TARGETING USERS WITH BUYER GROUPS IN A DEMAND DRIVEN PROMOTION SYSTEM
A system and method for providing a demand driven promotion system supporting social networking and searching, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.
1 . A method for identifying a buyer group for a consumer product purchase, the method comprising:
identifying a product based on user interaction with a web page;
identifying one or more buyer groups associated with the identified product; and
presenting the identified one or more buyer groups to a user.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying a product comprises:
providing a general-purpose search interface to a user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on user interaction with the general-purpose search interface.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said identifying the product based, at least in part, on user interaction with the general-purpose search interface comprises:
identifying a search term input by the user into the general-purpose search interface; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified search term.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said identifying the product based, at least in part, on user interaction with the general-purpose search interface comprises:
identifying a hyperlink selected by the user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified hyperlink.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying a product comprises:
identifying a web page; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified web page.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying a product comprises:
identifying a visual object selected by a user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified visual object.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying a product comprises:
identifying a hyperlink selected by a user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified hyperlink,
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying a product comprises:
identifying user-highlighted text on a web page; and
identifying the product based at least in part on the identified user-highlighted text.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying one or more buyer groups comprises searching a database for buyer groups associated with the identified product.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein said searching a database comprises searching a local database without communicating over the Internet.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said identifying one or more buyer groups comprises searching at least one database via the Internet.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said presenting comprises presenting a list of buyer groups to the user.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said presenting comprises superimposing a list of buyer groups on a currently-displayed web page.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said presenting comprises presenting a list of user-selectable buyer groups to the user.
15 . The method of claim 1 , comprising, in response to a user input, presenting an action menu to the user, where said action menu comprises an option to search for a buyer group.
16 . The method of claim 15 , comprising performing said presenting in response to a user selecting the option to search for a buyer group.
17 . A system for identifying a buyer group for a consumer product purchase, the system comprising:
at least one module that operates to, at least:
identify a product based on user interaction with a web page;
identify one or more buyer groups associated with the identified product; and
presenting the identified one or more buyer groups to a user.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify a product by, at least in part:
providing a general-purpose search interface to a user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on user interaction with the general-purpose search interface.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify the product based, at least in part, on user interaction with the general-purpose search interface by, at least in part:
identifying a search term input by the user into the general-purpose search interface; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, the identified search term.
20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify the product based, at least in part, on user interaction with the general-purpose search interface by, at least in part:
identifying a hyperlink selected by the user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified hyperlink.
21 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify a product by, at least in part:
identifying a web page; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified web page.
22 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify a product by, at least in part:
identifying a visual object selected by a user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified visual object.
23 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify a product by, at least in part:
identifying a hyperlink selected by a user; and
identifying the product based, at least in part, on the identified hyperlink,
24 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify a product by, at least in part:
identifying user-highlighted text on a web page; and
identifying the product based at least in part on the identified user-highlighted text.
25 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify one or more buyer groups by, at least in part, searching a database for buyer groups associated with the identified product.
26 . The system of claim 25 , wherein the at least one module operates to search a database by, at least in part, searching a local database without communicating over the Internet.
27 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to identify one or more buyer groups by, at least in part, searching at least one database via the Internet.
28 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to present the identified one or more buyer groups to a user by, at least in part, presenting a list of buyer groups to the user.
29 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to present the identified one or more buyer groups to a user by, at least in part, superimposing a list of buyer groups on a currently-displayed web page.
30 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to present the identified one or more buyer groups to a user by, at least in part, presenting a list of user-selectable buyer groups to the user.
31 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one module operates to, in response to a user input, present an action menu to the user, where said action menu comprises an option to search for a buyer group.
32 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the at least one module operates to present the identified one or more buyer groups to a user in response to a user selecting the option to search for a buyer group.