Microsoft Patents Opinion Search Engine

Microsoft has patented a tool called the 'Opinion Search Engine', to help companies collect and understand customer feedback and product reviews across the web, and to help consumers with their product choices.

The new tool, patent number: US9443245 B2, helps collect, process and analyze opinions expressed in customer feedback/product reviews on blogs and social media networks about any topic, including books, hotels, consumer products, and political policy. It then determines whether posts are positive, negative or neutral.

The process starts with defining which web pages contain opinion data, then extracts the data and matches it with specific information categories. The Engine rates products according to users' verbatim opinions or rating scores, and can calculate a recommendation score based on the volume of opinions and the percentage positive. It can also recommend competitor products to a user.

Demographic and location statistics are available for those giving their opinions, and can be used to filter Opinion Search results to reflect the views of those with similar demographics to the searcher.

Web site: www.microsoft.com .