Real time auction with end game

Abstract

A real time auction system operates in a non real time mode, and an end game mode in which the users are placed in a forum. In both modes the users are capable of placing bids along with times when those bids should be executed. An agent treats the bids as secret until the time, and then at the time executes those bids.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of hosting a computer-based auction over the internet, comprising:
 using a computer to produce information representing a webpage indicative of an electronic auction, where said webpage shows bid amounts and accepts bids over the internet;   said computer producing second information as part of said information representing a webpage, said second information having a first parameter indicative of an ending time for said electronic auction;   said computer also storing a predetermined set time before the ending time;   prior to said set time before said ending time, said computer carrying out the auction in a first mode, in which clients joining the auction are presented with information representing a webpage with information about the auction, and said information about the auction is not automatically updated on the clients;   after said set time before said ending time, said computer changing a mode of carrying out the auction to a second mode, wherein said second mode, clients joining the auction or refreshing from said first mode are presented with information representing the webpage having new information about the auction, wherein said new information is automatically updated without making a manual request for said new information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said automatically updating comprises automatically updating said information about a user's status during said second mode of the auction, but does not automatically update said information about said user's status during said first mode of the auction. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said user's status further comprises an indication that the user currently has a winning bid. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said automatically updating comprises automatically updating said information about a minimum bid during said second mode of the auction, but does not automatically update said information about said minimum bid during said first mode of the auction. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said automatically updating in said second mode comprises automatically updating only a portion of a complete webpage that is sent to users, without refreshing said complete webpage sent to said users. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said portion that is updated includes changes in price and minimum bid in the auction. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said predetermined set time is an hour before the ending time of the auction. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said webpage in said first mode automatically refreshes at said predetermined set time. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein when a user of one of said clients bids on said auction through said webpage, the bid causes the user's webpage to update. 
     
     
         10 . A method of conducting a multiple mode computer-based auction, comprising:
 a viewing mode in which auction item information is presented to a remote terminal over a computer network, the auction item information comprising auction information which is sent to a remote terminal when the remote terminal joins the auction, the auction item information being infrequently updated or not automatically updated without the remote terminal user requesting an update; and   an end-game mode in which real-time auction information is presented to the remote terminal over the computer network, the real-time auction information comprising auction information that is frequently and automatically updated and sent to the remote terminal and refreshed on the remote terminal without the remote terminal user requesting the updated auction information.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein a transition between the viewing mode and the end-game mode is configured to automatically occur a predetermined time before an end time for the auction. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein during the end-game mode, not all of the real-time auction information is automatically updated and refreshed every time the remote terminal automatically updates. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the frequency with which the real-time auction information is updated and sent to the remote terminal increases as the auction nears its end time. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein in viewing mode, the auction item to be sold is displayed and bids are accepted for the item to be sold. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the auction information is displayed in a browser on the remote terminal and wherein updating in the end-game mode is done by sending an update command to the browser. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the update command is sent to the browser with specified intervals, the specified intervals being configured to decrease as the auction nears its end time. 
     
     
         17 . A method of hosting a computer-based auction over the internet, comprising:
 using a computer to produce information representing an electronic auction webpage, where the webpage shows bid amounts and accepts bids over the internet;   the computer producing information representing the auction end time;   the computer causing the auction to work initially in a first mode where portions of the webpage showing the progress of the auction are updated only if a user of the webpage manually requests a refresh of the page and in a second mode, after the first mode, in which users entering the auction after the mode switch or refreshing after the mode switch then have their pages updated automatically until the end of the auction;   the computer automatically transitioning between the first mode and second mode.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the mode switch occurs within a predetermined window of time before the end of the auction. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein not all of the auction webpage is automatically refreshed. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the predetermined window is about 60 minutes.