On-line method and apparatus for collecting demographic information about a user of a world-wide-web site and dynamically selecting questions to present to the user

• US 20020077903A1
• Filed: 07/02/2001
• Published: 06/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allan Lee, Brad Chesman, Daniel Feldman
• Original Assignee: Allan Lee, Brad Chesman, Daniel Feldman
• Inventors: Feldman, Daniel, Chesman, Brad, Lee, Allan
• Granted Patent: US 6,873,965 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0213 Consumer transaction fees
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

An on-line method and apparatus for collecting demographic information from a user of a home WWW site and for dynamically selecting questions to present to the user is disclosed. A plurality of sponsor symbols are displayed for the user on the home WWW site. A signal is received at the home WWW site from the user indicating a selection of one of the sponsor symbols by the user. In response to the selected sponsor symbol, a first set of one or more prize symbols are displayed for the user on the home WWW site. A further signal is then received at the home WWW site from the user indicating a selection of a prize symbol from the first set of prize symbols by the user. Next, the system determines whether the user is a registered user of the home WWW site and, if the user is not a registered user of the home WWW site, the system collects demographic information about the user during registration of the user on the home WWW site. In response to the demographic information, at least one question is selected from a plurality of candidate questions, wherein each of the plurality of candidate questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol. The selected question is displayed to the user on the home WWW site. Next, a signal is received from the user indicating an answer of the user to the selected question, and the answer is stored in a database.

Claims

1. An on-line method for dynamically selecting a plurality of questions to present to a registered user of a home site, the home site having associated therewith demographic information of the registered user, comprising:

corresponding each of a plurality of sponsor symbols to an entity that has paid an owner of the home site to be presented to the registered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating a selecting of one of the sponsor symbols by the registered user;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the registered user indicating a selecting, by the registered user, of one prize symbol from a first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is displayed in response to the selected sponsor symbol, wherein each prize symbol corresponds to a prize that the registered user can register to win at a predetermined cost to the registered user; and

dynamically selecting, for display to the registered user, at least one targeted question from a plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in a user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the registered user, wherein the at least one targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected targeted question to the registered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating an answer of the registered user to the at least one selected targeted question;

storing the answer of the registered user to the at least one selected targeted question; and

after said receiving a signal from the registered user indicating an answer to the at least one selected targeted question, redirecting the registered user from the home site to a further site associated with the sponsor symbol selected.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising, during a visit of the registered user to the home site subsequent to claim 1:

redisplaying the plurality of sponsor symbols;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating a selecting of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the registered user, wherein the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected corresponds to the sponsor symbol previously selected;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the registered user indicating a selecting, by the registered user, of one prize symbol from the first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is redisplayed in response to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol;

dynamically selecting, for display to the registered user, at least one additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the registered user, wherein the at least one additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected additional targeted question to the registered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating an answer of the registered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question;

storing the answer of the registered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question; and

after said receiving the signal from the registered user indicating an answer of the registered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question, redirecting the registered user from the home site to a further site associated with the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising repeating the method of claim 4 during additional subsequent visits of the registered user to the home site.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said dynamically selecting comprises:

dynamically selecting at least one further additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the registered user, and according to at least one of the answers of the registered user to the at least one selected targeted question or at least one of the at least one selected additional selected targeted questions, wherein the at least one further additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one further additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

7. The method of one of claims 1, 3, or 6, wherein at least one selected targeted question, or at least one additional selected targeted question, or at least one further additional targeted question, remains unanswered by the registered user, further comprising:

providing a listing of unanswered at least one selected targeted questions, or at least one additional selected targeted questions, or at least one further additional selected targeted questions;

selecting, in response to the demographic information, one from the listing of unanswered questions;

displaying the selected unanswered question selected to the registered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating an answer of the registered user to the selected unanswered question.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

storing the answer of the registered user to the selected unanswered question; and

redirecting the registered user from the home site to a further site after said storing.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising, during a visit of the registered user to the home site subsequent to claim 1:

redisplaying the plurality of sponsor symbols;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating a selecting of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the registered user, wherein the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected does not correspond to the sponsor symbol previously selected;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the registered user indicating a selecting, by the registered user, of one prize symbol from a second set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the second set is displayed in response to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol, and wherein the second set is different than the first set;

dynamically selecting, for display to the registered user, at least one additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the registered user, wherein the at least one additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected additional targeted question to the registered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the registered user indicating an answer of the registered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question;

storing the answer of the registered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question; and

after said receiving the signal from the registered user indicating an answer of the registered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question, redirecting the registered user from the home site to a further site associated with the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected.

11. An on-line method for dynamically selecting a plurality of questions to present to an unregistered user of a home site, comprising:

corresponding each of a plurality of sponsor symbols to an entity that has paid an owner of the home site to be presented to the user on the home site;

receiving a plurality of demographic information about the unregistered user in response to a presenting to the unregistered user of at least one demographic question;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating a selecting of one of the sponsor symbols by the unregistered user;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the unregistered user indicating a selecting, by the registered user, of one prize symbol from a first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is displayed in response to the selected sponsor symbol, wherein each prize symbol corresponds to a prize that the unregistered user can register to win at a predetermined cost to the unregistered user; and

dynamically selecting, for display to the unregistered user, at least one targeted question from a plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in a user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the unregistered user, wherein the at least one targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

assessing that the unregistered user is unregistered.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

registering the unregistered user.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing the plurality of demographic information in a user record associated with the home site.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected targeted question to the unregistered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected targeted question;

storing the answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected targeted question; and

after said receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer to the at least one selected targeted question, redirecting the unregistered user from the home site to a further site associated with the sponsor symbol selected.

16. The method of claim 11, comprising, during a visit of the registered user to the home site subsequent to claim 11:

redisplaying the plurality of sponsor symbols;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating a selecting of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the unregistered user, wherein the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected corresponds to the sponsor symbol previously selected;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the unregistered user indicating a selecting, by the unregistered user, of one prize symbol from the first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is redisplayed in response to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol;

dynamically selecting, for display to the unregistered user, at least one additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the received demographic information of the unregistered user, wherein the at least one additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected additional targeted question to the unregistered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question;

storing the answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question; and

after said receiving the signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question, redirecting the unregistered user from the home site to a further site associated with the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising repeating the method of claim 17 during additional subsequent visits of the unregistered user to the home site.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein said dynamically selecting comprises:

dynamically selecting at least one further additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the unregistered user, and according to at least one of the answers of the unregistered user to the at least one selected targeted question or at least one of the at least one selected additional selected targeted questions, wherein the at least one further additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one further additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

20. The method of one of claims 11, 16, or 19, wherein at least one selected targeted question, or at least one additional selected targeted question, or at least one further additional targeted question, remains unanswered by the unregistered user, further comprising:

providing a listing of unanswered at least one selected targeted questions, or at least one additional selected targeted questions, or at least one further additional selected targeted questions;

selecting, in response to the demographic information, one from the listing of unanswered questions;

displaying the selected unanswered question selected to the unregistered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer of the unregistered user to the selected unanswered question.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

storing the answer of the unregistered user to the selected unanswered question; and

redirecting the unregistered user from the home site to a further site after said storing.

22. The method of claim 11, comprising, during a visit of the unregistered user to the home site subsequent to claim 11:

redisplaying the plurality of sponsor symbols;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating a selecting of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the unregistered user, wherein the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected does not correspond to the sponsor symbol previously selected;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the unregistered user indicating a selecting, by the unregistered user, of one prize symbol from a second set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the second set is displayed in response to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol, and wherein the second set is different than the first set;

dynamically selecting, for display to the unregistered user, at least one additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the unregistered user, wherein the at least one additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected additional targeted question to the unregistered user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question;

storing the answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question; and

after said receiving the signal from the unregistered user indicating an answer of the unregistered user to the at least one selected additional targeted question, redirecting the unregistered user from the home site to a further site associated with the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected targeted question to the user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the at least one selected targeted question;

storing the answer of the user to the at least one selected targeted question; and

after said receiving a signal from the user indicating an answer to the at least one selected targeted question, redirecting the user from the home site to a further site associated with the sponsor symbol selected.

26. The method of claim 24, comprising, during a visit of the user to the home site subsequent to claim 24:

redisplaying the plurality of sponsor symbols;

receiving a signal from the user indicating a selecting of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the user, wherein the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected corresponds to the sponsor symbol previously selected;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the user indicating a selecting, by the user, of one prize symbol from the first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is redisplayed in response to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol;

dynamically selecting, for display to the user, at least one additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the user, wherein the at least one additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected additional targeted question to the user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the at least one selected additional targeted question;

storing the answer of the user to the at least one selected additional targeted question; and

after said receiving the signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the at least one selected additional targeted question, redirecting the user from the home site to a further site associated with the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising repeating the method of claim 4 during additional subsequent visits of the user to the home site.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein said dynamically selecting comprises:

dynamically selecting at least one further additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the user, and according to at least one of the answers of the user to the at least one selected targeted question or at least one of the at least one selected additional selected targeted questions, wherein the at least one further additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one further additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

32. The method of claim 24, comprising, during a visit of the user to the home site subsequent to claim 24:

redisplaying the plurality of sponsor symbols;

receiving a signal from the user indicating a selecting of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the user, wherein the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected does not correspond to the sponsor symbol previously selected;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the user indicating a selecting, by the user, of one prize symbol from a second set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the second set is displayed in response to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol, and wherein the second set is different than the first set;

dynamically selecting, for display to the user, at least one additional targeted question from the plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in the user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the user, wherein the at least one additional targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one additional targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected redisplayed sponsor symbol.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

displaying the at least one selected additional targeted question to the user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the at least one selected additional targeted question;

storing the answer of the user to the at least one selected additional targeted question; and

after said receiving the signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the at least one selected additional targeted question, redirecting the user from the home site to a further site associated with the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected.

34. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

assessing whether the user is registered.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

if the user is not registered, registering the user according to a response to at least one registration question.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the response to the at least one registration question is an email address of the user.

37. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving the demographic information from the user in accordance with a user response to at least one demographic question posed to the user upon registration.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

storing the demographic information in a user record associated with the home site.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising:

means for displaying the at least one selected targeted question to the user on the home site;

means for receiving a signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the at least one selected targeted question;

means for storing the answer of the user to the at least one selected targeted question; and

means for redirecting the user from the home site to a further site associated with the sponsor symbol selected, after said means for receiving a signal from the user receives an indication of an answer to the at least one selected targeted question.

41. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising:

means for assessing whether the user is registered.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising:

means for registering the user according to a response to at least one registration question if the user is not registered.

24. An on-line method for dynamically selecting a plurality of questions to present to a user of a home site, the home site having associated therewith demographic information of the user, comprising:

corresponding each of a plurality of sponsor symbols to an entity that has paid an owner of the home site to be presented to the user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the user indicating a selecting of one of the sponsor symbols by the user;

receiving, at the home site, a signal from the user indicating a selecting, by the user, of one prize symbol from a first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is displayed in response to the selected sponsor symbol, wherein each prize symbol corresponds to a prize that the user can register to win at a predetermined cost to the user; and

dynamically selecting, for display to the user, at least one targeted question from a plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in a user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the user, wherein the at least one targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.

30. The method of one of claims 24, 26, or 29, wherein at least one selected targeted question, or at least one additional selected targeted question, or at least one further additional targeted question, remains unanswered by the user, further comprising:

providing a listing of unanswered at least one selected targeted questions, or at least one additional selected targeted questions, or at least one further additional selected targeted questions;

selecting, in response to the demographic information, one from the listing of unanswered questions;

displaying the selected unanswered question selected to the user on the home site;

receiving a signal from the user indicating an answer of the user to the selected unanswered question.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

storing the answer of the user to the selected unanswered question; and

redirecting the user from the home site to a further site after said storing.

39. An on-line apparatus for dynamically selecting a plurality of questions to present to a user of a home site, the home site having associated therewith demographic information of the user, comprising:

means for corresponding each of a plurality of sponsor symbols to an entity that has paid an owner of the home site to be presented to the user on the home site;

means for receiving a signal from the user indicating a selecting of one of the sponsor symbols by the user;

means for receiving, at the home site, a signal from the user indicating a selecting, by the user, of one prize symbol from a first set of at least one prize symbol, wherein the first set is displayed in response to the selected sponsor symbol, wherein each prize symbol corresponds to a prize that the user can register to win at a predetermined cost to the user; and

means for dynamically selecting, for display to the user, at least one targeted question from a plurality of candidate targeted questions stored in a user question record associated with the home site, according to a sequential comparison of each of the plurality of candidate targeted questions to the demographic information of the user, wherein the at least one targeted question is selected according to a matching of the at least one targeted question with at least one element of the demographic information, and wherein each of the plurality of targeted questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol.