Method and system to categorize items automatically

• US 9,639,599 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2014
• Issued: 05/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Seth, Shashi, Johnson, Brian Scott, Kennedy, Robin, Kothari, Niraj
• Primary Examiner(s): Shmatov, Alexey
• Application Number:
  US14/556,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088895A1
• Time in Patent Office: 883 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/282 Hierarchical databases, e.g. IMS, LDAP data stores or Lotus Notes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

Various embodiments disclose methods and systems to categorize automatically a merchant listing. In one example, the method includes determining a first category identifier for the merchant listing by performing a first search to compare the first category identifier with a plurality of category identifiers in a first database. Based on a determination that no match was found as a result of the first search, a second search is performed to compare the first category identifier with a plurality of category relationships in a second database. A second category identifier of the merchant listing is provided in response to a match being found in the second search and the second category identifier is associated with the merchant listing. Other methods and systems are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, using one or more hardware-based processors, to categorize automatically a merchant listing received from a seller, the method including:

determining a first category identifier for the merchant listing by parsing a description of one or more goods or services in the listing;

performing a first search to compare the first category identifier with a plurality of category identifiers in a first database;

based on a determination that no match was found as a result of the first performed search, and prior to performing a second search, making a determination as to whether the seller has authorized an updating of the category description to a more recent version of the category description;

in response to an authorization from the seller, performing the second search to compare the first category identifier with one or more category relationships in a second database, each of the one or more category relationships being associated with at least one or more category identifiers;

identifying a second category identifier based on the comparison of the first category identifier with the one or more category relationships; and

associating the second category identifier with the merchant listing.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, when no match was found in either the first search or the second search, transmitting a message to the seller that no match was found.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising translating description information of the merchant listing into at least one of the first category identifier and the second category identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the description information is at least one of a category description and a product description.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a category description for each of one or more goods or services from a seller; and

parsing the category description of each of the one or more goods or services received from the seller to prepare the merchant listing.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the plurality of category relationships in at least one of the first category relationship database and the second category relationship database.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the updating of the plurality of category relationships includes merging the first category identifier with the second category identifier.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the merging the first category identifier with the second category identifier includes:

removing the first category identifier from the first database; and

adding a mapping of the first category identifier to the second category identifier in the category relationship database.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the updating of the plurality of category relationships further includes merging the second category identifier with a third category identifier.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving a category description for one or more goods or services from a seller;

parsing, using one or more hardware-based processors, the category description for each of the one or more goods or services received from the seller to prepare a merchant listing including;

determining, based on the parsing, a first category identifier for each of the one or more goods or services to include in the merchant listing;

performing a first search to compare the first category identifier with a plurality of category identifiers in a first database;

based on a determination that no match was found as a result of the first performed search, and prior to performing a second search, making a determination as to whether the seller has authorized an updating of the category description to a more recent version of the category description;

based on an evaluation that at least one condition in a list of conditions occurred, where the list of conditions includes a determination that the seller had previously authorized the updating of the category description to the more recent version of the category description and that the seller authorized the updating of the category description in response to the transmitted message, performing the second search to compare the first category identifier with one or more category relationships in a second database in response to an authorization from the seller; and

based on a determination that no match was found in either the first search or the second search, transmitting a message to the seller that no match was found.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving description information for each of one or more goods or services from the seller; and

parsing the description information of each of the one or more goods or services received from the seller to prepare the merchant listing.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising including translating description information of the merchant listing into the category identifier.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the translating of the description information of the merchant listing into the category identifier includes locating the description information of the merchant listing in at least one of a current version and a previous version of the first database.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the description information includes a product description.

15. A computer-readable medium having no transitory signals and storing an instruction that, when executed by a hardware-based processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a category description for one or more goods or services from a seller;

parsing, using one or more hardware-based processors, the category description for each of the one or more goods or services received from the seller to prepare a merchant listing including;

determining, based on the parsing, a first category identifier for each of the one or more goods or services to include in the merchant listing;

performing a first search to compare the first category identifier with a plurality of category identifiers in a first database;

based on a determination that no match was found as a result of the first performed search, and prior to performing a second search, making a determination as to whether the seller has authorized an updating of the category description to a more recent version of the category description;

based on an evaluation that at least one condition in a list of conditions occurred, where the list of conditions includes a determination that the seller had previously authorized the updating of the category description to the more recent version of the category description and that the seller authorized the updating of the category description in response to the transmitted message, performing the second search to compare the first category identifier with one or more category relationships in a second database in response to an authorization from the seller; and

based on a determination that no match was found in either the first search or the second search, transmitting a message to the seller that no match was found.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving description information for each of one or more goods or services from the seller; and

parsing the description information of each of the one or more goods or services received from the seller to prepare the merchant listing.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising including translating description information of the merchant listing into the category identifier.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the translating of the description information of the merchant listing into the category identifier includes locating the description information of the merchant listing in at least one of a current version and a previous version of the first database.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the description information includes a product description.