Abstract: Methods of allowing an advertiser to contact a remote user are disclosed. As a user interacts with a search engine, the search engine obtains advertisement data related to the user's search requests. The advertisement data can include an advertiser's contact information associated with one or more contact mechanisms, which can be correlated to the mechanisms available to the remote user. Once a common set of mechanisms has been identified; call request links are instantiated for each of the commonly available mechanisms. The remote user can select one of the call request links near an advertisement and submit their contact information for the corresponding contact mechanism. The search engine can send a call request, including the user's contact information, to the advertiser to enable the advertiser to call the remote user back.

Abstract: A system and method for providing, in a networked environment, dynamically changing advertisements in response to a user's instant messaging (IM) exchange. An IM interaction module is operably coupled with an advertisement publishing service and an IM service; a message polling module is operably coupled with the IM interaction module; and an advertisement display module is operably coupled with the message polling module and with an IM client interface. The IM client interface includes at least one area for user IM session message text and at least one area for display of one or more advertisements that are provided by the advertisement publishing service based upon the IM session message text content. Method steps include accepting an IM session request, parsing the IM text message content, requesting advertisements based upon the parsed content, and providing the received advertisements to the user's IM client interface for display.

Abstract: Methods of allowing an advertiser to contact a remote user are disclosed. As a user interacts with a search engine, the search engine obtains advertisement data related to the user's search requests. The advertisement data can include an advertiser's contact information associated with one or more contact mechanisms, which can be correlated to the mechanisms available to the remote user. Once a common set of mechanisms has been identified; call request links are instantiated for each of the commonly available mechanisms. The remote user can select one of the call request links near an advertisement and submit their contact information for the corresponding contact mechanism. The search engine can send a call request, including the user's contact information, to the advertiser to enable the advertiser to call the remote user back.

Abstract: A system and method provides live-interaction between a user and an advertiser or the advertiser's representative. An advertisement and a corresponding live interaction icon is displayed before a user. The user may select the icon to indicate a desire for additional information concerning the advertisement. Upon selection, the system initiates a video-conference session between the user and advertiser for the live exchange of information. During the session the advertiser may provide supplementary content, such as a video or electronic document, for display in the user's browser. The system consists of three dedicated modules that perform the aforementioned method steps.

Abstract: A system and method for providing advertisement lead calling in a networked environment. The system provides an advertisement contact module, a call request module, and a request transmission module. The user views an advertisement that he or she is interested in. An icon, placed proximate the ad by the system, allows the user to request additional information concerning the ad. The system generates a pop-up window in response to the user's request, whereby the user enters his or her contact information. The system then transmits the information request to the advertiser or the advertiser's representative to facilitate contact between the two. The user is notified as to the status of the transmission (pending or complete).

Abstract: A system and method for providing live-interaction between a user and a call center representative regarding an advertisement of interest. The method is operable as program steps running on a stored program computer having networking capabilities. The system comprises a live-interaction routing module, an ad request module, an ad content rendering module, a live-interaction module, and an ad lead interface module. The user generates a live-interaction request which the system routes to an available call center representative. The communication request information causes an ad publishing service to provide advertising content to be delivered to the user's browser, and a communications link to be established between the user and representative. The system further allows the representative to provide additional ad related content to the user during the communication session.

Abstract: A system, method, and software for providing live-interaction between a user and an advertising contact in a networked environment. After conducting a search for information over the network, the user is presented with search results in addition to advertisements. The advertisements include hyperlinks to allow the user to communicate with an advertising contact utilizing various methods over the network. For example, the hyperlinks may be email messaging, text messaging, VoIP messaging, or even chat utilities. The user selects a desired hyperlink and an appropriate communications link is established to the advertising contact. The user may then communicate directly to the advertising contact over this link to obtain additional information about the advertised good or service.

Abstract: A system and method for providing, in a networked environment, dynamically changing advertisements in response to a user's instant messaging (IM) exchange. An IM interaction module is operably coupled with an advertisement publishing service and an IM service; a message polling module is operably coupled with the IM interaction module; and an advertisement display module is operably coupled with the message polling module and with an IM client interface. The IM client interface includes at least one area for user IM session message text and at least one area for display of one or more advertisements that are provided by the advertisement publishing service based upon the IM session message text content. Method steps include accepting an IM session request, parsing the IM text message content, requesting advertisements based upon the parsed content, and providing the received advertisements to the user's IM client interface for display.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating the sharing of the results of a search for information conducted by a user over a computer network. The results are presented to the user along with links to allow one or more of the search results to be shared over the network. The user elects to share a particular search result and chooses a sharing destination, such as an email address or a social networking website. The system formats the sharing message appropriately according to the chosen destination and according to a predetermined view template. The message is then submitted to the destination.