WO2005036431A2

WO2005036431A2 - Computerised advertising system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2005036431A2
Application number: PCT/HU2004/000097
Authority: WO
Inventors: Angelina Kojics; Adrien Kojics
Original assignee: Angelina Kojics; Adrien Kojics
Priority date: 2003-10-16
Filing date: 2004-10-15
Publication date: 2005-04-21
Also published as: HU226000B1; HUP0303404A2; HU0303404D0

Description

COMPUTERISED ADVERTISING SYSTEM AND METHOD

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a computerised advertising system and method.

BACKGROUND ART

In known computerised advertising systems, preferably those using the Internet, the advertisements are to be placed and sorted like newspaper ads. The current advertisement portals do not have a comprehensive and appropriately systematised advertising content to make sure that advertisements can be sorted by the user in an exact way according to selected criteria and features, as well as that the sorted ads can be compared objectively. In most cases, the advertisements may only be sorted on the basis of a few criteria, i.e. the advertising systems only compare ads on the basis of these criteria. As a result of this, the contents of Internet portals are not systematised, and even if the ads can be presented in different languages, they do not carry the same content in those languages. Therefore, ads placed in different languages may only be compared by time consuming efforts. Consequently, prior art systems do not provide for a wide range of users the comfort, swiftness and freedom necessary for objective sorting and prudent decision making. Known advertising systems leave the users to their own when it comes to editing and browsing ads. Creating the content of ads is left to the user, therefore the systems could be loaded with incomplete, erroneous, inaccurate, ambiguous and incomparable data. This is because the ads edited and worded by the users themselves, frequently reflect inferior technical skills, and furthermore include abbreviations that cannot be interpreted by others, in addition to spelling mistakes. All these factors could make understanding difficult, and the content given in these ads is frequently misleading or could be misinterpreted. On the other hand, they make sorting difficult or impossible for example in cases when the seeking user enters an accurate content which is also correct from the aspect of spelling, but the offering user used an inaccurate expression when writing the ad, made a spelling mistake or used abbreviations. Although according to the current searching techniques, the information sought could be defined by several words and expressions, as a result of this mechanism valuable search information could be lost, and at the same time a lot of unimportant information could be accumulated for the user, which makes browsing difficult and troublesome. Since in these searches the user specifies some expressions which could be in different contexts, it frequently happens that instead of the things actually sought, absolutely different things appear as hits. It depends on the user's persistence, creativity and intelligence whether the search is successful or not, and not on an objective system. An Internet advertisement managing system is described for example in US 5,996,006. This system enables the user to place or sort ads in the advertising database of the system, which ads consist of a specified number of advertisement parameters. Placing and sorting are carried out by a special user interface. This system has the shortfalls mentioned above. Advertising systems that match supply and demand are described for example in US 2002/0002509 A1 and US 2002/0023042 A1. The shortfall of these prior art systems is that they have a non-systematised advertising content, and although the content of the ads is analysed by computer, when processing the unstructured ad hoc ads, the errors described above could arise.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a computerised advertising system and method by means of which shortfalls and drawbacks of known systems are eliminated. We have recognised that by establishing an appropriately structured advertising database and by minimising or eliminating the ad hoc elements of ads, the above mentioned shortfalls can be eliminated. In addition to an exactly implemented ad placement and sorting, this brings the additional advantage that the ads can be presented in different languages simply and efficiently. The appropriate structuring of the advertising database means that in each advertising category, the range of possible parameters of the ads is defined as expansively as possible, and furthermore a set or array consisting of possible values is determined for each parameter. These sets or arrays may be prepared in several languages, consequently the ads can be placed or sorted in an exact way also in different languages. This ad systematising also brings the additional advantage that it helps the users in deciding which information may or must be submitted when placing seeking or offering ads or in defining the sorting conditions. Thus, according to a first aspect, the invention is a computerised advertising system, comprising an advertising database consisting of ads, which ads comprise advertisement elements, and a user interface suitable for placing and/or sorting ads, wherein an element database comprising predefined advertisement elements is stored in the system, wherein the ads comprise advertisement elements assigned from the element database to the ads by users and the element database is stored in more than one language in the system, and a user-selected language is assigned to the user of the system, wherein advertisement elements of the placed or sorted ads are displayed to the user in the user-assigned language by the user interface. By means of the system according to the invention, the above mentioned shortfalls of prior art systems are eliminated as described above. In creating our system, it has been taken into consideration that in many countries - in spite of a developed culture - very few people speak foreign languages or even if they do, they prefer to use Internet services in their native or first language, or in the foreign language best spoken (the tendency of using native languages for the Internet instead of English has been shown by recent surveys). Presentation in the language preferred by the user assists the proliferation and use of the Internet in a broad range of applications. Furthermore, our system offers an equal opportunity for each user to apply the system regardless of individual capacities and possibilities. The ad searched can be found in minutes, because the expectations can be unambiguously and precisely defined by means of the system, with a minimum time input. Preferably, at least one part of the advertisement elements is grouped into advertisement element categories, and the user interface comprises a web page enabling the selection of advertisement element categories to be taken into consideration in sorting the ads, and a web page allowing the selection of advertisement elements within the selected advertisement element categories. In this way, the advertisement database systematised in accordance with the invention can be retrieved even more efficiently and in a better structured way. According to a preferred embodiment, at least one part of the element categories can be marked as an essential condition and at least another part as an important condition by means of the web page enabling the selection of advertisement element categories to be taken into consideration in sorting. In this way the sorted ads can be ranked simply and efficiently. In a further preferred embodiment, one advertisement element covers the geographical location of the ad, the content of which is preferably the continent, country, major public administration unit, settlement, city part and/or district. A user friendly system can be created if the user interface comprises a web page displaying at least one part of advertisement elements of ads marked as important by the user out of the sorted ads, and a web page listing for the user who placed an ad the ads of users who have marked the placed ad as important. In this way the favourite ads can be collected and traced separately. The user interface preferably comprises a communication bar displaying marks indicating on-line status of users with ads marked as important by the user, and marks indicating received and sent messages. These marks are preferably identifiers of the advertiser's advertisement and when clicking thereon, communication with the advertiser can be initiated or continued. It is preferred from the aspect of contacting advertisers, when by clicking on the mark indicating on-line status of a user with an ad marked as important by the user, the user is transferred to a web page enabling private chatting with the other advertising on-line user. Seeking and offering advertisers can contact each-other easily, if the user interface comprises a web page matching 'seek' and 'offer' ads, in which web page the advertisement elements corresponding to seeking and offering criteria are displayed. A further preferred embodiment is characterised in that the user interface comprises one or more web page for adjusting and/or modifying the advertisement elements of the ads to be placed, and the placed ad is displayed at the time of sorting as a brief of the ad, said brief comprising an individual identifier of the ad, wherein by clicking on the identifier, the user is transferred to one or more web pages presenting all the advertisement elements of the ad. According to a second aspect, the invention is a method for managing ads in a computerised system, the system comprising an advertising database consisting of ads, which ads comprise advertisement elements, wherein a user interface is used for placing and sorting ads. An element database comprising predefined advertisement elements is used in the system, and by means of the user interface users are enabled to assign advertisement elements to the ads from the element database, wherein the element database is stored in more than one language in the system, and a user-selected language is assigned to the user of the system and by means of the user interface, the advertisement elements of the placed or sorted ads are displayed for the user in the user-assigned language.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Hereinafter, the invention will be described by means of preferred embodiments as shown in the drawings, where Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of databases forming the basis of the system, Fig. 2 shows in details an advertisement element database drawn up in two different languages, Fig. 3 shows a starting page of a user interface of the system according to the invention, Fig. 4 shows the starting web page of placing an ad, Fig. 5 shows a further web page enabling the placement of an ad, Fig. 6 shows the presentation of an ad placed in accordance with Fig. 5, for a sorting user, Figs. 7 and 8 show web pages enabling the setting of the location of the placed ad, Figs. 9 and 10 show web pages enabling the setting of criteria for sorting of ads, Figs. 11 and 12 show web pages which allow defining the 'hunting ground' of sorting, Figs. 13 and 14 show web pages presenting the sorted ads in Hungarian and

English, Fig. 15 shows a web page presenting the favourite ads out of the sorted ads, Fig. 16 shows a web page enabling private chatting with the user who placed an ad, Fig. 17 shows a web page matching ads mutually according to the expectations of the seeking and offering users, and Fig. 18 shows a web page presenting a contact history within the system.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As an example, the system and method according to the invention may be implemented as an Internet application described in relation to the preferred embodiments, but of course they may also be realised differently, for example in the form of another type of network or on-line service. Throughout the specification and claims, under user interface any managing or handling platform, e.g. a graphical user interface is understood, preferably a set of web pages as described below. Fig. 1 shows databases being the basis of the system according to the invention, as well as relations among these databases. The system comprises an advertising database 10 containing ads 11. In the system, the ads 11 are distinguished from each other by individual identifiers 12. Furthermore, the identifiers 12 also serve for initiating communication with the advertising users, in a way to be described later. According to the invention, the ads 11 comprise predefined advertisement elements 17', 17", 17"', or more exactly they mostly consist of such advertisement elements 17', 17", 17"'. Due to the possibility of using several languages, however, the ads 11 do not include the advertisement elements themselves, but references 13 thereto. By way of example, the figure shows the element databases 16', 16" and 16"' prepared in three languages, Hungarian, English and Japanese. The advertisement elements 17', 17", 17'" (E1.1 ... EN.N) in the element databases are presentations of the advertisement elements with the same content in different languages. According to the invention, one language is assigned to the user placing the ad 11. When placing the ad 11 , the advertisement elements are displayed for the advertising user in the user-assigned language, by means of the user interface. This means in practice that the advertising user may collect the pre-specified advertisement elements into an ad in its own language on the web page of the user interface. When compiling ad 11 , it is not the various advertisement elements but the references thereto which are saved. In the depicted case, among other things the references RE1.1 , RE2.1 and RE5.1 to the elements E1.1 , E2.1 and E5.1 are stored as an example in ad 11. Thereafter, by means of the user interface, the elements E1.1 , E.2.1 and E5.1 are inserted into the presentation of ad 11 from the element databases 16', 16" or 16'" in the language desired in the given case, i.e. Hungarian, English or Japanese. The user may change the assigned language any time, i.e. the user may switch to a different language during the use of the system. Than the already selected advertisement elements appear in the new selected language, i.e. the system virtually 'translates' into the new language the advertisement elements, and the other advertisement elements may also be selected in this new language. In many cases it is necessary or advisable to supplement the ads with picture information, for example in the case of the 'Love and Friendship' channel to be described later with one or more photo of a person, or when selling a vehicle, with one or more photo of the vehicle. Therefore, according to the invention, picture information 14 may also be attached to the ads 11 , by way of example via an Internet upload means known per se. The picture information 14 may comprise one or more picture and/or video and/or any audio-visual information. The picture information 14 is stored, in addition to other data, also on the server of the system according to the invention. According to the invention, the element databases 16', 16" and 16"' must be filled with advertisement elements as extensively as possible. It may happen, however, that the user placing the ad intends to attach such information to the ad for which there is no advertising category or element in the database. In this case, according to the invention, additional information 15 ('Info plus') may be attached to the ad. Because its elements are not stored in the system as standard elements, the additional information 15 is always presented in the language used in entering this information, and not in the language assigned to the user. However, according to the invention it is also possible to switch to another language, so that the user can enter the additional information 15 in a different language as well. Consequently, multilingual additional information 15 can be created by selecting several languages in sequence, and by entering the information individually in each language. Fig. 2 shows the element database 16' and 16" in Hungarian and English. It can be seen that the advertisement elements 17' and 17" corresponding to each line match each other, i.e. they are the proper translations of each other. In the depicted preferred embodiment, the advertising system is broken down to advertising channels i.e. major categories. The related data are included in the first column of the element databases 16' and 16". The other columns include the main elements of the ad, the criteria therein and furthermore the various features. These columns can be considered as a kind of categorising of the advertisement elements, i.e. columns of identical substance represent the various categories of the elements. The grouping of advertisement elements in categories has been indicated by a special indexing after letter Ε' of the elements in Fig. 1. Grouping the advertisement elements into categories facilitates the process of placing and sorting the advertisement and the process of comparing the expectations with the seeking and offering ads. Consequently, the advertisement elements had been categorised in a target- oriented way in the databases: in the databases of each channel the criteria are listed below the major advertisement elements, and then the various elements - as features - of the ads are listed below the criteria. In compiling the criteria and features, efforts have been made to make sure that the subject of the seeking or offering ad is described by the users as detailed as possible, making sure that in describing these criteria and features, the words and expressions are easy to understand, unambiguous, accurate, up-to-date and correct, ensuring that the users living in different countries and speaking different languages understand them in the very same way, thereby making interpretation, searching and communication easier for them. In this way, by means of objective and technically relevant criteria and features, the users themselves may compile and edit their seeking and offering ads, and they will decide themselves about the content of browsing and searching, as well as about the degree of details required. The advertising channels in the system used by way of example are Dogs and Cats, Aircrafts and Airservices, Love and Friendship, Jobs and Career, Cars and Motorcycles, Visual Arts, Real-estate and Accommodation, and E-mail Address Directory Worldwide. Fig. 3 shows a start page 20 of a user interface used by way of example and applicable in the system according to the invention. This is an Internet web page for selecting from the various advertising channels 21. The preferred language of the users registered in the system is set to the language used in registration and this is stored in the system. The registered user may alter this default language later on by using a club membership page. The unregistered users may select the language from the lines consisting of language selection icons 22 running on the two sides of the start page 20. Fig. 4 shows a starting web page 23 of placing or modifying an ad, the web page carrying the name 'My Homepage' in the embodiment used by way of example. The placing of the ad is shown by way of example in the channel 'Love and Friendship'; the name of the channel is shown on the left hand side of header 34. For placing the ad, first an identifier is to be created by the advertising system. This function is accessible conveniently by clicking on hypertext 27. In the system, the ads are distinguished by a unique identifier. Preferably, the system assigns a 'descriptive' identifier to the ad; for example when advertising a vehicle, the identifier may be like 'CMR213' (Car Motorcycle Rental). After the creation of an identifier, by means of pushbuttons 24 in web page 23, a selection can be made from various subjects like main elements of the ad. When placing or modifying an ad, these main elements can be selected on an arbitrary basis to decide which is to be filled in and which is not. According to the invention, several ads may be placed within one channel, for which the first click should always be on hypertext 27 and then on pushbuttons 24 to create a new identifier, followed by the identification of the advertisement elements associated with the new identifier. Of course, in the system according to the invention, several advertising channels and within them several ads can be used according to the description above. Field 25 lists the ads which were included by the associated user in her/his 'Favourites' i.e. a collection of ads considered to be important or preferred. These ads appear in the system with their individual identifiers, and next to the identifier the following are preferably shown: the data reflecting on-line status of the relevant user or data identifying the user's latest visit to the system. By clicking on the identifier of the listed ads, the web pages - to be described later - containing the detailed data of the ad are accessible. In field 26 of the web page 23 those users are identified who celebrate their birthdays on the given date. This field shows the individual identifier of the users and also the data reflecting the on-line status of the user or data identifying the user's latest visit to the system. When - by way of example - ppearance' is selected from pushbuttons 24, web page 33 shown in Fig. 5 is reached. Preferably, each pushbutton 24, i.e. every main element is associated with one or more web page, where the advertisement elements in the categories of the main element can be set. According to the invention, it is not necessary to set each advertisement element for placing an ad. It can be chosen freely which main element will be dealt with, and which category is filled in within the selected main element and whether one or more advertisement element is inserted. In Fig. 5, a web page 33 enabling placement of the ads is shown. The user submitting the ad may set features of the subject matter of the ad (e.g. her/his own features in a dating ad) in the middle part of the web page 33. It can be seen that for each advertisement element category 41 , one or more advertisement element 17' can be selected. Web page 33 shows those elements of the advertisement element database 16' where the 'Appearance' appears in the column 'Main elements of the Ad'. The categories 41 correspond to the 'Criteria' column, i.e. in a roll-down field those elements appear, in the 'Criteria' column of which a text corresponding to the category, i.e. for example 'Race and sub-race' or 'Figure' is present. After selecting the elements, the setting may be saved by means of pushbutton 35. The other elements of the dating ad are accessible or may be adjusted similarly to the description above by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the web page 33. The web pages of the system according to the invention are preferably furnished with header 34, which enables immediate access to the main functions. These main functions are for example the following:

- 'My Homepage', for adjusting the user's own advertisement elements, where the sorting criteria i.e. the expectations can be adjusted and the hunting ground can be set,

- 'Channels', for switching between advertising channels,

- 'International', for switching between languages,

- 'Membership', for setting membership-related data, - 'Help', for obtaining instructions in using the system,

- 'Contacts', for displaying the interest log related to the ad,

- "Ideals', for displaying the results of a sorting,

- 'Favourites', for displaying those selected ads which are marked as important or preferred, - 'Find A-Z', for searching on the basis of ad identifiers,

- 'Mail', a mailbox within the system, i.e. displaying the letters sent and the letters received, in addition to initiating a reply,

- 'Chat', for listing the chatting partners' on-line status with identifiers of their respective ads. Furthermore, the header 34 comprises a communication bar which indicates the on-line status of the authors of favourite ads, as well as the received and sent messages and receipt of letters. Fig. 6 shows the main element ppearance' of the ad submitted (i.e. placed) according to the description above, as it appears for the ad sorting user on web page 36. The advertisement elements 17' appear grouped in categories 41 and it can be seen that within a category 41, in the given case more than one element may be selected. The other elements of the ad are accessible in a way similar to the description above, by clicking on the buttons 37 at the bottom of the web page 36. It can be seen that the advertising user - when placing the ad - actually edits their own multilingual web pages comprising their advertising. This can be arbitrarily modified or deleted according to the invention without any programming or other technical intervention, i.e. without any cost and time input entailed by artwork, content editing, programming and hosting. The advertiser does not have to think how to do it and which words, sentences and expressions should be used in compiling their advertising or expectations, they do not have to think about technical terms, the system helps to decide which criteria and features are to be applied and where the emphasis should be put in identifying the object of advertising or search, in order to ensure the success of such advertising or search. By means of the system, preferably the ads can be edited in such details that identifying the object of the advertising does not require the user to provide any further information. If the user intends to provide further information regarding the subject of its advertising, a web page 'Info plus' can be used (not shown), serving for the storing of additional information 15, and they may type in an individual content. This individual content may not be presented in different languages by the system, however, it can be entered by the user in the system in a different language as well, in the given case by switching to another language. Figs. 7 and 8 show web pages 38 and 45, which enable the setting of the location of the ad which has been or will be placed. In web page 38, first the country of advertising can be set in the fields 39 and then the web page 45 is reached by clicking on pushbutton 40. Here, the exact location or part-location can be set in fields 42. In case the location or part-location cannot be found in the list offered by the system, it can be written into fields 43. The adjusted location of advertising may then be saved by clicking on pushbutton 44. Figs. 9 to 12 show web pages 49, 52, 53 and 55 which enable the sorting of the ads. By way of example, the sorting is shown in association with a dating ad, by means of elements referring to the external features. For the sorting, first radio buttons on the web page 49 can be used to determine which criteria, i.e. categories 41, are considered to be of essential importance, i.e. essential for sorting, and furthermore which categories 41 are considered to be important, but not essential. In the third 'Not indicated' column, those categories 41 can be listed, the content of which is irrelevant in a sorting process. After these factors are set, the web page 52 is reached by clicking on a pushbutton not shown. On the basis of the settings in the previous web page, the scroll-down fields of essential categories 41 appear on the top with the appropriate advertisement elements 17', and furthermore below them the categories 41 marked as important appear with the appropriate advertisement elements 17'. In the roll-down fields, the user may choose more than one element, for example in the box where the hair colour or the height is to be specified. As a result of the 'two-level' setting described above, the user is not lost in a huge set of data, because they may select and change any time which criteria are essential, important or unimportant for them, therefore they must only define those criteria, attaching features thereto, which they believe to be essential or important. The multi-level search enables the user to think on the one hand which criteria have which degree of importance for them, and on the other it enables analysing the results of the search, easily changing the criteria and their importance to make sure that the most appropriate and most favourable results are achieved. The multi-level search is also advantageous because during the search first those ads appear which perfectly meet the expectations and then those which meet the basic expectations, but not necessarily the important expectations. In defining the expectations, the user decides in which factors it is perhaps prepared to make a compromise and it is also advantageous that possibilities are not lost as a result of not being perfect, but otherwise appropriate. The 'hunting ground' of sorting can be adjusted on web pages 53 and 55 as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. This is because the location of advertising can be a very important consideration in the sorting process. When defining the hunting ground, i.e. when narrowing the group of advertisements to be selected to a given geographic area,, first the country of advertising can be set in fields 54, and then by clicking on the pushbutton 'Next', the location and part-location of the ad can be adjusted in web page 55 in fields 56. It can be seen that the placers of the ad may define the location of their advertising and the browsers may define the location of their search, i.e. the so- called hunting ground. They may define the geographic location broken down to continent, country, major public administration unit, location, type of location, part of a city and/or district. This type and depth of classification is absolutely necessary for making the system really international and useable in the same way when purchasing e.g. a real estate by a user in Budapest or in New York. This is because in real estate property ads, it is not sufficient information to define the location where the real estate property sought or offered is located, because especially in cities, the prices change in each part of the city and/or in each district, along with the circumstances, demand-supply and quality. The public administration units and the names of the villages/towns are also displayed in the languages provided by the system. In order to make sure about multilingual presentation and to prevent entering inaccurate or erroneous information and descriptions into the system, a detailed geographical database has been established in several languages, to be extended and checked on an ongoing basis. At the same time we encourage the users to type into the system any villages and towns as well as city sections not appearing in our database. These data entered by the users are checked on an ongoing basis and they are included into the database in the case of and following the inspection of their correctness and once they are translated into the languages provided by the system. Figs. 13 and 14 show 57' and 57" web pages for ads selected by a user preferring the Hungarian and the English language, respectively. By means of the element databases 16' and 16" in the system according to the invention, the ads are displayed on the user interface in the languages preferred by the user. Furthermore, the user interface is designed in a way that the texts thereon also appear in the language preferred by the user. On web pages 57' and 57" in the Hungarian and English languages, respectively, the categories 41 adjusted for selection can be seen on the right hand side, including the advertisement elements 17'. Of course the sorting of the ads is again limited to the hunting ground. The categories and the appropriate elements are divided advantageously into two groups according to the discussion above, i.e. to the groups representing the essential and the important elements. The web page 57' shown by way of example comprises the short extracts of two selected ads 11a and 11 b, i.e. the briefs of 110a and 110b. The ad 11a fully corresponds to the conditions determined by the selecting user, and ad 11 b only satisfies these conditions partly, i.e. it meets the essential conditions but not fully the important ones. The ads 11a and 11b include also picture information 14a and 14b and furthermore the user interface is used to display identifiers 12a and 12b. Furthermore, by means of the user interface the information relating to the on-line status of the user who placed the relevant ad is preferably displayed. The placer of the ad 11a is not in an on-line status; as can be seen on the web page below the ad, the time when the user made the latest visit is indicated. The placer of the ad 11b is in on-line status in the depicted case. By means of pushbuttons 60, 61 and 62 below the ads, the following activities can be performed. By means of the communication pushbutton 60, an electronic mail can be sent to the advertiser which is in an off-line status ('Mail'), and a private chat can be initiated with the advertiser who is in an online status ('Connect'). By means of pushbutton 61, the ad can be included among the 'Favourites' i.e. among the ads which are considered to be important by the sorting user. By means of blocking pushbutton 62, the appearance of the relevant ad and the communication with the advertiser can be mutually prevented. Consequently, the briefs 110a and 110b displayed for ads 11a and 11b only include a certain defined selection of the advertisement elements 17'. The full ads 11a and 11b can be reached by clicking on the appropriate identifier 12a, 12b when the ads can be seen in the format shown in Fig. 6, in a web page format, with all the elements 17'. On this page, the users may also adjust by means of the tool bar 59 below the header that they would like to sort only the ads of those who are online, only the ads with photos and/or only the ads where the expectations of the placer are identical with their ad (mutual ideals). The date of placing or modifying ads may also be adjusted, from which date the ads are intended to be searched. Web page 57" shown in Fig. 14 is the English equivalent of the web page 57'.

By means of the multilingual element databases 16' and 16" according to the invention, briefs 110a and 110b of the ads 11a and 11b may also be displayed in English without any translation step. It can be seen that the precondition of implementing the system and method according to the invention is the creation of a categorised and multilingual element database. Only in this way may the system be really international and multilingual so that it can be used by anyone regardless of the geographical location and foreign language skills, understanding each advertisement element in the very same way. The multilingual nature mentioned above also applies to placing the ad. While the user edits in a given language their ad or the search conditions (expectations) in a given language, the ad and the expectations may also be presented in all the other languages provided by the system, regardless of whether the user speaks any of these languages. As a result of the categorised and predetermined advertisement elements, the ads corresponding to the selection criteria can be extremely quickly collected and displayed. Out of the selected ads, web page 58 shown in Fig. 15 displays those marked as important, the so-called 'Favourites'. In the depicted case, a single ad 11 has been included in the favourites, and the brief 110c thereof is presented on web page 58. In the depicted preferred embodiment, notes may be attached in field 63 to the ad 11 , which notes may be saved by clicking on pushbutton 64, and when clicking on pushbutton 65, the ad 11 itself may be deleted from the favourites. In the notes, the user may for example indicate what further information has been learnt from the placer of the ad when they had been contacted and communicated with, what impressions have been gathered, and their own opinion may be noted for preparing the decision or what has been agreed on and when the next discussion would take place. Web page 70 in Fig. 16 enables private chatting with the placer of one of the favourite ads in an on-line status. Also on web page 70, only the brief 110d of the ad 11 is shown. Communication bar 71 in the header, which appears on all web pages of the system, indicates those placers of the favourite ads who are currently in online status. In the depicted example, the user placing the ad 11 with identifier 72 ART 10000FI' is in on-line status, and by clicking on the identifier 72, the web page 70 for private chatting can be reached, and the private chat can be initiated with that user. The chatting process can be tracked in the field which displays a history 74 of the chat. During the chat, the next message can be sent in a known way by writing into message field 75 and by clicking on pushbutton 76. During chatting, one may also switch into other parts of the system according to the invention, because the incoming messages are shown in the communication bar 71 present on each web page, by displaying identifier 73 of the ad submitted by the message sender. With pushbutton 66 a mail can be sent to the advertiser user. Furthermore, according to the invention it is possible to chat with several users at the same time. This is enabled by the following: when clicking on the identifier of the incoming messages, a private discussion may always be continued with the user who sent the given message. In case another message from another user appears during the chat, and the identifier of this other user is clicked, the other user can be chatted with. The essence of the approach is that the communication bar always visible provides information about the incoming and outgoing (received and sent) messages. If the identifier of the ad disappears from the sent messages, that means that the sent message has been received and read by the other user. In the specification and the claims, not only chatting in a text format, but also voice (verbal) and audio-visual chatting is implied. According to the invention, the ads may be 'seek' or 'offer' ads. In this system, there is a higher chance that the seeker and the offerer users find each other, because the offerer may also actively search among the ads of the seekers, finding and browsing them on the basis of the offerer's own expectations, instead of waiting passively for the seeker to find them. Therefore, they have a much higher chance to find what they are looking for. Fig. 17 shows a web page presenting mutually matching 'seek and offer' ads. In the inventive system depicted by way of example, this page is called the page of 'Match of ideals'. The web page 80 displays for a first user the sorted seek and offer ads, i.e. those corresponding to the expectations of the first user, which ads are placed by such a second user for whom the seek or offer ad placed by the first user also meets the expectations. In this way, the advertising pairs that reflect the seek and offer requirements matching each other can be found easily in the system. On web page 80, the categories and advertisement elements being essential or important for the first user can be seen in field 81 from the ad placed by the second user. Field 82 shows those categories and advertisement elements which have been selected but have not be found essential or important by the first user from the ad submitted by the second user. Similarly, field 83 shows the categories and advertisement elements which are essential or important for the second user from the ad placed by the first user, and the field 84 indicates the categories and advertisement elements selected as essential or important but not found as such by the second user from the ad placed by the first user. This arrangement is especially efficient for evaluating the advertising pairs which reflect the seek and offer requirements matching each other. The first user may initiate correspondence or a chat session with the second user in a way similar to the description above by means of the communication pushbutton 60; by pushbutton 61 the user can include the ad of the second user among her/his favourites, and by pushbutton 62 the selection and appearance of the ad as well as the communication may be mutually prevented. The web page 80 is a good tool to make sure that before contacting the placer of the relevant ad, not only information about the subject of the ad is obtained, but also the expectations of the placer (advertiser) are learnt, in addition to knowing how far our own ad corresponds to those expectations, consequently on the basis of this information we can make preparations beforehand for the discussion. Consequently, according to the invention is it advisable to evaluate the ads found as follows, in accordance with the discussion above. First, it is advisable to see the 'brief of the ad in the web page of the 'Ideals'. Next, when clicking on the identifier of the ad, the detailed presentation can be reached. And finally, the most advantageous way to see the matching of the ad to our criteria and vice versa is using the web page which shows the matching of ideals. The web page 90 shown in Fig. 18 can be reached via the main function

'Contacts' accessible from the header 34. The web page 90 shows in a tabular form the history of interest/contact/communication with the other users of the system in a pre-defined period, for example in the last two weeks. In the first 'Contacts' column of the table, the identifier and in the given case the photo of the subject of the ad can be seen. In the second 'Latest visit' column the time when the user latest visited the system or its online status can be seen. In the next column 'Their actions regarding my ad', the following can be seen: information about a letter or signal (see later) sent to the user, insertion of their ad into the favourites, displaying i.e. browsing, and sorting according to the mutual ideals by the other user. The same information is displayed in the next column, in association with the ads of the users listed by the user. In the last 'Mutual actions' column, the data about eventual chats are shown. Consequently, on web page 90, the latest interactions are indicated by red stars shown line by line. The E-mail Address Directory Worldwide shown as a separate channel in Fig. 3 enables companies and private individuals to edit their own web pages within the system, and by selecting from the internationally accepted scopes of activities they can define their own scopes of activities. The e-mail addresses of both private individuals and companies can be searched on the basis of the name and address or phone number of the private individual or company, or on the basis of knowing the e-mail address the name and address of the private individual or the name, address, phone number, scope of activities of the company and any information published by the company about itself can be sought. Furthermore, the companies may also be searched according to the scopes of activities and geographical location. In the E-mail Address Directory Worldwide, the information edited in any language provided by the system (except for the individually typed in or picture contents) may be displayed in all the languages provided by the system. In addition to the possibility that on the basis of e-mail addresses the companies and private individuals may communicate with each other outside the system by using their own e-mail addresses, there is also a possibility to communicate safely within the system according to the description above, by means of the ad identifier, via an electronic exchange of mails and by chatting. Consequently, the E-mail Address Directory Worldwide utilises all novelties of the invention similarly to the other channels. It is unique, because it is not simply that the information can be found in different languages, but the same information appears in different languages. The sorting scheme of the system according to the invention deviates also from this aspect from the known search engines, where in the different languages only those pages appear which exist in the given language. This is because the web pages and the information available on the Internet are mostly published in one language only. The description above shows that an international form of Internet advertising has been implemented, in which those advertising requirements were taken into consideration which could only have been realised so far by means of conventional newspaper or Internet ads, with all their limitations. By means of the method and system according to the invention, direct contact and communication between the advertisers are more simple, cheaper and safer, while the user requirements are satisfied at a high standard. Differing from known advertising systems, our system is consistent and the same information appears in all languages, which makes communication between the users unambiguous and easy. Furthermore, the system has been implemented in a way that it automatically converts the most generally used measuring units of the world and all the currencies of the world, consequently a 'seek' or 'offer' ad may be compiled, defined, displayed or sought in any currency of the world, and it becomes possible for everyone to compile their ads and expectations in those measuring units, in addition to browsing the ads, which are mostly used and best known by them. This applies for example to the weights, length units, volume units, area units, currencies, etc. A further advantage of the system and method according to the invention is that it provides anonymity for the users. The system is used by the user under an advertising identifiers, and these are used for submitting its seeking or offering ads, contacting others, and the user decides whether revealing identity, and if so when and to which users. The possibility of anonymity does not restrict the user in making use of the services, but at the same time creates the security of data protection, because a person is not forced to publish their personal particulars in order to get in touch with and communicate with others. This is a great step forward as against prior art systems; so far at least the e-mail address or telephone number had to be given for communication. The user may preferably set which languages it uses for communication. This information may be displayed on the web pages containing the user's advertisements, consequently the other users will also see the languages by which they can communicate with this user. The description above shows that the system according to the invention uses several means by which the communication is facilitated for the users in a way that the contacts already established are stored. For this purpose the following web pages are available, the Favourites web page, the Contacts web page, a so-called 'Chat log' web page (not shown) for tracking previous chatting partners, a 'Mail box' web page (not shown) for archiving corresponding partners, correspondences and letters sent and received, as well as the 'Search A-Z' web page (not shown). By means of the functions listed above, with a marking 'Your ad is their favourite' and furthermore by means of the communication bar and through information sent automatically to the user's e-mail address (if the user is currently not in the system, a mail is sent to inform this user that since his/her latest log-on, new users included his/her ad in the^' list of favourites or/and new letters or signals were received from other users), it is ensured that the user does not lose the communication contacts. This helps in making the user 'remember' or 'receive information' regarding the existing and potential business or contacting opportunities concerning their advertisement or search. The user's orientation and guidance are also supported by the fact that on each page serving for search, a short summary i.e. the brief of the ad appears. On the Contacts web page, only the identifier appears next to the photo, but when clicking on this or when clicking on the identifiers in the brief summaries listed above, the web pages of the advertising featuring under the given identifier and placed by the advertiser, i.e. all the details of the advertisements appear. At the same time, if the seeking user clicks on the 'Match of Ideals' button on the web page of an advertisement, they may also see in which way and how their advertising meets or fails to meet the expectations of the relevant advertiser, and they may also see in which way and how the advertising of the relevant advertiser is satisfactory or unsatisfactory for the seeking user. Consequently, the 'Match of Ideals' function enables in seconds that the user reviews the advantageous and non-advantageous features of the other ad, and the chances of its own advertising with the other user, and that appropriate preparations for a possible negotiation are made. The system offers the best possible freedom for the users in that they can decide when, and for whom and what information would be accessible in relation to the advertising and who will be those having a chance to see the ad and may contact the user. For example, in the 'Love and Friendship' channel, by means of the control functions, only persons of the advertiser-defined age, gender and sexual orientation may see the advertiser's ad, and the same purpose is served by a function The photo may only be seen by my favourites' and by a blocking opportunity which blocks any eventual intruders. The system caters for anonymity and for the confidential treatment of confidential data. Another important characteristic of the system according to the invention is that via the internal e-mail system, the users may correspond safely and with full discretion, and can send so-called signals to each other. Alternatively, the receiving of signals can be made available for all club members i.e. users, and further communication e.g. the sending of signals and chatting or correspondence are only permitted for the subscriber club members. The club members have their own electronic mail boxes, where the mails and signals sent and received are systematised according to advertising channels. Sending a mail is a possibility for contacting those club members who are not in line, and at the same time this enables the sending of longer messages. The signals are pre-formulated shorter messages, which can be sent to the other club members for the purpose of expressing interest in their ads. Preferably, the signals can be sent and received in any chosen language. Sending mails and signals could also be advantageous when a club member is engaged in a discussion with another member or has already logged off the system. The message is forwarded in both cases and the relevant person will get it the latest when it logs in the next time. Sending a letter or a signal expressing interest is done by clicking in the appropriate web pages on the 'Mail' button associated with the identifier of the relevant user's ad. In this way the user may write a new letter on a letter sending web page or may choose from the pre-formulated signals on the web page. When a new letter or signal arrives, a notification mark appears in the communication bar below the main menu. When clicking here on the flashing envelope, the user is directed to the web page of the electronic mail box, where they can read the letters received since the latest visit and hence these letters can be replied. To reduce costs, to ensure comfort and for safe payments, a method has been set up by which the user may pay the system-related membership fees to their own Internet service provider. The user pays a certain amount to the own Internet service provider, which amount is credited by the Internet service provider on a separate account. When the user intends to pay the membership fee, selects one membership type and specifies the name of her/his own Internet service provider. Then they are directed to the Internet service provider's page where the type of membership selected by them already appears in addition to the amount to be paid. If this is accepted by the user, they enter the code of the account handled by their own service provider and send a note about their purchasing intention to the Internet service provider. The Internet service provider checks whether coverage for the purchase shown is available on the dedicated account of the user utilised for such payments. If the answer is yes, it will send immediately to the user's e-mail address a purchase enabling code, which is entered by the user on the payment page, and then the user is redirected to the portal of the system according to the invention where information is received on the successful or unsuccessful payment. At the same time, the Internet service provider sends the enabling code to the inventive system regarding the purchase identified by the user, or informs the system that the purchase has been rejected and specifies the reason for rejecting the transaction. This payment approach assumes that a safe (encrypted) communication is established between the system according to the invention and the Internet service provider as well as between the inventive system and the user, and among the user's and the Internet service provider's servers and computers. Of course, preferred embodiments of the invention can also be implemented differently from the above embodiments. The inventive system and method can be used in connection with other advertisement channels or functions as well. For example, the inventive system is also used for selling and buying air tickets, wherein departure, destination particulars, airline and other information could be entered for seeking or sorting ads of air ticket selling entities. Further, the inventive system can be completed with other features, e.g. a so called 'ad cloning', by which a copy of the ad can be generated and its data modified. By means of this function multiple ads can be placed in a short time and in a very efficient way. The chat function can be also used for booking and ordering products and services online. The invention is of course not restricted to the embodiments described above, but different modifications and changes are possible within the scope determined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A computerised advertising system, comprising an advertising database consisting of ads, which ads comprise advertisement elements, and a user interface suitable for placing and/or sorting ads, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an element database (16', 16", 16"') comprising predefined advertisement elements (17', 17", 17'") is stored in the system, wherein the ads (11) comprise advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') assigned from the element database (16', 16", 16"') to the ads (11 ) by users and the element database (16', 16", 16"') is stored in more than one language in the system, and a user-selected language is assigned to the user of the system, wherein advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') of the placed or sorted ads (11) are displayed to the user in the user-assigned language by the user interface.

2. The system according to claim 1 , characterised in that at least one part of the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') is grouped into advertisement element categories (41) and the user interface comprises a web page (49) enabling the selection of advertisement element categories (41) to be taken into consideration in sorting the ads (11) and a web page (52) allowing the selection of advertisement elements (17', 17", 17'") within the selected advertisement element categories (41).

3. The system according to claim 2, characterised in that at least one part of the element categories (41) can be marked as an essential condition and at least another part as an important condition by means of the web page (49) enabling category selection.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterised in that one advertisement element (17', 17", 17"') covers the geographical location of the ad (11), the content of which is preferably the continent, country, major public administration unit, settlement, city part and/or district.

5. The system according to claim 1 , characterised in that the user interface comprises a web page (58) displaying at least one part of advertisement elements (17', 17", 17'") of ads (11) marked as important by the user out of the sorted ads (11) and a web page (23) listing for the user who placed an ad (11) the ads of users who have marked the placed ad (11) as important.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterised in that the user interface comprises a communication bar (71) displaying marks indicating on-line status of users with ads (11) marked as important by the user, and marks indicating received and sent messages.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterised in that by clicking on the mark indicating on-line status of a user with an ad (11) marked as important by the user, the user is transferred to a web page (70) enabling private chatting with the advertising on-line user.

8. The system according to claim 1 , characterised in that the user interface comprises a web page (80) matching 'seek' and 'offer' ads (11), in which web page the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') corresponding to seeking and offering criteria are displayed.

9. The system according to claim 1 , characterised in that the user interface comprises one or more web page (23, 33) for adjusting and/or modifying the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17'") of the ads (11) to be placed, and the placed ad is displayed at the time of sorting as a brief (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d) of the ad (11), said brief (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d) comprising an individual identifier (12) of the ad (11), wherein by clicking on the identifier (12), the user is transferred to one or more web pages (36) presenting all the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') of the ad (11).

10. A method for managing ads in a computerised system, the system comprising an advertising database consisting of ads, which ads comprise advertisement elements, wherein a user interface is used for placing and sorting ads, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an element database (16', 16", 16"') comprising predefined advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') is used in the system, and by means of the user interface users are enabled to assign advertisement elements (17', 17", 17'") to the ads (11) from the element database (16', 16", 16'"), wherein the element database (16', 16", 16'") is stored in more than one language in the system, and a user-selected language is assigned to the user of the system and by means of the user interface, the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') of the placed or sorted ads (11) are displayed for the user in the user-assigned language.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterised in that at least one part of the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') is grouped into advertisement element categories (41) and for sorting first a web page (49) enabling the selection of advertisement element categories (41) to be taken into consideration in sorting the ads (11) is displayed and thereafter a web page (52) allowing the selection of advertisement elements (17', 17", 17'") within the selected advertisement element categories (41) is displayed.

12. The method according to claim 11 , characterised in that at least one part of the element categories (41) can be marked as an essential condition and at least another part as an important condition by means of the web page (49) enabling category selection.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterised in that data relating to the geographical location of advertising is assigned to the ads (11), which data is defined as a sorting condition, and the content of which data is preferably the continent, country, major public administration unit, settlement, city part and/or district.

14. The method according to claim 10, characterised in that by means of a further web page (58), at least one part of advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') of ads (11) marked as important by the user out of the sorted ads (11) are displayed and/or by means of a still further web page (23), for the user who placed an ad (11) the ads of users who have marked the placed ad (11) as important are listed.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterised in that the user interface comprises a communication bar (71) displaying marks indicating on-line status of users with ads (11) marked as important by the user, and marks indicating received and sent messages.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterised in that by clicking on the mark indicating on-line status of users with ads (11) marked as important by the user, the user is transferred to a web page (70) enabling private chatting with the advertising on-line user. 17. The method according to claim 10, characterised in that on a web page (80) matching 'seek' and 'offer' ads (11), the advertisement elements (17', 17",

17"') corresponding to seeking and offering criteria are displayed.

18. The method according to claim 10, characterised in that the user interface comprises one or more web page (23, 33) for adjusting and/or modifying the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') of the ads (11) to be placed, and the placed ad is displayed at the time of sorting as a brief (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d) of the ad (11), said brief (110a, 110b, 110c, 110d) comprising an individual identifier (12) of the ad (11), wherein by clicking on the identifier (12), the user is transferred to one or more web pages (36) presenting all the advertisement elements (17', 17", 17"') of the ad (11).