An electronic marketplace system (10) operates on one or more computers
that collectively facilitate marketplace interactions between one or more first
participants (12, 14) and a second participant (14, 12). The system
(10) receives feedback as to performance of the second participant (14,
12) from the first participants (12, 14) based on their interactions
with the second participant (14, 12). The system (10) associates
a participant-specific rating with the second participant (14, 12) based
on the feedback received from a particular first participant (12, 14), the
participant-specific rating of the second participant (14, 12) being specific
to the first participant (12, 14), being independent of feedback received
from other first participants (12, 14), and being stored in a profile maintained
for the first participant (12, 14). The system (10) accesses the
profile maintained for the first participant (12, 14) in response to an
identification of the second participant (14, 12) as a potential partner
for the first participant (12, 14) as to a potential interaction. According
to the participant-specific rating of the second participant (14, 12), the
system (10) provides an indication to the first participant (12, 14)
reflecting the desirability of interacting with the second participant (14,
12) with respect to the potential interaction.