Content-management system for user behavior targeting

• US 8,180,769 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2005
• Issued: 05/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Liu, Hongche, Madhavan, Anand
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Dennis
• Application Number:
  US11/144,234
• Publication Number:
  US 20060020596A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,539 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/3, 707/104.1, 707/706, 707/709, 707/727, 707/737, 707/748, 707/999.01, 707/999.003, 705/14.4
• US Class Current: 707/732
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A system including a plurality of web servers configured to serve base content and relevant content to a user system; a set of additional-content servers configured to serve the relevant content to the web servers if units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content; a parsing server configured to extract the units in the user profile from the base content requested by the user and generate a ranked list of the units in the user profile; and a unit-matching module configured to determine whether the units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content if the user requests the base content, wherein the web servers are configured to serve the base content and the relevant content if the units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content.

Claims

1. A system configured to serve base content and relevant content to a user system based on an association of a user profile and the relevant content, such that the relevant content is relevant to a user, the system comprising:

a plurality of web servers configured to serve the base content and the relevant content to the user system;

a set of additional-content servers configured to serve the relevant content to the web servers if units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content;

a parsing server configured to, in response to a request for the base content from the user, extract the units from the base content requested by the user and after extraction of the units, generate the user profile on the basis of the units extracted from the base content requested by the user, generate a ranked list of the units in the user profile that are in the base content based on at least one of a relevance score and a revenue-generation amount for each unit in the user profile and calculate overall-relevance score for the units in the user profile based on the relevance scores and the revenue-generation amounts; and

a unit-matching module configured to determine whether the units in the user profile, having overall-relevance scores greater than or equal to a threshold score, match units associated with the relevant content if the user requests the base content, wherein the web servers are configured to serve the base content and the relevant content if the units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the parsing server includes:

a parsing module configured to parse the base content to generate parsed-base content;

a unit-extraction module configured to extract the units in the user profile from the parsed-base content; and

a unit-ranking module configured to generate the ranked list of the units in the user profile.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the web servers are configured to transfer to the parsing module units for associated content that is associated with primary content.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the primary content includes the base content, and the web servers are configured to serve the relevant content with private content.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the private content includes at least one of e-mail and chat-room discussion.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the ranked list includes a relevance score for each units in the user profile, and a revenue-generation amount for each unit in the user profile, and

the units in the user profile are ranked based on at least one the relevance scores and revenue-generation amounts.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the overall-relevance scores are generated according to the formula:

ORS=W*RGA+(1−

W)*RS,

wherein ORS is an overall-relevance score, W is a weighting factor, RGA is a revenue-generation amount, and RS is a relevance score.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the RGA is based on a price per click (PPC) and a click through rate (CTR) for the relevant content.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the RGA=CTR*PPC.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the unit-matching module is configured to generate an association between the user profile and the relevant content if the units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprises:

a database configured to store the user profile, wherein the user profile is indexed in the database by a user-identification number; and

a browser cookie configured to be stored on the user system and configured to store the user-identification number.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the web servers are configured to serve the base content and the relevant content if the units in the user profile match units associated with the relevant content or if the units in the user profile and the units associated with the relevant content are in a same set of units.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a unit-dictionary module configured to include a list of all units that is extractable from the base content.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein if the user requests the base content, the relevant content and the base content are served to the user system based on the association.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the relevant content includes advertisements and is pointed at by a set of links that is served with the base content, and the set of links includes at least one of a sponsor link, an integrated link, and an inside link.

14. A system configured to associate a user profile with relevant content, the system comprising:

a parsing module, executed on a parsing server, configured to parse base content requested by a user and to generate parsed-base content;

a unit-dictionary module including a plurality of units;

a unit-extraction module, executed on the parsing server, configured to in response to a request for the base content from the user, extract units included in the unit dictionary from the parsed base content, the units extracted from the parsed-base content are referred to as the extracted-units;

a unit-ranking module, executed on the parsing server, configured to rank the extracted-units, after extraction of the units, based on at least one of relevance scores and revenue-generation amounts respectively associated with the extracted-units, and to generate a ranked list of extracted-units that are in the base content and calculate overall-relevance scores for the units in the user profile based on the relevance scores and the revenue-generation amounts;

a user profile associated with the user generated on the basis of the extracted-units and including the ranked list with overall-relevance scores for the units in the user profile; and

a unit-matching module configured to generate an association between the user profile and the relevant content if the extracted-units in the ranked lists, having overall-relevance scores greater than or equal to a threshold score, and units associated with the relevant content match.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the unit-matching module is configured to generate the association between the base content and the relevant content if a highest ranking extracted it and at least one of the units associated with the relevant content match or are in a same set of related units.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising a plurality of web servers configured to serve to a client browser the base content and the relevant content based on the association.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the base content and the relevant content configured to be served on a web page of a client browser.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the relevant content includes advertisements and/or is pointed at by a set of links that is configured to be served with the base content, and the set of links includes at least one of a sponsor link, an integrated link, and an inside link.

19. The system of claim 14, further comprising at least one web server configured to provide a configuration file to the parsing module, wherein the configuration file includes a set of parsing rules for parsing base content.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the configuration file includes weighting factors for the relevance scores and the revenue generation amounts.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the parsing rules provide for parsing at least one of a title, metadata keywords, a metadata description, anchor text, body text, proper nouns, formatted text.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the formatted text includes at least one of bold text and italicized text.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the parsing rules further provide for parsing text characterized as important text by an indication in the base content.

24. The system of claim 14, wherein the unit-matching module is further configured to determine if extracted units having overall-relevance scores greater than or equal to a threshold score and at least one of the units associated with the relevant content match.

27. A method for serving web content and relevant content that is relevant to a user, the method comprising:

requesting base content from a computer network;

extracting a set of units from the base content, the units are referred to as the extracted units;

assigning the extracted units respective relevance scores and revenue-generation amounts;

after extracting the set of units, ranking the extracted units based on at least one of the relevance scores and the revenue-generation amounts;

forming a user profile on the basis of the extracted units that includes a ranked list of the extracted units, the relevance scores, and the revenue generation amounts, the ranked list of extracted units being content associated with the base content;

calculating overall-relevance scores for the units in the user profile based on the revenue-generation amounts and the relevance scores;

forming at least one association between the user profile and the relevant content if at least one of the extracted-units in the user profile, having an overall-relevance score greater than or equal to a threshold score, matches at least one of the its associated with the relevant content;

caching the association in a memory;

retrieving the association from the memory, if the user requests the web content; and

thereafter

serving the base content with the relevant content.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising parsing the base content to generate parsed-base content, wherein the step of extracting the set of units from the base content includes extracting the set of units from the parsed-base content.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising storing the user profile in a user-behavior database.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising

if the user requests the web content, retrieving the user profile from the user-behavior database;

and thereafter

serving the web content with the relevant content if at least one of the extracted-units and at least one of the units associated with the relevant content match.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the web content includes private content and public content.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the private content includes at least one of an e-mail and chat-room discussion.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the public content includes web page content.

34. The method of claim 27, further comprising extracting the extracted units from the base content based on a set of units in a unit-dictionary module.

35. The method of claim 27, wherein the relevant content includes advertisements.

36. The method of claim 27, wherein the relevant content is pointed at by a set of links that is served with the base content.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the set of links includes at least one of a sponsor link, an integrated link, and an inside link.

38. The method of claim 27, wherein the ranking step includes determining if a unit in the user profile having a highest overall-relevance score matches at least one of the units associated with the relevant content.