The Federal Trade Commission this week handed out $50,000 to two individuals who came up with the best idea to stop robocalls.

A team from Google, meanwhile, also got an honorable mention.

The FTC kicked off its FTC Robocall Challenge in October, which offered up $50,000 to the person or team who came up with a way to stop annoying, robotic calls. The agency said today that it received almost 800 eligible submissions. Judges decided to split the $50,000 prize between two entries - from Serdar Danis and Aaron Foss.

Both will receive $25,000 for their proposals, which would place numbers on a blacklist and whitelist, as well as incorporate a CAPTCHA-style test to prevent illegal calls from ringing through to a user.

Danis's plan would analyze and block robocalls via an app, a gadget in someone's home, or a feature provided by a phone provider. Foss, meanwhile, suggested a cloud-based system whereby calls would ring through to a second telephone line, which would identify and hang up on illegal robocalls before they could ring through to the user.

The contest also called on companies with more than 10 employees to compete for the Robocall Challenge Technology Achievement Award, which did not include any prize money. The FTC selected the idea submitted by Google's Daniel Klein and Dean Jackson, which also used automated algorithms that identify "spam" callers.

"The solutions that our winners came up with have the potential to turn the tide on illegal robocalls, and they show the wisdom of tapping into the genius and technical expertise of the public," Charles Harwood, acting director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "We're hoping these winning proposals find their way to the marketplace soon, and will provide relief to millions of American consumers harassed by these calls."

The judges of the contest were the chief technologists from the FTC and FCC, Steve Bellovin and Henning Schulzrinne, as well as All Things D co-executive editor Kara Swisher. They were asked to evaluate whether the solution worked (50 percent); whether it was easy to use (25 percent); and whether it could actually be rolled out (25 percent).

The FTC said it is not backing any particular product or services, but ran the challenge in the hope that it would highlight products that could eventually be brought to market.

The Federal Communications Commission, meanwhile, issued citations to two companies last month, which ordered them to stop placing unauthorized robocalls. If they fail to comply, the firms could face up to $4.8 million in fines.

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