Sponsored stories and news stories within a newsfeed of a social networking system

• US 10,068,258 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2012
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kendall, Timothy, Cohler, Matthew R., Zuckerberg, Mark E., Juan, Yun-Fang, Jin, Robert Kang-Xing, Rosenstein, Justin M., Bosworth, Andrew G., Wong, Yishan, D'Angelo, Adam, Palihapitiya, Chamath M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sittner, Matthew T
• Application Number:
  US13/447,102
• Publication Number:
  US 20120203847A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,335 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1859 adapted to provide push services, e.g. data channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A social networking system generates socially-relevant stories for a user based on actions taken by other users to whom the user is connected. The social networking system may receive a request for a sponsored story for a viewing user and may select information about one or more actions performed by one or more users to whom the viewing user is connected to identify one of a plurality of candidate information for a sponsored story based on one or more criteria (e.g., affinity of the viewing user for the candidates, expected value for the candidates, etc.). The social networking system may also generate the sponsored story and generate a feed comprising the sponsored story and news stories (e.g., non-sponsored stories) about one or more users of the social networking system with whom the viewing user is connected. This feed may be provided for display to the viewing user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

logging, by a social networking computer system, information related to actions performed by users of a social networking system;

receiving, by the social networking computer system, an advertisement request from an advertiser to sponsor stories for display in user interfaces for viewing users, each of the sponsored stories comprising;

a message to a viewing user of the social networking system that includes information related to an action performed by one or more users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system,

wherein the action is selectable by the advertiser from a plurality of actions provided to the advertiser by the social networking computer system;

for each of the viewing users;

selecting, by the social networking computer system, information about one or more actions performed by other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system to identify candidate information to include in stories for display to the viewing user in a newsfeed;

identifying, from the candidate information, matches with an action of the advertisement request;

generating, by a computer processor of the social networking computer system, a plurality of news stories based on the selected candidate information and a plurality of sponsored stories based on the selected candidate information that was identified as a match with an action of the advertisement request;

generating, by the social networking computer system, a feed that comprises;

the generated sponsored stories; and

the generated plurality of news stories,

wherein the feed includes a combination of generated news stories and generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user; and

providing, for display by the social networking computer system, user interfaces including each of the generated feeds for each of the viewing users such that the feeds are different for different viewing users, wherein some of the stories that are sponsored stories in one feed appear as non-sponsored news stories in other feeds.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user includes information about a purchase an item by the other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated sponsored stories that are includes to the viewing user includes information about a location of the other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user includes information about program material on a television system accessed by the other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting information about one or more actions by other users within whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system to identify candidate information comprises selecting based on affinity of the viewing user for the candidate information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting based on affinity comprises:

determining an affinity score between the viewing user and each of the candidate information; and

selecting the candidate information having the highest affinity score.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting information about one or more actions by other users within whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system to identify candidate information comprises selecting based on an expected value for each of the candidate information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the candidate information with a highest expected value is selected.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving a bid amount from an advertiser to sponsor a story, wherein the expected value is computed as a function of a per-click bid price for the sponsored story including the candidate information weighted by an estimated probability that the sponsored story will be clicked by the viewing user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the estimated probability is computed as a weighted function of an affinity score of the viewing user for the other users with whom the viewing user is connected or for content in the sponsored story.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the request from an advertiser to sponsor stories for display in user interfaces for viewing users comprises a price associated with the request indicating an amount that the advertiser is willing to pay to sponsor stories for display in the user interfaces for the viewing users.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein logging information related to actions performed by users of a social networking system comprises logging information received from an external site related to actions performed by users of a social networking system on the external site.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated plurality of news stories comprise information about actions taken by the other users with whom the viewing user is connected, the actions contained in an action log.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting a subset of the plurality of new stories generated for inclusion in the feed, the subset selected based on affinity of the viewing user for the other users associated with each of the news stories, for a type of action included in each of the news stories, or for a type of object included in each of the news stories.

15. A computer-implemented system comprising:

a processor;

an action logger for logging information, by a social networking computer system, related to actions performed by users of a social networking system;

an advertisement request database for storing, by the social networking computer system, a plurality of advertisement requests from advertisers for sponsored stories;

an advertising server configured for;

receiving, by the social networking computer system, an advertisement request from an advertiser to sponsor stories for display in user interfaces for viewing users, each of the sponsored stories comprising;

a message provided to a viewing user of the social networking system including information related to an action performed by one or more users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system,

wherein the action is selectable by the advertiser from a plurality of actions provided to the advertiser by the social networking computer system;

for each of the viewing users;

selecting, by the social networking computer system, information about one or more actions performed by other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system to identify candidate information to include in stories for display to the viewing user in a newsfeed based on one or more criteria;

a feed generator configured for;

for each of the viewing users;

identifying, from the candidate information, matches with an action of the advertisement request;

generating, by a computer processor of the social networking computer system, a plurality of news stories based on the selected candidate information and a plurality of sponsored stories based on the selected candidate information that was identified as a match with an action of the advertisement request;

generating, by the social networking computer system, a feed that comprises;

the generated sponsored stories; and

the generated plurality of news stories,

wherein the feed includes a combination of generated news stories and generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user; and

a web server configured for providing, for display by the social networking computer system, user interfaces including each of the generated feeds for each of the viewing users such that the feeds are different for different viewing users, wherein some of the stories that are sponsored stories in one feed appear as non-sponsored news stories in other feeds.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user includes information about a purchase of an item by the other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system, a location of the other users, or program material on a television system accessed by the other users.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more criteria comprise affinity of the viewing user for the candidate information or an expected value of the candidate information.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the advertising server is configured for determining the affinity based on one or more express interests of the viewing user provided directly or indirectly by the viewing user on the social networking system or based on one or more implied interests of the viewing user determined through actions taken by the viewing user on the social networking system.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the advertising server is configured for receiving a bid amount from an advertiser to sponsor a story, wherein the bid amount by the advertiser accelerates the sponsored story or maximizes a chance that the sponsored story will be provided to the viewing user.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising an action log for storing the information related to actions performed by users of a social networking system, wherein one or more of the logged actions are included in the generated sponsored story or the news stories.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the feed generator is configured for selecting news stories for the feed from the plurality of news stories based on an affinity of the viewing user for each of the plurality of news stories.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the action of the advertisement request comprises an action taken external to the social networking system.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program instructions comprising instructions for performing the steps comprising:

logging, by a social networking computer system, information related to actions performed by users of a social networking system;

receiving, by the social networking computer system, an advertisement request from an advertiser to sponsor stories for display in user interfaces for viewing users, each of the sponsored stories comprising;

a message to a viewing user of the social networking system that includes information related to an action performed by one or more users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system,

wherein the action is selectable by the advertiser from a plurality of actions provided to the advertiser by the social networking computer system;

for each of the viewing users;

selecting, by the social networking computer system, information about one or more actions performed by other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system to identify candidate information to include in stories for display to the viewing user in a newsfeed;

identifying from the candidate information matches with an action of the advertisement request;

generating, by a computer processor of the social networking computer system, a plurality of news stories based on the selected candidate information and a plurality of sponsored stories based on the selected candidate information that was identified as a match with an action of the advertisement request;

generating, by the social networking computer system, a feed that comprises;

the generated sponsored stories; and

the generated plurality of news stories,

wherein the feed includes a combination of generated news stories and generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user; and

providing, for display by the social networking computer system, user interfaces including each of the generated feeds for each of the viewing users such that the feeds are different for different viewing users, wherein some of the stories that are sponsored stories in one feed appear as non-sponsored news stories in other feeds.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the generated sponsored stories that are personalized to the viewing user includes information about a purchase of an item by the other users with whom the viewing user is connected in the social networking system, a location of the other users, or program material on a television system accessed by the other users.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the one or more criteria comprise affinity of the viewing user for the candidate information or an expected value of the candidate information.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving a request for a set of news stories for a viewing user; and

obtaining a listing of any actions contained in an action log that are related to the viewing user, the actions being related if they relate to another user to whom the viewing user has a connection or an object to which the viewing user is connected.