U.S. patent application number 15/394107 was filed with the patent office on 2017-10-12 for techniques for messaging agent customization.
The applicant listed for this patent is Facebook, Inc.. Invention is credited to Aditya Gopal Bhandarkar, Nicolas Andrij Bushak, Jeremy Harrison Goldberg, Mikhail Larionov, Jessica Lee, Seth Garrett Steinberg Rosenberg, Yoram Talmor.
Application Number | 20170293955 15/394107 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59998442 |
Filed Date | 2017-10-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170293955 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rosenberg; Seth Garrett Steinberg ;
et al. |
October 12, 2017 |
TECHNIQUES FOR MESSAGING AGENT CUSTOMIZATION
Abstract
Techniques for messaging agent customization are described. In
one embodiment, an apparatus may comprise a commerce intermediary
server operative to receive a commerce message package from a
commerce messaging application, the commerce messaging application
associated with a commerce entity, the commerce message package
addressed to a message thread with a messaging system; determine
commerce access privileges for the commerce messaging application
in association with the message thread; send the commerce message
package to a client device associated with the message thread when
the commerce access privileges indicate access to the message
thread; and reject the commerce message package when the commerce
access privileges reject access to the message thread. Other
embodiments are described and claimed.
Inventors: |
Rosenberg; Seth Garrett
Steinberg; (San Francisco, CA) ; Bhandarkar; Aditya
Gopal; (San Jose, CA) ; Talmor; Yoram;
(Cupertino, CA) ; Goldberg; Jeremy Harrison; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Larionov; Mikhail; (Palo Alto,
CA) ; Lee; Jessica; (Menlo Park, CA) ; Bushak;
Nicolas Andrij; (San Francisco, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Facebook, Inc. |
Menlo Park |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
59998442 |
Appl. No.: |
15/394107 |
Filed: |
December 29, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62321082 |
Apr 11, 2016 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/322 20130101;
G06Q 30/0203 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; H04L 51/04 20130101;
H04L 67/04 20130101; H04L 67/306 20130101; H04L 67/02 20130101;
G06Q 30/0643 20130101; G06Q 30/0631 20130101; G06Q 50/01 20130101;
H04L 51/16 20130101; H04L 67/20 20130101; G06Q 30/0613 20130101;
H04W 4/12 20130101; H04L 67/42 20130101; H04L 51/32 20130101; G06F
3/0482 20130101; H04L 67/2804 20130101; H04L 51/046 20130101; H04N
21/4788 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/06 20060101
G06Q030/06; H04W 4/12 20060101 H04W004/12; G06Q 20/32 20060101
G06Q020/32; G06Q 50/00 20060101 G06Q050/00; H04N 21/4788 20060101
H04N021/4788; H04L 12/58 20060101 H04L012/58; H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving a commerce
message package at a commerce intermediary server from a commerce
messaging application, the commerce messaging application
associated with a commerce entity, the commerce message package
addressed to a message thread with a messaging system; determining
commerce access privileges for the commerce messaging application
in association with the message thread; sending the commerce
message package to a client device associated with the message
thread when the commerce access privileges indicate access to the
message thread; and rejecting the commerce message package when the
commerce access privileges reject access to the message thread.
2. The method of claim 1, the message thread associated with a user
account for a user of the messaging system, the user identifier
comprising a page-scoped identifier for the user account, the
page-scoped identifier identifying the user account with the
messaging system in relation to a commerce representation for the
commerce entity within the messaging system.
3. The method of claim 1, the commerce message package specified
according to a custom message template associated with the commerce
entity.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an
application registration package in association with the commerce
messaging application; and registering the commerce messaging
application for access to the commerce intermediary server in
response to the application registration package.
5. The method of claim 4, the application registration package
defining one or more of a custom message template, a custom form
template, and a custom call-to-action button, further comprising:
sending one or more of the custom message template, the custom form
template, and the custom call-to-action button to the client device
in response to the client device accessing the commerce entity
within the messaging system.
6. The method of claim 4, the application registration package
defining a custom call-to-action button, the custom call-to-action
button comprising visual representation information and activation
response information, the activation response information
comprising one or more of a uniform resource locator, an
application link, and a messaging invocation.
7. The method of claim 4, the application registration package
defining one or more of a custom welcome text message for the
message thread, a custom get-started call-to-action button for the
message thread, one or more custom pestilent call-to-action buttons
for the message thread, and one or more custom dynamic triggers to
start an interaction.
8. An apparatus, comprising: a processor circuit on a device; a
commerce intermediary server operative on the processor circuit to
receive a commerce message package from a commerce messaging
application, the commerce messaging application associated with a
commerce entity, the commerce message package addressed to a
message thread with a messaging system; determine commerce access
privileges for the commerce messaging application in association
with the message thread; send the commerce message package to a
client device associated with the message thread when the commerce
access privileges indicate access to the message thread; and reject
the commerce message package when the commerce access privileges
reject access to the message thread.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, the message thread associated with a
user account for a user of the messaging system, the user
identifier comprising a page-scoped identifier for the user
account, the page-scoped identifier identifying the user account
with the messaging system in relation to a commerce representation
for the commerce entity within the messaging system.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, the commerce message package
specified according to a custom message template associated with
the commerce entity.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising: the commerce
intermediary server operative to receive an application
registration package in association with the commerce messaging
application; and register the commerce messaging application for
access to the commerce intermediary server in response to the
application registration package.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, the application registration package
defining one or more of a custom message template, a custom form
template, and a custom call-to-action button, further comprising:
the commerce intermediary server operative to sending one or more
of the custom message template, the custom form template, and the
custom call-to-action button to the client device in response to
the client device accessing the commerce entity within the
messaging system.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, the application registration package
defining a custom call-to-action button, the custom call-to-action
button comprising visual representation information and activation
response information, the activation response information
comprising one or more of a uniform resource locator, an
application link, and a messaging invocation.
14. The apparatus of claim 11, the application registration package
defining one or more of a custom welcome text message for the
message thread, a custom get-started call-to-action button for the
message thread, one or more custom pestilent call-to-action buttons
for the message thread, and one or more custom dynamic triggers to
start an interaction.
15. At least one computer-readable storage medium comprising
instructions that, when executed, cause a system to: receive a
commerce message package at a commerce intermediary server from a
commerce messaging application, the commerce messaging application
associated with a commerce entity, the commerce message package
addressed to a message thread with a messaging system; determine
commerce access privileges for the commerce messaging application
in association with the message thread; send the commerce message
package to a client device associated with the message thread when
the commerce access privileges indicate access to the message
thread; and reject the commerce message package when the commerce
access privileges reject access to the message thread.
16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the message
thread associated with a user account for a user of the messaging
system, the user identifier comprising a page-scoped identifier for
the user account, the page-scoped identifier identifying the user
account with the messaging system in relation to a commerce
representation for the commerce entity within the messaging
system.
17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, comprising
further instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:
receive an application registration package in association with the
commerce messaging application; and register the commerce messaging
application for access to the commerce intermediary server in
response to the application registration package.
18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the
application registration package defining one or more of a custom
message template, a custom form template, and a custom
call-to-action button, comprising further instructions that, when
executed, cause a system to: send one or more of the custom message
template, the custom form template, and the custom call-to-action
button to the client device in response to the client device
accessing the commerce entity within the messaging system.
19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the
application registration package defining a custom call-to-action
button, the custom call-to-action button comprising visual
representation information and activation response information, the
activation response information comprising one or more of a uniform
resource locator, an application link, and a messaging
invocation.
20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the
application registration package defining one or more of a custom
welcome text message for the message thread, a custom get-started
call-to-action button for the message thread, one or more custom
pestilent call-to-action buttons for the message thread, and one or
more custom dynamic triggers to start an interaction.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
62/321,082, titled "Techniques for Messaging Agent Interactions,"
attorney docket number 1360F0137Z, filed on Apr. 11, 2016, which is
hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0002] This application is related to the United States Patent
Application titled "Techniques for a Messaging Agent Platform,"
attorney docket number 1360F0137.1, filed on Dec. 29, 2016, which
is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0003] This application is related to the United States Patent
Application titled "Techniques for Messaging Agent Messaging
Interactions," attorney docket number 1360F0137.3, filed on Dec.
29, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety.
[0004] This application is related to the United States Patent
Application titled "Techniques for Messaging Agent Coordination,"
attorney docket number 1360F0137.4, filed on Dec. 29, 2016, which
is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0005] Users may interact with each other in a messaging system,
sending messages back and forth to each other in a text-based
conversation between two or more users. A user may have a user
account associated with them in the messaging system, the user
account providing an online identity for the user, a destination
for messages directed to the user, and generally coordinating the
user's access to and use of the messaging system. A user may access
the messaging system from a variety of endpoints, including mobile
devices (e.g., cellphones), desktop computers, web browsers,
specialized messaging clients, etc.
SUMMARY
[0006] The following presents a simplified summary in order to
provide a basic understanding of some novel embodiments described
herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not
intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the
scope thereof. Some concepts are presented in a simplified form as
a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented
later.
[0007] Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for
messaging agent interactions. Some embodiments are particularly
directed to techniques for messaging agent interactions for
commerce interactions within a messaging client. In one embodiment,
for example, an apparatus may comprise a commerce intermediary
server device. In another embodiment, for example, an apparatus may
comprise a client device. Other embodiments are described and
claimed.
[0008] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends,
certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection
with the following description and the annexed drawings. These
aspects are indicative of the various ways in which the principles
disclosed herein can be practiced and all aspects and equivalents
thereof are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject
matter. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent
from the following detailed description when considered in
conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a consumer-to-business
messaging system.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a social graph.
[0011] FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
business web page.
[0012] FIG. 3B illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying a get-started message.
[0013] FIG. 3C illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying a user message and responding bot
message.
[0014] FIG. 3D illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying a user message and a responding bot
message.
[0015] FIG. 3E illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying a carousel.
[0016] FIG. 3F illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying a scrolled carousel.
[0017] FIG. 3G illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying an order template.
[0018] FIG. 311 illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for a
message thread displaying an order receipt message.
[0019] FIG. 4A illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for
search.
[0020] FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of a user interface for
search results.
[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the consumer-to-business
messaging system engaging in messaging operations.
[0022] FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment of a first logic flow for
the system of FIG. 1.
[0023] FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment of a second logic flow for
the system of FIG. 1.
[0024] FIG. 6C illustrates an embodiment of a third logic flow for
the system of FIG. 1.
[0025] FIG. 6D illustrates an embodiment of a fourth logic flow for
the system of FIG. 1.
[0026] FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a centralized system for
the system of FIG. 1.
[0027] FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a distributed system for
the system of FIG. 1.
[0028] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a computing
architecture.
[0029] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a communications
architecture.
[0030] FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a radio device
architecture.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] Users may engage with a business via a page in a
social-networking service using messaging communication, as they
may be familiar with from chatting with friends. Users may
discover, engage with, and purchase products and services from
these businesses in the same messaging application they use for
communicating with friends, colleagues, and other acquaintances.
Some of these messages may be automatically responded to, while
others may be responded to fully or partially manually by
administrators of business pages.
[0032] Users may be accustomed to interacting with a business via a
web page. Even where this web page contains interactive or dynamic
elements, the interaction is still received in the presentation
style of a web page. Business pages, similar to web pages, may be
accessible via a messaging system. However, where a web page may
empower chatting via a pop-up dialog box, a messaging system may
display a conversational interaction with a business to a
messaging-specific interface. This may serve to ground the
interaction in the presentation style of messaging, thereby
humanizing and personalizing the experience. Further, just as with
messaging with another person, the messaging client may maintain a
history of a conversation, allow navigation away from the
conversation and returning, and a mirroring of the conversation
across multiple user devices. In contrast, a pop-up messaging
dialog on a web page is temporary, stuck to a browser window that
cannot be closed until the conversation is completed, and rooted in
a single user device. This conversation with a business page may be
represented by a messaging bot, the messaging bot a virtual
representation of the business page in a messaging environment. The
messaging bot may function as an avatar for the business and unify
the experience of messaging with a business within a single
messaging representation.
[0033] A messaging client may execute in a variety of environments.
A first implementation may execute on the iOS.TM. platform, a
second implementation on the Android.TM. platform, and a third may
be embedded within a web page for a messaging service and/or
social-networking service, without limitation. The same messaging
bot may be accessed through a messaging client on any of these
platforms, connected to the messaging clients on each of the
platforms through a unified messaging system. As such, the
development of a messaging bot may be simplified, with the
messaging system adapting the messaging experience to each
platform. And the user's experience may be unified, such that they
experience the same messaging bot whichever device they use to
access the messaging system. And because the messaging system may
replicate messaging state between devices, they may begin a
conversation on one device and then continue it on another. For
instance, a user may initiate a conversation about a product from a
smartphone device when viewing a product in a physical store, then
pick up the conversation from home on their personal computer or
tablet device.
[0034] By extending their presence to an existing messaging system
and messaging client, a business may gain a new and rich channel
for connecting with their customers. Messaging can provide the
interactivity of a phone conversation, but with an asynchronous
engagement and thereby accommodation of a user's personal schedule.
A messaging system can provide reliable delivery, delivery receipts
for both the business and user, rich interfaces, complex media
communication, and duplication across multiple devices. And this
functionality can be discovered by the users of the messaging
system without them having to install a custom application for the
business. For example, an airline can empower checking in,
receiving a boarding pass, getting notified of flight delays, and
making changes all through an existing infrastructure without
having to deploy a custom application or convince users to install
the application.
[0035] In particular, many of the situations that might prompt a
user to want to access a business through a mobile device--for
example, an emergency need to reschedule a flight while on a
trip--may be precisely those situations in which it would be
inconvenient to discover a business-specific application, download
it, configure it, connect it to their account, and then carry out
their desired task. Instead, a user may access the business through
an application they already have on their device and use for
personal communication and communication with other businesses.
Further, the messaging system may be able to verify the identity of
a user to the business, such as by having already verified a user's
phone number and being able to attest that the phone number is
associated with the user using the messaging client.
[0036] Businesses may be empowered, therefore, to reach out to
customers using this additional channel. Existing customers may be
matched based on their identifying information, such as their name,
address, or phone number. The business may be empowered to send an
introductory message to identified existing customers to invite
them to use the messaging system as a communication channel with
the business. However, the messaging system may protect the privacy
of the customers by only providing access to any account
information if the user themselves engages with the business
through actively messaging with the business, such as in response
to an introductory message from the business. Users may therefore
feel safe that the presence of businesses on the messaging system
they use will only open them to contact on this new channel if they
desire it. The acquisition of new customers may be promoted by
encouraging the discovery of businesses within a messaging client,
though the actual messaging of new customers may be prevented until
the user themselves reaches out to the business.
[0037] Similarly, the privacy of users may be protected by limiting
the scope of how sponsored messages may be sent by businesses to
users. Rather than allowing the broad spamming of advertisements
via a messaging channel, businesses may be empowered to use
sponsored messages to attempt to reengage users that have already
expressed their interest in engaging with a business via a
messaging system. An Internet retailer attempting to broadly
message users details about their products may drive users away
from a messaging system, and, as such, the messaging system may
employ techniques to avoid indiscriminate or impersonal promotion
and instead guide businesses to use highly-discriminating and
personally-targeted promotion. The messaging system may analyze
both the targets of sponsored messages and the contents of
sponsored messages in an attempt to reduce indiscriminate
promotion.
[0038] The messaging system may restrict businesses to only sending
sponsored messages to users or threads (e.g., threads between
users) that have previously engaged in messaging with that
business. This may encourage businesses to take on the task of
encouraging users to engage with them--to make their messaging
channel a valuable tool for interaction--before they are granted
the privilege of pushing promotional information to the user. The
messaging system may restrict the contents of sponsored messages to
being responsive to the specific interactions between a business
and its customers. If a user had asked about a product, but it was
out of stock, it may be appropriate for a business to inquire
whether the user was still interested in it, even if the user
didn't specifically ask to be notified: this is personal, and still
may be prevented by a user by blocking the business in the
messaging client. Similarly, if a user-to-user thread asked a
restaurant reservation messaging bot about the availability of a
restaurant, it may be appropriate for a business to notify the
thread that they'll need to make a reservation soon if they want
one, as the restaurant is filling up. However, a business may be
prevented from broadly spamming users every evening about whether
they are interested in making a reservation, even if they would
compensate the messaging system for the privilege of doing so.
[0039] Spam protection may be provided on both an individual and
community-wide level. A business may be prevented from contacting
individual users without at least the implied consent of those
users, such as may be received by the user messaging with the
business or specifically requesting that the business contact them
through the messaging system. The user may be empowered to withdraw
this consent, such as through the display of a prominent block
button in each message thread with a business that completely
prevents the business from messaging them again. This feedback may
then be captured to protect the community as a whole. A business
with a large amount of negative user feedback, such as through
being blocked, may be rate limited or removed from the messaging
system completely. This may be manually or automatically applied in
various embodiments.
[0040] In some embodiments, a user may be provided with multiple
block buttons. A full-block button may completely block all
messages from the business to the user, completely shutting the
business out from contacting the user. A sponsored-message block
button may only prevent the sending of sponsored messages--messages
outside the active communication between a user and a business in
response to a user request that a business may pay the messaging
system to be able to send. A business may therefore be temporarily
authorized to message a user in response to a user request. For
instance, the business may be provided a limited-time access token
that allows them to, for free, send messages to the user for a
limited period of time in response to the user messaging the
business. However, the business may be prevented from sending
messages, including sponsored messages, outside the limited period
of time. The use of the full-block button by a sufficient number of
users may prompt a review of the business's interactions with users
in general, while the user of the sponsored-message block button by
a sufficient number of users may prompt a review of the business's
use of sponsored messages.
[0041] Further, businesses may be required to submit an application
that outlines their intended integration with the messaging system
prior to being authorized to use the messaging system. Businesses
that violate their agreed-to use without re-submission, re-review,
and re-approval may also be removed, at least until such time that
a new application is approved. Messages sent by messaging bots may
be randomly selected and presented to operators in comparison with
their approved integration application, and penalized when the
messages fail to meet the outline they were approved for. In
particular, the message system may enforce a prevention of using
message threads for advertising, with bots that routinely or
repeatedly engage in advertising being removed from the system.
Businesses may be initially warned that messages are too similar to
advertisements, so as to encourage correction of behavior, with
repeated offenses resulting in removal.
[0042] Businesses may also be monitored for the sending of large
numbers of identical or highly-similar messages within a short
period of time. Comparisons may be made between the messages sent
by a business and the business may be rate-limited or removed for
doing so except where approved for doing so as part of their
proposal for using the messaging system. For example, a messaging
bot for the providing of location-specific weather reports, or for
the sending of emergency weather alerts or other emergency alerts
(e.g., missing children), may be approved to send highly-similar
mass messages to users requesting this service as the users are
explicitly requesting to be informed of broadly-applicable
information. However, businesses may need to be explicitly approved
for such sending patterns and businesses without this approval may
be automatically rate-limited temporarily shut out if they engage
in mass messaging of identical or highly-similar messages, until
such time a human review may be performed. Businesses with explicit
approval may be flagged in the messaging system as having such so
as to avoid automatic or manual restriction.
[0043] Businesses may be provided with access to a messaging system
using messaging-style semantics, in which the interaction is
constructed out of atomic interchanges of information with a strict
order applied by the messaging system. After a registration of a
messaging bot, which may be performed using non-messaging
semantics, the performance of the messaging bot itself by a
business may be built on messaging interactions. Businesses of any
type may receive access to a generic application program interface
(API) with generic templates empowering the sending of various
types of messages. These generic message templates may include
text, images, and call-to-action (CTA) controls to power their
specific functions. A CTA may be displayed as a visual control,
such as a button, and may result in access to uniform resource
location (URL) addresses, to posting messages back to the business,
or triggering other automated responses. As such, a business may
build their experience out of generally-available tools, sending
messages that include text, rich media, and even controls that the
user can act on. As a CTA can send back a message or access a URL,
any action that a business can trigger through a URL access or off
a message, including purchases, cancellations, requests for status
updates, or anything else, can be empowered for a user by a message
from a business. However, businesses may also be empowered to
construct custom templates where needed and approved as part of an
approval process by the messaging platform.
[0044] Businesses may be empowered to customize a user's experience
with the business via the messaging system. When first accessing a
message thread with a messaging bot, the message thread may be
customized by the business in its null or empty state. The context
banner that may be displayed at the top of a messaging client may
be customized, such as with the logo of the business. The
background of the thread display may have introductory text
customized by the business. A "get started" button may be
displayed, which may, for example, send a message to the business
informing them that a new user is requesting to begin a
conversation with the business. This may authorize the business
with the messaging system to begin messaging with the user, which
they may take advantage of by sending additional introductory
information. Further, this may empower the business to retrieve
identifying information for the user--such as a phone number
registered with the user's profile--that they may match against
their own repository of customer information, thereby empowering
the business to engage in a conversation with the user that
incorporates the status that customer has already achieved with the
business.
[0045] For instance, a user may open a message thread with a
business and hit a "get started" button, which sends a message to
the business notifying the business that the user wishes to engage
with it via a messaging channel. The business may be provided with
an identifier for the user, with the business empowered to use the
identifier to retrieve at least a portion of the profile
information for the user. The business may retrieve a phone number
for the user and match this phone number against its own database
of user information. If the user is an existing customer, the
business may then be able to respond to the "get started" button
with a personalized introduction for the user. For example, a user
messaging a hotel chain or airline may be greeted with a reference
to a reward level that they've achieved, letting the user known
that the same customized service they've typically received over
the phone or in person will be provided via the messaging
system.
[0046] Businesses may be empowered to guide users to interactions
via the messaging system from their web pages. A messaging-contact
button may be provided by the messaging system via a web plugin
that a business can place on their web page. When pressed, an
identifier for a user may be sent to the business that may be used
by the business to address messages to the user via the messaging
system. The messaging-contact button may empower a business to
start a business-first messaging conversation with the user, where
the first message in the conversation is sent by the business. The
use of this type of button may keep a user within the interface for
the business's webpage, with the empowering of a business to
message the user occurring behind the scenes without interrupting
the user's experience.
[0047] An alternative or additional web plugin may be provided by
the messaging system to businesses that may be placed on the
businesses web page. This web plugin my instantiate a
message-initiation button that, when pressed, takes the activating
user to a messaging client and directly to a message thread with
the business, which may be an existing message thread or may be a
new message thread created in response to the user activating the
button. When accessed from a personal computer, this messaging
client may be a web-based messaging client. When accessed from a
smartphone or tablet device, the messaging client may be a
dedicated messaging-specific client for the messaging system. The
use of this type of button may transition the user's experience
from the business's web page to a messaging interface.
[0048] Either type of button may be customized according to the
current web viewing experience of the year. For instance, the web
plugin may empower the passing of a parameter specifying the
specific URL on which the button was pressed. This may be used to
customize the initial experience in a message thread, such as by
opening a discussion in relation to a specific product or service
represented on the web page. A user may be protected from
accidentally using one of these buttons by having a confirmation
dialog box temporarily placed over the web page confirming the user
account with the messaging system that will be linked and
empowering either approval or cancellation of the linking. A not-me
button may be included so that if the wrong account is presented,
the user may log out an existing account and log in as themselves.
If no account is currently logged in with the messaging system, a
login dialog box may be presented. Web plugins may be implemented
using the Javascript.TM. scripting language.
[0049] As such, businesses that engage in personal messaging
experiences with consenting users may be empowered to expand the
scope and desirability of their business to their customers. The
messaging system may increase its utility for its users and
therefore its engagement with its users, increasing its scope of
use.
[0050] Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like
reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the novel
embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In
other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in
block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof.
The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and
alternatives consistent with the claimed subject matter.
[0051] It is worthy to note that "a" and "b" and "c" and similar
designators as used herein are intended to be variables
representing any positive integer. Thus, for example, if an
implementation sets a value for a=5, then a complete set of
components 122 illustrated as components 122-1 through 122-a may
include components 122-1, 122-2, 122-3, 122-4 and 122-5. The
embodiments are not limited in this context.
[0052] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram for a
consumer-to-business messaging system 100. In one embodiment, the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 may comprise a
computer-implemented system having software applications comprising
one or more components. Although the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a limited number of elements in a
certain topology, it may be appreciated that the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 may include more or less
elements in alternate topologies as desired for a given
implementation.
[0053] A consumer-to-business service 110 may serve as an
intermediary between consumers and businesses. Consumers and
businesses may both be users of the consumer-to-business service
110, with consumers represented via an individual user account and
businesses represented by a commerce account and, possibly, one or
more individual user accounts associated with the business, such as
individual user account associated with representatives and other
employees of the business. A consumer user may be represented with
a user entity entry in a social graph. A business or other
commercial user may be represented by a commerce entity in a social
graph. The relationship between the consumer user and the
commercial user may be represented by one or more edges between the
user entity and commerce entity in the social graph.
[0054] The consumer-to-business service 110 may comprise a
messaging system 140. The messaging system 140 may be generally
arranged to receive, store, and deliver between individual entities
such as individual users and collective entities such as businesses
and other organizations. The messaging system 140 may store
messages while messaging endpoints, such as messaging endpoint 125,
are offline and deliver the messages once the messaging endpoints
are available. The messaging system 140 may empower a user to use
multiple messaging endpoints (e.g., a messaging client on a mobile
device, a web browser on a personal computer) for the same user
account, with the messaging system 140 keeping all of the messaging
endpoints up-to-date as to the messaging state of the user
account.
[0055] The consumer-to-business service 110 may comprise a social
networking service 170. The social networking service 170 may
maintain a social graph data structure representing a social graph.
The social graph may represent relationships between entities, such
as user entities, commerce entities, and any other sort of entity.
The social graph may represent the relationships as graph
relationships, in which all information is encoded as either being
attached to a particular node in the graph or attached to a
particular edge between two nodes in the graph. The social
networking service 170 may be an element of a social-networking
service, with the social graph containing, at least in part,
social-networking information. The whole of the
consumer-to-business service 110 may be an element or composed of
elements of a social-networking service.
[0056] The consumer-to-business service 110 may comprise a consumer
portal 150. The consumer portal 150 may be a unified entry point
into the consumer-to-business service 110 for client applications
being used by consumers. The consumer portal 150 may serve as a
general user portal for non-commerce entities, including users that
are not or do not engage in commerce using the consumer-to-business
service 110. The consumer portal 150 may provide access to the
messaging system 140 and the social networking service 170. In some
embodiments, all access to the social networking service 170 may be
mediated by the consumer portal 150 in which the information of the
social networking service 170 is used and managed on behalf of the
user without the user having direct access to some or all of the
social graph information. In some embodiments, the user may have
direct access to the messaging system 140 using their user account,
with the consumer portal 150 limited to consumer functions of the
consumer-to-business service 110 with general messaging
functionality (e.g., messaging with friends) provided through
direct network communication between the messaging endpoint 125 and
the messaging system 140 without the mediation of the consumer
portal 150.
[0057] The consumer-to-business service 110 may comprise a business
portal 160. The business portal 160 may be a unified entry point
into the consumer-to-business service 110 for client application
being used by business entities. The business portal 160 may
provide access to the messaging system 140 and the social
networking service 170. In some embodiments, all access to the
social networking service 170 may be mediated by the business
portal 160 in which the information of the social networking
service 170 is used and managed on behalf of the commerce entity
without the commerce entity having direct access to some or all of
the social graph information. In some embodiments, the commerce
entity may have direct access to the messaging system 140 using
their commerce account, with the business portal 160 limited to
business functions of the consumer-to-business service 110 with
general messaging functionality (e.g., messaging with customers)
provided through direct network communication between one or more
commerce applications 190 and the messaging system 140 without the
mediation of the business portal 160.
[0058] A user may participate in the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100 and interact with the consumer-to-business service 110
using a messaging endpoint 125 software application executing on a
client device 120. The client device 120 may typically be a
smartphone--a mobile phone capable of executing software
applications that provide functionality beyond that of a
conventional telephone--such as an iPhone.RTM., Android.RTM. phone,
or other smartphone. The messaging endpoint 125 may be specifically
associated with a particular messaging system 140 that forms part
of the consumer-to-business service 110 or may be a general-purpose
messaging client operative to interact with a plurality of
messaging services. The messaging endpoint 125 may interact with
one or both of the consumer portal 150 and the messaging system 140
for the performance of messaging tasks and commerce tasks.
[0059] A commerce entity, such as through the actions of
representatives, employees, and/or agents of the commerce entity,
may participate in the consumer-to-business messaging system 100
and interact with the consumer-to-business service 110 using
commerce applications 190. Commerce applications 190 may comprise
software clients used by commerce entities for participating in the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100. The commerce
applications 190 may interact with one or both of the business
portal 160 and the messaging system 140 for the performance of
messaging tasks and commerce tasks. The commerce applications 190
may comprise applications used by individuals within a commerce
entity for administration of a business's presence within the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100, for carrying out
purchased services or providing purchased products, or for carrying
out any other tasks related to the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100.
[0060] A commerce entity may be represented in a messaging system
by a commerce representation comprising a collection of information
for display to a user. A commerce representation may comprise a
business page, the business page being the identity of a business
within the consumer-to-business messaging system 100. The business
page may display information regarding a commerce entity. The
business page may include information for the commerce entity, such
as one or more of a physical location for the commerce entity, the
operating hours of the physical location, or the hours in which the
commerce entity (e.g., a representative of the commerce entity) is
available for messaging through the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100. The business page may include social-networking
information for the commerce entity, such as a list of friends of a
viewing user that have "liked" or "followed" the commerce entity
within a social network as may be represented in a social
graph.
[0061] A commerce representation may not correspond precisely to a
commerce entity. A single commerce entity, such as a business, may
have multiple commerce representations and therefore multiple
business pages. For example, a single business may have different
representations for different brands owned and operated by the same
business. A retailer or reseller may sell multiple brands and may
have different representations for different brands that they sell.
A business may have different representations for different
geographic areas in which they operate, such as one business page
for the United States, another for Europe, another for Russia,
etc.
[0062] An agent for a commerce representation may be presented in
messaging conversation in a messaging system 140. A user of the
messaging system 140 may interact with the agent via messaging with
the agent comprising a virtual representation of a business, with
the agent corresponding to a commerce representation presented as a
business page. Messaging with the agent may therefore extend the
presence of a commerce representation as a business page, primarily
dedicated to providing information from the business to users, to
interactive messaging in which users and the business can engage in
a conversation.
[0063] Users, consumers, may use a messaging client for the
messaging system 140 to interact with the agent. An application may
correspond to a specific registration empowering access to the
messaging system 140 and/or social networking service 170 via an
application programming interface (API). An application may be
registered with the messaging system 140 via various registered
hooks for the application specifying how the application can be
contacted by the messaging system 140. These hooks may be used to
contact the application in response to events, such as user
messaging, within the messaging system 140. An application may be
assigned a secure token that may be used for authentication and the
secure reception and sending of information with the messaging
system 140. An application may correspond to a specific AppID with
the messaging system 140 and/or social networking service 170.
Because the business may surface multiple aspects of the services
and products it provides via the agent, multiple different
applications may be used by a commerce entity to interact with a
user via the messaging system 140. Each application may be
subscribed with the messaging system 140 to the one or more
commerce representations, such as business pages, that it
powers.
[0064] Different commerce applications of a plurality of commerce
applications 190 may implement different functions for a commerce
entity. For example, a first commerce application may be used by
customer support representatives while a second commerce
application is used by order fulfillment representatives. The
former may respond to and be notified of user inquiries relating to
a performed order, such as problems or complaints. The latter may
respond to and be notified of user requests for products of
services. In another example, a first commerce application may be
used by live customer support representatives while a second
commerce application is used by an automated customer support
system. Other types of commerce applications may be used without
limitation. As such, a given commerce representation, corresponding
to a business page, may be powered by multiple commerce
applications.
[0065] Similarly, a given commerce application may be power
multiple commerce representations and therefore interactions with
multiple business pages. For instance, a business with multiple
brands, each represented by a different business pages, and
therefore different commerce representations, may power multiple
brands with the same application or applications. Similarly where a
business has different business pages for different geographic
regions. In another example, a commerce application for a delivery
company may, in association with deliveries for various clients,
power those clients commerce representations via the messaging
system 140 for updates regarding the deliveries. The embodiments
are not limited to these examples.
[0066] The network 180 may comprise any form of computer network
operative to carry computer transmissions between computer devices.
The network 180 may include one or both of intranets and the
Internet. The network 180 may include cellular data and/or Wi-Fi
data networks, such as may be used to provide connectivity to a
mobile client device 120.
[0067] The consumer-to-business messaging system 100 may use
knowledge generated from interactions between users. The
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 may comprise a component
of a social-networking service and may use knowledge generated from
the broader interactions of the social-networking service. As such,
to protect the privacy of the users of the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 and the larger social-networking service,
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 may include an
authorization server (or other suitable component(s)) that allows
users to opt in to or opt out of having their actions logged by the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 or shared with other
systems (e.g., third-party systems), for example, by setting
appropriate privacy settings. A privacy setting of a user may
determine what information associated with the user may be logged,
how information associated with the user may be logged, when
information associated with the user may be logged, who may log
information associated with the user, whom information associated
with the user may be shared with, and for what purposes information
associated with the user may be logged or shared. Authorization
servers or other authorization components may be used to enforce
one or more privacy settings of the users of the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 and other elements of a
social-networking service through blocking, data hashing,
anonymization, or other suitable techniques as appropriate. For
example, while interactions between users of a social-networking
service and the social-networking service may be used to learn
media content preferences and the relationship between preferences
for different pieces of media content, these interactions may be
anonymized prior to or as part of the learning process.
[0068] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a social graph 200. In
particular embodiments, a social-networking system may store one or
more social graphs 200 in one or more data stores as a social graph
data structure.
[0069] In particular embodiments, social graph 200 may include
multiple nodes, which may include multiple user nodes 202 and
multiple concept nodes 204. Social graph 200 may include multiple
edges 206 connecting the nodes. In particular embodiments, a
social-networking system, client system, third-party system, or any
other system or device may access social graph 200 and related
social-graph information for suitable applications. The nodes and
edges of social graph 200 may be stored as data objects, for
example, in a data store (such as a social-graph database). Such a
data store may include one or more searchable or queryable indexes
of nodes or edges of social graph 200.
[0070] In particular embodiments, a user node 202 may correspond to
a user of the social-networking system. As an example and not by
way of limitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an
entity (e.g., an enterprise, business, or third-party application),
or a group (e.g., of individuals or entities) that interacts or
communicates with or over the social-networking system. In
particular embodiments, when a user registers for an account with
the social-networking system, the social-networking system may
create a user node 202 corresponding to the user, and store the
user node 202 in one or more data stores. Users and user nodes 202
described herein may, where appropriate, refer to registered users
and user nodes 202 associated with registered users. In addition or
as an alternative, users and user nodes 202 described herein may,
where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered with the
social-networking system. In particular embodiments, a user node
202 may be associated with information provided by a user or
information gathered by various systems, including the
social-networking system. As an example and not by way of
limitation, a user may provide their name, profile picture, contact
information, birth date, sex, marital status, family status,
employment, education background, preferences, interests, or other
demographic information. In particular embodiments, a user node 202
may be associated with one or more data objects corresponding to
information associated with a user. In particular embodiments, a
user node 202 may correspond to one or more webpages. A user node
202 may be associated with a unique user identifier for the user in
the social-networking system.
[0071] In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond
to a concept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept
may correspond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater,
restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, a
website associated with the social-network service or a third-party
website associated with a web-application server); an entity (such
as, for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or
celebrity); a resource (such as, for example, an audio file, video
file, digital photo, text file, structured document, or
application) which may be located within the social-networking
system or on an external server, such as a web-application server;
real or intellectual property (such as, for example, a sculpture,
painting, movie, game, song, idea, photograph, or written work); a
game; an activity; an idea or theory; another suitable concept; or
two or more such concepts. A concept node 204 may be associated
with information of a concept provided by a user or information
gathered by various systems, including the social-networking
system. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of
a concept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g.,
an image of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g., an address
or a geographical location); a website (which may be associated
with a URL); contact information (e.g., a phone number or an email
address); other suitable concept information; or any suitable
combination of such information. In particular embodiments, a
concept node 204 may be associated with one or more data objects
corresponding to information associated with concept node 204. In
particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may correspond to one or
more webpages.
[0072] In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 200 may
represent or be represented by a webpage (which may be referred to
as a "profile page"). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible
to the social-networking system. Profile pages may also be hosted
on third-party websites associated with a third-party server. As an
example and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding
to a particular external webpage may be the particular external
webpage and the profile page may correspond to a particular concept
node 204. Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset
of other users. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user
node 202 may have a corresponding user-profile page in which the
corresponding user may add content, make declarations, or otherwise
express himself or herself. A business page such as business page
205 may comprise a user-profile page for a commerce entity. As
another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node 204
may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or more
users may add content, make declarations, or express themselves,
particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept
node 204.
[0073] In particular embodiments, a concept node 204 may represent
a third-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system.
The third-party webpage or resource may include, among other
elements, content, a selectable or other icon, or other
inter-actable object (which may be implemented, for example, in
JavaScript, AJAX, or PHP codes) representing an action or activity.
As an example and not by way of limitation, a third-party webpage
may include a selectable icon such as "like," "check in," "eat,"
"recommend," or another suitable action or activity. A user viewing
the third-party webpage may perform an action by selecting one of
the icons (e.g., "eat"), causing a client system to send to the
social-networking system a message indicating the user's action. In
response to the message, the social-networking system may create an
edge (e.g., an "eat" edge) between a user node 202 corresponding to
the user and a concept node 204 corresponding to the third-party
webpage or resource and store edge 206 in one or more data
stores.
[0074] In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph
200 may be connected to each other by one or more edges 206. An
edge 206 connecting a pair of nodes may represent a relationship
between the pair of nodes. In particular embodiments, an edge 206
may include or represent one or more data objects or attributes
corresponding to the relationship between a pair of nodes. As an
example and not by way of limitation, a first user may indicate
that a second user is a "friend" of the first user. In response to
this indication, the social-networking system may send a "friend
request" to the second user. If the second user confirms the
"friend request," the social-networking system may create an edge
206 connecting the first user's user node 202 to the second user's
user node 202 in social graph 200 and store edge 206 as
social-graph information in one or more data stores. In the example
of FIG. 2, social graph 200 includes an edge 206 indicating a
friend relation between user nodes 202 of user "Amanda" and user
"Dorothy."Although this disclosure describes or illustrates
particular edges 206 with particular attributes connecting
particular user nodes 202, this disclosure contemplates any
suitable edges 206 with any suitable attributes connecting user
nodes 202. As an example and not by way of limitation, an edge 206
may represent a friendship, family relationship, business or
employment relationship, fan relationship, follower relationship,
visitor relationship, subscriber relationship, superior/subordinate
relationship, reciprocal relationship, non-reciprocal relationship,
another suitable type of relationship, or two or more such
relationships. Moreover, although this disclosure generally
describes nodes as being connected, this disclosure also describes
users or concepts as being connected. Herein, references to users
or concepts being connected may, where appropriate, refer to the
nodes corresponding to those users or concepts being connected in
social graph 200 by one or more edges 206.
[0075] In particular embodiments, an edge 206 between a user node
202 and a concept node 204 may represent a particular action or
activity performed by a user associated with user node 202 toward a
concept associated with a concept node 204. As an example and not
by way of limitation, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a user may "like,"
"attended," "played," "listened," "cooked," "worked at," or
"watched" a concept, each of which may correspond to a edge type or
subtype. A concept-profile page corresponding to a concept node 204
may include, for example, a selectable "check in" icon (such as,
for example, a clickable "check in" icon) or a selectable "add to
favorites" icon. Similarly, after a user clicks these icons, the
social-networking system may create a "favorite" edge or a "check
in" edge in response to a user's action corresponding to a
respective action. As another example and not by way of limitation,
a user (user "Carla") may listen to a particular song ("Across the
Sea") using a particular application (SPOTIFY, which is an online
music application). In this case, the social-networking system may
create a "listened" edge 206 and a "used" edge (as illustrated in
FIG. 2) between user nodes 202 corresponding to the user and
concept nodes 204 corresponding to the song and application to
indicate that the user listened to the song and used the
application. Moreover, the social-networking system may create a
"played" edge 206 (as illustrated in FIG. 2) between concept nodes
204 corresponding to the song and the application to indicate that
the particular song was played by the particular application. In
this case, "played" edge 206 corresponds to an action performed by
an external application (SPOTIFY) on an external audio file (the
song "Across the Sea"). Although this disclosure describes
particular edges 206 with particular attributes connecting user
nodes 202 and concept nodes 204, this disclosure contemplates any
suitable edges 206 with any suitable attributes connecting user
nodes 202 and concept nodes 204. Moreover, although this disclosure
describes edges between a user node 202 and a concept node 204
representing a single relationship, this disclosure contemplates
edges between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 representing
one or more relationships. As an example and not by way of
limitation, an edge 206 may represent both that a user likes and
has used at a particular concept. Alternatively, another edge 206
may represent each type of relationship (or multiples of a single
relationship) between a user node 202 and a concept node 204 (as
illustrated in FIG. 2 between user node 202 for user "Edwin" and
concept node 204 for "SPOTIFY").
[0076] In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may
create an edge 206 between a user node 202 and a concept node 204
in social graph 200. As an example and not by way of limitation, a
user viewing a concept-profile page (such as, for example, by using
a web browser or a special-purpose application hosted by the user's
client system) may indicate that he or she likes the concept
represented by the concept node 204 by clicking or selecting a
"Like" icon, which may cause the user's client system to send to
the social-networking system a message indicating the user's liking
of the concept associated with the concept-profile page. In
response to the message, the social-networking system may create an
edge 206 between user node 202 associated with the user and concept
node 204, as illustrated by "like" edge 206 between the user and
concept node 204. In particular embodiments, the social-networking
system may store an edge 206 in one or more data stores. In
particular embodiments, an edge 206 may be automatically formed by
the social-networking system in response to a particular user
action. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first user
uploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge
206 may be formed between user node 202 corresponding to the first
user and concept nodes 204 corresponding to those concepts.
Although this disclosure describes forming particular edges 206 in
particular manners, this disclosure contemplates forming any
suitable edges 206 in any suitable manner.
[0077] The social graph 200 may further comprise a plurality of
product nodes. Product nodes may represent particular products that
may be associated with a particular business. A business may
provide a product catalog to the consumer-to-business service 110
and the consumer-to-business service 110 may therefore represent
each of the products within the product in the social graph 200
with each product being in a distinct product node. A product node
may comprise information relating to the product, such as pricing
information, descriptive information, manufacturer information,
availability information, and other relevant information. For
example, each of the items on a menu for a restaurant may be
represented within the social graph 200 with a product node
describing each of the items. A product node may be linked by an
edge to the business providing the product. Where multiple
businesses provide a product, each business may have a distinct
product node associated with its providing of the product or may
each link to the same product node. A product node may be linked by
an edge to each user that has purchased, rated, owns, recommended,
or viewed the product, with the edge describing the nature of the
relationship (e.g., purchased, rated, owns, recommended, viewed, or
other relationship). Each of the product nodes may be associated
with a graph id and an associated merchant id by virtue of the
linked merchant business. Products available from a business may
therefore be communicated to a user by retrieving the available
product nodes linked to the user node for the business within the
social graph 200. The information for a product node may be
manipulated by the social-networking system as a product object
that encapsulates information regarding the referenced product.
[0078] FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 300
for a business web page.
[0079] A client device 301 may correspond to any device used to
access a consumer-to-business messaging system 100. While in the
illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3A the client device 301 resembles a
smartphone device, it will be appreciated that the techniques
described herein may be used with any type of device.
[0080] The user interface 300 may generally correspond to a web
page display 303 for a partner of the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100. The web page display 303 may be a display of
a web page created and operated by the partner rather than being
created and operated by the operator of the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100. For instance, a business web page may be
hosted by a business distinct from the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100. The web page may be identified by a uniform
resource locator (URL) which may be visually displayed or
represented in a URL bar 302 displayed on the client device
301.
[0081] The web page may comprise a messaging initiation control
305. Selection of the messaging initiation control 305 by a user
may redirect a client device to a messaging client and specifically
to a message thread with a messaging bot for the business in the
messaging client. The messaging initiation control 305 may be
instantiated by a web plugin. A web plugin may be provided by the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 and installed by the
business in the web page. Alternatively, the messaging initiation
control 305 may be a link, the link comprising a uniform resource
identifier (URI). The messaging initiation control 305 may deep
link into an application on the client device 301. Such an
application may be, without limitation, a native application or a
web application comprising a messaging client. The application may
be identified according to various techniques for deep linking. A
messaging client may receive a URI and extract an identifier that
identifies the messaging bot with the messaging system so as to
empower the messaging client to direct the user of the messaging
client to a message thread with the messaging bot.
[0082] FIG. 3B illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 310
for a message thread displaying a get-started message 1015.
[0083] The client device 301 may display a messaging client in
response to the selection of a messaging initiation control 305 on
a web page. It will be appreciated, however, that the display of
the messaging client may also be initiated by a user using other
techniques, such as the direct selection of the messaging client in
an application-selection user interface for the operating system of
the client device 301. Further, the display of a message thread
with a messaging bot with a get-started message 1015 may be
initiated within the messaging client--such as through a selection
of the messaging bot or a selection of a message thread with the
messaging bot--rather than in response to the selection of a
control embedded in a web page.
[0084] A messaging client may display a messaging client header
312. The messaging client header 312 may comprise a title for a
message thread, such as the name of a messaging bot with which the
user may engage via the message thread, which may correspond to the
name of a business that the messaging bot represents. The messaging
client header 312 may comprise a control to return a user to an
inbox view for the messaging client. An inbox view control may be
augmented with a number of recent message threads with unread
messages.
[0085] The user interface 310 for the message thread may include a
messaging bot information display 314. The messaging bot
information display 314 may include a name and avatar for the
messaging bot with which the message thread is associated. The
avatar for a messaging bot may be a logo for a business with which
the messaging bot is associated. The messaging bot information
display 314 may include a category for the messaging bot, such as a
type of commerce associate with the messaging bot. For example, the
messaging bot information display 314 includes the "Shopping &
Retail" category. These categories may be selected by an operator
for the messaging bot associated with a business for the messaging
bot or may be assigned by the consumer-to-business messaging system
100. The messaging bot information display 314 may include a
listing of the number of people who have liked, favorite, or
otherwise associated themselves with the messaging bot and/or the
business or a page for the business. In some embodiments, the
messaging bot information display 314 may eventually be removed
from the initial display of a message thread when activated once
sufficient messages are received as to occupy its screen space.
[0086] The user interface 310 for a message thread may include
composition controls 319 that are persistently visible during the
display of a message thread. Many, most, or nearly all of the
composition controls 319 may empower access to further user
interface controls for the performance of various tasks, such as
text entry, media selection, emoji selection, camera use, a social
approval icon, etc.
[0087] The user interface 310 for the message thread may comprise a
message interaction display 313. The message interaction display
313 may comprise the messages exchanged within the message thread.
The message interaction display 313 may be initially empty due to
no messages having been exchanged at the time of the creation of
the message thread.
[0088] However, in some embodiments, a get-started message 315 may
be automatically displayed in a first access to a message thread
with a messaging bot by the user. A get-started message 315 may
comprise one or more CTA controls for initiating service with the
messaging bot, such as different product areas offered by a
business. A message thread may include a display of messaging bot
information and/or business information, such as a product or
service category (e.g., "Shopping & Retail") and a number of
people who have liked the business page for the business.
[0089] A get-started message 315 may include one or more CTA
controls. A CTA control 316 displayed as part of the get-started
message 315 may be oriented towards guiding a user's initial
interactions with a messaging bot, and as such may ask broad or
general questions regarding a user's interest in interacting with
the messaging bot. However, any type of CTA control may be
displayed.
[0090] FIG. 3C illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 320
for a message thread displaying a user message 323 and responding
bot message 326.
[0091] The user message 323 may comprise a user response to
messaging bot options presented in the message thread. In some
cases, the user message 323 may be automatically generated based on
a user selecting a CTA control. The user may select a CTA control,
which may initiate the sending of a message to the business as
addressed to the messaging bot. At least a portion of this message
may be displayed in the message thread to display the flow of the
messaging conversation to the user, in this case that the user has
selected the "Shoes" option from the plurality of CTA controls of
the get-started message 315. This same text may be sent to the
messaging bot to indicate the selected control. In some
implementations, additional information may be sent to the
messaging bot, and not displayed to the user, such as metadata
indicating that a particular control was selected. In some cases, a
user may respond to a series of options by entering the text option
via text controls, such as by typing and sending "Shoes" via the
messaging interface.
[0092] The responding bot message 326 may comprise a response to
the user message 323 by the messaging bot. The responding message
326 may comprise further CTA controls empowering the refinement of
a user's configuration of a requested product or service. The
plurality of CTA controls may be received as part of a template,
where the template includes a text segment as a message to the user
and allows the specification of one or more CTA controls.
[0093] FIG. 3D illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 330
for a message thread displaying a user message 333 and a responding
bot message 336. The user message 333 and the responding bot
message 336 may further refine a user's configuration of a
requested product or service.
[0094] FIG. 3E illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 340
for a message thread displaying a carousel 345. In some instances,
a messaging bot may send a bot message that comprises a carousel
345, such as in response to a user message 343.
[0095] A carousel 345 may comprise a template empowering the
sending of multiple items for display, each with one or more
associated CTA controls. The carousel 1045 may comprise a title,
the title used as a message to the user contextualizing the
carousel 345, such as inviting the user to consider a variety of
options. The carousel 1045 may comprise a plurality of items, where
each items comprise an item image 347 (e.g., an image of the
product), text (e.g., an item description 348 as descriptive text
for the product), and a plurality of controls (e.g., a buy control
as a CTA purchase control 349, a see-more-like-this control, and an
ask-a-question control). The carousel 345 may be scrolled
horizontally to view additional items, though vertical carousels
may also be supported by the consumer-to-business messaging system
100. In some embodiments, a title for the carousel may be sent as a
distinct message from the horizontally-scrollable set of items
comprising the carousel.
[0096] FIG. 3F illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 350
for a message thread displaying a scrolled carousel 355.
[0097] The scrolled carousel 355 may comprise a carousel 345 that
has been horizontally scrolled by the user to display additional
items, each comprising an image, text segment, and plurality of CTA
controls. The title for the carousel may remain in position to
continue to contextualize the plurality of items. The messaging
client may be operative to perform intelligent scrolling of a
carousel so as to automatically position an entire display of a
particular item for view rather than stopping scrolling in a
transition point between two items.
[0098] FIG. 3G illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 360
for a message thread displaying an order template 365.
[0099] An order template 365 may comprise a form used to configure
the purchase of a particular product. The order template 365 may
comprise one or more images--such as product images that may be
scrolled between--a name of the product, a description of the
product, a price for a product, and one or more controls for
configuring options for the product (e.g., a configuration control
366 empowering configuration of the size of a pair of shoes).
[0100] The order template 365 may comprise a purchase control 367
empowering purchase of the product. In some embodiments, a purchase
control 367 may be prebuilt CTA in which a financial transaction
for a purchase is processed by the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100, with a confirmation of the financial transaction sent
to the business for the messaging bot to confirm payment and
initiate delivery of the product.
[0101] FIG. 3H illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 370
for a message thread displaying an order receipt message 375.
[0102] An order receipt message 375 may comprise a message template
providing a receipt for a purchased product or service. The order
receipt message 375 may comprise a personal message to the user
customized by the business for the messaging bot, such as thanking
or congratulating the user for their purchase. The order receipt
message 375 may comprise a title (e.g., that it is an order
confirmation), an image of the product, a text description of the
product, a text description of any configured options, a payment
description, a delivery summary, and a price. A template for
receipt messages may be provided so as to instruct businesses as to
the information that should be provided to a user as part of their
receipt. In some embodiments, a portion of an order receipt message
375 may be specified by the consumer-to-business messaging system
100, such as a payment description section where a financial
transaction is performed by the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100 on behalf of the user and the business.
[0103] FIG. 4A illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 400
for search.
[0104] A search interface may comprise a search field 410, the
search field 410 empowering a user to enter text for use in a
search. The search interface may comprise composition controls 440.
The composition controls 440 may be substantially similar to the
composition controls 319 described with reference to FIG. 3B, and
may similarity empower access to further user interface controls
for the performance of various tasks, such as text entry, media
selection, emoji selection, camera use, a social approval icon,
etc.
[0105] A search interface may also comprise one or more suggested
contacts, wherein these suggested contacts are displayed in an
initial display of the search interface prior to the user entering
search information prompting the display of search results in
response to the entered search information. The suggested contacts
may therefore augment the search interface into a discovery
interface, wherein the discovery interface initially displays
suggestions for a user without the use of user-specified search
information and then transitions to suggestions based on
user-specified search information.
[0106] The suggested contacts may be determined based on user
information and contextual information, and therefore may comprise
predictions as to the people, groups, and/or messaging bots that a
user may desire to contact. The suggestion of contacts may
incorporate, as well as predictions as to user interest, an
incorporation of value to the consumer-to-business messaging system
100 in the user messaging with the contact. Suggested contacts may
include people, such as suggested people and groups 420. Suggested
contacts may include suggested messaging bots 430.
[0107] FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of a user interface 450
for search results 470.
[0108] The search interface may comprise a search field 460, which
may comprise a complete or partial entry of text. The search
results 470 may be updated as additional text is entered in the
search field 1160. For instance, text entry controls 480 may be
used to enter text into the search 460. Text entry controls 480 may
be reached by selecting a text entry selection control as part of
composition controls 440 as described with reference to FIG.
4A.
[0109] The search results 470 may comprise matches to the text of
the search field 460. The search results 470 may comprise suggested
results based on the text of the search field 460, which may be
ranked and displayed in order based on one or more of predicted
user interest and promotion value to the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100. As illustrated, the search results 470 may
include a plurality of different types of contacts. Search results
470 may include personal contacts (e.g., friends or previous
individual messaging partners), groups (e.g., previous or otherwise
available group conversation), and/or businesses as represented by
messaging bots. Alternatively, in some embodiments, a search
interface may be provided that is exclusive to messaging bots in
which all search results 470 will be messaging bots.
[0110] Search results 470 may include information about one or more
of the results. Included information may comprise one or more of a
number of mutual friends for a contact, a product or service area
for a messaging bot, and an indication of whether a personal or
messaging bot search result is currently available for messaging.
For instance, an availability indicator 475 may be displayed in
association with all those and only those contacts that are
currently available for messaging. The consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 may determine availability according to a
variety of techniques, such as whether the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 currently has network connectivity to a client
device associated with the contact.
[0111] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 engaging in messaging operations.
[0112] A commerce entity, such as a business, may be represented
via one or more commerce applications 190 in its interactions with
the consumer-to-business messaging system 100. These commerce
applications 190. The commerce applications 190 may be used by
human agent, representative, or other operator performing
human-based actions for the commerce entity. A commerce application
may comprise a commerce front-end application 590, commerce
messaging application 593, and/or commerce contact application 596.
Other commerce applications may be used, with various functions
implemented by different commerce applications in different
embodiments. For instance, a commerce front-end application 590,
commerce messaging application 593, and commerce contact
application 566 may comprise distinct applications. Alternatively,
any or all of a commerce front-end application 590, a commerce
messaging application 593, and a commerce contact application 596
may be a common application implementing one or more of front-end,
messaging, and contact features. In various embodiments, various
functions may be implemented by different combinations of
applications.
[0113] The consumer-to-business service 110 may aid in the
development of the presence on the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100 of a business. This aid may be based, at least in part,
on an identification of an area of commerce in which a business
operators. For example, an airline may be associated, as a
business, with airline commerce and may, therefore, be provided
with information and functionality to aid in the performance of
operations related to the airline industry. As such, in its
operations with the consumer-to-business messaging system 100, a
commerce entity, such as a business, may correspond to a commerce
type, such as a clothing realtor being associated with a clothing
type, retail sales type, clothing retail type, etc. A commerce
intermediary server may provide access to the consumer-to-business
service 110 supporting a plurality of commerce types, where the
commerce type of a particular commerce entity comprises one of the
plurality of commerce types.
[0114] A commerce type may comprise the local travel commerce type,
ride-sharing commerce type, airline commerce type, hotel commerce
type, retail commerce type, or any other commerce type. Each
commerce type may be support by the consumer-to-business service
110 using commerce-type-specific message templates,
commerce-type-specific attachment types, commerce-type-specific
forms, or other commerce-type-specific templates. For instance, the
airline commerce type may be supported by airline-specific messages
templates for communicating airline information (e.g., arrival
times, department times, departure gate specifications, baggage
claim specifications, connecting flight specifications, flight
delay updates), airline-specific attachment types for providing
air-transport information (e.g., a ticket receipt, a boarding pass,
a baggage claim ticket), airline-specific forms for configuring
air-transport services (e.g., booking a ticket, rescheduling a
ticket, checking-in to a flight, arranging for checked baggage),
and other airline-specific templates. These templates may reduce
the burden of effort in an airline, or other business, in
supporting the consumer-to-business messaging system 100, reduce
the duplication in effort between businesses in creating templates,
and may standardize and improve the quality of the templates used
by businesses.
[0115] For example, prebuilt templates may include different
combinations of text, images, titles, subtitles, and CTA buttons.
Templates may be combined together, such as sending multiple
messages in one call to the messaging system to invoke the
rendering of them as a single stack. A stack of messages may be
presented as a scrollable horizontal or vertical arrangement of a
list of items, such as may be used when sending a variety of
suggested products to a user. Similarly, controls may be presented
as a unit. A form template may be used to specify multiple
controls, which may also include text or images. A user may be
presented a form with a title text inviting them to select an
option, with each of the options presented in a vertical or
horizontal stack, with each of the options selectable by the user
and invoking an action with the business, such as by having each of
the options be a CTA control. For example, a user ordering up of
coffee while on their way to a coffee shop may be presented with a
dialog, built out of a form, listing the available sizes of coffee
as options. The selected size may be posted back to the business as
a message as each of the options may be configured with a
particular message to send to the business when selected.
[0116] The instantiation of a messaging relationship between a
business and a user may be invoked by either party. Such an
invocation may be referred to as a user-to-commerce invocation. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may receive a user-to-commerce
invocation associated with a commerce entity in association with a
user account. A user-to-commerce invocation may comprise an
invocation of a messaging relationship between a particular user
and a particular commerce entity. The user-to-commerce invocation
may comprise a commerce messaging invocation 515 sent by a commerce
front-end application 590 used by a representative of the commerce
entity. Alternative, the user-to-commerce invocation may comprise a
user messaging invocation 514 sent by a user client device 120. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may generate a scoped identifier
510 in response to the user-to-commerce invocation.
[0117] A scoped identifier 510 may comprise an identifier, such as
a numerical identifier, that identifies a user within a particular
scope narrower than the entire scope of the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100. This empowers the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 to control the scope of privileges and
information available to a commerce entity, which aids in the
implementation of, for example, privacy protections for users of
the consumer-to-business messaging system 100. For instance, the
scoped identifier 510 may be a page-scoped identifier, with the
scoped identifier 510 identifying a user for the business entity
across the scope of a business page, with the scoped identifier 510
a unique identifier for a user account within a particular business
page, but independent of an identifier that may be used for the
user account in regards to other business pages. A page-scoped
identifier may be usable by any of one or more commerce
applications powering a business page, the page-scoped identifier
thereby unifying the identification of a user across multiple
commerce applications and empowering the coordinated support of a
user by a commerce entity. A page-scoped identifier may be
submitted to the consumer-to-business service 110 by a commerce
application in association with a page identifier for a business
page, the combination of the page identifier and page-scoped
identifier identifying a single user account.
[0118] The use of a scoped identifier 510, such as a page-scoped
identifier, may serve to protect the privacy of a user through a
variety of techniques. These privacy protections may be enforced at
the application programming interface (API) level by the
consumer-to-business service 110. By being limited in scope to a
particular business page, the tracking of a user between business
pages may be partially or wholly restricted to the
consumer-to-business service 110 and therefore subject to the
privacy protections of the consumer-to-business service 110.
Further, the consumer-to-business service 110 may restriction the
information available to a commerce entity until a user has
consented to the sharing of information. For instance, the
consumer-to-business service 110 may restrict the providing of name
information (e.g., a full name, a first name, a last name), contact
information (e.g., an email address, a postal address, a phone
number), and/or biographical information (e.g., age, data of birth,
gender, sex, race, ethnicity) until the user has provided consent
to the sharing of such information. In some embodiments, the
consumer-to-business service 110 may infer user consent if the user
messages--engages in messaging--with the commerce representation
(i.e., business page) or a commerce entity for sharing of
information in reference to the page-scoped identifier for a
business page, and infer lack of user consent if the user has not
messages with the commerce representation.
[0119] The consumer-to-business service 110 may send the scoped
identifier 510 to the commerce front-end application 590 in
response to the user-to-commerce invocation. The scoped identifier
510 sent to the commerce front-end application 590 may comprise a
page-scoped identifier, the page-scoped identifier specific to a
commerce representation, such as a business page, identified based
on its associated to the user-to-commerce invocation. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may send a scoped identifier 510
to a commerce front-end application 590 from a commerce
intermediary server, the commerce front-end application 590
associated with a commerce entity, the scoped identifier 510
identifying a user account with a messaging system in relation to a
commerce representation for the commerce entity within the
messaging system. This may, as a result, authorize an operator of
the commerce front-end application 590 to engage in messaging with
the user via the consumer-to-business messaging system 100.
[0120] An invocation of a message thread with a commerce entity by
a user may mark the initiation of a messaging relationship between
the user and the commerce entity. The message thread may be invoked
by selecting the commerce entity in an interface for a messaging
client. Different techniques may be used to find the commerce
entity in the messaging client. The messaging client may present a
discovery interface for the exploration and discovery of various
commerce entities available via the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100. Alternatively, the user may have commerce entities
promoted to them outside a discovery interface. Such promotion may
occur within in a messaging inbox, within a message thread, or in
any other portion of the messaging client. For example, a user may
be promoted a commerce entity in response to the content of a
message thread.
[0121] A user-to-commerce message thread invocation may be received
from a client device 120 associated with the user account, where
the user-to-commerce message thread invocation is in association
with a commerce-entity discovery interface on the client device. A
commerce-entity discover interface may display a plurality of
commerce representations for commerce entities and empower the
selection of a particular commerce representation for a particular
commerce entity. The consumer-to-business service 110 may send the
scoped identifier 510 to the commerce front-end application 590 in
response to receiving the user-to-commerce message thread
invocation from the client device 120. The commerce front-end
application 590 may, for instance, be registered for the receiving
of scoped identifiers for users that select a commerce
representation via a discovery interface.
[0122] A user-to-commerce message thread invocation may be received
from a client device 120 associated with the user account, where
the user-to-commerce message thread invocation is in association
with a commerce-entity trigger suggestion on the client device 120.
A commerce-entity trigger suggestion may comprise a suggestion
displayed on the client device 120 in response to the context of a
messaging conversation, such as in a user-to-user message thread. A
client device 120, in coordination with the consumer-to-business
service 110, may detect a context for a user-to-user message thread
and suggest commerce options in response to the context, with may
comprise the commerce-entity trigger suggestion. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may send the scoped identifier 510
to the commerce front-end application 590 in response to receiving
the user-to-commerce message thread invocation from the client
device 120.
[0123] A user-to-commerce invocation may be received in association
with a web plugin on a web page associated with the commerce
entity. The consumer-to-business messaging system 100 may empower
commerce entities to add a web plugin to web pages for their
business, with the web plugin empowering users to select a control
invoked by the web plugin for access to the consumer-to-business
service 110 in association with the particular commerce
representation for the commerce entity. The consumer-to-business
service 110 may send the scoped identifier 510 to the commerce
front-end application 590 in response to receiving the
user-to-commerce invocation in association with a web plugin. As
such, a businesses may promote their presence on the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 on their web page and
therefore encouraging the extension of their interaction with their
customers to the messaging platform of the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100.
[0124] A business may promote its presence on the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 in physical displays as
well as in web displays. The consumer-to-business service 110 may
receive a user-to-commerce invocation from a client device 120
associated with the user account, the user-to-commerce invocation
in association with a visual code capture by the client device 120,
the visual code capture identifying the commerce entity. A visual
code may comprise, for instance, a barcode, a matrix barcode, a
one-dimensional barcode, a two-dimensional barcode, a
consumer-to-business messaging system-specific barcode, or any
other form of visual code. The consumer-to-business service 110 may
send the scoped identifier 510 to the commerce front-end
application in response to receiving the user-to-commerce
invocation from a client device. A visual code may be captured by a
camera of a client device 120 and thereafter submitted to the
consumer-to-business service 110.
[0125] The consumer-to-business service 110 may be operative to
perform phone-number matching for a business of phone numbers of
customers of the business. A commerce messaging invocation 515 may
comprise a submission of one or more customer phone numbers from a
business. The consumer-to-business service 110 may receive a phone
number record from a commerce front-end application 590, match the
phone number record to a user account, and send a scoped identifier
510 for the user account to the commerce front-end application 590
in response to matching the phone number record received from the
commerce front-end application 590 to the user account. As such, a
business may be empowered to transition from using phone call or
short message service (SMS) contact to using the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 for communication with
its customers. This may provide the business with reliable message
delivery including message receipts, as compared to potentially
unreliable SMS service. This may provide both customers and
businesses with the rich commerce interfaces that may be made
available by the consumer-to-business service 110, thereby
potentially increasing a customer's use of a business and the
customer's ease of using the business.
[0126] The consumer-to-business service 110 may receive a user
account access associated with the user account to the commerce
representation for the commerce entity within the messaging system.
For instance, the user may visit a business page for a business via
their client device 120. The business may be provided with the
scoped identifier 510 in case they wish to follow up with a user
following their visit to the business page. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may send the scoped identifier 510
to the commerce front-end application in response to receiving the
user account access.
[0127] The consumer-to-business service 110 may receive a
commerce-to-user message package 530 from a commerce messaging
application 593 associated with the commerce entity, the
commerce-to-user message addressed to the scoped identifier 510,
the commerce-to-user message package 530 comprising a
commerce-to-user message. The consumer-to-business service 110 may
identify the user account based on the scoped identifier. The
commerce-to-user message package 530 may comprise both a
page-scoped identifier and a page identifier, which may, in
combination, uniquely identify a user account. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may send the commerce-to-user
message to a client device 120 associated with the user account.
The sending of a message to a client device 120 may comprise push
and/or pull operations as part of the operation of a messaging
client with a messaging system 140.
[0128] A commerce-to-user message package 530 may be addressed to a
specific message thread by the commerce messaging application 593.
The message thread may be a user-to-commerce message thread
uniquely associated with the combination of a particular user
account and commerce representation (e.g., business page). As such,
the consumer-to-business service 110 may receive a commerce-to-user
message package 530 at a commerce intermediary server from a
commerce messaging application 593, the commerce messaging
application 593 associated with a commerce entity, the
commerce-to-user message package 530 addressed to a message thread
with a messaging system 140.
[0129] In some embodiments, a commerce-to-user message package 530
may be specified according to a custom message template associated
with the commerce entity. A custom template may be define according
to a scripting language, such as JavaScript.TM.. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may provide tools for the creation
of custom templates, such as custom message templates. These tools
may provide a live preview of the custom template. Custom
templates, including custom message templates, may be subject to a
review by a human administrator of a consumer-to-business service
110, which may be performed as part of an application review
process. Custom templates may be defined and approved in
association with a specific commerce application.
[0130] The consumer-to-business service 110 may receive an
application registration package in association with the commerce
messaging application 593. The consumer-to-business service 110 may
register the commerce messaging application 593 for access to a
commerce intermediary server in response to the application
registration package. The application registration package may
define various custom templates for use in its communication with
users. An application registration package may define one or more
of a custom message template, a custom form template, and a custom
call-to-action button.
[0131] A call-to-action button may comprise a control empowering
access to a particular action with an associated visual
representation inviting the user to engage in that action. Some
call-to-action buttons may be prebuilt in the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 and provided to businesses for use with their
commerce applications. For instance, call-to-actions buttons for
any or all of location sharing, content sharing, and tokenized
payments may be made available for use with commerce applications.
Custom versions for some of these functions may also be built by
businesses, such as where only a general location is used by a
commerce application (e.g., at the specificity of a city), so that
a less-specific location sharing call-to-action button is used that
can take advantage of lower-power location-determination
techniques. Custom CTAs can be used either with custom templates,
or as a CTA included as an element of a prebuilt template.
[0132] An application registration package may define one or more
of a custom welcome text message for the message thread, a custom
get-started call-to-action button for the message thread, one or
more custom pestilent call-to-action buttons for the message
thread, and one or more custom dynamic triggers to start an
interaction. A get-started call-to-action button may comprise a
button displayed during an initial access by a user to a
user-to-commerce message thread, the get-started call-to-action
button initiating initial functions for a user's interactions with
a business. Pestilent call-to-action buttons may provide access to
interactions with a business that may retain their usefulness
persistently across a user's relationship with a business, such as
invoking an order process or requesting an order status update.
Custom dynamic triggers may associate context, such as inferred
intent, from a message thread with commerce actions.
[0133] An application registration package may define a custom
call-to-action button, the custom call-to-action button comprising
visual representation information and activation response
information, the activation response information comprising one or
more of a uniform resource locator (URL), an application link, and
a messaging invocation. A selected call-to-action button with
activation response information comprising a URL may invoke a web
access to that URL. A selected call-to-action button with
activation response information comprising an application link may
invoke an access to an application using the application link. A
selected call-to-action button with activation response information
comprising a messaging invocation may transmit a message to a
commerce messaging application 593.
[0134] The custom templates for a commerce application, or for a
plurality of commerce applications, may be provided to one or more
client devices of a user in response to a user engaging with a
commerce representation powered by the one or more commerce
applications. The consumer-to-business service 110 may send one or
more of a custom message template, a custom form template, and a
custom call-to-action button to the client device in response to
the client device 120 accessing a commerce entity within the
messaging system 140.
[0135] In response to receiving a commerce-to-user 330 message
package from a commerce messaging application 593, the
consumer-to-business service 110 may determine commerce access
privileges for the commerce messaging application 593 in
association with the message thread. The commerce access privileges
may determine whether the commerce messaging application 593 has
permission to post a commerce-to-user message package 530 to the
message thread. The consumer-to-business service 110 may send the
commerce-to-user message package 530 to a client device 120
associated with the message thread when the commerce access
privileges indicate access to the message thread and reject the
commerce message package when the commerce access privileges reject
access to the message thread. This message thread may be associated
with a user account for a user of the messaging system, the user
identifier comprising a page-scoped identifier for the user
account, the page-scoped identifier identifying the user account
with the messaging system in relation to a commerce representation
for the commerce entity within the messaging system, such as a
businesses page.
[0136] Commerce access privileges may be determined according to a
limited-time access token received in association with the commerce
message package. The consumer-to-business service 110 may provide a
limited-time access token in response to a user engaging with a
business in a user-to-user message thread. For instance, a user may
engage a commerce interface in a user-to-user message thread for
the arrangement of a business service. This user engagement, in
some cases whether or not the arrangement of the service is
completed, may authorize the commerce entity to send messages to
the user-to-user message thread for a limited, defined period of
time in order to engage with the one or more users in the thread
for the arrangement of the service. As the message thread may be a
user-to-user message thread, the commerce-to-user message package
530 may also be sent by the consumer-to-business service 110 to an
additional recipient client device 125 used by a different user
also involved in the user-to-user message thread, or a plurality of
additional recipient client devices, each used by another user of a
plurality of other users involved in the user-to-user message
thread. Similarly, messaging in a user-to-user message thread by a
user directed to a commerce entity may also be sent to other
participants in the user-to-user message thread via a distribution
of a user-to-commerce message package 535 to other recipient client
devices associated with other users.
[0137] The commerce access privileges may be determined according
to a sponsored messaging request associated with the
commerce-to-user message package 530. A sponsored messaging request
may be associated with a payment from a business to the
consumer-to-business service 110 to gain the privilege to contact
users. Where a business requests to send a commerce-to-user message
package 530 to a message thread outside of the authorization
granted in response to user engagement with the business in the
message thread, the consumer-to-business service 110 may engage
with the commerce entity to authorize the sending only once payment
is made.
[0138] The consumer-to-business service 110 may enforce spam
prevention policies to prevent abuse of the consumer-to-business
system messaging 100. As such, the commerce access privilege may be
determined according to a message throttling policy. A commerce
entity, commerce representation, or commerce application may be
subjected to a limit in a number of messages it may send in a
defined time period. The consumer-to-business service 110 may
select a commerce access privilege for automatic sampling based on
an automatic sampling policy. A sample of messages sent by a
commerce application may be collected and subjected to human
review, with the privilege of the commerce application or commerce
entity to submit messages to users cut off if a particular
proportion of the human review indicates that spam is being sent.
The consumer-to-business service 110 may additionally or
alternatively perform a keyword-based spam analysis of the
commerce-to-user message package and reject it or subject it to
human review if the keyword-based spam analysis indicates that the
message is spam.
[0139] A messaging client on a client device 120 may comprise a
block control in relation to a commerce entity or commerce
representation. A messaging client may receive a user block command
in association with the message thread and pass the user block
command to the consumer-to-business service 110, which may
thereafter block access by a commerce entity associated with the
message thread for messaging the user. The consumer-to-business
service 110 may register a negative reputation adjustment in
association with the commerce entity in response to the user block
command. The consumer-to-business service 110 may maintain a
reputation score for each commerce entity, and the reception of a
user block command may result in the reputation score for a
commerce entity being lowered.
[0140] A client device 120 or recipient client device 125 may
receive a commerce-to-user message package 530 comprising a
commerce-to-user message from a commerce entity via a messaging
system 140. The messaging client on the client device 120 may
receive the commerce-to-user message package 530 and display the
commerce-to-user message in association with a user-to-commerce
message thread on the client device. This commerce-to-user message
may be defined according to a custom message template associated
with a commerce entity, with the commerce-to-user message received
from a commerce messaging application 593 registered with the
messaging system 140, the commerce messaging application 593
associated with the commerce entity, the custom message template
registered for the commerce messaging application 593 with the
messaging system.
[0141] A messaging client on a client device 120 may comprise a
user-to-commerce message thread interface for a user-to-commerce
message thread. The user-to-commerce message thread interface may
comprise a custom call-to-action button for the commerce entity.
The messaging client may receive a user call-to-action button
activation of the custom call-to-action button and generate the
user-to-commerce message in response to receiving the user
call-to-action button activation of the custom call-to-action
button. The user-to-commerce message thread interface in a
messaging client may comprise one or more of a custom welcome text
message for the message thread, a custom get-started call-to-action
button for the message thread, one or more custom pestilent
call-to-action buttons for the message thread, and one or more
custom triggers to start an interaction.
[0142] A user-to-commerce message thread may be associated with a
user account, being used to organize the interactions between a
user and a commerce entity. The messaging client may display a
user-to-commerce discovery interface on the client device, the
user-to-commerce discovery interface comprising a plurality of
suggested user-to-commerce options. This plurality of suggested
user-to-commerce options may be selected according to one or more
of profile information for the user account and promotional
consideration information for one or more commerce entities. The
consumer-to-business service 110 may generate a prediction of
user-to-commerce options that the user may be interested in. These
options may be customized to a user based on profile information
for the user's user account, such as by customizing based on the
detected preferences of other users with similar profiles. The
options may additionally or alternatively be customized based on a
detected context for a user, such as their current location.
Customizing the options may include both selecting the options for
display and ranking the options. Promotional consideration
information may indicate that a commerce entity has paid to receive
preferential selection for inclusion in options or preferential
placement within the ranking of options.
[0143] The consumer-to-business service 110 may send user
credentials to a commerce entity in association with a
user-to-commerce message, the user credentials included in a
user-to-commerce message package 535. The user credentials may
authenticate a user to the commerce application. In some cases, a
user may be asked to enter their user credentials into a messaging
client to empower the messaging client to use the user credentials
to arrange for service with a business on behalf of the user. In
some cases, however, the user credentials may be retrieved from a
local application for the business. A commerce entity may be
associated with a local application on the client device and the
messaging client may retrieve the user credentials from the local
application via deep-linking within the local application.
[0144] A consumer-to-business service 110, and in particular the
messaging system 140, may receive a user-to-commerce message
package 535 comprising a user-to-commerce message from a client
device 120 associated with the user account. The user-to-commerce
message may be addressed to a user-to-commerce message thread
associated with the commerce entity. The user sending this
user-to-commerce message may indicate consent by the user to
engaging with the commerce entity. The consumer-to-business service
110 may set a user access consent setting for the page-scoped
identifier for the user account to indicate user consent. In some
cases, the user-to-commerce message may comprise a response to a
commerce-to-user message sent to the client device 120 by a
commerce messaging application 593 associated with the commerce
entity.
[0145] A user-to-commerce message thread may comprise one of a
plurality of message threads available to a user via a messaging
client. A message thread selection interface may be displayed by a
messaging client empowering the user to select a message thread to
view. The messaging client may receive a user interface selection
of a user-to-commerce message thread on a client device 120, the
user-to-commerce message thread associated with a commerce entity
with a messaging system 140. The messaging client may display a
user-to-commerce message thread interface for the user-to-commerce
message thread in response to the user interface selection. The
user may compose a user-to-commerce message via a user-to-commerce
message thread interface. The messaging client may receive a
user-to-commerce message via the user-to-commerce message thread
interface for the user-to-commerce message thread and send the
user-to-commerce message to the commerce entity via the messaging
system 140 as a user-to-commerce message package 535.
[0146] A user-to-user message thread may comprise one of a
plurality of messages threads. A user-to-user message thread may be
displayed with a user-to-user message thread interface, the
user-to-user message thread interface organizing the messaging
interaction between two or more users. A messaging client may
receive a commerce interface control selection in the user-to-user
message thread interface on a client device 120, the user-to-user
message thread associated with a user-to-user message thread for a
plurality of users with a messaging system 140. A commerce
interface control selection may comprise a selection of a commerce
entity with which to engage in a commerce interaction. The
messaging client may display a commerce interface in association
with the user-to-user message thread interface, the commerce
interface comprising a plurality of commerce configuration options.
The commerce interface being displayed in association with the
user-to-user message thread interface may comprise at least a
portion of the user-to-user message thread interface being visible
during display of the commerce interface.
[0147] The messaging client may receive a commerce option share
control selection in association with the commerce interface. The
messaging client may share the plurality of commerce configuration
options with the user-to-user message thread in response to the
commerce option share control selection. Sharing the plurality of
commerce configuration options with the user-to-user message thread
may comprise posting the plurality of commerce configuration
options to the user-to-user message thread as a user-to-user
message. As such, the plurality of commerce configuration options
may be sent as a message to a plurality of client devices
associated with the plurality of users associated with a
user-to-user message thread. This may encourage discussion of the
commerce configuration options by the users, thereby helping the
users collectively decide on the configuration of a service, such
as collectively deciding on a restaurant to eat dinner at, when to
eat dinner, and so forth.
[0148] Sharing the plurality of commerce configuration options with
the user-to-user message thread may comprise submitting a commerce
configuration option poll to the user-to-user message thread.
Client devices used by members of the message thread may receive
the commerce configuration option poll which may be displayed on
the client devices, empowering the users to select their preferred
configuration option. The user of the client device 120 that
initiated the poll may also be empowered to engage in the poll or
refrain from engaging in the poll. The client device 120 may
receive poll result information for the commerce configuration
option poll from the other client devices via the messaging system
140. The messaging client on the client device 120 may display the
poll result information for the commerce configuration option poll,
such as by displaying the number of votes for each of the options
and/or displaying the winning poll option with the most votes. As
such, the poll result information for the commerce configuration
option poll may be displayed in association with the plurality of
commerce configuration options in the commerce interface. The poll
result information may comprise a poll winner option corresponding
to one of the plurality of commerce configuration options, and the
messaging client may display a poll winner indicator in association
with the poll winner option in the display of the plurality of
commerce configuration options in the commerce interface.
[0149] The commerce interface may be associated with a commerce
entity, the plurality of commerce configuration options selected
for the commerce interface according to one or more of
message-thread context for the user-to-user message thread and a
promotional consideration transaction with the commerce entity.
Additionally or alternative, the plurality of commerce
configuration options may be ranked in the commerce interface
according to one or more of message-thread context for the
user-to-user message thread and a promotional consideration
transaction with the commerce entity. The commerce entity selected
may have been promoted based on the message-thread context and/or
promotional consideration. A commerce interface control selection
may be for a commerce interface control, with the messaging client
displaying the commerce interface control in response to one or
more of message-thread context for the user-to-user message thread
and a promotional consideration transaction with the commerce
entity. Alternatively, the messaging client may display the
commerce interface control is in response to one or more of a
trigger detected in the user-to-user message thread and a discovery
control selection. The messaging client may receive a commerce
option selection via the commerce interface and send a commerce
configuration command from the client device 120 to the commerce
entity via the messaging system 140.
[0150] A commerce entity, as may be represented through a commerce
messaging application 593, may respond to a user-to-commerce
message. The client device 120 may receive a user-to-user
message-thread message from the commerce entity via the messaging
system 140 in a commerce-to-user message package. The user-to-user
message-thread message may be a message addressed by a commerce
entity to a user-to-user message thread. The messaging client on
the client device 120 may store the user-to-user message-thread
message in association with the user-to-user message thread and
display the user-to-user message-thread message in the user-to-user
message thread interface. The user-to-user message-thread message
may also be received by a different recipient client device 125
associated with another user due to the user-to-user message thread
being associated with multiple users and therefore multiple client
devices.
[0151] A commerce messaging application 593 may also submit a
user-to-commerce message-thread message in a commerce-to-user
message package. A client device 120 may receive a user-to-commerce
message-thread message from the commerce entity via the messaging
system 140. The messaging client on the client device 120 may store
the user-to-commerce message-thread message in association with a
user-to-commerce message thread and display the user-to-commerce
message-thread message in a user-to-commerce message thread
interface. A user-to-commerce message-thread message may be invoked
in response to actions in a user-to-user message thread, with the
user-to-commerce message-thread message comprising information not
designated for the user-to-user message thread. The
user-to-commerce message-thread message may be received in parallel
or sequence with a user-to-user message-thread message, with the
former comprising information for only the user requesting a
service and the latter comprising information for all participants
in a user-to-user message thread. For instance, in regards to local
travel, a user-to-user message thread may be provided with
less-personal details, such as an arrival location and predicted
arrival time, such as may be used where two or more people are
coordinating meeting up. The user-to-commerce message thread may be
provided with more-personal details, such as may include the pickup
location, a predicted cost for the trip, a receipt for the trip, a
driver identity for the trip, and/or other details relevant to the
user requesting a service, but not appropriate for other users,
either due to privacy protection or due to not wanting to burden
the user-to-user message thread, which conversation may be ongoing,
with unwanted information. Which information is delivered to which
thread, user-to-user or user-to-commerce, may be configured by the
commerce messaging application 593.
[0152] A commerce contact application 596 may be used to request
information about a user. The consumer-to-business service 110 may
receive a user information request 540 from a commerce contact
application 596 at a commerce intermediary server, the commerce
contact application 596 associated with the commerce representation
for the commerce entity within the messaging system 140. The user
information request for the scoped identifier 510 for the user
account.
[0153] The consumer-to-business service 110 may determine a user
access consent setting for the scoped identifier 510 for the user
account. The user access consent setting may control whether
private information for a user is distributed to a commerce entity.
The consumer-to-business service 110 may send a user information
data package 545 to the commerce contact application 596 from the
commerce intermediary server in response to the user information
request 540 when the user access consent setting for the scoped
identifier 510 indicates user consent. The consumer-to-business
service 110 may reject the user information request 540 when the
user access consent setting for the scoped identifier 510 indicates
user non-consent. Rejecting the user information request 540 may
comprise sending a rejection message to the commerce contact
application 596. A user information data package 545 may comprise
one or more of name information for the user account, contact
information for the user account, and biographical information for
the user account.
[0154] Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of
exemplary methodologies for performing novel aspects of the
disclosed architecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of
explanation, the one or more methodologies shown herein, for
example, in the form of a flow chart or flow diagram, are shown and
described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of
acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a
different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown
and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will
understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be
represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as
in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a
methodology may be required for a novel implementation.
[0155] FIG. 6A illustrates one embodiment of a first logic flow
600. The logic flow 600 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0156] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 6A, the logic
flow 600 may send a page-scoped identifier to a commerce front-end
application from a commerce intermediary server, the commerce
front-end application associated with a commerce entity, the
page-scoped identifier identifying a user account with a messaging
system in relation to a commerce representation for the commerce
entity within the messaging system at block 602.
[0157] The logic flow 600 may receive a user information request
from a commerce contact application at the commerce intermediary
server, the commerce contact application associated with the
commerce representation for the commerce entity within the
messaging system, the user information request for the page-scoped
identifier at block 604.
[0158] The logic flow 600 may determine a user access consent
setting for the page-scoped identifier for the user account at
block 606.
[0159] The logic flow 600 may send a user information data package
to the commerce contact application from the commerce intermediary
server in response to the user information request when the user
access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier indicates
user consent at block 608.
[0160] The logic flow 600 may reject the user information request
when the user access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier
indicates user non-consent at block 610.
[0161] FIG. 6B illustrates one embodiment of a second logic flow
620. The logic flow 620 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0162] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 6B, the logic
flow 620 may receive a commerce message package at a commerce
intermediary server from a commerce messaging application, the
commerce messaging application associated with a commerce entity,
the commerce message package addressed to a message thread with a
messaging system at block 622.
[0163] The logic flow 620 may determine commerce access privileges
for the commerce messaging application in association with the
message thread at block 624.
[0164] The logic flow 620 may send the commerce message package to
a client device associated with the message thread when the
commerce access privileges indicate access to the message thread at
block 626.
[0165] The logic flow 620 may reject the commerce message package
when the commerce access privileges reject access to the message
thread at block 628.
[0166] FIG. 6C illustrates one embodiment of a third logic flow
640. The logic flow 640 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0167] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 6C, the logic
flow 640 may receive a user interface selection of a
user-to-commerce message thread on a client device, the
user-to-commerce message thread associated with a commerce entity
with a messaging system at block 642.
[0168] The logic flow 640 may display a user-to-commerce message
thread interface for the user-to-commerce message thread at block
644.
[0169] The logic flow 640 may receive a user-to-commerce message
via the user-to-commerce message thread interface for the
user-to-commerce message thread at block 646.
[0170] The logic flow 640 may send the user-to-commerce message to
the commerce entity via the messaging system at block 648.
[0171] FIG. 6D illustrates one embodiment of a fourth logic flow
660. The logic flow 660 may be representative of some or all of the
operations executed by one or more embodiments described
herein.
[0172] In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 6D, the logic
flow 660 may receive a commerce interface control selection in a
user-to-user message thread interface on a client device, the
user-to-user message thread associated with a user-to-user message
thread for a plurality of users with a messaging system at block
662.
[0173] The logic flow 660 may display a commerce interface in
association with the user-to-user message thread interface, the
commerce interface comprising a plurality of commerce configuration
options at block 664.
[0174] The logic flow 660 may receive a commerce option share
control selection in association with the commerce interface at
block 666.
[0175] The logic flow 660 may share the plurality of commerce
configuration options with the user-to-user message thread at block
668.
[0176] The embodiments are not limited to these examples.
[0177] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a centralized system
700. The centralized system 700 may implement some or all of the
structure and/or operations for the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100 in a single computing entity, such as entirely within a
single centralized server device 720.
[0178] The centralized server device 720 may comprise any
electronic device capable of receiving, processing, and sending
information for the consumer-to-business messaging system 100.
Examples of an electronic device may include without limitation an
ultra-mobile device, a mobile device, a personal digital assistant
(PDA), a mobile computing device, a smart phone, a telephone, a
digital telephone, a cellular telephone, ebook readers, a handset,
a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messaging device, a computer, a
personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a
notebook computer, a netbook computer, a handheld computer, a
tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, a web
server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, a
mini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a network
appliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,
multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer
electronics, programmable consumer electronics, game devices,
television, digital television, set top box, wireless access point,
base station, subscriber station, mobile subscriber center, radio
network controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine,
or combination thereof. The embodiments are not limited in this
context.
[0179] The centralized server device 720 may execute processing
operations or logic for the consumer-to-business messaging system
100 using a processing component 730. The processing component 730
may comprise various hardware elements, software elements, or a
combination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include
devices, logic devices, components, processors, microprocessors,
circuits, processor circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors,
resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated
circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC),
programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP),
field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates,
registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and
so forth. Examples of software elements may include software
components, programs, applications, computer programs, application
programs, system programs, software development programs, machine
programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software
modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures,
software interfaces, application program interfaces (API),
instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments,
computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination
thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using
hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordance
with any number of factors, such as desired computational rate,
power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data
rates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and
other design or performance constraints, as desired for a given
implementation.
[0180] The centralized server device 720 may execute communications
operations or logic for the consumer-to-business messaging system
100 using communications component 740. The communications
component 740 may implement any well-known communications
techniques and protocols, such as techniques suitable for use with
packet-switched networks (e.g., public networks such as the
Internet, private networks such as an enterprise intranet, and so
forth), circuit-switched networks (e.g., the public switched
telephone network), or a combination of packet-switched networks
and circuit-switched networks (with suitable gateways and
translators). The communications component 740 may include various
types of standard communication elements, such as one or more
communications interfaces, network interfaces, network interface
cards (NIC), radios, wireless transmitters/receivers
(transceivers), wired and/or wireless communication media, physical
connectors, and so forth. By way of example, and not limitation,
communication media 712 includes wired communications media and
wireless communications media. Examples of wired communications
media may include a wire, cable, metal leads, printed circuit
boards (PCB), backplanes, switch fabrics, semiconductor material,
twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, a propagated
signal, and so forth. Examples of wireless communications media may
include acoustic, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, infrared and other
wireless media.
[0181] The centralized server device 720 may implement the
consumer-to-business service 110 in a single computing entity. The
centralized server device 720 may communicate with other devices
over a communications media 712 using communications signals 714
via the communications component 740. The devices may be internal
or external to the centralized server device 720 as desired for a
given implementation. The centralized server device 720 may
communicate with a plurality of client devices 710, such as may
comprise the client device 120 and the recipient client device
125.
[0182] FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a distributed system
800. The distributed system 800 may distribute portions of the
structure and/or operations for the consumer-to-business messaging
system 100 across multiple computing entities. Examples of
distributed system 800 may include without limitation a
client-server architecture, a 3-tier architecture, an N-tier
architecture, a tightly-coupled or clustered architecture, a
peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave architecture, a shared
database architecture, and other types of distributed systems. The
embodiments are not limited in this context.
[0183] The distributed system 800 may comprise a plurality of
distributed server devices 810. In general, the distributed server
devices 810 may be the same or similar to the centralized server
device 720 as described with reference to FIG. 7. For instance, the
distributed server devices 810 may each comprise a processing
component 830 and a communications component 840 which are the same
or similar to the processing component 730 and the communications
component 740, respectively, as described with reference to FIG. 7.
In another example, the distributed server devices 810 may
communicate over a communications media 812 using communications
signals 814 via the communications components 840.
[0184] The distributed server devices 810 may comprise or employ
one or more server programs that operate to perform various
methodologies in accordance with the described embodiments. In one
embodiment, for example, the distributed server devices 810 may
each implement one or more consumer-to-business servers 815. The
consumer-to-business servers 815 may collectively implement the
consumer-to-business service 110 as a distributed computing entity.
The consumer-to-business servers 815 may communicate with a
plurality of client devices 820, such as may comprise the client
device 120, the recipient client device 125, and client devices
710.
[0185] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing
architecture 900 suitable for implementing various embodiments as
previously described. In one embodiment, the computing architecture
900 may comprise or be implemented as part of an electronic device.
Examples of an electronic device may include those described with
reference to FIG. 7, 8, among others. The embodiments are not
limited in this context.
[0186] As used in this application, the terms "system" and
"component" are intended to refer to a computer-related entity,
either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software,
or software in execution, examples of which are provided by the
exemplary computing architecture 900. For example, a component can
be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor,
a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical
and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, a thread
of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration,
both an application running on a server and the server can be a
component. One or more components can reside within a process
and/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one
computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Further,
components may be communicatively coupled to each other by various
types of communications media to coordinate operations. The
coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directional
exchange of information. For instance, the components may
communicate information in the form of signals communicated over
the communications media. The information can be implemented as
signals allocated to various signal lines. In such allocations,
each message is a signal. Further embodiments, however, may
alternatively employ data messages. Such data messages may be sent
across various connections. Exemplary connections include parallel
interfaces, serial interfaces, and bus interfaces.
[0187] The computing architecture 900 includes various common
computing elements, such as one or more processors, multi-core
processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers,
peripherals, interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards,
audio cards, multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power
supplies, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited
to implementation by the computing architecture 900.
[0188] As shown in FIG. 9, the computing architecture 900 comprises
a processing unit 904, a system memory 906 and a system bus 908.
The processing unit 904 can be any of various commercially
available processors, including without limitation an AMD.RTM.
Athlon.RTM., Duron.RTM. and Opteron.RTM. processors; ARM.RTM.
application, embedded and secure processors; IBM.RTM. and
Motorola.RTM. DragonBall.RTM. and PowerPC.RTM. processors; IBM and
Sony.RTM. Cell processors; Intel.RTM. Celeron.RTM., Core (2)
Duo.RTM., Itanium.RTM., Pentium.RTM., Xeon.RTM., and XScale.RTM.
processors; and similar processors. Dual microprocessors,
multi-core processors, and other multi-processor architectures may
also be employed as the processing unit 904.
[0189] The system bus 908 provides an interface for system
components including, but not limited to, the system memory 906 to
the processing unit 904. The system bus 908 can be any of several
types of bus structure that may further interconnect to a memory
bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a
local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus
architectures. Interface adapters may connect to the system bus 908
via a slot architecture. Example slot architectures may include
without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), Card Bus,
(Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA), Micro Channel
Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral Component Interconnect
(Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.
[0190] The computing architecture 900 may comprise or implement
various articles of manufacture. An article of manufacture may
comprise a computer-readable storage medium to store logic.
Examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include any
tangible media capable of storing electronic data, including
volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable
memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable
memory, and so forth. Examples of logic may include executable
computer program instructions implemented using any suitable type
of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code,
executable code, static code, dynamic code, object-oriented code,
visual code, and the like. Embodiments may also be at least partly
implemented as instructions contained in or on a non-transitory
computer-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or
more processors to enable performance of the operations described
herein.
[0191] The system memory 906 may include various types of
computer-readable storage media in the form of one or more higher
speed memory units, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access
memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM),
synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM
(PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable
programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such as
ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change or
ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)
memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as
Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state
memory devices (e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any
other type of storage media suitable for storing information. In
the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the system memory 906
can include non-volatile memory 910 and/or volatile memory 912. A
basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile
memory 910.
[0192] The computer 902 may include various types of
computer-readable storage media in the form of one or more lower
speed memory units, including an internal (or external) hard disk
drive (HDD) 914, a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 916 to read
from or write to a removable magnetic disk 918, and an optical disk
drive 920 to read from or write to a removable optical disk 922
(e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 914, FDD 916 and optical disk
drive 920 can be connected to the system bus 908 by a HDD interface
924, an FDD interface 926 and an optical drive interface 928,
respectively. The HDD interface 924 for external drive
implementations can include at least one or both of Universal
Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies.
[0193] The drives and associated computer-readable media provide
volatile and/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures,
computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For example, a
number of program modules can be stored in the drives and memory
units 910, 912, including an operating system 930, one or more
application programs 932, other program modules 934, and program
data 936. In one embodiment, the one or more application programs
932, other program modules 934, and program data 936 can include,
for example, the various applications and/or components of the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100.
[0194] A user can enter commands and information into the computer
902 through one or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a
keyboard 938 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 940. Other
input devices may include microphones, infra-red (IR) remote
controls, radio-frequency (RF) remote controls, game pads, stylus
pens, card readers, dongles, finger print readers, gloves, graphics
tablets, joysticks, keyboards, retina readers, touch screens (e.g.,
capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackballs, trackpads, sensors,
styluses, and the like. These and other input devices are often
connected to the processing unit 904 through an input device
interface 942 that is coupled to the system bus 908, but can be
connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394
serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so
forth.
[0195] A monitor 944 or other type of display device is also
connected to the system bus 908 via an interface, such as a video
adaptor 946. The monitor 944 may be internal or external to the
computer 902. In addition to the monitor 944, a computer typically
includes other peripheral output devices, such as speakers,
printers, and so forth.
[0196] The computer 902 may operate in a networked environment
using logical connections via wire and/or wireless communications
to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 948. The
remote computer 948 can be a workstation, a server computer, a
router, a personal computer, portable computer,
microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or
other common network node, and typically includes many or all of
the elements described relative to the computer 902, although, for
purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 950 is
illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wire/wireless
connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 952 and/or larger
networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 954. Such LAN and
WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and
companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such
as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications
network, for example, the Internet.
[0197] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 902
is connected to the LAN 952 through a wire and/or wireless
communication network interface or adaptor 956. The adaptor 956 can
facilitate wire and/or wireless communications to the LAN 952,
which may also include a wireless access point disposed thereon for
communicating with the wireless functionality of the adaptor
956.
[0198] When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 902
can include a modem 958, or is connected to a communications server
on the WAN 954, or has other means for establishing communications
over the WAN 954, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 958,
which can be internal or external and a wire and/or wireless
device, connects to the system bus 908 via the input device
interface 942. In a networked environment, program modules depicted
relative to the computer 902, or portions thereof, can be stored in
the remote memory/storage device 950. It will be appreciated that
the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of
establishing a communications link between the computers can be
used.
[0199] The computer 902 is operable to communicate with wire and
wireless devices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of
standards, such as wireless devices operatively disposed in
wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.9 over-the-air modulation
techniques). This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity),
WiMax, and Bluetooth.TM. wireless technologies, among others. Thus,
the communication can be a predefined structure as with a
conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at
least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called
IEEE 802.9x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast
wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect
computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks
(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).
[0200] FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary
communications architecture 1000 suitable for implementing various
embodiments as previously described. The communications
architecture 1000 includes various common communications elements,
such as a transmitter, receiver, transceiver, radio, network
interface, baseband processor, antenna, amplifiers, filters, power
supplies, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited
to implementation by the communications architecture 1000.
[0201] As shown in FIG. 10, the communications architecture 1000
comprises includes one or more clients 1002 and servers 1004. The
clients 1002 may implement client devices, such as may include the
client device 120, the recipient client device 125, the client
devices 710, and the client devices 820. The servers 1004 may
implement the consumer-to-business service 110 as a centralized or
distributed entity. The clients 1002 and the servers 1004 are
operatively connected to one or more respective client data stores
1008 and server data stores 1010 that can be employed to store
information local to the respective clients 1002 and servers 1004,
such as cookies and/or associated contextual information.
[0202] The clients 1002 and the servers 1004 may communicate
information between each other using a communication framework
1006. The communications framework 1006 may implement any
well-known communications techniques and protocols. The
communications framework 1006 may be implemented as a
packet-switched network (e.g., public networks such as the
Internet, private networks such as an enterprise intranet, and so
forth), a circuit-switched network (e.g., the public switched
telephone network), or a combination of a packet-switched network
and a circuit-switched network (with suitable gateways and
translators).
[0203] The communications framework 1006 may implement various
network interfaces arranged to accept, communicate, and connect to
a communications network. A network interface may be regarded as a
specialized form of an input output interface. Network interfaces
may employ connection protocols including without limitation direct
connect, Ethernet (e.g., thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base
T, and the like), token ring, wireless network interfaces, cellular
network interfaces, IEEE 802.11a-x network interfaces, IEEE 802.16
network interfaces, IEEE 802.20 network interfaces, and the like.
Further, multiple network interfaces may be used to engage with
various communications network types. For example, multiple network
interfaces may be employed to allow for the communication over
broadcast, multicast, and unicast networks. Should processing
requirements dictate a greater amount speed and capacity,
distributed network controller architectures may similarly be
employed to pool, load balance, and otherwise increase the
communicative bandwidth required by clients 1002 and the servers
1004. A communications network may be any one and the combination
of wired and/or wireless networks including without limitation a
direct interconnection, a secured custom connection, a private
network (e.g., an enterprise intranet), a public network (e.g., the
Internet), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Local Area Network
(LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), an Operating Missions as
Nodes on the Internet (OMNI), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless
network, a cellular network, and other communications networks.
[0204] FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a device 1100 for use
in a multicarrier OFDM system, such as the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100. Device 1100 may implement, for example,
software components 1160 as described with reference to system 100
and/or a logic circuit 1135. The logic circuit 1135 may include
physical circuits to perform operations described for the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100. As shown in FIG. 11,
device 1100 may include a radio interface 1110, baseband circuitry
1120, and computing platform 1130, although embodiments are not
limited to this configuration.
[0205] The device 1100 may implement some or all of the structure
and/or operations for the consumer-to-business messaging system 100
and/or logic circuit 1135 in a single computing entity, such as
entirely within a single device. Alternatively, the device 1100 may
distribute portions of the structure and/or operations for the
consumer-to-business messaging system 100 and/or logic circuit 1135
across multiple computing entities using a distributed system
architecture, such as a client-server architecture, a 3-tier
architecture, an N-tier architecture, a tightly-coupled or
clustered architecture, a peer-to-peer architecture, a master-slave
architecture, a shared database architecture, and other types of
distributed systems. The embodiments are not limited in this
context.
[0206] In one embodiment, radio interface 1110 may include a
component or combination of components adapted for transmitting
and/or receiving single carrier or multi-carrier modulated signals
(e.g., including complementary code keying (CCK) and/or orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols) although the
embodiments are not limited to any specific over-the-air interface
or modulation scheme. Radio interface 1110 may include, for
example, a receiver 1112, a transmitter 1116 and/or a frequency
synthesizer 1114. Radio interface 1110 may include bias controls, a
crystal oscillator and/or one or more antennas 1118. In another
embodiment, radio interface 1110 may use external
voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wave
filters, intermediate frequency (IF) filters and/or RF filters, as
desired. Due to the variety of potential RF interface designs an
expansive description thereof is omitted.
[0207] Baseband circuitry 1120 may communicate with radio interface
1110 to process receive and/or transmit signals and may include,
for example, an analog-to-digital converter 1122 for down
converting received signals, a digital-to-analog converter 1124 for
up converting signals for transmission. Further, baseband circuitry
1120 may include a baseband or physical layer (PHY) processing
circuit 1156 for PHY link layer processing of respective
receive/transmit signals. Baseband circuitry 1120 may include, for
example, a processing circuit 1128 for medium access control
(MAC)/data link layer processing. Baseband circuitry 1120 may
include a memory controller 1132 for communicating with processing
circuit 1128 and/or a computing platform 1130, for example, via one
or more interfaces 1134.
[0208] In some embodiments, PHY processing circuit 1126 may include
a frame construction and/or detection module, in combination with
additional circuitry such as a buffer memory, to construct and/or
deconstruct communication frames, such as radio frames.
Alternatively or in addition, MAC processing circuit 1128 may share
processing for certain of these functions or perform these
processes independent of PHY processing circuit 1126. In some
embodiments, MAC and PHY processing may be integrated into a single
circuit.
[0209] The computing platform 1130 may provide computing
functionality for the device 1100. As shown, the computing platform
1130 may include a processing component 1140. In addition to, or
alternatively of, the baseband circuitry 1120, the device 1100 may
execute processing operations or logic for the consumer-to-business
messaging system 100 and logic circuit 1135 using the processing
component 1140. The processing component 1140 (and/or PHY 1126
and/or MAC 1128) may comprise various hardware elements, software
elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements
may include devices, logic devices, components, processors,
microprocessors, circuits, processor circuits, circuit elements
(e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so
forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated
circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal
processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory
units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips,
microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software elements
may include software components, programs, applications, computer
programs, application programs, system programs, software
development programs, machine programs, operating system software,
middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines,
functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application
program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,
computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words,
values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an
embodiment is implemented using hardware elements and/or software
elements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such as
desired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances,
processing cycle budget, input data rates, output data rates,
memory resources, data bus speeds and other design or performance
constraints, as desired for a given implementation.
[0210] The computing platform 1130 may further include other
platform components 1150. Other platform components 1150 include
common computing elements, such as one or more processors,
multi-core processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets,
controllers, peripherals, interfaces, oscillators, timing devices,
video cards, audio cards, multimedia input/output (I/O) components
(e.g., digital displays), power supplies, and so forth. Examples of
memory units may include without limitation various types of
computer readable and machine readable storage media in the form of
one or more higher speed memory units, such as read-only memory
(ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),
Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM
(SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),
electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory,
polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory,
phase change or ferroelectric memory,
silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or
optical cards, an array of devices such as Redundant Array of
Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices (e.g.,
USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type of storage
media suitable for storing information.
[0211] Device 1100 may be, for example, an ultra-mobile device, a
mobile device, a fixed device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile computing device, a
smart phone, a telephone, a digital telephone, a cellular
telephone, user equipment, eBook readers, a handset, a one-way
pager, a two-way pager, a messaging device, a computer, a personal
computer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook
computer, a netbook computer, a handheld computer, a tablet
computer, a server, a server array or server farm, a web server, a
network server, an Internet server, a work station, a
mini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a network
appliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,
multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer
electronics, programmable consumer electronics, game devices,
television, digital television, set top box, wireless access point,
base station, node B, evolved node B (eNB), subscriber station,
mobile subscriber center, radio network controller, router, hub,
gateway, bridge, switch, machine, or combination thereof.
Accordingly, functions and/or specific configurations of device
1100 described herein, may be included or omitted in various
embodiments of device 1100, as suitably desired. In some
embodiments, device 1100 may be configured to be compatible with
protocols and frequencies associated one or more of the 3GPP LTE
Specifications and/or IEEE 1102.16 Standards for WMANs, and/or
other broadband wireless networks, cited herein, although the
embodiments are not limited in this respect.
[0212] Embodiments of device 1100 may be implemented using single
input single output (SISO) architectures. However, certain
implementations may include multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 1118)
for transmission and/or reception using adaptive antenna techniques
for beamforming or spatial division multiple access (SDMA) and/or
using MIMO communication techniques.
[0213] The components and features of device 1100 may be
implemented using any combination of discrete circuitry,
application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logic gates
and/or single chip architectures. Further, the features of device
1100 may be implemented using microcontrollers, programmable logic
arrays and/or microprocessors or any combination of the foregoing
where suitably appropriate. It is noted that hardware, firmware
and/or software elements may be collectively or individually
referred to herein as "logic" or "circuit."
[0214] It should be appreciated that the exemplary device 1100
shown in the block diagram of FIG. 11 may represent one
functionally descriptive example of many potential implementations.
Accordingly, division, omission or inclusion of block functions
depicted in the accompanying figures does not infer that the
hardware components, circuits, software and/or elements for
implementing these functions would be necessarily be divided,
omitted, or included in embodiments.
[0215] A computer-implemented method may comprise sending a
page-scoped identifier to a commerce front-end application from a
commerce intermediary server, the commerce front-end application
associated with a commerce entity, the page-scoped identifier
identifying a user account with a messaging system in relation to a
commerce representation for the commerce entity within the
messaging system; receiving a user information request from a
commerce contact application at the commerce intermediary server,
the commerce contact application associated with the commerce
representation for the commerce entity within the messaging system,
the user information request for the page-scoped identifier;
determining a user access consent setting for the page-scoped
identifier for the user account; sending a user information data
package to the commerce contact application from the commerce
intermediary server in response to the user information request
when the user access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier
indicates user consent; and rejecting the user information request
when the user access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier
indicates user non-consent.
[0216] A computer-implemented method may further comprise wherein
the commerce front-end application and the commerce contact
application comprise distinct applications.
[0217] A computer-implemented method may further comprise wherein
the commerce front-end application and the commerce contact
application are a common application.
[0218] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce entity corresponding to a commerce type, the commerce
intermediary server supporting a plurality of commerce types, the
commerce type comprising one of the plurality of commerce
types.
[0219] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the user
information data package comprising one or more of name information
for the user account, contact information for the user account, and
biographical information for the user account.
[0220] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce invocation associated with the commerce entity
in association with the user account; generating the page-scoped
identifier in response to the user-to-commerce invocation; and
sending the page-scoped identifier to the commerce front-end
application in response to the user-to-commerce invocation.
[0221] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce message thread invocation from a client device
associated with the user account, the user-to-commerce message
thread invocation in association with a commerce-entity discovery
interface on the client device; and sending the page-scoped
identifier to the commerce front-end application in response to
receiving the user-to-commerce message thread invocation from the
client device.
[0222] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce message thread invocation from a client device
associated with the user account, the user-to-commerce message
thread invocation in association with a commerce-entity trigger
suggestion on the client device; and sending the page-scoped
identifier to the commerce front-end application in response to
receiving the user-to-commerce message thread invocation from the
client device.
[0223] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce invocation in association with a web plugin on a
web page associated with the commerce entity; and sending the
page-scoped identifier to the commerce front-end application in
response to receiving the user-to-commerce invocation in
association with the web plugin.
[0224] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a phone number record from the commerce front-end application;
matching the phone number record to the user account; and sending
the page-scoped identifier to the commerce front-end application in
response to matching the phone number record received from the
commerce front-end application to the user account.
[0225] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce invocation from a client device associated with
the user account, the user-to-commerce invocation in association
with a visual code capture by the client device, the visual code
capture identifying the commerce entity; and sending the
page-scoped identifier to the commerce front-end application in
response to receiving the user-to-commerce invocation from a client
device.
[0226] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user account access associated with the user account to the
commerce representation for the commerce entity within the
messaging system; and sending the page-scoped identifier to the
commerce front-end application in response to receiving the user
account access.
[0227] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a commerce-to-user message from a commerce messaging application,
the commerce-to-user message addressed to the page-scoped
identifier; identifying the user account based on the page-scoped
identifier; and sending the commerce-to-user message to a client
device associated with the user account.
[0228] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce message from a client device associated with the
user account, the user-to-commerce message addressed to a
user-to-commerce message thread associated with the commerce
entity; and setting the user access consent setting for the
page-scoped identifier for the user account to indicate user
consent.
[0229] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
user-to-commerce message comprising a response to a
commerce-to-user message sent to the client device by a commerce
messaging application associated with the commerce entity.
[0230] An apparatus may comprise a processor circuit on a device;
and a commerce intermediary server operative on the processor
circuit to send a page-scoped identifier to a commerce front-end
application, the commerce front-end application associated with a
commerce entity, the page-scoped identifier identifying a user
account with a messaging system in relation to a commerce
representation for the commerce entity within the messaging system;
receive a user information request from a commerce contact
application at the commerce intermediary server, the commerce
contact application associated with the commerce representation for
the commerce entity within the messaging system, the user
information request for the page-scoped identifier; determine a
user access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier for the
user account; send a user information data package to the commerce
contact application in response to the user information request
when the user access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier
indicates user consent; and reject the user information request
when the user access consent setting for the page-scoped identifier
indicates user non-consent. The apparatus may be operative to
implement any of the computer-implemented methods described
herein.
[0231] A computer-implemented method may comprise receiving a
commerce message package at a commerce intermediary server from a
commerce messaging application, the commerce messaging application
associated with a commerce entity, the commerce message package
addressed to a message thread with a messaging system; determining
commerce access privileges for the commerce messaging application
in association with the message thread; sending the commerce
message package to a client device associated with the message
thread when the commerce access privileges indicate access to the
message thread; and rejecting the commerce message package when the
commerce access privileges reject access to the message thread.
[0232] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
message thread associated with a user account for a user of the
messaging system, the user identifier comprising a page-scoped
identifier for the user account, the page-scoped identifier
identifying the user account with the messaging system in relation
to a commerce representation for the commerce entity within the
messaging system.
[0233] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce access privileges determined according to a limited-time
access token received in association with the commerce message
package.
[0234] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce access privilege determined according to a sponsored
messaging request associated with the commerce message package.
[0235] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce access privilege determined according to a message
throttling policy.
[0236] A computer-implemented method may further comprise selecting
the commerce access privilege for automatic sampling based on an
automatic sampling policy.
[0237] A computer-implemented method may further comprise
performing a keyword-based spam analysis of the commerce message
package.
[0238] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user block command in association with the message thread; and
registering a negative reputation adjustment in association with
the commerce entity.
[0239] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce message package specified according to a custom message
template associated with the commerce entity.
[0240] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
an application registration package in association with the
commerce messaging application; and registering the commerce
messaging application for access to the commerce intermediary
server in response to the application registration package.
[0241] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
application registration package defining one or more of a custom
message template, a custom form template, and a custom
call-to-action button.
[0242] A computer-implemented method may further comprise sending
one or more of the custom message template, the custom form
template, and the custom call-to-action button to the client device
in response to the client device accessing the commerce entity
within the messaging system.
[0243] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
application registration package defining a custom call-to-action
button, the custom call-to-action button comprising visual
representation information and activation response information, the
activation response information comprising one or more of a uniform
resource locator, an application link, and a messaging
invocation.
[0244] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
application registration package defining one or more of a custom
welcome text message for the message thread, a custom get-started
call-to-action button for the message thread, one or more custom
pestilent call-to-action buttons for the message thread, and one or
more custom dynamic triggers to start an interaction.
[0245] An apparatus may comprise a processor circuit on a device;
and a commerce intermediary server operative on the processor
circuit to receive a commerce message package from a commerce
messaging application, the commerce messaging application
associated with a commerce entity, the commerce message package
addressed to a message thread with a messaging system; determine
commerce access privileges for the commerce messaging application
in association with the message thread; send the commerce message
package to a client device associated with the message thread when
the commerce access privileges indicate access to the message
thread; and reject the commerce message package when the commerce
access privileges reject access to the message thread. The
apparatus may be operative to implement any of the
computer-implemented methods described herein.
[0246] A computer-implemented method may comprise receiving a user
interface selection of a user-to-commerce message thread on a
client device, the user-to-commerce message thread associated with
a commerce entity with a messaging system; displaying a
user-to-commerce message thread interface for the user-to-commerce
message thread; receiving a user-to-commerce message via the
user-to-commerce message thread interface for the user-to-commerce
message thread; and sending the user-to-commerce message to the
commerce entity via the messaging system.
[0247] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a commerce-to-user message from the commerce entity via the
messaging system; and displaying the commerce-to-user message in
association with the user-to-commerce message thread on the client
device.
[0248] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce-to-user message defined according to a custom message
template associated with the commerce entity.
[0249] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce-to-user message received from a commerce messaging
application registered with the messaging system, the commerce
messaging application associated with the commerce entity, the
custom message template registered for the commerce messaging
application with the messaging system.
[0250] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
user-to-commerce message thread interface comprising a custom
call-to-action button for the commerce entity, further comprising:
receiving a user call-to-action button activation of the custom
call-to-action button; and generating the user-to-commerce message
in response to receiving the user call-to-action button activation
of the custom call-to-action button.
[0251] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
user-to-commerce message thread interface comprising one or more of
a custom welcome text message for the message thread, a custom
get-started call-to-action button for the message thread, one or
more custom pestilent call-to-action buttons for the message
thread, and one or more custom triggers to start an
interaction.
[0252] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
user-to-commerce message thread associated with a user account,
further comprising: displaying a user-to-commerce discovery
interface on the client device, the user-to-commerce discovery
interface comprising a plurality of suggested user-to-commerce
options, the plurality of suggested user-to-commerce options
selected according to one or more of profile information for the
user account and promotional consideration information for one or
more commerce entities.
[0253] A computer-implemented method may further comprise sending
user credentials to the commerce entity in association with the
user-to-commerce message.
[0254] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce entity associated with a local application on the client
device, further comprising: retrieving the user credentials from
the local application via deep-linking within the local
application.
[0255] An apparatus may comprise a processor circuit on a device;
and a commerce intermediary server operative on the processor
circuit to receive a user interface selection of a user-to-commerce
message thread on a client device, the user-to-commerce message
thread associated with a commerce entity with a messaging system;
display a user-to-commerce message thread interface for the
user-to-commerce message thread; receive a user-to-commerce message
via the user-to-commerce message thread interface for the
user-to-commerce message thread; and send the user-to-commerce
message to the commerce entity via the messaging system. The
apparatus may be operative to implement any of the
computer-implemented methods described herein.
[0256] A computer-implemented method may comprise receiving a
commerce interface control selection in a user-to-user message
thread interface on a client device, the user-to-user message
thread associated with a user-to-user message thread for a
plurality of users with a messaging system; displaying a commerce
interface in association with the user-to-user message thread
interface, the commerce interface comprising a plurality of
commerce configuration options; receiving a commerce option share
control selection in association with the commerce interface; and
sharing the plurality of commerce configuration options with the
user-to-user message thread.
[0257] A computer-implemented method may further comprise wherein
sharing the plurality of commerce configuration options with the
user-to-user message thread comprises posting the plurality of
commerce configuration options to the user-to-user message thread
as a user-to-user message.
[0258] A computer-implemented method may further comprise wherein
sharing the plurality of commerce configuration options with the
user-to-user message thread comprises submitting a commerce
configuration option poll to the user-to-user message thread.
[0259] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
poll result information for the commerce configuration option poll;
and displaying the poll result information for the commerce
configuration option poll.
[0260] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the poll
result information for the commerce configuration option poll
displayed in association with the plurality of commerce
configuration options in the commerce interface.
[0261] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the poll
result information comprising a poll winner option corresponding to
one of the plurality of commerce configuration options, further
comprising: displaying a poll winner indicator in association with
the poll winner option in the display of the plurality of commerce
configuration options in the commerce interface.
[0262] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce interface associated with a commerce entity, the plurality
of commerce configuration options selected for the commerce
interface according to one or more of message-thread context for
the user-to-user message thread and a promotional consideration
transaction with the commerce entity.
[0263] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce interface associated with a commerce entity, the plurality
of commerce configuration options ranked in the commerce interface
according to one or more of message-thread context for the
user-to-user message thread and a promotional consideration
transaction with the commerce entity.
[0264] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce interface associated with a commerce entity, the commerce
interface control selection for a commerce interface control,
further comprising: displaying the commerce interface control in
response to one or more of message-thread context for the
user-to-user message thread and a promotional consideration
transaction with the commerce entity.
[0265] A computer-implemented method may further comprise wherein
displaying the commerce interface control is in response to one or
more of a trigger detected in the user-to-user message thread and a
discovery control selection.
[0266] A computer-implemented method may further comprise the
commerce interface associated with a commerce entity, further
comprising: receiving a commerce option selection via the commerce
interface; and sending a commerce configuration command from the
client device to the commerce entity via the messaging system.
[0267] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-user message-thread message from the commerce entity via
the messaging system; storing the user-to-user message-thread
message in association with the user-to-user message thread; and
displaying the user-to-user message-thread message in the
user-to-user message thread interface.
[0268] A computer-implemented method may further comprise receiving
a user-to-commerce message-thread message from the commerce entity
via the messaging system; and storing the user-to-commerce
message-thread message in association with a user-to-commerce
message thread.
[0269] A computer-implemented method may further comprise
displaying the user-to-commerce message-thread message in a
user-to-commerce message thread interface.
[0270] An apparatus may comprise a processor circuit on a device;
and a commerce intermediary server operative on the processor
circuit to receive a commerce interface control selection in a
user-to-user message thread interface on a client device, the
user-to-user message thread associated with a user-to-user message
thread for a plurality of users with a messaging system; display a
commerce interface in association with the user-to-user message
thread interface, the commerce interface comprising a plurality of
commerce configuration options; receive a commerce option share
control selection in association with the commerce interface; and
share the plurality of commerce configuration options with the
user-to-user message thread. The apparatus may be operative to
implement any of the computer-implemented methods described
herein.
[0271] At least one computer-readable storage medium may comprise
instructions that, when executed, cause a system to perform any of
the computer-implemented methods described herein.
[0272] Some embodiments may be described using the expression "one
embodiment" or "an embodiment" along with their derivatives. These
terms mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic
described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least
one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment"
in various places in the specification are not necessarily all
referring to the same embodiment. Further, some embodiments may be
described using the expression "coupled" and "connected" along with
their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as
synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be
described using the terms "connected" and/or "coupled" to indicate
that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical
contact with each other. The term "coupled," however, may also mean
that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each
other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.
[0273] With general reference to notations and nomenclature used
herein, the detailed descriptions herein may be presented in terms
of program procedures executed on a computer or network of
computers. These procedural descriptions and representations are
used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the
substance of their work to others skilled in the art.
[0274] A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a
self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result.
These operations are those requiring physical manipulations of
physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these
quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic or optical signals
capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and
otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times, principally
for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits,
values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar terms
are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and
are merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.
[0275] Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to
in terms, such as adding or comparing, which are commonly
associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No
such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in
most cases, in any of the operations described herein which form
part of one or more embodiments. Rather, the operations are machine
operations. Useful machines for performing operations of various
embodiments include general purpose digital computers or similar
devices.
[0276] Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for
performing these operations. This apparatus may be specially
constructed for the required purpose or it may comprise a general
purpose computer as selectively activated or reconfigured by a
computer program stored in the computer. The procedures presented
herein are not inherently related to a particular computer or other
apparatus. Various general purpose machines may be used with
programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may
prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform
the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of
these machines will appear from the description given.
[0277] It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is
provided to allow a reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the
technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that
it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of
the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it
can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single
embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This
method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an
intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than
are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following
claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all
features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following
claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with
each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. In the
appended claims, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as
the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising"
and "wherein," respectively. Moreover, the terms "first," "second,"
"third," and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are not
intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
[0278] What has been described above includes examples of the
disclosed architecture. It is, of course, not possible to describe
every conceivable combination of components and/or methodologies,
but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many
further combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly,
the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations,
modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope
of the appended claims.
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