Patent ID: 8494950

Claim:
A method implemented on an online network connecting websites to computers of respective users for buying and selling of click-through traffic from a first exchange partner's web site comprising the steps of: (a) registering a plurality of exchange partners interested in buying click-through traffic of visitors from other exchange partners, wherein after the exchange partners have registered, a first exchange partner offers the click-through traffic from its web site for sale, and those of the other exchange partners interested in the first exchange partner's click-through traffic establish an exchange trial process to measure the click-through traffic that would be sent from the first exchange partner's web site to the web sites of each of the respective other exchange partners; (b) establishing a link from a first exchange partner's web site to an intermediary web site, and storing respective links to the plurality of other exchange partners' web sites at the intermediary web site, wherein the respective link to each respective other exchange partner's web site can be addressed through the intermediary web site by a corresponding exchange partner-specific link displayed on the first exchange partner's web site during a trial period to be conducted with each corresponding other exchange partner; (c) conducting a pre-bidding trial of click-through traffic from the first exchange partner's web site with the plurality of interested other exchange partners by linking the first exchange partner's web site through the intermediary web site to each interested other exchange partner's web site in turn during a given trial period so that each other exchange partner can assess what click-through traffic they will receive from the first exchange partner's web site; (d) conducting a bidding process after the trial period is concluded, in which the interested other exchange partners who participated in the pre-bidding trial can then bid a price each is willing to pay to obtain the click-through traffic from the first exchange partner's web site; and (e) enabling the first exchange partner to select a winning bid of an other exchange partner in the bidding process in order to conclude a sale of the right to obtain the click-through traffic from the first exchange partner's web site to the winning exchange partner's web site.