Advertising and incentives over a social network

An advertising method implemented by at least one computing device, said advertising method comprising:

• obtaining information from a social network, said information describing interactions of users via said social network;
• determining influence of some of said users on others of said users via said social network from said information;
• and
• computing a reward based on said influence for at least one of said users.

At least one tangible computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution on a computing device, cause the computing device to:

• determine influence of a plurality of users of a social network on each other;
• ascertain designated users of said plurality of users who are to receive a reward based on said influence;
• and
• communicate a notification of said reward to said designated users via accounts of said designated users in said social network.

An advertising method comprising:

• obtaining data, using at least one computing device, that describes interaction of users via a social network, said interaction pertaining to a number of mentions of a product or service by said users;
• determining influence, using said at least one computing device, of one or more of said users on other ones of said users via said social network from said obtained data, said influence being based at least in part on said number of mentions of said product or service;
• and
• configuring a reward, using said at least one computing device, to be associated with at least one of said users based on said influence, said reward being associated with a user profile that is displayed in conjunction with status updates originated by said at least one of said users in a network feed of at least one other of said users of said social network.

A method executing on one or more computing devices, the method comprising:

• transmitting, using said one or more computing devices, an electronic advertisement to a computing device of a user, wherein said electronic advertisement includes an invitation for said user to receive a non-cash benefit in return for allowing an advertiser associated with said electronic advertisement to utilize one or more aspects of an account of said user on a social network on behalf of said advertiser, wherein said social network comprises a service on which said user can post messages, and wherein said social network comprises accounts for each of one or more co-users of said social network and said account of said user is connected to said accounts of said one or more co-users of said social network;
• receiving, using said one or more computing devices, an indication that said user has accepted said invitation for said non-cash benefit;
• and
• in response to said receiving said indication, performing at least one action on behalf of said advertiser relating to said account of said user on said social network.

A communications apparatus comprising:

• at least one computing device operably coupled to at least one memory and configured to:
• transmit an electronic advertisement to a computing device of a user, wherein said electronic advertisement includes an invitation for said user to receive a non-cash benefit in return for allowing an advertiser associated with said electronic advertisement to utilize one or more aspects of an account of said user on a social network on behalf of said advertiser, wherein said social network comprises a service on which said user can post messages, and wherein said social network comprises accounts for each of one or more co-users of said social network and said account of said user is connected to said accounts of said one or more co-users of said social network;
• receive an indication that said user has accepted said invitation for said non-cash benefit;
• in response to said indication, perform at least one action on behalf of said advertiser relating to said account of said user on said social network;
• and
• in response to said indication, transmit benefit data to said user that is configured to provide said user with access to said non-cash benefit.

A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:

• transmitting an electronic advertisement to a computing device of a user, wherein said electronic advertisement includes an invitation for said user to receive a non-cash benefit in return for allowing an advertiser associated with said electronic advertisement to utilize one or more aspects of an account of said user on a social network on behalf of said advertiser, wherein said social network comprises a service on which said user can post messages, and wherein said social network comprises accounts for each of one or more co-users of said social network and said account of said user is connected to said accounts of said one or more co-users of said social network;
• receiving an indication that said user has accepted said invitation for said non-cash benefit;
• in response to said receiving said indication, performing at least one action on behalf of said advertiser relating to said account of said user on said social network;
• and
• in response to said receiving said indication, transmitting data to said user that is configured to provide said user with access to said non-cash benefit.

A method, comprising:

• detecting, via a processor, a social networking interaction by a user within a social networking website that positively references a marketplace offering of an entity;
• ascertaining, in response to said detecting said social networking interaction by the user, a social networking influence of the user based upon entity interactions by social network connections of the user with said entity via a plurality of entity access channels of said entity;
• determining that said social networking influence of the user satisfies a reward threshold defined within a social networking influence incentive rule;
• and
• generating, in response to said determining that said social networking influence of the user satisfies said reward threshold, an incentive defined within said social networking influence incentive rule for the user.

A system, comprising:

• a memory that stores social networking influence incentive rules;
• and
• a processor programmed to:
• detect a social networking interaction by a user within a social networking website that positively references a marketplace offering of an entity;
• determine, in response to detecting said social networking interaction by the user, a social networking influence of the user based upon entity interactions by social network connections of the user with said entity via a plurality of entity access channels of said entity;
• ascertain that said social networking influence of the user satisfies a reward threshold defined within a social networking influence incentive rule;
• and
• generate, in response to ascertaining that said social networking influence of the user satisfies said reward threshold defined within said social networking influence incentive rule, an incentive defined within said social networking influence incentive rule for the user.

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code, where the computer readable program code when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

• detect a social networking interaction by a user within a social networking website that positively references a marketplace offering of an entity;
• ascertain, in response to detecting said social networking interaction by the user, a social networking influence of the user based upon entity interactions by social network connections of the user with said entity via a plurality of entity access channels of said entity;
• determine that said social networking influence of the user satisfies a reward threshold defined within a social networking influence incentive rule;
• and
• generate, in response to determining that said social networking influence of the user satisfies said reward threshold defined within said social networking influence incentive rule, an incentive defined within said social networking influence incentive rule for the user.