Abstract: A method for matching consumers and advertisements over a network includes matching demographic traits provided by the consumers with demographic targets provided by advertisers. Upon receiving a request for a consumer through a website of a web content provider, the central server provides the requesting consumer with a user interface that includes a slide-bar icon with which the requesting consumer can share a portion of the compensation it will receive for viewing that advertisement with the content provider.

Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein can directly compensate Web users for viewing ads. In some embodiments, this is achieved by Ad player software. In some embodiments, the Ad player may be hosted on a server machine, implemented as a client-side application, or integrated into a Web site. In some embodiments, the Ad player may be operable to allow a user to login to the player, track the ads shown to the user, and directly compensate the user. The ads are selectively presented to the users based on information about the users. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the information about a user is provided by the user and stored in a designated MeFile. In some embodiments, advertisers may define ad campaigns based on information derived from the MeFiles. In some embodiments, advertisers may bid for the attention of Web users and the Ad player may list ads per bid price.