Abstract: Users who visit a network site typically visit other sites in the same session. The surfing pattern or “trail” through the pages may be significant once aggregated, because it outlines the underlining relationship between those pages or sites. Once such user navigational trail data is available, the relationship between network sites on such user trails may used to make various decisions regarding advertising and keyword management. Additionally, the relative popularity of each trail may be used to rank or compute relative weights for the various user trails. Such information may then aid in keyword suggestion and advertising decisions.

Abstract: A method for optimizing a source document comprising a plurality of pages of content, comprising each of the following, is presented. A source document is obtained. An optimized document is created corresponding to the source document. Thereafter, for each page in the source document, the following are applied. A page record is created for the page. Each page record comprises a word table comprising a list of the page's words in the order that they appear in the page's content. Each page record further comprises a paragraph entry list for the page including a paragraph entry for each paragraph in the page. Each paragraph entry includes a reference to the first and last word of that paragraph in the word table. The page record is compressed using a compression technique. Thereafter, the compressed page record is stored in the optimized document.

Abstract: A method and system are described that enables a domain name owner (i.e., a “lessor”) to grant a third party (i.e., a “lessee”) a lease to any domain name the lessor owns. More specifically, a lessor may use a domain name service to allow a third party (i.e., a “lessee”) to lease a domain name for use or to purchase the domain name outright. More specifically, the lessor may lease a domain name to the lessee so that any user who accesses the leased domain name is redirected to a network resource identified by the lessee. The lessee may also be provided the option to purchase the domain name outright from the lessor, rather than lease it.

Abstract: A system for generating a display of a tag options to a user wishing to tag an item includes a computer-implemented database for storing information related to various tags. Upon receiving a request for tags for an item, the system evaluates each tag associated with the item, and selects tag options to be displayed to the user based on the evaluations of the tags. The group of selected tags is displayed to the user in an order based on the evaluations.

Abstract: Creation, association, and/or placement of search forums for searches strings enable users to discuss aspects of both searches and elements associated with the searches, and further enable the users to view discussions from other users. The search forum may be generated from variations of the search string. In addition or alternatively, search strings may be associated with existing item forums, category forums, and tag forums. Search forums may be placed with, for example, search results or with items, categories, and/or tags, among other possibilities, to provide user access to the search forums.

Abstract: A method and system is described to facilitate variable pricing for electronically viewing content online. Consumers pay different amounts to view portions of electronically viewable content obtained from a tangible work, where the amount paid is based on a characteristic of the work (e.g., the genre or publisher), the consumer's past viewing behavior or purchases, including the portions of content (e.g., the number of pages or chapters) previously viewed from the same or other work, or the number or amount of purchases made of other works or products, or the aggregated viewing behavior or purchases of a number of consumers.

Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating interactions between computing systems, such as in accordance with usage models that are configured for available services by the providers of the services. In some situations, the services are Web services, and an electronic Web service (“WS”) marketplace is provided via which third-party WS providers make their WSes available to third-party WS consumers who purchase access to those WSes via the electronic marketplace based on configured usage models selected by the consumers. Some or all of the one or more usage models configured for an available WS may each have associated use prices and/or non-price use conditions, and if so access to those WSes using those usage models may be provided only if a consumer requesting access provides appropriate payment and otherwise satisfies the specified use conditions for a selected usage model.

Abstract: A hybrid machine/human computing arrangement which advantageously involves humans to assist a computer to solve particular tasks, allowing the computer to solve the tasks more efficiently. In one embodiment, a computer system decomposes a task, such as, for example, image or speech comparison, into subtasks for human performance, and requests the performances. The computer system programmatically conveys the request to a central coordinating server of the hybrid machine/human computing arrangement, which in turn dispatches the subtasks to personal computers operated by the humans. The humans perform the subtasks and provide the results back to the server, which receives the responses, and generates a result for the task based at least in part on the results of the human performances.

Abstract: Techniques are described for managing communications between multiple intercommunicating computing nodes, such as multiple virtual machine nodes hosted on one or more physical computing machines or systems. In some situations, users may specify groups of computing nodes and optionally associated access policies for use in the managing of the communications for those groups, such as by specifying which source nodes are allowed to transmit data to particular destinations nodes. In addition, determinations of whether initiated data transmissions from source nodes to destination nodes are authorized may be dynamically negotiated for and recorded for later use in automatically authorizing future such data transmissions without negotiation. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Abstract: A facility for scheduling the picking of a plurality of items specified for an item shipment is described. When a first-picked item of the plurality is picked, the facility selects a first period of time of a target length during which the first-picked item is expected to arrive at a sorting machine. For each of the items specified for the item shipment other than the first-picked item, the facility designates a picking period for the item that, when shifted forward in time by an amount of time the item will take to arrive at the sorting machine once picked, falls completely within the first period of time.

Abstract: A computer system and method for detecting conditions resulting in an inconsistency and/or an increased likelihood of a return is presented. The computer system comprises an evaluation component and a notification component. The evaluation component is configured to evaluate an item selected for purchase by a consumer to determine whether the consumer's purchase of the selected item represents an inconsistency and/or an increased likelihood of user dissatisfaction. The notification component is configured to notify the consumer if and when the consumer's selection of an item represents an inconsistency and/or an increased likelihood of user dissatisfaction.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for a searchable data service are described. The searchable data service may be implemented as a Web service with a Web service interface that allows the storage of locators and other attributes associated with entities stored in a data store in a searchable index. The attributes may be expressed as {name, value} pairs. The interface may allow client applications to query the searchable index to retrieve locators for entities in the backend data store according to the attributes associated with each locator. Search speed may be automatically optimized using, for example, indexes, query planning, and parallelism. The searchable data service provides a searchable index and is not a data store per se. The searchable data service separates searching and indexing of data from the actual storage of the data.

Abstract: A performance analysis engine analyzes the performance of affiliate web sites that provide links to specific items in an electronic catalog, and identifies catalog items that can be listed by such affiliate web sites to improve performance. An association mining component analyzes transaction data attributable to specific categories or types of affiliate web sites to identify items that are frequently purchased in combination by users of such sites. The detected item associations are used to evaluate, for a given affiliate site, whether significant disparities exist between the expected and actual sales quantities of specific items. The results of the analysis are incorporated into affiliate-specific performance reports, which may include specific recommendations for improving performance. The disclosed methods may also be used to analyze the performance of, and provide recommendations to, online sellers within an online mall, online marketplace, or online auction system.

Abstract: A method and system for determining and notifying users of undesirable network content are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method may include detecting an adverse content event corresponding to a given network information source, where the adverse content event occurs dependent upon activity of a given user with respect to the given network information source. The method may also include reporting the adverse content event with respect to the given network information source, detecting a reference to the given network information source on behalf of a particular user, and in response to detecting the reference, retrieving an indication corresponding to the given network information source, where the indication is determined dependent upon adverse content events reported with respect to the given network information source. The method may further include notifying the particular user of possible undesirable content with respect to the given network information source dependent upon the indication.

Abstract: Techniques are described for assisting users in dynamically creating and using composite services that are based on other constituent services. In some situations, each constituent service is a Web service (“WS”), and each composite service is a new WS whose execution involves dynamically invoking multiple specified constituent WSes in a specified manner. Such techniques may be used, for example, in conjunction with an electronic WS marketplace via which third-party WS providers make their WSes available to third-party WS consumers who locate and purchase access to those WSes, such as to allow a user to dynamically create a new composite WS that is based on one or more WSes available from other WS providers and that reflects any constraints of the WS marketplace, with the composite WS available for use by other WS consumers. This abstract is not intended for use in interpreting or limiting the scope of the claims.

Abstract: A facility for responding to a request for information about an item. The facility receives a request for information about the item. Among a plurality of sellers, the facility identifies those sellers (1) that are offering the item for sale, (2) whose availability level for the selected item exceeds a predetermined availability threshold, and (3) that have a seller score relating to a number of different items offered for sale by the seller that exceeds a predetermined score threshold. The facility uses the identified sellers and the price of the item to select the featured seller of the item. The facility replies to the request for information with a web page containing both information describing the item and a control that can be activated to order the item from the featured seller.

Abstract: Techniques are described for managing execution of programs on multiple computing systems, such as based at least in part of user-specified constraints. For example, constraints related to execution of a program may be based on a desired relative location of a host computing system to execute a copy of the program with respect to an indicated target (e.g., computing systems executing other copies of the program or copies of another indicated program), on particular geographic locations, and/or on factors not based on location (e.g., cost of use of a particular computing system, capabilities available from a particular computing system, etc.). Some or all of the multiple computing systems may be part of a program execution service for executing multiple programs on behalf of multiple users, and each may provide multiple virtual machines that are each capable of executing one or more programs for one or more users.

Abstract: A scalable data store framework is provided to migrate data across partitions in a data store without compromising data availability for customers. The scalable data store framework includes one or more partitions configured to manage a set of “entities” for a network-based service. When a new-partition event is detected, a target partition is identified for bifurcation and various additional partitions are added to the data store. After the target partition is replicated into the additional partitions, some entities associated with the target partition are migrated to the additional partitions in order to maintain good load balance in the data store.