Methods and apparatus for generating recommendations for gifts

1. A method executed by a computer, comprising:

establishing at a website a group of individuals desiring to exchange gifts with each other to celebrate an event;

monitoring, by the computer, activity on the computer of a member of the group to build a profile of the member;

generating, by the computer and based on the profile of the member, recommendations for gifts that the member desires to receive to celebrate the event;

presenting, by the computer, the recommendations for gifts to the member so the member can accept the recommendations for gifts;

transmitting, by the computer and after the member accepts the recommendations for gifts, descriptions of the gifts accepted by the member to the website so other members of the group can select one of the gifts to purchase for the member.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: retrieving, by the computer, pictures of the gifts before the recommendations for the gifts are presented to the member.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: retrieving, by the computer, prices at different websites for the gifts before the recommendations for the gifts are presented to the member.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing an interface at the computer for the member to view pictures of the gifts that are recommended based on the profile of the member;

determining at the interface whether the member desires to add one of the gifts to a group gift exchange at the website.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: crawling, by the computer, an internet to determine websites where the gifts are offered for sale, wherein the computer crawls the internet before the recommendations for the gifts are presented to the member.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: automatically transmitting, by the computer, to the website the descriptions of the gifts, prices for the gifts, and hyperlinks where the gifts are located for sale.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication from the member that the member wants to purchase one of the gifts;

in response to the indication, automatically navigating the computer to a website that offers the one of the gifts for sale.

8. A tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions for causing a computer to execute a method, comprising:

registering a user at a website to join a group of individuals desiring to exchange gifts with each other over the website to celebrate an event;

monitoring, by the computer, activity of the user so the computer can build a user profile of the user;

recommending, by the computer and based on the user profile, gifts that the user desires to receive to celebrate the event;

selecting, by the user, gifts recommended by the computer; and

transmitting the gifts selected by the user to a host computer for display on the website so the group of individuals can select one of the gifts to purchase for the user.

9. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising, crawling an internet to determine prices for the gifts before recommendations for the gifts are provided to the user.

10. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising, crawling an internet to gather pictures of the gifts before recommendations for the gifts are provided to the user.

11. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising:

gathering descriptions and prices for the gifts before the user is presented with recommendations for gifts;

transmitting the descriptions and the prices to the host computer after the user selects the gifts.

12. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising:

determining a type of peripheral device connected to the computer;

recommending a new peripheral device to the user as a recommendation for one of the gifts.

13. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising:

receiving an indication from the user that the user is interested in purchasing one of the gifts;

automatically navigating the computer to a website that offers the one of the gifts for sale upon receiving the indication from the user.

14. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising:

filling a text field at the website with information that describes one of the gifts;

filling a text field at the website with price information for the one of the gifts;

providing the website with a picture of the one of the gifts.

15. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 8 further comprising: secretly transmitting, without knowledge of the user, a recommendation for a gift that the user desires to the host computer for display on the website, wherein the user is unable to view the recommendation for the gift at the website.

16. A computer, comprising:

a memory storing an algorithm; and

a processor executing the algorithm to:

navigate to a website where a group of individuals desire to exchange gifts with each other to celebrate an event;

monitor activity of a member of the group to build a profile of the member;

use the profile of the member to generate recommendations for gifts that the member wants to receive to celebrate the event;

present the recommendations for gifts to the member so the member can accept the recommendations for gifts; and

transmit, after the member accepts the recommendations for gifts, the gifts accepted by the member to the website so other members of the group can select one of the gifts to purchase for the member.

17. The computer of claim 16 , wherein the processor further executes the algorithm to crawl an internet to retrieve pictures of the gifts before the member is presented with the recommendations for gifts.

18. The computer of claim 16 , wherein the processor further executes the algorithm to crawl an internet to retrieve prices of the gifts before the member is presented with the recommendations for gifts.

19. The computer of claim 16 , wherein the processor further executes the algorithm to determine which retail stores sell the gifts before the member is presented with the recommendations for gifts.

20. The computer of claim 16 , wherein the processor further executes the algorithm to determine which internet websites offer the gifts for sale before the member is presented with the recommendations for gifts.