Targeting review placement

• US 8,494,973 B1
• Filed: 12/30/2012
• Issued: 07/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Reputation.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Reputation.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Dignan, Thomas Gerardo, Franson, Brent Michael, Piper, Jeffrey James
• Primary Examiner(s): MCCORMICK, GABRIELLE A
• Application Number:
  US13/731,056
• Time in Patent Office: 205 Days
• Field of Search: 705/319, 705/14.4, 705/14.42, 705/14.43, 705/14.6
• US Class Current: 705/319
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

An existing distribution of reviews for an entity across a plurality of review sites is evaluated. A determination is made, on behalf of the entity, that the existing distribution should be adjusted. An indication of at least one review site on which the placement of at least one additional review should be targeted is provided as output.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to;

evaluate an existing distribution of reviews for an entity across a plurality of review sites and determine, on behalf of the entity, that the existing distribution should be adjusted; and

based at least in part on the evaluation, provide as output an indication of at least one review site on which a placement of at least one additional review should be targeted;

wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes determining a likelihood that a reputation of the entity will be improved in the event the additional review is included on the review site; and

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes determining that the existing distribution is not even.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to determine an industry-specific distribution.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes comparing the existing distribution to an industry-specific distribution.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein comparing the existing distribution to the industry-specific distribution includes comparing the entity'"'"'s proportion of reviews on a first site to an industry-average proportion of reviews appearing on the first site.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein comparing the existing distribution to the industry-specific distribution includes comparing the entity'"'"'s proportion of reviews on a first site to an industry-ideal proportion of reviews appearing on the first site.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the industry-ideal proportion is determined by evaluating the review distributions of a plurality of top-rated businesses in the industry.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes determining a likelihood that the reputation of the entity will be worsened in the event the additional review is included on the review site.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein evaluating the existing distribution of reviews includes evaluating a freshness of at least some of the reviews.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein evaluating the existing distribution of reviews includes evaluating a review volume.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein evaluating the existing distribution of reviews includes evaluating a target average score.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to generate a review request addressed to a potential reviewer.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein generating the review request includes selecting a template.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the entity does not have an account associated with the at least one site on which the placement of the at least one additional review should be targeted.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the processor is further configured to generate as output a recommendation that the entity obtain an account with the at least one site.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to periodically re-evaluate the existing distribution of reviews for the entity.

17. A method, comprising:

evaluating, by a processor, an existing distribution of reviews for an entity across a plurality of review sites and determining, by the processor, on behalf of the entity, that the existing distribution should be adjusted; and

based at least in part on the evaluation, provide as output an indication of at least one review site on which the placement of at least one additional review should be targeted;

wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes determining a likelihood that a reputation of the entity will be improved in the event the additional review is included on the review site.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes comparing the existing distribution to an industry-specific distribution.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein comparing the existing distribution to the industry-specific distribution includes comparing the entity'"'"'s proportion of reviews on a first site to an industry-average proportion of reviews appearing on the first site.

20. A computer program product embodied in a tangible computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

evaluating an existing distribution of reviews for an entity across a plurality of review sites and determining, on behalf of the entity, that the existing distribution should be adjusted; and

based at least in part on the evaluation, provide as output an indication of at least one review site on which the placement of at least one additional review should be targeted;

wherein evaluating the existing distribution includes determining a likelihood that a reputation of the entity will be improved in the event the additional review is included on the review site.