An online system receives a discount offer from a merchant and displays the offers to users. Some of the discount offers provide for a discount that becomes valid when the discount offer is displayed to the user and remains valid for an offer duration. To implement these discount offers, a timestamp representing the time at which the discount offer is displayed is recorded and encoded. The encoded timestamp is provided to the merchant system when the user makes a purchase. The merchant extracts the recorded timestamp from the encoded timestamp and compares the recorded timestamp to the time of the purchase. If the time elapsed between the timestamp and the purchase is less than the offer duration, then the merchant system applies the discount to the purchase.

This application relates to apparatus and methods for automatically determining and providing, for a given anchor item, a ranking of items. The ranking may include sponsored items. In some examples, a computing device receives a request for items for an anchor item. The computing device determines a relevancy of a plurality of recommended items and sponsored items. The computing device also determines a cost value for the sponsored items. The computing device determines ranking values for the plurality of recommended items and sponsored items based on the relevancy values and the cost values, and ranks the items based on the ranking values. In some examples, the computing device updates the final item ranking based on the application of one or more rules. The computing device transmits the final item ranking to a web server. The web server displays advertisements for the items in ranked order.

A system for merchandising and socializing within a browser window to a user using a campaign module over Internet and rendering sub-windows accordingly using the module.

Recommendations are made to an e-shopper based on commercials that the e-shopper may have recently viewed on TV or heard on radio. In one preferred embodiment, a cloud-based server collects and stores TV viewership data through mobile devices, using automated content recognition (ACR).

Devices and methods are provided for used segmented impact analysis to determine high-valued computer-based actions. The device may determine a first user account associated with performance of a first computer-based action and a second computer-based action associated with a network-accessible resource. The device may determine a second user account associated with performance of the first computer-based action, but not with the second computer-based action. The device may determine a first value for the first user account, the first value based on the performance of the second computer-based action. The device may determine a second value for the second user account, the second value based on the failure to perform the second computer-based action. The device may determine a third value, wherein the third value is a difference between the first value and the second value. The device may send the third value with a product recommendation.

A method, which comprises determining a logical identifier used for communication over a network portion managed by a service provider and transmitting to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of the service provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses the logical identifier. Also, a method, which comprises determining a logical identifier used to identify a device during a request for an online transaction; identifying, based on the logical identifier, a third party that has agreed to act as a payer for the online transaction; providing a user of the device with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer for the online transaction; and completing the online transaction based on input from the user.

Merchants create ecommerce-enabled ad units advertising items offered by the merchants. The ad units contain functionality enabling customers to purchase the items by interacting with the ad units. The ad units have associated bid prices that the merchants agree to pay for sales through the ad units. The merchants provide the ad units to a broker. The broker publishes the ad units on web pages provided by publishers as comparison shop ad units that contain multiple ad units and functionality for navigating among them. A customer receiving a web page interacts with an ad unit to purchase the item. During the interactions, the broker dynamically updates the ad unit to conduct the transaction.

An e-commerce method involves on-line viewing of a first article through a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. A particular application of the invention is directed to on-line apparel shopping involving a matching scheme using data provided with images to be merged. In a particular example, on-line viewing of one article, such as clothing, on another structure, includes creating an item from image-data corresponding to an article selected by an on-line viewer from an on-line viewer site with an image of a structure selected by the on-line viewer, and indicating whether the article and the structure satisfy a criterion such as color or style. The computers are coordinated to provide the merged image data for viewing by the buyer, with a revenue generating feature that generates fees for at least one of the buyer and a seller associated with one of the seller websites, and charges the at least one of the buyer and the seller for the generated fees.

A media distribution system includes an enterprise hub, which in turn includes a processor and memory, multiple media outlets, and multiple integrated services layers (ISLs) acting as intermediaries between the enterprise hub to the media outlets. A first media outlet is served by a single ISL, while a second media outlet is served redundantly by at least two ISLs.

A method for creating a customized advertising campaign includes displaying a list of available products and/or services for an advertising campaign, determining a list of consumers to be targeted by the advertising campaign, and selecting a product or service for the advertising campaign. The method further includes inputting advertising campaign detail information wherein the advertising campaign detail information includes at least one of an advertising campaign name, a start date, and an end date. The method also includes providing a list of one or more pre-associated banner templates for the advertising campaign, selecting one or more pre-associated banner templates for the advertising campaign, editing text of the one or more selected pre-associated banner templates, and publishing the one or more selected pre-associated banner templates according to the campaign detail information to one or more delivery websites.