Patent ID: 8635217

Claim:
A method for ordering search results using inferential network data, said method comprising: searching a first network of linked nodes for a search term, each of the nodes connected to another one of the nodes by a link, wherein the search begins at a node in the first network specified in the search query; retrieving stored inferential network data describing inferences made about nodes in the first network, the inferences derived from electronic search data collected from previously conducted searches of the first network, the electronic search data including a) search terms used in the previously conducted searches and b) corresponding search results, wherein the inferential network data describes the inferences as a second, inferential network of linked inferential nodes, each of the inferential nodes corresponding to a node of the first network and connected to another one of the inferential nodes by an inferential link, the inferential link including a strength, the strength increasing with the number of previously conducted searches that result in an inference corresponding to the inferential link and decreasing as a function of time, wherein a previously conducted search results in an inference corresponding to the inferential link when a node of the first network associated with the inferential link is designated as an anchor database or a node of the first network associated with the inferential link is designated as an anchor database in a search for an identical or related search term; for each of the results of the search: identifying an inferential node of the inferential network that represents the result; and assigning a weight to the result based on the combined strengths of all inferential links leading to the identified node from other inferential nodes; and weighing the results of the search based on the assigned weights of the results; and displaying the results of the search ordered according to the weighing.