Search-caching and threshold alerting for commerce sites

• US 7,912,852 B1
• Filed: 05/02/2008
• Issued: 03/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: McElroy, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): EHICHIOYA, IRETE FRED
• Application Number:
  US12/114,552
• Time in Patent Office: 1,054 Days
• Field of Search: 707/600, 707/607, 707/609, 707/613, 707/705, 707/706, 707/736, 707/769, 707/938, 707/944, 707/E17.014, 707/E17.061, 707/999.003, 705/10, 705/14.4, 705/26, 705/27, 705/28, 705/80, 455/466
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/938 intellectual property markets
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/944 Business related

Abstract

Users can be notified when information becomes available, such as when an item is available for purchase at some point in the future. Users can indicate to receive information about the item using a desired notification type, such as an email message or text message. A notification then can be sent to the user using the indicated type of notification when the item, or information about the item, subsequently becomes available through the system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for notifying a user when information for an item becomes available in an electronic marketplace, the method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

receiving a search request from a user to locate an item;

obtaining search results based on a search query corresponding to the search request;

determining whether at least one of the search results at least meets a relevancy threshold with respect to the search query;

if at least one of the search results at least meets the relevancy threshold, presenting the at least one of the search results to the user in response to the search request; and

if none of the search results at least meet the relevancy threshold;

providing the user with an ability to submit a notification request whereby the user will be notified when information for a matching item becomes available, the notification request including a desired notification type for an availability notification;

in response to the notification request, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request in a notification list;

running the search query corresponding to the notification request at least once subsequent to the storing to obtain a new set of search results;

if at least one of the new search results at least meets the relevancy threshold, generating an availability notification for the user according to the desired notification type, the user being able to access the at least one of the new search results to determine whether any of the at least one of the new search results is an item the user was searching for; and

if none of the new search results at least meets the relevancy threshold, or the at least one of the new search results is not an item the user was searching for, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request in the notification list, wherein the search query is capable of being re-run at a future time to attempt to locate at least one search result that at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising updating user profile information of the user to reflect user activities during the search service.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein presenting the at least one of the search results includes enabling the user to purchase an item by selecting a search result from the subset.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein no notification to the user will be generated if no information becomes available that is located as a result of the system running the search query.

4. A computer-implemented method for notifying a user when the user is able to access information, comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

receiving a search query from a user;

determining whether at least one search result of a set of search results matching the search query at least meets a relevancy threshold with respect to the search query; and

if none of the set of search results at least meet the relevancy threshold;

allowing the user to request a notification when the user is able to access information at least meeting the relevancy threshold, the request including a desired notification type for the notification;

storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the user;

running the search query corresponding to the notification request at least once subsequent to the storing;

if at anytime information becomes available, and is located as a result of running the search query, that at least meets the relevancy threshold, providing a notification to the user according to the desired notification type; and

if no new search results at least meet the relevancy threshold as a result of running the search query, or the available information is not what the user was searching for, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request for the user, wherein the search query is capable of being re-run at a future time to attempt to locate information that becomes available and at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the relevancy threshold is predefined to filter a search result that is not related to the search query.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

detecting a triggering event; and

in response to the triggering event, processing each notification request for the user to determine information that at least meets the relevancy threshold.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the desired notification type is one of an email notification, a voice notification, a text notification, a chatting notification, or a pop-up window notification.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

if none of the search results at least meet the relevancy threshold;

selecting second information based on aggregated search history information; and

presenting the selected second information as an alternative option,

wherein the aggregated search history information includes search history of a group of users.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

if none of the search results at least meet the relevancy threshold;

obtaining another relevancy threshold;

determining additional search results that at least meet the other relevancy threshold; and

presenting the additional search results to the user in response to the search request.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

if none of the search results at least meet the relevancy threshold;

obtaining information from a third party service provider based on the search request;

presenting the obtained information to the user;

receiving a response from the user about the obtained information, the response indicating whether the information obtained from the third party is relevant to the search request; and

refining the search request based on the response.

11. A system for notifying a user when the user is able to access information, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a search query from a user;

determine whether at least one search result of a set of search results matching the search query at least meets a relevancy threshold with respect to the search query; and

if none of the set of search results at least meet the relevancy threshold;

allow the user to request a notification when the user is able to access information at least meeting the relevancy threshold, the request including a desired notification type for the notification;

store at least the search query and the desired notification type for the user;

run the search query corresponding to the notification request at least once subsequent to the storing;

if at anytime information becomes available as a result of running the search query that at least meets the relevancy threshold, provide a notification to the user according to the desired notification type; and

if no new search results at least meet the relevancy threshold as a result of running the search query, or the available information is not what the user was searching for, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request for the user, wherein the search query is capable of being re-run at a future time to attempt to locate information that becomes available and at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

update user profile information to reflect interactions with the user.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

detect a triggering event that starts a notification process.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

during a process of notifying the user, obtain each notification request from a notification list and conduct another search based on a search request corresponding to the notification request.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

if at least one search result that at least meets the relevancy threshold is obtained during the another search, transmit a notification in accordance with the desired notification type.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the desired notification type is one of an email notification, a voice notification, a text notification, a chatting notification, or a pop-up window notification.

17. A computer program product embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for notifying a user when the user is able to access information, comprising:

program code for receiving a search query from a user;

program code for determining whether at least one search result of a set of search results matching the search query at least meets a relevancy threshold with respect to the search query;

program code for, if none of the search results at least meet the relevancy threshold, allowing the user to request a notification when information becomes available that at least meets the relevancy threshold,

wherein the request includes a desired notification type for the notification,

wherein at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request are stored in a notification list,

wherein the search query is able to run at subsequent times until at least one search result is found that at least meets the relevancy threshold and that is indicated by the user to satisfy the search query, and

wherein if no new search results at least meet the relevancy threshold as a result of running the search query for one of the subsequent times, or the available information is not what the user was searching for, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request for the user, wherein the search query is capable of being re-run at a future time to attempt to locate information that becomes available and at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code for updating user profile information to reflect user activities during the search.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code for detecting a triggering event that starts a notification process.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code for, during a process of notifying the user, obtaining each notification request from a notification list and conducting another search based on a search request corresponding to the notification request.

21. A system for notifying a user about available information for an item, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

detect a triggering event corresponding to one of a plurality of notification requests, each notification request including a search query for locating information for an item and a desired notification type for a user, each notification request being submitted in response to no search results matching the search query at least meeting a specified relevancy threshold;

re-run the search query in response to the triggering event to obtain a new set of search results;

determine whether any search results of the new set of search results at least meet a relevancy threshold with respect to the search request;

if at least one of the new set of search results at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query, generate a notification in accordance with the desired notification type and transmit the generated notification to the user; and

if none of the new search results at least meet the relevancy threshold, or the information corresponding to at least one of the new search results at least meeting the relevancy threshold is not what the user was searching for, storing at least the search query and the desired notification type for the notification request for the user, wherein the search query is capable of being re-run at a future time to attempt to locate information that becomes available and at least meets the relevancy threshold with respect to the search query.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the triggering event is detected at a predetermined time.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the triggering event is detected when there is a change in information about items stored in a data store.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the triggering event is detected when a third party provides advertisement campaign information.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein after transmitting the notification, information about the transmitted notification is stored.