Plaxo ecards virus

This feature beneficially overcomes the conventional network deployment problem of initial membership because the service provided to the private network members also functions over non-members, and therefore, produces useful results beginning with the first member.

The present invention also includes a system and a method for promoting network growth. Network growth is desirable for members of private networks of the present invention because, although the asymmetric service operates over members and non-members, enhanced features of the service may be made available among members of the private network. For example, enhanced features available to members include online transactions between members with verified identity, payment services, authentication and other security features , collaborative information sharing, PIM synchronization, calendar functions, and the like.

Hence, although not necessary from a member's standpoint, private network growth increases the service value to its members. Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention includes a viral engine or system that incorporates features into the service to promote rapid private network growth, thereby increasing the benefits and value to members. However, unlike malicious computer viruses, the viral features of the present invention are permission based.

Rather than recklessly invading user systems, the viral features of the present invention function to convince users to join or subscribe to the private network based on the benefits and services it provides to members. In general, a private network system according to the present invention includes a central server, a viral engine and database connected to the public network.

The viral engine is used for a private network and asymmetric service. The public network includes interconnected network users. A subset of those users may be members of the private network.

The other users of the public network are generally non-members. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, users of a public network e. In this example, the private network and asymmetric service operate over the public network e.

Thereby, beginning with the first member of the private network, the service provides a beneficial result by updating the first member's contact list with current information provided by users of the public network. Therefore, valued participation is from both members and non-members of the private network.

The viral engine of the present invention includes features that induce growth of the private network in a rapid spreading manner e. The viral growth features are designed to induce rapid network growth by maximizing the number of users of the public network that are exposed to the private network N and maximizing their conversion rate from non-members to members CR.

An asymmetric service to induce membership in a private network being deployed includes an automatic contact information update for members' address books. To increase the number of members, non-members are sent invitations to join the private network N through the public network. For example, a contact update unit transmits contact update requests to all the public network users in a member's address book and, for non-members, includes an invitation to join the network with the contact update requests.

When a non-member accepts the invite and is converted into a member, the private network grows in size. Another feature for increasing the number of users N in an e-mail context includes a data-mining unit. The data-mining unit applies heuristic and other algorithms to a member's e-mail folders to identify public network users who have had e-mail communications with the member but who are not in the member's address book. After identifying these public network users, the data-mining unit or other appropriate mechanism adds, or offers to add, the public network users to the member's address book.

This beneficially increases the number of potential users who may be contacted for membership or otherwise exposed to the private network. Features of the viral engine intended to maximize the conversion rate CR are also included in the present invention. For example, a viral growth feature includes a personalization function for composing update request messages.

Input from a member is used to personalize the update requests sent to the public network users listed in the member's address book. For non-members, the personalized update requests may include invitations to join the private network. Personalization of messages tends to increase the conversion rate CR that, in turn, grows the private network.

Other features that may increase the conversion rate CR are tracked and genetically evolved using genetic algorithms. Data is collected and analyzed regarding the likelihood that a non-member, public network user will convert to private network member based on certain features.

For example, aesthetic appeal related features are combined and varied in several versions of service messages, web pages, and other user interface data objects presented to non-members, and the corresponding conversion rates due to each of the version is tracked and analyzed.

Aesthetic appeal related features include, for example, colors, arrangement, tone, graphics, and the like. Genetic algorithms are used to create new versions of user interface objects by only evolving successful prior versions. To further maximize the conversion rate CR , another viral engine feature relates to exploiting relationships between members and non-members, users of the public network.

This feature includes repeatedly performing analysis of the messages within a member's message records to identify relationships with public network users. Analysis to identify relationship to users may include heuristic and other algorithms based on frequency of sending, receiving, or replying to communications, length of communications, tone of written messages, specific words or strings in messages or descriptions that may signal a closer relation e.

A premise of the relationship feature is that the closer the relationship between a member and a non-member receiving the member's service request bearing an invitation to join the private network, the more likely it is that the non-member may subscribe to the private network, i.

Therefore, this relationship based viral feature positively impacts the conversion rate CR. For example, in one embodiment the analysis includes producing a list of non-member public network users that frequently correspond with the member.

The list can be enhanced with a frequency bar graphically representing the frequency of e-mail communication with each of the public network users in the list. The member is given the option to send contact update requests bearing invitations to join the private network to any of the out-of-network users listed. Users who have more frequent contacts with a member are more likely to have a closer relationship with the member, and hence, are more likely to respond to the member's request and invitation to join the private network.

Another viral network growth feature is based on the repeated exposure of non-members to the private network. For example, one embodiment of the present invention includes automatically scheduling the transmission of reminder update requests to non-responsive non-members at predetermined time intervals.

Another embodiment includes an e-mail based automatically updating signature block. The signature block includes an invitation to join the private network and is automatically added to all outbound e-mail messages of a member. The automatically updating signature block is an enhanced feature of the service available only to private network members.

By sending the signature block to every user that receives an e-mail from the member and showing a benefit of private network membership, the signature block feature increases the number of users of the public network exposed to the private network N.

Further, the signature block feature shows by example a benefit of membership in the private network, which in turn is likely to induce some non-members to join the network. Hence, the signature block feature also has a positive impact the conversion rate CR.

The principles of the present invention are also applicable to other information management services that can be provided as an asymmetric service, such as, for example, calendar synchronization services, meetings, reminders, notes, tasks, advertisements e. Similarly, the present invention also applies to other systems in which viral growth is desirable to enhance or deploy a network. The features and advantages described in the specification are not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims.

Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. The invention has other advantages and features which will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:.

It should be noted that from the following discussion, alternative embodiments of the structures and methods disclosed herein will be readily recognized as viable alternatives that may be employed without departing from the principles of the claimed invention.

Referring now to FIG. The network system includes a private network system that is part of a network environment, which includes a public network and a set of public network users In the context of the present invention, network is not limited to a physical network, i. Rather, network also includes functional or logical networks such as networks based on the type of messaging between users, which may be physically carried by various communication channels.

For example, a network may include a group of wireless phones users communicating based on unique telephone numbers or it may include a group of computer users communicating based on unique e-mail addresses. In addition, more than one functional network may be embodied in a single physical network. By way of example, a computer network may embody an electronic mail based functional network and an instant messaging based functional network e.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, the public network includes a physical element and a functional element. The physical element of public network refers to a communications network, for example, a computer network e. The functional element of public network refers to a communication mode between network users Examples of the communication mode are instant messaging, electronic mail, telephone, wireless messaging, or the like.

Each communication mode includes a unique identifier that may be used to address communications between users in the public network In the context of the present invention, the functional element of the public network , i. For example, network users may communicate via a public electronic mail protocol e.

Referring again to FIG. The members communicate with private network system over the public network using a private or proprietary protocol The non-members communicate with the members in the private network system over a common or public communication method or protocol that is part of the public network In one embodiment of the present invention, members may include groups of members.

Groups contain a set of members and information regarding non-members that are related by a commonality, e. At least some of the persons are members of the private network but not necessarily all since some of them may be non-members A group is treated as another type of member in the system of the private network Other individual members of the private network could have shared access to the information e. For example, one embodiment enables individual members to store their contact information in a group-member account i.

The access controls over the information in a shared group member profile or account could be implemented by various policies, controllable by one or more designated group moderators who are also individual members For example, in one embodiment, an access control policy could limit writeable access e. Moderator permissions would enable these selected members to have a different set of access and control of the group information and policies.

For example, in one embodiment, moderator members are enabled to edit information regarding general members of the group, to delete or remove one or more general members from the group account, and other similar control features. Note that group membership could be implemented in a variety of methods.

In one embodiment, members that are part of a group account another member can invite other members to join the group using private protocol , and can invite non-members using public protocol with a corresponding viral effect in private network growth. Further, in another embodiment, group members are generated dynamically based on member information attributes.

For example, members can be made part of a group account based on an internet domain name, i. One benefit of group account is that information regarding persons with a common interest can be shared across the private network, for example, as a shared address book group or the like, and can be used both informally and formally within corporations and organizations.

Referring back to FIG. In one embodiment, the private network system is based on a hybrid peer-to-peer and client-server network architecture. For the client-server aspect of the network, central server provides the centralized functions of network management. Central server may include one or more computing systems or machines , i. The central server is connected to the network and can implement the private and public protocols , to communicate with the network users Similarly, the database unit may be a single data storage device or a set of interconnected storage devices, e.

The logical network environment includes the private network , the one or more members , and the one or more non-members Also illustrated is an example member system a as set forth below.

The one or more members including a and the one or more non-members are communicatively coupled through the private network The illustrated member system a includes a client system or machine a and a database a.

The client system a is a conventional computing system e. The client system a communicates with a server system of the private network through the computer network Each client system including a may host a client application for managing private protocol and service functions. The database a stores data and other informational entities as further described herein. The structural network environment includes one or more client systems , the public network , and one or more servers in the private network The client system may communicatively couple with other client systems or devices e.

The client application, the Internet browser , the PIM , and the client services module are communicatively coupled through the operating system.

The Internet browser is a conventional browser for wired or wireless system. It is noted that the Internet browser may be integrated with the client application The client application is an application a member interacts with to access functionality of a system , for example, the system of the present invention as disclosed herein.

The member interaction with the system includes the managing the communications between the client system and server using private protocol The client application facilitates viewing, accessing, publishing and synchronizing of information.

It is noted that in alternative embodiments the client application may be fully integrated with and embodied within the PIM , or may itself constitute a full-function PIM , and thus obviate the need for any further independent or stand-alone PIM Note that the ability for non-member to interact with the private network beneficially adds value for the members with regard to gathering and storing information from the non-members The client services module provides data services to both the client application and a local database The client services module is furthermore responsible for executing accesses to the local database within which personal information of member using client system may be maintained.

Specifically, the client services module is responsible for the integrity and locking of the local database at appropriate times. Components that are included within or communicatively couple with the client services module may also be configured to synchronize information maintained in the local database with information maintained on a remote database as described in co-pending U.

Carey, said application having a common a assignee with the present invention and the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. In one embodiment, private protocol is a conventional proprietary binary protocol defining message objects that are communicated between the client application at the client system and the server The message objects may further include other types of objects for the transfer of data.

Optionally, the client services module also has the capability to synchronize with third party components hosted on, or coupled to, the client system Referring next to the one or more servers of the private network in FIG. These components are communicatively coupled together within the server system In one embodiment the resonate dispatch is optional and performs load balancing operations between multiple servers on which the application server and the web server are hosted.

In one embodiment, both the application server and the web server may be hosted on physically or logically single servers. The application server may also be developed utilizing web technology such as, Java, J 2 EE, NET, Visual Basic, or the like, and serves both the client services module and the web server The application server includes logic that allows a member accessing the application server to access only information for which the member has been granted permission.

The application server is also responsible for sending personal information updates to the client services module to synchronize the local database with a specific subset of information maintained within the server database for the specific member Another function of the application server includes the handling and disposition of service requests from members and the corresponding responses from users These functions include the determination of membership in the private network, public and private protocol communications, and database management.

The application server queries the database to determine which users designated in a member's service request are also members of the private network Application server uses the private protocol to send service request messages to members In contrast, users determined to be non-members receive information requests from application server via the public protocol For this purpose, application server may include a public protocol communications module to implement non-member communications.

The web server may also be developed utilizing web technology e. This is a fairly common business model on the internet. Again, you will probably find that you don't want to use Bebo in a corporate environment. There is no evidence that either Plaxo or Bebo do anything deliberately malicious, and indeed individual users may find their services valuable. However, you should approach any application you download from the internet with caution and be aware of the implications of using it.

Thank you for your recent article regarding Plaxo. To summarize some of the major points I believe were made:. I believe Dynamoo has done a good job at articulating some valid concerns any system administrator or even end-user should consider before using any software package. In Plaxo's case, Plaxo currently has over 5M members making Plaxo the most used and trusted self-updating online Address Book service on the Internet.

Each version of Plaxo is throughly tested prior to release to ensure the software maintains the proper quality for our growing installed base. Many of our 5M members use Plaxo within their Enterprise work environments to help manage on a individual basis, both personal and business information.

People use Plaxo to help them better manage their contacts, calendar, tasks and notes information they maintain. With Plaxo, members get:. Despite these benefits though, I agree that Plaxo may not be appropriate for everyone or every environment. But for those who wish to take advantage of some of the benefits I've mentioned, they can also be assured that their information is kept secure, private, and under their control.

Our privacy practices are summarized by our Plaxo Privacy Principles, which state:. These principles can be found in our Plaxo Privacy Policy which is our public statement of our privacy practices. It is there to allow people to judge our actions against our words and decide for themselves. Thank you again for your article and the opportunity to comment. Should people have any questions regarding the Plaxo service, they can feel free to contact me directly. Stacy Martin Plaxo Privacy Officer privacy t plaxo.

Plaxo and Bebo - Spam or Spyware? I would be pleased if you would take a moment to update me with your latest contact info. Are Plaxo and Bebo Messages Spam? You can Google for misdirected messages from both Plaxo and Bebo to see the evidence for yourself In fact, both Plaxo and Bebo can be regarded as products of "viral marketing".

Why You Should Not Allow These Applications There's no doubt that both services offer some value, however in many businesses both Plaxo and Bebo are completely inappropriate. Some typical reasons for disallowing them are: Untested Internet based applications generate a risk to corporate security.

You corporation probably already has contact management tools for example, Public Folders in Microsoft Exchange which may be under utilised. Any untested application on a client PC can cause severe stability problems with other applications. Excessive "update" messages may damage your relationship with customers and business partners. Local laws may prohibit the transfer of personal data to a third party in this manner. Blocking Plaxo and Bebo Messages Plaxo are very up front about this and have even given guidance on how to block Plaxo messages in their corporate weblog.

Summary Plaxo in particular seems to be extremely committed to privacy and as we stated above has a policy of full disclosure on many matters. Plaxo's Response: Thank you for your recent article regarding Plaxo. The program asks you to register it is also free as a Plaxo user to be in contact with other users and IncrediMail is a free, fun, powerful and user-friendly email program that lets you add s of Email backgrounds, Emoticons, Ecards, Sounds, Animations, and 3D effects to your emails.

You also get fun animated characters to notify you of incoming email. IncrediMail is compatible with Thanksgiving is Here!

Share that special holiday feeling with those you call your family and take a moment to write a special message on any eCard of your choice. Whether you want to invite a special person to dinner, send a greeting or just get into the Holiday spirit with friends and loved In this site you can download american free patriotic ecards download free patriotic screensavers and wall papers Elevate the sense of patriotism.

The American flag and this screensaver will ensure your love increases for America Platforms: Windows. There is no need for knowledge of Flash development studio and Actionscripts, all you need is to input texts and select from premade customizable background effects and text Import your contacts into Skype. Synqit supports import from Outlook, GMail, Yahoo!

Trial version is limited by importing of first 15 contacts. Now you can send someone a Birthday eCard with your personalized voice message attached. You can record your voice message and send it with your Birthday ecard! You can prepare your card offline and then you can easily send your prepared card in just few seconds. It allows you to send ECard to multiple address. It also allows you to send built in cards as well as your own cards using custom card option Valentine's eCard Maker is for making ecards for your lover.

With Valentine's eCard Maker, you can easily turn your photos to a unique valentine's ecard and express your love on this special day. Contact lists fill themselves. AlphaRecommend is a component to allows visitors to recommend or invite their friends to visit your website by e-mail.

There is also an option to import e-mails with Plaxo Address Book widget: It allows your users to grab their contacts' Platforms: PHP. James Taylor - Wise software It is very easy to install Shirshendu - Writing a business proposal every time you Tulshi - Your data will be safe even after uploading Samsons - Anyone can design the company logo to be used Justin - Its a common single interface for almost all Haris - One who is interested in web development may Plaxo Ecards software.

On Mac OS Platforms: Mac. The most awesome lines your friends will love. Our eCards even look great in the picture-previews in your chat applications. No other eCard app comes even close to what we offer Platforms: iOS. Greeting eCards is an app that enables you to view, select and email plenty of digital copies of vintage postcards created many years ago. A digital vintage greeting card will become an offbeat present for everybody, whoever the addressee is.

For young people it is an ingenious and somehow Agenda Plaxo 1. It integrates with your email client, and automatically updates its contact list. The program asks you to register it is also free as a Plaxo user to be in contact with other users and IncrediMail is a free, fun, powerful and user-friendly email program that lets you add s of Email backgrounds, Emoticons, Ecards, Sounds, Animations, and 3D effects to your emails.

You also get fun animated characters to notify you of incoming email. IncrediMail is compatible with In this site you can download american free patriotic ecards download free patriotic screensavers and wall papers Elevate the sense of patriotism. The American flag and this screensaver will ensure your love increases for America Platforms: Windows. Now you can send someone a Birthday eCard with your personalized voice message attached.

You can record your voice message and send it with your Birthday ecard! You can prepare your card offline and then you can easily send your prepared card in just few seconds. It allows you to send ECard to multiple address. It also allows you to send built in cards as well as your own cards using custom card option Contact lists fill themselves. AlphaRecommend is a component to allows visitors to recommend or invite their friends to visit your website by e-mail.

There is also an option to import e-mails with Plaxo Address Book widget: It allows your users to grab their contacts' Platforms: PHP. Send a personalized Birthday Card to make your loved one's day even more special. You can use also a free customizable Crawler Toolbar that has games, ecards, fun ball, download manager, WSG, and more!

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