Method and apparatus for obtaining recommendations from trusted sources

摘要

One embodiment of the present invention comprises a system that provides recommendations to a user. During operation, the system performs a computer-based lookup operation to identify trusted entities that the user trusts (or is likely to trust) to make recommendations. Next, the system performs another computer-based lookup operation to obtain recommendations associated with the identified trusted entities. The system then uses the obtained recommendations to provide recommendations to the user. In a variation on this embodiment, the system additionally receives information indicating that the user trusts recommendations associated with an entity. The system then stores a corresponding record for the trust relationship between the user and the trusted entity in a computer-based lookup structure to facilitate subsequently identifying trusted entities that the user trusts to make recommendations.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a request from a first user for recommendations; comparing web visitation patterns of the first user and a second user; identifying, from the comparison, a trust relationship between the first user and the second user, wherein the trust relationship includes a trust level that indicates a strength measurement for the trust relationship, and wherein the trust relationship decays when the trust relationship is not affirmed by the first user or the second user; identifying one or more web sites visited by the second user based on the web visitation patterns of the second user; identifying recommendations from the one or more web sites based on the trust relationship; providing the recommendations to the first user; receiving input directly from the first user indicating that the first user trusts a first recommendation of the recommendations associated with the second user; inferring a first topic associated with the first recommendation; and increasing a first topic-specific trust level of the trust relationship between the first and the second user in response to receiving the input directly from the first user, the first topic-specific trust level based on the first topic.