Granted Patent B2

US 8,566,140 · App. 12/108,115 · Granted Oct 22, 2013

Inventors: Virgil Bistriceanu (Chicago, IL); Craig Muller (Rolling Meadows, IL)

Assignee: Mypoints.com Inc.

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. A method in a computer-based information gathering system for providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with the information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user as computer-readable data stored in a server;

detecting, at the information gathering system, a visit of the registered user to a participating web site using an electronic message transmitted to the information gathering system, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system; and

automatically providing a demographic information report to the participating web site on a periodic basis, including:

developing aggregate demographic information regarding a plurality of registered users who have visited the participating web site over a predefined period of time using the detected visit;

providing the aggregate demographic information in the demographic information report.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service; and

awarding award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregate demographic information includes a percentage of registered users matching a predefined characteristic.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the report includes a demographic profile for each registered user who has visited the participating web site over a predefined period of time.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the demographic profile includes the participating user's gender.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a demographic information report to the participating web site includes providing demographic information related only to the registered users who have interacted with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting a visit of the registered user to a participating web site includes:

obtaining a supplementary questionnaire from the participating web site, wherein the supplementary questionnaire is specific to the participating web site and wherein the registered user fills out the supplementary questionnaire during the visit to the participating web site; and

expanding the profile associated with the registered user based on at least a portion of the supplementary questionnaire.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating a visit of the registered user to a participating web site with the profile of the registered user includes obtaining a visitor identification information from the participating web site and correlating the visitor identification information with the profile of the registered user.

9. A method in a computer-based information gathering system for providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user as first computer-readable data stored in a server;

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user as second computer-readable data stored in the server, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service;

detecting, at the information gathering system, an interaction between the registered user and the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site using an electronic message transmitted to the information gathering system, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system;

allocating award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in the manner defined by the participating web site; and

automatically providing a demographic information report to the participating web site on a periodic basis, wherein the demographic information report is related to at least the registered user, including

generating the demographic information report using the detected interaction.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein providing a demographic information report includes at least one of providing aggregate demographic information related to a plurality of registered users or providing personal demographic profile information for each registered user.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the demographic information report is limited to the registered users who have interacted with the participating web site in the manner defined by the participating web site.

12. A method in a computer-based information gathering system for providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user as first computer-readable data stored in a server;

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user as second computer-readable data stored in the server, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service at a redemption site at a future time;

detecting at the information gathering system an interaction between the registered user and the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site using an electronic message transmitted to the information gathering system, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system;

allocating award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in the manner defined by the participating web site, wherein the interaction with the participating web site includes a visit to the participating web site, and wherein detecting the visit of the registered user to the participating site includes:

obtaining a visitor identification information from the participating web site via an electronic message transmitted to the information gathering system, and

correlating the visitor identification information with the profile of the registered user;

generating a demographic information report using the detected interaction; and

automatically providing the demographic information report to the participating web site on a periodic basis, wherein the demographic information report is related only to the registered users who have interacted with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein providing a demographic information report includes at least one of providing aggregate demographic information related a plurality of registered users or providing personal demographic profile information for each registered user.

14. A method in a computer-based information gathering system for providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a demographic profile for the registered user as first computer-readable data stored in a server;

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user as second computer-readable data stored in the server, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service at a redemption site at a future time;

detecting, at the information gathering system, an interaction between the registered user and the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site using an electronic message transmitted to the information gathering system, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system;

allocating award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in the manner defined by the participating web site, wherein the interaction with the participating web site includes a visit to the participating web site, and wherein detecting the visit of the registered user to the participating site includes:

obtaining a visitor identification information from the participating web site via an electronic message transmitted to the information gathering system; and

correlating the visitor identification information with the profile of the registered user;

automatically updating the demographic profile of the registered user in view of the detected interaction; and

automatically providing at least a portion of the demographic profile of the registered user to the participating web site on a periodic basis.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the participating web site solicits personal information from the user; and wherein the demographic profile includes personal information solicited by the information gathering system and by the participating web site.

Assignments (11)

Continuity (3)