INTERACTIVE COMPUTING ADVICE FACILITY THROUGH A SEARCH INTERFACE

• US 20100010913A1
• Filed: 07/15/2009
• Published: 01/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Pinckney, Thomas, Dixon, Chris, Gattis, Matthew Ryan
• Granted Patent: US 8,032,481 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for helping a user make a decision through the use of a computing facility, where the computing facility may be a machine learning facility. The process may begin with an initial question being received by the computing facility from the user. The user may then be provided with a dialog consisting of questions from the computing facility and answers provided by the user. The computing facility may then provide a decision to the user based on the dialog and pertaining to the initial question, such as a recommendation, a diagnosis, a conclusion, advice, and the like. In embodiments, future questions and decisions provided by the computing facility may be improved through feedback provided by the user. In embodiments, the present invention may be utilized in conjunction with a third-party application.

Claims

1. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computers, helps a user make a decision through the use of a computer facility by performing the steps of:

receiving an initial question from a user through a search interface, wherein the user begins with a keyword search using the search interface and then is provided a dialog consisting of questions from the computing facility and answers provided by the user; and

providing the decision to the user from the computing facility.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the decision is provided in the form of a sorted list.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the decision is provided based at least in part on collaborative filtering.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computing facility is a machine learning facility.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the search interface is a third-party search interface.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the decision is further based on expert training.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the decision is further based on an aggregated feedback from a plurality of users.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising receiving feedback from the user to improve at least one of future questions and decisions provided by the computing facility.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the search interface is at least one of provided by a web search engine, by an ecommerce search interface, by an ecommerce search interface searching for products, by a comparison shopping engine, by a comparison shopping engine for finding the best price for a product, by a media company'"'"'s web environment, and as part of a product review site for searching for reviews for a product.