Businesses may offer their services not only through internet websites
but also by short-range wireless portals (51A,B,C) intended to catch passers-by;
indeed, this latter means of business promotion may be used instead of an internet
site. A method is provided of gathering information from such portals (51A,B,C)
for use in a database service system 40. More particularly, a mobile device
(20) provided with a short-range wireless receiver (21) is moved
within range of such a portal and collects information about the services available
from the local entity operating the portal. The device (20) then uses a
cellular radio network (10) to send this information, together with location
data about the portal, to a remote database service system (40) holding
similar information from other portals. The user of the mobile device can be credited
with a reward by the database service system for collecting such information.
