Methods for delivering task-related digital content based on task-oriented user activity

• US 9,524,355 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2007
• Issued: 12/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Mozy, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Forbes, John B., Maritz, Paul, Herlocker, Jonathan L., Dletterich, Thomas G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gorney, Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROLAND, GRISELLE CORBO
• Application Number:
  US11/656,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20080177726A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,620 Days
• Field of Search: 707/E17.109, 707/769
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method for automatically presenting digital content to a user of a computer computes task-related metadata from data which may include i) a most recent event record, ii) a most recent specification received from the user of a task being performed by the user, iii) an automatic prediction of the current task being executed by the user, iii) past event records and associated task identifiers stored in a database and/or iv) content in resources associated with a given task. The task-related metadata is communicated to a digital content service provider. Digital content relevant to the user based on the task-related metadata is then selected, sent to the computer, and presented to the user. Rules and filters control the metadata going out and the content coming in, allowing automatic adaptation based on the current task, characteristics of the content, and other factors.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for automatically presenting digital content to a user of a computer, the method comprising:

the computer receiving input from a user corresponding to a current task being performed by the user;

the computer computing task-related metadata from;

i) the current task being performed by the user, ii) past event records stored in a database of a task-oriented user activity system, and (iii) credential data associated with the user, wherein computing the task-related metadata includes predicting a predicted task of the user, wherein predicting the predicted task includes determining that performing the current task indicates a probability of subsequently performing the predicted task and includes using the past event records, and wherein the task-related metadata includes information that is relevant to the predicted task and that includes information corresponding to the credential data associated with the user;

the computer communicating the task-related metadata to a digital content service provider via a data network;

the digital content service provider extracting the information from the task-related metadata and determining, using the extracted information, digital content relevant to a profile of the user, wherein the profile of the user is specified according to the predicted task and the credential data associated with the user, and wherein the information relevant to the predicted task and the information corresponding to the credential data that are included in the task-related metadata determine the digital content that is selected by the digital content provider after extracting the information from the task-related metadata;

the digital content service provider communicating the digital content to the computer; and

the computer presenting the digital content to the user of the computer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a most recent event record representing a current interaction of the user with the computer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a most recent specification received from the user of a task currently being performed by the user.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer filtering the task-related metadata in accordance with an outgoing filter prior to communicating the task-related metadata to the digital content service provider.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer filtering the task-related digital content in accordance with an incoming filter after communicating the digital content to the computer.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer recognizing when the user is likely engaged in a search for a product, determining characteristics of the product being searched for, and adding the characteristics to the task-related metadata for the predicted task.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

the computer predicting when the user is about to purchase the product.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer recognizing when the user has made a purchase and generating an event indicating that a purchase was made.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer creating relationships among tasks that have resulted in purchases.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from information stored in a resource database, wherein the information comprises categorized resources accessed by the user.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the digital content to the user of the computer comprises assembling the digital content in a user interface window.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer communicating the digital content to a second computer; and

the second computer presenting the digital content to a user of the second computer.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer prompting the user to specify metadata associated with a task.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer identifying keywords in a user-specified text description of the current task, and selecting metadata based on matching the identified keywords with keywords in a database containing predetermined keywords and associated metadata.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the task-related metadata from the computer to the digital content service provider comprises using a set of rules to schedule transmission of specified classes of the task-related metadata.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein determining digital content relevant to the predicted task from the task-related metadata comprises matching the task-related metadata with a set of predetermined user contexts and selecting content associated with matching contexts.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein determining digital content relevant to the predicted task from the task-related metadata comprises determining the digital content relevant to the predicted task using relationships between tasks.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer replicating task-related metadata across a set of tasks based on relationships between tasks.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the digital content to the user of the computer comprises automatically filtering the digital content based on the predicted task.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer modifying the contents of a web browser window containing internet search results, wherein the modification is based on the predicted task.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer displaying to the user a list of purchases associated with the predicted task.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a list of products associated with the predicted task.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting the digital content to the user of the computer comprises automatically filtering the digital content based on a list of product items associated with the predicted task.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer monitoring and recording responses of the user to the presented digital content.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the past event records include websites previously accessed by the user, and wherein the credential data includes at least one of:

credit card membership information, credit data, purchase history information, address information or contact information.

25. A computer-implemented method for automatically presenting digital content to a user of a computer, the method comprising:

the computer receiving input from a user corresponding to a current task being performed by the user;

the computer computing task-related metadata from;

i) the current task being performed by the user, ii) past event records stored in a database of a task-oriented user activity system, and (iii) credential data associated with the user, wherein computing the task-related metadata includes predicting a predicted task of the user, wherein predicting the predicted task includes determining that performing the current task indicates a probability of subsequently performing the predicted task and includes using the past event records, and wherein the task-related metadata includes information that is extractable by a digital content service provider and that is relevant to the predicted task and that further includes information corresponding to the credential data associated with the user;

the computer communicating the task-related metadata to the digital content service provider via a data network;

the computer receiving, from the digital content service provider, digital content relevant to the a profile of the user, wherein the profile of the user is specified according to the predicted task and the credential data associated with the user, and wherein the information relevant to the predicted task and the information corresponding to the credential data that are included in the task-related metadata determine the digital content that is selected by the digital content provider after extracting the information from the task-related metadata; and

the computer presenting the digital content to the user of the computer.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a most recent event record representing a current interaction of the user with the computer.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from a most recent specification received from the user of the current task.

28. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

the computer recognizing when the user is likely engaged in a search for a product, determining characteristics of the product being searched for, and adding the characteristics to the task-related metadata for the predicted task.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein the task-related metadata is computed also from information stored in a resource database, wherein the information comprises categorized resources accessed by the user.

30. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

the computer identifying keywords in a user-specified text description of the current task, and wherein computing the task-related metadata based on the current task includes matching the identified keywords with keywords in a database containing predetermined keywords and associated metadata.

31. The method of claim 25 wherein communicating the task-related metadata from the computer to the digital content service provider comprises using a set of rules to schedule transmission of specified classes of the task-related metadata.

32. The method of claim 25 wherein determining digital content relevant to the predicted task from the task-related metadata comprises determining the digital content relevant to the predicted task using relationships between tasks.

33. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

the computer replicating task-related metadata across a set of tasks based on relationships between tasks.

34. The method of claim 25, wherein the past event records include websites previously accessed by the user, and wherein the credential data includes at least one of:

credit card membership information, credit data, purchase history information, address information or contact information.