Patent ID: 8838670

Claim:
A method for enabling collaboration between an internet service provider (ISP) and another entity, the method comprising the steps of: gathering a domain name system (DNS) query; evaluating, by the ISP, the DNS query wherein the evaluating comprises collecting candidate hosts suitable for delivering content in accordance with the DNS query; ranking, by the ISP, the candidate hosts collected by the ISP; providing, by the ISP, a first list of the ISP-ranked candidate hosts; forwarding, by the ISP, the DNS query to the another entity; evaluating, by the another entity, the DNS query wherein the evaluating comprises collecting candidate hosts suitable for delivering content in accordance with the DNS query; ranking, by the another entity, the candidate hosts collected by the another entity; providing, by the another entity, a second list of the another entity-ranked candidate hosts; matching the first list and the second list; and providing a matched list of ranked candidate hosts; wherein the another entity is a content distribution system (CDN) or another ISP.