OMAHA - USER PRICE INCENTIVE MODEL

• US 20080114651A1
• Filed: 06/26/2007
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Apter, Zachary Abraham, Gavriliu, Marcel, Kiker, David Lawrence, Veksler, Polina, Jain, Kamal, Biggs, Jody D., Flake, Gary W., Kern, Randall F., Burdick, Brian, Dani, Nishant V., Utter, Brian James, Sacheti, Arun K.
• Application Number:
  US11/768,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20080114651A1
• 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 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives

Abstract

The claimed subject invention presents a system and method to compensate a user of a service platform in return for information regarding the user'"'"'s intent. The compensation comprises rewards points and direct payments, which can be used to claim rewards online and offline. The compensation is securely maintained in compensation accounts. The user can benefit from third-party content and services through partnerships with the service platform. The intent-compensation proposition of the service platform creates a price incentive to use the service platform over its competitors.

Claims

1. A computer system that compensates a user of a service platform in return for knowledge of user intent, comprising

a management component that receives information regarding user intent via Internet or wireless communications, the management component sharing a subset of the user intent information with a service platform;

and

a rewards component that processes and allocates rewards to a user as a function the subset of user intent shared with the service platform.

2. The system of claim 1, the rewards component allocating reward points or direct payments allocated in compensation accounts.

3. The system of claim 2, the reward points being perishable or perennial, with perishable points good to claim a reward for a determined period of time, and perennial points good to claim a reward at all times.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising an eligibility component that verifies that the user is eligible for rewards.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising an antifraud component that legitimizes a user'"'"'s rewards.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a user intelligence component that collects intelligence on the user when claiming a reward.

7. The system of claim 1, the service platform partners or acquires a content provider to promote user retention.

8. The system of claim 7 further comprising an artificial intelligence component that infers desirable content providers based on intelligence collected on the user.

9. The system of claim 1, the management component facilitates compensation exchange among a plurality of users.

10. A computer-implemented method that facilitates compensating a user of a service platform in return for the user'"'"'s intent, comprising conveying user'"'"'s intent to the service platform;

processing the user'"'"'s intent and delivering a service; and

compensating the user of the service platform with reward points or a direct payment.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising

claiming rewards based on user'"'"'s compensation;

and

collecting intelligence on the user when claiming rewards.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising accessing a rewards store.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising alerting a user of available rewards based on the user'"'"'s compensation and incentives on a rewards store.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising inferring rewards of interest to the user based on intelligence collected on the user.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising exchanging compensation among a plurality of users.

16. A computer implemented system that facilitates commercial transactions, comprising a management component that receives information regarding user intent, the management component brokers the user intent information to a plurality of service providers, and selects at least one of the service providers to expose to the user as a function of determined or inferred capability to satisfy user needs, and rewards offered to the user in exchange for the user intent information.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a rewards component that allocates the rewards to the user.

18. The system of claim 16, comprising an eligibility component that verifies that the user is eligible for rewards.

19. The system of claim 16, the management component pairs users with prospective service providers as a function of user profile.

20. The system of claim 16, the management component pairs users with prospective service providers as a function of likelihood of a user engaging in a commercial transaction.