Social aspects of content aggregation, syndication, sharing, and updating

• US 8,032,510 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2008
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Saft, Keith, Parry, Lee, Grinsted, George, O'Sullivan, Joseph, Davis, Marc, Boerries, Marco, Bernoulli, Carlo P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu; Kuen
• Application Number:
  US12/182,756
• Publication Number:
  US 20090222488A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 707/709, 707/780
• US Class Current: 707/709
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management

Abstract

“Smart bookmarks” are described which facilitate aggregation, sharing, and dynamic access to the content in which a particular user has an interest.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing access to content, comprising facilitating presentation of a smart bookmark in a user interface, the smart bookmark comprising a graphical user interface that simultaneously presents a plurality of dynamic entries relating to a particular concept, each dynamic entry conveying current information regarding the particular concept and comprising one or more objects representing remotely stored content relating to the particular concept, the one or more objects for each dynamic entry being configured to facilitate access to the corresponding remotely stored content and to automatically update the current information conveyed by the dynamic entry in response to events relating to the particular concept, one or more of the dynamic entries relating to contextual metadata associated with a user associated with the user interface, wherein the remotely stored content represented by the objects associated with the plurality of dynamic entries originates from a plurality of different sources, the smart bookmark thus enabling aggregation of and dynamic access to the remotely stored content relating to the particular concept from the plurality of different sources.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents one or more of user information associated with the user, a social relationship associated with the user, a current geographic location associated with the user, a current time associated with the user, or a current topic.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising updating a first one of the plurality of dynamic entries substantially in real time to reflect a corresponding change to one or more of the current information associated with the first dynamic entry, or the remotely stored content represented by the object associated with the first dynamic entry.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of dynamic entries are ordered with reference to the contextual metadata.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents a social relationship associated with the user, and wherein a first one of the plurality of dynamic entries includes vitality corresponding to the social relationship.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents a group to which the user belongs, and wherein a first one of the plurality of dynamic entries refers to other members of the group.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the user does not have an existing social connection with at least one of the other members of the group to which the first dynamic entry refers.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents a first geographic location associated with the user, and wherein a first one of the plurality of dynamic entries identifies a second geographic location in proximity to the first geographic location and relevant to the particular concept to which the dynamic entries of the smart bookmark relate.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents a current time associated with the user, and wherein a first one of the plurality of dynamic entries identifies an event relevant to the current time and the particular concept to which the dynamic entries of the smart bookmark relate.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein selected ones of the plurality of dynamic entries include one or more of sponsorship indicia, a link to a shopping opportunity, an advertisement, or a market research mechanism.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents a current geographic location of the user, the method further comprising facilitating creation of the smart bookmark by the user at the current geographic location, wherein the particular concept corresponds to the current geographic location, thereby enabling the user to bookmark a real-world location.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual metadata represents a social relationship associated with the user, the method further comprising disseminating smart bookmark configuration information configured to enable instantiation of the smart bookmark, the disseminating being done with reference to the social relationship to enable use of an instance of the smart bookmark by another user.

13. At least one computer-readable medium having data structures stored therein comprising smart bookmark configuration information, the smart bookmark configuration information being configured to enable instantiation of a smart bookmark, the smart bookmark comprising a graphical user interface that simultaneously presents a plurality of dynamic entries relating to a particular concept, each dynamic entry conveying current information regarding the particular concept and comprising one or more objects representing remotely stored content relating to the particular concept, the one or more objects for each dynamic entry being configured to facilitate access to the corresponding remotely stored content and to automatically update the current information conveyed by the dynamic entry in response to events relating to the particular concept, one or more of the dynamic entries relating to contextual metadata associated with a user associated with the user interface, wherein the remotely stored content represented by the objects associated with the plurality of dynamic entries originates from a plurality of different sources, the smart bookmark thus enabling aggregation of and dynamic access to the remotely stored content relating to the particular concept from the plurality of different sources.