DETERMINING RATINGS BASED ON RATINGS OF OTHER ENTITIES

1 . A system comprising:

an information server executable by a processor and configured to obtain information about a first characteristic of a first entity; and

a rating component configured to:

calculate a characteristic value for the first characteristic of the first entity;

associate a first rating to the first entity based on the characteristic value for the first characteristic of the first entity;

obtain information about a second characteristic of one or more entities related to the first entity;

calculate one or more characteristic values for the second characteristic of the one or more entities related to the first entity; and

associate a second rating to the first entity based on the one or more characteristic values for the second characteristic of the one or more entities related to the first entity.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the calculating of the one or more characteristic values for the second characteristic and the associating the second rating to the first entity are performed by a community rater.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the community rater comprises:

a valuator configured to associate a rating to an entity; and

an aggregator configured to aggregate ratings of entities.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the aggregator is configured to perform a recursive routine to aggregate ratings of entities.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the valuator calculates a weighted average of ratings associated with the one or more entities related to the first entity.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more entities are represented by a linked list with links between entries in the linked list representing relationships among the one or more entities.

7 . A method comprising:

obtaining information about a first characteristic of one or more entities related to a first entity;

calculating one or more characteristic values for the first characteristic of the one or more entities related to the first entity; and

assigning a first rating to the first entity based on the one or more characteristic values for the first characteristic of the one or more entities related to the first entity.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

obtaining information about a second characteristic of a first entity;

calculating a characteristic value for the second characteristic of the first entity; and

assigning a second rating to the first entity based on the characteristic value for the second characteristic of the first entity.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first characteristic and the second characteristic are identical.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first characteristic is a skill.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first characteristic is an area of expertise.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first characteristic is trustworthiness.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more entities related to the first entity are related via the first entity recommending the one or more entities for acceptance into a network.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein relationships between the first entity and the one or more entities are represented as an n-ary tree.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the first entity was accepted into the network without a recommendation from another entity.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first entity is represented as a root of the n-ary tree.

17 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more machines, cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

obtaining information about a first characteristic of one or more entities related to a first entity;

calculating one or more characteristic values for the first characteristic of the one or more entities related to the first entity; and

assigning a first rating to the first entity based on the one or more characteristic values for the first characteristic of the one or more entities related to the first entity.

18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , further comprising:

obtaining information about a second characteristic of a first entity;

calculating a characteristic value for the second characteristic of the first entity; and

assigning a second rating to the first entity based on the characteristic value for the second characteristic of the first entity.

19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the first characteristic is honesty.

20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the first characteristic is quality of a product provided by the first entity.