Patent ID: 8489112

Claim:
A method for rewarding presence comprising: detecting a presence of a mobile phone within an enclosed space, wherein the presence includes a location, the enclosed space includes a retail environment, and detecting the presence of the mobile phone includes receiving, using a microphone, a ultrasonic frequency acoustic signal transmitted by a transmitter to the enclosed space; transmitting information relating to the presence of the mobile phone within the enclosed space to a server computer, wherein the server computer processes an award for the presence of the mobile phone within the enclosed space, the award is associated with a user account associated with the mobile phone, a numerical point value associated with the award is dynamically determined based at least in part on a quantity of visits to the enclosed space and an achieved status of the user account, the achieved status enables the user account to earn a larger numerical point value associated with the award as compared to without the achieved status, and the achieved status is indicated by a badge associated with the user account; and receiving from the server computer information relating to the award; wherein the server computer determines a set of visits associated with the user account, the set of visits are associated with a plurality of stores, determines the numerical point value associated with the award based at least in part on the set of visits, provides information relating to the award to a social networking service associated with a user corresponding to the user account, and transmits one or more responsive awards to one or more user accounts associated with one or more friends of the user who respond to the information provided to the social networking service.