Enhanced seller-oriented search results

Abstract

A system and architecture for enhancing search results generated by an Internet search engine, so that those search results include enhanced buyer-oriented information, is disclosed. According to one aspect, a list of search results generated by an Internet search engine comprises one or more search results that are associated with one or more URLs in a set of URLs. For each such URL, seller-specific information, which may be based on and/or comprise ratings that are associated with registered selling entities that are associated with that URL, is presented in association with that URL's corresponding search result in the list of search results. A user who submitted query terms, based upon which the list of search results was generated, can use the presented rating information to determine which of the search results to investigate further.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for enhancing Internet search results for queries of the World Wide Web and not a single or very limited number of websites, the method comprising the steps of:
 establishing an account for a selling entity;   establishing an association between the selling entity and a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) specified by the selling entity;   establishing an account for a buying entity that differs from the selling entity;   establishing an association between the selling entity and a rating given to the selling entity by the buying entity;   receiving a set of query terms from a user via an Internet browser;   generating and transmitting for display, based at least in part on the set of query terms, a list of Internet search results from querying the World Wide Web and not a single or very limited number of websites, wherein a particular search result in the list is associated with a second URL;   determining whether at least a portion of the second URL matches the first URL;   in response to determining that at least the portion of the second URL matches the first URL, inserting for display, into a search results page that indicates the particular search result, rating information that is based at least in part on the rating given to the selling entity by the buying entity; and   transmitting for display the search results page to the user's Internet browser.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising computer-implemented steps of:
 establishing an association between the user and one or more filter criteria;   establishing an association between the selling entity and one or more selling entity attributes; and   in response to determining that at least a portion of the second URL matches the first URL, inserting for display, into the search results page, information that is based on an extent to which the selling entity attributes satisfy the one or more filter criteria.   
     
     
         3 . A method for selectively presenting search results, comprising the steps of:
 Generating and transmitting for display a set of search results in response to a buying entity's submission of one or more query terms to an Internet search engine;   before presenting search results to the buying entity, determining whether attributes of interest to a selling entity, associated with the buying entity satisfy criteria associated with a selling entity that is associated with a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that is associated with a particular search result in the set of search results; and   in response to determining that the attributes do not satisfy the criteria, preventing the particular search result from being presented to the buying entity;   wherein selling entities are individual persons.