Providing History And Transaction Volume Information Of A Content Source To Users

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method for providing a legitimacy rating of a content source are provided. A request for a document is received. An electronic document associated with a content source is passed by a document provider in response to the request. A legitimacy rating of the content source is passed. Examples of legitimacy rating information include, for example, a history rating of the content source based on the length of time the document provider has published documents associated with the content source and a transaction volume rating of the content source based on the number of electronic documents associated with the content source that are passed by the document provider.

1 . A computer-implemented method for providing a legitimacy rating of a content source, comprising:
 receiving a search query;   retrieving a set of documents from a document provider responsive to the search query, each document is associated with a content source;   determining for each document a legitimacy rating of the associated content source; and   providing the set of documents and the legitimacy rating of the content source associated with the documents.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the legitimacy rating comprises a history rating of the content source based on the length of time the document provider has published documents associated with the content source. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the legitimacy rating comprises a transaction volume rating of the content source based on the number of documents associated with the content source that are passed by the document provider. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the search query is associated with a concept, and wherein the set of documents are selected based on a relevance to the concept. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one document is output on a computer display device of a user, and wherein the legitimacy rating is provided in response to a user action. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one document is output on a computer display device of a user, and wherein the legitimacy rating is provided in response to at least one of the user moving a cursor over at least a portion of the at least one document and the user right-clicking on the at least one document. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the legitimacy rating further comprises a metric based on the number of documents associated with the content source that have been provided by the document provider. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one document is an advertisement, and wherein the content source is an advertiser. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one document is a search result, and wherein the content source is a website that is linked in the search result. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one document comprises a link to a legitimacy rating document, wherein the legitimacy rating document comprises additional legitimacy rating information. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to a dollar amount paid by the content source to the document provider for publishing documents associated with the content source. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to a number of users who have provided negative feedback about the content source. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to a user approval rating of the content source. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to the document provider's approval rating of the content source. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the history rating and the transaction volume rating comprises a metric that is normalized based on at least one of history ratings and transaction volume ratings of a plurality of content sources who provide documents to the document provider. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the history rating and the transaction volume rating comprises a metric that is normalized based on at least one of history ratings and transaction volume ratings of a subset of content sources who provide documents to the document provider, wherein the subset of content sources are selected based on a similarity to the content source. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the legitimacy rating further comprises an aggregate uses rating of the document provider. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act of providing the legitimacy rating comprises:
 causing the legitimacy rating to be displayed to a user in response to a user selecting at least one document.   
     
     
         19 . A system for providing a legitimacy rating of a content source, comprising:
 an input device for receiving a search query;   an output device for:
 retrieving a set of documents from a document provider responsive to the search query, each document is associated with a content source; and 
 providing the set of documents and a legitimacy rating of the content source associated with the documents; and 
   a processor for determining for each document the legitimacy rating of the associated content source.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the legitimacy rating comprises a history rating of the content source based on the length of time the document provider has published documents associated with the content source. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the legitimacy rating comprises a transaction volume rating of the content source based on the number of documents associated with the content source that are passed by the document provider. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the search query is associated with a concept, and wherein the set of documents is selected based on a relevance to the concept. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the output device provides at least one document for output on a computer display device of a user, and wherein the legitimacy rating is provided in response to a user action. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the output device provides at least one document for output on a computer display device of a user, and wherein the legitimacy rating is provided in response to at least one of the user moving a cursor over at least a portion of the at least one document and the user right-clicking on the at least one document. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the legitimacy rating further comprises a metric based on the number of documents associated with the content source that have been provided by the document provider. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein at least one document is an advertisement, and wherein the content source is an advertiser. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein at least one document is a search result, and wherein the content source is a website that is linked in the search result. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein at least one document comprises a link to a legitimacy rating document, wherein the legitimacy rating document comprises additional legitimacy rating information. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to a dollar amount paid by the content source to the document provider for publishing documents associated with the content source. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to a number of users who have provided negative feedback about the content source. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to a user approval rating of the content source. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the additional legitimacy rating information comprises a metric corresponding to the document provider's approval rating of the content source. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein at least one of the history rating and the transaction volume rating comprises a metric that is normalized based on at least one of history ratings and transaction volume ratings of a plurality of content sources who provide documents to the document provider. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein at least one of the history rating and the transaction volume rating comprises a metric that is normalized based on at least one of history ratings and transaction volume ratings of a subset of content sources who provide documents to the document provider, wherein the subset of content sources are selected based on a similarity to the content source. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the legitimacy rating further comprises an aggregate uses rating of the document provider. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein providing the legitimacy rating comprises causing the legitimacy rating to be displayed to a user in response to a user selecting at least one document.