System and method for determining relevancy of query responses in a distributed network search mechanism

A method comprising:

• sending a search query to first and second provider nodes in a network;
• receiving first and second search responses from the first and second provider nodes respectively in response to the search query, wherein the first and second search responses include first and second bid numbers respectively;
• and
• generating a collated search result including the first and second search response ordered in response to the difference between the first and second bid numbers.

A computer system in a network, comprising:

• a network interface configured to receive a search response formatted in accordance with a common query protocol from each of a plurality of provider nodes in the network in response to a search query formatted in accordance with the common query protocol from a requesting node in the network and to transmit an aggregate search response to the requesting node;
• a storage device configured to store the plurality of search responses;
• and
• a processing unit configured to generate an aggregate search result formatted in accordance with the common query protocol including one or more of the plurality of search responses ordered in response to relevance information indicating a ranking of the plurality of search responses.

A computer system in a network, comprising:

• a network interface configured to send a search query from a requesting node in the network to first and second provider nodes in the network and to receive first and second search responses from the first and second provider nodes respectively in response to the search query, wherein the first and second search responses include first and second bid numbers respectively;
• a storage device configured to store the first and second search responses;
• and
• a processing unit configured to generating a collated search result including the first and second search response ordered in response to the difference between the first and second bid numbers.

A computer system in a network, comprising:

• means for receiving a search response formatted in accordance with a common query protocol from each of a plurality of provider nodes in the network in response to a search query formatted in accordance with the common query protocol from a requesting node in the network;
• means for storing the plurality of search responses;
• means for transmitting an aggregate search response to the requesting node;
• and
• means for generating an aggregate search result formatted in accordance with the common query protocol including one or more of the plurality of search responses ordered in response to relevance information indicating a ranking of the plurality of search responses.