Selection of page templates for presenting digital magazine content based on characteristics of additional page templates

• US 10,089,295 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2017
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flipboard Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Flipboard Incorporated
• Inventors: Ying, Charles Hugo
• Primary Examiner(s): Amin, Mustafa A
• Application Number:
  US15/809,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20180089162A1
• Time in Patent Office: 326 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/137 Hierarchical processing, e.g. outlines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A digital magazine server displays content to a user based on a page template specifying sizing and positioning of content items. The page template is selected from a set of candidate page templates, which is determined based on characteristics of page templates and characteristics of other page templates used to present content to the user. Different characteristics of a page template are weighted based on the page template'"'"'s position in a series of additional page templates used to present content and characteristics of the additional page templates. Weights associated with different characteristics of a page template are combined to determine a template score for the page template, and the template score is used to determine if the page template is a candidate page template.

Claims

1. A method for generating a digital magazine, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of page templates, each page template including one or more regions, each region configured to present one or more content items, one or more of the plurality of page templates including one or more regions, each region associated with a height that is based on a width of a display area;

receiving a request from a client device to present one or more content items from one or more sources in the digital magazine to a user;

retrieving information describing content items associated with the digital magazine;

retrieving information describing user interaction with one or more content items associated with the digital magazine;

identifying one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine from the one or more page templates;

determining weights associated with characteristics of page templates based at least in part on characteristics of the identified one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine;

selecting one or more candidate page templates by applying the determined weights to one or more selected from a group consisting of;

the identified one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine, one or more characteristics of the content items associated with the digital magazine, the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine, and any combination thereof;

generating a score associated with each of the one or more candidate page templates, where a score associated with a candidate page template is based on a number of the content items, characteristics of the one or more content items, and a number of regions in the page template;

selecting a display page template based on the scores associated with the one or more candidate page templates; and

generating a section of the digital magazine for presentation via the client device, the section including one or more regions each presenting one or more content items placed in positions specified by the one or more regions of the display page template.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one or more candidate page templates by applying the determined weights to one or more selected from the group consisting of:

the identified one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine, one or more characteristics of the content items associated with the digital magazine, the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine, and any combination thereof comprises;

determining template scores associated with the one or more page templates based at least in part on the determined weights, a template score associated with a page template based at least in part on weights associated with characteristics of the page template; and

selecting the one or more candidate page templates from the one or more page templates based at least in part on the template scores.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a weight associated with a characteristic of the page template is based on a number of page templates previously selected to present content from the digital magazine having the characteristic.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the weight associated with the characteristic of the page template is further based at least in part on a number of page templates selected to subsequently present content from the digital magazine having the characteristic.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine includes a length of time to interact with a content item based at least in part on prior interactions between the user and content items associated with the digital magazine previously presented to the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the length of time to interact with the content item is further based at least in part on one or more attributes of the client device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine is based at least in part on a frequency with which the user interacted with types of content item and types associated with the retrieved content items.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interaction with one or more content items associated with the digital magazine is based at least in part on content included in the retrieved content items.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more candidate page templates are selected based at least in part on a location associated with the client device and locations associated with the retrieved content items.

10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

store a plurality of page templates, each page template including one or more regions, each region configured to present one or more content items, one or more of the plurality of page templates including one or more regions, each region associated with a height that is based on a width of a display area;

receive a request from a client device to present one or more content items from one or more sources in the digital magazine to a user;

retrieve information describing content items associated with the digital magazine;

retrieve information describing user interaction with one or more content items associated with the digital magazine;

identify one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine from the one or more page templates;

determine weights associated with characteristics of page templates based at least in part on characteristics of the identified one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine;

select one or more candidate page templates by applying the determined weights to one or more selected from a group consisting of;

the identified one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine, one or more characteristics of the content items associated with the digital magazine, the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine, and any combination thereof;

generate a score associated with each of the one or more candidate page templates, where a score associated with a candidate page template is based on a number of the content items, characteristics of the one or more content items, and a number of regions in the page template;

select a display page template based on the scores associated with the one or more candidate page templates; and

generate a section of the digital magazine for presentation via the client device, the section including one or more regions each presenting one or more content items placed in positions specified by the one or more regions of the display page template.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein select one or more candidate page templates by applying the determined weights to one or more selected from the group consisting of:

the identified one or more page templates previously associated with the digital magazine, one or more characteristics of the content items associated with the digital magazine, the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine, and any combination thereof comprises;

determine template scores associated with the one or more page templates based at least in part on the determined weights, a template score associated with a page template based at least in part on weights associated with characteristics of the page template; and

select the one or more candidate page templates from the one or more page templates based at least in part on the template scores.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein a weight associated with a characteristic of the page template is based on a number of page templates previously selected to present content from the digital magazine having the characteristic.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the weight associated with the characteristic of the page template is further based at least in part on a number of page templates selected to subsequently present content from the digital magazine having the characteristic.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine includes a length of time to interact with a content item based at least in part on prior interactions between the user and content items associated with the digital magazine previously presented to the user.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the length of time to interact with the content item is further based at least in part on one or more attributes of the client device.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the user interaction with the one or more content items associated with the digital magazine is based at least in part on a frequency with which the user interacted with types of content item and types associated with the retrieved content items.

17. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the user interaction with one or more content items associated with the digital magazine is based at least in part on content included in the retrieved content items.

18. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the one or more candidate page templates are selected based at least in part on a location associated with the client device and locations associated with the retrieved content items.