Ebay, Incorporated

Paypal, Inc.

Other

Olivier G Dumon

Muhammad Faisal Rehman

Ryan McDonald

Ken Sun

Julie Lavee Netzloff

Sanjay Pundlkrao Ghatare

Rami El-Charif

Steven Aihua Chen

Guanglei Song

Ashita Achuthan

Ted Tao Yuan

Guanglie Song

Methods and systems for analyzing, ordering and presenting item listings are described. In one example embodiment, a search query is processed to identify item listings satisfying the search query. Then, for each item listing that satisfies the search query, a ranking score is derived and assigned to the item listing. The ranking score is based in part on a relevance score, a listing quality score and a business rules score (or, adjustment factor). Finally, the item listings are ordered, based on their corresponding ranking score, and presented in order in a search results page.

Methods and systems for deriving a score with which item listings are ordered when presented in search results

Methods and systems enable access to listing performance data associated with a search engine. A request for listing performance data for an item is received from a client computing system. The request is associated with a keyword and/or a category. The request is processed to retrieve the listing performance data corresponding to the item, and a value is determined that indicates a strength of the item in a search results listing having a plurality of search results based on a search using the keyword and/or the category. The listing performance data and value are provided for presentation.

Method and system for exposing data used in ranking search results

Methods and systems enable access to listing performance data used in conjunction with a search engine to order search results. A request for listing performance data for a specific item listing from a seller is received from a client computing system. The request specifies a keyword and/or a category. The request is processed to retrieve the listing performance data corresponding to the specific item listing, and a position value is determined that indicates a position at which the specific item listing would appear to a potential buyer in a search results listing having a plurality of item listings based on a search using the keyword and/or the category. The listing performance data and position value are transmitted to the client computing system for presentation to the seller.

Methods and systems for using a demand metric for disambiguating a keyword entered from a user of a client machine, the keyword ambiguously identifying a product category, deriving a dominant product category that indicates the probable identity of the product category, and providing selectable images of aspects of the dominant product category for rendering at the client machine. Selection of one of the selectable images of aspects of the dominant product category disambiguates the identity of the ambiguously identified product category. Additional aspects of the disambiguated product category are then presented to the user.

Methods and systems for determining a product category

Methods and systems for simulating a search, for the purpose of evaluating one or more scoring functions used in ordering item listings for presentation in a search results page are described. Consistent with some embodiments, a simulation platform includes a real-time simulation module that receives search result sets for search queries that result in the conclusion of a transaction. The result set is then processed by the simulation platform with one or more test scoring functions, such that the resulting position of the item listing that has resulted in the transaction can be compared with the actual position at which the item listing was displayed in the actual search results. For each test scoring function, an average rank shift metric is determined, and displayed, thereby providing a metric with which to base decisions about which scoring functions to use in the production system.

Methods and systems for selecting an optimized scoring function for use in ranking item listings presented in search results

Methods and systems for enabling access to listing performance data, used in conjunction with a search engine to order search results, are described. Consistent with some embodiments, a listing performance data engine module processes API commands received from client computing systems. The data engine module processes the API commands to identify and communicate relevant listing performance data that is used by a listing performance algorithm to assign a listing performance score to item listings satisfying a search request. The listing performance data provides sellers who have items listed for sale an insight as to how their item listings are performing in comparison to other item listings.

Methods and systems for deriving a scoring function, for use in ordering a set of search results, are described. Consistent with some embodiments, a simulation platform includes an offline simulator module that receives search result sets for search queries that result in the conclusion of a transaction. The result set is then processed by the offline simulation platform to derive a set of weighting factors for use with one or more parameters in a parametric scoring function. The weighting factors are determined, for example, by specifying an equation setting one or more constraints and then solving the equation for the weighting factors.

Methods and systems for simulating a search to generate an optimized scoring function

Methods and systems for assessing the quality of an item listing are described. In an example embodiment, a listing quality score for an item listing is derived as a weighted sum of first and second parts. The first part represents a predicted score based on a comparison of item attributes for the item listing that are known at listing time, with item attributes of similar item listings that have historical data available for assessing their actual performance. The second part is based on one or more observed demand metrics representing actual historical performance of the item listing. The weighting factor is derived, such that over time, the emphasis shifts from the predicted to the observed score.

Methods and systems for assessing the quality of an item listing

A method and system for determining an order of presentation of the search results is provided. An example system comprises a search request detector, a search engine, and an intermingler. The search request detector may be configured to receive a search request, and the search engine may be configured to determine search results based on the search request. The search results may comprise a first set of items in a first format and a second set of items in a second format. The number of items in the first set and the number of items in the second may reflect a predetermined target ratio and respective exposure percentages for items in the first format and items in the second format. The intermingler may be configured to determine an order of presentation of the search results in a list of search results based on the target ratio.

Method and system for determining an order of presentation of search results

Methods and systems for evaluating business rules for the purpose of promoting or demoting an item listing are presented. Consistent with an example embodiment, a conditional statement of a business rule that includes one or more expressions involving an item attribute and/or a seller attribute for an item listing is evaluated. If the conditional statement evaluates true, an adjustment factor set forth in the business rule is applied to a ranking score assigned to the item listing. The item listing is then presented in a search results page in a position relative to other item listings based upon the adjusted ranking score.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Olivier G Dumon