COLLECTING AND PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT VENDORS, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• US 20080294501A1
• Filed: 04/30/2008
• Published: 11/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Steven Carl Rennich
• Original Assignee: Steven Carl Rennich
• Inventors: Rennich, Steven Carl
• Application Number:
  US12/112,421
• Publication Number:
  US 20080294501A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.29
• 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 utility, reliability and efficiency of vendor, product and/or service ratings are improved by collecting verifiable transaction information along with consumer-supplied ratings indicating consumer satisfaction regarding the corresponding goods, services, and/or vendors. From this collected information, the method and system of the present invention generates a score or set or scores for the vendors, products, and/or services. The score or scores generated by the present invention is a transaction-price-weighted function of the consumer'"'"'s transaction satisfaction, taking into account not only the consumer-supplied ratings but also providing greater reliability and accuracy by taking into account the amount of money each consumer spent on the goods or services. The score or scores are made available to potential consumers so that they can perform comparative analysis and thereby more easily obtain the best products and services from the best vendors.

Claims

1. A method of collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:

for each of a plurality of transactions between consumers and providers;

receiving information describing a transaction between a consumer and a provider, the information being received from a source independent of the consumer and the provider;

receiving information describing the consumer;

receiving information describing the provider;

receiving an indicator of consumer satisfaction regarding at least one of the transaction and the provider;

associating the transaction information with the consumer satisfaction indicator; and

storing the transaction information, the consumer information, the provider information, and the consumer satisfaction indicator;

for each of at least a subset of the providers, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the consumer satisfaction indicators for the provider; and

outputting the generated scores.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information describing the transaction comprises receiving the information from a financial institution.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at least one filtering parameter specifying at least one selected from the group consisting of;

a characteristic of a consumer; and

a characteristic of a provider;

and wherein generating a score comprises generating a score based on consumer satisfaction indicators corresponding to transactions matching the at least one filtering parameter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information describing the transaction comprises receiving a monetary amount associated with the transaction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indicator of consumer satisfaction comprises receiving input from the consumer indicating a degree of satisfaction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indicator of consumer satisfaction comprises inferring a degree of satisfaction from observed consumer behavior.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a score comprises generating a consumer satisfaction score based on:

received indicators of consumer satisfaction; and

received information describing monetary amounts associated with trans-actions for the consumers.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein generating a score further comprises:

adjusting the generated score to diminish weights of multiple ratings from a single consumer for a single provider.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising ranking the providers according to the scores, and wherein outputting the generated scores comprises outputting a ranked list of providers.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to outputting the generated score:

receiving a query from a potential consumer, the query specifying at least one parameter; and

responsive to the query, identifying a set of providers satisfying the at least one parameter;

and wherein generating a score comprises generating a score for each of the providers in the identified set.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, prior to outputting the generated score:

determining at least one characteristic of the potential consumer;

for at least one consumer satisfaction indicator;

determining at least one characteristic of the associated consumer;

determining a degree of equivalence between the determined characteristic of the potential consumer and the determined characteristic of the consumer associated with the indicator; and

adjusting the consumer satisfaction indicator according to the determined degree of equivalence.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to outputting the generated score:

determining at least one characteristic of the potential consumer;

for at least one consumer satisfaction indicator;

determining at least one characteristic of the associated consumer;

determining a degree of equivalence between the determined characteristic of the potential consumer and the determined characteristic of the consumer associated with the indicator; and

adjusting the consumer satisfaction indicator according to the determined degree of equivalence.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein each provider comprises a service provider.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein each provider comprises a seller of goods.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information describing the consumer comprises receiving at least some information from the consumer.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a score comprises weighting each consumer satisfaction indicator by a corresponding transaction price and generating an average based on the weighted consumer satisfaction indicators.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a score is performed prior to a request for the score.

18. A method of collecting and providing satisfaction ratings, comprising:

for each of a plurality of transactions between a first group of entities and a second group of entities;

receiving information describing a transaction between an entity in the first group and an entity in the second group, the information being received from a source independent of the entities;

receiving information describing the entity in the first group;

receiving information describing the entity in the second group;

receiving an indicator of satisfaction regarding the transaction;

associating the transaction information with the satisfaction indicator; and

storing the transaction information, the information describing the entities, and the satisfaction indicator;

for each of at least a subset of entities in the second group, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the satisfaction indicators for the entity in the second group; and

outputting the generated scores.

19. A computer program product for collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium; and

computer program code, encoded on the medium, programmatically configured to perform the steps of;

for each of a plurality of transactions between a first group of entities and a second group of entities;

receiving information describing a transaction between an entity in the first group and an entity in the second group, the information being received from a source independent of the entities;

receiving information describing the entity in the first group;

receiving information describing the entity in the second group;

receiving an indicator of satisfaction regarding the transaction;

associating the transaction information with the satisfaction indicator; and

storing the transaction information, the information describing the entities, and the satisfaction indicator;

for each of at least a subset of entities in the second group, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the satisfaction indicators for the entity in the second group; and

outputting the generated scores.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein:

the first group of entities comprises consumers; and

the second group of entities comprises providers.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the computer program code for generating a score comprises computer program code for weighting each satisfaction indicator by a corresponding transaction price and generating an average based on the weighted satisfaction indicators.

22. A system for collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:

a transaction data collection module, for, for each of a plurality of transactions between a first group of entities and a second group of entities;

receiving information describing a transaction between an entity in the first group and an entity in the second group, the information being received from a source independent of the entities;

receiving information describing the entity in the first group; and

receiving information describing the entity in the second group;

a feedback module, for, for each transaction in the plurality, receiving an indicator of satisfaction regarding the transaction;

a database coupled to the transaction data collection module and the feedback module, for;

associating the transaction information with the satisfaction indicator; and

storing the transaction information, the information describing the entities, and the satisfaction indicator;

a scoring module, coupled to the database, for, for each of at least a subset of entities in the second group, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the satisfaction indicators for the entity in the second group; and

an output device, coupled to the scoring module, for outputting the generated scores.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein:

the first group of entities comprises consumers; and

the second group of entities comprises providers.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the scoring module generates a score by weighting each consumer satisfaction indicator by a corresponding transaction price and generating an average based on the weighted satisfaction indicators.