Patent Application
20160098778
The present invention relates generally to internet content location and ranking, and, in particular, to ranking products based on criteria relevant and customized to each particular user and their need for the product.
In an example embodiment, a system, method, and computer program product for locating a relevant product via a computer network includes receiving a search topic from a user, where the topic is a particular product that the user is looking for. One or more attributes associated with the topic is then received. The attributes can be properties of the product, such as interest rate of a credit card or certificate of deposit, or can be a property of the user, such as cash flow or debt of the user. A rating is then assigned to at least one of the attributes, where one attribute may be defined as more important than another attribute. Information locations are searched until at least two separate instances of the topic are located. At each of the information locations where an instance of the topic is located, an information field related to one of the instances the topic is located. Next, content in each of at least two of the information fields is associated with at least one of the attributes and the content in a first one of the information fields is scored against the content in a second one of the information fields. The attributes are then prioritized and the located instances of the topic are ranked based on the prioritizing.
In accordance with another feature of an example embodiment of the present invention, the receiving one or more attributes associated with the user comprises receiving inputs from a user, searching data stored during the user's previous session, searching a database of user attributes, and/or system default settings.
In accordance with yet another feature an example embodiment of the present invention, the attributes comprise an income, a credit score, and/or a location.
In accordance with a further feature, an embodiment of the present invention includes displaying by rank, one or more of the plurality of ranked results.
In accordance with one additional feature, an embodiment of the present invention includes updating the rank of the plurality of results in response to receiving a change to a priority of at least one of the attributes.
In accordance with another feature, an embodiment of the present invention includes receiving a user rating of a product and ranking the plurality of results of the searching based at least in part on the user rating.
In accordance with still another feature, an example embodiment of the present invention provides a system for locating a relevant product, where the system includes a client computer operable to receive a search topic from a user and receive one or more attributes associated with the user. The system also includes a server communicatively coupled to the client computer and operable to search two or more information locations for the search topic and at least one information field related to the topic. Either the client computer or the server associates at least one of the information fields with at least one of the attributes, prioritizes the attributes, and/or ranks a plurality of results of the searching based on the priority of the attributes.
Another example embodiment provides a computer implemented method for ranking a plurality of products. A plurality of attribute groups may be specified, wherein each attribute group is associated with a plurality of product attributes. A series of questions associated with each attribute group may be presented to the user and responses may be obtained for the user for each series of questions. The responses may be sent from a client computer to a server for processing. At the server, a set of rules may be applied to the responses obtained from the user to generate weightings for the product attributes in the attribute group associated with the respective series of questions. Each of the products may be scored for each of the product attributes. Weighted scores may be generated by applying the weighting for the respective product attribute to the score for the respective product attribute for each of the products and the products may be ranked or sorted based on the weighted scores.
In an example embodiment, each rule may include a condition based on a respective response from the user and an action to be taken if the condition is met, wherein the actions specified by the rules include adjusting weightings for product attributes in the attribute group associated with the respective question. The actions specified by some of the rules may also include generating a filter based on a product attribute in the attribute group associated with the respective question.
In an example embodiment, multiple modes of operation may be provided. Different modes of operation may be provided for beginner users, advanced users and expert users. The series of questions associated with each attribute group and the rules that are applied to the responses to the series of questions may vary between the different modes of operation. In an example embodiment, the number or level of detail of questions associated with an attribute group may vary based on the mode of operation. In some embodiments, the rules associated with each question in the attribute group for a first mode of operation may result in an adjustment of the weightings for a larger number of product attributes than the rules associated with each question in the attribute group for a second mode of operation. An expert mode of operation may also be provided that permits a user to specify a weighting for each product attribute.
In an example embodiment, the range of adjustments to the weightings for a product attribute or attribute group permitted is a first mode of operation may be more limited than the range of adjustments permitted in a second mode of operation. As a result, a beginner mode may have more constraints on adjustments to the weightings or deviations from default values than a more advanced mode of operation. In addition, in some embodiments, the total weightings for a first attribute group relative to the total weightings for a second attribute group may be constrained for some modes of operation. The level of constraint may decrease for more advanced modes of operation. If the weightings generated by the rules result in a total weighting for the group that is outside of the constraint, the weightings for the attributes in the group may be adjusted until the constraint is met. These constraints may be relaxed for a more advanced mode and may be eliminated altogether in an expert mode.
In some embodiments, the mode of operation may be selected for each attribute group. As a result, the questions and rules applied to some attribute groups for a user may be based on a beginner mode and the questions and rules applied to other attribute groups may be based on a more advanced mode.
In example embodiments, the level of detail of the questions and correlation of the questions to individual product attributes may increase as the mode of operation becomes more advanced.
In example embodiments, a rule may adjust the weightings for multiple product attributes in response to a response to a single question. For example, in beginner modes, the user may answer general questions and the rules may make a number of individual adjustments to weightings for various product attributes based on the user's response. In addition, the series of questions associated with an attribute category may result in numerous incremental adjustments to weightings for the same product attribute. The user only needs to answer a series of high level questions. The user does not need to be exposed to the complexity of the detailed adjustments to individual product attributes that may be made based on those responses. However, in some embodiments, backtracking information is provided to the user. The backtracking information includes information about how each response impacted the weightings used to generate the rankings provided to the user.
In example embodiments, each product may be scored for purposes of ranking. The product may be scored for each product attribute and the score may be weighted by the weightings generated based in the user's response to questions. Data values for each product attribute for each product may be retrieved from a database or other data storage for scoring. In example embodiments, scoring for at least some of the attributes includes scoring against a benchmark. Scoring against the benchmark may include evaluating a logical operator applied to the data value for the product attribute for the product being scored relative to the benchmark value for the respective product attribute. Scoring for at least some of the attributes may also includes scoring against peer products. For example, the score for at least some of the attributes may be based on the number of standard deviations from a mean value for the product attribute for peer products.
In example embodiments, scoring may also include generating an optimal score for each product attribute. The optimal scores may also be weighted to provide an optimal fit for the preferences expressed by the user in responding to the questions. A fit for the weighted scores for each product relative to the optimal fit may also be determined and used to rank or sort the products in example embodiments.
In example embodiments, the above features may be used individually or in combination with one another.
Example embodiments may include a computer system having at least one processor, at least one memory, and at least one program module, the program module stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, wherein the at least one program module includes instructions for performing one or more of the features described above.
All publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent, or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with example embodiments of the present invention.
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.
Described now is an exemplary embodiment for a method and hardware platform for intelligently locating a product, where the search for the product is performed over a computer network and the located product is selected by its relevance to a searcher and, more particularly, by its correlation to attributes associated with the searcher. Embodiments of the present invention locate not just web pages that reference, link, or offer a desired product, but returns a list of results ranked by how well the product fits the searcher's needs and the searcher's situation. The term “product,” as user herein, is defined broadly and refers not only to physical objects, but also to services, and combinations of products and services, such as credit cards.
With reference now to the figures,
The user computers 104 are equipped with communications software, including a World Wide Web (WWW) browser such as, for example, the NETSCAPE® browser made by the NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS®, INTERNET EXPLORER® made by MICROSOFT®, and FIREFOX® by MOZILLA®, that allows a searcher to connect and use on-line searching services via the Internet. The software on a user computer 104 manages the display of information received from the servers 106 to the user computer 104 and communicates user's actions back to the appropriate information servers 106 so that additional display information may be presented to the user or the information acted on.
In the depicted example of
The servers illustrated in
In addition to the servers of individual merchants 106, and other information providers, the system 100 also includes a plurality of search servers 110a-n provided by search service providers, such as GOOGLE®, which maintain full text indexes 112 of the products of the individual merchants 106a-n obtained by interrogating product information databases 114 maintained by the individual merchants. Some of these search service providers, like GOOGLE®, are general purpose search providers while others are topic specific search providers.
Network data processing system 100 may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. In the depicted example, network data processing system 100 includes the Internet with network 102 representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, network data processing system 100 also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks, such as for example, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN).
One example embodiment is a web-based search application that runs on one of the client devices 104 alone or in conjunction with one or more servers 110, 106.
In step 206, a query is made as to whether further sub-topics are to be selected. If the answer to step 206 is yes, the flow moves back to step 204 and a further sub-topic is selected. If the answer to the query of step 206 is no, the flow continues to step 208 where, now that a topic and a sufficient number of sub-topic levels have been traversed, a list of products is displayed, with each product being selectable by the user. In step 210, a user selects one of the topics.
Once a product is selected, in step 212, a list of possible data sources for the query is retrieved. The system advantageously collects data from multiple sources. These sources ate either static or dynamic, online or offline, or both. Some interactions with data sources will need to be dynamic, for example, interacting with the website of an airline to trawl flight availability. Depending on the nature of the search topic, this may be one or a combination of: a local data store where product information is cached and updated periodically either through push or pull techniques; a web service or application programming interface (API), whereby product information is generated dynamically based on variable inputs; or a web application, whereby product information is generated dynamically and requires system interaction with the web site in order to reach a final result. For instance, if the provider of the product offers an online facility to apply, order, or gain more information about the product, the system, in accordance with one embodiment, is able to automatically glean pertinent information from the provider's resources.
The ability for the backend systems to know where to collect data from on a query-by-query basis and to determine if the data is stored locally or is dynamic and global is managed by a data collection component. This component is also responsible for the caching and cache management of data.
In step 214, the data source(s) selected is/are queried. Querying can be performed in several different ways. One example of this is web scraping, which can be performed, for instance, by a semi-trained agent. Web scraping with a semi-trained agent involves a web robot tailored to meet the data presentation formats of a specific provider. This type of robot is most effective with a limited number of providers or in an instance where an intermediary party presents data collected from multiple sources in a similar format. Examples of these would be airline websites, consumer watchdog websites, and financial portals. Scraping occurs after the document object model of the web page has been generated, and is not merely scraping data from raw markup languages.
The training stage of a robot involves processing each seed with a monitor that watches human interactions with the website. Required input variables are linked to object structures which contain user data, for example, unknownPage.Document.Form.INPUT_TEXT_PASSENGER_LASTNAME=FirsName, LastName. The agent simulates the steps for each new query and moves to the specified results page. The results are scraped and combined into the products' attributes and are ready for the ranking function. Table parsing mechanisms are used to extract data cleanly. The data can be periodically updated and structural changes to the source are flagged.
Another data-acquisition method is through use of source discovery and untrained data collection. Source discovery involves the processes used by meta-search engines to locate sources of data which may be relevant. By parsing the results of multiple search engines, the agent attempts to identify possible sources of relevant information and generates a seed list. The agent then visits the seeds and attempts to extract and verify data by one or more of the following:
A few other data collection methods include data sharing schemes and pushed or submitted data. By either purchasing data or participating in revenue-sharing schemes, embodiments of the invention can obtain access to data collected by market researchers or data providers. With pushed or submitted data, providers can submit their own product details to embodiments of the present invention by using an API.
An example of a query performed by an embodiment of the present invention could include the user's location information and/or the importance of a particular attribute of the product, which can be set by system defaults or through user interaction. In step 216, the system automatically displays the “best” choice for the particular product selected by the user. The best of a particular product is represented, in one embodiment of the present invention, in a multi-tiered structure. For example, tier 1 (row 1) can state “The best CD in the country, based off your criteria is: ExampleBank1 High Yield CD.” Tier 2 (row 2) can state, “The best in your state is ExampleBank2 CD.” This may be the case if, for example, the state is Alabama, but ExampleBank1 does not have a presence in Alabama. Finally, Tier 3 (row 3) can state “The best CD in your town,” (where ExampleBank1+ExampleBank2 do not have a presence) “is ExampleBank3 CD.” When the result in tier 2 matches tier 1, the tiers are merged into one, and so on, as in the screenshot
The determination of “best,” in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, varies depending on many factors. In example embodiments, the determination dynamically changes based on the attributes used for the search and the hierarchy of these attributes. For instance, for a product that is relevant to a location, the “best” selection may be based on the best in a country, the best in a particular state, and/or the best in a user's geographical area. Continuing with the example of credit card as the desired product, the determination of “best” may turn on factors such as:
Each of these factors is found in information fields associated with the product. Information fields are any data area on a page connected to a product. For a product relevant to time (e.g., stocks, bond, currencies, etc), rankings may be based on current statistics, best of the day statistics, monthly or yearly numbers, and others.
In step 218, the user is queried as to whether or not the results should be narrowed. If the answer to the query of 218 is yes, the list can be narrowed, in step 220, automatically or manually, by, for instance, selecting only those products which are offered within a specified distance from the user's location or another defined location. From step 220, the flow moves back to step 218. In step 218, the searcher is given the option to narrow the search results even further. The search may be further narrowed by choosing or adjusting a user attribute, e.g., a poor credit history, or no credit record, or a product attribute, e.g., the card must allow for 0% APR on balance transfers. In addition, a ranking of the importance of attributes defined for the user or the product can factor into the final product ranking. An example search result would be: “Within your region X (may be broken down into country, state, city), Bank Y offers credit card Z which best meets your requirements.” This result may be a live result, i.e., displayed directly after a query, or may be tracked by the system over time in order to identify when a more applicable product becomes available. Tracking products over time is advantageous in that it allows the system to notify the user if changes occur to the product, such as a change in interest rate, for instance. If no further narrowing is needed, the process ends at step 222.
In at least one respect, example embodiments may be a “topical” or vertical search engine which operates on a set of pre-defined dam structures representing a product or service offered by a provider or player within an industry. For example, a data structure can be the generic or ontological attributes of a credit card and the institution offering the product. By taking into account the profile date of the user, and/or by being directed by the user's interaction with the example search engine, the system recommends a best-fit product that meets the user's requirements.
The following description and referenced figures provides an example of data location utilizing an example embodiment of the present invention. The chosen example product is a credit card, which advantageously provides a complex scenario, which illustrates the various considerations when determining a product's ranking and illustrates how a user would work with the presented information. A credit card is just one example of a search topic and many additional search topics exist within all other industries, such as real estate, investments, telecommunications, healthcare, and many others.
Field 304 presents a list of fixed variables for the desired type of credit card. The ranking system of an example embodiment of the present invention is able to rank all cards of the same type. A few exemplary ranking fields are: All Credit Cards, Regular Credit Cards, Secured Cards, Rewards Card—Air Travel, Rewards Card, Gift/Merchandise, and others.
There is also, in this example, a field 306 that provides help, describes the current selection, and/or provides interaction tips. The field 306 can change depending on the selection made in field 304. The description field 306 provides support to the user and helps the user make the correct selection.
A clickable link is provided in field 308 that selects the ranking method of the example embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention rank products in a standard three-step process if no selection is made. First, it assigns a score to each attribute of every card, rating its comparison to other cards in the same category of cards, e.g., Rewards Cards. Second, the scores are assigned a weight based upon how relevant each attribute is to the individual user and then the scores are re-scored. Lastly, the scores of each attribute are tallied and, in this example, the cards are scored against each other, with the overall highest score ranked #1.
For the system to gain the importance rating of each attribute, there are three levels of complexity: system default ratings, preset scaled ratings, and in-depth custom ratings. This ranking system applies to all products and will be explained in further detail below. If a user changes from the default ranking system, to some other ranking system, a message appears in field 310 indicated this change.
By refining their location, the users are able to have direct access to products in their geographical region. Although in the credit card example, this is rarely used, as the vast majority of cards are available nationally. However, there are still a significant number of cards which rely on smaller geographical regions.
The scale 502 is structured as a series between two values, for instance 0 and 100. Zero, meaning high indebtedness and 100 meaning high cash flow. Users can drag the scale arrow 504 to find the position which best suites their situation. Value 506 show the position of the arrow in the scale. Although the positions are grouped into preset categories, the selected value still plays a part in the impedance calculation. Field 508 provides a description of the presets category. Once the user has positioned the arrow 504, clicking button 510 will indicate to the system that the scale value 506 should be used as an input for the ranking function. As an alternative, the user can select system defaults by clicking the “Let System Choose For Me” button 512. If no changes are desired, the panel 500 can be hidden by clicking button 514. By clicking on the tab 516 at the top of the screen, users can pull up a screen that allows them to enter custom ratings.
The custom ratings are selected by moving a slider bar 602a-n for each corresponding attribute group 604a-n. The slider groups 604a-n shown in
At the bottom of the screen is two buttons. The first button 606 indicates to the system that the attributes are satisfactorily set and that they should be used to conduct a customized search. The second button 608 tells the system to use system default values to conduct the search. In one embodiment, default data is combined with available profile data and used as inputs for the ranking function. It should be noted that the screens shown in the figures and described here are merely exemplary and that the invention is not limited in any way to what is shown in the figures or described in these examples.
Field 704 shows the ranking of the product compared to all other returned products in the particular search. Field 706 shows an image of the product (if available); otherwise a “no preview” image appears. In the next field 708, the name of the product, in this case, credit card and the institution providing the card, is shown. Field 710 provides a summary of key points the card has to offer. One advantage of embodiments of the present invention is that the jargon is reduced. The user can interact with the system further to get additional attributes of the product if he/she desires.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a user star-ranking system is implemented. The user-star ranking 712 is a custom satisfaction rating which is collected from users and/or retrieved from consumer watchdog websites. The ranking system scores the attributes of the product and weighs the importance of each as applicable to the user. It has the ability to combine quantitative data as well as qualitative data in order to generate a ranking. In the event the example system is unable to collect data for a product, an overall rating for an institution can be factored into its product rating. Ratings are determined by the overall average score for the product; however weightings can vary between the various data sources. For example, ratings collected through example embodiments of the present invention can have a weighting of 1, whereas ratings from less-reputable sites will have a rating of 0.8.
Although the consumer rating of the card is displayed separately, it is still used as part of the ranking function as an attribute. It is also possible that the consumer rating will be featured as a tie-breaker amongst rankings.
The results screen 312 of
As an additionally advantageous feature, for the credit card application, and for other similar products, an “Apply” button 716 is provided on the results page 312. The Apply button 716, used in conjunction with an online application facility, allows the user to apply for the product online. This function can direct the user to a product provider's web page or can call up an information submission screen(s), which can be used to collect information and then forward the information to a product provider's business, either electronically or in tangible form.
In one embodiment, the user is able to select, through use of field 314 (in graphical user interlace 300 shown in
Selecting a product can be performed by first selecting, on a first tab 817, through an input field 802, the provider and then narrowing down, through another input field 804, to the individual product. The user's choice of product, in this case a credit card, is displayed in fields 806-816. Field 806 shows the card's ranking against other cards in its class. Fields 808 and 810 show product identification text and, if available, an image of the product. Field 812 provides a summary of the card's attributes. A consumer rating of the card is shown in field 814. By selecting the Info button 816, a screen can be reached, which shows more detailed attributes of the card.
In one embodiment, what-if scenarios are available and allow a user to convert the card attributes into dollar terms based on the user's scenario. What-if scenarios can be entered by clicking on tab 818. These scenarios can be a powerful tool for the user, as it allows him/her to actually simulate different financial situations. If an example embodiment of the invention were used, for instance, with mutual funds, it would allow the user to enter different scenarios pertinent to mutual funds, such as varying interest rates, terms, tax rates, etc.
A third available tab 820 allows the user to select a comparison of multiple credit cards. In this function, selected cards are compared attribute by attribute in a detailed table. Further information can be provided to the user by either furnishing contact details to the provider or sending a request to the provider for product brochures and other information.
The interaction summary page 900 can form a part of a landing page for registered users, and be available through various web feed formats, such as RSS. RSS is used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a “deed,” “web feed,” or “channel,” contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that is easier than checking them manually. Users have the ability to use their own web aggregators running on either their desktop or web blogs to pull this summary 900 down and gain a perspective of their affairs without having to go through the arduous process of navigating to the website and logging in. All further interactions can, therefore, be conducted on the website.
The marketplace is an evolving entity. Decisions that are made today are not necessarily the best tomorrow. The example embodiment of the present invention assists users in making decisions which are ongoing and continually relevant. This is achieved by continually searching for the “better deal” based on the user's requirements. If the system is able to recommend a more appropriate service provider or product, the user is notified via a predefined communication channel. For instance, as is shown in two of the fields, 914 and 916, of column 912, a warning indicator 918 and 920, respectively, appears when conditions specified by the user are met. These warnings include an early and a late warning. The late notifier notifies a user if a letter rate or price becomes available. The early notifier notifies the user of upcoming product events or requirements, e.g., when funds are near their maturity date.
Referring to
Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge 1014 connected to I/O bus 1012 provides an interface to PCI local bus 1016. A number of modems may be connected to PCI bus 1016. Typical PCI bus implementations will support four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. Communications links to network computers 104a-n in
Additional PCI bus bridges 1022 and 1024 provide interfaces for additional PCI buses 1026 and 1028, from which additional modems or network adapters may be supported. In this manner, data processing system 1000 allows connections to multiple network computers. A memory-mapped graphics adapter 1030 and hard disk 1032 may also be connected to I/O bus 1012 as depicted, either directly or indirectly.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in
In this document, the terms “computer program medium,” “computer usable medium,” and “computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as main memory 1009, removable storage drive 1031, removable media 1033, hard disk 1032, and signals. These computer program products are measures for providing software to the computer system. The computer readable medium allows the computer system to read data, instructions, messages or message packets, and other computer readable information from the computer readable medium. The computer readable medium, for example, may include non-volatile memory, such as Floppy, ROM, Flash memory, Disk drive memory, CD-ROM, and other permanent storage. It is useful, for example, for transporting information, such as data and computer instructions, between computer systems. Furthermore, the computer readable medium may include computer readable information in a transitory state medium such as a network link and/or a network interface, including a wired network or a wireless network, that allow a computer to read such computer readable information.
Computer programs (also called computer control logic) are stored in memory. Computer programs may also be received via communications interface 1016. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features of the example embodiments of the present invention as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor 1002 and/or 1004 to perform the features of the computer system. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system.
With reference now to
An operating system runs on processor 1102 and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system 1100 in
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in
As another example, data processing system 1100 may be a stand-alone system configured to be bootable without relying on some type of network communication interface, whether or not data processing system 1100 includes some type of network communication interface. As a further example, data processing system 1100 may be a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, which is configured with ROM and/or flash ROM in order to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating system files and/or user-generated data.
The depicted example in
Fields 1204 and 1205 present lists of fixed variables for the desired type of fund. Field 1204 is a category and field 1205 is a subcategory of the family and fund. In one embodiment, the drop down choices for the category 1204 consist of: Bond Funds, Hybrid Funds, International Stock funds, and U.S. Stock funds. The subcategories in drop down box 1205 include, for example, Large Blend and Large Growth funds.
Field 1206 allows a user to specify the amount that they wish to invest. This field can be used to filter funds by their required initial investment amount, or that use an investment amount as a criteria for some factor related to the fund.
A clickable link is provided in field 1208 that selects the ranking method of the example embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention rank products in a standard three-step process if no selection is made. First, it assigns a score to each attribute of every fund (or whatever product is the subject of the search), rating its comparison to other funds in the same category of funds. Second, the scores are assigned a weight based upon how relevant each attribute is to the individual user and then the scores are re-scored. Lastly, the scores of each attribute are tallied and, in this example, the funds are scored against each other, with the overall highest score ranked #1.
For the system to gain the importance rating of each attribute, there are three levels of complexity: system default ratings, preset scaled ratings, and in-depth custom ratings. This ranking system applies to all products.
The first selectable field of
Returning back to
The next main section 1212 of
In the next fields, 1222 and 1224, a fund family's performance and a fund's performance, respectively, over a period of time, is shown. This period of time is identified in the header 1226 and 1228 above the fields 1222 and 1224, respectively. An identifier of the fund family and family of funds is shown in fields 1230 and 1232, respectively. Fields 1234 and 1236 provide a summary of key aspects of the number one ranked fund family and fund, respectively. These number one ranked products may preferably conform to the location information entered into field 1203. One advantage of the example embodiment of the present invention is that the jargon is reduced. The user can interact with the system further to get additional attributes of the product if he/she desires.
In one embodiment of the present invention, an analyst star-ranking system is implemented. The analyst star-ranking 1238 is a custom satisfaction rating which is collected from analyst and/or retrieved from other information sources. The ranking system scores the attributes of the product. It has the ability to combine quantitative data as well as qualitative data in order to generate a ranking. In the event the example system is unable to collect data for a product, an overall rating for an institution can be factored into its product rating. Ratings are determined by the overall average score for the product; however weightings can vary between the various data sources. For example, ratings collected through the example embodiment of the present invention can have a weighting of 1, whereas ratings from less-reputable sites will have a rating of 0.8. Although the analyst rating of the fund is displayed separately, it can still used as part of the ranking function as an attribute. It is also possible that the analyst rating will be featured as a tie-breaker amongst rankings.
The results field 1212 also features an “Info” button 1240. By clicking the Info button 1240, a user can cause a panel to display that will list the individual attributes of the fund as compared to all other funds selected on the page.
Ranking field 1242 provides two tabs. The first tab 1244, when selected, allows a user to enter a fund family identifying code in the field 1246. This section ranks the user's family which he/she has invested in. These rankings are continually updated when the user changes the filter or scale requirements. This is so the user has a view of his own fund ranking as it arises within the changing criteria. Upon depressing a button 1248, a screen similar to the one shown in
A second tab 1250 brings up a screen similar to screen 1600 shown in
The graphical user interface 1700 shown in
Example embodiments using a product ontology, expert system and ranking engine will now be described in connection with
In an example embodiment, the system and methodology may be organized around an ontological structure for the product. Decomposing the product into the underlying attributes and their relationships results in a structure which defines the product domain. Products within the same domain may be rank-able. The depth or level of detail of the ontology can affect the rank-ability of products even though they fall within the same “stable” of products. An example of this is the ranking of mutual funds. At a high level (less detailed ontology), mutual funds can be ranked on risk, performance, fees and tax implications. Taking a finer-grained view of the ontology and decomposing the funds into asset class specific attributes (such as quality and maturity in the case of bond funds, and market cap and investment style in the case of stock funds) results in a different ontological structure or product domain.
Decomposing a product into an ontological structure starts with identifying the attributes of the product and organizing those attributes into attribute groups having common types or concepts. Attributes may be both qualitative and quantitative in nature. If qualitative, an arbitrary, attribute specific scoring method may be applied in order to transform it into a tangible quantitative attribute. An example of this method is the use of a 5 point system to rate the reward type associated with a credit card. An example of an attribute group in the case of mutual funds would be performance. The attributes that make up performance are 3 year performance, 5 year performance and 10 year performance, etc.
By organizing individual products into attribute groups, example embodiments may abstract away from the complexity presented by all of the individual attributes that can be used for evaluation and ranking. In example embodiments, the system may operate in a number of different modes, such as a beginner mode, advanced mode and expert mode. In a beginner mode, the user may be asked a series of high level profiling questions corresponding to each attribute group. Rules may be defined that adjust the weighting of individual attributes within the attribute group based on the answers to the questions. In this way, a beginner user may express preferences based on a more general concept without a detailed knowledge of all of the individual attributes that are available for a product. For instance, a beginner user may be asked to provide a general indication of the user's risk/return profile using a sliding scale. From this response, rules from an expert system may be used to adjust weightings to the underlying attributes within the attribute group “Risk and Return” such as the weighting adjustments to be used for the attributes for 3, 5 and 10 year alpha for an investment product.
In another mode of operation, such as an advanced mode, the system may ask more detailed questions tied more directly to more detailed attribute groups or individual attributes. In some embodiments, the ontology may be hierarchical. A small number of top level attribute groups may be defined and questions corresponding to those groups may be asked to beginner users. A larger number of second level attribute groups may also be defined and questions corresponding to this group may be asked to advanced users. An expert mode may also be provided that allows the user to weight each of the individual product attributes. In this way, the level of detail presented to the user can be adjusted based on the mode of operation, even though a large number of individual product attribute can be used for ranking in each mode. The rules from the expert system define how the user's answers and/or weightings for attribute groups are mapped into weightings for the individual product attributes that are used for ranking.
In some embodiments, the system may allow the user to change the mode of operation for each attribute group. For example, a user may use beginner mode to answer questions about the attribute group “investment time horizon”, but may choose to provide preferences for the attribute group “risk and return” in expert mode where a weighting is provided for each individual product attribute. For example, the user may simply indicate that the user is a long term investor for purpose of “investment time horizon”, but may enter individual weightings for attributes within the group “risk and return”, such as providing specific weightings for 1,3 and 5 year alpha and beta attributes for the investment product being evaluated.
The rules for each mode of operation may also limit the allowable range or adjustments to weightings that will be applied to certain attributes or groups depending upon the mode of operation. For example, a user may indicate that the user only cares about returns and does not care about risk. However, the rules defined by the expert system may limit the amount that the weightings are adjusted based on the mode of operation. For example, in beginner mode, the system may not allow the weighting for certain risk attributes to be zero and may require some minimal weighting to be signed to those risk attributes for beginners. Also, the system may balance the overall weighting assigned to an attribute group relative to other attribute groups, so a beginner's answers cannot cause the weighting of one attribute group relative to another attribute group to differ by more than a maximum amount. These outside boundaries and conditions placed on how the user's preferences impact the actual weightings assigned to individual attributes is referred to as “scaffolding”. The amount of scaffolding may be reduced in more advanced modes of operation. In an expert mode, the scaffolding may be eliminated or put under the control of the user, so the user can select any weighting to be used for individual product attributes.
In example embodiments, the system is designed to make use of a classic client/server networking architecture as described in more detail above. In an example embodiment, the system uses a web based architecture with a web-browser based client which invokes rank requests on a remote server. The server-side processing may be done on one server or, alternatively, each application component being designed according to the principles of service orientated architecture may reside on individual servers. In example embodiments, the product attributes and attribute groups are stored in data structures in memory on one or more of the servers. Software is stored in memory and executed on the processors on one or more of the servers. The software includes instructions to carry out the steps of the methods described herein and to access the data in the data structures for such methods. Software executing on the processor(s) implements the rules from the expert system (including scaffolding) to apply weightings to the product attributes based on the user's answers to questions or other input from the user regarding attribute groups or individual attributes. The software executing on the processor then scores the products based on each product's attribute values and the weighting assigned to those attributes and ranks the products as described further below. In an example embodiment, the software includes modules with instructions that cause the processor(s) to carry out these processing steps.
The following is an additional overview description of the steps carried out on a client device and server system according to an example embodiment of the present invention. These steps are illustrated in
A corresponding User Fact data structure that is stored in memory on the server is then updated with the most recent information as shown at step 2008. The updated User Fact data structure is then provided to an expert system for processing the rank request as shown at step 2010. The expert system uses decision tables 2011 to determine how to adjust individual product attribute weightings based on the user's answers to the profiling questions. As described above, the profiling questions may relate to a group of attributes and rules based an the decision tables may be used to adjust weightings for individual attributes based on the user's responses. The responses and other user input may also be used to generate filters for filtering the products to be ranked and to adjust the way in which different attributes are evaluated by the system. These weightings, evaluators and filters may be generated and adjusted by the expert system and stored in a data structure in memory on the server for use in the ranking process as shown at 2012. In an example embodiment, the expert system generates a data structure containing the weighting or relative importance of each attribute within the product ontology and how that attribute is to be evaluated. In an example embodiment, the expert system also generates a second data structure which contains the filters to be applied to the product set. The expert system may also generate weightings for each attribute group as shown at step 2014. These group weightings may be used in scaffolding. The system may limit the weightings that can be assigned to a group and to individual attributes in a group based on the mode of operation. This may be determined by placing minimum and/or maximum boundaries on weightings for individual attributes or groups and/or by limiting the amount that the weighting for one group may differ from one or more other groups. The expert system may also generate backtracking information as also shown at step 2014. This is explanatory information for each group and/or attribute that explains how the user's answers impacted the weightings, filters and/or evaluators assigned by the expert system. This can be used to provide transparency to a user and explain how the user's input impacted the ranking process.
In an example embodiment, the server then sends the weightings, filters and request meta data to the ranking engine as shown at step 2018, which processes each product in the data set according to the filters, attribute weightings and request meta data. In an example embodiment, the ranking engine scores and processes each product to deliver a set of products ranked from #1 . . . n, where n is the number of products in the filtered data set. In an example embodiment, the ranking engine also provides ranking meta data which gives users insight into the ranked results. This meta data may also include backtracking information from the expert system to explain how the ranked results were achieved.
In an example embodiment, the server then sends the rank response (which includes the ranking results) to the client for processing as shown at step 2020 and the client displays the results to the user as shown at step 2022. In example embodiments, the rank response may be provided in html, java script or other format that can be displayed by the browser on the client.
The following provides additional description of the functions of the expert system including the input structures, processing and expected output according to an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the export system is a software module executed on the server as described in connection with
Input Data Structures. The input data structures used by the expert system in an example embodiment will now be described. In an example embodiment, the expert system receives a “User Fact” data structure and uses “Decision Table” data structures to map the user input in the “User Fact” into weightings, filters and evaluators for individual attributes.
User Fact Data Structure. The User Fact is a data structure with represents the user's answers to the series of profiling questions. In an example embodiment, the fact includes structures for information regarding the “Question Groups and Level of Expertise” and the “Questions and Answers thereof” as further described below:
Decision Tables. In example embodiments, decision tables are used to model the logic of product domain experts. The purpose is to evaluate the user's profile and depending on certain logical conditions being met, undertake a number of actions which result in the weighting (importance) of each product attribute, how that attribute is evaluated, and the filters for a product data set being generated for later use by the ranking engine. In the case of investments, the logic modeled within the decision table may take into account a user's current station in life and theory-backed recommendations on which investment criteria would be more applicable to a user should they decide to make an investment. Multiple conditions may be evaluated at once and affect many more attributes than a user could comprehend at one time. In an example embodiment, the decision table is converted into a rules language which is interpreted and processed by a rules engine. In example embodiments, the combination of multiple conditions and their resulting actions is called a rule.
The user's responses to the profiling questions may include information or attributes about the user or about the product attributes or other information that can be used by the rules to adjust weightings and/or generate filters and/or change the manner in which a product attribute is evaluated. For example, the User Fact may include information about attributes of the user such as age, income level, desired retirement age or other relevant information. The rules in the decision table can then be used to adjust weightings for product attributes in the relevant attribute group based on the information about the user. While the user does not directly provide an importance rating for a particular product attribute, the expert system can adjust the weightings that the system uses for ranking based on information about the user. The amount that the overall weighting for a particular attribute is determined by information about the user (as opposed to the user's own importance ratings for product attributes or attribute groups) may vary by mode of operation. Beginner modes may derive most of the weightings indirectly from information about the user's situation (for example, income level age, etc.) and more advanced modes may rely more heavily on information about the user's preferences with respect to product attributes or attribute groups (for example, risk/return profile). In expert mode, the user may provide importance ratings for individual product attributes that are used to directly determine weightings for individual product attributes.
In example embodiments, a response to a single question may impact a large number of individual product attributes and responses to a series of questions may incrementally adjust the same product attributes based on the answer to each question. In an example embodiment, the cumulative adjustments based on the responses to a series of questions may be used to determine the overall importance or weighting assigned to a particular product attribute. For example, in some embodiments, an attribute group may have 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20 or more individual product attributes. The response to a single question may result in incremental adjustments to a subset or all of these product attributes. For example, the weightings for 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20 or more product attributes may be adjusted based on the response to a single question. The next question in the series may also result in an adjustment to the weighting for some or all of the same product attributes. In some embodiments, the same 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20 or more product attributes may be adjusted based on the response to the next question in the series. In some examples, the weightings for different product attributes may be adjusted based on the response to the next question or some of the same product attributes and some different product attributes may be adjusted based on the response to the next question. This process may continue for responses to each of the question in the series of questions, resulting in a cumulative overall weighting being generated for each product attribute in the attribute group. In other instances, responses to particular questions may result in a particular value being set for the weighting for the product attribute. Some questions may be used to generate filters or change the manner of evaluation rather than to adjust weightings.
The number of questions in a series that affect weightings for an attribute group may be less than the number of product attributes in the attribute group. For example, the series of four questions in
The above example describes rules based on a user's response to questions contained in a User Fact data structure. In other embodiments, user profile information may be obtained in other ways and it may not be necessary to ask the user a series of profile questions to obtain some or all of the information used to generate weightings and filters. For example, user information, such as age or income level, may be available from other sources and can be used to generate weightings based on rules in a manner similar to that described above. Some example embodiments may use any source of information regarding user attributes, importance ratings and other information regarding a user to generate weightings for product attributes within an attribute group and are not limited to a user's response to profiling questions. The user attributes or profile information for different categories or topics may be associated with attribute groups and rules in a decision table may be use to adjust weightings for product attributes in the attribute group or to generate filter based on product attributes in a manner similar to that described above with respect to a user's responses to profiling questions.
The conditions and actions used for rules in an example embodiment will now be described in further detail.
In an example embodiment, a rules engine is used to produce the output structured by applying the user fact to the expert logic. The weightings, filters and evaluators are stored in a data structure for use in the ranking process. In example embodiments, the weightings may be stored in a Weighting Data Structure in memory. The Weighting Data Structure may include the weighting to use for each product attribute during the ranking process. As described above, the weightings are determined based on the profiling information provided in the User Fact data structure and the logic in the Decision Tables used by the expert system. While the user may answer questions for more general attribute groups, weightings may be provided for each individual product attribute based on the rules in the decision table. An Attribute evaluation Data Structure may also be provided that indicates how each attribute should be evaluated as described above, for example against peers or against a benchmark. This is also determined based on the User Fact and rules in the Decision Table. A Filter Data Structure is also provided which indicates any filters to be applied to each attribute for the ranking. This is also determined based on the User Fact and rules in the Decision Table. As described above in connection with
As described above, example embodiments may use scaffolding and balancing to adjust the weightings depending upon the level of expertise of the user. The final weightings for each attribute may be bounded by minimum and maximum values that are more restrictive for modes of operation for users having lower levels of expertise and may be less restrictive for more advanced users.
In addition, balancing of weightings per group may also occur during processing in example embodiments. The balancing is used to prevent one group of attributes completely out-weighting or dominating another when it is not intended to. During the construction of the decision tables, a domain expert will intuitively balance the effect of the weightings per group in order to ensure each group meets his views as to their relative importance to other groups. The domain expert supplies this list of guidelines, in the form of ranges of values, to the expert system. The expert system then invokes balancing cheeks against the resulting weightings using these guidelines. If the checks fail the expert system may either flag an error or make automatic adjustments depending on the implementation. The automatic adjustments increase the individual attribute weightings within a particular group proportionally in order to bring that group's overall weighting in line with the expert's guidelines. The extent of the balancing is determined by the user's level of expertise in the product.
The balancing is increasingly important when dealing with users of a lower expertise. The balancing protects the user from making unorthodox choices or choices which fly in the face of the domain expert's point of view. The strength of the effect of the balancing is inversely proportional to the expertise of the user. Generally users of lower expertise will have to adhere to the balancing guidelines prescribed by the domain expert. The amount of balancing decreases within increasing levels of expertise as indicated by different modes selected by the user. In some embodiments, an expert mode may be provided that caters to users who themselves are domain experts. The expert may set their own balancing guidelines or completely ignore them, for better or for worse. In some embodiments, a user in expert mode may evaluate each individual product attribute and assign any weighting to the attribute. In some embodiments, the mode may be changed between attribute groups, so some attribute groups are scaffolded and balanced based on one level of expertise (for example, beginner mode) and other groups are scaffolded and balanced based on a different level of expertise (for example, advanced mode) or not at all (for example, based on an expert mode).
In an example embodiment, the ranking methodology is implemented in the ranking engine. In an example embodiment, the ranking engine is a software module executed on the server as described in connection with
In the example embodiment of
As shown at step 2404 in
The next steps in the process involve evaluating each attribute for each product and generating a score which represents how successful the product is in meeting that evaluation. As shown at step 2406 in
When scoring against a benchmark in an example embodiment, that benchmark may be a single value (for example, alpha of 0.5), an index (for example, 3 year performance against the S&P 3 year performance) or against a category or sector (for example, the 3 year performance of all stocks within the same sector). In the case of a provided value, the expert system may set the value to evaluate against in an example embodiment. In other cases, an indicator of the index or category may be provided in an example embodiment and that data is retrieved from memory or a database for use in scoring.
In an example embodiment, the manner in which an attribute is compared to a benchmark may be specified by a logical operator. In an example embodiment, the logical operator may be any form of Boolean operator. Some examples are ‘<x’, ‘<=x’, ‘>x’, ‘>=x’, ‘=x’ and >x&&>y (between), where x and y are two benchmark values to compare against. In an example embodiment, if the attribute being evaluated meets the logical condition specified by the logical operator, the attribute is awarded the highest possible score for that attribute. The actual score may be arbitrary. For practical reasons, in an example embodiment, we use ‘1’ with the lowest possible score being ‘0’. In an example embodiment, attributes for products which do not meet the logical condition are based on the highest possible score, but are reduced using an exponential decay process. The decay constant is set by a function of the maximum or minimum attribute value and the distance of that value from the benchmark values. This is an example only and other embodiments may use other methods for scoring attributes against a benchmark.
In an example embodiment, attributes may also be scored against peers as shown at step 2414. In order for an attribute to be evaluated against its peers, a relative performance goal may be determined for the attribute type. In example embodiments, the performance goal may be based upon an evaluation against the highest value or the lowest value for an attribute. For example, in the case of credit cards, the APR attribute for each credit card may be evaluated against the lowest APR. In the case of mutual funds, 3 year performance may be evaluated against the highest 3 year performance, or the fees attribute may be evaluated against the lowest fees. In an example embodiment, the attribute score may be determined by the number of standard deviations the value is above or below the mean for that attribute.
After the attribute is scored for each product, the ranking engine calculates an optimal score for the attribute if it has not been set as shown at step 2415. For each attribute and its evaluation function in a product data set, the optimal or best possible score may be calculated in an example embodiment. In the ease of an attribute evaluated against a benchmark, the benchmark may be used as the optimal score. In the case of an attributed evaluated against peers, the optimal score may be the minimum or the maximum score depending on the performance goal.
The above scoring process is then repeated until all product attributes have been scored as indicated at step 2406. After all product attributes have been scored for all products, the ranking engine then determines an optimal fit as shown at step 2416. At step 2416, the weightings for each product attribute are applied to the optimal score of each attribute. The result or “weighted optimal score” is the product of the optimal score and the proportional weighting of the attribute (as previously determined by the expert system). The result of this function is a series which is called the optimal fit. This series reflects the optimal score for each attribute weighted by the weightings for each attributed generated by the expert system based on the user's profile (as reflected in the User Fact data structure).
As shown at step 2418, the weightings may also be applied to the scores for each attribute for each product in the filtered data set. The result or “weighted score” is the product of the score and the proportional weighting of the attribute. As shown at step 2420, the ranking engine may then calculate a correlation of the series of weighted scores for each product to the optimal fit. The higher the correlation, the closer the product matches the optimal fit. This determines, for each product, how well it matches the weighted scores of the optimal fit and therefore how well the product meets the user's requirements. A value (called overall fit) is assigned to each product which represents this match. Example embodiments may use various methods for calculating an overall fit. For example, a correlation coefficient may be calculated or a least squares method may be used for determining the overall fit in some embodiments.
As shown at step 2422, this function may then be repeated for each group of attributes in order to determine the fit per group. The correlation of the weighted scores for a product in each attribute group may be determined relative it the weighted optimal scores for those attributes. This allows ranking results to be sorted or evaluated by rankings for attribute groups as well as by overall fit.
As shown at step 2424, in an example embodiment, the products are then sorted in descending order by their overall fit. In an example embodiment, the product with the highest fit is ranked #1 (the ranking of the product against the user's preferences). The implication of this function is that products are ranked at an attribute level or a leaf level, even though user profile information may be determined based on answers to questions associated with attribute groups at a high level of abstraction.
As shown at step 2426, post filters may then be applied. In an example embodiment, the post filters are optional filters supplied to the ranking engine which, once applied, result in a subset of rankings from the calculations of ranking based on overall fit as described above. A list of specific products to rank (which may be specified in the request meta data as described above) may be included within the subset regardless of whether they match the post-filter or not. The resulting subset can maintain their original rankings from the super-set, or alternatively may have their rankings modified to represent their positions within the subset. For example, a product which ranked #5 in the super set and has the highest overall fit within the subset may keep its rank at #5, or alternatively will be modified to have a rank #1 in the subset, the purpose of the post-filters is to allow a user a finer-grained control of the rankings returned. The user may wish to see a subset of products. For example, the user may request a ranking of all funds based in china, but may also explicitly request rankings for one or more U.S. based funds to be included in the result (as part of the request meta data as described above). The result of which may be a subset of all ranked china funds with the ability to compare how they rank compared to the user's specified U.S. funds. In an example embodiment, these products have to exist within the product domain enforced by the pre-filters (because the post-filter are merely a view of products within the product domain. A further example of the use of post-filter is in the case of investment amount. The user may wish to see the rankings of a subset of products with a minimum investment amount of $1000.00, but then compare those rankings (or fit) to the ranking of a fund which has a minimum investment amount of $10,000.00
As shown at step 2428, the ranking engine then builds and returns a rank response. In an example embodiment, the ranking engine returns the following data structures as part of the rank response. These structures are the result of the ranking process and allow for transparency of the ranking process.
Total Results/Total Ties/Unique Ranks
Product Rankings, Product Identifier, Product Ties, Product Index within Ranked Set, Overall Fit. For each product, the following is returned:
Results of the List of specified products. For each value described in the preceding paragraph (ranking, unique number, index and overall fit), the same are returned for each product within the list of specified products to be ranked as indicated in the request metadata.
Fit per Attribute Group per Product. For each product returned in the two preceding paragraphs, a list of the fit per group per product is also returned.
Standard Score of each Attribute of each Product. In order to gauge the performance of attribute against its peers, a standard score is returned.
Score/Weighting Debugging Attributes. For debugging purposes, the attribute scores (including the optimal fit) and the weighted scores may be returned in some embodiments depending on the implementation.
Filter Exclusion Indicator. If a product within the list of specified products is excluded from the ranked set as it does not match the pre- or post-filters, a value is returned that indicates at which stage the product was excluded.
As shown in
Example embodiments of the present invention may be used to provide an impartial and objective web application for intelligently locating a product, where the search for the product is performed over a computer network that is accessible to users through any internet access device, including, personal computers, laptops, mobile telephones, and many others. Example embodiments of the invention accept predefined and/or open-ended search criteria and user profile data and responds to user direction to access one or many data sources in order to identify the optimal search candidate within a finite set of possible candidates constructed for a predefined problem. The located product is selected by its relevance to a searcher and, more particularly, by its correlation to attributes associated with the searcher. Embodiments of the present invention locate not just web pages that reference, link, or offer a desired product, but returns a list of results ranked by how well the product fits the searcher's needs and the searcher's situation.
An example embodiment of the present invention produces a ranking of relevant products by receiving a search topic from a user and one or more attributes associated with the user. The attributes are factors, such as demographics or situational data specific to the user. The example embodiment then searches multiple information locations for the search topic and also searches at least one information field connected to each information location and associated with the topic. The example embodiment then associates content in at least one of the information fields with at least one of the attributes. By “associating,” the example embodiment is making a logical correlation between the content of one of the information fields and one of the attributes input by the user. This correlation may not be direct. For example, the user may enter the “attributes” of his total debt and his income. The example embodiment may “associate” these attributes to an information field containing a maximum limit of a loan and also to a minimum credit score. The user's credit score can be calculated by the example embodiment based on debt vs. income. The information fields are then prioritized, thereby creating a hierarchy of factors based on importance or relevance. For instance, the user may wish to find a credit card with the highest credit limit so he can move debt, rather than worry about an interest rate. Based on the prioritization, the products are ranked against each other.
Embodiments of the present invention build a comprehensive profile of users by monitoring user click-through events and recommendation acceptance. This comprehensive set of mine-able data increases the ability to recommend suitable products and may lead to a sustainable source of income.
In example embodiments, the system has the potential to cause providers to make their products more competitive and attractive to consumers by offering quantifiable benefits. Although qualitative aspects of a product are not disregarded (users are allowed to rate this separately), the recommendation of which products(s) best fit(s) the user's profile and search requirements is presented. This, coupled with the ability to present recommendations of products far beyond the average consumer's top-of-mind awareness, is a great leveler of the playing field which provides a huge advantage to consumer decision making.
Example embodiments of the present invention are able to affect multiple industries, which included investments, borrowing, insurance, travel, healthcare, telecommunications, education, and many others.
Example embodiments of the present invention may be used to provide many advantages. For one, the results (rankings) are particular to the user conducting the search and have no bearing on other users of the system. Specifically, example embodiments of the present invention make each search tailored only to the user conducting the search. Example embodiments of the present invention rate products and services on their attributes and the relevance of each attribute to the searching user's profile.
An example embodiment of the invention may be impartial and objective because it is based on published, industry-specific data. Queries processed by the system are those which are directed at a particular industry in order to find a quantifiable result. This could be a financial rate comparison, top-rated service provider, or a product which best meets the needs of the user. The result of a query is impartial as the entity providing the service gains no financial reward from making its recommendation.
Furthermore, the knowledge base and data repository of an example embodiment of tbe present invention is built on published information (e.g., web data) and/or data that is compiled by a trustworthy, impartial, third party. The operator of an example embodiment of the present invention is not required to obtain subscriptions from service providers nor prioritize results based on any financial incentives. Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention create an automated “live” data repository which is continuously up-to-date and actively monitoring changes in the marketplace and seeking new providers and products.
Web users are generally familiar with formulating natural-language queries in order to receive a list of possible answer, then manually filtering the results in order to locate the most relevant answer. However, the ability to formulate an effective natural language query depends on the level of sophistication a user has within a particular field.
Though use of an example embodiment of the prevent invention, users are guided through a question/answer-based expert system assists the user in narrowing the query and filtering results to find the most relevant and beneficial single result within the target industry. The expert systems are industry-specific and developed in conjunction with experts operating in that particular field. This allows an example embodiment of the present invention to provide a service to both sophisticated and unsophisticated users alike, allowing both to achieve the best possible result.
One further advantage is that an example embodiment of the present invention is able to present the most relevant result only. In such an embodiment, the ultimate goal is to offer the single best-suited result based on the user's query criteria and requirements, i.e., one query equals one result.
Additionally, where possible and/or applicable, the example system facilitates the transaction between the user and the service provider. This may be in the form of an online transaction or simply the presentation of contact details.
Example embodiments of the indention advantageously provide a diverse application platform that assists the user in making the most informed decision and monitoring the effectiveness of that decision over any given length of time.
While example embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that methods and structures within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/291,618, filed Dec. 31, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application is related to the following co-pending patent application: application Ser. No. 11/769,138, titled “Method, Device, and System for Analyzing and Ranking Web-Accessible Data Targets”, filed Jun. 2, 2007, which published as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0006216 on Jan. 1, 2009, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61291618 | Dec 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12971640 | Dec 2010 | US |
| Child | 14971416 | US |
