Search Patents
  • Patent number: 8392281
    Abstract: A complementary item promoter user interface (UI) is provided that promotes, to a user, items that are complementary to an item of interest to the user. Upon the user's selection of an item of interest, the complementary item promoter UI presents a combination of complementary items selected in accordance with business rules data. The business rules data may be submitted by an administrative user to a content management service that deploys the complementary item promoter UI in a deployment environment. The business rules data may include rules that govern how complementary items are chosen or how they are to be displayed in the complementary item promoter UI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Umair Bashir, Gregor A. Moulton, Sean M. Scott
  • Patent number: 8355959
    Abstract: A computer-implemented service integrates with merchant sites to enable registered users of the service to perform purchase transactions on the merchant sites. In one embodiment, a merchant can incorporate a reference to a display object served by the service into coding of a page of the merchant's site. When the page is loaded by a user's browser, the reference causes the browser to request the display object from the service for display on the page. If the user is recognized by the service, the service may return a personalized display object that includes functionality for the user to perform a purchase transaction using the service. Also disclosed are embodiments that enable users to initiate transfers of personal account information to the merchant sites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon.com, Inc.
    Inventor: Hong Q. Bui
  • Patent number: 8775559
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for generating network pages using customer-supplied page generation code. A network page request is obtained from a client. The network page is associated with a network site hosted by a hosting provider on behalf of a customer. Customer data is aggregated from multiple data sources. Customer-supplied page generation code is executed to generate the network page. The page generation code may access the customer data through predefined variables, but the page generation code is restricted from accessing the data sources directly. The network page is sent to the client in response to the request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew S. Huntwork, Jeremy Boynes, Pravi Garg, Prashant J. Thakare, Shashank Shekhar
  • Patent number: 10931754
    Abstract: Architectures and techniques are described to provide personal remote storage space for electronic content items acquired (e.g., purchased) by a user of a client device. In some cases, as part of a transaction to acquire the electronic content item, an individual may receive an option that is selectable to indicate a preference to send electronic content items acquired by the individual to a personal remote storage space of the individual. When the option to store the electronic content item in the personal remote storage space is not selected by the individual, the electronic content item may be provided directly to a designated computing device of the individual.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: James H. Wood, Korwin J. Smith, Christopher G. Emery, Wenlin Ma, Lucas B. Dickey, Piragash Velummylum, Johanna S. Olson, William D. Carr
  • Patent number: 9508078
    Abstract: Techniques for increasing the efficacy of an affiliate marketing program are described herein. These techniques may allow participants of the affiliate marketing program to easily create links to content that a content site offers. To do so, the content site may determine whether a user that requests content from the site is a participant of the program or a non-participant. Based at least in part on determining that the requesting user is a participant, the content site may serve the requested content in addition to a mechanism for creating links to the content. Furthermore, the mechanism may also illustrate or otherwise include content that is customized based on the content that the participant requests and/or based on an identity of the participant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Louis Traub, Jon Robert Ducrou, David Moore, Andrew Clive Wood, Sasha Mikhael Perez, Aya Mitake
  • Patent number: 8266064
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments of systems, methods, and programs embodied in computer readable mediums for facilitating the purchase involving digital content items by purchasing parties for other recipients. For example, a server may be employed to encode at least one network page that facilitates a purchase involving a digital content item in an electronic commerce system by a first party to be delivered via a network to a destination device of a second party. The electronic commerce system may also initiate a disposition of the digital content item via the network with respect to the second party upon a consummation of the purchase by the first party.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Bharath Kumar
  • Patent number: 8365081
    Abstract: Techniques for embedding metadata into a piece of content are described herein. With use of the embedded metadata, an application takes one or more actions specified by the embedded metadata upon selection of the content. In some instances, the content comprises an image, video, or any other form of content that a user may consume. Using the example of an image, the techniques may embed metadata within the image to create an image file that includes both the image and the embedded metadata. Then, when an application of a computing device selects (e.g., receives, opens, etc.) the image file, the application or another application may perform one or more actions specified by the metadata.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew W. Amacker, Russell A. Dicker, Ryan J. Snodgrass
  • Patent number: 7996282
    Abstract: Methods and systems for causing the display of items for the review and selection thereof by a potential purchaser has a plurality of search tools whereby a customer can select certain search criteria for displaying items corresponding to the search criteria for review and selection thereof and comparison therebetween. In one embodiment, the system provides a brand menu whereby a customer can select one or more brands of products for displaying the same in a common display window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Sean M. Scott, Douglas J. Gradt, Doug Irvine, Nimrod Hoofien, Eva Manolis, Amy Bates, Max L Kanter, Todd A Heimes, J. Nathaniel Sloan, Michael Paul Touloumtzis, Michael L. Weiss, Maren Marie Costa, Gianna Lise Puerini
  • Patent number: 8478664
    Abstract: An interactive system generates personalized item recommendations for users based partly or wholly on ratings assigned by the users to particular items. The system includes an item rating user interface that enables a user to view, prior to rating an item, information regarding the types of items that will be recommended to the user if the user assigns a particular rating or type of rating to the item. The user interface thereby enables users to refrain from performing rating actions that will tend to result in low utility or “poor quality” recommendations from the users' perspectives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Xavier, George M. Ionkov, Jeffrey D. Lehman, Japan S. Doshi, Sandy Wenling Qiu, Bobby P. Nath
  • Patent number: 8326690
    Abstract: Improved user interfaces and methods are provided for presenting item recommendations to a user when the user selects an item to add to an electronic shopping cart. In response to the user's selection, a page generation process generates and returns a page that includes a condensed shopping cart portion and a recommendations portion. The condensed shopping cart portion displays the contents of the shopping cart, but omits some of the item information and/or controls provided on a shopping cart page, thereby preserving more screen real estate for the display of item recommendations. The condensed shopping cart portion also includes a link to the shopping cart page.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Russell A. Dicker, Jeffrey T. Brownell, Jennifer A. Jacobi, Eric A. Benson, Gregory D. Linden
  • Patent number: 8676669
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for providing confirmations for list modifications. A network page is sent to a client. The network page includes one or more components for requesting that one or more items be added to a list of items. The item(s) are added to the list of items in response to a request from the client. A display region is encoded for rendering in the client as a layer superimposed on the network page. The display region includes a confirmation that the item(s) have been added to the list of items. The display region includes one or more undo components for requesting that a last modification to the list of items be reversed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Arjun Chittoor, Aaron M. Donsbach, Kenneth James Price, Jeffrey T. Brownell, Homer G. Morgan, III, Brent Russell Smith, Michael D. McDaniel
  • Patent number: 9430785
    Abstract: An advertiser submitting a sponsored ad to a provider can determine aspects of the ad, such as creative elements and bid price, based on a dynamic categorization of an item and/or landing page associated with the ad. An algorithm can be used that utilizes a browse tree for each item to be displayed to a user following a sponsored link, for example, and attempts to find a node in the browse tree that appears at the lowest level in the tree and with a sufficient appearance frequency. When consensus is reached for a node in the browse tree that meets these criteria, a corresponding categorization is determined, which can be used to determine appropriate aspects to be used for the sponsored ad, at least until enough information is obtained such that aspects can be determined independent of the categorization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Lucas P. Hansen
  • Patent number: 8126784
    Abstract: A facility for automatically initiating product replenishment is described. The facility receives an indication of an order by a consumer for a first item having a first date, such as the date on which the first item was placed or fulfilled. The facility then determines a target date for replenishment based upon the identity of the first item. On the target date, the facility provides to the consumer an indication that the first item should be replenished. The indication includes a control useable by the customer to request replenishment of the first item. When this control is operated by the consumer, the facility receives an indication that the control is used by the consumer to request replenishment of the first item. In response to receiving indication the facility orders a second item to replenish the first item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon.com, Inc.
    Inventor: Amit D. Agarwal
  • Patent number: 8856039
    Abstract: A system is disclosed that integrates secondary content, such as articles retrieved from a collaborative encyclopedia or other content site, into an electronic catalog system or site that hosts an interactive electronic catalog. In some embodiments, the system operates by retrieving secondary content articles from an external system or site, and by supplementing these articles with interactive display elements for accessing related catalog content and/or functions. For example, if an article mentions a particular catalog item or group of catalog items, it may be supplemented with a selectable display element for viewing catalog content associated with the referenced item or item group. The supplemented articles are made available to users via pages of the electronic catalog system or site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kamlesh T. Talreja, Mark Chien, Ryuichi Hirano, Sean M. Scott, Qiang Zhao
  • Patent number: 8732011
    Abstract: A system for implementing a performance-based customer referral program includes a referral tracking system capable of tracking referrals of users from participant sites to a retail site, and capable of determining whether such referrals result in purchases on the retail site. The tracked referral activity may, for example, be used to determine performance-based commissions to pay to the participants. The system may also include an enrollment system that partially or fully automates the task of enrolling new participants and their sites in the referral program. In addition, the system may include a report generation system that provides the participants with activity reports regarding the referral and purchase activity attributable to their sites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon.com, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey P. Bezos, Sheldon J. Kaphan, Ellen L. Ratajak, Thomas K. Schonhoff
  • Patent number: 8370271
    Abstract: Technologies are described herein for providing recurring delivery of products to a customer on a periodic basis. A customer creates a recurring delivery list that specifies a particular delivery slot indicating when orders are to be delivered. The customer adds products to the recurring delivery list, specifying a quantity and frequency of delivery for each product. Orders are periodically generated from the customer's recurring delivery list for delivery on the next occurrence of the specified delivery slot. The products included in each order are based on the frequency of delivery and a last delivery date for each product in the recurring delivery list. If the customer makes changes to the recurring delivery list, those changes may also be applied to any pending orders generated from the list.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Heidi S. Robinson, Denise J. Noyes, Kenneth S. Kuan, Magdalena Malinowska, Linde E. Husk
  • Patent number: 8370203
    Abstract: Improved user interfaces and methods are provided for presenting item recommendations to a user when the user selects an item to add to a shopping cart. In response to the user's selection, a page generation process generates and returns a page that includes a plurality of recommendations sections, each of which displays item recommendations generated using a different respective recommendation or selection algorithm (e.g., recommendations based on shopping cart contents, recommendations based on purchase history, etc.). These recommendation algorithms may be selected based on collected information regarding the user. The page may also include a shopping cart section which displays contents of the shopping cart.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Russell A. Dicker, Jeffrey T. Brownell, Jennifer A. Jacobi, Eric A. Benson, Gregory D. Linden
  • Patent number: 8090621
    Abstract: A recommendation system uses feedback from users on specific item recommendations to assess the quality of the recommendation rules used to generate such recommendations. The feedback may be explicit (e.g., a user rates a particular recommended item), implicit (e.g., a user purchases a recommended item), or both. The system may use these assessments to modify the degree to which particular recommendation rules are used to generate recommendations. For instance, if a particular recommendation rule leads to negative feedback relatively frequently, the system reduce or terminate its reliance on the rule. In some embodiments, the system may also increase its reliance on recommendation rules that tend to produce positive feedback.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kushal Chakrabarti, Brent R. Smith
  • Patent number: 8577753
    Abstract: Guided item selection based on profiles maintained dynamically. The profiles represent, for example, purchase, usage, or personality profiles corresponding to various segments of the user population. Each of the profiles has one or more items associated with the profile. The user selects one or more of the profiles while browsing or searching for items. The items associated with the selected profile are provided to the user. The user's interaction, or lack of interaction, with the items is monitored and analyzed. Based on the monitored interaction, a relevance of the selected profile relative to the other profiles is dynamically adjusted along with a relevance of particular items for the selected profile. For example, items may be added or removed from the list based on the monitored user interactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Brent Allen Vincent, Ralph Howard Edson, III, Sean M. Scott
  • Patent number: 8180688
    Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for generating item recommendations based on broadcast media consumed by a user on a client device. An item recommendation application receives a quantity of media information associated with the broadcast media being consumed from the client device. The item recommendation application determines a pattern of media consumption behavior for the user based at least in part on an analysis of the user's consumption history. The item recommendation identifies other consumers of broadcast media that exhibit a substantially similar pattern of media consumption behavior. The item recommendation application then gathers items purchased by the other consumers and provides those items as the item recommendations to the requesting process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Piragash Velummylum, John G. Laban, Ethan Z. Evans