AN OVERBROAD PATENT ON employing a forwarding service to track online recommendations - This application from Microsoft seeks to patent the idea of...Tracking online product recommendations by modifying a URL when user forwards recommendation to another user and tracking a recommendation flow from the recommending user to the consuming user! 10 minutes of your time can help narrow US patent applications before they become patents. Follow @askpatents on twitter to help.
QUESTION - Have you seen anything that was published before 6/18/2010 that discusses:
- Tracking of a recommendation to a consuming user by replacing original URL with a trackable URL
If so, please submit evidence of prior art as an answer to this question. We welcome multiple answers from the same individual.
EXTRA CREDIT - Recommendation may be of product, service, etc.
TITLE: Forwarding services for tracking online recommendations
Summary: [Translated from Legalese into English] Receiving a recommended resource identifier from a recommending user, generating a first trackable recommendation identifier based on the recommended resource identifier that is different from the recommended resource identifier, sending the first trackable recommendation identifier to the recommending user, receiving the first trackable recommendation identifier from a first consuming user other than the recommending user, generating a second trackable recommendation identifier based on the first trackable recommendation identifier that is different from the first trackable recommendation identifier, receiving the second trackable recommendation identifier from a second consuming user other than the first consuming user and the recommending user, and tracking a recommendation flow from the recommending user to the first consuming user and from the first consuming user to the second consuming user by looking up the second trackable recommendation identifier.
- Publication Number: US 20110313833 A1
- Application Number: US 12/818,170
- Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
- Prior Art Date: Seeking prior Art predating 6/18/2010
- Open for Challenge at USPTO: Open through 6/19/2012
- Link to Google Prior Art Search - "Find Prior Art"
Claim 1 requires each and every step below:
One or more computer-readable storage media encoding computer-executable instructions for executing a computing process on a computer system, the computing process comprising:
receiving, from a recommending user, a recommended resource identifier that identifies a network resource;
generating a first trackable recommendation identifier based on the recommended resource identifier, wherein the first trackable recommendation identifier is different than the recommended resource identifier and is mapped to the network resource and the recommending user;
sending the first trackable recommendation identifier to the recommending user;
receiving the first trackable recommendation identifier from a first consuming user other than the recommending user;
generating a second trackable recommendation identifier based on the first trackable recommendation identifier, wherein the second trackable recommendation identifier is different than the first trackable recommendation identifier and is mapped to the network resource, the first consuming user, and the recommending user;
receiving the second trackable recommendation identifier from a second consuming user other than the first consuming user and the recommending user; and
tracking a recommendation flow from the recommending user to the first consuming user and from the first consuming user to the second consuming user by looking up the second trackable recommendation identifier.
In English this means:
A computing method comprises:
Receiving a recommended resource identifier from a recommending user;
Generating a first trackable recommendation identifier based on the recommended resource identifier that is different from the recommended resource identifier,
- 2a. The first trackable recommendation identifier is mapped to the network resource and the recommending user;
Sending the first trackable recommendation identifier to the recommending user;
Receiving the first trackable recommendation identifier from a first consuming user other than the recommending user;
Generating a second trackable recommendation identifier based on the first trackable recommendation identifier that is different than the first trackable recommendation identifier,
- 5a. The second trackable recommendation identifier is mapped to the network resource, the first consuming user, and the recommending user;
Receiving the second trackable recommendation identifier from a second consuming user other than the first consuming user and the recommending user; and
Tracking a recommendation flow from the recommending user to the first consuming user and from the first consuming user to the second consuming user by looking up the second trackable recommendation identifier.
Good prior art would be evidence of a system that did each and every one of these steps prior to 6/18/2010
You're probably aware of ten pieces of art that meet this criteria already... separately, the applicant is claiming the idea of crediting the recommending user for sending recommendations which are clicked by another user.
"Online recommendations tracking through forwarding service" from the Applicant
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