Patent ID: 8856146

Claim:
A method of determining, by an electronic processing device coupled to the internet, a score indicating an amount of internet activity associated with a subject, the method comprising: receiving, by the electronic processing device, one or more search terms relating to said subject, and initiating a search via the internet for items of digital content relating to said one or more search terms; selecting, by the electronic processing device, from results of said search a plurality of items of digital content; for each of said plurality of items of digital content, requesting, by the electronic processing device from at least one digital content sharing site, activity data indicating a number of times said item of digital content has been accessed, a number of times said item of digital content was shared with other users, and a number of users that expressed an opinion or commented on the item of digital content; and calculating, by the electronic processing device, said score based on the activity data for each of said plurality of items of digital content, wherein the calculating includes inputting the number of times said item of digital content has been accessed, the number of times said item of digital content was shared with other users, and the number of users that expressed an opinion or commented on the item of digital content to a function to calculate said score.