SOCIAL WEBSITE ACCOUNT AUTHENTICATION VIA SEARCH ENGINE BASED DOMAIN NAME CONTROL VALIDATION

1 . A method, comprising the steps of:

A) receiving, by at least one server computer communicatively coupled to a network, a request to verify the authenticity a social website account, said request comprising a business name and a business email address comprising a first domain name;

B) submitting, by said at least one server computer, said business name to a search engine;

C) receiving, by said at least one server computer responsive to step B), a search result webpage comprising a plurality of links, each comprising a domain name;

D) selecting, by said at least one server computer, a most relevant link from said plurality of links;

E) extracting, by said at least one server computer, a second domain name from said most relevant link;

F) determining, by said at least one server computer, whether said first domain name matches said second domain name;

G) responsive to a determination that said first domain name matches said second domain name, certifying, by said at least one server computer, the authenticity of said social website account; and

H) responsive to a determination that said first domain name does not match said second domain name, ending said method.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said social website comprises a micro-blogging website.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said social website comprises a software application selected from the group consisting of a micro-blogging application, a chat application, a forum application, a social networking application, a blog application, and an instant messaging application.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein said software application comprises a server-side software application.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein said software application comprises a client-side software application.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said network comprises the Internet.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said business name comprises a full legal name of a business.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said business name comprises a commonly-used name for said business.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said search engine comprises a Web search engine.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said most relevant link comprises the first link on said search result webpage.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said most relevant link comprises a link identified on said search result webpage as being the most relevant result.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said request of step A) further comprises an individual's name.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising the steps of, prior to step G):

i) generating, by said at least one server computer, a second email address by concatenating said individual's name to said second domain name;

ii) sending, by said at least one server computer, an email message to said second email address, said email message containing at least one instructions for verifying that said second domain name is under control of said business name;

iii) determining, by said at least one server computer, whether said at least one instructions were followed;

iv) responsive to a determination that said at least one instructions were followed, proceeding to step G); and

v) responsive to a determination that said at least one instructions were not followed, terminating said method.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein said email message comprises a hyperlink.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein said determining step iii) comprises receiving an HTTP request originating from said hyperlink.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein said at least one instructions comprises an instruction to modify a CNAME record for said domain name.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein said determining step iii) comprises determining that said CNAME record was modified according to said at least one instructions by analyzing a DNS record for said domain name.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein said at least one instructions comprises an instruction to upload an HTML file to a webpage resolving from said domain name.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein said email message further comprises said HTML file.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein said email message further comprises a file name for said HTML file.

21 . The method of claim 18 , wherein said determining step iii) comprises determining that said HTML file has been uploaded to said webpage.

22 . A method, comprising the steps of:

A) receiving, by at least one server computer communicatively coupled to the Internet, a request to verify the authenticity a social website account, said request comprising a business name, a business email address comprising a first domain name, and an individual's name;

B) submitting, by said at least one server computer, said business name to a search engine;

C) receiving, by said at least one server computer responsive to step B), a search result webpage comprising a plurality of links, each comprising a domain name;

D) selecting, by said at least one server computer, a most relevant link from said plurality of links;

E) extracting, by said at least one server computer, a second domain name from said most relevant link;

F) generating, by said at least one server computer, a second email address by concatenating said individual's name to said second domain name;

G) sending, by said at least one server computer, an email message to said second email address, said email message containing at least one instructions for verifying that said second domain name is under control of said business name;

H) determining, by said at least one server computer, whether said at least one instructions were followed;

I), responsive to a determination that said at least one instructions were followed, proceeding to step K);

J) responsive to a determination that said at least one instructions were not followed, terminating said method;

K) determining, by said at least one server computer, whether said first domain name matches said second domain name; and

L) responsive to a determination that said first domain name matches said second domain name, certifying, by said at least one server computer, the authenticity of said social website account.