Patent ID: 7963850

Claim:
A method of developing the activity of an on-line game site, the site comprising a question engine coupled to a plurality of terminals controlled by respective players; the activity of the site being measured by a traffic index representative of the number of players that have played the game over a given time interval; in which method: the question engine sends questions to players relating to a success parameter concerning at least one future event; the players respond by providing forecasts on said success parameter; and after said event(s) has/have occurred, the site evaluates the forecast and allocates prizes to respective players, where appropriate; a) displaying on the terminals, together with the questions sent to players by the question engine, advertising insertions paid for on the basis of a given rate; b) evaluating receipts associated with said paid-for advertising insertions; c) setting up an endowment for sharing amongst a plurality of prizes for allocation over a given period of time, the endowment being a function of the level of said receipts; d) on detecting an increase in the traffic index above a given threshold, correspondingly increasing said tariff for the advertising insertions; e) on detecting an increase in said receipts above another given threshold, correspondingly increasing said endowment; and f) continuing and developing the activity by reiterating above steps d) and e).