Importance

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Abstract

A user query is processed to determine a first industry code corresponding to information requested in the query. One or more stored non-keyword-based associations are then used to determine at least one additional industry code which is not a subset or superset of the first industry code. The first and additional industry codes may be in different industry code hierarchies, or in otherwise unrelated portions of the same hierarchy. Information corresponding to the first and additional industry codes is then displayed to the user in response to the query. The display of information for particular industry codes may be based at least in part on a set of weights which indicate relative importance of the corresponding stored associations to users of the system. The weights may be established and maintained by monitoring actual user selections made from previous displays. The displayed information may include a list of companies or other sources for one or more of the industry codes, and a feature may be provided which permits the sources to bid for a particular position in the list.

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First Claim