AUTOMATES SYSTEM FOR DELIVERING PRICED ACCESS TO CONTENT WHERE PRICES VARY WITH USER BEHAVIOR, INCLUDING FACILITIES TO DERIVE ACCUMULATED RATING OF ARTICLES, AUTHORS, AND/OR PUBLISHERS AS AIDS FOR LOCATING CONTENT MATCHING USERS' INTERESTS

摘要

A computer system and method in which users remotely access a system to proffer content that users can access from remote locations. The system automatically stores content together with parameters that pertain to the content and facilitate users' access, and automatically and dynamically prices access to the articles in a manner relating prices to user behavior. In one improvement, the system and method enrich the system by calculating, and updating over time with change of pertinent events, accumulated ratings for articles, authors, and/or publishers, and displaying the ratings to users to aid in the selection of articles matching the user's interests.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented system configured to provide remotely located users with displays of accumulated ratings of one or more of articles, authors, and publishers in the environment of dynamic, essentially real time pricing of users' access to content, which pricing varies over time with user behavior to reflect actual values that users place on access to content, said system comprising:
a computer-implemented articles database configured to store and update articles stored in the system and rating information regarding one or more of the articles, authors of the articles, and publishers of the articles; a computer-implemented system server configured to electronically link the articles database with publishers and users and provide the publishers and users with selected granulated entry to the articles database to supply thereto and access said articles and said rating information; a pricing application cluster configured to carry out computer-implemented algorithms applying respective pricing scripts to the articles to thereby generate access prices for access to the respective articles; said pricing scripts being configured to estimate initial pricing and to iteratively and repeatedly generate updated pricing for access based on parameters comprising factors related to estimates of potential and current access by users to said articles and previous access to respective articles, and to store said pricing in the articles database; said pricing application cluster being further configured to carry out computer-implemented algorithms applying respective rating scripts to information in the articles database to generate said rating information by applying rating based on factors including history in the system of at least one of the articles, authors, and publishers, and to store the rating information in the articles database and update the stored rating information based on changes over time in said factors; said system further comprising a facility configured to display, on user equipment at the remote user locations, selected articles and selected rating information downloaded from the articles database; and said pricing engine application cluster being further configured to generate different prices for access to the articles at different times to thereby generate prices that vary over time based at least in part on user behavior.