Patent Publication Number: US-2013246155-A1

Title: Digital content purchase offers via set-top box

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Set-Top Boxes (STBs) are used for selecting among channels on a network, such as, for example, a cable network (e.g., an optical fiber network) to enable content transmitted on those channels to be displayed on display devices (e.g., televisions) connected to the STBs. The STB user may use a remote device to switch channels on the STB, or to provide input for controlling other functions on the STB. The remote device may be used, for example, for controlling the STB&#39;s digital video recorder (DVR), for accessing a digital television programming guide, or for turning on or off specific settings on the STBs (e.g., turning on closed captioning, setting display width, etc.). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1A-1D  are diagrams that depict an exemplary overview of the targeting of purchase offers for digital content to customers , where the purchase offers offer the digital content at a specific price for a specific customer purchasing participation level; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram that illustrates an exemplary network environment in which the purchase offers of  FIGS. 1A-1D  may be targeted to customers via customer devices; 
         FIG. 3A  is a diagram that depicts exemplary components of the offer campaign server of  FIGS. 1A and 2 ; 
         FIG. 3B  is a diagram that depicts exemplary functional components of the offer campaign server of  FIGS. 1A and 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  depicts exemplary components of a set-top box; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary process for generating and presenting a purchase offer to a targeted group of customers during an offer period associated with the purchase offer; 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are diagrams that depict exemplary messaging associated with the process of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary process for presenting a purchase offer to a customer via a device of  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram that depicts an exemplary display of a purchase offer; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram that depicts an exemplary display of a purchase offer status; 
         FIG. 10  is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary process for viewing a status of a purchase offer by a customer via a device of  FIG. 1A ; and 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram that depicts an exemplary purchase offer status page associated with a social networking site. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. The following detailed description does not limit the invention. 
       FIGS. 1A-1D  illustrates an overview of the targeting of purchase offers for digital content to customers, where the purchase offers offer the digital content at a specific price for a specific customer purchasing participation level. As shown in  FIG. 1A , an offer campaign server  100  may store a purchase offer  105  for sending to multiple different customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n , during an offer time period  110 , in a targeted group  115  of customers. The purchase offer  105  may include an offer for digital content at a discounted price that is tied to a number of customers that agree to purchase the digital content. The digital content may include audio and/or video content, such as, for example, TV shows or movies in a digital format that can be played back at device(s)  120 - 1  through  120 - n . Device(s)  120 - 1  through  120 - n  may each include a single device, or multiple devices, that is associated with each respective customer  125 - 1  through  125 - n . Device(s)  120  may include, for example, at least one of a set-top box (STB), a cellular telephone (e.g., a smart phone); a desktop, laptop, palmtop, or tablet computer; or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). In one example, device(s)  120  may include a single device, such as, for example, a customer  125  using a single STB or a single smart phone. In another example, device(s)  120  may include two devices, such as, for example, a customer  125  using a STB and a tablet computer. 
     Group  115  of customers may include multiple  125 - 1  through  125 - n  that have been targeted based on various types of data associated with each of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n , including historical data associated with each of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n . For example, the historical data may include data indicating TV shows and/or movies that each of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  has viewed, purchased and/or rented, data indicating channels to which customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  have subscribed. Group  115  of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  may further be targeted based on other data, such as, for example, a same geographic region associated with customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n . A customer purchasing-participation threshold level may be associated with a price to identify the number of aggregate customers that must agree to purchase the offered digital content for each of those customers to receive the discounted price. The purchase offer  105  may be offered over a specified time period  110  such that the offer may expire if the number of customers purchasing the product or service does not reach the customer purchasing participation threshold level prior to the offer time period expiring. For example, product A, normally sold for a price of $15, may be offered at a discounted price of $10 for a period of 1 day if 1000 or more customers agree to purchase product A prior to expiration of the single day. However, if at least 1000 customers do not agree to purchase product A prior to expiration of the single day, then the offer with the discounted price for product A expires. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1A , in addition to providing purchase offer  105  to customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  via devices  120 - 1  through  120 - n , offer campaign server  100  may post purchase offer  105  on one or more social networking servers  130  such that users  135 - 1  through  135 - p  of social networking server(s)  130  may view and comment upon purchase offer  105 . Users  135 - 1  through  135 - p  may include one or more of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n.    
     A purchase offer status  140  may be presented to customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  at the time that customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  agree to purchase the digital content offered for sale, or on-demand as requested by customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n . Purchase offer status  140  may include a current customer purchasing participation value, the purchasing participation threshold level, and the time remaining for the offer. The current customer purchasing participation value indicates the number of customers who have agreed to purchase the offered digital content at the discounted price. The purchasing participation threshold level indicates the minimum total number of customers that must purchase the offered digital content for the purchases to be fulfilled. The time remaining for the offer indicates the time that is left before the offer time period  110  expires. As depicted in  FIG. 1A , purchase offer status  140  may also be presented to social networking users  135 - 1  through  135 - p , including customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n , via social networking server(s)  130 . 
     If, subsequent to presentation of purchase offer  105  to group  115  of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n , and prior to expiration of offer time period  110 , the number of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  that agree to purchase the offered digital content at the discounted price equals or exceeds the purchasing participation threshold level, then the purchased digital content  145  may be made available to participating ones of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  via respective ones of devices  120 - 1  through  120 - n . The purchased digital content  145  may be made available to the participating ones of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  as described below with respect to  FIGS. 1B and 1C . 
       FIG. 1B  depicts an overview of an exemplary embodiment in which purchase offers and purchased digital content are provided to a customer  125  via a single device  120 . As shown, device  120  may receive purchase offer  105 , and a subsequent purchase offer status  140 , and display purchase offer  105  and purchase offer status  140  to customer  125 . If the number of customers that agree to purchase the offered digital content at the discounted price equals or exceeds the purchasing participation threshold level, then purchased digital content  145  may be made available to customer  125  at the same device  120  at which the purchase offer  105  and/or purchase offer status  140  was received and displayed. In the embodiment of  FIG. 1B , device  120  may include a single STB, a single smart phone, a single tablet computer, etc. 
       FIG. 1C  depicts an overview of another exemplary embodiment in which purchased digital content is provided to a customer  125  via a different device than purchase offers. As shown, device  1   120 - 1  may receive purchase offer  105 , and a subsequent purchase offer status  140 , and display purchase offer  105  and purchase offer status  140  to customer  125 . If the number of customers that agree to purchase the offered digital content at the discounted price equals or exceeds the purchasing participation threshold level, then purchased digital content  145  may be made available to customer  125  at a different device  2   120 - 2  than device  1   120 - 1 . For example, purchase offer  105  and purchase offer status  140  may be received and displayed at a smart phone, and purchased digital content  145  may be made available to customer  125  at a STB. As another example, purchase offer  105  and purchase offer status  140  may be received and displayed at a PDA, and purchased digital content  145  may be made available to customer  125  at a tablet computer. 
       FIG. 1D  depicts an overview of the targeting of purchase offers to certain groups of customers based on historical data associated with those customers. As shown in  FIG. 1D , a first group  150  of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  may subscribe to a network service. For example, the network service may include a cable network service that provides video content (e.g., TV shows and movies in digital format) to customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  via a cable network. Customer historical data  155  associated with digital content viewed or accessed by customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  may be accumulated. For example, a cable network service provider may monitor and collect data regarding what movies or TV shows that each of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  has viewed, has purchased, or has rented. A purchase offer targeting engine  160  may analyze customer historical data  155 , possibly in conjunction with other data, to target purchase offers involving selected digital content to sub-groups of group  150 . 
     As shown in the example of  FIG. 1D , purchase offer targeting engine  160  may determine a first group  170 - 1  of customers, based on customer historical data  155 , to offer  165 - 1  first digital content at a certain price and customer purchasing participation threshold level. Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may also determine a second group  170 - 2  of customers, based on customer historical data  155 , to offer  165 - 2  the first digital content at a different price and customer purchasing participation threshold level. Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may further determine a third group  170 - 3  of customers, based on customer historical data  155 , to offer  165 - 3  second digital content at a certain price and customer purchasing participation threshold level. Each of groups  170 - 1  through  170 - 3  may include the same or different customers than every other group, depending on the targeting performed by purchase offer targeting engine  160 . 
     Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may, therefore, generate multiple different purchase offers, the digital content, offer price and customer purchasing participation threshold level of which is targeted to a specific group of customers based on, among other data, customer historical data  155 . For example, if each customer in a group of customers has previously rented a science fiction movie, then purchase offer targeting engine  160  may offer a newly released, different science fiction movie to those customers at a certain price and a certain customer purchasing participation threshold. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram that illustrates an exemplary network environment  200  in which the purchase offers of  FIG. 1  may be provided to customers via STBs. Network environment  200  may include a content service provider(s)  210 , a network(s)  220 , STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n , display devices  230 - 1  through  230 - n , offer campaign server  100 , an Internet Protocol (IP) network  240 , a social networking server(s)  130 , and client devices  250 - 1  through  250 - p . STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  and client devices  250 - 1  through  250 - p  may correspond to device(s)  120 - 1  through  120 - n  in  FIG. 1A . As shown in  FIG. 2 , each of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  may use multiple different devices  120 , such as a STB  225  and a client device  250 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 2 , customer  125 - 1  may use STB  225 - 1  and client device  250 - 1 . Similarly, customer  125 - n  may use STB  225 - n  and client device  250 - n.    
     Content service provider(s)  210  may include one or more devices, or a network of devices, that may deliver programming content to STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  via one or more channels over network  220 . The content may include, for example, video programming content. The channels may include, for example, Quadrature Amplitude Modulated (QAM) High Definition (HD) channels (Motion Picture Experts Group-2 (MPEG-2) or MPEG-4), QAM standard definition (SD) channels (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) HD channels (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4), or IPTV SD channels. 
     Network(s)  220  may include any type of network, or combination of networks, that may provide programming content to STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  via one or more channels. In one exemplary implementation, network(s)  220  may include a cable network such as, for example, a fiber optic cable network, that carries content (e.g., video programming content) from content service provider(s)  210  to STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n . One or more other types of networks may alternatively be used for network(s)  220 . For example, network(s)  220  may include a wireless satellite network, a wireless public land mobile network (PLMN) (e.g., a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 PLMN, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) PLMN, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) PLMN and/or other types of PLMNs), a telecommunications network (e.g., a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), an intranet, and/or the Internet. 
     STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  (generically and individually referred to herein as “STB  225 ”) may each include an information appliance device that, among other components, includes a tuner and connects to a respective television (TV)  230 - 1  through  230 - n . STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  may receive an external source of signal (e.g., content from content service provider(s)  210  via network  220 ) and may turn the signal into content that is displayed on a respective TV  230 - 1  through  230 - n , or other type of display device. 
     Offer campaign server  100  may include a network device that generates and stores purchase offers, as described above with respect to  FIGS. 1A-1D , that may be presented to customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  via respective STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  and/or client devices  250 - 1  through  250 - n . Offer campaign server  100  is depicted as connecting to IP network  240  but, in other implementations, may connect to network  220 . 
     IP network  240  includes a network that uses Internet Protocol (IP) for carrying to and from offer campaign server  100 , client devices  250 - 1  through  250 - p , and STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n . Network  220  may, in some implementations, implement a portion of IP network  240  such that STBs  225 - 1  through  225 - n  may, for example, receive content over network  220  via QAM channels, and purchase offers via IP over IP network  240  and network  220 . IP network  240  may include, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), an intranet, and/or the Internet. IP network  240  may include one or more other types of packet switching networks. 
     Social networking server(s)  130  may include a network device(s) that hosts one or more social networking sites. Such social networking services may include, for example, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or similar types of social networking sites. 
     Client device  250 - 1  through  250 -p may include any type of client device that may send or receive data via IP network  240 . Clients  250 - 1  through  250 - p  may each include, for example, a desktop, laptop, palmtop, or tablet computer; a phone (e.g., smartphone); a personal digital assistant (PDA); or other type of computational device that can communicate via with IP network  240 . Client devices  250 - 1  through  250 - n  may be associated with, and be used by, respective customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n.    
     The configuration of network components of network environment  200  in  FIG. 2  is for illustrative purposes only. Other configurations may be implemented. Therefore, network environment  200  may include additional, fewer and/or different components than those depicted in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 3A  is a diagram of exemplary components of offer campaign server  100 . Social networking server(s)  130  and client devices  250 - 1  through  250 - p  may be similarly configured. Server  100  may include a bus  310 , a processing unit  320 , a main memory  330 , a read only memory (ROM)  340 , a storage device  350 , an input device(s)  360 , an output device(s)  370 , and a communication interface  380 . Bus  310  may include a path that permits communication among the elements of server  100 . 
     Processing unit  320  may include one or more processors or microprocessors, or processing logic, which interprets and executes instructions. Main memory  330  may include a random access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that stores information and instructions for execution by processing unit  320 . ROM  340  may include a ROM device or another type of static storage device that stores static information and instructions for use by processing unit  320 . Storage device  350  may include a magnetic and/or optical recording medium. 
     Input device  360  may include one or more mechanisms that permit an operator to input information to server  100 , such as, for example, a keypad or a keyboard, a display with a touch sensitive panel, voice recognition and/or biometric mechanisms, etc. Output device  370  may include one or more mechanisms that output information to the operator, including a display, a speaker, etc. Communication interface  380  may include any transceiver that enables server  100  to communicate with other devices and/or systems. For example, communication interface  380  may include wired or wireless transceivers for communicating via network  240  and/or network(s)  220 . 
     The configuration of components of server  100  in  FIG. 3  is for illustrative purposes only. Other configurations may be implemented. Therefore, server  100  may include additional, fewer and/or different components than those depicted in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 3B  is a diagram of exemplary functional components of offer campaign server  100 . The functional components shown in  FIG. 3B  may be implemented in hardware and/or software within offer campaign server  100 . For example, in one implementation, the functional components of  FIG. 3B  may be implemented as instructions stored in memory  330  that are executed by processing unit  320 . The functional components of offer campaign server  100  may include a customer historical data unit  382 , a purchase offer targeting engine  160 , a purchase offer presentation unit  384 , and a customer history database (DB)  386 . 
     Customer historical data unit  382  may monitor customer activity data  390 , such as, for example, customer interaction with a network service. As one example, if customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  subscribe to a cable network service, then customer historical data unit  382  may monitor the movies and/or TV shows that the customers view, purchase and/or rent. Customer historical data unit  382  may store the monitored activity for each customer in a customer profile in customer history DB  386 . Customer history DB  386  may store a data structure, such as, for example, a database, which may store, among other data, customer historical data obtained by unit  382 . 
     Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may determine targeted purchase offers of selected digital content, including a price, a customer purchasing participation threshold level, and an offer period, based on customer historical data stored in customer history DB  386 . Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may further target groups of customers to who to offer the determined purchase offers also based on the customer historical data stored in customer history DB  386 . Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may determine a given purchase offer and/or target a given group of customers based on, for example, the movies and/or TV shows that each of the customers has viewed, purchased and/or rented over a certain period of time. Purchase offer presentation unit  384  may obtain the determined purchase offers and present the purchase offers to the targeted groups of customers via network  220  and/or  240 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts exemplary components of STB  225 . STB  225  may include a tuner  400 , a demodulator  410 , a demultiplexer  420 , a decoder  430 , a processing unit  440 , and a modem  450 . Tuner  400  may select and tune to specific broadcast television information by tuning to one of many different input channels. Each channel may be digitally modulated using, for example, QAM, though other types of modulation may be used. Demodulator  410  may demodulate the information in the channel selected by tuner  400  to produce a transport stream (e.g., MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 transport stream) containing the audio, video and/or other information related to the selected TV program. 
     Demultiplexer  420  may select and decrypt compressed audio and video from the transport stream for the particular TV program that the STB user wishes to watch. Decoder  430  may decode and decompress the decrypted audio and video information for the selected TV program. Processing unit  440  may include, for example, a microprocessor that controls the operations performed by tuner  400 , demodulator  410 , demultiplexer  420  and decoder  430  based on user input (e.g., input received from a customer  125  via a remote control device). Modem  450  may send and receive interactive data (e.g., digital program guide information) that may be processed by processing unit  440 . 
     The configuration of components of STB  225  in  FIG. 4  is for illustrative purposes only. Other configurations may be implemented. Therefore, STB  225  may include additional, fewer and/or different components than those depicted in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary process for generating and presenting a purchase offer to a targeted group of customers during an offer period associated with the purchase offer. The exemplary process of  FIG. 5  may be implemented by offer campaign server  100 . The exemplary process of  FIG. 5  is described below with reference to the messaging diagrams of  FIGS. 6A and 6B . 
     The exemplary process may include purchase offer targeting engine  160  determining a group of customers for a purchase offer based on customer historical data (block  500 ). Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may retrieve customer historical data from customer history DB  386  and analyze the data to target a group of customers for a given purchase offer. For example, if a group of customers of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  have all watched situation comedy TV shows in the past three months, then the group may be identified for offering a discounted price on a certain comedy movie. As graphically depicted in  FIG. 6A , offer campaign server  100  may determine  600  a group of customers for a purchase offer based on the customer historical data. 
     Purchase offer targeting engine  160  may determine a purchase offer for the customer group based on customer historical data, including the offer price, the customer purchasing participation threshold level, the offer period, and the targeted digital content (block  510 ). The details of the purchase offer for the customer group targeted in block  500  may be generated based on, among other data, the customer historical data. For example, purchase offer targeting engine  160  may retrieve movie renting history from customer history DB  386  to identify an average past price at which the group of customers has rented movies. The offer price for the purchase offer may be based on the identified average past price.  FIG. 6A  graphically depicts server  100  determining  605  the purchase offer for the customer group. 
     Server  100  may post details of the purchase offer on a social networking site(s) (block  520 ). Server  100  may send, via network  240 , the details of the purchase offer to social networking server(s)  130 .  FIG. 6A  depicts server  100  sending a message  610  that includes the purchase offer to social network server(s)  130 . Server  100  may present the purchase offer to the determined group of customers during the offer period (block  530 ). For example, as shown in  FIG. 1A , server  100  may present the purchase offer  105  to customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  within targeted group  115  of customers.  FIG. 6A  depicts server  100  sending messages  615 - 1  through  615 - n , containing the purchase offer, to respective devices  120 - 1  through  120 - n.    
     Server  100  may post one or more advertisements along with the purchase offer (block  540 ). An administrator associated with server  100  may sell ad-space to other entities for posting in conjunction with the purchase offer. Server  100  may send the one or more advertisements to social networking server(s)  130  for posting along with the purchase offer. Additionally, or alternatively, server  100  may send the one or more advertisements to devices  120 - 1  through  120 - n  along with the purchase offer. 
     Server  100  may charge participating customers the purchase offer price, and make the digital content available to the participating customers, if the purchasing participating threshold for the purchase offer is reached by the expiration of the offer period (block  550 ). Server  100  may maintain billing records for customers, and may generate a billing record for each customer indicating that the customer has purchased the digital content at the purchase offer price. In one implementation, the billing record may be used to generate a bill that may be sent in electronic or hard copy form to the customer. In another implementation, each customer&#39;s debit or credit card information may be maintained at server  100 , and the purchase offer price may be charged directly to the customer&#39;s debit of credit card.  FIG. 6B  depicts server  100  charging  620  participating customers and making the digital content available to the customers if the purchasing threshold is reached by expiration of the offer period.  FIG. 6B  further depicts server  100  sending a message  625 - 1  through  625 - n  to each respective device  120 - 1  through  120 - n  with a notification that the digital content is available to the respective customer. As described with respect to the embodiment of  FIG. 1B , the purchased digital content  145  may be made available to customer  125  at a same device  120  to which the purchase offer was presented in block  520 . Furthermore, as described with respect to the embodiment of  FIG. 1C , the purchased digital content  145  may be made available to customer  125  at a different device  120 - 2  than the device  120 - 1  to which the purchase offer was presented in block  520 . 
     Server  100  may notify participating customers that the purchase offer has expired, and purchases won&#39;t be fulfilled, if the purchasing participation threshold is not reached by expiration of the offer period (block  560 ). In the event that the offer period expires prior to the number of purchasers in group  115  of customers  125 - 1  through  125 - n  reaching the purchasing participation threshold, then the purchase offer is considered to have expired and the offer is withdrawn. As shown in  FIG. 6B , server  100  may notify  630  participating customers that the purchase offer has expired if the purchasing threshold is not reached by expiration of the offer period, and may send a message  635 - 1  through  635 - n  to respective devices  120 - 1  through  120 - n  notifying the customers that the purchase offer is withdrawn, and won&#39;t be fulfilled. 
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary process for presenting a purchase offer to a customer  125  via a device(s)  120  (e.g., STB  225  and TV  230 ). The exemplary process of  FIG. 7  may be implemented by device(s)  120 . The exemplary process of  FIG. 7  is described below with reference to the diagrams of  FIGS. 8 and 9 . 
     The exemplary process may include receiving and displaying a purchase offer for a digital content, during an offer period, with a price(s) at a specific required purchasing participation threshold(s) (block  700 ). Device  120  may receive a message containing the details of the purchase offer from server  100 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , device(s)  120  may display the purchase offer  800 . The displayed purchase offer  800  may include a description of the offered product or service, the price and the corresponding required purchasing participation threshold. As further shown in  FIG. 8 , the displayed purchase offer  800  may also include additional ads  810  displayed in conjunction with purchase offer  800 . 
     Device(s)  120  may determine if the customer agrees to purchase the product or service (block  710 ). Customer  125  may agree to accept the purchase offer by providing input to device(s)  120  via, for example, a remote control device. Device(s)  120  may receive and display a current purchase offer status for the purchase offer, including current customer purchasing participation, the purchasing participation threshold level, and the time remaining for the purchase offer (block  720 ). Upon receipt of the acceptance of the purchase offer from device(s)  120 , server  100  may provide the purchase offer status to device(s)  120  for display. As shown in  FIG. 9 , a purchase offer status  900  may identify the digital content  910 , may indicate a current purchasing participation  920 , a purchasing participation threshold  930 , and a time remaining in the offer period before the purchase offer expires. Device(s)  120  may receive a link to the purchase offer status on a social network site(s) (block  730 ). The link may permit customer  125  to access the social networking site(s) at social networking server(s)  130  to view the purchase offer status in addition to information about the purchase offer posted by other social networking site users (e.g., whether the users “like” or “dislike” the purchase offer). The social networking site users may post their own evaluation of the purchase offer, or other comments related to the purchase offer. 
       FIG. 10  is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary process for viewing a status of a purchase offer by a customer via a device(s)  120 . The exemplary process of  FIG. 10  may be implemented by device(s)  120 . The exemplary process of  FIG. 10  is described below with reference to  FIG. 11 . 
     The exemplary process may include device(s)  120  determining if customer  125  has requested to view a purchase offer status (block  1000 ). Subsequent to customer  125  agreeing to purchase the product or service of the purchase offer (as occurred in block  710  of  FIG. 7 ), customer  125  may wish to view a status of the purchase offer to determine whether the purchasing participation threshold level has been met prior to expiration of the offer period. Customer  125  may provide input to device(s)  120  requesting the viewing of the purchase offer status. If customer  125  requests to view the purchase offer status (YES-block  1000 ), then device(s)  120  may receive the purchase offer status, including the current customer purchasing participation level (block  1010 ). Referring back to  FIG. 9 , device(s)  120  may display the purchase offer status, including the current customer purchasing participation  920 , the purchasing participation threshold  930 , and the time remaining  940  in the offer period. 
     Device(s)  120  may receive additional ads for display along with the purchase offer status (block  1020 ). STB  120  may display the ads in conjunction with the purchase offer status  910  shown in  FIG. 9 . STB  120  may receive a link to the purchase offer status on a social networking site (block  1030 ) and may determine if customer  125  has requested to view the purchase offer status on the social networking site (block  1040 ). If customer  125  has requested to view the purchase offer status on the social networking site (YES-block  1040 ), then STB  120  may access the purchase offer status at the social networking site using the link (block  1050 ). The social networking site link may permit customer  125  to connect to social networking server (s)  130  to view the purchase offer status, and the associated posted user comments, etc.  FIG. 11  depicts a purchase offer status page stored at social networking server(s)  130  that includes an identification of the purchase offer  1110 , social networking site user comments  1120  regarding the purchase offer, a current purchasing participation  1130 , a purchasing participation threshold  1140 , and a time remaining  1150  in the offer period. Alternatively, blocks  1040  and  1050  may be implemented as a stand-alone process by a client  250 . 
     The foregoing description of implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. For example, while series of blocks have been described with respect to  FIGS. 5 ,  7 , and  10 , the order of the blocks may be varied in other implementations. Moreover, non-dependent blocks may be performed in parallel. 
     Certain features described above may be implemented as “logic” or a “unit” that performs one or more functions. This logic or unit may include hardware, such as one or more processors, microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits, or field programmable gate arrays, software, or a combination of hardware and software. 
     No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. 
     In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.