IP Library Granted Patent US 8,794,971
Granted Patent B2
US 8,794,971 · App. 12/901,520 · Granted Aug 5, 2014

Method and system for assigning a task to be processed by a crowdsourcing platform

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,794,971
App. No.
12/901,520
Granted
Aug 5, 2014
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method and system for applying a task to a crowdsourcing platform for processing are disclosed. For example, a method forwards the task having a question to the crowdsourcing platform, and receives a plurality of answers to the question, wherein the plurality of answers is provided by a plurality of workers associated with the crowdsourcing platform. The method analyzes the plurality of answers on a per-worker basis to determine an adjustment, and applies the adjustment to the plurality of answers.

Claims (43)

1. A method for applying a task to a crowdsourcing platform for processing, comprising:

forwarding, with a first computing system, the task having a question to the crowdsourcing platform, the task comprising a human intelligence task associated with an identified compensation per human intelligence task, wherein a correct answer to the question is not pre-identified by the first computing system before the forwarding;

receiving a plurality of answers to the question, wherein the plurality of answers is provided by a plurality of workers associated with the crowdsourcing platform;

analyzing, with the first computing system, the plurality of answers on a per-worker basis to identify one or more indications of accuracy of one or more answers of the plurality of answers and to determine an adjustment at least partially based on the one or more indications of accuracy of one or more answers of the plurality of answers, wherein the analyzing comprises determining one or more relations of one or more answers of the plurality of answers to one or more subsets of answers of the plurality of answers, wherein the adjustment is based at least in part on the one or more relations and an entropy characterization of the plurality of answers; and

applying the adjustment to one or more of the plurality of answers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment comprises discarding an answer from the plurality of answers for a particular worker of the plurality of workers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment comprises weighting an answer from the plurality of answers for a particular worker of the plurality of workers.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the analyzing is based on a consensus of an answer of a particular worker as compared to answers of other workers of the plurality of workers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

modifying a reputation rating of a particular worker of the plurality of workers based on the analyzing.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

applying a payment adjustment to a particular worker of the plurality of workers based on the analyzing.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the payment adjustment comprises an increased payment to be provided to the particular worker.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the payment adjustment comprises a decreased payment to be provided to the particular worker.

9. A method for applying a task to a crowdsourcing platform for processing, comprising:

forwarding, with a first computing system, the task having a first question to the crowdsourcing platform, the task comprising a human intelligence task associated with an identified compensation per human intelligence task, wherein a correct answer to the first question is not pre-identified by the first computing system before the forwarding;

receiving a plurality of answers to the first question, wherein the plurality of answers is provided by a plurality of workers associated with the crowdsourcing platform;

analyzing, with the first computing system, the plurality of answers on a per-question basis to identify one or more indications of accuracy of one or more answers of the plurality of answers and to determine an adjustment at least partially based on the one or more indications of accuracy of one or more answers of the plurality of answers, wherein the analyzing comprises determining one or more relations of one or more answers of the plurality of answers to one or more subsets of answers of the plurality of answers, wherein the adjustment is based at least in part on the one or more relations and an entropy characterization of the plurality of answers; and

applying the adjustment to the first question.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the analyzing comprises:

calculating an entropy for the first question based upon a distribution of the answers to the first question.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the adjustment comprises:

discarding the first question if the entropy is indicative of a high entropy.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the adjustment comprises:

modifying a weighting factor associated with the first question.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the task comprises a plurality of questions including the first question, wherein the task is for calculating a composite solution based on a plurality of answers to the plurality of questions, and wherein each of the plurality of questions has a respective weighting factor in calculating the composite solution.

14. A method for applying a task to a crowdsourcing platform for processing, comprising:

forwarding, with a first computing system, the task having a first question to the crowdsourcing platform, the task comprising a human intelligence task associated with an identified compensation per human intelligence task, wherein a correct answer to the first question is not pre-identified by the first computing system before the forwarding;

receiving a plurality of answers to the first question, wherein the plurality of answers is provided by a plurality of workers associated with the crowdsourcing platform;

analyzing, with the first computing system, the plurality of answers on a per-worker basis to identify one or more indications of accuracy of one or more answers of the plurality of answers and to determine a first adjustment at least partially based on the one or more indications of accuracy of one or more answers of the plurality of answers;

applying the first adjustment to one or more of the plurality of answers;

analyzing the plurality of answers on a per-question basis to determine a second adjustment; and

applying the second adjustment to the first question;

wherein one or both of the first adjustment and the second adjustment are based at least in part on one or more relations of one or more answers of the plurality of answers to one or more subsets of answers of the plurality of answers and an entropy characterization of the plurality of answers.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first adjustment comprises discarding an answer from the plurality of answers for a particular worker of the plurality of workers.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first adjustment comprises weighting an answer from the plurality of answers for a particular worker of the plurality of workers.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the analyzing the plurality of answers on the per-worker basis is based on a consensus of an answer of a particular worker as compared to answers of other workers of the plurality of workers.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

modifying a reputation rating of a particular worker of the plurality of workers based on the analyzing.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

applying a payment adjustment to a particular worker of the plurality of workers based on the analyzing the plurality of answers on the per-worker basis.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the analyzing the plurality of answers on the per-question basis comprises:

calculating an entropy for the first question based upon a distribution of the answers to the first question.

Assignments (22)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGEN
To: YELLOWPAGE5 .COM LLC
Reel/Frame 069764/0491 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS AGENT
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 069830/0826 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2024
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: DEX MEDIA, INC.; YP LLC; YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC; YP ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING LLC; PRINT MEDIA LLC; CERBERUS YP DIGITAL BLOCKER LLC; CERBERUS YP BLOCKER LLC; YP HOLDINGS LLC; PRINT MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC; YP INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS CORP.; YP WESTERN HOLDINGS CORP.; YP SOUTHEAST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP MIDWEST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP CONNECTICUT HOLDINGS CORP.; PLUSMO HOLDINGS CORP.; INGENIO HOLDINGS CORP.
Reel/Frame 067381/0745 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 7, 2024
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: THRYV, INC.
Reel/Frame 067341/0434 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2024
From: THRYV, INC.
To: CITIZENS BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067310/0627 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 1, 2024
From: THRYV, INC.
To: CITIZENS BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067287/0759 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Recorded Mar 2, 2021
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: THRYV, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEX MEDIA, INC.); THRYV HOLDINGS, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEX MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.)
Reel/Frame 055472/0592 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 1, 2021
From: THRYV, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 055452/0258 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 25, 2020
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM, LLC
To: THRYV, INC.
Reel/Frame 052071/0589 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 042993 FRAME: 0540. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 10, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043511/0883 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043183 FRAME: 0734. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 9, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043493/0648 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 28, 2017
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 043363/0518 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 18, 2017
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043029/0808 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 13, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 042993/0540 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 13, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043183/0734 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 3, 2017
From: YP LLC; YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC; YP ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING LLC; PRINT MEDIA LLC; DEX MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.; CERBERUS YP DIGITAL BLOCKER LLC; CERBERUS YP BLOCKER LLC; YP HOLDINGS LLC; PRINT MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC; YP INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS CORP.; YP WESTERN HOLDINGS CORP.; YP SOUTHEAST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP MIDWEST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP CONNECTICUT HOLDINGS CORP.; PLUSMO HOLDINGS CORP.; INGENIO HOLDINGS CORP.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 043074/0794 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 1, 2016
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 040540/0948 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 3, 2013
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 030746/0584 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 19, 2012
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGEN
Reel/Frame 029384/0674 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 16, 2012
From: FORTRESS CREDIT CO LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 029370/0480 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST - PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2012
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: FORTRESS CREDIT CO LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 028177/0499 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST - PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2012
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM, LLC
To: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 028177/0524 →