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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9373138-B2
Application number	US-201514853545-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 14, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2014
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods for providing a buy option to search results in a generalized search engine. 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 with a separate merchant via an application programming interface.

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 uses a generalized search engine that indexes and searches both merchant websites and non-merchant websites;
receiving input from a user in the input field to yield user input, wherein the user input is textual;
correlating the user input against a product database of products for sale from a merchant 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 website;
receiving a search interaction associated with the non-merchant website; and
transitioning the user to the non-merchant website;

when the determination indicates the purchase intent:
receiving, via an application programming interface, data associated with an item from a merchant site, the item being selected based on the user input;
presenting a purchase-related search result comprising a buy now option associated with the item;
receiving a user interaction associated with the buy now option; and
based on the user interaction, processing a payment for the item via stored payment information for the user at the generalized search entity to yield purchasing data; and
communicating the purchasing data via the application programming interface to the merchant site, whereby the merchant site can manage delivery of the item.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
requesting search data via the application programming interface based on the user input.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site are different entities.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site each have a different ways of interacting with users.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating the purchasing data via the application programming interface to the merchant site enables communication between two applications on a device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generalized search entity is accessed via an application on one of a mobile device and a computing device.

7. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a computer-readable storage medium 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 uses a generalized search engine that indexes and searches both merchant websites and non-merchant websites;
receiving input from a user in the input field to yield user input, wherein the user input is textual;
correlating the user input against a product database of products for sale from a merchant to yield a correlation;
determining, via a processor, and without further user interaction after the user input, 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 search intent is made based on the correlation;
when the determination indicates the search intent:
presenting a search result comprising a non-merchant website;
receiving a search interaction associated with the non-merchant website; and
transitioning the user to the non-merchant website;

when the determination indicates the purchase intent:
receiving, via an application programming interface, data associated with an item from a merchant site, the item being selected based on the user input;
presenting a purchase-related search result comprising a buy now option associated with the item;
receiving a user interaction associated with the buy now option; and
based on the user interaction, processing a payment for the item via stored payment information for the user at the generalized search entity to yield purchasing data; and
communicating the purchasing data via the application programming interface to the merchant site, whereby the merchant site can manage delivery of the item.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to perform a further operation comprising:
requesting search data via the application programming interface based on the user input.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site are different entities.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site each have a different means of interacting with users.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein communicating the purchasing data via the application programming interface to the merchant site enables communication between two applications on a device.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the generalized search engine is accessed via an application on one of a mobile device and a computing device.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 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 websites and non-merchant websites;
receiving input from a user in the input field to yield user input, wherein the user input is textual;
correlating the user input against a product database of products for sale from a merchant 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 website;
receiving a search interaction associated with the non-merchant website; and
transitioning the user to the non-merchant website;

when the determination indicates the purchase intent:
receiving, via an application programming interface, data associated with an item from a merchant site, the item being selected based on the user input;
presenting a purchase-related search result comprising a buy now option associated with the item;
receiving a user interaction associated with the buy now option; and
based on the user interaction, processing a payment for the item via stored payment information for the user at the generalized search entity to yield purchasing data; and
communicating the purchasing data via the application programming interface to the merchant site, whereby the merchant site can manage delivery of the item.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , the instructions causing the processor to perform further operations comprising:
requesting search data via the application programming interface based on the user input.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site are different entities.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the generalized search entity and the merchant site each have a different means of interacting with users.

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

• G06Q30/0633

  Managing shopping lists, e.g. compiling or processing purchase lists (shipping orders G06Q10/083; order filling G06Q10/087) · CPC title

• G06Q30/0641

  utilising user interfaces specially adapted for shopping · CPC title

• G06Q30/0617

  Representative agent · CPC title