Patent ID: 8484084

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving in at least one processor a first price bid from a first entity for a first listing on a marketplace, the first listing to include a first reference to the first entity to be used to initiate a real time communication connection to the first entity; receiving in the processor a second price bid from a second entity for a second listing on the marketplace, the second listing to include a second reference to the second entity to be used to initiate a real time communication connection to the second entity; assigning, via the at least one processor, the first reference from a pool of unallocated references not preassigned to a particular listing, to the first listing when the first listing is being requested for customer display; assigning, via the at least one processor, the second reference from the pool to the second listing when the second listing is being requested for customer display; prioritizing, via the at least one processor, the first listing and the second listing based at least partially on the first price bid and the second price bid; providing, via the at least one processor, the first listing in accordance with a result of the prioritizing, wherein the first listing comprises first auction information related to a first auctioned item of the first entity; providing, via the at least one processor, the second listing in accordance with a result of the prioritizing, wherein the second listing comprises second auction information related to a second auctioned item of the second entity; receiving a price bid from a first customer on the first auctioned item as a response to the first auction information; in response to expiration of a predetermined time period following the providing the first listing, recycling, via the at least one processor, the first reference into the pool for subsequent re-assigning to another entity; in response to expiration of a predetermined time period following the providing the second listing, recycling, via the at least one processor, the second reference into the pool for subsequent re-assigning to another entity, wherein the first and second references are recycled into the pool at different times.