SYSTEM FOR USING KEYWORD PHRASES ON A PAGE TO PROVIDE CONTEXTUALLY RELEVANT CONTENT TO USERS

• US 20110258204A1
• Filed: 06/30/2011
• Published: 10/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Wordnetworks Incorporated
• Inventors: Hubbard, Sid J.A., Stevens, Robin
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/749
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/33 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/289 Phrasal analysis, e.g. finite state techniques or chunking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0254 based on statistics
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0276 Advertisement creation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A process is described for assessing the suitability of particular keyword phrases for use in serving contextually relevant content for display on pages of network-accessible sites. In one embodiment, the process involves scoring the key phrases based in part on collected user behavioral data, such as view counts of associated social media content items. A process is also disclosed in which selected keyword phrases on a page are transformed into links that can be selected by a user to view bundled content that is related to such keyword phrases.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of assessing the suitability of particular key phrases for use in providing contextually-relevant content to users, the method comprising:

identifying a key phrase that appears on a page of a site; and

generating a score for the key phrase based at least partly on view counts of social media content items associated with the key phrase, said social media content items being accessible to users on one or more social media sites that are separate from said site, said score representing a suitability of the key phrase for selecting contextually relevant content to present on the page, wherein generating the score comprises assessing, based at least partly on the view counts of social media content items, a rate of change in a popularity level of the key phrase;

said method performed by a computer system that comprises one or more computers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises generating the score according to a method that scores the key phrase more favorably while a popularity level of the key phrase is increasing.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the score to determine whether to use the key phrase to select contextually-relevant content to present on the page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the social media content items include videos that are available for viewing on at least one social media site.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the score is additionally based on a frequency of occurrence of the key phrase in a set of peer pages associated with said page, said peer pages including pages of a plurality of sites.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the score is additionally based on a frequency of use of the key phrase as a tag for tagging social media content items on the one or more social media sites.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the score is additionally based on a frequency of occurrence of the key phrase in social media content of the one or more social media sites.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically using the score to determine whether to cause an occurrence of the key phrase on the page to be converted into a link for displaying contextually relevant content.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising responding to user selection of the link by causing content related to the key phrase to be displayed in a panel on the web page, said content related to the key phrase including at least (1) an advertisement associated with the key phrase and (2) non-advertisement social media content associated with the key phrase.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by said computer system, using the score to determine whether to suggest the key phrase for use in an advertising campaign associated with the site.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by said computer system, outputting the key phrase, with a representation of the score, via a user interface that provides functionality for an operator to select or exclude the key phrase for use in an ad campaign associated with the site.

12. A system for selecting key phrases for providing contextually relevant content to users, comprising:

a computer system comprising one or more computers, said computer system programmed with executable code modules to at least;

identify a key phrase that appears on a page of a site; and

generate a score for the key phrase based at least in part on view counts of social media content items associated with the key phrase, said social media content items being accessible to users on one or more social media sites that are separate from said site, said score representing a suitability of the key phrase for selecting contextually relevant content to present on the page, wherein the computer system is configured to generate the score by a process that comprises assessing, based at least partly on the view counts, a rate of change in a popularity level of the key phrase.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is configured to generate the score using a method that scores the key phrase more favorably while a popularity level of the key phrase is increasing.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is further configured to use the score to determine whether to use the key phrase for selecting contextually relevant content to present on the page.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the social media content items include videos available for viewing on at least one social media site.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is configured to generate the score based additionally on a frequency of occurrence of the key phrase in a set of peer pages associated with said page.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is configured to generate the score based additionally on a frequency of use of the key phrase by users as a tag for tagging social media content items.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is configured to generate the score based additionally on a frequency of occurrence of the key phrase in social media content of the one or more social media sites.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is further configured to use the score to determine whether to cause an occurrence of the key phrase on the page to be converted into a selectable display element for displaying contextually relevant content.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer system is further configured to respond to user selection of the display element by causing content related to the key phrase to be displayed in a panel on the web page, said content related to the key phrase including least (1) an advertisement associated with the key phrase and (2) non-advertisement social media content associated with the key phrase.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is further configured to use the score determine whether to suggest the key phrase for use in an advertising campaign associated with the site.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer system is further configured to output the key phrase, with a representation of the score, via a user interface that provides functionality for an operator to select or exclude the key phrase for use in an ad campaign associated with the site

23. A method for providing contextually related content to a user, the method comprising:

detecting an occurrence of a key phrase on a page of a site;

transforming the occurrence of key phrase on the page, as loaded on a user computing device, into a user-selectable display element that is selectable by a user to initiate a display of contextually related content; and

responding to user selection of the display element by displaying contextually related content in a panel on the page, said contextually related content including an advertisement associated with the key phrase and further including non-advertisement social media content associated with the key phrase.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the social media content associated with the key phrase includes a thumbnail image of a video provided on a social media site, said thumbnail image being selectable by the user to view the video in the panel.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the social media content includes a thumbnail image of a photo on a social media site.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the user selection of the display element is a mouse-over event in which a mouse cursor is hovered over the display element.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of transforming the occurrence of the key phrase into a user-selectable display element is performed based in part on a score generated for said key phrase, said score reflecting a rate of change in popularity of the key phrase based on user-generated events performed on one or more social media sites.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein at least the step of transforming the occurrence of the key phrase into a user-selectable display element is performed by browser execution of a script component on the user computing device.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the method further comprises the user computing device retrieving the advertisement and the non-advertisement content from a bundle server that bundles together contextually related content obtained from multiple sources.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon executable code that directs a user computing device to perform a process that comprises:

transforming, in a page loaded on the user computing device, an occurrence of a key phrase into a user-selectable display element that is selectable by a user to initiate a display of contextually related content; and

responding to user selection of the display element by displaying the contextually related content in a panel on the page, said contextually related content including an advertisement associated with the key phrase and further including non-advertisement social media content associated with the key phrase.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the social media content associated with the key phrase includes a thumbnail image of a video provided on a social media site, said thumbnail image being selectable by the user to view the video in the panel.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the social media content includes a photo on a social media site.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the user selection of the display element is a mouse-over event in which a mouse cursor is hovered over the display element.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, in combination with a computer system configured to generate a score for the key phrase based at least partly on user actions performed on one or more social media sites, and to use the score to determine whether to cause the occurrence of the key phrase to be transformed into a user-selectable display element.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, in combination with a bundle server configured to transmit a content bundle to the user computing device, said content bundle including the advertisement and the non-advertisement social media content.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the executable code is browser-executable code.