Patent ID: 8396054

Claim:
A system, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to at least the memory and configured to: assign a communication reference to an advisor for distribution by the advisor in a document, the communication reference usable to request connections to the advisor for real time communications with the advisor, wherein the real time communications with the advisor comprise the advisor providing advice; associate a keyword with the communication reference; receive from the advisor a bid price on the keyword associated with the communication reference; select, based at least in part on the bid price, the communication reference for presentation in response to a search related to the keyword, wherein the communication reference includes an indicator of availability of the advisor for the real time communications with the advisor at a time corresponding to the presentation and a price specified by the advisor for charging for real time communications with the advisor; responsive to a request from a customer using the communication reference, the request being for a communication connection to the advisor, determine contact information of the advisor based on the communication reference; connect the customer to the advisor for the real time communications with the advisor, using the contact information determined based on the communication reference; determine whether the request from the customer is received via a presentation of the communication reference as a result of the search; and charge the advisor a fee based on the bid price per connecting, based at least in part on the communication reference, the customer to the advisor for the real time communications with the advisor, in response to a determination that the request is received as a result of the search; wherein the advisor is not charged the fee when the request from the customer is received as a result of a presentation of the communication reference in the document distributed by the advisor.