Device, method and computer program product for generating web feeds

• US 8,706,757 B1
• Filed: 10/09/2007
• Issued: 04/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Aizen, Jonathan, Shir, Eran
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhatia, Ajay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Park, Grace
• Application Number:
  US11/868,981
• Time in Patent Office: 2,387 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/772
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis

Abstract

A method for generating a feed, the method includes: receiving selection information representative of a selection of a selected element out of multiple elements of a web content representation; and generating an equivalent indication representative of at least one equivalent element that is similar to the selected elements.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a processor,

determining that a web feed user has browsed to a primary website;

providing data defining a web page of the primary website to the web feed user, including;

providing data defining a graphical user interface,

providing data defining a window in the graphical user interface for inserting a remote web page locator; and

providing data defining a web page display area for displaying a remote website within the web page display area of the primary website;

receiving browsing information from the web feed user identifying one or more remote web pages generated by the remote website that are of interest to the web feed user;

updating the data defining the web page display area of the primary website to display the one or more remote web pages within the web page display area of the primary website;

identifying elements of the one or more remote web pages, the identified elements each having one or more associated keys;

determining structural similarities between the identified elements using at least the one or more associated keys;

grouping in equivalence classes a subset of the identified elements which are determined to be structurally similar based at least on the one or more associated keys;

receiving selection information from the web feed user via an input interface of the web page display area, the selection information identifying a selected element of the identified elements;

identifying at least one equivalent element among the identified elements that is structurally similar to the selected element by determining that the at least one equivalent element belongs to a same equivalence class as the selected element;

updating the data defining the web page display area to include data visually emphasizing the at least one equivalent element within the remote web pages displayed in the web page display area;

receiving election information from the web feed user, the election information confirming that one or more elected elements elected by the web feed user from the identified at least one equivalent element are structurally similar to the selected element;

defining a web feed which includes the selected element and the one or more elected elements; and

subsequently, automatically distributing the defined web feed to the web feed user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein distributing the defined web feed to the web feed user comprises:

at the processor,

retrieving information representative of the web feed including the selected element;

searching data of the one or more remote web pages to identify new equivalent elements which are equivalent to the selected element;

adding to the web feed information about any new equivalent elements not previously included in the web feed to generate and updated web feed; and

communicating the updated web feed to the web feed user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving selection information from the web feed user comprises:

detecting a click by the web feed user on a display of the selected element on the one or more remote web pages in the web page display area of the graphical user interface; and

identifying the selected item based on the click.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving selection information from the web feed user comprises:

detecting interaction by the web feed user with data of the one or more remote web pages in the web page display area of the graphical interface to define user-defined equivalent elements that are equivalent to the selected element.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein defining a web feed comprises including in the web feed the selected element and the user-defined equivalent elements.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining structural similarities of the identified elements based at least on the one or more associated keys comprises:

for each respective identified element, calculating at least one key having data that describes structural characteristics of the respective identified element; and

using the at least one key for the respective identified elements, determining the structural similarity between the respective identified elements.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

automatically creating a new web feed using the at least one key.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

retrieving additional web pages;

calculating key data for the retrieved additional web pages;

using the calculated key data with the at least one key, determining the structural similarity between a respective identified element and the retrieved additional web pages.