WO2019130067A1

WO2019130067A1 - Method and system for advertising by online contests for prizes

Info

Publication number: WO2019130067A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/050002
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dong Heon Lee
Original assignee: Dong Heon Lee
Priority date: 2018-01-01
Filing date: 2018-01-01
Publication date: 2019-07-04

Abstract

A method and a system for conducting one or more electronically-implemented Online Contests, comprising: receiving an flexibly-customizable Online Contest specification comprising the Online Contest event date(s) and time(s) and duration(s), specification of Online Contest Content (including type, contents, rules, and winning criteria), specifications of the Prizes and the Fringe Benefits, and specification of the associating Advertisement; releasing the Advertisement according to the Advertisement specification; registering Participants as per User's request; executing the Online Contest according to the Online Contest specification and generating scores from the Participants' input according to the Online Contest rules, and selecting Winners based on the Participants' scores and the Online Contest winning criteria; and awarding the Winners the Prizes and awarding the Participants the Fringe Benefits wherein the Prizes and the Fringe Benefits are sponsored by the Advertisers with Vouchers for their own products and/or services they intend to advertise through the Online Contest.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADVERTISING BY ONLINE CONTESTS FOR PRIZES

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Field of the Invention:

[0001] The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for providing advertising. Particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for providing advertising in the form of conducting Online Contests for Prizes.

Background of the Invention:

[0002] Currently, online advertising is one of the most popular channels of marketing one’s products and services. Online advertising includes search engine result ranking, advertising, slogans, banners, and popups placements in search engine result pages, online social media web sites, other popular online destinations, and mobile apps. Although much development has been made in improving the effectiveness of these online advertising in terms of targeting and engaging the intended audience, the constant bombardment of overwhelming information has caused many online users to develop a natural tendency to ignore advertisements. Still increasing number of online users are adopting advertising-blocking or screening technologies. As such, there is an unmet need of a system or method of online advertising that can better target and capture the attention of the intended audience.

Summary of the Invention: [0003] The present invention provides a method and a system for facilitating one or more Online Contests, each sponsored by one or more Advertisers. The Online Contests are arranged as regularly as possible. Each Online Contest’s specification can be flexibly customized to meet the Advertisers’ various needs. In each Online Contest, Users become Participants by joining the Online Contest, and Participants play a specific Online Contest Content selected for the Online Contest to be Winners. Winners are awarded Prizes, and Participants may be given Fringe Benefits, wherein the Prizes and Fringe Benefits are sponsored by the one or more Advertisers with Vouchers for their own products and/or services they intend to advertise through the Online

Contest. In relation to the Online Contests held, one or more relevant Advertisements for the sponsoring Advertisers’ products and/or services are released and placed in one or more online and/or offline channels, such as online user interfaces (e.g. web pages, mobile apps, and computer applications) provided by the Online Contest System or the Advertisers, Internet search engines’ search result web pages, online social media web pages, unsolicited advertising e-mail and instant messages, indoor and outdoor advertising signage as non-limiting examples.

[0004] In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, methods are provided for conducting online advertising using various forms of

Online Contests for Prizes. Provided also is a system that implements the aforesaid methods. The system comprises at least one or more computer servers having processors configured to execute machine instmctions for hosting, running, and managing one or more Online Contests for Prizes at any one time in accordance to the aforesaid methods.

[0005] The terms and their definitions listed in the following table are adopted throughout this document:

Brief Description of the Drawings:

[0006] Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0007] FIG. 1 depicts an activity flow of an Online Contest process in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention; and

[0008] FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram illustrating an Online Contest

System in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description: [0009] In the following description, methods and systems for facilitating one or more Online Contests are set forth as preferred examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications, including additions and/or substitutions, may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Specific details may be omitted so as not to obscure the invention; however, the disclosure is written to enable one skilled in the art to practice the teachings herein without undue experimentation.

[0010] In accordance to various embodiments of the present invention, methods are provided for online advertising conducting one or more Online Contests. Each Online Contest is sponsored by one or more Advertisers. The Online Contests are arranged as regularly as possible. Each Online Contest’s specification can be flexibly customized to meet the Advertisers’ various needs. In each Online Contest, Users become Participants by joining the Online Contest, and Participants play a specific Online Contest Content selected for the Online Contest to be Winners. Winners are awarded Prizes, and Participants may be given Fringe Benefits, wherein the Prizes and Fringe Benefits are sponsored by the one or more Advertisers with Vouchers for their own products and/or services they intend to advertise through the Online Contest. In relation to the Online Contests held, one or more relevant Advertisements for the sponsoring Advertisers’ products and/or services are released and placed in one or more online and/or offline channels, such as online user interfaces (e.g. web pages, mobile apps, and computer applications) provided by the Online Contest System or the Advertisers, Internet search engines’ search result web pages, online social media web pages, unsolicited advertising e-mail and instant messages, indoor and outdoor advertising signage as non-limiting examples.

[0011] Provided also is a system that implements the aforesaid methods.

The system comprises at least one or more computer servers having processors configured to execute machine instmctions for hosting, running, and managing Online Contests for Prizes in accordance to the aforesaid methods. The one or more computer servers may also include one or more databases for the non- transient storage of data pertaining to the Online Contests for Prizes, Users, Advertisers, Advertisements, Prize, Fringe Benefits, and Vouchers.

[0012] The data recorded and stored in the databases may include identifier data on Users, Advertisers, Online Contests, Prizes, Fringe Benefits, Vouchers, and Online Contest date and time, duration, and repeating frequency, Online Contest Participants, Prize and Fringe Benefit description, Voucher redeemable values, Voucher-issuing Advertisers, associated products and/or services, Voucher holders, Online Contest Winners, and Voucher redeeming. These one or more computer servers may be logically termed as the Online Contest System, and the machine instmctions may be logically organized and grouped into a plurality of execution modules to be executed separately and collectively by one or more of the computer servers in Online Contest System.

[0013] The Online Contest System may also provide various user interfaces (UIs) and application programing interfaces (APIs) for the Online Contests. The UIs provided can be in the form of static and transactional web pages (websites) accessible through the Internet and/or other data networks, computer applications running in personal computers and laptop computers, and mobile apps mnning in tablets and smartphones. The APIs may be implemented according to common industrial standards, which allow machine-to-machine data exchanges including data exchanges between the Online Contest System and a plurality of User Terminals and Advertiser Terminals (e.g. personal computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, kiosks, and terminals running customized and/or specially configured computer applications and/or mobile apps).

[0014] The system further comprises one group of computing devices, such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, kiosks, and terminals running customized and/or specially configured software applications including UIs for enabling Advertisers to setup, manage, and monitor Online Contests through accessing data from the databases and exchanging data with the Online Contest System. These computing devices may be logically named as Advertiser Terminals. [0015] The system further comprises another group of computing devices, such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, kiosks, and terminals mnning customized and/or specially configured software applications including UIs for enabling Users to participate in the Online Contests through accessing data from the databases and exchanging data with the Online Contest System. These computing devices may be logically named as User Terminals. The Online Contest System, Advertiser Terminals, and User Terminals are connected by data communication network, e.g. the Internet.

[0016] In accordance to the foregoing aspect, the method comprises organizing an online advertising campaign in the form of an Online Contest for one or more Prizes to be awarded to one or more Winners and Fringe Benefits to be given to one or more Participants. The Prizes and Fringe Benefits are sponsored by one or more Advertisers with Vouchers for their own products and/or services they intend to advertise. The term “own” includes both “manufactured/provided by” and“handled by” depending on the Advertiser’s business type. For example, if an Advertiser is a manufacturer then“own products” mean products“manufactured by” it; if an Advertiser is a service provider then“own services” mean services“provided by” it; if an Advertiser is a trader or distributor or retailer then“own products” mean products“handled by” it. While Prizes are to be won by the Online Contest Winners, Participants in the Online Contest may also receive Fringe Benefits. In accordance to one embodiment, a Voucher is an electronic Voucher having a data string that may be encoded and/or encrypted using commonly available data encoding and encryption technologies readable by the Online Contest System, User Terminals, and Advertiser Terminals, and recognized as a representation of or a reference to a Voucher identifier, a Voucher-issuing Advertiser identifier, associated products and/or services, a Voucher redeemable value, and a Voucher holder identifier.

[0017] In accordance to another embodiment, a Voucher is a physical

Voucher (e.g. paper, card, etc.) printed with a machine -readable encoded data (e.g. serial number, barcode, and/or QR code) and/or human-readable text representing or referring to a Voucher identifier, a Voucher-issuing Advertiser identifier, associated products and/or services, a Voucher redeemable value, and a Voucher holder identifier. In accordance to yet another embodiment, a product or service is directly given to a Winner or Participant without issuing any electronic or physical Voucher. In this case, it can be regarded as a Voucher having been issued and redeemed instantly and automatically. A Voucher can be a Free Voucher or a Discount Voucher.

[0018] Through the commanding and operation of the Online Contest

System, one or more Online Contests are organized and held. Each Online Contest can be flexibly configured by the Online Contest Organizer and/or the one or more sponsoring Advertisers by setting its specification using the corresponding UIs provided by the Online Contest System. The specification includes the Online Contest event date(s) and time(s), duration(s) and repeating frequency(ies), specification of Online Contest Content (including type, contents, rules, and winning criteria), participation conditions of the Online Contest (if any), specification of the Prizes and the Fringe Benefits, and specification of the associating Advertisement(s). The Online Contest System allows one or more ready-made Online Contest specifications predefined by the Online Contest Organizer and stored in the Online Contest System for selection and use in the subsequent configuration of each Online Contest, so as to facilitate a plurality of Online Contests.

[0019] Prizes and Fringe Benefits can be Free Vouchers and/or Discount

Vouchers to be exchanged for the Advertisers’ own products and/or services for free or for discounted prices, wherein it is typical that the Advertisers’ products and/or services associated with the Vouchers are the ones that the Advertisers intend to advertise to the Target Audience through the Online Contest. Different levels of Prizes and Fringe Benefits can be specified, e.g. first place Winner may get a Voucher that has the largest monetary value and mnner-ups may get Vouchers of lesser values. In addition, different types of Prizes and Fringe Benefits can be specified, e.g. Vouchers for exchanging for different products and/or services from different Advertisers. Participation conditions of the Online Contest may be set to allowing specific demographic (e.g. age, gender, occupation, education level, income level, marital status, etc.) group(s) and geographic (e.g. network address ranges of the User Terminals that are corresponding to certain cities) group(s) of Users to participate in the Online Contest, and excluding others from participation.

[0020] In accordance to one embodiment, the Online Contest Content can be of speed trivia quiz type in an elimination tournament or round-robin tournament as non-limiting examples with the Online Contest Participants participating concurrently or in separate times when the Online Contest is in progress. In accordance to another embodiment, the Online Contest Content can be of multi-player arcade game types. In the Online Contest Contents, mles and winning criteria can be customized based on the Target Audience and/or the advertised products and/or services. For example, the content of a speed trivia quiz type Online Contest Content can be specified by the Advertiser to be about infant care for the Target Audience being young mothers of newborns. In general, the Online Contest is designed to provide the Participants with a perception that winning is achieved by skills and efforts rather than by sheer luck so as to upheld the Participants’ hope, engagement, and thrill. Furthermore, the Users can also expect performance improvements in future Online Contests with more practices, hence are motivated for continuous and frequent participations in Online Contests. The Online Contest is also designed and developed in consideration of data traffic over the network infrastructure, computer server capacity, the number of simultaneous Participants, and other concurrently held Online Contests, if any, by the same Online Contest System so that it can be executed without substantial response latency or performance degradation.

[0021] Because each Online Contest can be specified by the Online

Contest Organizer and more than one Advertisers, also because the Prizes and Fringe Benefits can be sponsored by more than one Advertisers, the Advertisers and the Online Contest Organizer are to cooperatively set the Online Contest specification. For example, the start date and time and duration, and participation conditions (if any) of the Online Contest must be cooperatively decided in consistent with the intention of targeting the Target Audience common to all Advertisers sponsoring the Online Contest. The Online Contest System is configured to coordinate the different requirements such as Target Audience and Online Contest specification input by different Advertisers, and to resolve any conflict from competing requirements.

[0022] In accordance to one embodiment, selected Online Contest

Contents can be made available and accessible by the Online Contest System to Users and non-Users for amusement or practice independently of any Online Contest.

[0023] In accordance to one embodiment, the system provides the facility to create and display online Advertisements. An Advertisement of an Online Contest contains general information about the Advertisers and direct information about the sponsoring Advertisers’ products and/or services posted for Online Contest Prizes and Fringe Benefits to attract more direct attention of Users and non-Users to the Advertisers and their products and/or services they intend to advertise through the Online Contest. The Advertisement can be specified to be released at specific time and date and for specific duration, but preferably immediately before, during, and/or immediately after the Online Contest. For example, an Online Contest Advertisement in an independent entity (e.g. having an independent image or video clip) can be released shortly before the Online Contest to entice anticipation; or an Online Contest Advertisement constituting part of an Online Contest Content can decorate the background of the Online Contest Content while the Online Contest is in progress. An Online Contest Advertisement can also be configured to be followed by one or more questions to the viewers to gauge the viewer’s memory of the Advertisement content and provide certain advantage in the associated Online Contest so as to incentivize the Participants to pay more attention to the Online Contest Advertisement. All the available Advertisements are archived in the database and made available for search and access by Users. [0024] Referring to FIG. 1. In accordance to one embodiment of the present invention, the method of delivering and managing online advertising by Online Contests for Prizes comprises:

Step (110): the general public (non-Users) become Users by registering in the Online Contest System;

Step (120): the Online Contest Organizer arranges one or more Online Contests in the Online Contest System (as regularly as possible) with various Advertisers and a plurality of Users;

Step (130): Advertisers become Members by registering in the Online Contest System;

Step (140): Users play Online Contest Contents for amusement or practice independently of any Online Contest; and

Step (150): Users search for and view Advertisements in the Advertisement Archive after their initial releases. Step (110) and Step (120) are mandatory while Step (130), Step (140), and Step (150) are optional. The foregoing steps may be executed in parallel simultaneously or in sequence.

[0025] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (110) comprises the following. In this step, the general public, including persons, companies, and other entities (non-Users) become Users in the Online Contest System by accessing and registering in the Online Contest System. The general public can access the Online Contest System via computing devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, kiosks, and terminals equipped with UIs provided by and downloadable from the Online Contest System; the UIs can be mobile apps, computer applications, websites, and the likes. The registration process requires the registering person/company to provide his/her identity and credential information such as preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics (fingerprints, voice, face, etc.), name, identifier number (e.g. passport number, national ID number, company registration number), date of birth, gender, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, education, career, income, and family information. The specific set of identity and credential information required can vary depending on different jurisdictions’ laws and regulations, and the Online Contest Organizer’s preferences and strategies. With the credential (e.g. user ID and password, biometrics, security tokens issued by other service providers such as Social Networking Service providers, and public key certificates) registered with and/or granted by the Online Contest System through the registration process, the registering person/company is recognized as a User and can log in via User Terminals equipped with the UIs provided by the Online Contest System.

[0026] If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (110) is executed by the internal User Information Management Subsystem (UIMS) (210) and the external User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that non-Users register in the Online Contest System by inputting, storing, processing, and retrieving data such as identity and credential information via their User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, the data are transmitted between those User Terminals (260) and UIMS (210), and the data are processed and stored by UIMS (210).

[0027] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (120) comprises the following. In this step, the Online Contest Organizer arranges one or more Online Contests in the Online Contest System as regularly as possible with various Advertisers and a plurality of Users. Each Online Contest is sponsored by one or more Advertisers with Vouchers for their own products and/or services, which the Advertisers intend to advertise, for the Prizes and Fringe Benefits of the Online Contest. The process of how one single Online Contest is conducted may be further broken down to seven sub-steps with details described below. (Note that Step (120) for one or more Online Contests is implemented by repeating those seven sub-steps for one Online Contest.)

[0028] Step (121) comprises two parts: part one - the Online Contest

Organizer and the one or more sponsoring Advertisers decide on the specification of an Online Contest; and part two - the Online Contest Organizer prepares for the Online Contest in the Online Contest System reflecting the decided specification. In part one, the Online Contest Organizer communicates with the one or more sponsoring Advertisers to decide on the specification of the Online Contest. The communication between the Online Contest Organizer and the one or more sponsoring Advertisers can be carried out either offline or online. In the case of online, the Advertisers are provided with one or more UIs provided by the Online Contest System through which the Advertisers can send their enquiries and requirements, and receive the Online Contest Organizer’s feedback and questions. The UIs for the Advertisers can be mobile apps, computer applications, transactional websites, automated or non-automated telephone calls, etc. The specification of the Online Contests to be decided include, but are not limited to, the following:

[0029] i. What is to be advertised: Different Advertisers can have different needs in advertising. For example, some wants to advertise its overall business or brand, while some wants to advertise its specific products or services. Online Contests can cover any or all of those Advertisers’ needs. Even if an Advertiser wants to advertise its overall business or brand rather than any specific products or services, it should select some of its own (including manufactured, provided, or handled by it) specific products or services which will be provided for the Prizes and Fringe Benefits. Subsequently this information can be included in the Advertisement to be released for the Online Contest.

[0030] ii. Specification of Target Audience: The specification of Target

Audience can include age, gender, location region, education level, career, income, family information, and so on.

[0031] iii. Specification of Prizes and Fringe Benefits: The specification of Prizes and Fringe Benefits can include the types of Vouchers (e.g. which type between Free Voucher and Discount Voucher; Discount Voucher with how much discount), the objects of Vouchers (for what products and/or services), quantity of Vouchers, Voucher expirations, Voucher redeeming method, and so on. An Online Contest may have different types of Vouchers which can be used for different products and/or services. For example, if an Advertiser wants to advertise two models of its products, then the Vouchers can be designed in such a way that the first Winner is awarded a Voucher for model No. 1 product and the other runner-up Winners are awarded Vouchers for model No. 2.

[0032] iv. Date and time, duration, and repeating frequency of the Online

Contest: Considering what is to be advertised and the specification of Target Audience, the most suitable date and time should be selected. For example, if the service to be advertised is a healthcare service for the retired old people and therefore the Target Audience is the retired elderly, the date and time of the Online Contest is best set to morning session of a weekday during which the retired elderly would have time to join the Online Contest while most of others cannot. For another example, if an Advertiser needs to discourage a certain group of Users from participating in its Online Contest, the Online Contest can be scheduled to the same date and time of another Online Contest whose T arget Audience is that group of Users and therefore which is expected to absorb that group of Users. For yet another example, in the case where a series of Online Contests rather than a single Online Contest is better to advertise a certain product or service, multiple dates and times can be selected for such a series of Online Contests.

[0033] v. A specific Online Contest Content: Considering what is to be advertised and the specification of Target Audience, the most suitable Online Contest Content should be selected. For example, if the product to be advertised is for infants, then the Online Contest Content can be chosen as a quiz about knowledge of infant care because the product’s Target Audience could be mothers who presently have infants. For another example, if the product to be advertised is a general consumable such as fruit juice, then the Online Contest Content can be chosen as a very simple game that everybody can play with no special skills (e.g. a game where snow falls down in a scattered way and players who succeed in exactly counting how many flakes of snow have fallen down to the land can survive and advance to the next harder stage). For yet another example, if the service to be advertised is an online game and the Prizes are its 1 -month free subscriptions, then the Online Contest Content can be chosen as the online game itself. To maximize advertising effectiveness, the online game can be open to Users for free for a certain period of time before the Online Contest begins so that Users can practice it. For yet another example, if the product to be advertised is a sports car then the Online Contest Content can be chosen as an online racing game to entice those Users who are aspired drivers to join the Online Contest. For still another example, if it is decided that participating in the Online Contest as teams of Users instead of individual Users may maximize advertising effectiveness, then the Online Contest Content can be chosen as a team-play game where the Participants can group into teams of their choices or as arranged automatically by the Online Contest Content. Thus, the specification of an Online Contest Content includes the type (e.g. game, tournament, quiz/test, etc.), contents (e.g. quiz/test questions, etc.), rules, and winning criteria.

[0034] From a technical perspective, the number of Participants can affect each Online Contest Content’s performance. So, the estimated number of Participants must also be taken into consideration in choosing a specific Online Contest Content. In general, a pool of Online Contest Contents may be predefined by the Online Contest Organizer and be preserved in the Online Contest System for retrieval and selection. An Advertiser may also create an Online Contest Content, so long as there is no compatibility issue in interfacing with the Online Contest System in which the Online Contest Content is mounted and executed, and no regulatory (e.g. compliance with gaming ordinance) issue. Similarly, Online Contest Contents may also be created by third parties and be preserved in the Online Contest System for retrieval and selection.

[0035] vi. Conditions to participate in the Online Contest (if any): If an

Advertiser requires to allow only a selected group of Users to participate in its Online Contest, and if other Advertisers in the same Online Contest (if any) and the Online Contest Organizer all agree to the Advertiser’s requirement, then the Online Contest can be set to allowing only the selected group of Users to participate in the Online Contest. For example, in an Online Contest sponsored by one Advertiser, if the Advertiser wants only those Users who reside in (or access from) a certain city, then the Online Contest System checks each User’s residential address in his/her identity information (or IP address) to locate where he/she resides (or accesses from) and allow only Users residing in (or accessing from) that city to participate in the Online Contest. For another example, in an Online Contest sponsored by two Advertisers, if both of them want to target only Users aged 20 to 30 and it is agreed by the Online Contest Organizer, then the Online Contest can check each User’s date of birth in his/her identity information to check his/her age and allow only the Users aged 20 to 30 to participate in the Online Contest. The conditions to participate may also be configured in consideration of technical aspects, such as data network and server capacity. For example, the conditions to participate in the Online Contest are set to allowing only the first 100 Participants to join the Online Contest. For another example, the conditions to participate are set to allowing Users whose IP address region is the same as that of the Online Contest System.

[0036] vii. Specification of a quiz attached to an Advertisement on an

Online Contest (if any): In the case where an Advertisement is accompanied by a quiz for evaluating how well a User remembers the Advertisement and gives the User who achieve certain results in the quiz (e.g. high score) some advantages in the Online Contest; the specification of how to conduct the quiz, what the certain results are and what advantages to be granted need to be decided.

[0037] viii. Specification of how to expose the Advertisement of the

Online Contest after the conclusion of the Online Contest (if any): The Advertisement of an Online Contest can be made have enough exposure to Users for a certain period of time even after the conclusion of the Online Contest in which the Advertisement has been initially released. For example, the Online Contest Organizer and the Advertiser(s) relevant to the Advertisement may agree to display the Advertisement for a certain period of time in some Online Contest Contents made available to Users independently of any Online Contest. In such case, the specification of how to expose the archived Advertisement to Users after the conclusion of the Online Contest needs to be decided. [0038] In accordance to one embodiment, the specification of an Online

Contest can be selected from ready-made Online Contest specifications predefined by the Online Contest Organizer and stored in the Online Contest System, so as to facilitate a plurality of Online Contests.

[0039] In part two of Step (121), the Online Contest Organizer prepares for the Online Contest in the Online Contest System reflecting the specification of the Online Contest decided among the Online Contest Organizer and Advertiser(s). The preparation includes, but is not limited to, the following:

[0040] a. The Online Contest Organizer examines in advance whether the decided Online Contest specification has any technical issues. The technical issues may include problems in the Online Contest System interfacing with and mounting the selected Online Contest Content, performance degradation in the computer servers’ processing of all the Participants’ simultaneous actions, performance degradation in the Online Contest System communicating with and updating User Terminals on the real-time progress of the Online Contest Content, problems in implementing the conditions to participate in the Online Contest, problems in processing the quiz attached to the Advertisement, and problems in exposing the Advertisement after the Online Contest.

[0041] b. The Online Contest Organizer examines in advance whether the decided Online Contest specification has any non-technical issues. The non technical issues may include legal issues, tax issues, and license issues. If there is any technical or non-technical issue detected, the Online Contest Organizer, with consent of the Advertiser(s), resolves the issue or adopts an alternative to ensure that the Online Contest can be executed without problems.

[0042] c. If Vouchers are to be issued online (e.g. sent via e-mail, downloaded from User Terminals, websites provided by the Online Contest System, or websites provided by the Advertiser(s)), the Online Contest Organizer arranges, or has the Advertiser(s) arrange, how to issue the Vouchers online, in advance.

[0043] d. If Vouchers are to be issued offline (including the case in which a product and/or a service is directly awarded and delivered without issuing any electronic or physical Voucher), the Online Contest Organizer arranges, or has the Advertiser(s) arrange, the delivery logistics, in advance.

[0044] In general, part one and part two are carried out in sequence.

However, they may have mutual feedbacks in such a way that the process steps flow through from part one to part two then back to part one again, and the likes.

[0045] If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (121) is executed by the internal Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220), in such a way that the data (e.g. specification of Prizes and Fringe Benefits) and requirements (e.g. the selected Online Contest Content is mounted onto OCMS (220)) related to the specification of an Online Contest are processed and stored by the OCMS (220).

[0046] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (122) comprises the following. In this step, the Online Contest Organizer and the Advertiser(s) embody an Advertisement in the Online Contest System. An Advertisement can be created by the Online Contest Organizer, the Advertiser(s), or third parties. In any case, it is required for the Online Contest Organizer and each Advertiser to agree on the finalized Advertisement to be released. An Advertisement’s contents and how an Advertisement is embodied in the Online Contest System can be flexibly customized for maximizing advertising effectiveness. For one of the simplest examples, it may be decided that only the Advertiser’s name is shown before the Online Contest begins without any further information elsewhere as long as it is expected to impose a deep and strong impact - in this example, the Advertisement’s content is the Advertiser’s name only and how the Advertisement is embodied is having the Online Contest System releasing the Advertisement before the Online Contest begins.

[0047] The Advertisement’s contents are strongly recommended to contain direct information about the Advertisers’ products and/or services provided for the Prizes and Fringe Benefits so that Users can pay more attention to the Advertisement because they can be really given those products and/or services being promoted in the Advertisement for free or at a discount if they win or join the Online Contest. The Advertisement’s contents can contain other information as well including general information about the Advertisers and their overall product and/or service offerings. The Advertisement’s contents should always comply with relevant regulations and laws. The Advertisement can be embodied in a variety of forms including text, image, video, and combinations thereof. An Advertisement can be embodied in an independent entity (e.g. an independent image or video), in such a way as to constitute part of the Online Contest Content (e.g. an Advertisement which constitutes the background of an Online Contest Content), or in whatever way as long as it can maximize the advertising effectiveness. In the case where an Advertisement is embodied in an independent entity, the Advertisement may be released around (immediately before, during, and/or immediately after) the corresponding Online Contest. No matter how an Advertisement is embodied in the Online Contest System, it is required for the Online Contest Organizer to examine in advance whether there is any technical, and regulatory issue before it is released.

[0048] If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System as depicted in FIG. 2, Step (122) is executed by the internal Advertisement Management Subsystem (AMS) (230) in such a way that the data and requirements related to the Advertisement are processed and stored by AMS (230).

[0049] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (123) comprises the following. In this step, the Online Contest Organizer announces the specification of the Online Contest, which have been decided in Step (121), to Users. The announcement can be carried out in a variety of ways including displaying the specification in the corresponding UIs provided by the Online Contest System and/or sending notices (e.g. e-mail, instant messages, and SMS) containing the specification to the Users. The announcement for one Online Contest can be carried out multiple times if needed. The corresponding Advertisement created in Step (122) can be included in the announcement to give more information to Users and to attract more attention from them accordingly. [0050] If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (123) is executed by the internal Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220) in such a way that the data and requirements related to the announcements are processed and stored by OCMS (220). In general, Step (122) and Step (123) are conducted in sequence. However, depending on the situation (e.g. tight schedule), they can be conducted in parallel as well.

[0051] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (124) comprises the following. In this step, a User views multiple Online Contests’ specifications and decides on which one to participate in. Depending on the User’s decision, this step generates one of the two outcomes for each Online Contest with respect to the User: participate or not participate. Users view multiple Online Contests’ specifications in the UIs provided by the Online Contest System, and/or through notices (e.g. e-mail, instant messages, and SMS) received. If a User registers for participation in an Online Contest, the User is recognized by the Online Contest System as a Participant of the Online Contest.

[0052] If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (124) is executed by the internal Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220) and the external User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that Users take actions regarding their participation in the Online Contest via their User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, the data about those actions and the corresponding feedbacks are transmitted between the User Terminals (260) and OCMS (220), and the data about the actions and the corresponding feedbacks are processed and stored by OCMS (220).

[0053] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (125) comprises the following. In this step, the Online Contest is operated as planned and announced, Winners are chosen by the Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220) at the conclusion of the Online Contest. If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (125) is executed by the internal OCMS (220) and the external User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that Users take actions such as watching the Advertisement, taking the quiz accompanying the Advertisement, and playing the Online Contest Content in the Online Contest via their User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, the data about those actions and the corresponding feedbacks are transmitted between the User Terminals (260) and OCMS (220), and the data about the actions and the corresponding feedbacks are processed and stored by OCMS (220).

[0054] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (126) comprises the following. In this step, Winners are awarded Prizes and Participants are awarded Fringe Benefits (if any) in the form of Vouchers. In the case where a product or service is directly given to a Winner or Participant without issuing any electronic or physical Voucher is also regarded as a Voucher having been issued, awarded, and redeemed instantly and automatically. Vouchers can be issued either online (e.g. sent via e-mail, instant messages, or SMS, or downloaded from the mobile apps running in tablets and smartphones, computer applications mnning in personal computers, laptop computers, kiosks, and terminals, or websites provided by the Online Contest Organizer or the Advertisers )), or offline. If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (126) is executed by the internal Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220) and the external User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that the data on the Winners and Participants being awarded Prizes and Fringe Benefits are transmitted between the User Terminals (260) and OCMS (220), and the data are processed and stored by OCMS (220) and the corresponding User Terminals (260) so that the Users can view such data through the UIs provided in the User Terminals (260).

[0055] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (127) comprises the following. In this step, each Advertiser is informed of who are eligible for Prizes and Fringe Benefits so that the Advertiser can prepare for the redemption of the Vouchers. The informing action can be carried out either online or offline. If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (127), if conducted online, is executed by the internal Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220) and the external Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that data on the Winners and Participants being awarded Prizes and Fringe Benefits are transmitted between Advertiser Terminals (270) and OCMS (220), and the data are processed and stored by OCMS (220) and the corresponding Advertiser Terminals (270) so that the Advertiser can view such data through the UIs provided in the Advertiser Terminals (270).

[0056] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (130) comprises the following. In this step, Advertisers become registered Members in the Online Contest System by accessing and registering in the Online Contest System. The Advertisers can access the Online Contest System via computing devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, kiosks, and terminals equipped with UIs provided by and downloadable from the Online Contest System; the UIs can be mobile apps, computer applications, websites, and the likes. The registration process requires the registering person/company to provide its identity and credential information such as preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics (fingerprints, voice, face, etc.), name, identifier number (e.g. company or business registration number), date of incorporation, business details, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, financial status, career, and corporate governance. The specific set of identity and credential information required varies depending on different jurisdictions’ laws and regulations, and the Online Contest Organizer’s preferences and strategies. With the credential (e.g. user ID and password, biometrics, security tokens issued by other service providers such as Social Networking Service providers, and public key certificates) registered with and/or granted by the Online Contest System through the registration process, the registering person/company is recognized as a Member and can log in via Advertiser Terminals equipped with the UIs provided by the Online Contest System. [0057] If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (130) is executed by the internal Member Information Management Subsystem (MIMS) (240) and the external Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that Advertisers register in the Online Contest System by inputting, storing, processing, and retrieving data such as identity and credential information via their Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with the corresponding UIs, the data are transmitted between the Advertiser Terminals (270) and MIMS (240), and the data are processed and stored by MIMS (240). Note that even without Step (130), the mandatory Steps (110) and (120), and especially Step (121) can still function because Step (130) is simply the process by which Advertisers become Members while Step (121) includes online and/or offline communications between the Online Contest Organizer and Advertisers which can be carried out regardless of whether the Advertisers are Members or not.

[0058] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (140) comprises the following. In this step, Users access and play the Online Contest Contents for amusement or practice independently of any Online Contest. This step requires that the Online Contest Organizer makes available one or more Online Contest Contents to Users independently of the executions of any actual Online Contest. If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (140) is executed by the internal Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220) and the external User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that the Online Contest Organizer selects and makes one or more Online Contest Contents available to Users, Users take actions regarding choosing and playing the Online Contest Contents via their User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, the data about those actions and the corresponding feedbacks are transmitted between those User Terminals (260) and OCMS (220), and the data about the actions and the corresponding feedbacks are processed and stored by OCMS (220). [0059] In accordance to one embodiment, Step (150) comprises the following. In this step, Users search for and/or view Advertisements in the Advertisement Archive after the Advertisements were initially released. Prior to this step, all the available Advertisements created and released are stored in the Advertisement Archive. Step (150) can be initiated either by the User voluntarily, or by the Online Contest Organizer’s action of causing the exposure of the Advertisement (by which Users are passively exposed or induced to the Advertisement) for a certain time duration even after the Advertisement was initially released. If the steps described in FIG. 1 are executed by the subsystems of the Online Contest System depicted in FIG. 2, Step (150) is executed by the internal Advertisement Archive Management Subsystem (AAMS) (250) and the external User Terminals (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, in such a way that AAMS (250) archives and maintains all the available Advertisements, Users take actions regarding searching for and viewing Advertisements via their User Terminal (260) equipped with the corresponding UIs, the data about those actions and the corresponding feedbacks are transmitted between those User Terminals (260) and AAMS (250), and the data about the actions and the corresponding feedbacks are processed and stored by AAMS (250).

[0060] The details of the Online Contest System in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention are depicted in FIG. 2. The Online Contest System comprises the following subsystems: User Information Management Subsystem (UIMS) (210); Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220); Advertisement Management Subsystem (AMS) (230); Member Information Management Subsystem (MIMS) (240); and Advertisement Archive Management Subsystem (AAMS) (250). The foregoing subsystems interface with one another via APIs and/or other data exchange mechanisms well known in the art. The foregoing subsystems are also designed to interface with User Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with UIs provided by the Online Contest System (e.g. mobile apps, computer applications, and websites), via APIs and/or other data exchange mechanisms well known in the art. [0061] The functions ofthe UIs (e.g. mobile apps, computer applications, and websites) for the User Terminals (260) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Register and unregister function by which a User can register in or unregister from the Online Contest System.

2. Login and logout function by which a User can log into (be authenticated) and log out of (be terminated of the authenticated session) the Online Contest System.

3. Settings function by which a User can set his/her own settings of whether to allow notification (if notification function is available), whether to allow to share location information (if location function is available), password change, and identity information update.

4. Online Contest search function by which a User can view all the available Online Contests and those Online Contests that he/she has joined, and can search for a specific Online Contest by specifying search conditions.

5. Online Contest recommendation function (optional) by which the system recommends Online Contests which the User may like by analyzing the User’s past behaviors.

6. Online Contest participation function by which a User can participate in Online Contests.

7. Online Contest execution function by which an Online Contest is carried out by having its Online Contest Content executed and displayed.

8. Voucher management function by which a User can check and manage his/her acquired Vouchers and can retrieve the Voucher’s encoded data (e.g. serial number, bar code, and QR code) if it is required for Voucher holders to present them to the Advertiser to redeem the Vouchers.

9. Online Contest Content play function (optional) by which a User can view all the available Online Contest Contents, can search for particular Online Contest Contents, and can play Online Contest Contents for amusement or practice. 10. Advertisement search function (optional) by which a User can view all the available Advertisements and can search for particular Advertisements by specifying search conditions.

11. Payment function (if needed) by which a User can pay to or receive payments from others including the Online Contest Organizer and Advertisers.

[0062] The functions of the UIs (e.g. mobile apps, computer applications, and websites) for the Advertiser Terminals (270) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Register and unregister function by which an Advertiser can register in or unregister from the Online Contest System.

2. Login and logout function by which an Advertiser can log into (be authenticated) and log out of (be terminated of the authenticated session) the Online Contest System.

3. Settings function by which an Advertiser can set its own settings of whether to allow notification (if notification function is available), password change, identity information update, and corporate information update.

4. Online Contest search function by which an Advertiser can view all the available Online Contests and its sponsored Online Contests, and can search for a specific Online Contest by specifying search conditions.

5. Online Contest reference function (optional) by which the Online Contest System lists up Online Contests which the Advertiser may be interested in for its reference (e.g. other successful Online Contests sponsored by other Advertisers in the same industry).

6. Online Contest monitoring function by which an Advertiser can monitor the whole process of its Online Contest and see the analytics on a real-time basis.

7. Voucher management function by which an Advertiser can check and manage its issued Vouchers and can retrieve the Advertiser’s Vouchers’ encoded data (e.g. serial numbers, bar codes, and QR codes) if it is required for Voucher holders to present them to the Advertiser to redeem the Vouchers.

8. Online Contest Content play function (optional) by which an Advertiser can view all the available Online Contest Contents, can search for the most suitable Online Contest Contents for its needs and can play Online Contest Contents for test.

9. Advertisement search function (optional) by which an Advertiser can view all the available Advertisements and can search for particular Advertisements by specifying search conditions.

10. Payment function (if needed) by which an Advertiser can pay to or receive payments from others including the Online Contest Organizer and Users.

[0063] User Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) can be computing devices, such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, kiosks, and terminals. Subsystem (210), subsystem (220), subsystem (230) and UIs for User Terminals (260) are mandatory part of the invention while the other subsystems (240 and 250) and UIs for Advertiser Terminals (270) are optional.

[0064] The details of UIMS (210) are as follows. The functions of

UIMS (210) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. UIMS (210) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the User information data such as the Users’ identity and credential information including preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics (fingerprints, voice, face, etc.), name, identifier number (e.g. passport number, national ID number, company registration number), date of birth, gender, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, education, career, income, and family information.

2. UIMS (210) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) Users’ credentials to control their access to the Online Contest System. Credentials can include user ID and password, biometrics, security tokens issued by other service providers such as Social Networking Service providers, and public key certificates.

3. UIMS (210) interfaces with the other subsystems and with User

Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with UIs, as needed.

[0065] The details of OCMS (220) are as follows. OCMS (220) is a platform on which different Online Contest Contents (221) can be mounted and executed so that each Online Contest can have the flexibility in choosing the most suitable Online Contest Content. The functions of OCMS (220) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data (e.g. specifications of Prizes and Fringe Benefits), and requirements (e.g. the selected Online Contest Contents (221)) related to the specification of the Online Contests.

2. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements related to the announcements of the specification of the Online Contest to Users.

3. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements to support the UIs’ Online Contest search function.

4. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements (e.g. analyzing the User’s past behaviors) to support the UIs’ Online Contest recommendation function (if any).

5. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements (e.g. extracting other successful Online Contests sponsored by other Advertisers in the same industry) to support the UIs’ Online Contest reference function (if any).

6. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements on the Users’ actions and the corresponding feedbacks related to Users’ participation in Online Contests.

7. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements on the Users’ actions during the execution of the Online Contests (e.g. watching the Advertisement, taking the in-Advertisement quiz, and playing the Online Contest Content), and the corresponding feedbacks related to the execution of Online Contests.

8. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements on the Online Contest results (e.g. which Users are awarded Prizes and Fringe Benefits). 9. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements related to the mounting of Online Contest Contents (221) on it.

10. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements on Users’ actions and the corresponding feedbacks related to Users’ selecting and playing Online Contest Contents (221), especially which are made available to Users for amusement or practice independently of any Online Contest (if any).

11. OCMS (220) interfaces with the other subsystems and with User Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with UIs, as needed.

12. OCMS (220) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements on the computing sessions of concurrently held and/or duration-overlapped multiple Online Contests.

[0066] Online Contest Contents (221 ) have the following characteristics:

1. Online Contest Contents are designed in a variety of forms including quizzes, games, tournaments and so on for the purpose of selection of Winners for Prizes.

2. Online Contest Contents are primarily designed to provide its Participants a perception that the winning is achieved by efforts and skills rather than by sheer luck so as to upheld the Participants’ hope, engagement, and thrill. Furthermore, the Users can also expect performance improvements in future Online Contests with more practices, hence are motivated for continuous and frequent participations in Online Contests.

3. Online Contest Contents are designed and developed in full consideration of data traffic over data network and computing capacity of the infrastructure in which the Online Contest System is implemented, the number of simultaneous Participants, and the number of the concurrently held Online Contests so as to avoid any UI response latency or system shutdown even with large numbers of Participants in concurrently held multiple Online Contests.

[0067] The details of AMS (230) are as follows. The functions of AMS

(230) include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. AMS (230) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements related to Advertisements.

2. AMS (230) interfaces with the other subsystems and with User

Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with UIs, as needed.

[0068] The details of MIMS (240) are as follows. The functions of

MIMS (240) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. MIMS (240) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the Advertiser Member information data including Members’ identity and credential information including preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics (fingerprints, voice, face, etc.), name, identifier number (e.g. company or business registration number), date of incorporation, business details, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, financial status, career, and corporate governance.

2. MIMS (240) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) Members’ credentials to control their access to the system. Credentials include user ID & password, biometrics, security tokens issued by other service providers such as Social Networking Service providers, and public key certificates.

3. MIMS (240) interfaces with the other subsystems and with User

Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with UIs, as needed.

[0069] The details of AAMS (250) are as follows. The functions of

AAMS (250) include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. AAMS (250) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data and requirements related to the storage and maintenance of all the available Advertisements.

2. AAMS (250) manages (including processes, stores, sends, and receives) the data on Users’ actions and the corresponding feedbacks related to searching for and viewing of Advertisements.

3. AAMS (250) interfaces with the other subsystems and with User Terminals (260) and Advertiser Terminals (270) equipped with UIs, as needed. [0070] The electronic embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented using general purpose or specialized computing devices, computer processors, or electronic circuitries including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and other programmable logic devices configured or programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure. Computer instructions or software codes running in the general purpose or specialized computing devices, computer processors, or programmable logic devices can readily be prepared by practitioners skilled in the software or electronic art based on the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0071 ] All or portions of the electronic embodiments may be executed in one or more general purpose or specialized computing devices including, but not limited to, server computers, personal computers, laptop computers, mobile computing devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, kiosks, and terminals.

[0072] The electronic embodiments include computer storage media having computer instmctions or software codes stored therein which can be used to program computers or microprocessors to perform any of the processes of the present invention. The storage media can include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical discs, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, flash memory devices, or any type of media or devices suitable for storing instmctions, codes, and/or data.

[0073] Various embodiments of the present invention also may be implemented in distributed computing environments and/or Cloud computing environments, wherein the whole or portions of machine instmctions are executed in distributed fashion by one or more processing devices interconnected by a communication network, such as an intranet, Wide Area Network (WAN), Local Area Network (LAN), the Internet, and other forms of data transmission medium.

[0074] The foregoing description of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art.

[0075] The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

Claims:

What is claimed is: 1. A method for conducting one or more electronically -implemented

Online Contests, comprising:

organizing each Online Contest by an Online Contest System having at least one or more processors and a database comprising:

receiving, processing, and storing in the database Online Contest specification comprising one or more Advertisement specifications, one or more Prize specifications, Online Contest event date and time, duration, and repeating frequency, and an Online Contest Content specification;

wherein the Online Contest Content specification comprises an Online Contest type, one or more Online Contest rules, and one or more Online Contest winning criteria; and

wherein the Prizes are sponsored by one or more Advertisers with Vouchers for one or more products and services manufactured, provided, or handled by the one or more Advertisers;

generating and announcing the Advertisement by the Online Contest

System comprising:

placing the Advertisement according to the Advertisement specification;

announcing the Online Contest by the Online Contest System to its Users;

registering Participants in the Online Contest by having one or more Users of the Online Contest System to participate in the Online Contest according to the User’s request;

executing the Online Contest by the Online Contest System according to the Online Contest specification data comprising: displaying the Online Contest Content in one or more user interfaces;

receiving Online Contest input from one or more of the Participants;

generating one or more Online Contest scores from the Online Contest input according to the Online Contest mles; and

selecting one or more Winners from the Participants based on their Online Contest Scores and the Online Contest winning criteria; and

awarding the one or more Prizes to the Winners by the Online Contest System.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering Participants in the Online Contest by having one or more Users of the Online Contest System to participate in the Online Contest according to one or more Online Contest participation conditions;

wherein the Online Contest specification further comprises the one or more Online Contest participation conditions.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing more than one Online Contests by the Online Contest System according to the respective Online Contest specification data;

wherein at least one of the Online Contests are concurrently executed or have its duration overlapping with at least another one of the Online Contests.

4. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein each of the one or more Prizes is a Voucher sponsored by an Advertiser;

wherein the Voucher comprises an encoded data representing or referencing its Prize specification; wherein the Prize specification comprises:

a Voucher identifier;

the sponsoring Advertiser identifier;

associated products and/or services;

a Voucher expiration;

a Voucher redeemable value; and

a Voucher holder identifier; and

wherein the awarding of the one or more Prizes to the Winners by the Online Contest System comprises:

transferring ownerships of the awarded Vouchers to the Winners by setting the referenced Voucher holder identifier of each awarded Voucher to each of the Winners’ identifiers by the Online Contest System.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

awarding one or more Fringe Benefits to the Participants;

wherein the Online Contest specification further comprises one or more Fringe Benefit specifications;

wherein each of the one or more Fringe Benefits is a Voucher sponsored by an Advertiser;

wherein the Fringe Benefit Voucher comprises an encoded data representing or referencing its Fringe Benefit specification;

wherein the Fringe Benefit specification comprises:

a Voucher identifier;

the sponsoring Advertiser identifier;

associated products and/or services;

a Voucher expiration;

a Voucher redeemable value; and

a Voucher holder identifier; and

wherein the awarding of the one or more Fringe Benefits to the Participants by the Online Contest System comprises: transferring ownerships of the awarded Vouchers to the Participants by setting the referenced Voucher holder identifier of each awarded Voucher to each of the Participants’ identifiers by the Online Contest System.

6. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the Advertisement specification comprises an Advertisement content, release date and time and duration, and one or more release places; and

wherein the Advertisement content comprises one or more pieces of information on an Advertiser identity, and the Advertiser’s products and/or services including those sponsored for Prizes in the Online Contest.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the Online Contest participation conditions comprise one or more of age, gender, occupation, education level, income level, marital status, and geographic information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, processing, and storing in the database a User registration data comprising one or more of preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics, name, identifier number, date of birth, gender, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, education, career, income, family information, security tokens, and public key certificates.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, processing, and storing in the database an Advertiser registration data comprising one or more of preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics, name, identifier number, date of incorporation, business details, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, financial status, career, corporate governance, security tokens, and public key certificates.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the Advertisement specification further comprises a quiz for evaluating how well a User remembers the

Advertisement.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing the Online Contest Content independently of any Online Contest for Users’ amusement or practice.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

archiving a plurality of Advertisements in the database by the Online Contest System; and

receiving and processing a search request of Advertisements by the Online Contest System and retrieving from the database the Advertisements matching the search request.

13. A system for conducting one or more electronically-implemented Online Contests, comprising:

User Information Management Subsystem (UIMS) (210);

Online Contest Management Subsystem (OCMS) (220);

Advertisement Management Subsystem (AMS) (230); and

one or more user interfaces for User Terminals (260).

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the UIMS is configured to:

process User registration of the system;

manage identity and credential information of each User, wherein the identity and credential information comprises one or more of preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics, name, identifier number, date of birth, gender, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, education, career, income, family information, security tokens, and public key certificates; and control User access to the system.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the OCMS is configured to:

manage the Online Contest specification comprising an Advertisement specification, one or more Prize specifications, Online Contest event date and time, duration, and repeating frequency, and Online Contest Content specification, wherein the Online Contest Content comprises an Online Contest type, one or more Online Contest rules, and one or more Online Contest winning criteria;

execute announcement of the Online Contest;

process Online Contest search requests;

process User searches, actions, and feedbacks on the Online Contests; execute the Online Contest Content; and

manage the Online Contest Prize awards.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the Online Contest specification further comprises one or more Online Contest participation conditions.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the AMS is configured to:

manage the Advertisement specification comprising an Advertisement content, release date and time and duration, and one or more release places, wherein the Advertisement content comprises one or more pieces of information on an Advertiser identity, and the Advertiser’s products and/or services including those sponsored for Prizes in the Online Contest.

18. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

Member Information Management Subsystem (MIMS) (240); and one or more user interfaces for Advertiser Terminals (270).

wherein the MIMS is configured to:

process Member registration of the system; manage identity and credential information of each Member, wherein the identity and credential information comprises one or more of preferred user ID, preferred password, biometrics, name, identifier number, date of incorporation, business details, e-mail address, mobile number, phone number, fax number, address, financial status, career, corporate governance, security tokens, and public key certificates; and control Member access to the system.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising Advertisement Archive Management Subsystem (AAMS) (250);

wherein the AAMS is configured to:

store and maintain all the available Advertisements; and process User searches, actions, and feedbacks on the

Advertisements archived in the AAMS.