| |
| United States Patent
|
7,143,089 |
| Petras , et al. |
November 28, 2006 |
System for creating and maintaining a database
of information utilizing user opinions
Abstract
A system for automatically creating and maintaining a database of
information utilizing user opinions about subjects, particularly
exceptional experiences. Described is an Internet system
assisting/motivating a population of users interested in information
about certain categories of subjects to automatically maintain the
database content and to improve the usefulness and quality of the
database information without any substantial management by the
website owner-manager. The user opinions are primarily in the form
of both comments and ratings about which natural-language terms best
describe a particular subject, enabling user searches of the subject
database to be by way of preferred such descriptive natural-language
terms, which terms are further preferred to be evaluative and
approving.
| Inventors: |
Petras; Gregory J.
(Phoenix, AZ), Hill; Richard W. (Scottsdale, AZ),
Mason; Andrew F. (Phoenix, AZ), Osborn; Cory
(Tempe, AZ), Parham; Flori N. (Chandler, AZ),
Riffel; Connie (Phoenix, AZ), Thomas; Rachael A.
(Phoenix, AZ), Thompson; Craig P. (Glendale, AZ),
Zywicki; Jeffrey T. (Scottsdale, AZ) |
| Assignee: |
Involve Technology, Inc.
(Phoenix, AZ)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
09/782,873 |
| Filed: |
February 10, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
60181632 |
Feb., 2000 |
|
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| Current U.S.
Class: |
707/5 ;
704/1; 707/10; 707/104.1; 707/E17.059; 707/E17.093;
707/E17.095; 709/209; 715/202; 715/204; 715/234 |
| Current
International Class: |
G06F
17/30 (20060101) |
| Field of
Search: |
707/2,3,4,5,10,1,6,7,104.1 704/9,1,7,8 715/529,516,531
709/201 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent
Documents
Other References
Gudivada, Venkat N. et al., "Design and Evaluation of
Algorithms for Retrieval by Spatial Similarity", ACM
Transactions on Information Systems, vol. 13, Issue 2, Apr.
1995, pp. 115-144. cited by examiner .
Strzalkowski, Tomek et al., "Information Retrieval Using
Robust Natural Language Processing", Proceedings of the 30th
annual meting on Association for Computational Linguistics
(ACL), 1992, pp. 104-111. cited by examiner .
Yu, Clement et al., "Efficient and Effective Metasearch for
a Large Number of Text Databases", Proceedings of the eighth
International Conference in Information and Knowledge
Management, 1999, pp. 217-224. cited by examiner.
|
Primary Examiner: Alam; Shahid Al
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Stoneman Law Offices, Ltd. Stoneman; Martin L.
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is related to applicant's prior provisional
application Ser. No. 60/181,632, filed Feb. 10, 2000, entitled
"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CREATING AND MAINTAINING A DATABASE OF
INFORMATION UTILIZING USER COMMENTS AND OPINIONS", the contents of
which are hereby herein incorporated by reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A system for creating and maintaining information in a database
of subjects, available to a population of users, comprising: a)
describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language
terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having
relevance to the subject according to an involved subset of such
population of users; b) rating the degree of relevance of each of
such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject
according to each of such involved subset of such population of
users; c) associating, in such database, such respective
natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each
such database subject; and d) computing, for such involved subset of
such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject; e) associating with a particular user a set
of particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms from such
plurality of natural-language terms; f) using such particular user's
preferred such set of particular-user-preferred such
natural-language terms, searching such database for database
subjects associated with such set of particular-user-preferred such
natural-language terms; g) determining a set of relevant such
database subjects as are correlated with a high aggregate degree of
relevance among such respective overall degrees of relevance of such
set of respective particular-user-preferred such natural-language
terms; and h) presenting to such particular user information about
such relevant database subjects.
2. A system for creating and maintaining information in a database
of subjects, available to a population of users, comprising: a)
describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language
terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having
relevance to the subject according to an involved subset of such
population of users; b) rating the degree of relevance of each of
such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject
according to each of such involved subset of such population of
users; c) associating, in such database, such respective
natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each
such database subject; d) computing, for such involved subset of
such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject; e) presenting to a particular user
information, about a particular such database subject and such
associated respective relevant natural-language terms with such
respective overall degrees of relevance; f) collecting, from such
particular user, such particular user's opinions about respective
degrees of relevance to such particular database subject of such
respective presented natural-language terms; g) adding such
particular user to such involved subset of such population of users
and adding such particular user's opinions to such database; h)
updating, in association with such particular database subject, in
such database, such overall degree of relevance of each of such
plurality of natural-language terms associated with such particular
database subject; and i) presenting to such particular user
information about a particular such database subject and such
associated relevant natural-language terms with such updated
respective overall degrees of relevance.
3. The system according to claim 1 further comprising: a) presenting
to a particular user information about a particular such database
subject and such associated respective relevant natural-language
terms with such respective overall degrees of relevance; b)
collecting, from such particular user, such particular user's
opinions about respective degrees of relevance to such particular
database subject of such respective presented natural-language
terms; c) adding such particular user to such involved subset of
such population of users and adding such particular user's opinions
to such database; and d) updating, in association with such
particular database subject, in such database, such overall degree
of relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms
associated with such particular database subject.
4. The system according to claim 3 further comprising: a) providing
a software management system to directly manage such database and
such population of users essentially without outside management; and
b) providing for variables in such software management system to be
configurable without affecting such direct management operations, c)
wherein such software management system comprises: i) soliciting of
sufficient information from such users for automatic role
qualification enhancing software selection and maintenance of a
management sub-community; ii) measuring management efforts of each
of such management sub-community; iii) queing of qualified users for
a next opening in such management sub-community; iv) setting of
goals for each of such management community; and v) managing a
reward system to reward management efforts of each of such
management sub-community.
5. A system for creating and maintaining information in a database
of subjects, available to a population of users, comprising: a)
describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language
terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having
relevance to the subject according to an involved subset of such
population of users; b) rating the degree of relevance of each of
such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject
according to each of such involved subset of such population of
users; c) associating, in such database, such respective
natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each
such database subject; d) computing, for such involved subset of
such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject; e) collecting, from each user of such
involved subset of such population of users, information about such
user's knowledge of and experience with such database subject; f)
assessing, based at least in part upon such information, a relative
weight to be given to such user's opinions about such database
subject; g) for the purposes of computing, for such involved subset
of such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject, applying a respective such relative weight
for each respective such user's such rating of such degree of
relevance in such manner that a more-knowledgeable such user's such
rating counts for more in such "overall" computing than does a
less-knowledgeable such user's such rating; and h) presenting to a
user information about such database subject and such associated
relevant natural-language terms with such computed respective
overall degrees of relevance.
6. The system according to claim 5 further comprising: a)
determining first such user's role as member or contributor; b)
assigning a multiplier-value based on such first determining; c)
determining second whether such user has personally experienced the
subject; d) assigning a multiplier-value based on such second
determining; c) determining third such user's self-reported
qualification to judge such subject; f) assigning a multiplier-value
based on such third determining; g) determining fourth other users'
overall ratings of subjects added by such user; h) assigning a
multiplier-value based on such fourth determining; i) determining
fifth other users' degree of agreements with comments added by such
user; j) assigning a multiplier-value based on such fourth
determining; and k) multiplying together all such multiplier-values
to determine such relative weight.
7. A system for creating and maintaining information in a database
of subjects, available to a population of users, comprising: a)
describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language
terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having
relevance to the subject according to an involved subset of such
population of users; b) rating the degree of relevance of each of
such plurality of natural-language tams to such database subject
according to each of such involved subset of such population of
users; c) associating, in such database, such respective
natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each
such database subject; d) computing, for such involved subset of
such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject; e) rating the relative overall value of each
such database subject according to the opinion of each of such
involved subset of such population of users; f) collecting comments
about each such database subject according to the opinion of each of
such involved subset of such population of users; g) associating, in
such database, respective such ratings of relative overall value and
respective such collected comments with respective such database
subjects; and h) presenting to a user information about such
database subject and such associated rating of relative overall
value and such associated collected comments.
8. The system according to claim 2 further comprising: a)
accumulating, storing, and analyzing all associations, including
subject categorizations, of all such overall degrees of relevance of
all of such plurality of natural-language terms associated with all
such database subjects; b) determining preferred such
natural-language terms, according to such population of users, for
selected categories of subjects.
9. The system according to claim 1 wherein such determining a set of
relevant such database subjects as are correlated with a high
aggregate degree of relevance among such respective overall degrees
of relevance of such set of respective particular-user-preferred
such natural-language terms comprises determining an ordered set of
relevant such database subjects as are correlated with a highest
aggregate degree of relevance among such respective overall degrees
of relevance of such set of respective particular-user-preferred
such natural-language terms.
10. The system according to claim 9 wherein such presenting to such
particular user information about such relevant database subjects
includes presenting to such particular user an ordered set of
relevant such database subjects as are correlated with a highest
aggregate degree of relevance among such respective overall degrees
of relevance of such set of respective particular-user-preferred
such natural-language terms.
Description
BACKGROUND
This invention relates generally to systems for creating,
maintaining and using database information. More particularly, it
relates to a system for automatically creating and maintaining a
database of information utilizing user opinions. Even more
particularly, it relates to an Internet system assisting a
population of users to automatically maintain the database content
and to improve the usefulness and quality of the database
information without any substantial management by the website
owner-manager.
Recently, a wide range of interactive devices has been developed to
provide information to consumers via communications networks. These
interactive devices include, for example, computers connected to
various computer on-line services, interactive kiosks, interactive
television systems and the like. In particular, the popularity of
computer on-line services has grown immensely in popularity over the
last decade. Computer on-line services are provided by a wide
variety of different companies. In general, most computer on-line
services are accessed via the Internet. The Internet is a global
network of computers. One popular part of the Internet is the World
Wide Web, or the "Web." The World Wide Web contains computers that
display graphical and textual information. Computers that provide
information on the World Wide Web are typically called "Web sites."
A Web site is defined by an Internet address that has an associated
electronic page, often called a "home page." Generally, a home page
is an electronic document that organizes the presentation of text,
graphical images, audio and video into a desired display. These Web
sites are operated by a wide variety of entities, which are
typically called "providers."
A user may access the Internet via a dedicated high-speed line or by
using a personal computer (PC) equipped with a conventional modem.
Special interface software, called "browser" software, is installed
within the PC. When the user wishes to access the Internet by normal
telephone line, an attached modem is automatically instructed to
dial the telephone number associated with the local Internet host
server. The user can then access information at any address
accessible over the Internet. Two well-known web browsers, for
example, are the Netscape Navigator browser marketed by Netscape
Communications Corporation and the Internet Explorer browser
marketed by Microsoft Corporation.
Information exchanged over the Internet is typically encoded in
HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) format. The HTML format is a
scripting language that is used to generate the home pages for
different content providers. In this setting, a content provider is
an individual or company that places information (content) on the
Internet so that others can access it. As is well known in the art,
the HTML format is a set of conventions for marking different
portions of a document so that each portion appears in a distinctive
format. For example, the HTML format identifies or "tags" portions
of a document to identify different categories of text (e.g., the
title, header, body text, etc.). When a web browser accesses an HTML
document, the web browser reads the embedded tags in the document so
it appears formatted in the specified manner.
An HTML document can also include hyperlinks, which allow a user to
move from one document to another document on the Internet. A
hyperlink is an underlined or otherwise emphasized portion of text
that, when selected using an input device such as a mouse, activates
a software connection module which allows the user to jump between
documents or pages (i.e., within the same Web site or to other Web
sites). Hyperlinks are well known in the art, and have been
sometimes referred to as anchors. The act of selecting the hyperlink
is often referred to as "clicking on" the hyperlink.
Glossary of General Terms and Acronyms
The following terms and acronyms explained below as background and
are used throughout the detailed description:
Client-Server. A model of interaction in a distributed system in
which a program at one site sends a request to a program at another
site and waits for a response. The requesting program is called the
"client," and the program which responds to the request is called
the "server." In the context of the World Wide Web, the client is
typically a "Web browser" which runs on a user's computer; the
program which responds to Web browser requests at a Web site is
commonly referred to as a "Web server."
Domain Name System (DNS). An Internet service that translates domain
names (which are alphabetic identifiers) into IP addresses (which
are numeric identifiers for machines on a TCP/IP network).
Internet Information Server (IIS). Microsoft Corporation's Web
server that runs on Windows NT platforms.
Internet. A collection of interconnected (public and/or private)
networks that are linked together by a set of standard protocols to
form a distributed network. While this term is intended to refer to
what is now commonly known as the Internet, it is also intended to
encompass variations which may be made in the future, including
changes and additions to existing standard protocols.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML). A standard coding convention and
set of codes for attaching presentation and linking attributes to
informational content within documents. During a document authoring
stage, the HTML codes (referred to as "tags") are embedded within
the informational content of the document. When the Web document (or
"HTML document") is subsequently transferred from a Web server to a
Web browser, the codes are interpreted by the Web browser and used
to parse and display the document. In addition to specifying how the
Web browser is to display the document, HTML tags can be used to
create links to other websites and other Web documents (commonly
referred to as "hyperlinks"). For more information on HTML, see Ian
S. Graham, The HTML Source Book, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1995
(ISBN 0471-11894-4).
HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP). The standard World Wide Web
client-server protocol used for the exchange of information (such as
HTML documents, and client requests for such documents) between a
Web browser and a Web server. HTTP includes a number of different
types of messages that can be sent from the client to the server to
request different types of server actions. For example, a "GET"
message, which has the format GET, causes the server to return the
document or file located at the specified Universal Resource Locator
(URL).
Java. A general purpose programming language developed by Sun
Microsystems. Java has a number of features that make the language
well-suited for use on the World Wide Web. Small Java applications
are called Java applets and can be downloaded from a Web server and
run on a personal computer by a Java-compatible Web browser, such as
Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer.
Java servlet. A small Java-based program designed to perform a
specific task within a Web server environment. Java servlets are
analogous to Java applets except the are designed to only run on the
Web server.
Java Virtual Machine. A set of applications that create a run time
environment for executing Java code.
JRun. A server-side extension that allows a Web server to execute
Java servlets for the processing and display of information. JRun is
a widely adopted engine for developing and deploying server-side
Java applications that use Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP).
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC). A Java API developed by JavaSoft,
a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems of Mountain View, Calif. JDBC
enables Java programs to execute SQL statements, which allows Java
programs to interact with any SQL-compliant database. Since many
relational database management systems (DBMSs) support SQL, and
because Java itself runs on most platforms, JDBC makes it possible
to write a single database application that can run on different
platforms and interact with different database management systems.
JDBC is similar to ODBC but is designed specifically for Java
programs, whereas ODBC is language-independent.
Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC). A database access method
developed by Microsoft Corporation. ODBC allows an application to
access data from a database by translating the application's data
queries into commands that the database management system (DBMS) can
understand.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). A standard
Internet protocol (or set of protocols) which specifies how two
computers exchange data over the Internet. TCP/IP handles issues
such as packetization, packet addressing, handshaking and error
correction. For more information on TCP/IP, see Volumes I, II and
III of Comer and Stevens, Internetworking with TCP/IP, Prentice
Hall, Inc., ISBNs 0-13-468505-9 (vol. I), 0-13-125527-4 (vol. II),
and 0-13-474222-2 (vol. III).
Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A unique address which fully
specifies the location of a file or other resource on the Internet.
The general format of a URL is protocol://machine address:port/path/filename.
The port specification is optional, and if none is entered by the
user, the Web browser defaults to the standard port for whatever
service is specified as the protocol. For example, if HTTP is
specified as the protocol, the Web browser will use the HTTP default
port. The machine address in this example is the domain name for the
computer or device on which the file is located.
World Wide Web ("Web"). Used herein to refer generally to both (1) a
distributed collection of interlinked, user-viewable hypertext
documents (commonly referred to as "Web documents", "Web pages",
"electronic pages" or "home pages") that are accessible via the
Internet, and (2) the client and server software components that
provide user access to such documents using standardized Internet
protocols. Currently, the primary standard protocol for allowing
applications to locate and acquire Web documents is the HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and the electronic pages are encoded using
the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). However, the terms "World Wide
Web" and "Web" are intended to encompass future markup languages and
transport protocols which may be used in place of or in addition to
the HyperText Markup Language and the HyperText Transfer Protocol.
More Specific Background
As the popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web has
continued to increase over the years, companies continue to try
finding ways to provide useful content and to promote their products
and services in a cost-effective manner and to get consumers to
visit their Web sites. To that end, computer on-line services often
offer subject search services to their users and employ narrative
descriptions of their content, user ratings and user comments.
Previous examples of such services include epinions.com, deja.com
and travelpage.com. These prior systems present a number of
limitations and drawbacks to the consumer user of the system.
Specifically, a consumer cannot search for a subject based on
opinions or ratings of the users of the system. Instead, the search
logic is either hierarchical, based on predefined classifications,
such as geography, or text based using a search for ambiguous words
or phrases contained in the subject's title or description. Users'
opinions and ratings are normally not finely detailed nor measurable
and are separate and unrelated and are not included in the search
processes offered to users. Therefore a user is unable to search for
a subject based entirely or partially on the users' opinions or
ratings.
Although computer on-line information services allow guests to
personalize or customize the information displayed to them on
initial entry to the site, such personalization is limited because
it does not allow for consideration of the guest's interests and
related opinions and ratings of the other users. Rather, the
personalization is based on personal preferences in specific, rigid
categories of information defined by the information service
provider based on the search indexes of the database. As a result,
information is presented across a spectrum of subjects that are of
interest, but without regard to a user's measures of
importance/relevance.
From the perspective of the consumer, the above-described model
presents a number of drawbacks. First, highly structured
hierarchical search rules force users to search in predetermined
ways, and text-based searches rely on ambiguous words or phrases and
focus on names or subjects, not concise descriptions and user's
evaluations, making identification and selection of the most
relevant content (to a particular searcher) difficult. Second,
because Internet-based searches are either very rigid or very
loosely structured, it is difficult for users to compare similar
subjects across the spectrum of their interests. Finally, the
quality, freshness and completeness of the database of information
must be raised while minimizing costs.
Present on-line information systems also present shortcomings for
the system operators and managers. Specifically, they require a high
degree of human intervention to maintain. On-line information
service providers permit users to comment on and rate subjects
within their site and routinely remove those that are out of date or
inappropriate either manually or by automated means based on the age
of the comment or rating. However, the current methods lack
precision because of the ambiguous nature of the ratings and
comments. The ambiguity requires a high level of human intervention
if the information is to remain current and appropriate.
On-line information service providers use groups or "populations" or
"communities" of contributors, i.e., a population of users, to input
and maintain the subject content of the database. These communities
may be organized geographically or by subject matter expertise.
These communities require significant effort and human intervention
to manage. On-line information service providers accept content from
users and contributors with little or no review before it is posted.
Reviews done by humans are usually completed by a limited group who
are subject matter experts or geographically close to the submitter.
Substantial effort is required to manage this process.
Moreover, prior on-line information systems include incentive
systems that have drawbacks. On-line information service providers
provide incentives in a variety of forms to encourage contributors
to input and maintain subject content. Incentives may also be
offered to users of the service. On-line information service
providers also employ automated processes to capture, summarize and
report the accumulated incentives. The granting of the incentives is
based on completion of a limited number of actions that have limited
influence on contributors' behavior. There is no limit on the total
amount the information service provider is obligated to pay. Each
contributor's incentive value is calculated using a rate per action
which makes it difficult to increase the value because it increases
the total potential obligation and, conversely, lowering the rate
per action will be a major disincentive to contributors. Moreover,
prior on-line information service providers offer no or limited
incentives for users to provide new information, ratings or opinions
to the database. Conversely, users' access is not restricted to the
information unless it is a fee-based subscription site. Users'
behavior is little influenced by the incentives except when
attempting to "game" the system and gain unfair or improper rewards.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for an improved system for
creating, managing and searching information databases assisting a
population of users.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object and feature of this invention to
provide such a system to develop and maintain content in a database
of subjects (e.g., a product, a service, a leisure activity, an
experience or a topic), which content can be easily and uniquely
searched by users to help them make informed decisions about the
database subjects that are particularly relevant to their needs and
desires. It is another object and feature of this invention to
provide a system for collecting user opinions and/or reviews
regarding the database subjects and for utilizing the user opinions
and/or reviews to support database searches and more informed
decision making about the subjects.
Yet another object and feature of the invention is to enable people
worldwide, with diverse backgrounds, educational levels and
qualifications to contribute content to the database, and to express
opinions or reviews in the form of ratings of database subjects, all
in a way that improves the usefulness and quality of the information
being added or rated. It is still another object and feature of the
invention to reduce the need for centralized control and management
of the database content and the contributor community by leveraging
the talents, skills, and efforts of the user community to maintain
the quality of the database content and the performance of the
contributors. It is another object and feature of the present
invention to provide a system for recruiting communities of people
to create, maintain and provide opinions using Web sites focused on
a variety of consumer decision support categories such as leisure
experiences, public opinions, products and services.
Yet another object and feature of the invention is to attract users
and develop user loyalty, through personal involvement and content
contribution, by way of the use of a personal journal and
participation in the rewards of the success of the web site. It is
another object and feature of the present invention to provide a
system to compensate contributors and guests for their efforts in a
manner that will ensure a dynamic, comprehensive and accurate
database of information for use by guests to the Web sites. It is
still another object and feature of the present invention to provide
a method and system that motivates guests and contributors to
perform highly specific actions that will further the business
objectives of the manager of the database.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will
be set forth in the description that follows and in part will be
apparent from the description or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The objects, features and advantages of the invention may
be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and
combinations pointed out in the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this
invention provides a system for creating and maintaining information
in a database of subjects, available to a population of users,
comprising: describing a database subject using a plurality of
natural-language terms, each of such plurality of natural-language
terms having relevance to the subject according to an involved
subset of such population of users; rating the degree of relevance
of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database
subject according to each of such involved subset of such population
of users; associating, in such database, such respective
natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each
such database subject; and computing, for such involved subset of
such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject. It further provides such a system further
comprising: associating with a particular user a set of
particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms from such
plurality of natural-language terms; using such particular user's
preferred such set of particular-user-preferred such
natural-language terms, searching such database for database
subjects associated with such set of particular-user-preferred such
natural-language terms; determining a set of relevant such database
subjects as are correlated with a high aggregate degree of relevance
among such respective overall degrees of relevance of such set of
respective particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms;
and presenting to such particular user information about such
relevant database subjects.
Moreover, this invention provides such a system further comprising:
presenting to a particular user information about a particular such
database subject and such associated respective relevant
natural-language terms with such respective overall degrees of
relevance; collecting, from such particular user, such particular
user's opinions about respective degrees of relevance to such
particular database subject of such respective presented
natural-language terms; adding such particular user to such involved
subset of such population of users and adding such particular user's
opinions to such database; and updating, in association with such
particular database subject, in such database, such overall degree
of relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms
associated with such particular database subject. It also provides
such a system further comprising: presenting to a particular user
information about a particular such database subject and such
associated respective relevant natural-language terms with such
respective overall degrees of relevance; collecting, from such
particular user, such particular user's opinions about respective
degrees of relevance to such particular database subject of such
respective presented natural-language terms; adding such particular
user to such involved subset of such population of users and adding
such particular user's opinions to such database; and updating, in
association with such particular database subject, in such database,
such overall degree of relevance of each of such plurality of
natural-language terms associated with such particular database
subject. And it provides such a system further comprising: providing
a software management system to directly manage such database and
such population of users essentially without outside management; and
providing for variables in such software management system to be
configurable without affecting such direct management operations;
wherein such software management system comprises: soliciting of
sufficient information from such users for automatic role
qualification enhancing software selection and maintenance of a
management sub-community; measuring management efforts of each of
such management sub-community; queing of qualified users for a next
opening in such management sub-community; setting of goals for each
of such management community; and managing a reward system to reward
management efforts of each of such management sub-community.
In addition, this invention provides such a system further
comprising: collecting, from each user of such involved subset of
such population of users, information about such user's knowledge of
and experience with such database subject; assessing, based at least
in part upon such information, a relative weight to be given to such
user's opinions about such database subject; and for the purposes of
computing, for such involved subset of such population of users, in
such database, an overall degree of relevance of each of such
plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject,
applying a respective such relative weight for each respective such
user's such rating of such degree of relevance in such manner that a
more-knowledgable such user's such rating counts for more in such
"overall" computing than does a less-knowledgable such user's such
rating. And it provides such a system further comprising:
determining first such user's role as member or contributor;
assigning a multiplier-value based on such first determining;
determining second whether such user has personally experienced the
subject; assigning a multiplier-value based on such second
determining; determining third such user's self-reported
qualification to judge such subject; assigning a multiplier-value
based on such third determining; determining fourth other users'
overall ratings of subjects added by such user; assigning a
multiplier-value based on such fourth determining; determining fifth
other users' degree of agreements with comments added by such user;
assigning a multiplier-value based on such fourth determining; and
multiplying together all such multiplier-values to determine such
relative weight.
Yet further, this invention provides such a system further
comprising: rating the relative overall value of each such database
subject according to the opinion of each of such involved subset of
such population of users; collecting comments about each such
database subject according to the opinion of each of such involved
subset of such population of users; and associating, in such
database, respective such ratings of relative overall value and
respective such collected comments with respective such database
subjects. And it provides such a system further comprising:
accumulating, storing, and analyzing all associations, including
subject categorizations, of all such overall degrees of relevance of
all of such plurality of natural-language terms associated with all
such database subjects; determining preferred such natural-language
terms, according to such population of users, for selected
categories of subjects. It further provides such a system wherein
such determining a set of relevant such database subjects as are
correlated with a high aggregate degree of relevance among such
respective overall degrees of relevance of such set of respective
particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms comprises
determining an ordered set of relevant such database subjects as are
correlated with a highest aggregate degree of relevance among such
respective overall degrees of relevance of such set of respective
particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms; and, further,
wherein such presenting to such particular user information about
such relevant database subjects includes presenting to such
particular user an ordered set of relevant such database subjects as
are correlated with a highest aggregate degree of relevance among
such respective overall degrees of relevance of such set of
respective particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms.
Yet moreover, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof,
this invention provides an Internet website client-server computer
system, for use to determine a level of subject interest for each
one of a population of users by capturing other users' (of such
population of users) opinions about the degree of relevance of each
of a respective set of natural language descriptive terms to each of
a respective set of subjects, comprising: a server database system
of subjects, each associated with a set of relevant natural-language
terms for describing each such subject; wherein each of a respective
subset of such terms has been assigned, by each of a subpopulation
of such population of users, a degree of relevance with respect to a
respective such subject; a client interface system arranged so that
such one user may select a set of preferred such natural-language
terms which, to such one user, best describe preferred "subjects of
interest" to such one user; a server computer processor system
connected with such server database system and such client interface
system; and a server computer software system, operational with such
server computer processor system, arranged to provide search
processing using such server database system to: determine an
overall, according to such population of users, degree of relevance
of each such preferred natural-language term to each such associated
subject of such server database system, and determine a set of
search-return "subjects of interest" each having at least a
specified aggregate degree of relevance considering each such
overall degree of relevance of each such preferred natural-language
descriptive term to each associated such subject; and return such
set of search-return "subjects of interest" to such client interface
system of such one user. And it provides such a system wherein such
set of search-return "subjects of interest" is ordered according to
relative such aggregate degree of relevance.
Additionally, according to a preferred embodiment thereof, this
invention provides a business system, for a developer of web
computer systems of the type involving supporting a community of
users searching for particular subject information, to achieve
additional revenue from customers using such computer systems,
comprising the steps of: providing for such computer systems to
operate essentially without customer website management; providing
for such computer systems to directly motivate and automatically
manage the direct collection of sponsor revenue from respective
entities desiring to sponsor a respective particular item of such
subject information; and charging such customer, for use of such
computer systems, an amount comprising a portion of such sponsor
revenue. It further provides such a system wherein such particular
item of such subject information comprises an exceptional user
experience, thereby motivating location-based such entities and a
product-based such entities to paying for a plurality of
sponsorships.
Even additionally, according to a preferred embodiment thereof, this
invention provides a business system, for a developer, for use by
customers having websites, of web computer systems of the type
involving supporting a community of users interacting with a
database searching for particular subject information, comprising:
providing for such computer systems to comprise software management
systems to directly manage such database and such community of users
essentially without customer website management; and providing for
variables in such software management systems to be configurable by
such customer without affecting such direct management operations;
wherein such software management systems comprise: soliciting of
sufficient information from users for automatic role qualification
enhancing software selection and maintenance of a management
sub-community; measuring management efforts of each of such
management sub-community; queing of qualified users for a next
opening in such management sub-community; setting of goals for each
of such management community; and managing a reward system to reward
management efforts of each of such management sub-community.
It also provides, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof,
a business system, supplied by a developer, for use by customers
having websites comprising web server computer systems of the type
involving supporting a community of users, having client computer
systems, interacting with a database searching for particular
subject information, comprising providing, for website use: computer
software means for direct automatic management of such database and
such community of users essentially without customer website
management; and computer software means for permitting such customer
to configure a large set of variables in such computer software
means for direct automatic management of such database and such
community of users without affecting full operation of such direct
automatic management; wherein such computer software means for
direct automatic management of such database and such community of
users essentially without customer website management comprises:
computer software means for soliciting of sufficient information
from such users for automatic role qualification enhancing automatic
selection and automatic maintenance of a management sub-community;
computer software means for automatically measuring management
efforts of each of such management sub-community; computer software
means for automatically providing queing of qualified users for a
next opening in such management sub-community; computer software
means for automatic setting of goals for each of such management
community; and computer software means for automatically managing a
reward system to reward management efforts of each of such
management sub-community.
Yet in addition, it provides such a system wherein such computer
software means for direct automatic management of such database and
such community of users essentially without customer website
management further comprises: computer software means for describing
a database subject using a plurality of natural-language terms, each
of such plurality of natural-language terms having relevance to such
subject according to an involved subset of such community of users;
computer software means for rating the degree of relevance of each
of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject
according to each of such involved subset of such community of
users; computer software means for associating, in such database,
each respective natural-language term of each such plurality of
natural-language terms and such associated respective degree of
relevance with each such database subject; and computer software
means for computing, for such involved subset of such community of
users, in such database, an overall degree of relevance of each of
such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject.
Also, it provides such a system wherein such computer software means
for direct automatic management of such database and such community
of users essentially without customer website management further
comprises: computer software means for automatically assisting such
management sub-community to solicit subject sponsors; and computer
software means to permit such subject sponsors automatically to send
website materials and pay fees. And it provides such a system
wherein such computer software means for automatically managing a
reward system to reward management efforts of each of such
management sub-community comprises: a computer software system for
measuring and storing each contribution, including users' comments,
to the database of each of such management sub-community; and making
available to each of such management sub-community a contributor
record of how many views other users have made of such
contributions, including how many users agreed with such
contributor's comments.
Yet additionally, it provides such a system wherein such contributor
record is associated with the phrase, "lives influenced". And it
provides such a system wherein such computer software means for
automatically managing a reward system to reward management efforts
of each of such management sub-community comprises a computer
software system configurable to automatically allocate percentage
rewards to a particular one of such management sub-community as a
percentage of a settable pool; and further, wherein such percentage
rewards from such pool may be paid only to a settable percentage of
such management sub-community. It also provides such a system
wherein such computer software means for direct automatic management
of such database and such community of users essentially without
customer website management further comprises: computer software
means for automatically aggregating all user-proposed items for
database adds, changes, and deletions into a review queue to which
such management sub-community has access; and computer software
means for automatically requiring at least one of such management
sub-community to review and approve any such item before website
publication is implemented. And it provides such a system wherein:
such review queue is multi-level based essentially on item "aging";
and escalating rewards are offered to at least a set of such
management sub-community for disposal of "older" items. It further
provides such a system wherein such computer software means for
automatically managing a reward system to reward management efforts
of each of such management sub-community comprises a computer
software system wherein each of such management community may be
motivated to perform highly specific actions to further business
objectives of such business system by automatically awarding more or
less rewards for specific actions to influence behavior. And it
provides such a system wherein such computer software means for
automatically managing a reward system to reward management efforts
of each of such management sub-community may be configured "on the
fly".
Yet moreover, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof,
this invention provides a business system, supplied by a developer,
for use by customers having websites comprising web server computer
systems of the type involving supporting a community of users,
having client computer systems, interacting with a database
searching for particular subject information, comprising providing,
for website use: computer software means for direct automatic
management of such database and such community of users essentially
without customer website management; and computer software means for
permitting such customer to configure a large set of variables in
such computer software means for direct automatic management of such
database and such community of users without affecting full
operation of such direct automatic management; wherein such computer
software means for direct automatic management of such database and
such community of users essentially without customer website
management comprises: computer software means for soliciting of
sufficient information from such users for automatic role
qualification enhancing automatic selection and automatic
maintenance of a management sub-community; computer software means
for automatically measuring management efforts of each of such
management sub-community; computer software means for automatically
providing queing of qualified users for a next opening in such
management sub-community; computer software means for automatic
setting of goals for each of such management community; computer
software means for automatically managing a reward system to reward
management efforts of each of such management sub-community;
computer software means for automatically assisting such management
sub-community to solicit subject sponsors; and computer software
means to permit such subject sponsors automatically to send website
materials and pay fees; computer software means for automatically
aggregating all user-proposed items for database adds, changes, and
deletions into a review queue to which such management sub-community
has access; and computer software means for automatically requiring
at least one of such management sub-community to review and approve
any such item before website publication is implemented; wherein:
such review queue is multi-level based essentially on item "aging";
and escalating rewards are offered to at least a set of such
management sub-community for disposal of "older" items; wherein such
computer software means for automatically managing a reward system
to reward management efforts of each of such management
sub-community comprises a computer software system configurable to
automatically allocate percentage rewards to a particular one of
such management sub-community as a percentage of a settable pool;
and wherein such percentage rewards from such pool may be paid only
to a settable percentage of such management sub-community.
Even yet in addition, this invention provides such a system wherein
such computer software means for direct automatic management of such
database and such community of users essentially without customer
website management further comprises: computer software means for
describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language
terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having
relevance to such subject according to an involved subset of such
community of users; computer software means for rating the degree of
relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to
such database subject according to each of such involved subset of
such community of users; computer software means for associating, in
such database, each respective natural-language term of each such
plurality of natural-language terms and such associated respective
degree of relevance with each such database subject; and computer
software means for computing, for such involved subset of such
community of users, in such database, an overall degree of relevance
of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database
subject.
Also, according to a preferred embodiment thereof, this invention
provides a computer system, usable by a large population of Internet
users, for creating and maintaining information in a searchable
database of defined categories of subjects, comprising, in
combination: storage means for storing a large corpus of natural
language terms for describing such subjects; relevancy storage means
for storing, associated with each such defined category, at least a
respective subset of such terms most relevant, according to such
population, to such subject within such respective defined category;
processing means for updating such relevancy storage means;
processing means for presenting to one such user, in association
with one such subject, a plurality of such terms most relevant to
such subject; interface processing means for assisting such user to
choose from such plurality of such presented terms a plurality of
such-user-preferred most-relevant such terms to such subject;
interface processing means for assisting such user to rate on a
predefined scale the relative degree of relevance of each such
most-relevant term to such one subject; storage means for storing
such respective ratings of such respective most-relevant terms for
such respective subject according to each of a subpopulation of such
respective users; processing means for computing, for such
subpopulation, a preselected type of overall degree of relevance to
each respective such subject of each respective such most-relevant
term; interface processing means for assisting a particular user to
base a subject search at least upon a chosen set of
particular-user-preferred such natural language terms; processing
means for, using such particular user's preferred such set of
particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms, searching
such database for database subjects associated with such set of
particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms; processing
means for determining a set of relevant such database subjects as
are correlated with a determined specified high aggregate degree of
relevance among such respective overall degrees of relevance of such
set of respective particular-user-preferred such natural-language
terms; and interface processing means for presenting to such
particular user information about such determined set of such
relevant database subjects which might be of interest to such
particular user.
Further, there is provided such a system wherein such predefined
scale, for a system for which English is the natural language
comprises essentially at least three of the following levels of
modifiers: "slight", "somewhat", "important", "very", "extremely".
And it provides such a system wherein such processing means for
computing, for such subpopulation, a preselected type of overall
degree of relevance to each respective such subject of each
respective such most-relevant term comprises: a storage means for
dating each such user ratings of such degree of relevance of such
natural-language term; and a processing means for removing such user
ratings of more than a selected age from being used in such
computing of such overall degree of relevance. It also provides such
a system wherein such processing means for updating such relevancy
storage means comprises: determine which of such natural-language
terms have been used most in such defined category--as top words;
determine percentage breakdown of top words by first alphabet letter
of all such natural-language terms in such defined category; find
the selected number of such natural-language terms to be displayed
in each display process; for each set of first-alphabet-letter words
and each such selected number, grab the specified percentage of top
words; and applying the above four steps once each selected
timeframe to update such relevancy storage means. And it provides
such a system wherein such interface processing means for assisting
a particular user to base a subject search at least upon a chosen
set of particular-user-preferred such natural language terms further
comprises: interface processing means for assisting such particular
user to select other search options on which to co-base such subject
search; wherein such other search options are selected from the
class which consists essentially of a defined category of subjects,
a defined subcategory of subjects, a defined location of subjects, a
defined subject, a defined organization name, a defined sum of money
to spend, and a defined amount of time to spend.
It also provides, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this
invention, an Internet website client-server computer system, for
use to determine by e-mail survey a level of subject approval for
each one of a population of survey participants by capturing each
such participant's opinions about the degree of relevance of each of
a respective set of natural language terms to each of a respective
set of subjects, comprising: a client interface system arranged so
that a survey taker may indicate at least: a defined question for
the survey, a such set of subjects to be evaluated, a such set of
natural-language terms to be rated as to relevancy to each subject,
a participant audience, and a time-frame for response; a server
computer processor system connected with such client interface
system; and a server computer software system, operational with such
server computer processor system, arranged to provide survey
processing comprising: compiling a survey file and survey document
in accordance with survey taker input, communicating such survey
document to such participant audience, and receiving and tabulating
responses. And it provides such a system further comprising
displaying survey results at a publicized URL. It also provides such
herein systems in which such subjects consist essentially of
exceptional experiences. And it provides such herein systems in
which such natural-language terms are essentially evaluative; and,
further, in which such natural-language terms are essentially
evaluative and essentially indicate approval. It also provides such
herein systems in which: such subjects consist essentially of
exceptional experiences; and such natural-language terms are
essentially evaluative. And it provides such herein system in which:
such subjects consist essentially of exceptional experiences; and
such natural-language terms are essentially evaluative and
essentially indicate approval.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND APPENDIX
FIG. 1-A is diagrammatical overview of the Internet communications
used in the instant system.
FIG. 1-B is diagrammatical overview of the website computer system.
FIG. 1-C is diagrammatical overview of the relationship among the
website servers and the users.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical view of a prior art system.
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical view of a preferred embodiment of the
instant system.
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical view of the activity database.
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatical view of the experience management
automation.
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatical view of the word management automation.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatical view of reporting management automation.
FIG. 8 is a diagrammatical view of the correspondent and member
management automation.
FIG. 9 is a diagrammatical view of the rewards management
automation.
FIG. 10 is a diagrammatical view of the sponsorship management
automation.
FIG. 11 is a diagrammatical view of the sponsorship process.
FIG. 12 is a further diagrammatical view illustrating the automated
management of sponsorships.
FIG. 13 is a diagrammatical view of adding and viewing subjects.
FIG. 14 is a diagrammatical view of the weighting of overall subject
and descriptive word ratings.
FIG. 15 is a diagrammatical view of the e-mail management
automation.
FIG. 16 is a diagrammatical view of the descriptive word promotion.
FIG. 17 is a diagrammatical view of the subject search process.
FIG. 18 shows explanatory notes relating to FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is a diagrammatical view of the preferred survey procedure.
FIG. 20 is a diagrammatical view of the preferred instant software
system.
FIG. 21 is a diagrammatical view of the home page screen.
FIG. 22 is a diagrammatical view of the search box screen.
FIG. 23 is a diagrammatical view of the category box screen.
FIG. 24 is a diagrammatical view of the Terraformer screen.
FIG. 25 is a diagrammatical view of the subcategories button screen.
FIGS. 26-A and 26-B are diagrammatical views of the member
registration screen.
FIGS. 27-A and 27-B are diagrammatical views of the correspondent
registration screen.
FIG. 28 is a diagrammatical view of the correspondent application
screen.
FIG. 29 is a diagrammatical view of the questions screen.
FIG. 30 is a diagrammatical view of the answers screen.
FIGS. 31 33 are diagrammatical views of the add-a-subject screens.
FIG. 34 is a diagrammatical view of a preferred screen illustrating
the minimum and maximum number of descriptive words one wants to
display for the user during the process of adding a subject.
FIG. 35 is a further diagrammatical view of the descriptive word
screen.
FIG. 36 is a diagrammatical view of a preferred screen for
add-a-subject.
FIG. 37 is a diagrammatical view of a screen depicting the
configuration of opinion multipliers.
FIGS. 38-A and 38-B are diagrammatical views of a screen
illustrating the add-a-subject process, showing the words to be
rated.
FIG. 39 is a diagrammatical view of the add-additional-words screen.
FIG. 40 is a diagrammatical view of the comments screen.
FIGS. 41-A and 41-B are diagrammatical views of the preview screen.
FIG. 42 is a diagrammatical view of the results screen.
FIGS. 43-A and 43-B are diagrammatical top views of the subject page
screen.
FIG. 44 is a diagrammatical view of the subcategories screen.
FIGS. 45-A and 45-B are diagrammatical views of personalized search
screens.
FIG. 46 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
descriptive words and/or phrases preselected by the client to appear
with a category.
FIG. 47 is a diagrammatical view of a box in the lower left-hand
corner of the subject page screen, offering the opportunity to
sponsor the subject.
FIGS. 48-A and 48-B are diagrammatical views of the screen returned
to begin to get the desired information from the sponsor.
FIGS. 49-A through 49-D are diagrammatical views of screens
illustrating the next sponsorship screens to receive information.
FIG. 50 is a diagrammatical view of the sponsor section headers
screen.
FIGS. 51-A through 51-C are diagrammatical top-to-bottom views of
the newly sponsored page screen.
FIG. 52 is a diagrammatical view of the payment information screen.
FIG. 53 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating the
confirmation of sponsorship.
FIGS. 54-A and 54-B are top-to-bottom diagrammatical views of the
subject-just-sponsored screen.
FIGS. 55-A and 55-B are diagrammatical views illustrating the screen
where a registered user may add opinions to an existing subject's
rating and reviewing.
FIG. 56 is a diagrammatical view of the improvement screen.
FIGS. 57-A and 57-B are diagrammatical views of the screen
illustrating the various elements comprising each "MyPage".
FIG. 58 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating the "My
Contributions" box.
FIG. 59 is a diagrammatical view of the "Subjects Added" screen.
FIG. 60 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating the
"Lives Touched" box.
FIG. 61 is a diagrammatical view of the comments screen.
FIG. 62 is a further diagrammatical view of the comments screen.
FIG. 63 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating a sample
page for "Subjects Awaiting Approval".
FIG. 64 is a diagrammatical view showing a rejected subjects screen.
FIG. 65 is a diagrammatical view of the "To Do List" screen.
FIG. 66 is a diagrammatical view of the "Notify organizations for
Subjects added" screen.
FIG. 67 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating the
sending an email to an organization.
FIG. 68 is a diagrammatical view of the screen showing details of
the subjects added.
FIG. 69 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating further
details of an added subject awaiting review.
FIG. 70 is a diagrammatical view illustrating a reviewing
improvements screen.
FIGS. 71-A and 71-B are diagrammatical views of a screen wherein the
correspondent can review improvements.
FIG. 72 is a diagrammatical view of the process of deleting subjects
from the screen.
FIG. 73 is a diagrammatical view of the screen illustrating the
subject that's recommended for deletion.
FIG. 74 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating "My
Favorite Subjects" box.
FIG. 75 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating "My
Interests" box.
FIG. 76 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating "My
Organization" box.
FIG. 77 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating "My
Rewards" box.
FIG. 78 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating points
earned.
FIG. 79 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
subjects added in an area.
FIG. 80 is a diagrammatical view of the "Account Balance" screen.
FIG. 81 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating cash out.
FIG. 82 is a diagrammatical view of the screen for "Tell a Friend".
FIG. 83 is a diagrammatical view of the "Rate other comments"
screen.
FIG. 84 is a diagrammatical view of the add-a-comment screen.
FIG. 85 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of points per action.
FIG. 86 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of contests.
FIG. 87 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of category display.
FIG. 88 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of regions.
FIG. 89 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
process of editing the name of an existing region.
FIG. 90 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of age groups in Terraformer.
FIG. 91 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of bonus points in Terraformer.
FIG. 92 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of point goals and opinion multipliers in Terraformer.
FIG. 93 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of feedback subjects in Terraformer.
FIG. 94 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
configuration of sponsorship fees in Terraformer.
FIGS. 95-A and 95-B are diagrammatical views of a screen
illustrating how to create and manage surveys with the survey tool.
FIGS. 96-A and 96-B are diagrammatical views of the "Create a
Survey" screen.
FIG. 97 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating further
survey elements.
FIGS. 98-A and 98-B are diagrammatical views of a screen
illustrating response and results in connection with a survey.
FIG. 99 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the survey
area text-customization process.
FIG. 100 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
custom text fields for use at survey completion.
FIG. 101 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the
"Congratulations" page following a survey.
FIG. 102 is a diagrammatical view of a screen illustrating the "User
Account History" page.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference will now be made in more detail to the presently preferred
embodiments of the systems of the invention as illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts
throughout the several views.
It is specially noted, in connection with the herein described
preferred embodiment, that the instant system can measurably capture
the opinions, including the evaluative approval opinions, of a
population, or subpopulation, of users, by asking users to rate the
degree of relevancy of such term to the subject. In that manner, a
user who is looking for a tasty (i.e., taste approved by the user),
beautifully served (service and/or look of the plate approved by the
user) dessert may use those natural-language terms in a search and
find desserts that other users (hopefully like the searcher) have
rated as desserts to which tasty and beautifully served were
considered to be highly relevant. Further, in setting such
relevancies, the user is given by the preferred embodiment of the
instant system a discrete choice of, preferably, five levels of
relevancy, to which can be applied numbers (like 1 through 5), and
such ratings, used by a large population, can be "averaged" to
obtain an overall rating for that term to that subject. Further, in
entering into the instant subject database the relevancy ratings of
each of the subpopulation of rating users, distinctions are
preferably made as to the level of trust to be given to a particular
user's rating; and the instant system uses, again, measurables for
assigning a "weight" to be given to that particular opinion when it
is "averaged" and saved as an overall rating. Further, when a user
uses such natural-language terms to search for subjects, the instant
search engine finds those subjects having a high aggregate rating,
considering all of the terms and/or other search options, e.g., an
average of the overall ratings of the several, say, terms entered by
the user in searching. Further, since, in normal word-of-mouth
conversations among people, they often try to give and get
approval-evaluation information by using such terms, the site
operator will have a data "goldmine" about user's favorite such
terms to use in favorably discussing the categories of subjects of
such website; and such analyzed data will have a ready market at
least in the advertising community.
It is also especially noted that, in order to help sell such systems
to website operators, the developer should, in the software system
design, preferably limit the operator's labor of management and
other responsibilities and create automatic income--from which the
developer may be paid well. The instant system, in the specific
manners described herein, is a preferred embodiment of such a
system, needing essentially no operator management--the software
itself motivates and rewards the user community sufficiently to keep
them doing the sorts of duties otherwise befalling an operator.
In this detailed description, presented first, along with some
hardware information, will be on overall look at the systems of the
preferred embodiment and the functional interaction among the
parties and the system parts, in conjunction with diagrammatic
charts. Then the detailed operation of the preferred embodiment will
be presented in conjunction with screen diagrams. The various levels
and kinds of descriptions herein are intended to be read in
conjunction with each other in understanding the details of the
described preferred embodiment of the invention.
Preferred System Details
Referring now to FIG. 1-A, an overview of a preferred embodiment of
the present invention is shown. The present invention preferably
comprises a computer system 1-8. The computer system 1-8 comprises
input and output devices as is well known in the art. For example,
the computer system 1-8 preferably comprises a display screen or
monitor 1-4, a keyboard 1-16, a printer 1-14, a mouse 1-6, etc. The
computer system 1-8 further preferably comprises a database 1-2 for
storage of the data and software comprising preferred embodiments of
the present invention. The computer system 1-8 is preferably
connected to the Internet 1-12 that serves as the presently
preferred communications medium. The Internet 1-12, as previously
discussed, comprises a global network of networks and computers,
public and private. The Internet 1-12 is the preferable connection
method by the users 1-18, 1-20, 1-22 and 1-n in preferred
embodiments of the present invention.
Referring now to FIG. 1-B, the computer system 1-8 is shown in more
detail. The computer system 1-8 in a preferred embodiment comprises
a database server 1-24 and a web server 1-26. The database server
1-24 preferably runs in a Windows NT environment and preferably
utilizes Oracle 8.x as the database engine. The database server 1-24
preferably processes all Gepetto (batch) processes and email.
Preferably all Gepetto processes are written in C++m and run as
separate execution threads. The web server 1-26 also preferably runs
in a Windows NT environment. The web server 1-26 operates as the web
server and the servlet engine. Preferably the web server software is
written in JAVA.
Referring to FIG. 1-C, a simplified functional diagram of a
preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. This figure
shows the preferred relationships between a user 1-18 (exemplary of
any number of users 1-18, 1-20, 1-22, 1-n), the internet 1-12, the
web server 1-26 and the database server 1-24. As shown, a user 1-18
requests a page from the web site of the present invention. The user
1-18 is preferably connected via the internet 1-12, and the web page
request initiates a call to a Java servlet. The servlet is run by
the Jrun engine which makes at least one request to the database
server 1-24, via the web server 1-26, and generates an HTML page for
transmission to the user 1-18 following the database server's
completion of the servlet's request and transmission of the
requested data back to the web server 1-26. The web server 1-26
transmits the completed HTML page containing the data requested by
the user 1-18 through the Internet 1-12 to the user 1-18.
It is noted that the following terms have about the following
meanings when used in this description:
Contributor or Managing Member or Correspondent. An individual, who
has been determined to be qualified and who has committed to a given
level of effort to review and add subjects to the database for which
he/she earns points in the contributor's pool of earned points. A
contributor also is sometimes referred to as a correspondent or
managing member.
Guest. An individual who registers, utilizes the database
information and provides ratings, opinions, comments and feedback. A
guest may earn points in the guest pool of earned points or
additional access to database content for his/her contributions of
ratings, comments, opinions, etc.
User. Term used to refer to either guests or contributors, or both,
where no distinction of role is required.
Sponsor. A person, organization, or business that agrees to pay the
company a monthly fee in return for the opportunity to add
additional information about their subjects to the database or the
opportunity to provide direct links to the sponsor's own web site.
Subject. Represents the information content that describes a
specific product, service, topic, or a leisure or recreational
activity contained in the database, preferably an exceptional
experience. Each subject entry contains some "profile" information
and the descriptive words or terms used to describe and rate the
experience.
Experience. This term is used interchangeably with the term
"subject" and is intended to have the same definition.
Referring briefly to FIG. 20, a high level functional diagram of the
process flows and functions in a preferred embodiment of the present
invention is shown. Shown herein is that the client sets each
management option for the Terraformer, used herein refer to the
subsystem of the instant overall system used by customers (website
owners) to configure the instant system as preferred by such
customer. The Terraformer preferably comprises the following modules
which will be explained in greater detail herein below: Word
Management, Subject Management, Correspondent & Member Management,
Rewards Management, Sponsorship, E-Mail Set Up Requirements, and
Reporting Parameters. The Terraformer modules are coupled to the
database tables. The database tables preferably comprise the
following modules that will also be explained in greater detail
herein below: Management Settings, Users, Subjects, History, and
Status. Also shown is that the users may perform certain tasks or
otherwise exercise functions, preferably comprising: Search for
subjects, Add/Change Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on Subjects,
Approve Adds/Changes, Notify Potential Sponsors, and Suggest new
words. Further preferably linked to the Database are the main
modules or functions: GEPETTO, MYPAGE, SPONSOR, E-MAIL, AND
REPORTING.
Referring now to FIG. 2, an overview of the prior art comprising an
Internet Website serving a community of users to find subjects is
shown. The prior art features a plurality of parties comprising an
Internet Advertising Placement Agency, the Business Community, the
User Community, and the Developer/Operator/Site Managers that
interact or have the following relationships between them, with
respect to each other and the centrally-located website software, as
shown in FIG. 2 and summarized in Table 1 below.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Function(s) - Relationships to Party Other
Parties Party Internet Advertising/ Business Community Advertising
Billings/ Developer/ Placement Agency Payments. Operator/ Placement
Site Managers Agreement/Payments Business Community Sales
Developer/Operator/ Site Managers Developer/Operator/ Performance
and User Community Site Managers Management Feedback
Furthermore, in addition to the above, certain parties have direct
responsibility for the Website control and content, and in fact must
exercise those functions to maintain the operation of the Website
and the interactions with the parties. The prior art Website example
comprises components and associated programming of: Advertising,
Content & Overall Ratings, Management, & Rewards under the control
operation and management of the Developer/operator. Each of these
areas requires input or control from one of the parties. For
example: the Internet Advertising Placement Agency is responsible
for the Website Advertising Placements/View Counts affecting the
Website content and programming; the user community is responsible
for Entries & Overall Ratings into the Website, and receives Rewards
distributed from the Website; and the Developer/Operator/Site
Managers are directly responsible for the Configuration and
Management of the Website. It should be noted that in general these
functions are not automatic. The parties, in particular the
Developer/Operator/Site Managers, must exercise essentially
day-to-day control and management of the Website to assure that the
users receive awards, the advertising content and placement is
correct, the entries and overall ratings are valid, etc. Also, the
Developer/Operator/Site Managers must interact directly with the
user community to give Performance and Management Feedback.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the instant system is shown (and will herein be sometimes
referred to as the WOM.TM. system or a word-of-mouth system.
Embodiments of the present invention contrast in very important ways
from the prior art. Again, embodiments of the present invention
feature a plurality of parties comprising an Internet Advertising
Placement Agency, the Business Community, and the User Community.
However, rather than a Developer/Operator/Site Manager, as in the
prior art, who is tasked with direct management of the website,
embodiments of the present invention comprise a Customer, a
Developer and Sponser(s). These parties interact or have the
following relationships between them as shown in FIG. 3 and
summarized in Table 2 below.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Function(s) - Relationships to Party Other
Parties Party Internet Advertising/ Business Community Advertising
Billings/ Customer Placement Agency Payments. Placement
Agreement/Payments Business Sales Customer Community Customer Page
Views & Developer Sponsorship Revenue Payments User Community Notice
of Entry Sponsor
As shown, the prior art model in which the Operator/Site managers
had responsibility for Management of the Website and for Performance
and Management Feedback to the User community has been eliminated.
Embodiments of the present invention essentially do not have, nor
require, an Operator/Site Manager party and their associated
functions. Embodiments of the present invention comprise a Customer
responsible only for the Website configuration as opposed to both
configuration and management. Also, the customer now owns the
Website instead of the Developer/Operator/Site Managers thus
providing a lower cost solution to Website operation. The customer,
in a preferred embodiment, forwards Page Views payments and
Sponsorship payment sharing to a Developer who preferably need no
longer have essential management functions.
As shown on FIG. 3, the Website preferably comprises components and
associated programming of: Advertising, Content & Word Ratings (as
opposed to Overall "star" Ratings), Management, &
Rewards/Performance Management. As shown, many differences between
the prior art and preferred embodiments of the present invention are
present. The Website interaction between the User Community and the
Website now comprises not only rewards but also performance
feedback. Also, the User Community now provides to the Website not
merely Entries and Overall Ratings, but instead Entries and Word
(i.e., again, what is sometimes herein referred to as
natural-language term, preferably evaluative, preferably approving)
Ratings/Approvals. Furthermore, as will be explained in more detail,
embodiments of the present invention preferably comprise another
party--Sponsors. The Sponsors receive notice of entry from the User
Community, and in turn provide automatically-set-up (by the website
software) payments to the Website and Sponsor Entries into the
Website. Additionally, Sponsor Payments are automatically sent to
the Customer. Key features in preferred embodiments of the present
invention are preferably that the Website essentially does not
require Management by a Developer/Operator/Site Manager, and that
the software of the Website performs management functions
automatically. Also, the Website automatically interacts with the
User Community to establish Content and natural-language term
(herein sometimes called "Word") Ratings of relevance to a subject.
Referring to FIG. 4, an overview functional diagram of the Activity
Database of the main Database 1-2 (see FIGS. 1-A, 1-C, and 20) is
shown. As shown, the Activity Database preferably comprises
Activities performed by Users that cause data additions/changes to
the Activity Database. The Users comprise: Guests, Members,
Correspondents (also called Contributors herein) and Sponsors. The
Users may take various actions or interact preferably as follows:
Guests may View Subjects. In contrast, Members may View:
Experiences, Overall Ratings, Word Ratings, Comments Made, and
Agreement with comments. Also, Members may submit Add Subject
Requests. Another class of Users, the Correspondents and Sponsors
may also preferably View: Experiences, Overall Ratings, Word
Ratings, Comments Made, and Agreement with comments. Furthermore,
Correspondents and Sponsors may preferably submit Add Subject
Requests, Modify Subject Requests, Delete Subject Requests, and
submit Ratings Reset Requests. [It is noted that "Overall Ratings"
has been used in these cases to refer to ratings of, e.g., 1 to 5
"stars" for the subject as a whole. When, in the instant preferred
system, the natural-language term ratings of degree of relevance of
each user are "averaged" (prerferably "weighted" as herein after
described) for a large number of users, this application refers to
that "average" as an "overall" degree of relevance rating--i.e., not
the same thing as the prior art Overall "star-type" rating; and the
context hereof will make clear which use is intended.]
Additionally, Sponsors only preferably possess the additional
privileges that allow them to: do Approve their Own New Subject
Adds, Approve their Own Subject Modifications, and Approve their Own
Subject Deletion Requests, and submit Approve their Own Rating Reset
Requests. The activities by the Users may preferably be reflected in
the Activity Database fields. The Activity Database fields
preferably comprise: Date/time, Subject, User ID, Activity
completed, Words & ratings, Comment agreement, and Subject 3rd page
viewed fields.
Referring to FIG. 5, a high level functional diagram of the
Experience Management Automation software is shown. The core of the
Experience Management Automation software is preferably comprised
within the Terraformer Module. The Terraformer Module performs
Experience Management that preferably comprises the activities of
allowing the Customer to: Set word deletion rating threshold; Set
subject deletion overall rating threshold, number of months, &
minimum rating count; Set ratings removal aging criteria; and Set
use of local and national approval queues and time frame for
approvals to move between them, or just national queues. For each of
these activities, the customer preferably initially evaluates and
sets each of these configuration and management options that are
comprised within the Terraformer as desired. The Experience
Management settings are preferably placed into the WOM Database
where they affect and are stored in the Web Site Configuration &
Management Settings table.
Users may interact with the Experience Management Automation
software and perform activities that: Search for Subjects,
Add/Change Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on Subjects, Approve
Adds/Changes, Notify Potential New Sponsors, and Suggest New words.
These activities affect the WOM Database tables: Correspondents,
Members & Sponsors; Subjects (Content); Activity History; and
Application Status.
The WOM database tables content and/or changes are preferably input
to the Gepetto Module which will preferably: Remove subjects with
overall ratings below threshold; Remove subjects with poor word
ratings (optional); Calculate each members weighting value for
ratings; Remove old ratings and recalculate rating; Remove old
comments, and Generate most used word descriptive word lists. The
WOM database tables content and/or changes are also preferably input
to the MyPage Reporting Module which will assist implementation of
the working of Approval Queues for adds, updates, deletions and
potential sponsor notification.
Referring to FIG. 6, a high level functional diagram of the Word
Management Automation software is shown. The core of the Word
Management Automation software is preferably comprised within the
Terraformer Module. The Terraformer Module performs Word Management
that preferably comprises the activities of allowing the Customer
to: Set correspondent & member subject weightings; Set number of
words to be displayed for adds & ratings; Assign words to
categories/subcategories; and Set word deletion rating threshold.
For each of these activities, the customer preferably initially
evaluates and sets each of these configuration and management
options that are comprised within the Terraformer as desired. The
Word Management settings are preferably placed into the WOM Database
where they affect and are stored in the Web Site Configuration &
Management Settings table.
Users may interact with the Word Management Automation software and
preferably perform activities that: Search for Subjects, Add/Change
Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on Subjects, Approve Adds/Changes,
Notify Potential New Sponsors, and Suggest New Words. These
activities affect the WOM Database tables: Correspondents, Members &
Sponsors; Subjects (Content); Activity History; and Application
Status. The WOM database tables content and/or changes are
preferably input to the Gepetto Module which will preferably:
Calculate Word Usage frequency by sub-category; and Select Words
presented in subject add, search, and ratings.
Referring to FIG. 7, a high level functional diagram of the
Reporting Management Automation software is shown. The core of the
Reporting Management Automation software is preferably comprised
within the Terraformer Module. The Terraformer Module comprises
Reporting Parameters that preferably comprises the activity of
allowing the Customer to Set Reporting parameters, time frame and
level of detail. The customer preferably initially evaluates and
sets the configuration and management options for the Reporting
Parameters that are comprised within the Terraformer as desired. The
Reporting Management settings are preferably placed into the WOM
Database where they affect and are stored in the Web Site
Configuration & Management Settings table.
Users may interact with the Reporting Management Automation software
and preferably perform activities that: Search for Subjects,
Add/Change Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on Subjects, Approve
Adds/Changes, Notify Potential New Sponsors, and Suggest New words.
These activities affect the WOM Database tables: Correspondents,
Members & Sponsors; Subjects (Content); Activity History; and
Application Status. The WOM database tables content and/or changes
are preferably input to the Customer/Management Reporting module
which will perform the functions of providing reporting for: Overall
Member Status; Overall Correspondent Status; Overall Content Status;
Detail Content Status; Overall Sponsor Status; and Detail Sponsor
Status.
Referring to FIG. 8, a high level functional diagram of the
Correspondent & Member Management Automation software is shown. The
core of the Correspondent & Member Management Automation software is
preferably comprised within the Terraformer Module. The Terraformer
Module comprises Correspondent & Member Management that comprises
preferably activities to: Set qualifications requirements and
automatically select correspondents; Set goals for correspondents
and members; Set correspondent count management for geographic
region (Optional); and Set standards of performance for promotion &
demotion. The customer initially evaluates and sets the
configuration and management options for the Correspondent & Member
Management that are comprised within the Terraformer as desired. The
Correspondent & Member Management settings are placed into the WOM
Database where they preferably affect and are stored in the Web Site
Configuration & Management Settings table.
Users may interact with the Correspondent & Member Management
Automation software and perform activities that preferably: Search
for Subjects, Add/Change Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on
Subjects, Approve Adds/Changes, Notify Potential New Sponsors, and
Suggest New words. These activities affect the WOM Database tables:
Correspondents, Members & Sponsors; Subjects (Content); Activity
History; and Application Status. The WOM database tables content
and/or changes are preferably input to the MyPage Reporting module
which provides information to the Correspondents and Members
preferably comprising: Reports "to do's" to members and
correspondents; Activity Counts (adds, updates, ratings, comments,
approvals; Reports progress against goals for members and
correspondents; Report Lives touched, i.e. people who have visited
subjects you have added, and their comments made; and Report top "x"
number of contributors.
Referring to FIG. 9, a high level functional diagram of the Rewards
Management Automation software is shown. The core of the Rewards
Management Automation software is preferably comprised within the
Terraformer Module. The Terraformer Module comprises the Rewards
Management software that comprises, preferably, activities to: Set
amount of the pool $ available for distribution to member and
correspondent; Set point values for each member & correspondent
activity; Set award pool percentage (%) or count of participants to
receive awards; Set dollar ($) value of points (optionally); Set up
contest parameters e.g.: Number of entry points parameter, winners
are selected randomly from the entrants, etc.; and set the setting
of the % or the number (#) of people on the top lists (Top 100
subjects, top Contributors, Top Ratings, etc.). The customer
initially evaluates and sets the configuration and management
options for the Rewards Management that are comprised within the
Terraformer as desired. The Rewards Management settings are placed
into the WOM Database where they preferably affect and are stored in
the Web Site Configuration & Management Settings table.
Users may interact with the Rewards Management Automation software
and perform activities that preferably: Search for Subjects,
Add/Change Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on Subjects, Approve
Adds/Changes, and Notify Potential New Sponsors. These activities
affect the WOM Database tables: Correspondents, Members & Sponsors;
Subjects (Content); Activity History; and Application Status. The
WOM database tables content and/or changes are preferably input to
the MyPage Reporting module which provides information preferably
comprising: Report points earned and $ equivalent (optional); and
Report contest winners.
Referring to FIG. 10, a high level functional diagram of the
Sponsorship Management Automation software is shown. The core of the
Sponsorship Management Automation software is preferably comprised
within the Terraformer Module. The Terraformer Module comprises the
Sponsorship software that comprises, preferably, activities to Set
per experience sponsorship rates. The Sponsorship content and
formats for text content, quantity of text and picture size are
preferably predefined by the software. The customer initially
evaluates and sets the configuration and management options for the
Sponsorship Management that is comprised within the Terraformer as
desired. The Sponsorship Management settings are placed into the WOM
Database where they preferably affect and are stored in the Web Site
Configuration & Management Settings table.
Users may interact with the Sponsorship Management Automation
software and perform activities that preferably: Search for
Subjects, Add/Change Subjects, Rate Subjects, Comment on Subjects,
Approve Adds/Changes, and Notify Potential New Sponsors. These
activities affect the WOM Database tables: Correspondents, Members &
Sponsors; Subjects (Content); Activity History; and Application
Status. The WOM database tables content and/or changes are
preferably input to the Sponsor Billing module which preferably
provides functions comprising the Automated billing of Sponsors and
Sponsor activity reports.
Referring to FIG. 11, a diagrammatical view of sponsorship depicting
two example Sponsorship flows is shown. As shown, Bill, a member,
enjoys a great apple pie at "Home Cooking" restaurant. Bill desires
to share this wonderful experience. Therefore, Bill submits a
description of the Apple Pie at Home Cooking to WOM. The description
of the Apple Pie is available on WOM for Approval of the Apple Pie
by other members. If the members do not approve the Apple Pie
description submission, then the Apple Pie description is returned
to Bill for correction of the errors. Following approval of the
Apple Pie description by the members, the Apple Pie description is
preferably submitted to the Sponsor notification queue, and
preferably is also made available under the Subjects available to
the users and members.
With reference to the Sponsor notification queue, the members may
decide to Notify the Home Cooking restaurant of their apple pie
subject, and any other pending subject for the Home Cooking
Restaurant. A Correspondent will preferably read the queue and
preferably send an e-mail no |