METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING ON-LINE STORES

摘要

This invention provides a computer-implemented agent that assists a user in accessing network linked on-line stores. In one aspect, the invention is a method for intelligently routing a user query to on-line stores relevant to that query, extracting relevant data fields from received responses, and intelligently presenting the extracted data in order of estimated interest. In another aspect, the system of this invention implements one or more steps of the method in a centralized or distributed manner on one or more network linked computers. Further, this invention provides a novel heuristically guided process by which the agent is capable of automatically acquiring sufficient information on the characteristics of on-line stores for it to access and shop at those stores.