DYANMIC PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION FOR OPINION AGGREGATION

• US 20080154698A1
• Filed: 09/27/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cheng, Lili, Jain, Kamal, Flake, Gary W., Chickering, David M., Gounares, Alexander G., Connolly, Michael
• Application Number:
  US11/862,683
• Publication Number:
  US 20080154698A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can utilize features of a product to facilitate organization and/or classification of products or product features as well as opinions relating to those products or product features into market identifiers. The market identifiers can aid in aggregating opinions in a more relevant manner that potentially requires less user information about a user in order to achieve bone fide targeting. The architecture can employ data mining techniques to gather information relating to products and opinions thereof in order to create or update data tables and can further allow a user to configure the market identifier in various ways.

Claims

1. A computer implemented system that employs product classifications to aggregate opinions associated with a product, comprising:

a data acquisition component that receives a query from a user, the query is associated with a product;

a classification component that determines a market identifier for the product based at least in part upon a feature of the product; and

an opinion aggregation component that selects a set of opinions related to the market identifier based upon information associated with the user.

2. The system of claim 1, the classification component employs the feature to distinguish relevance of an opinion associated with the product.

3. The system of claim 1, the market identifier is a classification in which an opinion associated with the product is most relevant.

4. The system of claim 1, the market identifier is at least one of friends, trendspotters, trendsetters, experts, similar traits, global, or a combination thereof.

5. The system of claim 1, the feature of the product is at least one of a risk of defection, a good, a service, a location, informational or knowledge-based, an availability of information, a market domain, a market dynamic, aesthetic value, fashion, a trend, an investment potential, utility-driven, a technical complexity, related to personal tastes or a specific market or audience, a brand name, product recognition, or a combination thereof.

6. The system of claim 1, the opinion aggregation component filters an opinion associated with the product in order to select the set of opinions when the opinion is insufficiently related to the market identifier.

7. The system of claim 1, the data acquisition component obtains an opinion associated with the product, the opinion includes information related to an opinion source.

8. The system of claim 7, the classification component determines a market identifier for the opinion based upon the information related to the source.

9. The system of claim 1, the data acquisition component obtains feedback from the user with respect to an accuracy or a relevance associated with the set of opinions.

10. The system of claim 9, the classification component incrementally builds a data table that relates the product to the market identifier based upon the feedback.

11. The system of claim 1, the opinion aggregation component employs an alternative market identifier to select an alternative set of opinions and the data acquisition component obtains feedback with respect to an accuracy or a relevance associated with the alternative set of opinions.

12. The system of claim 11, the classification component incrementally builds a data table that relates the product to the market identifier based upon the feedback.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface that receives the query from the user, supplies the set of opinions to the user, or receives the opinion from an opinion source.

14. The system of claim 13, the user interface facilitates an alternative market identifier provided by the user.

15. A computer implemented method for aggregating opinions relating to a product based upon market categories, comprising:

receiving a query relating to a product from a user;

classifying the product according to a market identifier based upon a feature of the product; and

aggregating a set of opinions relating to the product based upon the market identifier and information corresponding to the user.

16. The method of claim 15, the market identifier is at least one of friends, trendspotters, trendsetters, experts, similar traits, global, or a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 15, the feature of the product is at least one of a risk of defection, a good, a service, a location, informational or knowledge-based, an availability of information, a market domain, a market dynamic, aesthetic value, fashion, a trend, an investment potential, utility-driven, a technical complexity, related to personal tastes or a specific market or audience, a brand name, product recognition, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising at least one of the following acts:

obtaining an opinion relating to the product, the opinion including information relating to an opinion source;

inferring a market identifier for the opinion based upon the information relating to the opinion source;

or

constructing a data table that relates the product to the market identifier.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising at least one of the following acts:

utilizing the feature of the product to differentiate relevance of an opinion associated with the product;

filtering an opinion relating to the product when the opinion is not adequately related to the market identifier in connection with the act of aggregating;

receiving an alternative market identifier for aggregating an alternative set of opinions;

or

providing a user interface in connection with the acts of receiving or obtaining.

20. A computer implemented system for choosing opinions relating to a product by utilizing market classifications, comprising:

computer implemented means for obtaining from a user a query relating to a product;

computer implemented means for categorizing the product in accordance with a market identifier related to a feature of the product; and

computer implemented means for employing the market identifier and information corresponding to the user to select a set of opinions about a product.