GENERATING SOCIAL GRAPH USING MARKET DATA

• US 20090198562A1
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Seifert, Thomas, Weich, Nicklas, Wiesinger, Guenter
• Application Number:
  US12/324,393
• Publication Number:
  US 20090198562A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A social graph may be generated using a system and method to: identify a focal user, the focal user associated with a transaction; determine a related user associated with the transaction, the related user having a buyer-seller relationship with the focal user; and present the focal user and the related user using a multi-node graph, the multi-node graph including a first node and a second node representing the focal user and the related user, respectively, and a first connector representing the buyer-seller relationship linking the first and second nodes, the first connector being presented with meta-data describing a characteristic of the buyer-seller relationship. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a focal user, the focal user associated with a transaction;

determining a related user associated with the transaction, the related user having a buyer-seller relationship with the focal user; and

presenting, in a display, the focal user and the related user using a multi-node graph, the multi-node graph including a first node and a second node representing the focal user and the related user, respectively, and a first connector representing the buyer-seller relationship linking the first and second nodes, the first connector being presented with meta-data describing a characteristic of the buyer-seller relationship.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing information associated with the transaction; and

searching the stored information to find the transaction that the related user is associated with.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the meta-data includes a total monetary value of transactions associated with the buyer-seller relationship, an auction listing associated with the buyer-seller relationship, an item listing associated with the buyer-seller relationship, a date associated with the buyer-seller relationship, a date range associated with the buyer-seller relationship, or transaction data associated with the buyer-seller relationship.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the focal user further comprises presenting the first connector using a metric based on the buyer-seller relationship.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein presenting the first connector further comprises adjusting a characteristic of the first connector to represent a corresponding value of the metric.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein adjusting the characteristic of the first connector includes altering a width of the first connector, altering a weight of the first connector, altering a color of the first connector, altering a fill pattern of the first connector, including an arrowhead of the first connector, excluding an arrowhead of the first connector, or altering an arrowhead of the first connector.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the metric includes a number of sales, a number of transactions, a reputation score, a positive rating, or a negative rating.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the focal user further comprises:

presenting the node representing the focal user using a geometric shape.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the geometric shape is selected from the group of shapes comprising a circle, a square, a triangle, an octagon, an oval, and a star.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

presenting the node representing the focal user using a particular geometric shape to correspond with a characteristic of the focal user.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the geometric shape includes a border, the border including a width, color, or pattern used to indicate a characteristic of the node representing the focal user.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the geometric shape includes an interior area, the interior area including a color, an image, or a pattern used to indicate a characteristic of the node representing the focal user.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

arranging the nodes representing the focal user and the related user to indicate a geographical relationship.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

arranging the nodes representing the focal user and the related user to indicate a geographical location.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting an auxiliary graphical element in association with the node representing the focal user.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the auxiliary graphical element includes a flag to indicate a nationality of the focal user, a colored star to indicate a feedback rating of the focal user, or a miniature photograph to depict the focal user'"'"'s identification.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the focal user and the related user are users of an online commerce system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the focal user and the related user are users of an online auction system.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a secondary related user, the secondary related user being related to the related user; and

presenting the related user and the secondary related user using a multi-node graph, the multi-node graph including the second node and a third node representing the related user and the secondary related user, respectively, and a second connector representing the buyer-seller relationship linking the second and third nodes, the second connector being presented with meta-data describing a characteristic of the buyer-seller relationship represented by the second connector.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a viewing user, the viewing user being a user viewing the presented multi-node graph;

determining whether the viewing user has a relationship with the focal user; and

presenting the focal user and the viewing user using the multi-node graph when the viewing user and the focal user have a relationship.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the presenting the focal user and the viewing user further comprises:

calculating a degree of separation between the focal user and the viewing user; and

displaying the degree of separation using the multi-node graph.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the presenting the focal user and the viewing user further comprises:

determining a path in the multi-node graph, the path connecting the focal user to the viewing user; and

displaying the path.

23. A system comprising:

a database server configured to provide a database of transactions to a plurality of users;

a data exporter to access the database of transactions;

a data processor to;

identify a focal user, the focal user associated with a transaction in the database of transactions; and

determine a related user associated with the transaction using the database of transactions, the related user having a buyer-seller relationship with the focal user; and

a data presenter to present the focal user and the related user using a multi-node graph, the multi-node graph including a first node and a second node representing the focal user and the related user, respectively, and a first connector representing the buyer-seller relationship linking the first and second nodes, the first connector being presented with meta-data describing a characteristic of the buyer-seller relationship.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the meta-data includes a total monetary value of transactions associated with the buyer-seller relationship, an auction listing associated with the buyer-seller relationship, an item listing associated with the buyer-seller relationship, a date associated with the buyer-seller relationship, a date range associated with the buyer-seller relationship, or transaction data associated with the buyer-seller relationship.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the data presenter is further configured to present the connector using a metric based on the buyer-seller relationship.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the data presenter is further configured to adjust a characteristic of the connector to represent a corresponding value of the metric.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the data presenter is further configured to adjust the characteristic of the connector by altering a width of the connector, altering a weight of the connector, altering a color of the connector, altering a fill pattern of the connector, including an arrowhead of the connector, excluding an arrowhead of the connector, or altering an arrowhead of the connector.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the metric includes a number of sales, a number of transactions, a reputation score, a positive rating, or a negative rating.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein the data presenter is further configured to present the node representing the focal user using a geometric shape.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the geometric shape is selected from the group of shapes comprising a circle, a square, a triangle, an octagon, an oval, and a star.

31. The system of claim 30, the data presenter is further configured to present the node representing the focal user using a particular geometric shape to correspond with a characteristic of the focal user.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the geometric shape includes a border, the border including a width, color, or pattern used to indicate a characteristic of the node representing the focal user.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the geometric shape includes an interior area, the interior area including a color, an image, or a pattern used to indicate a characteristic of the node representing the focal user.

34. The system of claim 23, the data presenter is further configured to arrange the nodes representing the focal user and the related user to indicate a geographical relationship.

35. The system of claim 34, the data presenter is further configured to arrange the nodes representing the focal user and the related user to indicate a geographical location.

36. The system of claim 34, the data presenter is further configured to present an auxiliary graphical element in association with the node representing the focal user.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the auxiliary graphical element includes a flag to indicate a nationality of the focal user, a colored star to indicate a feedback rating of the focal user, or a miniature photograph to depict the focal user'"'"'s identification.

38. The system of claim 34, wherein the focal user and the related user are users of an online commerce system.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the focal user and the related user are users of an online auction system.

40. A computer readable medium including instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to:

identify a focal user, the focal user associated with a transaction;

determine a related user associated with the transaction, the related user having a buyer-seller relationship with the focal user; and

present the focal user and the related user using a multi-node graph, the multi-node graph including a first node and a second node representing the focal user and the related user, respectively, and a first connector representing the buyer-seller relationship linking the first and second nodes, the first connector being presented with meta-data describing a characteristic of the buyer-seller relationship.