Patent ID: 8831969

Claim:
A computer system-implemented method for identifying users associated with employers having a number of employees within a predetermined range, the method comprising operating the computer system to: receive at a computer processor, from multiple users, employer information identifying the users' employers; normalize the employer information, using the computer processor, to yield normalized employer names, wherein the normalizing comprises removing one or more superfluous terms; cluster the multiple users to produce a set of clusters, using the computer processor, based on the normalized employer names, wherein each cluster is associated with a different normalized employer name; determine, using the computer processor, whether a cluster's associated normalized employer name is invalid, by comparing the associated normalized employer name to a list of known invalid names; remove clusters corresponding to invalid employer names in the list of known invalid names; analyze, using the computer processor, social network relationships between members in a single cluster with a valid employer name, to determine whether the members are likely to be employed by the same employer; determine, using the computer processor, that a cluster is invalid when at least a predetermined threshold of members in the same cluster have not formed at least one social relationship in a social network with another member in that cluster; remove the determined invalid clusters from the set of clusters, wherein the remaining clusters in the set of clusters are valid clusters; for each valid cluster in the set of clusters containing a number of users within the predetermined range, categorize users within the cluster, using the computer processor, as being associated with employers having a number of employees within the predetermined range; and based on the categorized users, provide corresponding services to the users in each valid cluster, wherein the corresponding services include at least one of an advertisement or offer.