System for interactive participation by remote bidders in live auctions

Abstract

A distributed auction system allows remote bidders to interactively participate by computer in live auctions conducted on-site by an auctioneer. A client program that runs on the computers of the remote bidders displays real time auction status information extracted from status messages, and provides functionality of the remote bidders to submit live bids that are based on such status information. A network of nodes may be used to filter out invalid bids from the remote bidders so that such bids need not be processed by an auction server.

1 . A computerized method, comprising:
 maintaining, in computer storage, auction state data reflective of a real time state of a live auction conducted by an auctioneer in the presence of on-site bidders residing at a location of the live auction, said auction state data reflective of bids placed by the on-site bidders, and additionally being reflective of bids placed over a computer network by the remote bidders;   in response to changes in the real time state of the live auction, broadcasting status messages over the computer network to computing devices of the remote bidders to enable the remote bidders to monitor the live auction in real time, said status messages specifying current high bid and ask amounts;   receiving bid messages generated by the computing devices of the remote bidders during the live auction, said bid messages representing bids placed by particular remote bidders; and   updating said auction state data to reflect said bid messages.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a real time audio broadcast of the live auction over the computer network to the remote bidders to enable the remote bidders to listen to the live auction. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a real time video broadcast of the live auction over the computer network to the remote bidders to enable the remote bidders to watch the live auction. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by an auction server, and the method further comprises communicating, from the auction server to a computer at the location of the live auction, information regarding successful bids placed by the remote bidders. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein maintaining auction state data comprises processing state data entered into a computer in real time by a human operator present at the live auction. 
     
     
         6 . A computer implemented method of regulating a load placed on an auction server, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a node that is separate from the auction server, a status message containing real time auction status information associated with a live auction conducted by an auctioneer in the presence of on-side bidders, said real time auction status information specifying a current high bid amount;   storing the real time auction status information on said node;   receiving a bid message at said node, said bid message generated by a computer of a remote bidder, and including a live bid amount specified by the remote bidder;   determining, at said node, whether the bid message is valid based, at least in part, on the current high bid amount and the live bid amount;   when the bid message is determined to be valid, sending the bid message from the node to the auction server for processing; and   when the bid message is determined to be invalid, filtering out the bid message at said node to suppress the bid message from being processed by the auction server.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the node further determines whether the bid message is valid based on an auction identifier included in the bid message. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising maintaining concurrent connections between said node and a plurality of computers of remote bidders, and using said connections to send the real time auction status information to, and receive live bids from, the remote bidders. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the node is one of a plurality of intermediate nodes connected between the auction server and computers of remote bidders, and the method comprises storing the real time auction status information on each of said intermediate nodes, and filtering out invalid bid messages at each of the intermediate nodes. 
     
     
         10 . A node programmed to perform the method of  claim 6 .