System and method for generating revenue for publishers of multimedia content over a network
A system and method for compensating publishers of content items, such as a video, graphics, songs, movies, images, advertisements, or any other type of content, in response to, or as a precondition to, viewing of a given content item by others at a host website. For example, multimedia content publishers upload their respective content items to a host website. The uploaded content items may be integrated into a video search engine, which is a feature of the host website. A given user wishing to view a given content item remunerates the publisher of the content item with payment through a third party payment provider, which may be a donation or minimal payment. Payment may be effected via a third party payment system such as PayPal™ of San Jose, Calif.
1 . A method for compensating publishers of user-generated content (UGC), the method comprising:
uploading one or more user-generated content items to a host website from one or more respective content providers;
determining a respective payment level for accessing a given user generated content item; and
remunerating, though a third party payment provider, a content provider of a given user generated content item in response to viewing by a user.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment level is determined by the respective content provider of the given user generated content item.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the payment level is selected from the set of payment levels including: a solicitation for a donation, a fixed price and a donation with a set floor.
4 . The method of claim 1 , comprising identifying, by the content provider, a third party payment service for performing the remuneration.
5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising integrating the one or more user-generated content items into a search index managed by the host website.
6 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:
selecting the given user-generated content item at the host website;
directing a client device of the user to the third party payment provider to provide payment directly to the content provider in accordance with the payment level; and
re-directing the client device back from the third party payment provider to the host website.
7 . The method of claim 6 , comprising:
determining at the host website, subsequent to said re-directing step, whether the third party payment provider provides an indication that said payment has been provided from the user to the content provider of the user-generated content item; and
recording, in a profile of the user, an indication that the user successfully paid to access the user-generated content item.
8 . A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1 .
9 . A system for remunerating content providers for content uploaded to a host website, the system comprising:
a processor;
a memory connected to the processor and storing instructions for operating the processor to perform the steps of:
uploading one or more user-generated content items to a host website from one or more respective content providers;
determining a respective payment level for accessing a given user generated content item; and
remunerating, though a third party payment provider, a content provider of a given user generated content item in response to viewing by a user.
10 . The system of claim 9 , comprising a user profile database operative to store user profile data.
11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the system is managed by one of: a web portal provider, a content provider, a web hosting service provider, an Internet service provider.
12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the memory stores instructions for operating the processor to perform the step of identifying a payment service for performing the remuneration.
13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the memory stores instructions for operating the processor to perform the step of integrating the uploaded user-generated content into a search index managed by the host website.
14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the memory stores instructions for operating the processor to perform the step of:
selecting the given user-generated content item at the host website;
directing a client device of the user to the third party payment provider to provide payment directly to the content provider in accordance with the payment level; and
re-directing the client device back from the third party payment provider to the host website.
15 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the memory stores instructions for operating the processor to perform the step of identifying the third party payment service for performing the remuneration.
16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the user generated content item is an item of multimedia content.
17 . A system for remunerating content providers for content uploaded to a host website, the system comprising:
means for uploading one or more user-generated content items to a host website from one or more respective content providers;
means for determining a respective payment level for accessing a given user generated content item; and
means for remunerating, though a third party payment provider, a content provider of a given user generated content item in response to viewing by a user.