Processing Data Obtained From a Presence-Based System

• US 20090063643A1
• Filed: 02/29/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Heron, Alexandra K., Cretu, Vlad, Joy, George, Leung, Kitty L., Rejtman, Diego E., Vyaghrapuri, Ramesh K., Setiawan, Henry W., Louie, Darren, Mirza, Muneer, Duchastel de Montrouge, Nicolas, Kanazawa, Keiji
• Granted Patent: US 7,890,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

Functionality is described for collecting data from a presence-based system, such as an instant messaging system. The functionality can extract information from the collected data based on one or more rules. For instance, the functionality can identify presence data and/or message data that includes predetermined key words. The functionality can formulate result information based on the extracted information for presentation to a recipient. Based on these operations, the collected data supports a data-mining operation, as well as the traditional role of facilitating communication among the participants of the presence-based system. The result information can correspond to a report that presents aggregated findings, optionally organized into one or more demographic categories, or the result information can correspond to an advertisement, etc.

Claims

1. A method for collecting and processing data, comprising:

collecting data from a presence-based system to provide collected data;

extracting information from the collected data based on at least one predetermined rule, to provide extracted information; and

formulating result information based on the extracted information for presentation to a recipient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected data corresponds to textual data in a message sent in the presence-based system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected data corresponds to a personal message adopted by a participant of the presence-based system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected data corresponds to information regarding a media item that the user is consuming in the course of a presence-based communication session.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected data is textual data, and wherein the extracting of information comprises extracting information that includes one or more predetermined key words.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said one or more key words include one or more names of individuals.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the result information is expressed in the form of a report, wherein the report conveys aggregated findings that are based on the extracted information associated with at least one user over an identified span of time.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the report conveys the aggregated findings in the context of at least one demographic category.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the report conveys the aggregated findings for a defined group of individuals.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the defined group comprises a social group specified by a user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the result information is expressed in the form of an advertisement, wherein the advertisement has a topic that is based on the extracted information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the advertisement is customized for a recipient based on collected data associated with the recipient.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracting and formatting are in response to a query made by an entity.

14. A method for collecting and processing data, comprising:

collecting data from a presence-based system to provide collected data;

organizing the collected data based on demographic information to prepare a report; and

providing the report to a report recipient.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the collecting uses:

a push-based technique;

a pull-based technique;

or both a push-based technique and a pull-based technique.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the demographic information comprises one or more of:

age information of users of the presence-based communication system;

gender information of the users;

or

geographical location information associated with the users.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the report is based on at least one criterion specified by the recipient, wherein the providing of the report to a recipient comprises providing the report upon payment of a fee.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving at least one user'"'"'s authorization to collect data associated with said at least one user.

19. A system for processing data, comprising:

a presence-based system for exchanging presence data among participants of the presence-based system;

a collecting module configured to collect the presence data from the presence-based system to provide collected data;

a data processing module configured to extract information from the collected presence data based on at least one predetermined rule, to provide extracted information; and

a data application module configure to formulate result information based on the extracted information for presentation to a recipient.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the presence-based system is a communication-based system, and wherein the collected data is textual data.