Searching for goods and services based on keywords and proximity
First Claim
1. A method in a computing system, comprising:
- providing a computer-implemented search facility configured to provide information about a plurality of merchants that each sell a plurality of goods and/or services, wherein each merchant of the plurality of merchants does not have an online presence via web sites or web pages specific to each merchant, by;
for each of the plurality of merchants,receiving a plurality of keywords that describe goods or services sold by the merchant, wherein the plurality of keywords comprises thousands of keywords, descriptors, classification, or advertisement words; and
associating each of the plurality of keywords with at least one of the goods and/or services sold by the merchant;
receiving a search request that includes a keyword and an indication of a location;
automatically determining, by a computer processor of the computing system, one or more of the plurality of merchants that is proximately located to the indicated location and that sells a good and/or service that has an associated keyword that matches the keyword included in the search request, wherein the one or more of the determined plurality of merchants is classified in an off-line directory service only under business classifications that do not deal in the good and/or service, such that the merchant would not be identified in the off-line directory as dealing in the good and/or service were the off-line directory to be searched under business classifications associated with the good and/or service, thereby enabling the determining of one or more of the plurality of merchants proximately located to the indicated location that would not be otherwise found by searching the off-line directory service;
transmitting information about the determined one or more merchants; and
receiving feedback regarding one of the plurality of merchants, the feedback indicating a user'"'"'s positive or negative experience with respect to the one merchant and/or one or more keywords associated with the one merchant and automatically adjusting the accuracy of received feedback associated with the one merchant by only associating the received plurality of keywords with the associated good and/or services of the one of the plurality of merchants when received from an authorized entity by;
automatically determining whether the feedback is likely false or spurious by determining that the feedback was at least one of;
received from an unauthorized user, received along with multiple feedback from a single user in a short amount of time, or received from an automated computer program;
upon determining that the feedback is likely false or spurious, not presenting or associating the received feedback with the one merchant, andotherwise, presenting and associating the received feedback with the one merchant.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for keyword-based searching are described. Some embodiments provide a Merchant Information Search System (“MISS”) that allows a potential customer to search for information about proximately located merchants that provide goods and/or services that match one or more keywords provided by the customer. In some embodiments, multiple keywords are associated with individual goods and/or services provided by a merchant. By associating keywords with individual goods and/or services, rather than a category or type of goods, the MISS may provide fine-grained search results that identify merchants that would not have been otherwise identified by category-based approaches to searching. Some embodiments employ other or additional techniques, including proximity-based searching and keyword feedback to improve search performance.
19 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method in a computing system, comprising:
providing a computer-implemented search facility configured to provide information about a plurality of merchants that each sell a plurality of goods and/or services, wherein each merchant of the plurality of merchants does not have an online presence via web sites or web pages specific to each merchant, by; for each of the plurality of merchants, receiving a plurality of keywords that describe goods or services sold by the merchant, wherein the plurality of keywords comprises thousands of keywords, descriptors, classification, or advertisement words; and associating each of the plurality of keywords with at least one of the goods and/or services sold by the merchant; receiving a search request that includes a keyword and an indication of a location; automatically determining, by a computer processor of the computing system, one or more of the plurality of merchants that is proximately located to the indicated location and that sells a good and/or service that has an associated keyword that matches the keyword included in the search request, wherein the one or more of the determined plurality of merchants is classified in an off-line directory service only under business classifications that do not deal in the good and/or service, such that the merchant would not be identified in the off-line directory as dealing in the good and/or service were the off-line directory to be searched under business classifications associated with the good and/or service, thereby enabling the determining of one or more of the plurality of merchants proximately located to the indicated location that would not be otherwise found by searching the off-line directory service; transmitting information about the determined one or more merchants; and receiving feedback regarding one of the plurality of merchants, the feedback indicating a user'"'"'s positive or negative experience with respect to the one merchant and/or one or more keywords associated with the one merchant and automatically adjusting the accuracy of received feedback associated with the one merchant by only associating the received plurality of keywords with the associated good and/or services of the one of the plurality of merchants when received from an authorized entity by; automatically determining whether the feedback is likely false or spurious by determining that the feedback was at least one of;
received from an unauthorized user, received along with multiple feedback from a single user in a short amount of time, or received from an automated computer program;upon determining that the feedback is likely false or spurious, not presenting or associating the received feedback with the one merchant, and otherwise, presenting and associating the received feedback with the one merchant. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computing system, comprising:
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a non-transitory memory; and a module stored on the memory that is configured, when executed by a computer processor, to provide a search facility configured to provide information about a plurality of merchants that each sell goods and/or services, wherein each merchant of the plurality of merchants does not have an online presence via web sites or web pages specific to each merchant, by; for each of the plurality of merchants, receiving a plurality of keywords that describe goods or services sold by the merchant, wherein the plurality of keywords comprises hundreds of keywords, descriptors, classification, or advertisement words; and associating each of the plurality of keywords with at least one of the goods and/or services sold by the merchant; receiving a search request that includes a keyword and an indication of a location; automatically determining one or more of the plurality of merchants that is proximately located to the indicated location and that sells a good and/or service that has an associated keyword that matches the keyword included in the search request, wherein the one or more of the determined plurality of merchants is classified in an off-line directory service only under business classifications that do not deal in the good and/or service, such that the merchant would not be identified in the off-line directory as dealing in the good and/or service were the off-line directory to be searched under business classifications associated with the good and/or service, thereby enabling the determining of one or more of the plurality of merchants proximately located to the indicated location that would not be otherwise found by searching the off-line directory service; transmitting information about the determined one or more merchants; and receiving feedback regarding one of the plurality of merchants, the feedback indicating a user'"'"'s positive or negative experience with respect to the one merchant and/or one or more keywords associated with the one merchant and automatically adjusting the accuracy of received feedback associated with the one merchant by only associating the received plurality of keywords with the associated good and/or services of the one of the plurality of merchants when received from an authorized entity by; automatically determining whether the feedback is likely false or spurious by determining that the feedback was at least one of;
received from an unauthorized user, received along with multiple feedback from a single user in a short amount of time, or received from an automated computer program;upon determining that the feedback is likely false or spurious, not presenting or associating the received feedback with the one merchant; and otherwise, presenting and associating the received feedback with the one merchant. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having contents that, when executed, cause a computing system to provide information about a plurality of merchants that each sell goods and/or services, by:
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for each of the plurality of merchants, wherein each merchant does not have an online presence via web sites or web pages specific to each merchant, receiving a plurality of keywords that describe goods or services sold by the merchant, wherein the plurality of keywords comprises thousands of keywords, descriptors, classification, or advertisement words; and associating each of the plurality of keywords with the merchant and/or with at least one of the goods and/or services sold by the merchant; receiving a search request that includes a keyword and an indication of a location; automatically determining one or more of the plurality of merchants that sells a good and/or service that has an associated keyword that matches the keyword included in the search request, wherein the one or more of the determined plurality of merchants is classified in an off-line directory service only under business classifications that do not deal in the good and/or service, such that the merchant would not be identified in the off-line directory as dealing in the good and/or service were the off-line directory to be searched under business classifications associated with the good and/or service, thereby enabling the determining of one or more of the plurality of merchants proximately located to the indicated location that would not be otherwise found by searching the off-line directory service; transmitting information about the determined one or more merchants; and automatically adjusting the accuracy of the received plurality of keywords with the associated good and/or services of one of the plurality of merchants by only associating the received plurality of keywords with the associated good and/or services of the one of the plurality of merchants when received from an authorized entity by; automatically determining whether the feedback is likely false or spurious by determining that the feedback was at least one of received from an unauthorized user, received along with multiple feedback from a single user in a short amount of time, or received from an automated computer program; upon determining that the feedback is likely false or spurious, not presenting or associating the received feedback with the one merchant; and otherwise, presenting and associating the received feedback with the one merchant. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification