Patent Document ID: 9218421
Application ID: 14052404

Base Claim:
1. A method to rank the influence of a web site, comprising: accessing a query based on a topic term; determining, using a processor, topic specific posts by applying the query to a first plurality of posts to a web site; comparing, using the processor, the topic specific posts to a list of web sites to determine a topic volume per site; determining, using the processor, a plurality of inbound links to the first plurality of posts; determining, using the processor, a number of inbound links to the posts that are relevant to the topic term by comparing the topic volume per site and the inbound links; and generating, using the processor, a rank of the web site based on the number of inbound links to the posts that are relevant to the topic term and times between the inbound links.

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Claim 2:
2. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising calculating elapsed times between postings of adjacent ones of the inbound links by: determining posting times of posts that are relevant to the topic term; comparing the posting times to the inbound links to determine a first list of inbound links and posting times of the inbound links; and comparing the posting times of the inbound links to the topic specific posts to generate a second list of (1) inbound links, (2) posting times, and (3) posts associated with the inbound links and the posting times.