System and method for providing a single input field having multiple processing possibilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9292871-B2
Application number	US-201514822368-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2014
Publication date	Mar 22, 2016
Grant date	Mar 22, 2016

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods for providing a buy option to search results. That one location for a search field can be a website, an application, a search bar in a web browser, etc. Rather than navigating to a website to perform a search in the context of that website, a user can instead navigate to or open a generalized search field. Via the generalized search field, the system can analyze the input from the user and the resulting context. A buy button can be included a search result to the user input in the input search field. Payment for an item can be processing using a payment account registered with the system with delivery coordinated from a separate merchant. This approach reduces the number of interactions, starting when the user opens a browser or application, to get to a purchase or a search result.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising:
presenting an input field on a user interface of a generalized search entity, wherein the generalized search entity processes data using a generalized search engine that indexes and searches both merchant sites and non-merchant sites;
receiving, from a user, user input in the input field, wherein the user input comprises a text-based query;
correlating the text-based query against a product database of products for sale from merchants to yield a correlation;
determining, via a processor, that the user input is associated with one of a search intent and a purchase intent to yield a determination, wherein the determination of whether the user input indicates the purchase intent or the search intent is made based on the correlation;
when the determination indicates the search intent:
presenting a search result comprising a non-merchant site;
receiving a search interaction associated with the non-merchant site; and
transitioning the user to the non-merchant site; and

when the determination indicates the purchase intent:
presenting a purchase-related search result comprising a buy option associated with the user input;
receiving a purchase interaction associated with the buy option; and
managing a purchase of an item associated with the purchase interaction based on payment information stored at the generalized search entity, wherein delivery of the item is handled via a merchant site separate from the generalized search entity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the merchant sites and non-merchant sites are websites.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is on a mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
processing a payment for the purchase of the item from the generalized search entity to the merchant site.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the generalized search entity charges a fee for managing the purchase of the item.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site communicate via an application programming interface for managing the purchase and delivery of the item.

7. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
presenting an input field on a user interface of a generalized search entity, wherein the generalized search entity processes data using a generalized search engine that indexes and searches both merchant sites and non-merchant sites;
receiving, from a user, user input in the input field, wherein the user input comprises a text-based query;
correlating the text-based query against a product database of products for sale from merchants to yield a correlation;
determining, via a processor, that the user input is associated with one of a search intent and a purchase intent to yield a determination, wherein the determination of whether the user input indicates the purchase intent or the search intent is made based on the correlation;
when the determination indicates the search intent:
presenting a search result comprising a non-merchant site;
receiving a search interaction associated with the non-merchant site; and
transitioning the user to the non-merchant site; and

when the determination indicates the purchase intent:
presenting a purchase-related search result comprising a buy option associated with the user input;
receiving a purchase interaction associated with the buy option; and
managing a purchase of an item associated with the purchase interaction based on payment information stored at the generalized search entity, wherein delivery of the item is handled via a merchant site separate from the generalized search entity.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the merchant sites and non-merchant sites are websites.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the user interface is on a mobile device.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the computer-readable storage device stores further instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
processing a payment for the purchase of the item from the generalized search entity to the merchant site.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the generalized search entity charges a fee for managing the purchase of the item.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site communicate via an application programming interface for managing the purchase and delivery of the item.

13. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
presenting an input field on a user interface of a generalized search entity, wherein the generalized search entity processes data using a generalized search engine that indexes and searches both merchant sites and non-merchant sites;
receiving, from a user, user input in the input field, wherein the user input comprises a text-based query;
correlating the text-based query against a product database of products for sale from merchants to yield a correlation;
determining, via a processor, that the user input is associated with one of a search intent and a purchase intent to yield a determination, wherein the determination of whether the user input indicates the purchase intent or the search intent is made based on the correlation;
when the determination indicates the search intent:
presenting a search result comprising a non-merchant site;
receiving a search interaction associated with the non-merchant site; and
transitioning the user to the non-merchant site; and

when the determination indicates the purchase intent:
presenting a purchase-related search result comprising a buy option associated with the user input;
receiving a purchase interaction associated with the buy option; and
managing a purchase of an item associated with the purchase interaction based on payment information stored at the generalized search entity, wherein delivery of the item is handled via a merchant site separate from the generalized search entity.

14. The computer-readable storage device of claim 13 , wherein the merchant sites and non-merchant sites are websites.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 13 , wherein the user interface is on a mobile device.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 13 , the computer-readable storage device storing further instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:
processing a payment for the purchase of the item from the generalized search entity to the merchant site.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the generalized search entity charges a fee for managing the purchase of the item.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 13 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site communicate via an application programming interface for managing the purchase and delivery of the item.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the purchase interaction is from the user and the purchase interaction is a first interaction of the user on the user interface following the user input.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the presenting of the purchase-related search result comprising the buy option associated with the user input occurs without any further user interaction after the user input.

Assignees

• Monticello Entpr Llc
• Monticello Entpr Llc

Inventors

• Isaacson Thomas M
• Durham Ryan C

Classifications

• G06Q10/40

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

• G06F18/24

  Classification techniques · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06Q30/0613 Primary

  using intermediate agents · CPC title

• G06Q30/0623

  by investigating goods or services · CPC title