Claims
- 1. A method of conducting a promotional scheme, comprising:
publishing information of a promotional scheme via a public media including publishing identification information identifying the promotional scheme; receiving responses by entrants via an electronic communications network; creating an online cash account for each entrant; linking each online cash account created for each entrant to the identified promotional scheme; determining if a response is a winning response; and providing an online prize to at least one entrant that provided a winning response.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
said publishing identification information comprising using existing manufacturer's serial numbers already printed on product packaging placed on sale or sold to the public; selecting at least one winning manufacturer's serial number; and said determining if a response is a winning response comprising comparing received numbers with the at least one wining manufacturer's serial number.
- 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
said publishing identification information comprising printing tokens on product packaging; selecting at least one winning token; and said determining if a response is a winning response comprising comparing received tokens with the at least one winning token.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said publishing identification information comprises publishing at least one token.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said publishing at least one token comprises publishing a single token and wherein said determining if a response is a winning response comprises determining a first entrant that responds with the published token.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the public media comprises a broadcast media.
- 7. The method of claim 4, wherein said publishing at least one token comprises publishing a plurality of different tokens that includes at least one winning token and wherein said determining if a response is a winning response comprises comparing received tokens with the at least one winning token.
- 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the public media comprises a print media.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said print media includes printed advertisements.
- 10. The method of claim 4, further comprising:
publishing a promotional web page; providing the promotional web page with a link; detecting selection of the link by a potential entrant and transferring the potential entrant to a promotion program; and enabling the potential entrant to enter a token.
- 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
redirecting the potential entrant to a second promotional web page associated with a promoter of the promotional scheme; and providing an entry field with the second promotional web page that enables the potential entrant to enter a token.
- 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
providing promoter information to the promotion program associated with a promoter of the promotional scheme.
- 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said providing an online prize comprises providing a winning entrant with an online cash account with a cash amount.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said online cash account includes a multiplier that multiplies additional cash amounts entered into the online cash account.
- 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing consolation online cash accounts for losing entrants with corresponding multipliers for multiplying cash amounts entered into the consolation online cash account.
- 16. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving a response comprises receiving results of a game associated with the promotional scheme.
- 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining a first contestant to win the game.
- 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining a contestant having a highest score.
- 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising posting an online interactive game via a computer communications network.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is based on U.S. Provisional Application entitled “An Online Content Portal System”, Serial No. 60/277,688, filed Mar. 21, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The present application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application entitled “A Transaction System And Method Using Cash Cards And A Charge Settlement Network”, Ser. No. 09/661,724, filed Sep. 14, 2000, which itself is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application entitled “An Online Purchase System And Method”, Ser. No. 09/493,886, filed Jan. 28, 2000, which itself is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application entitled “Prepaid Card Based Internet and Merchandiser Sales and Advertising System”, Ser. No. 09/384,581, filed Aug. 27, 1999, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present application.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60277688 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09661724 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10097157 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09493886 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
10097157 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09384581 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Child |
10097157 |
Mar 2002 |
US |