WO2021097381A1

WO2021097381A1 - System and method for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip

Info

Publication number: WO2021097381A1
Application number: PCT/US2020/060629
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jesse Erdle; Harrison ERDLE
Original assignee: Jesse Erdle; Erdle Harrison
Priority date: 2019-11-14
Filing date: 2020-11-14
Publication date: 2021-05-20

Abstract

A system and method for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip that include receiving a ride share request from a user to complete the ride share trip and analyzing the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip. The system and method also include determining at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data. The system and method also include calculating the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A PROMOTIONAL CREDIT ASSOCIATED WITH A RIDE SHARE TRIP

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/935,233 filed on November 14, 2019, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Over the past several years, ridesharing has become a popular means of transportation globally. In particular, ride share providers offer real-time, on- demand, and peer-to-peer ridesharing services that may be utilized by various individuals. Even through ridesharing has become more prevalent, in certain areas the cost associated with ride sharing has been prohibitive for certain potential customers to utilize ride sharing as a primary or more heavily used source of transportation. In some regions, owning or leasing a vehicle for daily use may be perceived as being more cost effective than utilizing ride share services. Additionally, for persons who may rely on public transportation, costs associated with ride sharing may seem high compared to using other forms of public transportation (e.g., bus, train, subway).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0003] According to one aspect, a computer-implemented method for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip that includes receiving a ride share request from a user to complete the ride share trip and analyzing the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip. The computer-implemented method also includes determining at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data. The at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace. The computer-implemented method further includes calculating the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer. The promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip. [0004] According to another aspect, a system for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip that includes a computing infrastructure that includes a memory that stores instructions that are executed by a processor of the computing infrastructure, the instructions executed by the processor cause the processor to receive a ride share request from a user to complete the ride share trip and analyze the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip. The instructions also cause the processor to determine at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data. The at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace. The instructions further cause the processor to calculate the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer. The promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip. [0005] According to yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer, which includes a processor perform a method that includes receiving a ride share request from a user to complete the ride share trip and analyzing the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip. The computer- implemented method also includes determining at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data. The at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace. The computer-implemented method further includes calculating the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer. The promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0006] The novel features believed to be characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. In the descriptions that follow, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and certain figures can be shown in exaggerated or generalized form in the interest of clarity and conciseness. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objects and advances thereof, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary operating environment for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0008] FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic overview of a plurality of modules that may be configured to provide a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0009] FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram of a method for determining and presenting one or more promotional offers to a user according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0010] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram of the method for applying promotional credits towards a current ride share trip or a future activity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0011] FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram of a method for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] The following includes definitions of selected terms employed herein. The definitions include various examples and/or forms of components that fall within the scope of a term and that can be used for implementation. The examples are not intended to be limiting.

[0013] “Ride share,” as used herein, refers to any means of transportation in which one or more people use the same vehicle to arrive at a destination.

[0014] A “Ride share platform,” as used herein, refers to a technology use to facilitate a ride share trip through ride share in real-time and on-demand.

[0015] A “Ride share company,” as used herein, refers to any company that provides ride share services.

[0016] A “bus,’ as used herein, refers to an interconnected architecture that is operably connected to transfer data between computer components within a singular or multiple systems. The bus may be a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, an external bus, a crossbar switch, and/or a local bus, among others. [0017] "Computer communication," as used herein, refers to a communication between two or more computing devices (e.g., computer, personal digital assistant, cellular telephone, network device) and may be, for example, a network transfer, a file transfer, an applet transfer, an email, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) transfer, and so on. A computer communication may occur across, for example, a wireless system (e.g., IEEE 802.11), an Ethernet system (e.g., IEEE 802.3), a token ring system (e.g., IEEE 802.5), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a point-to-point system, a circuit switching system, a packet switching system, among others.

[0018] A “memory,” as used herein may include volatile memory and/or nonvolatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include, for example, ROM (read only memory), PROM (programmable read only memory), EPROM (erasable PROM) and EEPROM (electrically erasable PROM). Volatile memory may include, for example, RAM (random access memory), synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DRRAM). [0019] A “module,” as used herein, includes, but is not limited to, hardware, firmware, software in execution on a machine, and/or combinations of each to perform a function(s) or an action(s), and/or to cause a function or action from another module, method, and/or system. A module may include a software controlled microprocessor, a discrete logic circuit, an analog circuit, a digital circuit, a programmed logic device, a memory device containing executing instructions, and so on.

[0020] An "operable connection," as used herein may include a connection by which entities are "operably connected", is one in which signals, physical communications, and/or logical communications may be sent and/or received. An operable connection may include a physical interface, a data interface and/or an electrical interface.

[0021] A “processor,” as used herein, processes signals and performs general computing and arithmetic functions. Signals processed by the processor may include digital signals, data signals, computer instructions, processor instructions, messages, a bit, a bit stream, or other means that may be received, transmitted and/or detected. Generally, the processor may be a variety of various processors including multiple single and multicore processors and co-processors and other multiple single and multicore processor and co-processor architectures. The processor may include various modules to execute various functions.

[0022] A “computer application,” as used herein, refers to any computer executable code that is associated with a software program application that is executed on a computing device through one or more processors.

[0023] A “value” and “level”, as used herein may include, but is not limited to, a numerical or other kind of value or level such as a percentage, a non-numerical value, a discrete state, a discrete value, a continuous value, among others. The term “value of X” or “level of X” as used throughout this detailed description and in the claims refers to any numerical or other kind of value for distinguishing between two or more states of X. For example, in some cases, the value or level of X may be given as a percentage between 0% and 100%. In other cases, the value or level of X could be a value in the range between 1 and 10. In still other cases, the value or level of X may not be a numerical value, but could be associated with a given discrete state, such as “not X”, “slightly x”, “x”, “very x” and “extremely x”.

[0024] A “vehicle,” as used herein, refers to any moving vehicle that is capable of carrying one or more human occupants and is powered by any form of energy. The term “vehicle” includes, but is not limited to: cars, trucks, vans, minivans, SUVs, motorcycles, scooters, boats, personal watercraft, and aircraft. In some cases, a motor vehicle includes one or more engines.

I. SYSTEM OVERVIEW

[0025] Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating one or more exemplary embodiments and not for purposes of limiting the same, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary operating environment 100 for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In an exemplary embodiment, the operating environment 100 may include a secure server infrastructure (secure server) 102 that may execute a ride share promotional determination application (ride share promotional application) 104 that is configured to provide a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip to a user 106.

[0026] In an exemplary embodiment, the user 106 may include an individual who is a customer passenger of one or more ride share service providers (ride share providers) that provide ride share trips to the user 106. The one or more ride share providers may include transportation network companies that may utilize a website, a mobile application, and/or additional electronic computing hardware and/or software systems to match customer passengers such as the user 106 with ride share vehicles to complete ride share trips. The ride share vehicles may be operated by ride share drivers and/or may be autonomously operated. In one embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may be used by the user 106 in conjunction with one or more ride share service applications (not shown) that may be provided by one or more respective ride share providers to provide the user 106 with one or more promotional credits that may be used at one or more points in time towards one or more ride share trips that may be completed by one or more of the ride share providers.

[0027] In one configuration, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to communicate with one or more ride share applications and may determine if and when the user 106 requests a ride share trip through a particular ride share service application. The ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to analyze the user’s ride share request to determine ride share trip data that may be associated with the requested ride share trip. The ride share trip data that may be determined from the user’s ride share request may include, but may not be limited to, a type of ride share service vehicle requested (e.g., a luxury vehicle, a premium vehicle, a quiet ride experience vehicle, a low cost customer ride pooling vehicle), an estimated duration of the ride share trip (that may be based on the ride share pickup location, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user 106 for arrival of a ride share vehicle 108 to start the ride share trip, the ride share drop off location, traffic in between the locations, etc.), a remaining duration of the current ride share trip, point of interest data that may be associated with the ride share pickup location and/or the ride share drop off location, location related information associated with one or more locations (e.g., city, state, region) at which the ride share trips is occurring, and/or a time of day (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening, night) of the ride share trip.

[0028] In an exemplary embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may analyze the ride share trip data to determine one or more promotional offers that may be offered to the user 106 that may be associated with the ride share trip. As discussed in more detail below, the one or more promotional offers may be offered by one or more third party entities (e.g., advertising firms, government institutions, electoral campaigns, pooling institutions, corporations, service oriented companies, retail oriented companies, restaurants, etc.) to provide the user 106 with one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or custom content that may allow the third party entities to collect information from the user 106 and/or provide information to the user 106. [0029] In one or more embodiments, the one or more promotional offers may include offers for the user 106 to complete one or more surveys that may be associated with one or more topics that may be presented to the user 106 during the duration of the wait times of the user 106 for the ride share vehicle 108, the duration of the ride share trips, and/or at one or more additional points in time such as at a point in time before a ride share trip or at a point in time that is independent of the ride share trip. The one or more promotional offers may also include offers to be presented with audio and/or visual advertisements that may be presented to the user 106 during the duration of the wait times of the user 106 for the ride share vehicle 108, the duration of the ride share trips, and/or at one or more additional points in time. The one or more surveys and/or one or more advertisements may be presented with content (e.g., questions, marketing) that are provided by one or more than one third party entity. For example, one corporation or more than one corporation may present questions that may be included within one or more surveys that may be associated with one or more topics that may be presented to the user 106.

[0030] In an additional embodiment, the one or more promotional offers may include offers for the user 106 to be presented with a virtual marketplace that may be presented by the ride share promotional application 104. The virtual marketplace may be presented by the ride share promotional application 104 as a marketplace to sell goods and/or services (e.g., consumer goods, used goods, lawn maintenance services, snow plowing services, etc.) that may be sold by one or more third party entities (e.g., small businesses) and/or one or more individuals. In some cases, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to provide one or more promotional offers to the user 106 to browse the virtual marketplace and/or make one or more purchases through the virtual marketplace.

[0031] In one configuration, the one or more surveys, one or more audio and/or visual advertisements, and/or one or more selective goods and/or services that may be offered to the user 106 may be based on and/or may pertain to demographic information that may be associated with the user 106, one or more topics that may be associated with the location (e.g., city, state, region) at which the ride share trip is occurring, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user 106 for arrival of the ride share vehicle 108 to start the ride share trip, a remaining duration of the current ride share trip, a time of day of the ride share request, a pickup location and/or drop off location of the ride share request, a type of vehicle requested by the user 106, and the like.

[0032] In some embodiments, the one or more surveys, one or more audio and/or visual advertisements, and/or one or more selective goods and/or services that may be offered to the user 106 may be based on data retention with respect to particular topics, goods, and/or services. The data retention may be associated with one or more past surveys presented to the user 106 and/or survey answers provided by the user 106, one or more past advertisements presented to the user 106 and/or advertisement inputs provided by the user 106 to view more information regarding the advertisement. The data retention may also be associated with one or more previous goods or services that may have been purchased by the user 106 through the virtual marketplace. As an illustrative example, a particular third party entity (corporation) may present the user 106 with one or more surveys and/or advertisements at a particular point in time (e.g., during a duration of a ride share trip). The ride share promotional application 104 may base one or more subsequently presented surveys and/or advertisements at one or more future points in time that may pertain to the user’s retention of information that may be associated with the one or more past surveys and/or one or more advertisements that may be presented by the particular third party entity. This functionality may enable third party entities to market specific goods and services that may be tailored towards the data retention of the user 106 with respect to particular topics, goods, and/or services.

[0033] In one or more embodiments, the one or more surveys, one or more audio and/or visual advertisements, and/or one or more selective goods and/or services that may be offered to the user 106 via the virtual marketplace are accompanied with an incentive to offer the user 106 one or more promotional credits that may be used at one or more points in time towards one or more ride share trips as promotional credits to incentive the user 106 to accept the one or more promotional offers. In other words, the ride share promotional application 104 may provide the user 106 with promotional credits based on the user’s partial or full completion of one or more surveys, partial or full viewing/hearing of one or more advertisements, and/or browsing and/or making purchases with respect to the virtual marketplace.

[0034] The one or more promotional credits may be offered to the user 106 in various amounts and/or levels and may include a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip (e.g., a current ride share trip currently being completed), a monetary credit that is applied towards a future ride share trip by one or more ride share providers, a monetary credit that is applied towards a third party purchase that may be completed with one or more third party entities (e.g., a monetary credit towards an online purchase from a particular retailer), and/or a monetary credit that is applied towards one or more purchases that may be completed through the virtual marketplace of the ride share promotional application 104. In one embodiment, the promotional credits that may be provided to the user 106 may be sponsored by one or more third party entities that provide one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or that sell one or more goods and/or services through the virtual marketplace. The ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to communicate financial account information that may be linked to financial accounts of one or more third party entities to securely transfer funds from the one or more respective third party entities to a particular ride share provider and/or the user 106 in the form of promotional credits.

[0035] In some circumstances, the promotional credits may be provided as ride share premium experience credits. The ride share premium experience credits may be utilized to provide the user 106 with a premium membership with respect to one or more ride share providers, one or more ride share trips, and/or one or more ride customization options with respect to one or more ride share trips. The premium membership and/or the one or more ride customization options may enable the user 106 to control various environmental preferences that may be associated with the ride share vehicle 108. The various environmental preferences may include, video content that may be provided within the ride share vehicle 108 during the duration of the ride share trip, audio content that may be provided within the ride share vehicle 108 during the duration of the ride share trip, and/or additional preferences that may be provided within the ride share vehicle 108 based on a ride share driver’s (not shown) approval (e.g., climate control preferences, lighting mood preferences, and the like). In some configurations, the user 106 may alternatively acquire a premium membership and/or one or more ride customization options by a separate membership purchase and/or a predetermined amount of utilization of ride share services offered by one or more ride share providers.

[0036] The ride share promotional application 104 may thereby allow the user 106 to receive free or discounted ride share trips and/or to customize the user’s ride share trip experiences by enabling the user 106 to accept one or more promotional offers. This functionality may allow third party entities to receive survey information that may allow them determine particular user attributes, provide marketing/advertising information, and/or may allow third party entities and/or individuals to sell goods and/or services that may be associated with the user’s utilization of ride share services. This functionality also allows the third party entities to provide surveys and advertisements that may be directly targeted to the user 106 based on smart technology and personal information provided through the ride share promotional application 104.

[0037] In an exemplary embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may be executed by a processor 110 of the secure server 102. The processor 110 may operably control one or more components of the secure server 102. The processor 110 may be configured to execute one or more operating systems, secure system and subsystem executable instructions, and the like. The processor 110 may also include respective internal processing memory, an interface circuit, and bus lines for transferring data, sending commands, and communicating with the plurality of components of the secure server 102.

[0038] In one embodiment, the processor 110 may be operably connected to a memory 112 of the secure server 102. The memory 112 may be configured to store data files associated with one or more applications, operating systems, and/or third party systems, including but not limited to data files of the ride share promotional application 104. In one embodiment, the memory 112 may be configured to host a neural network (not shown). The neural network may be operably controlled by the processor 110 to execute machine learning/deep learning processes to provide artificial intelligence capabilities that may be used to evaluate the ride share trip data associated with the ride share request made by the user 106 through a respective ride share application (e.g., that may be provided by/associated with a particular ride share provider) to thereby determine one or more attributes that may be utilized to determine one or more promotional offers to be offered to the user 106.

[0039] In one or more embodiments, the memory 112 may be configured to store a promotions database 114. The promotions database 114 may be configured as a relational database that includes a plurality of records that may be associated with various types of promotional offers that may be provided to various users of the ride share promotional application 104. In particular, the promotions database 114 may be configured to store promotional offers and associated data packets that may be executed to present one or more surveys with respective survey questions, one or more advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace to the user 106 through a portable electronic device (portable device) 122 used by the user 106. In some embodiments, the data packets stored within each respective field of the promotions database 114 that are associated with promotional offers may be executed to present surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace based on data that is stored upon a third party computing infrastructure 130 based on wireless communications facilitated through a communication unit 116 of the secure server 102.

[0040] In an exemplary embodiment, the third party computing infrastructure 130 may include a plurality of externally hosted computing systems (e.g., server farm) that may be accessed (e.g., physically accessed, remotely accessed) and populated by one or more third party entities that may be providing surveys, advertising, and/or may be selling goods and/or services through the virtual marketplace. In particular, the one or more third party entities may populate a memory (e.g., one or more storage units) of the third party computing infrastructure 130 with data that pertains to one or more promotional offers to be offered to users of the ride share promotional application 104. The data may also include surveys and associated survey questions, advertisements and associated advertisement related information, and/or additional audio/visual media that may be presented with surveys and/or advertisements to the users of the ride share promotional application 104. The data may also include timestamps that may pertain to a duration of respective surveys and/or advertisements that may be associated with respective promotional offers. [0041] In one embodiment, the one or more promotional offers and the data associated with the surveys and associated survey questions, advertisements and associated advertisement related information, and/or additional audio/visual media may be wirelessly communicated from the third party computing infrastructure 130 to the secure server 102 to be populated within respective fields of the promotions database 114. As discussed below, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to access and analyze the promotions database 114 based on ride share trip data that may be associated with the ride share request of the user 106 to determine one or more promotional offers to be presented to the user 106 to be accepted by the user 106 or denied by the user 106 though the portable device 122 and/or within the ride share vehicle 108.

[0042] In one configuration, the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 may include one or more network interface cards (not shown) that may be configured to connect to one or more computing systems through an internet cloud (not shown). Such computing systems may include, but may not be limited to, the third party computing infrastructure 130, the portable device 122 used by the user 106 through computer communications with a communication device (not shown) of the portable device 122, and/or an electronic control unit (ECU) 132 of the ride share vehicle 108 through computing communications with a communication device of the ride share vehicle 108. Accordingly, the ride share promotional application 104 may utilize the communication unit 116 to receive promotional data from the third party computing infrastructure 130 to be populated into the promotions database 114. The ride share promotional application 104 may also utilize the communication unit 116 to send survey results, advertising offer selections, and/or marketplace purchase selections to the third party computing infrastructure 130 to be received by one or more third party entities. [0043] The ride share promotional application 104 may additionally utilize the communication unit 116 to communicate data to provide human machine interfaces (HMI) via one or more user interfaces of the ride share promotional application 104 through a display screen 124 of the portable device 122 to present one or more promotional offers and one or more related surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace to the user 106. Additionally, the ride share promotional application 104 may also utilize the communication unit 116 to communicate data to provide one or more user interfaces of the application 104 through one or more display units 134 of the ride share vehicle 108 to present one or more promotional offers, one or more related surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace to the user 106 and/or to the ride share driver of the ride share vehicle 108.

[0044] In an exemplary embodiment, the memory 112 of the secure server 102 may also be configured to store a data repository that may be utilized by the ride share promotional application 104 that stores a user profile 118 that is associated with the user 106 in addition to user profiles that may be associated with additional users (e.g., ride share customers/passengers, ride share drivers) of the ride share promotional application 104. In one embodiment, during an initial utilization of the ride share promotional application 104 and/or based on a user input of a user profile setup icon, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to present a ride share profile setup user interface to the user 106 through the display screen 124 of the portable device 122 and/or the one or more display screens of the ride share vehicle 108 (during a duration of the user’s ride share trip).

[0045] The ride share profile setup user interface may include one or more user interface input text boxes, user input icons, user input scroll bars, user input radio button icons, and the like that may enable the user 106 to provide identification information, demographic information, account information, and/or settings information that may associated with the user’s use of the ride share promotional application 104. The identification information that may be inputted by the user 106 may include the user’s name, address, phone number, email address and the like that may be utilized to identify the user 106 and/or to contact the user 106 with information associated with the application 104, ride share related information, and/or promotional information associated with one or more promotional offers. [0046] The demographic information that may be inputted by the user 106 may be associated with the user’s age, the user’s gender, the user’s occupation, the user’s preferences with respect to television stations, news media, movies, music, sports teams, cities and the like. The demographic information may enable the ride share promotional application 104 to determine one or more promotional offers that may be associated with surveys, advertisements, and/or custom content that may be tailored towards demographic details associated with the user 106.

[0047] Additionally, the account information that may be inputted by the user 106 may include ride share account information in the form of one or more ride share application account numbers/credentials that may enable the ride share promotional application 104 to link with and access one or more respective ride share applications associated with respective ride share providers. The ride share account information may enable the ride share promotional application 104 to communicate with one or more ride share applications to receive data associated with ride share requests that may be provided by the user 106 with respect to the ride share applications. The ride share promotional application 104 may thereby determine ride share trip data associated with each ride share trip of the user 106 based on such data. The ride share account information may also be utilized by the ride share promotional application 104 to apply one or more promotional credits in the form of monetary credits (e.g., discounts) to the user’s ride share account to provide a credit towards (e.g., partial or full monetary) credit towards the ride share trip of the user 106 and/or one or more future ride share trips of the user 106.

[0048] The account information that may be inputted by the user 106 may additionally include third party account information that may be associated with one or more third party entities (e.g., stores, restaurants, service providers). The third party account information may be utilized by the ride share promotional application 104 to apply one or more promotional credits in the form of monetary credits to one or more respective third party accounts that may be linked with the user 106. This functionality may allow the user 106 to receive one or more promotional credits in the form of monetary credits that may be used to discount one or more goods and/or services that may be provided by one or more third party entities.

[0049] In some configurations, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to store financial account information that may be associated with one or more financial accounts (e.g., bank accounts, credit card accounts) that may be linked to the user 106. The financial account information may be utilized by the ride share promotional application 104 to apply one or more promotional credits in the form of monetary credits to one or more respective financial accounts that may be linked with the user 106. This functionality may allow the user 106 to receive one or more promotional credits in the form of monetary credits that may be applied to one or more of the user’s financial accounts. It is to be appreciated that additional types of account information may be inputted by the user 106 upon the ride share profile setup user interface to enable the ride share promotional application 104 to apply one or more promotional credits to various types of accounts that may be linked to the user 106.

[0050] As discussed above, the ride share profile setup user interface may allow the user 106 to input settings information that may be associated with the use of the ride share promotional application 104. In one embodiment, the settings information may include an option to selectively enable or disable the presentation of one or more promotional offers to the user 106 that may be associated with ride share trips that may be provided by one or more respective ride share providers. Accordingly, if the user 106 chooses to disable the presentation of one or more promotional offers at a particular point in time, the ride share promotional application 104 may thereby cease presentation of such promotional offers.

[0051] The settings information may also include an option to control a level and/or frequency of promotional offers that may be presented to the user 106 by the ride share promotional application 104. The level and/or frequency of promotional offers may pertain to the types of promotional offers and/or number of promotional offers that may be presented to the user 106 at one or more periods of time (e.g., timeframes of the day, weekends vs. weekdays, during ride share trips, during times when ride share travel is not occurring, etc.). For example, the user 106 may input settings information to be selectively presented with survey related promotional offers and to prohibit the presentation of advertising related promotional offers. Furthermore, the user 106 may input settings information to be selectively presented with one or more particular types of goods/services by one or more third party entities and/or individuals through the virtual marketplace that is presented through the application 104. Alternatively, the user 106 may input settings information to prohibit presentation of one or more particular types of goods/services by one or more third party entities and/or individuals through the virtual marketplace that is presented through the application 104.

[0052] In an exemplary embodiment, upon the input of the identification information, demographic information, account information, and/or settings information that may associated with the user’s use of the ride share promotional application 104 through the ride share profile setup user interface, the ride share promotional application 104 may process the user profile 118 associated with the user 106. The ride share promotional application 104 may thereby populate the user profile 118 with the identification information, demographic information, account information, and/or settings information. Accordingly, upon the receipt of ride share request by the user 106 to complete the ride share trip and determination of ride share trip data associated with the ride share request, the ride share promotional application 104 may access the user profile 118 stored on the memory 112 of the secure server 102 to analyze the identification information, demographic information, account information, and/or settings information to thereby selectively provide the functionality of the application 104 with respect to one or more promotional offers and/or promotional credits.

[0053] In one or more embodiments, the user profile 118 may also be configured to store promotional history data that may be associated with previous acceptance or denial of one or more promotional offers that maybe previously presented to the user 106. The promotional history data may be accessed and analyzed by the ride share promotional application 104 to determine user preferences that may indicate a likelihood of the user’s acceptance with respect to one or more particular types of promotional offers. For example, the promotional history data may be analyzed by the ride share promotional application 104 to determine user preferences that may indicate a likelihood of the user’s acceptance with respect to sports related surveys and/or advertisements that may be provided during a duration of ride share trips based on the user’s past acceptance of such promotional offers.

[0054] In one embodiment, the user profile 118 may be configured to store an attentiveness quality score that may be calculated by the ride share promotional application 104 to indicate a level of attentiveness that the user 106 may have with respect to one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or towards the virtual marketplace as presented to the user 106. In other words, the attentiveness quality score may indicate a quality or integrity of the user’s attentiveness when completing a survey, viewing or listening to an advertisement, and/or browsing through the virtual marketplace. In some configurations, the attentiveness quality score may be used to calculate an amount of promotional credits that may be offered and/or provided to the user 106 such that if the user 106 is associated with a higher attentiveness quality score, they may receive a higher amount of promotional credits for completing a survey and/or watching/listening to an advertisement, as oppose to if the user 106 is associated with a lower attentiveness quality score. [0055] In one configuration, during some instances when the user 106 accepts promotional offers that may be presented to the user 106 by the application 104, the application 104 may be configured to present one or more promotional interfaces with surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace that may include attentiveness checks. For example, with respect to surveys that may be presented through one or more promotional interfaces, the attentiveness checks may include, but may not be limited to, duplicate survey questions that may be used to ensure that user’s attentiveness to the survey questions and/or confirmatory survey questions that may be similar in context but different in format than prior survey questions.

[0056] In some cases, the duplicate survey questions and/or confirmatory survey questions may be presented to the user 106 when the user 106 answers many of the questions with a singular response (e.g., yes to all yes/no questions, 5 to all 1-5 ranking questions). Upon the presentation of the duplicate survey questions and/or confirmatory survey questions, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to determine a consistency and/or difference with respect to the answers that may be associated with the response by the user 106 to the duplicate survey questions and/or the confirmatory survey questions to thereby determine an attentiveness quality score associated with the user’s attentiveness.

[0057] Additionally, with respect to surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace the attentiveness checks may include attentiveness user interface icons that may be presented to the user 106 after a predetermined amount of time of inactivity (e.g., 45 seconds of not receiving any user inputs). The attentiveness user interface icons may be overlaid upon the one or more promotional interfaces to ensure that the user 106 is paying attention to the one or more promotional interfaces. Upon the presentation of the attentiveness user interface icons, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to determine a number of times that the attentiveness user interface icons has been presented and/or a time to click that may be associated with a user interface input responses by the user 106 to the attentiveness user interface icons to thereby determine an attentiveness quality score associated with the user’s attentiveness.

[0058] In one embodiment, each time the attentiveness quality score associated with the user’s attentiveness when completing surveys, viewing advertisements, and/or browsing the virtual marketplace is determined, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to access the user profile 118 and populate the user profile 118 with the attentiveness quality score associated with the user’s attentiveness. In one configuration, if the attentiveness quality score associated with the user’s attentiveness has been previously populated upon the user profile 118, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to aggregate a currently determined attentiveness quality score with the previously populated attentiveness quality score. The ride share promotional application 104 may thereby populate the aggregated attentiveness quality score as an updated attentiveness quality score that may be further analyzed by the application 104 to determine one or more types of promotional offers that may be offered to the user 106 and/or one or more levels or amounts of promotional credits that may be offered and/or provided to the user 106.

[0059] In one or more embodiments, the memory 112 of the secure server 102 may also be configured to store a promotional credit secure wallet 120. The promotional credit secure wallet 120 may be configured as a secure data repository that is configured to store data associated with promotional credits that may be provided to the user 106 based on the acceptance and execution of one or more promotional offers. In some circumstances, the user 106 may selectively utilize promotional credits to be applied to a current ride share trip to discount the ride share trip or remit full payment towards the ride share trip.

[0060] In some circumstances, the user 106 may elect to utilize promotional credits to be stored and applied towards future ride share trips and/or towards a third party purchase with a particular third party entity or through the virtual marketplace. Accordingly, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to store the promotional credits earned by the user 106 upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 to be utilized at one or more future points in time for future ride share travel, third party purchases, and/or virtual marketplace transactions. In other words, the promotional credit secure wallet 120 may serve as a monetary credit storage repository that may be selectively accessed to provide discounts and/or complete payments towards one or more ride share trips at one or more points in time, third party purchases at one or more points in time, and/or virtual marketplace transactions at one or more points in time.

[0061] In an exemplary embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to utilize the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to transfer money associated with the promotional credits earned in real-time or stored upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 to respective computing systems of one or more ride share providers that may be provide ride share trips to the user 106. Accordingly, the respective ride share services may use the money associated with the promotional credits towards one or more ride share trips of the user 106 and/or towards the user’s ride share account. Additionally, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to utilize the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to transfer money earned in real-time or stored upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 to respective computing systems of one or more third party entities that may be provide goods and/or services. Accordingly, the respective third party entities may use the money associated with the promotional credits towards goods and/or services that may be sold by the third party entities to the user 106.

[0062] In some embodiments, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to utilize the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to transfer money directly from the user 106 and/or associated with the promotional credits stored upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 to respective computing systems of one or more banking institutions. Accordingly, one or more third party entities and/or individuals who may be selling goods and/or services may be provided funds through the ride share promotional application 104 to pay for goods and/or services that may be purchased from one or more third party entities and/or individuals through the virtual marketplace of the ride share promotional application 104.

[0063] As discussed, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to present one or more user interfaces to the user 106 through the display screen 124 of the portable device 122. The portable device 122 may include, but may not be limited to, a mobile device such as a mobile phone or a smart phone, a hand held device such as a tablet, a laptop, and e-reader, etc. In one or more embodiments, the portable device 122 may include a microprocessor 126 for providing processing and computing functions. The microprocessor 126 may be configured to execute one or more operating systems, application executable instructions, and the like. The microprocessor 126 may also include respective internal processing memory, an interface circuit, and bus lines for transferring data, sending commands, and communicating with the plurality of components of the portable device 122.

[0064] The microprocessor 126 may be configured to execute one or more applications that include, but are not limited to, the ride share promotional application 104 and one or more ride share applications provided by respective ride share providers. Accordingly, one or more user interfaces including, but not limited to, the ride share profile setup user interface, promotional offer user interfaces, and/or one or more promotional user interfaces may thereby be stored on the memory 128, executed by the microprocessor 126, and may be presented to the user 106 through the display screen 124 of the portable device 122. Additionally, the display screen 124 may be configured as a touch input display that may be configured to receive touch inputs (e.g., writing inputs, tapping inputs, swiping inputs, scrolling inputs, pressure inputs, etc.) that may be received as inputs to one or more user interfaces of the ride share promotional application 104.

[0065] With particular reference to the ride share vehicle 108, it is appreciated that the ride share vehicle 108 may include any vehicle that is being utilized to provide ride share services and is being utilized by the user 106 to complete a ride share trip at one or more points in time. One or more components of the ride share vehicle 108 may be operably controlled by the ECU 132. The ECU 132 may include a memory (not shown) that is configured to store instructions when executed by the ECU 132 that cause the ECU 132 to execute or partially execute the ride share promotional application 104. In one embodiment, the ECU 132 may be operably connected to a communication device (not shown) of the ride share vehicle 108 and may be configured to exchange application related data between the secure server 102 and the ride share vehicle 108.

[0066] In one embodiment, the ECU 132 may be operably connected to one or more display units 134 and an audio unit 136 of the ride share vehicle 108. In some configurations, upon determining that the user 106 is seated within the ride share vehicle 108 during a ride share trip, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to present one or more ride share promotional interfaces through the one or more display units 134 in addition to or in lieu of presenting the one or more ride share promotional interfaces through the display screen 124 of the portable device 122. Accordingly, the user 106 may have an option to utilize the one or more display units 134 of the ride share promotional application 104 to accept or reject one or more ride share promotional offers that may be offered to the user 106 that may be associated with the ride share trip. [0067] In one configuration, if the user accepts one or more promotional offers, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to present one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or one or more selective goods and/or services that may be offered to the user 106 via the virtual marketplace through the one or more display units 134 of the ride share vehicle 108. Additionally or alternatively, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to provide audio that may provide or accompany one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or one or more selective goods and/or services that may be offered to the user 106 via the virtual marketplace through the audio unit 136 of the ride share vehicle 108.

[0068] As discussed above, the ride share promotional application 104 may provide promotional credits as ride share premium experience credits that may be utilized to provide the user 106 with a premium membership with respect to one or more ride share trips and/or one or more ride customization options with respect to one or more ride share trips. In some configurations, the user 106 may alternatively acquire a premium membership and/or one or more ride customization options by a separate membership purchase and/or a predetermined amount of utilization of ride share services by one or more ride share providers.

[0069] The premium membership and/or the one or more ride customization options may enable the user 106 to control various environmental preferences that may be associated with a ride share trip within the ride share vehicle 108 through the portable device 122 used by the user 106. The control of various environmental preferences may be based on a wireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth®) between the portable device 122 and the ride share vehicle 108. Accordingly, if the user 106 acquires a premium membership and/or the one or more ride customization options, the user 106 may utilize the portable device 122 to operably control content that may be displayed through the one or more display units 134 and/or through the audio unit 136 of the ride share vehicle 108. Accordingly, this functionality may provide the user 106 with control over video content and/or audio content that may be provided within the ride share vehicle 108 during the duration of a ride share trip. For example, the user 106 may be provided with at least some control over the advertising presented within the ride share vehicle 108, music played within the ride share vehicle 108, and/or media presented within the ride share vehicle 108. Additionally, the ride share promotional application 104 may provide the user 106 with control over additional preferences within the ride share vehicle 108 based on a ride share driver’s approval (e.g., climate control preferences, lighting mood preferences, and the like). In some embodiments, if the user 106 does not control video or audio content within the ride share vehicle 108, the application 104 may default to providing advertisements that may be associated with one or more particular third party entities. This functionality may allow one or more third party entities to utilize the application 104 to present advertisements to the user 106 without requiring the user 106 to accept one or more promotional offers.

[0070] In one configuration, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to provide one or more user interfaces that may be presented independent of promotions to allow one or more third party entities to present advertisements, coupons, gift cards, and/or marketing materials to the user 106. The ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to utilize user responses to one or more survey questions, inputs to one or more advertisements, and/or purchases to one or more goods and/or services through the virtual marketplace. In some configurations, if the user 106 provides a response that indicates a user preferences or habits, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to present advertisements, coupons, gift cards, and/or marketing promotions to the user 106 based on the user preferences and/or habits. As an illustrative example, if the user 106 indicates that they drink a particular brand of soda every day in response to a survey about soda intake, a third party entity associated with the preferred soda brand or a competing soda brand may utilize the ride share promotional application 104 to present advertisements, coupons, gift cards, and/or marketing promotions to the user 106 based on the user preferences and/or habits pertaining to the daily soda consumption. This functionality may allow one or more third party entities to follow up with the user 106 at a particular frequency to attract the user 106 to purchase their product. [0071] In one or more embodiments, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to deliver coupons, gift cards, and marketing promotions from one or more third party sponsors that may be based on a geo-location of the user 106. In particular, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to determine the geo-location of the user 106 through global positioning sensors (GPS) sensors (not shown) of the portable device 122 and may present coupons, gift cards, and promotional items to the user 106 that may pertain to points of interests (e.g., stores, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, etc.) that may be associated with one or more third party entities. Accordingly, the user 106 may be presented with local promotions, coupons, and/or discounts for participating entities that may be located within a predetermined distance (e.g. 10 miles) to the location of the user 106 or a route of the ride share trip.

[0072] In one embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to provide one or more promotional offers to the ride share driver of the ride share vehicle 108. The one or more promotional offers may be provided to the ride share driver to manually present one or more advertisements, surveys, and/or the virtual marketplace through the one or more display units 134 and/or the audio unit 136 of the ride share vehicle 108 during a ride share trip. In some configurations, the one or more promotional offers may be presented to the ride share driver to influence the ride share driver to complete one or more surveys, view one or more advertisements, and/or utilize the virtual marketplace of the ride share promotional application 104 through the one or more display units 134 of the ride share vehicle 108. The ride share promotional application 104 may thereby calculate and provide promotional credits to the ride share driver through a respective promotional credit secure wallet (not shown) that may be associated with the ride share driver and/or through one or more financial accounts (e.g., bank accounts, credit card accounts) that may be linked to the ride share driver of the ride share vehicle 108.The one or more promotional offers may also be provided to the ride share driver to utilize the application 104 to suggest location suggestions and/or send coupons and/or marketing promotions that pertain to one or more local businesses. The ride share promotional application 104 may enable the one or more local businesses to thereby provide promotional credits to the ride share driver through the respective promotional credit secure wallet that may be linked to the ride share driver.

II. THE RIDE SHARE PROMOTIONAL DETERMINATION APPLICATION AND RELATED METHODS

[0073] Components of the ride share promotional application 104 will now be described according to an exemplary embodiment and with reference to FIG. 1. In an exemplary embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may be stored on the memory 112 of the secure server 102 and may be executed by the processor 110 of the secure server 102. In another embodiment, the ride share promotional application 104 may be stored on the third party computing infrastructure 130 and may be accessed by the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to be executed by the processor 110 of the secure server 102. In additional embodiments, the ride share promotional application 104 may be stored on the memory 128 of the portable device 122 and/or a storage unit (not shown) of the ride share vehicle 108 and may be respectively executed by the microprocessor 126, the ECU 132, and/or by the processor 110 of the secure server 102.

[0074] The general functionality of the ride share promotional application 104 will now be discussed. FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic overview of a plurality of modules 202-206 that may be configured to provide a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the ride share promotional application 104 may include a ride share data reception module (data reception module) 202, a promotion determinant module 204, and a promotional credit application module 206. However, it is appreciated that the ride share promotional application 104 may include one or more additional modules and/or sub-modules that are included in lieu of or in addition to the modules 202-206.

[0075] FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram of a method 300 for determining and presenting one or more promotional offers to the user 106 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 300 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the components of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, though it is to be appreciated that the method 300 of FIG. 3 may be used with other systems/components. The method 300 may begin at block 302, wherein the method 300 may include retrieving demographic data associated with the user 106.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, the data reception module 202 of the ride share promotional application 104 may be configured to access the memory 112 of the secure server 102 to retrieve the user profile 118 associated with the user 106. Upon retrieving the user profile 118, the data reception module 202 maybe configured to analyze demographic information that may be associated with the user 106. As discussed above, the user profile 118 may store demographic information that may pertain to the user’s age, the user’s gender, the user’s occupation, and the user’s preferences with respect to television stations, news media, movies, music, sports teams, cities and the like. Upon retrieving the demographic information associated with the user 106, the data reception module 202 may be configured to communicate the demographic information to the promotion determinant module 204 of the ride share promotional application 104.

[0077] The method 300 may proceed to block 304, wherein the method 300 may include retrieving data associated with the ride share request. In an exemplary embodiment, the data reception module 202 may be configured to communicate with one or more ride share applications that may be executed by the microprocessor 126 of the portable device 122 and used by the user 106 to request a ride share trip. Based on the communication between the data reception module 202 and the one or more ride share applications that may be executed by the microprocessor 126 of the portable device 122, the data reception module 202 may determine if and when the user 106 requests a ride share trip through a particular ride share service application.

[0078] In one embodiment, upon determining that the user 106 requests a ride share trip through a particular ride share application from a particular ride share provider, the data reception module 202 may be configured to analyze the user’s ride share request to retrieve data that may be associated with the requested ride share trip. In one embodiment, the data reception module 202 may analyze the ride share request to determine ride share trip data that may be associated with the ride share trip as requested by the user 106. The ride share trip data may include, but may not be limited to, a type of ride share service vehicle requested, an estimated duration of the ride share trip, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user 106 for arrival of the ride share vehicle 108 to start the ride share trip, a remaining duration of the current ride share trip, point of interest data that may be associated with the ride share pickup location and/or the ride share drop off location, location related information associated with one or more locations at which the ride share trips is occurring, and/or a time of day of the ride share trip. Upon determining the ride share trip data that is associated with the ride share request of a ride share trip, the data reception module 202 may be configured to communicate the ride share request data to the promotion determinant module 204.

[0079] The method 300 may proceed to block 306, wherein the method 300 may include retrieving promotional history data and the attentiveness quality score associated with the user 106. As discussed above, the user profile 118 may be configured to store promotional history data that may be associated with previous acceptance or denial of one or more promotional offers that maybe previously presented to the user 106. Additionally, the user profile 118 may be configured to store an attentiveness quality score that may be calculated to indicate a past level of attentiveness that the user 106 may have with respect to one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or towards the virtual marketplace as presented to the user 106.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment, the data reception module 202 may be configured to access the user profile 118 associated with the user 106 to retrieve the promotional history data and the attentiveness quality score associated with the user 106. Upon retrieving the promotional history data and the attentiveness quality score from the user profile 118, the data reception module 202 may communicate the promotional history data and the attentiveness quality score to the promotion determinant module 204.

[0081] The method 300 may proceed to block 308, wherein the method 300 may include querying the promotions database 114 to determine one or more promotional offers to present to the user 106. As discussed above, the promotions database 114 may be configured as a relational database that includes a plurality of records that may be associated with various types of promotional offers that may be provided by one or more third party entities. The various types of promotional offers may include offers for particular amounts of promotional credits for the user 106 to complete one or more surveys, view and/or hear one or more advertisements, and/or browse or make one or more purchases through the virtual marketplace. The particular amounts of promotional credits that are offered, the types (e.g., topics, format) of surveys and advertisements, the length (e.g., estimated time to complete, advertisement presentation time, number of questions, number of advertisements) of the surveys and advertisements, and/or the types of goods or services and/or third party entity or individual sellers that may be presented through the virtual marketplace may be based on a plurality of factors. Such factors may include the demographic data associated with the user 106, the ride share request data associated with the ride share request, the promotional history data associated with the user 106, and/or the attentiveness quality score associated with the user 106. [0082] As discussed, the promotions database 114 may be configured to store promotional offers and associated data packets that may be executed to present one or more surveys with respective survey questions, one or more advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace to the user 106. The data packets stored within each respective field of the promotions database 114 that are associated with promotional offers may be executed to present surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace upon acceptance of one or more promotional offers by the user 106. [0083] In one embodiment, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to analyze the demographic data that may pertain to the user’s age, the user’s gender, the user’s occupation, and/or the user’s preferences. Such user preferences may be related to political preferences, entertainment preferences, news media preferences, sports preferences, regional preferences, and the like. The promotion determinant module 204 may thereby determine one or more demographic attributes that may pertain to the demographic data that may be used to query the promotions database 114 for one or more promotional offers that may be associated with surveys, advertisements, and the like that may be tailored towards demographic details associated with the user 106. Upon query the promotions database 114 for one or more promotional offers based on the demographic data, the promotion determinant module 204 may determine one or more promotional offers that may include surveys, advertisements, and the like that may be tailored towards demographic details associated with the user 106 and may mark them to be presented to the user 106.

[0084] The promotion determinant module 204 may further be configured to analyze the ride share trip data associated with the ride share request of the ride share trip. In particular, the promotion determinant module 204 may analyze the estimated duration of the ride share trip, a remaining duration of the current ride share trip, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user 106 for arrival of the ride share vehicle 108 to start the ride share trip, point of interest data that may be associated with the ride share pickup location and/or the ride share drop off location, location related information associated with one or more locations at which the ride share trip is occurring, and/or a time of day of the ride share trip, and the like that may be included as part of the ride share request data.

[0085] In some embodiments, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to communicate with the microprocessor 126 of the portable device 122 to communicate with GPS sensors of the portable device 122 to determine if the user 106 is in the midst of a current ride share trip. The promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to determine an estimated amount of time remaining until a destination of the current ride share trip (e.g., based on a current rate of speed, traffic data receiving from an internet cloud, remaining mileage to the destination), and may analyze the remaining duration of the current ride share trip as part of the ride share trip data.

[0086] In one embodiment, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to utilize the neural network that may be operably controlled by the processor 110 to execute machine learning/deep learning processes to provide artificial intelligence capabilities to evaluate the ride share trip data to query the promotions database 114 for one or more promotional offers that may be associated with surveys, advertisements, and the like that may be tailored towards the estimated duration of the ride share trip, the remaining duration of the current ride share trip, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user 106 for arrival of the ride share vehicle 108 to start the ride share trip, point of interest data that may be associated with the ride share pickup location and/or the ride share drop off location, location related information associated with one or more locations at which the ride share trips is occurring, and/or a time of day of the ride share trip. Upon querying the promotions database 114 for one or more promotional offers based on the ride share trip data, the promotion determinant module 204 may determine one or more promotional offers that may include surveys, advertisements, and the like that may be tailored towards ride share trip of the user 106 and may mark them to be presented to the user 106.

[0087] In an exemplary embodiment, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to analyze the promotional history data that may be associated with previous acceptance or denial of one or more promotional offers that maybe previously presented to the user 106. Upon analyzing the promotional history data, the promotion determinant module 204 may thereby determine one or more offer attributes that may be associated with types of surveys, advertisements, prior purchases, and/or promotional credit amounts that may have been previously accepted by the user 106. In one embodiment, the promotion determinant module 204 may thereby query the promotions database 114 for one or more promotional offers based on the one or more offer attributes to determine one or more promotional offers that may include surveys, advertisements, particular goods and/or services through the virtual marketplace, that may correspond with one or more offer attributes that may be associated with types of surveys, advertisements, prior purchases, and/or promotional credit amounts that may have been previously accepted by the user 106.

[0088] The promotion determinant module 204 may also be configured to analyze attentiveness quality score that may be calculated to indicate a level of attentiveness that the user 106 may have with respect to one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or towards the virtual marketplace as presented to the user 106. In one embodiment, the promotion determinant module 204 may thereby query the promotions database 114 for one or more promotional offers based on the one or more offer attributes to determine one or more promotional offers that may include surveys, advertisements, and the like that may be offered with particular levels/amounts of promotional credits (e.g., monetary credits) based on the attentiveness quality score associated with the user 106.

[0089] The method 300 may proceed to block 310, wherein the method 300 may include presenting one or more promotional offers to the user 106. In an exemplary embodiment, upon determining one or more promotional offers to present to the user 106 (at block 308), the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to communicate with the microprocessor 126 of the portable device 122 to present a promotional offer user interface (not shown) through the display screen 124 of the portable device 122. Alternatively or additionally, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to communicate with the ECU 132 of the ride share vehicle 108 to present the promotional offer user interface through one or more of the display units 134 of the ride share vehicle 108.

[0090] The promotional offer user interface may include a listing of one or more promotional offers that may be offered to the user 106, the type of promotional offer offered to the user 106 (e.g., survey, topic of survey, advertisement, topic of advertisement, virtual marketplace browsing, virtual marketplace product/service type), and one or more levels/amounts of promotional credits that may be offered to the user 106 based on acceptance, partial completion, or full completion of each promotional offer. The promotional offer user interface may additionally include an accept user interface icon and a deny user interface icon that may be associated with each of the promotional offers presented through the promotional offer user interface. One or more of the accept user interface icons and/or the deny user interface icons may be inputted by the user 106 to present and/or queue up one or more promotional offers to be presented to the user 106 through one or more promotional user interfaces.

[0091] The method 300 may proceed to block 312, wherein the method 300 may include determining if the user 106 accepts one or more promotional offers. In an exemplary embodiment, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to determine if the user 106 accepts one or more promotional offers based on the user’s input of one or more accept user interface icons that may be associated with one or more promotional offers upon the promotional offer user interface. Alternately, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to determine if the user 106 denies one or more promotional offers based on the user’s input of one or more deny user interface icons that may be associated with one or more promotional offers upon the promotional offer user interface or a non-input to either of the accept user interface icons and the deny user interface icons within a predetermined period of time.

[0092] If it is determined that the user accepts one or more promotional offers (at block 312), the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to communicate data pertaining to the one or more promotional offers that are accepted by the user 106 to the promotional credit application module 206 of the ride share promotional application 104. The ride share promotional application 104 may thereby be configured to execute a method 400 discussed below.

[0093] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram of the method 400 for applying promotional credits towards a current ride share trip or a future activity according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 400 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the components of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, though it is to be appreciated that the method 400 of FIG. 4 may be used with other systems/components. The method 400 may begin at block 402, wherein the method 400 may include presenting one or more promotional interfaces to the user 106. [0094] As discussed above, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to communicate data pertaining to the one or more promotional offers that are accepted by the user 106 to the promotional credit application module 206 of the ride share promotional application 104. In one embodiment, the promotional credit application module 206 may be configured to determine a point in time (e.g., during a ride share trip, during a future point in time) at which to present one or more promotional user interfaces with one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace. [0095] In one configuration, during the ride share trip or based on the point in time that the user 106 accepts to access/view/complete the respective surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace, the promotional credit application module 206 may be configured to communicate with the microprocessor 126 of the portable device 122 to present one or more respective promotional user interfaces through the display screen 124 of the portable device 122. Alternatively or additionally, the promotion determinant module 204 may be configured to communicate with the ECU 132 of the ride share vehicle 108 to present the one or more respective promotional user interfaces through one or more of the display units 134 of the ride share vehicle 108. The one or more promotional user interfaces may respectively include one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace to be presented to the user 106 during at a respective point in time (e.g., during the ride share trip).

[0096] The method 400 may proceed to block 404, wherein the method 400 may include collecting data associated with the presentation of one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace. In one embodiment, the one or more promotional user interfaces may include one or more user interface input text boxes, user input icons, user input scroll bars, user input radio button icons, and the like that may enable the user 106 to provide inputs to the one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace presented to the user 106 through one or more respective promotional user interfaces.

[0097] In one configuration, the promotional credit application module 206 may register one or more inputs based on the user’s inputs to one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace presented to the user 106. The promotional credit application module 206 may thereby collect data associated with the one or more inputs. For example, the promotional credit application module 206 may collect data associated with the one or more inputs to one or more questions included within one or more surveys that may be presented to the user 106 through one or more promotional user interfaces. Upon collecting the data associated with one or more inputs, the promotional credit application module 206 may utilize the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to communicate the data associated with the one or more inputs to the third party computing infrastructure 130. Accordingly, one or more third party entities may receive user input data associated with one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace.

[0098] The method 400 may proceed to block 406, wherein the method 400 may include calculating promotional credits to provide to the user 106. As discussed above, each promotional offer may be accompanied with one or more promotional credits that may be offered to the user 106 in various levels/amounts. The one or more promotional credits may be offered as monetary credits that are applied towards the ride share trip (e.g., the real-time ride share trip currently being completed), monetary credits that are applied towards a future ride share trip by one or more ride share providers, monetary credits that are applied towards a third party purchase that may be completed with one or more third party entities, and/or a monetary credit that is applied towards one or more purchases that may be completed through the virtual marketplace of the ride share promotional application 104

[0099] In one embodiment, the promotional credit application module 206 may determine an engagement level of the user with respect to one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace. The engagement level may include a value (e.g., 1-10) that may be assigned based on an amount of time the user views the one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace, a number of inputs the user provides to the one or more surveys, advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace, and/or additional factors such as the attentiveness quality score that may be calculated with respect to the user’s level of attentiveness with respect to one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or towards the virtual marketplace. The promotional credit application module 206 may thereby determine a percentage (1-100%) of the offered promotional credits that are to be provided to the user 106 after the user 106 is no longer viewing the one or more surveys, one or more advertisements, and/or the virtual marketplace.

[00100] The method 400 may proceed to block 408, wherein the method 400 may include storing the promotional credits to be utilized by the user 106. In an exemplary embodiment, the promotional credit application module 206 may be configured to store the calculated amount of promotional credits earned by the user 106 upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 that may be associated with the user 106. As discussed above, the promotional credit secure wallet 120 may be configured as a secure data repository that is configured to store data associated with promotional credits that may be provided to the user 106.

[00101] In some circumstances, the user 106 may selectively utilize promotional credits to be applied to a current ride share trip to discount the ride share trip or remit full payment towards the ride share trip. Alternatively, the user 106 may elect to utilize promotional credits to be stored and applied towards future ride share trips and/or towards a third party purchase with a particular third party entity or through the virtual marketplace. Accordingly, the promotional credit application module 206 may be configured to store the promotional credits earned by the user 106 upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 to be currently utilized or utilized at one or more future points in time for future ride share travel, third party purchases, and/or virtual marketplace transactions.

[00102] In one embodiment, the promotional credit application module 206 may be configured to utilize the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to transfer money associated with the promotional credits earned in real-time or stored upon the promotional credit secure wallet 120 to respective computing systems of one or more ride share providers that may be provide ride share trips to the user 106. Accordingly, the respective ride share services may use the money associated with the promotional credits towards one or more ride share trips of the user 106 and/or towards the user’s ride share account. Additionally, the promotional credit application module 206 may be configured to utilize the communication unit 116 of the secure server 102 to transfer money earned in real-time or stored upon associated with the promotional credits to respective computing systems of one or more third party entities that may be provide goods and/or services. Accordingly, the respective third party entities may use the money associated with the promotional credits towards goods and/or services that may be provided by the third party entities to the user 106. [00103] FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram of a method 500 for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 500 of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to the components of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, though it is to be appreciated that the method 500 of FIG. 5 may be used with other systems/components. The method 500 may begin at block 502, wherein the method 500 may include receiving a ride share request from a user 106 to complete the ride share trip.

[00104] The method 500 may proceed to block 504, wherein the method 500 may include analyzing the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip. The method 500 may proceed to block 506, wherein the method 500 may include determining at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user 106 that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data. In one embodiment, at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace. The method 500 may proceed to block 508, wherein the method 500 may include calculating the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer. In one embodiment, the promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip.

[00105] It should be apparent from the foregoing description that various exemplary embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware. Furthermore, various exemplary embodiments may be implemented as instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, such as a volatile or non-volatile memory, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described in detail herein. A machine-readable storage medium may include any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine, such as a personal or laptop computer, a server, or other computing device. Thus, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium excludes transitory signals but may include both volatile and non-volatile memories, including but not limited to read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and similar storage media.

[00106] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in machine readable media and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

[00107] It will be appreciated that various implementations of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip, comprising: receiving a ride share request from a user to complete the ride share trip; analyzing the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip; determining at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data, wherein the at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace; and calculating the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer, wherein the promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the ride share trip data includes at least one of: a type of ride share service vehicle requested, an estimated duration of the ride share trip, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user for arrival of the ride share vehicle to start the ride share trip, a remaining duration of a current ride share trip, point of interest data that is associated with a ride share pickup location or a ride share drop off location, location related information associated with at least one location at which the ride share trip is occurring, and a time of day of the ride share trip.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user includes querying a promotions database that includes a plurality of records that are associated with various types of promotional offers.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein determining the at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user includes querying the promotions database for the at least one promotional offer that is tailored towards an estimated duration of the ride share trip, a remaining duration of a current ride share trip, or an estimated duration of a wait time of the user for arrival of the ride share vehicle to start the ride share trip.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein determining the at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user includes determining demographic data that is associated with the user and querying the promotions database for the at least one promotional offer that is tailored towards the demographic data, wherein the demographic data pertains to an age of the user, a gender of the user, an occupation of the user, and preferences of the user.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein determining the at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user includes providing surveys and advertisements at one or more future points in time that pertain to the user’s retention of information that are associated with past surveys and past advertisements presented to the user.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further including calculating an attentiveness quality score associated with the user that indicates a level of attentiveness that the user has with respect to at least one of: completion of the survey, viewing of the advertising, and browsing of the virtual marketplace.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the promotional credit is offered as at least one of: the monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip, a monetary credit that is applied towards a future ride share trip, a monetary credit that is applied towards a third party purchase, and a monetary credit that is applied towards a purchase that is completed through the virtual marketplace.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the promotional credit is offered as a premium membership that enables the user to control environmental preferences that are associated with the ride share trip within the ride share vehicle through a portable device used by the user, wherein the environmental preferences include at least a video content and an audio content provided within the ride share vehicle.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein calculating the promotional credit towards the ride share trip includes determining an engagement level of the user based on at least one of: an amount of time the user views the survey, advertising, or the virtual marketplace, a number of inputs the user provides to the survey, advertising, or the virtual marketplace, and the attentiveness quality score associated with the user.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including storing the promotional credit earned by the user to be transferred as the monetary credit to computing systems of a ride share provider to be applied to discount the ride share trip or remit full payment towards the ride share trip.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further including presenting at least one of: advertisements, coupons, gift cards, and marketing promotions to the user based on at least one of: user preferences, habits, responses to surveys, inputs to advertisements, and purchases of goods or services through the virtual marketplace.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further including presenting at least one of: advertisements, coupons, gift cards, and marketing promotions to the user based on a geo-location of the user.

14. A system for providing a promotional credit associated with a ride share trip, comprising: a computing infrastructure that includes a memory that stores instructions that are executed by a processor of the computing infrastructure, the instructions executed by the processor cause the processor to: receive a ride share request from a user to complete the ride share trip; analyze the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip; determine at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data, wherein the at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace; and calculate the promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer, wherein the promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the ride share trip data includes at least one of: a type of ride share service vehicle requested, an estimated duration of the ride share trip, an estimated duration of a wait time of the user for arrival of the ride share vehicle 108 to start the ride share trip, a remaining duration of a current ride share trip, point of interest data that is associated with a ride share pickup location or a ride share drop off location, location related information associated with at least one location at which the ride share trip is occurring, and a time of day of the ride share trip.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to query a promotions database to determine the least one promotional offer to be offered to the user, wherein the promotions database is stored upon the memory and is configured as a rational database that includes a plurality of records that are associated with various types of promotional offers.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to query the promotions database for the at least one promotional offer that is tailored towards an estimated duration of the ride share trip, a remaining duration of a current ride share trip, or an estimated duration of a wait time of the user for arrival of the ride share vehicle to start the ride share trip.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to query the promotions database for the at least one promotional offer that is tailored towards demographic data, wherein the demographic data pertains to an age of the user, a gender of the user, an occupation of the user, and preferences of the user.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to communicate with a microprocessor of a portable electronic device to present a promotional user interface through a display device to the user, wherein the promotional user interface includes at least one of: the survey, the advertising, and the virtual marketplace.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to calculate an attentiveness quality score associated with the user that indicates a level of attentiveness that the user has with respect to at least one of: completion of the survey, viewing of the advertising, and browsing of the virtual marketplace.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to determine an engagement level of the user based on at least one of: an amount of time the user views the survey, advertising, or the virtual marketplace, a number of inputs the user provides to the survey, advertising, or the virtual marketplace, and the attentiveness quality score associated with the user.

22. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to store the promotional credit earned by the user upon a promotional credit secure wallet, wherein the promotional credit secure wallet is stored on the memory, wherein the processor is configured to utilize a communication unit of the computing infrastructure to transfer the promotional credit from the promotional credit secure wallet to computing systems of a ride share provider to be applied to discount the ride share trip or remit full payment towards the ride share trip.

23. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to present at least one of: advertisements, coupons, gift cards, and marketing promotions to the user based on at least one of: user preferences, habits, responses to surveys, inputs to advertisements, purchases of goods or services through the virtual marketplace, and the geo-location of the user.

24. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer, which includes a processor perform a method, the method comprising: receiving a ride share request from a user to complete a ride share trip; analyzing the ride share request to determine ride share trip data associated with the ride share trip; determining at least one promotional offer to be offered to the user that is associated with the ride share trip based on the ride share trip data, wherein the at least one promotional offer includes at least one of: an offer to complete a survey, an offer to be presented with advertising, and an offer to be presented with a virtual marketplace; and calculating a promotional credit towards the ride share trip based on the acceptance of the at least one promotional offer, wherein the promotional credit is included as a monetary credit that is applied towards the ride share trip.

25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 24, further including storing the promotional credit earned by the user to be transferred as the monetary credit to computing systems of a ride share provider to be applied to discount the ride share trip or remit full payment towards the ride share trip.