Method and system for conducting an on-line survey

• US 20030009372A1
• Filed: 07/06/2001
• Published: 01/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kantar LLC
• Original Assignee: Kantar LLC
• Inventors: Nyhan, Nick, Aviv, Ronit
• Application Number:
  US09/900,674
• Publication Number:
  US 20030009372A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls

Abstract

A method and system for conducting an on-line survey involves communicating with a computer over a computer network and obtaining such information as whether a solicitation for the survey has previously been displayed on the computer, how long ago it was displayed, and whether a user at the computer ever attempted to take the survey. Based on this information, a decision is made as to whether to transmit a solicitation for the survey to the computer. The invention helps ensure that users are not subjected to the annoyance of repeatedly and frequently being asked to take a particular on-line survey.

Claims

1. A method for conducting an on-line survey, the method comprising:

receiving a request for a block of data, the requested block of data comprising computer-readable instructions for displaying an on-line advertisement, the request originating from a computer operated by a user;

determining whether or not the user has previously been solicited to take the on-line survey; and

adding to the requested block of data, in response to the determining step, further computer-readable instructions that facilitate invoking a procedure for soliciting the user to take the on-line survey.

2. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions to facilitate performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein the determining step comprises:

requesting cookie data from the computer;

receiving a response to the request; and

analyzing the data to determine whether it is associated with the on-line survey.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises:

receiving cookie data from the computer;

analyzing the cookie data to determine how much time has elapsed since the user was previously solicited to take the on-line survey; and

comparing the elapsed time with a time parameter, wherein the adding step is performed if the elapsed time is greater than the time parameter.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the block of data to the computer over a computer network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

soliciting the user to take the on-line survey, generating cookie data to indicate that the user has been solicited to take the on-line survey; and

sending the generated cookie data over a computer network to the computer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the added computer-readable instructions, thereby invoking the procedure to perform the steps of;

referencing a frequency parameter that indicates how frequently solicitations to take the on-line survey are to be sent to users over a computer network; and

determining whether or not to display a solicitation to take the survey to the user based on the frequency parameter.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the on-line survey is conducted as part of a campaign, wherein the frequency parameter has a value that is at least partially a function of the amount of time remaining in a campaign, the method further comprising calculating the value of the frequency parameter according to an algorithm that includes the amount of time remaining in the campaign as an input.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the on-line survey is conducted as part of a campaign, wherein the parameter has a value that is at least partially a function of the amount of time remaining in a campaign, the method further comprising determining the value of the frequency parameter by referencing a look-up table that correlates a plurality of possible times remaining in the campaign with corresponding possible frequency values.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising carrying out the added computer-readable instructions to invoke the procedure to perform steps comprising:

generating a random number;

determining whether the random number falls within a range of numbers that represent the frequency with which users are to be solicited to take the on-line survey; and

displaying a solicitation to take the survey to the user based on the determining step.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a pop-up window in response to the determining step; and

in response to the user activating a link associated with the pop-up window, sending a web page to the computer, the web page comprising questions regarding a product or service advertised in the on-line advertisement.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a pop-up window in response to the determining step; and

in response to the user activating a link associated with the pop-up window, sending a web page to the computer, the web page comprising questions regarding a product or service that is not advertised in the on-line advertisement.

14. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions for performing the method of claim 13.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more requested files comprise computer-readable instructions for displaying the on-line advertisement, and wherein the modifying step further comprises inserting script readable by the browser into the one or more files, the script including instructions for calling a routine that decides whether or not to solicit the user to take the on-line survey based on a frequency parameter, the frequency parameter indicating the probability that users are to be selected to take the on-line survey.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending further script to the browser comprising instructions for displaying a pop-up window that, when clicked on by the user, causes the browser to download a web page that includes the on-line survey.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the deciding step comprises analyzing cookie data of the client computer to determine how recently the solicitation to take the on-line survey was previously sent to the client computer.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the survey logic server is in communication with the client computer by way of the web server.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the deciding step further comprises:

based on the determining step, attaching script to the on-line advertisement, the script being executable by the client computer to call a routine that compares a random number to a range of numbers to determine, based on a frequency parameter, whether to send a solicitation to take the on-line survey to the client computer; and

sending the on-line advertisement and the script to the client computer.

21. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

determining whether the solicitation to take the on-line survey has been recently sent to the computer;

based on the determining step, attaching script to the on-line advertisement, the script being executable by the client computer to call a routine at the survey logic computer that compares a random number to a range of numbers to determine, based on a frequency parameter, whether to send a solicitation to take the on-line survey to the client computer; and

sending the on-line advertisement to the client computer.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the on-line survey is conducted as part of a campaign, the method farther comprising calculating a value of the frequency parameter as a function of how much time has elapsed in the campaign.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the calculating step is performed according to an algorithm.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the calculating step is performed by referencing a look-up table.

25. The system of claim 17, further comprising an ad server for maintaining data for displaying the on-line advertisement.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the ad server adds computer-readable instructions for invoking a decision routine to the advertisement data when it is decided that consideration is to be given to sending the solicitation to the computer.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the survey logic server provides the added computer readable instructions to the ad server.

13. A method for soliciting a user of a computer to take an on-line survey, the computer being linked to a computer network and running a browser program, the method comprising:

receiving a function call indicating that the browser has requested one or more files comprising an on-line advertisement;

sending a request to the browser for cookie data regarding previous attempts to solicit the user to take the on-line survey;

receiving a response to the request;

modifying, based on the response, the one or more requested files so that they include a reference to a computer-readable instructions for deciding whether or not to solicit the user to take the on-line survey; and

sending the one or more modified files to the browser over the computer network.

17. A system for conducting an on-line survey, the system comprising:

a client computer for interacting with a user;

a web server in communication with the client computer;

a survey logic server in communication with the client computer; and

computer-readable instructions for;

requesting a web page to be sent from the web server to the client computer, the web page including a reference to an on-line advertisement;

requesting the on-line advertisement to be sent to the client computer so that the on-line advertisement can be displayed on the on the client computer to the user; and

deciding whether or not to consider sending a solicitation to take the on-line survey from the survey logic server to the client computer based on a stored value indicating how recently the user has been previously solicited to take the on-line survey.