Email Forwarding Service Summary Link Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Email service providers lose page views and advertising revenue by implementing email forwarding services, as they drive traffic to competitors' websites and face issues with unauthorized access to forwarded messages.
Innovation Solution
An email forwarding system generates a summary email message with a unique link that directs users to view the original message on the provider's website, incorporating security features like user authentication and access limitations to inhibit unauthorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the entire email message is forwarded to the second email address, then the user receives complete message content, but the email service provider loses page views and advertising revenue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential summary information from the original email message and sends it to the forwarding address, while keeping the complete message on the provider's server. This extraction principle resolves the contradiction by providing forwarding functionality without transferring the entire message content, thus maintaining user engagement with the provider's platform and preserving advertising revenue opportunities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a summary email message as an intermediary between the original email and the forwarding address. This intermediary contains key information and a link back to the original message, allowing users to access complete content through the provider's platform. This mediator resolves the contradiction by enabling forwarding while maintaining the connection to the provider's service ecosystem.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the email forwarding service drives traffic to external websites, then users can access forwarded messages, but the email service provider loses advertising revenue opportunities
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of sending users away from the provider's platform to external websites, the patent inverts the approach by keeping the original message on the provider's server and providing a link back to it. This inversion ensures that users remain engaged with the provider's platform, maintaining advertising revenue opportunities while still enabling email forwarding functionality.
3Ease of operation
If the unique URL is made easily accessible, then users can conveniently access forwarded emails, but unauthorized access through trial and error becomes more likely
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by making the unique URL sufficiently long and complex that it is easy for authorized users to access (by clicking a link in the summary email) but difficult for unauthorized users to guess through trial and error. The asymmetric design balances convenience for legitimate users with security against unauthorized access attempts.
4Reliability
If access to forwarded emails is restricted with authentication requirements, then unauthorized access is inhibited, but user engagement and page views may decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by implementing authentication requirements selectively rather than universally. The system can require login for some forwarded emails while allowing direct access for others, balancing security needs with user engagement. This partial application of security measures maintains reliability for sensitive communications while preserving productivity and user experience for less critical messages.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method are disclosed that enable an email service provider to implement an email forwarding service without losing associated page views. In one embodiment, rather than forwarding the entire email message, the email forwarding service generates a summary email message, and sends this summary email message to the forwarding email address pre-specified by the subscriber. This summary email message includes a link that is selectable by the user to view the original email message on a web site of the email service provider. Thus, even if the forwarding email address is hosted externally, the subscriber still views the full email message on a web site of the provider of the email forwarding service.