Internet reputation manager

• US 8,170,958 B1
• Filed: 01/29/2009
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Gremett, Peter, Beard, Lucy, Messerschmitt, Laura Joanne, Frediani, Paula, Harrell, Catherine Nixon, Varki, Sarah, Wampler, Kira Scherer
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Amee A
• Application Number:
  US12/362,117
• Time in Patent Office: 1,188 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/347
• US Class Current: 705/347
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing an on-line reputation manager whereby review and/or ratings data associated with a given business and/or product is obtained from two or more Internet based business ratings/review system sources. The review and/or ratings data is aggregated, and/or processed, according to one or more aggregation/processing parameters. The aggregated, and/or processed, review and/or ratings data is then provided to an owner, manager, and/or agent of the given business. The review and/or ratings data is then monitored and updated periodically and/or on the occurrence of specified trigger events.

Claims

1. A computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager comprising:

two or more processors; and

two or more memories coupled to the two or more processors, the two or more memories collectively having stored therein instructions which when executed by the two or more processors, perform a process comprising;

obtaining ratings data associated with a given business from two or more Internet based business ratings systems;

aggregating the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems;

providing at least part of the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems to an agent associated with the given business, wherein the aggregated ratings data includes at least one negative rating; and

providing advice to the agent associated with the given business, the advice including how to address the at least one negative rating and how to improve the overall rating of the business.

2. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more websites associated with at least one of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

3. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 2, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more websites associated with at least one of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems using screen scraping technology.

4. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more Internet based business ratings systems that are dedicated review or ratings forum websites.

5. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more Internet based business ratings systems that are of a website type selected from the group of website types consisting of;

a retailer website;

an Internet warehouse website;

a product or service website;

a product or service provider website;

a product or service producer'"'"'s website;

an Internet auction website;

a community-based website;

a social interaction website; and

a consumer watchdog site.

6. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business obtained from two or more Internet based business ratings systems is rating data selected from the group of rating data consisting of;

data representing all, or part of, one or more individual reviewer'"'"'s ratings of the given business or product;

data representing an average of accumulated individual reviewer ratings for the given business or a product;

data representing any discrete symbol or symbols used to rate the given business or a product; and

data representing text or comments, or any portion thereof, submitted by one or more reviewers of the given business or a product.

7. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, further comprising:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

8. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 7, wherein:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes standardizing the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems to map different rating or ranking scales used by the two or more two or more Internet based business ratings systems into a single rating system.

9. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 7, wherein:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes categorizing the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems according to one or more categories used by two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

10. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 7, wherein:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes calculating an overall rating score for the given business based on the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

11. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, wherein:

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is provided to the agent associated with the given business automatically.

12. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, wherein:

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is updated and the updated aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is provided to the agent associated with the given business automatically on a periodic basis.

13. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 12, wherein:

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is updated and the updated aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is provided to the agent associated with the given business in response to one or more trigger events.

14. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 13, wherein:

at least one of the one or more trigger events is selected from the group of trigger events consisting of;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

an overall rating score calculated based on the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a negative rating or review;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a rating or review below a defined threshold value; and

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes a specified keyword.

15. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the agent associated with the given business a rating notification alert in response to one or more trigger events.

16. The computing system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 15, wherein:

at least one of the one or more trigger events is selected from the group of trigger events consisting of;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

an overall rating score calculated based on the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a negative rating or review;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a rating or review below a defined threshold value; and

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes a specified keyword.

17. A system for providing an on-line reputation manager comprising:

a computing system;

two or more Internet based business ratings systems; and

a processor for executing at least part of a process for providing an on-line reputation manager, the process for providing an on-line reputation manager comprising;

obtaining ratings data associated with a given business from at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems;

aggregating the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems; and

providing at least part of the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems to an agent associated with the given business, wherein the aggregated ratings data includes at least one negative rating;

providing advice to the agent associated with the given business, the advice including how to address the at least one negative rating and how to improve the overall rating of the business.

18. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more websites associated with at least one of the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

19. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 18, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more websites associated with at least one of the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems using screen scraping technology.

20. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more Internet based business ratings systems that are dedicated review or ratings forum websites.

21. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business is obtained from one or more Internet based business ratings systems that are of a website type selected from the group of website types consisting of;

a retailer website;

an Internet warehouse website;

a product or service website;

a product or service provider website;

a product or service producer'"'"'s website;

an Internet auction website;

a community-based website;

a social interaction website; and

a consumer watchdog site.

22. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

at least part of the ratings data associated with the given business obtained from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is rating data selected from the group of rating data consisting of;

data representing all, or part of, one or more individual reviewer'"'"'s ratings or reviews of the given business or product;

data representing an average of accumulated individual reviewer ratings for the given business or a product;

data representing any discrete symbol or symbols used to rate the given business or a product; and

data representing text or comments, or any portion thereof, submitted by one or more reviewers of the given business or a product.

23. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

the process for providing an on-line reputation manager further comprises;

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

24. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 23, wherein:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes standardizing the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems to map different rating or ranking scales used by the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems into a single rating system.

25. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 23, wherein:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes categorizing the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems according to one or more categories used by at least one of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

26. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 23, wherein:

processing the ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes calculating an overall rating score for the given business based on the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems.

27. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is provided to the agent associated with the given business automatically.

28. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is updated and the updated aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is provided to the agent associated with the given business automatically on a periodic basis.

29. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 28, wherein:

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is updated and the updated aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems is provided to the agent associated with the given business in response to one or more trigger events.

30. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 29, wherein:

at least one of the one or more trigger events is selected from the group of trigger events consisting of;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

an overall rating score calculated based on the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a negative rating or review;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a rating or review below a defined threshold value; and

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes a specified keyword.

31. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 17, wherein:

the process for providing an on-line reputation manager further comprises;

providing the agent associated with the given business a rating notification alert in response to one or more trigger events.

32. The system for providing an on-line reputation manager of claim 31, wherein:

at least one of the one or more trigger events is selected from the group of trigger events consisting of;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

an overall rating score calculated based on the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems changing by a specified amount;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a negative rating or review;

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems indicates a rating or review below a defined threshold value; and

the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the at least two of the two or more Internet based business ratings systems includes a specified keyword.

33. A computing program product for providing an on-line reputation manager comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium;

and computer program code, encoded on the computer readable medium, comprising computer readable instructions executed on a processor for;

aggregating the ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems;

providing at least part of the aggregated ratings data associated with the given business from the two or more Internet based business ratings systems to an agent associated with the given business, wherein the aggregated ratings data includes at least one negative rating; and

providing advice to the agent associated with the given business, the advice including how to address the at least one negative rating and how to improve the overall rating of the business.