AGENT RANK

• US 20110213770A1
• Filed: 05/11/2011
• Published: 09/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tucker, Paul A., Minogue, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,296,293 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing techniques for searching and ranking linked information sources. The techniques include receiving multiple content items from a corpus of content items; receiving digital signatures each made by one of multiple agents, each digital signature associating one of the agents with one or more of the content items; and assigning a score to a first agent of the multiple agents, wherein the score is based upon the content items associated with the first agent by the digital signatures.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

evaluating a document that is hosted on a site, the document including a content item to which a maker of the content item has applied a digital signature;

determining whether the digital signature is portable;

if the digital signature is portable, using a reputation score associated with the maker in calculating a quality score for the document; and

if the digital signature is not portable, using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, if the digital signature is portable, using the reputation score comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating a quality score for the document, without regard to where the document is hosted.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the document is a web page and the digital signature is fixed to the web page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the document has a URL and the digital signature is fixed to the URL.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the maker of the content item comprises an author, creator, editor, reviewer, or publisher of the content item.

6. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

evaluating a document that is hosted on a site, the document including a content item to which a maker of the content item has applied a digital signature;

determining whether the digital signature is portable;

if the digital signature is portable, using a reputation score associated with the maker in calculating a quality score for the document; and

if the digital signature is not portable, using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein, if the digital signature is portable, using the reputation score comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating a quality score for the document, without regard to where the document is hosted.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the document is a web page and the digital signature is fixed to the web page.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the document has a URL and the digital signature is fixed to the URL.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the maker of the content item comprises an author, creator, editor, reviewer, or publisher of the content item.

11. A computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

evaluating a document that is hosted on a site, the document including a content item to which a maker of the content item has applied a digital signature;

determining whether the digital signature is portable;

if the digital signature is portable, using a reputation score associated with the maker in calculating a quality score for the document; and

if the digital signature is not portable, using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site.

12. The medium of claim 11, wherein, if the digital signature is portable, using the reputation score comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating a quality score for the document, without regard to where the document is hosted.

13. The medium of claim 11, wherein using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the document is a web page and the digital signature is fixed to the web page.

14. The medium of claim 11, wherein using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site comprises using the reputation score associated with the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the document has a URL and the digital signature is fixed to the URL.

15. The medium of claim 11, wherein the maker of the content item comprises an author, creator, editor, reviewer, or publisher of the content item.

16. A computer-implemented method for determining whether to use a reputation score of a maker of a content item included in an electronic document that is hosted on an Internet site in determining a quality score for the document, the method comprising:

obtaining a digital signature that the maker of the content item has applied to the content item;

determining whether the digital signature is portable;

if the digital signature is portable, using a reputation score of the maker in calculating a quality score for the document; and

if the digital signature is not portable, using the reputation score of the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining whether the digital signature is portable comprises determining whether the digital signature is associated with metadata that specifies an address of a particular site.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the maker of the content item comprises an author, creator, editor, reviewer, or publisher of the content item.

19. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

obtaining a digital signature that the maker of the content item has applied to the content item;

determining whether the digital signature is portable;

if the digital signature is portable, using a reputation score of the maker in calculating a quality score for the document; and

if the digital signature is not portable, using the reputation score of the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein determining whether the digital signature is portable comprises determining whether the digital signature is associated with metadata that specifies an address of a particular site.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the maker of the content item comprises an author, creator, editor, reviewer, or publisher of the content item.

22. A computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

obtaining a digital signature that the maker of the content item has applied to the content item;

determining whether the digital signature is portable;

if the digital signature is portable, using a reputation score of the maker in calculating a quality score for the document; and

if the digital signature is not portable, using the reputation score of the maker in calculating the quality score for the document only if the digital signature is fixed to the site.

23. The medium of claim 22, wherein determining whether the digital signature is portable comprises determining whether the digital signature is associated with metadata that specifies an address of a particular site.

24. The medium of claim 22, wherein the maker of the content item comprises an author, creator, editor, reviewer, or publisher of the content item.