TEMPORAL SEARCH QUERY PERSONALIZATION

• US 20100235375A1
• Filed: 03/15/2010
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chowdhury, Abdur R., Sidhu, Kulraj
• Granted Patent: US 8,463,775 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/765
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

A user is made able to configure a search query to be responsive to temporal factors in order to adjust the search query to more accurately reflect the user'"'"'s true information need. By adjusting the search query in this way, the user is more likely to receive satisfactory search results.

Claims

1. A method of providing content to a user, the method comprising:

monitoring electronic document browsing of a user;

in connection with the monitoring, identifying, from each of one or more electronic documents browsed by the user, one or more words descriptive of overall content included in the corresponding electronic document based on relative frequency of occurrence of the one or more words in the corresponding electronic document;

storing, as part of browsing information descriptive of content accessed by the user, the one or more words identified from each of the one or more electronic documents browsed by the user in association with an indication of when the corresponding electronic document was browsed by the user;

receiving a request for content from the user;

accessing, from the stored browsing information descriptive of content accessed by the user, information descriptive of content accessed by the user during a time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content, the accessed information including at least a portion of the one or more words identified from each of the one or more electronic documents browsed by the user;

using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content; and

providing the identified content in response to the request for content.

2. The method of claim 1:

wherein receiving the request for content from the user comprises receiving a search query from the user;

wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises;

adjusting the received search query to include at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the search query, the portion of the accessed information including at least one word identified as being descriptive of overall content included in an electronic document browsed by the user during the time period, and

identifying search results using the adjusted search query; and

wherein providing the identified content in response to the request for content comprises providing the identified search results responsive to the adjusted search query.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein adjusting the received search query to include at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the search query comprises:

identifying at least one additional search term that is not included in the received search query and that is included in the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period; and

adjusting the received search query to include the identified at least one additional search term.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein storing, as part of browsing information descriptive of content accessed by the user, the one or more words identified from each of the one or more electronic documents browsed by the user in association with an indication of when the corresponding electronic document was browsed by the user comprises:

generating a feature vector for electronic documents accessed by the user during the electronic document browsing; and

storing the generated feature vector.

5. The method of claim 4:

wherein identifying, from each of one or more electronic documents browsed by the user, one or more words descriptive of overall content included in the corresponding electronic document based on relative frequency of occurrence of the one or more words in the corresponding electronic document comprises identifying, from each of one or more electronic documents browsed by the user, a word appearing most frequently in the corresponding electronic document; and

wherein generating the feature vector for electronic documents accessed by the user during the electronic document browsing comprises including the word in the feature vector as being representative of the corresponding electronic document.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein generating the feature vector further comprises including a time indication in the feature vector, the time indication indicating a time frame during which the electronic document was accessed by the user, and including a classification of the electronic document in the feature vector, the classification indicating a type of information included in the electronic document.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises:

selecting, from among multiple potential classifications of content, a single classification of content that is most related to the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time; and

using the single classification of content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises:

determining multiple potential subject matter classifications for the request for content;

automatically, without human intervention, selecting, from among the multiple potential subject matter classifications for the request for content, a subject matter classification for the request for content based on the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period; and

using the automatically-selected subject matter classification to identify content to provide in response to the request for content.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein selecting the subject matter classification for the request for content based on the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period comprises determining that, during the time period, the user browsed documents having subject matter related to the automatically-selected subject matter classification for the request for content.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises specifically excluding content that does not correspond to the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period.

11. A system comprising:

at least one computer; and

at least one computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one computer having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one computer, causes the at least one computer to perform operations comprising;

monitoring electronic document browsing of a user;

in connection with the monitoring, identifying, from each of one or more electronic documents browsed by the user, one or more words descriptive of overall content included in the corresponding electronic document based on relative frequency of occurrence of the one or more words in the corresponding electronic document;

storing, as part of browsing information descriptive of content accessed by the user, the one or more words identified from each of the one or more electronic documents browsed by the user in association with an indication of when the corresponding electronic document was browsed by the user;

receiving a request for content from the user;

accessing, from the stored browsing information descriptive of content accessed by the user, information descriptive of content accessed by the user during a time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content, the accessed information including at least a portion of the one or more words identified from each of the one or more electronic documents browsed by the user;

using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content; and

providing the identified content in response to the request for content.

12. The system of claim 11:

wherein receiving the request for content from the user comprises receiving a search query from the user;

wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises;

adjusting the received search query to include at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the search query, the portion of the accessed information including at least one word identified as being descriptive of overall content included in an electronic document browsed by the user during the time period, and

identifying search results using the adjusted search query; and

wherein providing the identified content in response to the request for content comprises providing the identified search results responsive to the adjusted search query.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein adjusting the received search query to include at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the search query comprises:

identifying at least one additional search term that is not included in the received search query and that is included in the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period; and

adjusting the received search query to include the identified at least one additional search term.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein storing, as part of browsing information descriptive of content accessed by the user, the one or more words identified from each of the one or more electronic documents browsed by the user in association with an indication of when the corresponding electronic document was browsed by the user comprises:

generating a feature vector for electronic documents accessed by the user during the electronic document browsing; and

storing the generated feature vector.

15. The system of claim 14:

wherein identifying, from each of one or more electronic documents browsed by the user, one or more words descriptive of overall content included in the corresponding electronic document based on relative frequency of occurrence of the one or more words in the corresponding electronic document comprises identifying, from each of one or more electronic documents browsed by the user, a word appearing most frequently in the corresponding electronic document; and

wherein generating the feature vector for electronic documents accessed by the user during the electronic document browsing comprises including the word in the feature vector as being representative of the corresponding electronic document.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein generating the feature vector further comprises including a time indication in the feature vector, the time indication indicating a time frame during which the electronic document was accessed by the user, and including a classification of the electronic document in the feature vector, the classification indicating a type of information included in the electronic document.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises:

selecting, from among multiple potential classifications of content, a single classification of content that is most related to the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time; and

using the single classification of content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises:

determining multiple potential subject matter classifications for the request for content;

automatically, without human intervention, selecting, from among the multiple potential subject matter classifications for the request for content, a subject matter classification for the request for content based on the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period; and

using the automatically-selected subject matter classification to identify content to provide in response to the request for content.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein selecting the subject matter classification for the request for content based on the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period comprises determining that, during the time period, the user browsed documents having subject matter related to the automatically-selected subject matter classification for the request for content.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein using at least a portion of the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period that is prior to receipt of the request for content to identify content to provide in response to the request for content comprises specifically excluding content that does not correspond to the accessed information descriptive of content accessed by the user during the time period.