Patent ID: 7827176
Filing Date: 2010-11-02
Classification: G06F,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: receiving, at a server that processes digital data, first endorsement information characterizing a first member's rating of a first local product or service provider, wherein the first member is in a member network and is provided with a financial incentive to endorse the first local product or service provider; receiving, from a second member in the member network, a local search query comprising information identifying one or more items to be found and a geographic locale to be searched, wherein the local search query is received at the server over a data communication network; identifying, using a member network engine available to the server, that there is an association between the first member and the second member, wherein the association comprises an explicit relationship between the first member and the second member or a common membership of the first member and the second member in a community of the member network, wherein the first member is explicitly related to at least one other member in the member network; ranking items responsive to the local search query based on a type of the association between the second member and the first member in the member network; and responding, over the data communication network, to the local search query with information describing a result set responsive to the local search query, the response set including the ranked items.