Systems and Methods Enabling Marketing and Distribution of Products and Services by Product and Service Providers

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for distributing a product or service for a provider using a platform for distributing products or services by a plurality of providers. A platform is provided by which a plurality of providers market and provide products or services to users. Information about first activity is obtained in relation to the particular product or service or other products or services of the first provider. Information about second activity is obtained in relation to other products or services of other providers that share at least one attribute with the product or service. Data is provided to the first provider where the data includes the information about the first activity in relation to products or services of the first provider and the information about the second activity in relation to other products or services of other providers based on the at least one shared attribute.

1 . A method of distributing a particular product or service for a first provider using a unified platform for distributing products or services by a plurality of providers, comprising:
 providing a platform by which a plurality of providers can market and provide products or services including the particular product or service of the first provider;   obtaining, using the platform, information about first activity on the platform in relation to the particular product or service or other products or services of the first provider;   obtaining, using the platform, information about second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers that share at least one attribute with the particular product or service; and   providing data to the first provider, using the platform, wherein the data includes the information about the first activity on the platform in relation to products or services of the first provider and information about the second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers based on the at least one shared attribute.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving at the platform a request, by the first provider, for an activity report;   responsive to the activity report request, providing the data to the first provider, using the platform, in the form of the activity report, wherein the activity report contains the information about the first activity on the platform in relation to products or services of the first provider and information about the second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers based on the at least one shared attribute.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information about the second activity is provided to the first provider without identifying the other providers associated with the information about the second activity. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information about first activity and the information about the second activity includes purchases, rentals, or licensings according to age, gender, education, status, location, interests, likes, or demographic group. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising providing a graphical user interface for receiving an offer to be provided by the platform to one of the plurality of demographic groups for access to the particular product or service. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising providing a graphical user interface for receiving an identification of an advertisement to be provided by the platform to one of the plurality of demographic groups for access to the particular product or service. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information about first activity and the information about the second activity includes purchases, rentals, or licensings according to prices, genre, or rating of the particular product or service and the other products or services. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising providing a graphical user interface for receiving offer terms to be listed by the platform for access to the particular product or service. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the offer terms include a price, a video resolution, an audio resolution, a purchase option, a rental option, a rental window, an upsell option, a cross-sell option, a bundling option, a bonus content option, a download delivery option, a streaming delivery option, a physical product delivery option, a product or service quality option, or a geographical limitation. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information about first activity and the information about the second activity includes accesses to webpages associated with the particular product or service and the other products or services. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the accesses to webpages are indicative of interest in the particular product or service or the other products or services. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the accesses to webpages that are indicative of interest include:
 drilling down or navigating multiple webpages to a webpage that describes or includes the particular product or service or the other products or services; or   drilling down or navigating multiple content-specific webpages, wherein said drilling down or navigating multiple content-specific webpages indicates an interest in the particular product or service or the other products or services described or included in the content-specific webpages.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first activity or the second activity include interactions with the product or service or the other products or services by location of interacter; gender of the interacter; or a rating, genre, or licensing package associated with the product or service or the other products or services. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular product or service and the other products or services are displayed via portal pages, wherein a graphical user interface is provided to the first provider for purchasing advertising space on a portal page of a second provider whose other product or service shares the at least one attribute with the particular product or service. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unified platform stores product or service metadata for the plurality of providers, wherein the product or service metadata includes product or service names, descriptions, prices, ratings, and pictures. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular product or service is displayed on a portal page, wherein terms for distribution of the particular product or service are provided on the portal page. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the terms for distribution are received from the first provider via a graphical user interface. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the terms include a price for purchasing, renting, or licensing the particular product or service. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the terms include an upsell price for purchasing, renting, or licensing the particular product or service or a value-added version of the particular product or service after the particular product or service has been rented. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information about the first activity on the platform includes information regarding purchases, rentals, or licensings of the particular product or service using the portal page. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a graphical user interface for receiving an offer to be provided by the platform, wherein the offer is based on the provided data that includes the information about the first activity on the platform in relation to products or services of the first provider and information about the second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers based on the at least one shared attribute. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a first webpage depicting the particular product or service of the first provider, wherein the first webpage includes an advertisement linked to a second webpage; and   providing a graphical user interface to the first provider for managing advertisements, wherein the user interface receives a selection of an advertisement for a second product or service of the first provider that is linked to the second web page to be included on the first webpage.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected advertisement is provided on the first webpage as a recommendation of the first provider. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first provider is charged a fee for each distribution of the particular product or service using the platform. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the attribute is a product type attribute, a product price range attribute, a product genre attribute, an author or writer attribute, a director attribute, a producer attribute, an actor attribute, a content rating attribute, a review or other rating attribute, or a gender attribute. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data includes conversion rates, a user engagement metric, revenues, or site activity. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the site activity includes visitors, logins, registrations, revenues, impressions, streams, downloads, bookmarks, ratings, reviews, tags, consumer chat sessions, insider interactions, video search clickthroughs, video search ad clickthroughs, video search impressions, or referral search ad impressions. 
     
     
         28 . A system for distributing a particular product or service for a first provider using a unified platform for distributing products or services by a plurality of providers, comprising:
 one or more data processors;   one or more computer-readable memories encoded with instructions for commanding the one or more data processors to execute steps that include:
 providing a platform by which a plurality of providers can market and provide products or services including the particular product or service of the first provider; 
 obtaining, using the platform, information about first activity on the platform in relation to the particular product or service or other products or services of the first provider; 
 obtaining, using the platform, information about second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers that share at least one attribute with the particular product or service; and 
 providing data to the first provider, using the platform, wherein the data includes the information about the first activity on the platform in relation to products or services of the first provider and information about the second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers based on the at least one shared attribute. 
   
     
     
         29 . A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for commanding one or more data processors to execute step, including:
 providing a platform by which a plurality of providers can market and provide products or services including the particular product or service of the first provider;   obtaining, using the platform, information about first activity on the platform in relation to the particular product or service or other products or services of the first provider;   obtaining, using the platform, information about second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers that share at least one attribute with the particular product or service; and   providing data to the first provider, using the platform, wherein the data includes the information about the first activity on the platform in relation to products or services of the first provider and information about the second activity on the platform in relation to other products or services of other providers based on the at least one shared attribute.