Patent Publication Number: US-2003236705-A1

Title: On-line method and apparatus for collecting demographic information about a user of a world-wide-web site and dynamically selecting questions to present to the user

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] I. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] This invention relates generally to the world-wide-web (WWW). In particular, the present invention relates to systems for collecting demographic and marketing information from users on the WWW. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a novel method for presenting marketing questions to a WWW user based on the user&#39;s demographics and/or responses given by the user to previous marketing questions.  
       [0003] II. Description of the Related Art  
       [0004] The Internet has emerged as a global medium, enabling millions of people worldwide to share information, communicate and conduct business. The Internet represents a significant opportunity for businesses to conduct commerce. One way that businesses conduct Internet commerce currently is through banner advertising on the sites of others. Such banner advertising is often not particularly well focused on a particular demographic group. In addition, a business that purchases a banner advertisement is often able to learn very little from a marketing perspective about users that visit the advertiser&#39;s site in response to the advertisement. What is needed is a system that allows an Internet advertiser to interact with internet users more actively during the advertising process, thereby allowing the advertiser to build relationships with such users and collect valuable demographic and marketing information about the users during the advertising process.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005] The present invention is directed to an on-line method and apparatus for collecting demographic information from a user of a home WWW site and for dynamically selecting questions to present to the user. A plurality of sponsor symbols are displayed for the user on the home WWW site. Each of the sponsor symbol corresponds to an entity that has paid an owner of the home WWW site for the right to be presented to the user on the site. A signal is received at the home WWW site from the user indicating a selection of one of the sponsor symbols by the user. In response to the selected sponsor symbol, a first set of one or more prize symbols are displayed for the user on the home WWW site. Each prize symbol corresponds to a prize that the user can register to win at no cost to the user. A further signal is then received at the home WWW site from the user indicating a selection of a prize symbol from the first set of prize symbols by the user. Next, the system determines whether the user is a registered user of the home WWW site and, if the user is not a registered user of the home WWW site, the system collects demographic information about the user during registration of the user on the home WWW site. In response to the demographic information, at least one sponsor-specific question is selected from a first plurality of sponsor-specific candidate questions, wherein each of the first plurality of sponsor-specific candidate questions is associated with the entity corresponding to the selected sponsor symbol. A selected sponsor-specific question is displayed to the user on the home WWW site. Next, a signal is received from the user indicating an answer of the user to the selected sponsor-specific question, and the answer is stored in a database. Finally, after the user answers the sponsor-specific question, the user is redirected from the home WWW site to a further WWW site associated with the selected sponsor symbol.  
       [0006] In accordance with a further aspect, the steps described above are performed during an initial visit of the user to the home WWW site. Thereafter, during a second visit of the user to the WWW site, the answer given by the user to the previously selected sponsor-specific question may optionally be used, in conjunction with the user&#39;s demographic information, to select a further sponsor-specific question to present to the user. During the next visit of the user to the home WWW site, the plurality of sponsor symbols are redisplayed for the user on the home WWW site, and a signal is received at the home WWW site from the user indicating a selection of one of the redisplayed sponsor symbols by the user. If the redisplayed sponsor symbol selected during the second visit to the home WWW site is the same as the sponsor symbol that was selected by the user during the first visit to the home WWW site, the first set of one or more prize symbols are redisplayed again for the user on the home WWW site. Next, a signal is received at the home WWW site from the user indicating a selection of a prize symbol from the redisplayed first set of prize symbols by the user. One or more further sponsor-specific questions are then selected from the first plurality of candidate sponsor-specific questions based on the demographic information. One or more previous answers to the sponsor-specific questions provided by the user may also be used as a basis for selection of the further sponsor-specific question. Each of the sponsor-specific questions from the first plurality of sponsor-specific questions selected for presentation to the user during the second visit to the home WWW site is different from the sponsor-specific question(s) from the first plurality of sponsor-specific questions selected for presentation to the user during the first visit to the home WWW site. A selected (unanswered) sponsor-specific question is then displayed to the user on the home WWW site, a signal is received from the user indicating an answer of the user to the displayed question, and the answer is stored in the database. Thereafter, the user is redirected from the home WWW site to the further WWW site associated with the selected sponsor symbol.  
       [0007] The process described in the paragraph above is then repeated during subsequent visits of the user to the home WWW site in which the user selects the same sponsor symbol, until all of the questions in the first plurality of sponsor-specific questions have been presented to the user. In one embodiment, if there are no sponsor-specific questions for the selected sponsor, or if the user visits the home WWW site and selects the same sponsor symbol enough times such that all of the questions in the first plurality of sponsor-specific questions have been presented to the user, then the system selects and presents site-specific questions to the user. In contrast to the sponsor-specific questions that solicit information that is tailored for a particular sponsor, the site-specific questions solicit more general marketing information from a user. In a preferred embodiment, the site-specific questions are selected during each visit of the user to the home WWW site based on the user&#39;s demographic information. One or more previous answers submitted by the user may also be used as a basis for selection of the site-specific questions. The responses to these site-specific questions are also stored in the database. Regardless of whether the user is presented a sponsor-specific question or a site-specific question during the visit to the home WWW site, the user is redirected to the further WWW site associated with the selected sponsor symbol after the user answers the question. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0008] The features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify corresponding elements and wherein:  
     [0009]FIGS. 1A and 1B depict a flow diagram showing the operation of an on-line system for collecting demographic information from a user of a home WWW site and for dynamically selecting questions to present to the user, in accordance with the present invention.  
     [0010]FIG. 2 is an exemplary introductory page of the home WWW site in accordance with the present invention.  
     [0011]FIG. 3 is an exemplary page that displays a plurality of sponsor symbols to a user on the home WWW site, in accordance with the present invention.  
     [0012]FIG. 4 is an exemplary page that displays a set of prize symbols to the user on the home WWW site, in accordance with the present invention.  
     [0013]FIG. 5 is an exemplary page used for registering and collecting demographic information from a user on the home WWW site, in accordance with the present invention.  
     [0014]FIG. 6 is an exemplary page that displays a sponsor-specific question to the user on the home WWW site, in accordance with the present invention.  
     [0015]FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware components of on-line system for collecting demographic information from a user of a home WWW site and for dynamically selecting questions to present to the user, in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0016] Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating the operation of an on-line system  100  for collecting demographic information from a user of a home WWW site and for dynamically selecting questions to present to the user. When the user first enters the home WWW site, the user is presented with an introductory page on the site (such as page  200  shown in FIG. 2.) On the introductory page, the user is presented with a set of prize categories such as categories  202 ,  204 ,  206 . Each of the prize categories  202 ,  204 ,  206  corresponds to a set of prizes in a particular subject-matter category that the user can register to win at no cost to the user. In step  102 , the user selects one of the prize categories (by clicking on the appropriate icon in introductory page  200 ). In response to the selection of the prize category by the user in step  102 , the system displays a further page  300  on the home WWW site to the user. Page  300  includes a plurality of sponsor symbols  302 ,  304 ,  306 . Each sponsor symbol  302 ,  304 ,  306  corresponds to an entity (or sponsor) that has paid the owner of the home WWW site for the right to be presented to the user on the home WWW site. In step  104 , the user selects one of the sponsor symbols (by clicking on the appropriate icon in introductory page  300 ). In response to the selection of the sponsor symbol by the user in step  104 , the system displays a further page  400  on the home WWW site to the user. Page  400  includes a set of prize symbols  402 ,  404 ,  406 . Each prize symbol  402 ,  404 ,  406  corresponds to a prize: (i) that the user can register to win at no cost to the user, and (ii) that has been sponsored (or paid for) by the entity associated with the sponsor symbol selected by the user in step  104 . In step  106 , the user enters his/her e-mail address in block  408  and selects one of the prize symbols (by clicking on the appropriate icon in introductory page  400 ).  
     [0017] In response to the selection of the prize symbol by the user in step  106 , the user determines in step  108  whether the user has previously registered with the home WWW site by comparing the e-mail address entered in box  408  with a stored list of e-mail addresses associated with registered users of the home WWW site. If the user is not a registered user, then in step  110  the user is requested to register with the home WWW site. During the registration process, the system displays a page (such as page  500  shown in FIG. 5) requesting that the user enter certain demographic information about himself such as, for example, the user&#39;s full name, address, phone number, birth date, gender marital status, occupation, income level, education level, whether the user is a home owner or a renter, if the user has children and if so how many and their ages, whether the user&#39;s spouse works and his/her occupation, and whether the user wishes to receive offers or prize information electronically from the home WWW site. For each user, this demographic information is stored in a User record at the home WWW site. In one embodiment, the User record has the data format shown in Table 1 below:  
               TABLE 1                          USER RECORD                             Field Name   Field Type                       USR_ID   NUMBER (12)           USR_EMAIL   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_SAL   CHAR (5)           USR_FNAME   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_MI   CHAR (1)           USR_LNAME   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_ADRS1   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_ADRS2   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_APT   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_CITY   VARCHAR2 (50)           USR_STATE   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_ZIP   VARCHAR2 (20)           USR_PHONE   VARCHAR2 (30)           USR_BDATE   DATE           USR_STATUS   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_WORK   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_WIFEWRK   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_DESC   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_WIFEDESC   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_INCOME   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_OWN_HOME   CHAR (1)           USR_RENT_HOME   CHAR (1)           USR_MAILINGS   CHAR (1)           USR_UPDATE   DATE           USR_SEX   VARCHAR2 (10)           EDUCATION   NUMBER (3)           OTHER PEOPLE   CHAR (1)           CHILD_UNDER_ONE   CHAR (1)           OTHER_GENDER1   CHAR (1)           OTHER_AGE1   NUMBER (3)           OTHER_GENDER2   CHAR (1)           OTHER_AGE2   NUMBER (3)           OTHER_GENDER3   CHAR (1)           OTHER_AGE3   NUMBER (3)           OTHER_GENDER4   CHAR (1)           OTHER_AGE4   NUMBER (3)           INFO_USAGE   CHAR (1)           RECEIVE_OFFERS   CHAR (1)           COUNTRY   VARCHAR2 (10)           RESIDENCE   VARCHAR2 (10)           SPONSOR_CODE   VARCHAR2 (10)           USR_AGE   NUMBER (3)           JOIN_DATE   DATE                      
 
     [0018] The USR_STATUS field in the User Record stores a flag representing whether the user is currently an active or inactive user of the home WWW site; the USR_MAILINGS and INFO_USAGE fields correspond to the information requested in questions 9 and 10 of page 500 and store information representing whether the user has opted to receive offerings from the home WWW site and, if so, whether the user wishes to receive such offerings electronically by e-mail; and the SPR_ID field stores an identification number corresponding to the sponsor that the user selected in step  104  during the user&#39;s first visit to the home WWW site. The remaining fields in the User Record store information that is self-evident from the field names.  
     [0019] In an alternate embodiment, only a subset of the demographic information represented by the User Record shown in Table 1 is collected from the user during the registration and used later in connection with the question selection process. The subset of demographic information includes, for example, only the user&#39;s name, address, phone number, birth date, and whether the user wishes to receive offers or prize information electronically from the home WWW site (i.e., the shipping information and questions 6, 9 and 10 shown on page 500.)  
     [0020] As explained more fully below, the present invention stores a plurality of sponsor-specific questions for each entity (or sponsor) associated with a sponsor symbol that may be selected by a given user in step  104 . During successive visits of the user to the home WWW site where the user selects the same sponsor symbol in step  104 , individual questions from the plurality of sponsor-specific questions associated with the selected sponsor symbol are presented to the user. In one embodiment, during each successive visit of the user where the user selects the same sponsor symbol in step  104 , the system first identifies an unanswered question from the plurality of candidate questions associated with the selected sponsor symbol. Next, the system compares demographic criteria associated with the unanswered question (stored in the logical_operator field of a Question_Criteria_Record discussed below) with the demographic information about the user stored in the User Record associated with the user. The unanswered question is then selected for subsequent presentation to the user only if the demographic criteria associated with the unanswered question matches the demographic information of the user. If the demographic criteria associated with the unanswered question does not match the demographic information of the user, a further unanswered question is identified from the plurality of candidate questions associated with the selected sponsor symbol, and the process is repeated until either (i) the demographic criteria associated with an unanswered question matches the demographic information of the user, or (ii) the system is unable to find an unanswered question that is associated with the selected sponsor symbol having demographic criteria that matches the demographic information of the user. In this embodiment, during each iteration of the question selection process described above, the unanswered questions are analyzed sequentially in the order set forth in a User_Ques Record (discussed below). For example, the first question represented in the User_Ques record is first analyzed against the user&#39;s demographics. If the user&#39;s demographics match the criteria associated with the first question, then the first question is selected for presentation to the user and, during the next visit of the user to the site where the user selects the same sponsor symbol, the second question represented in the User_Ques record is next analyzed against the user&#39;s demographics. Alternatively, if the user&#39;s demographics does not match the criteria associated with the first question, then the second question represented in the User_Ques record is analyzed against the user&#39;s demographics and the process is repeated sequentially (i.e., the third question is analyzed next, and so on) until the system finds a question with demographic criteria that match the user&#39;s demographics. During each subsequent visit of the user to site where the same sponsor symbol is selected, the system initially analyzes the question in the User_Ques record immediately following the question presented to the user during the last visit where the same sponsor symbol was selected, and the system repeats the process until a question with matching demographic criteria is found.  
     [0021] In a further embodiment of the present invention, the order in which the questions from the User_Ques record are analyzed against the user&#39;s demographics is based on previous answers provided by the user to earlier questions represented in the User_Ques record. For example, in this embodiment, the third question in the User_Ques record will be analyzed against the user&#39;s demographics only if the user answered “YES” to the first or second questions in the User_Ques record; otherwise the third question will be skipped, and the fourth question in the User_Ques record will next be analyzed against the user&#39;s demographics. Thus, in this embodiment, the ordering and selection of the questions presented to the user during the various visits is determined using both the user&#39;s demographic information and answers given by the user to previous sponsor-specific questions associated with the selected sponsor symbol. Decision logic (stored in the DRQ_LOGIC fields of the DRQUESTNS record discussed below) specific to each individual sponsor and keyed to previous user answers isused in this embodiment to select and determine the order of questions presented to the user during the various visits to the home WWW site. The sponsor-specific decision logic uses answers given by the user to previous sponsor-specific questions associated with the sponsor to decide which sponsor-specific question to next analyze against the user&#39;s demographic information until a question with demographic criteria that matches that of the user is found.  
     [0022] For each sponsor (see spr_id field in Table 2 below) that may be selected by a given user in step  104 , the associated plurality of sponsor-specific questions (see spdq1 to spdq30 fields below) that may be presented to any given user is preferably represented in a Sponsor_Question_Template record having the data format shown below in Table 2.  
               TABLE 2                          SPONSOR_QUESTION_TEMPLATE                             Field Name   Field Type                       SPR_ID   NUMBER (12)           SPDQ1   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ2   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ3   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ4   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ5   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ6   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ7   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ8   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ9   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ10   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ11   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ12   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ13   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ14   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ15   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ16   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ17   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ18   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ19   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ20   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ21   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ22   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ23   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ24   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ25   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ26   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ27   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ28   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ29   VARCHAR2 (14)           SPDQ30   VARCHAR2 (14)                      
 
     [0023] Referring again to FIGS. 1A and 1B, in response to the selection of the prize symbol by the user in step  106  (if the user was already a registered user) or the completion of the user registration process in step  110 , the system determines in step  112  whether the sponsor corresponding to the sponsor symbol selected by the user in step  104  has provided sponsor-specific questions to be presented to user&#39;s that select the sponsor&#39;s symbol in step  104 . This step is performed by examining the existing Sponsor_Question_Template records, and determining whether a Sponsor_Question_Template record exists with a spr_id field corresponding to the sponsor symbol selected in step  104 . If so, the system proceeds to step  114 , where the system determines whether a User_Ques record associated with the user and the selected sponsor exists. This step is performed by examining the existing User_Ques records (stored in a User_Ques table and discussed below), and determining whether a User_Ques record exists with a user_id field corresponding to the current user and a spr_id field corresponding to the sponsor symbol selected in step  104 . If such a User_Ques record does not exist, then as discussed below, in step  116  the system creates such a record from the Sponsor_Question_Template record associated with the sponsor selected in step  104 .  
     [0024] In step  116 , the system creates a User_Ques record associated with the current user and the sponsor selected in step  104  by inserting the identification number of the current user in the user_id field of a blank User_Ques record, and inserting the identification number associated with the sponsor selected in step  104  in the spr_id field of the blank User_Ques record. Each User_Ques record preferably has the data format shown below in Table 3. Thus, in addition to the user_id and spr_id fields, each User_Ques record includes a plurality of fields for storing answers (see usrqa1 to usrqa30 fields in Table 3) of the user to the sponsor-specific questions stored in the Sponsor_Question_Template associated with the sponsor selected by the user in step  104 .  
               TABLE 3                          USER_QUES RECORD                             Field Name   Field Type                       USR_ID   NUMBER (12)           SPR_ID   NUMBER (12)           USRQA1   CHAR (1)           USRQA2   CHAR (1)           USRQA3   CHAR (1)           USRQA4   CHAR (1)           USRQA5   CHAR (1)           USRQA6   CHAR (1)           USRQA7   CHAR (1)           USRQA8   CHAR (1)           USRQA9   CHAR (1)           USRQA10   CHAR (1)           USRQA11   CHAR (1)           USRQA12   CHAR (1)           USRQA13   CHAR (1)           USRQA14   CHAR (1)           USRQA15   CHAR (1)           USRQA16   CHAR (1)           USRQA17   CHAR (1)           USRQA18   CHAR (1)           USRQA19   CHAR (1)           USRQA20   CHAR (1)           USRQA21   CHAR (1)           USRQA22   CHAR (1)           USRQA23   CHAR (1)           USRQA24   CHAR (1)           USRQA25   CHAR (1)           USRQA26   CHAR (1)           USRQA27   CHAR (1)           USRQA28   CHAR (1)           USRQA29   CHAR (1)           USRQA30   CHAR (1)           USR_EMAIL   VARCHAR2 (50)                      
 
     [0025] Referring again to FIGS. 1A and 1B, in step  118  the system determines whether there are any applicable sponsor-specific questions associated with the selected sponsor that have not yet been analyzed against the user&#39;s demographic information. This step is performed by examining the answer fields of the User_Ques record associated with the current user and the selected sponsor, and examining the Sponsor_Question_Template associated with the selected sponsor, and determining whether any of the applicable questions set forth in the Sponsor_Question_Template have yet to have been analyzed against the user&#39;s demographic information. If one or more of such questions have yet to have been analyzed against the user&#39;s demographic information, then in step  120 , the system selects an unanswered question from the User_Ques record associated with the current user and the selected sponsor for analysis. As mentioned above, the order in which questions are selected for analysis against the user&#39;s demographics in step  120  can either be based simply on the ordering of the questions within the User_Ques record, or alternatively, on decision logic which uses previous answers to determine the order in which questions are selected for analysis against the user&#39;s demographic information.  
     [0026] For each question that may be selected by the system in step  120 , the system stores a DRQUESTNS record that includes, among other things, an identification number associated with the question (see dru_id field below), the sponsor associated with the question (see spr_id field below), the text of the question and the possible answers to the question (see drq_question title and drq_no_of_choices fields, respectively) and the decision logic described above (or objective rules) that specifies whether, based on previous answers of the user, the question should be presented to the user (see drq_logic field below.) In the embodiment described above where questions are selected for analysis against the user&#39;s demographics in step  120  can based simply on the ordering of the questions within the User_Ques record, the drq_logic field is not used. Each DRQUESTNS record preferably has the data format shown below in Table 4.  
               TABLE 4                          DRQUESTNS RECORD                             Field Name   Field Type                       DRQ_ID   NUMBER (12)           SPR_ID   NUMBER (12)           DRQ_HTML   LONG           DRQ_LOGIC   VARCHAR2 (50)           DRQ_QUESTION_   VARCHAR2 (500)           TITLE           DRQ_NO_OF   NUMBER (5)           CHOICES                      
 
     [0027] Referring again to FIGS. 1A and 1B, in step  120  the system retrieves the DRQUESTNS record associated with the next unanswered question to be applied against the user&#39;s demographic information. Next, in step  122 , the system retrieves question criteria information associated with the selected unanswered question. For each question that may be selected by the system in step  120 , the system stores a QUESTION_CRITERIA record that includes, among other things, an identification number associated with the question (see dr_question_id field in Table 5), the sponsor associated with the question (see spr_id field in Table 5) and objective criteria (see criteria_text and logical_operator fields in Table 5) for determining whether demographic criteria associated with question match the demographic information of the user. The information stored in the criteria_text and logical_operator fields contains, for example, demographic parameters that must be met in order for the question to be presented to the user, e.g., the user must be male and have no children in order for this question to be presented to the user, or the user must live in a certain geographic area and/or be in a certain age bracket in order for this question to be presented to the user. Each QUESTION_CRITERIA record preferably has the data format shown below in Table 5.  
               TABLE 5                          QUESTION_CRITERIA RECORD                             Field Name   Field Type                       CRITERIA_ID   NUMBER (12)           SPONSOR_ID   NUMBER (12)           DR_QUESTION_ID   NUMBER (12)           CRITERIA_TEXT   VARCHAR2 (2000)           LOGICAL_   VARCHAR2 (5)           OPERATOR                      
 
     [0028] In step  124 , the system determines whether to present the selected question to the user by applying the objective criteria in the QUESTION_CRITERIA record to the user&#39;s demographic information. If, based on the user&#39;s demographic information, the objective criteria (stored in the criteria_text and logical_operator fields in Table 5) indicates that the question should be presented to the user then, in step  126 , the selected question is presented to the user; otherwise, the system proceeds back to step  118  where the process is repeated. FIG. 6 shows an exemplary page  600  that may be used to display a sponsor-specific question  610  to the user on the home WWW site.  
     [0029] After the sponsor-specific question is presented to the user, the system waits for the user to answer the question and, in step  128 , the system writes the user&#39;s answer to an answer table. Following the recording of the user&#39;s answer, the user is given an opportunity to register to win the prize selected in step  106  (by clicking on text  620 ) after which, the system redirects the user from the home WWW site to a further WWW site associated with the sponsor selected in step  104 .  
     [0030] In one embodiment of the present invention, the steps described above (i.e., steps  102 - 130 ) are performed during an initial visit of the user to the home WWW site. Thereafter, during a second (and subsequent) visit(s) of the user to the WWW site where the same sponsor symbol is selected in step  104 , the answer(s) given by the user to the previously selected sponsor-specific question(s) are optionally used, in conjunction with the user&#39;s demographic information, to select a further sponsor-specific question to present to the user in steps  120 - 124 . This process is repeated during subsequent visits of the user to the home WWW site in which the user selects the same sponsor symbol in step  104 , until the User_Ques record associated with the user and the selected sponsor indicates that all the sponsor-specific questions associated with the selected sponsor and applicable to the user have been presented to the user. If the user visits the home WWW site and selects the same sponsor symbol enough times such that all of sponsor-specific questions applicable to the user have been presented to the user, then, in a preferred embodiment, in response to further visits where the user selects the same sponsor symbol, the system begins selecting and presenting site-specific questions (described below) to the user.  
     [0031] Referring again to FIGS. 1A and 1B, if, in step  112 , the system determined that the sponsor corresponding to the sponsor symbol selected by the user in step  104  did not provide sponsor-specific questions to be presented to user&#39;s that select the sponsor&#39;s symbol in step  104 , then the system proceeds to step  132  where a site question is selected for analysis against the user&#39;s demographic information. In contrast to the sponsor-specific questions discussed above which are designed to solicit information that is tailored for a particular sponsor, each site question is designed to solicit more general marketing information from a user.  
     [0032] For each site question that may be selected by the system in step  132 , the system stores a SITE_QUESTION record that includes, among other things, an identification number associated with the question (see site_id field in Table 6), the text of the question and the possible answers to the question (see title and no_of_choices fields) and decision logic (or objective rules) that specifies whether, based on previous answers of the user, the question should be presented to the user (see logic field below.) In one embodiment, where unanswered site-specific questions are selected randomly in step  132  for analysis against the user&#39;s demographic information, the logic field is not used. Each SITE_QUESTION record preferably has the data format shown below in Table 6.  
               TABLE 6                          SITE_QUESTION RECORD                             Field Name   Field Type                       SITE_ID   NUMBER (12)           HTML   LONG           LOGIC   VARCHAR2 (50)           TITLE   VARCHAR2 (500)           TYPE   VARCHAR2 (50)           NO_OF_CHOICES   NUMBER (5)                      
 
     [0033] Referring again to FIGS. 1A and 1B, in step  132  the system retrieves the SITE_QUESTION record associated with the next unanswered site question to be applied against the user&#39;s demographic information. Next, in step  134 , the system retrieves question criteria information associated with the selected unanswered site question. For each site question that may be selected by the system in step  132 , the system stores a SQ_CRITERIA record that includes, among other things, an identification number associated with the question (see site_ques_id field in Table 7), and objective criteria (see text and logical_operator fields in Table  7 ) for determining whether demographic criteria associated with the question match the demographic information of the user. The information stored in the text and logical_operator fields contains, for example, demographic parameters that must be met in order for the question to be presented to the user, e.g., the user must be male and have no children in order for this question to be presented to the user, or the user must live in a certain geographic area and/or be in a certain age bracket in order for this question to be presented to the user. Each SQ_CRITERIA record preferably has the data format shown below in Table 7.  
               TABLE 7                          SQ_CRITERIA RECORD                             Field Name   Field Type                       SITE_ID   NUMBER (12)           SITE_QUES_ID   NUMBER (12)           TEXT   VARCHAR2 (2000)           LOGICAL_   VARCHAR2 (5)           OPERATOR                      
 
     [0034] In step  134 , the system determines whether to present the selected site question to the user by applying the objective criteria in the SQ_CRITERIA record to the user&#39;s demographic information. If, based on the user&#39;s demographic information , the objective criteria (stored in the text and logical_operator fields in Table 7) indicate that the selected site question should be presented to the user then, in step  136 , the selected question is presented to the user; otherwise, the system proceeds back to step  132  where the process is repeated.  
     [0035] After the site question is presented to the user, the system waits for the user to answer the question and, in step  138 , the system writes the user&#39;s answer to an answer table. Following the recording of the user&#39;s answer, the user is given an opportunity to register to win the prize selected in step  106  (by clicking on text  520 ) after which, the system redirects the user from the home WWW site to a further WWW site associated with the sponsor selected in step  104 .  
     [0036] Although, in the description set forth above, the present invention was described in conjunction with the selection of a single sponsor symbol in step  104 , it will be understood that during subsequent visits of the user to the home WWW site the user may select a different sponsor symbol during each iteration of step  104 . In such an instance, the process of the present invention will be implemented the same as described above, except the sponsor-specific questions selected for presentation to the user will be different (i.e., the sponsor-specific questions will be tailored to the different sponsor) and the logic and criteria used for determining which of these sponsor-specific questions to present to the user and in what order will similarly be different (i.e., again, this logic and criteria will be tailored to the different sponsor.) Thus, multiple sponsors can collect demographic and marketing information (e.g., the answers to the sponsor-specific question) tailored for each sponsor from users that visit the home WWW site.  
     [0037] Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown a block diagram of the hardware components of an on-line system  700  for collecting demographic information from a user of a home WWW site and for dynamically selecting questions to present to the user, in accordance with the present invention. System  700  includes a router  705  coupled to web servers  710  and  720 . The router is coupled through the WWW to users that send and receive signals from web servers  710  and  720 . Each user preferably communicates with the home WWW site through a user personal computer (not shown) that displays the page information provided by the home WWW site described above, and sends signals back to the home WWW site indicating the user&#39;s selections in steps  102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  128  and the other information input by the user, including, for example, the user&#39;s e-mail information and demographic information discussed above. Web server  720  is in turn coupled to application server  740 . The system described above in connection with FIGS. 1A and 1B is preferably implemented in software on web servers  710 ,  720  and application server  730 . The various record tables described above are stored in databases  730  and  750 .  
     [0038] In accordance with a further alternative embodiment, parameters in addition to a user&#39;s demographic information and previous answers are used to select the next sponsor-specific/site question to present to the user in steps  120 - 124  and  132 - 134 . The additional parameters used for question selection include prizes for which a user registers, prizes a user wins, the prize categories that the user has selected during past visits to the home WWW site, and/or how long the user has stayed on various pages of the home WWW site during the current and earlier visits to the home WWW site.  
     [0039] In accordance with a still further aspect of the invention (not shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) if a user attempts to leave the home WWW site prior to step  130  by, for example, manually changing the URL on the user&#39;s web browser, the present invention selects and displays a site question (i.e., steps  134 - 138 ) to the user prior to allowing the user to move to the next web site.  
     [0040] The previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to the embodiments described above will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use of inventive faculty. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the methods and apparatuses shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims set forth below.