CONDITIONAL INCENTIVE PRESENTATION, TRACKING AND REDEMPTION

• US 20100179856A1
• Filed: 01/14/2009
• Published: 07/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Martinez, Ronald G., Davis, Marc E., O'Sullivan, Joseph, Athsani, Athellina, Higgins, Christopher W., Paretti, Christopher T.
• Application Number:
  US12/353,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20100179856A1
• 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 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history

Abstract

An offer is presented to a user via a user device, wherein the terms of the offer include at least one activity to be performed by the user or at least one behavior to be observed by the user and at least one incentive to be rewarded to the user responsive to the performance of the at least one activity or the observance of the at least one behavior. A determination is made as to whether the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior based on at least spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data obtained from a network-based tracking engine. Responsive to a determination that the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior, the user is provided with the at least one incentive.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for incentivizing performance of an activity or observance of a behavior by a user, comprising:

presenting an offer to a user via a user device, wherein the terms of the offer comprise at least one activity to be performed by the user or at least one behavior to be observed by the user and at least one incentive to be rewarded to the user responsive to the performance of the at least one activity or the observance of the at least one behavior;

obtaining spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data associated with the user from a network-based tracking engine;

determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior based on at least the obtained spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data; and

providing the user with the at least one incentive responsive to a determination that the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving input from the user indicating that the user has elected to participate in the offer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior comprises:

determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior at a predetermined location based on the spatial data associated with the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior comprises:

determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior at a predetermined time, within a predetermined time frame or at a predetermined temporal frequency based on the temporal data associated with the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior comprises:

determining if the user has performed the at least one activity in association with one or more social relations of the user based on the social data associated with the user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior comprises:

determining if the user has performed at least one activity involving a predetermined object based on the topical data associated with the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior comprises:

determining if the user is co-located with one or more other persons based on the spatial and temporal data associated with the user.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining user authentication information from the user;

wherein determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior comprises determining if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior based on the obtained user authentication information and the obtained spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data.

9. A system, comprising:

a user interface configured to present an offer to a user via a user device, wherein the terms of the offer comprise at least one activity to be performed by the user or at least one behavior to be observed by the user and at least one incentive to be rewarded to the user responsive to the performance of the at least one activity or the observance of the at least one behavior;

a condition tracking engine configured to obtain spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data from a network-based tracking engine and to determine if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior based on at least the obtained spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data; and

a redemption engine configured to provide the user with the at least one incentive responsive to a determination that the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the user interface is further configured to receive input from the user indicating that the user has elected to participate in the offer.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the condition tracking manager is configured to determine if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior at a predetermined location based on spatial data associated with the user or a location.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the condition tracking manager is configured to determine if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior at a predetermined time, within a predetermined time frame or at a predetermined temporal frequency based on temporal data associated with the user, an activity or behavior.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the condition tracking manager is configured to determine if the user has performed the at least one activity in association with one or more social relations of the user based on the social data.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the condition tracking manager is configured to determine if the user has performed at least one activity involving a predetermined object based on topical data associated with the user or object.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the condition tracking manager is configured to determine if the user is co-located with one or more other persons or a location based on the spatial and temporal data.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the user interface is further configured to obtain user authentication information from the user and wherein the condition tracking manager is configured to determine if the user has performed the at least one activity or observed the at least one behavior based on the obtained user authentication information and the obtained spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data.

17. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

an incentive matching manager configured to select the offer for presentation to the user from among a plurality of offers.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving targeting criteria associated with the conditional incentive offer; and

selecting the conditional incentive offer for presentation to a user based on the targeting criteria.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving preference information from a user; and

selecting the conditional incentive offer for presentation to the user based on the preference information.

18. A computer-implemented method for facilitating creation of a conditional incentive offer for presentation to a user, comprising:

presenting a plurality of conditions that may be associated with an incentive, wherein fulfillment of each of the plurality of conditions by a user may be determined by at least obtaining spatial, temporal, social and/or topical data associated with the user from a network-based tracking engine;

receiving input indicative of a selection of one or more of the plurality of conditions;

associating the selected condition(s) with a specified incentive; and

storing the selected condition(s) in association with the specified incentive for subsequent presentation to a user as terms of a conditional incentive offer.