Method, device, and system for analyzing and ranking web-accessible data targets

Abstract

A method of locating a relevant product belonging to a category of related products sharing pre-determined product attributes is provided. Some related products within the category of related products are located, the located related products having the pre-determined product attributes, the product attributes having associated content. A filtered set of related products is created. For each product attribute, the content associated with the product attribute in one of the filtered set of related products is compared against content associated with the product attribute in each of the other located products and a relative score is assigned based upon the comparison. The shared set of product attributes is prioritized based in part upon relevance of a product attribute to user profile data and the filtered set of related products is ranked based upon the prioritizing and the score of content associated with the product attributes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of locating a relevant product using a server, the relevant product belonging to a category of related products sharing a pre-determined set of product attributes associated therewith, the method comprising:
 locating a plurality of related products within the category of related products, each of the located plurality of related products having the pre-determined set of product attributes associated therewith, each product attribute having content associated therewith;   filtering the plurality of related products to exclude at least one of the related products based upon filter data and, thereby, create a filtered set of related products;   for each product attribute of the shared set of product attributes:
 comparing the content associated with the product attribute in one of the filtered set of related products against content associated with the product attribute in each of the other located products of the filtered set of located products; and 
 assigning a relative score to the content associated with the product attribute in each of the filtered set of related products based upon the comparison; 
   prioritizing the shared set of product attributes based at least in part upon a relevance of at least one product attribute to user profile data; and   ranking the filtered set of related products based upon the prioritizing of the product attributes and the score of the content associated with the product attributes.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , which further comprises ranking the filtered set of related products based upon the user profile data. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , which further comprises providing a recommendation of one of the related products based at least partly on the user profile data ranking. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , which further comprises presenting a best fit recommendation for the plurality of related products based upon the user profile data and the associated product attributes. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , which further comprises updating the best fit recommendation of the plurality of related products in response to a change in priority of at least one of the product attributes. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein products are ranked against each other based upon the prioritized shared set of product attributes. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , which further comprises:
 updating the ranking based upon user answers to a question and answer-based expert system.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the filter data comprises at least one of a required initial investment amount and a total net asset value. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the plurality of related products comprise a family of funds; and   the filter data comprises at least one of a total net asset value of the family of funds and a number of funds possessed by each family of funds.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the filter data is based upon user preferences. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the user profile data includes at least one of demographic, geographic, and situational data specific to a user. 
     
     
         12 . A server for locating a relevant product belonging to a category of related products sharing a pre-determined set of product attributes associated therewith, the server comprising:
 at least a processor and a memory, the processor configured to:   locate a plurality of the related products within the category of related products, each of the located plurality of related products having the pre-determined set of product attributes associated therewith, each product attribute having content associated therewith;   filter the plurality of related products to exclude at least one of the related products based upon filter data and, thereby, create a filtered set of related products;   for each product attribute of the shared set of product attributes:
 compare the content associated with the product attribute in one of the filtered set of related products against content associated with the product attribute in each of the other located products of the filtered set of located products; and 
 assign a relative score to the content associated with the product attribute in each of the filtered set of related products based upon the comparison; 
   prioritize the shared set of product attributes based at least in part upon a relevance of at least one product attribute to user profile data; and   rank the filtered set of related products based upon the prioritizing of the product attributes and the score of the content associated with the product attributes.   
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the server is further configured to:
 rank the filtered set of related products based upon the user profile data; and   provide a recommendation of one of the related products based at least partly on the user profile data ranking.   
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the server is configured to rank products against each other based upon the prioritized shared set of product attributes. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the server is configured to update the ranking based upon user answers to a question and answer-based expert system. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the filter data comprises at least one of a required initial investment amount and a total net asset value. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein:
 the plurality of related products comprise a family of funds; and   the filter data comprises at least one of a total net asset value of the family of funds and a number of funds possessed by each family of funds.