Mobile chat application integration with promotional systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11348141-B2
Application number	US-201615191348-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2016
Priority date	Jun 26, 2015
Publication date	May 31, 2022
Grant date	May 31, 2022

Abstract

Techniques for programmatically interfacing with mobile chat sessions are discussed herein. Some embodiments may include one or more servers configured to: access the mobile chat session hosted by the mobile chat server; receive input chat data from the mobile chat server; determine promotions scores of candidate promotions based at least in part on the input chat data; and provide the output chat data to the mobile chat server including an electronic marketing communication of one or more promotions selected based on the promotion scores. The one or more servers may be further configured to programmatically interact with chat accounts within the mobile chat session, such as to request additional search terms for improved promotion relevance targeting, among other things.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A system for interfacing with a real-time mobile chat session hosted by a mobile chat server via a network, comprising:
one or more databases configured to:
store consumer accounts, wherein each consumer account includes consumer data associated with a chat account for accessing the real-time mobile chat session; and
store promotion data defining promotions;
one or more servers comprising a processor configured to:
establish a first network connection with the mobile chat server via a communication protocol associated with at least one communication channel of the network;
access the real-time mobile chat session hosted by the mobile chat server via an application programming interface associated with the real-time mobile chat session;
receive input chat data from the mobile chat server, wherein the input chat data defines a plurality of messages generated by a plurality of consumer devices, each consumer device having a concurrent network connection to the real-time mobile chat session, and wherein the input chat data is presented via at least an electronic interface of a consumer device from the plurality of consumer devices;
determine whether a call command included at a beginning of a message from the plurality of messages corresponds to a defined text string, the defined text string configured to trigger a request to generate an electronic promotion message comprising one or more promotions based on message text included after the call command in the message;
in response to triggering of the request to generate the electronic promotion message based on a determination that the call command included at the beginning of the message corresponds to the defined text string,
determine, based on the input chat data and intention data for the input chat data that is generated based on one or more natural language processing techniques, a unique chat account related to the consumer device and content of the message text included in the message, wherein natural language processing of the message text is triggered only when the call command is determined to be included at the beginning of the message;
determine location data for the consumer device, wherein the location data is determined based on a global positioning system (GPS) associated with the consumer device, cellular tower triangulation associated with the consumer device, or a personal area network (PAN) associated with the consumer device;
determine one or more search terms included after the call command based on the content of the message text;
determine a number of search parameter values associated with the one or more search terms;
determine a predefined search parameter value associated with the one or more search terms;
compare the number of search parameter values with a threshold number of search parameter values, wherein the threshold number of search parameter values is two or more;
in response to a determination that the predefined search parameter value is missing based on the number of search parameter values being below the threshold number of search parameter values, transmit first output chat data to the mobile chat server to render the first output chat data via the electronic interface during the real-time mobile chat session, wherein the first output chat data is a defined request to obtain one or more additional search terms from additional message text provided during the real-time mobile chat session, and wherein the defined request satisfies both the predefined search parameter value and the threshold number of search parameter values;
receive the one or more additional search terms during the real-time mobile chat session;
compare collective search terms, that comprise the one or more search terms and the one or more additional search terms, with a set of valid search terms stored in a dictionary database; and

in response to a determination that the collective search terms match one or more valid search terms from the set of valid search terms,
determine promotion scores of candidate promotions based at least in part on the collective search terms, the promotion data, and the location data associated with the consumer device;
determine a promotion ranking of the candidate promotions based on the promotion scores;
select a top N ranked number of promotions from the promotion ranking;
generate second output chat data that defines at least a portion of the electronic promotion message, wherein the second output chat data comprises the top N ranked number of promotions; and
transmit the second output chat data to the mobile chat server, wherein the mobile chat server is configured to establish a second network connection with the consumer device, wherein the second output chat data is configured to render the top N ranked number of promotions via the electronic interface during the real-time mobile chat session.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers configured to determine the promotion scores of candidate promotions includes the one or more servers being configured to:
determine the promotion scores of the candidate promotions based at least in part on the consumer data associated with the unique chat account.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more additional search terms define at least one of:
a location;
a merchant;
a price;
a time; or
an item category.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the message text comprises first message text, and wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:
receive second chat data from the mobile chat server, wherein the second chat data includes a second message generated by a second consumer device with a connection to the real-time mobile chat session concurrent with the one or more servers and the consumer device;
determine, based on the second chat data, a second chat account and second message text;
determine a second consumer account including second location data associated with the second chat account;
determine one or more second search terms based on the second message text; and
determine second promotion scores of the candidate promotions based at least in part on the collective search terms, the one or more second search terms, the promotion data, the location data, and the second location data.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:
receive, from the mobile chat server via the network, an invitation to join the real-time mobile chat session; and
access the real-time mobile chat session in response to receiving the invitation.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:
send an invitation to join the real-time mobile chat session to the consumer device;
receive, from the mobile chat server, an indication that the consumer device has accessed the real-time mobile chat session; and
access the real-time mobile chat session in response to receiving the indication that the consumer device has accessed the real-time mobile chat session.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a chat service terminal, and wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:
receive second input chat data from the mobile chat server, wherein the second input chat data defines a second message generated by the consumer device;
attempt to extract one or more second search terms from the second input chat data; and
in response to failing to extract the one or more second search terms from the second input chat data, connect the chat service terminal to the real-time mobile chat session.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a chat service terminal, and wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:
receive second inp

Assignees

• Groupon Inc

Inventors

• Ellis Scott
• Gangal Devdatta
• Joy Jayesh
• Barney Hamish

Classifications

• G06Q10/40

  Business processes related to social networking or social networking services · CPC title

• H04L51/046

  Interoperability with other network applications or services · CPC title

• G06Q30/0269 Primary

  based on user profile or attribute · CPC title

• G06Q30/0251

  Targeted advertisements · CPC title

• H04L67/306

  User profiles · CPC title