Personalization engine for building a user profile

• US 8,140,515 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2009
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CBS Interactive Inc. (ViacomCBS Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: CBS Interactive Inc. (ViacomCBS Incorporated)
• Inventors: Pradhan, Tushar, Osborne, Thomas, Potter, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Tim T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Anh Tai
• Application Number:
  US12/607,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20110066615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 874 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/353 into predefined classes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

Users of electronic documents are classified for profiling and targeting of additional relevant content. Behavioral data is gathered from user registration information and user activity, and user documents and actions are categorized. Registration information is combined with collaborative and editorial data to provide user profile information. Author-generated document classification information is analyzed and assigned a first taxonomic noun to characterize the document. User-generated tags characterizing a portion of the document are assigned a second taxonomic noun. Search terms that resulted in the user accessing the document are identified and assigned a third taxonomic noun. Attributes related to how the document was accessed are evaluated and assigned a fourth taxonomic noun. The document is processed using pattern rules to extract a fifth taxonomic noun. The taxonomic nouns are aggregated to determine a composite set of taxonomic nouns, and the user is categorized using the taxonomic nouns, and/or the author-generated classification.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for building a user profile of a user, the method comprising:

labeling and storing user registration information in a database as a set of demographic nouns;

analyzing, with a computing device, author-generated classification information regarding at least one document of a set of documents and assigning a set of first taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the author-generated classification information;

examining, with a computing device, a user-generated tag from a client computer and characterizing the user of at least one document of the set of documents and assigning a set of second taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the user-generated tag characterization;

identifying, with a computing device, a method by which the user accessed at least one document of the set of documents from a content provider and assigning a set of third taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the method of access;

evaluating, with a computing device, attributes that are related to the method of access and assigning a set of fourth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the attributes related to the method of access;

processing, with a computing device, at least one document of the set of documents to extract a set of fifth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user;

aggregating, with a computing device, the set of first taxonomic nouns, the set of second taxonomic nouns, the set of third taxonomic nouns, the set of fourth taxonomic nouns, and the set of fifth taxonomic nouns into a composite set of taxonomic nouns;

building, with a computing device, a user profile based upon the composite set of taxonomic nouns, the author-generated classification information, and at least one of the demographic nouns;

comparing, with a computing device, the composite set of taxonomic nouns with taxonomic nouns associated with a plurality of other user profiles corresponding to a plurality of other users; and

modifying, with a computing device, the user profile based on the comparison.

2. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein the user registration information characterizing the user of the document includes at least one of an item listed in a profile of the user and a technology implementation setting.

3. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein the author-generated information includes metadata assigned to the document.

4. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a network type used to access the document, a Web site from which the document was accessed, an electronic correspondence to which the document was associated, a time of day the document was accessed, a referrer who directed the user to the document, and a user category used by a database storing the document to describe the user.

5. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a comment by the user, a rating by the user, a download by the user, and a purchase of a product or a service by the user indicating a level of a user'"'"'s relative interest in the document in relation to other documents available to the user.

6. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein building the user profile includes deriving a user cluster of related users.

7. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, further comprising assigning a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index includes a weighting of at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns.

8. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, further comprising assigning a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index assigned to the user dynamically changes based upon subsequent user activity.

9. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

10. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 1, wherein a single computing device is configured to carry out the functions of two or more of the computing devices.

11. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 6, wherein building the user profile further includes:

computing a similarity measure between the user profile of the user of the electronic document and other user profiles of the cluster of related users; and

building a group of related users based upon the user profile of the user of the electronic document and the user profiles of the cluster of related users.

12. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 7, wherein the value index is based on the weighting of the at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns for the user profile of the user and a weighting of at least one demographic noun or taxonomic noun for the user profile of the at least one other user.

13. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 8, wherein the subsequent user activity includes at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

14. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 12, further comprising:

collecting a number of user profiles to build a group of related users based upon the user profiles; and

building an audience profile based upon the group of related users.

15. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 14, further comprising:

mining user data from at least one of a Web page, a uniform resource locator, a natural language document, a network address, an Internet Protocol address, and a database;

combining the mined user data with the collected user profiles; and

creating a user mart of the combined mined user data and the collected user profiles to tie domains together and track user activity.

16. A computer-implemented method for building a user profile for a user, the method comprising:

labeling and storing, with a computing device, user registration information in a database as a set of demographic nouns;

determining, with a computing device, a composite set of taxonomic nouns, the composite set of taxonomic nouns representing the user profile based upon taxonomic nouns, the taxonomic nouns being prepared by one or more of the following steps;

analyzing, with a computing device, author-generated classification information regarding at least one document of a set of documents and assigning a set of first taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the author-generated classification information;

examining, with a computing device, a user-generated tag from a client computer and characterizing the user of at least one document of the set of documents and assigning a set of second taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the user-generated tag characterization;

identifying, with a computing device, a method by which the user accessed at least one document of the set of documents from a content provider and assigning a set of third taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the search term;

evaluating, with a computing device, attributes that are related to the method of access and assigning a set of fourth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the attributes related to the method of access; and

processing, with a computing device, at least one document of the set of documents to extract a set of fifth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user;

building, with a computing device, the user profile, the user profile based upon the composite set of taxonomic nouns, the author-generated classification information, and at least one of the demographic nouns;

comparing, with a computing device, the composite set of taxonomic nouns with taxonomic nouns associated with a plurality of other user profiles corresponding to a plurality of other users; and

modifying, with a computing device, the user profile based on the comparison.

17. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein the user registration information characterizing the user of the document includes at least one of an item listed in a profile of the user and a technology implementation setting.

18. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein the author-generated information includes metadata assigned to the document.

19. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a network type used to access the document, a Web site from which the document was accessed, an electronic correspondence to which the document was associated, a time of day the document was accessed, a referrer who directed the user to the document, and a user category used by a database storing the document to describe the user.

20. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a comment by the user, a rating by the user, a download by the user, and a purchase of a product or a service by the user indicating a level of a user'"'"'s relative interest in the document in relation to other documents available to the user.

21. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein building the user profile includes deriving a user cluster of related users.

22. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, further comprising assigning a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index includes a weighting of at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns.

23. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, further comprising assigning a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index assigned to the user dynamically changes based upon subsequent user activity.

24. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

25. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 16, wherein a single computing device is configured to carry out the functions of two or more of the computing devices.

26. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 21, wherein building the user profile further includes:

computing a similarity measure between the user profile of the user of the electronic document and other user profiles of the cluster of related users; and

building a group of related users based upon the user profile of the user of the electronic document and the user profiles of the cluster of related users.

27. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 22, wherein the value index is based on the weighting of the at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns for the user profile of the user and a weighting of at least one demographic noun or taxonomic noun for the user profile of the at least one other user.

28. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 22, further comprising:

collecting a number of user profiles to build a group of related users based upon the user profiles; and

building an audience profile based upon the group of related users.

29. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 23, wherein the subsequent user activity includes at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

30. The computer-implemented method for building a user profile of claim 28, further comprising:

mining user data from at least one of a Web page, a uniform resource locator, a natural language document, a network address, an Internet Protocol address, and a database;

combining the mined user data with the collected user profiles; and

creating a user mart of the combined mined user data and the collected user profiles to tie domains together and track user activity.

31. A computer program product with instructions recorded on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, which, when executed by a processor, carry out a method for building a user profile for a user, the instructions comprising:

instructions for labeling and storing, with a computing device, user registration information in a database as a set of demographic nouns;

instructions for analyzing, with a computing device, author-generated classification information regarding at least one document of a set of documents and assigning a set of first taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the author-generated classification information;

instructions for examining, with a computing device, a user-generated tag from a client computer and characterizing the user of at least one document of the set of documents and assigning a set of second taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the user-generated tag characterization;

instructions for identifying, with a computing device, a method by which the user accessed at least one document of the set of documents from a content provider and assigning at set of third taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the method of access;

instructions for evaluating, with a computing device, attributes that are related to the method of access and assigning a set of fourth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the attributes related to the method of access;

instructions for processing, with a computing device, at least one document of the set of documents to extract a set of fifth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user;

instructions for aggregating, with a computing device, the set of first taxonomic nouns, the set of second taxonomic nouns, the set of third taxonomic nouns, the set of fourth taxonomic nouns, and the set of fifth taxonomic nouns into a composite set of taxonomic nouns;

instructions for building, with a computing device, a user profile based upon the composite set of taxonomic nouns, the author-generated classification information, and at least one of the demographic nouns;

instructions for comparing, with a computing device, the composite set of taxonomic nouns with taxonomic nouns associated with a plurality of other user profiles corresponding to a plurality of other users; and

instructions for modifying, with a computing device, the user profile based on the comparison.

32. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein the user registration information characterizing the user of the document includes at least one of an item listed in a profile of the user and a technology implementation setting.

33. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein the author-generated information includes metadata assigned to the document.

34. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a network type used to access the document, a Web site from which the document was accessed, an electronic correspondence to which the document was associated, a time of day the document was accessed, a referrer who directed the user to the document, and a user category used by a database storing the document to describe the user.

35. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a comment by the user, a rating by the user, a download by the user, and a purchase of a product or a service by the user indicating a level of a user'"'"'s relative interest in the document in relation to other documents available to the user.

36. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein building the user profile includes deriving a user cluster of related users.

37. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, further comprising instructions for assigning, with a computing device, a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index includes a weighting of at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns.

38. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, further comprising instructions for assigning, with a computing device, a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index assigned to the user dynamically changes based upon subsequent user activity.

39. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

40. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 31, wherein a single computing device is configured to carry out the functions of two or more of the computing devices.

41. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 36, wherein building the user profile further includes:

computing a similarity measure between the user profile of the user of the electronic document and other user profiles of the cluster of related users; and

building a group of related users based upon the user profile of the user of the electronic document and the user profiles of the cluster of related users.

42. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 37, wherein the value index is based on the weighting of the at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns for the user profile of the user and a weighting of at least one demographic noun or taxonomic noun for the user profile of the at least one other user.

43. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 37, further comprising:

instructions for collecting a number of user profiles to build a group of related users based upon the user profiles; and

instructions for building an audience profile based upon the group of related users.

44. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 38, wherein the subsequent user activity includes at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

45. The computer program product for building a user profile of claim 43, further comprising:

instructions for mining user data from at least one of a Web page, a uniform resource locator, a natural language document, a network address, an Internet Protocol address, and a database;

instructions for combining the mined user data with the collected user profiles; and

instructions for creating a user mart of the combined mined user data and the collected user profiles to tie domains together and track user activity.

46. A system for building a user profile for a user, the system comprising:

a computing device configured to label and store user registration information in a database as a set of demographic nouns;

a computing device configured to analyze author-generated classification information regarding a user of at least one document of a set of documents and assign a set of first taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the author-generated classification information;

a computing device configured to examine a user-generated tag from a client computer characterizing the user of at least one document of the set of documents and assign a set of second taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the user-generated tag characterization;

a computing device configured to identify a method by which the user accessed at least one document of the set of documents from a content provider and assign a set of third taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the method of access;

a computing device configured to evaluate attributes related to the method of access and assign a set of fourth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user based upon the attributes related to the method of access;

a computing device configured to process at least one document of the set of documents to extract a set of fifth taxonomic nouns to characterize the user;

a computing device configured to aggregate the set of first taxonomic nouns, the set of second taxonomic nouns, the set of third taxonomic nouns, the set of fourth taxonomic nouns, and the set of fifth taxonomic nouns into a composite set of taxonomic nouns that represent the user;

a computing device configured to build a user profile based upon the composite set of taxonomic nouns, the author-generated classification scheme, and at least one of the demographic nouns;

a computing device configured to compare the composite set of taxonomic nouns with taxonomic nouns associated with a plurality of other user profiles corresponding to a plurality of other users; and

a computing device configured to modify the user profile based on the comparison.

47. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein the user registration information characterizing the user of the document includes at least one of an item listed in a profile of the user and a technology implementation setting.

48. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein the author-generated information includes metadata assigned to the document.

49. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a network type used to access the document, a Web site from which the document was accessed, an electronic correspondence to which the document was associated, a time of day the document was accessed, a referrer who directed the user to the document, and a user category used by a database storing the document to describe the user.

50. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of a comment by the user, a rating by the user, a download by the user, and a purchase of a product or a service by the user indicating a level of a user'"'"'s relative interest in the document in relation to other documents available to the user.

51. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein building the user profile includes deriving a user cluster of related users.

52. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, further comprising a computing device configured to assign a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index includes a weighting of at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns.

53. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, further comprising a computing device configured to assign a value index to the user, wherein the value index is based on the user profile of the user and a user profile of at least one other user, and wherein the value index assigned to the user dynamically changes based upon subsequent user activity.

54. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein the attributes related to the method of access include at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

55. The system for building a user profile of claim 46, wherein a single computing device is configured to carry out the functions of two or more of the computing devices.

56. The system for building a user profile of claim 51, wherein building the user profile further includes:

computing a similarity measure between the user profile of the user of the electronic document and other user profiles of the cluster of related users; and

building a group of related users based upon the user profile of the user of the electronic document and the user profiles of the cluster of related users.

57. The system for building a user profile of claim 52, wherein the value index is based on the weighting of the at least one of the number of demographic nouns, the total number of taxonomic nouns, and the number of unique taxonomic nouns for the user profile of the user and a weighting of at least one demographic noun or taxonomic noun for the user profile of the at least one other user.

58. The system for building a user profile of claim 52, further comprising:

a computing device configured to collect a number of user profiles to build a group of related users based upon the user profiles; and

a computing device configured to build an audience profile based upon the group of related users.

59. The system for building a user profile of claim 53, wherein the subsequent user activity includes at least one of sharing the user'"'"'s interests, clicking on a newsletter, participating in a discussion, reading or writing a blog, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product or a service, reviewing a product or service, sharing a document, posting to a social network, sending an email, and disclosing information about the user.

60. The system for building a user profile of claim 58, further comprising:

a computing device configured to mine user data from at least one of a Web page, a uniform resource locator, a natural language document, a network address, an Internet Protocol address, and a database;

a computing device configured to combine the mined user data with the collected user profiles; and

a computing device configured to create a user mart of the combined mined user data and the collected user profiles to tie domains together and track user activity.