SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRIORITIZING CONTENT BASED ON USER PROFILE RELEVANCE

• US 20090248602A1
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Published: 10/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Data Services LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Frazier, Kristopher T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,402,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/46
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand

Abstract

In an exemplary method, a request for content initiated by a user associated with a user profile is received, a plurality of content instances is identified as being related to the requested content based on a predefined relationship heuristic, wherein the content instances are associated with other user profiles, a relevance between the user profile and each of the other user profiles is determined based on a predefined relevance heuristic, and the content instances are prioritized based on the determined relevance. In certain embodiments, data representative of the prioritized content instances is displayed in accordance with the prioritization.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request for content, said request initiated by a user associated with a user profile;

identifying a plurality of content instances as being related to said requested content based on a predefined relationship heuristic, wherein said content instances are associated with other user profiles;

determining a relevance between said user profile and each of said other user profiles based on a predefined relevance heuristic; and

prioritizing said content instances based on said determined relevance.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing data representative of said prioritized content instances in response to said request.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying said data representative of said content instances in accordance with said prioritization.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevance is determined based at least in part on a number of interactions between said user profile and each of said other user profiles.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevance is determined based at least in part on a frequency of interactions between said user profile and each of said other user profiles.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevance is determined based at least in part on said user profile and at least one of said other user profiles being associated with a common user group.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevance is determined based at least in part on a number of relationships between said user profile and each of said other user profiles.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevance is determined based at least in part on an amount of topical content that is common between said user profile and each of said other user profiles.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevance is determined based at least in part on a weighted combination of an interaction factor, a reliance factor, and an commonality factor.

10. The method of claim 1, tangibly embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one computer-readable medium.

11. A method comprising:

storing data representative of a plurality of content instances; and

identifying a plurality of relationships between said content instances based on a predefined relationship heuristic;

wherein said content instances and said relationships between said content instances form a multi-user virtual content relationship map having a plurality of interconnected user-specific virtual content relationship maps associated with a plurality of user profiles.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a request for content, said request initiated by a user associated with one of said user profiles;

identifying at least two of said content instances as being related to said requested content based on a predefined relationship heuristic, wherein said identified content instances are associated with at least two other of said user profiles;

determining a relevance between said one user profile and each of said at least two other user profiles based on a predefined relevance heuristic; and

prioritizing said identified content instances with respect to one another based on said determined relevance.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing data representative of said prioritized content instances to an access device associated with said one user profile in response to said request.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising displaying data representative of said identified content instances in accordance with said prioritization.

15. A system comprising:

a data store configured to store content data including a plurality of content instances associated with a plurality of user profiles;

a communication module configured to receive data representative of a request for content over a network, said request initiated by a user associated with one of said user profiles;

a content relationship module configured to identify at least two of said content instances as being related to said requested content based on a predefined relationship heuristic, wherein said identified content instances are associated with at least two other of said user profiles;

a relevance module configured to determine a relevance between said one user profile and each of said other user profiles based on a predefined relevance heuristic; and

a prioritization module configured to prioritize said identified content instances based on said determined relevance.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said communication module is further configured to provide data representative of said prioritized content instances to an access device over said network in response to said request.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said access device is configured to display said data representative of said prioritized content instances in accordance with said prioritization.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein said predefined relevance heuristic is specific to said one user profile.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said predefined relevance heuristic is defined by a user associated with said one user profile.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein said predefined relevance heuristic is specific to a type or category of said requested content.