Pre-cognitive delivery of in-context related information

• US 7,917,520 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2006
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Weber, Karon A., Chi, Liang-yu (Tom), Tripodi, Samantha Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Trujillo; James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Casanova; Jorge A
• Application Number:
  US11/635,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/706, 707/736, 707/751
• US Class Current: 707/751
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations

Abstract

An apparatus and method for providing pre-cognitive delivery of in-context related information is disclosed herein. A user'"'"'s expressed interest in a particular portion of a requested page and his/her requests for additional information relating to the particular portion are tracked. The tracked data permits determination of the content of in-context related information. For each of the particular portions of the requested page deemed to be of sufficient popularity, in-context information relating to each such particular portion is automatically provided to users along with the requested page.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

monitoring, by a computing device, indications of interest content appearing in at least a portion of a requested page by a user, the monitoring comprising tracking interest expressed in the content portion of the requested page, and tracking a request for additional information about the content portion of the requested page by the user;

automatically configuring, by the computing device, in-context information relating to the content portion of the requested page based on the monitored indications of interest, wherein the automatically configured in-context information is not included in the requested page; and

providing, by the computing device, the requested page and the automatically configured in-context information for adjacent display in response to a subsequent user request for the requested page, without subsequent user input of interest in at least the portion of the requested page.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user'"'"'s request for additional information includes clicking on a hyperlink, clicking on an embedded link, requesting a search, or accessing a dropdown box.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically configuring in-context information relating to the portion of the requested page comprises automatically configuring the in-context information when there is sufficient indications of interest for the portion of the requested page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the requested page comprises at least one of text, image, video, and audio.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the requested page comprises a periodical article.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring indications of interest comprises monitoring indications of interest by a plurality of users.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring indications of interest comprises monitoring past indications of interest.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically updating the automatically configured in-context information at a client site when automatically configuring in-context information relating to the portion of the requested page changes while the requested page and the automatically configured in-context information are displayed at the client site.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the in-context information is representative of an inquiry for additional information about the portion of the requested page by a community of users viewing the requested page.

10. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for execution by a computing device, the instructions comprising:

tracking requests for information relating to a first portion of a requested page, the tracking comprising tracking interest expressed in the first portion of the requested page by a user, and tracking a request for additional information about the first portion of the requested page by the user;

automatically configuring in-context information relating to the first content portion of the requested page based on the tracked requests for information, wherein the automatically configured in-context information is not included in the requested page; and

providing the requested page and the automatically configured in-context information for adjacent display in response to a subsequent user request for the requested page, without subsequent user input of interest in the first portion of the requested page.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising:

tracking requests for information relating to a second portion of the requested page;

automatically configuring in-context information relating to the second portion of the requested page based on the tracked requests for information; and

providing the requested page and the automatically configured in-context information for the first and second portions for simultaneous display, wherein the automatically configured in-context information for the first and second portions are displayed in the same area relative to each other and in a different area relative to the requested page.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein tracking requests for information comprises identifying a frequency of requests for information relating to the first portion of the requested page.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the requested page comprises text.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the requested page comprises an image.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first portion of the requested page comprises time-based media.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the requested page comprises a periodical article.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the requested page comprises a map.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein tracking requests for information relating to a first portion of a requested page comprises tracking requests for information from a plurality of users.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the in-context information is representative of an inquiry for additional information about the first portion of the requested page by a community of users viewing the requested page.

20. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving a request for content from a user;

monitoring logic executed by the processor for monitoring indications of interest content appearing in at least a portion of the requested page, the monitoring logic comprising logic to track interest expressed in the content portion of the requested page and track a request for additional information about the content portion of the requested page by the user;

determining logic executed by the processor for determining presentment of first in-context information along with the requested content based on frequency of users specifying interest in a first particular portion of the requested content; and

providing logic executed by the processor for automatically providing the requested content and the first in-context information for concurrent display in response to a subsequent user request for the requested page, wherein the first in-context information relates to the first particular portion of the requested content and the first in-context information is not included in the requested content, and wherein the subsequent user does not express interest in the first particular portion of the requested content.

21. The computing device of claim 20, further comprising logic executed by the processor for:

determining presentment of second in-context information along with the requested content based on frequency of users specifying interest in a second particular portion of the requested content; and

automatically providing the requested content and the second in-context information for simultaneous display, wherein the second in-context information relates to the second particular portion of the requested content.

22. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the requested content comprises a periodical article.

23. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the requested content comprises a map.

24. The computing device of claim 20, wherein one of the requested content and the first in-context information comprises at least one of text, image, and time-based media.