Classifying a portion of user contact data into local contacts

• US 10,192,200 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2012
• Issued: 01/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Jacobson, Joshua Robert Russell
• Primary Examiner(s): Saeed, Usmaan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Perez-Arroyo, Raquel
• Application Number:
  US13/693,955
• Publication Number:
  US 20140156650A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,247 Days
• Field of Search: 707723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Contact data for contacts of a user is stored. Each of the contacts is ranked (e.g., based on stored profile information for each contact). In one embodiment, each of the contacts is classified as either a local contact or a directory contact based on the ranking to provide local contacts and directory contacts. The local contacts are provided for local storage on a user device of the user. A directory contact is provided to the user device from the directory contacts by the server (e.g., in response to a query from the user device).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing contact data for each of a plurality of users including a first user, the contact data comprising a plurality of contacts for the first user, the contact data further comprising a number of messages sent to the first user by each of the plurality of contacts, and the contact data for a respective contact further comprising data extracted from the messages sent to the first user by the respective contact;

ranking each of the plurality of contacts to provide a first ranking associated with a first user device of the first user, the first ranking based at least in part on the number of messages sent to the first user by each contact, and the first ranking further based on a likelihood that future communication with each respective contact of the plurality of contacts will be performed via the first user device;

dividing, by a server platform, based on the first ranking, the plurality of contacts to provide a first set of local contacts for local storage on the first user device and a first set of directory contacts stored only on the server platform, wherein each of the local contacts has a higher rank than the directory contacts, and the first set of local contacts has a predetermined size;

providing, by the server platform, to the first user device, prior to the first user device presenting an input field in a user interface to the first user, the first set of local contacts for the local storage on the first user device, wherein the first set of local contacts includes a first local contact to present to the first user from the local storage in response to a first query from the first user device;

in response to the first query, providing, by the server platform, to the first user device, a first plurality of contacts in a first ranked order based on the first ranking, the first plurality of contacts including a first directory contact from the first set of directory contacts, wherein the first directory contact is provided as an option for presentation in the user interface to the first user when entering data in the input field, and the first directory contact is provided for presentation to the first user on a screen of the first user device when presenting the first local contact on the screen, and wherein the first plurality of contacts changes as at least one additional character or data is entered by the first user into the user interface;

receiving a second query from the first user device, the second query sent based on a location determination by the first user device; and

in response to the second query, providing, by the server platform, to the first user device, a second plurality of contacts in a ranked order based on a second ranking by the server platform, the second ranking based at least in part on the number of messages sent to the first user by each of the plurality of contacts, and the second plurality of contacts including a second directory contact from the first set of directory contacts, wherein the second directory contact replaces the first directory contact on the screen of the first user device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising ranking each of the plurality of contacts to provide a third ranking associated with a second user device of the first user, wherein the third ranking is based at least on a likelihood that future communication with each respective contact will be performed via the second user device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the likelihood of future communication for the second user device is determined based at least on a prior communication history with the respective contact.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the ranking of each of the plurality of contacts to provide the first ranking comprises ranking each contact using unique profile information for the contact.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of local contacts is provided to the first user device via an address book server of the server platform, and the first directory contact is provided to the first user device via a directory server of the server platform.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first ranking is based at least on a user context of the first user device, the method further comprising:

ranking the plurality of contacts based on at least a user context of a second user device of the first user to provide a third ranking associated with the second user device; and

dividing, based on the third ranking, by the server platform, the plurality of contacts to provide a second set of local contacts and a second set of directory contacts;

providing the second set of local contacts for local storage on the second user device; and

providing a second directory contact, from the second set of directory contacts, to the second user device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the user context of the first user device is based on a time of day.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the dividing the plurality of contacts in response to a change in the first ranking caused by new messages for the first user received after the dividing;

providing an update for the first set of local contacts stored on the first user device based on the updated dividing; and

after the providing the update for the first set of local contacts, in response to a third query from the first user device, providing a directory contact for presentation to the first user that is different from the first directory contact.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined size is a fixed number of contacts or a predetermined percentage of top-rated contacts.

10. A system, comprising:

a display for presenting a user interface to a user;

memory configured to store a first set of local contacts, wherein the first set of local contacts includes a first local contact, wherein the first set of local contacts has been provided from a server platform, wherein each of the local contacts has a rank determined by a ranking of a plurality of contacts by the server platform, and wherein contact data stored at the server platform comprises a number of messages sent to the user by each of the plurality of contacts, the contact data at the server platform further comprises data extracted from the messages sent to the user by the respective contact, the ranking by the server platform is based at least in part on the number of messages sent to the user by the respective contact, the ranking is further based on a likelihood that future communication with each respective contact of the plurality of contacts will be performed via a user device of the user, and the plurality of contacts is divided by the server platform based on the ranking to define the first set of local contacts, wherein the dividing the plurality of contacts provides the first set of local contacts for local storage in the memory and a first set of directory contacts for storage only on the server platform, each of the local contacts has a higher rank than the directory contacts, and the first set of local contacts has a predetermined size;

at least one processor; and

memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one processor to;

receive, from the server platform, prior to presenting an input field of the user interface to the user, the first local contact as a first option to provide the user in the user interface when entering data in the input field;

in response to the user entering data in the input field, present the first local contact to the user on the display;

send a query to the server platform when the user is entering data in the input field;

in response to the query, receive, from the server platform, a first plurality of contacts in a first ranked order based on the ranking by the server platform, the first plurality of contacts including a first directory contact, wherein the first directory contact is one of the first set of directory contacts stored only at the server platform, and wherein each of the directory contacts has a rank determined by the server platform, and wherein the first plurality of contacts changes as at least one additional character or data is entered by the user into the user interface; and

in response to the user entering data in the input field, present, on the display, the first directory contact as a second option for the user.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the server platform:

provides the first set of local contacts for local storage on a the user device of the user; and

provides the first directory contact from the first set of directory contacts.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the at least one processor to receive, from the server platform, an update to the stored first set of local contacts that corresponds to an update to the dividing the plurality of contacts due to a change in the ranking caused by new received messages.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, which when executed, cause a system to:

store contact data for each of a plurality of users including a first user, the contact data comprising a plurality of contacts for the first user, the contact data further comprising a number of messages sent to the first user by each of the plurality of contacts, and the contact data for a respective contact further comprising data extracted from the messages sent to the first user by the respective contact;

rank each of the plurality of contacts to provide a ranking, the ranking based at least in part on the number of messages sent to the first user by each contact, and the ranking further based on a likelihood that future communication with each respective contact of the plurality of contacts will be performed via a user device of the first user;

divide, by at least one processor, based on the ranking, the plurality of contacts to provide a first set of local contacts for local storage on the user device of the first user and a first set of directory contacts stored only on a server platform, wherein each of the local contacts has a higher rank than the directory contacts, and the first set of local contacts has a predetermined size;

provide, by the at least one processor, from the server platform to the user device, prior to the user device presenting an input field in a user interface to the first user, the first set of local contacts for the local storage on the user device, wherein the first set of local contacts includes a first local contact to present to the first user from the local storage in response to a query from the user device; and

in response to the query, provide, by the at least one processor, to the user device, a first plurality of contacts in a first ranked order based on the ranking, the first plurality of contacts including a first directory contact from the first set of directory contacts, wherein the first directory contact is provided as an option for presentation in the user interface on the user device to the first user when entering data in the input field, and the first directory contact is provided for presentation to the first user when presenting the first local contact, and wherein the first plurality of contacts changes as at least one additional character or data is entered by the first user into the user interface.

14. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first set of local contacts is provided to the user device via an address book server, and the first directory contact is provided to the user device via a directory server.

15. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the user device is a first user device, the ranking is based at least on a user context of the first user device, and the instructions further cause the system to:

rank the plurality of contacts based at least on a user context of a second user device of the user to provide a second ranking associated with the second user device; and

divide, based on the second ranking, the plurality of contacts to define a second set of local contacts and a second set of directory contacts;

provide the second set of local contacts for local storage on the second user device; and

provide a second directory contact, from the second set of directory contacts, responsive to a query from the second user device.

16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein the user context of the first user device is based at least on a physical characteristic of the first user device.

17. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the system to update the dividing the plurality of contacts in response to a change in the ranking caused by new received messages, and provide an update for the first set of local contacts based on the updated dividing.

18. A method, comprising:

storing contact data for each of a plurality of users including a first user, the contact data comprising a plurality of contacts for the first user, the contact data further comprising a number of messages sent to the first user by each of the plurality of contacts, and the contact data for a respective contact further comprising data extracted from the messages sent to the first user by the respective contact;

ranking each of the plurality of contacts to provide a ranking associated with a first user device of the first user, the ranking based at least in part on the number of messages sent to the first user by each contact, and the ranking further based on a likelihood that future communication with each respective contact of the plurality of contacts will be performed via the first user device;

dividing, by a server platform, based on the ranking, the plurality of contacts to provide a set of local contacts for local storage on the first user device and a first set of directory contacts stored only on the server platform, wherein each of the local contacts has a higher rank than the directory contacts, and the first set of local contacts has a predetermined size;

providing, by the server platform, to the first user device, prior to the first user device presenting an input field in a user interface to the first user, the set of local contacts for the local storage on the first user device, wherein the set of local contacts includes a first local contact to be presented on the first user device in response to a query; and

in response to the query, providing, by the server platform, to the first user device, a first plurality of contacts in a first ranked order based on the ranking, the first plurality of contacts including a first directory contact from the first set of directory contacts, wherein the first directory contact is provided as an option for presentation in the user interface to the first user when entering data in the input field, and wherein the first directory contact is provided for presentation to the first user on the first user device when presenting the first local contact, and wherein the first plurality of contacts changes as at least one additional character or data is entered by the first user into the user interface.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising updating the dividing the plurality of contacts in response to a change in the ranking based on new messages received after the dividing, and providing, to the first user device, an update for the set of local contacts, the update based on the updated dividing.