The CLEVER search engine incorporates several algorithms that make use of the Web's hyperlink structure for discovering high-quality information.
Traditional automated search methods for locating information on the Web are easily overwhelmed by low-quality and unrelated content.
The rich structure implicit in hyperlinks among Web documents offers a simple, and effective, means to deal with many of these problems.
It also takes into account the notion of hubs, which point to quality content and link information together, and the idea of authority pages, which are often written by specialists in certain fields.
Cody said that the tool could be used for targeted advertising purposes or for enabling users to find out more information about incipient communities, but declined to say whether IBM had plans to turn Clever into a commercial product or not.