WO2016127248A1

WO2016127248A1 - Methods and systems relating to ratings and advertising content delivery

Info

Publication number: WO2016127248A1
Application number: PCT/CA2016/000037
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mohamad ABBAS
Original assignee: Abbas Mohamad
Priority date: 2015-02-10
Filing date: 2016-02-10
Publication date: 2016-08-18

Abstract

Despite the expansion of the Internet over the past twenty years into a pervasive ubiquitous communication - social networking - information tool the lack of generic rating methods for its content means that most enterprises, political organizations, media providers, etc. maintain traditional prior art pre-Internet techniques. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide users with means to rapidly and easily providing ratings on anything that they see, view, play, read, etc. across a wide range of websites, social media platforms, etc. whilst also providing enterprises etc. with simple, rapid, low impact survey tools. It would also be beneficial to advertisers with a means to provide advertisements to users whilst exploiting such a rating system through a transparent overlay to any application the user accesses allowing them to rapidly and easily provide ratings without having to perform a series of actions that distract significantly from their primary focus.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEMS RELATING TO RATINGS AND ADVERTISING

CONTENT DELIVERY

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[001] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application US 62/1 14, 1 17 filed February 10, 2015 entitled "Methods and Systems Relating to Ratings", U.S. Provisional Patent Application US 62/219,307 filed September 16, 2015 entitled "Methods and Systems Relating to Ratings", and U.S. Provisional Patent Application US 62/255,567 filed November 16, 2015 entitled "Methods and Systems Relating to Ratings and Advertising Content Delivery" the entire contents of which are included by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[002] This invention relates to ratings and more particularly to methods and systems for obtaining ratings and / or obtaining, generating, and exploiting advertisements whilst users provide ratings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[003] Over the past decade the increasing power of microprocessors coupled with low cost electronic solutions, supporting cellular wireless services as well as personal and local area networks (PANs / LANs), low cost colour displays, social networks, and a range of different software applications have meant that access to information, content, and services has become ubiquitous. Today, users do not think about the technology behind their personal electronic devices and rather than considering them as running discrete software applications for specific functions they have become an integral part of their daily lives with overlapping features and element between multiple applications. Programs and applications to schedule activities, generate reminders, provide rapid communication capabilities, search, stream audiovisual content, and link users through social networks dominate today. The users access these programs and applications through a variety of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) allowing the users to interact through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces which require commands to be typed on the keyboard. User actions within a GUI are usually performed through direct manipulation / selection of the graphical elements and GUIs can be found in a range of electronic devices, both portable and fixed, including hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players, gaming devices, household appliances, office, and industry equipment.

[004] Such advances in combination with the advancements in network infrastructure mean that today a user may easily and rapidly access content from a wide range of sources with a wide range of reactions and /or views to what they access, read, view, hear, etc. In contrast the ability for advertiser, content providers, content generators, enterprises, and even individuals to gain insight into such reactions and / or views has not kept pace. Whilst traditional market research surveys, questionnaires, interviews, etc. are still employed these cannot react at the speed of information flow in today's world and hence may be thought of as giving longer term, filtered, or averaged feedback and / or rating information. Today, an item of content posted by a user, be it an individual or enterprise, can reach millions or tens of millions of individuals within a very short period of time, wherein the content today is said to have gone viral. But that same user may have viewed tens or hundreds of items of content that day and hence unless there is something particularly outstanding the user will not be able to provide meaningful rating and / or feedback information.

[005] Upon the Internet that spawns and distributes such content the mechanisms are not much more effective. Within many websites users are able to add comments or provide reviews but typically unless the views / opinions of the user are particularly polarized they are unlikely to spend the time and energy adding their comments / views. Equally, given a website owner's ability to filter the content they may be dubious as to the validity and / or representative nature of the comments / reviews. Users may be asked to give a rating, e.g. out of 10 or out of 5, and a product may accordingly be displayed with an averaged weighting of the users who rated it.

[006] Within social media Facebook introduced the world to the "Like" feature which is described by Facebook™ as a way to "give positive feedback and connect with things you care about." Accordingly, users can "like" status updates, comments, photographs, and links posted by their friends, as well as adverts, by clicking the "Like" button wherein the liked content then appears in their friends' news feeds. The "Like" button is also available for use on websites outside Facebook™. In 201 1 Google linked their "+1 " button to Google Plus to create a rival feature. However, perhaps a user does not want to "Like" or something as they do not want the item being fed to their social network(s). Equally, a retailer seeking feedback on a particular product may establish a profile but the "Like" will be about the retailer generally unless they add pages for specific products / product ranges etc.

[007] It is as a result of the lack of generic rating methods and systems within the Internet that most enterprises, political organizations, media providers, etc. maintain their use of the traditional prior art pre-Internet techniques. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide users with a means of rapidly and easily providing ratings on anything that they see, view, play, read, etc. across a wide range of websites, social media platforms, etc.

[008] It would be beneficial to advertisers to provide advertisements to users whilst exploiting a rating system within a discrete application capturing user ratings for consolidation, social media posting, enterprise analytics etc. It would also be beneficial to provide the ratings system as a transparent overlay to any application the user accesses allowing them to rapidly and easily provide ratings without having to perform a series of actions that distract from their primary basis of engaging with a website, web content, etc. For an advertiser analysis of demographic responses with and without their advertisements as well as with advertisements of their competitors can provide the advertiser with additional information with respect of their brand.

[009] It would be further beneficial for the ratings system to have contextual awareness so that the ratings are associated to the context automatically or the advertiser whose logo, banner or other advertising content is provided to the user performing the rating(s) is contextually selected. It would be further beneficial for the ratings system to provide the user with a means of entering multiple ratings in a single activity.

[0010] It would be further beneficial for the ratings to be meaningful, in that the rating is commensurate with the extent that the user in order to provide a higher rating either positive or negative must expend more time / more effort.

[0011] Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] It is an object of the present invention to address limitations within the prior art relating to methods and systems for establishing user ratings with respect to shared social content with increased user engagement.

[0013] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to the user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device and displaying an item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the rating interface.

[0014] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of establishing a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device.

[0015] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages either a first rating interface upon the electronic device or a second rating interface upon the electronic device, wherein the first rating interface indicates a first sentiment and the second rating interfaces indicates a second sentiment and displaying a first item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the first rating interface and a second item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the second rating interface.

[0016] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of establishing a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages either a first rating interface upon the electronic device or a second rating interface upon the electronic device, wherein the first rating interface indicates a first sentiment and the second rating interfaces indicates a second sentiment.

[0017] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction, wherein the user's physical interaction with the interface triggers the display of an item of advertising content.

[0018] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of establishing at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction.

[0019] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process for displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to the user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device and displaying an item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the rating interface.

[0020] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages either a first rating interface upon the electronic device or a second rating interface upon the electronic device, wherein the first rating interface indicates a first sentiment and the second rating interfaces indicates a second sentiment and displaying a first item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the first rating interface and a second item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the second rating interface. [0021] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a method displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction, wherein the user's physical interaction with the interface triggers the display of an item of advertising content.

[0022] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process comprising the step of establishing a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device.

[0023] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process establishing at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction.

[0024] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process establishing at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon at least one of pressure and force of the user's physical interaction.

[0025] Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

[0027] Figure 1 depicts a network environment within which embodiments of the invention may be employed;

[0028] Figure 2 depicts a wireless portable electronic device supporting communications to a network such as depicted in Figure 1 and as supporting embodiments of the invention;

[0029] Figures 3 to 7 depict exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0030] Figures 8A and 8B depict exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing contextually based multiple rating entry;

[0031] Figures 9 and 10 depict exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention displaying ratings during their generation;

[0032] Figures 1 1 to 15 depict exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing duration based rating entry;

[0033] Figure 15 depicts an exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing duration based ratings;

[0034] Figures 16A and 16B depict an exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing duration based ratings;

[0035] Figure 17 depicts an exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing duration based ratings.

[0036] Figure 18 depicts alternate rating interfaces for a rating application according to embodiments of the invention;

[0037] Figures 19A and 19B depict Figures 8A and 8B but exploiting multiple direct sliders within exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing contextually based multiple rating entry; and [0038] Figures 20A and 20B depict alternate embodiments of the invention wherein a user generates a rating based upon pressure on a touch sensitive display and through image capturing wherein either may include a time dependent component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The present invention is directed to ratings and more particularly to methods and systems for obtaining, generating, and exploiting ratings by users.

[0040] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiment(s) only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope as set forth in the appended claims.

[0041] A "portable electronic device" (PED) as used herein and throughout this disclosure, refers to a wireless device used for communications and other applications that requires a battery or other independent form of energy for power. This includes devices, but is not limited to, such as a cellular telephone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computer, pager, portable multimedia player, portable gaming console, laptop computer, tablet computer, and an electronic reader.

[0042] A "fixed electronic device" (FED) as used herein and throughout this disclosure, refers to a wireless and /or wired device used for communications and other applications that requires connection to a fixed interface to obtain power. This includes, but is not limited to, a laptop computer, a personal computer, a computer server, a kiosk, a gaming console, a digital set-top box, an analog set-top box, an Internet enabled appliance, an Internet enabled television, and a multimedia player.

[0043] An "application" (commonly referred to as an "app") as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, a "software application", an element of a "software suite", a computer program designed to allow an individual to perform an activity, a computer program designed to allow an electronic device to perform an activity, and a computer program designed to communicate with local and / or remote electronic devices. An application thus differs from an operating system (which runs a computer), a utility (which performs maintenance or general-purpose chores), and a programming tools (with which computer programs are created). Generally, within the following description with respect to embodiments of the invention an application is generally presented in respect of software permanently and / or temporarily installed upon a PED and / or FED.

[0044] A "social network" or "social networking service" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, a platform to build social networks or social relations among people who may, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. This includes, but is not limited to, social networks such as U.S. based services such as Facebook, Google+, Tumblr and Twitter; as well as Nexopia, Badoo, Bebo, VKontakte, Delphi, Hi5, Hyves, iWiW, Nasza-Klasa, Soup, Glocals, Skyrock, The Sphere, StudiVZ, Tagged, Tuenti, XING, Orkut, Mxit, Cyworld, Mixi, renren, weibo and Wretch.

[0045] "Social media" or "social media services" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, a means of interaction among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. This includes, but is not limited to, social media services relating to magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, photographs or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking as well as those exploiting blogging, picture-sharing, video logs, wall- posting, music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Social media services may be classified, for example, as collaborative projects (for example, Wikipedia); blogs and microblogs (for example, Twitter™); content communities (for example, YouTube and Daily otion); social networking sites (for example, Facebook™); virtual game-worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft™); and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life™).

[0046] An "enterprise" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, a provider of a service and / or a product to a user, customer, or consumer. This includes, but is not limited to, a retail outlet, a store, a market, an online marketplace, a manufacturer, an online retailer, a charity, a utility, and a service provider. Such enterprises may be directly owned and controlled by a company or may be owned and operated by a franchisee under the direction and management of a franchiser.

[0047] A "service provider" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, a third party provider of a service and / or a product to an enterprise and / or individual and / or group of individuals and / or a device comprising a microprocessor. This includes, but is not limited to, a retail outlet, a store, a market, an online marketplace, a manufacturer, an online retailer, a utility, an own brand provider, and a service provider wherein the service and / or product is at least one of marketed, sold, offered, and distributed by the enterprise solely or in addition to the service provider.

[0048] A 'third party' or "third party provider" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, a so-called "arm's length" provider of a service and / or a product to an enterprise and / or individual and / or group of individuals and / or a device comprising a microprocessor wherein the consumer and / or customer engages the third party but the actual service and / or product that they are interested in and / or purchase and / or receive is provided through an enterprise and / or service provider.

[0049] A "user" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, an individual or group of individuals whose biometric data may be, but not limited to, monitored, acquired, stored, transmitted, processed and analysed either locally or remotely to the user wherein by their engagement with a service provider, third party provider, enterprise, social network, social media etc. via a dashboard, web service, website, software plug-in, software application, graphical user interface acquires, for example, electronic content. This includes, but is not limited to, private individuals, employees of organizations and / or enterprises, members of community organizations, members of charity organizations, men, women, children, teenagers, and animals. In its broadest sense the user may further include, but not be limited to, software systems, mechanical systems, robotic systems, android systems, etc. that may be characterised by data relating to a subset of conditions including, but not limited to, their environment, medical condition, condition, biological condition, physiological condition, chemical condition, ambient environment condition, position condition, neurological condition, drug condition, and one or more specific aspects of one or more of these said conditions.

[0050] "User information" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, user behavior information and / or user profile information. It may also include a user's biometric information, an estimation of the user's biometric information, or a projection / prediction of a user's biometric information derived from current and / or historical biometric information.

[0051] A "wearable device" or "wearable sensor" relates to miniature electronic devices that are worn by the user including those under, within, with or on top of clothing and are part of a broader general class of wearable technology which includes "wearable computers" which in contrast are directed to general or special purpose information technologies and media development. Such wearable devices and / or wearable sensors may include, but not be limited to, smartphones, smart watches, e-textiles, smart shirts, activity trackers, smart glasses, environmental sensors, medical sensors, biological sensors, physiological sensors, chemical sensors, ambient environment sensors, position sensors, neurological sensors, drug delivery systems, medical testing and diagnosis devices, and motion sensors.

[0052] "Quantified self as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, the acquisition and storage of data relating to a user's daily life in terms of inputs (e.g. food consumed, quality of surrounding air), states (e.g. mood, arousal, blood oxygen levels), and performance (mental and physical). Acquisition of data may be combine wearable sensors (EEG, ECG, video, etc.) and wearable computing together with audio, visual, audiovisual and text based content generated by the user.

[0053] "Biometric" information as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, data relating to a user characterised by data relating to a subset of conditions including, but not limited to, their environment, medical condition, biological condition, physiological condition, chemical condition, ambient environment condition, position condition, neurological condition, drug condition, and one or more specific aspects of one or more of these said conditions. Accordingly, such biometric information may include, but not be limited, blood oxygenation, blood pressure, heart rate, temperate, altitude, vibration, motion, perspiration, EEG, ECG, energy level, etc. In addition, biometric information may include data relating to physiological characteristics related to the shape and / or condition of the body wherein examples may include, but are not limited to, fingerprint, facial geometry, baldness, DNA, hand geometry, odour, and scent. Biometric information may also include data relating to behavioral characteristics, including but not limited to, typing rhythm, gait, and voice.

[0054] "Electronic content" (also referred to as "content" or "digital content") as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, any type of content that exists in the form of digital data as stored, transmitted, received and / or converted wherein one or more of these steps may be analog although generally these steps will be digital. Forms of digital content include, but are not limited to, information that is digitally broadcast, streamed or contained in discrete files. Viewed narrowly, types of digital content include popular media types such as MP3, JPG, AVI, TIFF, AAC, TXT, RTF, HTML, XHTML, PDF, XLS, SVG, WMA, MP4, FLV, and PPT, for example, as well as others, see for example

Within a broader approach digital content mat include any type of digital information, e.g. digitally updated weather forecast, a GPS map, an eBook, a photograph, a video, a Vine™, a blog posting, a Facebook™ posting, a Twitter™ tweet, online TV, etc. The digital content may be any digital data that is at least one of generated, selected, created, modified, and transmitted in response to a user request, said request may be a query, a search, a trigger, an alarm, and a message for example.

[0055] Reference to "content information" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, any combination of content features, content serving constraints, information derivable from content features or content serving constraints (referred to as "content derived information"), and/or information related to the content (referred to as "content related information"), as well as an extension of such information (e.g., information derived from content related information).

[0056] Reference to a "hashtag" or "#tag" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, any word or unspaced phrase prefixed with the number sign ("#"). It is a form of metadata tag wherein words in messages on a variety of services including, but not limited to, microblogging and social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram, for example, may be tagged by putting "#" before them, either as they appear in a sentence or appended to it. Hashtags allow functions to be performed based upon them such as grouping, filtering, sorting, etc. such messages as applications can search for the hashtag(s) and get the set of messages that contain it or them. A hashtag is today only connected to a specific medium but embodiments of the invention are not limited as such and allow hashtags to be linked and connected to pictures, videos, multimedia content, messages, documents, and electronic content across a range of software applications.

[0057] Reference to a "document" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, any machine-readable and machine-storable work product. A document may be a file, a combination of files, one or more files with embedded links to other files, etc. The files may be of any type, such as text, audio, image, video, etc. Parts of a document to be rendered to an end user can be thought of as "content" of the document. A document may include "structured data" containing both content (words, pictures, etc.) and some indication of the meaning of that content (for example, e-mail fields and associated data, HTML tags and associated data, etc.). In the context of the Internet, a common document is a Web page. Web pages often include content and may include embedded information (such as meta- information, hyperlinks, etc.) and/or embedded instructions (such as Javascript, etc.). In many cases, a document has a unique, addressable, storage location and can therefore be uniquely identified by this addressable location such as a universal resource locator (URL) for example used as a unique address used to access information on the Internet.

[0058] "Document information" as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, may include any information included in the document, information derivable from information included in the document (referred to as "document derived information"), and/or information related to the document (referred to as "document related information"), as well as an extensions of such information (e.g., information derived from related information). An example of document derived information is a classification based on textual content of a document. Examples of document related information include document information from other documents with links to the instant document, as well as document information from other documents to which the instant document links.

[0059] Referring to Figure 1 there is depicted a network environment 100 within which embodiments of the invention may be employed supporting rating systems and rating applications / platforms (RSRAPs) (RSRAPs) according to embodiments of the invention. Such RSRAPs, for example supporting multiple channels and dynamic content. As shown first and second user groups 100A and 100B respectively interface to a telecommunications network 100. Within the representative telecommunication architecture, a remote central exchange 180 communicates with the remainder of a telecommunication service providers network via the network 100 which may include for example long-haul OC-48 / OC- 192 backbone elements, an OC-48 wide area network (WAN), a Passive Optical Network, and a Wireless Link. The central exchange 180 is connected via the network 100 to local, regional, and international exchanges (not shown for clarity) and therein through network 100 to first and second cellular APs 1 5A and 195B respectively which provide Wi-Fi cells for first and second user groups 100A and 100B respectively. Also connected to the network 100 are first and second Wi-Fi nodes 1 1 OA and H OB, the latter of which being coupled to network 100 via router 105. Second Wi-Fi node 1 10B is associated with Enterprise 160, e.g. Google™, within which other first and second user groups 100A and 100B respectively are present. Second user group 100B may also be connected to the network 100 via wired interfaces including, but not limited to, DSL, Dial-Up, DOCSIS, Ethernet, G.hn, ISDN, MoCA, PON, and Power line communication (PLC) which may or may not be routed through a router such as router 105. [0060] Within the cell associated with first AP 1 1 OA the first group of users 100A may employ a variety of PEDs including for example, laptop computer 155, portable gaming console 135, tablet computer 140, smartphone 150, cellular telephone 145 as well as portable multimedia player 130. Within the cell associated with second AP 1 10B are the second group of users 100B which may employ a variety of FEDs including for example gaming console 125, personal computer 1 15 and wireless / Internet enabled television 120 as well as cable modem 105. First and second cellular APs 195A and 195B respectively provide, for example, cellular GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) telephony services as well as 3G and 4G evolved services with enhanced data transport support. Second cellular AP 195B provides coverage in the exemplary embodiment to first and second user groups 100A and 100B. Alternatively the first and second user groups 100 A and 100B may be geographically disparate and access the network 100 through multiple APs, not shown for clarity, distributed geographically by the network operator or operators. First cellular AP 195A as show provides coverage to first user group 100A and environment 170, which comprises second user group 100B as well as first user group 100A. Accordingly, the first and second user groups 100A and 100B may according to their particular communications interfaces communicate to the network 100 through one or more wireless communications standards such as, for example, IEEE 802.1 1 , IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, UMTS, GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GPRS, ITU-R 5.138, ITU-R 5.150, ITU-R 5.280, and IMT- 1000. It would be evident to one skilled in the art that many portable and fixed electronic devices may support multiple wireless protocols simultaneously, such that for example a user may employ GSM services such as telephony and SMS and Wi-Fi / WiMAX data transmission, VOIP and Internet access. Accordingly, portable electronic devices within first user group 100A may form associations either through standards such as IEEE 802.15 and Bluetooth as well in an ad-hoc manner.

[0061] Also connected to the network 100 are Social Networks (SOCNETS) 165, first and second business information resources 170A and 170B respectively, e.g. Linkedln™ and Yellow Pages™, retailer website 170C, e.g. WalMart™, entertainment website 170D, e.g. YouTube™, and first to second market research entities 175 A and 175B respectively, e.g. The Nielsen Company™ and Kantar™, as well as first and second servers 190A and 190B together with others, not shown for clarity. First and second servers 190A and 190B may host according to embodiments of the inventions multiple services associated with a provider of rating systems and rating applications / platforms (RSRAPs); a provider of a SOCNET or Social Media (SOME) exploiting RSRAP features; a provider of a SOCNET and / or SOME not exploiting RSRAP features; a provider of services to PEDS and / or FEDS; a provider of one or more aspects of wired and / or wireless communications; an Enterprise 160 exploiting RSRAP features; license databases; content databases; image databases; content libraries; customer databases; websites; and software applications for download to or access by FEDs and / or PEDs exploiting and / or hosting RSRAP features. First and second primary content servers 190A and 190B may also host for example other Internet services such as a search engine, financial services, third party applications and other Internet based services.

[0062] Accordingly, a consumer and / or customer (CONCUS) may exploit a PED and / or FED within an Enterprise 160, for example, and access one of the first or second primary content servers 190A and 190B respectively to perform an operation such as accessing / downloading an application which provides RSRAP features according to embodiments of the invention; execute an application already installed providing RSRAP features; execute a web based application providing RSRAP features; or access content. Similarly, a CONCUS may undertake such actions or others exploiting embodiments of the invention exploiting a PED or FED within first and second user groups 100A and 100B respectively via one of first and second cellular APs 195A and 195B respectively and first Wi-Fi nodes 1 10A.

[0063] Now referring to Figure 2 there is depicted an electronic device 204 and network access point 207 supporting RSRAP features according to embodiments of the invention. Electronic device 204 may, for example, be a PED and / or FED and may include additional elements above and beyond those described and depicted. Also depicted within the electronic device 204 is the protocol architecture as part of a simplified functional diagram of a system 200 that includes an electronic device 204, such as a smartphone 155, an access point (AP) 206, such as first AP 1 10, and one or more network devices 207, such as communication servers, streaming media servers, and routers for example such as first and second servers 190A and 190B respectively. Network devices 207 may be coupled to AP 206 via any combination of networks, wired, wireless and/or optical communication links such as discussed above in respect of Figure 1 as well as directly as indicated. Network devices 207 are coupled to network 100 and therein SOCNETS 165, first and second business information resources 170A and 170B respectively, e.g. Linkedln™ and Yellow Pages™, retailer website 170C, e.g. WalMart™, entertainment website 170D, e.g. YouTube™, and first to second market research entities 175 A and 175B respectively, e.g. The Nielsen Company™ and Kantar™, Enterprise 160, e.g. Google™, as well as first and second servers 190A and 190B together with others, not shown for clarity.

[0064] The electronic device 204 includes one or more processors 210 and a memory 212 coupled to processor(s) 210. AP 206 also includes one or more processors 21 1 and a memory 213 coupled to processor(s) 210. A non-exhaustive list of examples for any of processors 210 and 21 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), a complex instruction set computer (CISC) and the like. Furthermore, any of processors 210 and 21 1 may be part of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or may be a part of application specific standard products (ASSPs). A non- exhaustive list of examples for memories 212 and 213 includes any combination of the following semiconductor devices such as registers, latches, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory devices, non-volatile random access memory devices (NVRAM), SDRAM, DRAM, double data rate (DDR) memory devices, SRAM, universal serial bus (USB) removable memory, and the like.

[0065] Electronic device 204 may include an audio input element 214, for example a microphone, and an audio output element 216, for example, a speaker, coupled to any of processors 210. Electronic device 204 may include a video input element 218, for example, a video camera or camera, and a video output element 220, for example an LCD display, coupled to any of processors 210. Electronic device 204 also includes a keyboard 215 and touchpad 217 which may for example be a physical keyboard and touchpad allowing the user to enter content or select functions within one of more applications 222. Alternatively, the keyboard 215 and touchpad 217 may be predetermined regions of a touch sensitive element forming part of the display within the electronic device 204. The one or more applications 222 that are typically stored in memory 212 and are executable by any combination of processors 210. Electronic device 204 also includes accelerometer 260 providing three- dimensional motion input to the process 210 and GPS 262 which provides geographical location information to processor 210.

[0066] Electronic device 204 includes a protocol stack 224 and AP 206 includes a communication stack 225. Within system 200 protocol stack 224 is shown as IEEE 802.1 1 protocol stack but alternatively may exploit other protocol stacks such as an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) multimedia protocol stack for example. Likewise, AP stack 225 exploits a protocol stack but is not expanded for clarity. Elements of protocol stack 224 and AP stack 225 may be implemented in any combination of software, firmware and/or hardware. Protocol stack 224 includes an IEEE 802.1 1 -compatible PHY module 226 that is coupled to one or more Front-End Tx/Rx & Antenna 228, an IEEE 802.1 1 -compatible MAC module 230 coupled to an IEEE 802.2-compatible LLC module 232. Protocol stack 224 includes a network layer IP module 234, a transport layer User Datagram Protocol (UDP) module 236 and a transport layer Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) module 238.

[0067] Protocol stack 224 also includes a session layer Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) module 240, a Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) module 242, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) module 244 and a Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) module 246. Protocol stack 224 includes a presentation layer media negotiation module 248, a call control module 250, one or more audio codecs 252 and one or more video codecs 254. Applications 222 may be able to create maintain and/or terminate communication sessions with any of devices 207 by way of AP 206. Typically, applications 222 may activate any of the SAP, SIP, RTSP, media negotiation and call control modules for that purpose. Typically, information may propagate from the SAP, SIP, RTSP, media negotiation and call control modules to PHY module 226 through TCP module 238, IP module 234, LLC module 232 and MAC module 230.

[0068] It would be apparent to one skilled in the art that elements of the electronic device 204 may also be implemented within the AP 206 including but not limited to one or more elements of the protocol stack 224, including for example an IEEE 802.1 1 -compatible PHY module, an IEEE 802.1 1-compatible MAC module, and an IEEE 802.2-compatible LLC module 232. The AP 206 may additionally include a network layer IP module, a transport layer User Datagram Protocol (UDP) module and a transport layer Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) module as well as a session layer Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) module, a Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) module, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) module and a Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) module, media negotiation module, and a call control module. Portable and fixed electronic devices represented by electronic device 204 may include one or more additional wireless or wired interfaces in addition to the depicted IEEE 802.1 1 interface which may be selected from the group comprising IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, UMTS, GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GPRS, ITU-R 5.138, ITU-R 5.150, ITU-R 5.280, ΓΜΤ-1000, DSL, Dial-Up, DOCSTS, Ethernet, G.hn, ISDN, MoCA, PON, and Power line communication (PLC).

[0069] Now referring to Figure 3 there are depicted first to third screenshots 310 to 330 respectively of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the first screenshot 310 depicts a splash screen for the RSRAP at user initiation with a field "Start Rating" to allow a new user to register and "I'm Already a Member" to allow a registered user to login. Second screenshot 320 depicts a user's profile page with their photograph, user data such as number of ratings the user has given, the number of people the user is following, and the number of followers for the user whist the screen also displays the last 2 ratings made by the user together with their rating, their friends average rating, and all user average rating for that item rated. The user may also enter a comment through the associated comment button next to each and may scroll through their ratings using standard touchscreen motions wherein the rating activities displayed are selected by a filter such as newest, most rated, highest, and lowest in rating filter selector bar. Third screenshot 330 depicts another user's profile page with their photograph, user data such as number of ratings that user has given, the number of people that user is following, and the number of followers following that user whist the screen also displays the last ratings made by the user together with the rating they gave, hashtags the user associated with the content they rated. The user can elect to follow the other user through the "Follow" button and navigate within the RSRAP in bottom toolbar comprising rating feed, trending, rate it, notifications, and my profile.

[0070] Referring to Figure 4 there are depicted first to third screenshots 410 to 430 respectively of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention. Within first screenshot 410 the user is presented with:

Rate It / Rerate option bar 41 1 wherein, for example, on an initial rating the user may attach hashtags and assign a rating and then subsequently can only add other ratings which do not replace their original rating such that a user's historical rating of an item can be tracked, monitored, displayed etc.;

Content 412 which the user has accessed to view / rate;

- Rating swipe 413 indicating a motion according to an embodiment of the invention of the user rating the content 412, where in this instance the motion is depicted during execution; Review bar 414 wherein the user's name, profile image etc. are depicted together with the title of the content they rate, the hashtags they associated with the content, their rating (averaged if multiple), their friends averaged rating, and the averaged rating of all users plus any comment they have added; and

Comment field 415 where the user has the ability to add a comment.

[0071] Within first screenshot 410 the initial contact of the user's finger / stylus etc. with the touch sensitive display results in an advertiser's logo, in this instance Ford™, being displayed wherein the subsequent motion of the user's finger / stylus etc. results in the advertiser's logo tracking the motion. Alternatively, within another embodiment of the invention the initial logo displayed is maintained whilst the user translates the logo in their rating swipe so that the two images provide the user with an indication of the motion executed as well as increasing the visual presence of the logo or image on the display presented to the user.

[0072] Second screenshot 420 displays the post made by the user to the user subsequently so that the user can view:

Feed 421 , which displays who has read their pot and when;

- Content 412;

Posts 422, made by others in respect of the content 412 the user rated;

Comment field 415 where the user has the ability to add a comment; and

Navigation bar 423 for navigating within the RSRAP, such as comprising rating feed, trending, rate it, notifications, and my profile.

[0073] Third screenshot 430 displays the post made by another user selected by the user, e.g. the post displayed within Posts 422, wherein the user can view:

Feed ratings 431 ;

Other user feed 432 including the hashtags associated by the other user and the other user's rating, comment etc.;

- Image 433, associated by the other user to the Content 412;

Posts 422, made by others in respect of the content 412 the user rated; and

- Navigation bar 423 for navigating within the RSRAP, such as comprising rating feed, trending, rate it, notifications, and my profile.

[0074] Referring to Figure 5 there are depicted first to third screenshots 510 to 530 respectively of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention. In first screenshot 510 the user has navigated to a trending area of the RSRAP and is presented with: Configuration bar 51 1 that defines filters for the trending screen, such as most popular, highest rated, lowest rated, etc. and means for the user to edit the displayed options;

First to third SOCNET feeds 512 to 514 respectively which depict feeds within each SOCNET after the filtering established in configuration bar 51 1 is applied wherein the SOCNETs may, for example, be those associated to the RSRAP by the user as they have accounts or SOCNETs / websites etc. that the user wishes to monitor;

Feed changer bar 515 wherein the user may tap and drag, for example, a different network into any of the first to third SOCNET feeds 512 to 514 respectively to view a different SOCNET / website / RSS feed, blog etc. that is of interest wherein options within the feed changer bar 515 may be established by the user linking sources to the RSRAP; and

Navigation bar 423.

[0075] If the user selects an item within one of the first to third SOCNET feeds 512 to 514 respectively then this is highlighted as topic 522 in second screenshot 520 in Figure 5 and rating field 521 is presented allowing the user to rate the item through a gesture such as described within embodiments of the invention, attach hashtags to the rating the user generates, attach an image, etc. and select a history button 523. Selection of the history button 523 triggers third screenshot 530 which displays to the user graphically the ratings they have given based upon a time range selected within time bar 531. Optionally, the user may select one or more categories to filter the ratings with category icon 532 or select a filter for ratings through rating button 533. Optionally, where the user scrolls the marker across the graphical display then the top ratings may be displayed within the third screenshot 530 as well. Optionally, the graphical display may be scrolled, expanded, compressed etc. through actions of the user through the buttons on the time bar 531 or through their interaction with the touchscreen of the PED upon which they are accessing the RSRAP.

[0076] Now referring to Figure 6 there are depicted first to third screenshots 610 to 630 respectively of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention. Within first screenshot 610 the user is rating an item of content using an RSRAP that acts as an overlay application to others that the user executes upon their PED and / or FED for example. Accordingly, the user has accessed a portion of a website, associated with a television network Global, relating to a television show, Survivor, and is making a rating having initiated this through the RSRAP by making the initial action to trigger generating a rating and then moving their finger to generate the rating via swipe 61 1 which includes current rating marker 613 so that the user can view the actual level they are setting. Optionally, the rating marker 613 may be displayed to the user as an indicator at a predetermined location of the screen or as described below be based upon selection of one of a range of marker / rating options by the user. They are also presented with rating overview field 612 that shows the number of ratings made overall, the average rating to date, the number of times the user has rated the topic, and their average rating.

[0077] Within first screenshot 610 the initial contact of the user's finger / stylus etc. with the touch sensitive display results in an advertiser's logo, in this instance McDonalds™, being displayed wherein the subsequent motion of the user's finger / stylus etc. results in the advertiser's logo tracking the motion. Alternatively, within another embodiment of the invention the initial logo displayed is maintained whilst the user translates the logo in their rating swipe so that the two images provide the user with an indication of the motion executed as well as increasing the visual presence of the logo or image on the display presented to the user. As depicted the second logo tracking the user's motion includes an indication of the rating's current level either whilst the first logo is maintained or removed.

[0078] Referring to second screenshot 620 this would be depicted to the user in the event that they have selected the notifications feature within a navigation menu such as depicted in first and second screenshots 310 and 320 in Figure 3. Accordingly, they are presented with a scrollable list of notifications such as someone starting to follow them, someone rated the user, or another user within one or more of their friend groupings upon one or more SOCNETs made a rating. Optionally, the user may be presented with a series of filters such as setting thresholds for ratings that they wish to have filtered out, friend list filters etc. as well as the RSRAP combining other user actions together such that rather than receiving 10 notifications that "Anna rated XX", etc. they are given a single notification that "Anna made 10 ratings ... click to see the topics" such that selecting the single notification provides a list of the topics that Anna rated so that the user can decide whether to view any or not.

[0079] Referring to third screenshot 630 the user is presented as being mid-rating for adding their rating to one already provided by "John Smith" in respect of a speech by President Obama. Also depicted upon the screen are star ratings 631 wherein user who reach a certain level of ratings or a certain level of rating consistency are given star profiles within the RSRAP. For example, a user who consistently rates at a value that reflects the median / mean / average of their SOCNET friend grouping may be considered to be a 2-star user whereas a user who regularly rates 30 or more items per day is a lower rating at 1 -star user. A three-star user may a combination thereof in that not only do they rate frequently but their ratings are also representative of a large grouping of users.

[0080] As with first screenshot 610 the user's swipe triggers the display of an advertisement, in this case the Washington Redskins National Football League team which is determined through the knowledge that the underlying content is the President of the United States of America and hence their association with Washington D.C.

[0081] Now referring to Figure 7 there are depicted first to third screenshots 710 to 730 respectively of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention. Within first screenshot the user is depicted viewing an item of content and making a rating through a swiping action according to an embodiment of the invention. Also depicted are other rating data as well as navigation data. However, it would be evident that a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention either operating as an application per se or as a transparent overlay is only capturing a single item of rating data which is presumed in the instance depicted to be the user's rating of President Obama. However, if the user rates low is that a reflection of President Obama himself or rather a rating determined by the subject of his speech, e.g. increasing taxation. Accordingly, it would be beneficial in some instances for the user to be able to rate multiple elements simultaneously such as depicted in second and third screenshots 720 and 730 respectively. In second screenshot 720 the user is presented with three rating bars which are entitled outlook, stress and energy in respect of President Obama wherein the user may then in a single continuous swipe as depicted in third screenshot 1330 enter ratings for each of these such that outlook is 45%, stress is 75%, and energy 51 %. These three topics were established by the RSRAP in respect of the content being viewed by the viewer as these had been set by CNN™ which was the website that the content was being viewed from. Alternatively, the topics for user ratings may have been set by one or more other parties seeking feedback on President Obama in more detail than a single overall approval rate. Hence, an alternative topic set might have been Approval Rating of Obama, Taxation Approval, and State of the Nation.

[0082] Within first screenshot 710 the initial contact of the user's finger / stylus etc. with the touch sensitive display results in an advertiser's logo, in this instance McDonalds™, being displayed wherein the subsequent motion of the user's finger / stylus etc. results in the advertiser's logo tracking the motion. Alternatively, within another embodiment of the invention the initial logo displayed is maintained whilst the user translates the logo in their rating swipe so that the two images provide the user with an indication of the motion executed as well as increasing the visual presence of the logo or image on the display presented to the user. As depicted the second logo tracking the user's motion includes an indication of the rating's current level either whilst the first logo is maintained or removed. In contrast within third screenshot 730 the user's swipe is associated with multiple ratings and in this instance as the user's swipe traverses a rating the advertiser's logo is positioned at the point they crossed the rating. This may be in isolation to or in conjunction with the logo motion during the swipe. Accordingly, when the user finishes their swipe prior to completing the rating process the advertiser's logo is maintained as visible in the correct locations.

[0083] Similarly, in Figure 8A there is depicted an exemplary screenshot of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention providing contextually based multiple rating entry. In this instance the user is watching a video upon YouTube™ of the song "Happy" by Pharrell Williams wherein the rating screen when activated by the user now displays ratings for Pharrell Williams, the song "Happy", and for YouTube™. As indicated by swipe 810 the user has currently completed ratings for YouTube™ and "Happy" but has yet to complete the swipe for Pharrell Williams. In some instances, despite being presented with multiple options the user may elect to only rate one item. It would be evident that the number of ratings within a multiple rating screen may be varied in portrait and landscape orientations as well as being varied based upon user preferences and / or topics associated with the content by the content provider, content originator, advertiser, etc.

[0084] Optionally, the multiple ratings established are all associated with characteristics of an item of content but not the item of content itself. For example, the multiple ratings might be "foreign policy", "women's rights" and "economics" in respect of a speech given by President Obama. However, instead of rating President Obama directly the three ratings, for example R_FVR∑IGN , R ^an(l _> ^are combined through an algorithm such that for example, Equation ( 1) applies.

R 0)

[0085] Within Figure 8A in common with third screenshot 730 the user's swipe is associated with multiple ratings and in this instance as the user's swipe traverses a rating the advertiser's logo is positioned at the point they crossed the rating. This may be in isolation to or in conjunction with the logo motion during the swipe. Accordingly, when the user finishes their swipe prior to completing the rating process the advertiser's logo is maintained as visible in the correct locations. The advertiser selected may be determined in dependence upon one or more factors including, but not limited to, the user, the user's electronic device, the user's electronic device network association, demographic matching based upon advertiser parameters, demographic matching in conjunction with user historical data, time information, user activity information, location information, and advertiser based keyword / pricing information, and the content being rated.

[0086] Similarly, in Figure 8B there is depicted an exemplary screenshot of a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention providing contextually based multiple rating entry. Accordingly, a user is detected as being within a Starbucks™ due to the association of their PED with the WiFi transceiver within the retail outlet. Accordingly, the user is presented with a multiple ratings including, for example:

How did you rate the service today?

Were the barista's friendly?

How do you rate Bridgehead?

- How do you rate Roast' n Brew?

Do our seasonal drinks appeal?

[0087] Whilst all the ratings are depicted as being scores from 0-100 it would be evident to one skilled in the art that other rating scales may be employed including, for example, [0, 1„,.9, 10}; {A, B, ..., F, G} ; {Awful, Bad, Poor, Good, Very Good, Exceptional}, etc. Accordingly, as indicated by swipe 810 the user has rated these as follows:

How did you rate the service today

Were the barista's friendly?

How do you rate Bridgehead?

How do you rate Roast' n Brew?

Do our seasonal drinks appeal?

[0088] Accordingly, a Starbucks™ assessment would be that the user rates their coffee shop at a similar rating in terms of overall service etc. to two other coffee shops and that it is due to their particular attraction to the seasonal drinks that they picked Starbucks™ to purchase from. In this instance the icon tracking the user's rating is that of the company providing the survey although optionally it may be a competitor, a partner enterprise, etc.

[0089] Accordingly, as depicted and described in respect of Figures 1 to 8B a user may engage a swipe functionality within a RSRAP in order to enter a single rating or multiple ratings. In order to trigger the RSRAP to capture the rating and / or display an indication of the user's swipe either in isolation or with reference to a mask / pattern etc. then the user performs one or more characteristic actions with respect to the touchscreen on their PED and / or FED. For example, the user may within embodiments of the invention hold a finger and / or thumb down in contact for a period of time that exceeds a predetermined threshold that is either globally set or set in respect of the context of the UI at that point in time. For example, within a web browser functions are normally short taps to select buttons etc. and hence a relatively short constant contact may be sufficient whereas within another application holding elements to move them may be an aspect of the application's operation and hence the contact time may be set longer than this. Within another embodiment of the invention the trigger may be a pattern of taps, e.g. left-right-left-right anywhere on the touchscreen or alternatively a swiping motion from, for example, left to right, bottom right diagonally upwards and left, etc.

[0090] Referring to Figure 9 there are depicted examples of calculating rating for a swipe performed by a user in respect of the new deadmau5 album "while(l <2)" with first and second images 900A and 900B respectively. In first image 900A the user is presented with either first or second guide 910 and 920 respectively in respect of establishing a rating. In each instance the first or second guide 910 and 920 respectively may be disposed at a predetermined location on the screen or determined in dependence upon the location that the user triggers the RSRAP to receive rating input. In these examples the rating is merely dependent upon the distance of the end point from the centre of the first or second guide 910 and 920 respectively which may be entered as single tap to the touchscreen of the PED, for example, as depicted by icons 915 and 925 respectively or a mouse movement and click upon a FED, for example. Alternatively, text may be displayed around the periphery such as {Awful, Bad, Poor, Good, Very Good, Exceptional} wherein the rating is a combination of the sentiment in the segment the user swipes within and a value based upon the distance from the center, such as depicted with second guide 920, towards the sentiment / response that they wish to enter. Alternatively, the rating may simply be based upon a sector of the guide presented to the user. [0091] In contrast within second image 900B the rating is again determined by distance from a starting point to an end point as indicated with third to fifth guides 930 to 950 respectively but now without any initial guide being displayed although typically their swiping action would be displayed as line allowing them to judge the distance they have swiped. As such there are depicted:

Third guide 930 determines distance based upon two taps to the touchscreen after the user has touched a "Rate It" icon 960;

Fourth guide 940 determines distance based upon the start and end points of a swipe made by the user on the touchscreen after the user has touched a "Rate It" icon 960; and

Fifth guide 950, like fourth guide 940, determines distance based upon the start and end points of a swipe made by the user on the touchscreen after the user has touched a "Rate It" icon 960 but discards any consideration of the overall length of the path.

[0092] Within first and second screenshots 900A and 900B the user's rating actions again trigger the display of an advertising related icon which is tracked with their motion, or optionally it is not, wherein the advertising related icon is maintained visible at the final contact point either permanently until another user action or a predetermined period of time since their last action has passed. In these instances, the advertisers are Starbucks™ and Mercedes Benz™.

[0093] Referring to Figure 10 there are depicted examples of calculating rating for a swipe performed by a user in respect of the new deadmau5 album "while( l <2)" with first and second images 1000A and 1000B respectively. In first image 1000A swipes the rating based distance from the starting point with third guide 930, by way of example, but now a display 1010 generates representation of how high a rating they have established by exploiting a series of stars wherein as indicated in chart 1020 three and a half stars corresponds to a rating of 60%-69%. In contrast in second image 1000B the user is presented with a display 1030 which generates a representation of how high a rating they give by numeric display.

[0094] In common to the prior art of "liking" or "disliking" a post, comment, profile or product, for example, within a website, SOME, or SOCNET such as Facebook™, the rating concepts discussed and presented supra in respect of Figures 3 to 10 for a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention are targeted at allowing a user to make rapid single and / or multiple ratings. Whilst taking, for example, via a tap the same minimal effort as a simple button click to "like" or "dislike" the embodiments of the invention described in respect of Figures 3 to 10 for a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention provide for increased granularity of sentiment and / or variation in the depth / strength of the opinion. Accordingly, with the embodiments of the invention described in respect of Figures 3 to 10 for a RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention there is increased likelihood of getting the user's actual opinion rather than merely seeing someone following the "herd" and liking something merely because all their friends like it. Accordingly, whilst typically "likes" / "dislikes" have lost their relevancy within SOCNETs / SOMEs etc. the embodiments of the invention presented within Figures 3 to 8B provide increased information and require additional attention from the user. A simple tap, for example, within first or second guides 910 and 920 in first image 900A in Figure 9 may be quick to the user but without focus may as easily yield a low rating as a high rating or even worse for the rater potentially giving an "awful" rating rather than a "very good" they intended. In some embodiments of the invention the options to the user may be specifically patterned in such a manner that without appropriate attention and care the user achieves the opposite of their intention. Further when considering the embodiments of the invention described below in respect of Figures 10 to 19, for example, such errors not only impact the rating they give but the rating profile that they present to others as not only may the user's ratings from third parties be presented to them but their rating "history" may be visible to other user's as well.

[0095] However, it would be beneficial in other to provide a means for ratings to be linked to the amount of effort expended by the individual in making it. Accordingly, within embodiments of the invention described below in respect of Figures 1 1 to 18 a rating or ratings given by an individual are essentially "weighted" by the amount of time the user spends in making them. Beneficially, embodiments of the invention allow individuals to generate ratings on two or aspects of their opinion at the same time whilst maintaining their effort proportional to the rating they give. Beneficially other users when viewing an item, e.g. a video posted to YouTube™, can also see not only how many people liked and disliked it but also the strength of their likes and dislikes either as an average or a distribution. Beneficially for advertisers, enterprises etc. they can view the strength of opinions temporally as well as demographically.

[0096] Accordingly, considering first screenshot 1 100 in Figure 1 1 with respect to an RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the user has been presented with an item of content and elected to provide a rating, for example, via the "Rate It" icon displayed in the lower left corner of the display on their PED. Accordingly, in this instance, a pop-up overlay appears comprising a slide bar, a pair of buttons, a rating meter, and other visual elements indicating the rating form and its limits. In this instance the rating is "love - hate" and the user by selecting the left button can establish a "hate" rating of -100 at its highest intensity and by selecting the right button can establish a "love" rating of + 100 at its highest intensity. As they use one or other or both of these buttons a rating level is indicated within the rating meter to the user. By tapping the rating meter, the rating they have established is applied to the item that they are rating which in this instance is an album by "DeadMau5" but it could be an item, a product, and a service. Alternatively, it may be a posting, a tweet, a blog, etc. of another user accessed through the user's profile page or SOCNET/SOME feed or the other user's profile directly. In this instance if the user taps the button then the rating that would be applied is "+35". Considering, an initial default indication at the middle of the slide bar and a rating of "0" then the higher the "intensity" of the rating the user wishes to give, whether it be "love" or "hate", the longer the user must hold the selected button. In order to limit the user's swiping rapidly along the slide bar the RSRAP in execution may limit the rate at which the icon within the slider bar moves and require the user to maintain their finger within the vicinity of the icon. For example, the rate of increasing the rating from initial default position to full rating in either direction may be established as a particular time, e.g. 1 second, 1.5 seconds, 2 seconds, 2.25 seconds, 2.5 seconds, 3 seconds, 5 seconds, etc. In this manner the time may be consistent across a range of PEDs / FEDs. Alternatively, the rate may be defined as pixels per second or another measure of display dimensions.

[0097] Accordingly, by making the time for the rating to change from Ό" to a maximum intensity of either "- 100" or "+100" 4 seconds, for example, then this becomes significant enough that a user not really wishing to give a rating will not do so but one who does will give a realistic rating of their opinion without feeling that the process is too time consuming. Referring now to second screenshot 1 150 in Figure 1 1 the user is presented with a similar pop-up, for example, comprising a slide bar, and a rating meter together with other visual elements indicating the rating form and its limits but now with a single button. In this instance the rating is a "Don't Care - Love It" and the user by selecting the button can establish the rating from an initial rating "Don't Care" rating of "0" at its lowest intensity to a "Love It" rating of " 10" and then by selecting the button indicating the rating that they have currently established have this posted against the item they are rating. Optionally, the starting value may be set to and if this value is received by the RSRAP it is discarded as implies the user simply accessed the pop-up and then hit the button. To register even a "0" the user must actively engage the rating interface.

[0098] Where the user can adjust the rating, R , such that 0 < R < 10 , for example as discussed in respect of second screenshot 500 in Figure 5 then the actual rating may be discretized such that for example R = 0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4...,9.7,9.8,9.9,10 or R = 1,2,3,...,8,9,10 . In a similar manner as described above unless the user moves the rating bar then the entry may, generally, be voided in order to remove user simply tapping an item and then immediately hitting the button to register the rating where it started at "0." It would be evident that within second screenshot 1 150 that alternatively two buttons may have been presented such as depicted in first screenshot 1 100 with the initial rating set to R = 5 such that to bring the rating to R = 0 requires the same time as giving the maximum rating of R = 10 . Alternatively, it may have started at a different value, e.g. R = 1 or the average rating from previous raters, R = R_n jn , or a simple moving average of previous raters over a predetermined period of time. Other mathematical functions relating to moving averages etc. may be employed to define the starting point from which the user can increase / decrease to provide their rating where they have the ability to adjust in both directions.

[0099] Now referring to Figure 12 there are depicted first and second screenshots 1200 and 1250 with respect to an RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the user has been presented with an item of content and elected to provide a rating, for example, via the "Rate It" icon displayed in the lower left corner of the display on their PED. Accordingly, referring to first screenshot 1200 in Figure 12 the user is presented with a popup window upon selecting an item to rate comprising a slide bar, a pair of buttons, a rating meter, and other visual elements indicating the rating intensity. In this instance the rating is indicated as heart rate from a slow heart rate at the left of the slide bar to a moderate heart rate in the middle and a high heart rate on the right of the slide bar. Accordingly, the user by selecting the left button can establish a lower heart rate and by selecting the right button can establish a faster heart rate before they hit the "RATE" button. In this instance whilst they know intuitively that faster heart rate relates to higher rating there is no numbering indicated so their selection is in all likelihood more intuitive than a " I'll give it a 9 out of 10" or "I like her about 30 out 50" etc.

[00100] Now, referring to second screenshot 1250 in Figure 12 the user is presented with a pop-up window upon selecting an item to rate comprising a slide bar with an indication of position and a button. In this instance the button doubles as the means by which the user adjusts the rating they wish to give and the means to submit the rating, e.g. by double tapping the button in this instance they submit the rating but holding the button adjusts the rating they give. Again the user has a sense of the rating they are applying to the item without establishing the user's actions to hit or meet a particular target. However, in each instance of first and second screenshots 1200 and 1250 in Figure 12 the user's actions are tracked by the RSRAP in execution upon the PED / FED or remote server hosting the content being presented to the user. As such the RSRAP establishes a rating which is not displayed to the user but is applied in generating data relating to the item the user rates that is then presented in association with the item to which it relates.

[00101] In this manner the user may establish a rating within first and second screenshots 1200 and 1250 in Figure 12 wherein again, as with first and second screenshots 1 100 and 1 150 in Figure 1 1 , the rating the user applies is driven by an aspect of the length of time the user engages the rating interface. Accordingly, within Figures 1 1 and 12 button style controls for the rating interface are presented to the user. However, it would be evident that other interfaces may be provided according to one or more factors including, but not limited to, user preference, characteristics of the PED / FED upon which the user is making the rating, and the item the user is rating. For example, within another embodiment of the invention the user may shake the PED such their rating is measured by a combination of strength and / or duration of shaking based upon accelerometer data within t. Within another embodiment of the invention the rating, from "Dislike - Like" for example or "Hate - Love" for example, may be controlled by the length of the time the user tilts the PED in one direction or another and a visual interface may be a bubble within a liquid (e.g. as with a spirit level) or a ball rolling along a surface.

[00102] Within other embodiments of the invention a rating may be based upon a biometric characteristic, e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, etc. The biometric data relating to the biometric characteristic may be established once the user selects to rate an item, established prior to the user selecting the item but after they have viewed the item, or by a combination of the two. Where two sets of biometric characteristics are established, i.e. before and after selecting the rating feature, then these may be both provided to a retailer, enterprise, or user etc. whilst only one is used in the public rating displayed. For example, within an adult dating website or SOCNET the biometric characteristics may represent the user's initial immediate reaction (i.e. prior to any rating activity) and their reaction after selecting the rating activity. The other user may be able to view both so that they can see the user's initial reaction and the reaction that the user seeks to provide. As such a user may rate another user differently to their initial reaction but this is evident to the other user. In other instances, the user's reaction to a video, speech, or other item may vary with time. In a similar manner a user's final rating of a product that they provide may differ from that derived from their time reviewing the information on the product.

[00103] Within Figure 1 1 and first and second screenshots 1 100 and 1 150 the slider icon is replaced with an advertiser icon or other element visually recognizable by users as being associated with the advertiser. In Figure 12 with the "heart rate" rating this format may be displayed in association with the advertiser, in this instance an organization encouraging blood donation such as Red Cross, provincial / state blood bank etc. Accordingly, based upon the advertiser the rating screen may adjust not only in respect of a slider icon for example but also in respect of other elements within the rating screen. For example, in second screenshot 1250 the upper / lower limits of the rating are vintage Ford logos whilst the slider is the current Ford icon.

[00104] Now referring to Figure 13 with screenshot 1300 there is depicted an exemplary user rating interface with respect to an RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the user has been presented with an item of content and elected to provide a rating, for example, via the "Rate It" icon displayed in the lower left corner of the display on their PED. However, in this instance the user is giving two ratings at the same time, one relating to their "Like" or "Dislike" of the item and, in this instance, the other relates to the user's view of the pricing for the item. Accordingly, the user is now provided with two buttons, one for increasing the rating from the item from its initial position towards the bottom of the displayed rating zone associated with "Dislike" and the second for increasing the "rating" in respect of the user's view with respect to the pricing of the item from the left to the right. Accordingly, through simply maintaining contact with the two buttons they can establish two ratings for the same item. The starting position of the rating "cross-hair" (or advertising content) may be varied such that, for example, rather than "Dislike" / "Low Cost" ($) the starting position may alternatively be "Like" / "High Cost" ($$$) and the user's actions move the "cross-hairs" (or advertising content) to lower pricing, lower preference. Alternatively, the user may be presented with two buttons per rating aspect. Alternatively, the user may be presented with two buttons for one rating aspect (e.g. the up/down rating factor on their display) and tilt left / tilt right for the second rating aspect. Optionally, depending upon the capabilities of the PED / FED accelerometer then one rating aspect may be tilt left / right whilst the second rating aspect may be tilt forward / back.

[00105] Now referring to Figure 14 within screenshot 1400 there is depicted an exemplary user rating interface with respect to an RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the user has been presented with an item of content and has elected to view the rating, for example, via the "Rate It" icon 1410 displayed in the lower left corner of the display on their PED and a pop-up menu. Alternatively, the item the user is viewing may have a rating element 1420 which if selected expands to rating pop-up 1430. As depicted the ratings presented to the user comprise an icon, in this instance a stylized heart, together with "Love" and "Hate" ratings. The rating image may, for example, be fixed, may be toggled between a pair of images according to whether the overall rating is positive or negative, as these are allowed as evident from the "Hate" ratings, or alternatively may be a one of a plurality of images established in dependence upon both the sign of the rating and its magnitude. As evident in Figure 14 the rating data presented within rating element 1420 and rating pop-up 1430 includes a "Love" rating, i.e. those rating positively or above a predetermined threshold where negative ratings are not provided for, and a "Hate" rating, i.e. those rating negatively or below a predetermined threshold where negative ratings are not provided for. In this instance, the musician "deadmau5 with his album "while(l <2)" has gathered "Love" ratings totaling "+2435" from 143 users and "Hate" ratings of "-122" from 8 users. Accordingly, an overall rating of "+2313" may have been presented with rating element 1420 which expands to the details of each within the rating pop-up 1430. Within Figure 14 the ratings are presented in association with an item of advertising content wherein the overall rating is "+2313." Optionally, advertisers may pay to have their advertisements associated with particular overall rating bands. For example, negative ratings may trigger advertising content from a disaster recovery firm, debt counsellors, etc. whilst positive ratings may trigger advertisements from a series of advertisers. [00106] Also depicted within the rating pop-up 1430 is "+243" together with a heart rate trace and up arrow. These icons relate to the recent rating movement of the item being viewed by the user. For example, this may be taken over a predetermined period of time, for example a day for an item of content such as an album of music within a web based music service. Accordingly, the period of time may be established in dependence upon an aspect or characteristic of the item. For example, for tweets, posts etc. relating to a live event currently taking place then the time period might be 5 minutes. Accordingly, an item, a profile, content may be presented with ratings by other users in conjunction with rating activity and / or trend information over a predetermined period of time. In this manner, a user can visualize the trending of an item within an application, SOCNET, SOME, website, newsfeed, etc. In this manner, a user when viewing items may see that an item whilst having a high rating has no current rating activity or that an item with a low rating at this point overall relative to others has highly active current rating activity. For example, the rating movement of the item of content may be defined as a ratio of recent activity over the period of time relative to the total rating. As such whilst Christiano Ronaldo may have an activity count over the past 48 hours, for example, of +25,000 on Facebook™, the fact that he has over 105 million likes on Facebook™ already means that this is approximately 0.02% of his overall rating. In contrast, Eugenie Bouchard gains +25,000 over the same time frame but as she only has a base of approximately 1 million then that is approximately 2% of her overall rating and accordingly significant relative to the activity on Ronaldo' s profile.

[00107] Now referring to Figure 15 there is depicted an exemplary user rating interface with respect to an RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention wherein the user has been presented with an item of content and has elected to view the rating, for example, via the "Rate It" icon displayed in the lower left corner of the display on their PED and a pop-up menu. In this instance the rating element 1510 which if selected expands to rating pop-up 1520 shows the rating of the user, "deadmau5", as well as the ratings that the user has themselves given. Accordingly, in this instance "deadmau5" is shown as having a rating "+34" and has rated "-1 17." If the user selects rating element 1510 then the rating pop-up 1520 is displayed wherein for each of the rating and rated results these are expanded to show the likes / dislikes as totals and the number of users rating or rated. Accordingly, "deadmau5" has rated 122 users within Facebook™ positively for total positive "score" of +435 and 145 users negatively for a total negative "score" of -652. The difference between these yielding the "rated" balance of -1 17.

[00108] Within Figure 15 the advertising content displayed in association with the rating is now a banner advertisement wherein the advertisement is selected in dependence upon a variety of factors including, but not limited, to the content being rated, user rating history, user demographics, rating, rating demographics, etc.

[00109] Now referring to first and second screenshots 1600 and 1650 in Figures 16A and 16B respectively there are depict exemplary screenshots of an RSRAP according to an embodiment of the invention providing duration based ratings within a search engine context. Accordingly, within first screenshot 1600 in Figure 16A the user is presented with a map based representation of a search for "Coffee Shops Glebe Ottawa." As evident this has returned 5 locations and linked to each is a rating 1610 which indicate ratings of: Morala Specialty Coffee +0; Bridgehead +1 , 158; Starbucks +2,568; Roast'n Brew +46; and Francesco's Coffee Co. Inc. +268.

[00110] Within each rating 1610 in addition to the rating is a heart rate trace. In some embodiments of the invention this may reflect the activity over a predetermined period of time with respect to each item within the search results, e.g. weekly, monthly, daily etc. Optionally, associated with the heart rate trace in this screenshot, as well as other screenshots described supra and below within which it appears, may be audio, visual, and / or audiovisual accents and / or effects in respect of these. For example, the rating 1610 for Starbucks™ as highest rated is highlighted, pulses, flashes, changes colour, is spoken, etc. to differentiate it within the search results in non-tabular search result formats where typically the highest ranked item is returned top of the list. If the user selects a rating 1610 as indicated in second screenshot 1650 in Figure 16B they are presented with additional analysis of the rating with respect to that item within rating pop-up 1620. In this instance the user has selected Starbucks™ which displays "Likes" as +2,868 from 425 users who rated the location and "Dislikes" as -310 from 15 users rating it.

[00111] Within Figure 16A the advertising content presented in association with the ratings screen is now derived from the geographical location rather than the specific search or search results. In this instance the search is of a region of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada known as the Glebe and the advertisement is one associated with the local Glebe Business Association representing retailers in the neighbourhood. In Figure 16B the advertisement is now from "Yellow Pages" who are running a "Shop the Neighbourhood" advertising campaign at the time the user performs the search with ratings based results.

[00112] Alternatively, referring to Figure 17 with screenshot 1700 where user's rated two aspects of each item within the search results, e.g. a coffee shop, and rated it as "like / dislike" but also on pricing with "$ (cheap) to $$$ (expensive)." Accordingly, rather than numeric values the user is presented with iconic ratings such that each search result is associated with a "thumbs down" (dislike), no icon (neutral), and "thumbs up" (like) for the search result and then "$", "$$", or "$$$" for assessment of pricing. In this instance each search result rating forms a hyperlink to a profile page of the search result within a SOCNET, e.g. Facebook™, from which the ratings were extracted. Alternatively, a search engine may acquire rating information directly by allowing a user to rate items identified within the search results. For example, Google™ may encourage users to rate search results through Google+ SOCNET pages.

[00113] Within the embodiments of the invention presented supra in respect of Figures 3 to 17 where the rating provided by a user is based upon the length / duration of their interaction with a feature of the RSRAP, e.g. buttons / slider etc., then this has been presented as being via a pop-up interface / window providing elements including, but not limited to, the rating features, buttons, icons, slider, rating indicator, and a guide. However, it would be evident that alternatively a user may enter a rating using other aspects of their interaction with the electronic device, typically a PED. Accordingly, as depicted in first to fifth images 1810 to 1850 and architecture 1800 within Figure 18 other such interfaces may be provided to the user. Considering initially first to third images 1810 to 1830 respectively then the user still exploits a touchscreen interface but now:

• First image 1810 provides for measurement of the length of time and / or distance the user moves their finger and / or an indicator across the touchscreen before selecting a rate button or triggering the rating through another action;

• Second image 1820 provides for measurement based upon the number of times the user taps the touchscreen before selecting a rate button or triggering the rating through another action; and

• Third image 1830 provides for measurement based upon the number of lines the user draws on the touchscreen before selecting a rate button or triggering the rating through another action. [00114] As with other embodiments of the invention the user interactions within the touchscreen etc. may trigger display of advertiser based content during their actions, e.g. during drawing the single line, per tap, or per swipe. The persistency of the images presented may vary according to settings of the software application providing the ratings overlay or based upon the advertiser. For example, second image 1820 may represent a high persistency so that the user has a visible perception of the number of taps although this may also be appropriate to swipes, lines, continuous traces etc.

[00115] Optionally, the speeds of the gesture and / or gestures may also be used to scale the positive or negative response together with some minimum threshold(s). For example, if the user draws five lines rapidly that exceed a minimum threshold length in third image 1830 then the rating generated based upon the calculated factor is increased by 50%, for example. Optionally, the direction of the lines in third image may generate negative ratings when made down or left, for example, and positive ratings when made up or right, for example. Alternatively, the faster the user makes the series of taps in order to exceed a threshold may adjust the rating applied. If the user taps fast to the threshold and stops then a lower rating may be applied than if the user maintains the rate of taps for a period of time past the threshold. Within fourth and fifth images 1840 and 1850 respectively a user may exploit the accelerometer within their PED to either trace a virtual gesture, e.g. forming a virtual "V" as shown in fourth image 1840 or shaking their PED as shown in fifth image 1850.

[00116] In the former instance the user may essentially virtually create the traces they generated in first and third images 1810 and 1830 respectively as well as predetermined shapes including for example, tracing out a number or pair of numbers virtually to enter a rating. In the latter instance the longer they shake or the harder they shake the larger the rating or if the RSRAP determines orientation of the PED as well then shaking with the PED "upright" can be increasing rating from 50%, for example, whilst shaking with the PED "upside down" can be decreasing the rating from 50%, for example. Alternatively, a series of discrete sharp moves may be taken to be the virtual equivalent of a series of taps such as were employed upon the touchscreen in second image 1820.

[00117] Alternatively, as depicted in architecture 1800 a user may have their PED 1870 coupled to a wearable device 1860B, e.g. Google Glass, which allows their gesture to be captured as part of generating a rating. Accordingly, the user may, for example, trigger a rating to be taken and the RSRAP on the PED 1870 processes the imagery from the wearable device 1 860B generating the rating which is stored, for example, remotely on a server via network 100. Optionally, the user's PED may communicate with other wearable devices, such as wristbands, fitness meters, smart watches etc. and generate ratings based upon the user's actions. For example, the user may wish to make a rating to a song played during a workout when their PED is within a pocket of their backpack but they are wearing a wrist based wearable device. Accordingly, at the end or during the track the user may establish a rating is to be made by a predetermined action with the wristband, for example, a shake followed by a downward snap after which the PED monitors the user's wearable device to establish the rating such as by their motion of their arm before a second shake indicates the rating is complete. It would be evident that in such instances a rating entry format may be determined by the characteristics of the wearable device.

[00118] Now referring to Figures 19A and 19B there are depicted alternate implementations of Figures 8A and 8B respectively but exploiting multiple direct sliders within exemplary screenshots of a rating application according to an embodiment of the invention providing contextually based multiple rating entry. Accordingly, a user may be provided with a duration based touch interface for rating entry addressing multiple disparate topics in a single compact and efficient interface. Referring to Figure 19A the advertiser content displayed is, in common with third screenshot 730 in Figure 7 presented and persists where the user's trace crosses each of the rating items. However, in this instance each item of advertising content is now associated with the underlying content, the recording artist Pharrell Williams. Accordingly, the advertising content presented, from top to bottom, is "GIRL" being an album by Pharrell Williams depicted as the album cover image, Columbia being his recording label, and the Apple™ iTunes™ logo where the user can access and acquire Pharrell Williams music, music videos etc. In Figure 19B the advertising content is again triggered and displayed when the user's trace crosses a rating item and is again determined by the underlying content which in this instance is a questionnaire in respect of Starbucks™ such that the advertising content presented is the Starbucks™ logo. However, it may be brands of Starbucks™ (e.g. Pike Place™, Breakfast Blend™, Veranda™) or a different category (e.g. Pods, Beans, Equipment, Breakfast, etc.).

[00119] Within Figure 20A a touch and pressure sensitive display is depicted according to the prior art. Accordingly, within the embodiments of the invention described and depicted supra in respect of Figures 1 to 19B the actions of the user with respect to the touch sensitive display may be combined with a pressure and / or force dependent element or they may exploit a force / pressure dependent rating generation. For example, a maximum rating may be by applying a large force / pressure for a predetermined duration whereas a rating of half the maximum may be from same force for half the period of time or half the force for same period of time. Optionally, full pressure for any duration is a maximum and reduced pressures / forces are lower ratings. Similarly, combining pressure / force with number of strokes, length of stroke etc. may provide a rating. Optionally, a low pressure for varying duration is a rating between, for example 0-35, a moderate pressure with varying duration a rating of 35- 70 and heavy pressure with varying duration is a rating between, for example 70-100.

[00120] Within embodiments of the invention touch and pressure sensitive displays may present the advertising content as described supra according to embodiments of the invention but they may also exploit it such that, for example, where a 50% rating may be given by applying a first force for a first period or by applying a higher / lower force for a shorter / longer period of time one or more characteristics of the advertising content may vary such as its size or opacity for example. Accordingly, the advertising content may be larger and more opaque the higher the pressure the user applies such that the impression presented is stronger for the reduced time the user needs to maintain the pressure to provide the rating. Optionally, the initial pressure may define the characteristics of the advertising content, such as opacity, size, etc. and these are maintained during the rating process or alternatively the characteristics may vary in dependence upon the pressure applied.

[00121] Optionally, the advertising content provided may itself vary in response to the pressure but other characteristics such as opacity for example are constant. For example, if the advertising content to be served relates to Ford™, for example, then a light pressure may display content relating to the Ford™ Focus whilst heavy pressure an advertisement relating to the Ford™ F- 150 truck.

[00122] Optionally, the advertising content presented may be varied in dependence upon the pressure applied and the context, e.g. user's current location, content being viewed / rated. Accordingly, a user rating a blog by a sports writer relating to the New York Yankees™ may be served an advertisement relating to a merchandise sale with light pressure and an advertisement for tickets with heavy pressure. However, if their current location is Boston then the advertisements may now relate to the Boston Red Sox™. [00123] Optionally, embodiments of the invention may exploit location contextual information such that if the user is within McDonalds™, for example, they are served content relating to McDonalds™ whilst if they are within Starbucks™ it is Starbucks™ advertising content etc. Within some instances the content may be defined by location context but the advertising content is associated with another brand that forms part of the enterprise or the enterprise's parent organization. Accordingly, a user in a Tim Hortons™ coffee shop may be served a Burger King™ advertisement as Burger King™ owns Tim Hortons™.

[00124] Optionally, embodiments of the invention may exploit location contextual information in association with user profile information such that if the user is within the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA then they may be served content by Nordstrom if a single 25-year-old female, content by House of Comedy if a single 23-year- old, Macys if a 35-year female, and Lego™ if a 32-year-old male with children. Optionally, other content such as the fact that Mall of America offers discounts to military personnel may be presented to user's having profiles indicating active military service. In other embodiments of the invention information content may be rendered rather than simply advertising content such that all users within the Mall of America after 6:45pm on Sundays are notified the mall closes at 7pm.

[00125] Optionally content may be dynamic rather than static, such that for example multimedia content is provided, or audio content is provided alongside an image or still content.

[00126] Optionally, the content rendered within an impression as the user rates may be "clicked through" based upon a predetermined action of the user such as tracing a circle, swiping to define edge of display, etc. or through a double tap immediately after their completion of a rating. In this manner the user is then presented with additional content or alternatively their user interface / web browser / social media etc. route to predetermined URL etc.

[00127] It would be evident to one of skill in the art that the embodiments of the invention create trackable, demographically defined, content impressions for advertisers etc. and accordingly the embodiments of the invention are compatible with prior art techniques such as click-through advertising, pay-per-impression, etc. as well as data mining, data analysis, and socioeconomic profiling. [00128] Pressure sensitive displays may exploit the magnitude of capacitance and / or resistance variations rather than simply location of the variation as well as other techniques including, but not limited, force sensing resistor, frustrated total internal reflection, etc. Pressure sensitive / force sensitive displays may simply detect a variation for a full display, regions of the display, and / or multiple displays forming a larger display.

[00129] Optionally, in Figure 20B the user may provide a rating through an interface such as the camera within their PED wherein the RSRAP captures an image, multiple images or video content and processes this to determine the user's emotion displayed, e.g. first to eighth emotions 2010 to 2080 relating to laughing, smiling, sad, crying, scared, disgusted, angry and bored. Either the derived motion is employed directly to express a rating, e.g. laughing implies higher joy than smiling, or the emotion is combined with a time dependent element relating to the length of time the user captures their image or an image, e.g. smiling for 5 seconds is a mild approval but smiling for 30 seconds is high approval. It would be evident that a rating the user generates may be derived from a combination of the above described and depicted input means. For example, applying light pressure to a camera icon whilst smiling is a mild approval whilst heavy pressure on the camera icon whilst smiling is a strong approval. Heavy pressure with a frown is a strong disapproval. Accordingly, ratings may be not only linear such as 0-100 but also on different, conceptually parallel planes, as high amusement is different from high laughter.

[00130] It would be evident to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention with respect to the RSRAP provide for what the inventors refer to as a "rating layer" that sits as an additional layer within the technology / application stacks allow all data accessed by a user to be rated. This rating layer pushes the rated data to cloud servers to be processed wherein the original data and / or processed data are stored in association with the user's profile, the content, and other references / identifiers / databases etc. Accordingly, the content may include, but is not limited to, images, video, written content, audio, real time news events, current affairs, people, multimedia content, places, sports events, food, products, and concepts.

[00131] Within the embodiments of the invention the RSRAP allows a user's ratings irrespective of the platform / software / application etc. that they are generated upon to be centralized to the user's profile and, optionally, other profiles, databases, etc. A user can therefore rate on any technology / application stack and have the items and their ratings stored that they rate. The ratings can be kept private, shared with the user's SOCNET(s) and / or be public.

[00132] Optionally, a user may rate anonymously and may rate items anonymously wherein these ratings would also be stored relative to an anonymous profile of the user and whilst counting to analytics, public ratings etc. would not be included within the public profile of the user and / or the ratings visible to the user's SOCNET(s). Similarly, a user can rate with an alternate identity and can rate items using an alternate identity. The identity can be any character. These ratings would be stored relative to the users alternate identity profile

[00133] Embodiments of the invention allow a user to rate items of content and within the descriptions of embodiments of the invention and the specification these have been primarily considered as being content acquired by the user through their PED and / or FED from activities such as searching, browsing, viewing, etc. However, it would also be apparent that a user may themselves acquire content, e.g. photographs, video, etc. in respect of activities / events etc. that they are partaking in or are a spectator to. For example, in Figure 18 the architecture 1800 considers the user as providing a haptic gesture in order to rate content acquired from a wearable device. This content may be an image, set of images, video, video segment, etc. acquired through a wearable device and pushed / posted to remote servers / applications via network 1800 including, but not limited to, RSRAP servers, SOCNET servers, etc. Optionally, such a process of acquiring, rating and pushing / posting content to the network / cloud may exploit content acquired directly by the PED discretely or in combination with one or more wearable devices.

[00134] Specific details are given in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it is understood that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[00135] Implementation of the techniques, blocks, steps and means described above may be done in various ways. For example, these techniques, blocks, steps and means may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described above and/or a combination thereof.

[00136] Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.

[00137] Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages and/or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, scripting language and/or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium, such as a storage medium. A code segment or machine-executable instruction may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures and/or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters and/or memory content. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

[00138] For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For example, software codes may be stored in a memory. Memory may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor and may vary in implementation where the memory is employed in storing software codes for subsequent execution to that when the memory is employed in executing the software codes. As used herein the term "memory" refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or other storage medium and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

[00139] Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term "storage medium" may represent one or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic disk storage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/or other machine readable mediums for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wireless channels and/or various other mediums capable of storing, containing or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

[00140] The methodologies described herein are, in one or more embodiments, performable by a machine which includes one or more processors that accept code segments containing instructions. For any of the methods described herein, when the instructions are executed by the machine, the machine performs the method. Any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine are included. Thus, a typical machine may be exemplified by a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. Each processor may include one or more of a CPU, a graphics-processing unit, and a programmable DSP unit. The processing system further may include a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM, and/or ROM. A bus subsystem may be included for communicating between the components. If the processing system requires a display, such a display may be included, e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD). If manual data entry is required, the processing system also includes an input device such as one or more of an alphanumeric input unit such as a keyboard, a pointing control device such as a mouse, and so forth.

[00141] The memory includes machine-readable code segments (e.g. software or software code) including instructions for performing, when executed by the processing system, one of more of the methods described herein. The software may reside entirely in the memory, or may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the RAM and/or within the processor during execution thereof by the computer system. Thus, the memory and the processor also constitute a system comprising machine-readable code.

[00142] In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to other machines, in a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. The machine may be, for example, a computer, a server, a cluster of servers, a cluster of computers, a web appliance, a distributed computing environment, a cloud computing environment, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. The term "machine" may also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[00143] The foregoing disclosure of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations and modifications of the embodiments described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. The scope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.

[00144] Further, in describing representative embodiments of the present invention, the specification may have presented the method and/or process of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps. However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps may be possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth in the specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims. In addition, the claims directed to the method and/or process of the present invention should not be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written, and one skilled in the art can readily appreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . A method of establishing at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface comprises at least one:

determining the duration of the user's interaction;

determining a strength of the user's interaction through an accelerometer forming part of the electronic device;

determining the duration of the user selecting a predetermined portion of a touchscreen forming part of the electronic device; and

determining a biometric characteristic of the user.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface comprises determining a biometric characteristic of the user at the time the user determines that they wish to establish the at least one of the strength and the expression with respect to an item of content displayed upon the electronic device.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising

determining another at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface comprising determining a biometric characteristic of the user at the time the user is initially presented with the item of content displayed upon the electronic device.

5. A method of displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction, wherein the user's physical interaction with the interface triggers the display of an item of advertising content.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein determining the at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface comprises at least one:

determining the duration of the user's interaction;

determining a biometric characteristic of the user.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein determining the at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface comprises determining a biometric characteristic of the user at the time the user determines that they wish to establish the at least one of the strength and the expression with respect to an item of content displayed upon the electronic device.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising

9. A method of displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to the user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device and displaying an item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the rating interface.

10. A method of displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages either a first rating interface upon the electronic device or a second rating interface upon the electronic device, wherein the first rating interface indicates a first sentiment and the second rating interfaces indicates a second sentiment and displaying a first item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the first rating interface and a second item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the second rating interface.

1 1 . The method according to claim 10, wherein the second sentiment is the opposite of the first sentiment.

12. A method of establishing a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device.

13. A method of establishing a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages either a first rating interface upon the electronic device or a second rating interface upon the electronic device, wherein the first rating interface indicates a first sentiment and the second rating interfaces indicates a second sentiment.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the second sentiment is the opposite of the first sentiment.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process for displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to the user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device and displaying an item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the rating interface.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages either a first rating interface upon the electronic device or a second rating interface upon the electronic device, wherein the first rating interface indicates a first sentiment and the second rating interfaces indicates a second sentiment and displaying a first item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the first rating interface and a second item of advertising content to the user during their engagement with the second rating interface.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a method displaying advertising content to a user during a process wherein the user establishes at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction, wherein the user's physical interaction with the interface triggers the display of an item of advertising content.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process comprising the step of establishing a rating of an item of electronic content presented to a user within a display upon an electronic device by measuring the length of time the user engages a rating interface upon the electronic device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process establishing at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon the duration of the user's physical interaction.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions which when executed by a microprocessor execute a process establishing at least one of a strength of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view and an expression of at least one of a sentiment, a feeling, a view of a user of an electronic device by presenting to the user an interface relating to the at least one of a strength and an expression and determining at least a characteristic of the user's physical interaction with the interface and establishing the at least one of the strength and the expression in dependence upon at least one of pressure and force of the user's physical interaction.