Method for Providing Custom Profile Analysis in a Demographic Information System

• US 20090327026A1
• Filed: 04/23/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MyPoints.com, Inc. (Prodege)
• Original Assignee: MyPoints.com, Inc. (Prodege)
• Inventors: Muller, Craig, Bistriceanu, Virgil
• Granted Patent: US 8,566,140 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.33
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• 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 30/0236 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 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site including registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user; detecting a visit of the registered user to a participating web site, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system; and providing a demographic information report to the participating web site, wherein the demographic information report is related to at least one registered user who has visited the participating web site.

Claims

1. A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user;

detecting a visit of the registered user to a participating web site, wherein the participating web site is operated independently from the information gathering system; and

providing a demographic information report to the participating web site, wherein the demographic information report is related to at least one registered user who has visited the participating web site.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service; and

awarding award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the report includes aggregate demographic information regarding a plurality of registered users who have visited the participating web site over a predefined period of time.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the aggregate demographic information includes a percentage of registered users matching a predefined characteristic.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the report includes a demographic profile for each registered user who has visited the participating web site over a predefined period of time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the demographic profile includes the participating user'"'"'s gender.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the demographic information report is provided to the participating web site on a periodic basis.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing a demographic information report to the participating web site includes providing demographic information related only to the registered users who have interacted with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a visit of the registered user to a participating web site includes:

obtaining a supplementary questionnaire from the participating web site, wherein the supplementary questionnaire is specific to the participating web site and wherein the registered user fills out the supplementary questionnaire during the visit to the participating web site; and

expanding the profile associated with the registered user based on at least a portion of the supplementary questionnaire.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein associating a visit of the registered user to a participating web site with the profile of the registered user includes obtaining a visitor identification information from the participating web site and correlating the visitor identification information with the profile of the registered user.

11. A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user;

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service;

awarding award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site;

providing a demographic information report to the participating web site, wherein the demographic information report is related to at least one registered user.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein providing a demographic information report includes at least one of providing aggregate demographic information related to a plurality of registered users or providing personal demographic profile information for each registered user.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the demographic information report is limited to the registered users who have interacted with the participating web site in the manner defined by the participating web site.

14. A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a profile for the registered user;

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service at a redemption site at a future time;

awarding award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site, wherein interacting with the participating web site includes visiting the participating web site, and wherein associating a visit of the registered user to the participating site includes obtaining a visitor identification information from the participating web site and correlating the visitor identification information with the profile of the registered user; and

providing a demographic information report to the participating web site, wherein the demographic information report is related only to the registered users who have interacted with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein providing a demographic information report includes at least one of providing aggregate demographic information related a plurality of registered users or providing personal demographic profile information for each registered user.

16. A method of providing demographic visitor information to a participating web site, the method comprising:

registering a user with an information gathering system, wherein the information gathering system solicits personal information from the user and wherein the information gathering system maintains a demographic profile for the registered user;

maintaining an award point account associated with the registered user, wherein award points are redeemable for a product or a service at a redemption site at a future time;

awarding award points to the registered user for interacting with the participating web site in a manner defined by the participating web site, wherein interacting with the participating web site includes visiting the participating web site, and wherein associating a visit of the registered user to the participating site includes obtaining a visitor identification information from the participating web site and correlating the visitor identification information with the profile of the registered user; and

providing at least a portion of the demographic profile of the registered user to the participating web site.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the participating web site solicits personal information from the user;

and wherein the demographic profile includes personal information solicited by the information gathering system and by the participating web site.