Computer processes for adaptively selecting and/or ranking items for display in particular contexts
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- tracking item exposure events in which items are exposed to users on web pages in a plurality of different contexts, wherein tracking the item exposure events comprises (a) identifying the context of each item exposure event based on one or more user actions leading to the exposure event, and (b) recording each item exposure event in computer storage in association with the identified context;
recording user activity resulting from the item exposure events, said user activity comprising item selection events in which a user selects an item exposed on a web page, wherein recording the user activity comprises recording each item selection event in computer storage in association with the context of the corresponding item exposure event;
receiving a request from a browser with a server, said request corresponding to a particular context of the plurality of contexts;
identifying a plurality of items that are responsive to the request, at least some of said items capable of being displayed in more than one of said contexts;
calculating context-specific weights for each of the items, each contextspecific weight corresponding to a respective item of said plurality of items and being specific to said particular context, each context-specific weight being dependent upon a number of times the respective item has been exposed in said particular context, as determined from said tracking of item exposure events, and additionally being dependent upon the recorded user activity that has resulted from said exposure of the respective item in said context, wherein the contextspecific weights are dependent upon item selection actions of a plurality of users;
generating a ranked list of said plurality of items such that positions of said items in the ranked list are dependent upon said context-specific item weights;
generating and outputting a web page in response to the request, said web page including at least a portion of the ranked list;
recording at least one item selection action performed by a user on said web page; and
adjusting at least one of said weights by an amount that is dependent upon the at least one item selection action.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer-implemented system and method are disclosed that are capable of refining the order and/or content of a list of items. In one embodiment, user activity associated with each item displayed to users in a given context is monitored, and is used together with item exposure data 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, and/or 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.
52 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
-
tracking item exposure events in which items are exposed to users on web pages in a plurality of different contexts, wherein tracking the item exposure events comprises (a) identifying the context of each item exposure event based on one or more user actions leading to the exposure event, and (b) recording each item exposure event in computer storage in association with the identified context; recording user activity resulting from the item exposure events, said user activity comprising item selection events in which a user selects an item exposed on a web page, wherein recording the user activity comprises recording each item selection event in computer storage in association with the context of the corresponding item exposure event; receiving a request from a browser with a server, said request corresponding to a particular context of the plurality of contexts; identifying a plurality of items that are responsive to the request, at least some of said items capable of being displayed in more than one of said contexts; calculating context-specific weights for each of the items, each contextspecific weight corresponding to a respective item of said plurality of items and being specific to said particular context, each context-specific weight being dependent upon a number of times the respective item has been exposed in said particular context, as determined from said tracking of item exposure events, and additionally being dependent upon the recorded user activity that has resulted from said exposure of the respective item in said context, wherein the contextspecific weights are dependent upon item selection actions of a plurality of users; generating a ranked list of said plurality of items such that positions of said items in the ranked list are dependent upon said context-specific item weights; generating and outputting a web page in response to the request, said web page including at least a portion of the ranked list; recording at least one item selection action performed by a user on said web page; and adjusting at least one of said weights by an amount that is dependent upon the at least one item selection action. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A computer-implemented method of adaptively controlling the display of an item, the method comprising:
-
for each of a plurality of contexts in which the item is capable of being displayed, tracking both context-specific exposure of the item and contextspecific user activity resulting from said exposure, wherein said tracking comprises storing context-specific exposure data and context-specific user activity data in computer storage for each of the plurality of contexts, said context-specific exposure data reflecting item exposure events in which the item is included on dynamically generated pages served to users by a server system, said context-specific user activity data reflecting item selection events in which users select the item as a result of its exposure on said dynamically generated pages; for each of the plurality of contexts, generating a respective contextspecific item weight for the item, said context-specific item weight being dependent upon the context-specific exposure data and the context-specific user activity data corresponding to the respective context, and not being specific to any particular user, wherein generating the context-specific item weights comprises adjusting a current value of a context-specific item weight to reflect the context-specific exposure data and context-specific user activity data resulting from said value; using the context-specific item weights to at least rank the item, relative to other items, for display to users in the respective contexts to which such item weights correspond; causing the item to be displayed, in a first context of said plurality of contexts, together with a user-selectable option for initiating a display of additional items that are similar to said item; monitoring user selections of said option, and resulting user selections of the additional items; and when said user selections of additional items reveal a threshold degree of association between an additional item and said first context, causing the additional item to be added to a list of items associated with the first context. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A system for adaptively selecting items to present to users, comprising:
-
a server system that is responsive to page requests received over a network by identifying contexts associated with said page requests, and by dynamically generating and outputting pages that include ordered displays of items, wherein the server system identifies a context associated with a page request based at least partly on one or more user actions leading to said page request; an exposure tracking system that tracks, for each of a plurality of items, item exposure events resulting from inclusion of the item on the dynamically generated pages, 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 said contexts by recording the item exposure events in computer storage in association with the identified 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 respective context, said context-specific item weights being dependent upon the item exposure events and item selection events tracked by the exposure tracking system and the activity tracking system, respectively, said context-specific item weights being dependent upon item selection actions of a plurality of users, wherein the item weighting system adjusts current values of the context-specific item weights by amounts that depend upon the tracked item selection actions resulting from said current values; wherein the server system uses the context-specific item weights for the first item to rank the first item relative to the other items, and to select the first item for display, in the respective contexts to which such item weights correspond. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
Specification