SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GEOGRAPHICALLY ORGANIZING AND CLASSIFYING BUSINESSES ON THE WORLD-WIDE WEB

1 . A method of classifying a source publishing a document on a portion of a network, comprising steps of:

electronically receiving a document;

based on the document, determining a source which published the document; and

assigning a code to said document based on whether data associated with the document published by the source matches with data contained in a database.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said portion of said network comprises a graphical multimedia portion of said network, said source comprises a Web site publishing a home page, and said network comprises the Internet.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein said graphical multimedia portion of said network comprises the World-Wide Web (WWW) and said document comprises a Web document,

wherein said step of assigning a code includes determining that the Web site comprises a first entity when there is a match of the Web site with said data, and determining that the Web site comprises a second entity when there is no match of the Web site with said data.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of determining a source includes:

extracting a domain name from a predetermined uniform resources locator (URL) database;

querying a database for storing registered domain names; and

merging an address database with predetermined data.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein said predetermined data comprises Yellow Pages data,

wherein said step of determining further comprises:

characterizing uniform resource locators (URLs) by their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses including identifying a plurality of attributes based on the IP addresses of new URLs, a new URL being retrieved and parsed into a domain name and directory path portions, and

determining, based on said domain name, whether a selected URL is hosted on one of a true server and a shared server.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , said step of determining further comprising:

for a shared server, determining a root path by searching for the given domain name in a new URL database and identifying common directory paths,

wherein, when no match is present, the URL is processed subsequently at a later iteration, and, when a match is present, the root path is set to a matching path.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein said step of assigning a code comprises:

automatically identifying a business associated with the source publishing said document, said business being hosted on a Service Provider (SP) Web server.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein said step of assigning a code further comprises:

receiving a URL based on said determining step; and

a URL determining step for determining whether said URL comprises one of a root URL and a leaf URL.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein said root URL comprises an entry point for a home page on the World-Wide Web, and a leaf URL comprises a link below a root URL,

wherein said URL determining step comprises:

parsing said URL into a domain name component and a directory path component;

analyzing the domain name in said domain name component to determine whether it is associated with an SP;

when the domain name is not associated with an SP, checking the directory path component to judge whether a directory path is missing, a missing directory path indicating a root URL;

when the domain name is associated with an SP, checking whether a directory path does not exist to thereby determine that said domain name comprises a root URL, and when a directory path exists, then comparing the path to known SP Client Directory paths.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

when said URL is determined to be a root URL, analyzing a home page associated with said root URL automatically to extract home page data contained therein and assigning the home page data to the Root URL being analyzed.

11 . The method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

comparing said home page data with data in a predetermined business organizations database,

wherein, when there is a match, said code is assigned to the corresponding root URL, and, when no match is found, said URL is identified for subsequent analysis of lower-level hyperlinks during a next iteration of said method.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein when no match is found at any level, said home page is identified as a personal page.

13 . A method of automatically assigning a document a code for distinguishing a first-type page from a second-type page, comprising steps of:

electronically receiving a document;

based on the document, determining a source which published the document; and

assigning a code to said document based on whether the source matches with data contained in a database.

14 . A search engine for use on a network for distinguishing between business web pages and personal web pages, comprising:

means for parsing the content of a hyper-text markup language (HTML) at a web address and searching for criteria contained therein;

means for analyzing a uniform resources locator (URL) of the web address to determine characteristics thereof of a web page at the web address;

means for determining whether said criteria match with data contained in a database; and

means for cross-referencing a match, determined by said determining means, to a second database, to classify a source which published the web page.

15 . A search engine according to claim 14 , wherein said criteria include at least one of an address, a telephone numbers, a facsimile number, a contact and a key-word contained in said HTML, and

wherein the characteristics of said web page include a geographical location and a web host computer.

16 . A search engine according to claim 14 , wherein said database includes a Business Semantic Terminology database having information related to business categories in a Yellow Pages directory.

17 . A search engine according to claim 14 , wherein said second database includes a Yellow Pages database.

18 . A search engine according to claim 14 , wherein said web page comprises hyperlinks, and said means for parsing comprises an indexer robot for traversing said hyperlinks in said web page and a web index database,

said indexer robot for indexing a content of said web page into said web index database.

19 . A search engine according to claim 14 , wherein said means for analyzing comprises:

means for determining whether said URL comprises one of a root URL and a leaf URL.

20 . A search engine according to claim 19 , wherein said root URL comprises an entry point for the web page on the World-Wide Web, and a leaf URL comprises a link below a root URL, said search engine further comprising:

means for parsing said URL into a domain name component and a directory path component;

means for analyzing the domain name in said domain name component to determine whether it is associated with an SP;

means for checking the directory path component to judge whether a directory path is missing, when the domain name is not associated with a service provider (SP), a missing directory path indicating a root URL, and for checking whether a directory path does not exist to thereby determine that said domain name comprises a root URL, when the domain name is associated with an SP;

means for comparing the path to known SP Client Directory paths, when a directory path exists;

means for analyzing a home page associated with said root URL, when said URL is determined to be a root URL, thereby automatically to extract home page data contained therein; and

means for assigning the home page data to the Root URL being analyzed.