSICAL-WORLD PURCHASE - A virtual-world benefit may be used to motivate a physical-world purchase. A game machine presents a suggestion that a user (e.g., a player of a game hosted by the game machine) make a purchase of physical-world item, and the suggestion includes an indication that the purchase entitles the user to the virtual-world benefit, thus providing the user with an incentive to make the purchase of the physical-world item. The virtual-world benefit may include a virtual world item, an amount of virtual-world currency, or both. Supposing that the user makes the purchase, the game machine accesses purchase data of the physical-world item. The purchase data indicates that the user has made the purchase. Based on the purchase data, the game machine changes a data structure of the user. The data structure is accessible by a process that configures the virtual environment as including the virtual-world benefit. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120060214 | Behavioral Stochastic Authentication (BSA) - Methods and systems for authenticating a user and a consumer electronic device (CED) to a financial services provider (FSP) for purposes of communications initiated from the device and needing security, such as purchases and financial transactions, are provided. The FSP may compile information about a user's behavior from various sources, both public and private, including the CED. The information may be of a stochastic nature, being gathered by sampling user data and behavior at chosen times. The information may include indicators of user behavior—such as the user using the device to check various accounts and web-pages—and data from the device—such as GPS location. Based on the compiled stochastic information, and using a sliding scale, a throttling mechanism, acceptance variation, and pinging information, the FSP can compare current information from the device with what is known about the user and the device to provide a more accurate and reliable authentication process. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120060207 | ROLE-BASED ATTRIBUTE BASED ACCESS CONTROL (RABAC) - Systems and methods are disclosed for receiving an access request from a user device, the access request including an identity claim for a user; evaluating a risk of access based on matching an attribute of the user device with attributes stored in a user information database; authenticating the access request based on the identity claim and the risk evaluation to determine an authentication confidence level; generating a token based on the confidence level and the attribute matched; producing an authorization response based on inputs from the token, a risk based access control, a role based access control, and an attribute based access control, in which the authorization response determines whether to allow access to a system, deny access to the system, or request additional input from the user device. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120060099 | CONFIGURABLE INTERFACES - Embodiments of a method and system for utilizing a configurable interface are disclosed. User information for a first user is accessed. The user information is reviewed to determine whether the user information includes a preselected configurable interface. The preselected configurable interface is provided based on the user information including the preselected configurable interface. Alternatively, based on the user information not including the preselected configurable interface, a configurable interface based on a user selection of the configurable interface from a plurality of available configurable interfaces is configured. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120059819 | GENERATING A SEARCH RESULT RANKING FUNCTION - A method and a system to provide generate a search result ranking function, processing a search, and presenting search results are described to provide generate a search result ranking function, processing a search, and presenting search results are described. In one embodiment, a genetic algorithm module receives a plurality of factors, a test set of items, and an ordering solution representing the preferred ordering of the test set of items, generates a potential ranking function based on the plurality of factors, and apply the potential ranking function to each item in the test set of items to generate an ordering of items associated with the potential ranking function. The genetic algorithm module also compares the ordering of items with the ordering solution, and identifies, based on the comparison, the potential ranking function as a solution ranking function. A ranking function may assign a ranking score to items in a set of active items, the ranking score based on the solution ranking function. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120059723 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO MERCHANDISE A PRODUCT BASED ON A COMPATIBILITY - Methods and systems to merchandise a product based on compatibility are disclosed. The system receives a request over a network from a user. Next, the system associates the request with a user profile that is associated with the user, retrieves an application listing from the user profile that describes a first item and associates the first item with a plurality of candidate items based on item cluster information that is generated based on content data information that is received from a content data provider. Next, the system selects a second item from the plurality of candidate items, the second item being a component of the first item. Finally, the system communicates the merchandising information over a network, to merchandize the second item. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120047046 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS OVER A NETWORK - Systems and methods for facilitating financial transactions over a network include a merchant device, a client device and a payment processing device. The merchant device is adapted to allow a merchant to provide items for purchase via the network. The client device is adapted to allow a user to access the merchant device via the network and view the items for purchase. The client device is adapted to provide a payment mechanism to the user. The user generates a purchase request for an item by selecting the one item, dragging the item to the payment mechanism, and dropping the item over the payment mechanism. The payment processing device is adapted to receive the purchase request from the client device via the network and authorize the user to purchase the item from the merchant based on information passed with the purchase request. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120041873 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING TRANSFER REQUESTS - Methods and system for processing transfer requests are described. In one embodiment, a value transfer request may be received from a value provider through a network. The value transfer request may include a value amount to be provided from a source user to a target user. A settlement account of the value provider may be reduced by the value amount. A target account of the target user may be increased by the value amount. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120041854 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING ON-LINE DONATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH MEDIA CONTENT - A computer-implemented method and apparatus for processing on-line donations associated with media content is disclosed. An example embodiment includes elements to integrate a payment button with an associated item of media content on a web page; link the payment button with an account on a payment site; receive a donation from a donor via the payment button; and credit the donation to the account linked to the payment button. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120041846 | SELLER CONVERSION FACTOR TO RANKING SCORE FOR PRESENTED ITEM LISTINGS - Various embodiments include a method and system for a seller conversion factor to ranking score for presented item listings. In an online marketplace with sellers and item listings, a first sum may be calculated by identifying a first set of item listings associated with the seller. A second sum may also be calculated by identifying a second set of item listings, where the second set is a subset of the first set and are successful item listings. Further, a conversion factor may be calculated from the first and second sums by dividing the second sum by the first sum. The conversion factor may then be used as a component in an item listing quality score for a third set of item listings associated with the seller. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120036256 | SESSION ANALYSIS SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A method and system analyze session data. In some embodiments, the method accesses session data, identifies multiple sessions contained in the session data, and identifies multiple events that occurred within each of the multiple sessions. The method determines a temporal relationship between the multiple events in each session and analyzes the multiple sessions to aggregate events associated with the multiple sessions. The method then generates a graphical representation of the aggregated events. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120036044 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO FACILITATE A PAYMENT IN SATISFACTION OF ACCUMULATED MICROPAYMENT COMMITMENTS TO A VENDOR - Methods and systems for facilitating payments between payors and payees are presented. In an example, a plurality of payment commitments made to a payee is accessed. The plurality of payment commitments are made by a plurality of payors to the payee and contribute to a total commitment receivable value of the payee. The total commitment receivable value is calculated based on the plurality of payment commitments made to the payee. A priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee relative to other total commitment receivable values of other payees is determined. A payment process is initiated based at least in part on the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee. The payment process includes a transfer of the total commitment receivable value from one of the payors to the payee. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120030354 | APPLICATION PLATFORM WITH FLEXIBLE PERMISSIONING - Systems and methods are provided for an application platform with flexible permissioning according to one or more embodiments. In one embodiment, an application platform with flexible permissioning comprises: a service provider server adapted to interact with an application development server and a client device over a network, wherein the service provider server is adapted to implement at least one application programming interface (API); one or more processors; and one or more memories adapted to store a plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the one or more processors are adapted to cause the application platform with flexible permissioning to: maintain, at the service provider server, a profile associated with at least one application developer using the application development server; receive an API call from the application developer; authenticate the application developer and authorize the API call; assign an access level to the application developer based on the profile associated with the application developer; and control permissions given to the application developer to perform operations available based on the assigned access level. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120016776 | DYNAMIC CONTENT FOR ONLINE TRANSACTIONS - Various methods and systems are disclosed to provide dynamic content to users of online payment service providers without requiring users to log in or otherwise actively engage the payment service providers. In one example, a method of providing dynamic content includes providing a client device with access to an online marketplace over a network. The method also includes facilitating transmission of a user identifier stored by the client device to a payment service provider. The method further includes receiving dynamic content from the payment service provider in response to the user identifier. In addition, the method includes serving the dynamic content to the client device over the network. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120005739 | LINKED IDENTITIES - Methods and systems to automatically respond to make a Super Identity by linking two identities and methods and systems to use the identities include a transaction authorization module that receives a request associated with a first identity record associated with a user, the request being for information associated with a second identity record. An identity linking module identifies that the second identity record is linked to the first identity record and retrieves the information associated with the second identity record. The transaction authorization module also generates a response including the information associated with the second identity, and transmits the response. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120005074 | INLINE LINK PAYMENT - One or more pay links are provided on a content page, where the user can select the pay link to make a payment directly through a payment provider. A window is opened for the payment provider, and the user access a user account. The user makes the payment and returns to the original content page. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120005054 | FEES AND FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CALCULATION - Various methods, apparatus, and systems are disclosed for calculating a fee linked to an online financial transaction. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a fee calculation request linked to an online financial transaction associated with a fee type, a country code, and a client identifier; and then selecting, using a microprocessor, an initial base fee from either a default base fee determined by the fee type and the country code or from an overriding base fee associated with the financial transaction, wherein the initial base fee includes a transaction percentage and a fixed amount. The method further includes applying, using the microprocessor, at least one adjustment to the initial base fee to calculate a final fee, the at least one adjustment being applied when an associated condition set is determined to be true. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20110321051 | TASK SCHEDULING BASED ON DEPENDENCIES AND RESOURCES - An example system identifies a set of tasks as being designated for execution, and the set of tasks includes a first task and a second task. The example system accesses task dependency data that corresponds to the second task and indicates that the first task is to be executed prior to the second task. The example system, based on the task dependency data, generates a task dependency model of the set of tasks. The dependency model indicates that the first task is to be executed prior to the second task. The example system schedules an execution of the first task, which is scheduled to use a particular data processing resource. The scheduling is based on the dependency model. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110320345 | SMART WALLET - A user's smart phone is used for payments and holding information, similar to what is contained in a physical wallet. Depending on transaction details, user preferences, and location, one or more “best” funding instruments for the transaction are selected for the user, who may then revise if desired. Access to different functions or information within the phone may vary and require different authentication/security levels depending on type of use (e.g., payment or non-payment) and details of use (e.g., high payment amount vs. low payment amount, use of sensitive information vs. non-sensitive information). | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110320343 | PAYMENT LINK - In one embodiment, an intended recipient of money transmits a payment link created by the recipient to an intended sender of money, where the link contains a locator to a site of a payment provider, information about the recipient (e.g., email address), and the amount of money to be sent. The link can be sent via email, text, IM, or other means. The sender then accesses the link, such as by clicking or tapping on the link, which launches a checkout or payment page for the sender on the payment provider site. The sender completes the payment page, and the payment is sent to the recipient by the payment provider. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110320331 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SUBMITTING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OVER A NETWORK-BASED COMMERCE FACILITY - A system and method to facilitate a transaction in a network-based commerce facility is provided. The method includes presenting a plurality of listings to a user, and monitoring selection of one of the plurality of listings by the user. Thereafter, the user is provided with an indication of an equivalent periodic payment of a plurality of periodic payments associated with an offer to purchase. In one embodiment, the user is provided with an option to conclude the transaction for the selected listing based on a plurality of periodic payments. In certain embodiments, the network-based commerce facility is a web-based auction facility where the offers are in the form of bids. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the periodic payment may be a monthly payment and the products are movable goods such as motor vehicle, motorcycles, watercraft, or the like. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110320019 | DATA MINING SYSTEM - A data mining system and method retrieve data related to an item from a database. A survey is generated for presentation in a game. The survey includes the retrieved item data and solicits from a user input data pertaining to the retrieved item data. The input data is received from the survey and stored in a database with the item data. The input data is transmitted to the game and incorporated into the game such that the user interacts with the input data as part of playing the game. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110314031 | PRODUCT CATEGORY OPTIMIZATION FOR IMAGE SIMILARITY SEARCHING OF IMAGE-BASED LISTINGS IN A NETWORK-BASED PUBLICATION SYSTEM - A weighted combination of attributes including but not limited to color, shape, pattern, brand, style, size, and material may be used to rank items when searching for similar items of a given category on an ecommerce system website. The weights on each attribute may be optimized by using feedback from users, the feedback indicating the importance of each attribute to a purchaser when searching for similar items of various categories. Alternatively, click-through patterns from the ecommerce system website can be mined and used to optimize the importance of each attribute to users by item category. The optimum attribute weights for that items category are used to rank the results in a search for similar items in that category. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110313998 | INFORMATION REPOSITORY SEARCH SYSTEM - A system for receiving a plurality of search criteria from a plurality of users is disclosed. The plurality of search criteria is for application to a common information repository. The plurality of search criteria includes a first search criterion that is received from at least two of the plurality of users. The system further associates the plurality of search criteria with source information. The source information includes a plurality of sources via which the plurality of search criteria are received and communicated. Further, the system maintains a count of instances of the first search criterion received from the at least two of the plurality of users for each of the plurality of sources including the first source. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110313959 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LISTING CATEGORIZATION - Embodiments of a method and system for listing categorization are disclosed. A category structure may be accessed. The category structure may include a plurality of categories for items. A set of training data may be accessed from a plurality of listings from at least one of supply data and/or demand data. The supply data may be generated from seller activity of a plurality of users in a networked system. The demand data may be generated from buyer activity of the plurality of users in the networked system. Each listing may include a category from the category structure. The set of training data may be provided to a categorization application for training. The categorization application may be capable of building listing statistics by applying a classifier to the set of training data and recommending a category from the category structure for a new listing by utilizing the listing statistics. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110313898 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACITIATING CARD VERIFICATION OVER A NETWORK - A system and method for facilitating electronic commerce over a network, according to one or more embodiments, includes communicating with a user via a user device and an issuer of payment media via an issuer device over the network, the payment media being issued to the user by the issuer, receiving user instruction over the network to link the payment media to a user account related to the user, prompting the user over the network to input a secure password known only by the issuer and the user, receiving the secure password from the user over the network, verifying that the payment media is owned by the user over the network via a secure protocol, returning a response to the user related to verification of the payment media, and storing payment media verification information. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110313897 | PAY GROUP - In one embodiment, a group account is provided to enable group members to make and receive payments, form different groups, easily track activities within a group, and manage group financial-based transactions. An administrator, who may also be a group member, creates a group through a payment provider service. The administrator invites individuals to be part of the group. Once the group is formed through individuals who accept the invitation, group members will be able to view information about the group as well as engage in financial transactions through and within the group using a group account. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110307826 | USER INTERFACE WITH MOUSE-OVER FUNCTION - Systems and methods to provide a user interface with a mouse-over function are provided. A system may comprise a detecting module to detect a user interface event received from a user device and to detect an event type. A pointer is detected as being within an area of interest of a plurality of areas of interest in the user interface upon determining that the event type is an update pointer event location. A rendering module populates a mini-view with mini-view data corresponding to the area of interest selected by virtue of the location of the pointer. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110307356 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO EXTRACT AND UTILIZE TEXTUAL SEMANTICS - Systems and methods to extract and utilize textual semantics are described. The system receives item information that describes an item for sale on a network-based marketplace and analyzes the item information to generate application information that identifies a plurality of applications. The plurality of applications includes a first application that further includes the item as a first component of the first application. The system stores a listing in a database that includes the application information and the item information and publishes the listing on the network-based marketplace to sell the item via the network-based marketplace. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110307343 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDUCTING A GIFT VALUE TRANSACTION - A system and method for conducting a gift value transaction is described herein. The method includes receiving a request for payment for a gift, wherein the request includes buyer-imposed conditions on use of the gift; notifying a gift recipient of the gift; and tracking the gift recipient's account balances at the different merchants with the buyer-imposed conditions. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110295720 | PERSONALIZED SEARCH WIDGETS FOR CUSTOMIZED USER INTERFACE - A set of personalized search widgets for providing a customized user interface are provided. Among the personalized search widgets include a related searches menu to depict related search terms according to popularity and type. A query builder for explicitly including or excluding particular terms from the query may be provided. The search widgets may further include a history of past searches received from a user, a selection of categories to be searched, and one or more category suggestions. Some widgets associated with sellers allow a user to filter results according to a trusted seller status of the seller or the identity of the seller, and provide to the user a tag cloud including feedback about the seller. The results of a search may be presented in a spreadsheet style format. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110295716 | METHOD, MEDIUM, AND SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING PRODUCT RANKING SCORES BASED ON AN ADJUSTMENT FACTOR - Methods and systems for evaluating business rules for the purpose of promoting or demoting an item listing are presented. Consistent with an example embodiment, a conditional statement of a business rule that includes one or more expressions involving an item attribute and/or a seller attribute for an item listing is evaluated. If the conditional statement evaluates true, an adjustment factor set forth in the business rule is applied to a ranking score assigned to the item listing. The item listing is then presented in a search results page in a position relative to other item listings based upon the adjusted ranking score. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110289092 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO MONITOR A DIVERSE HETEROGENEOUS APPLICATION ENVIRONMENT - In various embodiments, a system and related method for organizing transactional data from a diverse and heterogeneous application environment is disclosed. In an example embodiment, a system includes a file system and one or more daemon indexers in electrical communication with the file system. The file system is arranged as a non-relational and serverless file system to allow for cost-effectiveness with ready scalability. The file system is to receive, in substantially real-time, unsorted transactional data from a publishing module. The one or more daemon indexers are arranged to receive the unsorted transactional data from the file system, organize the unsorted transactional data by operational characteristics, and store the organized transactional data on the file system. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110288950 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RETRIEVING INFORMATION REGARDING AN ITEM POSTED FOR SALE - A computer-implemented two-tiered electronic market system includes a data repository storing information corresponding to an inventory of one or more available items and a first-tier electronic market (e.g., a retail tier) that provides a first participant (e.g., a retail consumer) access to the inventory of one or more items in the data repository. The inventory is offered to the first participant under a first (e.g., retail) pricing scheme. The two-tiered electronic market system also includes a second-tier electronic market (e.g., a wholesale tier) that provides a second participant (e.g., a wholesale dealer), different from the first participant, access to the inventory of one or more items in the data repository. The inventory is offered to the second participant under a second (e.g., wholesale) pricing scheme different from the first pricing scheme. Electronic commerce is facilitated using an electronic auction system having at least a wholesale tier and a retail tier by presenting for auction an item description stored in a database operationally coupled to the electronic auction system. The presentation of the item includes a current retail bid amount. A wholesale bid is received from at least one wholesale-tier participant and the current retail bid amount is selectively displaced if the received wholesale bid increased by a predetermined amount is greater than the current retail bid. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110276432 | FLEXIBLE ASSET AND SEARCH RECOMMENDATION ENGINES - The subject mater herein relates to Internet-based commerce and, more particularly, to a flexible asset and search recommendation engines. Various embodiments herein provide systems, methods, and software to identify relationships between assets and provide asset recommendations as a function of the identified relationships. in some embodiments, relationships between assets are identified by gathering statistics including a probability of an action in view of one or more other actions an entity may have performed. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110270738 | AUCTION WITH INTEREST RATE BIDDING - A method, apparatus, system and non-transitory machine-readable medium are provided for declining auctions with interest bidding. According to one embodiment, offers are received from respective bidders in a bid receiving process to transact a financial instrument, the offers being expressed as offered interest rates at which the corresponding respective bidders are willing to transact the financial instrument. The bid receiving process is utilized in a declining auction characterized by a reducing a published interest rate at which the financial instrument is offered for sale. The reducing of the published interest rate is performed automatically and responsive to a lack of bidding activity. Further there is a determining whether at least one of the offers satisfies transaction criterion. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110264561 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING LISTING ASSISTANCE - In various example embodiments, a system and method for providing listing assistance to a user is provided. In example embodiments, a selection of a category is received from a device of the user. A plurality of publications that match the selection of the category is retrieved. Statistic data is generated using information from the plurality of publications. The statistic data is provided to the device of the user for display on a user interface. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264549 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MARKETPLACE LISTINGS USING A CAMERA ENABLED MOBILE DEVICE - Computer-implemented systems and methods for generating marketplace listings using a camera enabled mobile device are described in which a request is received via a camera enabled mobile device to list one or more sale items. An image taken by the camera enable mobile device and depicting the one or more sale items is received. Image recognition is performed on the received image to identify the one or more sale items. Based on the identification of the one or more sale items depicted in the image, a set of descriptive data is automatically generated. The one or more sale items are listed on a marketplace using the image and the automatically generated set of descriptive data. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264544 | CURRENCY WEIGHTED CROSS BORDER LISTING EXPOSURE - A method and a system for currency weighted cross border listing exposure utilize a favorability factor that may be determined between a first and a second currency. A search may be executed that returns listings in both currencies. A subset of those listings in the second currency may then be presented in accordance with the favorability factor. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264543 | REVERSE PAYMENT FLOW - Systems and methods for facilitating transactions using contactless proximity communication technology include information or payment flows that are reversed from the conventional sense in that information may flow in direction from a merchant via a consumer mobile device to a financial services provider (FSP). Such payment and information flows can be accomplished without needing to modify infrastructure—such as point-of-sale NFC readers, mobile handsets, or advertising tags and may provide “bridge solutions” for quickly implementing mobile proximity purchase payments. Embodiments provide for receiving some transaction information at a financial services provider in response to a contactless proximity communication that occurs between either a consumer proximity tag and a merchant device, consumer mobile device and merchant proximity tag, or consumer mobile device and merchant device, in which some of the transaction information flow is reverse; validating the transaction; sending payment confirmation to the merchant; and sending transaction confirmation to the consumer. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110251921 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO FACILITATE BILLING OF EMBEDDED APPLICATIONS IN A SERVING PLATFORM - Various embodiments described herein include one or more of systems, software, and methods to automatically facilitate a billing transaction between a third-party developer and a user subscribing to a third-party application. Some such embodiments create a sub-account under a serving platform account registered to the user. Some embodiments include storing a billing plan associated with the third-party application, the billing plan defining a fee to subscribe to the third-party application. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110246516 | CENTRALIZED TRANSACTION RECORD STORAGE - Various methods and systems are provided to permit the storage of online transaction records associated with user-merchant transactions facilitated by a payment service provider. In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, a method of processing transaction information comprises receiving a webpage at a client device, wherein the webpage has an associated webpage address. The method also includes comparing the webpage address with a transaction webpage database. If the webpage address matches an address of the transaction webpage database, the method includes: capturing at least a portion of the webpage corresponding to transaction information associated with a user-merchant transaction, and passing the transaction information over a network in order to facilitate storage of the transaction information in a transaction record. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246363 | TWO DEVICE AUTHENTICATION - In one embodiment, a transaction is authenticated by a payment provider, as opposed to a merchant, using two user devices without the user having to enter information, such as an email or password. When the user is ready to make a purchase from a merchant site, a unique transaction ID is created by the payment provider. That transaction ID, along with data about the transaction, such as specific items and cost, is automatically sent to the payment provider through a second device linked to the purchasing device. The payment provider compares the identifier from the sending device, such as the phone number, and the transaction ID with information stored in its database. If there is a match, the transaction/user may be approved or authenticated. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246318 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACITIATING TAX STATUS CATEGORIZATION OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a system and method for facilitating electronic commerce over a network includes communicating with a user via a user device and a merchant via a merchant device over the network, receiving a purchase request from the user via the user device over the network, determining tax parameters for the purchase request based on information related to the location of the user, the location of the merchant, and the type of item requested for purchase in the purchase request, automatically calculating tax for the purchase request based on the tax parameters, processing the purchase request, and storing transaction information related to the processed purchase transaction including tax information. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110239272 | NON-NUMERIC PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION - Various methods and systems are provided for allowing a user to select a non-numeric PIN or password and use that to access content instead of a conventional numerical PIN. A series of visual, textual, and/or audio “digits” form the PIN, where each succeeding digit may be related to one or more of the preceding digits. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110239044 | MANAGEMENT AND TRACKING OF COMPLEX ENTITLEMENT BENEFITS - Methods and systems for management and tracking of complex entitlement benefits are disclosed. For example, a method can include identifying a processing error within a distributed transaction processing system, assessing an impact of the processing error, and determining a recovery strategy to minimize the impact of the processing error. The processing error can be associated with the application of an entitlement to a plurality of transactions. The entitlement can include a defined benefit and a benefit counter. The benefit counter can control a quantity of transactions allowed to receive the entitlement. The impact of the processing error can be assessed in regard to the plurality of transactions. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238838 | WEIGHTED REQUEST RATE LIMITING FOR RESOURCES - Methods and systems to automatically respond to consider the weight of a request when responding to requests associated with resources are described. In one embodiment, an interface module may be configured to receive a request associated with consumer identifier and a resource. A calculator module may be configured to determine a weight of the request and a usage module configured to calculate, using a processor, a usage level associated with the consumer identifier, the usage level based on a usage history associated with the consumer identifier. An enforcer module may also be configured to respond to the request based on the usage level and the weight of the request. In one embodiment, the usage module may also be configured to update the usage level associated with the consumer identifier based on the weight of the request. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238665 | CATEGORY MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS - A method and system analyze data associated with a marketplace category. In some embodiments, a query is received that identifies a marketplace category from multiple marketplace categories associated with an electronic commerce marketplace. Data associated with the marketplace category is accessed and analyzed to identify multiple keywords used to identify listings in the marketplace category. A user interface is generated to display the analysis results, including at least a portion of the multiple keywords used to identify listings in the marketplace category. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238659 | TWO-PASS SEARCHING FOR IMAGE SIMILARITY OF DIGESTS OF IMAGE-BASED LISTINGS IN A NETWORK-BASED PUBLICATION SYSTEM - Using a processor, receiving, a query including a query image. A database is searched for a set of images similar to the query image, using a two-pass search. The results of the searching are then provided, the results including image members of the set of images similar to the query image. The first pass may be performed using a TF-IDF algorithm and the second pass ranks a predetermined number of results from the first pass by a best match algorithm or other type of algorithm. The type of second pass algorithm may be selectable by a user. If an end signal is not detected, a further two-pass search may be made based on a subsequent query having a subsequent query image. The subsequent query image may one of the results of the previous two pass search. A subsequent query image may change from an image of a product of a first product category to an image of a product of a second product category. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238645 | TRAFFIC DRIVER FOR SUGGESTING STORES - A system and method for providing a suggested store at or through which to purchase a product or service. When a user enters a query for a product or service into a user interface, the system may use the query as a search argument to search files to find one or more pictures illustrating information about a product or service represented by the query. The picture could illustrate where the queried product or service may be purchased. Auto-complete processes may also be used to process the query as it is being entered, to generate an auto-suggestion key word based on fewer than all the letters of the query, to use as a search argument for the search. Both the query and the auto-suggestion key word may be used as search arguments to find the relevant picture in a variety of search logic sequences to provide the picture to the user. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238615 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TREND AWARE SELF-CORRECTING ENTITY RELATIONSHIP EXTRACTION - Methods and systems for trend aware self-correcting entity relationship extraction are disclosed. For example, a method can include receiving a selected entity, determining a plurality of entities related to the selected entity, determining a plurality of most probable entities, calculating relevance scores, and displaying a subset of the plurality of most probable entities. The selected entity can be received on a network-based transaction system. The plurality of entities related to the selected entity can be determined based on a relationship score. The relationship score can represent navigation transitions, aggregated over time, between the selected entity and each of the plurality of entities. The plurality of most probable entities can be determined based on probabilities. Relevance scores can be calculated for each of the plurality of most probable entities. Finally, the subset of the plurality of most probable entities to be displayed can be determined according to the relevance scores. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238584 | TERMINOLOGY MANAGEMENT DATABASE - Various methods and systems are provided to allow different users to search for company-specific terms in a terminology database maintained by a company or website. Information about the terminology provided to the user may include acceptability of use, details of acceptable or unacceptable use, description, synonyms, and related terms. Terms not found in the database may be added from a submission by the user. As a result, users may better understand terminology used by the company or website. In other embodiments, terminology can be searched for acceptable use in social networking sites or other areas or searched for plagiarism. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238455 | ANALYZING MARKETPLACE LISTING STRATEGIES - A method and system analyze marketplace listing strategies. In some embodiments, the method accesses data associated with multiple marketplace listings. Each marketplace listing is associated with a product category. A state-action model, associated with the product category, is created based on the data associated with the multiple marketplace listings. The state-action model is then analyzed to identify a marketplace listing strategy associated with the product category. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110237301 | FREE-FORM ENTRIES DURING PAYMENT PROCESSES - Various methods and systems are provided that allow a user to perform a free-form action, such as making a mark on a device, speaking into a device, and/or moving the device, to cause a step to be performed that conventionally was performed by the user having to locate and select a button or link on the device. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235902 | PRE-COMPUTING DIGESTS FOR IMAGE SIMILARITY SEARCHING OF IMAGE-BASED LISTINGS IN A NETWORK-BASED PUBLICATION SYSTEM - A system and method, which may be an offline method, extracts relevant image features about listing items in a network-based publication system for enabling image similarity searching of such listing items. When a seller lists an item, an image of the item is uploaded and may be sent to a picture processing service, which generates several digests. The digests are compressed data structures each representing a particular image feature such as edge, color, texture, or words. These digests are then stored in a search database, where the digests can be used to retrieve listings by image similarity at scale. A similar process can be performed for a query listing for searching the search database for items similar to the query listing. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110231530 | PUBLISHING USER SUBMISSIONS AT A NETWORK-BASED FACILITY - According to the present invention, there is provided a method to facilitate propagating a plurality of transaction listings to a network-based transaction facility. An input interface is presented at a seller application to receive from a user, a plurality of transaction listings, each transaction listing including an associated start time. Also, a data file is composed at the seller application to include the plurality of transaction listings. Moreover, the data file is propagated, using the seller application, from the client computer to the network-based transaction facility. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110231439 | QUERY UTILIZATION USING QUERY BURST CLASSIFICATION - Query utilization in which a rate of a plurality of queries to a data source may be determined for a plurality of time periods. A cost may be associated with a query state transition. A query state may be assigned to a particular query on a particular time period of the plurality of time periods based on the rate of queries for the particular time period and the cost of the query state transition. A query burst may be identified during the plurality of time periods based on assignment of a query state to the plurality of queries. The query may exhibit a normal query state, a normal-to-deviated query state transition, and a deviated query state. A query burst identification module may identify a query burst during the plurality of time periods, a burst conversion module may convert the query burst to a wavelet using a wavelet transform, a clustering module may apply a clustering technique to the wavelet, and a query classification module may classify the query burst based on applying the clustering technique. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110231291 | PRICE DISTRIBUTION SLIDER HISTOGRAM - In various example embodiments, systems and methods to navigate item listings using a slider histogram include receiving a request from a client device and determining a list of item listings satisfying the request. Additionally, a histogram based on an attribute found in the item listings of the list is determined. The list and the histogram are provided to the client device, the histogram including a slider that allows refinement of the item listings being displayed based on a position of the slider on the histogram. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110231279 | MERCHANDISING ITEMS OF TOPICAL INTEREST - Various embodiments are described herein that provide one or more of a systems, methods, software, and data structures within an Internet marketplace context that are useful to promote products that may be associated with an event occurrence. Some embodiments further utilize collaborative filtering to augment event-based product recommendations. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110229050 | AGGREGATION OF REDUCED-SIZED IMAGES - A method includes receiving, from a first user, first location data identifying a first storage location at which a first image is stored, The first image is retrieved from the first storage location identified by the first location. A first reduced-size image is generated using the first image. The first reduced-size image is aggregated with a second reduced-size image for presentation at a remote site, the second reduced-size image being generated using a second image retrieved from a second storage location identified by second location data received from a second user. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110225638 | SECURE RANDOMIZED INPUT - A user inserts a received random sequence into the user's password or PIN. The user enters and transmits this randomized password to a service provider. The service provider extracts the password to determine whether to authenticate the user. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110225423 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTITY ENCAPSULATED CRYPTOGRAHY - A method and a system to provide identity encapsulated cryptography are provided. A method may comprise receiving a user key to access a service. The service may be provided by an enterprise and hosted within a public cloud. A request for a country key assigned to a country of a user is transmitted and the country key is received. Session data resulting from the use of the service hosted within the public cloud is encrypted using the user key and the user key is encrypted using the country key. The encrypted session data and the encrypted user key are stored in the public cloud. The country key may be provided to a legal agency of the country of the user to decrypt session data of the user and to not decrypt session data of other users of another country. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110213839 | COLLABORATIVE CONTENT EVALUATION - In an example embodiment, a system for evaluating published content is provided. The system includes at least one processor and a plurality of components including instructions executable by the at least one processor. The components include a reputations component to determine a reputation value for each of a plurality of users of a network-based community. A reporting component is to receive a communication from one of the plurality of users, the communication identifying content accessible within the network-based community as objectionable. An evaluation component is to evaluate the identified content based on the reputation value of the one of the plurality of users to determine an action to take with respect to the identified content. A validation component is to take the action with respect to the identified content based on the evaluation of the identified content. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110213802 | PARALLEL DATA STREAM PROCESSING SYSTEM - A method and a system process a stream of data in parallel across a plurality of nodes. The log processing system has a log module, a query language module, and a query processing module. The log module receives and organizes the stream of data into a sequential and nested data structure. The query language operator module defines operators that operate on the sequential and nested data structure. The query processing module processes in parallel across a plurality of nodes a query based on an operator on the stream of data. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110213679 | MULTI-QUANTITY FIXED PRICE REFERRAL SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Multi-quantity fixed price referral systems and methods are described. A “multi-quantity fixed price” listing is a listing published by an online publication system where a seller is selling a number of identical items for a fixed price for each of the items. The methods may include selecting a category from a catalogue hierarchy used by an online publication system. The selected category may be one of a plurality of categories assigned to listings each describing an item for sale. The listings within the selected category are filtered to select a set of filtered listings. A decay formula may be applied to each filtered listing of the set of filtered listings. One or more of the filtered listings are selected based on a ranking of the filtered listings. A graphical user interface to display the selected filtered listings to the user is provided. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110208793 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING DATA TRANSACTION REQUESTS - In various embodiments, a system, method, and related computer-related medium to process data transactions are provided. In one example, a system is arranged to process data transactions in a data store including a plurality of databases. The system includes a computer interface module to receive a data transaction request from at least one requesting computer and a data access layer having one or more processors to identify at least one database in the plurality of databases. The data access layer is to define an abstraction layer between a computer interface module and the plurality of databases. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208605 | SYSTEM TO PROVIDE BUYER WANTED REQUEST LISTINGS - A system comprises a buyer request creation module to receive a buyer request listing, the buyer request creation module automatically to determine a listing category for the buyer request listing. A buyer request searching module locates a buyer request listing corresponding to a search criteria. A buyer request response module adds a response to the buyer request listing, the response comprising a reference to a listing for an item offered for sale on the system. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110202401 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MULTI-MERCHANT COUPONING - Methods and systems for enabling multi-merchant coupon campaigns within an online publication system are described. In an example, a method can include generating an item listing, receiving information specifying a set of coupon criteria, detecting an event within a multi-merchant publication system, and present a coupon in response to detecting the event. The generating an item listing can be based on information received from a merchant-computer. If the set of coupon criteria is detected it can result in presenting a coupon for the item listing. The event can satisfy a particular coupon criteria from the set of coupon criteria. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110197208 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REACHING SMALL MARKETS WITH A CULTURE SPECIFIC ON-LINE COMMERCE SERVICE - A method is described that comprises providing a cultural specific on-line commerce experience for an end user by translating an action of the end user into a standard format used by an on-line auctioneer and by causing the translated action to be sent over a network. The action is taken through a cultural specific end user interface. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110185305 | APPLICATION MODULE FOR MANAGING JOBS ASYNCHRONOUSLY - A method to synchronize data between a spreadsheet application and a marketplace application is disclosed. The method includes receiving a request to synchronize data items between the spreadsheet application and the marketplace application, the data items relating to a type of listing of items associated with the marketplace application. Additionally, the method includes executing a process to synchronize the data items between the spreadsheet application and the marketplace application, the process to include at least one of downloading one of the data items from the spreadsheet application and uploading one of the plurality of data items to the marketplace application, the executing of the process to occur independently of the executing of the spreadsheet application. Furthermore, the method includes displaying a status of the executing of the process in a native user interface element of the spreadsheet application. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110184840 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING ACCOUNT VERIFICATION OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for facilitating electronic commerce over a network include generating a transfer code for a client, associating the transfer code to a client account related to the client, providing the transfer code to the client over the network, receiving a fund transfer request from a trusted entity on behalf of the client over the network, the fund transfer request including the transfer code, extracting information from the fund transfer request including the transfer code associated with the fund transfer request, accessing the client account related to the client, extracting information from the client account including the transfer code associated with the client account, and verifying the transfer code of the fund transfer request by determining whether the transfer code associated with the client account matches the transfer code extracted from the fund transfer request. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110184780 | INTEGRATION OF eCOMMERCE FEATURES INTO SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORM - A method and system are provided for ecommerce marketplace users to provide contents for social networking platform integration, such as a user sharing purchases with friends so that the user may show new clothes to friends on a social networking service. Content can be transmitted to a social network server for storing at a message space of a user of the social network server and requesting the user of the social network to provide an opinion about the content. In addition, the content might include an image resembling a paper doll, the paper doll having the capability of having parts electronically superimposed with images of articles of clothing comprising all or part of an outfit. Images of such articles of clothing can be electronically superimposed on the paper doll. The paper doll with images of the articles of clothing can be transmitted to friends on a social network for an opinion or for completion of the outfit. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110179033 | MULTI-PASS DATA ORGANIZATION AND AUTOMATIC NAMING - A method and a system to organize a data set into groups of data subsets in multiple passes using different parameters and to automatically name the groups is disclosed. For example, a data set is retrieved in accordance with a search query submitted by a user. The data set is organized into clusters based on a statistic(s) of the data set. The data set is then organized into groups of data subsets based on an attribute(s) indicated by the data set. Each of the groups are automatically named based on a property shared by data units of the group. The name(s) of a group may be mined from the data units of the group, retrieved from a structure that maps to attribute values indicated by the data units of the group, etc. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110178898 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESENTING INFORMATION RELATING TO A GOOD - A method and apparatus to present information relating to a good. A product identification code is received via a cellular telephone, the product identification code identifying the good. The information relating to the good is presented via a network and using the product identification code. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110178897 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING INCOMPLETE TRANSACTIONS OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a system and method for facilitating electronic commerce over a network includes communicating with a user via a user device and a merchant via a merchant device over the network, storing an incomplete purchase transaction between the user and the merchant, generating a portable checkout link to the incomplete purchase transaction, providing the portable checkout link to the user over the network, allowing the user to select the incomplete purchase transaction for processing, and processing the incomplete purchase transaction upon user selection. The system and method may include notifying the user of the incomplete purchase transaction over the network. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110173118 | METADATA DRIVEN METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO PROCESS FINANCIAL DATA - A system and method are disclosed. The system identifies a first acquirer from a plurality of acquirers based on a first set of financial transaction records. The first acquirer is associated with a financial clearing house system and a plurality of first acquirer dependent software components. The system further generates a first acquirer settlement file based on the first set of financial transaction records. The generates the acquirer settlement file by utilizing the plurality of first acquirer dependent software components to process the first set of financial transaction records. Finally, the system communicates the first acquirer settlement file, over a network, to the financial clearing house system. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110173095 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING RECOMMENDATIONS IN AN ONLINE MARKETPLACE - A method and a system to manage recommendations in an online marketplace are presented. A social shopping interface is provided at a publisher site accessed by a first user identified by a first user identifier. A recommendation of a listing describing an item for sale and including a second user identifier corresponding to a second user is accessed from a recommendation database. The recommendation, including at least a portion of the listing and the second user identifier are displayed to the first user at the publisher site via the social shopping interface. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110167430 | API AND BUSINESS LANGUAGE SCHEMA DESIGN FRAMEWORK FOR MESSAGE EXCHANGES - A server system facilitates an exchange of messages with a remote client application. The server system includes a plurality of application servers hosting a plurality of applications. A plurality of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) provides programmatic access to the plurality of applications, each of the APIs being configured to receive request messages compiled by the remote client application. First and second request messages, respectively addressed to first and second APIs of the plurality of APIs by a remote client application, each comprise at least one common data component. Further, the first request message includes a first payload specific to the first API, and the second request message includes a payload specific to the second API. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110162078 | DYNAMIC PATTERN INSERTION LAYER - Various methods and systems are provided for inserting a user-selected pattern below a main application display when sensitive information is being requested or to be communicated. The border of the main application layer may also be modified at this time, either with or without the underlying pattern. This visual change provides the user an assurance that the application or site is authentic and not a phishing attack. The user-selected patterns are stored in secure areas, such as a secure element on the user device or in a cloud accessible by the application or site. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110161354 | MATRIX VIEW OF ITEMS - Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to present a plurality of searched items by a plurality of points in a matrix view, which includes a first axis and a second axis, respectively representing a price attribute and one of other attributes of the plurality of items. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110161191 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS - Methods and system for social commerce network analysis are described. In one embodiment, user interaction data associated with users for a time period in a social commerce network is accessed and a network analysis is performed. Users within the social commerce network may be selected where each of the users is associated with reputation information. A motif for the users for the time period based on the network analysis may be generated. A node of the motif is associated with a particular user, and the motif defines an expected relationship between the users in the social commerce network. The node is distinguished based on the reputation information of the user. The motif may be used with a plurality of distinguished nodes for analysis of the social commerce network. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110153493 | DYNAMIC LIMIT FUNDING SOURCE - Various methods and systems are provided to enable single purchases or payments to be funded from a plurality of funding sources, where the funding sources have dynamically set limits and priorities by the user. When a purchase or payment request is made, funding starts with the highest priority source, up to its limit, and continues with sequentially lower funding sources up the their limits, until the purchase or payment is fully funded. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110145844 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING CALL REQUEST AGGREGATION OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for facilitating electronic commerce over a network includes identifying input dependencies for a call request based on information passed with the call request, identifying state dependencies for the call request based on information passed with the call request, parallelizing calls from the call request based on at least one of the identified input dependencies and the identified state dependencies, developing a service execution map by grouping calls in an execution order including parallelized calls, and processing the service execution map by executing grouped calls in the execution order including parallelized calls. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110145713 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING ELECTRONIC COMMERCE OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for facilitating electronic commerce over a network include communicating with a plurality of users via a plurality of user devices over the network, receiving a login request from a first user via a first user device over the network, accessing an account related to the user based on information passed with the login request, receiving a snaplist file related to a multiple image listing provided by the first user via the first user device, processing the snaplist file by extracting the multiple image listing from the snaplist file, and displaying the multiple image listing to one or more other users via one or more other user devices. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110145109 | ON-LINE SAVINGS ACCOUNT - An on-line savings page for managing a savings account includes a list of items the user is saving for, where each item has a specified priority. A savings rate for each item is determined by the savings account based on the priority and total savings rate. The user is notified of any changes in the savings account, such as price changes, inventory changes, etc., as well as relevant information related to the item, such as sales, offers, recalls, etc. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110145105 | VIEWING SHOPPING INFORMATION ON A NETWORK BASED SOCIAL PLATFORM - A system for viewing shopping information on a social networking platform is disclosed. At the social networking platform, the system receives a request from a user device corresponding to a first user of the social networking platform to view a list of a second user of the social networking platform. The list may include items offered for transaction on a network-based commerce server. In response to receiving the request from the user device, the system forwards the request to the network-based commerce server, and then receives updated information for at least one item on the list from the network-based corner server. Then, the system communicates the updated information received from the network-based commerce server to the user device. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110138454 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING USER AUTHENTICATION OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for facilitating network transactions include user authentication over a network by providing strong mutual authentication of client web application to server side application server, providing session encryption key negotiation after authentication to continue encryption during communication, and providing a high-level encryption technique referred to as an effective zero knowledge proof of identity (eZKPI) algorithm. In various implementations, the eZKPI algorithm is adapted to couple something the user Knows (e.g., a password or personal identification number) with something the user Has (e.g., a secure identification card) to create a stronger identity authentication proof for access to a mobile device and applications running on the mobile device. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110138176 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING USER IDENTITY VERIFICATION OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for facilitating network transactions including user identity verification over a network provide strong mutual authentication of client web application to server side application server, provide session encryption key negotiation after authentication to continue encryption during communication, and provide a high-level encryption technique referred to as an effective zero knowledge proof of identity (eZKPI) algorithm. In various implementations, the eZKPI algorithm is adapted to couple something the user Knows (e.g., a password) with something the user Has (e.g., a biometric signature) to create a stronger identity authentication proof for access to a mobile device and applications running on that device. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110137742 | PAYMENT USING UNIQUE PRODUCT IDENTIFIER CODES - Various methods and systems are provided to capture a unique product code, such as QR code, on a mobile device, process the information contained in the code, provide the user with options of making a purchase, including purchasing a plurality of selected products from different captured codes, and processing the payment via the user's mobile device. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110125619 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMPLETING A TRANSACTION BETWEEN A CUSTOMER AND A MERCHANT - A computer-implemented method for completing a transaction between a customer and at least one merchant receives, by a transaction system, an authorization request including customer data and transaction specific data from the merchant, wherein, prior to the authorization request, the customer is unknown to the transaction system; authenticates the customer by the transaction system based at least in part upon at least one of the following: at least a portion of the customer data, at least a portion of the transaction specific data or any combination thereof; authorizes the transaction by the transaction system based at least in part upon at least one of the following: at least a portion of the customer data, at least a portion of the transaction specific data or any combination thereof; and communicates the authorization response to the merchant during the transaction. An apparatus for implementing the method is disclosed. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110119246 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY A PREFERRED DOMAIN OF A PLURALITY OF DOMAINS - There is provided methods and systems to identify a preferred domain of a plurality of domains corresponding to a query. First, the system receives the query. Second, the system accesses demand information corresponding to the query, the demand information including navigation information associated with the query. Third, the system accesses supply information corresponding to the query, the supply information including a count of data items in each of the plurality of domains that match the query. Fourth, the system identifies the preferred domain based on the demand information and the supply information. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110112880 | ALLOCATION OF COMMON RESOURCES IN AN ENTITY - Systems and methods for allocation of common resources in an entity are provided. Various programs within the entity each utilize a shared resource. In an example embodiment, a method comprises receiving a ranking of programs within the entity. The method also includes identifying common tasks and an amount of time required to complete each respective common task. Upon receiving a set of desired tasks associated with each of the programs, a desired budget is determined for each of the programs. The method results in allocating the common resource based on the ranking and the respective desired budget of the programs. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110106785 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO ENABLE NAVIGATION OF DATA ITEMS - There is provided methods and systems to enable navigation of data items based on aspect-value pairs extracted from the data items. First, the system receives the query. Second, the system identifies the plurality of data items found by the query. Third, the system identifies an aspect of at least one of the plurality of data items. Fourth, the system identifies a value of a plurality of values corresponding to the aspect. Fifth, the system a request to navigate to a set of data items within the plurality of data items, the request comprising the aspect and a requested value of the plurality of values. Each one of the set of data items has the aspect and the value. Sixth, the system presents, in a user interface, information about each one of the set of data items. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110106642 | COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR KEYWORD BIDDING IN A MARKET COOPERATIVE - A computer-implemented method and system for keyword bidding in a market cooperative are disclosed. A particular embodiment includes receiving a keyword bid from a first party; determining a value to a host associated with the keyword bid; augmenting the keyword bid by an amount corresponding to the value to the host; and sending the augmented keyword bid to a second party. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110099091 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SEARCHING FOR GOODS AND SERVICES - A method and apparatus for creating a computerized market for used and collectible goods by use of a plurality of low cost posting terminals and a market maker computer in a legal framework that establishes a bailee relationship and consignment contract with a purchaser of a good at the market maker computer that allows the purchaser to change the price of the good once the purchaser has purchased the good thereby to allow the purchaser to speculate on the price of collectibles in an electronic market for used goods while assuring the safe and trusted physical possession of a good with a vetted bailee. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110099090 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SEARCHING FOR GOODS AND SERVICES - A method and apparatus for creating a computerized market for used and collectible goods by use of a plurality of low cost posting terminals and a market maker computer in a legal framework that establishes a bailee relationship and consignment contract with a purchaser of a good at the market maker computer that allows the purchaser to change the price of the good once the purchaser has purchased the good thereby to allow the purchaser to speculate on the price of collectibles in an electronic market for used goods while assuring the safe and trusted physical possession of a good with a vetted bailee. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110093797 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY CHANGING THE CONTENT OF AN INTERNET WEB PAGE - A host Web page includes an evolving interactive dialog box wherein an Internet user may enter user data to be processed. When the user completes entering user data in a first revolution of the interactive dialog box, the first revolution is replaced with a second revolution of the evolving interactive dialog box without disturbing or affecting any other part of the host Web page being displayed. Beneficially, the first and second revolutions may be communicated to a user computer together with and at a same time as the host Web page. Also, the second revolution may include a variety of data which is selected or customized to match the user data submitted in the first revolution. Each revolution of the evolving interactive dialog box may be comprised of any combination of general textual data entry fields, category (pull-down) menus, contact information data entry fields, and opt-in/opt-out buttons. The evolving interactive dialog box may also include dynamically selectable features, such as font type, font size, font color, box shape, box dimension(s), background colors, foreground colors, etc. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110093494 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DYNAMICALLY BROWSE DATA ITEMS - A method and system to receive a query, from over a network, and identify a first plurality of data items based on the query. The first plurality of data items including a second plurality of data items. Next, the system computes a quantity of the first plurality of data items by counting the first plurality of data items and compares the quantity of the first plurality of data items with a determined threshold to identify the quantity of the first plurality of data items as being greater than the determined threshold. Next, the system presents a user interface, over the network, to the computer system, the user interface includes the second plurality of data items, and further includes at least one user interface element responsive to the identification of the quantity of the first plurality of data items as greater than the determined threshold. The at least one user interface element is selectable to browse the first plurality of data items. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110087645 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A TRANSPARENT APPLICATION OF MULTIPLE QUERIES ACROSS MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES - According to a fourth aspect there is provided a system to receive a request to search for the data. The system performs a search of a logical table based on a single criterion to identify a plurality of rows in the logical table. The system generates a first plurality of tuples based on the plurality of rows to identify a first plurality of physical tables that are mapped to the logical table, the first plurality of tuples including a first and second tuple, the first tuple identifies a first server and a first physical table that is accessed via the first server, the second tuple identifies a second server and a second physical table that is accessed via the second server. Next, the system queries at least two data sources for the data to generate results that include the data. The at least two data sources are at least partially identified by utilizing the first plurality of tuples. Finally, the system communicates the data in response to the request to search for the data. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110087597 | FUNDING ON-LINE ACCOUNTS - A system generates an identifier when a consumer deposits cash, where a new unique identifier is generated with each transaction. The consumer receives the identifier and the identifier (along with the amount of cash deposit) is communicated to a payment provider for storage. The consumer may then access and fund an on-line account with the financial services provider by first accessing the account and entering the unique character identifier, which the system processes. If the identifier is valid, e.g., an actual stored identifier within the system associated with a cash amount, then the system transfers that amount to the consumer's account. At this point, the consumer may use the account to make an on-line transaction or purchase with the newly funded amount. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110082872 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO TRANSFORM UNSTRUCTURED INFORMATION - There is provided methods and systems to transform unstructured information into structured information. First, the system accesses a rule specifying a condition for assigning data to the data item, the condition based on the content of the data item, the assigned data to provide structure to the data item. Second, based on a detecting that the condition has been met, the system applies the rule to assign the assigned data to the data item. Third, the system stores, in a database, the data item and the assigned data as the data item structured information. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110078762 | MOBILE OR USER DEVICE AUTHENTICATION AND TRACKING - A system and method, according to one or more embodiments, includes a server computing device configured to communicate with a network-based device via a network; a visitor identification, in which the system generates the visitor identification and the visitor identification corresponds to a piece of information that is unique to the network-based device; a mapping for which the system adds the generated visitor identification to the mapping so that the visitor identification uniquely identifies the network-based device from all other network-based devices in communication with the server computing device; and a database in which the system tracks the visitor identification among a plurality of visitor identifications in the database. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078076 | SHORT CODES FOR BILL PAY - A system and method for secure transfer of a debt payment, according to one or more embodiments, provides for: receiving a request for a billing service from a biller; providing a reference code to the biller in response to the request, in which the reference code uniquely corresponds to a bill code; receiving a reply corresponding to the bill code from a customer via a network-based device in response to the bill code being included in a bill to the customer; and transferring a payment corresponding to the reference code to the biller while keeping selected financial information of the customer secure with respect to the biller. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078051 | Methods and Systems for Searching for Goods in a Virtual Marketplace - A method and apparatus for creating a computerized market for used and collectible goods by use of a plurality of low cost posting terminals and a market maker computer in a legal framework that establishes a bailee relationship and consignment contract with a purchaser of a good at the market maker computer that allows the purchaser to change the price of the good once the purchaser has purchased the good thereby to allow the purchaser to speculate on the price of collectibles in an electronic market for used goods while assuring the safe and trusted physical possession of a good with a vetted bailee. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078042 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING ELECTRONIC COMMERCE WITH CONTROLLED SPENDING OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for facilitating electronic commerce over a network include receiving a transaction request from a merchant on behalf of a client, accessing a client account associated with the client based on information passed with the transaction request, reviewing spending parameters stored as part of the client account, the spending parameters indicating acceptable merchant category codes for client approved merchants, comparing a merchant category code for the merchant with the acceptable merchant category codes of the spending parameters, approving the transaction request between the merchant and the client if the merchant category code for the merchant is determined to be an acceptable merchant category code of the spending parameters, and denying the transaction request between the merchant and the client if the merchant category code for the merchant is determined to be an unacceptable merchant category code of the spending parameters. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078031 | SECURE TRANSACTIONS USING A POINT OF SALE DEVICE - Systems and methods are provided for secure transactions according to one or more embodiments. According to an embodiment, a method for providing secure transactions comprises initiating a transaction via a point of sale device having a one time password generator. The method also comprises generating at least one password by the point of sale device. The method further comprises associating the at least one password with account information. The method further comprises transmitting the password associated with the account information to a remote location. If the transmitted password matches predetermined associated information at the remote location, the method further comprises confirming the transaction. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110077949 | MICROPAYMENTS AGGREGATION - Various methods, apparatus, and systems are disclosed for improved micropayment arrangements that allow for versatile and efficient micropayments aggregation and distribution of funds. In accordance with one embodiment, a method of aggregating micropayments includes registering a plurality of seller accounts, each including content to be sold, and associating the content with a micropayment aggregation method, including pre-paid aggregation, post-paid aggregation, and time-delayed aggregation. The method further includes then charging a buyer account for purchases of content based on different micropayment aggregation methods associated with the content. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110076942 | NETWORK UPDATES OF TIME AND LOCATION - Methods and systems utilize a shake and transfer process to initiate a wireless communication provide a user device with time and location information of the communication, which can be associated with contact information of a user of the other device. As a result, a user has additional information associated with a contact, and the time and location information can be used to determine or track elapsed time and distance traveled between communications. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110076941 | NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION AND NETWORK DATA/PRODUCT TRANSFER - Methods and systems utilize a shake and transfer process to provide a consumer with an enhanced user experience. In a first embodiment, a purchase is made between two devices using NFC, and a shake and transfer process downloads large data, such as a movie, video, or game, from one device to the other. In a second embodiment, the user can select information or data, such as non-user contacts, photos, or videos, on the phone to transfer during a shake and transfer process. In yet another embodiment, a user may pay for purchases from an unattended merchant, such as a vending machine, using a shake and transfer process, where the user may also receive incentives, based on the user profile and/or purchase, from the unattended merchant. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110071953 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS - Methods and system for social commerce network analysis are described. In one embodiment, a strongly connected component value, an in-component value, an out-component value, a disconnected component value, a tendril value, and a tube value of a social network for a time period may be accessed. A social strength of the social network for the time period may be calculated by combining the strongly connected component value, the in-component value, the out-component value, the disconnected component value, the tendril value, and the tube value. The social strength of the social network for the time period may be utilized for analysis of the social network. The strongly connected component value may have a greatest weight and the disconnected component value may have the lowest weight in the combining. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110071917 | SUGGESTED ITEM CATEGORY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to offer items for sale, wherein at least some of the items for sale have been matched to item categories and/or item attributes. The categories and attributes may be derived from token weights determined in accordance with a ratio of a total number of the items for sale and the number of items for sale that are associated with a common token. Additional activities may include locating some of the items for sale associated with the common token by executing a navigation application. Additional apparatus, methods, and systems are disclosed. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110068175 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF BARCODES USING HEURISTIC AND STATISTICAL MEASURES - In a system and method of estimating and classifying a barcode using heuristic and statistical measures, a classification determination is generated for each of a plurality of estimated barcode digits that correspond to a decoded barcode estimation. The classification determination is selected from one of a first classification determination and a second classification determination. The first classification determinations among a plurality of estimation determinations are aggregated. The aggregated first classification determinations are compared to a first predetermined threshold to determine a validity of the decoded barcode estimation. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110068173 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECOGNIZING DEFORMED LINEAR BARCODES FROM A STREAM OF VARIED-FOCUS VIDEO FRAMES - In a system and method of recognizing a barcode from a stream of video frames, a processor-implemented camera module receives a stream of video frames, with at least one video frame including a barcode. A processor-implemented barcode blur estimate module estimates an amount of defocus blur in a video frame. The processor-implemented barcode blur estimate module further estimates an identity of the barcode. A processor-implemented barcode localization module identifies a region of the video frame containing the barcode. A processor-implemented barcode geometric modeler module generates a geometric model of the barcode that includes an identified barcode deformity. A processor-implemented barcode decoder module decodes the barcode from the video frame using the estimated amount of defocus blur, the estimated identity of the barcode, and the geometric model of the barcode. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110055685 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PROVIDE A DOMAIN SPLIT DISPLAY - In various example embodiments, systems and methods for a domain split display are provided. A first request call directed to a first domain is received. In response, first served content including content retrieved based on the first domain is transmitted to a client device. The first served content is used by the client device to generate a parent page comprising a content iframe, which is associated with a second domain. A second request call directed to a second domain is received and second served content is transmitted to the client device. The second served content includes content retrieved from the second domain. The second served content causes a data receiver iframe associated with the first domain and an event receiver iframe associated with the second domain to be displayed within the content iframe. User-generated content for display in the data receiver iframe is then transmitted. The user-generated content is retrieved from the second domain, whereby the second domain is different from the first domain. The data receiver iframe may communicate a size required to display the user-generated content to the event receiver iframe, which in turn, communicates the size to the parent page. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055640 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EXCEPTION DETECTING AND ALERTING - Methods and system for exception detecting and alerting are described. An exception indicating an occurrence of an error in an application and a path to the exception in an application space may be received. The received exception may be compared to a stored exception in a prior version of an exception data structure to determine whether the received exception is a new exception. The exception data structure may include a plurality of stored exceptions. The results of the comparison may be provided. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055195 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES FOR KEYWORD EXTRACTION AND CONTEXTUAL ADVERTISEMENT GENERATION - A computer-implemented system and method for keyword extraction and contextual advertisement generation are disclosed. The system in an example embodiment includes a keyword extraction service to receive from a consumer application a request for activation of a keyword extraction service via an application programming interface, the request including an identity of a content source, the request further including an identification of a particular extraction process to be used by the keyword extraction service on the identified content source; determine if the keyword extraction service has already processed the identified content source and retained extracted keywords in a data store; extract keywords from the identified content source using the particular extraction process identified in the request; and make the extracted keywords accessible to the consumer application. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055078 | ONLINE FRAUD PREVENTION USING GENETIC ALGORITHM SOLUTION - Online fraud prevention including receiving a rules set to detect fraud, mapping the rules set to a data set, mapping success data to members of the rules set, filtering the members of the rules set, and ordering members of the data set by giving priority to those members of the data set with a greater probability for being fraudulent based upon the success data of each member of the rule set in detecting fraud. Further, a receiver coupled to an application server to receive a rules set to detect fraud, and a server coupled to the application server, to map the rules set to a data set, and to map the success data to each members of the rules set. The server is used to order the various members of the data set by giving priority to those members of the data set with a greatest probability for being fraudulent. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055040 | LISTING RECOMMENDATION IN A NETWORK-BASED COMMERCE SYSTEM - According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method to facilitate generating listing recommendations to a user of a network-based commerce system. In one embodiment, the method includes identifying a term associated with a user interaction in a network-based commerce system. The method further includes generating a recommendation query including the identified term. In addition, the method includes running the recommendation query against a plurality of listings hosted by the network-based commerce system to identify a recommendation. Moreover, the method includes presenting the recommendation to a user of the network-based commerce system. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110035558 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO LOCATE A STORAGE DEVICE - A method of locating a storage device of a number of storage devices is provided. A request for a data item is received. The request includes a globally unique identifier (GUID) that is associated with a user. A start number is generated based on the GUID, and the storage device that stores the data item is located based on the start number. The data item is then read from the located storage device. Other techniques for locating a storage device are also described. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110035417 | BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY IN DATABASE SCHEMAS - A method of accommodating at least one difference between a first database schema and a second database schema is provided. The method includes receiving a response generated by a first application program using a first database schema, identifying a value in the response that is unrecognizable to a second application program using a second database schema, and substituting, using a processor, the value that is unrecognizable to the second application program with a reserved element recognizable to the second application program, the reserved element indicating to the second application program that a portion of the response is not recognizable to the second application program. The method further includes communicating the response to the second application program. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110029408 | SYSTEM AND METHOD ENABLING SEARCHING FOR ITEMS, LISTINGS, OR PRODUCTS BASED ON LISTING ACTIVITY - A system and method for providing a listing activity engine for online computer users is disclosed. A particular embodiment includes: accessing a plurality of listings corresponding to items offered on a host site; accessing listing activity level information related to the plurality of listings, the listing activity level information including information indicative of a number of times particular listings of the plurality of listings were viewed or activated; producing search results that include only matched listings of the plurality of listings that were viewed or activated a number of times less than a pre-determined listing activity threshold; and displaying the search results to a user. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110029403 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TARGETED MERCHANDISING TO RETURNING USERS - In various exemplary embodiments, a system and associated method to provide targeted merchandising is disclosed. Initially, an identity of a user (e.g., a returning buyer) is determined. A transaction history associated with the identity is then accessed. The transaction history is used to determine one or more related items from at least one familiar merchant. The at least one familiar merchant is a merchant having a previous relationship with the user. Representations of the one or more related items are then displayed to the user in a prominent manner. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110029400 | NO AUTHENTICATION PAYMENT AND SEAMLESS AUTHENTICATION - A easy authentication or payment is made by creating an account associated with a particular web browser or device that accesses an on-line page. Payments are made, such as for full-access viewing of an article or viewing content without visible ads, by selecting a payment button on the on-line page. Selection can be with a specific swiping motion or device motion previously defined for the user. Once selected, the payment is made without the user having to authorize or authenticate. The motion can be used independently to authorize or authenticate the user through the device. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110023098 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAINTAINING LOGIN PREFERENCE INFORMATION OF USERS IN A NETWORK-BASED TRANSACTION FACILITY - The present invention relates to various aspects for maintaining and utilizing login preference information of users of a network-based transaction facility. In one embodiment, user interface information is communicated to a client via a communications network. The user interface information includes information concerning a plurality of features within the network-based transaction facility. The user interface information also specifies a login interface that facilitates user input of login preference information pertaining to each of the plurality of features. Further, the login preference information is received from the client via the communications network and utilized to control user access to any of the plurality of features within the network-based transaction facility via the communications network. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110022523 | NEGOTIATION PLATFORM IN AN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT - A method and a system for providing a negotiation platform in the event that a listing fails by becoming inactive without the offering being sold are provided. For example, a negotiation eligibility detector may detect a failed listing of an offering. The listing may be associated with a first user and a first offer. A potential buyer detector may identify at least one potential buyer based on a user action associated with the failed listing. A negotiation manager may be in communication with the negotiation eligibility detector and the potential buyer detector. In response to the detecting of the failed listing and the identifying of the potential buyers, the negotiation manager may transmit a request to the at least one potential buyer for a second offer associated with the failed listing. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110016016 | Method and System for Retrieving Information Regarding an Item Posted for Sale - A method and apparatus for creating a computerized market for used and collectible goods by use of a plurality of low cost posting terminals and a market maker computer in a legal framework that establishes a bailee relationship and consignment contract with a purchaser of a good at the market maker computer that allows the purchaser to change the price of the good once the purchaser has purchased the good thereby to allow the purchaser to speculate on the price of collectibles in an electronic market for used goods while assuring the safe and trusted physical possession of a good with a vetted bailee. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015936 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING USER REGISTRATION IN AN ON-LINE AUCTION ENVIRONMENT - A method and apparatus for facilitating a transaction in a network-based transaction facility are described. According to one embodiment, a user associated with the transaction in the network-based transaction facility is identified, and a rating is assigned to the user based on the accuracy of information submitted by the user during the transaction. If the rating exceeds a predetermined threshold, the transaction is completed. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110010426 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTHENTICATING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION - One embodiment provides a method for authenticating an electronic communication. The method includes parsing a header of the electronic communication to identify actual domain name data included in the header at a server receiving the electronic communication from a communication client; parsing the header to obtain purported sender data included in the header of the electronic communication; comparing the actual domain name data and purported sender data; and generating in response to the comparison an authenticity indicator, to provide a recipient of the electronic communication with an indication of the likelihood that the electronic communication was sent from a purported sender of the electronic communication. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110004667 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ORDER STATUS INFORMATION USING AN UPDATE STATUS FLAG - A method and system for providing order status information using an update status flag to receive status information pertaining to an order placed by a customer with a merchant. It is determined whether the received status information is new relative to further status information pertaining to the order stored within a status record. The status record is updated to include the received status information if the received status information is new. The updated message indicating the received status information is then composed and sent to the customer. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110004535 | Method and Apparatus For Listing Goods For Sale - A method and apparatus to present a good of a seller. A product identification code is received via a cellular telephone, the product identification code identifying the good. The good is then presented for sale via a network and using the product identification code | 01-06-2011 |
| 20100332384 | TRANSACTION AGGREGATION ENGINE - A database may be accessed to obtain data for a plurality of payment transactions. The plurality of payment transactions may be associated with at least one requestor and two or more providers. A first set of payment transactions are presented to the at least one requestor. The first set of payment transactions are selected from the plurality of payment transactions and aggregated based on having a first common provider selected from the two or more providers. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332351 | SAME SCREEN QUICK PAY BUTTON - A payment button on a device, such as a mobile phone, allows the user to remain on the window or page from which an item was selected for purchase. When the user is ready to purchases, the button is selected, and the user simply enters an identifier, such as a password or PIN, and the transaction is processed. The button remains on the same screen and changes during different stages of the payment process. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332346 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DETECT OUTLYING BEHAVIOR IN A NETWORK-BASED MARKETPLACE - A system to detect outlying behavior in a network-based marketplace automatically collects attribute information for a first plurality of sellers that includes a first seller, and stores the attribute information in a storage device. The system computes peer information associated with a second plurality of sellers using a computer system, wherein the first plurality of sellers includes the second plurality of sellers, and wherein the peer information is automatically computed from the attribute information for the second plurality of sellers. The system compares the peer information associated with the second plurality of sellers with attribute information for the first seller for the purpose of automatically detecting outlying behavior by the first seller. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332339 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCATION BASED MOBILE COMMERCE - In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for facilitating financial transactions over a network includes communicating with a user via a first mobile communication device over the network, obtaining a geo-location of the first mobile communication device, communicating with a merchant via a second mobile communication device over the network, obtaining a radius of coverage for the second mobile communication device, determining whether the geo-location of the first mobile communication device is within the radius of coverage of the second mobile communication device, and providing a listing to the first mobile communication device of one or more items for sale by the merchant when the first mobile communication device is within the radius of coverage of the second mobile communication device. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100325616 | PARALLEL SOFTWARE TESTING BASED ON A NORMALIZED CONFIGURATION - A system of testing software is provided. The system comprises a first hardware system having hardware components to execute a first version of the software, and additionally comprises a second hardware system having hardware components to execute a second version of the software at approximately the same time as the hardware components of the first hardware system execute the first version of the software. Here, the hardware components of the first hardware system are essentially equal to the hardware components of the second hardware system. In addition, the system includes a simulator coupled to the first hardware system and the second hardware system through the same network. This simulator comprises an agent to input a substantially same amount and a substantially same type of input data into the first and second hardware systems for execution by the first and second versions, respectively. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100325042 | PAYMENT SERVICE TO EFFICIENTLY ENABLE ELECTRONIC PAYMENT - A method to redirect a browser client is disclosed. The method comprises storing information at a payment service web site that includes a return URL (uniform resource locator) corresponding to a web-based interface hosted by a merchant web site. Next, the method comprise extracting the return URL embedded in the information and comparing, the return URL to a reference return URL corresponding to the web-based interface hosted by the merchant web site. Finally, the method comprises identifying the return URL matches the reference return URL and redirecting the browser client to the web-based interface hosted by the merchant web site responsive to the identifying the match. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100325011 | LISTING RECOMMENDATION IN A NETWORK-BASED SYSTEM - According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method to facilitate generating listing recommendations to a user of a network-based commerce system. In one embodiment, the method includes identifying a term associated with a user interaction in a network-based commerce system. The method further includes generating a recommendation query including the identified term. In addition, the method includes running the recommendation query against a plurality of listings hosted by the network-based commerce system to identify a recommendation. Moreover, the method includes presenting the recommendation to a user of the network-based commerce system. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100312676 | PROGRESSIVE CATEGORATION AND TREATMENT OF REFUND ABUSERS - Various methods and systems are provided to manage on-line transactions by categorizing users who request refunds of purchases (e.g., digital goods) and requiring certain conditions to be met before a refund is issued or processed. The conditions change for different categories of users. In one embodiment, a refund process is made progressively harder or burdensome as users are categorized in worsening refund abuse categories. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100306819 | INTERACTIVE PHISHING DETECTION (IPD) - Systems and methods for use with a client device and a server provide interactive phishing detection at the initiation of the user. Detection of phishing is based on the user's comparison of a visual indicator sent from the server to the client device with a another identical looking visual indicator displayed, for example, on a trusted website. Several security measures may be employed such as changing the visual indicator periodically, generating the visual indicator in a random manner, and authenticating the client device to the server before the server will transmit the visual indicator to the client device. User comparison of the website-displayed visual indicator with the user's client device user interface-displayed visual indicator may facilitate user verification of authenticity of a software application. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306531 | Hardware-Based Zero-Knowledge Strong Authentication (H0KSA) - Systems and methods are provided for a device to engage in a zero-knowledge proof with an entity requiring authentication either of secret material or of the device itself. The device may provide protection of the secret material or its private key for device authentication using a hardware security module (HSM) of the device, which may include, for example, a read-only memory (ROM) accessible or programmable only by the device manufacturer. In the case of authenticating the device itself a zero-knowledge proof of knowledge may be used. The zero-knowledge proof or zero-knowledge proof of knowledge may be conducted via a communication channel on which an end-to-end (e.g., the device at one end and entity requiring authentication at the other end) unbroken chain of trust is established, unbroken chain of trust referring to a communication channel for which endpoints of each link in the communication channel mutually authenticate each other prior to conducting the zero-knowledge proof of knowledge and for which each link of the communication channel is protected by at least one of hardware protection and encryption. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306107 | TRUSTED REMOTE ATTESTATION AGENT (TRAA) - Systems and methods for use with a service provider and a consumer electronic device include a trusted remote attestation agent (TRAA) configured to perform a set of checking procedures or mechanisms to help ensure the security status of a consumer electronic device (e.g., a mobile terminal or phone) that holds financial instruments. The checking procedures may include: self-verifying integrity by the TRAA; checking for presence of a provisioning SIM card (one that was present when the financial instruments were enabled on the device); checking that a communication connection between the consumer electronic device and the service provider is available and active; and checking that communication connectivity to a home mobile network is available and active. The frequency of the checking mechanisms may be adjusted, for example, according to a risk-profile of a user associated with the device or the location (e.g., GPS location) of the device. The checks may be used, for example, to temporarily disable or limit the use of the financial instruments from the device. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306076 | Trusted Integrity Manager (TIM) - A system for use with a trusted service manager (TSM) and a mobile device having a subscriber unique identifying data, according to one embodiment, includes: a server in which the server validates an application against the unique and identifying data of the mobile device and provides the validated application for the mobile device; and a secure element (SE) acting as a client in which the SE is present in the mobile device as client; the validated application from the server is installed in the SE; and the SE is adapted to execute the validated application to perform a service process. The service process includes enablement of payment functions on the mobile device, in which enablement of payment functions includes: providing secure communication between the mobile device and the server; secure provisioning of a payment instrument on the mobile device, wherein authentication and verification for the payment instrument on the mobile device is provided by the server; and binding the payment instruments and the validated application to the mobile device to provide a strong ID management for enhanced user protection and system security and integrity. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306040 | ON-LINE REFERRAL - Various methods and systems are provided to facilitate on-line transactions through the issuance of rewards for users who referral a product that is purchased by another. In one example, a user selects a product that the user purchased and an email recipient. The payment provider, who the user used to purchase the product, sends an email with a URL to the recipient, where the URL contains the merchant product page and the email address of the user or person making the referral. If the recipient purchases the referred product, such as clicking on the link or copying and pasting the URL, the payment provider is notified and issues a reward to the user based on the purchase by the recipient. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303230 | Secure Identity Binding (SIB) - A system includes a tag having a machine readable tag identifier (Tag ID) configured to be read by a reader; and a device to be identified by the tag, in which: the device is configured to communicate with the reader; the device has access to a secure Tag ID; and the device communicates a verification to the reader if the machine readable Tag ID communicated to the device from the reader matches the secure Tag ID. A method includes: reading a Tag ID from a tag attached to a device; communicating the Tag ID read from the tag to the device; comparing a secure Tag ID of the device to the Tag ID read from the tag; and responding with a “match” or “no-match” message from the device, according to which the device is either trusted or not trusted as being identified by the Tag ID. A method of verifying a trusted agent (TA) on a device includes: storing a digital signature of the TA in a secure vault of the device; and verifying the TA by verifying the digital signature of the TA each time the TA is used. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100293053 | PRICE-BASED DELAY OF AN ADVERTISEMENT - A purchase record is accessed within a database of purchases. The purchase record includes a purchase date field and a purchase price field, respectively indicating a purchase date and a purchase price of a first item purchased from a seller by a purchaser. At a determination module located at a machine, a presentation delay interval is determined using the machine, the purchase date, and the purchase price. After expiration of the presentation delay interval, an advertisement is communicated to a device of the purchaser. The advertisement advertises a second item to replace the first item. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100281059 | ENHANCED USER PROFILE - A method and a system to generate a user profile and an associated profile manager are described. The user profile, in one embodiment, may comprise identity data such as static information about a user and behavior data comprising dynamic information about the user. The profile manager may be configured to monitor the activities of the user through an interface to collect behavior indicators, and to update the behavior data using the collected behavior indicators. In one embodiment, the user profile also comprises reputation data. The method and system may also be configured to receive an access request from a user and selectively grant the access based on the user profile. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100280944 | PAPERLESS CHECKING TRANSACTIONS - According to one embodiment, a user logs into a bank account and access a bill payment service through the bank. The user enters a recipient's email address and an amount to be transferred from the user's account to the recipient. The bill payment service transfers the amount to a payment provider, who then transfers the amount to the recipient if the recipient has an account with the payment provider. As a result, recipients who are not part of a bill payment service can quickly receive payments, and users can make quickly and easily payments to recipients who are not part of a bill payment service by simply entering an email address and payment amount. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100251247 | CHANGE MANAGEMENT AUTOMATION TOOL - A change management system for an IT environment or other enterprise level environment may comprise a server comprising memory and a controller. A change management application comprising machine readable instructions may be stored in the memory. The change management application may be arranged to perform the following steps: receive a plurality of work orders via a network to be performed during a maintenance period, concatenate the plurality of work orders to generate a master plan for performing the work orders during the maintenance period, and receive status updates for the work orders during the maintenance period down to the individual step level. A display may display a view of the master plan during the maintenance period. The view may include information related to the work orders and a status of the work orders. The status may be updated automatically based on status updates received by the change management application. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250399 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ONLINE COLLECTIONS - Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and systems for creating and managing online collections. In one embodiment, a system comprises: a client device in communication with a business entity server through a network, wherein a user of the client device is able to create and manage collections based on items, products and/or services selected from the business entity server on a stage displayed on the client device, and wherein the collections are adapted to be saved such that arrangement and data associated with the items, products and/or services are persisted into the collection. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250398 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING USER SELECTION EVENTS OVER A NETWORK - In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, systems and methods for facilitating transactions over a network utilize a first component adapted to communicate with a user via a client device over the network and a merchant via a merchant device over the network and a second component adapted to monitor user navigation events over the network, generate a user selection group based on user selections, track user selections, and display user selections to the user via a selection window provided on the client device. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250382 | PAYMENT PROVIDER MONITORED PAYMENT BUTTON - A payment button is generated by a payment provider, and information associated with the payment button is stored with the payment provider, along with a unique identifier for the information. A merchant places the button on a webpage, and users can click on it to process a payment to the merchant. The merchant can change or track information, such as inventory, associated with the button on the payment provider site and can receive updates based on changes in the information, which may also be updated by users clicking on the button to purchase items associated with the button. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100180217 | LIVE SEARCH CHAT ROOM - One embodiment provides a system of exchanging information between a first party and a second party over a network. The system includes an interface module to prompt a query from a first party by a first key word search and to prompt a query from a second party by a second key word search in the network, a key word comparator module to compare the first and second key word searches, and a chat room admission module to automatically admit the first and second parties to a chat room if the first and second key word searches have substantial similarity. The chat room is embedded into a search result web page. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100169963 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO ROTATE SECURITY ASSETS USED FOR SECURE COMMUNICATIONS - Systems and methods to rotate security assets used to for secure communications are disclosed. The system includes receiving a first certificate that includes a first subject name for the remote servers. The first certificate further includes a first public key. Next, the system receives a second certificate that includes the first subject name for the remote servers. The second certificate further includes a second public key that is different from the first public key. Next, the system stores the first and second certificates in a trust module. Next, the system receive a third certificate from a first server included in the plurality of remote servers. Next, the system identifies the first server is trusted. The identifying is based on the third certificate matching any one of the first certificate and the second certificate. Finally, the system establishes a secure communication session with the first server based on the identifying the first server is trusted. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169361 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A DATA DICTIONARY - There is provided a method and system generate a data dictionary for searching data items stored in an information resource. In one embodiment, the system generates a list of synonyms for keywords entered in search queries to the system. A keyword and synonym form a token pair. Token pairs are evaluated according to a bidirectional divergence value calculated for distributions of search results, wherein the searches are based on the token pairs. Token pairs are then selected based on the divergence value. The selected token pairs are compiled into a data dictionary. In one embodiment, the data dictionary is a synonym dictionary used for user search query expansion to find matching items. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169353 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR UNIT OF MEASUREMENT CONVERSION AND SEARCH QUERY EXPANSION - A system and methods for unit of measurement conversion and search query expansion are described. The search query expansion may include identifying an initial unit of measurement associated with a property and an initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement within a search query, automatically forming an expanded search query by expanding the search query to include at least one related unit of measurement associated with the property, and sending the expanded search query to a search engine to search a database. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 07-01-2010 |
