Systems and methods for online direct marketing and advertising on registration based websites and web-based email systems

摘要

An online direct marketing and advertising system is presented in which advertisers have an opportunity to send targeted promotions, coupons and offers that are placed in a user's web-based email account without the drawbacks of sending conventional email. The promotions do not take up disk quota space and, at the same time, the system does not need to divulge private user information to the advertiser. This system provides a means to free web-based email providers from the need to obtain opt-in permission to send offers to their users as providers are frequently prohibited from sharing the user's email address and personal information with merchants.

主权项

1. A system for displaying promotions in an email client interface comprising:
an email service connected to said email client interface, wherein said email service comprises a processor and a non-volatile computer memory storing computer readable instructions for effecting the connection between the email service and email client interface; a user account storage, comprising a non-volatile computer memory, for storing user account information collected from a user of said email service; a promotion server for storing promotion information, including at least one targeting parameter, wherein said promotion server comprises a processor and a non-volatile computer memory storing computer readable instructions for effecting interactions with the stored promotion information, wherein said targeting parameter includes at least physical location information associated with said user account, wherein said stored promotion information comprises at least three parts, including at least one promoter textual part, at least one offer textual part and at least one body part, wherein said stored promotion information is not an email received by said email service for display in said email client interface; an email view configured to effect display of at least one promotion teaser in proximate with a list of emails associated with said user account, said promotion teaser comprising at least said at least one promoter textual part and said at least one offer textual part, wherein said at least one promotion teaser is configured to be displayed within said email view based on, at least in part, a matching between said at least one targeting parameter and said user account information; wherein when an action is taken on said promotion teaser, said email client interface displays a promotion view displaying the at least one body part of said stored promotion information.