Patent ID: 7912852

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for notifying a user when information for an item becomes available in an electronic marketplace, the method comprising: under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, receiving a search request from a user to locate an item; obtaining search results based on a search query corresponding to the search request; determining whether at least one of the search results at least meets a relevancy threshold with respect to the search query; if at least one of the search results at least meets the relevancy threshold, presenting the at least one of the search results to the user in response to the search request; and if none of the search results at least meet the relevancy threshold: providing the user with an ability to submit a notification request whereby the user will be notified when information for a matching item becomes available, the notification request including a desired notification type for an availability notification; in response to the notification request, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request in a notification list; running the search query corresponding to the notification request at least once subsequent to the storing to obtain a new set of search results; if at least one of the new search results at least meets the relevancy threshold, generating an availability notification for the user according to the desired notification type, the user being able to access the at least one of the new search results to determine whether any of the at least one of the new search results is an item the user was searching for; and if none of the new search results at least meets the relevancy threshold, or the at least one of the new search results is not an item the user was searching for, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request in the notification list, wherein the search query is capable of being re-run at a future time to attempt to locate at least one search result that at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query.