Patent ID: 8732176

Claim:
A computer system for detecting associations between a reviewer and an entity under review, comprising: a processor; a memory; an identifying mechanism configured to identify a first set of terms associated with the reviewer, wherein identifying the first set of terms involves issuing a search query that includes the reviewer's name, and extracting a predetermined number of terms from the search results; an estimation mechanism configured to estimate, for a review conducted within a user-community, a first relationship strength between the entity under review and a respective term of the first set of terms associated with the reviewer, wherein estimating the relationship strength involves: issuing a first search query to determine a first number of documents external to the user-community that indicate the entity under review and the respective term associated with the reviewer; issuing a second search query to determine a second number of documents that indicate the entity under review; and calculating a ratio of the first number of documents to the second number of documents; a determination mechanism configured to determine whether the first relationship strength exceeds a predetermined threshold; and a bias-reporting mechanism configured to report a potential bias of the reviewer toward the entity under review in response to the first relationship strength exceeding the predetermined threshold.