Abstract: A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site including registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user; detecting a visit of the registered user to a participating web site, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system; and providing a demographic information report to the participating web site, wherein the demographic information report is related to at least one registered user who has visited the participating web site.

Abstract: A system may present dynamic content to an e-mail recipient in the form of an image implementing frame-sequence animation. Each frame may present an offer to the recipient. Upon selection of an offer, the system may determine which offer the recipient selected by determining which frame was displayed when the recipient responded. The e-mail may include an image URI specifying a frame-sequence animation image. The image URI may include an identifier, which may allow the system to determine when the recipient opened the e-mail message, and a link URI, which may also include the identifier. When the recipient indicates a response to an offer, the system may associate the link URI with the image URI and may determine to which offer the recipient was responding.

Abstract: A method of efficiently generating and sending emails including creating an email template, setting up a campaign query, and distributing the email template and a set of information associated with the campaign query to a plurality of server groups. The method also includes running the campaign query on each of the plurality of server groups and obtaining a plurality of matching users; dividing the plurality of matching users into one or more batches; merging the email template with a set of information corresponding to each of the plurality of matching users from a first batch for each of the plurality of server groups, and sending the first batch of the merged emails directly from each of the plurality of server groups without saving copies of the merged emails.

Abstract: A method of providing an incentive award to a user for visiting a participating web site includes registering a user with the information gathering system which maintains an award point account associated with the user and where award points are specific to the information gathering system, making award points available for purchase to a web site proprietor which operates the participating web site, awarding a predetermined amount of award points by the web site proprietor to the registered user for a visit conforming to a predefined rule to the participating web site, updating the award point account associated with the registered user, and exchanging award points associated with the registered user for a good or a service.

Abstract: A method of efficiently detecting a visit to a web site participating in an incentive award program, wherein the visit is detected at an information gathering system and wherein the information gathering system provides the incentive award program, the method including receiving a request message from a user including an award identifier, wherein the award identifier is associated with a predefined user activity and wherein the user sends the request message by activating a hyperlink presented on the participating web site during the visit; identifying a desired destination based on the request message received from the user, wherein the hyperlink advertises the desired destination to the user and wherein the desired destination is distinct from an address of the information gathering system at which the request message is received; and sending a redirect message to the user, wherein the redirect message includes an Internet address of the desired destination.

Abstract: A method of generating a personalized offer for a user through an information gathering system disposed on the Internet includes storing a plurality of user profiles for a plurality of registered users in a profile database associated with the information gathering system, receiving an information request message at the information gathering system sent in response to the user activating a hyperlink presented on a participating web site, such that the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system and where the user activates the hyperlink in order to access an original intended destination distinct from the information gathering system, determining whether the user is one of the plurality of registered users, and retrieving the user profile from the profile database and sending a redirection message if the user is one of the plurality of registered users.

Abstract: A system may present dynamic content to an e-mail recipient in the form of an image implementing frame-sequence animation. Each frame may present an offer to the recipient. Upon selection of an offer, the system may determine which offer the recipient selected by determining which frame was displayed when the recipient responded. The e-mail may include an image URI specifying a frame-sequence animation image. The image URI may include an identifier, which may allow the system to determine when the recipient opened the e-mail message, and a link URI, which may also include the identifier. When the recipient indicates a response to an offer, the system may associate the link URI with the image URI and may determine to which offer the recipient was responding.

Abstract: A system may account for the number of bounced e-mails by adding a number of records over the desired quantity to ensure that a minimum number of e-mails are not returned. To calculate an accurate number of extra records to identify, a system may need to track the percentage of messages returned and add a number of records equal to that percentage over the minimum number required by the particular campaign. However, unless the system accurately identifies a bounced e-mail as one originating from the system, spam or other unsolicited e-mail sent to the system may result in inaccuracies.

Abstract: Queries to an enterprise data system based on discrete groups of servers may display the sets of data satisfying a query as if the query results originated from a single data repository. Further, queries within the system may efficiently search through a large set of satisfying records while accounting for data latency or system performance.

Abstract: A method for automatically crediting a registered user for referring a candidate third-party entity to an online system, where the candidate entity is at least one of a commercial, government, or non-profit entity where the online system facilitates transactions between a plurality of users and a plurality of participating third-party entities, and where the online commercial system maintains a personal account for each registered user, includes receiving a transaction request from the candidate third-party entity, receiving an identifier associated with the transaction request such that the identifier corresponds to the registered user, identifying the registered user using the identifier, retrieving a crediting rule associated with the transaction request, and automatically crediting the registered consumer in accordance with the crediting rule.

Abstract: A method of visually differentiating data retrieved from a distributed database system includes receiving data corresponding to a request to run a query; determining a database on which to run the query; running the query on the appropriate database; generating and displaying a report containing a set of data obtained from the query; and providing a visual indicator on the displayed report to differentiate a data source from which the set of data was retrieved.

Abstract: A method for providing efficient target parameter selection ranging includes assigning each record at least one persistent identifier. The persistent identifier may be ordered so that a selected range of the persistent identifier may allow a user to select a number of consecutively-identifiable, but apparently randomly-selected records. By only choosing records from a range of persistent identifiers, mutually exclusive or disjoint sets of records may be efficiently selected without performing a database join operation or storing the lists for comparison or later use. In one example, the persistent identifier may be a large random number assigned to a record at is creation.

Abstract: A method of efficiently generating and sending emails including creating an email template, setting up a campaign query, and distributing the email template and a set of information associated with the campaign query to a plurality of server groups. The method also includes running the campaign query on each of the plurality of server groups and obtaining a plurality of matching users; dividing the plurality of matching users into one or more batches; merging the email template with a set of information corresponding to each of the plurality of matching users from a first batch for each of the plurality of server groups, and sending the first batch of the merged emails directly from each of the plurality of server groups without saving copies of the merged emails.

Abstract: A method of efficiently generating and sending emails including creating an email template, setting up a campaign query, and distributing the email template and a set of information associated with the campaign query to a plurality of server groups. The method also includes running the campaign query on each of the plurality of server groups and obtaining a plurality of matching users; dividing the plurality of matching users into one or more batches; merging the email template with a set of information corresponding to each of the plurality of matching users from a first batch for each of the plurality of server groups, and sending the first batch of the merged emails directly from each of the plurality of server groups without saving copies of the merged emails.

Abstract: A method and system are herein disclosed for registering a member at a targeted web-based information management system using a reduced amount of member and system interaction to confirm and establish the member's contact information. Generally, the method may communicate permission to solicit a potential member to the information management system. In one embodiment, the member previously communicated permission to receive solicitations from other systems to another web-based information management system. The method may communicate the permission from another web-based system to the present system. The permission may include member identification and/or demographic data. The method may communicate a solicitation message from the system to the member, the solicitation message comprising at least a portion of the member identification data.

Abstract: A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site including registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user; detecting a visit of the registered user to a participating web site, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system; and providing a demographic information report to the participating web site, wherein the demographic information report is related to at least one registered user who has visited the participating web site.

Abstract: A method of processing data in an information gathering system includes receiving a set of candidate data records and attempting to obtain a set of processing rules associated with the set of candidate data records. If the set of processing rules is successfully obtained, the method includes obtaining a set of quality criteria associated with the obtained set of processing rules, applying the set of processing rules and the set of quality criteria to the set of candidate data records to produce a set of quality indicators, and conditionally applying the set of candidate data records to a database associated with the information gathering system based on the set of quality indicators.

Abstract: A method for providing three-way failover for a database server group includes identifying a master server failure or a master server shutdown, designating a first replication server as a new master server, and copying data from a second replication server to a new replication server while the first replication server functions as the new master server. The method also includes receiving new data at the server group and saving the new data at the new master server, saving the new data in a queue at the second replication server until the set of data stored on the second replication server has been copied to the new replication server, and reading the new data saved in the queue and applying the new data to the second replication server after the set of data has been copied to the new replication server.

Abstract: A method, in a computer system, for processing messages descriptive of an interaction between a user of the computer system and a third party according to a predefined manner includes receiving an electronic message, such that the electronic message includes interaction information associated with an interaction between the user and the third party; verifying integrity of the electronic message; identifying a rule associated with the interaction, including identifying a condition associated with the rule identifying an action to be performed if the condition is met; and performing the action based on the rule and the interaction information in the electronic message if the condition is met.

Abstract: A method allowing a marketer to reconstruct prior searches or select a number customers in a targeted selection range which were not targeted by a previous query. A user may choose a range of ordered persistent record identifiers to ensure selection of mutually exclusive sets of records. To ensure that an adequate number of qualifying records are available for subsequent marketing campaign tasks related to the previously-targeted ranges of records, the previous ranges may be refined. Previously-targeted records within the earlier task's persistent record identifier ranges may be excluded while allowing selection of desired, qualifying records within the previously-targeted ranges. These previously-targeted ranges may be harvested for desired records using fewer system resources.