Lead Group Consolidation for Accurate Billing in Online Listings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing online listing systems fail to accurately charge listers only for the first contact with potential renters regarding rental listings, leading to inadequate billing for subsequent leads from the same user.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that consolidate leads from multiple user devices of the same user into a lead group, allowing the billing module to count the lead group as a single lead, and notify the lister of the consolidated lead count, ensuring accurate billing for each listing based on the number of unique leads received.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the system counts each lead individually without consolidation, then the billing process is simple, but listers are overcharged when a user contacts them through multiple devices
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments leads into two categories: consolidated leads (from the same user across multiple devices) and non-consolidated leads (from different users). This segmentation allows the system to apply different counting rules to different lead types, improving measurement precision while managing complexity through structured categorization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary consolidation mechanism that tracks user identities across multiple devices and consolidates leads before billing. This intermediary layer prevents direct overcharging by filtering and deduplicating leads based on user identity, thereby improving billing accuracy without requiring fundamental changes to the core billing infrastructure.
2Measurement precision
If the system consolidates leads from the same user, then billing accuracy improves, but the processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary consolidation of leads by user identity before the billing process occurs. By pre-grouping leads from the same user across multiple devices into consolidated lead groups, the system eliminates the need for complex real-time analysis during billing, thereby improving billing accuracy while minimizing processing time losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a consolidated representation (copy) of leads from the same user, where multiple individual leads are represented as a single consolidated lead group. This copying approach allows the billing system to work with simplified data structures, reducing computational overhead and processing time while maintaining accurate billing through the consolidated view.
3Quantity of substance
If the system charges for every lead contact, then revenue is maximized, but user experience deteriorates due to perceived unfair billing
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different billing qualities to different lead types: consolidated leads (from the same user) are charged at a reduced rate or counted as one, while non-consolidated leads (from different users) are charged at the standard rate. This local quality differentiation maintains revenue from genuine multiple users while providing fair treatment to users who contact through multiple devices, thereby improving user experience without completely sacrificing revenue.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the billing parameter from counting each lead individually to counting consolidated lead groups. By modifying the fundamental billing parameter from per-lead counting to per-user-consolidation counting, the system reduces perceived unfairness in billing while maintaining revenue integrity through proper differentiation between single-user and multi-user scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
In some example embodiments, a system and method are illustrated to consolidate leads received from multiple user devices used by a single user. The system and method may include identifying a first plurality of leads received from one or more user devices as being submitted by a same user via the one or more user devices. The first plurality of leads may be directed to a listing provided by a lister. The first plurality of leads may be added to a lead group. Then, a second plurality of leads received from one or more users including the same user may be forwarded to the lister. The forwarding may include notifying the lister of a first count of the second plurality of leads. The first count may include the lead group counted as one lead.