WO2013168184A1 - Auction platform where free bidding rights are provided as incentive for participating in brand interactions - Google Patents

Auction platform where free bidding rights are provided as incentive for participating in brand interactions Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2013168184A1
WO2013168184A1 PCT/IN2013/000313 IN2013000313W WO2013168184A1 WO 2013168184 A1 WO2013168184 A1 WO 2013168184A1 IN 2013000313 W IN2013000313 W IN 2013000313W WO 2013168184 A1 WO2013168184 A1 WO 2013168184A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
user
brand
bidding
product
game
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PCT/IN2013/000313
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French (fr)
Inventor
Gita TRIVEDI
Original Assignee
Trivedi Gita
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
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Publication of WO2013168184A1 publication Critical patent/WO2013168184A1/en

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    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06QINFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00Commerce
    • G06Q30/06Buying, selling or leasing transactions
    • G06Q30/08Auctions

Definitions

  • the embodiments herein relate to internet auctions and advertising across varied media including internet, print or audio-video media and, more particularly, to offering a free bidding platform to users based on their performance in interactive advertisements associated with the platform.
  • the users can place bids for any product that they wish to purchase, before a pre-set time/participation criterion expires.
  • the user who placed the winning bid (as decided based on preset and pre-disclosed criteria) may win that particular product either free of cost or for a small price.
  • One of the disadvantages of these bidding websites from the user perspective is that the user has to pay certain money in order to get access to the bidding platform i.e. in order to be eligible to start bidding, the user has to spend some money either upfront as signup or registration fee or just at the instant of placing the bid as the marginal price for placing the next bid.
  • Some online bidding portals in order to reduce the bidding costs for the users, display a multitude of advertisements on their platform. Through the corresponding advertising revenue, these portals are able to recover the cost of discounting the bidding costs for the participants. Since these advertisements are internet based passive advertisements which are not interactive in nature and do not require the users to identify themselves as having consumed the advertising, the advertising rates for these advertisements are low and require the bidding portals to show a large multitude of such internet based advertisements to recover the cost of discounting their bidding charges. This adversely impacts the bidding experience for the bidders and negatively impacts the bidding portal's credibility. This, in turn, lowers the advertising rates further for the bidding portal(s). Additionally, the online bidding portals are confined to being associated with internet based advertising and are not able to tap into advertising revenue from other media like print, audio-video et al.
  • advertisements may be in the form of static pictures, animations, music, videos and so on, that may be displayed on websites in the form of banners, side bars, embedded links and so on or may be printed in newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and so on or may be broadcasted over television or radio and so on.
  • Such advertisements may be targeted based on user preferences, as identified by tracking and analyzing the user's web browsing behavior and interaction through internet or by analyzing the user ' s demographic information or by harnessing user's express interest in particular goods or services etc.
  • these advertisement strategies require users to consume message conveyed by the advertisement passively i.e. without any participation from the user end.
  • the present advertising setup doesn't incentivize the users for consuming the advertisements and also the interactive advertisements, designed to garner user interest, are prohibitively expensive to display across media and specifically across websites . within the digital media.
  • Another problem that the setup faces is that since the users are passively exposed to multiple advertisements, with no incentive for users to identify themselves as having consumed the advertising message, accurate identification of the interested audience becomes very difficult for the sponsoring brands. Also collection of data around audience interest becomes difficult and is done through third party data collection agencies or independent surveys.
  • Sweepstakes and lucky draws pose two distinct problems for the participant end user: the participant doesn't have multiple prize objects to choose from and is dependent on the organizer in terms of the choice of the prize object. Secondly, there is no element of participant strategy or planning involved in the sweepstakes and lucky draws since the participant is essentially dependent on his/her luck to win/not win the prize object.
  • an embodiment herein provides a mechanism for implementing a free bidding platform based on interactive internet based brand games, in which the users can play brand games or participate in other brand promotions to win access to the bidding platform free of cost or for a discounted amount.
  • the brand games are created using a suitable module and may be displayed to the users across media, based on user demographics, users' internet activity and advertiser preferences and so on (when unsolicited from the user) or through users 1 solicitation which may be through clicking or typing an internet link or scanning an object or image or bar code or Quick Response (QR) code or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (M1CR) code or through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags or through audio or video media tagging and so on.
  • QR Quick Response
  • M1CR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
  • the user wins the brand games (displays the expected nature of interaction with the sponsoring brand), he/she accumulates incentives in the form of free/discounted bidding rights on the platform.
  • the user may also use generic payment options to purchase access to the bidding platform.
  • FIG. I illustrates a block diagram which shows proposed auction server mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein;
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram which shows various components of the proposed auction serer, as disclosed in the embodiments herein;
  • FIG. 3 is a flow diagram which shows various steps involved in the process of brand game based auction mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein;
  • FIG 4 is a flow diagram which shows the various triggers through which a brand game may be displayed to the end user; according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
  • FIG 5 illustrates the functioning of a brand game based interaction including input validation, result checking, user sign in and data collection, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary computing environment implementing the method and system, according to embodiments disclosed herein.
  • FIGS. I through 6 where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
  • Embodiments herein disclose a mechanism that makes advertising more interactive and also incentivizes users to consume advertisements.
  • This incentive, for consumption of print, audio-visual or internet advertising is envisaged to be the reduction/elimination of bidding platform cost for the users enabling them to bid for products of their choice on these bidding platforms.
  • the reduction or waiver of bidding cost would occur only when the user displays the desired nature of interaction through internet based interactive advertising games or surveys or social media interactions with the sponsoring brands (collectively called brand games in this document) or in lieu of any other brand promotions (“calls for action") that the sponsoring brand may carry out in association with the bidding portal.
  • the users will have to identify themselves through an internet based interface by signing in through appropriate credentials (as provided by the bidding platform). They shall be required to share certain personally identifiable information at the time of registering themselves with the bidding platform.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a proposed auction server mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein.
  • the system comprises of a plurality of user equipments/devices (UE) 101, a network 102 and an auction server 103.
  • the UE 101 may be any or all of a mobile phone, laptop computer, desktop computer, PDA, tablet PCs and/or any such device that is capable of accessing the auction service through a suitable medium/network 102.
  • the UE 101 may also be a dedicated kiosk, wherein the kiosk is displayed at public locations and is capable of accepting user inputs and conveying data and/or received inputs to a central server.
  • the medium/network 102 may be internet technology implemented over wired network or wireless networks, a digital cable network and so on.
  • the users can access the auction services offered by the auction server 103 using the user equipment 101.
  • the auction server 103 may be part of a web hosting service.
  • the users can access the services offered by the auction server 103 through a particular auction website associated with the auction server 103.
  • the user may have to register/sign up to the services using a suitable sign up option provided in the website.
  • the user may be provided with options to select bidding option he/she wishes to follow.
  • the user would have sufficient bidding credit in his/her account and would be allowed to place the bid and participate in the auction of his/her choice.
  • the user may be provided with options to participate in interactive internet based advertisements (brand games) or to buy bidding credit by making a payment through the payment gateways.
  • the user has to play brand games and if the user wins the game, he/she may be offered the bidding rights/credits either free of cost or for a lesser price.
  • the user can utilize the credits that he/she won from the interactive internet based advertisements (brand games) to access the bidding platform to place bids at the instant he/she wins it.
  • Brand games are games that comprise advertisement contents related to specific brands such that one brand game comprises advertisement contents related to one specific brand.
  • the brand games provided to the user may comprise of at least one of graphical, textual, video or audio information associated with any particular brand, such as a particular logo, slogan, or jingle and so on. Further, the information may be in the form of stills or video clips, and may be displayed in the form of jig-saw puzzles, contorted images, jumbled words and so on to the user.
  • the brand games may require the end customer to participate in brand specific promotions across social media platforms, or may require the end customer to share their creative inputs with the brand, or may require the end customers to fill in brand oriented surveys, or may require the end customers to share the brand's offerings within their network of friends, followers and/or acquaintances, or may require the end customers to intimate their network of friends, acquaintances and/or followers of their consumption of the brand's offerings, or may include any similar call for action that may promote the brand further and increase the awareness of the brand amongst the end customers and their individual social networks.
  • the brand games may also be small games prompting the end user to use their knowledge of the sponsoring brand or its products to achieve the game ' s end goal.
  • the audio information may be audio/sound clips that may be played by the bidder/user to recognize brand association and win credits.
  • the brand games may also comprise links that may provide a passage for further information and/or prizes associated with each brand. These brand games may be associated with a repository within the bidding platform upon the corresponding brands coming into terms with the proposed brand game auction system by means of an agreement, contract and so on. Further, if the request to show a particular brand game is not solicited from the end user, then the bidding platform may decide the most relevant brand game to display. The bidding platform may use the end user's demographic information, social media information, recent web browsing data, recent social media information et al, to adjudicate the most appropriate brand game to present to the end user.
  • Unsolicited brand game display requests may occur when the end user is consuming web based content and the brand game is shown to the end user as a new advertisement or when the end user is visiting the bidding platform and requests any brand game to be shown to him/her to enable him/her to gain free/discounted bidding credits.
  • Solicited brand game requests may occur when the end user sees the promotional content of a particular brand in the print media or audio-visual media or on the web or on the brand's products etc. and requests the corresponding brand game of that particular brand to be shown to him/her.
  • the difference between solicited and unsolicited requests is that in solicited requests, the end users have already seen promotional content from the brand and are looking for associated brand games from the same brand to enhance their interaction with the brand.
  • the end users have not necessarily looked at prior brand promotional content and are open to interacting with any brand through brand games and the bidding platform decisions the most relevant brand game to be displayed to the user.
  • the necessary plug-ins to support the brand games may be pre-installed with the website so that the user does not have to separately download and install the plugins.
  • the user may use generic payment options such as credit card, debit card, net banking and so on, to purchase bidding credits.
  • the users can accumulate the bidding credits without using them at the instant they win it, so that the acquired credits may be used at a later stage of time.
  • the user can select product (s) of his/her choice and can place bids. Further, if the user wins the bid i.e. places the winning bid amount, as decided by preset and pre disclosed rules, within a pre-set time period, he/she may get that particular product for the final bid amount or for free.
  • the auction server 103 is configured for checking for the frequency at which individual users are completing individual brand games and discarding repeat brand game completions from the same end users or the same IP addresses(within a cooling off period, as defined by the brand being promoted).
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram which shows various components of the proposed auction serer, as disclosed in the embodiments herein.
  • the auction server 103 further comprises a bidding system 201, a user account database 202, a payment module 203, an advertiser back end module 204, a brand games repository 205. a brand games auctioning exchange module 206, a score analyzer 207, a bid amount paying platform 208 and a dispatching module 209.
  • the bidding system 201 is the module where bidding process actually takes place.
  • the bidding system 201 may comprise a display through which the user can access information such as product information, auction progress, auction format and so on.
  • the bidding system may further comprise any suitable user interface using which users may be able to provide information to the system or may make product selection and place bids.
  • the user account database 202 comprises various information related to each user/user such as user sign up information, user's social media information, purchase and payment information, information regarding number of bidding rights/credits won or purchased by the user, auction participation history and so on.
  • the user sign up information may be used to verify authenticity of the user when he/she tries to login.
  • the auction participation history may be used to identify user preferences and present auctions in line with the user's interests and preferences.
  • the payment module 203 performs payment related processes. Through the payment gateway 203, the end user can buy the bidding rights/credits instead of accumulating them though playing brand games.
  • the rates and costs of each bidding right/credit may vary from time to time and transaction to transaction. This rate information may be stored in a database and may be edited by an authorized person such as an administrator.
  • the payment gateway 203 should also act as an interface between user and a banking system so as to provide various payment options to the user.
  • the payment options may comprise credit card, debit card, net banking based payments et al.
  • the brand games are interactive advertisements/games and may comprise of graphic, textual, video or audio information about the brand and may require the end usees to use their knowledge and understanding of the brand and its products to achieve the end goal of the brand game.
  • These games are conceptualized, created and are included in the brand games repository 205 through the advertiser back end module 204.
  • the brand promoters (204. a) enter into an agreement with the brand game auction system.
  • certain kind of turnkey brand games may be provided for customization by the brands using the Brand game creation module 204.
  • the advertisers can choose type of game such as crossword, swap tiles, jig saw puzzles and so on in a suitable window in a given template.
  • the advertiser can customize the template and upload the brand images and can also provide information such as title, link to an associated web page, and so on.
  • the brand games may also be designed independently on any suitable platform such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) 5 or Flash etc.
  • brand promoter 204. a be a firm called "X”.
  • brand games corresponding to the firm "X” are created and uploaded in the brand games repository.
  • the created brand games may comprise audio, video, image contents and so on related to the firm "X” and which promote the firm/brand "X' ' among the users.
  • One or more brand games may be formed corresponding to each brand/firm.
  • the brand promoters 204. a can bid the different amounts they are willing to pay for the brand games to be displayed to different end user segments, on the Brand Game Auction platform 204. c.
  • the bidding advertisers/brand promoters 204. a can indicate a premium for every preferred qualification separately above and over a certain base price value.
  • the base price is the bid price for displaying the brand game to a user who does not meet any of the preferred qualifications.
  • user's demographic characteristics such as age, sex, education, location, and so on, may be considered by the system. In addition to the demographic characters, the system may also consider qualifications such as browsing behavior/ recent web browsing history, purchase behavior and so on, corresponding to each user.
  • user specific data from various social networks may be pulled out and analyzed by the system to get clear picture of the user preferences.
  • Login information for each of the social networking websites may be obtained from the user when he/she is signing up to the service.
  • the premium indicated for each qualifying factor would be multiplicative/ additive in nature with advertisers being deemed as bidding the multiplied (or summed up) amount for all the preferred qualifications applicable to the user segment.
  • the brand games auctioning exchange module 206 decides which of the brand games stored in the brand game repository 205 is to be displayed/presented to the user, in case of unsolicited brand game requests.
  • the brand game corresponding to the highest bid amount (as entered on auction platform 204. c, by the promoting brands, 204. a) shall be displayed to the end user/user, when the brand game request is an unsolicited one and the end user is not looking for a particular brand game only.
  • the advertisers 204. a would be provided with options to control the frequency of display of their brand game to the same user.
  • the advertisers 204. a could specify the maximum number of times their brand game could be shown to one individual user within a given time span (cooling off period).
  • the display of brand game would be controlled by the brand games exchange module.
  • the central module for brand games 207 may analyze score obtained by the user in the brand games and may decide whether the user is eligible for obtaining free bidding credits or not. In order to do this, the central module207 may receive encrypted result strings from the web browser displaying the brand game, decrypt the result strings, and then compare the result strings with the ones stored in a database to determine if the brand game was correctly completed or not.
  • the bid amount paying platform 208 is the module which lets the winner claim the prize and pay the bid amount, if applicable. In certain instances, the winner may be required to actually pay the winning bid amount and in other instances, the bid amount could be used only for determining the winner and the prize could be given free of charge to the winner. Further, the dispatching module 209 creates alerts for goods to be shipped to their respective winners.
  • FIG. 3 is a flow diagram which shows various steps involved in the process of brand game based auction mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein.
  • the user In order to access services of the auction server 103, the user has to register to the service by signing up to the corresponding website. After signing up. the user can login to the website to access the service any time he/she wants.
  • the user may play brand games in 2 possible ways: Unsolicited Brand Game Displays and Solicited Brand Game Displays. End users may play (301, 302) brand games on other websites on the internet or on the bidding platform itself while they are consuming other web based media akin to consuming other kind of internet advertisements.
  • Such unsolicited display of brand games is unsolicited in that the user has not requested for a specific brand game to be shown to him/her.
  • the user encounters (303) brand promotional content on print, audio-video, web media, advertising hoardings or product labels and may tag or click (304) the promotional content through an appropriate device to request for the corresponding brand game to be shown to him/her.
  • the user has already encountered the brand promotion and is looking for a particular brand game to interact further with the brand. This is solicited brand game display.
  • the user visits (306) the website, he/she can browse through available products and/or services and select (307) goods and/or services for which he/she can place bid.
  • the product is selected, in order to perform bidding, the user has to get access to the bidding platform.
  • the proposed mechanism provides multiple options for the user to get access to the bidding platform. A check is made if the user has (308) sufficient bidding credit in his/her account and would be the user is permitted (309) to proceed to the auction of his/her choice. In the event the user doesn't have sufficient bidding credit in his/her account, the user may be provided with options to participate in interactive internet based advertisements such as brand games or to buy bidding credit by making a payment through the payment gateways.
  • the system checks (310) if the user wishes to play game or purchase bidding credits. If the user selects purchase option, then he/she is provided (316) with generic payment options.
  • the generic payment options may comprise credit card, debit card, net banking and so on. The user can pay the indicated amount using any of these options and can proceed further with the bidding process. If the user selects "play game” option, the system presents (311) games to the user. In an embodiment, the user is presented (311) with one of the brand games stored in the brand game repository 205.
  • the brand games are interactive advertisements/games and may comprise of graphic, textual, video or audio information about the brand and may require the end users to use their knowledge and understanding of the brand and its products to achieve the end goal of the brand game. Further the system checks (312) if the user is eligible for getting access to bidding platform or not.
  • the central module for brand games 207 may analyze score obtained by the user in the brand games and may decide whether the user is eligible for obtaining free bidding platform or not. In order to do this, the central module 207 may receive encrypted result strings from the web browser displaying the brand game, decrypt the result strings, and then compare the result strings with the ones stored in a database to determine if the brand game was correctly completed or not.
  • the system gifts (313) him/her certain number of free bids.
  • the gifted access to bidding platform and/or certain number of bids may be free of cost or may be subject to comparatively lesser amount of charge.
  • the system checks (315) if he/she wishes to proceed with generic options to get access to the bidding platform. If the user is interested to proceed with the generic payment options, he/she is provided (316) with generic payment options. If not. the bidding request is terminated (314) by the system.
  • the various actions in method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG.3 may be omitted.
  • Fig.4 delineates the multiple instances when the brand games may be required to be displayed (in web browsers), according to embodiments as disclosed herein.
  • the brand game display requests may be sorted into two categories: Unsolicited (410) and Solicited (401 to 408).
  • unsolicited brand game requests the end user consumes media content and is not looking for a specific brand game to be shown to him/her.
  • the end user may be browsing through website(s) or may be participating in auctions on the proposed bidding portal itself and may be required to be shown a brand game.
  • the brand game may be displayed as a web based advertisement (on other websites) and an opportunity to interact with brands and earn free bidding credits/rights (on the bidding portal itself).
  • the image processing techniques could be any combination of techniques as known at that point in time and are not a part of this patent claim.
  • the end user could scan (402) an image published by the promoting brand in the media (print, promotional hoardings or other media) and solicit the corresponding brand game.
  • the end user could also scan (403) a Quick Response code or a bar code or a Magnetic Ink Recognition code and so on through a handheld device and solicit the associated brand game from the bidding platform to be shown in a web browser.
  • the end user might come across (404,405) audio-video brand promotional content on websites, television, radio, public announcements and so on and could use a dedicated application to identify the audio clip or the video clip and solicit the corresponding brand game to be shown in a web browser on the device.
  • the algorithm for tagging the audio-video clip(s) could be any combination of techniques as known at that point in time and are not a part of this patent claim.
  • the end user could also come across a link to open a linked brand game in a web browser and may click (406) on the link or may type (407) the same link in a web browser to solicit the linked brand game. Similarly, the end user may click (408) on another web advertisement or part of another web advertisement which might solicit a particular brand game to be displayed.
  • Embodiments as described above depict that the brand games serve as additional promotional content which can be combined with other advertisements across media to increase the number of user interactions and increase the recall value of the brand promotions. Besides the response that each of these advertisements would have received on a stand-alone basis, they would receive additional responses because of the lure of winning free bidding rights through the brand games associated with these advertisements. Besides increasing the number of responses that the advertisements get, the end user would also be incentivized to identify himself/herself as having consumed the brand promotion through brand games, in order to claim the free bidding credits/rights. Since it is fairly easy to track the source of brand game solicitation, it becomes very easy for brands to track how their print, audio-video and product promotions have performed and understand composition and inclinations of the responsive audience.
  • Fig 5 illustrates the process through which the brand games would be validated for human input and shall ensure that the brand promotion message reaches a diverse group of end users and is not consumed repeatedly by the same set of end users who might be looking only for free bidding rights/credits.
  • the brand games would communicate a series of encrypted result strings to the central module over the network.
  • the central module would check if all the expected strings have been received and if the intervening period between the receipts of two consecutive strings is large enough to suggest human input. If these strings are received in very quick succession, one after the other, then central module would alert a machine coded input and the incentive for completing the brand game would not be passed on to the end user. Similarly, the central module wouldn ' t credit the bidding rights/credits if all the result strings are not received since that would indicate an incomplete brand game.
  • the system would first prompt the end user to play the brand game even if he/she is not logged into the bidding platform. If the brand game is successfully completed, the central module shall check if a user was logged in corresponding to the instance of the brand game being displayed.
  • the central module would not credit the bidding rights/credits to the end user's account.
  • the promoting brand shall be able to define the cooling off period ("very near past' ' ), for every brand game, during which a user can receive the bidding credits only once for a particular brand game irrespective of the number of times the end user might have completed the particular brand game in question during that period.
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an exemplary computing environment 602 implementing the method and system, according to embodiments disclosed herein.
  • the computing environment 602 comprises at least one processing unit 604 that is equipped with a control unit 606 and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) 608, a memory 610, a storage unit 612, plurality of networking devices 614 and a plurality of Input/Output (I/O) devices 616.
  • the processing unit 604 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm.
  • the processing unit 604 receives commands from the control unit 606 in order to perform its processing. Further, any logical and arithmetic operations involved in the execution of the instructions are computed with the help of the ALU 608.
  • the overall computing environment 602 can be composed of multiple homogeneous and/or heterogeneous cores, multiple CPUs of different kinds, special media and other accelerators.
  • the processing unit 604 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. Further, the plurality of processing units 604 may be located on a single chip or over multiple chips.
  • the algorithm comprising of instructions and codes required for the implementation are stored in either the memory unit 610 or the storage 612 or both. At the time of execution, the instructions may be fetched from the corresponding memory 610 and/or storage 612, and executed by the processing unit 604.
  • various networking devices 614 or external I/O devices 616 may be connected to the computing environment to support the implementation through the networking unit and the I/O device unit.
  • his/her information may be captured by the bidding platform and shared with an authorized entity, such as the promoting brand, thus enabling the promoting brand to collect data around the reception of its brand promotional messages and also to enable the brand to direct suitable follow up campaigns or purchase incentives to those who have already interacted with the brand and have successfully absorbed the brand's message.
  • the users get opportunity to get bidding platform for free of cost or for a lesser amount.
  • the website (bidding platform) can charge the brands for displaying their brand games as internet advertisements (on other websites) or for displaying the brand games (on its own website) or for displaying the brand games when solicited by the end user and for crediting the end users' accounts with bidding rights/credits as reward for interacting with the brands. So the website owners can compensate loss occurred due to selling bidding platform for free of cost or for lesser amount from the revenue generated by means of the brand games.
  • the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements.
  • the network elements shown in Fig.2 include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.
  • the embodiment disclosed herein specifies a system for internet auctions.
  • the mechanism allows brand game based access to bidding platform providing a system thereof. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device.
  • the method is implemented in a preferred embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device.
  • VHDL Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language
  • the hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof, e.g. one processor and two FPGAs.
  • the device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein.
  • the means are at least one hardware means and/or at least one software means.
  • the method embodiments described herein could be implemented in pure hardware or partly in hardware and partly in software.
  • the device may also include only software means.
  • the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.

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Abstract

The embodiments herein relate to internet auctions and internet advertisements and, more particularly, to offering free bidding platform to users based on their performance in interactive internet based advertisements associated with the platform. In this system, the end user is exposed to brand games, which are interactive brand promotions, which require the end users to use their knowledge of the brand and/or its products to be completed successfully. The brand games could be displayed as web based advertisements or could be displayed as associated fol low-up interactions along with other brand promotional messages. If the user completes the brand game, he may get access to the bidding platform for free of cost or for a lesser price. Further the user can bid for the selected product and can win the selected product if he wins the auction based on pre-set and pre-disclosed criteria.

Description

AUCTION PLATFORM WHERE FREE BIDDING RIGHTS ARE PROVIDED AS INCENTIVE FOR PARTICIPATING IN BRAND INTERACTIONS
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0011 The embodiments herein relate to internet auctions and advertising across varied media including internet, print or audio-video media and, more particularly, to offering a free bidding platform to users based on their performance in interactive advertisements associated with the platform.
BACKGROUND
[002] With increased popularity and accessibility of internet, online purchasing of goods has become a common practice. There are certain websites which facilitate purchase of goods through online shopping. The users can login to these websites and can place their orders. Further, the users can make the payment through any of the payment gateways, associated with that particular website or else can pay on delivery. In addition to these internet based retailing services where any number of buyers may buy the product at the displayed price, where the displayed price could include a certain amount of discount, there are bidding websites where the displayed product would be given to a fixed and small number of winners, out of all the bidders, at heavily discounted prices or for free, as the prize for winning the auction. In such websites, the users can place bids for any product that they wish to purchase, before a pre-set time/participation criterion expires. The user who placed the winning bid (as decided based on preset and pre-disclosed criteria) may win that particular product either free of cost or for a small price. [003] One of the disadvantages of these bidding websites from the user perspective is that the user has to pay certain money in order to get access to the bidding platform i.e. in order to be eligible to start bidding, the user has to spend some money either upfront as signup or registration fee or just at the instant of placing the bid as the marginal price for placing the next bid. This discourages user participation on these bidding websites where the users may even drop the purchase plan, even if they were interested in any of the products displayed on the bidding portal. Some online bidding portals, in order to reduce the bidding costs for the users, display a multitude of advertisements on their platform. Through the corresponding advertising revenue, these portals are able to recover the cost of discounting the bidding costs for the participants. Since these advertisements are internet based passive advertisements which are not interactive in nature and do not require the users to identify themselves as having consumed the advertising, the advertising rates for these advertisements are low and require the bidding portals to show a large multitude of such internet based advertisements to recover the cost of discounting their bidding charges. This adversely impacts the bidding experience for the bidders and negatively impacts the bidding portal's credibility. This, in turn, lowers the advertising rates further for the bidding portal(s). Additionally, the online bidding portals are confined to being associated with internet based advertising and are not able to tap into advertising revenue from other media like print, audio-video et al.
[004] Parallel to this, considerable money is spent in garnering customer attention through internet, print, audio-video and product advertising. These advertisements may be in the form of static pictures, animations, music, videos and so on, that may be displayed on websites in the form of banners, side bars, embedded links and so on or may be printed in newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and so on or may be broadcasted over television or radio and so on. Such advertisements may be targeted based on user preferences, as identified by tracking and analyzing the user's web browsing behavior and interaction through internet or by analyzing the user's demographic information or by harnessing user's express interest in particular goods or services etc. Problem with this system is that these advertisement strategies require users to consume message conveyed by the advertisement passively i.e. without any participation from the user end. This poses the risk of the advertisements either being ignored by the user or being construed as interference to the user's media consumption. Further, the present advertising setup doesn't incentivize the users for consuming the advertisements and also the interactive advertisements, designed to garner user interest, are prohibitively expensive to display across media and specifically across websites. within the digital media. Another problem that the setup faces is that since the users are passively exposed to multiple advertisements, with no incentive for users to identify themselves as having consumed the advertising message, accurate identification of the interested audience becomes very difficult for the sponsoring brands. Also collection of data around audience interest becomes difficult and is done through third party data collection agencies or independent surveys.
10051 Presently, efforts to incentivize users, for consumption of advertising or participating in promotional campaigns and identifying themselves individually, have been made through either in the form of entry in sweepstakes or lucky draws or by giving away discount coupons or gift vouchers or gift objects or shopping credits/reward points of small monetary value in lieu of the user's response to the advertising or call for action. Sweepstakes and lucky draws pose two distinct problems for the participant end user: the participant doesn't have multiple prize objects to choose from and is dependent on the organizer in terms of the choice of the prize object. Secondly, there is no element of participant strategy or planning involved in the sweepstakes and lucky draws since the participant is essentially dependent on his/her luck to win/not win the prize object. These two factors dampen the lure of participation in a sweepstake or lucky draw, as incentive for brand interactions, for the end participant user. Providing discount vouchers or gift vouchers or prize object in lieu of brand interactions poses the drawback that the monetary value of the discount or voucher or prize object is very small specifically when the promotion is extended to a vast majority of end users. This means that either the promoting brand has to limit the promotion to a select audience or has to resort to a lucky draw or sweepstake to ensure that the end prize object is of a sufficient monetary value to attract user interest. The problem with shopping credits/reward points is that the end user has to participate in several brand interactions over a period of time to accumulate sufficient shopping credits to buy anything of material monetary value. This dampens the lure of the individual brand promotions which offer shopping credits/rewards in return since the end user might not be patient enough to participate in multiple interactions, each leading to a very small monetary return individually.
SUMMARY
[0061 In view of the foregoing, an embodiment herein provides a mechanism for implementing a free bidding platform based on interactive internet based brand games, in which the users can play brand games or participate in other brand promotions to win access to the bidding platform free of cost or for a discounted amount. The brand games are created using a suitable module and may be displayed to the users across media, based on user demographics, users' internet activity and advertiser preferences and so on (when unsolicited from the user) or through users1 solicitation which may be through clicking or typing an internet link or scanning an object or image or bar code or Quick Response (QR) code or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (M1CR) code or through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags or through audio or video media tagging and so on. If the user wins the brand games (displays the expected nature of interaction with the sponsoring brand), he/she accumulates incentives in the form of free/discounted bidding rights on the platform. The user may also use generic payment options to purchase access to the bidding platform.
[007] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[008] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[009] FIG. I illustrates a block diagram which shows proposed auction server mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram which shows various components of the proposed auction serer, as disclosed in the embodiments herein;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram which shows various steps involved in the process of brand game based auction mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein;
[0012] FIG 4 is a flow diagram which shows the various triggers through which a brand game may be displayed to the end user; according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0013] FIG 5 illustrates the functioning of a brand game based interaction including input validation, result checking, user sign in and data collection, according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and
[0014] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary computing environment implementing the method and system, according to embodiments disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0015] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained in further depth with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well- known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0016] The embodiments herein disclose an auction mechanism by providing bidding platform to users based on their performance in brand games. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. I through 6. where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
[0017] Embodiments herein disclose a mechanism that makes advertising more interactive and also incentivizes users to consume advertisements. This incentive, for consumption of print, audio-visual or internet advertising, is envisaged to be the reduction/elimination of bidding platform cost for the users enabling them to bid for products of their choice on these bidding platforms. The reduction or waiver of bidding cost would occur only when the user displays the desired nature of interaction through internet based interactive advertising games or surveys or social media interactions with the sponsoring brands (collectively called brand games in this document) or in lieu of any other brand promotions ("calls for action") that the sponsoring brand may carry out in association with the bidding portal. To claim the free bidding rights, the users will have to identify themselves through an internet based interface by signing in through appropriate credentials (as provided by the bidding platform). They shall be required to share certain personally identifiable information at the time of registering themselves with the bidding platform.
[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a proposed auction server mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The system comprises of a plurality of user equipments/devices (UE) 101, a network 102 and an auction server 103. The UE 101 may be any or all of a mobile phone, laptop computer, desktop computer, PDA, tablet PCs and/or any such device that is capable of accessing the auction service through a suitable medium/network 102. The UE 101 may also be a dedicated kiosk, wherein the kiosk is displayed at public locations and is capable of accepting user inputs and conveying data and/or received inputs to a central server. The medium/network 102 may be internet technology implemented over wired network or wireless networks, a digital cable network and so on.
[00191 The users can access the auction services offered by the auction server 103 using the user equipment 101. The auction server 103 may be part of a web hosting service. In an embodiment, the users can access the services offered by the auction server 103 through a particular auction website associated with the auction server 103. The user may have to register/sign up to the services using a suitable sign up option provided in the website. Further, upon logging into the service, the user may be provided with options to select bidding option he/she wishes to follow. In a preferred embodiment, the user would have sufficient bidding credit in his/her account and would be allowed to place the bid and participate in the auction of his/her choice. In the event the user doesn't have sufficient bidding credits in his/her account, the user may be provided with options to participate in interactive internet based advertisements (brand games) or to buy bidding credit by making a payment through the payment gateways. In the first option, the user has to play brand games and if the user wins the game, he/she may be offered the bidding rights/credits either free of cost or for a lesser price. In one embodiment, the user can utilize the credits that he/she won from the interactive internet based advertisements (brand games) to access the bidding platform to place bids at the instant he/she wins it.
[0020] Brand games are games that comprise advertisement contents related to specific brands such that one brand game comprises advertisement contents related to one specific brand. In an embodiment, the brand games provided to the user may comprise of at least one of graphical, textual, video or audio information associated with any particular brand, such as a particular logo, slogan, or jingle and so on. Further, the information may be in the form of stills or video clips, and may be displayed in the form of jig-saw puzzles, contorted images, jumbled words and so on to the user. The brand games may require the end customer to participate in brand specific promotions across social media platforms, or may require the end customer to share their creative inputs with the brand, or may require the end customers to fill in brand oriented surveys, or may require the end customers to share the brand's offerings within their network of friends, followers and/or acquaintances, or may require the end customers to intimate their network of friends, acquaintances and/or followers of their consumption of the brand's offerings, or may include any similar call for action that may promote the brand further and increase the awareness of the brand amongst the end customers and their individual social networks. The brand games may also be small games prompting the end user to use their knowledge of the sponsoring brand or its products to achieve the game's end goal. The audio information may be audio/sound clips that may be played by the bidder/user to recognize brand association and win credits. In addition to above information, the brand games may also comprise links that may provide a passage for further information and/or prizes associated with each brand. These brand games may be associated with a repository within the bidding platform upon the corresponding brands coming into terms with the proposed brand game auction system by means of an agreement, contract and so on. Further, if the request to show a particular brand game is not solicited from the end user, then the bidding platform may decide the most relevant brand game to display. The bidding platform may use the end user's demographic information, social media information, recent web browsing data, recent social media information et al, to adjudicate the most appropriate brand game to present to the end user. Unsolicited brand game display requests may occur when the end user is consuming web based content and the brand game is shown to the end user as a new advertisement or when the end user is visiting the bidding platform and requests any brand game to be shown to him/her to enable him/her to gain free/discounted bidding credits. Solicited brand game requests may occur when the end user sees the promotional content of a particular brand in the print media or audio-visual media or on the web or on the brand's products etc. and requests the corresponding brand game of that particular brand to be shown to him/her. The difference between solicited and unsolicited requests is that in solicited requests, the end users have already seen promotional content from the brand and are looking for associated brand games from the same brand to enhance their interaction with the brand. In unsolicited brand games, the end users have not necessarily looked at prior brand promotional content and are open to interacting with any brand through brand games and the bidding platform decisions the most relevant brand game to be displayed to the user. [0021] In an embodiment herein, the necessary plug-ins to support the brand games may be pre-installed with the website so that the user does not have to separately download and install the plugins.
[0022] In an embodiment herein, the user may use generic payment options such as credit card, debit card, net banking and so on, to purchase bidding credits.
[0023] In another embodiment, the users can accumulate the bidding credits without using them at the instant they win it, so that the acquired credits may be used at a later stage of time.
[0024] Once sufficient bidding credits are obtained by winning brand games or by means of generic payment, the user can select product (s) of his/her choice and can place bids. Further, if the user wins the bid i.e. places the winning bid amount, as decided by preset and pre disclosed rules, within a pre-set time period, he/she may get that particular product for the final bid amount or for free.
[0025] In an embodiment herein, the auction server 103 is configured for checking for the frequency at which individual users are completing individual brand games and discarding repeat brand game completions from the same end users or the same IP addresses(within a cooling off period, as defined by the brand being promoted).
[0026] FIG. 2 is a block diagram which shows various components of the proposed auction serer, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The auction server 103 further comprises a bidding system 201, a user account database 202, a payment module 203, an advertiser back end module 204, a brand games repository 205. a brand games auctioning exchange module 206, a score analyzer 207, a bid amount paying platform 208 and a dispatching module 209.
[0027] The bidding system 201 is the module where bidding process actually takes place. The bidding system 201 may comprise a display through which the user can access information such as product information, auction progress, auction format and so on. The bidding system may further comprise any suitable user interface using which users may be able to provide information to the system or may make product selection and place bids.
[0028] The user account database 202 comprises various information related to each user/user such as user sign up information, user's social media information, purchase and payment information, information regarding number of bidding rights/credits won or purchased by the user, auction participation history and so on. The user sign up information may be used to verify authenticity of the user when he/she tries to login. Further, the auction participation history may be used to identify user preferences and present auctions in line with the user's interests and preferences.
[0029] The payment module 203 performs payment related processes. Through the payment gateway 203, the end user can buy the bidding rights/credits instead of accumulating them though playing brand games. The rates and costs of each bidding right/credit may vary from time to time and transaction to transaction. This rate information may be stored in a database and may be edited by an authorized person such as an administrator. The payment gateway 203 should also act as an interface between user and a banking system so as to provide various payment options to the user. The payment options may comprise credit card, debit card, net banking based payments et al.
[0030] If the user chooses to play brand games to win bidding platform, the system has to provide brand games to the user.
[0031] The brand games, as described above, are interactive advertisements/games and may comprise of graphic, textual, video or audio information about the brand and may require the end usees to use their knowledge and understanding of the brand and its products to achieve the end goal of the brand game.
[0032] These games are conceptualized, created and are included in the brand games repository 205 through the advertiser back end module 204. The brand promoters (204. a) enter into an agreement with the brand game auction system. Further, certain kind of turnkey brand games may be provided for customization by the brands using the Brand game creation module 204. b. For example, the advertisers can choose type of game such as crossword, swap tiles, jig saw puzzles and so on in a suitable window in a given template. Further, the advertiser can customize the template and upload the brand images and can also provide information such as title, link to an associated web page, and so on. Further, the brand games may also be designed independently on any suitable platform such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) 5 or Flash etc.
[0033] For example, let the brand promoter 204. a be a firm called "X". Once the firm comes to terms with the brand game auction system, brand games corresponding to the firm "X" are created and uploaded in the brand games repository. In this case, the created brand games may comprise audio, video, image contents and so on related to the firm "X" and which promote the firm/brand "X'' among the users. One or more brand games may be formed corresponding to each brand/firm.
[0034] Once the brand games are uploaded, the brand promoters 204. a can bid the different amounts they are willing to pay for the brand games to be displayed to different end user segments, on the Brand Game Auction platform 204. c. The bidding advertisers/brand promoters 204. a can indicate a premium for every preferred qualification separately above and over a certain base price value. The base price is the bid price for displaying the brand game to a user who does not meet any of the preferred qualifications. Further, user's demographic characteristics such as age, sex, education, location, and so on, may be considered by the system. In addition to the demographic characters, the system may also consider qualifications such as browsing behavior/ recent web browsing history, purchase behavior and so on, corresponding to each user. Further, user specific data from various social networks may be pulled out and analyzed by the system to get clear picture of the user preferences. Login information for each of the social networking websites may be obtained from the user when he/she is signing up to the service. The premium indicated for each qualifying factor would be multiplicative/ additive in nature with advertisers being deemed as bidding the multiplied (or summed up) amount for all the preferred qualifications applicable to the user segment.
[0035] The brand games auctioning exchange module 206 decides which of the brand games stored in the brand game repository 205 is to be displayed/presented to the user, in case of unsolicited brand game requests. The brand game corresponding to the highest bid amount (as entered on auction platform 204. c, by the promoting brands, 204. a) shall be displayed to the end user/user, when the brand game request is an unsolicited one and the end user is not looking for a particular brand game only.
[0036] Further, the advertisers 204. a would be provided with options to control the frequency of display of their brand game to the same user. The advertisers 204. a could specify the maximum number of times their brand game could be shown to one individual user within a given time span (cooling off period). The display of brand game would be controlled by the brand games exchange module.
[0037] The central module for brand games 207 may analyze score obtained by the user in the brand games and may decide whether the user is eligible for obtaining free bidding credits or not. In order to do this, the central module207 may receive encrypted result strings from the web browser displaying the brand game, decrypt the result strings, and then compare the result strings with the ones stored in a database to determine if the brand game was correctly completed or not.
[0038] Further, the bid amount paying platform 208 is the module which lets the winner claim the prize and pay the bid amount, if applicable. In certain instances, the winner may be required to actually pay the winning bid amount and in other instances, the bid amount could be used only for determining the winner and the prize could be given free of charge to the winner. Further, the dispatching module 209 creates alerts for goods to be shipped to their respective winners.
[0039] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram which shows various steps involved in the process of brand game based auction mechanism, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. In order to access services of the auction server 103, the user has to register to the service by signing up to the corresponding website. After signing up. the user can login to the website to access the service any time he/she wants. The user may play brand games in 2 possible ways: Unsolicited Brand Game Displays and Solicited Brand Game Displays. End users may play (301, 302) brand games on other websites on the internet or on the bidding platform itself while they are consuming other web based media akin to consuming other kind of internet advertisements. Such unsolicited display of brand games is unsolicited in that the user has not requested for a specific brand game to be shown to him/her. On the other hand, the user encounters (303) brand promotional content on print, audio-video, web media, advertising hoardings or product labels and may tag or click (304) the promotional content through an appropriate device to request for the corresponding brand game to be shown to him/her. Flere the user has already encountered the brand promotion and is looking for a particular brand game to interact further with the brand. This is solicited brand game display.
10040 j Through unsolicited and solicited brand game plays and upon successful completion of the brand games, the user collects (305) bidding rights/credits which he/she can use on the bidding platform.
[0041] Once the user visits (306) the website, he/she can browse through available products and/or services and select (307) goods and/or services for which he/she can place bid. Once the product is selected, in order to perform bidding, the user has to get access to the bidding platform. The proposed mechanism provides multiple options for the user to get access to the bidding platform. A check is made if the user has (308) sufficient bidding credit in his/her account and would be the user is permitted (309) to proceed to the auction of his/her choice. In the event the user doesn't have sufficient bidding credit in his/her account, the user may be provided with options to participate in interactive internet based advertisements such as brand games or to buy bidding credit by making a payment through the payment gateways. If the user has insufficient bidding credits in his/her account, the system checks (310) if the user wishes to play game or purchase bidding credits. If the user selects purchase option, then he/she is provided (316) with generic payment options. The generic payment options may comprise credit card, debit card, net banking and so on. The user can pay the indicated amount using any of these options and can proceed further with the bidding process. If the user selects "play game" option, the system presents (311) games to the user. In an embodiment, the user is presented (311) with one of the brand games stored in the brand game repository 205. The brand games, as described above, are interactive advertisements/games and may comprise of graphic, textual, video or audio information about the brand and may require the end users to use their knowledge and understanding of the brand and its products to achieve the end goal of the brand game. Further the system checks (312) if the user is eligible for getting access to bidding platform or not. In an embodiment, the central module for brand games 207 may analyze score obtained by the user in the brand games and may decide whether the user is eligible for obtaining free bidding platform or not. In order to do this, the central module 207 may receive encrypted result strings from the web browser displaying the brand game, decrypt the result strings, and then compare the result strings with the ones stored in a database to determine if the brand game was correctly completed or not. If the user is eligible, the system gifts (313) him/her certain number of free bids. In an embodiment, the gifted access to bidding platform and/or certain number of bids may be free of cost or may be subject to comparatively lesser amount of charge. If the user is not eligible for getting access to bidding platform based on the score obtained in the brand game, the system checks (315) if he/she wishes to proceed with generic options to get access to the bidding platform. If the user is interested to proceed with the generic payment options, he/she is provided (316) with generic payment options. If not. the bidding request is terminated (314) by the system. The various actions in method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG.3 may be omitted.
[0042] Fig.4 delineates the multiple instances when the brand games may be required to be displayed (in web browsers), according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The brand game display requests may be sorted into two categories: Unsolicited (410) and Solicited (401 to 408). In unsolicited brand game requests, the end user consumes media content and is not looking for a specific brand game to be shown to him/her. The end user may be browsing through website(s) or may be participating in auctions on the proposed bidding portal itself and may be required to be shown a brand game. Here, the brand game may be displayed as a web based advertisement (on other websites) and an opportunity to interact with brands and earn free bidding credits/rights (on the bidding portal itself). Parallel to this, there could be a scenario where the end user solicits a particular brand game to be shown to him. This could happen when the user has come across some promotional content from the brand and wants to play a brand game to interact further with the brand and/or to earn free bidding credits/rights on the bidding platform. The user might have bought or seen a product from the brand and he could photograph/scan (401) the product or an image on the product label using a dedicated application running on his/her handheld device (Any camera enabled portable device capable of exchanging data with a central server through wired or wireless networks such as a mobile phone, tablet and so on). The application would identify the image and interact with the bidding platform requesting the associated brand game to be displayed in a web browser on the same device. The image processing techniques could be any combination of techniques as known at that point in time and are not a part of this patent claim. Similarly, the end user could scan (402) an image published by the promoting brand in the media (print, promotional hoardings or other media) and solicit the corresponding brand game. The end user could also scan (403) a Quick Response code or a bar code or a Magnetic Ink Recognition code and so on through a handheld device and solicit the associated brand game from the bidding platform to be shown in a web browser. Similarly, the end user might come across (404,405) audio-video brand promotional content on websites, television, radio, public announcements and so on and could use a dedicated application to identify the audio clip or the video clip and solicit the corresponding brand game to be shown in a web browser on the device. The algorithm for tagging the audio-video clip(s) could be any combination of techniques as known at that point in time and are not a part of this patent claim. The end user could also come across a link to open a linked brand game in a web browser and may click (406) on the link or may type (407) the same link in a web browser to solicit the linked brand game. Similarly, the end user may click (408) on another web advertisement or part of another web advertisement which might solicit a particular brand game to be displayed.
[0043] Embodiments as described above (401 - 408) depict that the brand games serve as additional promotional content which can be combined with other advertisements across media to increase the number of user interactions and increase the recall value of the brand promotions. Besides the response that each of these advertisements would have received on a stand-alone basis, they would receive additional responses because of the lure of winning free bidding rights through the brand games associated with these advertisements. Besides increasing the number of responses that the advertisements get, the end user would also be incentivized to identify himself/herself as having consumed the brand promotion through brand games, in order to claim the free bidding credits/rights. Since it is fairly easy to track the source of brand game solicitation, it becomes very easy for brands to track how their print, audio-video and product promotions have performed and understand composition and inclinations of the responsive audience.
[0044] As may be understood by those skilled in the art that the proposed brand games would require to validate human input to ensure their efficacy as a brand promotion vehicle.
[0045] Fig 5, according to embodiments as disclosed herein, illustrates the process through which the brand games would be validated for human input and shall ensure that the brand promotion message reaches a diverse group of end users and is not consumed repeatedly by the same set of end users who might be looking only for free bidding rights/credits. To check for human input, the brand games would communicate a series of encrypted result strings to the central module over the network. The central module would check if all the expected strings have been received and if the intervening period between the receipts of two consecutive strings is large enough to suggest human input. If these strings are received in very quick succession, one after the other, then central module would alert a machine coded input and the incentive for completing the brand game would not be passed on to the end user. Similarly, the central module wouldn't credit the bidding rights/credits if all the result strings are not received since that would indicate an incomplete brand game.
[0046] To ensure that the end user is not put off by having to sign in before playing the brand game, the system would first prompt the end user to play the brand game even if he/she is not logged into the bidding platform. If the brand game is successfully completed, the central module shall check if a user was logged in corresponding to the instance of the brand game being displayed. If not, it shall prompt the user to sign in to the bidding platform (for registered and returning users) or register himself/herself, if the user wasn't registered with the bidding platform at all; If the end user who played the brand game and is claiming the free bid rights/credits has played the game in the "very near past" (as specified by the promoting brand), the central module would not credit the bidding rights/credits to the end user's account. The promoting brand shall be able to define the cooling off period ("very near past''), for every brand game, during which a user can receive the bidding credits only once for a particular brand game irrespective of the number of times the end user might have completed the particular brand game in question during that period. For example, if brand "X" uploads a brand game "BG1" in the brand games repository and defines a cooling period of 24 hours, then no user shall be given bidding rights/credits more than once for completing BG1 successfully in any period comprising of successive 24 hours. This should ensure that the end users receive the brand games at a regular frequency and should also ensure that the end users complete different brand games (and interact with different brands or multiple promotions of the same brand) instead of completing a particular brand game again and again to earn extra bidding credits/rights.
[0047] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an exemplary computing environment 602 implementing the method and system, according to embodiments disclosed herein. As depicted the computing environment 602 comprises at least one processing unit 604 that is equipped with a control unit 606 and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) 608, a memory 610, a storage unit 612, plurality of networking devices 614 and a plurality of Input/Output (I/O) devices 616. The processing unit 604 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. The processing unit 604 receives commands from the control unit 606 in order to perform its processing. Further, any logical and arithmetic operations involved in the execution of the instructions are computed with the help of the ALU 608.
[0048] The overall computing environment 602 can be composed of multiple homogeneous and/or heterogeneous cores, multiple CPUs of different kinds, special media and other accelerators. The processing unit 604 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. Further, the plurality of processing units 604 may be located on a single chip or over multiple chips.
[0049] The algorithm comprising of instructions and codes required for the implementation are stored in either the memory unit 610 or the storage 612 or both. At the time of execution, the instructions may be fetched from the corresponding memory 610 and/or storage 612, and executed by the processing unit 604.
[0050] In case of any hardware implementations, various networking devices 614 or external I/O devices 616 may be connected to the computing environment to support the implementation through the networking unit and the I/O device unit. [0051] In an embodiment herein, once the end user identities himself/herself as having successfully completed the brand game, his/her information may be captured by the bidding platform and shared with an authorized entity, such as the promoting brand, thus enabling the promoting brand to collect data around the reception of its brand promotional messages and also to enable the brand to direct suitable follow up campaigns or purchase incentives to those who have already interacted with the brand and have successfully absorbed the brand's message.
[0052] Advantage of this mechanism is that the users get opportunity to get bidding platform for free of cost or for a lesser amount. At the same time, the website (bidding platform) can charge the brands for displaying their brand games as internet advertisements (on other websites) or for displaying the brand games (on its own website) or for displaying the brand games when solicited by the end user and for crediting the end users' accounts with bidding rights/credits as reward for interacting with the brands. So the website owners can compensate loss occurred due to selling bidding platform for free of cost or for lesser amount from the revenue generated by means of the brand games.
[0053] Combining a bidding platform with interactive (internet based) brand games, which can be solicited through print, audio-video or internet media and require the end users to identify themselves and have an involved interactions with the sponsoring brand(s) takes care of the concerns mentioned in the background section. These brand games would command a better recall and conversion rate amongst the end users and hence would enjoy higher advertising rates. Also since the users would receive free/discounted bidding rights in lieu of their successful participation, they would identify themselves to claim the bidding rights and this would lead to enriched and targeted data for the sponsoring brand. This would also eliminate the need to show a multitude of advertisements on the bidding platform(s) thus keeping the bidding experience uncluttered and smooth.
[0054] Providing bidding rights in lieu of brand interactions ensures that the bidding rights can be used on a bidding platform where there would be multiple products put up for auction over a period of time. This ensures that the user gets a choice in terms of the prize object he/she wants to acquire.
[0055] Since, in a bidding platform, the winner is determined through the proceedings of an auction, the end participant can strategize and participate in the process and is not dependent on luck alone to determine the final result vis-a-vis participation in lucky draws and sweepstakes.
[0056] Since even a single bid can win the auction1"" leading to a monetarily significant prize object, providing even one bid for free (as incentive) to the users keeps them interested in each of the individual brand interactions. This ensures that the incentive (free/discounted bidding rights) can be distributed to a large audience population while retaining their interest in each of the individual interactions. This is in contrast to the problems highlighted with discount coupons, gift vouchers, gift objects and shopping credits/reward points.
[0057] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in Fig.2 include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0058] The embodiment disclosed herein specifies a system for internet auctions. The mechanism allows brand game based access to bidding platform providing a system thereof. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in a preferred embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof, e.g. one processor and two FPGAs. The device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. Thus, the means are at least one hardware means and/or at least one software means. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented in pure hardware or partly in hardware and partly in software. The device may also include only software means. Alternatively, the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs.
[0059] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can. by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.

Claims

CLAIMS I claim:
1 . A method for enabling a user to use a bidding portal, the method comprising of
offering at least one bidding credit to the user by an auction server, on the user completing at least one brand game successfully; and
enabling the user to use the offered bidding credit(s) to participate in auction(s) on the bidding portal by the auction server.
2. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the user accesses the brand game in a solicited manner.
3. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the user accesses the brand game in an unsolicited manner.
4. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of selecting the brand game to be offered to the user, based on the user information available.
5. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of checking and regulating frequency at which the brand games are shown to different users.
6. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of the auction server validating human input.
7. The method, as claimed in claim 6, wherein the method of val idating human input further comprises of
receiving a plurality of encrypted result strings by the auction server when the brand game is in progress; and
checking if the intervals between successive encrypted result strings received are sufficient to suggest human input by the auction server.
8. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of identifying the user before crediting the bidding credit(s) to an account associated with the user on the bidding platform.
9. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of providing data related to user characteristics and brand game consumption to at least one authorized entity.
1 0. The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of the auction server enabling the user to store the bidding credit(s) for future use.
1 1 . The method, as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises of the auction server enabling the user to purchase at least one cred it using generic means.
12. A computer program product for enabling a user to access a bidding portal, the product comprising:
an integrated circuit comprising at least one processor;
at least one memory having a computer program code within said circuit, wherein said at least one memory and said computer program code with said at least one processor cause said product to:
offering at least one bidd ing credit to the user, on the user completing at least one brand game successful ly; and
enabling the usage of the bidding credit(s), by the user, to participate in auction(s) on the bidding portal.
1 3. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to enable the user to access the brand game in a solicited manner.
14. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to enable the user to access the brand game in an unsolicited manner.
15. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to select the brand game to be offered to the user, based on the available user information.
16. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to check and regulate frequency with which brand games are shown to individual users.
1 7. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to validate human input.
1 8. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 17, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to validate human input by
receiving a plurality of encrypted result strings by the auction server when the brand game is in progress; and
checking if the intervals between successive encrypted result strings received are sufficient to suggest human input.
19. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to enable the user to store the at least one credit for future use.
20. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to enable the user to purchase at least one bidding credit using generic means.
21 . The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to identify the user before crediting the bidding credit(s) to an account associated with the user on the bidding portal.
22. The computer program product, as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one processor further causes said product to provide data related to the user characteristics and brand game consumption to an authorized entity.
PCT/IN2013/000313 2012-05-11 2013-05-13 Auction platform where free bidding rights are provided as incentive for participating in brand interactions WO2013168184A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IN1461/DEL/2012 2012-05-11
IN1461DE2012 2012-05-11

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