Method for Providing Information and Recommendations Based on User Activity

Abstract

A method for providing recommendations to a user based on user activity. A plurality of activity data tracking a plurality of activities of a user is obtained. The activity data may be obtained over a wide area network such as the internet or downloaded from a data card which stores activity data whenever the user participates in an activity. The activity data is either stored on the data card or transmitted over the network whenever the user uses a card when participating in any activity such as when making a purchase of goods, paying for services, watching television, etc. The activity data is processed to identify a plurality of user patterns. The user patterns are used to form a user profile and may include user habit data. Recommendations specific to the user based on the user patterns are then created for and provided to the user. The recommendations are provided to a user when the user logs onto a computer network such as the internet. The recommendations may also be provided by electronic mail, electronic pager or other methods. The recommendations are provided by various data analysis techniques including rule based inference engines and other forms of artificial intelligence.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 collecting activity data for a user to update a user profile for the user, the activity data including purchase history data for the user, the user being part of a group;   generating a suggestion for the group by a computer system based on the user profile, the suggestion including a coupon for the group; and   sending the suggestion to the user.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending a request to bid to a business by a group manager, the request to form the suggestion for the group.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the suggestion for the group is a group discount. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the suggestion for the group is a bulk discount. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the group forms a buying cooperative. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a web query for the group manager to obtain pricing information, the web query to form the suggestion for the group.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 maintaining a group profile based on activity data from each user in the group.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein sending the suggestion to the user comprises:
 sending an email to the user containing the suggestion.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein sending the suggestion to the user comprises:
 providing a web page to a user to be viewed by the user, the web page containing the suggestion.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the business for the request to bid is selected based on the user profile or a group profile including activity data. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:
 collecting activity data for a user to update a user profile for the user, the activity data including purchase history data for the user, the user being part of a group;   generating a suggestion for the group by a computer system based on the user profile, the suggestion including a coupon for the group; and   sending the suggestion to the user.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a set of operations further comprising:
 sending a request to bid to a business by a group manager, the request to form the suggestion for the group.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the suggestion for the group is a group discount. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the suggestion for the group is a bulk discount. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the group forms a buying cooperative. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a set of operations further comprising:
 generating a web query for the group manager to obtain pricing information, the web query to form the suggestion for the group.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 maintaining a group profile based on activity data from each user in the group.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein sending the suggestion to the user comprises:
 sending an email to the user containing the suggestion.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein sending the suggestion to the user comprises:
 providing a web page to a user to be viewed by the user, the web page containing the suggestion.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the business for the request to bid is selected based on the user profile or a group profile including activity data.