WO2001037137A1 - Method and apparatus for conducting e-commerce transactions - Google Patents

Abstract

Performing electronic transactions via an electronic computer network includes a 'consumer agent' (1) (a software module on the PC of the consumer uses the system) which processes (2) transactions, inquiries and requests initiated by the consumer. The consumer agent also 'remembers' (4) all details of every such transaction, as well as any other information concerning the consumer which is input into it. Based on this accumulation knowledge, it 'learns' the consumer's preferences and buying habits, so that it can then perform two essential functions. First, at the initiative of the consumer, it sends a purchase request into the system, defining it in terms of a universal protocol which provides a standardized classification and description system for goods, services and information. Thereafter, the consumer agent filters the offers and selects only those which most closely accord with the consumer's preferences and buying habits, based on the information which the agent has accumulated over time.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING E-COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 (e) (1) based on Provisional U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/165,506, filed November 15, 1999.

The present invention relates to a computer implemented arrangement for conducting transactions and conveying information, including highly targeted distribution of advertising materials, via the Internet. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The sheer quantity of information available on the

Internet has expanded in recent years to the point where it has become exceedingly complex for individuals and organizations

- both the people searching for information, goods and services online, and the purveyors of those commodities - to find each other on the web. This includes, for example, the consumer who is seeking to locate a desired good or service at the best possible price. (Other important considerations might also include delivery time, quality, availability of service, etc.) . The current search and purchase method for buying products online provides such a large number of alternatives that it becomes impossible for the consumer to know whether he or she has obtained the most desirable alternative, not only in terms of his or her specified criteria, but also in terms of his or her general buying preferences and habits.

Additionally, in searching for a good or service online, the burden is currently on the consumer to perfect the query so that the results returned would be relevant to what it is they are trying to find. Many times, the search is abandoned, and the user simply visits a top-of-mind well-known brand name directly, or they visit a portal purchase site. Regardless, the method is inefficient as consumers are forced to rely on their own resources to find the products or services they are searching for, and even then, there is no guarantee that they are finding the best product available. The same difficulties exist for researching information and resources (jobs, articles, expertise, services, and raw goods) .

Similarly, for the purveyor of goods, services, or information online, the process is equally inefficient. In order to compete for visitors and consumers, vendors must rely on marginally successful marketing efforts. These efforts - which can include both online and off-line advertising - are very expensive and provide only limited success. There are simply too many other vendors utilizing the same tactics and communication channels, and there is no standard method for assuring that advertising materials are directed only to the most appropriate audience - that is those prospective customers with an extremely high motivation to buy. While some available search engines claim to get close to this ideal, a one percent user click-through interest is still regarded as successful. As a result, return on advertising expenditures is dramatically depressed as fewer consumers are moved to action, and spiraling expenses force many vendors to abandon the effort entirely. As existing search engines have become less and less effective in finding "the correct" businesses under a specific set of criteria, banner ads have been a natural progression in marketing. In effect, they acted as a "paid" model to search engine listings, placing a branding presence at the top of a page, under a variety of circumstances. Whether the business was well targeted to the consumer search was irrelevant. As long as the advertising space was paid for, the ad would appear for a variety of reasons, all based on a willingness to pay top dollar for the space. These are still very much the scenarios that exist today.

Accordingly, the prospective consumers who seek information are bombarded with a large volume of unwanted and irrelevant advertising material. The phenomena of receiving this irrelevant material, and of trying to find pertinent information in a growing universe of goods and services which are available online, is referred to herein as "clutter". Clutter creates a competitive environment in which only those with large financial resources can succeed; it also causes wasted advertising dollars and consumer confusion. The complexity of the current Internet has befuddling effects for both the consumer and vendor - no matter the resource, information, product or service that is being transferred from one party to another. (As used herein, the terms the "consumption" and "purveying" of goods or services apply to any product, information, asset or resource, be it tangible or intangible, that can be transferred or transacted between two parties - the party searching and the party providing.) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one object of the invention is to eliminate or reduce the amount of clutter encountered by Internet consumers in the conduct of transactions via the Internet.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system which helps consumers to find products, resources or services online in the shortest and most direct fashion possible. Another object of the invention is to increase the effectiveness of marketing efforts so that they are directed only to extremely high percentage ("hot") prospects, thereby effectively and efficiently matching consumer demand with vendor supply. Still another object of the invention is to provide a system for limiting the distribution of advertisements and product information, to consumers who are seeking such information.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system which includes provisions for classifying categories of information regarding resources, products, and/or services, so that data can be most effectively compared, filtered and then delivered upon request.

A further object of the invention is to provide a system for matching a consumer request with vendor supply and then carrying out the appropriate purchase or transfer transaction information in an efficient, cost effective manner.

Finally, another object of the invention is to provide a system that aggregates, sorts and monitors transactional information for routing and reporting purposes. Such reporting information can be used to help vendors, and the industries they belong to. With the ability to completely aggregate, standardize and quantify all Internet transactions, this data can be used to define the health of the economy itself. These and other objects and advantages are achieved by the E-commerce method and apparatus according to the invention, in which a "consumer agent" (a software module that resides on the PC of each individual consumer who utilizes the system) processes all transactions, inquiries and requests initiated by the consumer. The consumer agent also "remembers" all details of every such transaction, as well as any other information concerning the consumer which is input into it. Based on this accumulated knowledge, it "learns" the consumer's preferences and buying habits, so that it can then perform two essential functions (among others) . First, at the initiative of the consumer, it sends a purchase request into the system, defining it in terms of a universal protocol which provides a standardized classification and description system for goods, services and information. Thereafter, upon receipt of the response, which typically includes a very large number of qualified offers, the consumer agent filters the offers and selects only those which most closely accord with the consumer's preferences and buying habits, based on the information which the agent has accumulated over time. In this manner, the consumer agent performs the useful function of reducing the amount of "clutter" through which a consumer must sift in order to find a desired response.

The consumer agent will be a repository for a large amount of information concerning the consumer who uses it. For example, it might know the date when the consumer' s automobile lease expires, his/her spouse's and children's birthdays, etc. If the consumer has indicated to the agent (by manipulating the consumer agent "settings") , that he/she wishes to receive a limited amount of targeting advertising, the consumer agent might, for example, solicit, receive and filter advertising for cars which match the consumer's buying preference, a short while before expiration of the consumer's automobile lease. In this manner, the consumer agent performs a second essential function of assuring that advertising messages from prospective vendors are routed only to extremely high percentage ("hot") prospects .

In order to perform these two functions, and to provide additional information accumulation, storage, -sorting, analysis and delivery functions as well, the consumer agent communicates with servers at vendor web sites (or web sites of purveyors of desired information) via a network of servers which, like the vendor web site servers, are accessible via the Internet, and which serve as routing/switching interfaces to and from vendor web site servers on the one hand and to and from individual consumer agents on the other hand. Such servers also perform a data accumulation function, which enables the system to accumulate an extremely wide array of aggregate market information and statistics that can be made available to vendors in the form of industry specific reports and analyses. In order to facilitate the efficient, rapid and comprehensive transfer of information between consumers and vendors, the system according to the invention includes an intermediary programming layer (the "XML layer") between the buyer and the seller, which includes a standardized protocol for classifying and describing goods and services available via the Internet. Product categories, descriptors and results are controlled directly by the operating principals of the system. Those vendors wishing to differentiate and/or ensure their product (s) appears in search results, will become active participants in the development of specific product or description categories in the XML layer.

The XML layer is resident on still another server which is accessible via the Internet, and which embodies the universal protocol. It is capable of bridging the gap between disparate databases and operating systems, allowing them to share information.

The information processing and transaction system according to the invention thus solves the problems that have surfaced as a result of the Internet's expansive growth. Namely, it will facilitate data, retail, wholesale and information transactions by eliminating the clutter commonly associated with consumer search and purchase- activity. At the same time, the new system will create a much-improved e- commerce model that directly benefits the purveyors of goods and services by establishing a standard method for marketing and selling goods online.

An important difference between the invention and known prior art systems is that the intermediating agent handles user requests and ignores irrelevant data and marketing noise, and presents consistent and coherent comparisons of relevant products from the entire Internet, side-by-side to the consumer, based on a universal descriptor protocol. In this manner, a valid comparison is assured. For the vendor, whenever a specific request is sent from a consumer into the system, if the vendor has the ability to respond to the requesting descriptors, the response will be delivered automatically back to the agent. If the request cannot be fulfilled, participating and non-participating vendors will be given reports about inventory requests they were not able to fulfill. This will allow them to become more competitive with their offerings by taking part in our system.

Through the use of this system, there will be little or no need to reveal consumer identity to the commerce system, until absolutely necessary (point of purchase) . Consumer identity will be disguised as a Universal ID# when conducting searches and requesting information. All the sophisticated information developed about a particular consumer, their habits and preferences will be stored on their own computer. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a block diagram which depicts the overall configuration of the system according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows the sequence for placing an order for goods in a first example of the invention;

Figure 3 shows a display of a final selection of goods after sorting and selection by the consumer agent; and

Figures 4a, 4b and 4c show displays which appear in a window shopping made of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS System Overview Figure 1 is a block diagram which illustrates the configuration of the information and transaction processing system according to the invention, which includes the following components : 1. The Web Users Personal "Agent." This is a software component, which will reside primarily on the individual consumer's computer. It monitors and controls not only the process of searching for information or products, but also the transfer or transacting of that asset between the user and purveyor of a good, service or resource. The agent will also control the communication of extremely targeted marketing, research and consumer-based information.

Initially, a user can supply its agent with a personal profile, providing a wide range of information about his or her preferences and living pattern. The agent will then consistently monitor and record every transaction conducted by the user through the system. Based on this information, the agent will become intimately familiar with the user, including searching, purchasing and consumption habits, patterns and preferences . When a user submits a request, the agent transmits the request via the system (described below) , and may even make recommendations. It also receives in return, all relevant results. These results, as yet unseen by the user, are received in the form of a list that includes all those vendors/purveyors who are actually capable of satisfying the request. The agent then actively sorts and winnows this information and displays a limited number of selections to the user based on the user' s preferences and on the agent's filtering capabilities. That is, based on its knowledge of the user, the agent analyzes each listing from each prospective supplier, filters for conformity to the user's preferences and history, (using prioritization criteria specified by the user) and then presents only the selection (s) which both satisfy the request and most closely match the user's known preferences. This eliminates the need for the user to sift through what can be an otherwise overwhelming number of possibilities.

In addition, the agent can also monitor, sort and screen advertising materials and consumer-based information. Depending on the user's preferences, the agent will forward only the amount and type of advertising, literature or information that meets the user's previously specified requirements. In this way, the user' s personal information will remain one-step removed from the clutter of marketers who seek such information in order to direct large volumes of unwanted advertising materials to him. The agent may of course be used beyond the realm of the Internet, in any other digital media, including digital television and phone. 2. Agent switching/filtering servers.

This software, which is resident on a server that is accessible via the Internet, takes all requests from any agent and properly routes/retrieves information between individual consumer agents and the rest of the system. Initially, when a first-pass request is made, the request passes through this server, which interprets the request, gathers the relevant additional request parameters (that is, standardized search terms according to the universal protocol) from the XML repository (below) and returns the results to the agent (user) , so that he may supply additional details concerning his request by responding to the additional request parameters. Once a formal request is sent through the system (that is, a request which includes the user' s responses to the additional request parameters), the agent switching/ filtering servers route the request to the proper vendors (which are usually grouped by vertical industry) , via the Central Transaction Data Servers and the Vendor Switching/Filtering Servers, described below.

Once a request is answered from a variety of vendors, within a period of time specified by the user, these same routing servers direct the data back to the proper agent. Requests are identified with a request number, so servers can deliver the data back to the appropriate agent. The agent switching/ filtering servers thus behave much like a switching/routing system. 3. XML Layer tag repository. This software layer is resident on a server that is accessible via the Internet. The XML layer, as its name implies, is written in Extensible Markup Language (XML) . It is programmed to include a universal protocol (standardized classification of information resources, goods and services) which is used for the purpose of filtering and communicating transacrional information. When a request is sent from a user's agent, through the agent switching/filtering servers, the agent switching/filtering servers retrieve all the relevant XML descriptor tags from this server. The XML descriptor tags residing here are constantly evolving and kept current by industry professionals. As mentioned previously, the XML layer will reside on an Internet-connected network server.

4. Central Transactions data server

The principal function of the Central Transactions Data Server is to record and store transactional data. Once a request is made (and possibly later fulfilled) through the use of the above systems, the transaction (whether it was successful or not) is recorded in a transactions data server. This server records every single request and the associated responses for anyone using the system. This data is aggregated and used via a system (described below) to help vendors conduct business more efficiently and to report on industry trends.

5. Vendor communications Servers.

The system also includes vendor services servers, which are accessible via the Internet. These servers will generate reports that are industry specific from the data supplied in the Central Transactions Data Server (above) . They can also speak directly to vendor contacts and vendor databases, retrieving information and feeding back valuable transaction and marketing information (but not identified to specific consumers). These vendor servers act as a powerful business communications channel to any vendor or purveyor of information or resources, by showing activity within the marketplace. Vendors will use the information provided as a tool for making business and marketing decisions.

6. Vendor switching / filtering servers

These servers are used to route the requests sent from the agent, through the agent switching /filtering servers, to the proper vendor's data servers. Just as the agent switching/filtering servers act as routing switches to deliver information to and from the proper agent, likewise, the vendor communications servers route requests to and from the vendors themselves into the system. This behaves much like a switching/routing system. 7. Vendor data servers. These are servers owned and maintained by any individual vendor. While the system according to the invention may accommodate the storage of vendor data as a service, existing databases of goods, services and information, which are owned by any individual business entity, are the data source are resident on the businesses' infrastructure. The invention has the ability to retrieve information from vendor websites.

It will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art that the system configuration shown in Figure 1 is merely a representative embodiment, and that other allocations or arrangements of the functionality of the various depicted components are possible. Also, the invention has application beyond the retail segment of the economy. System Details Users participate in the system through the "agent" that can sort through massive amounts of shopping, advertising and Internet data, make intelligent decisions, and present users with intuitive "best decisions" when shopping or searching the web. Preference settings will allow users to choose how they would like to search or shop - how many options they would like returned in a search for a particular product or if they would like the agent to simply find and purchase the item automatically; if they want results returned immediately or if the agent should take more time and find the best deal within a given price parameter. In addition, users can also establish an order of priority of preference criteria for the purpose of evaluating the conformity of responsive offers to their historical preference patterns, etc. For example, first priority might be given to the user's brand preferences, while a second priority might be given to brand popularity; the third might be price and the fourth delivery speed or cost. (It is of course apparent that these are merely examples, and that numerous other priorities could be established.) The agent then uses this information to select the user's specified number of most favorable responses. In addition, users will have the option of receiving marketing information pertaining to a certain category of items or an item in particular, and decide whether they want to receive promotional information on discounts and best buys. That is, regardless of the reduction of clutter, consumers may actually want to receive advertising on a particular topic, even though their agent is doing the job of reducing advertising clutter. For this purpose, the agent can be "tuned" to deliver only the amount or particular type of advertising that the consumer wants to see. For example, the user may instruct the agent that he/she wishes to receive no ads at all, or ads only from vendors from which he/she has previously made purchase, ads from websites - which he/she has visited recently or those for brands he/she has previously purchased, etc. Also, the agent can be authorized to forward "relevant" ads based on learned user buying habits and personal information profile.

The advertising that slips through the system in this manner is thus highly targeted (based on consumer profiles and time-related urgency to buy) . This is the ultimate model for real-time advertising, so the ads themselves are of great value to both the vendor and the customer. Ads will also be much higher impact; not being constrained by the standard banner ad requirements (fast loading, single media animated gifs of a very specific size) . These advertisements can be high-end multimedia, which the agent is pre-equipped to play.

The agent, which is both a critical component to the overall system and a stand-alone product, is an intermediating software that resides primarily on a user's PC. Its function is to organize, sort and intelligently make decisions about information flowing from and to the end-user on their PC. The agent removes the burden of humans having to sort through vast amounts of disparate information in different locations, in different formats, with different availabilities and different data types. The agent is also capable of resolving exact descriptions of products, services and resources on the user's behalf, sending very well defined requests to any standardized medium (like the Internet by using XML, interactive television using XML, and even by phone) . These standardized, exact descriptions allow for the request of highly accurate descriptions, products, services and resources anywhere, in any electronic medium.

The agent allows the user to request exactly what he or she is looking for, and return very accurate results. The agent reduces the time spent typically sorting through search engine results, different vendors with different products, and the thousands of available options presented when even casually surfing for information or products. By providing the agent with a concise description (first as an English-language sentence, and then as a specific form) of the desired goods, services or information, the agent is empowered to seek, sort and present excellent results back to the consumer either as a single recommendation, or as comparable results so that the consumer can "comparison shop" on a consistent basis. By watching all the transactions requested, over time, the agent becomes more "tuned" to the user's behavior, making it more intelligent as to the user' s preferences and shopping/surfing habits. In fact, the agent is able to learn through correction. That is, if the agent returns inappropriate results, or results that are not to his/her liking, the user can tell it so, and it won't repeat that behavior.

The agent is initially tuned to the user by use of a questionnaire, which addresses issues of habits, demographics, psychological aspects, historical data, preferences of all sorts. This initially trains the agent for its first-time use. The agent then builds on this information over time to fine- tune itself to its master's behavior. This allows it to make more and more intelligent decisions the more it is used.

The agent is a piece of software written in any standard applications development environment (C++, Visual C++_TM, Powerbuilder_TM, Visual Basic_TM, etc.). Its learning ability is initially facilitated by storing large amounts of preference material in an external file (a set of preference files) . In addition, the agent can also incorporate known neural-network computing processing techniques, so that actual "learning" can take place when watching user behavior. This allows for highly complex data in vast quantities to be monitored to infer behavior characteristics of the user. The user interface of the agent may also include interchangeable "skins" (visually varied user interfaces) to customize the way the software is presented to the user.

The agent speaks to the user in natural-English text and through a browser-like interface, using for-m fields, pop-up menus, visual displays, and even voice commands to execute its actions. When the agent communicates with the Internet, it translates user requests into a standardized language format

(Extensible mark-up language — XML) that other databases and server machines can understand. In this manner, through a universal language, disparate types and amounts of data can be gathered, assembled and compared, either immediately, or over a period of time, and then translated and delivered back to the user.

When a user submits a request to his/her agent, the agent first retrieves all available system description fields for that category or item according to the standard protocol stored in the XML layer, and returns it to the user. The user then fills out secondary fields to narrow the search, and submits a final request. When a request from a consumer's agent is sent up into the system, the switching layer determines where the request should go (to which product category or vertical industry) , routes it to the appropriate category and gathers responses from category vendors. Only the merchants capable of fulfilling the EXACT request (including preferences) are allowed to respond with data. Once the responses are gathered, they are routed back to the consumer agent; the demand/supply transactions are recorded and stored in the vertical segment log files for later use (reporting) and returned to the agent. All transactions are recorded, regardless of whether items are bought or not. The agent (capable of deciphering any XML code) then actively sorts the information, makes selections based on the user's preferences and instructions, and presents the best selection (s) to the customer. When results are presented back to the user, in a shopping environment for instance, the user can buy an item of choice merely by clicking a single button in the user interface. This automatically communicates all the information to the vendor necessary to make the purchase, and debit either a standard credit card or alternative methods of payment. Alternatively, the agent may also autonomously purchase the product on the spot, if given that authority by the user.

The agents which act as the interface to the system will have a scalable "degree of participation" slider. This allows the customer to participate in the shopping and selection process to whatever degree they feel comfortable. They can choose from "old-school" shopping (the present situation on the Internet, where many and unfiltered options are returned) or "complete intermediation, " where one choice is delivered back to the customer for approval (with no branding advertising attached) .

Regardless, the customer chooses to what degree "shopping" is complex (or convenient) , AND to what degree marketing clutter is presented to the customer. This results in: a heightened quality receipt of product ^• products delivered under the terms specified • products bundled with added-value components immediate gratification Once a selection is made, the purchase is transacted through the same system, a record is kept and the transaction is also recorded on the vertical industry log file in the vendor communications servers (again, used later for reporting) . The vendor ships the item via the shipping agency specified.

An important element of the, is the intermediating XML layer between the buyer and seller. XML is very well suited for the Internet and is capable of bridging the gap between disparate database and operating systems - allowing them to share information. In fact, custom-configurations of XML will allow any two systems, or any two computers, to communicate efficiently and with minimal development time. Thus, XML is an excellent environment to carry the type of complex agent requests as outlined in the system. Vendor inventory information and any associated data from legacy databases can be incorporated seamlessly to return desired query results to the consumer. The XML layer used within the system will be capable of "translating" and "categorizing" all of the necessary and widely disparate data types currently being used on the Internet to communicate information from vendor to consumer and vendor to vendor. Using XML, a series of headers and descriptors will be used to specify product listings within given categories. This will allow agents to search with standardized criteria and the system will return extremely accurate results .

Examples of headers and descriptors in XML are: • Category: (retail) (Noun Header)

Product type: (clothing) (Noun Header) Item: (sneakers) (Noun Header) Vendor: (Specific Brand Name) (Noun Header) Style: (high-tops) (Adjective Descriptor tag) • Color: (red with polka dots) (Adjective Descriptor tag)

Size: (10.5) (Adjective Descriptor tag) Gender: (Men's) (Adjective Descriptor tag) Lace type: (white fat laces with plastic tips) (Adjective Descriptor tag) Shipping Preference: (Next day air, 3-day UPS, US postal, Internet download) (Adjective Descriptor tag)

Discount: (available to previous buyer) (Adjective Descriptor tag)

Lasting power: (6 months) (Adjective Descriptor tag) Popularity index: (very popular) (Adjective Descriptor tag)

Rating for this vendor: (8) (Adjective Descriptor tag)

Virtually any category header can be defined for any product within any industry. Exact specifications may be controlled by a consortium board appointed to govern the use of header tags, industry wide. Vendor participants will benefit from a standardized system that delivers accurate results to consumers (i.e. products are compared consistently) . The system will encourage vendors to supply a better quality of product and service so their listings are returned as recommendations to users. In addition, vendor specific additions can be made to the XML descriptors, which will allow vendors to thoroughly describe the proprietary and unique aspects of their products.

XML "header" information is needed on two levels. At the first level, headers are needed for the agents (consumer) to request information. And on the second level, headers are needed for the suppliers to describe their products and services .

Transaction overview using a personal agent:

The personal agent will accommodate each request from its user in four distinct stages (some or all of which may be either attended or unattended depending on user preference) . Step one is noun acquisition & filtering, step two is adjective acquisition and filtering, step three is request routing and posting, and step four is response acquisition and processing. Requests will be submitted into the system in XML data format and will consist primarily of standard noun headers, universal and vendor-specific adjectives to describe the nouns. Sample Transactions using a personal agent.

The following are examples of a request to locate a specific product (in this case a television) through the agent and the associated steps involved. Three scenarios are presented to illustrate the agent's flexibility in catering to the personal styles of individual users. These examples do not represent, however, the exclusive feature set of the agent; additional features may be added, features may be changed or even removed entirely.

An opening agent screen allows the user to choose between a variety of shopping options, which may incl-ude, for example:

Express Shopper For those who know exactly what they want and want it now!

• Guided Shopper

For those who know what they want, but need a little help making your purchase. • Window Shopper

For those not sure what they want, or who need to buy a gift. Scenario #1_ - the express shopper

It's Tuesday, and a user wants a new big screen TV (32" or more) so he can watch it over the next weekend at his house. He doesn't want to spend any more than $800. He knows he doesn't want a projection TV, but he absolutely must have picture-in-picture capability; and he needs the TV delivered no later than Friday. He doesn't care about the brand really; he just wants the best TV for his money. He also wants to buy the TV on his credit card, and needs a response back as soon as possible.

Figure 2 depicts the sequence of screens which prompt the interactive process by which the user inputs this information into the agent, and Figure 3 shows the results presented to him. In order to purchase the TV, the buyer simply clicks buy now on the television at the top of the list of televisions returned. The agent then verifies that the credit card information in his stored profile is still correct, gathers additional pieces of information from the user (in this case the vendor wants to provide an in-home delivery option for $99 due to the size of the television; the user says No) , and the purchase is made from the vendor. Scenario #2 - the guided shopper

The user, a senior citizen, has decided to buy a new TV.

The user opens her agent by clicking the icon on the desktop of her computer. When it opens, it greets her with a screen displaying this message: "Hello [name]. What would you like to find?"

She types in: "A television" and clicks on the enter button.

The agent window refreshes. Along with a new question, the product name "television" appears on the screen. The new question reads: "How much money would you like to spend?" Also on the screen, there is an option to view all descriptors in this category, but this user prefers the question and answer because it's simple.

She types in: "400 dollars" and again clicks on the enter button.

The agent window refreshes again. Next to the product name "television", a descriptor appears that reads "$400 or less". The agent displays a new line of text at the top of the screen that says, "I have enough information to find a list of products that meet your requirements, but if you'd like to answer more questions, I can find the product that most specifically meets your need." The user decides that she wants to get pretty specific, so she doesn't have to search through too many options . Underneath this statement, the next question appears. It reads: "Are there any particular features that you would like with this product?" A little question mark appears next to the question field indicating that there is a help file associated with it. The user isn't sure what to type, so she clicks on the question mark.

When she does, the previous question is broken down into a simpler one. It reads: "Would you like to access cable with this television?" A drop-down appears for her to answer this question. The options are "Yes", "No", "No preference" or "I don't know". From here, she can still choose to see all available descriptors, perform her search with the ones she has selected, or continue answering questions to narrow her search. She selects "Yes" from the drop-down selections.

The agent refreshes again and a new descriptor appears next to the others on the screen that reads "Cable-ready." The new question that appears reads: "Would you like to purchase the largest screen you can get for your money?" The drop-down options are the same. She selects "Yes."

Again, the agent window refreshes its content and the descriptor "large screen" appears next to the others. The new question reads: "Should high picture quality be used in the selection process?" The user decides that she has answered enough questions and the system should be able to return a good search. She clicks on the "Shop now" button. Because her user preferences have been set to deliver only the top five results, the agent performs her search and delivers the products that are available for her to purchase. Scenario #3 - the window shopper

The user wants to find a nice present for her friend online but she doesn't quite know what to buy. The Window Shopper is the best place for her to start. After determining what sort of budget she has for this purchase, the Agent prepares a list of shopping categories in which merchandise in that price range appears, as shown in Figure 4a. The window shopper first asks her to pick the store she'd like to window shop in, and she selects the Electronics store.

The window shopper now asks which Department of the Electronics store she'd like to browse in (Figure 4b), and she selects televisions. Finally, the window shopper asks her to select a type of television she'd like to shop for from another drop down list (Figure 4c) . The agent then tells the user that it has enough information to begin shopping for a good deal on a TV/VCR combo for her or she can elect to choose more features for her television before hand. If she chooses the first option, a results list similar to Figure 3 wil be returned with TV/VCR combos under $200. If she chooses the latter option, and depending on what kind of shopper her agent knows she normally is, the user will either get the guided shopper or the express shopper experience from this point forward to complete and submit the shopping request.

The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

WE CLAIM :

1. Apparatus for conducting transactions via an electronic communications network, comprising: a first computer having a memory for storing information, and a computer readable medium encoded with a program for causing the first computer to receive and store personal profile information concerning at least contracts, commitments, important dates, habits or preferences of a user of the computer; receive search inquiries from the user, communicate the search inquiries to prospective providers of goods, services or information via the electronic communications network and receive responsive communications from vendors; store in said memory, details of search inquiries initiated by the user, and communications responsive thereto, as well as the user' s actions based on said responsive communications; learn preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the user based on stored information; evaluate responsive communications based on stored personal information concerning the user and based on said user preferences, habits and patterns; and present to the user only those responsive communications which most closely match the user' s learned preferences, habits and patterns.

2. The apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein said first computer is adapted to be coupled in communication with a plurality of provider computers via the electronic communications network; and said apparatus further comprises at least one second computer adapted to be coupled in communication with said provider computers and said first computer via the electronic communication network, and having stored therein a universal protocol for communication of information via the electronic communications network, which protocol includes a standardized classification of information resources, goods and services encoded in a standardized language format compatible with other computers and stored databases .

3. The apparatus according to Claim 2, wherein said first computer is further programed to read from said at least one second computer, descriptor tags contained in said universal protocol which descriptor tags are relevant to a search inquiry from said user, and prompt said user to supply additional information responsive to said descriptor tags; formulate a formal search request in a format according to said universal protocol and forward said search request to provider computers via said routing and switching computers; receive responses to said search inquiry from provider computers in said format according to the universal protocol; and communicate a portion of said responses to said user based on previously stored user preference information.

4. Method of conducting transactions via an electronic communications network, comprising: providing a programmable computer having a memory for storing information; entering into said computer personal profile information concerning at least contracts, commitments, important dates, habits or preferences of a user; said user entering search inquiries into said computer; wherein said computer is programmed to communicate search inquiries to prospective providers of goods, services or information via the electronic communications network and receive responsive offers from vendors; store in said memory, details of search inquiries initiated by the user, and communications responsive thereto, as well as the user' s actions based on said responsive communications; learn preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the user based on stored information; evaluate responsive communications based on stored personal information concerning the user and based on said user preferences, habits and patterns; and present to the user only those responsive communications which most closely match the user's learned preferences, habits and patterns .

5. The method according to Claim 4, wherein said computer is further programmed to receive and store criteria entered by the user for receipt of an amount and types of advertising via the electronic communications network; receive advertising materials from providers via the electronic communications network; compare said advertising materials with stored information concerning habits, preferences and transactional patterns of the user which have been entered by the user or learned based on previous search inquiries and responses; and communicate to the user only an amount and type of advertising which accords with the buyer's habits, preferences and transactional patterns and with the buyer's previously specified criteria for receipt of advertising materials.

6. The method according to Claim 4, wherein said computer is further programmed to determine when the user has a potential requirement for a particular product, service or information, based on said personal profile information and on learned preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the buyer; solicit product, service or information specific advertising based on a determined potential requirement, in time to said potential requirement.

7. The method according to Claim 5, wherein said computer is further programmed to determine when the user has a potential requirement for a particular product, service or information, based on said personal profile information and on learned preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the buyer; solicit product, service or information specific advertising based on a determined potential requirement, in time to said potential requirement.

8. Apparatus for conducting transactions between a user of the apparatus and a provider of a quantity, via an electronic communications network, comprising: a first server coupled to said network, having a memory for storing information, and a computer readable medium encoded with a program for receiving search inquiries from a user, communicate the search inquiries to prospective providers via the electronic communications network and receive responsive offers from providers; at least one second server coupled to said network and having stored therein a universal protocol which includes a standardized classification of information resources, goods and services encoded in a standardized language format compatible with other servers and stored databases; and a plurality of routing and switching serves for routing universal protocol information from said at least one second server to said first server and to provider servers connected to said network at provider sites; wherein said first server is further programmed to read from said at least one second server, via said routing and switching servers, descriptor tags contained in said universal protocol which are relevant to a search inquiry from said user, and prompt said user to supply additional information responsive to said descriptor tags; formulate a formal search request in a format according to said universal protocol and forward said search request to provider servers via said routing and switching servers; receive responses to said search inquiry from provider servers in said format according to the universal protocol; and communicate a portion of said responses to said user based on previously stored user preference information.

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, wherein said first server is further programmed to receive and store personal profile information concerning contracts, commitments, important dates, habits and preferences of the user; store in said memory, information concerning search inquiries, search requests, responses and the user's actions based on the responses; and learn preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the user, based on stored information; wherein said user preference information comprises said personal profile information and learned preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the user.

10. The apparatus according to Claim 9, wherein said user preference information further comprises instructions input by said user concerning an amount and type advertising which it desires to receive.

11. The apparatus according to Claim 8, further comprising: at least one central transaction data server coupled to said network for recording non user-specific transactional information concerning transactional communications routed via the electronic communications network; at least one vendor communications server coupled to said network, and programmed to provide non user-specific report information to provider servers based on said transactional information, in response to inquiries from said provider servers.

12. Apparatus for controlling dissemination of information via an electronic communication network, comprising: a programmable user server adapted to be coupled to said network and having a memory for storing information; wherein said user server is programmed to receive and store personal profile information concerning at least contracts, commitments, important dates, habits or preferences of a user of the computer; receive search inquiries from the user, communicate the search inquiries to prospective providers of goods, services or information via the electronic communications network and receive responsive communications from vendors; store in said memory, details of search inquiries initiated by the user, and communications responsive thereto, as well as the user's actions based on said responsive communications; learn preferences, habits and transactional patterns of the user based on stored information; receive and store criteria entered by the user for receipt of an amount and types of information via the electronic communications network; receive information materials from providers via the electronic communications network; compare said information materials with stored information concerning contracts, commitments, important dates, habits, preferences or transactional patterns of the user which have been entered by the user or learned based on previous search inquiries and responses; and communicate to the user only an amount and type of information which ^• accords with the buyer's contracts, commitments, important dates, habits, preferences or transactional patterns and with the buyer' s previously specified criteria for receipt of information materials.