SOFTWARE AGENT FOR MONITORING CONTENT RELEVANCE

• US 20110231381A1
• Filed: 03/22/2010
• Published: 09/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mercuri, Marc E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,700,642 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

A reputation monitoring system provides a software process that runs continuously to identify content that is fast moving and deserving of attention by an organizational representative. The system includes a software agent designed to proactively alert subscribers to potentially concerning movements of a content item within search result rankings. The agent tracks a threshold number of search results over time, and utilizes additional contextual services to determine whether to deliver an alert to subscribers. It is not uncommon for negative items to be written about an individual or organization on the web. There is significant value in being able to identify when negative items are written and if they are gaining notoriety. The reputation monitoring system provides a solution by monitoring search results.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring changes in the relevance of online content, the method comprising:

receiving one or more topics of interest to be monitored;

querying at least one listing source for entries related to the received topics of interest;

storing metadata for each returned entry in a result store, wherein the metadata includes an identifier of each entry and a rank of each entry;

comparing the returned entries with previously stored metadata related to earlier instances of the entries;

identifying stored entries that indicate movement at a rate greater than a threshold stored by the system; and

generating at least one alert to one or more subscribers for each identified entry that has moved more than the threshold,

wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving one or more topics of interest comprises accessing a monitoring profile stored in a data store that defines one or more search keywords to monitor for search result movement.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving one or more topics of interest comprises receiving a monitoring profile that includes a list of listing sources at which to monitor changes of entries that relate to the topics of interest.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein querying at least one listing source comprises performing a search specifying one or more keywords related to the retrieved topics of interest by sending a search request to a search engine.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein querying at least one listing source comprises receiving a list of ordered results relating to the topics of interest provided.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, before storing metadata for each returned entry, classifying a sentiment of each returned entry and storing the sentiment with the stored metadata.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein storing metadata for each returned entry comprises creating a row in a database table for each entry and including a URL for each entry as an identifier and an order of the entry in the returned results as a rank.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein comparing the returned entries comprises identifying a current entry and previous entry with a matching URL, and comparing the rank of the previous entry with the rank of the current entry to determine movement of popularity of content associated with the URL.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying stored entries comprises accessing a preconfigured threshold and identifying entries that meet the threshold based on the current set of returned entries.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein generating at least one alert comprises accessing contact information for alerting a user from a monitoring profile and sending a communication to the user via the accessed contact information.

11. A computer system for monitoring content potentially affecting a reputation of an organization, the system comprising:

a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions;

a results retrieving component configured to periodically retrieve entries related to a topic of interest from a listing source;

a results processing component configured to process retrieved entries to identify and determine a rank for each entry;

a statistics component configured to create a historical data point based on the determined rank for each entry;

a statistics store configured to store data points generated by the statistics component;

a monitoring component configured to periodically analyze the stored data points stored to determine a movement of entries at one or more listing sources related to one or more topics of interest;

an alert component configured to provide alerts to one or more administrators or external systems after determining that at least one entry related to a topic of interest is moving greater than a threshold amount; and

an administrative interface component configured to provide a user interface through which an administrator can configure monitoring for one or more topics of interest.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the results retrieving component is further configured to periodically retrieve search results based on keywords related to the topic of interest from an Internet-based search engine.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the results processing component is further configured to generate a common identifier to distinguish each entry from other entries, so that the system can track movement of entries in a list over time.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the results processing component is further configured to determine the rank based on a rank assigned to the entry by the listing source.

15. The system of claim 11 further comprising a sentiment component configured to apply a weighting factor to the determined rank of each entry based on an information source associated with the entry, wherein the weighting factor indicates a historical level of influence and reliability of the information source and wherein the statistics component is further configured to combine the weighting factor with the determined rank for each entry to create the historical data point.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the statistics component is further configured to associate a time of retrieval with each data point.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the monitoring component is further configured to set up a periodic search for a keyword using a company'"'"'s name and track the results returned from the search at a search engine.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein the monitoring component is further configured to identify entries that repeat at multiple data points and identify any change in rank between the data points to determine the movement.

19. The system of claim 11 wherein the alert component is further configured to signal a priority of each entry, so that an administrator is alerted more urgently for entries that are moving faster than others.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for controlling a computer system to configure monitoring for online content, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a processor to perform actions comprising:

receiving a request to create a new monitoring profile;

receiving one or more topics of interest to monitor;

receiving one or more listing sources at which to monitor the received topics of interest, wherein at least one listing source is a search engine and at least one topic of interest is specified by keywords;

receiving a configuration parameter that specifies a threshold level of entry movement before sending an alert; and

storing the created monitoring profile in a data store for periodic monitoring according to the received topics of interest, listing sources, and threshold.