U.S. patent application number 13/327394 was filed with the patent office on 2012-08-09 for social network information system and method.
Invention is credited to Darren Pulito, Lou Vastardis.
Application Number | 20120203832 13/327394 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46245115 |
Filed Date | 2012-08-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120203832 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Vastardis; Lou ; et
al. |
August 9, 2012 |
SOCIAL NETWORK INFORMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
Abstract
The present invention is embodied in methods and system for
obtaining information about a category of interest from a computer
network, the computer network including a plurality of user
networks with each user network including a plurality of users. The
method includes receiving an information request from a user, the
information request specifying a category, identifying a first set
of one or more users within a user network of the user, identifying
a second set of one or more users within a user network of one or
more users of the first set, and retrieving information associated
with the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the
identified second set from the electronic database corresponding to
the information request, and providing the retrieved information to
the user.
Inventors: |
Vastardis; Lou;
(Philadelphia, PA) ; Pulito; Darren;
(Philadelphia, PA) |
Family ID: |
46245115 |
Appl. No.: |
13/327394 |
Filed: |
December 15, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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61423309 |
Dec 15, 2010 |
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61539235 |
Sep 26, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/204 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/32 20130101;
G06Q 30/0241 20130101; G06Q 50/01 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/204 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16; G06F 3/048 20060101 G06F003/048 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented system for generating a plurality of
verified subject matter contacts, comprising: a non-transitory
computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon computer
executable instructions for providing a graphical user interface
for receiving user input associated with at least one category; at
least one network port for remotely accessing via a network at
least one server wherein at least one TIRC-associated code is
resident; and at least one rules engine communicatively connected
to said at least one network port, and comprising a plurality of
rules to generate at least one recommendations rating associated
with the at least one TIRC correspondent to the user input; wherein
a user may be associated with one of the at least one TIRC based
upon the user input.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Ser. No. 61/423,309, filed Dec. 15, 2010, entitled
Expert Rating System for Social Network Method and System and U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/539,235, filed Sep. 26,
2011, entitled Social Network Information System and Method, the
entireties of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference
in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Social networking websites, such as those hosted on
Facebook.TM. and Yahoo!.TM., provide network services to facilitate
interaction between users. Typically, users who sign up for these
services are able to establish connections with other users. As the
popularity of such network services has increased, many social
networking websites service millions of users with many individual
users having large networks that include hundreds or even thousands
of connections to other users.
[0003] Users of such network services may be interested not only in
requesting information or assistance from other users with whom
they have established a connection, or with whom they don't have an
established connection, but moreso in requesting information from
other users they can trust regarding the topic for which the
information is sought. The development of systems and methods for
users of such network services to request and retrieve relevant and
trusted information from other users within a social network would
be useful to users.
[0004] Thus, the need exists for an apparatus, system and method
for providing networking services through which a user can build
communication lines to gain relevant, trusted information, by
topic, from contacts and contacts of contacts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention is embodied in methods and system for
obtaining information about a category of interest from a computer
network, the computer network including a plurality of user
networks with each user network including a plurality of users. The
network further including an electronic database of information
associated with the plurality of users.
[0006] The method includes receiving an information request from a
user, the information request specifying a category, identifying a
first set of one or more users within a user network of the user,
each user in the first set associated with the category and
established as a trusted information resource contact of the user
for the category, identifying a second set of one or more users
within a user network of one or more users of the first set, each
user in the second set associated with the category and established
as a trusted information resource contact of the one or more
trusted information resource contacts of the first set for the
category, retrieving information associated with the one or more
trusted information resource contacts of the identified second set
from the electronic database corresponding to the information
request, and providing the retrieved information to the user. The
steps of the method may be embodied in computer executable
instructions stored on a non-transient machine readable medium that
cause a server to perform the method when executed by the
server.
[0007] The system includes an electronic database of information
and a server. The server is configured to receive an information
request from a user, the information request specifying a category,
identify a first set of one or more users within a user network of
the user, each user in the first set associated with the category
and established as a trusted information resource contact of the
user for the category, identify a second set of one or more users
within a user network of one or more users of the first set, each
user in the second set associated with the category and established
as a trusted information resource contact of the one or more
trusted information resource contacts of the first set for the
category, retrieve information associated with the one or more
trusted information resource contacts of the identified second set
from the electronic database corresponding to the information
request, and provide the retrieved information to the user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The invention is best understood from the following detailed
description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings,
in which like elements may have the same reference numerals. When a
plurality of similar elements are present, a single reference
numeral may be assigned to the plurality of similar elements with a
small letter designation referring to specific elements. When
referring to the elements collectively or to a non-specific one or
more of the elements, the small letter designation may be dropped.
The letter "n" may represent a non-specific number of elements.
Also, lines without arrows connecting components may represent a
bidirectional exchange between these components. Included in the
drawings are the following figures:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a system diagram depicting an exemplary system in
accordance with aspects of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting exemplary steps for
requesting and retrieving information in accordance with aspects of
the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating the establishment of
a category-based network and the establishment of trusted
information resource contacts within the category-based network in
accordance with an aspect of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2B is a table depicting exemplary categories and
sub-categories for use with the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a pending category
trust request in accordance with aspects of the present
invention;
[0014] FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating established trusted
information resource contacts of a user for a category in
accordance with aspects of the present invention;
[0015] FIGS. 3B and 3C are block diagrams illustrating established
trusted information resource contacts of established trusted
information resource contacts in accordance with aspects of the
present invention;
[0016] FIG. 4A is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of the
present invention;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of the present
invention;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a hierarchical diagram illustrating aspects of the
present invention;
[0019] FIG. 7 is a display illustration of the present invention
employed on a smartphone;
[0020] FIG. 8 is a display illustration of the present invention
employed on a smartphone;
[0021] FIG. 9 is a display illustration of the present invention
employed on a smartphone;
[0022] FIG. 10 is a flow chart of exemplary steps for requesting
information on other products related to a product of interest to
the user in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;
and
[0023] FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic display flow diagram of aspects of
the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of exemplary steps for adapting a
rating scale in accordance with aspects of the present
invention;
[0025] FIG. 12A is a flow chart of exemplary sub-steps for
performing steps of the flow chart of FIG. 4;
[0026] FIGS. 13A, 13B, and 13C are illustrations of a rating scale
in accordance with aspects of the present invention;
[0027] FIGS. 14A and 14B are illustrative representations of an
exemplary comparative rating scale in accordance with an aspect of
the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of the
instant invention;
[0029] FIG. 16 is a database illustration of aspects of the present
invention;
[0030] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of aspects of the present
invention;
[0031] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating of aspects of the present
invention;
[0032] FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating of aspects of the present
invention; and
[0033] FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating of aspects of the present
invention;
[0034] FIG. 21 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0035] FIG. 22 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0036] FIG. 23 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 24 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0038] FIG. 25 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0039] FIG. 26 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0040] FIG. 27 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
[0041] FIG. 28 is illustrates aspects of the present invention;
and
[0042] FIG. 29 is illustrates aspects of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0043] It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of
the present invention have been simplified to illustrate elements
that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present
invention, while eliminating, for the purposes of brevity, many
other elements found in typical networked applications,
apparatuses, systems and methods. Those of ordinary skill in the
art will thus recognize that other elements may be desirable and/or
required in order to implement the present invention. However,
because such elements are well known in the art, and because they
do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention,
a discussion of such elements is not provided herein.
[0044] The inventors have recognized that the growing adoption of
social media is creating a growing state of diminished utility for
users. As the current social media products are establishing an
increasing number of relationships, a state of information overload
is beginning to occur. The reason is that the current social media
models fail to address users' true passions, how they learn, and
why they try or buy. The inventors have further recognized that
users are most strongly influenced by small numbers of individuals
with whom they have trusting interpersonal relationships. Thus,
absent the addition of further trusted persons, larger social
circles or social networks do not translate into improved social
utility. An aspect of the present invention provides a system that
supports the natural human tendency for learning and changing
behavior; a system that is rooted in how individual users naturally
seek out trusted information resources to provide them with what
they deem as valuable information. The system extends the existence
of an individual user's relationship beyond her immediate circle of
contacts by perpetuating "trusted" knowledge sharing,
category-based networks extending from her existing social
networks.
[0045] Embodiments of the present invention allow a user of a
social network to request information from other users. The
information request can include, for example, a question for
dissemination to other users, a search request for information
maintained in an electronic database, and/or an alert request for
information once it is added to the database. In an exemplary
embodiment, a user builds one or more category-based networks based
on categories she has in common with other network users (e.g.,
investing, wine, fitness regiments, book-types, movie-types,
restaurants, music-types, etc). Users are then able to establish a
select number of users within each category-based network as
trusted information resource contacts (hereinafter also referred to
as "TIRCs", e.g., other users that the first user trusts most
within a specific category and/or from which the first user desires
to receive rating information). In doing so, users are able to
filter valuable, user-generated content (hereinafter also referred
to as "UGC," which may include questions and answers, reviews,
ratings, and recommendations) from a network of trusted resources
(e.g., other users the first user may view as experts), which
network, or "line," of trusted users may include the user's
established TIRCs, the user's established TIRCs' TIRCs, etc.
[0046] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an illustrative system 100
in which exemplary embodiments of the present invention may
operate. The system 100 includes multiple user devices 102a-n in
communication with a host server 104 over a network 106 such as the
Internet, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area
network (LAN), or other communication network capable of
transporting data. Through user devices 102a-n, users 103a-n can
communicate over the network 106 with each other and with other
systems and devices coupled to the network 106.
[0047] Each of the user devices 102 includes memory 108 and a
processor 110 such as a microcontroller, microprocessor, an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or a state
machine coupled to the memory 108. Memory 108 may be a conventional
computer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM). In
an exemplary embodiment, processor 110 executes computer-executable
program instructions stored in memory 108. Suitable memory 108 and
processors 110 will be understood by one of skill in the art from
the description herein.
[0048] User devices 102a-n may also include a number of
input/output (ID) devices (not shown) such as a mouse, a CD-ROM,
DVD, a keyboard, a display, or other input or output devices.
Exemplary user devices 102 include personal computers, digital
assistants, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, mobile
phones, smart phones, pagers, digital tablets, laptop computers,
Internet appliances, and processor-based devices. In general, a
user device 102a may be any type of device capable of communication
with a network 106 and of interaction with one or more application
programs. In an exemplary embodiment, user devices 102a-n may
operate on any operating system capable of supporting a browser or
browser-enabled application, such as Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM..
The user devices 102a-n shown include, for example, personal
computers executing a browser application program such as Microsoft
Corporation's Internet Explorer.TM..
[0049] The illustrated host server 104 includes a processor 116 and
a memory 118. In an exemplary embodiment, processor 116 executes a
social network application program (SNAP) 112 stored in memory 118.
SNAP 112 allows users, such as user 103a, to interact with and
participate in a computer-based social network (herein "social
network"). A social network can refer to a computer network
connecting users, such as people or organizations. An example of a
social network in which the present invention may be implemented is
Facebook.TM.. As defined herein, the SNAP may have one or more
aspects operating as a "thin client," i.e., operating as an
application remote from user device 102, and/or may have one or
more aspects operating as a "thick client," i.e., operating as an
application local to processor 110 of user device 102.
[0050] A social network may comprise user profiles that can be
associated with other user profiles. Each user profile may
represent a user and a user can be, for example, a person, an
organization, a business, a corporation, a community, a fictitious
person, an institution, information source, or other entity. Each
profile can contain entries, and each entry can comprise
information associated with a profile. Memory 118 may be a
conventional computer-readable medium, such as a random access
memory (RAM). In an exemplary embodiment, processor 116 executes
computer-executable program instructions stored in memory 118.
Suitable memory 118 will be understood by one of skill in the art
from the description herein.
[0051] Host server 104, depicted as a single computer system, may
be implemented as a network of computers and/or servers. Examples
of a host server 104 are servers, mainframe computers, networked
computers, processor-based devices, and similar types of systems
and devices. Processor 110 and processor 116 can be any of a number
of computer processors, such as processors from Intel Corporation
of Santa Clara, Calif. and Motorola Corporation of Schaumburg,
Ill., which will be understood by one of skill in the art from the
description herein.
[0052] SNAP 112 can include a category-based information
(hereinafter also referred to as "CBI") processor 120. CBI
processor 120 may include, be included in, or may communicatively
form a portion of, processor 110 and/or processor 116. In an
exemplary embodiment, processor 120 enables a user 103 to establish
trusted information resource contacts/relationships with other
users that are based on categories and to request information from
these TIRCs. Processor 120 can cause the display of information
provided by one or more users 103 of the social network on a user
device 102. Processor 120, in some embodiments, can generate,
distribute, and/or update a search record. Multiple processors and
other hardware can be provided to perform operations associated
with embodiments of the present invention.
[0053] Host server 104 also provides access to electronic data
storage elements, such as a social network storage element, In the
example shown in FIG. 1, an electronic social network database 122,
which may be stored in memory 118 of host server 104 or external to
host server 104 as illustrated. The social network database 122 may
be physically attached or otherwise in communication with the
social network engine 112 by way of a network or other connection.
The social network database 122 can be used to store users' member
profiles, preferably including categorical TIRCs of those users.
Electronic data storage elements may include any one or combination
of methods for storing data, including without limitation, arrays,
hash tables, lists, and pairs. Other similar types of data storage
devices can be accessed by the host server 104. SNAP 112 can
receive data comprising the user profiles from the social network
database 122 and can also send data comprising user profiles to the
social network database 122 for storage.
[0054] It should be noted that the present invention may comprise
systems having different architecture than that which is shown in
FIG. 1. For example, in some systems according to the present
invention, host server 104 may comprise a single physical or
logical server. The system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is merely exemplary,
and is used to help explain the social network and adaptive rating
systems and methods illustrated in the other figures discussed
hereinthroughout.
[0055] FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart 200 of exemplary steps for
retrieving information about a category of interest from a social
network in accordance with aspect of the present invention. In an
exemplary embodiment, the social network includes multiple user
networks where each user network includes multiple users. The steps
of flow chart 200 will be described with reference to the system
100 depicted in FIG. 1 to facilitate description. Other systems in
which the steps of flow chart 200 may be carried out will be
understood by one of skill in the art from the description
herein.
[0056] At block 202, information associated with users may
preferably be stored in one or more databases. In an exemplary
embodiment, information generated by users 103 may be stored in
social network database 122. The information may include ratings
and reviews of products, answers to question links, or any other
form of user-generated content (UGC). For example, the
recommendations may include trusted recommendations for on-demand
movies, and the like, available via cable or satellite television,
which recommendations may be produced, such as via an IP set top
box or an IP television, directly on the subject television of the
viewer. All forms of information may be generated and stored by
users of the social network prior to receiving a request for
information. Additionally, information generated and stored after a
request for information may be used to satisfy a standing
request.
[0057] At block 204, user category-based networks associated with
categories are built. FIG. 2a depicts an exemplary user network 250
including multiple contacts/friends 255a-x (24 contacts are shown
in the illustrated embodiment) within a user's network. Contacts
255 of the user may be associated with a category such as a
category or sub-category (described below) to build a
category-based network. In the illustrated embodiment, contacts
255x, t, p, l, h and d are associated with a category (e.g., wine)
to build category-based network 265. Step 204 may be performed for
every user 103 within social network database 122.
[0058] User category-based networks, such as category-based network
265, may be built based on the user associating one or more
contacts 255 with a particular category 260. In an exemplary
embodiment, the user may unilaterally assign contacts 255 to one or
more category-based networks. For example, the host server 104 may
create a graphical user interface (GUI) for display on a user
device 102. The GUI may display each contact 250 of the user along
with a series of check boxes corresponding to categories next to
each user. The user may then simply select the appropriate check
boxes to associate contacts with a category.
[0059] In an alternative exemplary embodiment, bilateral agreement
may be necessary to establish a category-based network 265. For
example, the host server 104 may create a GUI for display on a user
device 102. The GUI may display each contact 255 of the user along
with a series of check boxes corresponding to categories next to
each user. Selection of category check boxes associated with a
particular contact 255 may result in an email message to that
contact requesting consent. The contact may then be associated with
the category and become a member of the category-based network 265
upon a positive response to the consent request.
[0060] FIG. 2B depicts exemplary categories 275 and sub-categories
276 associated with particular categories with which users may be
associated. The subcategories provide finer granularity for
categorizing. For example, a category may be "wine" and a
subcategory may be "varietal" (Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel,
etc).
[0061] Referring now again to FIG. 2, at block 208, contacts are
established as TIRCs (e.g., experts) from which the user desires to
receive information. The TIRCs form a set 270 of one or more
contacts 255 of the user that are associated with the category and
are established as TIRCs of the user for that category. In an
exemplary embodiment, the user sends a trusted information resource
request to one or more contacts 255 for a category/subcategory
requesting that those contacts become TIRCs of the user for that
category/subcategory. For example, the user may send trusted
information resource requests to three of the contacts 255 (e.g.,
contacts 255x, p, d) within category-based network 265 to become
TIRCs of the user for the category/subcategory. The trusted
information resource requests for the category are received by the
host server 104, which forwards the trusted information resource
requests to the intended contacts 255x, p, d and waits for a
response. At this point, the trusted information resource requests
are pending and a trusted information resource relationship has not
been established, which is illustrated in FIG. 3. The host server
104 then establishes each user from which a positive response to
the trusted information resource request is received as a TIRC of
the user. FIG. 3A depicts the establishment of a set 270 of trusted
information resource relationships between the user and contacts
255x, p, d for category-based network 265.
[0062] In an exemplary embodiment, once TIRCs are established, the
user can individually turn the TIRCs on (active) and off (inactive)
as desired. FIG. 3B illustrates the trusted connections between the
user and contacts 255x and p turned on, and the trusted connection
to expert 255d turned off. In this arrangement, the user is able to
retrieve information from TIRCs 255x and 255p (but not 255d), and
from the TIRCs with which contacts 255x and 255p have active
trusted connections (e.g., 255xa, xb, xc and 255pa, pb, pc); and
from the active TIRCs of contacts 255xa, xb, xc and 255pa, pb, pc,
etc.
[0063] FIG. 3C illustrates the trusted connections between the user
and contacts 255x and d turned on and the trusted connection to
expert 255p turned off. In this arrangement, the user is able to
retrieve information from TIRCs 255x and 255d (but not 255p), and
from the TIRCs with which contacts 255x and 255d have active
trusted connections (e.g., 255xa, xb, da, and db, but not 255xc);
and from the active TIRCs of contacts 255xa, xb, da, and db. In an
exemplary embodiment, a contact such as contact 255xc in FIG. 3C
may be designated as inactive by the user with which that contact
has a trusted information resource connection (e.g., by contact
255x for 255xc).
[0064] In an additional embodiment, to improve search results a
user requesting the search may designate one or more TIRCs of their
TIRCs as inactive for purposes of generating search results for
queries by that user. For example, a user may designate contact
255xc as inactive if the user does not want results from that
contact (e.g., does not trust that contact's recommendations based
on past experience). In accordance with this embodiment,
designation of a contact as inactive for the user's queries only
renders that contact inactive from the user's viewpoint and does
not render that contact inactive as a TIRC of other users (e.g.,
contact 255xc may remain an active TIRC of contact 255x for contact
255x and other users unless contact 255x designates contact 255xc
as inactive.
[0065] The number of active TIRCs per category may be limited. In
an exemplary embodiment, the number of active TIRCs per category is
limited to ten or less and, more preferably, to three or less. Step
208 may be performed for every user 103 within social network
database 122. TIRCs may thus be established by groups/subject, and
preferably may be established by users who themselves are trusted
to assess TIRCs.
[0066] More particularly and in certain embodiments related to FIG.
2, a user may access, join and/or make use of prior groups created
by prior users associated with available topics/subjects, including
TIRC information associated with those prior groups, for example.
In such instances, the subsequent user may have no way of knowing
the value or level of trust a prior user had in the group or in
formulating the group, that is, the subsequent user may have no way
of knowing if the prior user was a TIRC, and/or if group created by
the prior user consists of true TIRCs, i.e., the subsequent user
may not know if the prior user that formulated the existing group
had sufficient expertise to make reuse of the existing group by the
subsequent user worthwhile.
[0067] In such a case, the group, and/or a prior user or TIRC, may
be "verified." Verification may occur, for example, in two ways,
such as is illustrated in the flow diagram of FIG. 4A. First, at
step 1102, the group itself may include at least one rating, or
like reliability assessment, by a third party user, which may, for
example, stem from the use of the group by a plurality of third
party users. Second, at step 1104, a user may view the overall
rating, reliability rating and/or utilization of the users,
contacts, and/or TIRCs within the group. For example, in evaluating
the group, the evaluating user may be able to view the number of
groups (or number of other users) for which each user(s),
contact(s), and/or TIRC(s) of the evaluated group is "active" (in
embodiments wherein a user may be "active" or "inactive" as
indicated by other users in the group), for example. The present
invention may also allow each user(s), contact(s), and/or TIRC(s)
to be rated by a user of the group--such rating may be a scaled
rating, such as, for example, on a scale of 1-5, wherein 1 may be
indicative of not helpful and 5 may indicate a high degree of
expertise and/or trust, by way of non-limiting example. Further, a
user may be asked whether to modify ratings upon entering new
ratings for other users in the same category, as discussed
elsewhere herein.
[0068] Moreover, a TIRC in a particular area is likely to have
record of activity tracked or trackable by the present invention,
such as a record of the TIRC's book marking, live-linking, or
dedicating a page to particular links or points of interest that
the TIRC believes are helpful or of a certain quality, for example.
Thus, it may be more useful for a subsequent user to search for a
TIRC or a TIRC's searching or tracked results, and then make use of
the TIRC's recommended information or search points, such as at
step 1106, than it is for the user who is a non-TIRC to formulate
his or her own search or reuse a prior search that may or may not
have been performed by a TIRC.
[0069] Additionally and alternatively, at least one TIRC in a
particular field may advertise his/her expertise and/or rating
within the present invention at step 1108, such as wherein the
TIRC's expertise has been verified (as discussed above) by at least
one user, or a trusted third party verifier, in the present
invention. For example, a TIRC knowledgeable about the effects of
different types of mortgages on an individual may be verified as a
TIRC by other users making that TIRC active, by being deemed a TIRC
by a requisite number of other users, or by being verified by the
Association of Certified Public Accountants. A searching user may
also search "advertisements," such as indications within a search
result set of those deemed the foremost TIRCs on a searched topic,
or keyword correspondent ads related to a keyword searched, wherein
a TIRC has been verified with respect to that keyword and/or has
requested that the TIRC be returned in search results associated
with that keyword, in order to locate a known TIRC in a particular
field.
[0070] Similarly, the present invention may allow for "super"
TIRCs, i.e., the aforementioned TIRCs of a TIRC, at step 1110. More
particularly, a TIRC may be deemed an expert among experts in a
certain field, such as upon: being named a TIRC by one or a
predetermined number of the members whom other users have named as
TIRCs; being "active" as a TIRC in the topical area for one or a
certain number of other TIRCs; being named by or "active" for a
large number of users as a TIRC; or being verified by the engine of
the present invention or a third party as a "super" TIRC, by way of
non-limiting example. Likewise, a super-TIRC may use such status to
"advertise," such as to engage in keyword sponsorships, and/or to
offer endorsements for goods or services offered by users of the
instant invention, and/or to improve the search result standings of
such super-TIRCs within or outside the present invention, by way of
non-limiting example.
[0071] A super-TIRC may be indicated by a trust rating, for
example. More particularly, experts may be sorted, or ranked, such
as on an exemplary scale of 1-5, wherein the expert ranked 1 is
most likely the foremost expert in the relevant topic. As such, it
is likely that the expert achieving the rank of "1" is also the, or
one of the, super-TIRCs.
[0072] Thus, the present invention, at least in part, may provide
searching based on the relevancy of a TIRC's expertise to a desired
topic on which information is sought, rather than the prior art
methodology of keyword searching relating not to people and/or
experts, but instead relating merely to websites, things, or
advertised services that have no expertise rating associated
therewith. Of course, this embodiment of the present invention
correspondingly allows for a keyword or sponsored keyword-based
revenue model as used in prior art search engines and keyword
advertising, such as is offered by Google.RTM., to be employed in
the monetization of status as a true TIRC in certain topical
areas.
[0073] Accordingly, the present invention may interrelate keywords
and expertise in those keywords, as illustrated in FIG. 5B. As will
be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this
discussion, similarities among users 2102 and/or groups 2104 may
increase the relevancy for keyword search results 2104,
particularly in localized (such as geographic or topical
localization) searching, and the advantages gained from this
similarity are further heightened when one of the users wishes to
gain from the expertise of a similar user 2102a, or a group 2104a
of similar users, in the desired area 2110. Expertise-based keyword
searching in such embodiments may be particularly useful in areas
in which particularly unique expertise would have the greatest
impact on improving search results. Such areas include, but are not
limited to, geographic locality, travel, health, entertainment,
cars, lifestyle, education and commerce, for example.
[0074] Additionally, for example, as will be understood by those
skilled in the art in light of the discussion herein, in
embodiments wherein the certain characteristics of a user may be
known to the search engine of the present invention, the assembling
of groups in accordance with the present invention may allow for a
monitoring of what user(s), contact(s), and/or TIRC(s) are deemed
trusted or most trusted, and which user(s), contact(s), and/or
TIRC(s) the user deemed relevant or most relevant to particular
subjects. Further, the present invention may monitor what was done
responsive to that relevance, such as changing the composition of a
particular group or status of a user(s), contact(s), and/or
TIRC(s).
[0075] In an embodiment of the present invention, a user may agree
to join a group for a particular subject, for example, may gain
access to the users, contacts, and/or TIRCs within the group, and
may avail to the other members of the group any information
provided by that user. A "new" user to a group may be placed, such
as automatically, in an "inactive" status, as that status is
discussed above, and may thus be available in a group but not used
within the ratings for the particular subject. Another user may
thereafter activate inactive users, contacts, and/or TIRCs, and
place at least one in the "active" group. As discussed, an "active"
group may include five, or ten, "trusted" users, contacts, and/or
TIRCs. Such control over "active" contacts may allow the user to
eliminate unverified and/or otherwise untrusted information, and
may further invite verified or trusted information, including, for
example, the advertisements discussed above. Further, the user may
thus eliminate the negatives associated with unfiltered social
networking by controlling the input used to affect the rating of
desired content.
[0076] By way of example, when viewing unfiltered reviews on a
travel website, such as Expedia.RTM., for example, the rating
provided for hotels within a particular search may be influenced by
information that would not be considered "trusted" information by
the user if the user were aware of the source of such information.
For example, some of the information used in the rating of the
hotels offered may have been entered by a person having an economic
interest, either in the success or failure, of the rated hotel. For
example, a hotel manager may attempt to boost the hotel's rating,
while a competitor may seek to provide information to lower the
rating--goals that may impact whether the information provided is
accurate. Similarly, ratings information provided by unverified
guests may likely be overly positive, for example, as it is human
nature to not criticize, and further because users prefer to deem
their respective choices to be excellent, for example. By enabling
discriminated access to making the ratings, and/or by limiting
contributions to ratings from the newest users, the present
invention may provide a more realistic rating of a particular
subject by limiting input based on personal gain, vanity,
inexperience, and/or competition, for example.
[0077] As mentioned, users may initially be inactive within another
user's group, or may be inactivated after having been previously
activated. In a preferred embodiment, inactivation of users,
contacts, and/or TIRCs may be viewed only by the user of the
present invention and may not be known to the inactivated or
activated party. Thus, because inactivations remain confidential to
the user, the inactivated party does not experience any effect on
any information and/or ratings provided to the inactivated party,
and the inactivated party may or may not experience any effect on
information and/or rating provided by the inactivated party, due to
the inactivation. Such a feature may prevent, for example, one or
more inactivations of a particular TIRC from affecting the ratings
viewed by other users that have that TIRC activated. Conversely, as
one skilled in the art will appreciate, the affect of deactivation
by the TIRC may be felt not only in the particular topic associated
with the deactivation, but in all ratings associated with the
TIRC.
[0078] The present invention may also allow a user to store and/or
bookmark subjects/items/pages and/or users, contacts, and/or TIRCs
for future reference. Such "bookmarking" may, to the extent
personal to the user, have no effect external to the user's
account, even in the event of activation or deactivation, or may
have an effect outside a user account. Such bookmarking may have
effects such as on ratings, expertise status, advertising, or the
like. For example, a user may be deemed a TIRC in a given area if
that user is bookmarked by at least 10 people. Such capability may
also allow the user to forward information to other users as a
recommendation, or in a sharing capacity.
[0079] Yet further, in certain of the embodiments illustrated in
FIGS. 2, 2A and 2B, a bilateral agreement may be required, that is,
a first user may have to accept a relationship with a second user
requesting to receive information from that first user, and/or a
TIRC may have to accept a request to be a trusted party of the
second, requesting user. In such an embodiment, it may be
preferable that the second user may have access to all lines of
trust of the first user once the first user has accepted the
relationship/TIRC status. However, in other embodiments, no
bilateral agreement is required. More particularly, in certain
embodiments, a user may be able to activate an expert, and receive
certain information, or limited information, from that expert,
including a portion, such as 5, or all, of the trusted users of
that expert, without acquiescence of that expert. Likewise, in
non-bilaterial embodiments, a first user may be able to create a
relationship with another user, such as to "follow" that other
user, without acquiescence by that other user to let the first user
follow him/her.
[0080] Returning now more particularly to FIG. 2, at block 210 an
information request is illustratively received that specifies a
category. In an exemplary embodiment, the host server 104 receives
an information request from a user 103. The information request may
include content filtering information such as the standard filters
277a and/or advanced filters 277b set forth in FIG. 2B. The host
server 104 may generate and present a GUI (not shown) to the user
103 for submitting an information request. The information request
GUI may include a series of check boxes associated with various
categories/sub-categories and a submit button. In an exemplary
embodiment, an information request may be generated by selecting
one or more categories/subcategories and selecting the submit
button. Additionally, the GUI may include a text box for entering a
question for submission to a user's trusted information resources.
The GUI may further include check boxes or other means for entering
filter information for standard filters 277a and/or advanced
filters 277b.
[0081] Moreover, with respect to the aforementioned sub-categories,
the present invention may correspondingly include sub-networks in
association with, for example, main categories or sub-categories.
In an exemplary embodiment, a user interested in late model
Mustangs.RTM. automobiles may create and/or adopt a sub-network
associated with late model Mustangs.RTM. automobiles, such as
within a group or network dedicated to collector's cars. Such a
sub-network may have associated therewith a limited number of
people, such as, for example, about ten people, all of whom may
preferably be associated with the larger network. Within such a
sub-network or group, information may be shared from a user,
contact, and/or TIRC in the group to the user.
[0082] In establishing a sub-network, the user may gain access to
information that may be shared from the limited number of
participants in the selected sub-network, such as information the
limited number of participants have selected to populate within
each participant's sub-network, for example. The ability to limit
the number of user(s), contact(s), and/or TIRC(s) within a group or
sub-network allows the present invention to prevent the unchecked
aggregation of user(s), contact(s), and/or TIRC(s), and the
information related thereto, that may serve to dilute and/or
negatively impact the information sought by the user.
[0083] Thus, the present invention may provide a greater degree of
personalization with regard to the information gathered and
consumed by the user. By allowing the user to select from among, or
discriminate regarding information from, available user(s),
contact(s), and/or TIRC(s), the user is formulating a tailored
experience. By choosing a particular TIRC, for example, the user
creates a unique and individualized ratings system, as discussed
hereinthroughout.
[0084] By way of example in this field, Google presently offers
Google.RTM. Circles in an attempt to offer sub-networks. These
Circles are various groups into which friends may be organized.
Once groups are populated, a user may select which circles see what
information shared by that user (or from what circles that user
wishes to receive information). For example, a user's review of a
favorite television show may be seen only by friends, a review of
the food at the company picnic may be seen only by coworkers, and
pictures of a newborn nephew may be seen only by family. Similarly,
Facebook allows for friends to be placed into certain categories,
although the ability to limit shared information by those
categories is less available in Facebook than in Circles.
[0085] However, it is very tedious, in both Facebook and Circles,
for a user to dedicate the time needed to develop groups, to add
new groups as needed, and to place contacts within the groups in
order to allow for sharing limited by the category of the contact.
Thus, most users presently have different social networks, such as
being members of Facebook for friends and family, and LinkedIn for
coworkers and acquaintances, to provide this limited sharing
function. Further, users will often be unclear as to which group is
best suited for certain contacts, such as a cousin who is also a
coworker, and will need to continuously review and reorganize
contacts.
[0086] The present invention does not require grouping or filtering
of contacts. Rather, the trustlines of the present invention serve
to limit information shared or received based on trusted parties
within categories that the user is interested in, i.e., wine, cars,
and baseball, rather than categories of friends, family and
coworkers. More particularly, trustlines provide a sub-network
associated with a category designation (i.e., a sub-network of that
user and 10 friends within the category "wine") in which a limited
number of people can be assigned (such as 10 or less) to share
information from those people to the user. In establishing a
sub-network, a user may get access to the information that is
shared from the limited number of people, and which the people in
that sub-network have selected to populate their respective
sub-network, and so on. As such, Circles and Friends are based on
categorization of contacts, and in contrast the present invention
is at least partially based on lines of trust in a substantive
category.
[0087] As is graphically illustrated in the hierarchical view of
FIG. 6, limiting the number of trusted people in a specific
category does not limit the trusted advice the user receives in
that category. Rather, it provides for the receipt, by the user, of
a comparable volume of information to that information provided by
other social network systems or search engines, but with one very
significant difference--the volume of information provided to the
user in the instant invention is provided by successive
hierarchical levels populated solely by trusted advisors. In prior
art embodiments, either voluminous information could be obtained
only by inquiring with voluminous sources of information, which
necessarily included trusted and non-trusted sources; or only
limited information could be obtained from a small group of trusted
friends. In stark contrast to such prior art embodiments, and as
illustrated in FIG. 6, a user that has 5 trusted persons in a
category, and who gains access to the 5 trusted persons of each of
those 5 trusted persons, ultimately has access to the trusted
information from 155 trusted persons at only the third degree of
separation from the base user, and it bears noting that all 155
such persons are "trusted" by falling within trustlines traceable
solely to the 5 trusted persons named by the base user.
[0088] FIG. 7 illustrates a smartphone having associated therewith
at least one processor for executing computing code that causes to
be provided the illustrated display. As shown, the display
provided, in conjunction with the data and relational aspects
provided by the system of the present invention, enables a user to
manage trustlines 7101 and following contacts 7103 by category
7105. Further, the user may, via the provided display, turn on 7107
or off 7109, or active or inactive, other users to indicate who
that user trusts the most in a particular category. The other users
that may be turned on or off are, as shown, from among the contacts
of that user in that category. Once active in the user's trustline,
the active other users may make accessible to the user their
respective trustlines.
[0089] FIG. 8 illustrates a smartphone displaying a tabbed access
bar 8101 of a trustline index, persons in a trustline, contacts,
and following contacts. As shown, the trustline has been accessed
and the trusted recommendations in the selected category are thus
displayed 8103. The scrolling list of recommendations may be, for
example, sorted alphabetically, or by rating or score, while
allowing for a comparison of sources of the trusted
information.
[0090] FIG. 9 illustrates that a user may access, via the display,
a purchase capability for one of the recommendations provided in
the scrolling list of FIG. 8. This display may allow for a purchase
9101, saving of the recommendation for later review 9103, rating of
the recommendation 9105, and/or drill-down into the recommendation
9107, such as by review of the recommending persons, the
recommendation channel, and/or review of the recommendations.
[0091] Continuing now more particularly with FIG. 2, at block 212,
a first set of users within the user's network are identified that
are associated with the category (i.e., contacts 255 in
category-based network 265) and that are established as TIRCs for
that category (i.e., contacts 255 in set 270). In an exemplary
embodiment, the host server 104 identifies the first set of users
by examining the social network database 122 based on the category
specified in the information request and the user's established
TIRCs for that category. The first set of users may be thought of
as "experts" from the viewpoint of the user.
[0092] At block 214, a second set of users within the
category-based networks of the first set of users are identified
that are associated with the category and that are designated as
TIRCs for the category by the first set of users. In an exemplary
embodiment, the host server 104 identifies the second set of users
by examining the social network database 122 based on the category
specified in the information request and the TIRCs established of
the first set of users for that category. The second set of users
may be thought of as "experts" of the first set of users, e.g., the
expert's experts. The steps of block 214 may be repeated to obtain
information from TIRCs that are farther removed from the user,
e.g., the expert's expert's expert, the expert's expert's expert's
expert, and so on.
[0093] At block 216, information is retrieved for identified users.
In an exemplary embodiment, the host server 104 retrieves
information from the database 122 for identified users (e.g., those
identified in steps 212 and/or 214) corresponding to the
information request. The information may be ratings and/or reviews
of products within the selected category (step 210), or answers to
questions within the selected category. For example, assume the
category is action films. The host server 104 may retrieve all
ratings and/or reviews of action films by the TIRCs identified in
steps 212 and/or 214. If a user has a question associated with a
category, the information may be retrieved by disseminating the
question to the identified users and gathering responses from the
identified users.
[0094] At block 218, retrieved information is provided to a user.
In an exemplary embodiment, information retrieved by the host
server 104 from the database 122 at block 216 is transmitted to the
client device 102 from which the information request was received
(step 210) where it may be viewed by the user 103.
[0095] By way of non-limiting example, one group or persons that
very, very frequently seeks trusted advice is expecting and new
mothers. Expecting and new mothers most assuredly have access to
voluminous information, such as via the Internet, and yet studies
have shown that new and expecting mothers continue to rely on a
limited number of resources. The reason for the reliance on this
limited subset of all available resources is that mothers feel that
much of the remaining information cannot be trusted, i.e., only
those resources that are historically trusted by other mothers will
be trusted by a new or expecting mother. However, even if trust
should be limited to just a small subset of available information,
there is nevertheless not a uniform resource to which new and
expecting mothers can go to find which resources constitute this
small subset.
[0096] The present invention remedies each of the aforementioned
problems for a group, such as new and expecting mothers, that is
very highly dependent on obtaining information from trusted
sources. For example, may new and expecting mothers receive their
respective indications of what resources to trust from their
respective friends and family. In the present invention, such new
and expecting mothers may add and activate as resources, or TIRCs,
a limited subset of those friends and family members from whom the
mothers most wish to receive advice. Further, it goes without
saying that other persons trusted by those trusted friends and
family will likewise prove trustworthy to the new or expecting
mother. As such, the resources recommended by the members of the
trustline terminating at the new or expecting mother should prove
to be the most trusted resources for that new or expecting mother.
Thereby, the most trusted information resources for the new or
expecting mother are made available at a single location through
the use of the present invention. Correspondingly, the volume of
trusted information sources is expanded for the new or expecting
mother, in part because the trusted social circle of the new or
expecting mother has expanded to include trusted persons outside of
the immediate social circle of that new or expecting mother, but
without clouding the trust circle with less trusted sources or
voluminous, unwanted information.
[0097] The exemplary embodiments and steps described above enable a
user to monitor new ratings, reviews and other UGC of their TIRCs
within a desired category and the TIRCs of these TIRCs, etc.;
search ratings, reviews and other UGC of TIRCs within a desired
category and the TIRCs of these TIRCs, etc.; and send questions to
or communicate directly with TIRCs within a desired category and
to/with the TIRCs of these TIRCs, etc. Monitoring, searching, and
sending functionality is described in further detail below:
[0098] Monitoring--user 103 can set personal preferences within the
social network to receive information through direct links
established through extended category-based networks of users
identified as TIRCs within those category-based networks. The
information from these TIRCs can include ratings, reviews, links,
UGC, etc. Within this mode of functionality the user receives the
information automatically, e.g., periodically or as it is posted by
users. The information can be filtered by criteria such as set
forth in standard filters 277a and/or advance filters 277b (FIG.
2B) including by way of non-limiting example, the degrees of
separation from the TIRC, the status of active TIRC designations,
the number of UGC posts, ratings or reviews within a specific topic
category by each TIRC, and the social network communities' approval
or rating of a TIRC's UGC, ratings, reviews, etc.
[0099] As an example, a user may set her "monitor" preferences to
notify her of reviews down to the third degree of separation by
TIRCs within category-based networks for a particular category
(e.g., Italian restaurants) with a particular rating (e.g., above
9.3).
[0100] FIG. 10 depicts a flowchart 300 of exemplary steps for
monitoring reviews in accordance with one aspect of the present
invention. At block 302, a information request is received (e.g.,
at host server 104) from a user identifying a particular product
(e.g., product T5 from a group of products including products
T1-T6). At block 304, a category/subcategory associated with the
identified product is identified. For example, the host server 104
may identify the category/subcategory (e.g., Napa Cabernets)
associated with product T5 by comparing a product identifier (e.g.,
UPC code) for product T5 with entries in a database.
[0101] At block 306, TIRCs of the user for the identified category
are identified. In an exemplary embodiment, host server 104
identifies TIRCs for the identified category as described above for
blocks 212 and 214 of flow chart 200.
[0102] At block 308, host server 304 determines if the TIRCs have
reviewed the product identified by the user. In an exemplary
embodiment, host server 104 compares a product identifier of the
identified product to product identifiers of all products reviewed
by the TIRCs. If there is not a match, processing ends at block
310. If there is a match, indicating that one or more of the TIRCs
have reviewed the identified product, processing proceeds at block
312.
[0103] At block 312, host server 304 determines for each TIRC that
has reviewed the identified product whether they rated another
product the same or higher than the identified product. If no TIRC
has rated any other products within the category equal to or
greater than they rated the identified product, processing ends at
block 314. If one or more TIRCs rated one or more other products
equal to or greater than the identified product, processing ends at
block 316 with information for those products being transmitted to
the user device 102 of the user 103 requesting the information.
This process allows a user to quickly and easily identify other
products that the user may wish to try because they were rated by
the user's expert, expert's expert, and/or expert's expert's
expert, as equal to or better than the identified product.
[0104] Searching--user 103 can search for ratings, reviews, user
generated content, and published content by keywords, pictures,
dimensional barcodes, non-dimensional barcodes, UPC codes, geocode,
GPS coordinates, and more, through direct links established through
extended category-based networks of users identified as TIRCs
within a category. Within this mode of functionality the user
actively requests the information. The information can be filtered
by criteria such as set forth in standard filters 277a and/or
advanced filters 277b (FIG. 2B), including by way of non-limiting
example, the degrees of separation from the TIRC, the status of
active TIRC designations, the number of UGC posts, ratings or
reviews within a specific topic category by each TIRC, and the
social network communities' approval or rating of a TIRC's UGC,
ratings, reviews, etc.
[0105] As an example, a user may search for ratings, reviews, or
other valuable UGC by scanning the barcode on Malcom Gladwell's
book "Outliers" in order to receive relevant information from up to
the fifth degree of separation within his trusted resource or
expert category-based network for books.
[0106] Q&A'ing--user 103 can send questions to be answered
through direct links established through extended category-based
networks of users identified as TIRCs within a category. Within
this mode of functionality the user actively requests answers to
questions. The TIRC can filter questions to answer based on, for
example, the degrees of separation from the questioning user. The
answers can be filtered by criteria such as set forth in standard
filters 277a and advance filters 277b (FIG. 2B), including by way
of non-limiting example, the degrees of separation from the TIRC,
the status of active TIRC designations, the social network
communities' approval or rating of a TIRC's answers, and other
indications of credibility or status.
[0107] As an example, a user may send a question out to his trusted
resource network for wine, "I am going to San Francisco next month.
If I have two days in Napa, what wineries should I try to schedule
a tasting?" By way of further example, one group that frequently
seeks trusted advice is those seeking medical advice from trusted
medical professionals. Those seeking medical advice most assuredly
have access to voluminous information, such as via the Internet,
yet very little of that information is likely to be
trustworthy.
[0108] FIG. 11 illustrates a trusted system for providing medical
information according to the present invention. As shown, computing
code executable by a processor associated with a smartphone causes
the display 6103 of a menu of medical topics, as well as a
navigation tool, such as to allow the user to go to a home menu
("1"), view available categories ("2"), post, receive or upload
("3"), engage in a question and answer ("Q&A") with a trusted
expert about a topic or topics ("Q&A"), or learn about a topic
from trusted experts ("Learn").
[0109] As is further illustrated, a user may engage in the Q&A
with a question on a given topic, such as "Cardio." The question
may produce answers from TIRCs indicated by the questioning user's
most trusted persons and/or trustlines, as shown at step 6107.
Further, a particular TIRC may be deemed the best TIRC for the
topic, and/or to give the best, or highest rated, response, at step
6109, and that response may include preferred links, bookmarks, or
similar guidance from the most trusted TIRC. Likewise, a user may
learn from members of the trustlines in that category for the user,
i.e., from the most trusted users of users in that questioning
user's topical sub-network, as shown at step 6111.
[0110] Another aspect of the present invention relates to an
adaptive rating system and method that ensures that ratings of
entities (e.g., (product, person, service, experience, etc.) remain
relevant for a user as that user's level of experience matures. For
example, a user rating a bottle of wine may have a different rating
opinion after having rated 50 bottles of wine than after rating
three bottles of wine. The present invention enables past and/or
new ratings to be automatically adjusted in order to make them more
relevant.
[0111] FIG. 12 depicts a flow chart 400 of exemplary steps for
adapting ratings and FIG. 12A depicts a flow chart 452 of exemplary
sub-steps within the steps of flow chart 400. The steps of flow
charts 400 and 450 will be described with reference to the system
100 depicted in FIG. 1 to facilitate description. Other suitable
systems will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from
the description herein.
[0112] At block 402, a first rating for a first product is received
from a user. The rating may be a rating on a scale of 1 to 10
(e.g., a nine) for a product within a category or within a
subcategory (e.g., a wine or a California Pinot Noir). In an
exemplary embodiment, processor 116 may be coupled to a receiver
(not shown) that receives the rating from a user 103 via user
device 102 over network 106.
[0113] At block 404, a second rating for a second product is
received from the user. The rating may be a rating on a scale of 1
to 10 (e.g., a nine) for another product within the category or
subcategory (e.g., a wine or a California Pinot Noir). In an
exemplary embodiment, processor 116 may be coupled to a receiver
(not shown) that receives the rating from the user 103 via user
device 102 over network 106. FIG. 13A depicts a user attempting to
rate a second/new product that same as a first/benchmark product
(e.g., as a "9").
[0114] Referring now again to FIG. 12, at block 406, a potential
conflict is identified between the first rating and the second
rating. In an exemplary embodiment, processor 116 identifies the
potential conflict. FIG. 12A depicts exemplary sub-steps for
identifying a potential conflict (step 406). At sub-step 452,
processor 116 compares the first rating to the second rating. At
sub-step 454, processor 116 determines if the first rating equals
the second rating. If the ratings are equal, processor 116
identifies a potential conflict and processing proceeds at block
408. If the ratings are not equal, processing ends at block
456.
[0115] At block 408, feedback is solicited from the user to remedy
the potential conflict. In an exemplary embodiment, processor 116
solicits feedback to remedy the potential conflict.
[0116] FIG. 12A depicts exemplary sub-steps for soliciting feedback
to remedy the potential conflict (step 408). At sub-step 458,
processor 116 determines if the second rating is accurate based on
the current rating scale for the category. The current rating scale
includes at least one rating of a product (e.g., the first rating
for the first product). In an exemplary embodiment, processor 116
sends a first inquiry to the user asking if the second rating is
accurate based on the current rating scale (e.g., should the second
product have the same rating as the first product). If the second
rating is inaccurate (e.g., no, the first and second products are
not equivalent to the user rating the products, processing proceeds
at block 462. If the second rating is accurate (e.g., yes, the
first and second products are essentially equivalent to the user
rating the products), processing ends at block 460.
[0117] At sub-step 462, processor 116 receives a comparative rating
between the first product and the second product. In an exemplary
embodiment, processor 116 sends a rating scale such as depicted in
FIG. 13B for display by user device 102 to solicit feedback from
user 103. The depicted rating scale provides a number of
subintervals in the vicinity of the first product rating for
selection by user 103. For example, if the second product is a
little better than the first product and the first product has a
rating by user 103 of "9", the user may select a slightly higher
rating, e.g., "9.5" on the rating scale. In this case, the
comparative rating would be "0.5" better. Similarly, if the second
product is a little worse than the first product, the user may
select a slightly lower rating, e.g., "8.5" on the rating scale. In
this case, the comparative rating would be "0.5" worse. The user
may enter the comparative rating in other well known manners, e.g.,
by typing in a comparative value or other value from which a
comparative value may be obtained.
[0118] At block 410, the first or second rating is adapted
responsive to the feedback solicited from the user. In an exemplary
embodiment, processor 116 adapts the first or second rating. FIG.
12A depicts an exemplary sub-step for adapting that rating of the
first or second rating (step 410). At step 464, processor 116
proportionally adjusts the first rating based on the comparative
rating. In an exemplary embodiment, the rating of a first product
is only adjusted when the first product has the maximum value
rating on the rating scale (e.g., a value of "10" on a ten-point
scale) and a maximum value rating is received for a second product
that they user believes should have a higher rating than the first
rating.
[0119] As an illustrative example, consider a first product having
a rating of 10 as previously rated by the user. If the user
attempts to rate a second product as a 10, similar to as
illustrated in FIG. 13A, the system (e.g., processor 116) will
identify a conflict. Feedback will then be solicited from the user
to determine if the second product should have the same rating as
the first product. If the user indicates that it should not have
the same value, the user submits a comparative rating of the second
product to the first product, e.g., a rating of 9.1-9.9 or
10.1-10.9. In an exemplary embodiment, if a rating of 10.1 to 10.9
were received from the user (e.g., 10.6 as illustrated in FIG.
13C), the second product would then be established as a benchmark
for a rating of 10 and the first product (and any other previously
rated products for the category) would be proportionally re-rated,
e.g., by processor 116. For example, if the first product had a
rating of 10 and the second product was given a comparative rating
of 10.6, the first product would be given a rating of 9.4
(10.0-0.6=9.4) and the second product would be established as a 10.
It will be understood that the system could be applied to many
ratings for many products, in which case all the previously rated
products may be automatically adjusted in a manner similar to the
first product.
[0120] For example, as a first step (STEP ONE) ratings may be
received by the host server 104 from a user 103 rating multiple
products within a category, e.g., product 1=3, product 2=5, and
product 3=8. The host server 104 may then proportionally adjust the
ratings of the products to a standardized scale in which the rating
of the highest rated product is set to the top value of the
standardized scale and the ratings of the other products are
proportionally adjusted. For example, if the standardized scale is
a ten-point scale, product 3 may be set to 10 and products 1 and 2
may be proportionally adjusted, e.g., product 1 equals 4
(3/8*10=3.75) and product 2 equals 6 (5/8*10=6.25). Next (STEP
THREE), the host server 104 receives a rating for a product within
the category from the user 103 that has a rating higher than the
highest rated product within that category, e.g., product 4 equals
10.9. Finally (STEP FOUR), the host server 104 adjusts the new
rating to the highest rating and proportionally adjusts the other
ratings. For example, product 4 is set equal to 10; product 1 is
set equal to 4 (Old Score-Old Score*Adjustment Factor=Old Score-Old
Score*(Max benchmark for 10-10)/10=Old Score-Old
Score*(10.9-10)/10=4-4*0.09=3.64); products 2 is set equal to 5
(Old Score-Old Score*Adjustment Factor=Old Score-Old Score*(Max
benchmark for 10-10)/10=Old Score-Old
Score*(10.9-10)/10=6-6*0.09=5.46); and product 3 is set equal to 9
(Old Score-Old Score*Adjustment Factor=Old Score-Old Score*(Max
benchmark for 10-10)/10=Old Score-Old
Score*(10.9-10)/10=10-10*0.09=9.1). In another embodiment, ratings
are proportionally adjusted whenever a potential conflict is
identified and a comparative rating (e.g., higher and/or lower) is
received from a user.
[0121] Aspects of the adaptive rating system may include by way of
non-limiting example:
[0122] a) A rating system where the entity (product, person,
service, experience, etc) with the highest rating serves as the
benchmark for which all lower rated products or experiences are
ranked against within a specific category.
[0123] b) A process that requires the user to rate any new entities
in relation to the value of current benchmarks within a specific
category.
[0124] c) A rating system where a process requires the user, when
attempting to rate an entity that has an equal rating to an
existing entity, to confirm that the rating of the entity is truly
equal, where if the rating of the new entity is not equal, the
rating of the new entity has to be set either greater than or less
than the previous benchmark for that entity.
[0125] d) A process that when the user indicates that the rating of
a new (or re-rated) entity is greater than the current highest
benchmark, all the rating of entities weighted in relation to the
former benchmark are adjusted proportionally.
[0126] The present invention is capable of adjusting ratings as a
user's tastes mature and experience within a category/subcategory
evolves, while keeping scores based on a relative scale. For
example, a user tries a mid-tier Bordeaux as one of their first
wine experiences and give it a 10. As the user tries other wines
they do not enjoy as much they will rate them less than 10 (using
the mid-tier Bordeaux as the top of the scale). The user may
eventually try a Bordeaux they enjoy more than any other he has
previously experienced. When he tries to give it a score of 10, the
adaptive rating system/method requires him to rate this Bordeaux in
comparison to the mid-tier Bordeaux that is currently serving as
his benchmark for "10". If the user feels they are equal, both
remain a 10. If the user rates the new Bordeaux greater than the
current standing mid-tier Bordeaux (e.g. 10.5), the 10.5 Bordeaux
becomes the new benchmark for "10". The previous mid-tier Bordeaux
that represented 10, along with all the wines that were rated in
comparison to the mid-tier Bordeaux are automatically adjusted in
relation to the new 10 point scale now established by the 10.5
Bordeaux. By adapting the rating scale (maintaining a True10 rating
system), the value of an individual rating becomes significantly
more valuable and relevant to users within a network.
[0127] The adapted score makes an expert's ratings or
recommendations more relevant, which can be further enhanced by
considering additional features, including, but not limited to:
[0128] a trust index: how many people directly trust a person as a
TIRC (e.g., expert) for a specific category;
[0129] a like index: the degree to which other users "like" the
answers, recommendations, and/or ratings of an expert; and
[0130] an experience index: how many products the expert has rated,
questions they have answered, etc.
[0131] For example, a reviewer/expert may be evaluated on a scale
of 0 to 10 based on the following four characteristics: (1) number
of reviews written ("WRITTEN"), (2) number of reviews read by other
users ("READ"), (3) number of times identified as a TIRC by other
users ("EXPERT"), and (4) number of times reviewed were identified
by other users as helpful ("HELP"). For each characteristic, a
maximum point level (e.g., 10) may be given to a reviewer/expert
with the largest number of reviews/customer indications. Each
evaluation characteristic may be assigned a weight coefficient
correlated with its contribution to an overall evaluation to obtain
a final evaluation score, e.g., ranging from 0 to 10. Maximum
values for one or more characteristics may be designated. In one
example, WRITTEN has a weight of 0.2 (K.sub.W=0.2), READ has a
weight of 0.5 (K.sub.R=0.2), EXPERT has a weight of 0.5
(K.sub.E=0.5), and HELP has a weight of 0.5 (K.sub.H=0.1). Input
variables may include: (1) i, reviewer's index (i=0 . . . N where N
is the total number of reviewers); (2) W.sub.i number of reviews
written by the ith reviewer; (3) W.sub.max, maximum number of
reviews written by a reviewer/expert; (4) R.sub.i, number of
reviews by ith reviewer/expert that were read by other users; (5)
R.sub.max, maximum number of ith reviewer/expert read reviews; (6)
E.sub.i number of times ith reviewer/expert identified as a TIRC by
other users; (7) E.sub.max, maximum number of TIRC identifications;
(8) H.sub.i, number of reviews by ith reviewer/expert identified as
helpful; (9) H.sub.max, maximum number of reviews by ith
reviewer/expert identified as helpful. An exemplary algorithm for
determining a weight of each reviewers/experts, i, may be as set
forth in equation (1).
EV = K W W i W max 10 + K R R i R max 10 + K E E i E max 10 + K H H
i H max 10 ( 1 ) ##EQU00001##
[0132] FIGS. 14A and 14B depict an exemplary user interfaces for
rating products. In FIG. 14A, a user is presented with a portion of
a rating scale 600, e.g., integers 8, 9, and 10 of a ten-point
scale. The host server 104 may present the rating scale
horizontally on a user device 102. A user 103 may select a rating
by moving an indicator along the rating scale 600 and selecting a
particular point on the rating scale when the position of the
indicator corresponds to the desired rating. For example, the user
may utilize a user input device such as a mouse (not shown) to move
the indicator and may depress a key on the mouse to make a rating
selection. If a rating conflict is identified, e.g., by host server
104 as described above with reference to block 458 (e.g., the user
tries to rate a new product as a "9" and there is an existing
products rated as a "9"), the user is presented with a comparative
rating scale such as depicted in FIG. 14B for use in making a
comparative rating. The host server 104 may present the comparative
rating scale 602 in an orientation other than the orientation of
the rating scale 600, e.g., vertically, on a user device 102. In
the illustrated embodiment, comparative rating scale 602 has finer
granularity than rating scale 600. The user may then be required to
select a comparative rating on the comparative rating scale 602
between the next value greater "10" and the next value lower "8,"
e.g., between 8.1 and 9.9, using an input device such as a mouse
moving vertically along the comparative rating scale 602.
[0133] Adaptive ratings and feedback may likewise be, or be
included as aspects of, an analytics system according to the
present invention. In an embodiment of the present invention and as
illustrated in FIG. 15, a recommendation engine 3102 may be used to
automatically suggest or modify at least one group 3104, or group
members 3106, or user status 3108a, based on the preferences of the
user 3108 and/or the user's use 3110, or another user's use 3112,
of the system 3114 of the present invention. More specifically, the
recommendation engine 3102 may allow the system to view the
performance and/or attributes 3120 of group member(s) 3106, member
information, and/or the like, such as to provide an optimal group
3104a for use by the user. For example, an analytics engine 3202
may be employed which may track certain member attributes 3120 or
system attributes 3204 such as: TIRC linkages by system users, the
number of ratings/comments by system participants; linkages between
member(s); the user's viewing of group results; the views of system
users regarding certain subjects; percent change in trustlines
turned on for a user; number of invites to a user, or from a user;
number of times bookmarked, or number of times bookmarking other
users; purchases made based on recommendations from; status as a
super TIRC; the personal characteristics and/or cookies of the
user; the content placed by the user; and the status of system
participants, for example. Such tracking may be performed by a
relational database 3202a, such as that illustrated in FIG. 16,
accessible to analytics engine 3202 to allow for analysis of the
data in the database 3202a.
[0134] The information collected by the analytics engine may then
be used by the recommendation engine to enhance and/or protect the
integrity of a user's group; to monetize data for or from
advertising; to verify TIRC status, or the like. For example,
information gathered by the analytics engine and processed by the
recommendation engine may indicate that a particular TIRC within
the system has had a change in status occur such that, for example,
over 50% of system users switched that TIRC to "inactive" from
"active." The recommendation engine may review the user's group(s)
and, if that particular TIRC is "active" within a user's group(s),
a status change recommendation may be made to the user, such as,
for example, suggesting a switch of that TIRC to "inactive."
Similarly, if a particular TIRC is used by a high proportion of
users (as compared to other TIRCs), and the TIRC is associated with
a subject that the user has groups associated with, or has
visits/searched in the past, the recommendation engine may make a
recommendation for the user to investigate that TIRC. Such
recommendation may be in the form of a banner ad, a highlighted
link, or the like, for example.
[0135] The recommendation engine of the present invention may also
provide for the creation of groups and/or pools of user(s),
contact(s), and/or TIRC(s) related to particular subjects that may
be offered to users of the system. Utilizing information from the
analytics engine, the recommendation engine may provide
recommendations to or of certain user(s), group(s), contact(s),
and/or TIRC(s) associated with a subject estimated to be of
interest to the user, such as based on the user's existing groups
and browsing history, and/or may recommend creating a group to the
user. Such recommendations may include at least one advertisement
related to the subject. For example, if the user has one or more
groups related to travel, a group focused on hiking in New Zealand
may be offered to the user. The same offer may include
advertisements from tour operators offering New Zealand based
travel packages, for example.
[0136] In an embodiment of the present invention, the
recommendation engine may recommend a particular TIRC, rather than
a group, and/or may promote the TIRC based on factors such as the
TIRC's usage within the system, the TIRC's active group
participation among users of the system, and/or the affinity of the
TIRC to advertisements (e.g., the click-through rate of
advertisements linked to, or endorsed by, the TIRC). In this way,
participants in the system may be encouraged to become TIRCs, and
may look to economically benefit from the associated
advertising.
[0137] Yet further, the analytics engine, such as through analysis
of a user's preferences, TIRCs, and searches, may glean user
characteristics akin to those gained by "cookies" in other
embodiments. However, in the instant invention, the additional
information gleaned from that characteristics of those persons
selected as that user's TIRCs provide an additional refinement
capability in the user profile not available in the prior art.
Thereby, for example, the present invention provides an appreciable
enhancement in the ability to target advertised products and
services to an individual, and further allows for an improved
ability to consider what endorsements or sponsorships may work best
in convincing that user to engage in an electronic transaction.
[0138] Accordingly, the present invention may, through the use of
the analytics and recommendation engines, build maps of significant
influencers. Such an influencer map may be based on trust, trust
levels, expertise, or super-expertise, such as may be evidenced by
those influence that get people to store or save the
recommendations of that influencer. Likewise, and according to the
flow illustrated in FIG. 17, maps may be created of targeted
customers (individuals and segments), requests may be received for
targeted customers, or recommendations may be made as to targeted
customers. For example, the recommendation engine may receive, such
as via the analytics engine, a topic of interest to a user 5101,
such as via analytics, cookies, or via a user search. The user may
be analyzed, such as by analysis of that user's active trustlines,
TIRCs, groups, or the like, in light of the topic deemed of
interest to the user, to identify relevant recommendations from the
recommendation engine at step 5103.
[0139] The recommendation engine may thereafter, at step 5105,
match available promotions, such as may be provided via an
associated database, ad server, or the like, with the relevant
recommendations. The available promotions may be provided by
partners making available discounts, or may be provided
indiscriminately, such as by an ad server. Partners may include,
for example, GroupOn or Living Social. Further, the promotion may
be delivered, such as at step 5105, quite literally with the
trusted recommendation, such that a uniquely powerful marketing
opportunity is provided by the present invention.
[0140] The user receiving the recommended promotion may then take
action on the promotion, such as at step 5107. Once action is
taken, the provider of the recommendation engine may receive, at
step 5109, a percentage of the revenue generated by the
transaction, as may the promotions partner, by way of non-limiting
example.
[0141] As referenced throughout, it is contemplated that one or
more of the various components and steps described above may be
implemented through software that configures a server to perform
the function of these components and/or steps. This software may be
embodied in a non-transient machine readable storage medium, e.g.,
a magnetic disc, an optical disk, a memory-card, or other tangible
medium capable of storing instructions. The instructions, when
executed by computer, such as a server, cause the computer to
execute a method for performing the function of one or more
components and/or steps described above.
[0142] As illustrated in FIG. 19, the present invention may provide
the manual (overlapping) set up of Trustlines [showing value
creation to the 3rd degree)/Trustline limited to three.
[0143] As illustrated in FIG. 21, The long tail for social products
like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and others is
challenged by diminishing utility as people grow their personal
networks. Trustlines.TM. represent an entirely new graph (trust
graph), designed to coexists with today's social graph, which allow
people to learn and discover from an interconnected chain of
relationships that are limited to the top five people each
individual trusts most within a subject. The trust graph represents
a game changing opportunity that may enhance how users learn and
discover within today's leading social and ecommerce platforms.
[0144] As illustrated in FIG. 23, while much of what drives our
decisions and discovery comes from a small number of people we
trust, the limited number of these individuals [also] limits the
amount we can learn and discover.
[0145] As illustrated in FIG. 24, Trustlines allow users to build a
personal channel of experts by identifying and activating a small
number people he/she trusts most in a subject.
[0146] Although the invention is illustrated and described herein
with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not
intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various
modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range
of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the
invention.
* * * * *