ELECTRONIC MARKET MAKER OF ELECTRONIC ATTENTION

摘要

The present invention pertains to methods and mechanism for marketing consumer attention for advertising information in a rewards-based manner. According to an aspect, a search engine is provided which allows consumers to enter topics or search terms corresponding to a consumer topic of interest, and in which a search is performed for web sites or advertiser sites that correspond to the consumer topic. Advertisers are permitted to bid for the consumer attention by establishing reward amounts, and any advertiser sites that result from the search are sorted based upon their bid amounts. The higher-reward advertiser sites, or links to those sites, are displayed more prominently than the lower-reward advertiser sites.