Earning and using benefits for responses to internet advertising at a merchant location

An incentive benefit program to encourage selected activities by visitors to a web site where a user is provided an opportunity to engage in the selected activity, and a benefit provider presents to the user an offer of compensation in return for the user electing to engage in the selected activity, wherein:

• the visitor is a customer performing a current transaction at the web site, and the selected activity is available to the customer on a device that incorporates an Internet browser;
• the compensation includes a discount that is applied to at least one of products and services that are normally sold by the web site to customers conducting business at the web site;
• the customer engaging in the selected activity causing a cookie to be received by his browser;
• the cookie causing a discount or other benefit to be provided by the web site to the customer upon the customer's transaction of business at the web site;
• the cookie incorporating a mechanism that, upon the customer leaving the web site, causes the cookie to expire.