U.S. patent application number 14/616977 was filed with the patent office on 2016-04-21 for cumulative evaluation and review system and methods.
The applicant listed for this patent is Brian Michael Gilb. Invention is credited to Brian Michael Gilb.
Application Number | 20160110789 14/616977 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55749403 |
Filed Date | 2016-04-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160110789 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Gilb; Brian Michael |
April 21, 2016 |
Cumulative Evaluation and Review System and Methods
Abstract
The present invention is generally directed to a cumulative
rating system for generating accurate and unbiased evaluations of
products, performances, and/or services, thereby improving the
reliability of information provided to a consumer and improving
their purchasing decision.
Inventors: |
Gilb; Brian Michael; (San
Diego, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Gilb; Brian Michael |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
55749403 |
Appl. No.: |
14/616977 |
Filed: |
February 9, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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62065949 |
Oct 20, 2014 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.44 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0619 20130101;
G06Q 30/0282 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/06 20060101
G06Q030/06; G06Q 30/02 20060101 G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A method for generating and providing one or more evaluations to
a consumer to aid in a decision making process, the method
comprising: receiving evaluation request data associated with
evaluation of at least one of a product, performance, or service;
transmitting an evaluation notification to a set of reviewers based
on the evaluation request data; receiving evaluation data based on
one or more evaluations completed by the set of reviewers;
analyzing the evaluation data to thereby generate an overall review
of the product, performance, or service; and providing the overall
review of the product, performance, or service to a consumer to
thereby assist the consumer in making a decision associated with
the evaluated product, performance, or service.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaluation request data is
selected from the group consisting of: identity of a requesting
client; identity of the product, performance, or service to be
evaluated, evaluation parameters; timeframe for release of overall
review of the product, performance, or service; and a combination
of at least two thereof.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the evaluation parameters are
selected from the group consisting of: number of reviewers in the
set of reviewers; characteristics of at least one reviewer in the
set of reviewers; specialty of at least one reviewer in the set of
reviewers; experience level of at least one reviewer in the set of
reviewers; and a combination of at least two thereof.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting an evaluation
notification comprises providing a cumulative evaluation form to
the set of reviewers, the cumulative evaluation form eliciting
evaluation input data from each reviewer of the set of the
reviewers.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the evaluation input data is
selected from the group consisting of: a numerical score of the
product, performance, or service in one or more evaluation
categories; a written opinion of the product, performance, or
service in one or more evaluation categories; and a combination
thereof.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein analyzing the evaluation data
comprises comparing input data from at least two reviewers of the
set of reviewers and generating the overall review of the product,
performance, or service based on the comparison.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the overall review of the
product, performance, or service comprises a numerical score
representative of a ranking of the evaluated product, performance,
or service relative to other similar evaluated products,
performances, or services.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the numerical score is a
percentile score.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising verifying authenticity
and objectivity of evaluation data prior to analyzing the
evaluation data and providing the overall review of the product,
performance, or service to a consumer.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of reviewers comprises
at least three reviewers, each reviewer providing evaluation input
data for the product, performance, or service to be evaluated.
11. At least one computer accessible medium storing instructions
which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform
operations for generating and providing one or more evaluations to
a consumer to aid in a decision making process, the operations
comprising: receiving evaluation request data associated with
evaluation of at least one of a product, performance, or service;
transmitting an evaluation notification to a set of reviewers based
on the evaluation request data; receiving evaluation data based on
one or more evaluations completed by the set of reviewers;
analyzing the evaluation data to thereby generate an overall review
of the product, performance, or service; and providing the overall
review of the product, performance, or service to a consumer to
thereby assist the consumer in making a decision associated with
the evaluated product, performance, or service.
12. The computer accessible medium of claim 11, wherein the
operations further comprise providing a cumulative evaluation form
to the set of reviewers, the cumulative evaluation form eliciting
evaluation input data from each reviewer of the set of the
reviewers.
13. The computer accessible medium of claim 12, wherein the
evaluation input data is selected from the group consisting of: a
numerical score of the product, performance, or service in one or
more evaluation categories; a written opinion of the product,
performance, or service in one or more evaluation categories; and a
combination thereof.
14. The computer accessible medium of claim 12, wherein the
operations further comprise comparing input data from at least two
reviewers of the set of reviewers and generating the overall review
of the product, performance, or service based on the
comparison.
15. The computer accessible medium of claim 11, wherein the
operations further comprise verifying authenticity and objectivity
of evaluation data prior to analyzing the evaluation data and
providing the overall review of the product, performance, or
service to a consumer.
16. The computer accessible medium of claim 11, wherein the
evaluation request data is selected from the group consisting of:
identity of a requesting client; identity of the product,
performance, or service to be evaluated, evaluation parameters;
timeframe for release of overall review of the product,
performance, or service; and a combination of at least two
thereof.
17. The computer accessible medium of claim 16, wherein the
evaluation parameters are selected from the group consisting of:
number of reviewers in the set of reviewers; characteristics of at
least one reviewer in the set of reviewers; specialty of at least
one reviewer in the set of reviewers; experience level of at least
one reviewer in the set of reviewers; and a combination of at least
two thereof.
18. The computer accessible medium of claim 11, wherein the overall
review of the product, performance, or service comprises a
numerical score representative of a ranking of the evaluated
product, performance, or service relative to other similar
evaluated products, performances, or services.
19. The computer accessible medium of claim 18, wherein the
numerical score is a percentile score.
20. The computer accessible medium of claim 11, wherein the set of
reviewers comprises at least three reviewers, each reviewer
providing evaluation input data for the product, performance, or
service to be evaluated.
21. A system for generating and providing one or more evaluations
to a consumer to aid in a decision making process, the system
comprising: an internet-based computing system configured to
communicate and exchange data with at least one of a system host,
one or more administrators, one or more clients requesting
evaluation of at least one of a product, performance, or service,
one or more registered reviewers, and one or more consumers, the
internet-based computing system comprising a cumulative evaluation
computing system, including a processor, configured to: receive
evaluation request data from a requesting client, the evaluation
request data associated with evaluation of at least one of a
product, performance, or service; transmit an evaluation
notification to a set of registered reviewers based on the
evaluation request data; receive evaluation data based on one or
more evaluations completed by the set of reviewers; analyze the
evaluation data to thereby generate an overall review of the
product, performance, or service; and provide the overall review of
the product, performance, or service to the one or more consumer to
thereby assist the one or more consumers in making a decision
associated with the evaluated product, performance, or service.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the evaluation request data is
selected from the group consisting of: identity of a requesting
client; identity of the product, performance, or service to be
evaluated, evaluation parameters; timeframe for release of overall
review of the product, performance, or service; and a combination
of at least two thereof.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the evaluation parameters are
selected from the group consisting of: number of reviewers in the
set of reviewers; characteristics of at least one reviewer in the
set of reviewers; specialty of at least one reviewer in the set of
reviewers; experience level of at least one reviewer in the set of
reviewers; and a combination of at least two thereof.
24. The system of claim 21, wherein cumulative evaluation computing
system is configured to provide a cumulative evaluation form to the
set of reviewers, the cumulative evaluation form eliciting
evaluation input data from each reviewer of the set of the
reviewers.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the evaluation input data is
selected from the group consisting of: a numerical score of the
product, performance, or service in one or more evaluation
categories; a written opinion of the product, performance, or
service in one or more evaluation categories; and a combination
thereof.
26. The system of claim 24, wherein the cumulative evaluation
computing system is configured to compare input data from at least
two reviewers of the set of reviewers and generate the overall
review of the product, performance, or service based on the
comparison.
27. The system of claim 21, wherein the overall review of the
product, performance, or service comprises a numerical score
representative of a ranking of the evaluated product, performance,
or service relative to other similar evaluated products,
performances, or services.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein the numerical score is a
percentile score.
29. The system of claim 21, wherein the cumulative evaluation
computing system is configured to verify authenticity and
objectivity of evaluation data prior to analyzing the evaluation
data and providing the overall review of the product, performance,
or service to a consumer.
30. The system of claim 21, wherein the set of reviewers comprises
at least three registered reviewers, each reviewer providing
evaluation input data for the product, performance, or service to
be evaluated.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional
patent application No. 62/065,949, filed Oct. 20, 2014, the entire
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to evaluation systems and
methods, and, more particularly, to a cumulative rating system for
generating accurate and unbiased evaluations of products,
performances, and/or services, thereby improving the reliability of
information provided to a consumer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Many consumers prefer to take other's opinions into account
when making a purchasing decision. Reviews of products and/or
services, such as reviews of particular goods (e.g., electronics,
clothing, etc.), or a review of the quality of food and/or service
at a restaurant, for example, help consumers make informed choices
based on the experiences of others. In recent years, online reviews
have become an important aspect of the decision making process for
many consumers, wherein such reviews have largely become the single
most influential aspect in determining consumer buying behavior. In
fact, some studies have shown that online consumer reviews of
products are the second most trusted form of advertising.
[0004] However, current review systems have very little or no means
of counteracting biased reviews for content submitted over the
internet by users. As a result, online reviews typically suffer
from reliability concerns because many websites allow users to
submit reviews with little or no verification. In fact, there are
many examples of merchants posing as a customer and submitting
positive reviews for themselves or submitting negative reviews for
their competitors.
[0005] Current review system models may be particularly unreliable
for certain markets. For example, eBooks and electronic publishing
has given rise to a self-publishing industry that is challenging
the traditional publishing model. Furthermore, self-publishing
companies and online distributors are challenging the status quo of
traditional publishing by driving the price of eBooks down and
removing barriers to entry for any author willing to publish their
own work. Thus, the eBook market is flooded with low-quality
work--making it difficult for authors to make a living and for
readers to find those authors.
[0006] The most significant obstacle for customers in this state of
publishing is finding high-quality books to read. Currently, online
distributors rely on the "Five Star" rating system to assist
customers. However, studies have found that a large portion (almost
a third) of all online reviews are faked through individuals or
companies hired to produce reviews using "sock puppet" profiles.
Accordingly, it is increasingly difficult for consumers to find
reliable reviews when deciding on which products to purchase, such
as books, for example.
[0007] Many consumers prefer to take other's opinions into account
when making a purchasing decision. Reviews of products and/or
services, such as reviews of particular goods (e.g., electronics,
clothing, etc.), or a review of the quality of food and/or service
at a restaurant, for example, help consumers make informed choices
based on the experiences of others. In recent years, online reviews
have become an important aspect of the decision making process for
many consumers, wherein such reviews have largely become the single
most influential aspect in determining consumer buying behavior. In
fact, some studies have shown that online consumer reviews of
products are the second most trusted form of advertising.
[0008] However, current review systems have very little or no means
of counteracting biased reviews for content submitted over the
internet by users. As a result, online reviews typically suffer
from reliability concerns because many websites allow users to
submit reviews with little or no verification. In fact, there are
many examples of merchants posing as a customer and submitting
positive reviews for themselves or submitting negative reviews for
their competitors.
[0009] Current review system models may be particularly unreliable
for certain markets. For example, Self-Publishing has flooded the
eBook market to saturation. In order for authors win the attention
of readers, they have resorted to tactics that manipulate the
review system by posting reviews on their own work, posting
negative reviews about other authors without reading their work,
and using fake profiles to generate artificial conversations that
lead customers to believe a book is being read more than it
actually is.
[0010] The most significant obstacle for customers in this state of
book publishing is finding high-quality books to read. Currently,
online distributors rely on the "Five Star" rating system and
algorithms to assist customers. However, studies have found that a
large portion (almost a third) of all online reviews are faked
through individuals or companies hired to produce reviews using
"sock puppet" profiles, which are created by reviewers who are
incentivized to provide fictitious reviews (See Jindal et al.,
"Opinion Spam and Analysis", Proceedings of First ACM International
Conference on Web Search and Data Mining (WSDM-2008), Feb. 11-12,
2008, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., USA). Accordingly, it
is increasingly difficult for consumers to find reliable
information from customer reviews when deciding on which products
to purchase, such as books, for example.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention relates to a Cumulative Rating System
(CRS) for generating accurate and unbiased evaluations of products,
performances, and/or services, thereby improving the reliability of
information provided to a consumer and improving their purchasing
decisions. In the embodiments described herein, the CRS is adapted
to be used in the book publishing industry, particularly for the
evaluation of eBooks.
[0012] However, it should be noted that the CRS of the present
disclosure is configured to be compatible with other industries in
providing evaluation or review of a variety of products, services,
and/or performance of businesses, and need not be limited to the
book publishing industry. For example, the CRS is configured to be
used in providing evaluation of a wide variety of retail products,
evaluation of a variety of businesses that provide a service (e.g.,
restaurant preparing and serving food and drink, beauty salon
providing cosmetic services, retail store selling consumer
products, etc.), and evaluation of performance of
businesses/individuals providing a service (e.g., performance of
tradesperson, such as a plumber or electrician, performance of
sales staff at a business, etc.). Furthermore, the CRS is
configured to be used in providing evaluations of products and/or
services that are creative, artistic in nature, or require some
type of performance, including, but not limited to, restaurants,
hotels, realtors, art and design, movies and film, schools and
universities, contractors, musical productions, musical bands,
sports equipment, food products, bars, dance clubs, motor vehicles,
cleaning products, etc.
[0013] According to one aspect, the CRS is an evaluation/review
system that provides businesses, individuals, industries, or
entities with an accurate and unbiased evaluation of their product,
performance, or service and to further provide such unbiased
evaluation to consumers to assist in their purchasing decision.
Generally, the CRS is configured to take qualitative information in
the form of evaluations/reviews and translate such information it
into quantitative information by use of uniformed review criteria
so as to provide customers with more accurate reviews to help them
make a purchase decision.
[0014] The CRS may generally be embodied on any known
internet-based computing system, or other external computing
configuration in which there are one or more remote servers
networked to allow a centralized data storage and online access to
such data. For example, in one embodiment, the CRS may be embodied
on a cloud-based service, for example, and provide an interface
such that one or more entities may access the system and interact
with the interface so as to allow an entity to review and select
different evaluation/review options provided by the system. The
entities may include, for example, a business, individual,
industry, or entity that seeks out an evaluation of their product,
performance, or service.
[0015] A requesting entity (also referred to as "requesting
client") can select to have any combination of reviews for their
product, service, process or business by making a transaction with
an administrator (also referred to as "industry user") in exchange
for evaluations. The industry user is a business or other entity
with administrator access to a particular segment within the CRS
and essentially acts as the intermediary between the requesting
entity and the one or more registered reviewers. By providing a
requesting client with the ability to have any combination of
reviews for their product, service, process or business gives them
power over how customers perceive their business or products by
competing with others in a fair environment with regulated reviews.
The CRS is configurable enough to adjust to any combination of
orders, requests, prices, or individuals requesting orders.
[0016] The system is configured to gather evaluation/review
requests from one or more entities accessing the cloud-based
service. The system is further configured to utilize one or more
registered reviewers to provide an evaluation/review of the
requested product, performance, and/or service. The registered
users may generally include individuals who are screened by the
administrator for qualifications and credentials so as to ensure
that a registered reviewer is qualified to provide an accurate and
unbiased evaluation/review.
[0017] The registered reviewers are able to access the system via
the cloud-based service and further access a cumulative evaluation
form which includes a set of questions requiring the reviewer's
input so as to provide an evaluation of the requested product,
performance, or service as dictated by the requesting entity. The
system is further configured to receive completed evaluations from
one or more registered reviewers and analyze the completed
evaluation/review data to provide an overall rating of the
requested product, performance, or service. In some embodiments,
the system is configured to compare completed evaluation/review
data from a first registered reviewer with other completed
evaluation/review data of the same product, performance, or service
from other registered reviewers so as to generate an overall
average rating for any given product, performance, or service so as
to provide a more accurate review.
[0018] The CRS is configured to then present ratings to one or more
customers via the cloud-based service, thereby providing accurate
and reliable evaluation for any given product, performance, or
service to aid the consumer during the buying process. Consumers
may further have access to additional information related to any
given review, such as individual profiles of one or more registered
reviewers, so as to provide improved transparency into the review
process as well as the experience of each reviewer to further
provide an enhanced sense of reliability in any given review.
[0019] The system of the present invention focuses on the idea that
the collective opinion of a group is more accurate than the
individual decision of an expert. See Surowiecki, J. (2004). The
Wisdom of Crowds. DoubleDay--Division of Random House. Generally,
in order for this concept to be true, a group must meet four
conditions: Diversity--each person should have some private
information, even if it's just an eccentric interpretation of the
known facts; Independence--people's opinions are not determined by
the opinions of others around them; Decentralization--people are
able to specialize and draw on local knowledge; and
Aggregation--some mechanism exists for turning private judgments
into a collective decision. The CRS embodies all four conditions in
order to make the final, overarching value of a product,
performance, or service a definitive mark as to its value in
comparison to others.
[0020] The system of the present invention is adaptable to any
industry and can be plugged into online platforms and/or
cloud-based services, and/or external computing devices/servers so
as to display ratings in a new and useful manner. The system is
simple to use for the system administrator, the reviewers, and
customers. Furthermore, the CRS is able to be implemented across
several different industries and change the way in which customers
interpret reviews, thereby defeating the current review-system
manipulation tactics that exist on the Internet.
[0021] With respect to the eBook publishing industry, the CRS is
particularly compatible with eBooks, and is configured to provide a
means for providing consumers with a more accurate and unbiased
review of the quality of a story. The system is configured to make
evaluating eBooks unbiased, organized, and easy to understand. The
system is less prone to manipulation tactics that may be used with
the "Five Star" system that most self-publishing and online
distributors use.
[0022] While several embodiments of the present disclosure have
been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in
the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or
structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the
results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and
each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within
the scope of the present disclosure. More generally, those skilled
in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions,
materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be
exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials,
and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or
applications for which the teachings of the present disclosure
is/are used.
[0023] Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to
ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many
equivalents to the specific embodiments of the disclosure described
herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing
embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within
the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the
disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically
described and claimed. The present disclosure is directed to each
individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method
described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such
features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if
such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods
are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the
present disclosure.
[0024] All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be
understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in
documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of
the defined terms.
[0025] The indefinite articles "a" and "an," as used herein in the
specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the
contrary, should be understood to mean "at least one."
[0026] The phrase "and/or," as used herein in the specification and
in the claims, should be understood to mean "either or both" of the
elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively
present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases.
Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements
specifically identified by the "and/or" clause, whether related or
unrelated to those elements specifically identified, unless clearly
indicated to the contrary.
[0027] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment"
or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is
included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the
phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places
throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to
the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,
structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable
manner in one or more embodiments.
[0028] The terms and expressions which have been employed herein
are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there
is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of
excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described (or
portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications
are possible within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the
claims are intended to cover all such equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an
exemplary system for providing accurate and unbiased evaluations of
products, performances, and/or services to improve the reliability
of information provided to a consumer.
[0030] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the cumulative rating
system (CRS) of FIG. 1 in greater detail.
[0031] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the CRS of FIG. 2 in
greater detail.
[0032] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating requesting of an
evaluation of single products versus multiple products with the
CRS.
[0033] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of
hierarchy of the CRS.
[0034] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating customization of one
or more parameters of the CRS so as to accommodate different
products, performances, and/or services.
[0035] FIG. 7 illustrates characteristics of registered
reviewer.
[0036] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the receipt of an
evaluation request from a requesting entity, the evaluation of the
requested product, performance, or service, and subsequent analysis
of the evaluation(s) to provide one or more consumers with an
accurate and unbiased evaluation.
[0037] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating assignment of an
evaluation request to a particular registered reviewer based on one
or more characteristics of the registered reviewer.
[0038] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating creating of
cumulative evaluation forms to be provided to one or more
registered reviewers.
[0039] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary work
flow of a single cumulative evaluation to be performed by a
selected registered reviewer.
[0040] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary cumulative evaluation form
template.
[0041] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the customization of
scoring parameters of an evaluation of any single product.
[0042] FIG. 14 illustrates the scoring range in which any given
evaluated product falls in relation to other evaluated product from
a single registered reviewer.
[0043] FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating the generation of a
master score of a single product based on a statistical analysis of
multiple completed evaluations of said product.
[0044] FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary display of an average
percentile score of a single product requested to be evaluated.
[0045] FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating submission of
completed evaluations from one or more registered reviewers to
system managers for subsequent verification and allowance.
[0046] FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary display
options provided to a consumer.
[0047] FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary display
options of profiles of registered reviewers for a consumer to
view.
[0048] FIG. 20 is block diagram illustrating the basic workflow of
the CRS of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0049] Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed
herein, however, it is to be understood that the disclosed
embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be
embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific functional or
structural details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as
limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a
representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to
variously employ the present invention in virtually any
appropriately detailed embodiment. It should be noted that the
terms "evaluation" and "review" are used interchangeably throughout
this specification and should be treated as having similar meaning
with respect to the subject matter of the present disclosure. It
should be further noted that the terms "customer" and "consumer"
are used interchangeably throughout this specification and should
be treated as having similar meaning with respect to the subject
matter of the present disclosure.
[0050] Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed
herein, however, it is to be understood that the disclosed
embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be
embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific functional or
structural details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as
limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a
representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to
variously employ the present invention in virtually any
appropriately detailed embodiment. It should be noted that the
terms "evaluation" and "review" are used interchangeably throughout
this specification and should be treated as having similar meaning
with respect to the subject matter of the present disclosure. It
should be further noted that the terms "customer" and "consumer"
are used interchangeably throughout this specification and should
be treated as having similar meaning with respect to the subject
matter of the present disclosure.
[0051] By way of overview, the present invention is generally
directed to a cumulative rating system (CRS) for generating
accurate and unbiased evaluations of products, performances, and/or
services, thereby improving the reliability of information provided
to a consumer and improving their purchasing decisions. Generally,
the CRS is configured to take qualitative information in the form
of evaluations/reviews and translate such information it into
quantitative information so as to provide customers with more
accurate reviews to help them make a purchase decision.
[0052] The CRS may generally be embodied on an internet-based
computing system, such as a cloud-based service, for example, and
provide an interface such that one or more entities may access the
system and interact with the interface so as to allow an entity to
review and select different evaluation/review options provided by
the system. The entities may include, for example, a business,
individual, industry, or entity that seeks out an evaluation of
their product, performance, or service. In the embodiments
described herein, the CRS is adapted to be used in the book
publishing industry, particularly for the evaluation of eBooks.
However, it should be noted that the CRS of the present disclosure
is configured to be compatible with other industries in providing
evaluation or review of a variety of products, services, and/or
performance of businesses For example, the CRS is configured to be
used in providing evaluation of products and services that are
creative, artistic in nature, or require some type of performance,
including, but not limited to, restaurants, hotels, relators, art
and design, movies and film, schools and universities, contractors,
musical productions, musical bands, sports equipment, food
products, bars, dance clubs, motor vehicles, cleaning products,
etc.
[0053] The CRS is configured to gather evaluation/review requests
from one or more entities accessing the cloud-based service. The
system is further configured to utilize one or more registered
reviewers to provide an evaluation/review of the requested product,
performance, and/or service. The registered users may generally
include individuals who are screened by an administrator (also
referred to as "industry user") for qualifications and credentials
so as to ensure that a registered user is qualified to provide an
accurate and unbiased evaluation/review. The industry user is a
business or other entity with administrator access to a particular
segment within the CRS and essentially acts as the intermediary
between the requesting entity and the one or more registered
reviewers.
[0054] The registered reviewers are able to access the system via
the cloud-based service and further access a cumulative evaluation
form which includes a set of questions requiring the reviewer's
input so as to provide an evaluation of the requested product,
performance, or service as dictated by the requesting entity. The
system is further configured to receive completed evaluations from
one or more registered reviewers and analyze the completed
evaluation/review data to provide an overall numerical or general
rating of the requested product, performance, or service. In some
embodiments, the system is configured to compare completed
evaluation/review data from a first registered reviewer with other
completed evaluation/review data of the same product, performance,
or service from other registered reviewers so as to generate an
overall average rating for any given product, performance, or
service so as to provide a more accurate review. The CRS is
configured to then present ratings to one or more customers via the
cloud-based service, thereby providing accurate and reliable
evaluation for any given product, performance, or service to aid
the consumer during the buying process.
[0055] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an
exemplary system 10 for providing accurate and unbiased evaluations
of products, performances, and/or services to improve the
reliability of information provided to a consumer. As shown, the
system 10 includes a cloud-based service 12 configured to
communicate and share data with one or more requesting clients 20,
one or more administrators 22 (also referred to herein as "industry
users" 22), one or more registered reviewers 24, and one or more
consumers 26 over a network 18.
[0056] As shown, the cloud-based service 12 may include a
cumulative evaluation system (CRS) 14 consistent with the present
disclosure. As described in greater detail herein, the CRS 14 is
configured to generate accurate and unbiased evaluations of
products, performances, and/or services of a requesting entity 20
and further provide the evaluations to a consumer 26 to improve
their purchasing decisions. In the illustrated embodiment, the CRS
14 is embodied in the cloud-based service 12. However, it should be
noted that the CRS 14 may be embodied in an external computing
system/server 16, as indicated by CRS 14'. In any event, the CRS 14
may be accessed by any one of the requesting clients 20,
administrators 22, registered reviewers 24, and consumers 26 via
the network 18.
[0057] The one or more requesting clients 20 may include, for
example, a business, individual, industry, or entity that seeks out
an evaluation of their product, performance, or service. The one or
more administrators 22 (industry users) may include, for example, a
business with administrator access to a particular segment within
the CRS 14, wherein the administrator 22 generally acts as the
intermediary between the requesting client 20 and one or more
registered reviewers 24 who will be conducting the evaluations of
the requested product, performance, or service. The one or more
registered reviewers 24 generally include individuals who are
screened by an administrator 22 for qualifications and credentials
so as to ensure that a registered user is qualified to provide an
accurate and unbiased evaluation/review. The one or more consumers
26 are those individuals who are able to view informational data in
the form of product, performance, or service ratings based on
completed evaluations by the registered reviewers 24.
[0058] As previously described, the CRS 14 may be embodied on the
cloud-based service 12 and be accessed by and share data that the
requesting clients 20, administrators 22, registered reviewers 24,
and consumers 26 via the network 18. The network 18 may be any
network that carries data. Non-limiting examples of suitable
networks that may be used as network 18 include Wi-Fi wireless data
communication technology, the internet, private networks, virtual
private networks (VPN), public switch telephone networks (PSTN),
integrated services digital networks (ISDN), digital subscriber
link networks (DSL), various second generation (2G), third
generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) cellular-based data
communication technologies, Bluetooth radio, Near Field
Communication (NFC), other networks capable of carrying data, and
combinations thereof. In some embodiments, network 16 is chosen
from the internet, at least one wireless network, at least one
cellular telephone network, and combinations thereof. As such, the
network 18 may include any number of additional devices, such as
additional computers, routers, and switches, to facilitate
communications. In some embodiments, the network 18 may be or
include a single network, and in other embodiments the network 18
may be or include a collection of networks.
[0059] Accordingly, at least one of the requesting clients 20,
administrators 22, registered reviewers 24, and consumers 26 may be
able to access and share data with the CRS 14 via any computing
device capable of communicating with the cloud-based service 12
and/or other computing devices over the network 18. For example,
the computing device may be embodied as, without limitation, a
computer, a desktop computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet
computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a mobile
computing device, a smart phone, a cellular telephone, a handset, a
messaging device, a work station, a distributed computing system, a
multiprocessor system, a processor-based system, and/or any other
computing device configured to store and access data, and/or to
execute software and related applications consistent with the
present disclosure.
[0060] The CRS 14 is configured to gather evaluation/review
requests from one or more requesting clients 20 accessing the CRS
14 via the cloud-based service 12. The CRS 14 is further configured
to utilize one or more registered reviewers 24 to provide an
evaluation/review of the requested product, performance, and/or
service. The registered reviewers 24 are able to access the CRS 14
via the cloud-based service 12 and further access a cumulative
evaluation form which includes a set of questions requiring the
reviewer's input so as to provide an evaluation of the requested
product, performance, or service as dictated by the requesting
client 20. Upon receiving completed evaluations from one or more
registered reviewers 24, the CRS 14 is configured to analyze the
completed evaluation/review data to provide an overall rating of
the requested product, performance, or service. The CRS 14 is then
configured to present ratings to one or more customers 26 via the
cloud-based service, thereby providing accurate and reliable
evaluation for any given product, performance, or service to aid
the consumer during the buying process.
[0061] In the embodiments described herein, the CRS 14 is
configured to be used in the book distribution industry,
particularly for the evaluation of eBooks. However, it should be
noted that the CRS 14 of the present disclosure is configured to be
compatible with other industries in providing evaluation or review
of a variety of products, services, and/or performance of
businesses For example, the CRS 14 is configured to be used in
providing evaluation of products and services that are creative,
artistic in nature, or require some type of performance, including,
but not limited to, restaurants, hotels, relators, art and design,
movies and film, schools and universities, contractors, musical
productions, musical bands, sports equipment, food products, bars,
dance clubs, motor vehicles, cleaning products, etc.
[0062] FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams illustrating the cumulative
rating system (CRS) 14 of FIG. 1 in greater detail. As shown, the
CRS 14 includes an interface 28, an entity database 30, a request
database 32, a registered reviewer database 34, an
evaluation/review module 36, and an evaluation/review database 38.
The interface 28 may generally allow the requesting clients 20,
administrators 22, registered reviewers 24, and consumers 26 to
access and share data with one or more components of the CRS 14.
For example, upon accessing the CRS 14 on the cloud-based service
12, the interface 28 may allow a requesting client 20, such as an
author, to access a entity database 30 so as to create a profile
(profiles 40(1)-40(n)), which may include the conventional input
(e.g., name, address, billing information, background information,
preferences, products, performances, services to be evaluated,
etc.) and further access a request database 32 to select from a
variety of evaluation options for their desired product,
performance, or service. Upon selecting the specific evaluation
parameters, the request database 32 creates a profile (profiles
42(1)-42(n)) including the requested product, performance, or
service and the associated evaluation parameters.
[0063] In the following examples, the requesting client 20 orders
one or more books evaluations. Accordingly, upon accessing CRS 14,
the client 20 is able to create a profile within the entity
database 30 and then further access the request database 32 so as
to select from a variety of different options for the evaluation.
For example, the requesting client 20 has the option to pick
different types of packages of reviews that are designated by the
administrator 22. Accordingly, the administrator 22 has the ability
to package, price, and market evaluations/reviews that best fits
their marketing plan or demand in the industry. Additionally, this
concept further provides the requesting client 20 with the
flexibility to choose reviews that fit their budget and
desires.
[0064] In one embodiment, in order for the CRS 14 to perform
efficiently, there should be a minimum of reviews per product. In
one embodiment, the minimum amount of reviews may be three reviews
so as to ensure an accurate comparison rating. However, it should
be noted that any number of reviews may be sufficient for any given
product, service, and/or performance and the minimum not be limited
to three reviews. However, as generally understood, the more
reviews performed and collected for per a single product will
generally result in the generation of a more accurate overall
rating of such a product. For example, an author must purchase a
minimum of three reviews for their book in order for the system to
show what rating their book is. As the CRS 14 limits the absolute
minimum amount of reviews available, the administrator 22 can
select to have a maximum amount of reviews a requesting client 20
can order at one time or overall, thereby allowing the
administrator 22 to regulate the ratings to ensure accuracy across
the CRS 14 for all customers. The CRS 14 is capable of setting
different maximums and minimums based off of specialty or
subspecialty, giving the requesting client 20 several different
options based on their product.
[0065] One of the main facets of the CRS 14 is that is does not
allow the requesting client 20 to select specific reviewers to
conduct reviews of their product. This prevents the requesting
client 20 from influencing any single registered reviewers 24
opinion. However, the requesting client 20 is able to select the
general type of reviewer based on how many reviews the registered
reviewer 24 has conducted. As described in greater detail herein,
individual profiles of each registered reviewer 24 (profiles
44(1)-44(n)) are contained with the registered reviewer database
34, such that characteristics (e.g., experience level, specialty,
subspecialty, number of reviews performed, etc.) can be viewed by
the requesting client 20, as well as the consumer 26. The purpose
of this is that registered reviewers 24 with more reviews in their
profile carry more weight than those with fewer evaluations.
[0066] The CRS 14 is configured to provide a requesting client 20
with different levels of registered reviewer experience to choose
from. Bottom level reviewers have the least amount of reviews and
experience in the CRS 14, whereas the top level reviewers have the
most amount of reviews. The administrator 22 can elect how many
reviews constitute a level, which will affect a registered
reviewer's standing in the CRS 14. For example, if used for eBooks,
a level 1 reviewer will have read and evaluated between 0 books to
25 books that are in the system. whereas a level 4 reviewer will
have over 75 books in their profile. It is at this stage in the
request/order process where the requesting client 20 can see how
much they are going to be charged for their evaluations. Here, the
administrator 22 can designate how much particular reviews from
each level will cost. The administrator 22 can also use the CRS 14
to calculate different discounts and pricing to appeal to the
requesting client 20.
[0067] For example, if the administrator 22 is an eBook distributor
and has registered reviewers 24 that read and evaluate the eBooks,
a level 1 review will cost $65 and a level 4 will cost $150. If a
requesting client 20 elects to have all Level 4's as their
reviewers, they will be offered a 10% discount.
[0068] It will take time before each administrator 22 has several
high-level reviewers in the system. Therefore, the CRS 14 is
configured to help the requesting client 20 by showing what type of
level reviewers are available and how many. Additionally, the CRS
14 can be adapted so that the administrator 22 is not overloading
its registered reviewers 24 with work and can cap their queue if
they so desired. For example, using the eBook distributor example
again, that the administrator 22 may have seven level 4 reviewers,
but three are capped out in their queue. The CRS 14 will only
display four Level 4 reviewers for the requesting client 20 to
select.
[0069] To reduce manipulation, the CRS 14 is further optimized to
limit how many reviews a requesting client 20 can purchase for each
level based on what is available. For example, if 10 Level 4
reviewers are available, the administrator 22 can elect to have the
requesting client 20 only order up to 3 Level 4 reviewers. This
feature may be particularly useful when the administrator 20 is
just starting to populate the levels with reviewers 24.
Additionally, this prevents requesting clients 20 from buying all
reviews from a level and knowing exactly who will be doing their
reviews.
[0070] The request database 32 further provides a requesting client
20 with the ability to select when the reviews will be released
(e.g., published and available to consumers 26). The purpose of
this is to allow a requesting client 20 to synch the release of the
reviews with a marketing plan they are employing for their product.
It also allows for the CRS 14 to adapt the queue for the registered
reviewers 24 to allow the maximum amount of reviews for them to
conduct over a period of time. For example, if an author is going
to publish their book, they can give the manuscript to the
administrator 22 and have the evaluations all released on the date
the book is made public, or they can release three reviews every
quarter to have a steady stream of content to share on their author
platforms.
[0071] The CRS 14 is configured to gather evaluation/review
requests from the requesting client 20 and provide one or more
registered reviewers 24 with a cumulative evaluation form which
includes a set of questions requiring a reviewer's input so as to
provide an evaluation of the requested product, performance, or
service. In some embodiments, the registered reviewers 24 may be
randomly assigned. However, in other embodiments, the registered
reviewers 24 may be selected and assigned an evaluation/review
request based on their individual characteristics, such as
experience level (Level 1 through Level 4) and/or specialty. The
evaluation/review module 36 of the CRS 14 is configured to further
receive completed cumulative evaluation forms and analyze the
evaluation data to provide an overall rating of the product,
performance, or service requested for evaluation. The
evaluation/review module 36 may include custom, proprietary, known
and/or after-developed statistical analysis code (or instruction
sets), hardware, and/or firmware that are generally well-defined
and operable to receive one or more sets of data and identify, at
least to a certain extent, a pattern related to an accurate
assessment of the overall rating of a product, performance, or
service.
[0072] In some embodiments, the evaluation/review module 36 is
configured to compare completed evaluation/review data from one
registered reviewer with other completed evaluation/review data of
the same product, performance, or service from other registered
reviewers so as to generate an overall average rating. The
completed evaluation data and the analyzed evaluation data may then
be stored in an evaluation/review database 38. The CRS 14 is then
configured to present ratings to one or more customers 26 via the
cloud-based service, specifically allowing consumer 26 to access
the evaluation/review database 38 and view ratings, as well as
completed evaluation data. Consumers 26 may further have access to
at least the registered reviewer database 34 so as to view profiles
of individual registered reviewers 24 so as to provide improved
transparency into the review process as well as the experience of
each reviewer to further provide an enhanced sense of reliability
in any given review.
[0073] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating requesting of an
evaluation of single products versus multiple products with the CRS
14. Requesting clients 20 can request reviews from the CRS 14 via
the administrator 22 through a website, application, or other means
(e.g., cloud-based service 12). Requesting clients 20 can select to
have any combination of reviews for their product, service, process
or business by making a transaction with the administrator 22 in
exchange for evaluations. Doing so gives them power over how
customers perceive their business or products by competing with
others in a fair environment with regulated reviews. The CRS is
configurable enough to adjust to any combination of orders,
requests, prices, or individuals requesting orders.
[0074] The CRS 14 is designed to be configurable to both
individuals and organized groups or businesses. In some ways, the
transitions for reviews will be simple. In other ways, it will be
complex. The simplest form of a review through the CRS is an
individual requesting client 20 with a single product or service
they want reviewed. The CRS 14 can easily be customized by the
administrator 22 to process these small transactions automatically.
For example, a self-published author may wish to get their new
eBook reviewed in order to increase their visibility of their work.
They can do a one-time transaction with the administrator 22 via
the CRS 14. This small transaction is an automated transaction made
through the CRS 14, which is compatible with various merchant
software and ecommerce platforms.
[0075] The next level of complexity is an individual having several
products to be reviewed. The CRS 14 can be adapted to take review
orders for several products from one individual by maintaining
their profile within the system, allowing the requesting client 20
to make their entire order at once or return to input more reviews
for the same or different products over time. For example, an
author has a three-part series that they want to have reviewed.
However, they choose to have one book reviewed only to start, then
the following books in six month intervals. . This will allow the
requesting client to be a returning customer. Again, because this
is a relatively small and simple transaction, the CRS 14 is
optimized for automatic transactions with e-commerce or online
merchant software. It should be noted that transactions may also
occur in the traditional in-person transaction in addition, or
alternatively, to online automatic transactions.
[0076] The complexity of this system rises when companies or
organizations seek to order reviews of their product. At this
stage, the administrator 22 will need to interact with each
requesting client 20 personally, but will first gather information
from them to create a quote. For example, a small publishing
company has 5 books with different authors that want to enter the
system. In order to verify that the publishing company is
legitimate and owns the right to distribute, the administrator 22
will gather initial information from the company then verify their
credentials. This will also allow the administrator 22 to establish
a contract with the requesting client 20. Due to the increasingly
complex nature of these types of transactions, the administrator 22
can set a cut off point for these transactions to be made
automatically in the system, and when a requesting client 20 needs
to contact them personally for a quote and to handle other
logistics.
[0077] The last and most complex of these will be when a large
business or organization requests to have several of their products
reviewed. The CRS 14 is configured to handle hundreds of products,
as well as the dozens of reviews associated with each product. Due
to the amount of revenue that could be involved for the
administrator 22, the CRS 14 is designed for the administrator 22
to regulate this contract from the back end of the CRS and help
meet the requesting client's 20 needs to generate and store
contracts, adjust pricing, and regulate a requesting client's 20
entire portfolio of reviews that are being conducted.
[0078] For example, one of the "Big Six" publishing companies wants
to enter into contract with the administrator 22. They have
hundreds of authors and may request a rather large number of
reviewers per book. The administrator 22 can use mechanisms and
procedures in the CRS 14 to handle all of these requests to serve
the large company, and even designate system managers to handle
their portfolio, as described in greater detail herein. This is a
very large transaction that cannot be automated, or at least
punched in by the requesting client 20. This stage requires that
the administrator 22 handle the majority of these dealings and
logistics offline and punch them into the CRS 14 manually.
[0079] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of
hierarchy of the CRS 14. As generally understood, a system host may
be responsible for the CRS 14. The system host may be thought of as
the owner of the CRS 14 and is able to license the use of the CRS
14 to other business or companies that wish to implement the CRS 14
for their own evaluations/reviews or to solicit their services and
the use of CRS 14 by other requesting clients 20. The system host
may generally be responsible for the upkeep and ongoing maintenance
of the CRS 14, including the information technology (IT) and other
aspects (e.g., servers, software updates, etc.) and is further
responsible for the hosting of the CRS 14.
[0080] The licensees of the CRS 14 may be treated as administrators
22, and will have access to the CRS 14 and be able to make the CRS
14 configurable to anything they wish to evaluate. For example, the
system host is able to grant access to CRS 14 for administrators 22
who want to utilize the system for their own websites, businesses,
or established companies. The system host will act as the technical
support for issues that the administrator 22 may have and will get
feedback from the administrator 22 for how to improve the system
and optimize it for their own use. From there, the administrator 22
can utilize the system in any way they see fit for serving their
customers and the requesting clients 20.
[0081] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating customization of one
or more parameters of the CRS 14 so as to accommodate different
products, performances, and/or services. The CRS 14 is designed to
accommodate different types of products. Obviously, each product
has different models, designs, sets, or other customizations that
make it unique but still similar for comparison with other
products. Therefore, the CRS 14 can be optimized to handle
different specialties, sub specialties, and sub sets of any type of
product the administrator 22 needs evaluated.
[0082] Administrators 22 will be given authorization to adapt the
specialties and subspecialties to the particular industry they are
conducting evaluations for. For example, if an online book seller
wants to use this for their website, they will designate the
specialties for different types of books (genres). The system can
go further by delineating sub specialties (sub-genres) and further
down to sub-types if needed. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, an
administrator 22 can customize the CRS 14 so as to include two
levels of delineation for the rating of books (by specialty and
subspecialty). The CRS 14 may be configured to delineate for
multiple levels (e.g., 10 levels or more).
[0083] FIG. 7 illustrates characteristics of registered reviewer
24. As previously described herein, the CRS 14 is configured to
utilize one or more registered reviewers 24 to provide an
evaluation/review of the requested product, performance, and/or
service. The one or more registered reviewers 24 generally include
individuals who are screened by an administrator 22 for
qualifications and credentials so as to ensure that a registered
user is qualified to provide an accurate and unbiased
evaluation/review. In order to qualify as a registered reviewer 24,
and subsequently gain access to the CRS 14, a reviewer has to have
certain traits as determined by the administrator 22. For example,
a prospective reviewer may first apply to the company as
independent consultants and they will be selected among a range of
people with different educational backgrounds and experience. Once
selected, the registered reviewer will be required to register with
the CRS 14 by creating a profile 44 to be stored in the registered
reviewer database 34. Further, each registered reviewer 24 may be
assigned a particular specialty for reviewing. In some cases, the
administrator 22 may delineate sub specialties that reviewers will
be assigned. At this point, the registered reviewer 24 now has
permission to access the CRS 14 and receive request data to begin
performing reviews.
[0084] Each registered reviewer's profile 44 will be visible for
the public to see (e.g., consumers 26 may have access to the
profiles 44 of the registered reviewer database 34). The profile
visibility will help in providing assurance to the consumer 26 that
any given review is conducted by a real person with credentials. A
consumer 26 may view the registered reviewer's characteristics and
statistics (e.g., experience level, specialty, subspecialty, number
of reviews performed, etc.) as well as all the other reviews that
any given registered reviewer has conducted. The administrator 22
may also elect to share additional information about the registered
reviewer with the consumer, which includes but is not limited to:
age, location, preferences for products, or other general
preferences that are associated to a product that can help
consumers make a purchase decision. As described in greater detail
herein, the CRS 14 includes a checks and balances concept to
completed reviews, wherein one or more registered reviewers may be
supervised by an assigned system manager and/or the system host so
as to ensure that completed reviews are accurate, completed
correctly, and are not manipulated.
[0085] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an evaluation/review
module 36 of FIG. 2 in greater detail. As shown, the
evaluation/review module 36 includes an evaluation/review data
module 46, an analysis module 48, and a publication module 50, the
function of each of which is described in greater detail
herein.
[0086] As previously described, one or more registered reviewers 24
may be assigned to a particular evaluation/review request for a
given product of a requesting client 20. In some embodiments,
assigning of a particular evaluation/review request to a registered
reviewer may occur in a random fashion, such that registered
reviewers are picked randomly. In other embodiments, the assignment
may occur in a systematic fashion as a result of on one or more
parameters based on the requesting client's instructions and/or
particular request criteria and/or determined by the administrator.
For example, as previously described herein, the requesting client
may wish to have very experience reviewers perform a review of
their product. Accordingly, as part of the evaluation/review
request, it may be specified that only Level 3 and 4 registered
reviewers are to perform an evaluation of the product to be
evaluated. As such, the CRS 14 is configured to assign only those
registered reviewers having Level 3 or 4 status. A registered
reviewer 24 may then have access to the request database 32 which
may include stored evaluation request files, each file including
the specifics of the product to be evaluated and the parameters of
such an evaluation, which may be presented to the registered
reviewer 24 in the form of at least a cumulative evaluation form to
be filled out by the reviewer. Furthermore, the stored evaluation
request files may include particular instructions specifying the
details of the product itself, the parameters of the evaluation,
which may be particularly useful for a registered reviewer when
carrying out the evaluation.
[0087] Upon completing their evaluation, the completed
evaluation/review data (input data included in the completed
cumulative evaluation form) may then be received by the
evaluation/review module 36, specifically received by an
evaluation/review data module 46 for subsequent analysis via an
analysis module 48. For example, the analysis module 48 may include
custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed statistical
analysis code (or instruction sets), hardware, and/or firmware that
are generally well-defined and operable to receive one or more sets
of completed evaluation/review data and identify, at least to a
certain extent, a pattern related to an accurate assessment of the
overall rating of a product based on the completed
evaluation/review data.
[0088] In some embodiments, the analysis module 48 is configured to
compare completed evaluation/review data from one registered
reviewer with other completed evaluation/review data of the same
product from other registered reviewers so as to generate an
overall average rating for the product to be evaluated so as to
provide a more accurate and unbiased review. It should be noted
that other forms of statistical analysis may be used to calculate
an overall rating of an evaluated product, and need not be limited
to an overall average rating score. Additionally, or alternatively,
the analysis module 48 may be configured to compare an overall
rating of one product with an overall rating of similar products,
so as to provide a score indicating how any given product compares
with other related products.
[0089] The analyzed evaluation/review data may be stored within a
registered reviewer's individual profile 44 within the registered
reviewer database 34. Additionally, or alternatively, analyzed
evaluation/review data may be stored within the evaluation/review
database 38, which can be accessed by consumers 26 so as to present
ratings of the evaluated product to the consumers 26. The
publication module 50 is configured to effectively publish analyzed
completed evaluations/reviews so that they can be presented to
consumers 26. In effect, the publication module 50 essentially
transmits completed and analyzed evaluations/reviews to the
evaluation/review database 38 when such completed and analyzed
evaluations/reviews are verified and deemed viewable (e.g., by the
requesting client 20 and/or system managers). Furthermore, the
publication module 50 may be configured to publish completed and
analyzed evaluations/reviews based on a pre-selected timeframe, as
previously selected by the client 20.
[0090] The CRS 14 is capable of handling dozens, possibly hundreds
of registered reviewers 24. Accordingly, in order to manage the
reviewers and ensure that ratings are accurate, the administrator
22 can designate an advanced type of registered reviewer known as a
system manager 52. The system manager 52 will have the same rights
to review as a registered reviewer 24, but they will have special
abilities to monitor other registered reviewers 24. One of the main
purposes for a system manager is to verify a registered reviewer's
evaluation so as to ensure that the review is accurate, complete,
and unbiased. The CRS 14 could possibly post hundreds, if not
thousands, of evaluations a day. Accordingly, to ensure that each
review is of a high quality, the system managers 52 will have
access to particular tools from the CRS 14 to look closer at each
review and verify it before it is published to ensure that the
requesting client 20 is getting a well written, consistent, and
accurate evaluation. For example, any given system manager may be
able to access individual reviews for any given product (e.g.,
reviews of a specific product from a set of registered reviewers).
The system manager may then be able to determine an overall
consensus based all of the reviews and may further be able to spot
any outliers in the group, which may signal a red flag possibly
indicative of a reviewer who is somehow biased and/or providing
unsatisfactory reviews. The system manager may further have access
to individual reviewer profiles so as to get a sense of a
reviewer's previous evaluations, thereby allowing the system
manager to further build a case against a reviewer appearing to
perform in an unsatisfactory manner. Accordingly, the system
manager is provided with the ability to investigate and maintain
the integrity of the evaluation process of the CRS 14.
[0091] As shown, the interface 28 may allow consumer 26 to access
the evaluation/review database 38 and/or the registered reviewer
database 34. In particular, the interface 28 may allow a consumer
to browse completed and analyzed reviews of a variety of different
products, performances, or services stored in the evaluation/review
database 38. The interface 28 may provide a consumer with tools to
aid the consumer in the browsing process, including, but not
limited to, a search tool configured to allow a consumer to find a
particular product a keyword, such as an product name or general
category of the product (e.g., an autobiography book). The
interface 28 may further provide sorting functions configured to
allow a consumer to sort evaluated products based on category or
genre, as well as overall ratings, etc. The interface 28 is further
configured to allow a consumer 26 to access the registered reviewer
database 34 to view individual profiles 44 of reviewers, such that
the consumer 26 can view the registered reviewer's characteristics
and statistics (e.g., experience level, specialty, subspecialty,
number of reviews performed, etc.) as well as all the other reviews
that any given registered reviewer has conducted.
[0092] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating assignment of an
evaluation request to a particular registered reviewer 24 based on
one or more characteristics of the registered reviewer 24. As
shown, the registered reviewer 24 is assigned a product to review.
As previously described, assignment can occur randomly and/or
systematically. In some embodiments, the administrator 22 generally
does not have the ability to match individual reviewers with a
specific product to be reviewed. Instead, assignment may be based
on random distribution, so as to ensure that there is unbiased
selection. However, the CRS 14 is also configured to organize
assignment of evaluations to one or more registered reviewers
according to one or more parameters based on the requesting
client's instructions and/or particular request criteria and/or
determined by the administrator. For example, assignment may occur
based on the requested experience required for the registered
reviewers and/or the specialty that each reviewer is assigned. The
CRS 14 is then configured to access the group of registered
reviewers having specified experience levels and/or that are
designated to review that particular specialty and then randomly
select reviewers from those groups to conduct the evaluations.
[0093] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the creation of
cumulative evaluation forms to be provided to one or more
registered reviewers. Each evaluation for a type of product will be
specific to the industry that the administrator is in. Accordingly,
an administrator generally has to ability to create standardized
cumulative evaluation forms for the registered reviewers to fill
out when conducting their reviews. It should be noted that the
individual criteria of any given evaluation will be in line with an
industry standard. Accordingly, the CRS 14 will implement continual
updates to cumulative evaluation forms as needed according to
industry standards. Furthermore, periodic consultation with a board
of different industry experts may be further relied upon to
determine the particular criteria to be included for any given
evaluation. Administrators are given the ability to assign a
plurality of different categories (e.g., from 2 to 12 or more
different categories). Additionally, the administrator 22 can
create different types of cumulative evaluation forms for different
specialties according to what makes sense for different facets of
the industry as a whole. For example, an administrator for an
online bookstore will have a different cumulative evaluation form
for Fiction and Non-Fiction books.
[0094] The CRS 14 further provides an administrator with the
ability to customize the different types of registered reviewers
based on how many reviews that they've conducted. The administrator
can use this as a means to charge requesting clients for different
types of evaluations to give their reviews more weight.
Furthermore, this will help the consumer analyze the merit of each
evaluation score based on the experience of the reviewers who
conducted the evaluation.
[0095] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary work
flow of a single cumulative evaluation to be performed by a
selected registered reviewer. Upon accepting the review, testing
the product, and/or experiencing the product, a registered reviewer
then conducts a comprehensive evaluation through the CRS 14. The
registered reviewer is able to retrieve the cumulative evaluation
from their queue in the CRS 14 (e.g., request data may be received
in a registered reviewers profile and/or the registered reviewer
may be sent a message indicating the specific request evaluation to
be performed). A registered reviewer can then access the rating
form and begin their assessment. As shown, the registered reviewer
may be presented with a predetermined amount of categories that
will give them the option to enter in a score from a specific
numerical range as provided by the administrator (e.g., one to
eight) and a short written evaluation. After a registered reviewer
has completed their evaluation, they will have an average score for
that product and a full written review that is ready for
presentation. FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary cumulative
evaluation form template. This is a template for the categories for
the cumulative evaluation form that the registered reviewers will
use when conducting their reviews. It should be noted that
cumulative evaluation forms generally include uniform review
criteria, thereby ensuring that all reviews for any given product,
performance, and/or service is consistent and comparable to one
another, thus making the reviews more measurable to customers.
[0096] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the customization of
scoring parameters of an evaluation of any single product. The
administrator has the option to weight different aspects of the CRS
14 based on their preferences. For example, they can give
registered reviewers options to weight different categories they
score. The administrator can also weight each level type of
registered reviewers. They can also weigh a product based on how
many reviews the product received and even how long ago each of the
reviews were conducted. In one embodiment, administrators can use
"Olympic Style" scoring, whereby they can eliminate the top and
bottom scores of a review in order to give a better average. This
may only be an option available for the administrator and another
tool to cut down on manipulation by reviewers. Overall, this allows
the administrator the ability to give a more accurate depiction of
the rating of a product based on their industry.
[0097] For example, the administrator can set weighted numbers for
the sets listed in FIG. 13. They can give more weight to a product
that has more reviews and less weight to those that have fewer
reviews. Additionally, or alternatively, they can give weight to
reviews that have higher-level registered reviewers than those with
lower level registered reviewers. In any case, the administrator
has the ability to customize the weights of several different
facets to help present the most accurate rating of a product for
the consumer. Furthermore, an administrator can set parameters
where products, services, or performances can be re-evaluated, thus
wiping out old reviews and creating new reviews for the new version
of the product. For example, if an author rewrote their book to
correct typos and plot holes, the old version can be replaced in
exchange for the client purchasing a completely new set of reviews.
This can be done with restaurants that create a new menu, or bands
that take on a new drummer.
[0098] FIG. 14 illustrates the scoring range in which any given
evaluated product falls in relation to other evaluated product from
a single registered reviewer. Once a registered reviewer has
completed their evaluation, the score may be used to help determine
where that product is in relation to other products reviewed by
that registered reviewer (carried out by the analysis module 48,
for example). For example, the registered reviewer will have their
numerical score for the product, wherein that numerical score will
help determine which products are the best and which are the worst.
The products will be organized in a registered reviewers profile 44
by the best products they've reviewed at the top, and the worse
products they've reviewed at the bottom. All products will be in
similar specialties that have the same criteria in the cumulative
evaluation form, meaning that the registered reviewer is grading
each product with the same categories and criteria. The placement
of these products will then be converted into a percentile, as
shown in FIG. 14.
[0099] FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating the generation of a
master score of a single product based on a statistical analysis of
multiple completed evaluations of said product. FIG. 16 illustrates
an exemplary display of an average percentile score of a single
product requested to be evaluated. After at least a set number of
registered reviewers have evaluated a product (e.g., at least three
separate reviewers), all the percentile scores will be compared to
present a master score that represents the most accurate rating of
a product available. Accordingly, all registered reviewers will
review similar products and when the registered reviewers complete
their evaluations, the evaluation/review module 36 is configured to
receive those scores and group them together based on other reviews
on that product. The evaluation/review module 36 is configured to
compare the percentile score of each evaluation and obtain an
average score. Once an average percentile score is attained, the
evaluation/review module 36 presents the average percentile score
against other common products with an average percentile, as shown
in FIG. 16.
[0100] FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating submission of
completed evaluations from one or more registered reviewers to
system managers for subsequent verification and allowance. As
previously described, the CRS 14 an administrator 22 can designate
an advanced type of registered reviewer known as a system manager
52. The system manager 52 will have the same rights to review as a
registered reviewer 24, but they will have special abilities to
monitor other registered reviewers 24. One of the main purposes for
a system manager is to verify a registered reviewer's evaluation so
as to ensure that the review is accurate, complete, and unbiased.
The CRS 14 could possibly post hundreds, if not thousands, of
evaluations a day. Accordingly, to ensure that each review is of a
high quality, the system managers 52 will have access to particular
tools from the CRS 14 to look closer at each review and verify it
before it is published to ensure that the requesting client 20 is
getting a well written, consistent, and accurate evaluation.
[0101] As shown in FIG. 17, the administrator can assign system
manager's particular sets of registered reviewers to manage. The
CRS 14 is set up so that system managers exist within particular
specialties, sub specialties, and sub sets. Thus, there can be a
hierarchy of system managers who all check each other and report up
the chain of command. This also allows the administrator the
ability to designate leaders at every level and make all the
reviews and information passing through the CRS 14 manageable. The
CRS 14 is optimized so that the administrator can set verification
parameters. More specifically, an administrator can require system
managers all the way up the chain of command to verify the review
until it is published, giving the administrator the ability to make
the system as secure as they see fit.
[0102] For example, a system manager is assigned a sub-specialty of
science fiction--time travel. A registered reviewer submits their
review to the subspecialty system manager. After reviewing it, the
administrator requires that the specialty system manager approve
it, and it is sent up higher along the hierarchy. Only after the
specialty system manager reviews the evaluation is it allowed to be
published for viewing by a consumer. Accordingly, use of the system
manager hierarchy concept makes the CRS 14 less prone to
manipulation.
[0103] System managers are experienced registered reviewers with
several evaluations in the system. They understand the system
enough to teach it to their registered reviewers that they are
assigned. Additionally, the CRS 14 will have the system manager
assigned the first review of a particular product so that they can
accurately screen other reviews from registered reviewers.
Therefore, they also have the ability to recognize inconsistencies
in a review for a particular product. They can identify these
people easily, and thereby eliminate them from the system in the
event that a registered reviewer is trying to `game` the system to
someone else's advantage.
[0104] For example, a system manager may have ten registered
reviewers assigned to him/her. All registered reviewers are
selected to review a particular mystery book. As the completed
evaluations come in, all of the reviews range from the 40th
percentile to the 60th percentile. However, one registered reviewer
scored this mystery book as their 95th percentile. Although this
would not be enough to sway the overall score enough so much that
it would have an effect, the system manager can see all of this
information and identify that this registered reviewer may not have
scored it correctly and can investigate.
[0105] FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary display
options provided to a consumer. The CRS 14 is optimized to present
ratings in different ways to the consumer. Additionally, the
consumer can see those ratings next to the products and be able to
order or purchase them through the cloud-based service. In essence,
every consumer has different preferences for how they make a
decision. They may want to follow only one reviewer's
recommendations, or they want to see how all reviewers have
evaluated that product over the entire course of its history. The
CRS 14 is configured to provide a consumer with a variety of
viewing options so as to enhance and improve the consumer's
decision making process.
[0106] Depending on the industry, the manner in which ratings are
display is an important factor to consider. Therefore, the
administrator has the ability to adapt the CRS 14 to organize
ratings in particular sets and display those sets to consumers as
they see fit. The ratings can be customized for display to
consumers in several different ways. Depending on the industry, the
types of products, and the preferences of the administrators,
information can be displayed by each personal registered reviewer
or grouped together by specialty and subspecialty, or they can show
reviews based on when the reviews were conducted.
[0107] One of the main ways the CRS displays ratings is by directly
associating ratings with a product. The CRS is optimized to group
all ratings for a particular product. It can then show this rating
information. Thus, when a consumer comes to the administrator's
website (which implements the CRS 14), the consumer can elect to
view individual products with all the rating information directly
in front of them. Thus, they can make a purchase decision by
reviewing all ratings and numbers available for that product.
[0108] Some customer may prefer to follow individual registered
reviewers. As previously discussed, registered reviewers can
optimize their preferences for what categories they deem more
important than others. Their profile for all the products they
reviewed will be available for customers to see. So, a customer can
make a purchase decision for a product based off of one registered
reviewer who shares the same preferences as them. As shown in FIG.
19, an administrator can display an individual registered
reviewer's reports by grouping what they reviewed in a certain
timeframe (e.g., present month, last three months, etc.).
Additionally, or alternatively, the administrator can group them
into what they have done all year. This way, they can customize
what a consumer can see and how they compare what reviews a
reviewer has done, giving the consumer more information to make a
purchase decision.
[0109] For example, Stephen King is a registered reviewer for the
CRS and has more than 100 thriller books under his profile. There
are some customers who respect him as an author, but also like his
preferences for his reviews. Therefore, customers may elect to read
books that are at the top percentile of his profile.
[0110] Some customers may want to make a purchase decision based on
the master score, or the compared scores of percentiles from all
registered reviewers who evaluated that particular product. A list
may be presented to the customer of all similar products. This
allows the customer to compare similar products and their rating to
others. When they click on a particular product, they are taken to
the individual product to see its reviews and ratings in detail.
For example, a customer looking for a doctor investigator mystery
books can look in this sub-genre and compare the master scores of
all doctor investigator mystery books. Or, they can look and see
how those doctor investigator books match up to all mystery books
overall.
[0111] Customers may elect to view these ratings in order to follow
trends or find new products. Additionally, the administrator will
want to give the requesting clients the best possible chance for
success by making good ratings visible to the customer. To achieve
both of these objectives, the administrator can group ratings based
on when the reviews were published. Some of the most basic options
are to group reviews that took place within a given period of time,
as set by the administrator (e.g., monthly, quarterly, yearly, or
overall). For example, the administrator can show consumers what
romance books were rated this month. Although the top rated book
for that month may not be the top rated romance book overall, the
author for this romance book can still tote that they were the "top
rated book of October", and the customer can keep pace with good
books that are released or rated, thus giving readers a more
diverse option of good books to read.
[0112] There will be situations where several registered reviewers
will have more than one similar product that they've reviewed. To
add an extra level of analysis for a customer, the CRS can group
select registered reviewers who have more than one product reviewed
in common and present them to the customer. For example, there may
be five registered reviewers who all evaluate mystery novels.
Between the five of them, they all have the same six books in their
profiles. The administrator can use the CRS to group these five
individuals into a special bracket and present a new set of ratings
that are based only on the common books they've all read.
[0113] As shown in FIG. 18, there are several different
possibilities for how an administrator can shape the presentation
of scores based on specialty, product, registered reviewers, and
timeframes. The CRS is capable to compare all of these categories
in many different combinations to best present information to a
customer based on the industry. For example, an administrator in
the automobile industry may put a great deal of emphasis on showing
individual registered reviewers' profiles or general master
ratings, as these are items only renew every year. Whereas, if the
administrator is in books, they may put more emphasis on showing
information for amassed common ratings and ratings over different
periods of time, as the number of books released on a daily basis
is much higher than cars.
[0114] FIG. 20 is block diagram illustrating the basic workflow of
the CRS of FIG. 1. In one embodiment, an exemplary workflow of the
CRS consistent with the present disclosure includes the requesting
client requesting evaluations from the administrator, the
administrator processing the basic information of the requesting
client and inputting it into the CRS. The CRS randomly assigns
registered reviewers to conduct an evaluation for the product. The
registered reviewers utilize a standardized evaluation form and
input their scores into the CRS after experiencing, using, or
observing the assigned product, performance, or service. Inputs
from the registered reviewers are verified by the system managers
and are combined with reviews that cover the same product,
performance, or service. All information about the reviews is made
available public to the consumer via a website, web application, or
other means.
[0115] The CRS of the present invention is optimized for additional
features that make it a great tool for customers, administrators
(industry users) and for registered reviewers. The industry user
can use the CRS to allow customers to interact directly with
registered reviewers. The purpose of this is to get a `personal`
feel and to make the reviewer real in the eyes of the customer. So,
if the customer is overwhelmed by the information they are
presented about products in a profile, the customer can simply ask
them and get a recommendation based on what the registered reviewer
has done. Or, they can be pointed to other registered reviewers
that can offer them help. These conversations will, of course, be
monitored within the CRS to ensure that registered reviewers are
acting within accordance with the guidelines set with the Industry
User.
[0116] The CRS is optimized to allow industry users to equate a
rating with a particular price. This is especially helpful for the
industry user and for the customer. Higher prices mean a higher
quality or a preferred product, whereas lower prices mean a less
preferred product. This makes it easy for the customer to identify
what products are worth buying simply by the price. This is
effective for the industry user so that they can receive the
highest amount of revenue for each product based on `the
market`.
[0117] The CRS can be configured to release particular information
to the registered reviewer, based on what product or service is
being evaluated. For example, an industry user can elect to give a
registered reviewer a book to review, but remove the title, author,
and publishing source. Therefore, a registered reviewer is more
likely to make an unbiased report due to lack of information about
the author and their previous work.
[0118] The main feature of the CRS that makes it less prone to
manipulation is that the industry user does not have the power to
be able to designate particular reviewers for particular products.
The CRS calculation for distributing to registered reviewers is
held only by the system host, who will update and change the
algorithm constantly to ensure security. This prevents industry
users from collaborating with requesting clients to rig ratings.
Additionally, this also prevents requesting clients from buying off
or collaborating with registered reviewers without the knowledge of
the industry user or system host. With pluralities of registered
reviewers in particular specialties, a requesting client would have
no way to know who would have their product for review until after
the review is approved and released.
[0119] The more registered reviewers are in the system and give
reviews to products, the less likely the system can be manipulated.
The CRS can allow thousands of reviewers for every level of
specialization, and it will be highly recommended by the system
host to the industry user to get as many people as possible in all
specializations and levels. The CRS will be equipped with several
different tools and measurements to monitor the ratings, and the
more people who are in, the more information the Industry User has
to compare it to other reviewers to see who is trying to `game the
game`. Additionally, customers looking to buy off reviewers will
not be able to pick exactly which reviewers will get their product,
as the probability that they will choose correctly will decrease
significantly with the more registered reviewers there are.
[0120] One of the unique features that the CRS can employ is
weighting the ranking of business or products based on when they
were reviewed. Some products may change over time, such as a
restaurant offering a different menu or a band significantly
improving its stage presence. In that event, reviews degrade over
time. Therefore, the CRS is optimized to weight ratings so that the
most current one carries the most power. This in turn will entice
requesting clients to renew their ratings with the industry user in
order to be the most competitive product or business in their
field.
[0121] There are some businesses that may want to receive and
independent consult about their product before it goes to market,
or may want to see what rating they would receive before it is
published in the CRS. The CRS can accommodate these requesting
clients by providing them reviews that are private to them.
Additionally, the industry user can create a more comprehensive
feedback form in the cumulative evaluation form to give the
requesting client more information on how to improve their product.
Accordingly, offering competitive prices for both the requesting
client and compensation for the registered reviewer will eliminate
the possibility of requesting clients trying to contact registered
reviewers and gain opinions from them without the industry user's
knowledge. This is also an additional revenue producing service
that the industry user can offer their clients.
[0122] The CRS can be configured to match customer preferences up
with reviewers who share similar preferences. This will allow the
customer to find reviewers who are similar to them in either
physical appearance, location, likes, dislikes, and other various
criteria that is dependent on the industry to help them find
products that they would mostly likely buy. For example, a man who
is over six foot five may insert his own dimensions into the CRS to
find reviewers who are his height and build, then see what places
they prefer to shop for clothes for clubbing.
[0123] In the event that the industry user chooses, the CRS is
optimized to have reviews adjusted or pulled from publication. If
an industry user suspects that a registered reviewer's profile has
been compromised, they can pull the entire profile and investigate
their reviews. Additionally, they give registered reviewers
periodical permission to adjust their scores. This can be an
automatic permission given to registered reviewers at particular
times, such as after six months or after 30 reviews. They can give
registered reviewers full permission, or they must be approved and
reviewed by system managers or industry users. Additionally, or
alternatively, the industry user can elect to never give registered
reviewers the ability to adjust their scores.
[0124] One of the main benefits for requesting clients is their
ability to monitor the performance of their reviewed products that
are in the CRS. Requesting clients have their own dashboard in the
CRS (via the interface) where they can order more reviews, adjust
the date release of those reviews, add another product, and ask
questions to the industry user. This dashboard will also show
statistics about their products, such as the rise and fall of their
rating, and sales information of their product through the
cloud-based service or website. For example, an author selling an
eBook through the CRS can see if their rating has risen, how many
units they've sold, and adjust the release date of their next
review to coincide with their marketing plan. Companies with
several products can monitor them all and get excellent feedback on
their products and how to improve them based on performance over
time.
[0125] Another benefit of this system is that products will not be
available for purchase or for viewing by the public until they have
at least a minimum number of ratings (e.g., at least three
ratings). The benefit of this is that customers will always have
information available about a product before they purchase them,
and reduces the risk they take for purchasing a product without
information. For example, customers looking at vacuums on other
sites will be hesitant to buy a new vacuum because it does not have
any reviews. On the CRS, all products will have a minimum amount of
reviews but will also provide accurate comparison. Therefore, new
products taken to market with the CRS will provide customers the
needed information without making them feel like the "guinea pig"
in taking a risk on purchasing a new vacuum with no reviews.
[0126] Accordingly, the cumulative rating system of the present
invention overcomes the drawbacks of current review system models.
The CRS is configured to generate accurate and unbiased evaluations
of products, performances, and/or services, thereby improving the
reliability of information provided to a consumer. Furthermore, the
CRS is optimized for providing improve visibility and interaction
with ratings of products, performances, or services, thereby making
it a great tool for customers, administrators (industry users) and
for registered reviewers alike.
[0127] While several embodiments of the present disclosure have
been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in
the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or
structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the
results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and
each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within
the scope of the present disclosure. More generally, those skilled
in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions,
materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be
exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials,
and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or
applications for which the teachings of the present disclosure
is/are used.
[0128] As used in any embodiment herein, the term "module" may
refer to software, firmware and/or circuitry configured to perform
any of the aforementioned operations. Software may be embodied as a
software package, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data
recorded on non-transitory computer readable storage medium.
Firmware may be embodied as code, instructions or instruction sets
and/or data that are hard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory
devices. "Circuitry", as used in any embodiment herein, may
comprise, for example, singly or in any combination, hardwired
circuitry, programmable circuitry such as computer processors
comprising one or more individual instruction processing cores,
state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that stores instructions
executed by programmable circuitry. The modules may, collectively
or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a
larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), system
on-chip (SoC), desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet
computers, servers, smart phones, etc.
[0129] Any of the operations described herein may be implemented in
a system that includes one or more storage mediums having stored
thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that when
executed by one or more processors perform the methods. Here, the
processor may include, for example, a server CPU, a mobile device
CPU, and/or other programmable circuitry.
[0130] Also, it is intended that operations described herein may be
distributed across a plurality of physical devices, such as
processing structures at more than one different physical location.
The storage medium may include any type of tangible medium, for
example, any type of disk including hard disks, floppy disks,
optical disks, compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact
disk rewritables (CD-RWs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor
devices such as read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories
(RAMs) such as dynamic and static RAMs, erasable programmable
read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable
read-only memories (EEPROMs), flash memories, Solid State Disks
(SSDs), magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable
for storing electronic instructions. Other embodiments may be
implemented as software modules executed by a programmable control
device. The storage medium may be non-transitory.
[0131] As described herein, various embodiments may be implemented
using hardware elements, software elements, or any combination
thereof. Examples of hardware elements may include processors,
microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors,
resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated
circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC),
programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP),
field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers,
semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so
forth.
[0132] Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing
quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight,
reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and
claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by
the term "about." Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary,
the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and
attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the
desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention.
At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application
of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each
numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the
number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary
rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and
parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are
approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific
examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical
value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily
resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective
testing measurements.
[0133] The terms "a," "an," "the" and similar referents used in the
context of describing the invention (especially in the context of
the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the
singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or
clearly contradicted by context. Recitation of ranges of values
herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of
referring individually to each separate value falling within the
range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is
incorporated into the specification as if it were individually
recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in
any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise
clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples,
or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein is intended
merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a
limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No
language in the specification should be construed as indicating any
non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
[0134] Certain embodiments of this invention are described herein,
including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the
invention. Of course, variations on these described embodiments
will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon
reading the foregoing description. The inventor expects skilled
artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the
inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than
specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes
all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in
the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.
Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all
possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless
otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by
context.
[0135] Specific embodiments disclosed herein may be further limited
in the claims using consisting of or consisting essentially of
language. When used in the claims, whether as filed or added per
amendment, the transition term "consisting of" excludes any
element, step, or ingredient not specified in the claims. The
transition term "consisting essentially of" limits the scope of a
claim to the specified materials or steps and those that do not
materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s).
Embodiments of the invention so claimed are inherently or expressly
described and enabled herein.
[0136] Furthermore, numerous references have been made to patents
and printed publications throughout this specification. Each of the
above-cited references and printed publications are individually
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
[0137] In closing, it is to be understood that the embodiments of
the invention disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles
of the present invention. Other modifications that may be employed
are within the scope of the invention. Thus, by way of example, but
not of limitation, alternative configurations of the present
invention may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein.
Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to that precisely
as shown and described.
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