Method and system for profiling users based on their relationships with content topics

• US 7,000,194 B1
• Filed: 09/22/1999
• Issued: 02/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Trend Micro Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Newbold, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): LUDWIG, MATTHEW J
• Application Number:
  US09/401,581
• Time in Patent Office: 2,337 Days
• Field of Search: 707/500, 345/745, 345/811, 345/789, 345/747, 705/1, 705/7, 705/8, 705/10, 705/11, 705/51, 705/6, 715/500.1, 715/789, 715/513, 715/811
• US Class Current: 715/789
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An affinity generation system according to the present invention analyzes a profiled user'"'"'s authorship and document usage within an ‘intranet’ to create a set of affinities between documents and topical classifications used in a hierarchical content catalog. These affinities are weighted depending on the system usage and amount of collected evidence. Once a certain threshold has been reached, the threshold being fixed or dynamically set to achieve a desired policy, the affinities are published into the content catalog. The user looking for specific expertise can then search or browse the content catalog and find both documents and people with strong affinities to the selected content area.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity, the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for a first topic for each document created by the user to which the first topic is assigned;

comprising updating the affinity variable for a topic based upon the user'"'"'s manipulation of a document to which the topic is assigned;

wherein the user'"'"'s manipulations comprise adding content to the document and deleting content from the document;

comprising assigning a topic to the document based upon content added to or deleted from the document; and

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for the topic assigned to the document based upon the added or deleted content.

2. A computer implemented method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for a first topic for each document created by the user to which the first topic is assigned;

comprising updating the affinity variable for a topic based upon the user'"'"'s manipulation of a document to which the topic is assigned;

comprising assigning one or more second topics to a document based upon content in the document following the user'"'"'s manipulation thereof; and

wherein the step of updating the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for the one or more second topics.

3. A computer implemented method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity, the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

comprising storing a content catalog accessible by a plurality of users, which content catalog contains topics associated with documents to which the topics are assigned

wherein the step of associating the user with the given topic comprises associating the user with the given topic contained in the content catalog;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises storing the affinity variable in a profile associated with the user;

comprising requesting the user'"'"'s approval as a condition to associating the user with the given topic contained in the content catalog; and

comprising storing the first affinity variable in the user'"'"'s profile if the user declines to approve association of the user with the given topic in the content catalog.

4. A computer implemented method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity, the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable to reflect a passage of time;

wherein the affinity variable is numerical; and

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises increasing the affinity variable for each topic assigned to a document attributed to the user and decreasing the affinity variable to reflect the passage of time.

5. A computer readable medium containing program code for, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform a method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity, the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for a first topic for each document created by the user to which the first topic is assigned;

comprising updating the affinity variable for a topic based upon the user'"'"'s manipulation of a document to which the topic is assigned;

wherein the user'"'"'s manipulations comprise adding content to the document and deleting content from the document;

comprising assigning a topic to the document based upon content added to or deleted from the document; and

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for the topic assigned to the document based upon the added or deleted content.

6. A computer readable medium containing program code for, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform a method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity, the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for a first topic for each document created by the user to which the first topic is assigned;

comprising updating the affinity variable for a topic based upon the user'"'"'s manipulation of a document to which the topic is assigned;

comprising assigning one or more second topics to a document based upon content in the document following the user'"'"'s manipulation thereof; and

wherein the step of updating the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for the one or more second topics.

7. A computer readable medium containing program code for, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform a method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold.

comprising storing a content catalog accessible by a plurality of users, which content catalog contains topics associated with documents to which the topics are assigned;

wherein the step of associating the user with the given topic comprises associating the user with the given topic contained in the content catalog;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises storing the affinity variable in a profile associated with the user;

comprising requesting the user'"'"'s approval as a condition to associating the user with the given topic contained in the content catalog; and

comprising storing the first affinity variable in the user'"'"'s profile if the user declines to approve association of the user with the given topic in the content catalog.

8. A computer readable medium containing program code for, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform a method for profiling a user based on the user'"'"'s activity, the method comprising:

assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents;

maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user;

determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and

associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold;

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable to reflect a passage of time;

wherein the affinity variable is numerical; and

wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises increasing the affinity variable for each topic assigned to a document attributed to the user and decreasing the affinity variable to reflect the passage of time.