Determining the relevance of offers

Abstract

Offers are targeted to consumers by comparing offer profiles and consumer profiles. Offer profiles are created by analyzing the cumulative content of communications associated with consumers who respond to the offers. Consumer profiles are created by analyzing the cumulative content of communications associated with a user of an electronic communications system. An offer may be selected to be sent to a user based on the relative similarity between the user's consumer profile and the offer profile.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of creating an offer profile, the method comprising:
 associating with an offer, a plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer, a subset of the plurality of consumer communications being associated with consumers to which the offer was previously sent; and   creating, via a processor, a profile for the offer based at least in part on statistical properties of the plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 prior to associating the plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer, receiving information about a response to the offer by a consumer. 
 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein creating the profile is further based at least in part on the information about a response to the offer by a consumer. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein creating the profile comprises:
 weighting the plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer based on the information about a response to the offer by a consumer.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 presenting the offer to at least one consumer based at least in part on the profile. 
 
     
     
         6 . A system for creating an offer profile, the system comprising:
 a profile server configured for associating with an offer, a plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer, a subset of the plurality of consumer communications being associated with consumers to which the offer was previously sent; and   the profile server further configured for creating a profile for the offer based at least in part on statistical properties of the plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  further comprising:
 prior to associating the plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer, the profile server receiving information about a response to the offer by a consumer. 
 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein creating the profile is further based at least in part on the information about a response to the offer by a consumer. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein creating the profile comprises:
 weighting the plurality of consumer communications unrelated to the offer based on the information about a response to the offer by a consumer.   
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method of creating a consumer profile, the method comprising:
 associating with a consumer a plurality of communications, a communication included in the plurality of communications when the consumer is at least one of a sender of the communication, a recipient of the communication, or referenced in the communication; and   creating, via a processor, a profile for the consumer based at least in part on statistical properties of the plurality of communications.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of communications are electronic communications. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 11 , wherein the electronic communications include at least one of an electronic mail message, an instant message, voice message, file sharing information, or files. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein a communication includes a body text and accompanying information. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 13 , wherein accompanying information includes at least one of an email header, an email subject line, an attachment to the communication, an addressee of the communication, date of the communication, time of the communication, location associated with the communication, device associated with the communication, or service associated with the communication. 
     
     
         15 . A system for creating a consumer profile, the method comprising:
 a mail server configured for associating with a consumer a plurality of communications, a communication included in the plurality of communications when the consumer is at least one of a sender of the communication, a recipient of the communication, or referenced in the communication; and   a profile server configured for creating a profile for the consumer based at least in part on statistical properties of the plurality of communications.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of communications are electronic communications. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the electronic communications include at least one of an electronic mail message, an instant message, voice message, file sharing information, or files. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein a communication includes a body text and accompanying information. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein accompanying information includes at least one of an email header, an email subject line, an attachment to the communication, an addressee of the communication, date of the communication, time of the communication, location associated with the communication, device associated with the communication, or service associated with the communication. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising:
 a server for presenting an offer to the consumer based at least in part on the profile.