Method and apparatus for scoring electronic documents

• US 9,390,173 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2007
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gary Manchoir Ma, Owen Man Cheong Ma, Victor David Uy
• Original Assignee: Gary Manchoir Ma, Owen Man Cheong Ma, Victor David Uy
• Inventors: Uy, Victor David
• Primary Examiner(s): PEACH, POLINA G
• Application Number:
  US12/734,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20100257184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,127 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results

Abstract

A method, apparatus and data structure is provided to determine a score for an electronic document, such as a webpage, image, audio recording, video recording or other electronic content, to aid in the ranking and retrieval of the electronic document. The score for an electronic document is based on weighted subjective user ratings of the electronic document by members of a member set. Weight factors are assigned to the members of the member set who then rate the electronic document. The score is determined for the electronic document based on the ratings of the electronic document by the members in the member set where each member'"'"'s rating is weighted by a weight factor specific for the member who has provided the rating. The weight factor for a member is based on ratings assigned to that member by other members in the member set.

Claims

1. A method for assigning a score to an electronic document, the method comprising:

deploying a network-connected electronic document rating server computer comprising at least a memory and a processor and further comprising programmable instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, the instructions configured to scoring a plurality of document objects and a plurality of member objects, comprising the steps of;

receiving a plurality of connections from a plurality of user devices, each user device associated to a corresponding member object of the plurality of member objects;

receiving a first member rating value for a first member object by a second user device associated to a second member object;

storing the first member rating value in a first user rating object associated to the first member object;

receiving a second member rating value for a first member object by a third user device associated to a third member object;

storing the second member rating value in a second user rating object associated to the first member object;

iteratively solving a weighted factor function to determine a first weight factor for the first member object, the first weight factor based on a sum of a weighted first member rating value and a weighted second member rating value divided by a sum of a second weight factor associated to the second member object and the third weight factor associated to the third member object, wherein the weighted first member rating value is calculated by multiplying the first member rating value by the second weight factor of the second member object and a weighted second member rating value being multiplied by a third weight factor of the third member object;

storing the first weight factor in the first member object;

receiving a first document rating value for an electronic document corresponding to a document object from a first user device corresponding to the first member object;

storing the first document rating value in a first document rating object associated to the document object;

receiving a second document rating value for the electronic document from the second user device corresponding the second member object;

storing the second document rating value in a second document rating object associated to the document object;

iteratively solving a weighted score function for a weight score for the document object, the weight score based on a sum of a weighted first document rating value and a weighted second document rating value divided by a sum of the first weight factor and the second weight factor, wherein the weighted first document rating value is calculated by multiplying the first document rating value by the first weight factor, and the weighted second document rating value is calculated by multiplying the second document rating value by the second weight factor;

wherein the first member rating value and the second member rating value are within a preconfigured standardized numeric range;

wherein the first document rating value and the second document rating value are within a preconfigured standardized numeric range.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic document is on the Internet.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the electronic document is a webpage.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the ratings of the first member object are received by a plurality of member by first selecting the first member object and then providing a first member rating for the first member object.

5. A system for assigning a score to an electronic document, the system comprising:

a network-connected electronic document rating server computer comprising at least a memory and a processor and further comprising programmable instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, the instructions operative for;

receiving a plurality of connections from a plurality of user devices, each user device associated to a corresponding member object of the plurality of member objects;

receiving a first member rating value for a first member object by a second user device associated to a second member object;

storing the first member rating value in a first user rating object associated to the first member object;

receiving a second member rating value for a first member object by a third user device associated to a third member object;

storing the second member rating value in a second user rating object associated to the first member object;

iteratively solving a weighted factor function to determine a first weight factor for the first member object, the first weight factor based on a sum of a weighted first member rating value and a weighted second member rating value divided by a sum of a second weight factor associated to the second member object and the third weight factor associated to the third member object, wherein the weighted first member rating value is calculated by multiplying the first member rating value by the second weight factor of the second member object and a weighted second member rating value being multiplied by a third weight factor of the third member object;

storing the first weight factor in the first member object;

receiving a first document rating value for an electronic document corresponding to a document object from a first user device corresponding to the first member object;

storing the first document rating value in a first document rating object associated to the document object;

receiving a second document rating value for the electronic document from the second user device corresponding the second member object;

storing the second document rating value in a second document rating object associated to the document object;

iteratively solving a weighted score function for a weight score for the document object, the weight score based on a sum of a weighted first document rating value and a weighted second document rating value divided by a sum of the first weight factor and the second weight factor, wherein the weighted first document rating value is calculated by multiplying the first document rating value by the first weight factor, and the weighted second document rating value is calculated by multiplying the second document rating value by the second weight factor;

wherein the first member rating value and the second member rating value are within a preconfigured standardized numeric range;

wherein the first document rating value and the second document rating value are within a preconfigured standardized numeric range.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the electronic document is on the Internet.

7. The data processing system of claim 6 wherein the electronic document is a webpage.

8. A method for assigning a score to an electronic document, the method comprising:

deploying a network-connected electronic document rating server computer comprising at least a memory and a processor and further comprising programmable instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, the instructions configured to scoring a plurality of document objects and a plurality of member objects, comprising the steps of;

receiving a plurality of connections from a plurality of user devices, each user device associated to a corresponding member object of the plurality of member objects;

receiving a plurality of rating values for a first member object by the plurality of user devices;

storing each rating value in a corresponding user rating object of a plurality of user rating objects associated to the first member object;

beginning a weighted factor calculation loop to calculate a first weight factor for a first member object by;

summing a weighted rating value for all user rating objects associated to the first member object, the weighted rating value calculated by multiplying each rating value by a corresponding weight factor associated to a member object from which the rating value was received;

summing a weight factor sum for all weight factors of the plurality of member objects;

dividing the summed weighted rating value by the weight factor sum, the weight factor sum calculated by summing a plurality of weight factors of the plurality of member objects from which the plurality of rating values were received for all user rating objects associated to the first member object;

storing the first weight factor in the first member object;

receiving a plurality of document rating values for an electronic document corresponding to a document object from a plurality of user devices;

storing each document rating value of the plurality of document rating values into a corresponding document rating objects of a plurality of document rating objects associated to the document object;

beginning a weighted score calculation loop to calculate a weight score for the document object by;

summing the weighted document rating values for all document rating objects associated to the document object, the weighted document rating values calculated by multiplying each rating value by a corresponding weight factor associated to a member object from which the rating was received;

summing a weight factor sum for all weight factors of the plurality of member objects;

dividing the summed weighted document rating value by the weight factor sum, the weight factor sum calculated by summing a plurality of weight factors of the plurality of member objects;

storing the weighted score in the document object;

wherein the first member rating value and the second member rating value are within a preconfigured standardized numeric range;

wherein the first document rating value and the second document rating value are within a preconfigured standardized numeric range.