SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CONTEXTUALLY RELEVANT DATA

• US 20100082398A1
• Filed: 09/29/2008
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yi, Jeonghee, Davis, Marc
• Application Number:
  US12/239,964
• Publication Number:
  US 20100082398A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A system is described for providing contextually relevant data. The system may include a processor, a memory and an interface. The processor may receive a query associated with a user. The processor may determine a spatial context, a temporal context, a social context and a topical context of the query. The spatial context may represent the location of the user, and the temporal context may represent a time of the query. The topical context may represent an item of interest to the user, and the social context may represent an item of interest to other users associated with the user. The processor may identify a plurality of search results for the query searched for. Each search result may be associated with one or more of the spatial context, the temporal context, the social context and the topical context. The processor may provide the identified search results to the user.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of providing contextually relevant search results, comprising:

receiving a query associated with a user;

determining a spatial context, the spatial context representing a location or a proximity of the user;

determining a temporal context, the temporal context representing a time of the query;

determining a social context, the social context representing an item of interest to other users associated with the user;

determining a topical context, the topical context representing an item of interest to the user;

identifying a plurality of search results, each search result being associated with the query, the spatial context, the temporal context, the social context, and the topical context; and

providing at least one of the identified plurality of search results to the user.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the topical context is determined based on a second query associated with the user.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the social context is determined based on a second query performed by a second user, the second user being associated with the user through a social relation.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein providing at least one of the plurality of search results to the user further comprises:

ranking the search results based on a number of each search result in the plurality of search results; and

providing the search result with the greatest number in the plurality of search results to the user.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the location of the user is based on a known location of a second user, the second user being located within a known proximity of the user.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the search results are provided to the user via a mobile device.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of search results comprises of a plurality of advertisements.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an advertisement to the user, the advertisement targeted to the query and at least one of the spatial context, the temporal context, the social context or the topical context.

9. A computer implemented method of providing contextually targeted advertisements, comprising:

receiving a query associated with a user;

determining a context of the query, the context of the query describing at least one of a location of the user, a time the query was received, a topical interest of the user, or an item of interest to other users associated with the user;

retrieving an advertisement targeted to the query and the context; and

providing the advertisement to the user.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9 wherein the topical context is determined based on a second query associated with the user.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 9 wherein the social context is determined based on a second query associated with a second user, the second user being associated with the user through a social relation.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 9 wherein the location of the user is based on a known location of a second user, the second user being located within a known proximity of the user.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the advertisement is provided to the user via a mobile device.

14. A computer implemented method of contextually targeting advertisements, comprising:

receiving a query associated with an advertiser;

receiving a plurality of contexts associated with advertiser, each context describing at least one of a location of a user searching for the query, a time the query is received from the user, a topical interest of the user, or an item of interest to other users associated with the user;

associating, with each context in the plurality of contexts, the query and an advertisement; and

providing the advertisement associated with each context when the user searches for the query from within the context.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein the topical context is determined based on a second query associated with the user searching for the query.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein the social context is determined based on a second query associated with a second user, the second user being associated with the user through a social relation.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein the location of the user is based on a known location of a second user, the second user being located within a known proximity of the user.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein the advertisement is provided to the user via a mobile device.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein associating, with each context in the plurality of contexts, the query and an advertisement further comprises associating, with each context in the plurality of contexts, the query, an advertisement, and a bid amount.

20. A system for providing contextually relevant search results, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of search results;

an interface operatively connected to the memory, the interface to communicate with a user; and

a processor operatively connected to the memory and the interface, the processor for running instructions, wherein the processor receives a query associated with the user, determines a spatial context, the spatial context representing a location or a proximity of the user, determines a temporal context, the temporal context representing a time of the query, determines a social context, the social context representing an item of interest to other users associated with the user, determines a topical context, the topical context representing an item of interest to the user, identifies the plurality of search results, each search result being associated with the query, the spatial context, the temporal context, the social context, and the topical context, and provides at least one of the plurality of search results to the user via the interface.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor determines the topical context based on a second query associated with the user.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor determines the social context based on a second query associated with a second user, the second user being associated with the user through a social relation.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor ranks the search results based on a number of each search result in the plurality of search results and provides the search result with the greatest number in the plurality of search results to the user.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor determines the location of the user based on a known location of a second user, the second user being located within a known proximity of the user.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the processor provides an advertisement to the user, the advertisement targeted to the query and at least one of the spatial context, the temporal context, the social context or the topical context.