Patent ID: 8738648

Claim:
A method comprising: obtaining, at a computing device, information relating to a business, the information being received from a plurality of business data sources, wherein the plurality of business data sources comprises a data source controlled by the business, and wherein the information comprises a promotion provided by the data source controlled by the business and contact information for the business; determining, by the computing device, a unique identifier representing the business; storing, using the computing device, the information at a business information database with data identifying the unique identifier; formatting, by the computing device, the information as an entry for an address book, the entry comprising the contact information, data specifying the unique identifier, and the promotion; providing to a mobile device associated with a user, using the computing device, the entry for storage in an address book stored at the mobile device, wherein the unique identifier is not visible when displaying the entry at the mobile device; determining, at the computing device, that updated information associated with the business is available, the determining being based, at least partially, upon communications with the plurality of business data sources; retrieving, using the computing device, the updated information from the plurality of business data sources; storing, using the computing device, the updated information at the business information database in association with the unique identifier; receiving, at the computing device, a request for the updated information, the request specifying the unique identifier; retrieving, at the computing device, the updated information associated with the unique identifier; formatting, by the computing device, the updated information as an updated entry for the address book; transmitting, by the computing device, the updated entry to the mobile device; and determining, by the computing device, a plurality of unique identifiers representing the business, wherein each unique identifier of the plurality of unique identifiers relates to a respective class of customers and is associated with a respective subset of the business information, wherein the request comprises one unique identifier of the plurality of unique identifiers that relates to the respective class of customers assigned to the user by the business, and wherein the respective subset of the business information that relates to the one unique identifier of the plurality of unique identifiers is retrieved and transmitted to the user.