CA2565943A1 - Advancing payment to an affiliate based on company electronic link activity - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for advancing payment of a portion of one or more amounts due under an affiliate program to an affiliate, the amount being owed by a merchant of a website subject to the affiliate program. The method includes the steps of, first, providing a means for transmitting information to an administrator. The information is for use by the administrator to verify the affiliate's identity. Second, the method provides a means for enabling the administrator to verify the identify of the affiliate based on the information. Third, the method provides a means whereby the affiliate assigns the amount due under the affiliate program absolutely to the administrator, and whereby the affiliate requests that the portion of the amount due be advanced. Next, the method provides confirmation from the merchant that the amount due under the affiliate program is assigned absolutely to the administrator. Finally, the method provides a means for enabling the administrator to effect payment to the affiliate of the portion of the amount due under the affiliate program.

Description

4 This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No.
60/730,389, filed October 27, 2005, in its entirety herein incorporated by reference.

7 [0001] This invention relates to payment for affiliate programs.

9 [0002] As is known in the art, an "affiliate" is a website owner who delivers value to another website owner as specified in the terms of an associated affiliate 11 program. Typically, the affiliate's website has a link on it. If a visitor clicks on 12 such link, it takes the visitor to a merchant's website, at which website the visitor 13 is offered goods and/or services. In general, the affiliate program is a contractual 14 relationship binding upon the affiliate and the merchant (or third party affiliate tracking company - e.g. Google) which provides that the affiliate is to be paid by 16 the merchant (or tracking company) upon the visitor taking one or more specified 17 steps via the link in relation to the merchant's website.

18 [0003] Affiliates earn income based on the models described above.
19 Typically, most affiliates promote many different affiliate programs with the same and/or different companies and keeping track of multiple payments for the 21 different programs can be difficult. Further, there is a delay between earning 22 the income (i.e., the date on which an amount becomes owing under the affiliate 23 program(s)) and the affiliate receiving payment for the income earned from the 24 company(s). For example, under one existing program, the affiliate earns income when a visitor to his or her site clicks an ad subject to this program.
If 26 this click occurs on the first day of the month, the affiliate will receive payment 27 towards the end of the following month (i.e., almost 60 days later).
Another 1 extreme example is a second existing affiliate program which issues payment to 2 affiliates only once every three months (i.e., once per quarter).

3 [0004] A further problem with current affiliate programs is that the affiliate 4 receives payment for link interactions taken by the visitor, however this payment is typically provided separately from reporting of the manner/degree of link usage 6 by the visitor. Accordingly, it is common that the affiliate does not know what 7 specific visitor link interaction the payment is attributable to.

9 [0005] The systems and methods disclosed herein provide for advancing payment for visitor interaction with affiliate links and to obviate or mitigate at least 11 some of the above presented disadvantages.

12 [0006] Affiliates earn income based on the models described above.
13 Typically, most affiliates promote many different affiliate programs with the same 14 and/or different companies and keeping track of multiple payments for the different programs can be difficult. Further, there is a delay between earning 16 the income (i.e., the date on which an amount becomes owing under the affiliate 17 program(s)) and the affiliate receiving payment for the income earned from the 18 company(s). A further problem with current affiliate programs is that the affiliate 19 receives payment for link interactions taken by the visitor, however this payment is typically provided separately from reporting of the manner/degree of link usage 21 by the visitor. Accordingly, it is common that the affiliate does not know what 22 specific visitor link interaction the payment is attributable to. Contrary to present 23 affiliate payment systems there is provided a method and system for 24 communicating payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for directing visitor traffic over a network to a company. The link activity is attributed 26 to the affiliate. The method and system comprise receiving a request for 27 payment for the affiliate including a specified payment period, a specified link set, 28 and at least one company associated with the link set; contacting the at least one 1 company for the payment period for confirming a level of the link activity for the 2 link set during the payment period. The system and method also comprise 3 generating a payment for the affiliate including compensation commensurate with 4 the confirmed level of link activity, wherein the payment is subsequently communicated to the affiliate.

6 [0007] According to one aspect there is provided a method for 7 communicating payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for 8 directing visitor traffic over a network to a company, the link activity being 9 attributed to the affiliate, the method comprising the acts of: receiving a request for payment for the affiliate including a specified payment period, a specified link 11 set, and at least one company associated with the link set; contacting the at least 12 one company for the payment period for confirming a level of the link activity for 13 the link set during the payment period; generating a payment for the affiliate 14 including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link activity;
and communicating the payment to the affiliate.

16 [0008] A further aspect of provided is a system for communicating 17 payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for directing visitor traffic 18 over a network to a company, the link activity being attributed to the affiliate, the 19 system comprising: a data collection module for receiving a request for payment for the affiliate including a specified payment period, a specified link set, and at 21 least one company associated with the link set; a confirmation module for 22 contacting the at least one company for the payment period for confirming a level 23 of the link activity for the link set during the payment period; and a payment 24 module for generating a payment for the affiliate including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link activity; wherein the payment is 26 communicated to the affiliate.

27 [0009] A still further aspect provided is a computer program product for 28 communicating payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for 29 directing visitor traffic over a network to a company, the link activity being 1 attributed to the affiliate, the computer program product comprising: a computer 2 readable medium; a data collection module stored on the computer readable 3 medium for receiving a request for payment for the affiliate including a specified 4 payment period, a specified link set, and at least one company associated with the link set; a confirmation module stored on the computer readable medium for 6 contacting the at least one company for the payment period for confirming a level 7 of the link activity for the link set during the payment period; and a payment 8 module stored on the computer readable medium for generating a payment for 9 the affiliate including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link activity; wherein the payment is communicated to the affiliate.

11 [0010] Other aspects provided are comprising receiving payment from the 12 at least one company for at least a portion of the confirmed level of link activity 13 after the corresponding communication of the payment to the affiliate, as well as 14 contacting the at least one company for obtaining report information associated with the compensation included in the payment.

17 [0011] Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described in 18 conjunction with the following drawings, by way of example only, in which:

19 [0012] Figure 1 is a block diagram of components of an advance payment system;

21 [0013] Figures 2a,b,c,d are examples of link interaction by a visitor in the 22 system of Figure 1;

23 [0014] Figure 3 is a further example of link interaction by a visitor in the 24 system of Figure 1;

[0015] Figure 4 is a block diagram of an example computing device for 26 implementing the components of Figure 1;

27 [0016] Figure 5 is a block diagram of the payment administration system of 28 Figure 1; and 1 [0017] Figure 6 is a flowchart of operation of the system of Figure 1.
2 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) 3 Network System 10 4 [0018] Referring to Figure 1, shown is an advance payment system 10 for coordinating dynamically configurable payments 12 via a payment administration 6 system 14 between a plurality of companies 16 (e.g. merchants 16a and/or third 7 party affiliate tracking companies 16b) and at least one affiliate 18. The 8 payments 12 are dynamically configured through a written contract (the affiliate 9 program) between the payment administration system 14 and the respective affiliate 18, such that the companies 16 are informed to redirect to the payment 11 administration system 14 those payments 9 which are attributable to the 12 respective affiliate 18. The payments 12 are calculated by the payment 13 administration system 14 and are advanced to the affiliate 18, on behalf of the 14 companies 16, in return for visitor(s) 20 on-line traffic directed to the company websites 22 via links 24 associated with the affiliate 18. Information 7 on actual 16 traffic/interaction (by the visitor 20) of the links 24 (for example link 24 activity 17 including results of such interactions e.g. sales, actions, etc.) is obtained by the 18 administration system 14 from the companies 16, in order to facilitate generation 19 of the payments 12 as further described below. The links 24 can be positioned (e.g. hosted) on an affiliate website 26 and/or a website 28 of the third party 21 affiliate tracking company 16b (e.g. Google), for example, further described 22 below.

23 [0019] It is recognised that tracking ownership of a particular link 24 with a 24 respective affiliate 24 can be done by methods such as but not limited to:
placing a tracking cookie on the visitor's 20 computing device 101 once the link 24 is 26 interacted with (e.g. clicked); redirecting to a tracking script at the third party 27 company 16b; and passing a tracking variable to the merchant's 16a site, for 28 example. Further, tracking ownership of a particular link 24 can also be done 29 using coupon / unique codes used to track commissions. For example, the affiliate 18 can provide the visitor 20 a code which the visitor then enter before 1 checking out a purchase through the merchant 16a (e.g. at an e-Store). From 2 the coupon code, the merchant 16b will know the sale came from the respective 3 affiliate 18.

4 [0020] In one embodiment, the link 24 can be defined using hypertext.
The link 24 can be referred to in general as a selectable connection from one 6 word, picture, or information object to another. In a multimedia environment such 7 as the Internet, such objects can include sound and motion video sequences.

8 One example form of the link 24 is a highlighted word or picture that can be 9 selected by the visitor 24 (with a mouse or in some other fashion), resulting in the delivery and view of another file. The highlighted object can be referred to as an 11 anchor, such that the anchor reference and the object referred to constitute the 12 link 24. In Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) the anchor is the establishing 13 of a term, phrase, image, or other information object as being either: the target of 14 the hypertext link 24 within a document, or a reference (a link 24 you can select) to such a target.

16 [0021] It is noted that any HTML file name can be automatically be part of 17 the link 24 as either the anchor or target that can be linked to. For example, the 18 anchor within the file to which one can link directly is identified by a #
symbol 19 followed by the name, such that the # is used to take the visitor 20 to a specific part of a referred page. Alternatively, the affiliate link 24 can uses URL
21 parameters, e.g. e. www.gowlings.com?aff iliate_id=HARSCH. Further, although 22 most links do not offer the visitor 20 a choice of types of link, it would be possible 23 for the visitor 20 to be provided a choice of link types, such as but not limited to:
24 a definition of the object, an example of the object, a picture of the object, a smaller or larger picture of the object, etc. Further, it is recognised that 26 hypermedia can be used to extend the meaning of the link 24 to include links 24 27 among any set of multimedia objects, including sound, motion video, and virtual 28 reality, for example. Hypermedia links 24 can also connote an increased level of 29 visitor/network interactivity than the interactivity already implicit in hypertext.

1 [0022] Communication between the advance payment systeml0 2 components, i.e. the companies 16 (including websites 22,28), the affiliate 3 administration system 14, the affiliates 18 (including the websites 26), and the 4 visitor 20 is facilitated via one or more communication networks 11 (such as intranets and/or extranets - e.g. the Internet) using computing devices 101 6 further described below. The payment system 10 can include multiple visitors 7 20, multiple affiliates 18, one or more companies 16 , one or more respective 8 administration systems 14 and one or more coupled communication networks 11, 9 as desired.

[0023] Referring again to Figure 1, the affiliate program(s) (as 11 administered by the payment administration system 14) can be a contractual 12 relationship binding upon the affiliate(s) 18, the administration system 14, and the 13 companiesl6 (at least for instructions on where to send payments 9). The 14 affiliate program provides that the affiliate 18 is paid through the dynamically configurable payments 12 from the administration system 14, as a result of the 16 visitor 20 taking one or more specified steps in relation to the merchant's website 17 22, as initiated or otherwise coordinated by the links 24 associated with the 18 affiliate 18. The manner in which the payments 12 are issued depends upon the 19 defined relationship between the payment administration system 14 and the affiliate 18, as further described below. It is recognised that the companies 21 are informed that the administration system 14 is to receive corresponding 22 payments 9 (for the affiliate 18) from the companies 16, according to the typical 23 standard payment interval dictated by the companies 16. Further, it should be 24 recognised that issuance timing of the payments 12 is preferably independent of receipt timing of the payments 9, as desired, for example the payments 9 are 26 received after the payments 12 are issued.

27 [0024] Further, it is recognised that the administration system 14 can be 28 used as a compensation management service by the affiliate 18, such that 29 certain portions of compensation slated for payment 12 to the affiliate 18 (earned 1 by the affiliate 18 through link 24 activity) may be held back by the administration 2 system 14. In cases where the amounts are held back, it is feasible that the 3 payments 9 for such held back amounts from the company 16 may be received 4 by the administration system 14 before issuance of the corresponding payment 12 to the affiliate 18 has occurred. It is also recognised that the affiliate 18 may 6 decide (as represented in data 301,305 for example) to provide for a portion (e.g.
7 a first portion) of the link 24 activity compensation to be directly forwarded as 8 payment 9 (from the company 16) to the affiliate 18, and the remainder portion 9 (e.g. a second portion) of the link 24 activity compensation to be assigned to the administration system 14 and thereby received as payment 12 from the 11 administration system 14, as further described below.

12 [0025] It is recognised that the payments 12 can be configured to 13 compensate the affiliate 18 for a variety of visitor 20 interactions with the links 24, 14 such as but not limited to: $ Per Click (CPC); $ Per thousand Impressions (CPM);
and $ Per Visitor (CPV), as well as $ per sale, lead and action, for example.
The 16 visitor 20 interaction with the links 24 can be performed using communication 17 paths over the network such as but not limited to: path 34 as performed in 18 relation to messages 30; path 32 involving the visitor 20 - affiliate 18 -merchant 19 16a; path 36 involving the visitor 20 - administration system 14 - merchant 16a;
and/or path 38 involving the visitor 20 - affiliate 18 - administration system 21 merchant 16a, in view of the link(s) 24 configuration.

22 [0026] Further, affiliate 18 commissions (e.g. payments 12) can be based 23 on a fixed amount, percentage (or combination) per click, transaction, action, etc.
24 Additionally, there are also CPM (cost per thousand) based payments where the affiliate earns a fixed fee per thousand times an action is performed (e.g., 26 displaying a banner ad impression). In the case where the visitor 20 must 27 perform an action (e.g., download a file) or is captured as a lead to fulfill the 28 affiliate program's requirement for payment, the visitor 20 can perform the action 29 or fill in the lead information either on the affiliate's website 26 or the merchant's 1 website 22, as desired. In the latter case, the merchant 16b would have tracked 2 that the visitor 20 came from the affiliate's 18 site through the affiliate tracking 3 link 24, as is known in the art.

4 [0027] In one embodiment, the affiliate's website 26 can have the link 24 to the merchant 16a on the website 26. If the visitor 20 clicks on the link 24, the 6 visitor 20 is redirected to the merchant's website 22, at which the visitor 20 is 7 offered merchant 16a products (e.g. goods and/or services) for sale (see Figure 8 2a). Referring to Figure 2b, shown is an example Pay Per Click scenario 9 between the visitor 20, affiliate 18, the affiliate admin system 14 and the merchant 16a. Referring to Figure 2c, shown is an example Pay per Lead 11 scenario between the visitor 20, affiliate 18, the affiliate admin system 14 and the 12 merchant 16a. Referring to Figure 2d, shown is an example Pay per Action (e.g.
13 downloading trial software) scenario between the visitor 20, affiliate 18, the 14 affiliate administration system 14 and the merchant 16a. It is recognised that the payment 12 to the affiliate 18 is preferably advanced by the payment 16 administration system 14 to the affiliate 18 prior to receipt of merchant 16a funds 17 9 by the payment administration system 14, as further described below. In the 18 cases described above, it should be recognised that the payment 12 is advanced 19 to the affiliate 18 before corresponding payment 9 is received by the administration system 14 from the company(s) 16 in response to visitor 20 21 interaction with the links 24 associates with the affiliate 18.

22 [0028] Referring to Figure 3, in a further embodiment, the affiliate program 23 administration (tracking clicks on affiliate links 24, managing flows of payments 9, 24 etc.) may be performed by the third party affiliate tracking company 16b.
For example, the Google's AdWords program (i.e. Google would be considered the 26 company 16b) charges merchant 16a websites per click (or otherwise) for 27 displaying links 24 to their sites. The Google AdSense program allows other 28 website owners (third party webmasters such as the affiliates 18) to display these 29 links 24 on the website 28 such that when the visitor 20 clicks on the link 24 from 1 the third party webmaster's, Google charges the merchant 16a for the click/action 2 of the link 24 through the AdWords program It will be understood that the third 3 party webmaster (e.g. affiliate 18) can be referred to as an agent for the 4 merchant 16a. It is recognised that the system 10 shown in Figure 3 can be used to implement all examples shown in Figures 2a,b,c,d as well as others as 6 desired.

7 [0029] A further embodiment of the company 16b is Commission Junction 8 (www.cj.com) as an example of a third party affiliate management company.
9 Commission Junction runs affiliate programs for several websites, such that affiliates 18 can create profiles with Commission Junction and can participate in 11 affiliate programs for the merchants 16b Commission Junction manages 12 programs for.

13 [0030] Referring again to Figure 1, the affiliate 18 can be a website 26 14 owner, and/or other electronics communication-based advertiser communicating electronic emails/messages to visitors 20 with included links 24, who delivers 16 value to another website 22,28 owner (e.g. company 16) as specified in the 17 terms of the affiliate program (e.g. a written contract). For example, Affiliate 18 18 marketing can be defined as use by a Web 26 site that sells products of other 19 Web 22 sites to help market the products, e.g. Amazon.com, the book seller, created a large-scale affiliate program. The company 16 can be a merchant 16b, 21 also known as an advertiser or retailer, that has/hosts the web site 22 that sells a 22 product online, accepts payments and fulfills orders. Merchants 16a acquire new 23 customers and pay affiliates 18 only when a sale or other qualifying action is 24 completed. This is called CPA or performance-based marketing. The company 16 can also be a trusted third-party 16b (e.g. LinkShare, Google, Yahoo, etc.) 26 that brings together both merchants 16a and the affiliates 18. The trusted third-27 party 16b can perform additional services such as tracking and reporting on 28 every ad or placement in the network 10, send monthly (or other delayed time 29 period) payments to the affiliate administration systems 14, and provide services 1 and tools that help merchants 16b and affiliates 18 optimize their performance, 2 as desired.

3 [0031] The affiliates 18 (also called publishers) can make merchants' ads 4 containing links 24, text links 24, and/or product links 24, for example, available to the visitors 20 using a variety of methods including such as but not limited to:
6 on their websites 26; through using shopping engines or other search engines 7 (e.g. third party affiliate tracking companies 14 such as Google and Yahoo);
in 8 blogs; in electronic e-mail/message 30 campaigns sent to the visitor 20; and in 9 electronically accessible search listings (not shown). The affiliate 18 makes these links 24 available to the visitor 20 in exchange for commissions (i.e.
11 payments 12) on leads, sales, and/or general interest shown by the visitor 20 in 12 company 16 products via usage of the links 24. It is recognised that the links 24 13 can include link mechanisms such as but not limited to: Inline Text Links;
Text 14 Banners; Graphical/Rich Media Banners; In-page Graphical Banner; Pop-Unders/Ups; XML Feeds; Layer Ads; and Search box, for example.

16 [0032] In economics, economic output is divided into goods and services.
17 When an economic activity yields a valuable or useful thing, it can be known as 18 production output of the totality of products (e.g. goods or services) in an 19 economy that the company 16 makes available for use by the visitors 20.
Products as goods can range from a simple safety pin, food, clothing, computer 21 components to complex aircraft. Products as services are the performance of any 22 duties or work for another (e.g. helpful or professional activity) and can be used 23 to define intangible specialized economic activities such as but not limited to:
24 providing access to specific information; web services; transport; banking;
legal advice; accounting advice; management consultant advice; and medical 26 services. The company 16 providing the products can be a 27 businessperson/individual engaged in wholesale/retail trade, an organization, an 28 administration, and/or a business that sells, administers, maintains, charges for 29 or otherwise makes available product(s) that are desirable by the visitors 20.

1 Accordingly, the company 16 can be one person, or an association of persons, 2 for the purpose of carrying on some enterprise or business; a corporation; a firm;
3 etc. Further, it is recognised that the use of the links 24 can be applied to direct 4 the visitor 20 to company 16 activities not related to specific product(s), for example customer service, community activities, and/or sponsorships. These 6 general activities of the company 16 are also considered as part of the definition 7 of company 16 products.

8 Computing Devices 101 9 [0033] Referring to Figures 1 and 4, each of the above-described components of the payment system 10, i.e. visitors 20, affiliates 18, companies 11 16, and administration systems, can be implemented on one or more respective 12 computing device(s) 101. The devices 101 in general can include a network 13 connection interface 200, such as a network interface card or a modem, coupled 14 via connection 218 to a device infrastructure 204. The connection interface is connectable during operation of the devices 101 to the network 11 (e.g. an 16 intranet and/or an extranet such as the Internet), which enables the devices 101 17 to communicate with each other as appropriate. The network 11 can support the 18 payment 12 between the administration system 14 and the affiliates 18, as well 19 as facilitating operation of the links 24 between the visitor and ultimately the companies 16 (e.g. merchants 16a).

21 [0034] Referring again to Figure 2, the devices 101 can also have a user 22 interface 202, coupled to the device infrastructure 204 by connection 222, to 23 interact with a user (e.g. company 16, visitor 20, affiliate 18, administration 24 system 14, etc.). The user interface 202 can include one or more user input devices such as but not limited to a QWERTY keyboard, a keypad, a trackwheel, 26 a stylus, a mouse, a microphone and the user output device such as an LCD
27 screen display and/or a speaker. If the screen is touch sensitive, then the display 28 can also be used as the user input device as controlled by the device 29 infrastructure 204. For example, the user interface 202 for the devices 101 used 1 by the visitors 20 can be configured to interact with a visitors' 20 web browsers 2 (applications 17) to access the links 24 via websites 26 of the affiliates 18, as 3 well as to access the products (and/or information pertaining thereto) available 4 on the company websites 22. For the devices 101 used by the affiliates 18, the user interfaces 202 can be used to access the administration system 14 to 6 provide the sign-up data 301, payment data 305, and to access report data 303, 7 as further described below.

8 [0035] Referring again to Figure 2, operation of the device 101 is 9 facilitated by the device infrastructure 204. The device infrastructure 204 includes one or more computer processors 208 and can include an associated 11 memory 210 (e.g. a random access memory). The computer processor 208 12 facilitates performance of the device 101 configured for the intended task (e.g.
13 visitor 20, affiliate 18, company 16, administration system 14) through operation 14 of the network interface 200, the user interface 202 and other application programs/hardware of the device 101 by executing task related instructions, 16 These task related instructions can be provided by an operating system, and/or 17 software applications 17 located in the memory 210, and/or by operability that is 18 configured into the electronic/digital circuitry of the processor(s) 208 designed to 19 perform the specific task(s). Further, it is recognized that the device infrastructure 204 can include a computer readable storage medium 212 coupled 21 to the processor 208 for providing instructions to the processor 208 and/or to 22 load/update client applicationsl6. The computer readable medium 212 can 23 include hardware and/or software such as, by way of example only, magnetic 24 disks, magnetic tape, optically readable medium such as CD/DVD ROMS, and memory cards. In each case, the computer readable medium 212 may take the 26 form of a small disk, floppy diskette, cassette, hard disk drive, solid state memory 27 card, or RAM provided in the memory module 210. It should be noted that the 28 above listed example computer readable mediums 212 can be used either alone 29 or in combination.

1 [0036] Further, it is recognized that the computing devices 101 can include 2 the executable applications 17 comprising code or machine readable instructions 3 for implementing predetermined functions/operations including those of an 4 operating system, a web browser, the data 7,301,305,303 collection/processing, payment 9,12 collection/processing, and link 24 operation, for example, in 6 response user command/input and/or predefined link 24 configuration as is know 7 in the art. The processor 208 as used herein is a configured device and/or set of 8 machine-readable instructions for performing operations as described by 9 example above. As used herein, the processor 208 may comprise any one or combination of, hardware, firmware, and/or software. The processor 208 acts 11 upon information by manipulating, analyzing, modifying, converting or 12 transmitting information for use by an executable procedure or an information 13 device, and/or by routing the information with respect to an output device.
The 14 processor 208 may use or comprise the capabilities of a controller or microprocessor, for example. Accordingly, any of the functionality (e.g.
modules 16 300, 304, 306, 307, 310, 312, 314) provided by the systems and process of 17 FIGS. 1 and 6 may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of 18 both. Accordingly, the use of a processor 208 as a device and/or as a set of 19 machine readable instructions is hereafter referred to generically as a processor/module for sake of simplicity. Further, it is recognised that the 21 administration system 14 can include one or more of the computing devices 22 (comprising hardware and/or software) for implementing the modules 300, 304, 23 306, 307, 310, 312, 314 as desired.

24 [0037] It will be understood that the visitor 20 client computing devices may be, for example, personal computers, personal digital assistants, mobile 26 phones, and content players. Server computing devices 101 (e.g. for the 27 administration system 14 and/or the companies 24 and affiliates 18) may 28 additionally include a secondary storage element such as the memory 308 (e.g.
29 database). Each server, although depicted as a single computer system, may be implemented as a network of computer processors, as desired.

1 [0038] Further, it will be understood that for the purposes hereof, the 2 visitor 20 may be any user (i.e. first hand product experience), or acquaintance of 3 any visitor 20 (i.e. second hand product experience), of company 24 products 4 (e.g. goods and/or services) to which the links 24 will be directed to. For example, the visitor 20 may be an individual who purchases goods and/or 6 services for personal use, and not for resale or for use in the production of other 7 goods and/or services for resale. Or the visitor 20 may be a business purchasing 8 good and/or services for use in its business, i.e., for resale or for use in the 9 production of other goods and/or services for resale. Further, it is recognised that visitor 20 may not have purchased the goods and/or services. For example, the 11 visitor 20 may have acquired the goods and/or services pursuant to a free trial 12 offered by the website owner (e.g. company 16). The link 24 basis on which the 13 visitor 20 acquired/accessed the goods and/or services can be useful information 14 for providing to the administrator system 14 in the data 301. Further, the data 7, 301,305 received by the data collection module 300 is preferably included as part 16 of the confirmation/verification process provided by the verification module 304, 17 described further below.

18 Payment Administration System 14 19 [0039] Referring to Figures 1 and 6, the payment administration system 14 has a data collection module 300 for receiving a request to enrol the affiliate 18 21 as a client of the system 14 prepayment services. As part of the request the 22 affiliate 18 submits enrolment data 301, which can include identification data for 23 the affiliate 18 (e.g. website 26 URL), payment configuration information on the 24 how the payments 12 are to be configured (e.g. amounts, link 24 types, payment 12 frequency, and corresponding company(s) 16 contracted for paying for the 26 affiliate services provided through the links 24), and optionally content and format 27 data 305 of reports 303 detailing the affiliate 18 services paid for through each 28 respective payment 12 received from the payment administration system 14, as 29 further described belowThe received enrolment/configuration data 301 and optional report configuration data 305 are confirmed by a verification module 304, 1 as to the authenticity of the data 301. Once verified, the data 301,305 can be 2 stored in the database 308 for subsequent use by a payment module 306 for 3 generating the payment 12 and a status module 307 for generating the optional 4 report 303 if so configured, as further described below.

[0040] Further, once the data 301,305 has been verified, the verification 6 module 304 provides the affiliate 18 with a user ID and password (optional), 7 which uniquely identifies a payment service account 40 that the affiliate 18 now 8 has with the payment administration system 14. It is recognised that the affiliate 9 18 (and/or the administration system 14) shares the issued user ID of the affiliate 18 with the company(s) 16 in order to facilitate receipt, processing, and 11 assignment of the received payments 9 to the correct affiliate 18, a well as to 12 facilitate a receivables management module 310 to identify the correct affiliate 18 13 and link 24 activity from the company(s) 16, as further described below.

14 [0041] All accounts 40 for respective affiliatesl8 along with their data 301,305 can be stored in an account table 42 in the memory 308, which is used 16 by the payment module 306 and/or the status module 307 for submitting a 17 respective payment 44 and/or report 46 request to a queue 309, for subsequent 18 use by the receivables management module 310. The queue 309 can be used to 19 facilitate scheduling of the requests 44,46 (according to the payment 12 frequency defined in the data 301), which are communicated to the company 16 21 in order to determine if link 24 activity for the respective company 16 justifies 22 generation and transmission of corresponding payment(s) 12 to the affiliate 18.
23 For example, the receivables management module 310 determines from the 24 company(s) 16 of any link 24 activity associated with the affiliate 18 that the company(s) 16 state have occurred since the date of the previous payment 12 26 sent to the affiliate 18. Accordingly, compensation for these new link 24 activities 27 is included in the new payment 12, as well as any optional reports 303 detailing 28 link 24 information associated with the new payment 12, as further described 29 below. It is also recognised that the module 310 can also generate the requests 1 44,46 for sending to the company 16 directly from the data 301,305 and then 2 inform the modules 306,307 of the response from the company(s) 16, as an 3 alternative embodiment.

4 [0042] Referring again to Figure 5, the administration system 14 also has the receivables management module 310 for confirming via information 7 6 exchange with the company(s) 16, as to whether/how the scheduled payment 12 7 and optional report 303 should be generated, as well as what the content should 8 be for such scheduled payment 12 and optional report 303. The receivables 9 management module 310 facilitates generation of the payments 12 to each affiliate 18 according to the payment 12 frequencies specified via the queue 309.
11 The receivables management module 310 sends the requests 44,46 from the 12 queue 309 (for example or by other scheduling techniques based on the defined 13 payment 12 frequency of the data 301,305) to the companies 16 specified by the 14 affiliate 18 in order to determine if link 24 activity attributable to the affiliate 18 justifies the scheduled new payment 12, as further described below.

16 [0043] Further, the receivables management module 310 also obtains via 17 information 7 details (in response to the requests 44,46) of the link 24 activity 18 identified by the company 16 for determining what specific link 24 activities the 19 payment 12 corresponds with, from which the report 303 can be generated. It is recognised that the receivables management module 310 can also request 21 additional link 24 activity details from the companies 16 as required by the data 22 301,305, in addition to what is contained in the requests 44,46. If the 23 company(s) 16 acknowledge that there are sufficient link 24 activities, to date, to 24 warrant generation and transmission of the next payment 12 (or portion thereof) to the affiliate 18, then the payment module 306 provides for the generation and 26 submission of the payment 12 including suitable compensation (as well as 27 optional report 303 if so configured) to the affiliate 18 over the network 11.
28 Data collection module 300 1 [0044] Referring again to Figure 5, the administration system 14 is 2 operated and managed by an administrator (not shown). The affiliate 18 initiates 3 use of the prepayment services of the payment administration system 14 by 4 supplying enrolment data 301 to the collection module 300. The data collection module 300 is configured to receive the enrolment data 301 from the affiliatel8 in 6 order to set-up the affiliatel8 for desired dynamically configured payment 12 from 7 the administration system 14 for link 24 interaction by the visitor 20. The data 8 collection module 300 receives a request to enrol the affiliate 18 as a client of the 9 system 14 prepayment services. As part of the request the affiliate 18 submits enrolment data 301, which can include identification data for the affiliate 18 (e.g.
11 website 26 URL), payment configuration information on the how the payments 12 are to be configured (e.g. amounts, link 24 types, payment 12 frequency, and 13 corresponding company(s) 16 contracted for paying for the affiliate services 14 provided through the links 24), and optionally content and format data 305 of reports 303 detailing the affiliate 18 services paid for through each respective 16 payment 12 received from the payment administration system 14. It is 17 recognised that the payment 12 can be a recurring (i.e. repeated scheduling for 18 the specified frequency) payment 12 or a one time payment 12, as defined by the 19 data 301. Further, the affiliate 18 can change the account 40 status (or portions thereof), including such as but not limited to; pause, delete, or resume the 21 accounts 40 (or portion thereof) at any time, as well as specifying a percentage 22 of amounts due in view of the link 24 activity instead of actual total dollar 23 amounts associated with the link 24 activity (e.g. the link 24 activity and 24 associated compensation as confirmed by the receivables management module 310).

26 [0045] It is recognised that providing the data 301 over the network 11 can 27 include communication such as but not limited to: voice communication via 28 phone; written communication (with or without included audio and/or image 29 components) via network messaging (e.g. email, facsimile); and/or others as desired.

1 [0046] In one embodiment, the enrolment data 301 can come from the 2 affiliate 18 operating as the website 26 owner. The affiliate 18 uses the affiliate 3 18 computing device 101, for example, to submit affiliate 18 and Website 26 4 information. The affiliate 18 information can include information such as but not limited to: affiliate 18name phone number; affiliate 18 facsimile number;
physical 6 address; email address; identification information for the companies 16 used by 7 the affiliate 18 (e.g. company 16 URL, address, and other communication/contact 8 information); and other affiliate 18 materials (e.g. link 24 information including link 9 24 categories/types and associated affiliate 18 promotional campaign). For example, a merchant 16b can have multiple promotional campaigns going on 11 each with their own links 24 and compensation structures) and/or link 24 12 compensation information (the affiliate 18 gets paid as compensation associated 13 with the use of that link).

14 [0047] Further, the enrolment data 301 can include which class(es) of links 24 are being provided to the visitor 20 as well as the company 16 products 16 attributed to (e.g. customer service, product / service, and product category (e.g.
17 children's toy, personal use, business use, service as compared to goods, etc.).
18 In addition, the data 301 can contain link 24 information on specific keywords, ad 19 texts, ad images, URLs, company accounts, campaigns (e.g. group of ads for selected companies 16), and/or ad groups (e.g. for any company 16), among 21 others link classifications/categories. Further, the data 301 can contain 22 cost/compensation metrics for the various link 24 types in general or on a 23 company 16 by company 16 basis. For example, these metrics can include 24 agreed upon compensation (by the company 16) for such as but not limited to:
Clicks, Impressions (Impr.); sales; leads; actions; etc. It is recognised that the 26 affiliate 18 may also provide (or have provided by the company 16 on behalf of 27 the affiliate 18) data 301,305 further including merchant tracked information such 28 as but not limited to:Clickthrough Rate (CTR), Average CPC (Avg. CPC) or 29 Average CPM (Avg. CPM, for site-targeted ads), Cost, Average Position (Avg.
Pos), and/or Maximum CPC or Maximum CPM settings. It is recognised that the 1 affiliate 18 may be interested in CTR to see if it's worth promoting that particular 2 program and the affiliate 18 may be paid on a CPM or CPC basis in addition to a 3 variety of ways, e.g. 10% of each sale, $20 per lead, $1 per download, etc.
It is 4 also recognised that the Avg Position, Max CPC etc can be set by the merchants 16a and the Avg Pos. is reported to the merchants 16a to show where the ads 6 (associated with the links 24) they are paying for showed up.

7 [0048] It is understood that Clicks can define the link 24 clicks accrued for 8 the relevant campaign/group, the Impressions can define the link 24 number of 9 times an ad is visited by the visitor 20, Clickthrough Rate can define the link 24 Clickthrough rate (CTR) as the number of clicks by the visitors 20 an ad receives 11 divided by the number of times the ad is shown (impressions), Average CPC
can 12 define the link 24 default keyword matching option as broad matching (unless 13 keywords targeted as exact matches, the ad shows for all variations of the 14 keyword up to the maximum CPC amount), Average CPM can define the link 24 for advertisers who choose to run cost-per-impression advertising showing the 16 typical cost per 1000 impressions (or other denomination as desired), and Cost 17 can define the link 24 actual cost accrued for clicks on the link 24 (e.g.
ad).

18 [0049] In addition, the data 301 can define frequency of payment 12 based 19 on defined dynamically configurable Time Periods, e.g. specified date ranges and/or time ranges, (for the account 40 in total or as different frequencies for 21 selected links 24 and/or link 24 combinations) such as but not limited to:
22 yesterday; today; last 7 days (or other day grouping), current to date this month, 23 and/or any other date range/ time period specified by the affiliate 18.
Further, it 24 is recognised that the payment 12 frequency(s) can be dynamically updated by the affiliate 18 upon request to the administration system 14 once the account 26 has been established (e.g. the affiliate would use the issued user ID and 27 password to request the account 40 changes, as desired). It should be 28 recognised that the dynamic configuration and subsequent receipt of the 1 payments 12 is not dependent upon receipt of the payments 9 by the 2 administration system 14.

3 [0050] Further, the enrolment data 301 can include the Website 26 4 information such as but not limited to: the Website's URL(s) (uniform resource locator, also known as universal resource locator); other affiliate URL(s);
the 6 Website 26 name; and personal contact information (name, phone, email, 7 address) for the Website 26. Preferably, the enrolment data 301 is transmitted to 8 (or otherwise requested from) the data collection module 300 over the network 9 11. Further, the enrolment data 301 can also include a copy of a written contract with terms on which the affiliate 18 is to provide the links 24 to the visitor 20 as 11 well as payment terms therefore. The data 301 can also include reassignment 12 permission such that the affiliate 18 agrees to transfer receipt of the company 13 payments 9 (all or a portion of the compensation related to link 24 activity 14 specified in the data 301, 305) from the affiliate 18 to the administration system 14.

16 [0051] Further, it is recognised that the communication over the network 17 11 of the data 7,301,305 can include communication such as but not limited to:
18 voice communication via phone; vyritten communication (with or without included 19 audio/video and image components) via network messaging (e.g. email, facsimile); and/or others as desired. In particular, voice communication over 21 phone can include an IVR (short for interactive voice response) system, for 22 example, in which the affiliate 18 uses a touch-tone telephone (and/or possibly 23 using voice activated commands) to interact with the administration system 24 (and for example the database 308) to provide the data 7, 301, 305. It is recognised that IVR technology may not require human interaction over the 26 telephone as the affiliate's 18 interaction with the administration system 14 would 27 be predetermined by what the IVR system would allow the affiliate 18 access to.
28 For exampie, the IVR can be used to prompt the affiliate 18 to answer questions 29 by pushing the numbers on a touch-tone telephone or directly saying 1 responses(e.g. computing device 101) connected via the network 11 to the 2 administration system 14.

3 Verification module 304 4 [0052] Referring again to Figure 5, the administration system 14 also has the verification module 304 for verifying the data 301,305 received via the data 6 collection module 300, such that any of the verified data 301,305 has the 7 potential for use in generating the payment 12, the report 303, as well as being 8 included in the requests 44,46 as information 7 communicated between the 9 administration system 14 and the company(s) 16. This verification process as implemented by the verification module 304 can include electronically (e.g.
via 11 the network 11) or otherwise contacting and confirming the affiliate 18 specified 12 to confirm the validity of the data 301, 305 as well as to contact the company(s) 13 16 to confirm the validity of the data 301, 305. The verification process can 14 include manual and/or automatic verification methods, as desired.

[0053] The verification module 304 can confirm the authenticity of the data 16 301,305 by methods including such as but not limited to: issuing a confirmation 17 email to an address associated with the affiliate 18 (e.g. website's 26 domain) 18 and/or checking the address data against an affiliate 18 database directory or 19 series of directories (e.g. third party supplied - not shown) available via the connected network 11. One example of the affiliate 18 directory could be a 21 affiliate 18 listing available on-line that provides affiliate 18 address, contact, and 22 other company details. Further, the verification module 304 may facilitate 23 verification of a telephone number provided by the affiliate 18 by telephoning the 24 telephone number. Or, to confirm an address, the affiliate 18 may provide (or be prompted to provide) a copy of a utility bill for its premises, e.g., by facsimile 26 transmission or otherwise, or other suitable documentation showing proof of 27 affiliate 18 address as specified in the data 301,305. It is recognised that the 28 data 301,305 verification can be done automatically and/or manually (by a user 29 of the administration system computing device 101), as facilitated by the 1 verification module 304. Details of the verification process concerning the data 2 301,305 can be stored in the memory 308, as desired. Further, the verification 3 module can confirm details of the 'links 24 and company(s) 16 by contacting the 4 company(s) 16, for example using the methods described above.

[0054] Further, the phone/voice verification for the data 301,305 can be 6 done manually or via an automated service. For example, the affiliate 18 can 7 enter their phone number and the verification module 304 would implement a call 8 to the affiliate 18 (for example during the same session between the affiliate 18 9 and the administration system 14). The administration system 14 would then provide a unique identifier (e.g. a PIN number) which the affiliate 18 then 11 says/enters when they take the call. The verification module 304 can also 12 facilitate recording of the conversation with the affiliate 18, and/or whether the 13 conversation was manually conducted or not, and store in the memory 308 for 14 further verification proof of the data 301,305.

[0055] For example, once collected, the data 301,305 is verified by the 16 verification module 304 which may, for example, check database resources 17 connected by networks 11 for validity of the information. It will be understood 18 that in addition to the steps taken by the verification module 304, a number of 19 other steps may be taken to verify information provided by the affiliate 18. For example, the verification module 304 may verify a telephone number provided by 21 the affiliate 18 by telephoning the telephone number. Also, to confirm an 22 address, the affiliate 18 may provide a copy of a utility bill for its premises, e.g., 23 by facsimile transmission or otherwise. As another example, the verification 24 module 304 may send an e-mail message to an e-mail address provided by the affiliate 18, requesting confirmation that the e-mail address is correct.

26 [0056] After verification, the affiliate 18 assigns the accounts receivable 27 owed to the affiliate 18 (e.g. payments 9) by the companies 16 to the 28 administration system 14. This can require, for example, that the affiliate 29 execute and deliver, to the administration system 14, an assignment in a 1 document (the agreement) which is satisfactory to the administration system 2 and to the affiliate 18 (and/or company 16 as needed).

3 [0057] Preferably, the agreement is first provided to the affiliate 18 4 electronically by the administration system 14, i.e., after verification of the data 301,305 provided by the affiliate 18 as described by example above. The 6 agreement may be executed and delivered by the affiliate 18 via any suitable 7 mechanism, e.g., it may be a"click-wrap" electronic document delivered over the 8 network 11. According, for example, once the administrator's agreement has 9 been executed and delivered by the affiliate 18, the affiliate 18 requests that affiliate earnings be forwarded (advanced) as payment 12 prior to the payment 11 date specified by the relevant company 16.

12 [0058] It will be understood that the agreement may contain a number of 13 provisions addressing issues in addition to the assignment of accounts 14 receivable in favor of the administration system 14. For example, the assignment under the agreement can be an absolute assignment of the entire/partial amount 16 due under any company(s) 16 affiliate programs for a predetermined time period.
17 For example, the assignment may be an assignment of all/partial amounts due to 18 the affiliate 18 over a calendar month, a calendar year, or any other specified 19 time period or date range from one or more companies 16, as desired.
Alternatively, the assignment may function as an assignment of all/partial 21 amounts due to the affiliate 18 under the company(s) 16 affiliate program in the 22 near future, i.e., until the assignee assigns the amounts due back to the affiliate 23 18.

24 [0059] In an alternate mode of operation, the request for assignment of the receivables (e.g. payments 9) could be sent by the affiliate 18 directly to the 26 company 16. The company 16 would then submit the confirmation of successful 27 assignment (preferably, including a copy of an administrator's agreement, as 28 executed by the affiliate 18) along with the affiliate's 18 verified personal details 29 required for payment 12 to the receivables management module 310 (or the data 1 collection module 300) over the network 11, as desired. The confirmation of the 2 successful assignment would include such details as may be required by the 3 administration system 14, including the user ID(s) issued by the company 16 for 4 example. Once such confirmation is received, the payment module 306 will issue payment 12 and the status module 307 will issue the report 303 as outlined 6 earlier in response to one time and/or scheduled requests 44,46.

7 [0060] It is also considered that implementation of the modules 300,304 8 could be combined as a common interactive interface provided to the affiliate 18 9 and/or company(s) 16 as desired.

Payment module 306 11 [0061] The payment module 306 provides for generation of billing and 12 collection of amounts owed to the affiliate 18, in view of the degree of link 24 13 activity by the visitor(s) 20. The data associated with the billing process (e.g.
14 billing amounts, company account status, etc.) can be stored in the memory 308, as desired. It is recognised that the payment 12 can include income earned by 16 the affiliate 18 (through link 24 activity) as consolidated from multiple campaigns 17 with one or more companies 16.

18 [0062] The payment module 306 generates all payments 12 for respective 19 affiliates 18 that have been approved/confirmed by the receivables management module 310. The payment module 306 uses the data 301,305 for a respective 21 account 40 to submit a respective payment 44 request to the queue 309, for 22 subsequent use by the receivables management module 310. The queue 309 23 can be used to facilitate scheduling of the requests 44,46 (according to the 24 payment 12 frequency defined in the data 301). The receivables management module 310 confirms the request 44 (or denies such) and the payment module 26 306 generates the corresponding payment 12 (including all, a portion, or none) of 27 the compensation as agreed upon between the administration system 14 and the 28 affiliate 18.

1 [0063] For example, the payment module 306 issues payment 12 of a 2 portion/percentage of any payment 9 amounts now due to the administration 3 system 14 on behalf of the affiliate 18, by methods including but not limited to 4 wire transfer, cheque or online money transfer systems over the network 11.
The amount paid will be the amount ultimately due from the company 16 (via payment 6 9) minus an appropriate fee (fixed, commission based or combination thereof) -7 i.e., the balance after deduction of the fee is the portion paid to the affiliate 18 by 8 the administration system 14. Preferably, such payment 12 to the affiliate 9 should be prompt and sent before receipt of the corresponding payment 9 by the administration system 14.

11 [0064] Further, for example, if the response to the request 44 from the 12 company 16 indicates that the assignment could not be successfully completed 13 (along with the reason - i.e. insufficient link 24 activity for the period specified), 14 the affiliate 18 will be issued a message (in the form of the non or partial payment 12 - electronically delivered or otherwise) informing the affiliate 18 that 16 the transaction was unsuccessful, and advising the affiliate 18 of the reasons 17 provided by the company 16. Acdordingly, the request(s) 44 are communicated 18 to the company(s) 16 in order to determine if link 24 activity for the respective 19 company(s) 16 justifies generation and transmission of corresponding payment(s) 12 to the affiliate 18.

21 [0065] Further, it is recognised that the administration system 14 could 22 forward the full amount (or agreed upon percentage portion of the full amount) 23 earned by the affiliate 18 as payments 12 in exchange for a generic subscription 24 paid to the administration system 14. For example, in exchange for a monthly/yearly (or other time period) subscription payment by the affiliate 18 to 26 the administration system 14, the administration system would send the full 27 compensation (as confirmed via the company 16 link activity 24 records) to the 28 affiliate 18 in the payment(s) 12.

1 [0066] Further, it is recognised that the payment 12 can include additional 2 information such as but not limited to: a receipt of account charges; the payment 3 subtotal; method of payment; and date and time of the payment transaction.
In 4 the event of full or partial payment 12 decline, the payment 12 can include itemized payment declination information and the reason the billing system was 6 unable to process the payment(s) 12 as specified in the data 301, 305.

7 Status Module 307 8 [0067] The status module 307 optionally generates the report 303 for 9 sending to the affiliate 18 in association with the payment 12. the report can be used by the affiliate 18 to reconcile their accounts receivable in order to match 11 the dollar amounts in the payment 12 with the corresponding link 24 activity 12 experienced by the respective companies 16. The status module 307 submitting 13 a respective report 46 request to the queue 309, for subsequent use by the 14 receivables management module 310. The queue 309 can be used to facilitate scheduling of the requests 46 (according to the payment 12 frequency defined in 16 the data 301), which are communicated to the company 16 in order to determine 17 if/how link 24 activity for the respective company 16 justifies generation and 18 transmission of corresponding payment(s) 12 to the affiliate 18.
Accordingly, the 19 optional reports 303 detailing link 24 information associated with the new payment 12 is generated based on feedback received by the receivables 21 management module 310 in response to the request 46.

22 [0068] The report 303 can contain link 24 activity information such as but 23 not limited to: the status of the links 24 (e.g. ads) and account 40 information in 24 general; date ranges and the level of reporting detail for the payment 12;
payment 12 history and pending charges; and/or account 40 settings. Further, 26 the report 303 could contain link 24 activity information detailing the percentage 27 portion of the total compensation (earned by the affiliate 18) included in the 28 payment 12, as well as what the remaining portion amount is. Further, the report 29 could include details as to when the remaining portion amount could be expected 1 by the affiliate 18, either in future payments 12 and/or as a payment 9 directly 2 from the company 16 according to the company 16 static payment schedule.
3 [0069] Further, the report 303 can include can contain link 24 4 compensation information on specific keywords, ad texts, ad images, URLs, company accounts, campaigns (e.g. group of ads for selected companies 16), 6 and/or ad groups (e.g. for any company 16), total account 40, among other link 7 24 classifications/categories. Further, the report 303 can contain compensation 8 metrics for the various link 24 types in general or on a company 16 by company 9 16 basis. For example, these compensation metrics can include agreed upon compensation (by the company 16 or groups of companies 16 and/or by link 24 11 type for example) for such as but not limited to: [Clicks, Impressions (Impr.), 12 Clickthrough Rate (CTR), Average CPC (Avg. CPC) or Average CPM (Avg.
13 CPM, for site-targeted ads), Cost, Average Position (Avg. Pos), and/or Maximum 14 CPC or Maximum CPM settings. 1 [0070] Further the report 303 can include such as but not limited to:
16 performance data for the links 24 for all companies 16 or those in selected 17 campaigns; data and ad text for each ad/group; for each image ad; each 18 destination URL (e.g. of company 16), entire account 40; and/or for selected 19 campaigns, as desired.

[0071] Further, it is recognised that the report 303 can include: invoice 21 details such as Invoice/payment date and time; applicable taxes; invoice number 22 and user ID; payment terms (immediate charge or credit line); and all line items 23 associated with your payment; account 40 adjustments and fees such as 24 applicable fees (account activation or re-activation), administration system 14 service charges, and billing adjustments reflecting promotional credits;
credits for 26 invalid link 24 activity toward your account 40; advertising charges by campaign 27 including relevant campaign(s) for which activity was recorded; date range 28 including corresponding dates for activity accrued per campaign(s);
billable 29 activity including explanation of charges (e.g. Clicks, Impressions, sales, actions, 1 or Overdelivery credit); number of clicks or impressions, actions, sales;
number 2 of clicks or impressions, actions, sales accrued; the daily (or otherwise) total for 3 the relevant campaign(s) for the delivery period shown; compensation accrued 4 during the delivery period shown; and any combination of the above.

[0072] It is recognised that the report 303, or portions thereof, could be 6 sent as a separate report 303 or included in the payment 12, as desired.

7 Receivables Management Module 310 8 [0073] Referring again to Figure 5, the receivables management module 9 310 facilitates collection of the information 7 on actual traffic/interaction (by the visitor 20) of the links 24, in order to approve/confirm the generation of the 11 scheduled payment 12, and optionally the report 303. The receivables 12 management module 310 approves whether/how the scheduled payment 12 and 13 optional report 303 should be generated, as well as what the content should be 14 for such scheduled payment 12 and optional report 303. The receivables management module 310 facilitates generation of the payments 12 to each 16 affiliate 18 according to the payment 12 frequencies specified via the queue 309.
17 The receivables management module 310 sends the requests 44,46 from the 18 queue 309 (for example or by other scheduling techniques based on the defined 19 payment 12 frequency of the data 301,305) to the companies 16 specified by the affiliate 18 in order to determine if link 24 activity attributable to the affiliate 18 21 justifies the scheduled new payment 12.

22 [0074] The information 7 collected from the companies 16 in view of the 23 requests 44,46 can be as described above with respect to the information (e.g.
24 specific links 24, campaigns, ad groups, etc.) used by the status module 307 and the payment module 306, or any subset thereof, as desired. It is recognised that 26 the receivables management module 310 can also request additional link 24 27 activity details from the companies 16 as required by the data 301,305, in 28 addition to what is contained in the requests 44,46. If the company(s) 16 1 acknowledge that there are sufficient link 24 activities, to date, to warrant 2 generation and transmission of the next payment 12 (or portion thereof) to the 3 affiliate 18, then the receivables management module 310 confirms or otherwise 4 makes available to the modules 306, 307 information required for the generation and submission of the payment 12 including suitable compensation (as well as 6 optional report 303 if so configured) to the affiliate 18 over the network 11.

7 [0075] Accordingly, the receivables management module 310 checks with 8 the company(s) 16 to confirm the amount of compensation that the affiliate 9 has earned over the payment period specified in the request 44, i.e. though link 24 activity with the visitor(s) 20. Further, it is recognised that the payment 12 can 11 contain compensation less that the amount (e.g. total or percent of the total) 12 expected from the administration system 14 by the affiliate 18 for the specified 13 time period (as agreed via the data 301 with respect to the scheduled payments 14 12 (amount/frequency) to be forwarded to the affiliate 18 by the administration system 14, for example).

16 [0076] In any event, it is recognised that the company 16 sends the full 17 amount owed to the administration system 14 (as assigned to the administration 18 system 14 by the affiliate 18) and the administration system 14 determines (e.g.
19 via the written contract with the affiliate 18) how the earned compensation is to be distributed to the affiliate 18 (e.g. by amount, frequency, etc.), for example 21 irrespective of the payment 9 when received by the administration system 14.

22 [0077] For example, the receivables management module 310 can have a 23 confirmation module 312 for facilitating communication with the company(s) 16 of 24 the request(s) 46 (e.g. desired report 303 information) and the response thereto, as well as a receivables module 314 for facilitating communication with the 26 company(s) 16 of the request(s) 44 (e.g. desired earned compensation 27 information based on link 24 activity) and the response thereto.

1 [0078] Further, it is recognised that the receivables management module 2 310 can also confirm the earned compensation of the affiliate(s) 18 via the table 3 42 of the affiliate accounts 40. In this case, the receivables management module 4 310 can confirm the request 44 of the payment module 306 (for example), through the stored account 40 profile of the particular affiliate 18, such that the 6 forwarding of the compensation in the scheduled payment 12 is done prior to 7 confirmation via the company records 16 that the compensation has been fully 8 earned via actual link 24 activity (as compared to theoretical). This type of 9 account 40 confirmation can be done in lieu of, or in addition to, any confirmation received from the company 16 pertaining to the link 24 activity (e.g. a courtesy 11 for affiliates 18 with a long history of stable earnings).

12 Operation of the system 10 13 [0079] Referring to Figure 6, shown is an example operation of the system 14 10 for communicating the payment 12 to the affiliate 18 based on electronic link 24 activity for directing visitor 20 traffic over the network 11 to the company 16, 16 the link 24 activity being attributed to the affiliate 18. At step 400 the data 17 collection module 300 receives a request for payment (e.g. data 310,305) for the 18 affiliate 18 including a specified payment period, a specified link set, and at least 19 one company 16 associated with the link 24 set. At step 402, the verification module 304 verifies the request for payment and sets up the affiliate account 40.
21 At step 404 the payment request 44 by the payment module 306, for example, 22 (and optional status request 46 by the status module 307, for example) is/are 23 generated for use by the receivables management module 310. At step 406, the 24 confirmation module 312 contacts the company(s) 16 (and/or searches the affiliate accounts 40 profiles) for the payment period for confirming a level of the 26 link 24 activity for the link set during the payment period. At step 408, optionally 27 the report module 314 contacts the company 16 for obtaining report 303 28 information associated with the compensation included in the payment 12. At 29 step 410, the payment module 306 generates the payment 12 for the affiliate 1 including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link 12activity.
2 At step 412, optionally the status module 307 generates the report 303 including 3 an explanation of the links 24 activity in order to associate the compensation with 4 specific activities of the link 24activity. At step 414, the payment 12 and optionally the report 303 are communicated to the affiliate 18.

6 [0080] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention 7 can take many forms, and that such forms are within the scope of the invention 8 as claimed. Therefore, the spiritland scope of the appended claims should not 9 be limited to the descriptions of the preferred versions contained herein.

Claims (21)

1. A method for communicating payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for directing visitor traffic over a network to a company, the link activity being attributed to the affiliate, the method comprising the acts of:
receiving a request for payment for the affiliate including a specified payment period, a specified link set, and at least one company associated with the link set;
contacting the at least one company for the payment period for confirming a level of the link activity for the link set during the payment period;
generating a payment for the affiliate including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link activity; and communicating the payment to the affiliate.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving payment from the at least one company for at least a portion of the confirmed level of link activity after the corresponding communication of said payment to the affiliate.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising said compensation including a first compensation portion based on the confirmed level of link activity, such that a second compensation portion based on the confirmed level of link activity is communicated separately from said payment to the affiliate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second compensation portion based on the confirmed level of link activity is communicated by the company.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising contacting the at least one company for obtaining report information associated with said compensation included in said payment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the report information includes an explanation of the links activity in order to associate said compensation with specific activities of the link activity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the report information includes link activity metrics generated by the company.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising generating a series of subsequent payment requests based on a specific payment frequency provided for the affiliate for the link set.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the specific payment frequency is selected from the group comprising: said payments for an indefinite time period; said payment as a one time payment; and a recurring cycle of said payment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the link set specifies one or more visitor selectable connections selected from the group comprising: an Inline Text Link; a Text Banner; a Graphical Rich Media Banner; an In-page Graphical Banner; a Pop-Under object; a Pop-Up object; an XML Feed; a Layer Ad; a coupon code; a unique code; and a Search box.

11. A system for communicating payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for directing visitor traffic over a network to a company, the link activity being attributed to the affiliate, the system comprising:
a data collection module for receiving a request for payment for the affiliate including a specified payment period, a specified link set, and at least one company associated with the link set;

a confirmation module for contacting the at least one company for the payment period for confirming a level of the link activity for the link set during the payment period; and a payment module for generating a payment for the affiliate including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link activity;
wherein the payment is communicated to the affiliate.

12. The system of claim 11 further comprising a receivables management module for receiving payment from the at least one company for at least a portion of the confirmed level of link activity after the corresponding communication of said payment to the affiliate.

13. The system of claim 11 further comprising a receivables management module configured such that said compensation includes a first compensation portion based on the confirmed level of link activity and a second compensation portion based on the confirmed level of link activity is communicated separately from said payment to the affiliate.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second compensation portion based on the confirmed level of link activity is communicated by the company.

15. The system of claim 11 further comprising a report module for contacting the at least one company for obtaining report information associated with said compensation included in said payment.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the report information includes an explanation of the links activity in order to associate said compensation with specific activities of the link activity.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the report information includes link activity metrics generated by the company.

18. The system of claim 15 further comprising the payment module configured for generating a series of subsequent payment requests based on a specific payment frequency provided for the affiliate for the link set.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the specific payment frequency is selected from the group comprising: said payments for an indefinite time period;
said payment as a one time payment; and a recurring cycle of said payment.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the link set specifies one or more visitor selectable connections selected from the group comprising: an Inline Text Link; a Text Banner; a Graphical Rich Media Banner; an In-page Graphical Banner; a Pop-Under object; a Pop-Up object; an XML Feed; a Layer Ad; a coupn code; a unique code; and a Search box.

21. A computer program product for communicating payment to an affiliate based on electronic link activity for directing visitor traffic over a network to a company, the link activity being attributed to the affiliate, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable medium;
a data collection module stored on the computer readable medium for receiving a request for payment for the affiliate including a specified payment period, a specified link set, and at least one company associated with the link set;

a confirmation module stored on the computer readable medium for contacting the at least one company for the payment period for confirming a level of the link activity for the link set during the payment period; and a payment module stored on the computer readable medium for generating a payment for the affiliate including compensation commensurate with the confirmed level of link activity;
wherein the payment is communicated to the affiliate.