Ebay, Incorporated

Paypal, Inc.

Half.com, Inc.

Michael McCartney

Matthew W Mengerink

David J Wilson

Kerry Clendinning

Fred Garfield Robinette, Iv

Richard B Gorelick

Steven G Madere

Fred G Robinette

Systems and a method for retrieving and normalizing product information are described. The system identifies a threshold overlap value defining a value of attribute overlap that triggers a merging of item records. The system accesses a first item record and a second item record stored in a network database, the first item record and the second item record each comprising one or more attributes. The system identifies at least one attribute that is common in both the first item record and the second item record. Finally, the system merges the first item record and second item record into a single item record in response to a level of the at least one attribute identified as being common transgressing the threshold overlap value.

System and method for retrieving and normalizing product information

A methodology through which a host site may automatically insert relevant links into a set of text. In this methodology, the contents of the text are compared against a database containing character strings, and the character strings from the database contained in the text are identified. Each of the character strings in the database has an associated link that connects to other webpages on the same website or other websites. For each character string of the database found in the contents of the text, the associated link is inserted into the text. In this way, only relevant links are inserted into the text.

Automatically inserting relevant hyperlinks into a webpage

A method and system to automatically insert a hyperlink into a webpage containing text is described. The system comprises at least one processor and at least one software component. The at least one software component is executable by the at least one processor to receive, via, a network, the text. The at least one software component further compares a portion of the text to at least one character string that is stored in a database to identify the portion of the text as included in both the webpage and the database. The portion of the text is a name of a product and is associated with the hyperlink. The at least one software component is further executable to cause an insertion of the hyperlink into the webpage and to communicate the name of the product to a producer of the text. The name of the product is included in the webpage by the producer of the portion of the text.

Method and system to automatically insert a relevant hyperlink into a webpage

Systems and a method for retrieving and normalizing product information are described. The method selects a normalized representation of a product. The selecting is responsive to receiving a user indication of the product. The normalized representation is based on product information that is collected from two or more suppliers and described differently by the two or more suppliers. The method further identifies a plurality of offerings for the product based on the normalized representation. The plurality of offerings includes offerings from the two or more suppliers that describe the product differently. Finally, a user interface includes information corresponding to the plurality of offerings for the product.

A system and method for retrieving and normalizing product information is described. The system may collect product information from suppliers. The product information may relate to a product that is described differently by two or more of suppliers. The system may further provide a normalized representation of the product.

A method and system for retrieving and normalizing product information are described. The system retrieves product information from sources that are accessed over a network. Next, the system creates markup language based on the product information. The markup language includes a first attribute-value pair that includes a first attribute and a first value. Next, the system normalizes the markup language by translating the first attribute to a second attribute responsive to an identification of the first attribute in a list that includes a plurality of attributes that are associated with a first product and the second attribute. The second attribute is a canonical representation of the plurality of attributes respectively.

A system and method for collecting and displaying information on a product at a website, and related method for storing a product's various identifiers, where the system comprises a database that stores a plurality of identifiers for each product and the relationships between the identifiers. The system recognizes the different identifiers that refer to the same product. The system accepts product information from a variety of sources, regardless of the product identifier used by the sources. The system then sends out the product information to users and to other servers. The information displayed at the website includes: (1) a general description of the product; (2) a numerical user rating of the product; (3) one or more user reviews of the product; (4) one or more industry reviews of the product; (5) one or more comparisons between the product and other similar items; (6) a list of one or more vendors that sell the product; (7) a list price of the product; (8) a price for the product at each of the vendors; (9) an indication of the availability of the product at each of the one or more vendors; (10) a profile on each of the one or more vendors, and (11) a rating and/or review for each of the one or more vendors. The website may further provide access to discussions regarding the product and related products. The website may further suggest complementary products that may be purchased along with the product of interest.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Michael McCartney