A method of providing an incentive award to a user for visiting a participating web site includes registering a user with the information gathering system which maintains an award point account associated with the user and where award points are specific to the information gathering system, making award points available for purchase to a web site proprietor which operates the participating web site, awarding a predetermined amount of award points by the web site proprietor to the registered user for a visit conforming to a predefined rule to the participating web site, updating the award point account associated with the registered user, and exchanging award points associated with the registered user for a good or a service.