Identifying clusters of similar reviews and displaying representative reviews from multiple clusters

• US 20070078845A1
• Filed: 09/30/2005
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Dave, Kushal, Scott, James, Hylton, Jeremy
• Granted Patent: US 7,558,769 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

A method and system of selecting reviews for display are described. Reviews for a subject are identified and organized into two or more clusters. Reviews are selected from each cluster. A response that includes content from the selected reviews is generated. The content may include the full content or snippets of at least some of the selected reviews.

Claims

1. A method of processing reviews, comprising:

identifying a plurality of reviews;

organizing the plurality of reviews into a plurality of clusters;

selecting reviews from each cluster; and

generating a response including content from the selected reviews.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting reviews comprises:

identifying a number of reviews in each cluster; and

selecting reviews from each cluster in proportion to the number of reviews in each cluster.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein selecting reviews comprises selecting reviews from each cluster based on one or more predefined criteria and in proportion to the number of reviews in each cluster.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein organizing comprises:

generating a vector for each of the plurality of reviews; and

organizing the plurality of reviews into one or more clusters based on the vectors.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein organizing comprises organizing the plurality of reviews into one or more clusters based on the vectors and vectors associated with one or more canonical reviews.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a response comprises generating snippets of at least a subset of the selected reviews.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein generating a snippet of a review comprises:

partitioning the review into one or more partitions;

selecting a subset of the partitions based on predefined criteria; and

generating the snippet including content from the selected subset of the partitions.

8. A system for processing reviews, comprising:

one or more modules including instructions;

to identify a plurality of reviews;

to organize the plurality of reviews into a plurality of clusters;

to select reviews from each cluster; and

to generate a response including content from the selected reviews.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more modules include instructions to:

to identify a number of reviews in each cluster; and

to select reviews from each cluster in proportion to the number of reviews in each cluster.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more modules include instructions to select reviews from each cluster based on one or more predefined criteria and in proportion to the number of reviews in each cluster.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more modules include instructions:

to generate a vector for each of the plurality of reviews; and

to organize the plurality of reviews into one or more clusters based on the vectors.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more modules include instructions to organize the plurality of reviews into one or more clusters based on the vectors and vectors associated with one or more canonical reviews.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more modules include instructions to generate snippets of at least a subset of the selected reviews.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more modules include instructions:

to partition the review into one or more partitions;

to select a subset of the partitions based on predefined criteria; and

to generate the snippet including content from the selected subset of the partitions.

15. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions for:

identifying a plurality of reviews;

organizing the plurality of reviews into a plurality of clusters;

selecting reviews from each cluster; and

generating a response including content from the selected reviews.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions for selecting comprise instructions for:

identifying a number of reviews in each cluster; and

selecting reviews from each cluster in proportion to the number of reviews in each cluster.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions for organizing comprise instructions for:

generating a vector for each of the plurality of reviews; and

organizing the plurality of reviews into one or more clusters based on the vectors.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions for generating a response comprise instructions for generating snippets of at least a subset of the selected reviews.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the instructions for generating a snippet of a review comprise instructions for:

partitioning the review into one or more partitions;

selecting a subset of the partitions based on predefined criteria; and

generating the snippet including content from the selected subset of the partitions.

20. A system for selecting reviews, comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of reviews;

means for organizing the plurality of reviews into a plurality of clusters;

means for selecting reviews from each cluster; and

means for generating a response including content from the selected reviews.