METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING AND COLLECTING LOCATION SENSITIVE INFORMATION OVER A WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK

摘要

In a first aspect, the present invention is a method that includes specifying on the electronic device a request for a product or service, and receiving in the electronic device advertising information related to a local merchant from the local merchant and transmitted over a wireless local area network (LAN). The method also includes displaying on the electronic device the advertising information if the product or service offered by the local merchant matches the request, whereby the electronic device collects location sensitive information without requiring the electronic device to specify its location. In a second aspect, the present invention is a system that includes a computer system associated with at least one local merchant that is coupled to the wireless LAN and includes at least one advertiser for transmitting over the wireless LAN advertising information related to each of the at least one local merchants.