Community search system through network and method thereof

• US 20070067288A1
• Filed: 11/21/2006
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NHN Corporation
• Original Assignee: NHN Corporation
• Inventors: Chung, Hyun
• Granted Patent: US 7,761,441 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90335 Query processing

Abstract

Disclosed is a community search system and method through a network. When a search word is provided by a user through the network, communities with information corresponding to the search word are searched. Reliabilities of the searched communities are estimated. The searched communities can be sequentially arranged according to the estimated reliabilities, or communities having reliability greater than a predetermine value can be selected and provided to the user. According to some embodiments of the present invention, communities that provide reliable contents are searched on the network, and are provided to the user.

Claims

1. A method of searching communities for contents on a network, comprising:

a) searching communities having information corresponding to a search word, wherein the search word is provided by a user through the network;

b) estimating the reliabilities of the searched communities; and

c) providing information regarding the searched communities to the user according to the estimated reliabilities.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating reliabilities of the searched communities further comprises at least one estimation factor is one of a community user reliability index, a community activity index, and a community volume.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the community user reliability index indicates a sum of reliability indices of users registered to the corresponding community, wherein each reliability index indicates the reliability of the information provided by the corresponding user.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the community activity index indicates the frequency that users registered to the corresponding community perform community activities, and the community activity index is generated based on at least one of the number of contents posted in a predetermined time, the number of users who visit the corresponding community, and the number of other communities having a relationship with the corresponding community.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the community volume is determined, at least in part, by the number of users registered to the community and/or the number of contents posted in the community.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a plurality of established ranges for potential estimated reliabilities, and establishing a representative value for each established range;

determining the established range to which the estimated reliability belongs, and establishing the representative value of the determined established range as an input value; and

applying the established input value to a reliability generation function, and generating the reliability of the community.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the community information comprises at least one of a community title, a community description, manager ID information, a number of members, a generation date, a directory to which the community belongs, and a contents sorting menu of the community, wherein the community title has link information for direct access to the corresponding community.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the community information comprises at least one of a contents title, part of the contents, and a community title in which corresponding contents are posted, and the contents title has link information for direct access to the contents having the search word.

9. A system connected to a plurality of user terminals through a network, the system configured to search searching communities on the network comprising:

a searcher configured to search searching communities having information corresponding to a search word, wherein the search word is provided from a user terminal through the network;

a reliability estimator configured to estimate a reliability, indicating the reliability of the information provided by the searched communities; and

a search result provider configured to provide searched communities to the user according to the estimated reliability.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the reliability estimator comprises:

a reliability index estimation module configured to estimate a community user reliability index to indicate the reliability of the contents provided by a community user;

an activity index estimation module configured to estimate a community activity index to indicate the frequency by which the community user performs community activities;

a volume estimation module configured to estimate a community volume; and

a reliability generation module configured to generate the reliability of the community based on at least one of the values output by the estimation modules.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the community user reliability index, the community activity index, and the community volume is established to be an estimation factor configured to estimate the community reliability, and the system further comprises a search controller configured to selectively drive the estimation modules according to the established estimation factors.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the system configured to search searching communities is connected to a community server configured to provide a community service through a network or wherein the system comprises a community server, and

the community server comprises a database configured to store information having at least one of the number of visitors who visit corresponding communities during a predetermined time period for each community, the reliability indices of corresponding community users, the number of contents posted in the corresponding communities during a predetermined time, and the number of other communities having a relationship with corresponding communities.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the system configured to search searching communities comprises at least one of:

a visitor monitoring module configured to monitor visitor access status for each community, and counting the number of visitors according to the monitored result;

a contents posting monitoring module configured to monitor users'"'"' contents posting for each community, and counting the number of contents according to the monitored result; and

a relationship generation monitoring module configured to monitor a request of generation of a relationship by a user of another community for each community, and counting the number of generated relationships according to the monitored result.

14. A method of searching communities for contents on the network, comprising:

a) searching communities having information corresponding to a search word when the search word is provided from a user through the network;

b) estimating a community user reliability index for the searched community;

c) estimating a community activity index for the searched community;

d) estimating the community reliability by considering at least one of the community user reliability index and the community activity index; and

e) sorting the searched communities according to the estimated reliabilities, and providing the sorted communities to the user.