Device, method and computer program product for generating web feeds

• US 9,448,983 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2014
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Aizen, Jonathan, Shir, Eran
• Primary Examiner(s): PARK, GRACE A
• Application Number:
  US14/191,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20140181642A1
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 system for dynamically defining a web feed includes a memory unit adapted to store web feed data and to generate a web feed of selected web content. The system includes an input processor to receive a user input defining one or more remote websites and to retrieve remote web content from the one or more remote websites. A user interface is provided to display a set of identified elements from the remote web content in a display area of a primary website and a selection processor receives a user selection identifying one or more selected elements of the remote web content. An equivalency engine calculates equivalency classes including subsets of the identified elements determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements. A web feed is generated and displayed to the user on the primary website that includes at least the selected elements and one or more of the subsets of the identified elements determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements.

Claims

1. A system for dynamically defining a web feed, the system comprising:

a memory unit adapted to store web feed data and to generate a web feed of selected web content;

an input processor in operative communication with the memory unit configured to receive a user input defining one or more remote websites and to retrieve remote web content from the one or more remote websites;

a user interface configured to display a set of identified elements from the remote web content in a display area of a primary website;

a selection processor in operative communication with the user interface configured to receive a user selection identifying one or more selected elements of the remote web content;

an equivalency engine in operative communication with the selection processor and configured to calculate equivalency classes comprising subsets of the identified elements determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements;

a web feed processor configured to generate a web feed for display to the user on the primary website, wherein the web feed includes at least the selected elements and one or more of the subsets of the identified elements determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements;

wherein the selection processor is further configured to update the display area of the primary website to visually emphasize the identified elements from the remote web content that are determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements;

wherein the selection processor is further configured to receive a second user selection selecting one or more other identified elements that were not visually emphasized, or de-selecting one or more visually emphasized elements; and

wherein the equivalency engine is further configured to update the calculated equivalency classes based on the user selection of the identified elements or de-selection of the visually emphasized elements.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the input processor is further configured to generate a set of identified elements from the remote web content and, for each respective identified element, calculate at least one key comprising data describing structural characteristics of the respective identified element.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the calculating equivalency classes comprises:

comparing the key for a first identified element to a second key for a second identified element to identify a structural similarity between the first and second identified elements; and

determining whether the first and second identified elements are structurally equivalent.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a metadata module configured to receive metadata representing relationships between repeating instances of identified elements from the remote web content.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the selection processor is further configured to receive a second user selection defining metadata or semantic information of the visually emphasized elements.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the web feed processor is further configured to automatically search the one or more remote websites, to identify additional structurally similar elements, and to generate an updated web feed including the additional structurally similar elements.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a programmed processor for dynamically defining a web feed, the storage medium comprising instructions operative for:

receiving a sample set including one or more remote webpages;

extracting content from the one or more remote webpages to produce a set of identified elements;

displaying the set of identified elements in a display area of a primary website;

determining structural similarities of the set of identified elements;

assigning a plurality of associated keys to each identified element in the set of identified elements, wherein each associated key describes a structural characteristic of the identified element;

grouping in equivalence classes subsets of the identified elements which are determined to be structurally similar based at least on the associated keys;

receiving a user selection identifying one or more selected elements from the set of identified elements displayed on the primary website;

generating a web feed for display to the user in the display area of the primary website including at least the one or more selected elements and the subset of identified elements determined to be structurally similar to the selected element;

updating the display area of the primary website to visually emphasize the subset of the identified elements from the remote web content that are determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements;

receiving a user selection defining metadata or semantic information of the visually emphasized elements; and

generating a semantic understanding of the remote website domain based on user defined metadata or semantic information.

8. The storage medium of claim 7, wherein the web feed is automatically updated and regenerated according to a predefined schedule.

9. The storage medium of claim 8, wherein the regenerating comprises automatically searching the one or more remote websites, identifying additional elements that are determined to be structurally to the subset of identified elements in the web feed, and generating an updated web feed including the additional elements determined to be structurally similar.

10. The storage medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions operative for determining at least one new equivalent element that is structurally similar to at least one identified element in the subset of identified elements, and automatically updating the web feed to display the new equivalent element.

11. A computer-implemented method using a processor for dynamically defining a web feed, the method comprising:

displaying a set of identified elements extracted from one or more remote webpages in a display area of a primary website;

assigning a plurality of associated keys to the each identified element in the set of identified elements, wherein each associated keyed describes a structural characteristic of the identified element;

determining structural similarities of the identified elements extracted from the one or more remote webpages;

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

receiving a first user selection identifying one or more selected elements from the set of identified elements displayed on the primary website;

generating a web feed for display to the user in the display area of the primary website including at least the subset of identified elements determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements;

visually emphasizing the displayed identified elements that are determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements;

receiving a second user selection identifying one or more other selected elements from the set of identified elements displayed on the primary website; and

updating the equivalency classes based on the second user selection.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein receiving the second user selection further comprises comprising receiving the second user selection confirming that the visually emphasized identified elements are structurally similar to the selected element.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising identifying additional elements from the one or more remote web pages determined to be structurally similar to the selected elements, and automatically updating the displayed web feed to include the one or more additional elements.