Patent ID: 6853996

Claim:
A method for mapping input listings to consolidated listings, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: establishing a group of input listings from a plurality of input listings by grouping input listings that have in common one or more attribute values; determining, for the group of input listings, a corresponding consolidated listing based on attribute values associated with the input listings in said group and attribute values associated with consolidated listings by: determining whether any individual input listings in the group have been mapped to consolidated listings; and if one or more individual input listings in the group have been mapped to consolidated listings, and all of the one or more individual input listings are mapped to the same particular consolidated listing, then determining that said particular consolidated listing is the corresponding consolidated listing for said group; and mapping individual input listings from said plurality of input listings to consolidated listings based on a comparison between attribute values of the individual input listings and attribute values associated with said consolidated listings, wherein each input listing in the group of input listings is mapped to the corresponding consolidated listing.