INCORPORATING SELECTABLE APPLICATION LINKS INTO MESSAGE EXCHANGE THREADS

• US 20170339085A1
• Filed: 05/17/2016
• Published: 11/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2016
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Judd, Tilke, Adan, Yariv, Sabur, Zaheed, Behzadi, Behshad, Mirelmann, Lucas, Lamecki, Jan, Bakshi, Dhruv
• Granted Patent: US 10,263,933 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for incorporating application links into message exchange threads. One or more cues emanating from a message exchange thread involving two or more message exchange clients may be detected. The one or more cues may trigger incorporation, into the message exchange thread, of a selectable link to a distinct application. At least one candidate application that is installed on a given client computing device operated by a message exchange thread participant may be identified. The candidate application may be associated with content of the message exchange thread. A selectable link may be incorporated into a transcript of the message exchange thread displayed in a graphical user interface of a message exchange client operating on the given client computing device. The selectable link may be operable by the participant to expose to the participant an interface associated with a respective candidate application.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

detecting, by one or more processors, one or more cues emanating from a message exchange thread involving two or more message exchange clients, wherein the one or more cues trigger incorporation, into the message exchange thread, of one or more selectable links to one or more applications distinct from the message exchange thread;

identifying, by one or more of the processors, one or more candidate applications that are installed on a given client computing device operated by a participant in the message exchange thread, wherein the one or more candidate applications are associated with content of the message exchange thread; and

incorporating, by one or more of the processors, into a transcript of the message exchange thread that is displayed in a graphical user interface of a message exchange client operating on the given client computing device, one or more selectable links, wherein each selectable link is operable by the participant to cause the given client computing device to expose to the participant an interface associated with a respective candidate application.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying is performed one or more of the processors that is remote from the given client computing device, and data indicative of the one or more selectable links is downloaded to the given client device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising selecting, by one or more processors of the given client device, a subset of the downloaded one or more selectable links for display based on one or more information signals.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the one or more information signals comprise a frequency of use of the one or more candidate applications.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying is performed by one or more of the processors that is integral with the given client computing device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more cues emanate from the content of the message exchange thread.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the one or more cues include a keyword or key phrase associated with a particular application.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the one or more cues include a statement directed from one participant of the message exchange thread to another participant that matches a pattern associated with a particular application.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the one or more cues include a match between the statement and a template associated with the particular application, wherein the template is generated from a corpus of messages that includes messages from prior message exchange threads, and wherein the template is associated with a cluster of messages from the corpus that share one or more attributes.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises identifying, as a candidate application, a web browser installed on the given client computing device in response to a determination that a given application associated with content of the message exchange thread is not installed on the given client computing device;

and

wherein the incorporating comprises incorporating, into the transcript, a selectable link to an interactive webpage, wherein the interactive webpage includes functionality that corresponds to functionality of the given application that is not installed on the given client computing device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises identifying, as a candidate application, a web browser installed on the given client computing device in response to a determination that a given application associated with content of the message exchange thread is not installed on the given client computing device;

and

wherein the incorporating comprises incorporating, into the transcript, a selectable link to a webpage associated with downloading an installer of the given application.

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

determining, by one or more of the processors, a context of one or more participants in the message exchange thread; and

prepopulating one or more data points associated with at least one of the one or more candidate applications based on the determined context.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein determining the context comprises obtaining, from one or more of the client devices, one or more contextual signals.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the one or more contextual signals comprises a location of at least one participant in the message exchange thread.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by one or more of the processors, an application category associated with the one or more cues, wherein the one or more candidate applications comprise a candidate application that is associated with the application category and also is installed on the given client computing device.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more cues comprise mention of an entity.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising matching the mentioned entity with one or more known entities in a knowledge base of entities and relationships therebetween.

18. A system comprising one or more processors and one or more memories operably coupled with the one or more processors, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

detect one or more cues emanating from a message exchange thread involving two or more message exchange clients, wherein the one or more cues trigger incorporation, into the message exchange thread, of one or more selectable links to one or more applications distinct from the message exchange thread;

identify one or more candidate applications that are installed on a given client computing device operated by a participant in the message exchange thread, wherein the one or more candidate applications are associated with content of the message exchange thread; and

incorporate into a transcript of the message exchange thread that is displayed in a graphical user interface of a message exchange client operating on the given client computing device, one or more selectable links, wherein each selectable link is operable by the participant to cause the given client computing device to expose to the participant an interface associated with a respective candidate application.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the identifying is performed one or more of the processors that is remote from the given client computing device, and data indicative of the one or more selectable links is downloaded to the given client device, and the system further comprises instructions to selecting a subset of the downloaded one or more selectable links for display based on one or more information signals.

20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations:

detecting one or more cues emanating from a message exchange thread involving two or more message exchange clients, wherein the one or more cues trigger incorporation, into the message exchange thread, of one or more selectable links to one or more applications distinct from the message exchange thread;

identifying one or more candidate applications that are installed on a given client computing device operated by a participant in the message exchange thread, wherein the one or more candidate applications are associated with content of the message exchange thread; and

incorporating into a transcript of the message exchange thread that is displayed in a graphical user interface of a message exchange client operating on the given client computing device, one or more selectable links, wherein each selectable link is operable by the participant to cause the given client computing device to expose to the participant an interface associated with a respective candidate application.