Patent ID: 8700609

Claim:
A method for advertising in an online community which has at least two users, the method comprising: receiving a first search request to search a website from a first user; obtaining a list of search results matching the first search request; causing the list of search results to be displayed on a screen of the first user; receiving a second search request to search the website from a second user; in response to receiving the second search request, providing an inquiry from an advertiser to the second user that requests that a representation of the second user to be displayed with an advertisement of the advertiser on a screen of another user; receiving an answer to the inquiry from the second user that indicates that the second user agrees that the representation of the second user can be displayed with the advertisement of the advertiser; determining that the second user searches the website with a third search request having a scope that at least partly overlaps with a scope of the first search request; and causing the representation of the second user and the advertisement of the advertiser to be displayed on the screen of the first user in response to determining that the second user searches the website with the third search request.