Associative search engine
DCFirst Claim
1. An advertising machine implemented on at least one computer and operable to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a user, the advertising machine comprising:
- a communications interface operable to interface with the data processing device of the user via the communications link;
a database search engine operable to;
receive from the data processing device via the communications link a search request that includes a search argument; and
search at least one database using the search argument to produce search results;
an associative search engine operable to select at least one advertisement from an advertisement database based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; and
the advertising machine operable to;
transmit the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device;
receive a response from the data processing device via the communications link that indicates selection of an advertisement; and
based upon the advertisement selection, generate a fee record.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to an advertisement machine which provides advertisements to a user searching for desired information within a data network. The machine receives from a user, a search request including a search argument corresponding to the desired information and searches, based upon the received search argument a first database having data network related information to generate search results. It also correlating the received search argument to a particular advertisement in a second database having advertisement related information. The search results together with the particular advertisement are provided by the machine to the user.
14 Citations
48 Claims
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1. An advertising machine implemented on at least one computer and operable to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a user, the advertising machine comprising:
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a communications interface operable to interface with the data processing device of the user via the communications link; a database search engine operable to; receive from the data processing device via the communications link a search request that includes a search argument; and search at least one database using the search argument to produce search results; an associative search engine operable to select at least one advertisement from an advertisement database based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; and the advertising machine operable to; transmit the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device; receive a response from the data processing device via the communications link that indicates selection of an advertisement; and based upon the advertisement selection, generate a fee record. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An advertising machine implemented on at least one computer and operable to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a user, the advertising machine comprising:
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a communications interface operable to interface with the data processing device of the user via the communications link; a database search engine operable to; receive from the data processing device via the communications link a search request that includes a search argument; and search at least one database using the search argument to produce search results; an associative search engine operable to select at least one advertisement from an advertisement database based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; and the advertising machine operable to; transmit the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device; receive a response from the data processing device via the communications link that indicates non-selection of the at least one advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for operating an advertising machine implemented on at least one computer to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a user, the method comprising:
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the advertising machine receiving from the data processing device via the communications link a search request that includes a search argument; the advertising machine searching at least one database using the search argument to produce search results; the advertising machine selecting at least one advertisement from an advertisement database based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; the advertising machine transmitting the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device; the advertising machine receiving a response from the data processing device via the communications link that indicates selection of an advertisement; and the advertising machine generating a fee record based upon the selection of the advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for operating an advertising machine implemented on at least one computer to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a user, the method comprising:
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the advertising machine receiving from the data processing device via the communications link a search request that includes a search argument; the advertising machine searching at least one database using the search argument to produce search results; the advertising machine selecting at least one advertisement from an advertisement database based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; the advertising machine transmitting the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device; and the advertising machine receiving a response from the data processing device via the communications link that indicates non-selection of the at least one advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A server computer that is operable to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a user, the server computer comprising:
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at least one communications interface operable to interface with the data processing device of the user, a database search engine, and an associative search engine; the server computer, using the at least one communications interface, is operable to; receive from the data processing device via the communications link a search request that includes a search argument; and interact with the database search engine to receive search results from the database search engine that are selected based upon the search argument; interact with the associative search engine to receive an advertisement that is selected based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; and transmit the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of operating a server computer to provide advertisements comprising:
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the server computer receiving from a data processing device via at least one communications interface a search request that includes a search argument; and the server computer interacting with a database search engine via the at least one communications interface to receive search results from the database search engine that are selected based upon the search argument; the server computer interacting with an associative search engine via the at least one communications interface to receive an advertisement that is selected based upon at least one of the search argument and the search results; and the server computer transmitting the search results together with the at least one advertisement via the at least one communications interface to the data processing device. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification