How Websites Get Ranked by Who Links to Them
This patent describes a computer method for scoring web pages or other linked documents based on the importance of the pages that link to them, helping search engines find better results.
Original patent title: “Method for node ranking in a linked database”
What this patent covers
The actual claim
The patent describes a computer method for scoring documents in a linked database, such as the World Wide Web. It starts by "obtaining a plurality of documents" (Claim 1). Then, it "assigns a score to each of the linked documents based on scores of the one or more linking documents" (Claim 1). This means if an important page links to your page, your page gets a higher score. The method can use various "weighting factors" for these linking documents, such as the number of links they have (Claim 2), how likely they are to be accessed (Claim 3), or even user preferences (Claim 7). Finally, it involves "processing the linked documents according to their scores" (Claim 1), which could mean ordering them in search results. For example, if a popular news site links to a small blog, the blog's score would increase because of the news site's high score.
What this patent does NOT cover
The boundaries
- Does not cover ranking documents solely based on their content keywords without considering incoming links.
- Does not cover ranking systems that only count the number of incoming links without considering the quality or score of those linking documents.
- Does not cover ranking documents where the score is determined only by user clicks on the document itself, rather than the linking documents.
- Does not cover ranking systems that manually assign scores to documents without a computer-implemented method.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The truly novel idea was to treat links as "votes" of importance, where a link from a more important page counts more than a link from a less important page. This recursive definition of importance, combined with the "random surfer" model (Claim 10's "random traversal"), allowed for an objective and scalable way to rank the vast and ever-changing web.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Google Search (PageRank algorithm)
Academic citation indexing (e.g., impact factor calculations)
Social network influence scoring
Web crawling and indexing systems
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent is foundational to how modern search engines, particularly Google, determine the relevance and authority of web pages. The core idea, known as PageRank, was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford. It dramatically improved search results by moving beyond simple keyword matching to evaluate the entire link structure of the web. This method helped Google become the dominant search engine by providing more useful and relevant results.
Filed
January 9, 1998
Granted
September 4, 2001
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
The patent describes a computer method for scoring documents in a linked database, such as the World Wide Web. It starts by "obtaining a plurality of documents" (Claim 1). Then, it "assigns a score to each of the linked documents based on scores of the one or more linking documents" (Claim 1). This means if an important page links to your page, your page gets a higher score. The method can use various "weighting factors" for these linking documents, such as the number of links they have (Claim 2), how likely they are to be accessed (Claim 3), or even user preferences (Claim 7). Finally, it involves "processing the linked documents according to their scores" (Claim 1), which could mean ordering them in search results. For example, if a popular news site links to a small blog, the blog's score would increase because of the news site's high score.
The clever bit
The truly novel idea was to treat links as "votes" of importance, where a link from a more important page counts more than a link from a less important page. This recursive definition of importance, combined with the "random surfer" model (Claim 10's "random traversal"), allowed for an objective and scalable way to rank the vast and ever-changing web.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover ranking documents solely based on their content keywords without considering incoming links.
- Does not cover ranking systems that only count the number of incoming links without considering the quality or score of those linking documents.
- Does not cover ranking documents where the score is determined only by user clicks on the document itself, rather than the linking documents.
- Does not cover ranking systems that manually assign scores to documents without a computer-implemented method.
Patent Journey
From filing to expiry
Patent Filed
1998
Patent Granted
2001 · 4yr after filing
Highly Cited
817 patents cite this
Patent Expired
2018
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Strong
Citation count
40/40
Highly cited
Claim breadth
20/20
Very broad protection
Recency
0/20
Older than 20 years
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assignee
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
The original legal language
Original claims
35 claims as filed with the patent office.
Citations
Patent lineage
Stay in the loop
Get a weekly digest of new patents.
One email per week. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Keep exploring
Related patents you should know
US 12564871 · 2026
A Fixture for Cleaning Showerheads with Multiple Separate Chambers
This patent describes a cleaning device for showerheads that uses a fixture with three or more separate internal compartments and channels to direct cleaning fluid to the showerhead's upper surfaces.
ASM IP HOLDING BV
US 12324579 · 2025
Surgical Stapler Battery Health Check During Operation
This patent describes a powered surgical stapler that can detect if some of its rechargeable battery cells are damaged while it's actually firing staples, helping ensure the procedure finishes safely.
CILAG GMBH INT
US 12471982 · 2025
Surgical Tool That Combines Energy Treatment and Stapling
CILAG's patent details a surgical instrument that applies therapeutic energy to tissue, monitors its properties, then deploys staples, adapting the stapling based on the initial energy treatment and monitoring.
CILAG GMBH INT
US 11918209 · 2024
Real-Time Surgical Instrument Status on Live Video During Operations
This patent describes a surgical system that shows live video from inside the body and overlays important information about the surgical tool directly onto the screen, helping surgeons operate more precisely.
CILAG GMBH INT
US 8697359 · 2014
How to Use CRISPR-Cas9 to Edit Genes in Human Cells
This patent describes a method and system for precisely altering gene expression in eukaryotic cells, including human cells, using an engineered CRISPR-Cas9 system that targets and cleaves specific DNA sequences.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
US 4683195 · 1987
How to Make Many Copies of a Specific DNA Segment
This patent describes the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), a fundamental process for making millions of copies of a specific DNA or RNA segment from a tiny sample, enabling its detection.
Cetus Corp
Semantically similar
You might also find these interesting
US 6370526 · 2002 · International Business Machines Corp
Google AdWords — The Auction System That Made Search Profitable
US 10452978 · 2019 · Google LLC
How AI Models Understand Language Using Self-Attention
US 6266649 · 2001 · Amazon com Inc
Amazon's 'Customers Also Bought' — The Recommendation Algorithm That Changed Retail
US 7469381 · 2008 · Apple Inc
How Touchscreens Make Documents Bounce When You Scroll Too Far
Related reading
Same assignee
More from Leland Stanford Junior University
Patent monitoring