Enhanced network based promotional tracking system
A novel communications network tracks and manages Merchant and Affiliate promotional efforts in a seamless, integrated fashion. Operative characteristics include central control over new, Rich Media promotional links, allowing sophisticated promotions employing Java-based presentations or similar to be easily applied across a broad network of connected Affiliate sites. The system accomplishes this, in part, by providing a selective API for use in wrapping the promotional links. In accordance with this protocol, these links may be hosted by the Clearinghouse or Merchant, and sourced from a variety of third-party vendors.
1. A Clearinghouse system in communication with a computer network that includes a plurality of Merchant sites and a plurality of content provider web pages, each Merchant site providing computer-based access to at least one of goods and services, the system comprising:
a first software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the first software module when executed causes a computer to configure promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said first software module causes said computer to configure said promotions so that:
said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from said Clearinghouse system, and said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse system, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing promotional presentations based on said common coding protocol, wherein each of said promotional presentations is associated with a promotion in a content provider web page;
a second software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the second software module when executed causes said computer to handle Web browser requests for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, wherein said second software module causes said computer to retrieve from said computer-readable medium said promotional presentation associated with said promotion, and communicates said promotional presentation to said Web browser; and
wherein said system includes a clearinghouse server that tracks commerce associated with said promotions.
2. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1 , further comprising a partitioned Web Site program that provides separate areas for Merchant and Affiliate access to promotional presentations for selective uploading and downloading.
3. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1 , wherein the promotional presentations are selected from the group consisting of: e-mail, search box, text, banner, and storefront.
4. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1 , wherein said common coding protocol is Java script.
5. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1 , wherein one or more Affiliates access the Clearinghouse sever for selective review of one or more Merchant offerings.
6. The Clearinghouse system of claim 1 , further comprising a module that tracks User interactions with the promotional presentations.
7. A computer implemented method for managing promotional presentations in an Internet-based computer network, the method comprising:
a) configuring, by a computer, promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said promotions are configured so that:
said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from a Clearinghouse server, and
said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse server, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;
b) providing, by said computer, a plurality of promotional presentations based on said common coding protocol, wherein each of said plurality of promotional presentations is associated with a promotion on a content provider web page;
c) in response to a request from a Web browser for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, communicating, from said computer, said promotional presentation associated with said promotion to said Web browser; and
further comprising tracking commerce associated with the promotions.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the promotional presentations are selected from the group consisting of: a search box, e-mail, dynamic text, Java script promotion, and applet-driven promotion.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the common coding protocol is Java script.
10. A Clearinghouse system in communication with a computer network that includes a plurality of Merchant sites and a plurality of content provider web pages, each Merchant site providing computer-based access to at least one of goods and services, the system comprising:
a first software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the first software module when executed causes a computer to configure promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said first software module causes said computer to configure said promotions so that:
said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from said Clearinghouse system, and
said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse system, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing URLs of Web sites which contain promotional presentations, wherein each of said URLs is associated with a promotion in a content provider web page;
a second software module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein said second software module when executed causes a computer to handle Web browser requests for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, wherein said second software module when executed causes said computer to retrieve from said computer-readable medium a URL associated with said promotion, and communicates a common coding protocol instruction to said Web browser which causes said Web browser to request said promotional presentation from said URL; and
wherein said system includes a clearinghouse server that tracks commerce associated with said promotions.
11. The Clearinghouse system of claim 10 , wherein at least one of said URLs points to one of said plurality of Merchant sites.
12. The Clearinghouse system of claim 10 , wherein the computer network further includes a plurality of hosting computers distinct from sail plurality of Merchant sites, wherein at least one of said URLs points to one of said plurality of hosting computers.
13. A computer implemented method for managing promotional presentations in an Internet-based computer network, the method comprising:
a) configuring, by a computer, promotions for placement in content provider web pages, wherein said promotions are configured so that:
said promotions contain a common coding protocol instruction which, when executed by a Web browser, causes said Web browser to request a promotional presentation from a Clearinghouse server, and
said promotions, when selected by a user, cause said Web browser to be redirected from a content provider web page first to said Clearinghouse server, and, thence, to a Merchant site associated with said selected promotion;
b) providing a plurality of URLs of Web sites that contain promotional presentations, wherein each of said plurality of URLs is associated with a promotion in a content provider web page; and
c) in response to a request from a Web browser for a promotional presentation associated with a promotion in a content provider web page, accessing, by said computer, said URL associated with said promotion, and communicating, from said computer, a common coding protocol instruction to said Web browser which causes said Web browser to request said promotional presentation from said URL associated with said promotion; and
further comprising tracking commerce associated with the promotions.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least one of said URLs points to a Merchant site.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least one of said URLs points to a hosting computer distinct from any Merchant site.