Computer processes and systems for adaptively controlling the display of items
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of adaptively controlling the display of an item, the method comprising:
- receiving requests from users at a server, each of the requests corresponding to a particular context of a plurality of contexts in which the item is capable of being displayed in responses generated by the server;
selectively including the item in responses to at least some of the requests such that the item is exposed to users in each of the plurality of contexts, said item being selectable by users, and being one of a plurality of items that are displayable in the responses to the requests;
for each of the plurality of contexts, tracking both context-specific exposure of the item, and context-specific user activity associated with user selection of the item, resulting from selectively including the item in the responses;
generating context-specific item weights for the item for each of the plurality of contexts, said context-specific item weights being dependent upon the tracked context-specific exposure and context-specific user activity in the respective contexts, wherein the context-specific item weights are not specific to a particular user;
using at least the context-specific item weights to control a display of the item in the responses generated by said server in the respective contexts to which such item weights correspond; and
updating the context-specific item weights to reflect tracked item exposure and user activity resulting from using the context-specific item weights to control the display of the item.
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Abstract
The invention comprises a computer-implemented system and method for refining the order and/or content of a list of items. In one embodiment, the amount of user activity associated with each item displayed to users in a given context is monitored, used is to generate context-specific item weights. The weights for the same item in different contexts may be different. The selection of items included in a list presented to users, as well as the order in which the items in the list are displayed, may be adjusted over time based upon the relative weights associated with the items. This allows the items generating the greatest user interest in a particular context to be presented to first, or otherwise emphasized.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of adaptively controlling the display of an item, the method comprising:
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receiving requests from users at a server, each of the requests corresponding to a particular context of a plurality of contexts in which the item is capable of being displayed in responses generated by the server; selectively including the item in responses to at least some of the requests such that the item is exposed to users in each of the plurality of contexts, said item being selectable by users, and being one of a plurality of items that are displayable in the responses to the requests; for each of the plurality of contexts, tracking both context-specific exposure of the item, and context-specific user activity associated with user selection of the item, resulting from selectively including the item in the responses; generating context-specific item weights for the item for each of the plurality of contexts, said context-specific item weights being dependent upon the tracked context-specific exposure and context-specific user activity in the respective contexts, wherein the context-specific item weights are not specific to a particular user; using at least the context-specific item weights to control a display of the item in the responses generated by said server in the respective contexts to which such item weights correspond; and updating the context-specific item weights to reflect tracked item exposure and user activity resulting from using the context-specific item weights to control the display of the item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for adaptively controlling the display of an item, the system comprising:
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a server that includes the item in responses to requests received from users over a network such that the item is exposed to users in each of a plurality of contexts, said item being selectable by users, and being one of a plurality items that are displayable in responses to the requests; an exposure tracking system that tracks context-specific exposure of the item in each of the plurality of contexts; an activity tracking system that tracks context-specific user activity associated with the item in each of the plurality of contexts; an item weighting system that generates context-specific item weights for the item for each of the plurality of contexts, said context-specific item weights being dependent upon the context-specific exposure and context-specific user activity in the respective contexts, and not being specific to a particular user; and a display control system that uses at least the context-specific item weights to control a display of the item, in the responses of said server, in the respective contexts to which such item weights correspond; wherein the item weighting system updates the context-specific item weights to reflect tracked item exposure and user activity resulting from prior values of said context-specific item weights. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for selecting items to display to users, comprising:
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a server system that is responsive to user requests received over a network by generating and outputting ordered displays of items, said ordered displays being dependent upon the contexts of the requests; an exposure tracking system that tracks, for each of a plurality of items, item exposure events resulting from inclusion of the item in responses of the server system to the user requests, including item exposure events that do not result in user selection of the item, wherein the exposure tracking system tracks the item exposure events separately for each of a plurality of contexts; an activity tracking system that tracks item selection actions performed by users in response to the item exposure events, wherein the activity tracking system tracks the item selection events separately for each of the plurality of contexts; and an item weighting system that generates, for at least a first item of the plurality of items, a plurality of context-specific item weights, each of which corresponds to a different one of the contexts, said context-specific item weights being dependent upon the item exposure events and item selection events tracked by the exposure tracking system and activity tracking system, respectively, wherein each context-specific item weight is non-user-specific; wherein the server system uses the context-specific item weights for the first item to separately control a display of the first item in each of the plurality of contexts. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification