Enhancing search results with social networking data

A method comprising:

• incorporating instructions into a memory of a marketplace system, an implementation of the instructions by one or more processors of the marketplace system configuring the marketplace system to perform operations, the operations including:
• detecting that a user is searching for information about an item by submitting a search using an application executing on a device of the user;
• and
• based on the detecting, performing operations including:
• collecting data relating to the item from a social network of the user, the data relating to the item pertaining to a purchasing of the item by an additional user, the additional user having a relatedness to the user in the social network of the user;
• identifying a type of the data as corresponding to one of a plurality of pre-determined types of data, the pre-defined types of data including at least one of knowledge about the item, ownership of the item, feedback provided about the item, a rating of the item, a willingness to sell the item, expertise in using the item, or purchase guidance pertaining to the item;
• determining a relevance score to associate with the data based on a relevance of the type of the data to the search;
• and
• generating a notification relating to the item, the notification including the data, the relevance score, and a specification of the purchasing of the item by the additional user, to supplement a search result that is to be presented to the user in response to the submitting of the search.

A non-transitory machine readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, when incorporated as one or more modules into a network-based publication system, cause one or more processors of the network-based publication system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• detecting that a user is searching for information about an item by submitting a search using an application executing on a device of the user;
• and
• based on the detecting, performing operations including:
• collecting data relating to the item from a social network of the user, the data relating to the item pertaining to a purchasing of the item by an additional user, the additional user having a relatedness to the user in the social network of the user;
• identifying a type of the data as corresponding to one of a plurality of pre-determined types of data, the pre-defined types of data including at least one of knowledge about the item, ownership of the item, feedback provided about the item, a rating of the item, a willingness to sell the item, expertise in using the item, or purchase guidance pertaining to the item;
• determining a relevance score to associate with the data based on a relevance of the type of the data to the local commerce search;
• and
• generating a notification of the data relating to the item, the notification including the data, the relevance score, and a specification of the purchasing of the item by the additional user, to supplement a search result that is to be presented to the user in response to the submitting of the search.