Abstract:
An automated system and method provide content to a target website wherein the content is checked prior to posting the content to the target site. The automation of the method relies on the use of a client software application, which carries out much of the automated functionality in association with an agent server. The method may include safeguards to prevent circumvention. Content may be written, checked and submitted from a writer&#39;s own computer to preserve the authenticity of the writings. An optional multilevel reward system encourages the expansion of the crowd-source employee base. The method enables the distribution and control of content writing tasks to a crowd of writers.

Description:
[0001]    This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/406,339 filed 25 Oct. 2010. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL PROBLEM 
       [0002]    There is a need for a dispatching method and system to supervise (coordinate, manage, monitor, verify and audit) performance of tasks by multiple agents. Particularly there is a need to recruit, supervise, oversee, provide quality control over and compensate a crowd of content writers in order to submit a plurality of content items to a single target site, each item legitimately and verifiably authored and submitted by a distinct human agent. 
       FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Various methods and systems to provide quality content items from verifiably distinct human agents to a target site are possible, and particularly, methods and systems may oversee a crowd-sourcing campaign wherein each content item is provided to the target site directly from a computer associated with the agent author of the content item. 
         [0004]    With nearly 14 billion online searches every month, the ranking of a website in search engines can have a significant effect on its traffic volume. The Cost per Click (CPC) for advertising is rising due to increasing competition and people are learning to ignore banner ads. Therefore, site owners have found that positioning their site through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be the most effective way of generating business. Some of the main factors influencing Website ranking are: 
         [0005]    1. Volume of content change, for example by adding articles, posts and talkbacks 
         [0006]    2. Quality and quantity of traffic to the site—quality of traffic is determined by number of visits from unique IP addresses, amount of time spent each visit and activity taken on the site 
         [0007]    3. Quantity of links on related sites referring to the ranked site 
         [0008]    Increasing these three factors represents a challenge for both website owners and SEO service providers. Currently web owners and SEO providers mainly use one of two strategies: automatic content addition or hiring content writers. Automatic content addition often results in a ranking penalty by search engines. Hiring content writers with relevant knowledge is often quite difficult. Therefore, advertisers seek different ways promote their sites and advocate their viewpoints. 
         [0009]    In spite of the difficulties and costs, advertisers and other institutions, such as governments or political organizations, are constantly seeking content writers to promote products and ideas. 
         [0010]    The lack of legitimate tools to influence the Internet has produced a power vacuum that allows extremist groups (unfettered by questions of propriety) to take control over the Internet and social networks (through violent coercion, identity theft and deceit) and harness its potential to create a social tsunami. The desperate need for tools to produce large quantities of on-line content by distinct authors is underscored by a recently revealed US Army program that is investing millions of dollars in fake identities for Internet advocacy (“Revealed US spy operation that manipulates social media,” Nick Felding and Ian Cobain, Thu., 17 Mar. 2011). 
         [0011]    One promising method to provide authentic human content at a reduced price is using crowd-sourcing. Current applications and technical difficulties of crowd-sourcing are described by Jeff Howe in his book HOWE, Jeff. Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business. 1st edition. NY: Crown Business, 2008. p. 311. While Crowd-sourcing holds promise for supplying human creativity at a reduced price, applications of crowd-sourcing to content writing, advocacy and SEO are lacking. 
         [0012]    Furthermore, various technical problems have been identified in the logistical supervision of a crowd-sourcing campaign. This results in a few known difficulties:
       added costs to bring a project to an acceptable conclusion;   increased likelihood that a crowd-sourced project will fail due to lack of monetary motivation, too few participants, lower quality of work, lack of personal interest in the project, global language barriers, or difficulty managing a large-scale, crowd-sourced project;   lack of written contracts, non-disclosure agreements, or employee agreements or agreeable terms with crowd-sourced employees;   difficulties maintaining a working relationship with crowd-sourced workers throughout the duration of a project, and   Susceptibility to faulty results caused by targeted, malicious work efforts.       
 
         [0018]    Therefore it is desirable to have a method and system to provide desired content that may be used to advocate agendas on forums, social networks, forums, portals, and news sites and to raise search engines rating of a site. It would be particularly desirable to supply a high volume of content that is verifiably and legitimately the result of distinct human authors at a reduced cost to web site owners, advertisers and advocacy organizations. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Various methods and systems to oversee and supervise production of quality content items from verifiably independent human agents to a target site are presented herein below. 
         [0020]    According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a method for dispatching content production. The method may include initiating an invitation for producing the content to a crowd of potential agents. The method may also include updating a client application for each agent that actually participates in the campaign. Each client application may be updated in order to submit a content item authored by the respective agent directly from his personal computing device to a target site. Each respective client application may also be updated with data needed to facilitate verification of a compliance of the respective content item to a campaign profile prior to the submitting. 
         [0021]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the updating is also for notifying a central server of a status of the respective content item. 
         [0022]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the updating includes data necessary for notifying the central server: upon completion of the respective content item by the agent, upon submission of the respective content item to the target site, upon reception of approval notification from the target site, upon unauthorized communication by the agent with the target site, or upon inactivity of the agent&#39;s respective personal computing device. 
         [0023]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the verification of compliance may includes at making a local grammar check, making a local keyword check, making a local check for undesirable matter, sending the respective content item to the server for the verification, sending the respective content item to an unaffiliated third party for the verification, rerouting a submission to the target site, trapping a submission to the target site or sending the respective content item to a customer for the verification. 
         [0024]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the method may further include reimbursing the agent. 
         [0025]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the reimbursing may be dependent upon submission of the respective content item to the target site, verification of the respective content item, and posting of the respective content item by the target site. 
         [0026]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the reimbursing may further include reimbursing a recruiting agent from the crowd of potential agents, when the recruiting agent recruited the agent author. 
         [0027]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the method may further include receiving an order from a customer for the content and maintaining anonymity of the each agent from the customer. Furthermore, the method may include preserving anonymity of the customer from the agent. 
         [0028]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the target site may be associated with the customer, or it may be independent of the customer, or it may be independent of the server, or it may be a blog, or a social network, or a forum, or a portal, or a talkback list. 
         [0029]    According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a system for production of content. The system may include a server configured for initiating an invitation to produce the content to a crowd of potential agents and verifying compliance of a plurality of content items each content item of the plurality of content items authored by a unique author from the crowd of potential agents. The system may also include a plurality of client applications. Each application may be configured for submitting to a target site a respective content item of the plurality of content items. The submitting may be done from a personal computing device associated with the corresponding unique author. 
         [0030]    According to some embodiments of the invention, each of the plurality of client applications may be further configured for notifying the server of a status of the respective content item. 
         [0031]    According to some embodiments of the invention, each of the client applications may be further configured for notifying the server of completion of the respective content item by the corresponding unique author, submission of the respective content item to the target site, or reception of an approval notification from the target site. 
         [0032]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the client applications may be further configured for facilitating verification of compliance of the respective content item to a campaign profile prior to the submitting. 
         [0033]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the plurality of client applications may be further configured for sending the respective content item to the server for the verification, sending the respective content item to an unaffiliated third party for the verification, or sending the respective content item to a customer for the verification. 
         [0034]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the server may be further configured for reimbursing an agent. 
         [0035]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the server may be configured for performing the reimbursing dependent upon submission of the respective content item to the target site, verification of the respective content item, or posting of the respective content item by the target site. 
         [0036]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the server may be further configured for reimbursing a recruiting agent, when the recruiting potential agent recruited the unique corresponding author. 
         [0037]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the server may be further configured for receiving an order from a customer for the content, and each client applications may be further configured for maintaining anonymity of the corresponding unique author from the customer. 
         [0038]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the client applications may be further configured for preserving anonymity of the customer from the corresponding unique author. 
         [0039]    According to some embodiments of the invention, the target site may be associated with the customer, or it may be independent of the customer, or it may be a blog, social network, or it may be forum, or it may be portal, or it may be independent of the server, or it may be a talkback posting system. 
       TERMINOLOGY 
       [0040]    The following terms are used in this application in accordance with their plain meaning, which is understood to be known to those of skill in the pertinent art(s). However, for the sake of further clarification in view of the subject matter of this application, the following explanations, elaborations and exemplifications are given as to how these terms may be used or applied herein. It is to be understood that the below explanations, elaborations and exemplifications are to be taken as exemplary or representative and are not to be taken as exclusive or limiting. Rather, the terms discussed below are to be construed as broadly as possible, consistent with their ordinary meanings and the below discussion.
   Crowd-sourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.   A content item is an article meant to convey an idea or point of view, especially in an on-line forum. Examples of content items include posts, blogs, talk-backs, comments, articles, video clips, responses and audio clips.   A client application is a program designed to perform a function on a client computer. Client applications can include plugins, extensions, proxies, macros, client software, client hardware, modules or independent programs. Client Application is installed on the agent&#39;s computer.   Updating a client application may include adding data to an existing application on a client computer, for example adding a new list of required keywords or a new target address to a database associated with a routine already installed on a client computer;   Initiating an invitation to an agent can include sending an invitation message to the agent and posting the invitation on a web site accessible to the agent.   
 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0046]    Various embodiments of a system and method for filtering undesired content are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where: 
           [0047]      FIG. 1  is a simple schematic overview of some aspects of a content production system for SEO; 
           [0048]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a method of content production; 
           [0049]      FIG. 3  is a simplified schematic representation of some aspects of a content production system for advocacy; 
           [0050]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of multilevel employment. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0051]    The principles and operation of a system and method for supervising production of content according to various embodiments may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description. Although various example embodiments are described in considerable detail, variations and modifications thereof and other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims is not limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. 
         [0052]    A system is provided for directing and monitoring interactions between a crowd of paid writers and target site without the system directly interacting with the target site. Thus, the system allows a user to generate a large quantity of content that is legitimately attributed to a crowd of individuals. The content has the appearance of having been generated independently. 
         [0053]      FIG. 1  provides a general overview of an automatic and autonomous web platform (a server  154 ) which provides a service for finding post and talkback writers to conduct a campaign to boost search engines domain rank of a target website  165  associated with a customer  152 . The system makes provides customer  152  with convenient and cost effective way to produce a large quantity of content legitimately attributed to a large number of distinct human authors. 
         [0054]    Customer  152  sends  106  an order for the campaign to system server  154  by specifying criteria desired in content authors and in content produced. Customer  152  also specifies his website  165  as a target site for posting the content and supplies money for the campaign. System server  154  supervises execution of the campaign using crowd-sourcing. Particularly, system server  154  includes a database of a large crowd  160  of potential agents  156   a ,  156   b  and  156   c . An agent is a paid writer and a member of the system. Server  154  sends an invitation to join the campaign to qualified agents  156   a,b  fitting the author criteria of customer  152 . A plurality of participating agents  156   a  accept the invitation and join the campaign and each participating agent  156   a  installs a client application onto his personal computer. Each client application is updated to oversee the writing and posting of content for the campaign by a particular agent of participating agents  156   a  while installed on a computer associated with the particular agent. The client applications also handle notification and verification of content between system server  154  and participating agents  156   a.    
         [0055]    In the example of  FIG. 1 , each participating agent uses his respective client application on his personal computer to submit his post  163  to website  165 . In this way it is possible to economically achieve a large number of posts  163  by a large number of real distinct human agents  156   a  to target website  165 . System server  154  periodically scans  130  target website  165  to see if one of posts  163  has been published. When a post  163  is published, system server  154  also manages payment to participating agents  156   a . Preferentially, system server  154  utilizes RSS (really simple syndication) and WEB 2.0 technologies and formats (such as Blogger, Wordpress, etc.), and a crowd-source methodology. 
         [0056]    Herein below examples of campaigns are described in detail for the purpose of: 1) boosting domain rank of a site in search engines, as part of SEO efforts, by posting large quantities content of high quality (defined as coming from a large number of unique authors and unique IP addresses) to a site; and 2) promoting a product or advocating a viewpoint by adding a large quantity of quality content to a strategic third party target site. 
         [0057]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustration of an example of a campaign for boosting search engine ranking. Particularly in the example of  FIG. 2 , customer  152  is a hiking shoe manufacturer who wants to promote his blog website  165  on outdoor adventure. 
         [0058]    System server  154  provides  201  crowd  160  of potential agents  156   a,b,c  for producing content such as web posts, short videos, audio tracks and talkbacks. System server  154  includes a large database in which it stores  202  information about potential agents  156   a,b,c  including: employment experience, education, language skills, writing experience, gender, age, hobbies, religion, political views and geographic location etc. For each potential agent  156   a,b,c  the database includes a track record including the number of post written, the percentage of posts verified as complying with customer objectives, the percentage of posts that are eventually approved and published by target sites and any other relevant details. This enables the customer to specify the minimal experience and track record requirements. 
         [0059]    System server  154  receives  206  an order from customer  152  to carry out a campaign. Particularly, in the example of  FIG. 2 , system server  154  supplies  204  to customer  152  a tool (e.g. a web fillable form) to designate target website  165  (including web addresses, and various details about access, login and registration); the desired criteria for qualified agents  156   a,b ; and criteria for verifying the compliance that content items fulfill the campaign objectives. 
         [0060]    In the example of  FIG. 2 , customer  152  specifies a budget for the campaign, time constraints and production goals. For example customer  152  specifies that for ten consecutive days he wants up to ten men per day who have outdoor hobbies to each submit a fifty to one hundred fifty word talkback in response to a blog on website  165  describing a hiking trip in the Appalachian Mountains. Customer  152  sends to server  154  $500 for the project. Thus, server  154  offers $5.00 per post to qualifying agents  156   a,b . If the goals (ten posts per day) are not reached, then customer  152  may adjust his requirements or add more money. 
         [0061]    Alternatively, system server  154  computes  207  a budget for the campaign. The budget is based on the number of posts  163  requested, the agent criteria requested and statistics about availability and cost of qualifying agents  156   a,b  (fitting the criteria) in crowd  160 . For instance, according to statistics stored in the database of system server  154 , about 20% of invitations are accepted. Therefore in order to produce fifty posts  163 , the system will find in the database two hundred and fifty qualifying agents  156   a,b  and compute the average price that qualifying agents  156   a,b  accepted for a one hundred fifty word talk back in the past (for example $5.00) and multiply by the number of talkbacks required (50×$5.00=$250) and add a system fee (for example 50%) giving a total fee of $250×1.5=$475. The price is then sent to the customer for authorization. 
         [0062]    Alternatively, customer  152  could specify the budget and system server  154  would accept offers that were within reason (in the example above the system would accept an offer of at least $400). Alternatively, system server  154  may reserve the right to use writers lacking in some of the characteristics requested by the customer or server  154  could suggest to customer  152  alternate conditions or budget. For example system server  154  could make a counteroffer. For example, customer  152  offers only $280. System server  154  then offers to run the campaign if customer  152  allows also women writers because statistics of crowd  160  show that women writers accept lower wages than men. 
         [0063]    Once a campaign is ordered and funded system server  154  initiates an invitation  210  to qualifying agents  156   a,b  to participate in the campaign. (In the example of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , unqualified agents  156   c  do not fit the criteria stipulated by customer  152  and do not receive the invitation). The invitation will include information about pay rates, and content requirements (for example the length content desired and some idea of other requirements) according to the discretion of customer  152  and the administrators of system server  154 . Initiating  210  an invitation may include sending invitations by email or through a social networking site. Alternatively, a list of campaigns links and the aforementioned specifications may be stored on central server  154  and displayed to qualifying agents  156   a,b  when they log into their accounts on system server  154 . 
         [0064]    Once an agent from amongst qualified agents  156   a,b  receives an invitation to participate in a campaign he may accept (by clicking on a link on the web page or by clicking a button in a client application on his computer which sends his acceptance to the system) or reject the invitation (either by sending a refusal message or just by not answering the invitation). In  FIG. 1 , agents  156   b  reject the invitation and do not receive further information. Agents  156   a  accept the invitation. 
         [0065]    System server  154  enrolls  212  participating agents  156   a  until the requisite number of items (for example fifty as stated above in the example of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) have been assigned. Once agent  156   a  is enrolled  212  in a campaign, a space in the campaign is reserved for him (in the example where only ten items a day are desired once ten agents  156   a  are enrolled  212  no other agents  156   a  can enroll that day). Simultaneously, the client application sniffs  215  and tracks activity associated with target site on client&#39;s computer. If suspicious activities (like unauthorized access to target web site  165 ), or multiple attempts to submit unfit content, or prolonged inactivity is detected, the invitation is rescinded and the invitation is re-initiated  210  back to crowd  160 . 
         [0066]    For each participating agent  156   a  system server  154  updates  214   a  a client application to run on the agent&#39;s personal computer (the term personal computer is used here in a broad sense to include all kinds of computing devices, for example a desktop computer, a laptop, notebook, workbook, notepad, smart phone, net pad, iPod®, iPad® etc.). Updating the client application includes programming the client application with a combination of locally stored information and routines and remote links to perform various functions. The functions may include transferring to each participating agent  156   a  information necessary to produce content (for example the length and details about the required content); the functions may further include facilitating verification of compliance of the content with the definitions and objectives of the campaign (facilitating verification includes locally verifying  218  compliance and sending  224  the content for additional confirmation according to specifications of the campaign order), the functions may further include submitting  226  of the item and safeguarding the authenticity of the submission and functions may also include notifying  220   a ,  200   b ,  220   c  system server  154  of the status of the production and submission process. If the client application is removed, from an agent&#39;s computer, then the agent will not be able to participate in the campaign or receive any payment from the system until the client application is reinstalled. The various functions of the client application are described in more detail herein below. 
         [0067]    Each participating agent  156   a  prepares  216  a draft content item (content preparation may be done directly through the client application with an associated or built in editor or alternatively content preparation may be done using local software). It is worth emphasizing that the agent writes an authentic post of his own words and ideas according to the criteria of the campaign. 
         [0068]    Upon completion of a draft content item, each participating agent  156   a  starts local verification  218 . Particularly, the client application has been updated  214   a  with customer specified definitions of the campaign including a required length for each content item and required for keywords in Boolean format. In the example of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , each talkback must include the terms ((hiking or backpacking) and ((shoes or feet) or (“Appalachian trail”)). Automatic requirements enforcement routines such as word count routines, keyword searching routines, and sympathy determining algorithms included in the client application are updated for the campaign and used for verification  218  that the content fulfills the requirements of the campaign. 
         [0069]    If the item is not verified  219   a  after few attempts then the central server is notified  220   a  of the deficiencies, which are recorded in the agent&#39;s track record in the database of the central server  154 . When the deficiencies imply gross negligence or malicious intent, then they are deemed fatal  236  and the invitation to the agent is cancelled and a new agent is sought. It should be noted that at this point the agent is not aware of the identity of customer  152  or website  165 . Therefore, customer  152  has been protected by the system against malicious attacks or any associated problems. If the deficiencies are minor (and deemed not fatal  236 ) then the agent is notified of the deficiencies and invited to prepare  216  an improved item. Alternatively, the client may be provided with the target url and the client application may sniff  215  and track interaction of the agent with target site  165 . If the interaction includes suspicious activity the client application will cancel the transaction or redirect the traffic and add a mark to the agent&#39;s record. Alternatively, system server  154  may not differentiate between fatal and non-fatal rejection and in any case, agent  156   a  is allowed to try again (unless other agents  156   a  have taken all of the available spaces in the time elapsed between the trials). 
         [0070]    When it is verified  219   a  that the content item fulfills the requirements of the campaign, then central server  154  is notified  220   b  by the client application and a copy of the draft is sent to central server  154 . In the example of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , all postings  163  to website  165  are dependent on verification by customer  152  who is the website owner. Inappropriate items will not be posted, and therefore there is no requirement  222  for further verification  224 . Thus, the content is ready to be submitted  226  by the client application directly to web site  165 . 
         [0071]    Before submission  226 , the client application checks central server  154  which loads updates and finishes updating  214   b  of the client application. For example, in the initial updating  214   a  (before the agent was ready to submit content) the target web-address may have been withheld to prevent unauthorized access (even though data loaded to the client application encrypted and protected from tampering, nevertheless, not loading information at all is more secure than loading encrypted information). Furthermore, parameters of a campaign may have changed between the time of enrollment  212  and submission  226 . Submission  226  is made directly from the agent&#39;s computer without any evidence of involvement of system server  154 . Customer  152  and website  165  cannot determine whether a given submission is from an agent  156   a  of system server  154  or an independent individual. An agent may use of multiple nicknames when publishing posts/talkbacks. All of this prevents exposure by websites where posts are published and prevents biased disapproval of paid posts—the system leaves no fingerprint. The client application notifies  220   c  system server  154  that a post/talkback was sent and forwards all field information (which may be extracted using RSS, Wordpress format, blog format or any other relevant format. Server  154  may also include a wizard to allow customers  152  to train the system to use the customer&#39;s own proprietary format). 
         [0072]    When system server  154  receives from the client application, notification  220   b  that a draft content item has been prepared, system server  154  freezes the amount of customer funds promised to agent until the post/talkback is actually posted on web site  165 . 
         [0073]    It should be noted that the client application takes care of the various logistics of verification  219   a,b  and submission  226  for agent  156   a . This saves agent  156   a  the hassle of tracking the status of his submission and getting approval. Hassle free writing makes it worthwhile for agent  156   a  to participate in campaigns at reasonable wages. 
         [0074]    Central server  154  periodically scans  230  (for example with crawler technology) website  165  to determine when and whether each post  163  is actually published  232  on website  165 . Server  154  can easily recognize the content item because a copy of the content item and syndication information was stored on server  154  at the time of submission  226  and notification  220   a,b,c . For each post  163  that is expired or gets rejected  233 , system server  154  unfreezes  238  the funds allocated to agent marks the agents record and initiates  210  another invitation to produce the needed content. 
         [0075]    For each post,  163  that is submitted  226 , when system server  154  detects that the post has been published  232 , system server  154  transfers  234  allocated funds to the respective agent  156   a . System server  154  notifies customer  152  of the paid posting, only after it is published. This will prevent cost issues effecting publishing decision. 
         [0076]      FIG. 3  is a simplified schematic illustration of a content production system for advocacy. In the example of  FIG. 3 , a customer  352  sends  306  an order for an advocacy campaign to system server  154 . In the advocacy campaign customer  352  wants hundreds of posts to be sent to a target website  365  (a newspaper site) complaining about the poor trash collection in the Bronx. Alternatively, an advocacy campaign can be targeted for one of a multitude of different issues and the target web site could be any third party website (for example a political site, a news site, a social action web site, a Facebook® page, a political forum, a political campaign website, etc.). 
         [0077]    System server  154  uses crowd-sourcing as illustrated above in the case of SEO content production to supply a large number of participating agents to produce a large quantity of content items.  FIG. 3  illustrates the production of one content item  363  by one of the many participating agent  356 . 
         [0078]    Upon enrolling  212  agent  356  to join the campaign, system central server  154  updates  314  client application  377  on computer  372  which is associated with agent  356 . 
         [0079]    Content item  363  is a talkback to be posted on a third party website  365  (a newspaper talkback page) which is not in the control of customer  352 . Therefore, customer  352  requires  222  (see  FIG. 2 ) further verification before content item  363  is submitted  226 . Particularly, after verifying  219   a  that content item  363  fulfills the requirements of the campaign, content item  363  is sent  224  via client application  377  to central server  154 , which redirects  324  the content item  363  to a queue of items waiting verification from customer  352 . Server  154  notifies customer  352  that a post is waiting for his review. Customer  352  or a trusted employee logs onto server  154  and views content item  363  and verifies  219   b  that final submission  226  fulfills the requirements of the campaign. 
         [0080]    Alternatively, central server  154  may include sophisticated verification routines. 
         [0081]    After verification, system server  154  creates a set of instructions including further updating  214   b  for client application  377 , and notifies agent  356  of verification  219   b . Final submission to website  365  will be handled automatically by client application  377  without involving agent  356 . Alternatively, in some cases a target website will have protection from automated access (for example a password or a captcha). In such cases, agent  356  will be prompted by client application  377  to supply the necessary information during the process of submission  226 . 
         [0082]    In an alternative embodiment, after agent  356  agrees to terms and installs client application  377 , and client application  377  works invisibly. For example, when agent  356  logs onto the system to check for assignments, client application  377  is automatically initiated. When agent  356  accepts an assignment, the submission page of target website  165  opens on his browser. Agent  356  writes and submits the item. When Agent  356  presses the submit button, client application  377  traps and reroutes the submission as necessary to take care of verifications and final submission invisibly. For example, the submission may be checked by client application  377  and then submitted to target website  165  locally. Alternatively, server  154  may reroute the submission to central server  154  for more sophisticated handling and wait for verification before submitting the item to target website  165 . 
         [0083]    When agent  356  logs into his account, he is given instructions for posting the verified content item. The client application may execute a macro, which may be encoded/decoded by central server  154  secret key or other identifying information such as an agent or customer ID. When agent  356  execute the macro client application  377  decodes the macro, executes it on computer  372  (submitting  226  content item  363 ), destroys the macro, and notifies  220   c  central server  154  that content item  363  is awaiting the approval on target site  365 . Encoding and destroying the macro prevents tampering with the posts by the agent, the customer or any third party once their content has be  2191 , b  verified to fill campaign requirements. 
         [0084]    In addition to the above, system server  154  may periodically send instructions to client application  377  to remove expired macros that have not been used after set amount of time. 
         [0085]    Throughout the campaign, system server  154  maintains separation between the agents  156   a,b,c  and customer  152 . Details about customer  152  are not made available to agents  156   a,b,c  and the agent database is not made available to the customer  152 . In some cases, connection to website  165  is controlled by the client application, which does not make available the address of website  165  to agents  156   a,b,c . This protects agents from dishonest employers, protects customers from malicious parties, and cuts the overhead of dealing with hundreds of agents individually. 
         [0086]    Employment of agents may include multi-level employment. Particularly, one agent may recruit other agents. Then when funds are transferred  234  to the recruited agent the recruiting agent would also receive a bonus payment  235 . Similarly when the recruited agent recruits a further grandchild agent, then when the grandchild agent completes a task, both the first recruiting agent and the second recruiting agent also receive a bonus. Multilevel employment makes it possible for agents to make very significant salaries and increases the size of the crowd of potential agents. 
         [0087]    Agents are employed by the system over multiple campaigns. The system supplies agents with consistent work and supplies customers with quality oversight and various contractual agreements for protection (such as non-disclosure agreements). Those familiar with the art of crowd-sourcing will recognize that employing agents by a system over multiple campaigns solves many of the problems of previous art single campaign crowd-sourcing methodologies. Multi-campaign participants earn reasonable salaries and agents are accountable for quality over the long term. Furthermore, a customer who wishes to save himself effort of checking and rejecting unsuitable submissions can specify that he wants only agents with reliable track records. 
         [0088]      FIG. 4  illustrates multilevel employment. A recruiting agent  401  recruits  3  agents in a first offspring generation  402   a . Each recruited agent recruits three agents in a second offspring generation  402   b  of nine agents. Each recruited agent recruits  3  agents in a third offspring generation  402   c  of twenty seven agents. Each recruited agent recruits  3  agents in a fourth offspring generation  402   d  of eighty one agents. Each recruited agent recruits  3  agents in a fifth offspring generation  402   e  of 243 agents. Each recruited agent recruits  3  agents in a sixth offspring generation  402   e  of 729 agents. 
         [0089]    Recruiting agent  401  receives a passive income of 5% of all money earned by the first six generations of offspring agents and an additional bonus 5% passive income from all sixth generation offspring. The additional bonus is only available in a month when recruiting agent  401  earns at least $20 from his own writing. Thus, recruiting agent  401   a  gets paid for his own work and 5% for each of his offspring plus 10% for sixth generation offspring as long he himself continues writing at least $20 a month of material. 
         [0090]    According to the above, if in a given month each offspring agent earns $10 then recruiting agent receives from first generation offspring  402   a  $10×3×5%=$1.50 plus $10×9×5%=$4.50 from second generation offspring  402   b  plus $10×27×5%=$13.50 from third generation offspring  402   c  plus $10×81×5%=$40.50 from forth generation offspring  402   d  plus $10×243×5%=$121.50 from fifth generation offspring  402   e  plus $10×729×5%=$364.50 from sixth generation  402   f  plus a bonus of $10×729×5%=$364.50 from sixth generation offspring  402   f . Thus recruiting agent  401  receives a passive income of $20+$1.50+$4.50+$13.50+$40.50+121.50+$364.50+$364.50=$930.5 in a single month with few hours of work. Thus, the multilevel employment-recruiting scheme gives an agent the possibility of earning a full income. 
         [0091]    Various alternative embodiments of multilevel employment are possible. For example, passive income may be unlimited. Thus, each generation could be arbitrarily big or small. Alternatively, each generation could be limited as three offspring to each parent. Then further offspring would be assigned to a productive agent in the next generation (this would give “free” offspring to offspring of a father who brings in a lot of agents). Parent agents may also have some responsibility for training their offspring or answering questions. Thus, good writers who do not have good recruiting skills may also get passive income. In addition, there may be requirements for passive income. For example, a parent agent may only be eligible for passive income if he produces at least $10 of content a month and he may be eligible for bonuses only when he produces $20/month. Thus, agents are encouraged to be productive and earn a good income. 
         [0092]    Although production of content via crowd-sourcing has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.