This invention relates to internet commerce and more particularly relates to multidirectional transactions.

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

The Link Business Group platform was bom with the idea of spreading multilevel marketing (MLM) products and services to people in a fast and convenient manner that would also reduce the natural friction that most people feel against MLM products.

In order to reach this goal, The Link Platform adopted common user-friendly structures, such as Apps for smartphones, Progressive WebApp and other technologies to enhance user experience in using the platform. The Link Platform maybe a globally integrated platform for tracking sales and commissions, especially those targeted at the MLM market.

The multi-directional share/referral system allows users to directly share and refer offers on products and services in multiple directions. For example; a product or service can be referred by user A to user B and user A may receive a commission if user B purchases it, but user B can also refer an offer to user A and if user A purchases it user B may receive a commission. Equally, if user C is referred the product by user B, then a first level of commission is received by user B, but also a second, typically smaller, level of commission is received by user A. And, the same happens in reverse when user C refers to user B, who then refers to user A.

This departs from the traditional‘pyramid’ networks where a person remains‘under’ the person who introduced them. In this manner, The Link spreads radially, creating constantly growing networks that can be used in multiple directions. A significant problem with this kind of two-way multi-level referral and commission system is the time, server power, and associated cost required to track an exponentially growing network of referrers and referees.

Simplicity may enhance the Platform’s uniqueness. For example, connections, shares, referral, sales, commissions and cash-backs may be updated in real time across a flexible network of affiliated commission schemes. This may be combined with automatic cash back, without users needing to understand the technical details of an affiliate, network or cash-back system. Consequently, even users without specialized skills or training may benefit from an innovative combination of the most advanced web marketing and earning tools.

It is therefore the aim of this invention to solve the technical problems associated with a two-way and multi-level referral and commission system to improve speed of commission determination whilst reducing power consumption and thus associated backend hardware and operating costs.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an automated system to link users and merchants, the system comprising: a core platform comprising a backend, an app, and a website; and a platform hub comprising an e-commerce module, a social module, a wallet module, an advertising module and a help module.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of reducing energy consumption during link referral to determine earned commission data values for one or more referrers, the method comprising the steps of: a] providing a portal interface enabling generation of a link with a unique base data set corresponding to a first user; b] the first user sending the said link to a second user; c] if the link is not activated by the second user, then a backend controller supplementing the said base data set with unique ID data of the second user to form a modified said link with a unique dynamically- supplemented data set, and the second user sending the modified link to a third user; d] repeating step c] n-times for n-users, where‘n’ is a number greater than 2, until the link is activated by a said user via a purchase event; e] on activation, the backend controller determining a back-trace of user referral based on the dynamically-supplemented data set to determine earned commission data values for each said user, whereby only performing the back-trace of user referral on activation of the link enables a reduction in processing and consequently power saving.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l is a schematic line drawing illustrating one embodiment of a Link Platform in accordance with the present invention;

Reference throughout this specification to“one embodiment,”“an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment,”“in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of programming, software modules, user selections, network transactions, database queries, database structures, hardware modules, hardware circuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

The schematic flow chart diagram included herein is generally set forth as a logical flow chart diagram. As such, the depicted order and labelled steps are indicative of one embodiment of the presented method. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function, logic, or effect to one or more steps, or portions thereof, of the illustrated method. Additionally, the format and symbols employed are provided to explain the logical steps of the method and are understood not to limit the scope of the method. Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in the flow chart diagrams, they are understood not to limit the scope of the corresponding method. Indeed, some arrows or other connectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the method. For instance, an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoring period of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depicted method. Additionally, the order in which a particular method occurs may or may not strictly adhere to the order of the corresponding steps shown.

Figure 1 depicts an embodiment of a platform system, in this embodiment called a Link Platform system 100, in accordance with the present invention. The Platform comprises the Link Platform Hub 102, the Link help 104, the Link SDKs 106, the Link eCommerce 108, the Link social 110, the Link wallet 112, the Link B2B 114, Gamification 116, the Link advertising 118, the Link Platform Core 120, the Link Backend 122, the Link App 124, and the Link Website 126.

The Link Platform 100 is designed to create a platform where Users may conveniently interact with Merchants (Selling products or services). In various embodiments, Users can purchase Merchant Offers and receive benefits including automatic cash-back on purchases and commissions for sales generated by sharing and referring Offers with their friends or contacts.

This concept comprises the Link Platform Core 120, which is a core or nucleus that may expand to the complete Link platform 100. The Link Platform Core 120 comprises The Link App 124, The Link Website 126, and The Link Backend 122.

In some embodiments, the Link App 124 will be the“everyday companion” for Users to interact with the Link Platform Hub 102 and to be notified of important changes. The Link Platform Core 120 will sometimes implement only a limited subset of actions that a User can interact with on the Link Platform 100, in order to enhance the User experience and to lower the initial learning curve.

In some embodiments, the Link Website 126 is the primary source of information for Users desiring to learn more about the Link Platform 100 and a tool for the User and Merchants to accomplish actions as an alternative to the Link App 124.

To enhance a User experience and separation of concerns, the Link Website 126 may comprise a Primary Area, an Application Area, a Merchant Area, and an Admin Area.

The Primary Area may be an informational part, open to the public, that can be used to understand what the Link Platform is, what it does and to provide the legal information on how it operates. An Authenticated and Authorized User may perform all of his actions with the Link Platform 100 through the Application Area.

In various embodiments, the Admin Area is technical area where Admins, Financial Admins and translators can see and modify the behaviour of the Platform itself. Here, Moderators will also be able to logon and perform their roles.

The Link Backend 122 is a collection of communication protocols, which may be standard or which may be proprietary, that form an Application Program Interface (API) that may comprise a Representational State Transfer (REST) and Simple Object Protocol (SOAP) that may allow other projects/third party machines to communicate with the Link Platform 100, being authenticated and authorized and take action based on the role of the requester. In various embodiments, the Link Backend 122 powers all calculations, requirement and actions that the Link Platform 100 elements require.

The Link Platform 100 may interact with Users and Merchants in various ways. By way of a non-limiting example, the Link Platform 100 may enable a Merchant to act as an extension of a User who has obtained Write/Execute rights over a company/business that becomes a Link Platform Merchant.

In certain embodiments, the Link Platform Core 120 performs actions including registering Users, registration of a User as a Merchant, submission, approval, and/or rejection of a Merchant (Admin), submission, approval, and/or rejection of Merchant Offers (Admin), tracking Merchant and Offer changes (history), approving and/or rejecting Offers and their modifications (Admin), checking, approving, and/or rejecting USER actions as Merchant based on their rights for a company, producing voucher codes on purchased Offers, checking voucher validity upon voucher redemption, automatically calculating fees, cash-backs and commissions for an OFFER based on predefined commission tables in relation to the fee left by the merchant when creating an offer, distributing cash-backs, commissions, merchant payments upon Offer redemption, notifying Users of important events, notifying Merchants for important events regarding the company they own and/or manage, tracking User actions for user profiling, tracking Users invitations, shares and referrals, and aggregating data and actions log for analysis purposes. In various embodiments, Users are able to register on the Link Platform, either independently or via another User’s invitation. A User may login (exchange sensitive data for an Authorization Token) and set or modify his Personal Information: The personal information may include First Name Last Name Email Language Phone Number Country of Residence Birth Date Address/ Addresses Bank Account Information Personalise the list of Offers available Offers.

Relative to Offers, the User may personalize the list of Offers available, see the details of an Offer available, buy an Offer, see the list of already purchased Offers (available/used vouchers/archive), see the list of transactions available for his account (inbound/outbound), and/or see the details of a transaction available for his account.

In some embodiments, a User can share or refer an Offer through Facebook RTM, Twitter RTM, Messenger RTM, WhatsApp RTM, Telegram RTM, Email, SMS, or others. A User can sometimes refer a subscription to the Link Platform 100.

Becoming a Merchant - In various embodiments, Users who become Merchants can add a company, create Offers, and can create/edit/delete a company profile, including the information required for the registration process and the information visible to Users. In some embodiments, the recognised company owner sets up this information. The Merchant may also set rights of other Users to be managers, create/edit/delete Offers for a Merchant, set Offer status (Online or Offline), see the list of transactions available for the Merchant account, see the details of a transaction relating to the Merchants Offers and/or redeem Vouchers.

Setting an Offer - In certain embodiments, when a Merchant creates an offer and sets the fee that they want to pay, all cash-back and commissions are calculated as a percentage of the Link Fee (which for the Merchant is a clear Cost per Acquisition (CPA)) selected by the Merchant during the creation of the Offer. When an Offer is purchased and redeemed, the Merchant may be credited the value of the sale quantity minus the selected CPA during the voucher redemption process.

User registration - Registration to the Link Platform 100 sometimes starts by freely joining or receiving a referral from another User of the Platform. It may be a simple request to join the Link, or an Offer that will include an invitation to join, plus the ID of the offer, plus the ID of the User making the referral. Registration referral or an Offer referral may be sent in the form of an URL and a QR Code that can be scanned with a mobile device. In various embodiments, a User opening the referral link will be prompted to create an account on the platform. The person making the introduction is sometimes referred to as the Anchorman.

Sharing and Referral - In some embodiments, a 'Share' is an action taken to a large non specific group of contacts or audience, such as sharing an Offer on a social media website like Facebook RTM. A 'Referral' may comprise sharing an Offer to a specified person or persons using a more personal method such as email, WhatsApp RTM or other digital messaging service whereby the User specifies the people that he wants to contact. In various embodiments, a User is able to share or refer an Offer (which can be a product or service) to his contacts by clicking the share button on the Offer. He/she will then be able to choose the method by which they wish to share/refer and then personalise the message with the link that is automatically generated. When an Offer requires the physical proximity of the referrer and the recipient, the User may optionally display a QR Code so that people can scan it. This may also be expanded to Bluetooth RTM or another wireless data-transfer protocol for sharing. Offers may sometimes require proof that the referrer has already tried the product/service before referring the Offer. In that case the referral option may be disabled until the User has bought and redeemed the voucher for that specific Offer.

Buying and Voucher Redemption - In various embodiments, a User can buy an Offer for which the Link Platform 100 will then issue a voucher. The voucher may be displayed as a code and a QR code visible in the Users 'My Purchases' section of his account. By entering the code on the Merchants website, or showing the QR code at the Merchant's business, the User may redeem his purchase. Redemption of the voucher triggers the payment/allocation of any cash-back, commissions and payment to the Merchant. Once a User has redeemed/used his voucher, it will appear in the purchase history. Physical Voucher Redemption for Merchants

In some embodiments, when a User of the Link Platform 100 redeems an Offer at a Merchant's physical location, the Merchant simply opens the Link app 124, and in his Merchant area, clicks on 'Redeem Voucher' which will open the device camera and allow the Merchant to scan the Users QR code. This will show details of the Offer and change the status of the Offer to used and trigger any cash-back, commissions and Merchant payments.

Reward Schemes - Cash-back may be automatically calculated based on algorithms within the system, but may be adjusted in the back-office by an administrator with the appropriate user rights. In certain embodiments, every purchase also provides a cash-back amount, no matter how small, so that a User’s 'Income' constantly grows with every purchase.

Commission Structures - Commissions may be earned in various ways. First level or Direct Share/Referral Commission may be allocated when a Share or Referral directly generates a sale to the person(s) who received that share/referral with the original User's ID embedded into it. Multiple Level Share/Referral Commission, when activated, may allow a commission from an Offer to be shared across multiple Users (sometimes from 2 to 10 depending upon the amount of commission available from the Merchants fee). Consequently, a User may send an Offer to a person, and if they do not buy it, but Share/Refer it on to other people/Users, the original person that started the Share/Refer may still receive a commission, an example of a€5 commission can be seen below:

Commission allocated for Offer may be as follows:

1 level (standard): User 1 to User 2 who Purchases: User 1 receives€5 2 Levels: User 1 refers to User 2 who then refers to User 3 who purchases: User 1 receives

€2, User 2 receives€3

3 Levels: User 1 refers to User 2 who refers to User 3 who refers to User 4 who purchases: User 1 receives€1, User 2 receives€1, User 3 receives€3

Merchant Introduction Commission may trigger when a User introduces a person who becomes a Merchant within the Link Network. That User will be recognised as the Anchorman for that User/Merchant and will receive a commission on all income generated by that Merchant within the Link Network.

Loyalty Points - A system of Bonuses and/or Loyalty Points may be introduced to Users who hit certain targets. For example, introducing‘x’ number of new Users in a month, hitting targets of introducing’y’ number of Merchants, generating‘z’ number of sales and so on. These Bonuses and Loyalty Points might be direct with the Link and/or offered in collaboration with Merchants.

Registering as a Merchant - A User may become a Merchant by clicking 'Become a Merchant' and following the instructions on screen. In doing this, the User may register his company within the Platform and create a 'public window' for his/her business. Information required may include legal details of the Company, such as the legal name of the company, address, registration number, VAT number (if/where applicable), the name and last name of the legal owner, a contact email and phone number.

In certain embodiments, after compiling the two forms the merchant will need to submit the application to the Link Platform 100 for a verification process by moderators who will then verify the correctness of the submitted data, verify the existence of the company and based on the result approve or reject the submission. A Merchant may edit both the Company Details and the Company Public Details, but every modification will require a new review process by moderator. After receiving an approval, the merchant will be able to freely set the Company as visible or offline within the Link Platform 100. Setting a Company offline will also hide all related Offers, but all Vouchers already purchased and not used by the Users will still be visible and redeemable. The User who set up the Merchant account will be set as owner and responsible for the Company on the Link Platform, although they will be able to associate other Users with specific rights.

Creating an Offer - In various embodiments, once a User has become an approved Merchant, he/she or one of the Users that he/she has appointed, can set up an Offer(s) on the Link. The User completes the Offer Registration Form, providing the information as requested, including: Offer title, Short description, Complete description, Photos, Details regarding the offer, for example, if it's a postal delivery or used in a specific location (in which case the Merchant will have to provide the full address of the location). Contact email, Contact phone number, Details of the Offer (whether it provides a discount, special conditions or a gift for the purchaser), Validity (countries in which the offer is available or other terms and conditions), Retail price (tax included if applicable), The Link fee (minimum 15%, for example), which allows the Merchant to know his/her CPA (Cost per Acquisition) related to the offer. In some embodiments, the Offer will then be submitted for review by a moderator who will then verify the correctness of the submitted information. After receiving an approval, the Merchant will be able to freely set the Offer as online and visible, or offline on the Link Platform. Setting an Offer as offline will hide it, but all Vouchers already purchased and not used by Users will still be visible and redeemable.

Customer Support and Help - An extension to the Link Website 126 may be to create a 'Smart Portal' that offers advice and training for optimal use of The Link. It may have an easy to use interface to quickly assist Users seeking help on how to benefit from its range of features to help them earn more money. In some embodiments, the Smart Portal comprises an AI driven problem solving mechanism, Tutorial and Videos on the features of the various subjects as well as on how to how enhance their selling/promoting skills. A ticketing system may allow Users to submit bug and problems as well as a moderated Forum where Users will be able to exchange experiences and information on how to achieve best results with the Platform.

The Link SDKs - In certain embodiments the Link SDKs 106 are a collection of modules to allow third-parties to interact with the Link Platform on a Machine-to-Machine level. The Link SDKs may be focused on parties that allow Merchants with pre-existing ecommerce platforms (Magento RTM / WooCommerce RTM / Prestashop RTM), Warehouse management software and selling platforms to directly interact with the Link Platform. They may require technical intervention from the merchants to allow integration with their existing platform.

The Link E-Commerce - In certain embodiments the Link Platform 100 comprises a complete ECommerce and Selling Platform package. A“WordPress” RTM package or similar platform may allow Merchants with low to medium experience in electronic sale to get started and integrated with the Link Platform and its own Payment Service Provider (PSP).

The Link Social - In some embodiments, the Link Platform 100 extends to social networks, creating a social interaction above and beyond buying, selling and sharing/referring. By offering other public services such as product/company reviews, money transfer and interaction with other strategic partner platforms, the Link Platform 100 may create a social element that integrates with everyday life of its Users. Enhanced interaction with The Link may also increase a User’s ability to earn through the Link Platform 100 and use it as a way to create a secondary/passive income. Using the Link Platform 100 for every day actions and creating an enjoyable element of earning through the network and may promote the User’ s feeling part of something big that covers many of their networking needs.

In some embodiments, Users can create a space to“call their own”: a page that a User can personalize with images/colours and where a user can freely (with the limitation of Netiquette and Law Regulations) share important facts about him/herself, and receive communications from other Users. Users may receive the ability to communicate with other Users and Merchants, integrating a messaging system, following Users or companies that they like. Users may feel a part of a community by rating Merchant and/or their offers.

In various embodiments, Users may achieve maximum engagement by studying names for actions that Users can take, so that with the continuous use they’ll be used even in real life situation seamlessly, creating neologism and enhancing the user feeling of being part of big, but elitist community. Gamification, e.g.“Google it” vs.“search it.” Such options may allow the Link Platform Users to feel more engaged, and also enable the Link to better profile the User, by knowing other aspects of his/her life, and thus enhancing advertising capabilities and User experience, plus incentivising Merchants to join the Link Platform 100.

The Link will respect the Users privacy and rights to their information in accordance with known laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Users may opt in or out of various marketing and notification options that The Link may offer. Users may opt-out of their involvement with The Link and request that we cancel all of their private information.

The Link e-Wallet - In various embodiments the Link Wallet 112 is an integrated E- Wallet System owned by and operated within The Link Platform to bring multiple benefits and (within laws and regulations) allow greater flexibility to offer additional benefits and services to Users and Merchants. The cost savings to the Link Platform 100 from not paying third-party providers would allow greater rewards and reduced costs. Additionally, strategic partners (Merchants connected to the Link, as well as other companies that may not be a part of the Link but wish to use the Link’s E-Wallet module) may use the Link E-Wallet as a payment system. Advantages of the Link Wallet Chargeback reduction Use of the Link Wallet 112 E-Wallet credit to buy Offers and using credit card or bank transfers only for charging/crediting the E-Wallet, could reduce chargebacks from credit partners and allow refunds to be managed internally.

Virtual flows - All the money movements may remain inside the system, with the exception for E-Wallet charging and payouts. Virtual flows of money between the Users may leave the real money untouched. Virtual currency - The Link Wallet 112 or E-Wallet, could introduce a virtual currency in order to bypass currency exchange rates when calculating commission on a global (multi-currency) referral network. Virtual currency value against real currency value rate could be calculated daily for E-Wallet charging and withdrawal operations. To prevent stock market operation on the virtual currency, small charge and withdrawals fees may be introduced to execute these operations. The currency could be a token in a controlled blockchain environment to further detach the platform from external currency influence.

Payment system - The Link Wallet 112 or E-Wallet system could be opened to other platforms or partners in order to let the Link Platform Users use their credit to pay for services outside of the Link. This 'cross border' expansion may add value to Users and attract more Merchants who wish to gain access to the Link Platform client base and then create Offers to expand their business.

The Link B2B - In some embodiments, the Link Platform 100 targets commerce from businesses (Merchants) to consumers (Users), and thus can be considered B2C. Since the Link Platform 100 may also rely on networking, shares and referrals, it may also be Person to Person / Peer to Peer (P2P). In various embodiments, however, to enhance its networking capabilities, the Link Platform 100 will implement a way to allow businesses to create Offers that are only targeted at other businesses, in this case called the Link B2B 114. This could operate in parallel to the B2C market and be only visible to Merchants who have the Link B2B authorization. Gamification - In some embodiments, the Link Platform 100 functionality can be used to create a gamification strategy. An optional“how much have you earned?” element of the Link, may allow a User to User competition and expansion upon that concept may focus on enhancing User engagement and competitiveness while using the platform.

Player versus player (PVP) environment (motivation through competition) - A list of Platform-based achievements, e.g. referring‘x’ number of different offers, reaching a lOth sale level on a network product etc. may trigger prizes, status levels and rewards. For further non-limiting examples, specified achievement levels, could provide the ability for Users to personalize their social homepage with special themes/badges/images that represent their status. Other features may compare network size and penetration with friends; graphics might show the number of people in a User’s network and the territories or products that they are connected to/have influenced.

PVE environment: (motivation through collaboration -“there is no I in Team”) - The Link Platform“Map” may allow Users to see their network on a world map. Spots populated by User’s network members could be coloured and be updated in real-time showing notifications about real-time events happening inside their network (without name and contacts, to prevent privacy issues).

The Link Advertising - Certain embodiments of the Link Platform 100 comprise a bidding platform that allows Merchants to bid for key advertising spots within the app and website, based on day/time, product/service and the profiling of Users. An ad-kit for bloggers may allow Merchants to provide Offers that are suitable for Vbloggers etc. The Link charity affiliations

The Link Platform charity feature may allow Users of the Link to assign/transfer funds to charities of their choice. These could be ever-present charities and event charities that come up when there is a notable disaster in the world or region of the User.

All of the above requires significant backend processing power, particularly as the referrals expand to different levels, and then more so as the referrers are back-referred to by their network and thus also become referees.

To reduce such power-intensive tracking, a backend controller l22a in the Link Backend 122 only determines the earned Commission data amount, once the Link is activated in a purchase situation. To this end, the Link includes dynamic embedded data which stores a User’s unique ID data. Such User’s unique ID data may be a User’s digital footprint, for example, or similar breadcrumb data trail.

As the Link is referred or shared, each User’s unique ID data is captured and recorded as part of the Link. As such, the Link’s unique data core is dynamically added to or supplemented, as it is passed from person to person.

Once the Link is activated, the backend controller l22a of the Link Platform Core 120 then analyses or back-traces the dynamically-altered Link data in order to determine the referrers. The earned Commission data amount can thus be allocated to the respective Users profiles on the Link Platform 102.

By not actively tracking User interaction with the Link, but by only dynamically modifying the Link as it is passed from person to person, typically using the User’s own personal hardware running the Portal Interface to the Link Platform, the power-usage of the servers running the Link Platform and Link Platform Core can be reduced, thereby saving energy and allowing lower specification hardware to be utilised.

To better understand the backend process of the system which allows a reduction in energy consumption during link referral whilst still enabling determination of earned commission data values for one or more referrers:

A portal interface is first provided which enables generation of the Link having a unique base data set corresponding to a first user;

The first user then sends the generated Link to a second user in his or her network, as described above;

If the link is not activated by the second user, then the backend controller l22a supplements the said base data set with unique ID data of the second user based on his or her profile, for example, to form a modified Link with a unique dynamically- supplemented data set.

The Platform then encourages the second user, for example, after a predetermined period where the Link is not activated, to send the modified Link to a third user, again typically in the second User’s network. The above step is then repeated a number of times, with the Link being dynamically-modified each time on receipt by a new referee, and until the Link is finally activated, for example, by being used to purchase the associated product, item or service.

As such, Link activation may take place on the first referral to the second User, or may take place after multiple referrals and supplementations or modifications.

On activation, the backend controller l22a determines a back-trace of user referral based on the dynamically-supplemented data set with a strong of unique ID data to determine earned commission data values for each User involved with the referrals.

Modification or supplementation of the base data set of the Link can take place on the User’s own computing device, and thus processing need not take place at the backend server level. This reduces a power-consumption requirement of the servers running the Link Platform and Link Platform Core. Substantial power savings and a lower level grade of server hardware can thus be realised.

Although dynamic supplementation of the base data set of the Link with a User’s ID data is convenient, it may be feasible to also apply a unique data set to the Link on each referral which supersedes the base data set. Providing the history of the Link can ultimately be back-traced, then any suitable unique data value or values can be utilised.

The term‘Link’ has been used throughout the specification to name various aspects or modules of the system and method in accordance with the present invention, such as the Link Platform, Link Platform Hub, or the Link Help, etc. However, it will be appreciated that the word‘Link’ may be dispensed with without departing from the scope of the present invention. It will also be appreciated that as well as being suitable for multilevel marketing products and pyramid networks, the system and method in accordance with the present invention are also suitable for other networks, such as networking, affiliation, referral, cash-back, loyalty, reviews, vouchers, crowd-funding and social media networks, or other forms and combination of e-commerce marketing, influencer marketing and dark channels. The term“dark channel” relates to the use of social media and chat platforms to spread advertising and/or generate sales.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.