Patent ID: 8650070

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a server, a request for promotional content to be displayed in a third-party application on a user device; responsive to receiving the request, determining that a social network application is installed on the user device, the social network application being separate from the third-party application and containing information about a social network of a user of the device; determining, by the server, that the user accepts annotations being presented in conjunction with promotional content when the promotional content is displayed on the user device, the annotations including information about one or more individuals associated with the user in the social network; selecting a promotional content item to be displayed in the third-party application; determining, based on the selected promotional content item and the information about the one or more individuals associated with the user in the social network, an annotation to be presented in conjunction with the promotional content item; providing, for display in the third-party application, the selected promotional content item, the annotation, and a user recommendation control associated with the social network; responsive to receiving an indication that the user recommended the promotional content item displayed in the third-party application, the social network application presenting the user with a request for the user to confirm that the user intended to recommend the promotional content item, the request being presented to the user in the social network application; receiving, in the social network application, the requested confirmation that the user intended to recommend the promotional content item; and responsive to receiving the requested confirmation, generating, for display in the social network application, an annotation indicating that the user recommended the promotional content item.