IP Library Granted Patent US 8,458,035
Granted Patent B2
US 8,458,035 · App. 12/715,690 · Granted Jun 4, 2013

Systems and methods for advertising using pay-per-call

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,458,035
App. No.
12/715,690
Granted
Jun 4, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for providing online advertisements to consumers. A method disclosed herein allows a consumer to provide contact information to a business in response to a search request submitted to a search engine. Subsequently, the business may initiate a communication to the consumer at the contact information provided by the consumer. As a result, the business has better assurance that the advertisement fees provided to the search engine is in fact generating better consumer contacts for the business. In an embodiment of the system disclosed herein a telecommunications service provider may receive the contact information from the consumer and establish a line of communication between the consumer and the business.

Claims (85)

1. A method of connecting a consumer with a business, the method comprising:

providing, by a computer operated by at a telecommunications service provider, an online advertisement of the business on a website being viewed by the consumer;

receiving, by the computer, an indication of interest from the consumer about the online advertisement;

in response to the indication of interest, presenting, with the computer, an input option in the form of a pop-up window to the consumer for the business to contact the consumer, wherein the input option requests the consumer to provide contact information of the consumer and requests the consumer to select a preferred mode of communication selected from a group consisting of telephone, e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging (IM);

receiving, by the computer, contact information and the preferred mode of communication from the consumer requested via the input option in the form of the pop-up window;

automatically initiating, by the computer, a line of communication via preferred the mode of communication selected via the input option in the form of the pop-up window from the business to the consumer using the contact information provided via said input option in the form of the pop-up window;

transmitting, by the computer, a message to both the consumer and the business that the business is not available at a particular moment, based on a determination that the line of communication cannot be established from the business to the consumer; and

charging, by the computer, a fee to the business for initiating the line of communication.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving of the contact information from the consumer further comprises receiving contact information by the business.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein initiating of the line of communication from the business to the consumer comprises:

automatically transmitting the consumer contact information to the telecommunications service provider;

generating a first line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the business;

generating a second line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer; and

connecting the first line of communication and the second line of connection.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first line of communication comprises a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider to the business and the second line of communication comprises a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving of the contact information from the consumer further comprises receiving contact information at the telecommunication service provider.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

generating a first line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the business;

generating a second line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer; and

connecting the first line of communication and the second line of communication.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing of the online advertisement of the business further comprises:

receiving a search request from the consumer; and

providing search results responsive to the search request, wherein the search results include the online advertisement of the business.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing of the online advertisement of the business further comprises:

analyzing content of a communication by the consumer; and

generating the online advertisement of the business indicative of the content analysis.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises the consumer's phone number.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein initiating of the communication comprises initiating a phone call from the business to the consumer's phone number.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein initiating of the communication comprises initiating a text message from the business to the consumer.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises the consumer's instant messaging (IM) address.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein initiating of the communication comprises initiating an IM session from the business with the consumer.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein initiating of the phone call from the business to the consumer's phone number further comprises:

automatically initiating a phone call from the business to the consumer; and

alerting a contact personnel at the business regarding the call to the consumer.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein initiating of the phone call from the business to the consumer's phone number further comprises:

receiving a set of consumer identifying information; and

providing the set of consumer identifying information to the contact personnel.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

analyzing content of a conversation between the consumer and the contact personnel; and

modifying the fee charged to the business based on the conversation content analysis.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising modifying the fee charged to the business based on the amount of the consumer's business transaction as a result of the phone call from the business to the consumer.

18. A method of connecting a business to a consumer, the method comprising:

receiving, by computer operated by a telecommunications service provider, an advertisement from the business;

combining, by the computer, at least part of the advertisement with a webpage to generate a first document;

presenting, by the computer, the first document to the consumer;

receiving, by the computer, a selection signal from the consumer selecting the at least part of the advertisement;

in response to the selection signal, generating, by the computer, a second document to the consumer, the second document including an input pop-up window to receive consumer contact information, wherein the input pop-up window requests the consumer to select a preferred mode of communication selected from a group consisting of telephone, e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging (IM);

receiving, by the computer, the consumer contact information and the preferred mode of communication requested via the input pop-up window;

automatically initiating, by the computer, a line of communication via the preferred mode of communication selected via the input pop-up window originating from the business to the consumer using the consumer contact information;

transmitting, by the telecommunications service provider, a message to both the consumer and the business that the business is not available at a particular moment, based on a determination that the line of communication cannot be established from the business to the consumer; and

charging, by the computer, a fee to the business for initiating the line of communication.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein combining of the at least part of the advertisement with the webpage further comprises:

receiving cookie information from the consumer;

analyzing the cookie information; and

based on the result of the analysis, combining the advertisement of the business with the webpage.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein receiving of the consumer contact information further comprises receiving the contact information at the telecommunication service provider.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein receiving of the consumer contact information further comprises receiving the contact information by the business.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein establishing of the line of communication from the business to the consumer comprises:

automatically transmitting the consumer contact information to the telecommunication service provider;

generating a first line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the business;

generating a second line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer; and

connecting the first line of communication and the second line of communication.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the first line of communication comprises a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider to the business and the second line of communication comprises a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer.

24. A system of connecting a business to a consumer, the system comprising:

a search engine system in communication with the network, wherein the search engine system comprises a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium having first software stored thereon, the first software programming the search engine system to:

receive a search request from a consumer computing device,

generate a search result document in response to the search request, wherein the search result document includes a request for consumer contact information,

transmit the search result document to the consumer computing device,

display an input pop-up window on the consumer computing device requesting the consumer to provide contact information of the consumer and to select a preferred mode of communication selected from a group consisting of telephone, e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging (IM), and

receive the consumer contact information and the preferred mode of communication from the consumer computing device via the input pop-up window; and

an automated call generation system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium having second software stored thereon, the automated call generation system in communication with the search engine system via the network, wherein the second software programs the automated call generation system to:

receive the consumer contact information and the preferred mode of communication from the search engine system,

automatically generate a line of communication from a communications equipment associated with the preferred mode of communication and located at the business to the consumer,

transmit a message to both the consumer and the business that the business is not available at a particular moment, based on a determination that the line of communication cannot be established from the business to the consumer; and

charge a fee to the business for generating the line of communication.

25. The system of claim 24 , further comprising displaying the search result document on the consumer computing device in the form of a search result pop-up window.

26. The system of claim 24 , wherein the consumer computing device is configured to display the search result document as a web-page on a website of the business.

27. The system of claim 24 , wherein the automated call generation system is further configured to receive the consumer contact information.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the automated call generation system is further configured to establish the line of communication from the business to the consumer by:

automatically transmitting the consumer contact information to a telecommunication service provider;

generating a first line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the business;

generating a second line of communication from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer; and

connecting the first line of communication and the second line of communication.

29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the first line of communication comprises a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider to the business and the second line of communication comprises a telephone call from the telecommunications service provider to the consumer.

30. The system of claim 28 , further comprising a billing system in communication with the automated call generation system and configured to charge the fee to the business for generating the line of communication between the business and the consumer.

Assignments (7)
RELEASE (REEL 066874 / FRAME 0793) Recorded Apr 15, 2026
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
To: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
Reel/Frame 075405/0877 →
SECURITY INTEREST (FIRST LIEN) Recorded Apr 15, 2026
From: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 075406/0026 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 25, 2024
From: COMPUTERSHARE TRUST COMPANY, N.A, AS SUCCESSOR TO WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
Reel/Frame 066885/0917 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT (FIRST LIEN) Recorded Mar 22, 2024
From: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 066874/0793 →
NOTES SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 24, 2020
From: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 051692/0646 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 1, 2017
From: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 044652/0829 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 14, 2010
From: VERBIL, JOHN
To: QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC.
Reel/Frame 024388/0071 →