Organizing indications of approval for collections

• US 8,825,658 B1
• Filed: 03/27/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Suvar, Bogdan
• Primary Examiner(s): LU, KUEN S
• Application Number:
  US13/431,463
• Time in Patent Office: 889 Days
• Field of Search: 707/738
• US Class Current: 707/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/287 Visualization; Browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3331 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9536 Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A system and method for organizing indications of approval using a collection application is disclosed. The collection application includes a processing module, a social network application, a collection module, a sharing module, a permission module, a user interface engine and a suggestion module. The processing module receives an indication of approval submitted by a user. The collection module groups the indication of approval into a collection. The sharing module shares the collection with one or more users. The suggestion module suggests a collection or indications of approval to a user. The user interface engine generates a user interface that includes the collection.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for organizing indications of approval, executing on one or more computing devices, the method comprising:

receiving, at the one or more computing devices, the indications of approval associated with uniform resource locators from a first user device associated with a first user of a social network;

determining a first topic for a first indication of approval and a second topic for a second indication of approval, the first and second topics being different;

generating, using the one or more computing devices, a page in the social network comprising a first collection with the first topic and a second collection with the second topic, the first and second collections each including at least one of the indications of approval and a summary for each of the indications of approval;

providing, at the one or more computing devices, the first and second collections to the first user;

receiving, at the one or more computing devices, a first visibility level for accessing a first indication of approval in the first collection from the first user device associated with the first user;

receiving, at the one or more computing devices, a second visibility level for accessing a second indication of approval in the first collection from the first user device associated with the first user; and

storing the first and second visibility levels associated with the first collection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a distribution list that receives the second collection; and

providing the distribution list with the second collection.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the distribution list includes at least one of a public group, a private group and a second user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first visibility level is hidden from all users except a creator of the first indication of approval and further comprising:

receiving a request to view the first collection from a second user;

determining whether the second user has permission to view the first indication of approval and the second indication of approval in the first collection based on the first visibility level and the second visibility level associated with the first collection;

determining that the second user is lacking permission to view the first indication of approval; and

responsive to the second user having permission to view the second indication of approval, providing the second user with the second indication of approval in the first collection.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the indications of approval include at least one of a title and a keyword.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising grouping the indications of approval into the first collection based on at least one of the title, the first topic, the keyword and the summary.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a description for the first collection based at least in part on at least one of the title, the uniform resource locators, a category and the summary.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing a user profile associated with the first user; and

suggesting a third collection to the first user based at least in part on the user profile.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the user profile includes at least one of interests, activities and demographics.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing at least one of the indications of approval to other collections;

identifying a third collection that includes the at least one of the indications of approval; and

providing the third collection to the first user as a suggestion.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising suggesting a third collection to the first user based at least in part on a number of times that the third collection is shared or viewed by other users.

12. A system for organizing indications of approval, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors cause the system to;

receive the indications of approval associated with uniform resource locators from a first user device associated with a first user of a social network;

determine a first topic for a first indication of approval and a second topic for a second indication of approval, the first and second topics being different;

generate a page in the social network comprising a first collection with the first topic and a second collection with the second topic, the first and second collections each including at least one of the indications of approval and a summary for each of the indications of approval;

provide the first and second collections to the first user;

receive a first visibility level for accessing a first indication of approval in the first collection from the first user device associated with the first user;

receive a second visibility level for accessing a second indication of approval in the first collection from the first user device associated with the first user; and

store the first and second visibility levels associated with the first collection.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive a selection of a distribution list that receives the second collection; and

provide the distribution list with the second collection.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the first visibility level is hidden from all users except a creator of the first indication of approval and the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive a request to view the first collection from a second user;

determine whether the second user has permission to view the first indication of approval and the second indication of approval in the first collection based on the first visibility level and the second visibility level associated with the first collection;

determine that the second user is lacking permission to view the first indication of approval; and

responsive to the second user having permission to view the second indication of approval, provide the second user with the second indication of approval in the first collection.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the indications of approval include at least one of a title and a keyword.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to group the indications of approval into the first collection based on at least one of the title, the first topic, the keyword and the summary.

17. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform steps comprising:

receive indications of approval associated with uniform resource locators from a first user device associated with a first user of a social network;

determine a first topic for a first indication of approval and a second topic for a second indication of approval, the first and second topics being different;

generate a page in the social network comprising a first collection with the first topic and a second collection with the second topic, the first and second collections each including at least one of the indications of approval and a summary for each of the indications of approval;

provide the first and second collections to the first user;

receive a first visibility level for accessing a first indication of approval in the first collection from the first user device associated with the first user;

receive a second visibility level for accessing a second indication of approval in the first collection from the first user device associated with the first user; and

store the first and second visibility levels associated with the first collection.

18. The computer-program product of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a distribution list that receives the second collection; and

providing the distribution list with the second collection.

19. The computer-program product of claim 17, wherein the first visibility level is hidden from all users except a creator of the first indication of approval and further comprising:

receiving a request to view the first collection from a second user;

determining whether the second user has permission to view the first indication of approval and the second indication of approval in the first collection based on the first visibility level and the second visibility level associated with the first collection;

determining that the second user is lacking permission to view the first indication of approval; and

responsive to the second user having permission to view the second indication of approval, providing the second user with the second indication of approval in the first collection.

20. The computer-program product of claim 17, wherein the indications of approval include at least one of a title and a keyword.