Determining user commonalities and differences

• US 9,756,458 B1
• Filed: 03/19/2014
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chein, Jason Shih Shen, Killalea, Peter Thomas, Siegel, Hilliard Bruce, Smith, Brent Russell, Tseng, Walter Manching
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mastrodonato, Margaret G
• Application Number:
  US14/219,907
• Time in Patent Office: 1,266 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Some examples include determining a proximity between a first user device and a plurality of other user devices based at least in part on comparing location information of the first user device with location information for the plurality of other user devices. Additionally, a commonality may be determined that is associated with at least some user profiles of the other users, but is unassociated with a user profile of the first user. For example, the commonality may have a frequency of occurrence among the user profiles of the other users that is greater than the frequency of occurrence among user profiles associated with a larger population. In other examples, a first portable computing device may receive profile information from a nearby second portable computing device for determining a compatibility between a first user profile and a second user profile.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media maintaining instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, specifically configure the one or more processors to;

receive, from a first device associated with a first user profile, first location information indicating a first geographic location;

receive, from a first set of other devices, other location information indicating respective geographic locations of the other devices;

determine a second set of other devices based at least in part on comparing the first location information and the other location information, the second set of other devices comprising a second other device of the first set of other devices that has a first proximity to the first device and a third other device of the first set of other devices that has a second proximity to the first device;

determine a first set of other user profiles, the first set of other user profiles comprising a second user profile and a third user profile, the second user profile being associated with at least the second other device of the second set of other devices and the third user profile being associated with at least the third other device of the second set of other devices;

determine, based at least in part on the first user profile and the first set of other user profiles, a commonality between at least some user profiles of the first set of other user profiles;

determine, based at least in part on the commonality, that the first user profile differs from the at least some user profiles;

determine a first frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of the first set of other user profiles, wherein the first user profile is unassociated with the commonality;

determine a second frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of a second set of other user profiles, wherein the second set of other user profiles comprises the first set of other user profiles and at least one additional other user profile;

determine that the first frequency is greater than the second frequency; and

send a message to the first device based at least in part on (i) the first user profile differing from the at least some user profiles and (ii) that the first frequency is greater than the second frequency, the message including at least one of;

information related to the commonality;

or

a recommendation for a good or service related to the commonality.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

compare information from the second each other user profile with information from one or more other user profiles in the first set of user profiles to determine matching information;

comparing the matching information with information from the first user profile to determine whether the first user profile is unassociated with the matching information; and

use the matching information as the commonality based at least in part on determining that the first user profile is unassociated with the matching information.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein comparing the first location information and the other location information comprises at least one of:

determining that the first device and the second other device of the first set of other devices are within a threshold distance of each other;

determining that the first device and the second other device are currently present at the first geographic location or one or more associated geographic locations;

or

determining that the first device and the second other device have been previously present at the first geographic location or one or more associated geographic locations.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a past association between the first user profile and the second user profile associated with the second other device of the first set of other device, wherein determining the past association is based on at least one of;

prior communications between the first device and the second other device;

or

calendar information associated with the first user profile that includes information related to the second user profile; and

determine a topic of conversation for the first user with respect to a second user associated with the second user profile based at least in part on the past association.

5. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors, location information, the location information including at least first location information from a first device associated with a first user profile;

receiving second location information from a first set of other devices;

determining, by the one or more processors, based at least in part on the location information, a second set of other devices, the second set of other devices comprising a second other device and a third other device, the second other device being located within a threshold proximity to the first device and the third other device being located within the threshold proximity of the first device;

determining, by the one or more processors, a first set of other user profiles, the first set of other user profiles comprising a second user profile and a third user profile, the second user profile being associated with at least the second other device and the third user profile being associated with at least the third other device;

determining, by the one or more processors, a commonality between at least the second user profile and the third user profile;

determining, by the one or more processors and based at least in part on the commonality, that the first user profile is not associated with the commonality;

determining, by the one or more processors, a first frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of the first set of other user profiles;

determining a second frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of a second set of other user profiles, wherein the second set of other user profiles comprises the first set of other user profiles and at least one additional other user profile;

determining that the first frequency is greater than the second frequency; and

sending, by the one or more processors, a message to the first device based at least in part on the first frequency being greater than the second frequency.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising determining a location-based virtual proximity between the first device and the second other device based at least in part on user location histories and at least one of:

user purchase histories, user review/ratings histories, user media consumption histories, user-provided information, user social network information, user achievements, user membership information, user communication information, user microblog information, or implicit user interests.

7. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising determining a proximity between the first device and the second other device based at least in part on at least one of:

a first determination that the first device and the second other device are within a geographic threshold distance of each other;

a second determination that the first device and the second other device are present at a same geographic location or associated geographic locations;

or

a third determination that the first device and the second other device have visited, in the past, at least one of a same geographic location or a same associated geographic location.

8. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising determining the commonality based at least in part on determining that a majority of other user profiles of the first set of other user profiles are associated with the commonality and that a minority of other user profiles of the second set of other user profiles are associated with the commonality.

9. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising determining the commonality based at least in part on determining that the commonality is related to a good or service.

10. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising determining the commonality based at least in part on at least one of:

determining the commonality based on a location related to a physical proximity between the first device and the second other device;

or

determining the commonality based on a social connection determined from information from the first user profile and information from the first set of other user profiles.

11. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the sending the message comprises at least one of:

sending information related to the commonality;

or

sending a recommendation for a good or service related to the commonality.

12. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising determining a compatibility between the first user profile associated with the first device and the second user profile associated with the second other device, wherein the compatibility is determined based at least in part on a number of commonalties determined between the first user profile and the second user profile.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising weighting one or more of the number of commonalties, wherein a first weight assigned to a commonality of the one or more commonalties is inversely based at least in part on the second frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of the second set of other user profiles.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, specifically configure the one or more processors to;

receive first location information from a first device associated with a first user profile;

receive second location information from a first set of other devices;

determine, based at least in part on the first location information, a second set of other devices, wherein the second set of other devices comprises at least a second other device and a third other device, the second other device being located within a threshold proximity to from the first device and the third other device being located within the threshold proximity from the first device;

determine a first set of other user profiles, wherein the first set of other user profiles comprises a second user profile and a third user profile, the second user profile being associated with the second other device and the third user profile being associated with the third other device;

determine a commonality between the second user profile and the third user profile;

determine, based at least in part on the commonality, that the first user profile is not associated with the commonality;

determine a first frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of the first set of other user profiles;

determine a second frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of a second set of other user profiles, wherein the second set of other user profiles comprises the first set of other user profiles and at least one additional other user profile;

determine that the first frequency is greater than the second frequency; and

send a message to the first device based at least in part on the first frequency being greater than the second frequency.

15. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a location-based virtual proximity between the first device and the second other device based at least in part on user location histories and at least one of:

user purchase histories, user review/ratings histories, user media consumption histories, user-provided information, user social network information, user achievements, user membership information, user communication information, user microblog information, or implicit user interests.

16. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a proximity between the first device and the second other device based at least in part on at least one of:

a first determination that the first device is within a threshold distance from the second other device;

a second determination that the first device and the second other device are present at a same geographic location or associated geographic locations;

or

a third determination that the first device and the second other device have previously visited at least one of a same geographic location or a same associated geographic location.

17. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the commonality based at least in part on determining that a majority of other user profiles of the first set of other user profiles are associated with the commonality and that a minority of other user profiles of the second set of other user profiles are associated with the commonality.

18. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the commonality based at least in part on at least one of:

a location related to a physical proximity between the first device and the second other device;

or

a social connection determined from first information from the first user profile and second information from the first set of other user profiles.

19. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a compatibility between the first user profile and the second user profile based at least in part on a number of commonalties determined between the first user profile and the second user profile.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to apply a weight to one or more commonalties of the number of commonalties, wherein a first weight assigned to a commonality of the one or more commonalties is inversely based at least in part on the second frequency that the commonality is associated with other user profiles of the second set of other user profiles.