WO2008070998A1

WO2008070998A1 - A method and system for managing online reviews

Info

Publication number: WO2008070998A1
Application number: PCT/CA2007/002271
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rae Peter Ejtel
Original assignee: Sharedreviews.Com Inc.
Priority date: 2006-12-15
Filing date: 2007-12-14
Publication date: 2008-06-19

Abstract

A method for managing reviews for an item by a server coupled to one or more clients by a network, the method comprising: receiving signals indicative of first and second reviews for the item at the server; providing access to the first and second reviews by the one or more clients; receiving from the one or more clients signals indicative of a first number of votes for the first review and a second number of votes for the second review; ranking the first and second reviews based on respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes to generate a hierarchical presentation of reviews; and, providing access to the hierarchical presentation of reviews by the one or more clients for display on respective display screens of the one or more clients.

Description

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING ONLINE REVIEWS

[0001] This application claims priority from United States Provisional Patent Application No. 60/874,925, filed December 15, 2006, and incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to the field of network-based application processing, and more specifically, to a method and system for managing online reviews of products and services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The growth of the Internet and related technologies has resulted in broad availability of online and interactive applications. In particular, applications exist online that allow users to submit reviews of products and services. These reviews may then be read by other users who are in the market for the particular products and services reviewed.

[0004] One problem with these existing product review applications and systems is that a user who finds a review of a particular product or service has no way of determining how valid or accurate that review is. In other words, the user has no effective way of judging how popular the review is. Another problem with these existing product review systems is that a user who finds a review of a particular product or service has very little information for determining the credibility of the reviewer (e.g., little demographic information). In other words, there is often not enough profile information to determine whether the reviewer's knowledge, background, and life experiences provide enough context around the review to make it valid. A further problem with these existing product review systems is that there is no effective way to provide users with an incentive for submitting reviews or for interacting with submitted reviews.

[0005] A need therefore exists for an improved method and system for managing online reviews of products and services. Accordingly, a solution that addresses, at least in part, the above and other shortcomings is desired. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for managing reviews for an item by a server coupled to one or more clients by a network, the method comprising: receiving signals indicative of first and second reviews for the item at the server; providing access to the first and second reviews by the one or more clients; receiving from the one or more clients signals indicative of a first number of votes for the first review and a second number of votes for the second review; ranking the first and second reviews based on respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes to generate a hierarchical presentation of reviews; and, providing access to the hierarchical presentation of reviews by the one or more clients for display on respective display screens of the one or more clients.

[0007] In the above method, the first and second numbers of votes may be indicative of relative popularity of the first and second reviews, respectively. The signals indicative of the first and second reviews may be received from first and second clients, respectively. The method may further include associating an amount of revenue with the item. The method may further include distributing the amount of revenue to first and second accounts associated with the first and second clients based on the respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes. The item may be one or more of a product and a service. The network may be an Internet network. At least some of the one or more clients may be mobile devices. The first and second reviews may include one or more of text information, graphic information, and video information. The item may belongs to a category of items. The first and second reviews may be a plurality of reviews and the first and second number of votes may be a respective plurality of numbers of votes. The hierarchical presentation may be a list. The list may have respective selections representing the first and second reviews. The relative position in the list of the respective selections representing the first and second reviews may be determined by the respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes. The method may further include receiving a signal indicative of a ranking criteria from one of the one or more clients and modifying the hierarchical presentation for the one of the one or more clients in response to the ranking criteria. The ranking criteria may be indicative of one of the first and second clients. And, the ranking criteria may be indicative of a property of the item. [0008] In accordance with further aspects of the present invention there is provided an apparatus such as a data processing system, a method for adapting this system, as well as articles of manufacture such as a computer readable medium having program instructions recorded thereon for practising the method of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Further features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:

[0010] FIG. l is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system adapted for implementing an embodiment of the invention;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a consumer search and voting process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a contributor profile and review submission process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

[0013] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a community revenue distribution process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and,

[0014] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating operations of modules within the memory of a data processing system (e.g., a server) for managing reviews for an item by the server coupled to one or more clients by a network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0015] It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] In the following description, details are set forth to provide an understanding of the invention. In some instances, certain software, circuits, structures and methods have not been described or shown in detail in order not to obscure the invention. The term "data processing system" is used herein to refer to any machine for processing data, including the computer systems, mobile devices, and network arrangements described herein. The present invention may be implemented in any computer programming language provided that the operating system of the data processing system provides the facilities that may support the requirements of the present invention. Any limitations presented would be a result of a particular type of operating system or computer programming language and would not be a limitation of the present invention. The present invention may also be implemented in hardware.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system 100 adapted to implement an embodiment of the invention. The data processing system 100 is suitable for managing online reviews of products and services. The data processing system 100 may be a client and/or server in a client/server system. For example, the data processing system 100 may be a server system or a personal computer ("PC") system. The data processing system 100 may also be a mobile device or other portable, wireless, or handheld device. The data processing system 100 includes an input device 110, a central processing unit ("CPU") 120, memory 130, a display 140, and an interface device 150. The input device 110 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a touch sensitive surface or screen, a position tracking device, an eye tracking device, or a similar device. The display 140 may include a computer screen, television screen, display screen, terminal device, a touch sensitive display surface or screen, or a hardcopy producing output device such as a printer or plotter. The memory 130 may include a variety of storage devices including internal memory and external mass storage typically arranged in a hierarchy of storage as understood by those skilled in the art. For example, the memory 130 may include databases, random access memory ("RAM"), read-only memory ("ROM"), flash memory, and/or disk devices. The interface device 150 may include one or more network connections. The data processing system 100 may be adapted for communicating with other data processing systems (not shown) over a network (not shown) via the interface device 150. For example, the interface device 150 may include an interface to a network such as the Internet and/or another wired or wireless network. Thus, the data processing system 100 may be linked to other data processing systems by the network. The CPU 120 may include dedicated coprocessors and memory devices. The CPU 120 is operatively coupled to the memory 130 which stores an operating system (not shown) for general management of the system 100. The CPU 120 is operatively coupled to the input device 110 for receiving user commands or queries and for displaying the results of these commands or queries to the user on the display 140. Commands and queries may also be received via the interface device 150 and results may be transmitted via the interface device 150. The data processing system 100 may include a database system 132 for storing data and programming information. The database system 132 may include a database management system and one or more databases and may be stored in the memory 130 of the data processing system 100. In general, the data processing system 100 has stored therein data representing sequences of instructions which when executed cause the method described herein to be performed. Of course, the data processing system 100 may contain additional software and hardware a description of which is not necessary for understanding the invention.

[0018] Thus, the data processing system 100 includes computer executable programmed instructions for directing the system 100 to implement the embodiments of the present invention. The programmed instructions may be embodied in one or more hardware modules or software modules 131 resident in the memory 130 of the data processing system 100 or elsewhere. Alternatively, the programmed instructions may be embodied on a computer readable medium (e.g., a compact disk ("CD"), a floppy disk, etc.) which may be used for transporting the programmed instructions to the memory 130 of the data processing system 100. Alternatively, the programmed instructions may be embedded in a computer-readable signal or signal-bearing medium that is uploaded to a network by a vendor or supplier of the programmed instructions, and this signal or signal-bearing medium may be downloaded through an interface (e.g., 150) to the data processing system 100 from the network by end users or potential buyers.

[0019] A user may interact with the data processing system 100 and its hardware and software modules 131 using a graphical user interface ("GUI") 180. The GUI 180 may be used for monitoring, managing, and accessing the data processing system 100. GUIs are supported by common operating systems and provide a display format which enables a user to choose commands, execute application programs, manage computer files, and perform other functions by selecting pictorial representations known as icons, or items from a menu through use of an input device 110 such as a mouse. In general, a GUI is used to convey information to and receive commands from users and generally includes a variety of GUI objects or controls, including icons, toolbars, dropdown menus, text, dialog boxes, buttons, and the like. A user typically interacts with a GUI 180 presented on a display 140 by using an input device (e.g., a mouse) 110 to position a pointer or cursor 190 over an object (e.g., an icon) 191 and by "clicking" on the object 191. Typically, a GUI based system presents application, system status, and other information to the user in one or more "windows" appearing on the display 140. A window 192 is a more or less rectangular area within the display 140 in which a user may view an application or a document. Such a window 192 may be open, closed, displayed full screen, reduced to an icon, increased or reduced in size, or moved to different areas of the display 140. Multiple windows may be displayed simultaneously, such as: windows included within other windows, windows overlapping other windows, or windows tiled within the display area.

[0020] The present invention provides a method and system for acquiring, organizing, distributing and monetizing user-submitted product, service, and business reviews on a network (e.g., the Internet) and through data processing systems 100 and/or mobile devices 100. The method and system includes the following features or elements:

[0021] First, the invention allows a user to search for user-generated reviews in specific content categories grouped by topics listed on the home page of a web portal under distinct categories. From this homepage, the Internet user can search for user-generated reviews on any specific product that the user desires via keyword text search and/or by navigating a directory link structure. Results that are initially displayed via user-voted popularity may be further sorted and filtered via a number of methods such as geography, brand, model, price, or demographic information pertaining to the reviewer that will re-sort the content by the data element that the user would like to target.

[0022] Second, the invention allows a user to search the same content and method referred to above with respect to the first feature or element via a mobile device 100, returning results through an interface and in a format that is able to be read and displayed on cellular telephones and personal handheld devices (e.g., personal digital assistants ("PDAs").

[0023] Third, the invention allows a user to use take pre-chosen search criteria, and generate a real simple syndication ("RSS") extensible markup language ("XML") data feed that will notify the user through subscription software of new reviews that are submitted on an ongoing basis for the user's criteria. The results of this feed may include the title of the review, a user identifying identification ("ID"), and a short word snippet with a link back to the web portal with complete content. [0024] Fourth, the invention allows users to be able to affect the popularity, and therefore hierarchy of review search results by voting for a particular review in one of the content categories or by interacting with the content in a manner that affects this such as by posting comments. By voting for a particularly favoured review, the user awards points or votes, which count toward a submission's popularity score, and is added to previously acquired votes resulting in a higher listing in the results for the review as compared to those with lower vote totals.

[0025] Fifth, the invention allows a user to convert an account that can affect listing hierarchy in search results to an account that can also create content submissions for search results. This allows the user to add the ability of composing their own reviews of experiences they have had with products in any of the content categories through the same web portal.

[0026] Sixth, the invention allows a user to submit content of their experiences with products for inclusion in search results. A user is allowed to provide text descriptions, ratings, custom fields and data, photographs, and video elements, and the ability to upload custom avatars or logos to differentiate their reviews.

[0027] Seventh, the invention allows an authenticated account holder user who has an account that has permissions to submit content, to use plug-in software for a web log to create submissions via their own platform and have these programmatically submitted for inclusion through a "ping server" that will collect the content.

[0028] Eighth, the invention allows for a content contributor user (or account) to acquire revenue from the provider for the reviews they submit and that are approved by the system. The top reviews by popularity as voted by the voting and content interaction system in a particular content category will receive a percentage of the payment allocated to that particular category on a periodic basis. This calculation is determined by placement within the top results, and awarded on a percentage basis where first place will earn a higher percentage than the last qualified place in the payment hierarchy each payment cycle.

[0029] Ninth, the invention allows the content contributor user to access and use system-based messaging tools to promote their reviews to both account holders, and non-account holders via electronic mail ("email"), instant messaging ("IM"), short message service ("SMS") or other means in order to acquire votes for their content.

[0030] Tenth, the invention allows the content contributor user to create a profile page with background information that they would like to communicate about themselves, including the ability to create at least one "friends list" listing users who will be pro-actively or automatically notified of new content submissions once approved by the system.

[0031] The above features or elements will be described in more detail below.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a consumer search and voting process 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The consumer search and voting process 200 includes the following components: category selection, result acquisition, result refinement, review retrieval, and vote submission. With respect to category selection, this component may also include search criteria entry. With respect to result acquisition, this includes the retrieval of results listed in hierarchical order according to user-voted popularity, which will be referred to herein as "votes". With respect to result refinement, the system provides the ability to further refine hierarchy of results according to other data factors such as brand, reviewer, date, quality, video attachment, etc. With respect to review retrieval, the system provides the ability to choose and drill down to a more detailed version of a specific review entry thereby accessing additional data such as video attachments and complete text descriptions. And, with respect to vote submission, the system provides the ability to add a vote of popularity once the user has created and/or logged in with a user account. These votes will then add to the total for a particular review thereby changing its initial hierarchy on searches that include that review in the future.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 2, a consumer review seeker (i.e., a user or a user's system) 210 must first access the platform (e.g., 100 acting as a host or server) via a computer (e.g., 100 acting as a client) based Internet browser through an Internet connection, or a mobile device (e.g., 100 acting as a mobile device) such as a personal digital assistant ("PDA"), cellular telephone, or other such devices that may access Internet based content. The consumer 210 can then choose a search criteria 220 by either following a directory-based category listing, or entering a keyword search criteria where the system will display categories that best match the user's query. [0034] The system 100 will then access a database 230 (e.g., via database system 132) containing all user reviews, and will search and display all reviews in a particular category 240 for the consumer 210 to browse. These results will be listed in hierarchy form from the most popular (i.e., highest vote total), to the least popular (i.e., lowest vote total). Those results that do not have votes are displayed in a random hierarchy below.

[0035] As the consumer 210 browses the results, they have the option to further refine the listing hierarchy of user reviews based on any data element in the reviews (e.g., text keyword, brand, video submission, rating, etc.) 250. Once they submit their request, the system will re-organize the hierarchy of listings according to their newly requested criteria 260.

[0036] The consumer 210 may then choose any particular review in the search results to "drill down" to only that specific review's details 270. This will provide a page that is dedicated to the particular review and that includes data elements not included in the results summary previously provided 240, 260 in the process 200 such as full text entry, video attachments, customization such as photographs, the reviewer's profile summary with a link to the full version, etc.

[0037] Once the consumer 210 has found a review that they are particularly fond of, they have the option to award a vote to the review indicating their favour of the review 280. This is achieved by creating a "consumer account" 290 in the system 100, or logging into a pre-existing consumer account and then using a "vote for this review" option on the dedicated results page for a particular review. Once the consumer 210 has confirmed their choice to award a vote, the system 100 will record this in the database 230, which will in turn affect the hierarchy of the particular review in future searches in that category. The consumer account may have an account holder database 295 associated with it (see below).

[0038] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a contributor profile and review submission process 300 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The contributor profile and review submission process 300 includes the following components: contributor account creation/verification, contributor profile creation/verification, category selection, review creation and preview, system approval, and, if approved, review data insertion. With respect to contributor account creation/verification, this component pertains to the creation or verification of a "contributor account". With respect to contributor profile creation/verification, this includes creation or verification of a public profile that other users may view, components of which are included in all reviews the contributor published and is approved by the system for inclusion in the review database 230. With respect to category selection, this refers to a system generated category selection that best fits the review a user wants to submit. With respect to review creation and preview, the system provides the ability to create and preview a review prior to submission. With respect to system approval, the system has the ability to approve reviews that are submitted. And, with respect to review data insertion, this refers to insertion into publicly available review results once approved.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 3, a contributor (i.e., a user or a user's system) 310, or a consumer that has decided they would like to add their own content to the review results, must first verify or create 320 a "contributor account" in the system 100. This account has different verification methods and privileges than the "consumer account" 290 shown in FIG. 1. Once the contributor 310 has provided or created their credentials, the system 100 will verify against the account holder database 295 if the contributor's 310 account exists and if it has been approved. If it exists and the contributor 310 has gone through password verification, the system 100 will "log in" the user as a verified contributor and insert a "cookie" into the Internet browser on the contributor's system to keep them logged in from that point forward.

[0040] Once the contributor 310 has been logged into a valid account, the system 100 will verify if that user has created an approved public profile 330. If they have not, the system 100 will then provide an interface for this profile 340 that allows them to add pictures, descriptions of themselves including age, birth date, sex (Male/Female), history, education, employment, income, etc. The system 100 provides the ability to create, edit, and manage friends lists of consumer and contributor accounts who have approved the "friendship". Once they have submitted their profile, the system 100 will place this into a pending state until it is approved for publication.

[0041] Once the system 100 has confirmed that the contributor 310 has a valid and approved public profile 330, the system 100 will allow the contributor 310 to choose a particular category that they would like to submit a review for 350.

[0042] The system 100 will then generate an interface for the contributor 310 to create a review, which includes the ability to enter text, video attachments, ratings, and custom fields that allows the contributor 310 to personalize the content of the review that the contributor 310 writes or creates 360. The system 100 allows the contributor 310 to preview the review 370 as other users will view it through the search process 200 described above. Once the contributor 310 is ready, the contributor 310 may submit their review for approval 380 by the system 100.

[0043] Once the system 100 has approved the review 380, it will be inserted into the live review database 230 for search result inclusion, and all friends in the contributor's friends list will be notified via email, IM, and/or any other method the system 100 supports so they may add a vote to the review if they approve of it.

[0044] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a community revenue distribution process 400 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a unique method by which the system 100 pays contributors 310 for reviews that qualify for payment on a monthly (or other) basis. The community revenue distribution process 300 includes the following components: collection of revenue for the company operating the system, allocation of a portion of that revenue to the community, distribution of community revenue per category, distribution of category revenue to qualified reviews listed in that category, and the ability to acquire revenue from multiple qualifying reviews. With respect to collection of revenue for the company operating the system, this component includes the collection of revenue from multiple revenue sources. With respect to the allocation of a portion of that revenue to the community, this component includes the allocation of a percentage of all revenue for the community, which is publicized in an open manner to the community. With respect to the distribution of community revenue per category, the distribution of the community revenue per category may be on a percentage basis with weighting towards categories that generate more searches/traffic/revenue. With respect to distribution of category revenue to qualified reviews listed in that category, the distribution of category revenue to qualified reviews may be determined by a top number (e.g., 500) ranked by the number of votes accumulated (i.e., by popularity). And, with respect to the ability to acquire revenue from multiple qualifying reviews, the system supports the ability for a contributor account to acquire, manage, and request payment for revenue generated by multiple reviews in multiple categories.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 4, the system 100 will acquire revenue from multiple streams 410, including but not limited to advertisers, licensees, and sponsors. All revenue will be pooled together on a monthly (or other) basis as total revenue for the company 420 operating the system 100, where a percentage of that total will be allocated to the community of contributors on a monthly (or other) basis 430, and publicized for the whole community to review.

[0046] All of the community revenue allocation 430 is distributed across all categories on a percentage basis 440. That percentage will fluctuate per category such that categories that generate the most revenue for a particular month (or other period) acquire higher percentages.

[0047] All category revenue is distributed amongst the most popular reviews for a particular category according to consumer 210 or search user votes 450. The higher the total number of votes that a review acquires, the higher the percentage of the payout that is allocated for a qualified review. Qualification may require that a review appear within a top number of results (e.g., the top 500) according to popularity on average for that given month (or other period).

[0048] The contributor account has the ability to track, manage, and request a payment for all reviews that qualified and received payment for all months (or other periods) 460. This means that the contributor 310 can make a request for a withdrawal from their contributor account at any time, including but not limited to the ability to acquire a direct deposit into their bank account (according to one embodiment where the system supports this function), or the ability to transfer funds to a third party payment provider.

[0049] The invention may provide one or more advantages. First, the invention provides a system that facilitates easy publishing of user-generated content (i.e., reviews) and makes this content available to the general public. Second, the invention enables users to submit their reviews of products or services to a system. Third, the invention provides users that have submitted reviews with the possibility of earning a share of revenue on a periodic basis, based on an achieved rank and status. Fourth, the invention provides Internet users with the ability to rate reviews by popularity, which results in ranking of the reviews based on the assignment of votes that affect popularity. Fifth, the invention provides Internet users with an effective way to find and read reviews of products they are interested in either via an Internet browser or via the browser of a mobile device. Sixth, the invention allows advertisers to purchase targeted advertising in order to promote their own products. Seventh, the invention enables advertisers to directly sell their products with a sponsored link presented along with user-generated reviews. Eighth, the invention allows for soliciting product/service feedback for producers/providers of services/products, and in turn facilitates the improvement of the producers'/providers' offerings. And ninth, the invention allows for licensing of the user- generated content to other entities (i.e., licensees) in exchange for fees. This in turn allows the licensees to add content (e.g., reviews) to their own offerings (e.g., in the form of a product or service comparison).

[0050] Aspects of the above described method may be summarized with the aid of a flowchart. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating operations 500 of modules 131 within the memory 130 of a data processing system (e.g., a server 100) for managing reviews for an item by the server (e.g., 100) coupled to one or more clients (e.g., 100) by a network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0051] At step 501, the operations 500 start.

[0052] At step 502, signals indicative of first and second reviews for the item are received 360 at the server 100.

[0053] At step 503, access is provided to the first and second reviews 220 by the one or more clients 100.

[0054] At step 504, signals indicative of a first number of votes for the first review and a second number of votes for the second review is received 280 from the one or more clients 100.

[0055] At step 505, the first and second reviews are ranked based on respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes to generate a hierarchical presentation of reviews 280.

[0056] At step 506, access is provided to the hierarchical presentation of reviews 240 by the one or more clients 100 for display on respective display screens 140 of the one or more clients 100.

[0057] At step 507, the operations 500 end.

[0058] In the above method, the first and second numbers of votes may be indicative of relative popularity of the first and second reviews 280, respectively. The signals indicative of the first and second reviews may be received from first and second clients, respectively. The method may further include associating an amount of revenue with the item 430. The method may further include distributing the amount of revenue to first and second accounts associated with the first and second clients based on the respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes 460. The item may be one or more of a product and a service. The network may be an Internet network. At least some of the one or more clients may be mobile devices 100. The first and second reviews may include one or more of text information, graphic information, and video information. The item may belongs to a category of items. The first and second reviews may be a plurality of reviews and the first and second number of votes may be a respective plurality of numbers of votes. The hierarchical presentation may be a list. The list may have respective selections representing the first and second reviews. And, relative position in the list of the respective selections representing the first and second reviews may be determined by the respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes. The method may further include receiving a signal indicative of a ranking criteria from one of the one or more clients and modifying the hierarchical presentation for the one of the one or more clients in response to the ranking criteria 250. The ranking criteria may be indicative of one of the first and second clients. And, the ranking criteria may be indicative of a property of the item.

[0059] While this invention is primarily discussed as a method, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the apparatus discussed above with reference to a data processing system 100, may be programmed to enable the practice of the method of the invention. Moreover, an article of manufacture for use with a data processing system 100, such as a pre-recorded storage device or other similar computer readable medium including program instructions recorded thereon, may direct the data processing system 100 to facilitate the practice of the method of the invention. It is understood that such apparatus and articles of manufacture also come within the scope of the invention.

[0060] In particular, the sequences of instructions which when executed cause the method described herein to be performed by the data processing system 100 can be contained in a data carrier product according to one embodiment of the invention. This data carrier product can be loaded into and run by the data processing system 100. In addition, the sequences of instructions which when executed cause the method described herein to be performed by the data processing system 100 can be contained in a computer software product according to one embodiment of the invention. This computer software product can be loaded into and run by the data processing system 100. Moreover, the sequences of instructions which when executed cause the method described herein to be performed by the data processing system 100 can be contained in an integrated circuit product (e.g., a hardware module or modules) which may include a coprocessor or memory according to one embodiment of the invention. This integrated circuit product can be installed in the data processing system 100.

[0061] The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary only. Those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications of detail may be made to these embodiments, all of which come within the scope of the invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for managing reviews for an item by a server coupled to one or more clients by a network, the method comprising: receiving signals indicative of first and second reviews for the item at the server; providing access to the first and second reviews by the one or more clients; receiving from the one or more clients signals indicative of a first number of votes for the first review and a second number of votes for the second review; ranking the first and second reviews based on respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes to generate a hierarchical presentation of reviews; and, providing access to the hierarchical presentation of reviews by the one or more clients for display on respective display screens of the one or more clients.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second numbers of votes are indicative of relative popularity of the first and second reviews, respectively.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the signals indicative of the first and second reviews are received from first and second clients, respectively.

4. The method of claim 3 and further comprising associating an amount of revenue with the item.

5. The method of claim 4 and further comprising distributing the amount of revenue to first and second accounts associated with the first and second clients based on the respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is one or more of a product and a service.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is an Internet network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the one or more clients are mobile devices.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second reviews include one or more of text information, graphic information, and video information.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the item belongs to a category of items.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second reviews are a plurality of reviews and the first and second number of votes are a respective plurality of numbers of votes.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the hierarchical presentation is a list.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the list has respective selections representing the first and second reviews.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein relative position in the list of the respective selections representing the first and second reviews is determined by the respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes.

15. The method of claim 2 and further comprising receiving a signal indicative of a ranking criteria from one of the one or more clients and modifying the hierarchical presentation for the one of the one or more clients in response to the ranking criteria.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the ranking criteria is indicative of one of the first and second clients.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the ranking criteria is indicative of a property of the item.

18. A system for managing reviews for an item, the system coupled to one or more clients by a network, the system comprising: a processor coupled to memory and to an interface to the network; and, modules within the memory and executed by the processor, the modules including: a module for receiving signals indicative of first and second reviews for the item at the system; a module for providing access to the first and second reviews by the one or more clients; a module for receiving from the one or more clients signals indicative of a first number of votes for the first review and a second number of votes for the second review; a module for ranking the first and second reviews based on respective magnitude of the first and second numbers of votes to generate a hierarchical presentation of reviews; and, a module for providing access to the hierarchical presentation of reviews by the one or more clients for display on respective display screens of the one or more clients.