Personalized browsing activity displays

• US 8,548,991 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zamir, Oren, Korn, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): BURKE, JEFF A
• Application Number:
  US11/536,779
• Time in Patent Office: 2,559 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/727, 707/732, 707722-723
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management

Abstract

A system records browsing activity of a user using a browser. The system determines browsing statistics from the recorded browsing activity and graphically displays the browsing statistics to the user via the browser.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by a processor, documents selected by a user;

analyzing, by a processor, information associated with accessing the selected documents, during a plurality of time periods, using a browser operating on a client computing device associated with the user;

producing, by a processor and based on the information, a plurality of user browsing statistics that are particular to the client computing device and include values different from browsing statistics associated with other client computing devices;

providing, by a processor and to the user, a listing associated with the plurality of user browsing statistics and the plurality of time periods;

receiving, by a processor, a selection, by the user, of a particular browsing statistic of the plurality of user browsing statistics and a particular time period of the plurality of time periods;

receiving, by a processor and from a search engine, search results associated with a search query, where the search results are ranked based on the search query;

adjusting, by a processor, the ranking of the search results, based on the particular browsing statistic and the particular time period, to form adjusted search results; and

causing, by a processor, the client computing device to present the adjusted search results.

2. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user browsing statistics include one or more of:

trends for document categories associated with the selected documents;

or

respective frequencies of accessing, using the browser, the documents.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating one or more chart forms that graphically depict the particular browsing statistic over the particular time period,

where the one or more chart forms include at least one of pie charts or graphs.

4. The method of claim 1,

where the selected documents are associated with one or more search queries associated with the user, and

where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include statistics related to the one or more search queries.

5. The method of claim 4, where the statistics related to the one or more search queries include at least one of:

an average query length associated with the one or more search queries,

an average quantity of search result selections, by the user, from the one or more search queries, or

a quantity of the one or more search queries associated with each of the plurality of time periods.

6. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include respective average durations of accessing, using the browser, the selected documents.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating one or more chart forms that include a geographical plot of estimated locations of the selected documents based on network addresses associated with the documents, and

where the method further comprises;

causing the client computing device to present the geographical plot.

8. The method of claim 1, where analyzing the information comprises:

analyzing information associated with selections, related to the selected documents, from a set of search results provided, using the browser, from the search engine.

9. The method of claim 1, where the selected documents include bookmarked documents, and

where analyzing the information further includes:

determining that a particular document accessed through the browser is one of the bookmarked documents; and

recording information associated with accessing, using the browser, the particular document.

10. The method of claim 9, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include a quantity of the bookmarked documents, accessed using the browser, during one or more of the plurality of time periods.

11. The method of claim 9, where the plurality of user browsing statistics are associated with accessing the bookmarked documents using the browser.

12. The method of claim 1, where one or more statistics, of the plurality of user browsing statistics, are associated with particular documents, of the selected documents, that are accessed, using the browser, more than a threshold frequency.

13. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include respective quantities of the selected documents accessed, using the browser, during one or more of the plurality of time periods.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a document, of the plurality of selected documents, that is bookmarked on multiple client devices that include the client computing device and another client computing device that is not associated with the user,

where one or browsing statistics, of the plurality of user browsing statistics, relate to accessing the identified document using the browser.

15. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by at least one of:

day of week,

work day, or

non-work day.

16. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by at least one of:

month of a year, or

hours of a day.

17. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include one or more statistics arranged by cookie or by user agent associated with the client computing device.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing one or more statistics, of the plurality of user browsing statistics, the browsing statistics associated with other client computing devices to produce comparison data,

where reordering the search results is further based on the comparison data.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the client computing device to display, in a window that is independent of the browser, information associated with the plurality of user browsing statistics.

20. A method, comprising:

analyzing, by a processor, browsing activity, associated with a user, over a plurality of time periods;

producing, via a processor associated with the client computing device, a plurality of user browsing statistics based on the browsing activity that are particular to the client computing device and include values different from browsing statistics associated with other client computing devices;

providing, to the user, the plurality of user browsing statistics and the plurality of time periods;

receiving, from the user, information identifying one of the plurality of user browsing statistics and information identifying one of the plurality of time periods;

receiving, from the user, a search query;

sending the search query to a search engine;

receiving, from the search engine, search results associated with the search query;

sorting the search results based on the information identifying the one of the plurality of user browsing statistics and the information identifying the one of the plurality of time periods; and

providing the sorted search results to the user.

21. The method of claim 20, where analyzing the browsing activity associated with a user further comprises:

analyzing information associated with documents browsed by the user.

22. The method of claim 21, where the documents comprise bookmarked documents, and where the method further comprises:

identifying the bookmarked documents.

23. The method of claim 22, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include a number of documents, visited during a most recent one of the plurality of time periods by the user, that correspond to the identified bookmarked documents.

24. The method of claim 22, where analyzing the browsing activity associated with the user further comprises:

analyzing information associated with documents selected by the user from the identified bookmarked documents.

25. The method of claim 20, where analyzing the browsing activity associated with the user further comprises:

analyzing information associated with documents selected by the user from a set of search results provided to the user from the search engine.

26. The method of claim 20, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by at least one of:

month or hours of a day.

27. The method of claim 20, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by cookie or by user agent.

28. The method of claim 20, where the plurality of user browsing statistics further include statistics, determined for the user, compared to average browsing statistics determined for multiple users.

29. A method, comprising:

analyzing, by a processor and over a plurality of time periods, browsing activity of a user using a browser on a client computing device;

determining, by a processor associated with the client computing device, a plurality of browsing statistics, from the browsing activity, that are particular to the client computing device and include values different from browsing statistics associated with other client computing devices;

providing, to the user, a listing of the plurality of browsing statistics and the plurality of time periods;

receiving, from the user, a selection from the listing, where the selection includes information identifying one of the plurality of browsing statistics and information identifying one of the plurality of time periods;

graphically displaying to the user, via the client computing device and the browser, data related to the one of the plurality of browsing statistics and the one of the plurality of time periods;

receiving, from the user, a search query;

providing, to a search engine, the search query to a search engine;

receiving, from the search engine, search results associated with the search query; and

sorting, a ranking of the search results based on the selection of one of the plurality of browsing statistics and the one of the plurality of time periods.

30. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include documents visited most frequently by the user relative to all documents browsed by the user.

31. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include a number of documents visited, during a most recent one of the plurality of time periods, by the user.

32. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include an identification of a document that is bookmarked by multiple users, including the user.

33. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by at least one of:

day of week, work day, or non-work day.

34. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by at least one of:

month or hours of a day.

35. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include statistics arranged by cookie or by user agent.

36. The method of claim 29, where the plurality of browsing statistics further include statistics determined for the user compared to average browsing statistics determined for multiple users.

37. A system, comprising:

one or more client devices associated with a user, each of the one or more client devices comprising;

a recording unit to record information associated with accessing the selected documents using a browser operating on the client device, over a plurality of time periods;

a producing unit to produce a plurality of user browsing statistics based on the recorded information, where the plurality of user browsing statistics are particular to the client computing device and include values different from browsing statistics associated with other client computing devices;

a providing unit to provide, to the user, a listing of the plurality of user browsing statistics and the plurality of time periods;

a first receiving unit to receive, from the user, a selection from the listing, where the selection includes information identifying one of the plurality of types of the user browsing statistics and information identifying one of the plurality of time periods;

a second receiving unit to receive, from the user, a search query;

an adjusting unit to adjust a ranking of search results, associated with the search query, based on the information identifying the one of the plurality of types of user browsing statistics and the information identifying the one of the plurality of time periods;

a third receiving unit to receive, from the user, information identifying another of the plurality of types of the user browsing statistics; and

an re-adjusting unit to re-adjust the adjusted ranking of search results, associated with the search query, based on the information identifying the other of the plurality of types of user browsing statistics.

38. A non-transitory client computer-readable memory device that stores instructions, comprising:

instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to analyze information associated with accessing document, over a plurality of time periods, using a browser operating on a client device associated with a user;

instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to produce, based on analyzing the information, one or more user browsing statistics that are particular to the client computing device and include values different from browsing statistics associated with other client computing devices;

instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive, from the user, a selection of one of the plurality of time periods;

instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive search results from a search engine;

instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to adjust a ranking of the search results, based on the one or more user browsing statistics during the selected one of the plurality of time periods, to form adjusted search results; and

instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to provide the adjusted search results using the client device.

39. The non-transitory memory device of claim 38, where the instructions to produce the one or more browsing statistics further include:

instructions to produce one or more particular user browsing statistics associated with particular documents, of the documents, where the particular documents are accessed, using the browser, more than a threshold frequency.

40. The non-transitory memory device of claim 38, where the instructions to produce the one or more browsing statistics further include:

instructions to produce one or more user particular browsing statistics associated with respective quantities of times that the documents are accessed, using the browser, during the plurality of time periods.

41. The non-transitory memory device of claim 38, where the instructions to produce the one or more browsing statistics further include:

instructions to identify a document, of the plurality of documents, that is bookmarked on multiple client devices that include the client device and another device that is not associated with the user, and

instructions to produce one or more user particular browsing statistics related to accessing the identified document using the browser.

42. The non-transitory memory device of claim 38, where the instructions to produce the one or more browsing statistics further include:

instructions to produce one or more user particular browsing statistics arranged by at least one of;

hours of a day,

day of a week, or

months of a year.