Patent ID: 8566422

Claim:
A method for enabling identification and ranking of network users to facilitate communication and commerce between them, the method comprising: providing a server having a distance calculating module operating thereon; using the distance calculating module, calculating one or more virtual distances between a web page that a user is accessing through a first terminal and one or more web pages accessed by other users through one or more other terminals, wherein the web page that the user is accessing and each of the one or more web pages accessed by other users comprise any web page on the Internet, and wherein each of the one or more virtual distances is a non-negative real number representing a comparison of relevant properties derived from the web page that the user is accessing and the one or more web pages accessed by other users; displaying for the user a listing of one or more other users ranked by virtual distance and determined to be within a predetermined virtual distance from the web page that the user is accessing; enabling the user to communicate with one or more of the other users from the displayed listing; and enabling the user to participate in commerce with the one or more other users from the displayed listing.