Search engine with community feedback system

• US 20070124283A1
• Filed: 11/28/2005
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: John Gotts
• Original Assignee: John Gotts
• Inventors: Gotts, John
• Application Number:
  US11/287,695
• Publication Number:
  US 20070124283A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A system for enhancing a search results page with community feedback includes a web server to receive a query from a verified user and to submit the query to a search engine for identification of one or more indexed web pages that match the query. In one embodiment, the web server includes a search results formatter to list at least a subset of the matching web pages in a random order and to display community feedback for at least one of the listed web pages based on individual feedback provided by one or more previous users. The community feedback may include a community rating as well as one or more comments by individual users.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing for receiving a query from a verified user;

providing for identifying one or more indexed web pages that match the query;

providing for listing at least a subset of the matching web pages in a random order; and

providing for displaying community feedback for at least one of the listed web pages based on individual feedback provided by one or more previous users who have viewed the at least one listed web page.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the community feedback includes a community rating derived from individual ratings provided by the one or more previous users.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the community rating includes at least one of the following ratings:

poor, average, good, excellent, virus, spyware, and adware.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing for flagging a particular web page for removal from the indexed web pages in response to the particular web page having a community rating of one of virus, spyware, and adware.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

providing for notifying a system operator in response to a particular web page receiving an individual rating of virus, spyware, or adware.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the community feedback includes a composite score derived from individual scores provided by the one or more previous users.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the community feedback includes at least one comment provided by the one or more previous users.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the community feedback includes the most recently provided comment.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the community feedback includes a random one of a plurality of comments provided by the one or more previous users.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein providing for displaying community feedback comprises providing for displaying a link to the at least one comment.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing for displaying a selected one of the listed web pages; and

providing for allowing the verified user to provide feedback on the selected web page.

12. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing for integrating the feedback provided by the verified user into community feedback for the selected webpage.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein providing for integrating comprises providing for using the feedback from the verified user to modify indexing for the selected webpage.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein using feedback comprises adding meta-data to an index for locating the selected webpage.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing for rewarding users who provide feedback on a web page where no community feedback is currently available or the community feedback is stale.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein providing for rewarding comprises providing for entering each user providing feedback in a drawing.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein rewarding comprises awarding points to the users providing feedback, the points being usable for purchasing goods or services.

18. A method comprising:

locating one or more indexed web pages that match a query submitted by a verified user;

listing the one or more matching web pages in a random order;

allowing the verified user to provide individual feedback for a selected one of the listed web pages; and

in response to a subsequent query that results in the selected web page being listed, showing community feedback for the selected web page based at least in part on the individual feedback.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the community feedback includes a community rating.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the community feedback includes a comment provided by the verified user.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

modifying the way in which the selected webpage is indexed based at least in part on the individual feedback provided by the verified user.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein modifying comprises adding meta-data to an index for locating the selected webpage.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein allowing the verified user to provide individual feedback comprises displaying the selected web page in a first window and a feedback mechanism for receiving the individual feedback in a second window.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the feedback mechanism allows the verified user to select from a rating including at least one of the following ratings:

poor, average, good, excellent, virus, spyware, and adware.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the feedback mechanism allows the user to input a comment.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein allowing the verified user to provide individual feedback comprises displaying the selected web page and a feedback mechanism in different frames of the same window.

27. A method comprising:

randomly listing at least a subset of web pages matching a query submitted by a verified user;

allowing the verified user to provide individual feedback for a selected one of the listed web pages; and

modifying the way in which the selected webpage is indexed for subsequent searching based at least in part on the individual feedback provided by the verified user.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein modifying comprises adding meta-data to an index for locating the selected webpage.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the individual feedback includes a rating.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the individual feedback includes a comment.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

compiling community feedback for the selected web page derived from the individual feedback provided by a plurality of verified users.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

showing community feedback for at least one web page in connection with a random listing of matching web pages.

33. A user interface comprising:

a query area for receiving a query from a verified user;

a search results area for displaying a random listing of one or more indexed web pages that match the query; and

a community feedback area for displaying community feedback for at least one of the listed web pages based on individual feedback provided by one or more previous users.

34. The user interface of claim 33, further comprising:

a plurality of community feedback areas, one community feedback area being provided for each listed web page.

35. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the community feedback includes a community rating derived from individual ratings provided by the one or more previous users.

36. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the community rating includes at least one of the following ratings:

poor, average, good, excellent, virus, spyware, and adware.

37. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the community feedback includes at least one comment, or a link to at least one comment, provided by the one or more previous users.

38. The user interface of claim 33, further comprising:

an individual feedback area to allow the verified user to provide individual feedback for a selected one of the listed web pages.

39. The user interface of claim 38, further comprising:

a selected web page area to display the selected web page.

40. The user interface of claim 39, wherein the selected webpage area is in a window separate from the individual feedback area.

41. The user interface of claim 39, wherein the selected webpage area is in a separate frame of the same window used for the individual feedback area.

42. The user interface of claim 38, wherein the individual feedback area includes a mechanism for selecting an individual rating for the selected web page.

43. The user interface of claim 38, wherein the individual feedback area includes a text field for inputting a comment.

44. A system comprising:

a web server to receive a query from a verified user, and to submit the query to a search engine for identification of one or more indexed web pages that match the query; and

a search results formatter to list at least a subset of the matching web pages in a random order and to display community feedback for at least one of the listed web pages based on individual feedback provided by one or more previous users.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the community feedback includes a community rating derived from individual ratings provided by the one or more previous users.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the community rating includes at least one of the following ratings:

poor, average, good, excellent, virus, spyware, and adware.

47. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

a malicious activity monitor to flag a particular web page for removal from the indexed web pages in response to the particular web page having a community rating of virus, spyware, or adware.

48. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

a malicious activity monitor to notify a system operator in response to a particular web page receiving an individual rating of virus, spyware, or adware.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein the community feedback includes a composite score derived from individual scores provided by the one or more previous users.

50. The system of claim 44, wherein the community feedback includes at least one comment, or a link to at least one comment, provided by the one or more previous users.

51. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

an individual feedback module to allow the verified user to provide feedback on a selected one of the one or more web pages.

52. The system of claim 51, further comprising:

a feedback integration module to integrate the feedback provided by the verified user into community feedback for the selected webpage.

53. The system of claim 51, further comprising:

an index modification module to use the feedback from the verified user to modify an index used to locate the selected webpage.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein using the index modification module is to add meta-data to the index based on the feedback.

55. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

an incentive module to reward users who provide feedback on a web page for which no community feedback is currently available or the community feedback is stale.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the incentive module is to enter each user providing feedback into a drawing.

57. The system of claim 55, wherein the incentive module is to award points to the users providing feedback, the points being usable for purchasing goods or services.

58. A machine-readable medium including program code that causes a machine to perform the operations of:

receiving a query from a verified user;

identifying one or more indexed web pages that match the query;

listing at least a subset of the matching web pages in a random order; and

displaying community feedback for at least one of the listed web pages based on individual feedback provided by one or more previous users who have viewed the at least one listed web page.

59. A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising;

a code segment including instructions for receiving a query from a verified user;

a code segment including instructions for identifying one or more indexed web pages that match the query;

a code segment including instructions for listing at least a subset of the matching web pages in a random order; and

a code segment including instructions for displaying community feedback for at least one of the listed web pages based on individual feedback provided by one or more previous users who have viewed the at least one listed web page.