Business Listing Suppression Using Representative Match Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
The presence of duplicate business listings on search provider systems leads to consumer confusion, reduced visibility for merchants, and difficulty in managing consumer reviews, due to inconsistent and inaccurate data across various data sources, often created by merchants, consumers, aggregators, and providers through web-crawling practices.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for identifying a representative listing on a provider system and suppressing duplicate listings by designating them using a source system, involving the use of provider-supplied external identifiers and verification processes through APIs or URL visits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple data sources are used to populate listings, then the quantity and variety of listing information increases, but duplicate and inconsistent listings are created
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary matching and identification of duplicate listings before they are fully published. By proactively detecting potential duplicates through identifier comparison and similarity algorithms, the system prevents inconsistent data from propagating across multiple sources, thus maintaining reliability while allowing quantity to grow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary matching system that sits between multiple data sources and the final listing database. This intermediary layer compares identifiers, detects similarities, and resolves conflicts before data is committed, allowing the system to ingest from many sources while maintaining data consistency through a mediating reconciliation process.
2Ease of manufacture
If web-crawling practices are used to gather listing data, then the ease of data collection increases, but duplicate listings are created
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary verification layer between web-crawling data collection and final listing publication. This intermediary compares crawled data against existing listings using identifier matching and similarity algorithms, filtering out duplicates while preserving legitimate variations, thus maintaining ease of collection while improving accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors newly collected listings against the existing database. When potential duplicates are detected, the system provides feedback to suppress or merge them, creating a self-correcting process that maintains data accuracy while allowing continuous easy data collection through crawling.
3Adaptability or versatility
If duplicate listings are allowed to exist, then consumer choice increases, but consumer confusion and merchant visibility are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes duplicate listings from the results set, keeping only the canonical representative listing. By taking out redundant copies that cause confusion, the system actually improves merchant visibility and consumer understanding while preserving the essential choice through the retained canonical listing with its full set of attributes and reviews.
Data Source
AI summary
In one implementation, a method is provided that designates a first listing corresponding to a first web address as a representative listing of an entity. A provider system is searched to identify a second listing associated with the entity, wherein the second listing corresponds to a second web address. A determination is made that the second listing satisfies matching criteria associated with the first listing. An instruction to suppress the second listing on the provider system is received from a system associated with the entity. A request to suppress the second listing associated with the entity is transmitted to the provider system. An indication that the second listing is suppressed on the provider system is received, where, in response to a request to access the second web address associated with the second listing, a web browser is redirected to the first web address associated with the first listing.