Systems and methods for customized electronic communications

• US 10,114,869 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2015
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo AD Tech LLC
• Original Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Becker, Marcel, Halvaksz, Seth, Wetherell, Bill, Eyzaguirre, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Hung
• Application Number:
  US14/745,559
• Publication Number:
  US 20150370802A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,226 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods customizing electronic communications. A future event associated with a first user may be determined, and a second user that is associated with the first user and the future event may be identified. A plurality of communications involving the first user and the second user may be analyzed. A selection rule may be applied based on the analyzed plurality of communications, the selection rule identifying content from the database. Content from the database may be selected based on the application of the selection rule. An electronic message may be provided to the first user identifying the future event, and the selected content may be provided to the first user.

Claims

1. A system for displaying electronic content to a recipient based on recorded web-based activity data, comprising:

at least one storage medium comprising electronic content associated with a plurality of general topics of interest and specific topics of interest; and

at least one processor in communication with the storage medium and configured to execute a plurality of operations, the operations comprising;

receiving, over a network, an electronic communication addressed to the recipient;

identifying a general topic of interest based on the content of the electronic communication;

identifying at least one specific topic of interest based on the content of the electronic communication;

accessing stored web-based activity data associated with the recipient, the stored web-based activity data including at least one of email activity, search engine query history, and browsing activity;

accessing a plurality of electronic content stored in the at least one storage medium;

determining, based on the identified general and specific topics of interest and the stored web-based activity, at least one content selection rule, wherein the at least one content selection rule identifies an advertisement or message based on at least one of the identified general and specific topics of interest;

applying the at least one content selection rule to determine a score for each of the plurality of accessed electronic content;

selecting, based on the determined scores at least one of the plurality of accessed electronic content; and

determining, based on the stored web-based activity, a displaying mechanism to display the selected electronic content on a device of the recipient, the displaying mechanism comprising at least one of a banner, a pop-up, a text-link, and a video.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least, one specific topic of interest is an upcoming event.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at one specific topic of interest is a product or merchant name.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content selection rules increase a default score associated with the electronic content based on at least one of the identified general and specific topics of interest.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on communications from other users to the recipient.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on communications from other users who are associated with the recipient.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on a reel-time location of the recipient.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on a user profile associated with the recipient.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein determining a display mechanism comprises:

determining a default display by cycling through different available display mechanism when there is no stored web-based activity.

10. A computer-implemented method for displaying electronic content to a recipient based on recorded web-based activity data, the method comprising the following operations performed by at least one processor:

receiving, over a network, an electronic communication addressed to the recipient;

identifying a general topic of interest based on the content of the electronic communication;

identifying at least one specific topic of interest based on the content of the electronic communication;

accessing stored web-based activity data associated with the recipient, the stored web-based activity data including at least one of email activity, search engine query history, and browsing activity;

accessing a plurality of electronic content stored in the at least one storage medium;

determining, based on the identified general and specific topics of interest and the stored web-based activity, at least one content selection rule, wherein the at least one content selection rule identifies an advertisement based on at least one of the identified general and specific topics of interest;

applying the at least one content selection rule to determine a score for each of the plurality of accessed electronic content;

selecting, based on the determined scores, at least one of the plurality of accessed electronics content; and

determining, based on the stored web-based activity, a display mechanism to display the selected electronic content on a device of the recipient, the displaying mechanism comprising at least one of a banner, a pop-up, a text-link, and a video.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the at least one specific topic of interest is an upcoming event.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the at least one specific topic of interest is a product or merchant name.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of content selection rules increase a default score associated with accessed electronic content based on at least one of the identified general and specific topics of interest.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on communications from other users to the recipient.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on communications from other users who are associated with the recipient.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify electronic content based on a real-time location of the recipient.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of content selection rules identify determine the score of electronic content based on a user profile associated with the recipient.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein determining a display mechanism comprises:

determining a default display by cycling through different available display mechanism when there is no stored web-based activity.