Abstract: One embodiment is a method that determines at a client computer a relevancy of information received with respect to a user profile. The method then adjusts a ranking of the information according to the relevancy and displays a selected portion of the adjusted information on the client computer.

Abstract: A method of information module recommendation is provided. The method comprises collecting a first set of user information associated with a user from an electronic device that is associated with the user, and identifying an information topic associated with the first set of user information. The method further comprises accessing a module database comprising a plurality of information modules, identifying an information module from among the plurality of information modules configured to deliver information pertaining to the information topic, and recommending the information module to the user.

Abstract: Embodiments are directed to systems, methods, and apparatus for bidding in online auctions. In one embodiment, bids for advertising include an amount that is a function of an expected value-per-click and a fraction of a budget already spent for advertising slots.

Abstract: A method and system for ranking results for a network search query. The method includes receiving a network search query; obtaining weblogs relevant to the search query from a database; scoring the weblogs based on a time when information pertaining to the search query appeared on weblogs; and displaying a ranking of the weblogs.

Abstract: Systems and methods of advertising are presented herein. In some embodiments, a method may comprise collecting data on a consumer computer, receiving a signal having advertisement information and target criteria, and comparing said target criteria with the data. If the target criteria matches with the data, the method further comprises interfacing the advertisement information in a message format compatible with a message presentation client executed by the consumer computer.

Abstract: The disclosed embodiments relate to a system and method of advertising. The method may comprise sending a targeted advertisement to at least one of a plurality of computers, wherein the targeted advertisement comprises a query. Further, the method may comprise receiving a proof after sending the targeted advertisement, wherein the proof relates to an earlier commitment of a profile of data stored on one of the plurality of computers, and using the proof to determine that the committed profile satisfied the query.

Abstract: A computer that comprises a monitor, a CPU, memory coupled to the CPU, and an instruction storage medium coupled to the CPU. The instruction storage medium provides instructions executable by the CPU, whereby the computer logs consumer activities, creates a local consumer profile based on said consumer activities, and displays an advertisement on the monitor if a target profile of said targeted ad matches the local consumer profile.

Abstract: The disclosed embodiments relate to a system and method of committing to a data set, comprising forming a directed acyclic graph adapted to encode the data set, the directed acyclic graph having a plurality of pointers and a plurality of nodes wherein at least one node has multiple parents, the directed acyclic graph having at least one root node and a plurality of leaf nodes. Further, disclosed embodiments comprise committing to the directed acyclic graph to produce a committed-to data set and producing a plurality of proofs about the committed-to data set such that a combination of the plurality of proofs does not reveal information about which nodes have multiple parents, each proof comprising a trace from one of the plurality of nodes to at least one different node, the trace comprising the identities of the nodes and pointers traversed.

Abstract: A resource allocation method and system allocates a computational resource between elements of a portfolio of computational entities. The computational resource can be processing time, memory or display screen space. The computational resource can also be associated with a distributed network such as the Internet. In this case, the computational resource is the number of pending messages sent across the distributed network, pendancy time of a message sent across the distributed network, priority of the messages sent across the distributed network, and/or cost of the messages set across the distributed network. When the computational resource is processing time, the resource is allocated between different processes executing on the processor. These different processes include different solution procedures for solving a computationally hard problem, different instances of a single solution procedure for solving the computationally hard problem, and the like.