Associating a postmark with a message to indicate trust

• US 20060206713A1
• Filed: 03/14/2005
• Published: 09/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramirez, Joshua S., Hickman, Kenneth T., Libbey, Miles A. IV
• Granted Patent: US 7,831,834 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability

Abstract

A method and system directed to the communication of the trust characteristics of electronic messages using visual and audio postmarks. The postmarks may represent a particular trust level on a continuum that can range from suspicious to trusted. A message system may determine the baseline trust level of a message and assign a postmark to the message. The postmark can communicate the trust level of the message to a user without requiring the message to be opened or read. In one embodiment of the invention the user can create rules and filters to classify messages by trust level.

Claims

1. A method for indicating a trust level for a message, comprising:

determining a trust characteristic for a received message;

associating a postmark for the determined trust characteristic with the received message;

enabling a display of the postmark along with at least an indication of the received message, wherein the trust characteristic of the received message is determinable based on the displayed postmark; and

enabling a user to select at least one rule for handling the received message based, in part, on the postmark.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the postmark includes at least one of a graphic, image, picture, color, text, symbol, animation, cartoon, audio signal, or a movie.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the trust characteristic further comprises employing at least one of anti-spam detection, black lists, green lists, white lists, social networks, contacts, user groups, buddy lists, or DomainKeys.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the trust characteristic includes at least one of a Trusted level that indicates a sender of the received message is safe and content of the received message is safe, a Verified level that indicates a sender of the received message is safe, a General level that indicates that content of the received message is safe, a Bulk level that indicates that content of the received message is spam, or a Suspicious level that indicates that content of the received message is unsafe.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the postmark is customizable by at least one of a user for a particular sender of the received message or a sponsor that is at least a verifiable sender of the received message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one rule for handling the received message is further based a sender of the received message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one rule provides for at least one of demoting the trust characteristic, increasing the trust characteristic, discarding the received message based on the sender, and discarding the received message based on the trust characteristic.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one rule is selectable based on at least one of an action button or a pull-down menu.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one rule provides for routing the received message to at least one folder.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing at least one alert based on at least one of the trust characteristic and a sender of the received message.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one alert includes at least one of an Instant Message (IM), Short Message Service (SMS), and electronic mail (email).

12. A mobile device for representing a trust level for a message, comprising:

a memory for storing instructions; and

a processor for performing actions based at least in part on the stored instructions, including;

determining a trust characteristic for a received message;

associating a postmark for the determined trust characteristic with the received message; and

enabling a display of the postmark along with at least an indication of the received message, wherein the trust characteristic of the received message is determinable based on the postmark.

13. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the postmark is displayable prior to the opening of the received message.

14. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the trust characteristic is associated with at least one of the received message'"'"'s content and a sender of the received message.

15. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the postmark is localized to at least one of a user'"'"'s language, location, culture, group, ethnicity, organization, or country.

16. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein determining the trust characteristic further comprises employing at least one of anti-spam detection, black lists, green lists, white lists, social networks, contacts, user groups, buddy lists, and DomainKeys.

17. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the postmark is customizable in view of a promotion that includes at least one of a holiday, season, coupon, contest, announcement, location, sporting event, festival, historical event, or birthday.

18. A server for representing a trust level for a message, comprising:

a memory for storing instructions; and

a processor for performing actions based at least in part on the stored instructions, including;

determining a trust characteristic for a received message;

associating a postmark for the determined trust characteristic with the received message; and

enabling a display of the postmark along with at least an indication of the received message, wherein the trust characteristic of the received message is determinable based on the postmark.

19. The server of claim 18, wherein the trust characteristic includes at least one of a Trusted level that indicates a sender of the received message is safe and content of the received message is safe, a Verified level that indicates a sender of the received message is safe, a General level that indicates that content of the received message is safe, a Bulk level that indicates that content of the received message is spam, and a Suspicious level that indicates that content of the received message is unsafe.

20. The server of claim 18, wherein the postmark is customizable by a user for a sender of the received message.

21. The server of claim 18, further comprising enabling a user to select at least one rule for handling the received message that is based on at least one of the determined trust characteristic and a sender of the received message.

22. The server of claim 18, further comprising providing at least one alert based on at least one of the trust characteristic and a sender of the received message.

23. A computer-readable medium, comprising executable instructions for performing actions, including:

determining a trust characteristic for a received message;

associating a visual representation of the determined trust characteristic with the received message; and

enabling a display of the visual representation along with at least an indication of the received message, wherein the trust characteristic of the received message is determinable based on the visual representation.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the visual representation is a postmark.

25. An apparatus for representing a trust level for a message, comprising:

a memory for storing instructions;

a means for determining a trust characteristic for a received message;

a means for associating a postmark for the determined trust characteristic with the received message;

a means for providing the postmark along with at least an indication of the received message, wherein the trust characteristic of the received message is determinable based on the postmark; and

a means for enabling a user to select at least one rule for handling the received message based, in part, on the trust characteristic.

26. A modulated data signal for managing a trust level for a message, the modulated data signal comprising instructions that enable a computing device to perform actions of:

receiving, at a server, a message;

enabling a determination of a trust characteristic for the received message;

enabling the server to associate a postmark for the determined trust characteristic with the received message;

providing the postmark to a client, along with at least an indication of the received message, wherein the trust characteristic of the received message is determinable based on the postmark; and

enabling a selection of at least one rule for handling the received message based, in part, on the trust characteristic.