U.S. patent application number 13/337908 was filed with the patent office on 2012-06-21 for internet contest.
Invention is credited to John Clayton Bollinger, Donald Cruver, John M. Hughes, Michael Lydon, Sarah Charlene Ramkissoon.
Application Number | 20120157177 13/337908 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38437922 |
Filed Date | 2012-06-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120157177 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hughes; John M. ; et
al. |
June 21, 2012 |
INTERNET CONTEST
Abstract
In general, the invention relates to providing infrastructure,
process controls, and software to design, advertise, and implement
an on-line contest in which participants in the contest search the
Internet for a target in order to earn a reward. Hints and/or
hidden objects may provide clues as to where to look for the
reward, how to claim the reward, and what the reward is. The reward
is funded by participating web site owners who reserve, in some
embodiments via an auction, the opportunity to "host" the target
during a contest or a portion of a contest, and as a result, drive
traffic to their respective web sites.
Inventors: |
Hughes; John M.; (Hebron,
CT) ; Lydon; Michael; (Hebron, CT) ;
Bollinger; John Clayton; (Bloomington, IN) ;
Ramkissoon; Sarah Charlene; (North York, CA) ;
Cruver; Donald; (Wallkill, NY) |
Family ID: |
38437922 |
Appl. No.: |
13/337908 |
Filed: |
December 27, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11707636 |
Feb 16, 2007 |
8109819 |
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13337908 |
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60775180 |
Feb 21, 2006 |
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60857850 |
Nov 10, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/9 ;
705/14.71 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 30/0212 20130101; G06Q 30/08 20130101; G06Q 30/0239 20130101;
G06Q 30/0275 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/9 ;
705/14.71 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24; G06Q 30/02 20120101 G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1-97. (canceled)
98. A system for directing internet traffic to web sites, the
system comprising: a contest server comprising a processor and a
storage for storing computer instructions, that when executed by
the processor: administer an auction in which potential sponsors of
an online scavenger hunt bid to host a target of the online
scavenger hunt on the potential sponsor's web site; select one or
more of the potential sponsors as winning sponsors; and administer
the online scavenger hunt in which a target object is hidden on a
web site of the winning sponsor and in which participants in the
online scavenger hunt navigate to the web site in search of the
target object, thereby driving internet traffic to the web site of
the winning sponsor.
99. The system of claim 98 wherein the computer instructions, when
executed by the processor, implement the auction as a blind
auction.
100. The system of claim 98 wherein the bids comprise bids to be an
exclusive host of the scavenger hunt.
101. The system of claim 98 wherein the processor selects the
winning sponsor by determining the highest bidder at a
predetermined time.
102. The system of claim 98 wherein the processor selects a winning
sponsor by determining the first potential sponsor to bid a
predetermined amount of money.
103. The system of claim 102 wherein the predetermined amount of
money varies for different portions of the scavenger hunt.
104. The system of claim 98 wherein the bids comprise bids to host
a portion of the scavenger hunt.
105. The system of claim 104 wherein the portion comprises one or
more contest segments during which the target is to be hosted on
the winning sponsor's web site.
106. The system of claim 105 wherein each contest segment comprises
a fixed duration of time.
107. The system of claim 105 wherein the contest segments comprise
different durations of time.
108. The system of claim 105 wherein each contest segment is
attributed to a specific date and time.
109. The system of claim 105 wherein each contest segment is
attributed to a specific date and time range.
110. The system of claim 105 wherein the contest segments are
ordered.
111. The system of claim 104 wherein execution of the computer
instructions causes the target object to be hosted by the winning
sponsor during the portion of the scavenger hunt bid on by the
winning sponsor.
112. The system of claim 104 wherein execution of the computer
instructions causes the target object to be hosted by the winning
sponsor during randomly selected portions of the scavenger
hunt.
113. The system of claim 98 wherein execution of the computer
instructions further causes the processor to track navigation
histories of the participants.
114. The system of claim 113 wherein execution of the computer
instructions further identifies one or more of the participants to
which a prize is awarded based at least in part on their navigation
histories.
115. The system of claim 114 wherein the prize is awarded to the
participants who visited all of the sponsor's web sites.
116. The system of claim 114 wherein the prize is awarded to the
participants who visited the most of the sponsor's web sites.
117. The system of claim 114 wherein the prize is awarded to the
participants who find one or more targets.
118. The system of claim 114 wherein the prize is awarded to the
participants who find one or more targets and solve puzzles.
119. The system of claim 114 wherein the prize is awarded to the
participants who find one or more targets, solve puzzles and
collect electronic keys.
120. The system of claim 114 wherein the prize changes during the
scavenger hunt.
121. The system of claim 120 wherein execution of the computer
instructions determines the prize based at least in part on one or
more of a number of participants in the scavenger hunt, a number of
sponsors for the scavenger hunt, or an amount of money bid to host
the target object.
122. The system of claim 98 wherein the target object comprises one
or more of an icon, a word, an HTML object or an image.
123. The system of claim 98 wherein all of the web sites are
attributed to a single domain.
124. The system of claim 98 wherein the web sites are selected from
a plurality of domains.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of and claims
priority to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/707,636,
entitled "Internet Contest" and filed on Feb. 16, 2007, which
claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.
60/775,180, filed on Feb. 21, 2006 and U.S. provisional patent
application Ser. No. 60/857,850, filed on Nov. 10, 2006, the entire
disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This invention relates to computer-based methods and systems
for marketing and, more particularly, to methods and systems for
providing an internet contest that directs participants to web
sites.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The Internet and the world-wide-web allow people connected
to the network to access virtually any other computer connected to
the network. World-wide-web enabled software, referred to as a
browser, allows users to view content residing on other devices
connected to the network from virtually any device (e.g., a
computer, a wireless hand-held device, a cellular telephone, etc.).
For example, a user "navigates" to a particular site by providing a
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the browser, and through an
association of the URL with one or more network addresses (e.g., IP
addresses), the user is connected to the site. Typically, the site
includes one or more files ("web pages") that are presented to the
user in response to her request. The compilation of these files
(and often the URL or URLs associated with these files) is commonly
called a "web site." In addition to including static text files, a
web site can also be made up of multiple web pages (which in turn
may comprise text and/or components from other web pages),
dynamically generated pages, multimedia (e.g., audio, graphics,
video) files, static objects, and executable components such as
applets, scripts and the like.
[0004] As the Internet has evolved, companies realized its unique
ability to reach and service a large number of customers (or
potential customers) at a fraction of the cost of fully-staffed
stores, live call centers, and conventional advertising vehicles
(e.g., television, print, etc.) Once a company has a web site, it
becomes desirable to attract visitors to its web site. On the
Internet, that is typically done with search engines, or with
advertising, in which ads are placed on web sites or in emails that
direct users to other web sites. "Banner ads" take the form of
rectangular spaces on a web page or other communication, containing
whatever text or images an advertiser chooses to place within them.
When selected by a user, the ad redirects a web browser from the
web site or document that the user is currently viewing to that of
the advertiser, or in some cases creates a new instantiation,
window or tab of the web browser containing the target web site.
Even more obtrusive are pop-up ads that appear on the user's screen
and obscure the subject matter intended to be viewed when invoked
by, for example, merely visiting a web page.
[0005] Though banner ads and pop-up ads are relatively inexpensive,
users generally have no interest in, or reason, to click on such
ads. Further, many users are sufficiently annoyed by banner ads and
pop-ups that they will no longer visit web sites that include them,
or install software that specifically targets and disables such
ads. As a result the effectiveness of such ads is minimized.
[0006] There have been many different types of contests held over
the Internet. There are games of chance and skill, as well as
lotteries. Some web sites have hosted "scavenger hunts" in which
users are challenged to identify information available on one or
more web sites to complete a questionnaire. Typically, a user
travels to a series of web sites and is encouraged to browse
through the web site in search of information contained within that
site. Upon finding the information and presenting to the scavenger
hunt administrator (or other entity), the user is provided some
form of reward. As such, the incentive for finding the hidden
object functions as a typical banner ad would, by directing users
to a preferred web site, and by causing them to search the site,
increases the probability that the user will remain at the web site
for more than some inconsequential amount of time.
[0007] However, such scavenger hunts require the owners and/or
operators of the web sites to constantly update their sites with
new "objects" for each new promotion or anytime the parameters of
the promotion change. It also requires web site owners to promote
or otherwise engage users to their scavenger hunt.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Many companies struggle to gain the attention of consumers
using traditional advertising methods. This is especially true as
it relates to advertising on the Internet. Traditional methods of
on-line advertising, while inexpensive, provide questionable
benefit, and may become targets of legislation specifically banning
such ads. However, due to the pervasive nature of the Internet, the
increased access to the Internet provided by mobile devices
consumer electronics, and the like and the ability to sell products
with very low overhead costs, companies still desire to maintain
and advertise their online presence.
[0009] Further, the Internet allows large numbers of geographically
dispersed people to participate in provide on-line contests without
leaving their home or office. Also, the viral nature of the
Internet provides the means for word-of-mouth advertising to reach
a world-wide audience in a matter of days, if not hours. Promise of
a reward (e.g., a monetary prize) for participating in such
contests only furthers the excitement and increases the
entertainment associated with a contest.
[0010] In general, the invention relates to providing
infrastructure, techniques, process controls, and software to
design, advertise, and implement an on-line contest in which
participants in the contest search the Internet for a reward.
Hints, puzzles and/or hidden objects may provide clues as to where
to look for the reward, how to claim the reward, and what the
reward is. The reward is funded by participating web site owners
who reserve (in some embodiments via an auction) the opportunity to
"host" the contest or a portion of a contest, and as a result,
driving traffic to their web sites.
[0011] Generally speaking, the contest is implemented, in one
exemplary implementation, by allocating segments of a contest to
participating web sites for a fee and facilitating the inclusion of
targets on the participating web sites based on the allocation.
Contestants are provided with one or more hints as to the current
and/or subsequent locations of a target, thus encouraging the
participants to navigate to those web sites. Once a participant
finds one or more targets (and in some cases performs a task such
as solving a puzzle) she may be able to claim a reward. Contestants
may also be provided with specialized contest software that is used
to provide contest information and/or make a target apparent to a
contestant.
[0012] In one aspect of the invention, a method for directing
Internet traffic to web sites includes providing an auction among
potential sponsors of an online scavenger hunt in which the
potential sponsors bid on hosting the target of the scavenger hunt
on their web site and selecting a sponsor (or sponsors) as winning
sponsors. The method also includes providing the online scavenger
hunt in which the target object (e.g., an icon, text, an HTML
object or image) of the scavenger hunt is hosted by a web site of
the winning sponsor and the participants navigate to the hosting
web site (or sites) in search of the target object. As a result,
Internet traffic is driven to the hosting web site.
[0013] The auction can be a blind auction (e.g., potential sponsors
have no knowledge of other bids) or an open auction, in which
winners are determined, for example, by selecting the highest
bidder at a predetermined time or in some instances the first
sponsor to bid a predetermined amount of money (which can differ
for different portions of the scavenger hunt). The sponsors can
host an entire scavenger hunt, some number of portions of the
scavenger hunt that represent contest segments, and/or randomly
selected contest segments, during which the target is hosted on the
winning sponsor's web site. The contest segments can be fixed
durations of equal time, or in some cases certain segments may be
different durations of time. The segments can be attributed to a
specific date and time (e.g., January 13.sup.th at 8:00 pm EST), a
range (e.g., sometime between 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm EST), a
particular order (e.g., the seventh contest segment) or to a
particular event (e.g., halftime of the Super Bowl).
[0014] The navigation histories of contest participants can be
tracked to determine, for example, which web sites the participants
have visited, and prizes can be awarded accordingly. Prizes can be
awarded to participants that visit all of the sponsored web sites
or in some cases visit more sponsored web sites than other
participants. Prizes can be awarded to participants who find
targets on the hosted sites, solve puzzles on the sites and/or find
tokens indicating they have visited the site. The prize can be
based, for example, on the number of participants, the number of
sponsors, or an amount of money bid to host the target of the
scavenger hunt.
[0015] In some embodiments, the payments received from the sponsors
is based on the number of participants that navigate to a
particular web site or sites. The web sites can be attributed to a
single domain (e.g., a private label contest hosted by one sponsor)
or multiple domains.
[0016] In another aspect of the invention, a system for modifying
the functionality of a web page includes client software running in
a web browser used by a contestant in an online contest and a
client interface server in communication with the client software.
The client software presents added contest functionality to browsed
web sites participating in the online contest and the client
interface server determines if the web browser is presenting a web
site participating in the online contest, and if so, transmits
instructions to the client software to present the added contest
functionality with the browsed web sites.
[0017] The client software may be a java applet or a contest
information screen implemented, for example, using asynchronous
javascript. The client software can be a toolbar that is added to a
client application such as a web browser. In some cases, the client
software is configured according to the Wireless Application
Protocol standard, thus allowing the client software to operate on
various wireless and/or handheld devices.
[0018] The contest can be, as one example, an online scavenger hunt
in which participants navigate to web sites in search of a target
object. The added contest functionality can be presentation of the
target object, an interactive puzzle and/or contest status
information such as the number of participants in the contest, a
score board of current contest leaders, and/or prizes for winning
the contest. In some embodiments, the added contest functionality
allows contest participants to communicate among each other (using,
for example, electronic messaging) during the contest.
[0019] The system may also include a data storage module for
storing identifiers of the web sites participating in the contest.
In some embodiments, the client software also transmits browser
history data from the browser to the client interface server for
storage in the data storage module, and, in some cases, subsequent
analysis. The client interface server may, in certain instances,
determine if the web browser is presenting a web site that is
participating in the online contest by comparing identifiers of
browsed web sites (which in some cases may be encrypted or
otherwise somehow obscured or obfuscated using, for example, a
Bloom filter) with the list of identifiers of participating web
sites.
[0020] In another aspect of the invention, a system for
facilitating communication among participants in an online contest
includes client software running in a web browser used by
participants in an online scavenger hunt to determine the current
status of other participants in the online scavenger hunt, a
contest server for receiving from the client software a status of
the each of the participants using the client software and
transmitting the current status of the participants (which in some
cases may be a team of participants) to the client software, and a
contest information component presented by the client software for
displaying the current status of the participants.
[0021] The contest information component may be a toolbar, a
downloadable javascript applet or an information screen implemented
using, for example, asynchronous javascript. The contest server may
also transmit a current status of the online scavenger hunt, as
well as a current status of other online scavenger hunts. The
status of the scavenger hunts may include, for example, the number
of active and/or upcoming online scavenger hunts, announcements
regarding upcoming scavenger hunts, the names of sponsors of the
scavenger hunt, and/or the prizes available for winning the
scavenger hunts. Instead of or in addition to the status
information, the contest information component may also present
advertisements to the contest participants.
[0022] The current status of the participants in the scavenger
hunts can include the number of participants, a current prize, the
number of participating web sites a participant has found, a time
remaining in the scavenger hunt and/or a hint about the current
location or future location of of a target of the scavenger hunt.
The contest information component may also include messaging
functionality that allows participants to communicate with each
other during the scavenger hunt. In some embodiments, a version of
the contest information component is configured according to the
Wireless Application Protocol, thereby allowing the component to be
viewed on various handheld and wireless devices. The client
software can also present additional functionality to the web sites
participating in the scavenger hunt. For example, the software may
facilitate the presentation of a target object, an interactive
puzzle or in some cases, both.
[0023] In another aspect of the invention, a method for
facilitating a team-based online scavenger hunt includes providing
an online scavenger hunt in which a target object (such as an icon,
text or an image) is hosted by web sites and in which participants
in the online scavenger hunt navigate to the hosting web sites in
search of the target object, and providing client software running
in a web browser and used by the participants to communicate with
other participants, thereby allowing the participants to cooperate
with each other to find the target object.
[0024] The client software may be configured according to the
Wireless Application Protocol standards and in some cases
configured to facilitate communication among the team members. The
participants may be organized into teams (either randomly,
specifically selected by other team members, or assigned based on
past performance) such that the members of each team can cooperate
to find the target object. Prizes can be awarded to teams, by, for
example, determining the number of hosting web sites found by each
member of the teams and awarding the prize to the team finding the
most hosting sites (which may be used to allocate the prize among
team members) or, in some cases, the first team to find the target
object. Each team member may be rated based on their performance in
the online scavenger hunt.
[0025] The online scavenger hunt may be sponsored, and in some
cases the opportunity to participate as a sponsor is awarded based
on an online auction among potential sponsors that desire to have
their web sites host some or all of the scavenger hunt, thereby
driving Internet traffic to their web sites.
[0026] In yet another aspect of the invention, a method for
providing online entertainment includes providing an online
scavenger hunt in which participants collect a series of electronic
keys with which they can claim a prize. More specifically, the
method includes encouraging the participants to navigate to a web
page, presenting an interactive screen in which the participant
solves a puzzle (e.g., by unscrambling a scrambled word,
determining the solution to a hangman game, and so forth), and upon
determining the word, instructing the participant to locate the
word on the web site. Once the participant has located the word,
one of a series of tokens an identifier of a next web page may be
presented to the participant. This process may be repeated until a
predetermined stopping point (e.g., one participant collects all
the tokens, or until a particular date and time), at which point an
interactive target (such as an icon, text or image) may be
presented to the participant. The collected tokens may be used to
"unlock" the target.
[0027] In some embodiments, a prize (such as money) is awarded to
the participant who collects the series of electronic keys. The
prize can change (e.g., the prize may increase or decrease) during
the online scavenger hunt. In some cases, sponsors may be solicited
to sponsor part of or the entire scavenger hunt, and participants
may be directed to web sites hosted by the participating sponsors.
The solicitation may take place using, for example, an online
auction. Advertisements may be presented to the participants during
the scavenger hunt.
[0028] In another aspect of the invention, a method for determining
if a web site is in a list of web sites includes obfuscating URLs
associated with the web sites in the list by applying a Bloom
Filter to each of the URLs, transmitting the list of obfuscated
URLs to a client, transmitting a client plug-in to a web browser
that receives the transmitted list, and for each web site visited
by the web browser obfuscates the URL of the visited web site using
the Bloom Filter, compares the obfuscated URL of the visited web
site to the list of obfuscated web sites, and determines if the
visited web site is in the list based on the results of the
comparison.
[0029] The list of web sites can include web sites that are hosted
by sponsors of an online scavenger hunt, and in some instances the
list of obfuscated URLs is transmitted to the client in response to
a request to participate in the scavenger hunt. In some
embodiments, tokens are provided to the client if the comparison
determines the visited web site to be in the list. The results of
the comparison may also be displayed on the client, indicating to
the user that the visited web site is in the list.
[0030] These and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages
of the invention will become more apparent from the following
description and from the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer
to the same parts throughout the different views. Also, the
drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally
being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
[0032] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a contest system according to
an embodiment of the invention.
[0033] FIG. 2 is a timeline depicting various events during an
online contest in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0034] FIG. 3 is an example web site display according to an
exemplary embodiment of the invention.
[0035] FIG. 4 is an example of web site HTML code in a
demonstrative example according to an embodiment of the
invention.
[0036] FIG. 5 is an demonstrative web site display using the
example HTML code of FIG. 4.
[0037] FIG. 6 is another demonstrative web site display using the
example HTML code of FIG. 4.
[0038] FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a process for implementing a
contest according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0039] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of another process for implementing a
contest according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0040] FIG. 9 is an example web site display according to an
exemplary embodiment of the invention.
[0041] FIG. 10 is the web site display of FIG. 9 after a user has
interacted with the web site display and completed a puzzle
according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
[0042] FIG. 11 is the web site display of FIG. 9 after a user has
interacted with the web site display and found a target object
according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
[0043] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a process for implementing an
ongoing, online contest according to an exemplary embodiment of the
invention.
[0044] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a contest system according to
an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0045] Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a contest domain 100
includes a contestant device 102. The contestant device 102 may be
implemented as a system including software running on a personal
computer (e.g., a PC with an INTEL processor or an APPLE MACINTOSH)
capable of running such operating systems as the MICROSOFT WINDOWS
family of operating systems from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,
Washington, the MACINTOSH operating system from Apple Computer of
Cupertino, Calif., and various varieties of Unix, such as SUN
SOLARIS from SUN MICROSYSTEMS, and GNU/Linux from RED HAT, INC. of
Durham, N.C. (and others). The contestant device 102 also could be
implemented on such hardware as a smart or dumb terminal, network
computer, wireless device, telephone, personal digital assistant,
information appliance, workstation, minicomputer, mainframe
computer, or some combination, or as another computing device, that
is operated, for example, as a general purpose computer, or a
special purpose hardware device used solely for serving as a
contestant device 102 in the contest domain.
[0046] The contestant device 102 is used by an actual or potential
contestant to access web sites. In one embodiment, a contestant
uses a web browser, such as the FIREFOX browser from the Mozilla
Foundation, INTERNET EXPLORER from Microsoft Corporation of
Redmond, Washington, or the like, to access web sites. The
contestant device 102 may access a contest administration web site
110, to learn details about the contest. The contest administration
web site 110 may be integrated or separate from other web sites
120, 122, 124 that potentially may be accessed by a contestant. In
one embodiment, the contest administration web site 110 provides
information about how to participate in a contest.
[0047] A communications network connects the contestant device 102
with the servers 120, 122, 124 that provide the web sites 120, 122,
124. The communication may take place via any media or any
combination of media such as standard telephone lines, LAN or WAN
links (e.g., T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections (ISDN,
Frame Relay, ATM), wireless links (cellular, 802.11, Bluetooth,
etc.), and so on. Preferably, the network can carry TCP/IP protocol
communications, and HTTP/HTTPS requests made by the contestant
device 102 to the web sites 120, 122, 124. The type of network is
not a limitation, however, and any suitable network(s) and
protocol(s) may be used. Non-limiting examples of networks that can
serve as or be part of the communications network include a
wireless or wired Ethernet-based intranet, a local or wide-area
network (LAN or WAN), cellular or land-based telephone networks,
and/or the global communications network known as the Internet,
which may accommodate many different communications media and
protocols, and any variation or combination.
[0048] In one embodiment, the contest administration web site 110
makes available for download over the network a contest component
108 that can be used in conjunction with the contestant device 102.
In some embodiments, no contest component 108 is needed at all, and
in some embodiments, the use of a contest component 108 is
optional. The contest component 130 may be implemented in various
forms, for example, it may be in the form of a Java applet that is
downloaded to the device 102 and runs in conjunction with a web
browser, a "plug-in" or other extension or combination with the
browser or the contestant device 102. The contest component may be
in the form of a standalone application. The contest component may
be implemented in a multi-platform language such as Java, in a
scripting language such as JavaScript, and/or in native processor
executable code, or in some other form. In some embodiments, the
contest component 108 is built into the contestant device 102 or a
browser installed on the contestant device 102.
[0049] In some embodiments, the contestant device 102 is used to
navigate among and view screens, objects, maps and/or virtual
"worlds" as part of online games such as MYST by UBISOFT and SECOND
LIFE from LINDEN RESEARCH, INC. In some cases, the contest
component 108 can provide additional functionality to the
contestant device 102 (or other software components used to design
and/or navigate within the game or virtual world) to allow users to
view and/or interact with contest objects and clues. For example,
users participating in an online game and/or virtual world
simulation can simultaneously participate in the online contest
such that they have an opportunity to win prizes and/or gain
notoriety among other users that are also participating in the
contest. For example, in one embodiment in which the contest takes
place within a virtual world, the user navigates to various
locations within the virtual world to find clues, puzzles, target
objects and/or prizes. In some cases, the users can interact with
other virtual participants and advertise the contest to increase
participation and interest in the contest. In some embodiments, the
contest may be implemented within virtual worlds specifically
designed to host one or more contests, whereas in other
circumstances the contests may be implemented within virtual worlds
or games not specifically set up to host contests.
[0050] In some such embodiments, a contest component is an addition
(e.g., a plug-in) to a game or virtual world component, which runs
on a contest device. The plug in presents the contest in the
context of the game or virtual world, in some implementations
without a requirement that the game or virtual world server
participate or provide the contest. The contest component may
recognize objects in the virtual world, and provide the contest
based on the presence of such objects. For example, an object, such
as a ball, in a virtual world, may be the subject of a scavenger
hunt, but the ball may be found inside, or on, other objects. The
sponsors may desire to have visitors to their location in a virtual
world, and so may request that the target be located within a
particular room, building, or virtual area.
[0051] Generally speaking, in one embodiment, a contestant uses the
contestant device 102, with or without the contest component 108,
to obtain hints to a current and/or future location (e.g.,
exemplary web sites 120, 122, 124) where a target may be found. The
contestant uses the hints and the contest component 108 to search
for targets on different web sites. When a target is found, the
user may submit it for a reward. In some embodiments, the
contestant may need to perform additional tasks in order to gain a
reward in addition to locating the target. For example, the user
may need to specify additional information (e.g., answer a
question, solve a puzzle, or other information) that can be used to
gain a reward, or find additional targets. The hints to the
information needed to collect the reward may be on the target, or
provided with the target. In cases where multiple targets are
needed to claim a reward, the contest component 108 and/or the
contestant device 102 may track the contestant's web site
visitations to confirm that he has in fact visited web sites and
performed the requisite tasks to find and/or unlock the target on
each web page. In one particular example, a key is created on the
contestant device (in encrypted or decrypted form) for target that
is found. Claiming the reward may require the presentation of the
tokens, e.g., by the contest component 108 to the contest web site
110.
[0052] In one embodiment, a target may be visible to all viewers of
the web site who visit the web site at a particular time. In
another embodiment, the target may be visible only to viewers with
a particular cookie or other identifier. In another embodiment, the
target may be visible only to registered viewers, or to viewers
that have the contest component 108 installed on the contestant
device 102. In some embodiments, the target may be hiding within
the web site or somehow obfuscated or camouflaged such that effort
is needed to find the target.
[0053] In one embodiment, the contest administration web site 110
provides some information (e.g., hints) about where a contestant
can find a target (not shown). In one embodiment, a target is a
virtual object (e.g., text, image, and/or sound) that may be
displayed on the pages of the web sites. The target may have a
particular shape, for example, a geometric shape such as a ball or
cube, or the shape of a fruit or animal. The target may have a
particular color, texture, or shading. The target may have any
readily recognizable form, such that someone looking for the form
can find it. In some embodiments the target is all or a portion of
a larger image, such as a recognizable product, person, character,
logo or trademark.
[0054] The target may be instantly visible when the page is viewed,
or there may be user action required, such as selection of a link,
providing a key or other token, solving a puzzle, or moving a
cursor over a location in a page. In one embodiment, the target is
analogous to a virtual "box" or "ball" that needs to be opened by
providing certain information to a web site or the contest
component.
[0055] Hints provided by the contest administration web site 110,
other web sites, or other media outlets (e.g., radio and/or
television broadcasts, print ads, etc.) may provide references to a
particular web site where the target may be found, or references to
web sites where additional hints used to locate the target may be
found. The hints may provide enough information individually to
identify a web site (e.g., a URL), and where on a web site, the
target may be located, or the hints may need to be combined with
other hints in order to locate a target.
[0056] In some cases, a hint may be all or part of an image. The
image may be any sort of image, including, without limitation, all
or a portion of a web page, a logo or trademark, an item offered
for purchase, a spokesperson, character, mascot, or some
combination thereof. In some embodiments, a hint image is first
provided with some missing information to contestants and the hint
may be changed (e.g., replaced, modified, updated) over time to
provide more information. For example, in one embodiment, the size
of a hint image that is presented to contestants is initially very
small such that it may be difficult to identify, but increases in
size over time to make it easier to identify. For example, a hint
may start as only a few pixels of a particular trademark, but
increase by some number of pixels in each direction if no
contestant finds the target. In other embodiments, certain
distinctive elements (words, images, colors, etc.) of a logo are
hidden and over time one or more features are revealed. In some
cases, a hint may be a jumbled or scrambled image that may be
reconstructed like a jigsaw puzzle. In one embodiment the image is
broken up into square areas and reorganized. A participant can then
arrange the pieces of the image in order to reveal the hint.
[0057] A hint may be a reference to an object (e.g., picture, word,
or phrase) that is to be found. The hint may be provided in the
form of the answer to a challenge, for example, as a puzzle,
brainteaser, trivia question, and so on. For example, if the object
is a phrase, the challenge may be a jumble of the letters of the
phrase, and the contestant needs to unscramble the letters to
identify the phrase. As another example, the challenge may be a
trivia question, the answer to which would be the object to be
found. As another example, the challenge may be a jigsaw puzzle, or
divided image that is to be reconstructed to determine the hint.
Other challenges and hints are possible. The answers to a
challenges may be direct or indirect references to the hints, and
so on.
[0058] In one embodiment in which the target is displayed as a ball
shape, the target may be either automatically opened upon finding
the target, or in some cases is opened by the contestant manually
providing information (e.g., answers to questions, passwords,
etc.), using, for example, the contest component 108. For example,
where the target contains encrypted text, the encrypted text can be
opened only by entering certain key words into the contest
component 108. The hints (as described above) found on the web
sites may guide the contestant to obtaining the key words. If the
correct key words are provided to the contest component 108, the
contest component will be able to unlock, decrypt, uncover or
otherwise activate the ball and reveal information such as a
secret, which can then be submitted for a reward. Alternatively,
submitting the correct information may result in winning the
reward.
[0059] In one embodiment, a contestant submits a request for a
reward by providing evidence that they have found the target, or
providing the result of decrypting encrypted text provided with or
as part of the target, to the contest web site 110 or another web
site. In one embodiment, the first contestant to provide correct
data receives the reward. In another embodiment, some number of
contestants who provide correct data receive the reward.
[0060] The reward can be any sort of reward that may have some
value for the contestant. As non-limiting examples, this can
include money, prizes, reward points, goods, services, points,
invitations, event tickets and/or passes, downloadable content,
gift cards, promotion codes, and so on. In one embodiment, the more
time that passes in which the target is not located, or if located,
not opened, the reward increases. The reward may also increase as
more contestants join the contest. In some instances, the reward is
based on the web site on which the target is currently located. For
example, certain web sites may pay higher entry fees to participate
in the contest, and/or the target may be located on a particular
web site for longer or shorter time periods, and thus the reward
associated with finding the target on a particular web site may be
higher than others.
[0061] The web sites 120, 122, 124 may be any sort of web site that
can provide content to contestants. Typically, the web sites will
be web sites that have information regarding products or services,
such that a contestant will learn about the product or service as
the contestant is searching for the target. It should be understood
that there may be any number, typically a large number, of web
sites (exemplified for illustration as three web sites 120, 122,
124) in a particular contest. The web sites may be provided on any
suitable server. One possible motivation for web sites to
participate in the contest is the capability that the contest
provides to drive traffic (i.e., contestants navigating the web) to
the participating web site. In some embodiments, the desire to
drive traffic to a particular web site at a particular date/time
further motivates owners of the participating web sites to reserve
or bid on specific dates and/or times that the target will be
placed on their web site, using, in one embodiment, an auction
format as described in additional detail below.
[0062] In one embodiment, the web sites are provided on one or more
server-class computers capable of running such operating systems as
the MICROSOFT WINDOWS family of operating systems from Microsoft
Corporation of Redmond, Washington, the MACINTOSH operating system
from Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif., and various varieties of
Unix, such as SUN SOLARIS from SUN MICROSYSTEMS, and GNU/Linux from
RED HAT, INC. of Durham, N.C. (and others). Web service software,
such as provided by Apache Software, provided by the Apache
Software Foundation, or INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES from
Microsoft Corporation may be used to provide web pages. The web
sites 120, 122, 124 also could be implemented on any other suitable
hardware or software.
[0063] In one embodiment, the web sites 120, 122, 124 provide to
contestants information that is "hidden" in the web pages by
enabling additional functionality that is not encoded in the source
code of the web sites. The information that is hidden is received
by the contest component 130 and provided to the contestant in many
forms, one of which being an "overlay" web page that, when rendered
in conjunction with the web sites 120, 122, 124 appears to be part
of the web sites 120, 122, 124. A non-contestant viewer of the web
page may not be aware that there is hidden content on the web page
or additional functionality is available. In another example, the
hidden information may be in the form of images, text, audio, or
programming code, that only results in the presentation of the
hidden information if the contest component 130 is present. In one
embodiment, the hidden information includes a particular type of
XML or HTML tags (e.g., "META" tags) that do not normally display
to a user. In one embodiment, the hidden information is provided in
the form of an anchor, which would be processed only if a plug-in
is present. In one embodiment, the hidden information is encrypted,
such that the contest component decrypts the information. In one
embodiment, the hidden information is cryptographically signed,
such that the origin of the hidden information can be verified.
[0064] In one embodiment, the hidden information is provided to web
sites 120, 122, 124 by a back-office component 130. The back-office
component 130 provides the data to the web sites, that the web
sites can provide on their sites. The information provided by the
back office component 130, for example, can provide text with hints
for contestants, indicating where the target may be found. The
information provided by the back office component 130, for example,
can include the target itself. The information provided by the back
office component 130, for example, can include encrypted target
information that will need to be decrypted by the contestant using
the contest component 130 or otherwise to gain a reward.
[0065] In one embodiment, the back-office component 130 provides
information to multiple web sites 120, 122, 124. The information is
for inclusion in the pages of the web sites 120, 122, 124 for a
limited period of time. The information is for display of a target
or information about the location of the target. Additional
information is provided for display at the end of the limited
period of time. In this way, the information provided in web pages
to contestants can be updated regularly, and the contestants can be
directed to different web sites.
[0066] In other embodiments, no information is provided to the
participating web sites 120, 122, 124 and the back-office component
130 communicates directly with the contest component 108 residing
on the contest device 102. This communication may be initiated by
the back-office component 130, the contest component 108, or both.
In such cases, the contest component 108 periodically (or in some
instances continually) communicates with the back office component
130, which provides contest information to contestants, determines
when a contestant is viewing a web site that includes the target,
effectuates the display of the target, and implements the
parameters of the contest.
[0067] Assignment of the keys and/or the target to one or more host
sites may be accomplished in a number of ways. The sites may be
chosen at random or selected by administrators, users or
contestants. Web site owners or other authorized personnel may pay
a fee to host the target. The fees may be determined prior to the
announcement of the contest or determined based on the number of
sponsors interested in hosting the target. Web site owners or other
authorized personnel may bid for the opportunity to host the target
in an auction style format. In each case, the hosting site may be
subject to a verification and approval process. In general, to
avoid conflicts, sponsors may not be allowed to participate in
contests in which they have placed a successful bid to host the
target.
[0068] Referring to FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the contest can be
sponsored by one or more participating web sites such that the
sponsorship provides some or all of the prize for winning the
contest. In general, the timeline 200 for a contest includes
various phases during which a contest administrator, contest
sponsors and contest participants interact via the network. For
example, the contest administrator may announce a new contest (time
205) in order to encourage sponsorship and/or participation in the
contest. The announcement may include one or more of various forms
of advertising such displays on web sites, as email campaigns,
print ads, radio and television commercials, online ads as well as
viral marketing through web blogs and news aggregation web
sites.
[0069] In general, entities host the site by paying value for the
opportunity to do so, as the increased traffic to the sites
provides value to the hosting entities. The opportunity may be
reserved prior to the contest, during the contest, or both. In one
embodiment, a portion of the payment (or payments) made be each
host site for a given contest (or some portions thereof) is placed
into a reward pool as a prize for the winner(s) of the contest. In
this way, the longer a contest goes on, the higher the prize pool.
The larger the prize pool, the more that contestants will be
attracted to participate in the contest, thus making it more
valuable for the web sites to host the target. In this way, the
value of a contest may increase, for example, as the contest grows
more popular and continues without a winner.
[0070] In instances in which the contest administrator solicits
sponsors for the contest, an auction model may be used to encourage
sponsors to bid for the opportunity to host some (or all) contest
segments 210. In such cases, bidding can begin (time 215) at
virtually any time before the contest starts. Bidding may even
start after the contest starts in instances in which a contest is
initially unsponsored, but due to high publicity and/or demand, the
remainder of the contest is to be sponsored. For example, a contest
may start with relatively few participants and a small prize such
as $100. However, for example, through word of mouth and
progressive prize increases (e.g., adding $100 to the prize for
each day no one wins), the number of participants may grow to a
number at which companies find sponsorship of the contest to be a
valuable marketing strategy. In cases in which multiple contests
are running in parallel, the announcements and bidding processes
may occur during another contest in an attempt to encourage
sponsors and participants to take part in other contests.
[0071] Sponsors may not necessarily bid for specific or fixed time
segments. Instead, there may be a number of segments within a block
of contiguous time, and sponsors may request one or more of these
segments. Sponsors may bid for multiple segments within a single
block of time or amongst several blocks of time. There may, in some
instances be limits on how many time segments any one sponsor can
win within a single block of time. In some implementations, a
sponsor is only charged for payment after the target is actually
placed on their site, so that if a contestant wins before a
sponsor's web site is played, the sponsor is not required to pay.
In some implementations, a new contest starts as soon as another
completes and the sponsorship is applied to a succeeding
contest.
[0072] At some point (time 220) bidding is closed. The close of
bidding may be based on, for example, fulfillment of all contest
segments 210, a predefined date and/or time, achieving a predefined
monetary sponsorship level (e.g., a $10,000 contest) and/or one
sponsor agreeing to sponsor the entire contest. In contests in
which certain of these close bidding criteria are not met prior to
the contest start (time 225), bidding may continue during the
contest for future contest segments 225. Certain contest segments
may be reserved (e.g., not available for bidding until the contest
starts or the segment is closer in time) if, for example, those
segments are deemed to be highly valuable or the value of the
segments are likely to increase over time. For example, segments
that overlap with a product announcement, a news event, or a
sporting event (e.g., the end of the Super Bowl) may be held in
reserve for bidding until it is known which contest segment will
correspond to the event.
[0073] In one embodiment, the number of competing bid values
associated with a segment will match the number of segments. For
example, if there are 6 segments available within a specific block
of time, potential sponsors see the 6 highest bids for those
segments. In one implementation, the auction functionality
implements a "maximum bid" feature so that potential sponsors can
enter the maximum amount that they are willing to bid, and their
bid will automatically increase as needed until the maximum amount
is reached.
[0074] In one implementation there is a deterministic relationship
between the bid close time (220) and the segment during which a web
site hosts the target, such that there is a hosting site available
when the target moves to a new hosting site. Sponsors may upload an
image as part of the bidding process that can be used as the target
when it is on their site, or in some cases the image may be used to
create a puzzle, as described in greater detail below.
[0075] Once an auction is complete, the sponsor with the highest
bid for a particular segment may be the winner to host the target
for that segment. At the end of auction, the game administrator as
well as the winning sponsor may be notified.
[0076] In some embodiments, in order to participate in the auction
process, a potential contest host may be required to register an
account with the contest administrator. In such instances, the
sponsor's email address is confirmed, the potential sponsor accepts
the terms of service, and may be asked to provide additional
information, such as the following:
TABLE-US-00001 Field Description Type Required Validation Sponsor
Id Preferred Text Yes >4 <10 Sponsor Id Password Password for
the Password Field Yes More than 5 and account (entries are ***
less than 25 out) Password Confirm Password Field Yes Matches
Confirmation Password type password field Email Address User's
Contact Text Yes Less than 256 Email Email Address Confirm Email
Text Yes Matches Email Confirmation Address Address Field First
Name First name of Text Yes Less than 30 Sponsor characters Last
Name Last name of Text Yes Less than 50 Sponsor characters Street
Address Address of Text Yes Less than 128 Line Sponsor characters
Street Address Address of Text No Less than 128 Line 2 Sponsor
characters City City of the Text Yes Less than 128 Sponsor
characters Zip Code/Postal Zip/Postal code Text No Less than 10
Code of Sponsor characters Telephone Telephone Numeric Yes Less
than 30 Number of Sponsor Fax Fax Number of Numeric No Less than 30
Sponsor Payment Method Preferred method Text No Less than 50
preference of Payment characters URL* URL of Sponsor Text Yes Less
than 256 URL URL of Sponsor Text No Less than 256 URL URL of
Sponsor Text No Less than 256 URL URL of Sponsor Text No Less than
256 URL URL of Sponsor Text No Less than 256
[0077] To bid on hosting the ball, the sponsor visits the login
page, and presents credentials, such as a username and password.
The sponsor provides information about the requested bid, for
example, in some embodiments, including the following
information:
TABLE-US-00002 Field Description Type Required Validation Sponsor
Id Preferred Text Yes >4 <10 Sponsor Id Game Color Color to
be used Character Yes <128 (Game to identify a characters
identifier) specific game Auction Time Identifier used to Character
Yes <128 Block ID distinguish between blocks of time within one
game Bid value Amount of Currency Yes Currency money that Sponsor
bids Domain Sponsor picks Character Yes <512 from a list of
their pre- approved URLS Image Image from Graphic Yes Manual which
puzzle is approval created of image
[0078] The game site will allow sponsors who have logged in to view
auctions in process. There may be multiple bid opportunities within
a game or amongst multiple ball games in process. In some
embodiments, the following information may be provided:
TABLE-US-00003 Field Description Type Required Validation Game
Color Color to be used Character Yes <128 (Game to identify a
characters identifier) specific game Game Status Specifies Game
Character Yes <128 status (in progress, completed, upcoming)
Auction Identifier used to Character Yes <128 Time distinguish
Block ID between blocks of time within one game Length of Total
length of Numeric Yes Minutes - < Auction time of this block
Time Block Auction Starting time for Date Yes Date Start the
auctioning of (time) this block of time Auction Ending time for
Date Yes Date End auctioning this (time) block of time Number of
Number of Numeric Yes <25 Segments Segments Available for this
Block of Time Jackpot Maximum Currency No Currency possible payout
format based on # of winning bids for the game thus far Competing
The other bids Currency Yes Currency Bid for segments format
Values* within this Block of Time
[0079] There may be one or more criteria for ending a contest (time
230). For example, the contest may end at a predefined date and
time (e.g., midnight on February 1), at which time the participant
(or team of participants) having performed the best (e.g., visited
the most sites, found the most target objects, completed the most
puzzles, etc.) is declared the winner. In other cases, the contest
may continue until a participant meets a contest objective. In some
embodiments, if no participant meets the contest objective by a
particular time, the prize may be "rolled over" into a new
contest.
[0080] Referring to FIG. 3, a participating web site 300 is
rendered on a contestants device along with the contest component
130 which may include information about the status of a current
contest, multiple contests, and/or upcoming contests. For example,
in an exemplary embodiment, a contestant visits a contest web page
that may include contest rules, registration pages, and
instructions for downloading and installing the contest component
108. As one non-limiting example, the contest component 108 may be
implemented as a "toolbar" 305 within an application operating on
the contest device (e.g., a web browser). In other instances, the
contest component 108 may be implemented as an information screen
within a separate application using, for example, asynchronous
JavaScript and XML ("AJAX") such that much of the user-initiated
actions are processed on the contest device. In such cases, contest
data may be exchanged with the back office component and/or contest
server behind the scenes and any web pages being viewed by the
contestants do not have to be reloaded each time a change is made,
thus increasing the interactivity, speed, and usability of the web
page.
[0081] Examples of information that may be displayed to the
contestants via the contest component 305 includes whether the
contest component is enabled, the status of one or more contests
(e.g., active, not active, six active contests, etc.), the number
of contestants currently participating in one or more of the
contests, the current award for finding a target object, the number
of keys and/or hints the contestant has collected from previously
visited sites, the current status of the target, a time limit that
the target will remain in its current location, hints as to the
current or future location(s) of the target, and/or the next
location (e.g., URL, domain, or page location) of the target. In
some embodiments, the hints are automatically generated based on
contents of the participating web pages (e.g., randomly and/or
deliberately selected text, graphics, objects, or combinations
thereof). In some embodiments, the hints are predetermined by the
participating web site, to, for example, assure that visitor
traffic is directed to a particular page, advertisement, or other
component of the web site.
[0082] The contest component 305 has the ability to retrieve a list
of available active games (e.g. games in progress for which the
contestant is eligible to participate) and the associated
contestant status (registered/unregistered) for each game. By
default, the top ten games (by current prize value) may be shown,
and additional games may be accessed using, for example, a
drop-down list or link. The status of each contest is updated by a
request to the contest server for the list of currently active
games and associated contestant status.
[0083] The contest component may also include a "leader board" that
indicates the status of one or more contestants in the game. The
leader board may be available both in the contest component as well
on the game website and may be sorted by game (e.g., drop-down box
to allow contestants to view the status of various games). A
contestant's ranking may be determined based on, for example, the
number of keys retrieved in the current contest, their final
standings in previous contests, or some combination thereof.
[0084] In one implementation, contestants can view a list of sites
where target objects may be located in the near future or at
certain times, such as the contest segments auctioned off to
contest sponsors during the auction process.
[0085] A "Show Domains Found" function allows contestants to view
the web sites from a particular contest that have been discovered
by contestants participating the game. In some embodiments, when a
contestant finds a key, the list of discovered web sites may be
updated to reflect the current web site for which a key was just
found, if the web site is not already on the list. This may
encourage a "chase/swarm" behavior where contestants who are
lagging in the contest can catch up by navigating to the web sites
discovered by the contest leaders and obtaining keys from those
sites. In some cases, the contestants may be able to skip certain
sites, for example, if those sites do not have keys that are
required to unlock the target object. For example, if a lagging
contestant notes that there are ten web sites between himself and
the target object, he may choose to skip over some intervening
sites, if only keys from the five sites immediately preceding the
target's location are required. In some implementations, this
"skipping" of sites is not possible, for example, in the case of a
site hosting multiple times within one contest.
[0086] Once a contestant installs the contest component, she
continues to navigate to various web pages, either based on hints
about the location of the the target, at random, based on
information provided by the contest component or by others, and so
on. As contest status changes, information may be sent to the
contest component on the contestant's device and information about
the current page being viewed by the contest device may be
transmitted to the back office component. In one embodiment, the
location of the target is stored on the back office component as an
encrypted numerical representation of the URL using, for example, a
hash function. As the contestant views a particular web page, the
URL is communicated to the back office component via the contest
component, where the same encryption and/or manipulation function
can be applied. The back office component may then compare the
"hashed" URL of the current target location with the "hashed" URL
of the web page the contestant is viewing. If the two match, the
back office component may then cause a visual representation of the
target 310 to appear on the web page. Using this technique,
operators of a participating web sites do not need to make changes
to their web sites to participate in the contest.
[0087] Similarly, if the target is hidden at a particular location
on a web page (e.g, at a visible or hidden icon, word, phrase,
media file, object or image) or a hidden page within a web site,
the contest component may use a combination of the URL and the
filename and/or object name or other identifier as input to the
hash function. In this way, the domain name and/or the URL in which
the target is located can be made public, thus generating
excitement about the contest and the participating web site, while
allowing the back office component and contest component to
securely and secretly place the target within the participating web
site. In one embodiment, the target location is provided to the
contest component when it communicates the URL to the back office
component. In another embodiment, multiple targets (possibly
located at different domains) may be used, and contestants are
instructed to find and/or unlock all (or some number of) the
targets to claim the reward. In such cases, the contest component
may include a counter indicating to the contestant the number of
targets that have been found and the remaining number to complete
the contest. Such an implementation further reduces cheating, as
the likelihood that a single individual would know the particular
location of more than one or two of the targets is remote.
[0088] Referring to FIG. 4, in another embodiment, the HTML source
of an exemplary web page includes two inserts that may be used to
identify where and/or when the target and/or a hint is included in
the web page. The first insert 410 is an anchor link. The link
includes an identification string. This identification string can
be used by the contest component, for example, to display a graphic
image or other content included in the identified file. This anchor
may require a user to find and click on the location of the tag in
order to go to that hidden location. In this way the user searches
for a target. Alternatively, the contest component may recognize
the tag, and parse the string of data that is included in the tag.
In this way, the browser may ignore the tag, while the contest
component provides a display or takes other action based on the
characters in the string.
[0089] The second insert 420 is a special tag that typically is not
displayed. This tag, in this example, a META tag, is used as an
example of how a hint can be provided to a contestant. The name of
the META tag 320 in this demonstrative example, "bb-hint" indicates
that it is a hint for use in the contest. The content of the tag
320, "YOU'RE GETTING CLOSER" would be useful to a contestant to
indicate how close they are. The hint might say instead, such text
as "THE TARGET IS NO LONGER ON THIS SITE," or "TRY LOOKING ON A
SITE FOR FLIGHT," or any other information that would be directly
or indirectly useful for a contestant in locating a target.
Although shown in clear text, it should be understood that the
information in the tab may be encrypted or other wise
obfuscated.
[0090] In one embodiment, the information in the META tag may be
identified by a contest component and displayed to the user as part
of the web page. In another embodiment, the META tag is identified
by the contest component and displayed in a separate window or
display. It also should be understood that a META tag may be used
in this manner to facilitate display of a target.
[0091] Referring to FIG. 5, in an exemplary display that is
generated from the HTML code of FIG. 4, the hidden information
described with reference to FIG. 4 is displayed to the user. As
shown in the figure, there may be an empty space 510 where the
hidden anchor is provided. In one embodiment, the user may be
required to find and click on the location of the tag 510 in order
to go to the web page referenced in the tag 410 of FIG. 4. In
another embodiment, the user simply may not see the information
provided. In another embodiment, the reference in the tag 410 of
FIG. 4 may cause the contest component and/or the browser to
display content only in some circumstances.
[0092] As shown in the figure, in this example, the contest
component 130 has recognized the META tag 420 of FIG. 4, and
displays the text as a hint to the contestant. Thus, the web page
is presented to the contestant with the additional information.
Here, the text of "YOU'RE GETTING CLOSER" tells the contestant that
he or she is close to the target. It should be understood that more
or less specific information may be provided.
[0093] Referring to FIG. 6, in another exemplary display, another
demonstrative web page is shown, generated from the HTML code of
FIG. 4. In this example, however, the anchor tag 420 of FIG. 4 has
generated an image of target 310. This striped ball may be an image
that in one exemplary embodiment represents the target, and in
another exemplary embodiment represents an encrypted value that can
be decrypted to obtain the target. By clicking on the striped ball,
for example, the contestant can go to the page is linked, or the
contestant can download the target for further processing, and so
on. Depending on the configuration of the contest component, the
contest component may interpret or provide other processing for
access to the target. As shown in the figure, the META tag 420 also
may be interpreted as described with reference to FIG. 5. It should
be understood that in some embodiments, it would be possible for
the hint to include a different message if the target is located on
the same page. There may be any number of such tags on any number
of pages within a web site, including decoy tags meant to distract
contestants or prevent the contestant from locating the target by
viewing the source code of the page.
[0094] In other embodiments, participating web sites are not
required to add any tags, files, code, or objects to their web
pages to participate. For, example, the contest administrator
(using, for example, back office component and/or contest web site)
may provide the contest component to contestants via a web site,
FTP site, or delivered via email. The contest component provides
the additional information on the page without the need for any
special information on the participating web sites. Such an
arrangement frees the participating web sites from having to alter
their web sites with specific code, tags, or images and allows the
operators of such sites to participate in the contest and still
maintain any site-specific release schedules or procedures.
[0095] Referring to FIG. 7, a process 700 illustrates the
interaction among the back office component 130, web site 120, and
contestant device 102 (which in some cases may include the contest
component 108) in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
Initially, and possibly continuing through the process 700, the
design contest parameters describe the rules and constraints for
the contest (STEP 702). Examples of design parameters that may be
used to define the contest include date/time parameters such as a
start date/time, end date/time, and/or duration, prize type (money,
discounts, goods, services, trips, etc.), prize characteristics
(progressive, constant), contest hints, hint locations (within a
web site, media file, and/or on a web page), visual characteristics
of the hints, and/or the web sites/domains in which the hints are
placed. In one example, where the contest requires contestants to
find a hidden ball on numerous web pages, the ball is visible for
only a short period of time on any one particular page, and may
provide (or leave behind) hints as to its next location. The ball
may, for example, remain visible and/or possible to be found for a
consistent amount of time on each page, whereas in some cases it
may move about a page (or from site to site) at some variable rate
(based, for example, on a random number, the amount a particular
web site owner paid to participate in the contest, or how many
contestants have looked for the ball on a web site or how many have
found the ball).
[0096] In some embodiments, the contest parameters are set at the
beginning of a contest, and in some cases the parameters are
modified during the contest, to encourage participation, for
example. As some non-limiting examples, contests that occur over
longer periods of time may provide escalating prizes over time, or
shorten the amount of time a hint or contest component is available
at a particular site as the number of contestants participating the
contest grows, thus making it harder to win. In some cases,
segments of the contest are allocated to a web site during a
contest, and/or prior to the beginning of the contest, such the web
site owners can gauge the success of the contest, and pay for
continuing participation accordingly.
[0097] The parameters are communicated to one or more web site
operators/owners who, if interested, enroll in the contest (STEP
704) as a hosting web site. A web site owner may, for example, be
planning a new product launch, promotion, or site redesign and/or
otherwise desire to drive additional traffic to its site. In some
embodiments, different web site owners may participate in the
contest if, for example, the contest has a large prize, is being
run during a period of known high web traffic (e.g., during an
election, during a "vote-at-home" television reality series, or
just prior to the Super Bowl), or if the users being targeted by
the contest are known to have particular demographic
characteristics. In some cases, different segments of a contest may
be priced differently, or be bid on separately, allowing more
desirable time segments to generate higher participation fees than
others. For example, where the contest requires web contestants to
navigate to numerous web sites to gather hints to answer a series
of questions, the site hosting the last hints may pay more for
participation than sites hosting earlier, anticipating, for
example, that there will be more contestant interest and
participation at the end.
[0098] In some embodiments, web site owners bid on the opportunity
to host the contest. For example, where a contest is scheduled to
last 24 hours, various segments of the contest (e.g., quarter, half
or full hour increments) may be "won" by a highest bidder. Bidding
on contest segments may occur in advance of and/or during the
contest, and may be done openly or anonymously. Participating web
sites may be provided information about the contest (e.g., the
number of current contestants, the current prize, etc.),
information about previous contests such as traffic data aggregate
and user profiles and demographics, as well as other information
used to entice web page operators to bid. In some embodiments, some
or all of the revenue received from successful bids is included in
the reward.
[0099] In some embodiments, participating web site administrators
specify payment amounts as a specific dollar amount for a
particular interval (e.g., $50,000 for 1/4 hour, or $20,000 for
10,000 contestants). In another embodiment, web site administrators
specify the amount that they will pay for each contestant that
comes to the web site (e.g., $0.02/contestant that visits the
site), and/or for each contestant that views a particular page on
the web site (e.g., $0.02/view of page X, Y, or Z).
[0100] In some embodiments, one or more parameters are embodied in
one or more software components or objects that, when combined,
constitute a complete contest. The components may be specified
(STEP 706) by a contest administrator.
[0101] Once the contest parameters are determined and any necessary
components provided, the web site owners are provided instructions
about how to include the web site in the contest. For example, the
web site administrator may be instructed to build connections to
the back-office server, or include contest component tags on one or
more web pages within their web site (STEP 708). For example, the
contest administrator may provide an address and/or formatting
instructions (e.g., page placement, color, size, etc.) to be
included in such tags, filenames, or software objects that are
included with the web page content when rendered. The tags may also
include text to be displayed with the contest component, an image
file, multimedia element, or any other element (or characteristics
of the elements) that can be rendered on the contestant device
using conventional web browsers, the contest component, or
both.
[0102] In some embodiments where no changes are to be made to
participating web sites, the web site operators may provide a copy
of the web site (or the specific pages within the site that are
considered candidates for the location of the target) to a contest
administrator via the contest web site and/or back office
component. The contest administrator may use the copy of the web
site to create numerical representations of the site, the pages,
and the elements within the page, (using, for example, a hash
function) and store the representations for subsequent reference
during the contest to determine that a contestant has visited the
web site, and/or to identify target locations and/or hints.
[0103] A contestant, informed about the contest (e.g., via word of
mouth, web logs ("blogs"), email, advertisements, or otherwise)
uses the contestant device (computer, cell phone, PDA, etc.) to
request a web page (STEP 710) by issuing an HTTP/HTTPS request to
one of the participating web sites. The user may, for example, type
the URL of the participating web site into a browser navigation
text box, select the URL from a list of search results, or select
the URL as a link from another web page, an email, or other
document that includes active web links. The HTTP/HTTPS request is
transmitted to the appropriate web site, where the requested page
is compiled by gathering any text, media, and images that
constitute the site. In some embodiments, the contestant has or
requests one or more contest components (STEP 712) from the contest
administrator by sending an HTTP/HTTPS request to back-office
component server by including one or more tags directed to the
back-office component in the requested web page. In other
embodiments, the contest component may be provided directly by a
contest administrator (via a contest web server, and/or back-office
component for example) in real time, i.e., in response to the
contestant's request for a web page (STEP 714). In some cases,
however, the contest components may be provided to the web site
owners in advance, giving the web site(s) greater control over the
format, placement, functionality, and/or distribution of the
contest component. Once the various components of the web page are
compiled, the page is served to the contestant (STEP 716).
[0104] Upon receipt, the contestant device renders the web page
(STEP 718). In some embodiments, the web page may be fully rendered
using a web browser, thus requiring no addition software. However,
in some cases, the contestant is required to have downloaded,
installed and/or included the contest component on their device.
For example, where the contest is directed to finding a hidden
object on web pages, the contest component may be a "decoder ring"
object (expressed in software, such as an AJAX applet) that when
used to render and/or view a particular web page allows otherwise
invisible, obscured or encrypted objects to appear or generates
such objects based on other contest information (STEP 720). The
component may be provided by the web site participating in the
contest (as, for example, a downloadable component or an email sent
to contestants prior to or during the contest) or in some cases may
be provided by the contest administrator using similar means. In
some cases, such as cellular telephones, the component may be
pre-loaded on the phone such that the purchaser of the phone does
not need to download or install the component. In such cases, the
contestant may then purchase the "contest" option from the service
provider, or activate the component by calling a predetermined
telephone number, sending a text message, an email, or registering
a unique identifier at a web site.
[0105] Upon finding a hidden object, the contestant may then be
provided with information relating to the prize they won (or may
win if they continue to play), a hint as to the next location of
the object, a puzzle, a problem, and/or a series of questions. In
some embodiments, solving a puzzle and/or answering questions
correctly "unpacks" the target object such that the contestant can
see the next hint, target location (e.g., a URL), or prize. The
questions can be used to specifically identify the contestant
(e.g., a name, nickname, handle, screen name, telephone number, or
email address) or be anonymous in nature. In some embodiments, the
questions may be related to previously visited web sites
participating in the contest to determine if the contestant visited
the sponsor pages and remembered information presented on the page.
The questions can also be of a more general nature, such as
questions about current or historical events or other trivia. In
some cases, the questions can be focused on personal traits and
preferences of the contestants such that the compilation of such
data can be used in subsequent marketing research. Once the
contestant has completed any data entry requested by the web page,
the data is posted back to the web site (STEP 722) for processing,
storage, authentication, and/or analysis.
[0106] The web site receives the information provided by the
contestant (STEP 734), and in some embodiments authenticates the
information. The authentication process can use, for example, a
user id/password combination, IP address, MAC address, URL,
public/private key pair, or other signature and/or
encryption/decryption techniques to assure that the information is
authentic. Once authenticated, the web site processes the
information to determine if the contest requirements have been met
(DECISION STEP 726). For example, where the contest requires that a
user provide information about a series of web pages they visited
(e.g., by following an object or hint(s)) the information provided
by the contestant is compared with an answer key to determine if
the information is correct. Similarly, in cases where the user is
required to provide a valid email address, the address can be
checked by sending confirmatory email to that address and awaiting
a delivery confirmation. In some embodiments, the information can
be transmitted to the back office component for any or all of the
authentication and/or confirmation steps described above.
[0107] If the contest requirements are met, the web page provides
contestant information (STEP 728) to the contest administrator such
that the administrator can provide the prize information to the
contestant (STEP 730). The prize can be sent via email or in some
cases the an email can be used to direct the contestant to a secure
site from which they can download the prize. In cases where the
prize is a cash reward, the contestant may be instructed to
register for service such as PAYPAL (www.paypal.com) that
facilitates electronic transfer of funds among individuals and
companies. In other situations where the prize is merchandise that
cannot be delivered electronically, the contestant can provide a
mailing address to which the prize is shipped. In some embodiments,
the web site retains certain contestant information as part of a
customer marketing database for future promotions and analysis.
[0108] If, however, the contest requirements are not met (either
the information was incorrect, there are additional steps to
perform, or both, for example) the web site can direct the user to
a new web page (STEP 734) where she can continue to participate.
Once directed to a new web page, the process can be repeated any
number of times until the contest ends. In some cases, the new web
site will be under the control of the web site (i.e., another web
page within the same domain), whereas in other cases the new web
page may be that of an affiliate or partner. In some embodiments,
the new web page is specified as a parameter of the contest, and
the contest administrator determines which new web page the
contestant is directed to based, for example, on an auction. As an
example, if a contestant provides information indicating that they
have a high household income, and/or have answered one or more
other questions such that the answers match a particular rule
(e.g., "I plan to purchase a new television in the next three
months") a consumer electronics company may have more interest in
having contestants visit their web site than an online dating
service would. In such cases, the consumer electronics company may
desire to have such contestants directed to their web site, and the
contest administrator can define the parameters of the contest
accordingly.
[0109] As one demonstrative example, a contest may be thematically
directed towards women with an interest in long-distance running.
The web sites hosting the contest may include sites with content
directed to women (e.g., women's health publications, women's
clothing brands), sites directed towards athletics and/or running
(e.g., athletic publications, athletic footwear, sports drinks),
sites directed to an upcoming women's road race (e.g., the
registration site for an upcoming 10 k race), as well as sites of
general interest (e.g., a travel site). The puzzles also may
reflect the theme, for example, by including trivia questions about
running and health, pictures of marathon winners, and/or race
routes to be unscrambled or described. The targets also may reflect
the theme, for example, choosing target words like "marathon,"
"long-distance," and so on, as well as pictures that would be of
interest. Likewise, an assessment may be made about the difficulty
of the puzzles enjoyed by the group of people with this interest,
and the puzzles developed accordingly. Such a contest may itself,
for example, be sponsored by a running organization that would like
to attract women runners to its membership base, or by a brand of
running shoe. In some cases, simply designating a contest to have a
particular theme will attract relevant sponsors to bid to
participate. In other cases, sponsors may be designated or directed
to categories of contests to participate in based on web site
content or other information. In some cases, prizes for
participation or winning may include coupons for, or actual
running-related gear, food/beverages, and so on.
[0110] As another demonstrative example, a contest may be
thematically directed to people with an interest in history.
Sponsors and sponsoring web sites may include, for example, sites
promoting historical sites or travel, sellers of historic books,
and galleries of historic artwork. The puzzles may be developed
such that people with an interest and knowledge of history would
find them to be interesting and challenging. For example, a puzzle
may include history trivia questions, or require a participant to
configure or unscramble a map with countries as they existed at a
particular time in history. The target words and pictures might
include historical figures, and an assessment may be made about the
difficulty of the puzzles enjoyed by the group of people with this
interest, and the puzzles developed accordingly.
[0111] In some embodiments, a general or themed contest may have
puzzles that have a particular level of difficulty (e.g.,
particularly difficult or easy) and/or have only puzzles of a
certain type. For example, a contest may only have puzzles that are
math puzzles, and that require significant knowledge and
mathematical skills. For example, a contest may have only very
difficult Suduko-type math puzzles. As another example, a contest
may have only medium-level pop-culture trivia from the 1970's.
[0112] In some embodiments, contestants have the opportunity to
provide information about demographics and/or interests, for
example on the contest site as part of registration or later as
part of completing a profile. This information may be used to
direct the contestant to particular contests that may be of
interest. It also may be possible to monitor the success of a
contestant at completing certain puzzles in contests of general
interest, and from an analysis of the difficulty and topics of the
puzzles at which the contestant has succeeded, suggest or direct
the contestants to contests that would be at the correct level or
interest of the contestant.
[0113] For example, if a contestant proved particularly able at
math-related puzzles, but not as able in history trivia, the
contestant may be directed to a contest with easy history trivia
puzzles or more difficult math-related puzzles. As another example,
a contestant with particular interest and ability at trivia would
be directed to a contest with puzzles that would be sufficiently
challenging.
[0114] In some embodiments, prizes may be offered not only to
contestants who have won, but also to contestants who participate
in the contests. For example, while the prize for recovering the
contents of a target (e.g., the ball) may be $1,000, a reward for
finding 5 keys and completing 5 puzzles may be a coupon to purchase
a sports drink, points that can be accumulated for prizes, and so
forth.
[0115] In some embodiments, tournaments may be held, to identify
the best contestants in a particular theme, or with ability to
solve particular puzzles. For example, a first level contests may
be held with puzzles of a relatively easy level, with winners of
those contests then eligible to compete in contests of greater
difficultly. Winners of those contests then may participate in
contests of even greater difficulty. In this way, the best
contestants of a particular type or theme may be identified and
rewarded. The contests may be organized in a tournament bracket, or
otherwise.
[0116] Referring to FIG. 8, an alternative process 800 for
implementing the online contest is illustrated. The process 800
starts with an announcement of a new contest (STEP 802) by a
contest administrator. The announcement may be promoted through
various forms of media such as television, email, viral marketing,
radio, print ads, and the like, and be targeted at potential
sponsors, potential contestants or both. In implementations in
which the contest is sponsored, entities that desire to sponsor the
contest (or segments thereof) can respond to the announcement by
bidding on the opportunity to host contest segments (STEP 804). For
example, an online auction may be held in which the contest
segments are identified by date and time (e.g., January 5.sup.th
from noon to 1:00 pm) and/or order (e.g., the fifth of ten contest
segments). Potential sponsors can bid on one segment, or in some
cases multiple segments. There may be minimum bids for certain
segments (e.g., those that represent potentially valuable time
segments or are close to the end of the contest). Potential
sponsors may be limited to a maximum number of bids or segments,
whereas in some instances there may be no limits. If a potential
sponsor wishes to host an entire contest, they may place a bid on
sponsoring the entire contest. In some implementations, contests
can be specifically designed for one sponsor, and can, for example,
include target objects such as trademarks, products, or images that
are owned by or affiliated with the sponsor.
[0117] Once a sponsor has selected a contest segment or won the
opportunity to host a contest segment, the sponsor submits one or
more URLs (STEP 806) to the contest administrator. The contest
administrator confirms the validity of sponsor(s) and the
associated web sites (STEP 808) to assure that the URLs are
appropriate for the contest. For example, the contest administrator
may wish to determine that the web sites associated with the URLs
can service the increased traffic associated with the contest and
that there are no broken or outdated links on the site. Further,
the administrator may wish to ensure that the content on the sites
is appropriate for the contest (e.g., no pornography, violent
content hate speech, or illegal content). The game administrator
may determine that the site meets certain technical requirements,
such as being "deep" enough (i.e. to increase security, a hosting
URL must contain enough sub-pages to effectively "hide" the target
within those sub-pages). The contest administrator may also, in
some cases, approve sponsors (as being appropriately authorized)
before they are able to bid to host the target for a particular
domain.
[0118] In preparation for providing the URLs to the client software
(i.e., the contest component) on the contest device, the URLs may
optionally be encrypted (STEP 810) in order to deter potential
cheaters that may attempt to uncover the participating URLs by
reverse engineering or otherwise examining the contest component,
for example.
[0119] As the administrator gathers sponsors for the contest,
contestants may also register for the contest (STEP 812).
Contestants can register by, for example, providing a user name,
email address, password, account number, or other personally
identifiable identifier. Potential contestants may be required to
sign-up on a publicly available web site before downloading the
contest component plug-in software. In some instances, contestants
must agree to a Terms of Service to participate in the contest.
Registration may facilitate future contestant logins from multiple
machines such that contestants can participate using a computer,
cell phone, PDA and other similar devices. The registration
information may be validated to determine whether an account
already exists for the email address, and in some cases a
confirmation message may be sent to the contestant's email address
with a code or link used to complete registration, so as to confirm
the email address.
[0120] Contestants may to register for games individually, for
example using a web browser, or through an application process, and
contestants may be provided with a starting clue once they have any
necessary software and have registered for a specific game. Thus,
contestants may be able to log in and participate in one or more
game instances, receive notifications and clues to lead them to the
target objects, and ultimately to claim a prize. Contestants may be
able to log in to their account in both the contest component as
well as the game website, for example, using the User ID and
Password. Login facilitates play on different machines, without
having to re-register information, although users will have to
download the contest component for each new machine. The contest
component may also display information about past and future
contests and participating sites as well as the contestants'
relative standing in specific contests.
[0121] In some embodiments contestants may be asked for additional
demographic information (e.g., sex, age, state of residence,
education, interests, income, etc.) and such information may be
provided (either individually or in the aggregate) as marketing
data to one or more sponsors of the contests. Once the URL list is
complete for a contest (or in some cases when a certain number of
initial URLs are available) and contestants have registered, the
contest administrator provides the contest component software and
the URLs to the contestants (STEP 814).
[0122] Once registered, contestants accept and install the contest
component and list of participating URLs on their client device
(STEP 816). The contest component can be implemented, for example,
as one or more browser extensions using the target browsers'
extension mechanisms such as XUL/XPI for Firefox and COM for
Internet Explorer. By providing the URLs to the contestants, the
participating sponsors do not need to modify the code of their web
sites that will be hosting the contest; instead, information about
the location and identity of target objects is maintained at the
central contest server and provided to contest component on an
as-needed basis.
[0123] Once the contest starts, the contestants request various web
pages (STEP 818) by selecting links from web sites, emails, instant
messages or entering URLs into an address text box of a web browser
application. Upon rendering the URL, the contest component
determines whether the site is participating in the contest by, for
example, confirming with the contest server that the site contains
a key or the target object or by checking a locally-stored list. If
the site is participating, the contest component checks to see
whether the user is a registered contestant. If the user is not
registered, she may be informed that the site contains a key or the
target object for a contest, and presented with a registration
form.
[0124] In some embodiments in which the URLs are encrypted, the URL
of the current web page rendered by the browser application is also
encrypted (STEP 820) using similar techniques as were applied to
the participating URLs. The encrypted URL of the current web site
can be compared to the list of encrypted URLs generated by the
contest administrator or the back office component (STEP 822) to
determine if the browser is currently presenting a web page
attributed to a participating sponsor (STEP 824).
[0125] In some embodiments, a check may be performed to verify the
integrity of the next site and/or the site following sites.
Preferably, a check is done as close as possible to the actual time
period that a particular web site is scheduled to host the target
(e.g., when the target moves to the web site immediately preceding
the particular site) to minimize the occurrence of any changes in
the site between the time it is checked and time it hosts the
target. The check may be to confirm site availability (e.g., a
check for a "404 error") and for content, both for acceptability
and to determine that the site has not changed in a manner that
would change the selection or presentation of the target objects.
If a site is not available or has changed such that the
administrator determines the site should no longer participate in
the contest, the contest administrator can direct the target object
to the next scheduled domain, web site, or different sub-page on
the current domain, thereby skipping or delaying the site that was
selected.
[0126] In an implementation in which the contest component is a
plug-in, the contest component may test whether a site is a
relevant site by performing a hash operation on the web site name
(e.g., the URL, IP address, or some combination), and check for the
hashed value as users visit web sites. If the hash of the site is
found in the list of hashes (meaning that it is likely to be a site
that does, did and/or will contain either a key or the target
object), then a query may be sent to the server to determine
whether the site contains a key or target. (In some instances,
contestants are not notified as to whether it is a key or the
target, only that it is an important site to the game. In some
implementations, a Bloom filter is used to quickly identify the
hashed values.
[0127] The term Bloom filter is used to refer to a form of hash
table, described in Burton Bloom, "Space/time trade-offs in hash
coding with allowable errors," in Communications of the ACM, Vol.
13, Issue 7 (July 1970), in which a small number of errors may be
tolerated. Thus, a Bloom filter is a probabilistic data structure
that can be used to test for set membership in constant space and
constant time. It may return false positives, but not false
negatives.
[0128] It is possible to create a Bloom filter either by specifying
a capacity (maximum number of items to be inserted) and a maximum
error rate, or by specifying a size for the bit vector and a number
of hashing functions. When a Bloom filter is created by specifying
a capacity and an error rate, the size of the bit vector and the
number of hashing functions may be computed to minimize the size of
the bit vector while preserving the maximum error rate at the given
capacity. More items than the capacity may be inserted, but beyond
the capacity the guaranteed error rate no longer holds.
[0129] A Bloom filter may use a family of hashing functions, such
that when the algorithm requires k distinct hashing functions for
some positive integer k, those functions can be generated. Using
one algorithm and salting it or seeding it with k different
integers to generate k different hash functions is an appropriate
technique.
[0130] Typically, it is possible to insert an item into a Bloom
filter, and check whether an item is contained in a Bloom filter.
It also typically is possible to compute the intersection of two
identically initialized Bloom filters (same bit vector size and
number of hash functions). Note that this is simply the bitwise AND
of the two bit vectors. It also is be possible to compute the union
of two identically initialized Bloom filters (same bit vector size
and number of hash functions). Note that this is simply the bitwise
OR of the two bit vectors. It also is possible to convert a Bloom
filter to and from a string representation that would be suitable
for use in a plain text or HTML document.
[0131] For example, a Bloom filter could be used to make a large,
complex web site searchable. For each page, a Bloom filter is
created and every word on that page is inserted into it. To search
the web site for a keyword, that word is checked for membership in
the Bloom filter for each page, and the matching pages are
returned. Since the Bloom filter is probabilistic, some false
positives will be returned, but no matching pages will ever be
missed.
[0132] While the use of a Bloom filter may be preferable, it should
be understood that other forms of hashes and hash tables,
encryption, and so on may be used to allow the contest component to
quickly check visited URL's to determine whether they are relevant
to a game, while at the same time preventing the list of relevant
sites from unwanted exploitation.
[0133] Thus, a user may navigate his browser to a web site, and the
contest component creates a hashed version of the URL associated
with the web site. The hashed URL is provided to a site checking
module within the contest device (which may include a Bloom
filter), and the site checking module gives an indication about
whether the site is relevant. If the hash is not identified as
relevant, the contest component continues to wait for the next URL
(e.g., it sleeps). If, however, the URL is a relevant URL, then a
query is sent to the game server to confirm. The server returns an
answer as to whether a key or the target object is on the site.
[0134] If the presence of a key or target is confirmed, whether
from the web page itself, the URL and/or the information otherwise
available to the contest component, the contest component may
request additional web page elements from the contest server (STEP
826). As the sponsor receives the web page request and serves the
requested web page (STEP 828) the additional page elements are sent
to the contestant device (STEP 830) and presented simultaneously
with the sponsor's web page such that it appears to the user that
the additional elements are in fact part of the sponsor's site. In
some embodiments, the additional functionality may be implemented
as an overlay page that is sent from the contest server to the
contest client component. The overlay may include contest objects
such as an interactive puzzle, forms in which the user enters
information and/or answers questions, and/or a target object such
as a word or image. In some instances, the target object may
already be present on the participating web page, however the
additional functionality enhances the functionality of the object.
For example, a web page may include numerous images that, without
the addition of the contest component, are merely presented to the
user in typical fashion. However, when identified as part of a web
page participating in the contest, one (or some number) of the
images may morph into another image, play audio, or initiate the
presentation of additional contest clues or information when
selected and rendered at the client (STEP 832). In some
embodiments, additional functionality is generated by the contest
component. Contest sponsors can identify aspects of their web sites
of particular interest (e.g., a new product, an advertisement, or a
timely article) and drive internet traffic to particular web
content. This may be accomplished by selection of the page on which
a target is located, hints or keywords used to locate the target,
images or objects presented to contest participants, and so on.
[0135] In some embodiments, contest participants are organized into
teams and the contest involves team competition. The assignment of
participants to teams may occur, for example, before a competition
begins, after a predetermined number of rounds in a competition, or
after one competition is complete and for future competitions. In
further embodiments, contestants are assigned to teams randomly or
based on previous performances in prior contests. In some cases,
contestants can be rated (e.g., assigned a rating based on the
number of contests entered, the number of contests won, placement
in prior contests, etc.) and the ratings used to assign contestants
to teams. In other embodiments, contestants form teams themselves.
In yet another embodiment, at least two contestants volunteer (or
are selected) to be team captains and the team captains select
contestants to be members for their team. Contestants can also be
"traded" from one team to another team. Examples of a trade that
one team (e.g., the team captain) can make for one contestant
include, but are not limited to, a member of another team, points,
and prizes. Contestants may be assigned or directed to teams based
on contestant demographics and expressed interests.
[0136] A team competition can span multiple contests in which teams
compete for the best record, point total or prize total over a
predetermined period of time or number of contests. Moreover, teams
(and individual contestants) may be organized into divisions. In
this embodiment, teams with a rating, score, or historical prize
pool above a predetermined total, for instance, are placed into a
higher division. A "handicap" may also be applied to teams based on
having a higher rating or score from previous contests.
[0137] In some embodiments, cooperation among team members is
implemented through the contest component such that members of a
team can view the progress of other team members in finding the
participating web pages and/or the target object(s) as well as and
communicate with each other using, for example, instant
messaging.
[0138] In various embodiments, measures may be taken to reduce the
possibility of collusion or fraud on the part of the contestants
and/or the web site administrators who pay to host the target. For
example, non-limiting examples of such measures include providing a
number of targets across multiple web sites and/or domains; hiding
information from web site administrators that would be useful for
contestants; providing ranges for hosting of the target such that
the web site administrator does not know when the target will
appear at their web site; hiding the target from the web site
administrator; using contest information unique to each contestant
so that information provided to one contestant is not useful to
other contestants; and/or introducing some element of randomness
into the placement of the target.
[0139] Generally, FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate exemplary contest
states as viewed by contestants participating in an online (e.g.,
Internet) treasure hunt in which the contestants navigate among web
sites to find a hidden (or in some cases moving) target object. For
example, the target object may be a virtual "ball" that moves to,
around and/or from web sites and therefore entices contestants to
"follow the ball" in order to win a prize. In doing so, the ball
generates traffic for the web sites that agree to host the ball,
which in turn may increase sales, exposure of the web site and
other means of increasing the effectiveness of the site. At any
given time, the ball may be at a "location" (e.g., web site) that
is known only to the contest administrators. The location of the
ball may change at specified intervals and/or as the ball is
discovered and attempts are made to "open" it. The ball may be
"opened" with one or more "keys," for example, four keys. Opening
the ball using the keys entitles a contestant to a prize.
[0140] When the ball moves from one web site to another, a key is
"left" on the site that previously hosted the ball for contestants
to find. Thus contestants attempt to chase the ball, by searching
the Internet for hints that will enable them to find keys to unlock
the ball, and for the ball itself.
[0141] In this exemplary implementation, the functionality of
on-line treasure hunt is provided without requiring technical
changes to the functionality of the host web sites on which keys
and balls are to be found. Sponsors request that the ball be hosted
on their site, and contestants, with the appropriate contest
component software play the game by searching the host web site.
The host web site itself provides no technical functionality for
the game, other than serving web pages to contestants just as it
provides them to everyone else, as described above. The contest
component and contest server provide the game functionality. This
implementation simplifies participation by host web sites, and also
reduces the information that host web sites may have that would
enable them to collude with contestants.
[0142] Users download a contest component, which may be stand-alone
software or preferably an addition or "plug-in" to an application
such as a web browser. If the contest component is a plug-in,
contestants may use a web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or
Mozilla Firefox) to participate. The plug-in enables the browser as
a game client. The technology also may be extended to other devices
that may be used to view content over a network, including mobile
telephones, PDA's, game boxes, video players, and so on. It is
preferred that challenge be as automated as possible, and
componentized and customizable so as to vary the difficulty level
as needed. This may require advance spidering of host web sites to
determine word or other object count and to generate the links that
eventually lead contestants to the key and/or ball.
[0143] Referring specifically to FIG. 9, a contestant visits a web
page 900, in some cases based on hints provided as part of the
contest. The contest component checks to see whether the domain or
URL of the web site 900 is relevant to the contest (e.g., may be
hosting a key or the ball for a contest). If the site is hosting a
key or ball, the contestant is presented with a challenge and/or
puzzle 905 via the contest component, which will allow the
contestant to start searching for the key or ball. The puzzle may
be any sort of puzzle, for example, in the form of a pixilated
image, trivia question, word jumble 910, hangman or other
brainteaser and the answer may be a hint to find the target object
(e.g., text, image, audio, video or other content type) that is
hidden on the host site. As time passes, additional hints may be
given to facilitate solving the challenge (e.g., images become
increasingly un-pixilated, jumbled words become unscrambled,
additional letters are provided for hangman, etc.).
[0144] In one implementation in which a sponsor has obtained the
opportunity to host the target object, a copy of the web sites
associated with that sponsor (e.g., their entire domain) is
downloaded and stored in a database on the contest server. The
content of the various pages from the web site are analyzed by the
server to determine an appropriate target object. For example, a
word count distribution can be generated for the purpose of
selecting a word or phrase that will be appropriately difficult to
find and used in a puzzle or challenge on the site. In this example
where the object is a word, a jumble may be created using that
word. In other cases, the object is a graphical image, a puzzle may
be created with all or a portion of the image. Multiple challenges,
or hints for the original challenge may be created, so that it is
possible to provide contestants with additional information when
they become stuck and cannot complete the challenge or puzzle.
[0145] Answers to the puzzles generally refer to target objects
hidden on hosting sites. For example, if the hosting site is an
employment site and the target object is the word "salary,"
contestants may surf around the host web site until they find
examples of the word "salary." In some implementations, there may
be more than one instance of that object on the site, and any
instance will suffice (e.g. if the object is the word "pickle" and
the hosting site if www.wegmans.com, any occurrence of the word
pickle on the site would be correct). Thus, in such cases, object
selection of may take into account the number of instances of an
object on the web site. In some embodiments, only one instance of
the unscrambled word is the target word 915 and any other instances
of the unscrambled word are decoys 920. In other implementations,
some number (e.g., two, a random number, or even all) of the
unscrambled words 1005 are all active target words 915.
[0146] In some embodiments, the contest component affirmatively
alerts contestants when the challenge has been successfully
completed, however in other cases there may be no such
notification. There may also be challenges with multiple possible
correct answers and part of the difficulty of the contest may
determining which possible answer is the one required by the
contest.
[0147] In some implementations, the contestant finds the object by
placing the mouse cursor key over the object. In some embodiments,
there may be a slight delay, such that the user must affirmatively
hold the mouse cursor over the object. In other implementations,
the contestant may need to click, or otherwise signal when the
mouse is over the object. In each case, it is the contest component
that recognizes that the contestant has found the object, and
provides the contestant with the associated information regarding
the object, hint, challenge and so on. Typically, the contest
component is in communication with the game server to obtain the
appropriate information to share with the contestant at the
appropriate time.
[0148] Referring to FIG. 10, when a contestant solves the puzzle
(e.g., unscrambles the word 1005) and finds the target object 915,
contestants may then be presented with another challenge
referencing another object on the site. Alternatively, the
contestant may be provided with the hint 1010 to the location of
the next object and/or a key indicating that they have successfully
found the current web site and solved the puzzle. In some
implementations, the contest administrator can place the ball at a
specific site for a specific time period and/or "skip" a site
(i.e., override the default site placement schedule.)
[0149] The key may be a code (e.g., numeric or alphanumeric value,
word, picture, link, etc.). The contestant may be required to
memorize the key or record it manually on his computer. The contest
component, in some implementations, may store the key for the
contestant. Upon obtaining a key, a contestant profile may be
updated and the contestant's current status sent to the contest
server, such that all contestants' status (or some number of top
performers) can be disseminated to all the contestants. If the
contestant is the first to solve that particular puzzle and uncover
the next domain, the contestant's information can be updated to
show that she has found the domain and/or received the key. The
profile may also be utilized to determine which challenge is to be
provided to a contestant, thereby allowing a site to host the ball
multiple times and assuring that repeat visitors receive different
puzzles each time. The profile information and keys may be
encrypted and stored in such a manner that contestants may not be
able to access this information directly.
[0150] Referring to FIG. 11, when the contestant reaches the target
object on a site (or the contest period comes to a close), the
contestant is presented with the key or the ball, 1105 if the ball
1105 is currently on that site. In some implementations, the
contestant is presented with a further challenge such as a puzzle
1110 before or after being presented with the key or the ball. A
picture, video and/or audio may be presented to the contestant once
the puzzle is assembled that includes information and/or graphics
provided by the sponsor of the site hosting the ball at the time
that the game is won. If there are no more sponsors for a contest
and the contest is still in progress, the ball can cycle through
previous sponsors for that game (though ideally utilizing a
different sub-page of their top level URL) in a random, FIFO or
other configurable algorithm.
[0151] If the contestant finds the ball, she is prompted to "open"
or "unlock" it by entering and/or presenting the keys collected
from the preceding sites that hosted ball prior to its being found.
If the contestant is able to successfully unlock the ball, she may
be presented with a further challenge to solve within a limited
time period (which may be configurable by an administrator). These
challenges can be, for example, "slider" puzzles, a regular jigsaw,
trivia questions or other puzzle type. The challenge may or may not
be dependent on the keys. If the contestant solves the challenge,
she can enter the keys necessary to unlock the ball. Contestants
may be required to manually provide the values of the keys found in
a number of preceding sites (where the number may be 2, 3, 4, 5 or
more, and is configurable by a game administrator) to successfully
unlock the ball, or the key values may be extracted from the
contest component In some instances, once the ball is unlocked, the
game is won, and the contestant can claim her prize, if any. If the
contestant is unable to successfully unlock the ball, the ball
moves to the next site in the list. The contestant is provided with
the key associated with the current site and the address of the
next web site to host the ball. In some embodiments, the contest
continues even after one contestant has unlocked the ball as other
contestants continue to look for and unlock the target object in an
attempt to claim additional prizes.
[0152] If a contestant unlocks the ball and solves the puzzle, the
contestant is informed that they are the winner, subject to
verification of eligibility. The contestant may then be required to
provide additional information, such as:
TABLE-US-00004 Field Description Type Required Validation First
Name First name of Text Yes Less than 30 Contestant characters Last
Name Last name of Text Yes Less than 50 Contestant characters Nick
Name Preferred Text Yes Less than 30 handle of characters
Contestant Street Address Address of Text Yes Less than 128 Line 1
Contestant characters Street Address Address of Text No Less than
128 Line 2 Contestant characters City City of the Text Yes Less
than 128 Contestant characters State State of the Text Yes None
Contestant Zip Code/ Zip/Postal code Text No Less than 10 Postal
Code of Contestant characters Telephone Telephone Numeric No Less
than 20 Number of characters Contestant Payment Preferred Text No
Less than 50 Method method of characters preference being paid
Secret Question Question to be Drop Yes None displayed to Down
verify identity Field in future Secret Answer Answer to Text Yes
Less than 128 Secret Question Field characters
[0153] Other contestants are notified that the contest has ended,
and the contest administrator may be notified about the potential
winner. The contest administrator verifies eligibility of the
winning contestant, and the validity of keys and the ball-opening
challenge solution. For example, the contestant may be disqualified
for reasons of their place of employment or other sponsor
affiliations, cheating, not complying with the rules of the contest
and/or other criteria as deemed pertinent by the contest
administrator. If the contestant is not approved, the contest
resumes. Notification of a resumed contest may occur, for example,
via the contest component.
[0154] In general, any of the game parameters may be varied as a
contest progresses in response to the length of time of the
contest, the number of contestants, the amount of the prize, and/or
other factors. Thus, in one implementation, the number of keys from
preceding sites required to open the ball is changed over time. For
example, if the contest continues for a long time, the number of
keys required may be reduced. Alternatively, if the game continues
for a long time, and the prize amount increases, then the number of
preceding sites may be increased, to make it harder to win.
[0155] FIG. 12 illustrates one possible sequence of events for a
contest in which contestants navigate to multiple web sites to find
a target object. As described above, a contestant navigates to a
web site using a browser application that includes the contest
component. The contest component provides the additional contest
functionality (STEP 1205) in the form of an overlay, for example,
that includes a puzzle. In some cases, a domain or site may host
multiple contest segments. In such cases, the puzzle served to the
contestant can depend on the previous keys stored in her profile.
For example, if a particular domain has hosted the ball four times
(e.g., at four different web pages within a common domain), then
the clue provided to a contestant upon landing at a site within the
domain will depend on the keys (if any) that were already collected
by the contestant at sites within this domain.
[0156] The contestant interacts with the puzzle (STEP 1210), and at
various intervals (either timed or based on user commands) the
contest component determines of the current state of the puzzle
matches a predefined solution (STEP 1215). The solution may be
stored on the client as part of the contest component or a data
file retrieved by the contest component (e.g., an XML data file
requested from the server when the puzzle was rendered) or it may
be stored on the contest server and checked using HTTP commands
between the client and the server. In some implementations, the
determination step (STEP 1215) is left to the contestant, and the
system may not indicate whether any one particular solution is
correct. In such cases, it may be left to the contestant to
determine if their solution is correct and what target may be
indicated by her solution. If the puzzle is solved, the target word
(or other object to be found on the web site) is indicated (1220).
The contestant then searches for the target word throughout the web
site (either on a particular page or within an entire domain) and
selects the target (STEP 1125) by, for example, clicking on the
word using a mouse.
[0157] If the correct target has been found and selected (STEP
1230), a determination is made as to whether the target is the last
target for the contest (STEP 1235). If there are remaining objects
to be found, the contestant receives a key for that site (STEP
1240). The contestant may be required to remember or record the key
value. If the contestant is the leader (e.g., has more keys than
any other contestant and/or is the closest to finding the last
target object), the list of web sites is updated to include the
current web site and in some cases broadcast to all of the
contestants. The contestant's profile on the server may be updated
to include information about the key that was found, and thus
provided to other contestants via the contest component, for
example.
[0158] The contestant is then presented with a URL at which the
next target object can be found (STEP 1245) and the contest
continues iteratively until the final target object is found and
unlocked. If, however, the contestant has found the final target,
she can unlock the object (STEP 1250) using the keys collected from
the previously visited sites.
[0159] In some implementations, if the contestant finds the final
object before she has collected the all of the keys needed to
unlock it, she can either attempt to find the sites that are
earlier in the list of hosting sites in an attempt to collect all
the necessary keys, or she can wait until the ball has moved
through more sites and follow it as it moves, collecting keys along
the way, until she has enough keys to unlock the final target
object.
[0160] Once the final target is found, the contestant is presented
with a message stating that she has found the final target object
and prompted to provide the keys to unlock it. The keys can be, for
example, provided by the contestant are communicated to the server
and tested by the server. If the keys are valid, the contestant can
be provided with another challenge to be solved to win the game. If
the keys are not valid, the user may be given a number of attempts
(e.g., three attempts) to enter a valid key sequence. If not
successful, the contestant is informed that the attempt to unlock
the ball was unsuccessful, and encouraged to try again on the next
site, and the contestant is provided with the key associated with
the current site. Likewise, if the user is not successful at
completing the challenge, the user is provided with the key
associated with the current site, and is encouraged to try again on
the next site. A contestant's profile is updated to reflect the
newly found key. In this implementation, failure to unlock the
ball, or failure to complete the challenge in the specified period
of time causes the ball to move to the next site, and the contest
continues.
[0161] In some instances, a final target remains on a web site for
a period of time or indefinitely once it is found and any puzzles
or challenges needed to unlock the target are solved. In such
cases, contestants effectively "race" to find the last target and,
in order to collect the prize, unlock the target before other
contestants. As such, not only do the contestants need to find the
targets, but also solve any puzzles associated with the targets
before the other contestants. As such, contestants having certain
skills and/or knowledge may have certain advantages in the
contest.
[0162] In some embodiments, an individual contestant or groups of
contestants may recruit additional contestants as team members if,
for example, the new team member has knowledge or skills that may
assist the contestants find and/or unlock the target object. In
particular, a contestant may have successfully found all the target
objects but struggle to solve a puzzle or puzzles required to
collect the prize. In such cases, the contestant may advertise for
or otherwise recruit another contestant (or even an individual not
currently participating in the contest) to assist her in solving
the puzzle. For example, if the final puzzle involves mathematics,
the contestant may offer a portion of the prize money to other
contestants and/or friends (even in some cases members of the
general public or people who have advertised themselves and their
capabilities for such purpose) who are skilled in mathematics if
they "join" her team and can help solve the puzzle.
[0163] In some cases, individuals that routinely solve puzzles on
behalf of other contestants (or even during their own participation
in a contest) may post their availability on a website (e.g., the
contest website). The individuals may, for example, post one or
more areas of expertise, the number of puzzles successfully solved,
the percentage of puzzles solved, their average fees (either as a
percentage of the prize or in absolute dollar amounts), as well as
other information. Thus, contestants looking for people that have
specific skills or knowledge and may have solved puzzles in the
past can find and contact these individuals, and in some cases
negotiate a bounty for joining their team and successfully solving
the puzzle. In other embodiments, contestants can post help-wanted
type advertisements on the contest website such that individuals
with useful knowledge can review the opportunities to participate
in the prizes. In some instances, especially where individuals
achieve notoriety for solving puzzles, contestants may bid against
each other (e.g., in an auction format) for the services of the
individuals.
[0164] Referring to FIG. 13, in one embodiment, an exemplary
contest administration system 1300 can be used to provide web sites
and contestants with the contest components information needed to
participate in the contests. In one example, one or more contest
servers included in the system 1300 include a client interface
server 1305, a contest design module 1310, a contest component
module 1315, a contest administration module 1320, and a database
module 1325. The contest server may be implemented, for example, as
a J2EE web application, involving servlets and JSPs backed by an
EJB-based interface to persistent storage. The client interface
server 1305 provides a conduit through which the web sites and
contestants interact, for example, to provide hints regarding the
location of a hidden contest object, answers to questions, prizes,
and advertisements. In some embodiments, the client interface
server is or operates as part of the server as described above,
whereas in other cases the client interface server may be a
separate server, which may be operated by and/or outsourced to an
application service provider (ASP), internet service provider
(ISP), or other third-party. The client interface server
facilitates HTTP/S requests and responses, Java messages, SMTP
messages, POP3 messages, instant messages, RSS feeds, as well as
other electronic messages exchanged among users of the investment
information domain.
[0165] The client interface server 1305 interacts with web sites
and contestant devices. The client interface server 1305 is
preferably implemented on one or more server class computers that
have sufficient memory, data storage, and processing power and that
run a server class operating system (e.g., SUN Solaris, GNU/Linux,
and the MICROSOFT WINDOWS family of operating systems). Other types
of system hardware and software than that described herein may also
be used, depending on the capacity of the device and the number of
web sites, contests, and contestants. For example, the client
interface server 1305 may be or may be part of a logical group of
one or more servers such as a server farm or server network. As
another example, there could be multiple servers that may be
associated or connected with each other, or multiple servers could
operate independently, but with shared data. In a further
embodiment and as is typical in large-scale systems, application
software could be implemented in components, with different
components running on different server computers, on the same
server, or some combination.
[0166] The system also includes a contest design module 1310, which
may be used to define the various parameters associated with a
contest. For example, a contest administrator may use the contest
design module 1310 to enter or identify the URLs of the
participating web sites, provide email listings of potential
contestants, and provide a contest start and end date. Further, the
design module 1310 may be used to select one or more contest
objects and set the attributes of the contest object. For example,
if the contest object is a "ball" that will appear and disappear at
random on a series of web pages, the design module can be used to
assign the ball to the contest, set visual attributes such as size
and color, rendering attributes, such as if a specific contest
component is required to see the object, and movement attributes
such as how long the object remains visible on a particular web
page. If the contest is based on a compilation of numerous objects,
the design module 1310 facilitates the selection and integration of
the individual elements into a complete contest.
[0167] In embodiments where multiple web pages are participating in
the contest, the design module 1310 can be used to allocate certain
date/time segments to particular participants (if, for example,
they paid a premium for a particular time), or instructions that
certain web sites are to be "selected" at a higher rate than
others, possibly based on paying higher participation fees.
[0168] The system 1300 also includes a contest component module
1315 which provides the repository for the contest components that
are used to develop and deliver a contest, including, for example,
the contest component that can be provided to contestants if
needed. The contest component module 1315 also maintains the rules,
design parameters, and implementation procedures needed to use the
contest component as part of a contest. The component module 1315
includes or is provided with the necessary information about how to
implement the contest.
[0169] The system 1300 also includes a contest administration
module 1320 which is used to monitor and administer ongoing
contests, and implement the methods and steps described above. For
example, the contest administration module 1320 facilitates the
initial registration of one or more web sites as participants in
the contest, and, in some cases, allows the participants to reserve
for a fee (on, as an example, a first-come-first-serve basis) or
bid to become sponsors of a contest, and/or for particular
date/time segments of a contest. The contest administration module
1320 also implements the rules and parameters defined by the
contest components used to build the contest, such that the contest
is executed as advertised. As an example, a contest may ask
contestants to find a hidden target, and the hidden target moves to
a new web site every hour. In such a case, the contest
administration module 1320 modifies the contest component provided
to the web page that initially included the hidden object such that
the object no longer appears on that site. In addition, the contest
administration module 1320 identifies the subsequent web site into
which the hidden object is to included, and, upon receiving a
request for the component, provides the hidden object component to
the new web site, and/or hints or other information to contestants
visiting the previous host web site.
[0170] The system 1300, in certain embodiments, also includes a
database module 1325, which stores data related to the contests,
contest parameters, contest objects, participating web sites,
contestants, prizes, and the like in one or more databases. For
instance, the database module 1325 may store information relating
to the web sites participating in the contests, the contestants,
prizes, stored content, user information, server availability,
communication logs, and web traffic information. The database
module 1325 may also contain separate databases for contestant
data, web site participant data, fee allocations, user permissions
and security information, and others. The database module 1325
provides data to the contest administration module 1320 for
inclusion in messages, numerical representations of the
participating web pages, stored procedures, and applications (both
residing on the client and/or the server). The database module 1325
can be implemented using, for example, the MySQL Database Server by
MySQL AB of Uppsala, Sweden, the PostgreSQL Database Server by the
PostgreSQL Global Development Group of Berkeley, Calif., or the
ORACLE Database Server offered by ORACLE Corp. of Redwood Shores,
Calif.
[0171] In one embodiment, the contest server 1300 facilitates the
assignment of one or more host web sites to a contest. The
administrator of a prospective host web site registers her web site
with the contest server. This may include the administrator
identifying the web site and any particular pages that the
administrator would like to draw attention to, or on which the
target should be located.
[0172] In one embodiment, the contest server 1300 downloads a copy
of the prospective host's web site and web pages, and identifies
one or more potential hints and or target locations. The contest
server 1300 may also provide the web site administrator with a
graphical chart representing the registered web site (e.g., an
automatically or manually generated "site map") so that the
administrator can identify web pages or portions of web pages for
use as hints or a target location. For example, the contest server
1300 may identify images or portions of images to be used as a
hint. The contest server 1300 may provide the administrator with
choices of potential hints to select from or exclude. The contest
server 1300 may request that the prospective host administrator
generate hints. Again, hints can be in any format, including,
without limitation, text, graphics, sound, video, etc.
[0173] Variations, modifications, and other implementations of what
is described herein will occur to those of ordinary skill in the
art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the
invention as claimed. Accordingly, the invention is to be defined
not by the preceding illustrative description but instead by the
spirit and scope of the following claims.
* * * * *
References