System and method of information filtering using measures of affinity of a relationship
First Claim
1. A method of sharing information between a plurality of subscribers of an online social network with a processing device that enables actions, comprising:
- employing the processing device to determine a relationship trust based that is based at least in part on behavioral information about at least one behavior of each subscriber in the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the behavioral information includes at least tracked online activities of each subscriber that is both indirect of the tracked online activity and separate from an interaction or communication with another subscriber in the plurality of subscribers;
employing the processing device to determine a relationship strength between each of the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the relationship strength is based at least in part on a degree of separation between each of the plurality of subscribers;
employing the processing device to determine an affinity of a relationship between a subscriber and each of the other subscribers in the plurality of subscribers of the online social network based, in part on the relationship strength and the relationship trust that is based on the determined behavioral information that includes at least the tracked online activities separate from an interaction or communication with another subscriber;
employing the processing device to receive an input query and an affinity filter parameter from the subscriber of the online social network, wherein the input query is a request for information and the affinity filter parameter specifies a subset of the plurality of subscribers;
employing the processing device to search through the determined behavioral information and generate a result based at least in part on the input query, the affinity filter parameter, and the determined affinity of the relationship, wherein the affinity filter parameter based on a separate selection for each of the relationship trust and the relationship strength; and
employing the processing device to provide the result of the searching to the subscriber of the online social network that includes actual information requested by the input query, wherein the actual information being based on at least one behavior of the other subscribers in the subset of the plurality of subscribers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, apparatus, and method are directed towards enabling information filtering using measures of an affinity of a relationship between subscribers of an online portal system. The affinity of a relationship may be determined based, in part, on the tracking of various online behaviors of and between subscribers of the portal system. Any of a variety of behaviors may be tracked, including message communications between subscribers, participation in instant messaging groups, purchases, activities, categories, and so forth. Such behaviors may be employed to determine a level of trust (or affinity) between subscribers of the portal system. This affinity measurement may be used to filter various information, including, but not limited to, product recommendations, ratings, polling queries, advertising, social network communications, personal ads, search results, and the like. Moreover, this affinity measurement may also be employed to perform message spam detection.
265 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of sharing information between a plurality of subscribers of an online social network with a processing device that enables actions, comprising:
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employing the processing device to determine a relationship trust based that is based at least in part on behavioral information about at least one behavior of each subscriber in the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the behavioral information includes at least tracked online activities of each subscriber that is both indirect of the tracked online activity and separate from an interaction or communication with another subscriber in the plurality of subscribers; employing the processing device to determine a relationship strength between each of the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the relationship strength is based at least in part on a degree of separation between each of the plurality of subscribers; employing the processing device to determine an affinity of a relationship between a subscriber and each of the other subscribers in the plurality of subscribers of the online social network based, in part on the relationship strength and the relationship trust that is based on the determined behavioral information that includes at least the tracked online activities separate from an interaction or communication with another subscriber; employing the processing device to receive an input query and an affinity filter parameter from the subscriber of the online social network, wherein the input query is a request for information and the affinity filter parameter specifies a subset of the plurality of subscribers; employing the processing device to search through the determined behavioral information and generate a result based at least in part on the input query, the affinity filter parameter, and the determined affinity of the relationship, wherein the affinity filter parameter based on a separate selection for each of the relationship trust and the relationship strength; and employing the processing device to provide the result of the searching to the subscriber of the online social network that includes actual information requested by the input query, wherein the actual information being based on at least one behavior of the other subscribers in the subset of the plurality of subscribers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A server for communicating information between a plurality of subscribers of an online social network, comprising:
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a transceiver for receiving and sending information to a computing device; a processor in communication with the transceiver; and a memory in communication with the processor and storing data and machine instructions that cause the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including; determining a relationship trust based that is based at least in part on behavioral information about at least one behavior of each subscriber in the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the behavioral information includes at least tracked online activities of each subscriber that is both indirect of the tracked online activity and separate from an interaction or communication with another subscriber in the plurality of subscribers; determining a relationship strength between each of the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the relationship strength is based at least in part on a degree of separation between each of the plurality of subscribers; determining an affinity of a relationship between a subscriber and each of the other subscribers of the online social network based, in part on the relationship strength and the relationship trust that is based on the determined behavioral information; receiving an input query and an affinity filter parameter from the subscriber, wherein the input query is a request for information; searching through the determined behavioral information based on the input query and the affinity filter parameter, wherein the affinity filter parameter is based on a separate selection for each of the relationship trust and the relationship strength; obtaining actual information that satisfies the search, wherein the actual information is collective information from more than a single other subscriber within the plurality of subscribers; and providing directly to the subscriber the collective actual information. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions thereon for accessing portal subscriber behavioral information between a plurality of portal subscribers of an online social network, that when executed within a computing device performs actions, comprising:
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enabling the computing device to determine a relationship trust based that is based at least in part on tracking portal subscriber behavioral information based at least in part on a behavior of each of the plurality of portal subscribers, wherein the behavioral information includes at least tracked online activities of each portal subscriber that is both indirect of the tracked online activity and separate from an interaction or communication with another portal subscriber in the plurality of portal subscribers; enabling the computing device to determine a relationship strength between each of the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the relationship strength is based at least in part on a degree of separation between each of the plurality of subscribers; enabling the computing device to enable a determination of an affinity of a relationship between each portal subscriber and each other portal subscriber in the plurality of portal subscribers based on the relationship strength and the relationship trust that is based on the tracked behavioral information; enabling the computing device to receive an input query and an affinity filter parameter from a portal subscriber, wherein the input query is a request for information; enabling the computing device to search through the determined behavioral information based on the input query and the affinity filter parameter, wherein the affinity filter parameter is based on a separate selection for each of the relationship trust and the relationship strength; enabling the computing device to obtain actual information that satisfies the search, wherein the actual information is collective information from more than a single other portal subscriber within the plurality of portal subscribers; and enabling the computing device to provide directly to the requesting portal subscriber the collective actual information. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for accessing portal subscriber information between a plurality of subscribers of an online social network, comprising:
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a memory for storing processor readable data; a network interface for communicating with the plurality of subscribers of the online social network; and a processor that executes the stored data to enable a plurality of modules to perform actions, comprising; a first module that is arranged to determine a relationship trust based that is based at least in part on tracking portal subscriber behavioral information based at least in part on a behavior of each portal subscriber in the plurality of portal subscribers, wherein the behavioral information includes at least tracked online activities of each portal subscriber that is both indirect of the tracked online activity and separate from an interaction or communication with another portal subscriber in the plurality of portal subscribers; a second module that is arranged to determine a relationship strength between each of the plurality of subscribers of the online social network, wherein the relationship strength is based at least in part on a degree of separation between each of the plurality of subscribers; a third module that is arranged to determine an affinity of a relationship between each portal subscriber and each other portal subscriber in the plurality of portal subscribers based on the relationship strength and the relationship trust that is based on the tracked behavioral information; a fourth module that is arranged to receive an input query and an affinity filter parameter from a portal subscriber, wherein the input query is a request for information; a fifth module that is arranged to search through the determined behavioral information based on the input query and the affinity filter parameter, wherein the affinity filter parameter is based on a separate selection for each of the relationship trust and the relationship strength; a sixth module that is arranged to obtain actual information that satisfies the search, wherein the actual information is collective information from more than a single other portal subscriber within the plurality of portal subscribers; a seventh module that is arranged to provide directly to the requesting portal subscriber the actual information; and an eighth module that is arranged to provide at least a portion of the search results to at least one other subscriber of the online social network, wherein the search results describe at least one behavior.
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Specification