COLLECTING AND PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT VENDORS, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
First Claim
1. A method of collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:
- for each of a plurality of transactions between consumers and providers;
receiving information describing a transaction between a consumer and a provider, the information being received from a source independent of the consumer and the provider;
receiving information describing the consumer;
receiving information describing the provider;
receiving an indicator of consumer satisfaction regarding at least one of the transaction and the provider;
associating the transaction information with the consumer satisfaction indicator; and
storing the transaction information, the consumer information, the provider information, and the consumer satisfaction indicator;
for each of at least a subset of the providers, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the consumer satisfaction indicators for the provider; and
outputting the generated scores.
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Abstract
The utility, reliability and efficiency of vendor, product and/or service ratings are improved by collecting verifiable transaction information along with consumer-supplied ratings indicating consumer satisfaction regarding the corresponding goods, services, and/or vendors. From this collected information, the method and system of the present invention generates a score or set or scores for the vendors, products, and/or services. The score or scores generated by the present invention is a transaction-price-weighted function of the consumer'"'"'s transaction satisfaction, taking into account not only the consumer-supplied ratings but also providing greater reliability and accuracy by taking into account the amount of money each consumer spent on the goods or services. The score or scores are made available to potential consumers so that they can perform comparative analysis and thereby more easily obtain the best products and services from the best vendors.
151 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:
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for each of a plurality of transactions between consumers and providers; receiving information describing a transaction between a consumer and a provider, the information being received from a source independent of the consumer and the provider; receiving information describing the consumer; receiving information describing the provider; receiving an indicator of consumer satisfaction regarding at least one of the transaction and the provider; associating the transaction information with the consumer satisfaction indicator; and storing the transaction information, the consumer information, the provider information, and the consumer satisfaction indicator; for each of at least a subset of the providers, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the consumer satisfaction indicators for the provider; and outputting the generated scores. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of collecting and providing satisfaction ratings, comprising:
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for each of a plurality of transactions between a first group of entities and a second group of entities; receiving information describing a transaction between an entity in the first group and an entity in the second group, the information being received from a source independent of the entities; receiving information describing the entity in the first group; receiving information describing the entity in the second group; receiving an indicator of satisfaction regarding the transaction; associating the transaction information with the satisfaction indicator; and storing the transaction information, the information describing the entities, and the satisfaction indicator; for each of at least a subset of entities in the second group, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the satisfaction indicators for the entity in the second group; and outputting the generated scores.
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19. A computer program product for collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium; and computer program code, encoded on the medium, programmatically configured to perform the steps of; for each of a plurality of transactions between a first group of entities and a second group of entities; receiving information describing a transaction between an entity in the first group and an entity in the second group, the information being received from a source independent of the entities; receiving information describing the entity in the first group; receiving information describing the entity in the second group; receiving an indicator of satisfaction regarding the transaction; associating the transaction information with the satisfaction indicator; and storing the transaction information, the information describing the entities, and the satisfaction indicator; for each of at least a subset of entities in the second group, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the satisfaction indicators for the entity in the second group; and outputting the generated scores. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A system for collecting and providing consumer satisfaction ratings, comprising:
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a transaction data collection module, for, for each of a plurality of transactions between a first group of entities and a second group of entities; receiving information describing a transaction between an entity in the first group and an entity in the second group, the information being received from a source independent of the entities; receiving information describing the entity in the first group; and receiving information describing the entity in the second group; a feedback module, for, for each transaction in the plurality, receiving an indicator of satisfaction regarding the transaction; a database coupled to the transaction data collection module and the feedback module, for; associating the transaction information with the satisfaction indicator; and storing the transaction information, the information describing the entities, and the satisfaction indicator; a scoring module, coupled to the database, for, for each of at least a subset of entities in the second group, generating a score, wherein the score comprises a transaction-price-weighted function of at least a subset of the satisfaction indicators for the entity in the second group; and an output device, coupled to the scoring module, for outputting the generated scores. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification