Collecting media data descriptive of a product

Abstract

A crowd-sourcing system performs a method that includes generating a request that a user provide candidate media data to the crowd-sourcing system. The candidate media is descriptive of a product, and the request includes information about the product. The crowd-sourcing system transmits the request to a user system and receives the candidate media data from the user system. The crowd-sourcing system selects the candidate media data as stock media data for the product. The selection of the candidate media data may be based on a selection criterion, such as a grade of the candidate media data determined by the crowd-sourcing system. The crowd-sourcing system provides a reward to the user based on the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data for the product.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for obtaining media data, the apparatus comprising:
 a processor;   memory to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 obtain candidate media data descriptive of a product from a user of a system; and 
 select, using a hardware device, the candidate media data as stock media data of the product, the stock media data being accessible for use by one or more other users of the system. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 generate a request that the user of the system provide the candidate media data, the request including at least some information about the product; and   send the request to the user.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the selection is based on one or more rules. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein one of the rules is a minimum quality standard. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the selection is based on a numeric score of the candidate media data transgressing a threshold candidate-selection value. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 include in the request information about a reward to be provided to the user in response to the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data; and   provide the reward to the user in response to the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the reward is based on an amount of need for the stock media data. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the reward is based on an estimated cost for obtaining the stock media data from a third-party provider. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the reward is based on an estimated expected increase in revenue due to obtaining the stock media data. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the providing of the reward includes increasing a stored value account of the user by an amount of the reward;   the stored value account corresponds to at least one of money, a gift card, a coupon, and reward points; and   the information about the reward includes the amount of the reward.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the selecting of the user is based on a profile of the user. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to select the user based on a likelihood that candidate media data submitted by the user is selected as stock media data. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the selecting of the user is based on a transaction history of the user with respect to a specimen of the product. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the user is at least one of a buyer and a seller of the specimen of the product; and   a transaction is at least one of a purchase or a sale of the specimen by the user.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 calculate a percentage of accuracy with which the candidate media data corresponds to the at least some information about the product; and 
 wherein the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data is based on the calculation. 
 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a specimen of the product includes at least one of a physical object, electronic data, an authorization to use the electronic data, and an obligation to perform a service. 
     
     
         17 . A method for obtaining media data, the method comprising:
 obtaining candidate media data descriptive of a product from a user of a system; and   selecting, using a hardware device, the candidate media data as stock media data of the product, the stock media data being accessible for use by one or more other users of the system.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 generating a request that the user of the system provide the candidate media data, the request including at least some information about the product; and   sending the request to the user.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the selection is based on one or more rules. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein one of the rules is a minimum quality standard. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the selection is based on a numeric score of the candidate media data transgressing a threshold candidate-selection value. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 including in the request information about a reward to be provided to the user in response to the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data; and   providing the reward to the user in response to the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the reward is based on an amount of need for the stock media data. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the reward is based on an estimated cost for obtaining the stock media data from a third-party provider. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the reward is based on an estimated expected increase in revenue due to obtaining the stock media data. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein:
 the providing of the reward includes increasing a stored value account of the user by an amount of the reward;   the stored value account corresponds to at least one of money, a gift card, a coupon, and reward points; and   the information about the reward includes the amount of the reward.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the selecting of the user is based on a profile of the user. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising selecting the user based on a likelihood that candidate media data submitted by the user is selected as stock media data. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the selecting of the user is based on a transaction history of the user with respect to a specimen of the product. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the user is at least one of a buyer and a seller of the specimen of the product; and   a transaction is at least one of a purchase or a sale of the specimen by the user.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 calculating a percentage of accuracy with which the candidate media data corresponds to the at least some information about the product; and   wherein the selecting of the candidate media data as the stock media data is based on the calculation.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein a specimen of the product includes at least one of a physical object, electronic data, an authorization to use the electronic data, and an obligation to perform a service. 
     
     
         33 . A method comprising:
 obtaining a request to provide candidate media data descriptive of a product, the request including at least some of information about the product;   providing the candidate media data, the providing being performed by a processor, the candidate media data being proposed as stock media data of the product for use by one or more other users of a system.   
     
     
         34 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a processor perform operations comprising:
 obtaining candidate media data descriptive of a product from a user of a system; and   selecting, using a hardware device, the candidate media data as stock media data of the product, the stock media data being accessible for use by one or more other users of the system.