PERSONALIZATION TECHNIQUES USING IMAGE CLOUDS

• US 20080209349A1
• Filed: 01/23/2008
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, David J., Wetherell, William G., Macadaan, Mike, Simmons, James D., Perlson, Wendy Charlene, Metzgar, Rob
• Granted Patent: US 9,405,830 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Systems and methods for personalization using image clouds to represent content. Image clouds can be used to identify initial user interest, present recommended content, present popular content, present search results, and present user profile information. Image clouds are interactive, allowing users to select images displayed in the image cloud, which can contribute to presenting more personalized content as well as updating a user'"'"'s profile.

Claims

1. In a computer system comprising a user interface configured to display content, a method for personalizing content for a particular user, the method comprising:

displaying an image cloud having a plurality of category images, each category image being associated with a different category, the plurality of category images being grouped and displayed adjacent or in close proximity with each other in one predefined area to minimize content between the plurality of content images so as to minimize navigation methods required to locate the plurality of category images;

receiving input from a user selecting at least one category image on the image cloud;

accessing a plurality of content feeds related to the category of the at least one category image selected by the user;

accessing a plurality of content images related to the category of the at least one category image selected by the user;

displaying the plurality of content feeds along with the plurality of content images;

receiving input from a user selecting at least one content feed or at least one content image; and

rendering content related to the selected content feed or content image.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining the plurality of category images to display to the user using at least one of the following:

demographics known about the user;

past search history known about the user;

or

random categories.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein accessing a plurality of content feeds related to the category of the at least one category image selected by the user comprises accessing content feeds specifically related to an actual content of the category images.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein accessing a plurality of content feeds related to the category of the at least one category image selected by the user comprises accessing content feeds not specifically related to an actual content of the category images.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of content images are linked to one of the plurality of content feeds such that when the user selects either one of the linked content feed or linked content image, the same content is displayed related to the selected content feed or content image.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of content images are not linked to one of the plurality of content feeds such that when the user selects a content feed or content image, different content is displayed with each selected content feed or content image.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising identifying one or more features and one or more interests associated with the selected category image and using the identified features and/or interests to develop a user profile for the user.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising identifying one or more features and one or more interests associated with the selected content feed or content image and using the identified features and/or interests to develop a user profile for the user.

9. In a computer system comprising a user interface configured to display content, a method for personalizing content for a particular user, the method comprising:

displaying an image cloud having a plurality of initial images, the plurality of initial images being grouped and displayed adjacent or in close proximity with each other in one predefined area to minimize content between the plurality of initial images so as to minimize navigation methods required to locate the plurality of initial images, each of the initial images being associated with a feature set and interest set based on actual content of the initial image, the feature set defining one or more terms associated with the initial image and the interest set defining a level of importance assigned to each term of the feature set;

receiving input from a user selecting at least one initial image on the image cloud;

accessing a plurality of content feeds related to the feature set and interest set of the at least one initial image selected by the user;

accessing a plurality of content images related to the feature set and interest set of the at least one initial image selected by the user;

displaying the plurality of content feeds along with the plurality of content images;

receiving input from a user selecting at least one content feed or at least one content image; and

rendering content related to the selected content feed or content image.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising determining the plurality of initial images to display to the user using at least one of the following:

demographics known about the user;

past search history known about the user;

or

random content.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of content images are linked to one of the plurality of content feeds such that when the user selects either one of the linked content feed or linked content image, the same content is displayed related to the selected content feed or content image.

12. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of content images are not linked to one of the plurality of content feeds such that when the user selects a content feed or content image, different content is displayed with each selected content feed or content image.

13. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising using the feature set and the interest set to develop a user profile for the user.