USER SPECIFIC FEED RECOMMENDATIONS

• US 20110225197A1
• Filed: 03/09/2010
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vishria, Eric, Howes, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 8,832,099 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/780
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A system for recommending feeds for a user comprises a client with a web browser, an application server, and a content server. The browser tracks the user'"'"'s browsing activity and transmits user data related to the user'"'"'s browsing activity to the application server. The application server searches the content server to determine feeds that may be relevant to the user'"'"'s browsing activity and then communicates those feeds to the browser. The browser displays the received feeds to the user as feed recommendations, prompting the user to select from among the recommended feeds. Once the user has selected one or more feeds, the browser transmits the user'"'"'s selection to the application server, which enables the feeds to be presented subsequently to the user. In this way, the system uses the user'"'"'s browsing activity to obtain automatically for a user feeds that are likely to be relevant to the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for recommending feeds for a user, the method comprising:

receiving information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern on a web browser, the browsing pattern comprising the user'"'"'s activities on a plurality of websites;

storing the information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern;

selecting a feed for the user based at least in part on a similarity between the selected feed and the browsing pattern; and

communicating the selected feed to a module in the browser for recommendation to the user.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the received information comprises a web address, the method further comprising:

determining data associated with the received web address; and

wherein the identified feed is associated with the determined data.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the received information comprises a search term, the method further comprising:

determining data associated with the received search term; and

wherein the identified feed is associated with the determined data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the identified feed is associated with relevant data and the relevant data is a subset of the associated data, the subset selected based on the user'"'"'s browsing activity.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the identified feed is associated with relevant data and the relevant data is a subset of the associated data, the subset selected based on a rank associated with associated data, the rank determined by a search engine.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a wait period based on the received information;

identifying a second feed based on the received information; and

communicating the second feed to the browser a time period after communicating the first feed, the time period equal or greater than the adjusted wait period.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein adjusting the wait period comprises adjusting the wait period based on an amount of the information received.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein adjusting the wait period comprises:

determining a change in the user'"'"'s browsing activities based on the received information; and

adjusting the wait period in response to the change in the user'"'"'s browsing activity.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving authentication information associated with the user;

authenticating the user based on the received authentication information; and

responsive to authenticating the user, determining the received information as information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern.

10. A computer program product for recommending feeds for a user, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing computer program code for:

receiving information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern on a web browser, the browsing pattern comprising the user'"'"'s activities on a plurality of websites;

storing the information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern;

selecting a feed for the user based at least in part on a similarity between the selected feed and the browsing pattern; and

communicating the selected feed to a module in the browser for recommendation to the user.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the received information comprises a web address, the computer program product further comprising computer program code for:

determining data associated with the received web address; and

wherein the identified feed is associated with the determined data.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the received information comprises a search term, the computer program product further comprising computer program code for:

determining data associated with the received search term; and

wherein the identified feed is associated with the determined data.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the identified feed is associated with relevant data and the relevant data is a subset of the associated data, the subset selected based on the user'"'"'s browsing activity.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the identified feed is associated with relevant data and the relevant data is a subset of the associated data, the subset selected based on a rank associated with associated data, the rank determined by a search engine.

15. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising computer program code for:

adjusting a wait period based on the received information;

identifying a second feed based on the received information; and

communicating the second feed to the browser a time period after communicating the first feed, the time period equal or greater than the adjusted wait period.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program code for adjusting the wait period comprises program code for adjusting the wait period based on an amount of the information received.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program code for adjusting the wait period comprises program code for:

determining a change in the user'"'"'s browsing activities based on the received information; and

adjusting the wait period in response to the change in the user'"'"'s browsing activity.

18. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising computer program code for:

receiving authentication information associated with the user;

authenticating the user based on the received authentication information; and

responsive to authenticating the user, determining the received information as information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern.

19. A computer-implemented method for receiving feed recommendations, the method comprising:

obtaining information about the user'"'"'s browsing activity on a web browser;

transmitting the obtained information;

receiving a first feed recommended for the user based on the user'"'"'s browsing activity; and

performing at least one step from a group of steps comprising;

displaying an option to add the recommended feed to a list of feeds associated with the web browser and the user; and

adding the recommended feed to a list of feeds associated with the web browser and the user.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a second feed recommendation based on the user'"'"'s browsing activity, the second feed recommendation received a time period after the first feed, the time period equal or greater than a wait period that has been adjusted based on the user'"'"'s browsing activity.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20 wherein the wait period has been adjusted based on an amount of the information received.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving authentication information associated with the user;

authenticating the user based on the received authentication information; and

responsive to authenticating the user, determining the obtained information as information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern.

23. A computer system for recommending feeds for a user, the system comprising:

a browser configured to;

obtain information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern on the browser, the browsing pattern comprising the user'"'"'s activities on a plurality of websites;

transmit the obtained information;

receive a feed recommended for the user based on the user'"'"'s browsing activity; and

the browser further configured to perform at least one step from a group of steps comprising;

displaying an option to add the recommended feed to a list of feeds associated with the browser and the user; and

adding the recommended feed to a list of feeds associated with the web browser and the user.

an application server configured to;

receive information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern;

storing the information about the user'"'"'s browsing pattern;

selecting a feed for the user based at least in part on a similarity between the selected feed and the browsing pattern; and

communicating the selected feed to the browser for recommendation to the user.