Ecosystem method of aggregation and search and related techniques

Abstract

Techniques are described for effecting data aggregation in a network. Event notifications are received from a plurality of content sites on the network. Each event notification indicates occurrence of an event associated with a corresponding one of the content sites. Each event corresponds to a change to content associated with the corresponding content site. In response to each event notification, event metadata are generated. The event metadata include a time stamp for the event and change data corresponding to the change to the content. The event metadata are indexed in a plurality of databases with reference to a plurality of index metrics including the time stamp. The indexing of the event metadata for each event occurs within days, hours, or even minutes of receipt of the corresponding event notification thereby enabling retrieving of the changes to the content from the plurality of databases using any of the index metrics in near real time.

1 . A computer-implemented method for identifying currently important topics, comprising:
 using one or more computing devices, tracking postings of content in a network computing environment by a community of users;   using the one or more computing devices, identifying topics associated with the postings of content;   using the one or more computing devices, tracking relative importance of the topics over time;   using the one or more computing devices, identifying a first set of one or more currently important topics at a first time as determined from the tracking of the relative importance of the topics; and   using the one or more computing devices, identifying a second set of one or more currently important topics at a second time later than the first time as determined from the tracking of the relative importance of the topics, the second set of currently important topics reflecting changes in the relative importance of the topics since the first time.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the first set of currently important topics for presentation to a user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising transmitting the second set of currently important topics for presentation to the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the topics associated with the postings of content includes identifying keywords in the postings of content. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein tracking the relative importance of the topics includes identifying inbound links to the postings of content. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein tracking the relative importance of the topics further includes identifying authority levels for particular topics of individuals creating the inbound links. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising identifying authoritative individuals for the topics with reference to the inbound links to the content posted by the authoritative individuals. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising ranking the authoritative individuals for each of the topics with reference to numbers of the inbound links associated with the content posted by each of the authoritative individuals. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein identifying the inbound links to the postings of content further includes identifying when the inbound links were created. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying authoritative individuals for particular topics with reference to outbound links created by the authoritative individuals to important ones of the content postings relating to the particular topics. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising identifying authoritative individuals for particular topics with reference to timing of the content postings relating to the particular topics that are attributable to the authoritative individuals. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein tracking the relative importance of the topics further includes ranking a first content posting relating to a first topic with reference to an authority level for the first topic of an individual associated with the first content posting. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein tracking the relative importance of the topics further includes identifying an important sub-topic for a first topic with reference to postings by one or more authoritative individuals associated with the first topic. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising notifying an individual of one or more of the content postings relating to a first topic. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein notifying the individual of the one or more content postings relating to the first topic comprises providing a live feed to the individual of a plurality of the content postings relating to the first topic. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising enabling the individual to request notification of the one or more content postings relating to the first topic. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a first one of the currently important topics relates to a current event, the method further comprising identifying one or more individuals associated with one or more of the content postings posted before occurrence of the current event. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tracking relative importance of a particular one of the topics during a time period. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising identifying specific ones of the content postings relating to the particular topic and posted during the time period. 
     
     
         20 . A system for identifying currently important topics, comprising:
 one or more computing devices configured to:   track postings of content in a network computing environment by a community of users;   identify topics associated with the postings of content;   track relative importance of the topics over time;   identify a first set of one or more currently important topics at a first time as determined from the tracking of the relative importance of the topics; and   identify a second set of one or more currently important topics at a second time later than the first time as determined from the tracking of the relative importance of the topics, the second set of currently important topics reflecting changes in the relative importance of the topics since the first time.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to transmit the first set of currently important topics for presentation to a user. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to transmit the second set of currently important topics for presentation to the User. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to identify the topics associated with the postings of content by identifying keywords in the postings of content. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to track the relative importance of the topics by identifying inbound links to the postings of content. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to track the relative importance of the topics by identifying authority levels for particular topics of individuals creating the inbound links. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identify authoritative individuals for the topics with reference to the inbound links to the content posted by the authoritative individuals. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to rank the authoritative individuals for each of the topics with reference to numbers of the inbound links associated with the content posted by each of the authoritative individuals. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identifying the inbound links to the postings of content by identifying when the inbound links were created. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identify authoritative individuals for particular topics with reference to outbound links created by the authoritative individuals to important ones of the content postings relating to the particular topics. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identify authoritative individuals for particular topics with reference to timing of the content postings relating to the particular topics that are attributable to the authoritative individuals. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to track the relative importance of the topics by ranking a first content posting relating to a first topic with reference to an authority level for the first topic of an individual associated with the first content posting. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to track the relative importance of the topics by identifying an important sub-topic for a first topic with reference to postings by one or more authoritative individuals associated with the first topic. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to notify an individual of one or more of the content postings relating to a first topic. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to notify the individual of the one or more content postings relating to the first topic by providing a live feed to the individual of a plurality of the content postings relating to the first topic. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to enable the individual to request notification of the one or more content postings relating to the first topic. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein a first one of the currently important topics relates to a current event, and wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identify one or more individuals associated with one or more of the content postings posted before occurrence of the current event. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to track relative importance of a particular one of the topics during a time period. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identify specific ones of the content postings relating to the particular topic and posted during the time period. 
     
     
         39 . A computer program product for identifying currently important topics, comprising one or more computer-readable media having computer program instructions stored therein that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:
 track postings of content in a network computing environment by a community of users;   identify topics associated with the postings of content;   track relative importance of the topics over time;   identify a first set of one or more currently important topics at a first time as determined from the tracking of the relative importance of the topics; and   identify a second set of one or more currently important topics at a second time later than the first time as determined from the tracking of the relative importance of the topics, the second set of currently important topics reflecting changes in the relative importance of the topics since the first time.