WO2012114307A1

WO2012114307A1 - System and method for facilitating transactions using online social networking

Info

Publication number: WO2012114307A1
Application number: PCT/IB2012/050845
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joseph Kinsella
Original assignee: Jkins Social Media Ltd.
Priority date: 2011-02-24
Filing date: 2012-02-24
Publication date: 2012-08-30

Abstract

A system for facilitating transactions using online social networks is provided. The system may comprise a receiving module to receive content provided by a content owner and a request from a user through an online social network, a storing module to store the content, a retrieving module to retrieve the content according to the request; a processing module to process the content retrieved according to the request in order to obtain a refined content filtered according to predicted preferences of the user based on data and ratings of the one or more users; a presentation module to present the refined content to the user; and a rating / interaction module to receive the rating of the user for the refined content. The rating may be an evaluation of the refined content made by the user based on how desirable the refined content is to the particular user according to a predefined scale, the ratings provided by the user being used to calculate the ratings of the content and to obtain the refined content. The system may further comprise an application for the content owner or the user to access the one or more online social networks. The system may further comprise a design assistant module to manage design characteristics of the content based on ratings provided by the one or more users, monitor the ratings of the content to identify market preferences and current design trends, and filter the content to be presented to the user to display design styles that correspond to a request of the user.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS USING ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING

Field

The present disclosure generally relates to managing transactions utilizing online social networks. Specifically, this disclosure relates to a system and method for facilitating the search, choice, getting opinion, discussion, and transactions through the incorporating and utilization of online social networking functionality with access to end users via stationary or mobile devices.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic overview showing an example environment within which a system and method for facilitating transactions using online social networks is implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example system for facilitating transactions using online social networks.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example data flow between content owners, an example system for facilitating transactions using online social networks, and users.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for facilitating transactions using online social networks.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a more detailed method for facilitating transactions using online social networks.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an example machine in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein is executed.

Detailed Specification

It will be understood that even though this invention is described in the context of real estate to clarify application, it is not limited to real estate and can have a plurality of applications in different areas.

Systems and methods described herein may utilize one or more computing devices. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that a computing device appropriate for use with embodiments of the present application may generally be comprised of one or more of a Central processing Unit (CPU), Random Access Memory (RAM), and a storage medium (e.g., hard disk drive, solid state drive, flash memory). Examples of computing devices usable with embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, personal computers, smart phones, tablet PCs, laptops, mobile computing devices, and servers. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that any number of computing devices could be used, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any computing device.

In an exemplary embodiment according to the present disclosure, data may be provided to the system, stored by the system and provided by the system to users of the system across local area networks (LANs) (e.g., office networks, home networks) or wide area networks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet). In accordance with the previous or other embodiments, the system may be comprised of numerous servers communicatively coupled across one or more LANs and/or WANs. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous manners in which the system could be configured and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any configuration.

In general, the system and methods provided herein may be consumed by a user of a computing device whether connected to a network or not. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, some of the applications of the present disclosure may not be accessible when not connected to a network, however a user may be able to compose data offline that will be utilized by the system when the user is later connected to a network.

FIG. 1 is a schematic overview of a system 100 in accordance with an example embodiment. The system 100 includes of one or more application servers 104 for electronically storing information used by the system 100. Applications served by the server 104 may retrieve and manipulate information within storage devices and exchange information through a WAN 102 (e.g., the Internet).

As shown in FIG. 1, exchange of information through the WAN 102 or other network may occur through one or more high speed connections directed through one or more routers 106. Router(s) 106 are optional and other embodiments may or may not utilize the one or more routers 106. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous ways server 104 may connect to WAN 102 for the exchange of information, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method for connecting to networks for the purpose of exchanging information.

Users may connect to server 104 via WAN 102 or other network in numerous ways. For instance, a user may connect to the system i) through a computing device 108 directly connected to the WAN 102, ii) through a

computing device

112, 114 connected to the WAN 102 through a routing device 110, iii) through a

computing device

116, 120, 122 connected to a wireless access point 118 or iv) through a computing device 124 via a wireless connection (e.g., CDMA, GMS, 3G, 4G) to the WAN 102. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous ways that a member may connect to server 104 via WAN 102 or other network, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method for connecting to server 104 via WAN 102 or other network.

According to an example embodiment, an individual or organization may register and create an account on the system herein provided. In an exemplary embodiment, an individual or organization would go through a registration process, whereby they would provide identifying information to be stored within application server 104. This identifying information may be used, for instance, to identify the user, secure their login or process financial transactions. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate there are numerous ways to provide and manage registration processes, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method for providing and managing registration processes.

According to an example embodiment of the present disclosure, an individual or organization may utilize an abbreviated signup process by providing their credentials to one or more social networking platforms that provide single sign-on procedures. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous social networking platforms that offer single sign-on procedures and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any social networking platform's single sign-on procedures.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system may also be available as an application on one or more online social network platforms such that while a user is logged into one or more online social network platforms the user may add the application so that it is easily accessible and integrated to one or more online social network accounts associated with the user. In this manner, the system and methods described herein may be accessed entirely through one or more social network platforms.

The system and method described may allow for a property management application with advertising capabilities that integrates with one or more social networking platforms. As previously mentioned, these systems and methods may be consumed on one or more computing devices, whether they are stationary (e.g., desktops, servers, workstations) or mobile (e.g., smartphones, tablet PCs, PDAs). Data may be shared between the system described herein and one or more social networking platforms. In this manner, information may be derived from the social networking platform that is utilized by the system described herein and improve the overall results.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a system and method is provided that allows potential property buyers or renters the ability to reduce the overall time spent between looking for a property and entering into a transaction in relation to a property. The method is achieved through a socialization of listing properties, rating/ranking properties on various characteristics and calculating probabilities based on ratings/rankings that a particular buyer or renter would find a particular property desirable. The system may also provide mechanisms to match supply with demand by seeking out most likely buyers or renters for one or more particular properties.

Through the system, a property owner, landlord or other individual in charge of managing a property is provided with the ability to upload content related to the property in a manner that the content is accessible via one or more social networking platforms. Content may include, but is not limited to, photos, descriptions, floor plans and costs. Optionally, content may be provided anonymously. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous types of content that may be utilized, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any type of content.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, depending on privacy settings that the owner may choose to set, some of the content may be made available in an online property profile (Property Brochure) that every property owner can have and share with their friends who may, for example, leave their comments. The Property Brochure is in some ways equivalent to that of a User Profile of an Online Social Network. A Property Brochure for a property may be available for everyone on the internet. A user may have multiple property brochures and can pass on a link to each Property Brochure (e.g., www.domain.com/12345). One reason these Property Brochures are provided is for the purpose of gathering a plurality (or market supply) of properties together and having a Property Brochure for every property available in the market, regardless of whether the property is for sale or for rent. Optionally, a property owner may add an advert section to a Property Brochure and the system will make the Property Brochure available as an Advert in an advert listing.

The method previously described provides a system for gathering records and histories of a property that will be a back end of a Property Brochure. Every property may have an online Property Brochure (front end public content) and account records and histories (back end private content) comprised of one or more of a history of photos, finances, rental contracts, multiple adverts made over a period of time and other pertinent property data. After gathering a plurality of Property Brochures, a hierarchy of top properties around the world may be established such that the properties at the top will be the most sought after in the market. Advantageously this would offer a more systematic method of pricing properties in any given market.

According to an embodiment to the present disclosure, similar to user profiles on online social networks, property owners may have privacy settings to control access to their property brochure and any content. Property owners can also restrict access to a specific list of users.

Once uploaded, content may then be presented to a user of the social networking platform that may be interested in potentially buying or renting property or simply interested in viewing and rating content such as property designs belonging to friends or anyone. The presentation of content may be limited by specific characteristics provided by the user. For instance, the user may only wish to see content associated with properties in a specific price range, geographic location, size range, zip code or other defining characteristic. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous characteristics that a user could specify to narrow the presentation of content, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any type of characteristic.

Additionally, content may be filtered not only by characteristics of the entire property, but content may also be filtered by parts of the property of particular interest to a user. For instance, a user may request to see photos of bathrooms, photos of the bedroom or photos of the view from a particular property.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, once the content has been appropriately limited and filtered, a user may then be given the opportunity to rate or rank content based on how desirable the content is to the particular user. For instance, a photo of a particular property may be presented to a user and the user may be given the opportunity to rate the property photo on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being of very little interest to the user and 10 being of very high interest to the user. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous methods for applying a rating to content, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method of rating content (including but not limited to comparison of two or more contents).

Several deterministic methods may be utilized to increase the accuracy of the system herein described. For instance, the system may use information related to each of the properties the user has rated highly to calculate the probability the same user would like other properties yet to be analyzed by the user. Information that may be used includes, but is not limited to: specifics related to the property itself, such as floor plans and location; similarities between highly rated photos, such as amount of ambient light, room characteristics, views, type of rooms and size of rooms; specifics related to similarly situated users/renters/buyers, such as gender, age, income and ethnicity that have rated highly the same content; item-item recommendations/collaborative filtering; photo recognition, such as recognizing similarities between objects, space, height and light contained in the photos; and tags, such as tagged items or designs in content (e.g., a particular brand of furniture or design style).

By abstracting the photos in the manner previously described, other avenues of recommendations not previously available may be utilized. For instance, a user may be presented with views of areas in which the property exists or views from the property. In this manner, a user may select a view they like, even if they are unaware of the property location. This may assist users in selecting properties in locations they are unfamiliar with, such as vacation properties or properties in locations they have a desire to move but where they have little or no familiarity with. This may also assist a user in discovering, for example, locations with views around the world in locations not previously known by user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a user may also be able to view properties based on particulars ranked or rated by other users. For instance, a rating may not only be provided to a user based on the user's tastes, but a second rating may also be presented to the user on how others have ranked/rated the property. In this manner, a user may get a feel for how the overall market views the property and its various characteristics.

Additionally, the system may provide a rating that weights the ratings submitted by other users associated with the user. For instance, if one or more of a user's friends on a social networking platform have also rated a property, a rating may be provided to the user based on the ratings provided by the user's one or more friends. These ratings may also be weighted by the strength of the relationship between the user and the user's friend. For instance, if a social networking platform that has identified a particular friend of the user as the user's spouse, sibling, parent or other close relationship, the ratings provided by that particular friend may have a greater weight than a friend who is identified as a coworker. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous ways to weight ratings based on relationship strengths, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method for weighting relationships.

The more a user and the user's friends utilize the system, the better the system will get at predicting what the user likes and dislikes. Overtime, the probability of providing content to the user that the user will find desirable will become extremely high. In this manner, content may be filtered by the user to only provide results the system believes the user would rate above a certain threshold. In this respect, the overall time it takes to identify a property a user would desire to rent or buy will be significantly reduced.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system may also provide two or more users to combine their rating data to provide results based on a combination of their collective ratings. The method of combining rating data is useful when two or more users are interested in buying or renting a property together. For instance, a newly married couple may be looking to buy their first home together. By combining the couple's rating data, the system may predict properties that both users would desire. The two or more users may also select specific characteristics to weight more heavily as it relates to a specific user. For instance, one of the users may have a particular affinity towards bedroom characteristics and the other user may have a particular affinity towards characteristics of the view from a property, and the system can be configured to weight these specific characteristics in relation to the particular user.

Optionally, the system and methods herein provided may be configured to send alerts to users regarding new matches or new properties as they become available as a match supply to demand. A seek most likely buyer/renter mechanism. In this manner, a user may be made aware of properties in real-time or near real-time and reduce the risk that the user would lose the property due to delay in information transmittal. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous ways to send alerts to a user, including, but not limited to, SMS, E-mail, facsimile and voice calls. Embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any manner of sending alerts.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system herein described may provide advertisements to a user. These advertisements may be selectively chosen in relation to the user's previously ranked/rated content. For instance, if a user has given a high rating to properties of a certain type in a certain location, the system may identify other available properties of that type and in that location for display in advertisements to the user. In this manner, a user will be presented with properties that closely match their taste and desires as opposed to going through numerous advertisements that are unfiltered, or, at best, filtered by objective data points (e.g., sqft, bedrooms, and bathrooms). Photos on adverts may be marked as, for example, Top 1% Bedroom or Top 5% Views which provides another angle to identifying properties amongst potentially vast numbers of property listings. Additionally, identifying properties in this manner may create a sense of spotting an opportunity for the user. Other markers can be used as well, such as Top 2% Location, Top 5% Rental Opportunity, Top 10% Property Owner or Top 5% Well Maintained which are all signals used to bring out the best in every property. These markers are determined by various data items available in the system that are described further in the present application.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a system and method is provided that allows top rated photos to be made available to users. Top rated photos and properties may be presented in various categories related to the design of the photo or property. For instance, photos and properties could be categorized in terms of design style (e.g., contemporary, old-fashioned, minimalistic), design region (e.g., Tuscan, Victorian, Asian, and Moroccan) or any design characteristic. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate there are numerous design characteristics that could be used to categorize photos and properties, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any design characteristic.

One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the systems and methods described above related to the rating of content and determining characteristics and other beneficial information from said ratings is not applicable to only content related to properties. The same system and methods may be applied to any commercial product or investment (e.g., yachts, vehicles, paintings, furniture, securities, even people), and such use has been contemplated by the applicants.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a design assistant module may be provided that allows users and content providers functionality for filtering, viewing and improving design characteristics of a property based on ratings provided by one or more users. In this manner, the design assistant module may be used by property owners and those interested in renting or buying properties alike. The specific features of the design assistant module are outlined below.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the design assistant module may be utilized by an owner or manager of a property to monitor the ratings of content to understand what the market likes and dislikes. For instance, if a photo of a specific design style are being rated highly, the owner of the property may decide to redesign one or more aspects of the property in the highly rated design style to make the property more attractive to potential buyers or renters. Additionally, if one of the photos of the owner's property is given an overall low rating by users of an online social network, the owner may decide that a particular room shown in the photo may need to be redesigned or redecorated as the market is not responding positively to the current look. Alternatively, the owner may remove the photo or replace the photo to give the property a better chance of being ranked higher through an overall property rating. This same method may be utilized by owners and tenants that simply wish to redesign their own living spaces and are looking for input on current design trends.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the presentation of rated content to a user who is an owner, manager or tenant of a property may be filtered to only display design styles that are of a particular interest to the user. For instance, a user may particularly like Italian design style and only wish to see highly rated content in that particular design style. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous ways to filter content based on specific characteristics and styles, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method for filtering content based on specific characteristics and styles.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a user can browse lists such as Top 20 Countries and filter the list by content type (e.g. a user may select to filter by bedrooms as the content type and the list would return the Top 20 Countries best rated in designs of bedrooms). Similarly other Top Rankings would be available such as Top 20 Designers where one can filter the ranking list by, for example, country and content type and the list may return, for example, Top 20 Designers of living rooms in Italy and the user would then be provided contact information for one or more of the Top 20 Designers.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the design assistant module may provide photos to a user with interactive content contained in the photo. The photos may relate to particular design styles and be ranked or rated in accordance with the methods herein described. The interactive elements allow a user to take additional action with the particular element. For instance, the photo may contain particular furniture, artwork, lighting, paint colors and flooring styles. Each of the previously mentioned elements may be 'tagged' to a user, organization or entity and could be 'clicked' on to access additional information, such as brand page, interior designer, where to purchase a specific piece of furniture, what a specific color is, and what type of flooring is shown and where a user could purchase any of the individual elements. Advantageously, a user who sees an element in the photo that they like, could immediately be sent to an e-commerce site that sells the particular element.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the design assistant module may also provide a 3D or 2D modeling system that allows users to virtualize the design process. For instance, a user may be provided with a 3D model of their current living quarters. A user may then select interactive elements from photos as previously described or from preloaded database elements such a color palette or flooring styles and place them in the 3D model to see how the element would appear in their living quarters. If the user likes how the element looks, they may be presented with information on how or where to purchase the interactive element.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system may allow users to rate each interactive element individually. In this manner, rating information may be stored and provided in relation to each particular interactive element. Additionally, entire photos could be ranked based on the sum of the ratings of each individual interactive element. Alternatively, an estimated design rating could be given to a user's 3D model in which the user has placed one or more interactive element.

Additionally, continuing from the previous method, complex rating models may be utilized that calculate ratings based on how interactive elements are combined. For instance, a particular interactive element may be highly rated in one photo and rated much lower in another photo. The design element module may use complex comparison methods to determine what combination of interactive elements are rated highly when combined with other interactive elements. The design assistant module can help users refrain from making design choices that would clash with one another.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, users may save 3D models and present them to the public or those connected to them in through one or more social networks for rating and comment. In this manner, a user may get input on design choices before committing to a design.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, through the systems integration into one or more social networks, a user may be connected to another user through a relationship based on a property. If people are not on the online social networks they can also be invited through other communication means such as email invites. For instance, a landlord may connect with a tenant based on their relationship with a particular property. This relationship may be identified and consummated through the social networking platform. Other examples include, but are not limited to, a property owner connecting with property fans where fans would be those that have highly rated a property photo or left comments on the property brochure or advert, a property seller connecting to a real estate agent through an assigned advert, a property owner who is selling their property connecting to a buyer of the property where the property records and history of photos, ratings, rankings, likes, comments of all users, financial transactions, rental contracts and all other records and content can be transferred to the new buyer who may or may not be an existing user on an online social network, a property owner connecting to an interior designer (e.g. tag a bedroom photo to a user on the online social network as an interior designer), a property owner connecting to a brand (e.g. tag a sofa of a living room to a brand that may have a presence on the internet or online social network) or property owner connecting with another property owner as a neighbor.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may be differences between rental contracts and finance management. For instance, rent is a broader transaction type specifically for properties and therefore may require different treatment than finance management transactions. An example of a rent transaction includes elements such as entering into an online agreement with users of an online social network as well as paying a security deposit and scheduling rental payments and finally rating and reviewing of one or more tenants associated with a rental contract. A scenario example would be where an owner would meet one or more tenants and invite the one or more tenants to accept an online rental contract linked with their social network account and through their Tablet PC or any other computing device. Additionally, prior to accepting the contract, the one or more tenants may choose to review the contract on their computing devices. The one or more tenants would accept the online rental contract and schedule pre-approved rental payments that may be transferred automatically by the system on a schedule set by the owner. Once this is set the online rental contract would be activated.

By way of social networking integrations, certain transactions may be consummated between the two users. For instance, a landlord may enter into a rental contract with a tenant and connect through a social networking platform via the system and methods herein described. Through the system and social network, a user may be notified, due, for instance, to being 'tagged' to a transaction such as one regarding upcoming rental payments or other transactions relating to the property and transfer funds related to rental payments or other transaction payments online through the system. Once the funds have been transferred, the transaction may be marked as Paid. Rental payments may be made on a one time or reoccurring basis through one or more payment methods linked to the system (e.g., credit cards, ACH transfers, wire transfers, PayPal). Multiple accounts may be used to make one or more rental payments, such as when one of the user's accounts alone does not have enough funds or available credit to complete the transaction. Notifications and invoices may be sent through the system to one or more users associated with a transaction, in this case, a rental payment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, rental payments may be automatically rated by the system on objective data points (e.g., paid in full, on-time). Additionally, an owner may also be given the opportunity to rate and give feedback to the tenant on one or more subjective data points (e.g., cleanliness, respect to neighbors). The system may also allow the tenant to provide feedback to some or all of the objective and subjective data points.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system may also provide a database of profiles. Tenants and owners may be provided access to some or all of the data contained in the database in order to look up user profiles of tenants and user profiles of owners. For instance, a landlord could view the ratings of tenants based on their objective and subjective ratings and use this information to make a decision as to whether he or she should rent a property to a particular tenant.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system may provide the ability for users to view other users based on ratings. In this manner, with the ratings and reviews given by owner and tenant, the system herein described may provide the ability for an owner to choose one or more highly rated tenants and a tenant to choose properties with highly rated owners.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a finance management module may be provided for managing of finances income/expenses, recording of one time transactions or schedule transactions and 'tag' a user via online social network or email to the transaction and monitor period-to-date and year-to-date profit and loss. For example, a user may have met an architect to inspect the user's property and after inspecting the property, the architect could then conveniently create a billing transaction on their computing device and 'tag' the user to it. The user will then be notified via numerous possible communication methods that he or she has been tagged to the transaction as a debtor and the transaction is scheduled for payment on a certain date. The user may agree to the transaction and pre-approve a payment transfer to get better rating and credibility as a customer that pays in full and on-time.

The previously described method applies to all manner of service providers, not necessarily service providers providing services related to properties. An example of a connection may be between a property owner and a cleaning service. The same method can be used as a broader finance management application not necessarily related to property finances. For example, a provider may bill a client where the provider may conveniently add a transaction from their mobile computing device and tag the transaction to the client who would receive a notification on, for example, their mobile computing device and accept the transaction. Payments may be made and objective data points may be rated by the system for the property owner (e.g., was payment made on time and for the full amount?) and the cleaning service (e.g., was the service provided on the day/time it was scheduled). Subjective data points may be rated and feedback presented to the property owner (e.g., owner was polite) and the cleaning service (e.g., property was cleaned to perfection). These ratings may be made at a transaction level. In this manner, the application can find out the best, the most popular and the most recommended services by location and based on actual detailed business transactions. For example, a first user may procure a second user for cleaning services and out of ten payments the first user may mark eight as transactions the first user was happy with. The remaining two transactions the first user and second user had disagreements over. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous connections that could be rated in this manner, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any manner of connection.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods herein described may utilize a notification module. A notification module may be used to send reminders to one or more users in regards to triggered events (e.g., upcoming payment requirement, request for rating of a particular transaction). The notification module may also be utilized to keep all parties updated with the occurrence of a transaction. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous type of notifications that can be used, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any type of notification.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the connection ratings previously described may be utilized to form an overall rating for the particular user. Additionally information may also be related with users, such as the percentage of users that use a particular user for a particular service (e.g., 50% of users in London use User X's cleaning services). Advantageously, service providers and users may be rated in relation to their peers enabling users to search for and view top providers in their area.

Additionally, ratings could be utilized by users or other individuals interested in a possible transaction in regards to a property. For instance, a potential purchaser of a property may be able to view ratings, profit per year, time spent vacant, quality of past and current tenants and other metrics that would help him or her to analyze a possible transaction in relation to the property.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a social property management module may be integrated into a user's account on one or more social networks. The social property management module may learn all about the users' activity when it comes to how they relate to one or more properties and / or how they relate to other users' of properties (e.g. Landlord to Tenant). The social network property management module may be integrated into existing social network platforms (e.g., LinkedIn®, Facebook®).

According to an exemplary embodiment of methods provided by a social property management module in accordance with the present disclosure, some connections that may be created between users and how they relate to properties are described. Property Advertisement - a user may assign a property to an Agent who will get property added to their account; Rental Contract - a tenant may have a property added to their account from an owner, agent or landlord; Property Added by third Party - A user may add a property and identify themselves as a Tenant or Agent of the property and they will be asked by the system to identify Owner of the property through for instance Social Network Account or Email.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a social property management module may collect data regarding one or more users and how they relate to different properties. A user can be a property owner, a landlord, a tenant, property manager, real estate agent, property developer, buyer or investor, interior designer, an architect, a representative of a property related brand e.g. Italian Furniture, a property guest, neighbor or any combination thereof. In this regard, the social property management module learns about the users, their related properties and their relationship through anything property related. Advantageously, the social property management module assists in the process of knowing which properties users are going to like and which users are the most likely buyers by providing additional data otherwise unavailable.

According to an exemplary embodiment of a social property management module, numerous functions can be provided to various parties involved in the real estate business, including:

One or more Real Estate Agents may be provided with the ability to connect with existing clients (e.g. through import of contacts) and potential clients on one or more social networks (through invites and/or offers);

One or more Real Estate Agents or Property Investors may be provided with the ability to follow a Property Developer to stay updated on new property developments;

One or more Property Developers may be provided with the ability to set up their profile(s) with all their properties and projects, including those in the past, present and future;

One or more interior designers may be provided with the ability to set up their profile with their projects and designs, including those in the past, present and future;

One or more Property Developers or Property Owners may be provided with the ability to follow the projects and designs of one or more interior designers;

One or more owners may be provided with the ability to assign a property advertisement to a Real Estate Agent that has the widest network on social networks. The more connections a real estate agent will have the more attractive for new clients to connect with them and assign their property advertisement.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may allow a user to view their network connections based on one or more metrics. For instance, the connections could be organized in terms of connections with family, connections with friends, connections with neighbors, connections with real estate agents, lifetime cumulative users that like the user's property, number of users currently matched to the user's property, number of likely buyers within the user's first set of connections (e.g., friends, family) , number of buyers within the user's 2nd set of connections (e.g., friends of friends, those through a real estate agent), number of buyers within a user's 3rd or deeper set of connections, number of buyers based on location (e.g., country, city, zip code), or any combination thereof.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as a property owner, through the use of the systems and methods herein described, the property owner will know that once he/she advertises his/her property for sale, he/she may already have a reach out to a plurality of users on one or more social networks that are most likely buyers. This same functionality may be applied to any other area of interest (e.g., purchase/sale of consumer goods, property, real estate, etc.).

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as a property owner, through the use of the systems and methods herein described, a potential buyer who is a fan of some anonymous property, he/she will get alerted when that property is put on sale. Additionally, if a top rated photo that he/she has in his/her account belongs to some anonymous property that is finally put on sale he/she will be alerted. Advantageously, the potential buyer will not miss out on a buying opportunity when it arises.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as a property owner, through the use of the systems and methods herein described, a buyer may also know that he/she is buying a property that has, for instance, 200,000 likely buyers for resale (e.g., the other users who have 'liked' or highly rated the property / photos / or any content, or users that were matched as most likely buyers through the system methods), therefore reducing his/her potential risk when purchasing the property.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to assemble data regarding worldwide supply of properties and users through relationships based on properties (e.g. landlord to tenant, neighbor to neighbor). In this manner, properties may be further classified and relationships built and organized at a neighbor level, not only on strength of social relationship between friends and family. Advantageously, a user may be provided with methods whereby he/she can view one or more Neighbor connections as well when searching for properties. For example, a user may list their LinkedIn profile in conjunction with the systems and methods herein provided and be provided with information regarding whether a potential neighborhood is a respectable neighborhood to live in, or one that meets other criteria regarding their social profiles/connections.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system and methods herein described may provide a property record management module. The property record management module records transactional data regarding a property and stores this information for access by one or more users. Transactional data regarding a property may include, but is not limited to, information regarding the transfer, sale, and improvement upon, repossession, liens and any other information regarding the overall change in status, character or nature of a property. Advantageously, the systems and methods herein described may provide an enormous central online repository for lifetime property records. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, transactional data may also include a chain of ownership related to a property as linked through social networking profiles.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods herein described may provide Adverts that are matched with the most likely buyers sought and identified from the millions of users on Social Networks worldwide. In this manner, the systems and methods herein described may present targeted property adverts on social platforms. 3rd party adverts from any source can be passed through one or more filter funnels to reach out to the most likely buyers on one or more social networks. Advantageously, instead of having a user searching on multiple websites for property listings (e.g., rental, for sale), a user will only need to have one application integrated into their social network account(s) and all the various websites will interface their adverts to an application of the systems and methods described herein. The systems and methods provided herein will then present one or more targeted adverts to the user.

The above can be used for any adverts e.g. Boats or Vehicles. It is a new advertising method for social networks where through a layer of logic between the social networks (such as through an application running on the social network platform) and the various 3rd party external websites, adverts can be filtered through from the external websites to be matched with the most likely targeted users on social networks.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods herein described may be configured to allow a User to advertise directly by utilizing one or more applications associated with the system. These advertisements may be most accurately matched to the appropriate consumer since the systems and methods herein described assemble and organize all the pertinent information and history required to allow for targeted advertising based on one or more criteria. This is further enhanced since the user is already on the same channel as the advertisement.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to simulate the viewing of properties and property listings with family and friends by sending an invite for them to rate photos of properties that have been added to a user's favorites or properties that match certain search criteria.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to initiate a buying or rental interest (or lead). For example, a user may add a buying interest with one or more criteria (e.g., 'Looking to buy,' 'Immediately,' 'Apartment,' 'Three Bedroom') and the systems and methods herein described may match 3rd party advertisements matching one or more of the user's requirements. Advantageously, this eliminates advertising gaps as the systems and methods herein described present users with adverts from multiple sources that match their requirements. This functionality can be used for any targeted advert (e.g. automobile purchase/leasing, job vacancy). For instance, a user is looking for a job with a very particular skill anywhere around the world, the user would set up an interest or lead on the social network application and the numerous job websites could be provided access to interface their job adverts and the systems and methods herein described will potentially match them to millions of users on social networks. Therefore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method is provided for seeking out the most likely users that will initiate contact with the owner of the adverts. This is a reverse approach to the current traditional method where numerous websites are available and a user has to be aware of the numerous websites and search through the vast number of adverts on each website.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as a property owner, through the use of the systems and methods herein described, a history of searches made on system may be utilized to match external adverts to the users on social networks. For instance if a user has recently searched for 3 bedroom apartments in a general location, the system may be able to deduce that the user is looking for a 3 bedroom apartment in that general location and provide adverts directed to that user. Additionally, if a user was added to a Social Network Group (e.g. Facebook Group) for property investors or liked a page of a property developer or interior designer, the system may utilize that data to learn about the users and provide directed adverts or other functionality related to the data.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods herein described may provide a user the ability to see trending information related to properties. For instance, a user may be able to find out most wanted features for properties (e.g. Swimming Pool) or find out most wanted locations (e.g. United States, New York City). These trends will be very useful especially for property developers and real estate agents wanting to know what the users on social networks are requesting in the interests that they are initiating.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to provide and add to favorites action that allows for the confirmation of recommendation logic. The systems and methods herein described may use 'favorite' information to compare similarities between favorite adverts and identify elements that may be the cause for the addition to favorites (e.g., if 5 adverts were added and all have a floor area greater than 100sqm then we know that the user is looking for a spacious apartment). One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous elements that could be utilized to identify similar characteristics of favorite adverts, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any element.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to provide a hide advert action that shows a user is not interested in the advert and that advert should no longer be displayed for user. In this manner, particular advert recommendations may be marked as not accurate and recorded by the system so that the system may learn and utilize the data for the next time. The systems and methods herein described may be configured to compare similarities between rejected adverts and identify elements that may be the cause for rejection (e.g. all adverts have floor area lower than 100sqm). One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous elements that could be utilized to identify characteristics of disliked adverts, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any element.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to provide an electronic magazine format for display on one or more computing devices, but specifically target towards handled or tablet computing devices. In this manner, the electronic magazine format may provide a compilation of on the spot content highly targeted for the likes of a user. For instance, the electronic magazine format may be comprised of properties the user is highly likely to like, properties highly rated by friends or general public in the particular LBS location. The content of the electronic magazine format will be different for every user since the system will display targeted adverts specifically targeting each individual user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to provide a count-a-crowd module for determining the count of a crowd around location of property. For example, a count-a-crowd module may be configured to determine crowd size, such as crowd in shops and cafes assessing location popularity. The count-a-crowd module may also be used to know which area of a town or city is the most popular. For example, at a granular level, a count-a-crowd may be configured to determine if a particular restaurant is currently crowded or full up. A count-a-crowd module may also be configured to count the crowd in a transportation setting, where if the count-a-crowd module knows the capacity of a train or bus the count-a-crowd module can count the crowd currently on board. The count-a-crowd module may also be configured to be used to find out if a particular transportation service that you may be waiting for is full up. The count-a-crowd module may be applied to numerous scenarios. Numerous techniques can be used including counting signals within the GPS location and assessing the strength of signals. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous methods to count the size of a crowd using one or more computing devices, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any method of counting the size of a crowd.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the systems and methods described herein may be configured to provide integration of address books / contacts (e.g., from a user's mobile phone) to integrate into the applications described herein. In this manner, not only may a user utilize the addresses/contacts in his or her social networks but also those addresses/contacts contained in their address books/contacts contained in other computing devices. In an exemplary embodiment, in accordance with the present disclosure, an application may be installed on a computing device that is granted access to the address book or other contact list and utilized in a manner not unlike a friends list on a social network. This application can be extended to a private social network for phone contacts where, for instance, a user can update the news feed or 'wall' with a status update announced to the contacts of the user's computing or mobile device. It can also be extended for users to update their news feed or 'wall' from their mobile device and reach out to contacts from their address book only rather than users connected through a social network.

Building a local deal / coupon system (such as Groupon ®) for real estate has numerous challenges. For instance, one of the main challenges with real estate local deal systems is that it is harder to build a big enough subscriber base than, for say, a dinner at a restaurant. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, this complexity is overcome by matching adverts to users. Matching adverts to users highly increases the probability that a targeted advert will be shown and will be liked by a plurality of users on social networks. Advantageously, this offers a way of building the big enough subscriber base required for an effective real estate local deal system model.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, location aware devices (e.g., mobile phones, GPS devices, network devices using IP addresses) may be utilized with any of the previous systems and methods herein described. Location aware devices allow for the use of Location Based Services (LBS) that enhance the access and awareness of users. Any system or method previously described herein may be further enhanced through the use of LBS enabled computing devices. For instance, a user may only wish to see properties within a set distance from his or her current position. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that any number of LBS and LBS enabled computing devices could be utilized with embodiments of the present disclosure, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any LBS or LBS enabled computing device.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, while the previous examples detailed herein have been described in numerous contexts (e.g., for use on a social networking platform, for use on a mobile device, for use on a dedicated system), one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that any of the methods or systems described herein could be utilized on one or more platform or computing device, either independently or in conjunction with other platforms or computing devices, or also separately from platforms such as through a website and browser. The use of the systems and methods herein described are contemplated for use on one or more social networking platforms, independent applications, mobile devices, other computing devices or any combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 2, the system 200 for facilitating transactions using online social networks may comprise a receiving module 202, a storing module 204, a retrieving module 206, a processing module 208, a presentation module 210, a rating/interaction module 212, an advertising module 214, a design assistant module 216, a finance management module 218, a notification module 220, a social property management module 222, a property record management module 224, and a count-a-crowd module 226.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example data flow 300 between content owners, an example system for facilitating transactions using online social networks, and users. The content owner 302 may upload the content 304 related to the property, goods, services, activities, etc. to the system 200, where it is received by the receiving module 202 and stored by the storing module 204 in a manner that the content 304 is accessible via one or more online social networks 306. When the request 310 is received from the user 312, it may be transferred to the retrieving module 206, which retrieves the content according to the request 310 and transfers it to the processing module 208. The processing module 208 may process the retrieved content to predict, based on user ratings, search history, add to favorites, likes, comments, relationships between users, their interests, etc., which content a user may like, and obtain in such a way the refined content 314. The refined content 314 may be then transferred to the presentation module 210 to present it to the user 312. The user 312 may rate the refined content based on how desirable the content is to the particular user, and the resulting rating may be transferred to the rating / interaction module 212 together with other user data, and then used by the processing module 208. The rating and other data 316 may continuously come to the system 200 and be used to process the content to be presented to the user, thus permanently improving the accuracy of prediction and resulting in a more refined content being presented to the user 312.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method 400 for facilitating transactions using online social networks. The method 400 may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (such as that which is run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a combination of both. In one example embodiment, the processing logic resides at the system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2.

The method 400 may commence at operation 402 with the receiving module 202 obtaining content from a content owner. At operation 404, the storing module 204 stores the content within the system. When a request from a user is received at operation 406, the retrieving module 206 may retrieve content according to the received request at operation 408, and the processing module 208 may process the content to obtain refined content targeted to the user, and the refined content may be presented to the user at operation 410. When presenting content to the user, user rating may be continuously received at operation 412 and used by the processing module 208 to further refine the content and present a more refined content to the user.

FIG. 5 shows a method 500 illustrating the steps of facilitating transactions using online social networks. At step 502, the content may be received from a content owner. Upon receiving a request from a user at step 504, the content may be retrieved according to the request at step 506, and processed at step 508 to refine the retrieved content in line with predicted user preferences based on user ratings, search history, add to favorites, likes, comments, relationships between users, their interests etc. Then content may be presented to the user at step 510, and when presenting content the user rating may be received at step 512 and added to the processing process, thus improving the accuracy of content refining. After the user analyzes the content and makes a selection, documentation associated with a transaction related to the content may be managed at step 514 and corresponding payments may be facilitated at step 516. Regular payments or transactions may be scheduled at step 518 and the user or the content owner may be informed about scheduled payments or transactions at step 520. Payments and transactions made may be rated by users and content owners at step 522 and the resulting statistical information may be presented to users and content owners at step 524.

In various example embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. The machine may include its own internal database or be connected to an external database in order to provide substantially real time updates. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a portable music player (e.g., a portable hard drive audio device such as an Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer 3 (MP3) player), a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term 'machine' shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 600 includes a processor or multiple processors 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 608, and a static memory 614, which communicate with each other via a bus 628. The computer system 600 may further include a video display unit 606 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)). The computer system 600 may also include an alphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 616 (e.g., a mouse), a voice recognition or biometric verification unit (not shown), a disk drive unit 620, a signal generation device 626 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 618. The computer system 600 may further include a data encryption module (not shown) to encrypt data.

The disk drive unit 620 includes a computer-readable medium 622 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., instructions 610) embodying or utilizing any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 610 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 608 and/or within the processors 602 during execution thereof by the computer system 600. The main memory 608 and the processors 602 may also constitute machine-readable media.

The instructions 610 may further be transmitted or received over a network 624 via the network interface device 618 utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)).

While the computer-readable medium 622 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term 'computer-readable medium' should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term 'computer-readable medium' shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that causes the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present application, or that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such a set of instructions. The term 'computer-readable medium' shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave signals. Such media may also include, without limitation, hard disks, floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital video disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and the like.

The example embodiments described herein may be implemented in an operating environment comprising software installed on a computer, in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware.

Furthermore, while multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. The disclosure is capable of myriad modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

Claims

A system for facilitating transactions using online social networks, the system comprising:

a receiving module to receive content provided by a content owner and a request from a user through an online social network ;

a storing module to store the content;

a retrieving module to retrieve the content according to the request;

a processing module to process the content retrieved according to the request in order to obtain a refined content filtered according to predicted preferences of the user based on data and ratings of the one or more users;

a presentation module to present the refined content to the user;

a rating / interaction module to receive the rating of the user for the refined content.
The system of claim 1, further providing an application for the content owner or the user to access the one or more online social networks.
The system of claim 1, wherein the rating is an evaluation of the refined content made by the user based on how desirable the refined content is to the particular user according to a predefined scale, the ratings provided by the user being used to calculate the ratings of the content and to obtain the refined content.
The system of claim 1, wherein the content is shared with the one or more online social networks in order to utilize information from the one or more online social networks.
The system of claim 1, wherein the content is made available in an online profile and the content owner creates multiple online profiles, access to the online profile being controlled by privacy settings of the content owner.
The system of claim 1, further comprising an advertising module to present advertisements through the one or more online social networks and add online profiles to advertisement listings.
The system of claim 1, further comprising a design assistant module to

manage design characteristics of the content based on the ratings provided by the one or more users;

monitor the ratings of the content to identify market preferences and current design trends;

filter the content to be presented to the user to display design styles that correspond to the request of the user;

provide the content with interactive elements that allow the user to perform specific actions with respect to the interactive element and obtain additional information on the interactive element;

provide a 3D modeling system or a 2D modeling system to allow the users to virtualize a design process; and

calculate the rating of the content based on a combination of the interactive elements.
The system of claim 1, further comprising a finance management module to perform one or more of the following actions: manage income, manage expenses, record one time transactions, schedule a transaction, inform the user via the online social network or an email about transactions, and monitor profit and loss.
The system of claim 1, further comprising a notification module to send reminders in relation to triggered events.
The system of claim 11, where the triggered events include one or more of the following: a transaction and a request for a transaction.
The system of claim 1, wherein the content is information associated with a real estate property, further comprising a social property management module to collect data on a relation of the content owner or the user to the content, the content being information associated with a real estate property.
The system of claim 1, wherein the content is information associated with a real estate property, further comprising a property record management module:

to record transactional data regarding the property;

to store the transactional data for access by the one or more of the content owners or the users.
The system of claim 1, wherein the content is information associated with a real estate property, further comprising a count-a-crowd module to determine a count of a crowd around location of the property.
A computer-implemented method for facilitating transactions using online social networks, the method comprising:

receiving a content provided by a content owner through an online social network;

storing the content on the online social network;

receiving a request from a user through the online social network;

retrieving the content according to the request received from the user through the online social network;

processing the content retrieved according to the request in order to obtain a refined content filtered according to predicted preferences of the user based on data and ratings of the one or more users;

presenting the refined content to the user;

receiving a rating of the user, the rating being an evaluation of the refined content made by the user based on how desirable the refined content is to the particular user according to a predefined scale.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the user has a possibility to view the content based on the ratings of the other users, to view the ratings submitted by the users associated with the user, to combine data of his ratings with the data of the ratings of the one or more users to obtain results based on a combination of their collective ratings.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein a 3D modeling system or a 2D modeling system is provided to allow the users to virtualize a design process for the content.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the user is connected to the one or more users through a relationship based on the content, the relationship being identified and consummated through a social networking platform.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising:

managing documentation related to a financial transaction associated with the content;

facilitating a payment related to the financial transaction;

scheduling a regular payment related to the financial transaction;

informing the user or content owner about a scheduled financial transaction; and

monitoring profit and loss of the user or the content owner.
The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein a rating is automatically submitted for the payment based on data points related to timeliness and accuracy of the payment, submitted for the user by the one or more content owners, who are related to the user through the financial transaction, based on the data points, the ratings being available to the users for reviewing and providing feedback and to the content owners for reviewing.
The computer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising sending reminders to the one or more users or content owners in regards to the financial transaction.
The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising collecting data based on relation of the one or more users to the content, the data being processed and filtered to provide the users with statistical information related to various types of relations of the users and the content owners to the content.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the user has a possibility to add the content to favorites and the added to favorites content is analyzed to identify similarities that caused the addition to the favorites.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the user presents the content to the one or more users to obtain the rating or a comment of the users.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the user initiates a buying or renting interest with one or more requirements to be presented to third-party advertisements matching the requirements with a possibility to issue a request for hiding the advertisements, the requests being analyzed to identify similar elements that caused hiding of the advertisements.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein a history of searches of the user is utilized to present external advertisements matching the history of searches of the user.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the content selected for the user is provided in a format of an electronic magazine for display on one or more computing devices.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the content is information associated with a real estate property, further comprising crowd-counting around location of the property.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising building a local deal system based on ratings provided by the users.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising matching a property advert to a most likely buyer on a social network.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising gathering a plurality of properties worldwide.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising gathering history of the properties, process and generate a hierarchy of top properties worldwide.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing innovative methods of predictions.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising exploring unexplored avenues of recommendations.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising predicting based on strength of relationship.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising significantly reducing overall time to identify a property a user would desire to rent or buy.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising combining ratings of related users.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising seeking most likely buyer/renter mechanism with real-time alerts as properties get listed and processed.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising targeting adverts based on processed data and predictions.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing a designs assistant with highly ranked images organized in galleries based on collective processed data.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing interactive elements in photos such as tagging of 'designer' for a living room or 'brand' for a sofa that would lead to further information and also purchase.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing virtualized design process by selecting interactive elements and see how they would look in their property.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising connecting users to each other via relationship based on property e.g. landlord to tenant, neighbour to neighbour.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising utilizing online social networks to enter into a rental agreement between users.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising social network tagging associated with financial transactions.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising automatically rating rental agreements and their related users e.g. tenant automatically highly rated by the system for paying on time through the system.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising automatically populating database of landlord and tenant profiles linked to users on social networks.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising billing a user by 'tagging' to a transaction, enter their contact detail such as social network account, cell number of email, wherein the user receives a invite and has the option to accept/reject, pay immediately or schedule one or more pre-approved payments which will be transferred by the system automatically as per schedule.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising rating financial transactions which reflect on the user's profile.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing numerous connections possible between various parties e.g. property developers follow projects or designs by certain designers linked to users on social networks.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising display connections through unique metrics such as number of likely buyers within the user's first set of connections (e.g. family, friends).
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising allowing a property owner to determine through use of the system once the property owner advertises the property how many users are most likely to be interested in purchasing the particular property.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing a mechanism to help potential buyer not to miss out on buying opportunities when they arise.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising helping potential buyer know how many most likely buyers are already interested in the property before buying.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising mapping users of a social network at neighbour level.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing 3rd party adverts from any source passed through one or more filter funnels (layer of logic) to reach out to the most likely buyers on one or more social networks.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising inviting family, friends to rate a collection of photos and we will process this data to recommend properties.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising eliminating advertising gaps by setting up interests and leads on a social network, a reverse approach to the traditional method where users search through vast number of adverts in numerous channels.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing numerous data points to learn about the user and how they related to properties.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising adding to favourites to improve recommendations.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising hiding an advert to improve recommendations.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising providing an electronic magazine format that provides a compilation of on the spot content highly targeted for the likes of a user.
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising counting a crowd.