INTERNET-BASED EXCHANGE FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

A computer-based system and method for facilitating transactions between vendors and buyers is disclosed herein. A database containing information relating to a plurality of product or service offerings is compiled, and is preferably implemented in an object-oriented format. The database is structured so as to reflect relevant aspects of a market for the product and service offerings. Bids identifying one of the offerings within the database, and an associated offer price, may be entered into a computer. Upon entry of a bid, a buyer identifier associated with the bid is optionally generated. The bid is then made available to one or more vendors of the offering; and a buyer corresponding to the buyer identifier is notified upon any vendor acceptances of the bid. In one implementation, the database is updated based upon the results of an internet-based search for product information extracted from the internet sites of various vendors. The vendor-supplied information is assigned to various product categories, and is stored within the database on the basis of these categories. The database may be searched in response to buyer queries for particular products or services. The items of information relating to product offerings or descriptions collected in response to a buyer query are preferably ranked in accordance with criteria determinative of the relevancy of each such item. This allows information obtained from potentially thousands of web sites to be categorized within a single database, and facilitates performance of extremely fast searches in response to buyer queries for product information. L'invention concerne un système informatique et un procédé facilitant les transactions entre des vendeurs et des acheteurs. Une base de données contenant des informations relatives à une pluralité d'offres de produits ou de services est compilée, et implantée de préférence dans un format orienté objet. Cette base de données est structurée de façon à refléter les aspects pertinents d'un marché quant aux offres des produits et des services. Les demandes identifiant une des offres dans la base de donnée, et une offre de prix associée, peuvent être entrées dans un ordinateur. Lors de l'entrée d'une demande, un identificateur d'acheteur associé à la demande est éventuellement généré. La demande est alors rendue disponible pour un ou plusieurs vendeurs de l'offre, et un acheteur correspondant à l'identificateur d'acheteur est prévenu de toute acceptation par un vendeur de