System and method for automated service recommendations

• US 8,166,016 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2008
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Higgins, Christopher William, Davis, Marc Eliot
• Primary Examiner(s): Leroux, Etienne
• Application Number:
  US12/339,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20100161600A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,222 Days
• Field of Search: 707/5, 707/706, 709/228, 455/456.6
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

A system and method for automated service recommendations. A request is received over a network, from a user for service recommendations, wherein the request comprises an identification of the user and at least one service selection criteria. A query is formulated so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the requesting user, the service selection criteria and to a plurality of services available via the network so as to a identify a subset of the plurality of services available via the network that relate to the request. A list of the identified subset of services is transmitted, via the network, to the requesting user. A selection of at least one of the selected subset of services available received from the user and the user is enrolled in the selected service.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request, over a network, from a user for service recommendations, the request comprising an identification of the user and service selection criteria, the service selection criteria comprising spatial, temporal, social and topical criteria;

in response to receiving the request, formulating a query so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the requesting user, the service selection criteria and to a plurality of services available via the network so as to a identify a subset of the plurality of services available via the network that relate to the request, the query being formulated so as to use a global index of data available to the network, the global index comprising a global graph that interrelates entities known to the network with one another;

transmitting, over the network, a list of the subset of the plurality of services to the user;

receiving, over the network, from the user, a selection of one service of the subset of the plurality of services;

in response to receiving the selection of the one service of the subset of the plurality of services, enrolling the user in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein if no service selection criteria are provided, the formulating step uses default service selection criteria.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the service selection criteria are related to one another using relational or set operators.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the service selection criteria are stated as a natural language query.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the data relating to the plurality of services comprise a service profile of one service of the plurality of services.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the data relating to the plurality of services available via the network comprise a target user profile of one service of the plurality of services.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the data relating to plurality of services comprise a predictive model relating to one service of the plurality of services.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the enrolling step comprises prompting the user via a user interface for data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein if the query in the enrolling step returns all data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services, the user is not prompted for any additional information.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein if the query in the enrolling step returns data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services that is sensitive user data, the user is prompted to give permission to the enrolling step to retrieve the sensitive user data.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the enrolling step comprises formulating a query so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the user and to the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services so as to retrieve data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services.

12. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising:

receiving an authorization, via the network, from the user to automatically enroll the user in all services of the subset of the plurality of services that relate to the request, wherein the transmitting and receiving a selection steps are bypassed and the enrolling step enrolls the user in all services of the subset of the plurality of services.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the user is enrolled in all services of the subset of the plurality of services for a trial period.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the global graph that interrelates entities known to the network with one another is a histogram.

16. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising:

automatically generating, via the network, the request on a scheduled basis.

17. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising:

automatically generating, via the network, the request in response to an event selected from the list;

a user transaction and an email.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the data available to the network comprises a plurality of network databases and a plurality of sensors.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the predictive model comprises a cluster of services users have enrolled in a plurality of instances.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the predictive model comprises a relationship between a service and a topic.

14. A system comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

logic executed by the processor for an agent manager that certifies agent types, stores agent definitions and spawns agents in response to commands to create agents;

logic executed by the processor for a permissions manager that enables users to define permissions granted to agents acting on their behalf and to define user data which is not to be disclosed without authorization;

logic executed by the processor for a proxy manager that verifies that agents have legally sufficient authorization to act as proxies for users, wherein agents spawned by the agent manager register with the proxy manager and are not allowed to execute agent functions until the agents are verified;

logic executed by the processor for a user manager that receives requests for service recommendations from users, wherein the requests each comprise a respective identification of a user and respective service selection criteria comprising spatial, temporal, social and topical criteria, such that, in response to each request, the user manager is configured to command the agent manager to spawn a respective personal recommender agent that identifies a subset of a plurality of services available via the network that relate to the request, each respective personal recommender agent being configured to formulate a respective query so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the respective requesting user, the respective service selection criteria and to a plurality of services available via the network so as to identify the respective subset of the plurality of services available via the network that relate to the respective request, each respective query being formulated so as to use a global index of data available to the network, the global index comprising a global graph that interrelates entities known to the network with one another.

21. The system of claim 14 wherein the permissions manager is configured to enable users to authorize personal recommender agents to automatically enroll users in all of the subset of a plurality of services selected in relation to requests for service recommendations.

22. The system of claim 14 wherein the user manager is further configured to transmit lists reflecting the identified subsets of the plurality of services that relate to requests to requesting users, and wherein the user manager is further configured to receive selections of services from the subsets of the plurality of services from users.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein for each selected service, the user manager is configured to command the agent manager to spawn a respective enrollment agent to enroll the requesting user in the respective selected service.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein enrollment agents are configured to prompt users via a user interface for data required for enrollment in the selected services.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein if the query formulated by the enrollment agent returns data required for enrollment in the selected services that is sensitive user data, the user is prompted to give permission to the enrollment agent to retrieve the sensitive user data.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein enrollment agents are configured to formulate a query so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the users and selected services so as to retrieve data required for enrollment in the selected service.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein if the query formulated by the enrollment agent returns all data required for enrollment in the selected services, the user is not prompted for any additional information.

28. The system of claim 14 wherein if no service selection criteria are provided in a request for service recommendations, the personal recommender agent spawned in response to the request uses default selection criteria.

29. The system of claim 14 wherein the at least one service selection criteria are related to one another using standard relational or set operators.

30. The system of claim 14 wherein the at least one service selection criteria are stated as a natural language query.

31. The system of claim 14 wherein the data relating to a plurality of services available via the network comprise at least one service profile of at least one of the plurality of services.

32. The system of claim 14 wherein the data relating to a plurality of services available via the network comprise at least one composite profile of typical users of at least one of the plurality of services.

33. The system of claim 14 wherein the data relating to a plurality of services available via the network comprise at least one predictive model relating to at least one of the plurality of services.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable storage media for tangibly storing thereon computer-executable instructions for a method comprising:

receiving a request, over a network, from a user for service recommendations, the request comprising an identification of the user and service selection criteria, the service selection criteria comprising spatial, temporal, social and topical criteria;

in response to receiving the request, formulating a query so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the requesting user, the service selection criteria and to a plurality of services available via the network so as to a identify a subset of the plurality of services available via the network that relate to the request, the query being formulated so as to use a global index of data available to the network, the global index comprising a global graph that interrelates entities known to the network with one another,

transmitting, over the network, a list of the subset of the plurality of services to the user;

receiving, over the network, from the user, a selection of one service of the subset of the plurality of services;

in response to receiving the selection of the one service of the subset of the plurality of services, enrolling the user in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein if no service selection criteria are provided, the formulating step uses default service selection criteria.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the service selection criteria are related to one another using relational or set operators.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the service selection criteria are stated as a natural language query.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the data relating to the plurality of services comprise a service profile of one service of the plurality of services.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the data relating to the plurality of services comprise a target user profile of one service of the plurality of services.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the data relating to a plurality of services comprise a predictive model relating to one service of the plurality of services.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the enrolling step comprises prompting the user via a user interface for data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the enrolling step comprises formulating a query so as to search, via the network, for user profile data, spatial data, temporal data, social data and topical data that is available via the network and relates to the user and to the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services so as to retrieve data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42 wherein if the query in the enrolling step returns all data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services, the user is not prompted for any additional information.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42 wherein if the query in the enrolling step returns data required for enrollment in the selected one service of the subset of the plurality of services that is sensitive user data, the user is prompted to give permission to the enrolling step to retrieve the sensitive user data.

45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 additionally comprising:

receiving an authorization, via the network, from the user to automatically enroll the user in all services of the subset of the plurality of services that relate to the request, wherein the transmitting and receiving a selection steps are bypassed and the enrolling step enrolls the user in all services of the subset of the plurality of services.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 45 wherein the user is enrolled in all services of the subset of the plurality of services for a trial period.