Visualization tools for reviewing credibility and stateful hierarchical access to credibility

• US 8,453,068 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2012
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dun & Bradstreet Corp., DUN & Bradstreet Incorporated (Dun & Bradstreet Corp.), Hoover's Incorporated (Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Credibility Corp. (Dun & Bradstreet Corp.)
• Inventors: Stibel, Jeffrey M., Stibel, Aaron B., Hackett, Judith Gentile, Kazerani, Moujan
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): NABI, REZA U
• Application Number:
  US13/718,723
• Publication Number:
  US 20130103600A1
• Time in Patent Office: 161 Days
• Field of Search: 715/780
• US Class Current: 715/780
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a credibility system including an interface portal for presenting a holistic view of entity credibility. To provide the holistic view, the credibility system aggregates credibility data from multiple data sources. The aggregated credibility data is processed and ordered to present different dimensions of entity credibility, with each dimension graphically presented in the interface portal through an interactive credibility module. In some embodiments, the credibility data associated with each credibility module is processed to produce at least one value that quantifiably represents the credibility data. In some embodiments, the credibility data associated with each credibility module is hierarchically ordered to present the credibility data in a drill-down fashion with each hierarchical layer presenting more detailed credibility data for better understanding the credibility data presented in the preceding layer.

Claims

1. For a credibility evaluation system comprising at least one server with a processor and non-transitory computer-readable memory, a computer-implemented method for assessing credibility of a plurality of different entities, the computer-implemented method comprising:

aggregating to the non-transitory computer-readable memory, a plurality of messages published across a first plurality of online sites, each message expressing sentiment towards a particular entity that is referenced in the message;

computing a first sentiment score quantifying credibility of the particular entity based on the sentiment expressed towards the particular entity in the plurality of messages;

detecting whether the particular entity has a presence on each of a second plurality of online sites, wherein the particular entity has a presence on an online site when the particular entity has an account registered at the online site;

computing a second presence score quantifying credibility of the particular entity based on how many of the second plurality of online sites the particular entity is present on;

detecting an amount of activity that the particular entity conducts on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on;

computing a third engagement score quantifying credibility of the particular entity based on the amount of activity that the particular entity conducts on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on;

presenting an overall credibility score derived from the first sentiment score, second presence score, and third engagement score, the overall credibility score quantifying overall credibility of the particular entity; and

providing at least one of (i) a suggested sentiment action for responding to a message of the plurality of messages expressing negative sentiment towards the particular entity in order to increase the first sentiment score and (ii) a suggested presence action for partnering with a new entity that the particular entity does not yet have an established partnership with in order to increase the second presence score; and

adjusting the overall credibility score in response to at least one of (i) a change to the first sentiment score effectuated by performance of the at least one suggested sentiment action and (ii) a change to the second presence score effectuated by performance of the at least one suggested presence action.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein computing the first sentiment score comprises increasing a value of the first sentiment score with each positive sentiment that is expressed towards the particular entity in the plurality of messages.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein computing the first sentiment score further comprises decreasing the value of the first sentiment score with each negative sentiment that is expressed towards the particular entity in the plurality of messages.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein computing the second presence score comprises increasing a value of the second presence score with each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising presenting each of the first sentiment score, the second presence score, and the third engagement score in conjunction with the overall credibility score through a single graphical interface.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising presenting the plurality of messages in conjunction with the first sentiment score.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a current trend of the first sentiment score based on sentiment expressed towards the particular entity in a set of the plurality of messages having a timestamp in a defined period of time, wherein the current trend comprises an amount the value of the first sentiment score has changed during the defined period of time.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a current trend of the third engagement score based on activity conducted on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on during a defined period of time, wherein the current trend comprises an amount the value of the third engagement score has changed during the defined period of time.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the amount of activity is determined based on a number of other entities engaged with the particular entity on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising filtering the plurality of messages to obtain a set of messages that express negative sentiment towards the particular entity and presenting the set of messages in a graphical user interface.

11. For a credibility evaluation system comprising at least one server with a processor and non-transitory computer-readable memory, a computer-implemented method for assessing credibility of a plurality of different entities, the computer-implemented method comprising:

identifying network partnerships established by a particular entity, wherein a network partnership links the particular entity to at least one other entity;

computing a network sentiment score based on the quality of network partnerships established by the particular entity;

computing a network presence score based on a number of partnership requests received by the particular entity from other entities;

computing a network engagement score based on a number of followers following network activity of the particular entity;

deriving a credibility score for the particular entity based in part on the network sentiment score, the network presence score, and the network engagement score;

presenting the credibility score to quantify the credibility of the particular entity;

providing at least one suggested action for partnering with a new entity that the particular entity does not yet have an established network partnership with in order to increase the network sentiment score; and

adjusting the overall credibility score in response to a change to the network sentiment score effectuated by performance of the at least one suggested action.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising aggregating a plurality of textual reviews expressing sentiment towards the particular entity from a plurality of social media sites and computing a review score based on the sentiment expressed towards the particular entity in the plurality of textual reviews.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 further comprising aggregating a plurality of quantitative ratings directed to the particular entity from a plurality of ratings sites and computing a rating score based on the ratings directed to the particular entity.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein deriving the credibility score is further based in part on the review score and the rating score.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method, the method comprising the steps of:

aggregating to the non-transitory computer-readable memory, a plurality of messages published across a first plurality of online sites, each message expressing sentiment towards a particular entity that is referenced in the message;

computing a first sentiment score quantifying credibility of the particular entity based on the sentiment expressed towards the particular entity in the plurality of messages;

detecting whether the particular entity has a presence on each of a second plurality of online sites, wherein the particular entity has a presence on an online site when the particular entity has an account registered at the online site;

computing a second presence score quantifying credibility of the particular entity based on how many of the second plurality of online sites the particular entity is present on;

detecting an amount of activity that the particular entity conducts on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on;

computing a third engagement score quantifying credibility of the particular entity based on the amount of activity that the particular entity conducts on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on;

presenting an overall credibility score derived from the first sentiment score, second presence score, and third engagement score, the overall credibility score quantifying overall credibility of the particular entity; and

providing at least one of (i) a suggested sentiment action for responding to a message of the plurality of messages expressing negative sentiment towards the particular entity in order to increase the first sentiment score and (ii) a suggested presence action for partnering with a new entity that the particular entity does not yet have an established partnership with in order to increase the second presence score; and

adjusting the overall credibility score in response to at least one of (i) a change to the first sentiment score effectuated by performance of the at least one suggested sentiment action and (ii) a change to the second presence score effectuated by performance of the at least one suggested presence action.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the step of computing the first sentiment score further comprises the step of increasing a value of the first sentiment score with each positive sentiment that is expressed towards the particular entity in the plurality of messages.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the step of computing the second presence score further comprises the step of increasing a value of the second presence score with each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the method further comprising the step of presenting each of the first sentiment score, the second presence score, and the third engagement score in conjunction with the overall credibility score through a single graphical interface.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the method further comprising the step of presenting the plurality of messages in conjunction with the first sentiment score.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the method further comprising the step of displaying a current trend of the first sentiment score based on sentiment expressed towards the particular entity in a set of the plurality of messages having a timestamp in a defined period of time, wherein the current trend comprises an amount the value of the first sentiment score has changed during the defined period of time.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the method further comprising the step of displaying a current trend of the third engagement score based on activity conducted on each online site of the second plurality of online sites that the particular entity is present on during a defined period of time, wherein the current trend comprises an amount the value of the third engagement score has changed during the defined period of time.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, the method further comprising the step of filtering the plurality of messages to obtain a set of messages that express negative sentiment towards the particular entity and presenting the set of messages in a graphical user interface.