WO2002025541A1

WO2002025541A1 - Online competitive marketing system

Info

Publication number: WO2002025541A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/028871
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olivier M. J. Crepin-Leblond
Original assignee: Global Information Highway Limited
Priority date: 2000-09-19
Filing date: 2001-09-14
Publication date: 2002-03-28
Also published as: EP1330730A4; EP1330730A1; AU2001292679A1

Abstract

A competitive marketing system (411) and method for attracting users to an online site and tracking dissemination of information. User attraction can be accomplished by awarding prizes or other compensation to participants in a competition. Information dissemination can be tracked via use of a verifiable click-to, or other input from a participant of an online competition. The participant inputs specific information in response to point generation criteria (415) which has been transmitted to the participant (419). Points can be awarded to the participant in response to a correct input. Compensation can be awarded according to an aggregation of the points awarded to the participant. Point generation criteria can include requiring a participant to input information that a sponsor wishes to disseminate. Receipt of the information in response to the transmission of the point generation criteria (415) can be used as a checking mechanism to indicate that the participant assimilated the information at least long enough to input it into the competitive marketing system (411). A resource can be provided to the participant such that the resource contains the information required to be input as the point generation criteria (415). The participant can use the resource as a reference to obtain the correct information to be input.

Description

ONLINE COMPETITIVE MARKETING SYSTEM

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application no. 09/665,502, filed September 19, 2000.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to a method and system for providing online information dissemination. In particular, the present invention relates to quantifying the dissemination of information through the use of an online competition that allows a participant to acquire ^' points as a result of correctly inputting required information via an electronic communications network.

Increased access to the Internet and the World Wide Web (web) have caused marketers to pursue new paradigms in order to reach a target market and be compensated for presenting an advertisers message to that market. As a result of the new mediums available via the Internet, many new compensation schemes have arisen. Typically, compensation is tied to the number of viewers that access a web page.

One common method for marketing via the Internet is to provide a banner in a portion of the web page. A marketer typically pays to display the content of the banner. Compensation can be tied to the number of users who access a site during the time that the website displays the banner. Sites which have a higher volume of users access it are presumed to be more effective at conveying information contained within the banner. Consequently, high volume sites tend to demand a premium for banner space and time. However, there is no way to confirm that a user accessing the site has actually read a banner, or if the user ever became cognizant of the information contained within the banner.

Alternatively, compensation can be tied to a number of "click throughs" originating from another site. A click through is a term used to denote a mouse click on a hyperlink, or similar activation of a user interactive device contained on a website, which brings a viewer to an advertiser's web page. It is presumed that a user who has clicked through to an advertiser's site is interested in the content of the sponsor's site, otherwise the user would not have taken such an action. Accordingly, an advertiser is willing to pay for users so directed to their site. However, actual transference of information from the advertiser's site to the user cannot be ascertained, only assumed or hoped for. It is also known to reward, or compensate a user in return for visiting a site. A user can receive coupons in return for visiting different sites. The coupons can be accumulated and redeemed for various goods or services similar to frequent flier points.

Another known method, for online marketing includes a sweepstakes wherein an entry for the sweepstakes can be generated by visiting sites with the sweepstakes organizer. Other actions can also result in sweepstakes entries, such as in return for a user providing detailed information about themselves. Variations can include entry into a lotto in return for visiting banner sites. However, similar to the previous methods, there is no metric included in these methods which can measure actual conveyance of information to the user.

Therefore, what is needed is a method and system for online marketing that can be used to target specific groups, or the general public, and also provide a measurement of the information transferred as a result of the marketing effort.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present invention provides a competitive marketing system and method for attracting users to an online site and tracking dissemination of information. User attraction is accomplished by awarding prizes or other compensation to participants in a competition. Information dissemination can be tracked utilizing a "verified click-to" or other verified feedback that can be received via input from a participant of an online competition. The participant inputs specific information in response to point generation criteria, which has been transmitted to the participant. Points can be awarded to the participant in response to a correct input. Compensation can be awarded according to an aggregation of the points awarded to the participant.

Point generation criteria can include requiring a participant to input information that a sponsor wishes to disseminate. Receipt of the information in response to the transmission of the point generation criteria can be used as a checking mechanism to indicate that the participant assimilated the information at least long enough to input it into the competitive marketing system.

A resource can also be provided to the participant such that the resource contains the information required to be input as the point generation criteria. The participant can use the resource as a reference to obtain the correct information to be input. Resources can include, for example, a hypertext link; a product package; a physical location such as a store; a promotional event such as a concert, sporting event, or other performance; a multimedia presentation such as a video stream or a radio broadcast; a printed publication, or any other means of conveying information.

Notification can be transmitted to the participant indicating a correct or incorrect response input, and how many points the response earned the participant. In one embodiment, a correct embodiment can credit points to the participant and an incorrect response can debit points from the participant's aggregate.

Participants can include an individual or a group of individuals. The point generation criteria can be thematic and relate to a particular product or sponsor, or include competing sponsors.

In one aspect, the present invention can include a method of analyzing an online or other resource and fashioning questions related to the resource. The questions can act as the point generation criteria.

In another aspect of the present invention, an online competitive marketing provider can be compensated according to the number of correct answers received relating to a sponsor's product. In another embodiment, compensation can be relative to the number of participants involved sufficiently to transmit input responsive to the point generation criteria.

The present invention can include a computer system capable of executing the methods described as well as an executable program stored upon a computer readable medium. In addition a computer data signal can also embody the invention. hi still another aspect of the present invention, a graphical user interface (GUI) can be utilized to present user interactive areas containing point generation criteria and receive point generation information. Other GUI's can facilitate the design and creation of an online competition with interactive areas for concepts and corresponding point generation criteria.

Other aspects of the present invention are further disclosed in the following figures and text.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates the components of a computer network system.

Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of steps conducive to the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a flow of steps exemplary of those which can be presented to a participant.

Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram of information flow.

Figure 5 illustrates functional areas which can be included in a GUI presented to a participant. Figure 6 illustrates functional areas which can be included in a GUI utilized to implement an online competition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An online competitive marketing system can provide a user with incentives to view, or otherwise receive, information presented via a computer communications network to a participant, wherein the participant accesses the services with a network access device, such as a computer or other type of automata. The online competitive marketing system can also quantify assimilation of information by the participant through the use of a verified click-to, or other verifiable feedback.

A verifiable click-to is a process whereby a participant is tracked as the participant clicks to access a web page or other online resource containing information. The participant then inputs portions of the information in response to a question put forth by the online competitive marketing system. A correct response in the form of valid information being input by the participant can be utilized to verify that the participant has not only accessed, or viewed, the web page concerned but also gathered at least enough information from the page to answer the question satisfactorily.

Fig. 1 shows a network of computers 100 that may be used in an implementation of an online competitive marketing system. The network 100 includes a host system 150 and client computers 101-106. Each of the client computers can include a processor, memory, a user input device, such as a keyboard and/or mouse, and a user output device, such as a video display and/or printer. The client computers 101-106 can communicate with the host 150 to obtain data stored at the host 150. The client computers 101-106 and other network devices may interact with the host computer 150 as if the host was a single entity in the network 100. However, the host 150 may include multiple processing and database sub-systems, such as cooperative or redundant processing, profile servers, marketing resource servers, advertising servers and content servers and/or database servers 131-132, that can be geographically dispersed throughout the network 100. In some implementations, the host 150 may be completely replicated in a mirror copy geographically located elsewhere in the network 100. In some implementations, groups of client computers 104-106 may communicate with host 150 through a local server 107. The local server 107 may be a proxy server or a caching server. Server 107 may also be a co-host server that can serve online competitive marketing content and provide services such as user profiling and point scoring criteria to a user at client computers 104-106. In one implementation the local server can be accessed through a local area network 110.

The host computer 150 can include one or more databases 145 storing user information, contest rules, point scoring criteria, aggregated scores, contest results and other contest related information. A large variety of online contest related materials may be stored at the host 150, such as for example, text, audio, video, graphics, animations, and illustrations. In addition, the host 150 may interact with, and gather data from a user at a client computer 101-105. Data gathered from the user may be used to direct a user to additional contests, and/or information required to answer contest questions or otherwise fulfill point scoring criteria.

A user can access the host 150 using client software executed at the user's computer 101-106. The client software may include a generic hypertext markup language (HTML) browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, (a "web browser"). The client software may also be a proprietary browser, and/or video game using back-end access software, and/or other host access software. In some cases, an executable program, such as a Java™ or Flash™ program, may be downloaded from the host 150 to the client computer and executed at the client computer as part of the on-line contest.

A resource server 133 and a sponsor server 134 can also be accessible via the communications network 120. The resource can be utilized to make information relating to point generation criteria, or other related informational material, available to a participant. A sponsor server can allow sponsor information to be accessed via the network 120 and can also give the sponsor access to the online competitive marketing functions.

Referring now to Fig. 2, online competitive marketing can include a two-fold process including participant registration 200, point generation 201, and winner determination 202. Participant registration 200 can begin with logging in a participant 211. A participant can include an individual or a group of individuals, such as a team. For example, a team may be comprised of an organization such as a school, a group of people with a common interest, a group of people who meet criteria necessary to participate in a competition, a church group, a corporate group, a family, or any other group of people who can cooperate to compete together.

Competitive marketing can limit a competition to a target group to which the marketing is directed. For example, competition participants may be required to be within a specific age range, to own a particular product or brand name of a product, to be from a predetermined geographic area, to be a targeted sex, or have other attributes that define a particular market. For example, a contest may be limited owners of a particular brand of automobile that live in New York and are between the ages of 25 and 40. In another embodiment, participation may be open to anyone who can access the contest.

Typically, a competitive marketing system will concurrently run multiple contests simultaneously. In order to include a participant in a desired contest, the system can receive a contest selection 212, wherein the selection is received from the participant and indicates which contest the participant wishes to enter. The system can transmit rules pertaining to the selected contest 213 to the participant. The system can also create a participant record set relating to the participant, or open an existing record set relating to the participant if it aheady exists 214. Amongst other data, a record set can include a scoring record to track points earned during the contest. In one embodiment, the system can also present an option which allows a participant to provide additional, or more specific information in exchange for contest points 215. Upon receipt of the additional information, the system can allocate contest points accordingly and store data detailing the points in the scoring record.

Competitive marketing contest point generation 201 can begin with transmission of point generation criteria 217, such as a question which a participant must answer. Following transmission of point generation criteria, a participant can proceed by inputting an answer, or the participant can suspend a response in order to pursue a correct answer from some resource.

In one embodiment, the system can transmit an option to link to a resource 218, wherein the resource is designed to aid a participant in meeting the criteria. For example, point generation criteria can be a question relating to a sponsor's product. A resource link may therefore be a website or other accessible information that describes the product to which the question is directed. The resource would contain the correct answer to the question posed as point generation criteria. A contest participant who wishes to insure submission of a correct answer can access the resource link and read, view, or listen to product information presented by the link.

After receiving information from the resource link, a participant can return to the contest website, or other point generation interface, and enter a correct answer based upon the information from the resource link, hi this way, a sponsor can quantify not only that a participant has visited a resource link at a sponsor's website, but also that the participant has assimilated at least enough product information as is necessary to correctly answer the contest question.

The system can receive input from a participant in response to point generation criteria 219, and confirm satisfactory completion of the criteria 221. Input can include, for example, a correct answer relating to a sponsor's product. Answers can be structured using many well known formats, such as a text input, selection from multiple choice, or a numerical value. Other point generation criteria may include, for example, field information relating to a particular product such as the amount of mileage on a particular model of automobile, or consumer feedback on a genre of products similar to that generated by focus group research. Pictorial information, a moving image, voice or other audio input can also be utilized in point generation, if so desired. If the participant has accessed a recommended resource such as a linked website, the system can also track a verified click-to after the submission of correct information.

Statistics relating to the number of verified click-tos tracked as well as the websites accessed, the participants who accessed the websites and any other related information can be compiled and analyzed by a sponsor, or the system provider.

Point generation criteria can also be presented and monitored by an outside source, such as a sponsor's website. In this case, the system can receive input from the outside source indicating whether points should be awarded to the participant. The outside source can interact with a participant to present point generation criteria and monitor completion of the criteria. The outside source can transmit to the competitive marketing system an indication that the participant has satisfied criteria necessary to obtain associated points 220. In either case, once the participant has satisfied point generation criteria, the system can award points to the participant commensurate to satisfying the criteria 222.

Determining the winner of a contest 202 can include the steps of updating a participant's scoring record with an aggregate of the points earned 223. The system can also calculate a sum of the aggregated points 224. Point summations can be updated by the system to reflect a participant's current aggregate point total. If it is desired, the server can display the point standings on the contest website.

Many different variations can be used to publish point summations, for example, relative standings of participant's point summations could list a certain number of the best participants and their scores, such as the top five, twenty, fifty or other point totals. Scores can also be delineated into smaller subgroups such as by geographic regions, age groups,

6 team size, or any other subset of all participants. Another approach would publish standings according to a percentage grouping, such as the top 10%. hi order to preserve privacy, standings can use an alias or network name. Naming participants in order can foster online competitions between participants. Other scenarios may only indicate if a participant is within a certain group, such as in the top two hundred scores, or within x points of the best score.

If desired, sponsors of point generation sources can also be posted online and ranked according to the sponsor who is associated with the award of the most points. In one embodiment, sponsor listings can be posted on a separate website such that sponsors may view the results, but participants cannot.

The present invention can include great latitude in determining which participant is the winner of a contest 225. In one embodiment, the participant with the most points at the end of a predetermined time period can win the contest, hi another embodiment, a winner can be determined on a periodic basis such as weekly, monthly, or annually. Still another embodiment includes the winner being determined as the first participant to reach a threshold number of points. Those schooled in the art will realize that many implementations can include different winning criteria. Many other criteria can also be utilized in conjunction with point aggregation. For example, an online competition can be modified according to the total number of players, a maximum number of points, or any other criteria useful to a competition. The examples set forth in this application are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. In the interest of equity, the criteria used to determine a winner will preferably be spelled out clearly when the system transmits the rules of the game to the participant 213.

Additionally, various implementations can include posting an ongoing tally of participants and their relative scores, hi this implementation, participants can be made aware of their standing in relation to other participants. Published scores can promote competition and increase interaction with the competitive marketing system. Other implementations can include maintaining participant scores in secrecy. Secret scoring can encourage low scoring participants to continue to engage in the contest by preventing the low scoring participant from being overwhelmed by the high scoring participants.

The system can also arrange for the delivery of a predetermined award to a contest winner. Exemplary awards can include cash, products, gift certificates, discounts on products, services performed by a sponsor, or any other valuable consideration. Referring now to Fig. 3, one specific example of steps a participant can engage in while practicing the present invention is illustrated. A participant engaging the competitive marketing system can receive a request for information wherein the request acts as criteria to generate points for the participant 310. The participant must then decide whether they can input the information requested 311. If the participant chooses to do so, the participant may submit the requested information 312. Submission can be via a textual entry, a multiple choice selection, activation of a programmable user interface device, or any other input mechanism known to those schooled in the art. The participant can then receive a response indicating whether the submission was correct or incorrect 313. The response will be generated by the competitive marketing system 150. If the response indicates that the information submitted was correct 314, the participant will again receive a request for information which will act as criteria to generate additional points 310. If the response indicates that the information submitted was incorrect, the participant can be given a choice to attempt the same criteria again 315. A yes response to the choice can bring the participant back to the point of inputting the information requested 311. If the participant chooses to not attempt the same criteria again, the participant will receive a request for different information which acts as criteria to generate points 310.

A participant may choose not to immediately input information request 311, in which case the participant can decide whether or not to access a resource containing information with the criteria requested 316. A decision not to pursue the resource can bring the participant back to a point where they can receive a new request for information which acts as criteria to generate points. In one embodiment, a decision to forgo submission of information can be made with no resultant point consequence. In another embodiment, a participant can be penalized for opting to forgo a given request.

A participant may also choose to pursue a given direction to a resource which can provide the information requested 317. The participant would thereby execute an instruction provided to access a resource which contains the information. For example, an instruction may include a hyperlink, a button or other programmable user interface device, a physical article such as a sponsor's product and information contained thereon, a publication such as a magazine, a carton, container, or other package produced by a sponsor, a telephone number, a uniform resource locator, or any other means of conveying information. The participant can gather information from the indicated resource 318 and proceed to the point of submitting the requested information 312. Referring now to Figure 4, another aspect of the present invention includes a sponsor requesting development and implementation of a competitive marketing campaign 410. A competitive marketing service 411 can be directed to a sponsor resource 413. The competitive marketing service 411 can analyze the sponsor resource 412. For example, a sponsor may direct a competitive marketing service 411 to a website which will act as the sponsor resource 413. The competitive marketing service can analyze the sponsor's website to organize key concepts and themes contained on the website. The analysis can be an automated process executed by the competitive marketing system 150, or done with the manual intervention of a human agent. The results for analyzing the sponsor resource 412 can be used to create a marketing competition wherein the criteria used to generate points are contained within the sponsor resource 413. The competitive marketing service 411 can run the marketing competition 414 by transmitting point generation criteria 415 to contest participants 417 and receiving criteria information submissions 416.

The contest, or other competition participants can also request information from the sponsor resource 418, wherein the sponsor resource will transmit the information to the participants 419. The competitive marketing service 411 can quantify that the information transmitted to the participants was assimilated by the participants 417, assimilation is quantified through the submission of correct criteria information 416.

Referring now to Figure 5, a graphical user interface transmitted to a participant 510 can include various geographical areas unique to a marketing competition. One area of a marketing competition GUI can include a description of the competition 511. One or more other geographic areas can include criteria for generating points 512-513. The participant GUI can also include one or more geographic areas for submitting point generation information 514-515.

Referring now to Figure 6, a GUI used to create an online marketing competition 610 can include one or more areas containing key concepts gleaned from a sponsor resource 611- 613. In addition, the marketing competition designed GUI 610 can include one or more geographic areas containing point generation criteria that corresponds with the key concepts 614-616. In one embodiment, a marketing competition theme 617 can be included in still another geographic area of the online marketing design GUI 610.

The invention may advantageously be implemented in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each computer program may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors.

A network access device can include any electronic device capable of accessing an electronic communications network, such as the Internet. Accordingly, a network access device can include a personal digital assistant, a computer, a wireless telephone, a telephone, a WEB enabled television, a game console, an automobile information screen and any other sort of interactive device capable of communicating with a online marketing contest server.

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Claims

What is claimed is:

1) A computer-implemented method for providing online information dissemination, the method comprising: transmitting point generation criteria to a participant; receiving an input containing information, wherein the information is responsive to the point scoring criteria; awarding points to the participant relative to the content of the input containing information; aggregating points awarded to the participant; and providing compensation to the participant in relation to the aggregated points.

2) The method of claim 1 wherein the point generation criteria is a question related to a sponsors product.

3) The method of claim 1 additionally comprising transmitting a reference to a resource, wherein the resource contains information capable of fulfilling the point generation criteria and tracking a verifiable click-to.

4) The method of claim 3 wherein the resource transmitted is a hypertext link to a network address.

5) The method of claim 3 wherein the reference to a resource transmitted is a product package.

6) The method of claim 3 wherein the reference to a resource transmitted is a physical location.

7) The method of claim 3 wherein the reference to a resource transmitted is a promotional event.

8) The method of claim 3 wherein the reference to a resource transmitted is a multimedia presentation.

9) The method of claim 3 wherein the reference to a resource transmitted is a printed media.

10) The method of claim 3 wherein the reference to a resource transmitted is a pointer to a computer game.

11) The method of claim 1 wherein a sponsor website:

11 presents the point generation criteria; receives the input containing information; and transmits a notification indicating fulfillment of the point scoring criteria. notifying participants of new points they earn.

12) The method of claim 1 additionally comprising transmitting an aggregate value of points earned by a participant.

13) The method of claim 12 additionally comprising the step of transmitting an aggregate value of points earned by multiple participants.

14) The method of claim 12 additionally comprising the step of transmitting an aggregate value of points earned for a top proportion of all participants.

15) The method of claim 12 additionally comprising the step of transmitting an aggregate value of points earned by a participant during a determined time period.

16) The method of claim 1 wherein the participant is a group of individuals.

17) The method of claim 1 wherein the point generation criteria relate to a particular line ofproducts.

18) The method of claim 1 wherein a positive value of points is awarded for content input that represents a correct answer and a negative value is awarded for content representing an incorrect answer.

19) The method of claim 1 additionally comprising rejecting input containing information that is received after a predetermined time period has elapsed following the transmission of the point generation criteria.

20) The method of claim 1 additionally comprising transmitting to the participant an indication of whether the content input is correct or incorrect.

21) The method of claim 3 additionally comprising the step of providing statistics relating to a verifiable click-to process.

22) A computer implemented method for providing a vehicle for online information dissemination, the method comprising: analyzing a resource for key information; fashioning questions related to the key information; transmitting a question as point generation criteria over a communications network; awarding points responsive to receipt of a correct answer to the question, wherein the answers are received via the communications network; and determining a winner relative to an aggregate number of points awarded.

12 23) The method of claim 22 additionally comprising the step of compensating a provider of the vehicle for online information dissemination relative to a number of correct answers received.

24) The method of claim 22 additionally comprising the step of compensating a provider of the vehicle for online information dissemination relative to a number of participants, wherein the participants input answers.

25) The method of claim 22 additionally comprising the step of compensating a provider of the vehicle for online information dissemination relative to a verifiable click-to.

26) A computer system for tracking dissemination of information over a communications network, the system comprising: a computer server accessible with a network access device via a communications network; and executable software stored on the server and executable on demand via the network access device, the software operative with the server to cause the server to: transmit point generation criteria to the network device; receive of an input from a participant, wherein the input contains information and the information is responsive to the point scoring criteria; allocate of points to the participant relative to the content of the input containing information; aggregate points allocated to the participant; and provide compensation to the participant in relation to the aggregated points.

27) The computer system of claim 26 wherein the network access device comprises a computer.

28) The computer system of claim 26 wherein the communication network conforms to the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

29) The computer communications system of claim 26 additionally comprising a WEB interface for accessing the executable software stored on the server.

30) The computer communications system of claim 26 wherein the software is additionally operative with the computer server to cause the server to transmit an aggregate value of points earned by a participant.

31) Computer executable program code residing on a computer-readable medium, the program code comprising instructions for causing the computer to: transmit point generation criteria to the network device;

13 receive of an input from a participant, wherein the input contains information and the information is responsive to the point scoring criteria; allocate of points to the participant relative to the content of the input containing information; aggregate points allocated to the participant; and provide compensation to the participant in relation to the aggregated points.

32) The computer executable program of claim 31 wherein the program code additionally causes the computer to: transmit an aggregate value of points earned by a participant.

33) The computer executable program of claim 31 wherein the computer communications network is a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol network.

34) A method of interacting with a network access device so as to participate in online information competition, the method comprising the steps of: accessing a server on a computer communications network; receiving point generation criteria; linking to a resource containing a correct answer to the point generation criteria; inputting information gleaned from the resource and responsive to the point generation criteria; and receiving notification of points allocated in response to the input information.

35) The method of claim 34 wherein the information input comprises a barcode.

36) The method of claim 34 wherein the information input comprises data indicating attendance to an event.

37) A computer data signal embodied in a digital data stream, wherein the computer data signal is generated by a method comprising the steps of: transmitting point generation criteria to a participant; receiving an input containing information, wherein the information is responsive to the point scoring criteria; awarding points to the participant relative to the content of the input containing information; aggregating points awarded to the participant; and providing compensation to the participant in relation to the aggregated points.

38) A computer data signal as in claim 37 wherein the signal generated adheres to the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

14 39) A graphical user interface for facilitating an online competition and operative on a computer device, the interface comprising: a user interactive area selectable with a pointing device and containing point generation criteria; a user interactive area selectable with a pointing device and capable of receiving point generation information input; and a geographic area containing a competition description.

40) A graphical user interface for facilitating the design of an online competition and operative on a computer device and , the interface comprising: a user interactive area selectable with a pointing device and containing a concept gleaned from an online resource; a user interactive area selectable with a pointing device and capable of receiving point generation criteria corresponding with the concept gleaned form an online resource; and a geographic area containing a marketing theme.

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