Methods and apparatus for online auctions and marketplaces utilizing program terms

Abstract

An on-line market-place includes an auction wherein one or more predefined terms, qualities, incentives, or other such indicia (generally, “Program Terms”) are associated with the particular product and/or service which is the subject of the auction. Customers rank or otherwise designate their preference for these Program Terms (e.g., by selecting a “Preferred Program Term”), and the system then partitions the customers into “pools” in accordance with the selected Program Terms. Merchants then compete to obtain that pool of customers by bidding on the Preferred Program Term. Customers may be pooled according to demographic or other customer characteristics (“Characteristic Pooling”), or according to level of commitment to purchase (“Commitment Pooling”).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, offers of products supplied by one of at least two merchants, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system comprising one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
 executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from said plurality of customers, wherein said customer information comprises:
 a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information indicating that the first customer prefers a subset of products corresponding to a first aspect; 
 a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information indicating that that the second customer prefers the subset of products corresponding to the first aspect; and 
 a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information indicating that the third customer prefers a subset of products corresponding to a second aspect, the second aspect being separate and discrete from the first aspect; 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically group the plurality of customers into pools based on the customer preferences of products corresponding to different aspects as indicated in the sets of customer information corresponding to the individual users, wherein the pools comprise:
 a first pool of customers that includes customers preferring the subset of products corresponding to the first aspect such that the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer; and 
 a second pool of customers that is distinct from the first pool of customers, the second pool of customers including customers preferring the subset of products corresponding to the second aspect such that the second pool of customers includes the third customer; 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over said network, from individual ones of said at least two merchants bids to provide offers of products to individual ones of the plurality of customers, wherein obtaining bids to provide such offers comprises obtaining bids to provide such offers to ghost pools of customers into which future customers will be grouped;   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select bids from the obtained bids to provide offers of products to the plurality of customers, wherein individual bids correspond to aspects of the products such that the bids include a first bid providing a first offer of products corresponding to the first aspect to the first pool of customers and a second bid providing a second offer of products corresponding to the second aspect to the second pool of customers, and wherein the selection of the bids comprises:
 selecting the first bid by comparing the first bid with other obtained bids corresponding to the first aspect; and 
 selecting the second bid by comparing the second bid with other obtained bids corresponding to the second aspect; and 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify one or more of the plurality of the customers such that:
 responsive to the selection of the first bid, one or more of the customers in the first pool of customers are notified over the network about the first offer corresponding to the first bid; and 
 responsive to the selection of the second bid, one or more of the customers in the second pool of customers are notified over the network about the second offer corresponding to the second bid. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to provide to the two or more merchants customer information that corresponds to the pools of customers such that:
 the two or more merchants are provided with customer information that corresponds to the first pool of customers, such customer information including customer information from the first set of customer information and customer information from the second set of customer information, and   the two or more merchants are provided with customer information that corresponds to the second pool of customers, such customer information including customer information from the third set of customer information.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the customer information from the first set of customer information and from the second set of customer information that is provided to the two or more merchants comprises a first set of one or more characteristics regarding the first customer and the second customer. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first set of one or more characteristics comprises demographics of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the demographics comprise one or more of geographical location, income, occupation, sex, or age of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first set of characteristics comprises information related to historical behavior of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the information related to historical behavior comprises credit information regarding the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, offers of products from one of at least two merchants, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system comprising one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
 executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from said plurality of customers, wherein said customer information comprises:
 a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information indicating that the first customer prefers a subset of products corresponding to a first aspect; 
 a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information indicating that that the second customer prefers the subset of products corresponding to the first aspect; and 
 a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information indicating that the third customer prefers a subset of products corresponding to a second aspect, the second aspect being separate and discrete from the first aspect; 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically group the plurality of customers into pools based on the customer preferences of products corresponding to different aspects as indicated in the sets of customer information corresponding to the individual users, wherein the pools comprise:
 a first pool of customers that includes customers preferring the subset of products corresponding to the first aspect such that the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer; and 
 a second pool of customers that is distinct from the first pool of customers, the second pool of customers including customers preferring the subset of products corresponding to the second aspect such that the second pool of customers includes the third customer; 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over said network, from individual ones of said at least two merchants bids to provide offers of products to individual ones of the plurality of customers, wherein obtaining bids to provide such offers comprises obtaining bids to provide such offers to ghost pools of customers into which future customers will be grouped;   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select bids from the obtained bids to provide offers of products to customers, wherein individual bids correspond to aspects of the products such that the bids include a first bid providing a first offer corresponding to the first aspect of the products to the first pool of customers and a second bid providing a second offer corresponding to the second aspect of the products to the second pool of customers;   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify one or more of the plurality of the customers such that:
 responsive to the selection of the first bid, one or more of the customers in the first pool of customers are notified over the network about the first offer corresponding to the first bid; and 
 responsive to the selection of the second bid, one or more of the customers in the second pool of customers are notified over the network about the second offer corresponding to the second bid. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to provide to the two or more merchants customer information that corresponds to the pools of customers such that:
 the two or more merchants are provided with customer information that corresponds to the first pool of customers, such customer information including customer information from the first set of customer information and customer information from the second set of customer information, and   the two or more merchants are provided with customer information that corresponds to the second pool of customers, such customer information including customer information from the third set of customer information.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the customer information from the first set of customer information and from the second set of customer information that is provided to the two or more merchants comprises a first set of one or more characteristics regarding the first customer and the second customer. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first set of one or more characteristics comprises demographics of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the demographics comprise one or more of geographical location, income, occupation, sex, or age of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first set of characteristics comprises information related to historical behavior of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the information related to historical behavior comprises credit information regarding the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented method for conducting an on-line auction of the type wherein a plurality of customers may receive, via said auction, offers of products from one of at least two merchants, wherein the method is implemented in a computer system when executed by comprising one or more processors configured to execute one or more computer program modules, said method comprising:
 executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over a network, customer information from said plurality of customers, wherein said customer information comprises:
 a first set of customer information corresponding to a first customer, the first set of customer information indicating that the first customer prefers a subset of products corresponding to a first aspect; 
 a second set of customer information corresponding to a second customer, the second set of customer information indicating that the second customer prefers the subset of products corresponding to the first aspect; and 
 a third set of customer information corresponding to a third customer, the third set of customer information indicating that the third customer prefers a subset of products corresponding to a second aspect, the second aspect being separate and discrete from the first aspect; 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to automatically associate the plurality of customers with pools based on the customer preferences of products corresponding to aspects as indicated in the sets of customer information corresponding to the individual users, wherein the pools comprise:
 a first pool of customers that includes customers preferring the subset of products corresponding to the first aspect such that the first pool of customers includes the first customer and the second customer; and 
 a second pool of customers that includes customers preferring the subset of products corresponding to the second aspect such that the second pool of customers includes the third customer; 
   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to obtain, over said network, from individual ones of said at least two merchants, bids to provide offers of products to customers in the plurality of customers, wherein a given bid defines an offer of product to be provided to at least some of said plurality of customers;   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to select bids from the obtained bids to provide offers of products to customers from the plurality of customers, wherein offers provided by individual selected bids correspond to aspects of the products such that the selected bids include a first bid providing a first offer corresponding to the first aspect of the products to the first pool of customers and a second bid providing a second offer corresponding to the second aspect of the products to the second pool of customers;   executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to individually notify one or more customers in the plurality of the customers such that:
 responsive to the selection of the first bid, one or more customers in the first pool of customers are notified over the network about the first offer corresponding to the first bid; and 
 responsive to the selection of the second preferred offer, one or more customers in the second pool of customers are notified over the network about the second offer corresponding to the second bid. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising executing, on the one or more processors of the computer system, one or more computer program modules configured to provide to the two or more merchants customer information that corresponds to the pools of customers such that:
 the two or more merchants are provided with customer information that corresponds to the first pool of customers, such customer information including customer information from the first set of customer information and customer information from the second set of customer information, and   the two or more merchants are provided with customer information that corresponds to the second pool of customers, such customer information including customer information from the third set of customer information.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the customer information from the first set of customer information and from the second set of customer information that is provided to the two or more merchants comprises a first set of one or more characteristics regarding the first customer and the second customer. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first set of one or more characteristics comprises demographics of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the demographics comprise one or more of geographical location, income, occupation, sex, or age of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first set of characteristics comprises information related to historical behavior of the first customer and second customer. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the information related to historical behavior comprises credit information regarding the first customer and second customer.