Intelligent subscription builder

• US 7,970,889 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2003
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Jain, Mohit, Fridrich, George L., Bennett, Valerie M.
• Primary Examiner(s): England; David E
• Application Number:
  US10/733,625
• Publication Number:
  US 20050132067A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,756 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for enabling end users to subscribe to information content, without requiring the end user to initiate the subscription process. User patterns are observed, and content subscriptions are offered to users based on these observations. Preferably, the user is allowed to customize the offered subscription, including conditions to be evaluated before content is considered as being of interest to this user, and/or one or more actions to be taken when the conditions are met.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of enabling users to subscribe to content in a computing environment without initiating a subscription process, comprising:

identifying a content access behavior pattern of a user;

responsive to the identifying, consulting a mapping that associates content access behavior patterns of users with corresponding candidate content subscriptions to be offered to users exhibiting the associated content access behavior patterns, thereby determining a selected one of the candidate content subscriptions which corresponds to the identified content access behavior pattern of the user, the selected one indicating a subset of content generated by a content source;

offering, to the user on a graphical user interface device, a subscription to the subset of the content by rendering a subscription interface for the subset, the subscription interface comprising a Web page which is distinct from a Web page usable for rendering the content generated by the content source;

responsive to acceptance of the offered subscription by the user, storing a trigger document associated with the user and the content, the trigger document specifying at least one condition associated with the subset; and

subsequently evaluating a then-current version of the content generated by the content source, using the at least one condition specified in the trigger document, to determine whether a then-current version of the subset of the then-current version of the content is considered a match to the at least one condition, and if so, automatically sending the then-current version of the subset to the user as subscribed-to content of the subscription and also scheduling an interval of time on an electronic calendar of the user, wherein the interval of time is specified in the trigger document along with an indication of when the interval of time can be scheduled on the electronic calendar.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the subsequently evaluating is invoked responsive to expiration of a timer which is distinct from the electronic calendar of the user.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the subsequently evaluating is invoked responsive to occurrence of an event.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying is performed by an inference engine.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying comprises identifying how the user interacts with a rendering of the content which is generated by the content source.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least one condition specified in the trigger document comprises a data name and a data value.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 6, wherein each of the at least one condition specified in the trigger document further comprises a comparison operator.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the trigger document further specifies at least one process to be invoked when the subsequently evaluating determines that the then-current version of the subset is considered a match to the at least one condition.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein a user-defined amount of time is used for the interval of time.

10. A system for enabling users to subscribe to content in a computing environment without initiating a subscription process, comprising:

a computer comprising a processor; and

instructions which are executable, using the processor, to performs functions comprising;

identifying a content access behavior pattern of a user;

responsive to the identifying, consulting a mapping that associates content access behavior patterns of users with corresponding candidate content subscriptions to be offered to users exhibiting the associated content access behavior patterns, thereby determining a selected one of the candidate content subscriptions which corresponds to the identified content access behavior pattern of the user, the selected one indicating a subset of content generated by a content source;

offering, to the user, a subscription to the subset of the content by rendering a subscription interface for the subset, the subscription interface comprising a Web page which is distinct from a Web page usable for rendering the content generated by the content source;

responsive to acceptance of the offered subscription by the user, storing a trigger document associated with the user and the content, the trigger document specifying at least one condition associated with the subset; and

subsequently evaluating a then-current version of the content generated by the content source, using the at least one condition specified in the trigger document, to determine whether a then-current version of the subset of the then-current version of the content is considered a match to the at least one condition, and if so, automatically sending the then-current version of the subset to the user as subscribed-to content of the subscription and also scheduling an interval of time on an electronic calendar of the user, wherein the interval of time is specified in the trigger document along with an indication of when the interval of time can be scheduled on the electronic calendar.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the subsequently evaluating is invoked responsive to expiration of a timer which is distinct from the electronic calendar of the user.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein a user-defined amount of time is used for the interval of time.

13. A computer program product for enabling users to subscribe to content in a computing environment without initiating a subscription process, the computer program product comprising at least one computer usable hardware storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therein, the computer usable program code operable for:

identifying a content access behavior pattern of a user;

responsive to the identifying, consulting a mapping that associates content access behavior patterns of users with corresponding candidate content subscriptions to be offered to users exhibiting the associated content access behavior patterns, thereby determining a selected one of the candidate content subscriptions which corresponds to the identified content access behavior pattern of the user, the selected one indicating a subset of content generated by a content source;

offering, to the user, a subscription to the subset of the content by rendering a subscription interface for the subset, the subscription interface comprising a Web page which is distinct from a Web page usable for rendering the content generated by the content source;

responsive to acceptance of the offered subscription by the user, storing a trigger document associated with the user and the content, the trigger document specifying at least one condition associated with the subset; and

subsequently evaluating a then-current version of the content generated by the content source, using the at least one condition specified in the trigger document, to determine whether a then-current version of the subset of the then-current version of the content is considered a match to the at least one condition, and if so, automatically sending the then-current version of the subset to the user as subscribed-to content of the subscription and also scheduling an interval of time on an electronic calendar of the user, wherein the interval of time is specified in the trigger document along with an indication of when the interval of time can be scheduled on the electronic calendar.

14. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein the subsequently evaluating is invoked responsive to expiration of a timer which is distinct from the electronic calendar of the user.