Patent ID: 8468197

Claim:
A computer system comprising one or more computers, the computer system being used by a first subscriber server and a second subscriber server, the first subscriber server and the second subscriber server providing distinct data processing services that serve resources to client devices for presentation of the resources to users, the first subscriber server serving first resources to client devices and capturing user actions relating to the first resources, the second subscriber server serving second resources to client devices and capturing user actions relating to the second resources, the computer system being configured to perform operations comprising: receiving first signals from the first subscriber server, the first signals comprising information characterizing user actions relating to the first resources, the first signals reported by client devices, the first signals comprising first values for one or more predefined parameters and values for a first subscriber-specific parameter that is specific to the first subscriber server; receiving second signals from the second subscriber server, the second signals comprising information characterizing user actions relating to the second resources, the second signals reported by client devices, the second signals comprising second values for one or more of the predefined parameters and values for a second subscriber-specific parameter that is specific to the second subscriber server; receiving a first request from the first subscriber server, the first request comprising information characterizing a first user; providing first ranking data to the first subscriber server in response to the first request, the first ranking data generated by a ranking process based on the first signals and the information characterizing the first user; receiving a second request from the second subscriber server, the second request comprising information characterizing a second user; and providing second ranking data to the second subscriber server in response to the second request, the second ranking data generated by the ranking process based on the second signals and the information characterizing the second user; wherein the ranking service process uses no information about the first or the second subscriber-specific parameters other than information received from the first and the second subscriber servers, respectively.