Semantic specification and evaluation of bids in web-based markets

In recent years, electronic markets have gained much attention as institutions to allocate goods and services efficiently between buyers and sellers. By leveraging the Web as a global communication medium, electronic markets provide a platform that allows participants throughout the world to spontaneously exchange products in a flexible manner. However, ensuring interoperability and mutual understanding in such a highly dynamic and heterogenous environment can easily become very tricky, particularly if the services and goods involved are complex and described by multiple attributes. In this paper, we present a comprehensive ontology framework that allows the specification of bids for Web-based markets. By expressing utility function policies with a logic-based and standardized formalism, the framework enables a compact bid representation particularly for highly configurable goods and services while ensuring a high degree of interoperability. To facilitate matchmaking of offers and requests in the market, a method for evaluating bids based on logical reasoning is presented. In addition, as proof of concept, we show how the framework can be applied in a Web service selection scenario.