Method, system, and computer readable storage for affiliate group searching

Abstract

A method for allowing an information seeker to utilize affiliate group searching involving human searchers who are members of particular information affiliate groups. Each affiliate group has an area of expertise in which they are particularly skilled. In at least one embodiment, the method includes accepting designation of an affiliate group for providing information searching and presenting search results produced by a member of the affiliate group to an information seeker.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for obtaining information, comprising:
 associating a person with a keyword;   associating a destination with the keyword;   associating keywords excluding the keyword with responders comprising the person;   receiving a request;   ranking, by a processor, the responders for the request based on the keywords;   ranking the person highest for the request when the request is received at the destination;   directing the request to a highest ranking of the responders; and   providing a response to the request.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 associating a group comprising two or more of the responders with an identifier; 
 computing a rating of the identifier based on responses of the group to requests received at the destination; 
 ranking identifiers of groups including the group based on the rating; and 
 associating the keyword with the identifier when the request is received at the destination. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 associating the destination with an affiliation; and 
 providing an indicator of the affiliation to a user submitting the request. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  comprising:
 designating a geographic attribute as the affiliation. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  comprising:
 designating an entity as the affiliation. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  comprising:
 designating a name as the affiliation. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 delivering the request to the destination based on a user interface feature provided by an affiliate. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 providing an indicator of a resource when the request is received at the destination; and 
 suppressing an indicator of the resource when the request is received at destinations excluding the destination. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 determining an access right associated with the person; and 
 providing access to a response of the person when the destination is associated with the access right. 
 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising;
 a user device submitting a request;   a respondent device providing a result; and   a server device associating a keyword with a person, associating a destination with the keyword, ranking responders including the person based on the request, ranking the person highest when the request is received at the destination, selecting a response of a highest ranking of the persons, and providing the response to a user associated with the user device.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  comprising:
 indicating the destination using an indicator of an entity. 
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10  comprising:
 ranking the responders based on keywords associated with the responders which exclude the keyword. 
 
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including an instruction that when executed causes a computer to perform an operation comprising:
 associating items with a keyword;   associating an item with the keyword;   obtaining a request;   including the item in the items when the request is associated with a destination;   ranking the items based on the keyword; and   providing access to an item ranked highest for the request.   
     
     
         14 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13  wherein the item is a person and the items are responders. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13  wherein the item and the items comprise at least one of a website, a search engine and a database. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13  wherein the operation further comprises:
 determining the destination based on registration information provided by an affiliate. 
 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13  wherein the operation further comprises:
 designating identifiers of groups of persons as the items; 
 associating a rating with the identifiers based on an overall rating of all the persons of a group; and 
 ranking the items based on the ratings. 
 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 17  wherein the operation further comprises:
 providing a list of the items in an order based on the ranking; and 
 providing access to an element of the groups when an indicator of the element is selected by a user from whom the request originates. 
 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13  wherein the operation further comprises:
 determining the destination based on brand identifier provided to a source of the request. 
 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 13  wherein the operation further comprises:
 determining the item based on security information provided by a person with access rights to the item.