WO2019099936A1 - Trusted online review system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus and associated methods relate to a consumer-vendor matching platform configured to facilitate identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user, hiring the vendor to perform the j ob at the selected location, verifying authenticity of the user's review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment, and rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review. In an illustrative example, the review may be submitted for an uncompleted job. Review access may be, for example, only negative reviews, discouraging fake-positive reviews. In some examples, review access may be provided on a blockchain adapted to allow public access to tamper-proof reviews. Some embodiments may include review hash values on the blockchain. Various examples may advantageously provide proof of review authenticity based on double-hashed review metadata generated as a function of a reviewer-signed smart contract.

Description

TRUSTED ONLINE REVIEW SYSTEM AND METHOD

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application

Number 62/587,386 filed November 16, 2017.

[0002] This application incorporates the entire contents of the above-referenced application herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present invention relates generally to electronic rating systems and methods and more particularly to systems and methods for ensuring the legitimacy of online reviews and ratings in connection with vendors of services.

BACKGROUND

[0004] Customer reviews and ratings (sometimes hereinafter collectively referred to as“reviews”) of others’ goods and services have long been used in commerce. Businesses, institutions and agencies of all types (hereinafter,“providers”) commonly offer their customers, clients, constituents, etc. (hereinafter, generally referred to as“customers”) the opportunity to review the quality or performance (or some other measure) of their products and/or services. Reviews can serve as an important feedback loop for providers in order help them improve the products and services they sell or the performance of the providers themselves (i.e., the quality of their customer service). They can also serve as a useful source of ostensibly objective information for the wider population of potential customers, or consumers, regarding the services, products or providers reviewed. Indeed, many third-party companies have been built to address this latter need. They claim to serve as uninterested, objective repositories and sources of customer reviews and ratings. [0005] More recently, the pervasive adoption of the internet and the world wide web for commerce, and the ubiquity of online businesses, have led to a rise of online review platforms, whether offered by the businesses that offer (their own or others’) goods and services themselves ( e.g ., see ,“zappos.com” and“amazon.com” product review and ratings features) or as standalone, third-party, review or ratings platforms (e.g.,“yelp.com” or“edmunds.com”). To be sure, online reviews is big business.

[0006] For any consumer review or rating system or solution (generally,

“review platform”, or“platform”) to be useful - from the conventional“brick and mortar,” in-store, handwritten, form rating system (“real world”) to the modem internet-based, review platform (“online world”) - however, both the operator of the platform and the customers who provide their reviews to it must be trusted by the intended audience. The platform operator/owner, as the central authority that controls the entire process and stores and posts the customers reviews, must be trusted to not tamper with - by manipulating, omitting or ranking in non-transparent ways - legitimate reviews, and to not improperly count or include fake reviews submitted to the platforms. The reviews that are posted must also be trusted that they are sourced from actual customers and reflect the true opinions of these users of the goods or services being reviewed. In other words, for any online review platform to work as intended, there must be consumer confidence that the reviews posted on the review website have three key characteristics: reviews must be (1) authentic - made by actual purchasers or users of the products or services and not by fake reviewers; (2) unbiased - they are not falsified or skewed (even if authentic users) by reviewers motivated to falsify their reviews - whether unduly positive or negative, because of some externality; and (3) once uploaded to the review platform, not tampered with - that is not manipulated by the platform operator selectively including, omitting, ranking or demoting authentic, unbiased reviews, thereby skewing the true review profile of the reviewed service, good or provider.

[0007] Unfortunately, the essential technological nature and intrinsic structure of the internet makes online review systems and platforms uniquely problematic when compared with conventional brick and mortar type review systems. In particular, the distributed and decentralized nature of the network of computers that comprises the internet enables simple, instantaneous, and anonymous online review inputs/submissions from prospective reviewers anywhere in the world. When such online reviews are received, stored and processed by computer systems that are operated by and under the control of a central authority (whether the provider itself or a third party review platform), it can be appreciated that the field of online reviews is particularly vulnerable to the aforementioned abuses of fake, biased and manipulated reviews in ways that are simply not relevant to the“old-school,” face-to-face, consumer product review environment.

[0008] Indeed, many savvy consumers have come to the conclusion that they simply can’t rely on - trust - consumer reviews of others’ products and services they see online. They understand that virtually any conventional online review platform can be manipulated by interested (or uninterested) parties to, for example, (a) randomly rate/review a vendor one hasn’t even hired; (b) submit reviews of one’s self or one’s own product with, say, 5-stars; (c) falsely negatively review a competitor; (d) pay “review solicitation companies” to write favorable reviews for a business’s own goods and services as a way to artificially inflate its search ranking and online reputation, either using individuals or‘bots’ systems to automate these fake reviews, and even (e) pay the ostensibly“objective” third party review platform providers displaying a provider’s reviewed product or service to delete or‘hide’ negative reviews.

[0009] Not only do these dishonest tactics occur in the online world, but there is evidence that these problems have significantly impacted many business owners’ and online shoppers’ reliance on online reviews. A recent Pew study revealed that “the trustworthiness of online reviews has come into question in recent years, as business owners and consumers alike have voiced concerns about the validity and truthfulness of the information posted on various online review sites. And when asked about this issue in 2016, Americans themselves are nearly evenly split. Roughly half (51%) of those who read online reviews say they generally give an accurate picture of the true quality of the product, but a similar share (48%) believes it is often hard to tell if online reviews are truthful and unbiased.” See, http : //www. pewi nternet. org/2016/ 12/ 19/oni i ne-revi e w s/. Moreover, since more

American report being influenced by highly negative reviews than are influenced by highly positive ones, the incentive for bad actors to“plant” fake poor reviews about their competitors’ products and services is strong, and there’s evidence to back up that this happens more than one might expect.

[0010] This problem does not even factor in the SEO (search engine optimization)“paid placement” problem ( e.g if there are 2200 plumbers serving New York City, then, when searching online for NYC plumbers, who gets to be in the top 10 in returned results? The one’s who pay the search engine (or pay the most.) Simply said, it is too easy to skew the real picture - by creating inauthentic reviews, deleting/hiding authentic ones, or not honestly ranking providers - with consumers having no way of knowing these acts are happening. Moreover, this trust problem is exacerbated by third party review platforms that automatically match a consumer with a vendor who isn’t even relevant to consumer’s needs because of algorithms that aren’t solely based off reviews.

[0011] Solutions have been proposed to address the fake and biased online review problems. For example, Yelp, one of the most well-known, third-party platforms for consumer review of businesses, has attempted to solve these problems in a number of ways. Using Yelp’s online platform, a consumer can search on her computer or mobile device for any listed business/vendor of potential interest to retrieve the vendor’s contact information, gather basic information about the vendor, and/or read consumer reviews about the business. She can also very easily rate any vendor she pleases. But Yelp has faced many trust problems. This will be best understood by reviewing the historical progression of the problems of trustworthiness and authenticity problems associated uniquely with online ratings and review platforms, such as Yelp.

[0012] How the problems started: A user could simply go to the online entry of any vendor or service business listed on Yelp and rate it. There was no way to know whether the reviewer actually hired the company for the job. A person could literally randomly search and rate a vendor just for fun - either negatively or positively - not realizing that his/her negative review could have just ruined the reputation of the vendor, diminishing the chances of that vendor getting any more jobs, because of other prospective customers being so influenced by the negative review.

[0013] Vendors soon understood that they themselves could simply go onto these platforms and rate their own businesses - whether using their personal profiles or creating fake profiles, thereby further compromising the trustworthiness of the platform. At the same time, vendors realized that they could go even further - using the same review platform that they are on, and, using their own or fake profiles, falsely negatively rate their competitors. Adding to these problems, vendors were known to solicit their friends to rate their businesses positively and/or rate their competitors negatively in order to artificially skew the review picture in their favor.

[0014] Next came the opportunists, seeing a way to make money from these problems. Seeing that any individual could easily rate any vendor with such ease, and any vendor could simply rate itself, or negatively rate a competitor, these opportunists began creating companies to offer to cleverly implement these false tactics for vendors, by using either employees and, more sophisticatedly, creating‘hot systems’ to create and submit fake reviews and ratings on demand and charge vendors for the service.

[0015] Finally, came some of the “objective” third-party review sites themselves. Wanting a piece of this business, they offered for a price to delete or“hide” reviews that vendors don’t like. These platforms developed algorithms to automatically move one’s reviews into a‘non-recommended’ section of their sites, or to“de-rank” reviews - move the review so low down in the list of reviews with the hope/expectation that prospective customers would not bother to look that far down the list. And, the theory went, that users that would actually bother to scroll down and read all reviews - thus, finding the bad review(s) - would not likely hire the provider in the first place.

[0016] These tactics became so pervasive that Yelp soon realized that the very integrity and popularity of their platform was at risk: the consuming public was starting to catch on, some were no longer trusting the site, with the potential for many more consumers and vendors to stop using Yelp altogether. Accordingly, Yelp has been trying to aggressively address these problems using both technological and non- technological“fixes.” Yelp tries to discourage this behavior through implementing its “Consumer Alert” program and other policies, publishing“Yelp’s guide to success,” blogging about the ills of such tactics, trying to appeal to the moral sensibilities of its user base, and may even conduct sting operations and take legal actions to root out bad actors that come to its attention. On the technology side, Yelp has launched an artificial intelligence (AI)“robot” system it calls“recommendation software”- which, it claims, automatically analyzes all reviews to weed out unreliable ones, including by checking the background of all new raters to try to determine if he or she is a trustworthy, reliable and authentic reviewer or not.

[0017] Unfortunately, this automated system is not a panacea. One vendor reported experiencing faults with this new“hot” technology when it was discovered that a number of authentic raters were inexplicably moved to the‘non-recommended’ sections of the site. Even worse, some of the vendor’s friends who were actually not authentic raters (the vendor simply asked them to give his store a good rating without them even going to the store) passed Yelp’s AI system and were indeed approved as recommended reviewers, while actual, authentic customers were not.

[0018] Other online platforms for ratings of vendors and products fare no better.

They have spent much time and money trying to figure out technological solutions to the online review problem, but still come up short.

[0019] With respect to each of the aforementioned“trust problems,” either the problem itself would not exist, or the problem would be far less pervasive, but for the technological implementation of the consumer review business - namely, the remote, electronic means of customers submitting and companies posting reviews online. Thus, while review platforms remain popular and influential, there is a definite need for a technological solution to the technology-caused online ratings trust problem, and particularly with respect to to vendors offering services to the public, especially in a competitive marketplace. SUMMARY

[0020] The present invention provides a robust, technological solution to these problems by implementing an online review platform that both authenticates and tamper-proofs electronically submitted reviews by consumers who interact with providers of services, such as vendors.

[0021] The present invention provides novel solutions to these problems. It discloses solutions to the“authentication problem” by implementing novel computer implemented rules that automatically confirm that the reviewer is in fact a user of the provider’s services. It discloses solutions to the tampering problem by implementing technology that removes sole control of the processing and storage of consumer reviews from the central authority via novel implementations of the blockchain as a trustless mechanism for recording reviews. In the preferred embodiment, every“trusted review” submitted by a user is automatically sent as a“smart contract” to the blockchain as an indelible and public record, completely isolated from - outside of the control of - the review platform operator. Being unable to tamper with the publicly visible reviews on a blockchain, and knowing that reviews will be able to be audited by anyone any point in time, platform operators whether a provider or a third party, will not manipulate reviews on their own websites.

[0022] It is to be understood that the invention described herein is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components described hereinafter and illustrated in the drawings and flow diagrams. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Further advantages of the present invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art with the benefit of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0024] FIGs. 1 A-1B together depict a flow diagram of the operation of a portion of the present invention as implemented with an exemplary online customer-vendor matching service, the“YINC service”, in accordance with various non-limiting embodiments of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the components of the system that process an authentic review created according to the embodiment shown in FIGs. 1 A- 1B, according to one preferred method of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the process by which the components shown in FIG 2 operate according to one preferred method of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the inventive solution, as depicted by one set of preferred embodiments in FIGs. 1A-1B, 2, and 3, may be implemented and used by the public to audit reviews.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structural view of an exemplary trusted online review system configured in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic view of an exemplary trusted online review network configured with an illustrative trusted online review system in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] Referring now to the drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding features throughout the several views. [0031] The drawings show a number of flow diagrams that explain the processes and components of the present invention. FIG. 1 A shows a process flow of one aspect of one preferred embodiment of the present invention in the context of a customer, or user, 2 searching for a service provider, or vendor, 4 (say, a plumber in New York) using the YINC™ online consumer-vendor matching platform 6. This diagram shows one process flow for how a customer, using this novel platform 6, may search, select and hire one vendor 4, and, after the job is completed and paid for, will being given the opportunity to submit a tamper-proof review or rating to the platform. In particular, in Step 10 customer/user 2 goes to the YINC website searching for a vendor ( e.g ., a plumber) and creates a“job lead,” or“vendor lead,” on the YINC platform by selecting a service category, or“job,” needed to be done (e.g., plumbing repair) and location (e.g, NYC) in which she needs the job done. In Step 20, YINC invites a group of vendors that match the criteria to bid on the job. In one exemplary embodiment, YINC-selects a pre-selected number of vendors from a larger population of potential vendors in its database that meet the search criteria. At this point, any of the invited vendors can choose to respond and make a bid to the customer 2. Optionally, this can be done in a private chat setting. In Step 30, control shifts to the user 2; she decides which one or more, if any, of the vendors presented on the YINC website to communicate with. Then, in Step 40, any vendors so approached decide if they want to respond, and if so, may provide the terms (price, timing, etc.) for the job. There is no middleman involved with the communications between the user and the one or more vendors, and no incentive or way for the platform provider YINC 6 to influence the user to choose a specific vendor. At Step 50, the user selects one vendor of choice and completes the hiring of that vendor 4 through YINC 6. In this embodiment, following the typical scenario, the vendor gets confirmation of the hire from YINC, at Step 60 commences the job and at Step 70 completes the job.

[0032] At this point, the customer/user 2 is considered a legitimate, prospective reviewer and, since the job is completed, has all the information needed to review or rate this vendor 4 on the YINC online platform 6. However, in this preferred embodiment, two conditions must be met before YINC will send the user a link to a webpage for entering and submitting her online review: (1) in Step 80, the vendor 4 itself must confirm to YINC that the job was completed (“Y”) (see below for the case where the job is not completed); AND (2) in Step 90, YINC must confirm that that user paid for the job (“Y”) - either through the YINC platform itself or through some other YINC-verifiable payment mechanism (see below for the case where the job was completed but the customer does not pay). Only after both conditions are met, indicating she is a legitimate paying reviewer for a job completed, at Step 95, this user 2 is given the option to review and rate the vendor 4 with an“Authentic Review” on the YINC Review Platform. On the other hand, as shown at the decision points 80 and 90, if either the vendor fails to confirm that it finished the job (80 =“N”), or even if it did, YINC cannot confirm that the Customer/User paid the Vendor (90 =“N”), then reviewing by either the Customer or the Vendor is not permitted.

[0033] In one embodiment, any point before Step 50, the customer and vendor are welcome to“end the job,” and after Step 70 the parties may choose to not have payment for the services run through the platform or its proxy. But in order to leave an “Authentic (Job Done) Review,” the customer must pay through YINC or its proxy and have the vendor confirm the job, so the platform knows the job and transaction were actually done.

[0034] In an alternative or supplemental embodiment, after the customer and vendor make the deal to move forward at Step 50, the review platform of the present invention can permit reviews even where the job commences at Step 60 but is not actually completed in Step 70. This can happen if either the customer or vendor decides to stop the job before it is completed. Indeed, if the reason is that customer is unhappy with the vendor or his service, the customer may terminate the job in the middle and not pay the vendor.

[0035] FIG. 1B is a flow diagram showing the operation of a portion of the present invention stemming from the flow diagram of FIG. 1 A in accordance with another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG 1B of the present invention accounts for these circumstances and enables authentic reviews for a“Job Not Completed.” Still referring to FIG. 1A, after the vendor commences the job at Step 60, following the dotted line exiting 60 to Step 62 of FIG. 1B, the customer/user 2, or in some cases it may be the vendor 4, terminates the job before completion. In Step 64, the fact that the job was terminated before it was completed must be confirmed to the YINC platform by both sides to the transaction. Once confirmed, at Step 66, YINC sends a link to each of the customer and vendor to a review page for reviewing/rating the other. However, in one embodiment, only negative (or neutral) review options are made available to the customer and vendor. This negative-review-only option prevents the scam scenario where a vendor and user team up to“play” the platform only to create a fake-positive review for the vendor (and potentially the user), by having the user“hire” the vendor with full intention to not actually use the vendor’s services, but rather terminate before any real work gets done, only to create positive reviews.

[0036] This will be an anomalous situation in the example illustrated, because negative reviews almost always come from the consumer who pays for the service, especially if she was unhappy with the job. Nonetheless, the system accounts for the situation where the job is completed as in Step 70, but the customer is wholly unsatisfied with the service or product and refuses to pay.

[0037] In yet another alternative embodiment, the system can be set up to carry two categories of reviews - those from paying customers, whose reviews are“tamper- proofed” using the blockchain invention disclosed below, and those “non-paid reviews,” both negative and also positive. Both sets would be available for viewing on the platform to consumers at large, but the platform would clearly indicate which are from‘paid’ or completed transaction (highly reliable reviews) and those that are not - the“trust at your own discretion” group of reviews.

[0038] Having an“Authentic Review” submitted to the YINC website by verified user 2 addresses some, but not the entirety of the problems discussed above. It does not address the risk of a“central authority” (the platform 6) tampering with the reviews submitted. The present invention addresses this independent, tampering problem by technologically solving the central authority trust problem; namely, the novel application of blockchain technology onto which to a permanent record of the authentic review is automatically and irrefutably recorded, completely isolated from the central authority platform 6.

[0039] Accordingly, referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, shown are components and a preferred inventive process by which central authority is removed from the platform provider YINC 6 with respect to an Authentic Review 100, whether submitted by a user 2 or vendor 4, and whether of the“Job Completed” or Job Not Completed” type or some other type of review. This is accomplished by making novel use of blockchain technology, and, presently in the case of YINC, the Ethereum platform. The present example shows the process in connection with a customer/user 2 submitting a trusted review, but it will be understood that the same process and flow described herein works similarly for a vendor review of a customer.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, to be read in conjunction with the block diagram of

FIG. 2, in Step 1000, the metadata associated with the User Review 100, including for example, the text of the review itself, a timestamp, author name, etc., is hashed to create a text value, or User-Hashed Text Value (UHTV). The hash algorithm used may either be performed on the user-side, or if by YINC, must be replicable on the user-side to allow the user to audit whether the hash is correct. The hash algorithm must be public and well-known, and, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, can be performed using any operating systems, processors, and in any programming languages. In some embodiments, the hash algorithm may require a seed and in others it won’t. If a seed is used, it must be public and known to all parties. Next, in Step 1100 a function is called from the reviewer-user’s site-owned Ethereum Wallet 110 to“sign” a YINC “smart contract” 130. The function will include the UHTV as a parameter. It should be understood to those in the art that any cryptocurrency that has features similar to Ethereum or other trustless authentication system and meet the needs of the present invention, may be employed in place of the Ethereum platform.

[0041] Likewise, in Step 1200, YINC will also independently hash the same review metadata to create a text value, called herein a YINC-Hashed Text Value (YHTV). In Step 1300, YINC will call the same“signing” function from YINC’s own Ethereum Wallet 120 to the YINC smart contract 130. This Function will include the YHTV as a parameter.

[0042] Once both functions are executed, the smart contract 130 will then send and write this double-hashed review metadata (as well as possibly other data) to the Ethereum blockchain as a permanent record of the transaction - the user authenticated review. As is understood, once recorded, the review/rating can never be deleted or paid to be removed from the blockchain.

[0043] The manner in which this will be used by the public will now be described in connection with FIG. 4. In Step 2000, YINC will permanently display the double hashed text value (DHTV) publicly alongside the corresponding review posted by YINC on its review platform. At any time, any user can simply compare the double- hashed text value displayed on the website with the value stored in the blockchain to confirm that they match.

[0044] Importantly, in Step 2100, the interested public will also be able to run the public hash algorithm that the platform provide will make available against the review metadata at any time as well, to verify that the YINC review site is displaying an accurate hash value. In this manner, anyone will be able to audit a review at any point in time, and verify that no tampering occurred.

[0045] Even if there is a dispute and everyone agrees that the review was a mistake or something was wrong, the initial review will not get deleted because with the blockchain, every record is permanent and visible to the public. In such a case, a new thread would simply by added to the prior thread. In this case, one would be able to see both the original review and then the new one stating the prior one was a mistake or false, and the consumer can decide for themselves what to believe, as well any responses posted by the vendor. [0046] A simpler way to understand this: If Jon borrows $100 from Mike, and then pays him back, one can write those two transactions down in a ledger, but at some later time, those records can be deleted, destroyed, or altered. However, when recording on the blockchain both transactions are permanent and public.

[0047] In various examples, the method steps given in the flow diagrams depicted by FIGs. 1 A-1B, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 may be given from the perspective of the TORE (Trusted Online Review Engine) 3025 executing as program instructions on the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 processor 3005, depicted in FIG. 5.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structural view of an exemplary trusted online review system configured in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the block diagram of the exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 includes processor 3005 and memory 3010. The processor 3005 is in electrical communication with the memory 3010. The depicted memory 3010 includes program memory 3015 and data memory 3020. The depicted program memory 3015 includes processor-executable program instructions implementing the TORE (Trusted Online Review Engine) 3025. In various implementations, the depicted data memory 3020 may include data configured to encode a predictive analytic model. In some embodiments, the illustrated program memory 3015 may include processor-executable program instructions configured to implement an OS (Operating System). In various embodiments, the OS may include processor executable program instructions configured to implement various operations when executed by the processor 3005. In some embodiments, the OS may be omitted. In some embodiments, the illustrated program memory 3015 may include processor- executable program instructions configured to implement various Application Software. In various embodiments, the Application Software may include processor executable program instructions configured to implement various operations when executed by the processor 3005. In some embodiments, the Application Software may be omitted. In the depicted embodiment, the processor 3005 is communicatively and operably coupled with the storage medium 3030. In the depicted embodiment, the processor 3005 is communicatively and operably coupled with the I/O (Input / Output) interface 3035. In the depicted embodiment, the I/O interface 3035 includes a network interface. In various implementations, the network interface may be a wireless network interface. In some designs, the network interface may be a Wi-Fi interface. In some embodiments, the network interface may be a Bluetooth interface. In an illustrative example, the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may include more than one network interface. In some designs, the network interface may be a wireline interface. In some designs, the network interface may be omitted. In the depicted embodiment, the processor 3005 is communicatively and operably coupled with the user interface 3040. In various implementations, the user interface 3040 may be adapted to receive input from a user or send output to a user. In some embodiments, the user interface 3040 may be adapted to an input-only or output-only user interface mode. In various implementations, the user interface 3040 may include an imaging display. In some embodiments, the user interface 3040 may include an audio interface. In some designs, the audio interface may include an audio input. In various designs, the audio interface may include an audio output. In some implementations, the user interface 3040 may be touch-sensitive. In some designs, the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may include an accelerometer operably coupled with the processor 3005. In various embodiments, the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may include a GPS module operably coupled with the processor 3005. In an illustrative example, the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may include a magnetometer operably coupled with the processor 3005. In some embodiments, some or all parts of an exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 system may be included within a client device, such that the functionalities could operate in a distributed manner. In some embodiments, the user interface 3040 may include an input sensor array. In various implementations, the input sensor array may include one or more imaging sensor. In various designs, the input sensor array may include one or more audio transducer. In some implementations, the input sensor array may include a radio-frequency detector. In an illustrative example, the input sensor array may include an ultrasonic audio transducer. In some embodiments, the input sensor array may include image sensing subsystems or modules configurable by the processor 3005 to be adapted to provide image input capability, image output capability, image sampling, spectral image analysis, correlation, autocorrelation, Fourier transforms, image buffering, image filtering operations including adjusting frequency response and attenuation characteristics of spatial domain and frequency domain filters, image recognition, pattern recognition, or anomaly detection. In various implementations, the depicted memory 3010 may contain processor executable program instruction modules configurable by the processor 3005 to be adapted to provide image input capability, image output capability, image sampling, spectral image analysis, correlation, autocorrelation, Fourier transforms, image buffering, image filtering operations including adjusting frequency response and attenuation characteristics of spatial domain and frequency domain filters, image recognition, pattern recognition, or anomaly detection. In some embodiments, the input sensor array may include audio sensing subsystems or modules configurable by the processor 3005 to be adapted to provide audio input capability, audio output capability, audio sampling, spectral audio analysis, correlation, autocorrelation, Fourier transforms, audio buffering, audio filtering operations including adjusting frequency response and attenuation characteristics of temporal domain and frequency domain filters, audio pattern recognition, or anomaly detection. In various implementations, the depicted memory 3010 may contain processor executable program instruction modules configurable by the processor 3005 to be adapted to provide audio input capability, audio output capability, audio sampling, spectral audio analysis, correlation, autocorrelation, Fourier transforms, audio buffering, audio filtering operations including adjusting frequency response and attenuation characteristics of temporal domain and frequency domain filters, audio pattern recognition, or anomaly detection. In the depicted embodiment, the processor 3005 is communicatively and operably coupled with the multimedia interface 3045. In the illustrated embodiment, the multimedia interface 3045 includes interfaces adapted to input and output of audio, video, and image data. In some embodiments, the multimedia interface 3045 may include one or more still image camera or video camera. In various designs, the multimedia interface 3045 may include one or more microphone. In some implementations, the multimedia interface 3045 may include a wireless communication means configured to operably and communicatively couple the multimedia interface 3045 with a multimedia data source or sink external to the YINC online consumer- vendor matching platform 6. In various designs, the multimedia interface 3045 may include interfaces adapted to send, receive, or process encoded audio or video. In various embodiments, the multimedia interface 3045 may include one or more video, image, or audio encoder. In various designs, the multimedia interface 3045 may include one or more video, image, or audio decoder. In various implementations, the multimedia interface 3045 may include interfaces adapted to send, receive, or process one or more multimedia stream. In various implementations, the multimedia interface 3045 may include a GPU. In some embodiments, the multimedia interface 3045 may be omitted. Useful examples of the illustrated YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 include, but are not limited to, personal computers, servers, tablet PCs, smartphones, or other computing devices. In some embodiments, multiple YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 devices may be operably linked to form a computer network in a manner as to distribute and share one or more resources, such as clustered computing devices and server banks/farms. Various examples of such general-purpose multi-unit computer networks suitable for embodiments of the disclosure, their typical configuration and many standardized communication links are well known to one skilled in the art, as explained in more detail in the FIG. 6 description. In some embodiments, an exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 design may be realized in a distributed implementation. In an illustrative example, some YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 designs may be partitioned between a client device, such as, for example, a phone, and, a more powerful server system, such as depicted in FIG. 6. In various designs, a YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 partition hosted on a PC or mobile device may choose to delegate some parts of computation, such as, for example, machine learning or deep learning, to a host compute server. In some embodiments, a client device partition may delegate computation-intensive tasks to a host compute server to take advantage of a more powerful processor, or to offload excess work. In an illustrative example, some mobile devices may be configured with a mobile chip including an engine adapted to implement specialized processing, such as, for example, neural networks, machine learning, artificial intelligence, image recognition, audio processing, or digital signal processing. In some embodiments, such an engine adapted to specialized processing may have sufficient processing power to implement some YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 features. However, in some embodiments, an exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may be configured to operate on device with less processing power, such as, for example, various gaming consoles, which may not have sufficient processor power, or a suitable CPU architecture, to adequately support a particular YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 design. Various embodiment YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 designs configured to operate on a such a device with reduced processor power may work in conjunction with a more powerful YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 server system.

[0049] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic view of an exemplary trusted online review network configured with an illustrative trusted online review system in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 6, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, data may be transferred to the system, stored by the system and/or transferred by the system to users of the system across local area networks (LANs) or wide area networks (WANs). In accordance with various embodiments, the system may be comprised of numerous servers, data mining hardware, computing devices, or any combination thereof, communicatively connected across one or more LANs and/or WANs. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous manners in which the system could be configured, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any operable configuration. Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic overview of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In the depicted embodiment, an exemplary system includes the exemplary trusted online review system 6 configured to enable users to search for, select, hire, and verifiably review vendors. In FIG. 6, the user 2 employs the trusted online review system 6 to search for, select, hire, and review the plumber 4 via the network cloud 4005. In the depicted embodiment, the trusted online review system 6 is an exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform. In the illustrated example, the user 2 employs the exemplary mobile computing device 4010 to use the exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 via the network cloud 4005. In the depicted example, the mobile computing device 4010 is communicatively and operably coupled with the network cloud 4005 by the wireless communication link 4020 facilitated by the wireless access point 4015 communicatively coupled with the network cloud 4005. In the illustrated embodiment, the exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 is communicatively and operably coupled with the network cloud 4005 by the communication link 4025 facilitated by the router 4030 communicatively coupled with the network cloud 4005. In the depicted embodiment, the blockchain-as-a-service host 4035 is communicatively and operably coupled with the network cloud 4005 via the communication link 4040 facilitated by the router 4030 communicatively coupled with the network cloud 4005. In the illustrated embodiment, the plumber 4 employs the exemplary computing device 4045 to use the exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 via the network cloud 4005. In the depicted example, the computing device 4045 is communicatively and operably coupled with the network cloud 4005 by the wireless communication link 4050 facilitated by the wireless access point 4055 communicatively coupled with the network cloud 4005. In the illustrated embodiment, the exemplary YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 is communicatively and operably coupled by the router 4030 and the communication link 4025 with the network cloud 4005 (e.g., the Internet) to send, retrieve, or manipulate information in storage devices, servers, and network components, and exchange information with various other systems and devices via the network cloud 4005. In various examples, one or more of the mobile computing device 4010, the blockchain-as-a-service host 4035, the computing device 4045, or the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may include an application server configured to store or provide access to information used by the system. In various embodiments, one or more application server may retrieve or manipulate information in storage devices and exchange information through the network cloud 4005. In some examples, one or more of the mobile computing device 4010, the blockchain-as-a-service host 4035, the computing device 4045, or the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 may include various applications implemented as processor-executable program instructions. In some embodiments, various processor-executable program instruction applications may also be used to manipulate information stored remotely and process and analyze data stored remotely across the network cloud 4005 (e.g., the Internet). According to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, exchange of information through the network cloud 4005 or other network may occur through one or more high speed connections. In some cases, high speed connections may be over-the-air (OTA), passed through networked systems, directly connected to one or more network cloud 4005 or directed through one or more router. In various implementations, one or more router may be optional, and other embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure may or may not utilize one or more router. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous ways any or all of the depicted devices may connect with the network cloud 4005 for the exchange of information, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any operable method for connecting to networks for the purpose of exchanging information. Further, while this application may refer to high speed connections, embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized with connections of any useful speed. In an illustrative example, components or modules of the system may connect to one or more of the mobile computing device 4010, the blockchain-as-a-service host 4035, the computing device 4045, or the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 via the network cloud 4005 or other network in numerous ways. For instance, a component or module may connect to the system i) through a computing device directly connected to the network cloud 4005, ii) through a computing device connected to the network cloud 4005 through a routing device, or iii) through a computing device connected to a wireless access point. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there are numerous ways that a component or module may connect to a device via network cloud 4005 or other network, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any network connection method. In various examples, one or more of the mobile computing device 4010, the blockchain-as-a-service host 4035, the computing device 4045, or the YINC online consumer-vendor matching platform 6 could be comprised of a personal computing device, such as a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computing device, cloud-based computing device, virtual computing device, or desktop computing device, configured to operate as a host for other computing devices to connect to. In some examples, one or more communications means of the system may be any circuitry or other means for communicating data over one or more networks or to one or more peripheral devices attached to the system, or to a system module or component. Appropriate communications means may include, but are not limited to, wireless connections, wired connections, cellular connections, data port connections, Bluetooth® connections, near field communications (NFC) connections, or any combination thereof. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there are numerous communications means that may be utilized with embodiments of the present disclosure, and embodiments of the present disclosure are contemplated for use with any communications means.

[0050] In addition to the preferred embodiments, the present invention can be implemented to solve other online authentication problems as well. Mentioned above is the problem of‘fake profiles’ - which is actually a multi -industry issue. It is very hard for any provider or user to verify someone who makes an online profile. Every step of verification can be forged. One can create fake email or even several emails, fake Facebook pages, get phantom phone numbers, etc.... There really is no way to know if someone is who they say they are and/or if several‘people’ or‘raters’ aren’t really the same person. With YINC’s inventive solution, this problem is solved as well. Not necessarily by eliminating the fake profiles, but more importantly being that the reviews are what matters most - people want to see reviews from a consumer who actually hired the vendor, and the YINC solution is a formula for making sure the review is from an actual paying customer.

[0051] While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Various changes, modifications, and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that the present invention encompass such changes and modifications.

[0052] In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the Claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features of various embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of embodiments of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used— to the extent possible— in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.

[0053] While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. The invention is capable of myriad modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

[0054] It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisan would recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments.

[0055] In the present disclosure, various features may be described as being optional, for example, through the use of the verb“may;”, or, through the use of any of the phrases:“in some embodiments,”“in some implementations,”“in some designs,” “in various embodiments,”“in various implementations,”,“in various designs,”“in an illustrative example,” or“for example;” or, through the use of parentheses. For the sake of brevity and legibility, the present disclosure does not explicitly recite each and every permutation that may be obtained by choosing from the set of optional features. However, the present disclosure is to be interpreted as explicitly disclosing all such permutations. For example, a system described as having three optional features may be embodied in seven different ways, namely with just one of the three possible features, with any two of the three possible features or with all three of the three possible features. [0056] In various embodiments elements described herein as coupled or connected may have an effectual relationship realizable by a direct connection or indirectly with one or more other intervening elements.

[0057] In the present disclosure, the term "any" may be understood as designating any number of the respective elements, i.e. as designating one, at least one, at least two, each or all of the respective elements. Similarly, the term "any" may be understood as designating any collection(s) of the respective elements, i.e. as designating one or more collections of the respective elements, a collection comprising one, at least one, at least two, each or all of the respective elements. The respective collections need not comprise the same number of elements.

[0058] While various embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made to the configuration, operation and form of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In particular, it is noted that the respective features of embodiments of the invention, even those disclosed solely in combination with other features of embodiments of the invention, may be combined in any configuration excepting those readily apparent to the person skilled in the art as nonsensical. Likewise, use of the singular and plural is solely for the sake of illustration and is not to be interpreted as limiting.

[0059] In the present disclosure, all embodiments where“comprising” is used may have as alternatives“consisting essentially of,” or“consisting of.” In the present disclosure, any method or apparatus embodiment may be devoid of one or more process steps or components. In the present disclosure, embodiments employing negative limitations are expressly disclosed and considered a part of this disclosure.

[0060] Certain terminology and derivations thereof may be used in the present disclosure for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. For example, words such as“upward,”“downward,”“left,” and“right” would refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similarly, words such as “inward” and “outward” would refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. References in the singular tense include the plural, and vice versa, unless otherwise noted.

[0061] The term“comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, among others, are optionally present. For example, an embodiment “comprising” (or “which comprises”) components A, B and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also contain one or more other components.

[0062] Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).

[0063] The term“at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote the start of a range beginning with that number (which may be a range having an upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable being defined). For example,“at least 1” means 1 or more than 1. The term“at most” followed by a number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variable being defined). For example,“at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and“at most 40%” means 40% or less than 40%. When, in this specification, a range is given as“(a first number) to (a second number)” or“(a first number) - (a second number),” this means a range whose limit is the second number. For example, 25 to 100 mm means a range whose lower limit is 25 mm and upper limit is 100 mm.

[0064] Many suitable methods and corresponding materials to make each of the individual parts of embodiment apparatus are known in the art. According to an embodiment of the present invention, one or more of the parts may be formed by machining, 3D printing (also known as“additive” manufacturing), CNC machined parts (also known as“subtractive” manufacturing), and injection molding, as will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Metals, wood, thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers, resins and elastomers as may be described herein-above may be used. Many suitable materials are known and available and can be selected and mixed depending on desired strength and flexibility, preferred manufacturing method and particular use, as will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

[0065] Any element in a claim herein that does not explicitly state“means for” performing a specified function, or“step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a“means” or“step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f). Specifically, any use of“step of’ in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f).

[0066] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the system and method may be accomplished through the use of one or more computing devices. As depicted, for example, at least in FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that an exemplary system appropriate for use with embodiments in accordance with the present application may generally include one or more of a Central processing Unit (CPU), Random Access Memory (RAM), a storage medium (e.g., hard disk drive, solid state drive, flash memory, cloud storage), an operating system (OS), one or more application software, a display element, one or more communications means, or one or more input/output devices/means. Examples of computing devices usable with embodiments of the present invention include, but are not limited to, proprietary computing devices, personal computers, mobile computing devices, tablet PCs, mini-PCs, servers or any combination thereof. The term computing device may also describe two or more computing devices communicatively linked in a manner as to distribute and share one or more resources, such as clustered computing devices and server banks/farms. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that any number of computing devices could be used, and embodiments of the present invention are contemplated for use with any computing device. [0067] In various embodiments, communications means, data store(s), processor(s), or memory may interact with other components on the computing device, in order to effect the provisioning and display of various functionalities associated with the system and method detailed herein. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous configurations that could be utilized with embodiments of the present invention, and embodiments of the present invention are contemplated for use with any appropriate configuration.

[0068] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the communications means of the system may be, for instance, any means for communicating data over one or more networks or to one or more peripheral devices attached to the system. Appropriate communications means may include, but are not limited to, circuitry and control systems for providing wireless connections, wired connections, cellular connections, data port connections, Bluetooth connections, or any combination thereof. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that there are numerous communications means that may be utilized with embodiments of the present invention, and embodiments of the present invention are contemplated for use with any communications means.

[0069] Throughout this disclosure and elsewhere, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations depict methods, apparatuses (i.e., systems), and computer program products. Each element of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, as well as each respective combination of elements in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, illustrates a function of the methods, apparatuses, and computer program products. Any and all such functions (“depicted functions”) can be implemented by computer program instructions; by special-purpose, hardware-based computer systems; by combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions; by combinations of general purpose hardware and computer instructions; and so on - any and all of which may be generally referred to herein as a“circuit,”“module,” or “system.” [0070] While the foregoing drawings and description may set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems, no particular arrangement of software for implementing these functional aspects should be inferred from these descriptions unless explicitly stated or otherwise clear from the context.

[0071] Each element in flowchart illustrations may depict a step, or group of steps, of a computer-implemented method. Further, each step may contain one or more sub-steps. For the purpose of illustration, these steps (as well as any and all other steps identified and described above) are presented in order. It will be understood that an embodiment can contain an alternate order of the steps adapted to a particular application of a technique disclosed herein. All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. The depiction and description of steps in any particular order is not intended to exclude embodiments having the steps in a different order, unless required by a particular application, explicitly stated, or otherwise clear from the context.

[0072] Traditionally, a computer program consists of a sequence of computational instructions or program instructions. It will be appreciated that a programmable apparatus (i.e., computing device) can receive such a computer program and, by processing the computational instructions thereof, produce a further technical effect.

[0073] A programmable apparatus may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers, programmable digital signal processors, programmable devices, programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, memory devices, application specific integrated circuits, or the like, which can be suitably employed or configured to process computer program instructions, execute computer logic, store computer data, and so on. Throughout this disclosure and elsewhere a computer can include any and all suitable combinations of at least one general purpose computer, special-purpose computer, programmable data processing apparatus, processor, processor architecture, and so on. [0074] It will be understood that a computer can include a computer-readable storage medium and that this medium may be internal or external, removable and replaceable, or fixed. It will also be understood that a computer can include a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), firmware, an operating system, a database, or the like that can include, interface with, or support the software and hardware described herein.

[0075] Embodiments of the system as described herein are not limited to applications involving conventional computer programs or programmable apparatuses that run them. It is contemplated, for example, that embodiments of the invention as claimed herein could include an optical computer, quantum computer, analog computer, or the like.

[0076] Regardless of the type of computer program or computer involved, a computer program can be loaded onto a computer to produce a particular machine that can perform any and all of the depicted functions. This particular machine provides a means for carrying out any and all of the depicted functions.

[0077] Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD- ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. [0078] Computer program instructions can be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner. The instructions stored in the computer- readable memory constitute an article of manufacture including computer-readable instructions for implementing any and all of the depicted functions.

[0079] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0080] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0081] The elements depicted in flowchart illustrations and block diagrams throughout the figures imply logical boundaries between the elements. However, according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may be implemented as parts of a monolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or as modules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, or any combination of these. All such implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0082] Unless explicitly stated or otherwise clear from the context, the verbs

“execute” and “process” are used interchangeably to indicate execute, process, interpret, compile, assemble, link, load, any and all combinations of the foregoing, or the like. Therefore, embodiments that execute or process computer program instructions, computer-executable code, or the like can suitably act upon the instructions or code in any and all of the ways just described.

[0083] The functions and operations presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those of skill in the art, along with equivalent variations. In addition, embodiments of the invention are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the present teachings as described herein, and any references to specific languages are provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of embodiments of the invention. Embodiments of the invention are well suited to a wide variety of computer network systems over numerous topologies. Within this field, the configuration and management of large networks include storage devices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computers and storage devices over a network, such as the Internet.

[0084] The embodiments disclosed hereinabove may be summarized as follows.

Embodiment 1

[0085] A process, comprising: a consumer-vendor matching method, comprising: identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user; hiring the vendor to perform the job at the selected location; verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment; and, rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review.

Embodiment 2 [0086] The process of Embodiment 1, in which identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user further comprises receiving an electronic message comprising a service category and location.

Embodiment 3

[0087] The process of Embodiment 2, in which identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user further comprises: sending an electronic message comprising an invitation to bid on the job, to a vendor selected as a function of the service category and location.

Embodiment 4

[0088] The process of Embodiment 1, in which hiring the vendor to perform the job at the selected location further comprises receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job.

Embodiment 5

[0089] The process of Embodiment 1, in which verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises receiving an electronic message comprising at least one of: a confirmation the vendor completed the job; or, a confirmation the user paid for the job.

Embodiment 6

[0090] The process of Embodiment 5, in which verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises sending an electronic message comprising a review page link.

Embodiment 7 [0091] The process of Embodiment 6, in which the review page includes only negative or neutral review options.

Embodiment 8

[0092] The process of Embodiment 1, in which rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises: receiving an electronic message comprising a request to sign a smart contract as a function of the vendor review metadata hash value determined by the user and received in the request to sign the smart contract.

Embodiment 9

[0093] The process of Embodiment 8, in which providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises: determining the metadata hash value of the vendor review; and, sending an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the vendor review metadata hash value to be written to a blockchain.

Embodiment 10

[0094] A process, comprising: a consumer-vendor matching method, comprising: identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user, comprising: receiving an electronic message comprising a service category and location; sending an electronic message comprising an invitation to bid on the job to a vendor selected as a function of the service category and location; receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job; and, hiring the vendor to perform the job at the selected location, comprising receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job; verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment, comprising: receiving an electronic message comprising a confirmation the vendor completed the job; receiving an electronic message comprising a confirmation the user paid for the job; sending an electronic message comprising a review page link; and, rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review, comprising: receiving an electronic message comprising a request to sign a smart contract as a function of a first vendor review metadata hash value determined by the user and received in the request to sign the smart contract; and, determining a second metadata hash value of the vendor review; and, sending an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the second vendor review metadata hash value.

Embodiment 11

[0095] The process of Embodiment 10, in which the review page includes only negative or neutral review options.

Embodiment 12

[0096] The process of Embodiment 10, in which sending an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the vendor review metadata hash value further comprises the message including a request to write to a publicly accessible blockchain: the first vendor review metadata hash value; the second vendor review metadata hash value; the smart contract signed as functions of the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, the vendor review metadata.

Embodiment 13

[0097] The process of Embodiment 10, in which rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises providing public access to the second metadata hash value of the vendor review.

Embodiment 14 [0098] The process of Embodiment 10, in which the process further comprises providing public access to the hash algorithm used to determine the second metadata hash value of the vendor review.

Embodiment 15

[0099] An apparatus, comprising: a consumer-vendor matching module configured to provide access to public proof of online vendor review authenticity with a review tamper-proofing action, comprising: a processor; and, a memory that is not a transitory propagating signal, the memory operably coupled with the processor and encoding computer readable instructions, including processor executable program instructions, the computer readable instructions accessible to the processor, wherein the processor executable program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: identify a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user, comprising: receive an electronic message comprising a service category and location; send an electronic message comprising an invitation to bid on the job to a vendor selected as a function of the service category and location; receive an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job; and, hire the vendor to perform the job at the selected location, comprising receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job; verify authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment, comprising: receive an electronic message comprising a confirmation the vendor completed the job; receive an electronic message comprising a confirmation the user paid for the job; send an electronic message comprising a review page link; and, rate the vendor quality based on providing tamper proof public access to the authenticated vendor review, comprising: receive an electronic message comprising a request to sign a smart contract as a function of a first vendor review metadata hash value determined by the user and received in the request to sign the smart contract; determine a second metadata hash value of the vendor review; and, send an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, write to a publicly accessible blockchain: the first vendor review metadata hash value; the second vendor review metadata hash value; the smart contract signed as functions of the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, the vendor review metadata.

Embodiment 16

[0100] The apparatus of Embodiment 15, in which rate the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises providing public access to the second metadata hash value of the vendor review.

Embodiment 17

[0101] The apparatus of Embodiment 15, in which the operations performed by the processor further comprise providing public access to the hash algorithm used to determine the second metadata hash value of the vendor review.

Embodiment 18

[0102] The apparatus of Embodiment 15, in which the operations performed by the processor further comprise verify authenticity of the vendor’s review of the user.

Embodiment 19

[0103] The apparatus of Embodiment 15, in which verify authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises the job not completed.

Embodiment 20 [0104] The apparatus of Embodiment 15, in which verify authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises the user payment not completed.

[0105] A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, advantageous results may be achieved if the steps of the disclosed techniques were performed in a different sequence, or if components of the disclosed systems were combined in a different manner, or if the components were supplemented with other components. Accordingly, other implementations are contemplated within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A process, comprising: a consumer-vendor matching method, comprising: identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user; hiring the vendor to perform the job at the selected location; verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment; and, rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review.

2. The process of claim 1, in which identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user further comprises receiving an electronic message comprising a service category and location.

3. The process of claim 2, in which identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user further comprises: sending an electronic message comprising an invitation to bid on the job, to a vendor selected as a function of the service category and location.

4. The process of claim 1, in which hiring the vendor to perform the job at the selected location further comprises receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job.

5. The process of claim 1, in which verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises receiving an electronic message comprising at least one of: a confirmation the vendor completed the job; or, a confirmation the user paid for the job.

6. The process of claim 5, in which verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises sending an electronic message comprising a review page link.

7. The process of claim 6, in which the review page includes only negative or neutral review options.

8. The process of claim 1, in which rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises: receiving an electronic message comprising a request to sign a smart contract as a function of the vendor review metadata hash value determined by the user and received in the request to sign the smart contract.

9. The process of claim 8, in which providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises: determining the metadata hash value of the vendor review; and, sending an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the vendor review metadata hash value to be written to a blockchain.

10. A process, comprising: a consumer-vendor matching method, comprising: identifying a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user, comprising: receiving an electronic message comprising a service category and location; and,

sending an electronic message comprising an invitation to bid on the job to a vendor selected as a function of the service category and location; and, hiring the vendor to perform the job at the selected location, comprising receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job; and, verifying authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment, comprising: receiving an electronic message comprising a confirmation the vendor completed the job;

receiving an electronic message comprising a confirmation the user paid for the job; and,

sending an electronic message comprising a review page link; and, rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review, comprising: receiving an electronic message comprising a request to sign a smart contract as a function of a first vendor review metadata hash value determined by the user and received in the request to sign the smart contract; determining a second metadata hash value of the vendor review; and,

sending an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the second vendor review metadata hash value.

11. The process of claim 10, in which the review page includes only negative or neutral review options.

12. The process of claim 10, in which sending an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the vendor review metadata hash value further comprises the message including a request to write to a publicly accessible blockchain: the first vendor review metadata hash value; the second vendor review metadata hash value; the smart contract signed as functions of the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, the vendor review metadata.

13. The process of claim 10, in which rating the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises providing public access to: the first vendor review metadata hash value; the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, the vendor review metadata.

14. The process of claim 10, in which the process further comprises providing public access to the hash algorithm used to determine the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value.

5. An apparatus, comprising: a consumer-vendor matching module configured to provide access to public proof of online vendor review authenticity with a review tamper-proofing action, comprising:

a processor; and,

a memory that is not a transitory propagating signal, the memory operably coupled with the processor and encoding computer readable instructions, including processor executable program instructions, the computer readable instructions accessible to the processor, wherein the processor executable program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

identify a vendor available to perform a job at a location selected by a user, comprising: receive an electronic message comprising a service category and location; and,

send an electronic message comprising an invitation to bid on the job to a vendor selected as a function of the service category and location; and, hire the vendor to perform the job at the selected location, comprising receiving an electronic message comprising the vendor agreement to complete the job; and, verify authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment, comprising: receive an electronic message comprising a confirmation the vendor completed the job;

receive an electronic message comprising a confirmation the user paid for the job; and, send an electronic message comprising a review page link; and, rate the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review, comprising: receive an electronic message comprising a request to sign a smart contract as a function of a first vendor review metadata hash value determined by the user and received in the request to sign the smart contract;

determine a second metadata hash value of the vendor review; and,

send an electronic message comprising the smart contract signed as a function of the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, write to a publicly accessible blockchain: the first vendor review metadata hash value; the second vendor review metadata hash value; the smart contract signed as functions of the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value; and, the vendor review metadata.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, in which rate the vendor quality based on providing tamper-proof public access to the authenticated vendor review further comprises sending an electronic message comprising the vendor review metadata.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, in which the operations performed by the processor further comprise providing public access to the hash algorithm used to determine the first vendor review metadata hash value and the second vendor review metadata hash value.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, in which the operations performed by the processor further comprise verify authenticity of the vendor’s review of the user.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, in which verify authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises the job not completed.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, in which verify authenticity of the user’s review of the vendor as functions of vendor job completion and user payment further comprises the user payment not completed.