Probabilistic web link viability marker and web page ratings
First Claim
1. Computer apparatus, comprising:
- a communications interface;
a storage medium, connected to said communications interface, configured to store link identification data identifying information links to resources on a network and data generated from results of previous attempts at accessing documents identified by information links; and
a computer, connected to said communications interface and said storage medium, configured to calculate link viability based on said results of previous attempts.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Hypertext information links are typically contained in documents accessible by networks. Data is gathered regarding the results of attempted access to documents identified by these links. The link'"'"'s viability is calculated based on the number of successful attempts resulting in successful access in order to provide a measure of link viability. The display of the document is altered based on the measure of link viability. An average of link viability for all links on the document, and on the site, is used to calculate document viability and site viability which can be used to rate the document and site, respectively. These viability measures are displayed along with the corresponding link, document, and site. Display of results retrieved by conventional search engines may be sorted based on link, document or site viability, and displayed accordingly. Links contained in bookmark lists are also measured for viability to cull out bookmarks with low link viability to, or low document viability of, the bookmarked document. Viability calculations may be made by a user computer device, an Internet Service Provider, a third party service, and/or a server on which a document resides.
161 Citations
39 Claims
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1. Computer apparatus, comprising:
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a communications interface; a storage medium, connected to said communications interface, configured to store link identification data identifying information links to resources on a network and data generated from results of previous attempts at accessing documents identified by information links; and a computer, connected to said communications interface and said storage medium, configured to calculate link viability based on said results of previous attempts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10)
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8. A method of determining viability of an information link located on a document accessible via a network, comprising the steps of:
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attempting to access said information link; and storing results of each attempted access and calculating a measure of link viability from said results. - View Dependent Claims (9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 39)
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16. A method of determining viability of at least one information link located on a network device, where said at least one information link is located on a bookmark list identifying at least one bookmarked document, comprising the steps of:
- attempting to access each said information link, calculating at least one of a document viability of each bookmarked document and a link viability, and if at least one of said link viability and said document viability are less than a respective threshold value, then creating an inquiry to a user as to whether the bookmarked document should remain on the bookmark list.
- View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A method of determining viability of an information link located on a document accessible by a network, comprising the steps of:
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receiving data indicating results of information link access attempts; and calculating link viability based on said data. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A method of retrieving a document, comprising:
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searching information retrieval system for documents containing one or more page elements; and ordering search results based on the number of page elements and the viability of a link to a document. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of rating a web document, comprising the steps of:
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retrieving link access attempt data from a database for each information link contained in said web document; calculating link viability for all links on said web document based on said link access attempt data; and rating of said web document for which link viability is calculated based on said link viability for all links on said web document.
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27. A method of rating a web site, comprising the steps of:
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retrieving link access attempt data from a database for each information link contained in said web site; calculating link viability for all links on said web site based on said link access attempt data; and rating of said web site for which link viability is calculated based on said link viability for all links on said web site. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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28. A computer program product comprising:
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a memory medium; and a computer program stored on said memory medium, said computer program comprising instructions for attempting access of an information link located on a document accessible via a network, and storing results of each attempted access and calculating a measure of link viability from said results. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. A system for information retrieval comprising:
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a network; at least one server computer apparatus, storing a first document having an information link pointing to a second document, and configured to deliver said first document across the network in response to a document request; at least one client computer apparatus, connected to said network, configured to request access to said first document; and a database, accessible by said client computer apparatus, that stores results of previous attempts at accessing said second document and provides an indication of link viability of said information link based on said stored results.
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34. A method of providing an indication of link rating based on link viability, comprising:
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determining link viability based on previous successful attempts at accessing an information link; and altering a display of a document containing said information link based on said determination of link viability. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A computer program product comprising:
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a memory medium; and a computer program stored on said memory medium, said computer program comprising instructions for retrieving link access attempt data from a database for each information link contained in said web document; calculating link viability for all links on said web document based on said link access attempt data; and rating of said web document for which link viability is calculated based on said link viability for all links on said web document.
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37. A computer program product comprising:
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a memory medium; and a computer program stored on said memory medium, said computer program comprising instructions for retrieving link access attempt data from a database for each information link contained in a web site; calculating link viability for all links on said web site based on said link access attempt data; and rating of said web site for which link viability is calculated based on said link viability for all links on said web site.
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38. A computer program product comprising:
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a memory medium; and a computer program stored on said memory medium, said computer program comprising instructions for attempting access of a document pointed to by said information link, and storing a result of said attempted access, wherein said information link is located on a bookmark list, and said computer program product further comprises instructions for identifying at least one bookmarked document, and calculating a document viability of each bookmarked document, and if at least one of said link viability and said document viability are less than a threshold value, then creating an inquiry to a user as to whether the bookmarked document should remain on the bookmark list.
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Specification