Information retrieval systems and methods that use user-defined lists to identify related offerings

• US 7,966,334 B1
• Filed: 09/30/2002
• Issued: 06/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: York, Jeremy C., Round, Matthew J., Snodgrass, Ryan J., Power, Joanna L., Bezos, Jeffrey P., Dicker, Russell A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam; Hosain T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ahluwalia; Navneet K
• Application Number:
  US10/262,587
• Time in Patent Office: 3,186 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 707100-1041, 707200-205, 707/748
• US Class Current: 707/748
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Information retrieval systems and methods are disclosed for presenting items of interest to a user of a computer-based data repository, where the items are presented in the form of lists generated by other users. Users of a data repository may generate lists of items from the repository that are accessible by other users. In various embodiments, users generating lists may add supplemental commentary about the items and other personalizing information. The information retrieval systems and methods store the user-generated lists for future presentation to other users. The online activities of a user of the data repository are monitored, and, in response to the user indicating an interest in an item, one or more lists determined to be similar to the indicated item are presented to the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for assisting users in locating items represented within a data repository, the method comprising:

maintaining user-created lists of selected items in a data repository, said user-created lists created by users, wherein the user-created lists are submitted by the users to the data repository, and wherein the user-created lists have user identifiers associated therewith that identify the users that submitted the user-created lists;

ranking multiple user-created lists relative to other user-created lists;

monitoring online actions of a current user of the data repository;

selecting at least one user-created list from the data repository based at least in part on the online actions and based at least in part on the ranking of the user-created lists relative to each other; and

suggesting at least one of the selected user-created lists to the current user during a browsing session.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein monitoring online actions of the current user further comprises identifying at least one item that exemplifies a user interest.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one of the user-created lists further comprises referring to stored information about similarities between the items represented in the data repository to aid in predicting lists of interest to the current user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising ranking the user-created lists based on historical ability to encourage a given behavior in users who view the user-created lists.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising taking into consideration data reflective of the effectiveness of the user-created lists as evidenced by actions of other users who accessed the user-created lists.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein suggesting at least one of the user-created lists to the current user comprises presenting one or more top-ranking user-created lists to the user.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein suggesting at least one of the user-created lists to the current user comprises presenting the user-created list along with a graphic representation of at least one of the list items.

8. A computer-implemented information retrieval system using one or more processors, the system comprising:

means for maintaining user-created lists of selected items in a data repository, said user-created lists created by users, wherein the user-created lists are submitted by the users to the data repository, and wherein the user-created lists have user identifiers associated therewith that identify the users that submitted the user-created lists;

means for ranking multiple user-created lists relative to other user-created lists;

means for monitoring online browsing activity of a user; and

means for identifying user-created lists of offerings based at least in part on the online browsing activity of the user and based at least in part on the ranking of the user-created lists relative to each other.

9. The computer-implemented information retrieval system of claim 8, wherein the means for monitoring the online browsing activity further means for interpreting a user action as identifying an offering that exemplifies a user interest.

10. The computer-implemented information retrieval system of claim 8 wherein the means for identifying lists of offerings further comprises means for referring to stored information about offerings that are statistically similar.

11. The computer-implemented information retrieval system of claim 8 wherein the means for ranking multiple user-created lists relative to other user-created lists is based at least in part on their historical ability to encourage a given user behavior in users who view the user-created lists.

12. A computer-implemented system that assists users in locating items represented within a data repository, the system comprising:

one or more computer processors;

user-created lists of items stored in a data repository, said user-created lists created by users, wherein the user-created lists are submitted by the users to the data repository, wherein the user-created lists have user identifiers associated therewith that identify the users that submitted the user-created lists, and wherein multiple user-created lists are ranked relative to other user-created lists;

a first component configured to monitor a current user'"'"'s online actions with respect to the data repository; and

a second component configured to select at least one user-created list from the user-created lists, based at least in part on the online actions of the current user and based at least in part on the ranking of the user-created lists relative to each other, the second component further configured to suggest the selected user-created list to the current user,

wherein the first component and the second component are executed on one or more processors.

13. The computer-implemented system of claim 12 wherein the first component is further configured to identify an item for which the current user has just requested information.

14. The computer-implemented system of claim 12, wherein the second component is further configured to select the user-created list based, at least in part, on stored information regarding statistical similarities amongst items in the data repository.

15. The computer-implemented system of claim 12 wherein the second component is further configured to select the user-created list based, at least in part, on stored information regarding the ability of the user-created lists in the database to encourage a given user behavior in users who view the lists.

16. A computer-implemented method implemented in a browser plug-in that identifies lists of related items, the method comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s online actions; and

suggesting one or more user-created lists of items based at least in part on the user'"'"'s online actions and based at least in part on the ranking of multiple user-created relative to other user-created lists, wherein the user-created lists are generated by other users, wherein the user-created lists are submitted by the other users to a list repository, and wherein the user-created lists have user identifiers associated therewith that identify the users that submitted the user-created lists.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising identifying a user interest further by interpreting an item selected by the user'"'"'s online actions as exemplifying the user interest.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising selecting the user created lists of items to suggest to the user based on the statistical similarity of the items in the user-created lists of items to the exemplifying item.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein suggesting user-created lists of items further comprises taking into consideration information regarding the effectiveness of the user-created lists of items to encourage a given user behavior.

20. A computer-implemented information retrieval method allowing users of a data repository to generate lists for sharing with other users, the method comprising:

allowing users of a data repository to generate user-created lists, the user-created lists having multiple items therein;

allowing users to submit the user-created lists to the data repository wherein the user-created lists have user identifiers associated therewith that identify the users that submitted the user-created lists;

monitoring the online activity of users to gather effectiveness data about the user-created lists; and

ranking multiple user-created lists relative to other user-created lists and based at least in part on the effectiveness data.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising making the effectiveness data available to other application programs.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising using the effectiveness data to rank the user-created lists to encourage a desired behavior on the part of a user.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising using the effectiveness data to promote the sale of items.