Selecting Content For Presentation To An Online System User Based On Affinities Of The User For Additional Users Inferred From An Organizational Chart
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving information identifying a plurality of users of an online system, the information including a user profile associated with each user of the plurality of users;
storing the information identifying the plurality of users of the online system;
receiving information describing an organizational chart for an organization, the organizational chart indicating connections among the plurality of users defined by each user'"'"'s role in the organization;
providing a social networking environment to the plurality of users, the social networking environment enabling the plurality of users to establish connections and to communicate with each other;
computing measures of affinity of each user of the plurality of users for additional users of the plurality of users, the computed measures of affinity based at least in part on the received information describing the organizational chart;
establishing one or more inferred connections between pairs of the plurality of users, the implicit connections established by comparing the computed measures of affinity to a threshold value;
receiving a request to present content to a viewing user of the plurality of users;
ranking one or more content items associated with a set of users of the plurality of users for whom an inferred connection was established with the viewing user;
selecting one or more of the content items based at least in part on the ranking; and
sending the selected one or more content items for display to the viewing user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An online system provides a social networking environment for a set of users, enabling the users to establish connections with and to communicate with each other. Absent explicit connections between a user and an additional user in the set, the online system determines a measure of affinity of the user for the additional user based on an organizational chart for an organization including the set of users that indicates relationships between the users based on their roles in the organization. The measure of affinity may also be based on actions associated with the user and the additional user and characteristics of the user and the additional user. Based on the measure of affinity, the online system determines whether to establish an inferred connection between the user and the additional user. The online system may account for the inferred connection when identifying content for presentation to the user.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving information identifying a plurality of users of an online system, the information including a user profile associated with each user of the plurality of users; storing the information identifying the plurality of users of the online system; receiving information describing an organizational chart for an organization, the organizational chart indicating connections among the plurality of users defined by each user'"'"'s role in the organization; providing a social networking environment to the plurality of users, the social networking environment enabling the plurality of users to establish connections and to communicate with each other; computing measures of affinity of each user of the plurality of users for additional users of the plurality of users, the computed measures of affinity based at least in part on the received information describing the organizational chart; establishing one or more inferred connections between pairs of the plurality of users, the implicit connections established by comparing the computed measures of affinity to a threshold value; receiving a request to present content to a viewing user of the plurality of users; ranking one or more content items associated with a set of users of the plurality of users for whom an inferred connection was established with the viewing user; selecting one or more of the content items based at least in part on the ranking; and sending the selected one or more content items for display to the viewing user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
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receive information identifying a plurality of users of an online system, the information including a user profile associated with each user of the plurality of users; store the information identifying the plurality of users of the online system; receive information describing an organizational chart for an organization, the organizational chart indicating connections among the plurality of users defined by each user'"'"'s role in the organization; provide a social networking environment to the plurality of users, the social networking environment enabling the plurality of users to establish connections and to communicate with each other; compute measures of affinity of each user of the plurality of users for additional users of the plurality of users, the computed measures of affinity based at least in part on the received information describing the organizational chart; establish one or more inferred connections between pairs of the plurality of users, the implicit connections established by comparing the computed measures of affinity to a threshold value; receive a request to present content to a viewing user of the plurality of users; rank one or more content items associated with a set of users of the plurality of users for whom an inferred connection was established with the viewing user; select one or more of the content items based at least in part on the ranking; and send the selected one or more content items for display to the viewing user. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification