SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINDING UNEXPECTED, BUT RELEVANT CONTENT IN AN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method comprising the steps of:
- receiving, over a network, item ratings from a plurality of users, wherein each rating relates to one of a plurality of items;
assigning, using at least one computing device, each of the plurality of items to at least one of a plurality data regions;
identifying, using the at least one computing device, at least one source region for each of the plurality of data regions;
determining, using the at least one computing device, for a selected one user of the plurality of users, a region potential interest score for each of the plurality of data regions, wherein the region potential interest score increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by the selected user decreases, and wherein the region potential interest score additionally increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by a user network decreases, wherein the user network comprises a subset of the plurality of users related to the selected user by at least one relationship criteria;
determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a user similarity score for each one of the plurality of users, wherein the user similarity score is computed by comparing item ratings transmitted by the selected user and the each respective one of the plurality of users for each of the plurality of items assigned to each of the at least one source regions assigned to the respective one of the plurality of data regions;
determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a regional relevance score for each of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region, wherein the regional relevance score is computed using the user similarity score for each of the plurality of users that rated the respective item and the ratings transmitted by the respective user;
determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each of the plurality of items, an overall relevance score using the regional relevance scores and the region potential interest scores for respective items;
selecting, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, a list of recommended items, wherein the list of recommended items comprises at least one reference to at least one item having a positive overall relevance score; and
transmitting, over the network, the list of recommended items to the selected user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved method for information retrieval in web query and recommendation systems, where items that are likely unfamiliar to the users of the system, but potentially relevant, are recommended. In a recommendation system having ratings by a plurality of users for a plurality of items, items are assigned to one or more data regions based on item attributes or user activity. Source regions are identified for each of the data regions. For a given user, data regions with which both the user and the user'"'"'s social network are unfamiliar are identified. Within a given data region, the relevance of items to the user within such regions is evaluated using ratings provided by other users who have entered ratings similar to the user in source regions for the data region. Items receiving the highest relevance score are recommended to the user.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, over a network, item ratings from a plurality of users, wherein each rating relates to one of a plurality of items; assigning, using at least one computing device, each of the plurality of items to at least one of a plurality data regions; identifying, using the at least one computing device, at least one source region for each of the plurality of data regions; determining, using the at least one computing device, for a selected one user of the plurality of users, a region potential interest score for each of the plurality of data regions, wherein the region potential interest score increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by the selected user decreases, and wherein the region potential interest score additionally increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by a user network decreases, wherein the user network comprises a subset of the plurality of users related to the selected user by at least one relationship criteria; determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a user similarity score for each one of the plurality of users, wherein the user similarity score is computed by comparing item ratings transmitted by the selected user and the each respective one of the plurality of users for each of the plurality of items assigned to each of the at least one source regions assigned to the respective one of the plurality of data regions; determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a regional relevance score for each of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region, wherein the regional relevance score is computed using the user similarity score for each of the plurality of users that rated the respective item and the ratings transmitted by the respective user; determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each of the plurality of items, an overall relevance score using the regional relevance scores and the region potential interest scores for respective items; selecting, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, a list of recommended items, wherein the list of recommended items comprises at least one reference to at least one item having a positive overall relevance score; and transmitting, over the network, the list of recommended items to the selected user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system comprising:
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a rating receiving module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for receiving, over a network, item ratings from a plurality of users, wherein each rating relates to one of a plurality of items; a data region assignment module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for assigning each of the plurality of items to at least one of a plurality data regions; a source region identification module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for identifying at least one source region for each of the plurality of data regions; a data region potential interest determination module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for determining, for selected users of the plurality of users, a region potential interest score for each of the plurality of data regions, wherein the region potential interest score increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by the selected user decreases, and wherein the region potential interest score additionally increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by a user network decreases, wherein the user network comprises a subset of the plurality of users related to the selected user by at least one relationship criteria; a user similarity determination module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for determining, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a user similarity score for each one of the plurality of users, wherein the user similarity score is computed by comparing item ratings transmitted by the selected user and the each respective one of the plurality of users for each of the plurality of items assigned to each of the at least one source regions assigned to the respective one of the plurality of data regions; a regional relevance score determination module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for determining for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a regional relevance score for each of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region, wherein the regional relevance score is computed using the user similarity score for each of the plurality of users that rated the respective item and the ratings transmitted by the respective user; an overall relevance score determination module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for determining, for the selected user, for each of the plurality of items, an overall relevance score using the regional relevance scores and the region potential interest scores for respective items; a recommendation selection module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for selecting, for the selected user, a list of recommended items, wherein the list of recommended items comprises at least one reference to at least one item having a positive overall relevance score; a recommendation list transmission module comprising one or more processors programmed to execute software code retrieved from a computer readable storage medium storing software for transmitting, over the network, the list of recommended items to the selected user. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, over a network, item ratings from a plurality of users, wherein each rating relates to one of a plurality of items; assigning, using at least one computing device, each of the plurality of items to at least one of a plurality data regions; identifying, using the at least one computing device, at least one source region for each of the plurality of data regions; determining, using the at least one computing device, for a selected one user of the plurality of users, a region potential interest score for each of the plurality of data regions, wherein the region potential interest score increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by the selected user decreases, and wherein the region potential interest score additionally increases as the number of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region rated by a user network decreases, wherein the user network comprises a subset of the plurality of users related to the selected user by at least one relationship criteria; determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a user similarity score for each one of the plurality of users, wherein the user similarity score is computed by comparing item ratings transmitted by the selected user and the each respective one of the plurality of users for each of the plurality of items assigned to each of the at least one source regions assigned to the respective one of the plurality of data regions; determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each one of the plurality of regions, a regional relevance score for each of the plurality of items assigned to the respective data region, wherein the regional relevance score is computed using the user similarity score for each of the plurality of users that rated the respective item and the ratings transmitted by the respective user; determining, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, for each of the plurality of items, an overall relevance score using the regional relevance scores and the region potential interest scores for respective items; selecting, using the at least one computing device, for the selected user, a list of recommended items, wherein the list of recommended items comprises at least one reference to at least one item having a positive overall relevance score; and transmitting, over the network, the list of recommended items to the selected user. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification