Generating a Feed of Content Items Associated with a Topic From Multiple Content Sources

• US 20140365507A1
• Filed: 06/06/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wissner, James Matthew, Morgan, Robert James
• Granted Patent: US 10,013,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/748
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation

Abstract

A newsfeed generation system generates feeds of content items related to specific topics. The newsfeed generation system receives content items from one or more content sources, and matches the content items to topics based on a measure of affinity of each content item for one or more objects in a database that are associated with various topics. Content items associated with an object associated with a topic are included in a feed of content items associated with the topic.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing a plurality of objects in a database of an online system, each object associated with at least one topic;

receiving content items from one or more content sources;

determining measures of affinity of each received content item for one or more objects stored by the online system;

associating each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system based at least in part on the measures of affinity of each received content item for objects stored by the online system; and

generating a feed for a topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system, the feed including content items received from one or more of the content sources associated with one or more objects stored by the online system and associated with the topic.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein associating each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

extracting terms from each of the received content items;

determining a measure of affinity between terms from each of the received content items between one or more objects in the database based at least in part on a comparison of one or more terms extracted from a received content item and match keys associated with one or more objects, a match key associated with an object comprising one or more terms identifying the object; and

associating received content items with one or more objects based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein associating each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

comparing text included in a received content item to one or more grammatical templates associated with the topic;

determining a measure of affinity of the received content item to the one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on matches between the text included in the received content item and one or more of the grammatical templates; and

associating the received content items with one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein associating each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

identifying an author associated with a received content item determining a measure of affinity of the author associated with the content item to the one or more objects in the database associated with the topic; and

associating the received content items with one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the topic is an event associated with the one or more objects in the database, and wherein associating each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

determining a measure of affinity of each of the received content items to one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on times associated with each of the received content items and a time associated with the event; and

associating the received content items with one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the feed for the topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system comprises:

identifying one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based on an ontology associated with the topic, the ontology defining relationships between the plurality of objects in the database; and

selecting content items that are associated with at least one object in the database included in the ontology associated with the topic for inclusion in the feed for the topic.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the feed for the topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system comprises:

selecting content items having at least a threshold measure of affinity for one or more objects maintained by the online system and associated with the topic.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is based at least in part on a number of content items associated with at least one object associated with the topic.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is received from a user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the feed for the topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system comprises:

receiving a request identifying the topic; and

generating the feed for the topic in response to receiving the request.

11. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

store a plurality of objects in a database of an online system, each object associated with at least one topic;

receive content items from one or more content sources;

determine measures of affinity of each received content item for one or more objects stored by the online system;

associate each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system based at least in part on the measures of affinity of each received content item for objects stored by the online system; and

generate a feed for a topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system, the feed including content items received from one or more of the content sources associated with one or more objects stored by the online system and associated with the topic.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein associate each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

extract terms from each of the received content items;

determine a measure of affinity between terms from each of the received content items between one or more objects in the database based at least in part on a comparison of one or more terms extracted from a received content item and match keys associated with one or more objects, a match key associated with an object comprising one or more terms identifying the object; and

associate received content items with one or more objects based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein associate each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

compare text included in a received content item to one or more grammatical-templates associated with the topic;

determine a measure of affinity of the received content item to the one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on matches between the text included in the received content item and one or more of the grammatical templates; and

associate the received content items with one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein associate each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

identify an author associated with a received content item

determine a measure of affinity of the author associated with the content item to the one or more objects in the database associated with the topic; and

associate the received content items with one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the topic is an event associated with the one or more objects in the database, and wherein associate each received content item with one or more objects stored by the online system comprises:

determine a measure of affinity of each of the received content items to one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on times associated with each of the received content items and a time associated with the event; and

associate the received content items with one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based at least in part on the determined measures of affinity.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generate the feed for the topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system comprises:

identifying one or more objects in the database that are associated with the topic based on an ontology associated with the topic, the ontology defining relationships between the plurality of objects in the database; and

selecting content items that are associated with at least one object in the database included in the ontology associated with the topic for inclusion in the feed for the topic.

17. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein generate the feed for the topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system comprises:

select content items having at least a threshold measure of affinity for one or more objects maintained by the online system and associated with the topic.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is based at least in part on a number of content items associated with at least one object associated with the topic.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the threshold measure of affinity is received from a user.

20. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein generate the feed for the topic associated with at least one object maintained by the online system comprises:

receiving a request identifying the topic; and

generating the feed for the topic in response to receiving the request.