Selecting a template for a content item

• US 9,928,308 B1
• Filed: 12/20/2016
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsun, Stephen, Shanmugasundaram, Jayavel, Xin, Tao
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Hung
• Application Number:
  US15/385,245
• Time in Patent Office: 462 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2453 Query optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24553 of query operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for selecting a template for a content item. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a content item request that includes context data. A content item that is eligible to be presented in response to the content item request is identified. A determination is made that the content item includes a template variable that is resolved based on the context data. A template feed including a set of templates is identified based on the template variable. A template is selected from the template feed for the content item. The template can be selected based on the context data. The selected template is populated with content for the content item to create a formatted content item. The formatted content item is provided in response to the content item request.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically modifying a content item on a per-request basis, the method being performed by data processing apparatus and comprising:

receiving, from a user device, a content item request that includes context data specifying (i) a set of one or more attributes of a resource on which the content item will be presented and (ii) a set of one or more attributes of a user to which the content item will be presented;

in response to receiving the content item request;

identifying a given content item to provide in response to the content item request;

identifying a set of templates that are eligible for use in generating variations of the given content item;

filtering the set of templates based on the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented, the filtering including removing, from the set of templates, one or more templates that are not eligible for use in generating content items for presentation with resources having the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented;

determining, for each particular template from the set of templates, a contextual performance measure that indicates a performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template and in response to content item requests having context data that matches the one or more attributes of the user;

selecting, from the set of templates and based on the contextual performance measure of each template in the set of templates, a template for the given content item;

creating a different formatted content item by populating the selected template with content for the given content item; and

providing, to the user device and for presentation with the resource, the different formatted content item in response to the content item request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the context data specifies a combination of the one or more attributes of the resource and the one or more attributes of the user; and

the contextual performance measure for the particular template indicates a performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template and in response to content item requests having context data that matches the combination of the one or more attributes of the resource and the one or more attributes of the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the set of templates comprises identifying a template feed that includes the set of templates.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes of the resource comprise at least one of (i) content depicted by the resource, (ii) a topic of the content depicted by the resource, or (iii) a color scheme of the resource.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes of the user comprise at least one of (i) a preference of the user, (ii) a type of user device from which the content item was received, (iii) a geographic location of the user device, or (iv) software installed on the user device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the contextual performance measure for the particular template is based on a combination of (i) a first performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template in response to content item requests having context data that specifies the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented and (ii) a second performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template in response to content item requests having context data that specifies the one or more attributes of user to which the content item will be presented.

7. A system for dynamically modifying a content item on a per-request basis, the system comprising:

a data store for storing content items; and

one or more processors configured to interact with the data store, the one or more processors being further configured to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a user device, a content item request that includes context data specifying (i) a set of one or more attributes of a resource on which the content item will be presented and (ii) a set of one or more attributes of a user to which the content item will be presented;

in response to receiving the content item request;

identifying, from the content items stored in the data store, a given content item to provide in response to the content item request;

identifying a set of templates that are eligible for use in generating variations of the given content item;

filtering the set of templates based on the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented, the filtering including removing, from the set of templates, one or more templates that are not eligible for use in generating content items for presentation with resources having the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented;

determining, for each particular template from the set of templates, a contextual performance measure that indicates a performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template and in response to content item requests having context data that matches the one or more attributes of the user;

selecting, from the set of templates and based on the contextual performance measure of each template in the set of templates, a template for the given content item;

creating a different formatted content item by populating the selected template with content for the given content item; and

providing, to the user device and for presentation with the resource, the different formatted content item in response to the content item request.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein:

the context data specifies a combination of the one or more attributes of the resource and the one or more attributes of the user; and

the contextual performance measure for the particular template indicates a performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template and in response to content item requests having context data that matches the combination of the one or more attributes of the resource and the one or more attributes of the user.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein identifying the set of templates comprises identifying a template feed that includes the set of templates.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more attributes of the resource comprise at least one of (i) content depicted by the resource, (ii) a topic of the content depicted by the resource, or (iii) a color scheme of the resource.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more attributes of the user comprise at least one of (i) a preference of the user, (ii) a type of user device from which the content item was received, (iii) a geographic location of the user device, or (iv) software installed on the user device.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the contextual performance measure for the particular template is based on a combination of (i) a first performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template in response to content item requests having context data that specifies the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented and (ii) a second performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template in response to content item requests having context data that specifies the one or more attributes of user to which the content item will be presented.

13. A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program for dynamically modifying a content item on a per-request basis, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a user device, a content item request that includes context data specifying (i) a set of one or more attributes of a resource on which the content item will be presented and (ii) a set of one or more attributes of a user to which the content item will be presented;

in response to receiving the content item request;

identifying a given content item to provide in response to the content item request;

identifying a set of templates that are eligible for use in generating variations of the given content item;

filtering the set of templates based on the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented, the filtering including removing, from the set of templates, one or more templates that are not eligible for use in generating content items for presentation with resources having the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented;

determining, for each particular template from the set of templates, a contextual performance measure that indicates a performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template and in response to content item requests having context data that matches the one or more attributes of the user;

selecting, from the set of templates and based on the contextual performance measure of each template in the set of templates, a template for the given content item;

creating a different formatted content item by populating the selected template with content for the given content item; and

providing, to the user device and for presentation with the resource, the different formatted content item in response to the content item request.

14. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein:

the context data specifies a combination of the one or more attributes of the resource and the one or more attributes of the user; and

the contextual performance measure for the particular template indicates a performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template and in response to content item requests having context data that matches the combination of the one or more attributes of the resource and the one or more attributes of the user.

15. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the set of templates comprises identifying a template feed that includes the set of templates.

16. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more attributes of the resource comprise at least one of (i) content depicted by the resource, (ii) a topic of the content depicted by the resource, or (iii) a color scheme of the resource.

17. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more attributes of the user comprise at least one of (i) a preference of the user, (ii) a type of user device from which the content item was received, (iii) a geographic location of the user device, or (iv) software installed on the user device.

18. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 13, wherein the contextual performance measure for the particular template is based on a combination of (i) a first performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template in response to content item requests having context data that specifies the one or more attributes of the resource on which the content item will be presented and (ii) a second performance of content items that have been provided using the particular template in response to content item requests having context data that specifies the one or more attributes of user to which the content item will be presented.