METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING A USER-SPECIFIED ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THE OCCURRENCE OF A USER-IDENTIFIED CONDITION

摘要

An extensible method and system for performing an action based upon the occurrence of a condition is provided. Through a server computer, a user identifies a condition and an action that should take place when the condition occurs. Data necessary to determine whether the condition has occurred is then received at the server computer from a plurality of external data sources. The data is then evaluated to determine whether the condition has occurred. If the condition has occurred, the user-specified action is taken. The data necessary to evaluate the condition may comprise data relating to products or services received from merchant computers. The user-identified condition may comprise a product or service falling below a user-specified price. The user-specified action may comprise purchasing the product for the user. In this manner, a product or service may be purchased for a user when its price falls below a specified level. The product data may also be received as a data.