Method and system for providing content according to personal preference

• US 8,595,226 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2007
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kim, Jin Soo, Roh, Daniel Jim, Lee, Ho Yun
• Primary Examiner(s): LIN, SHEW FEN
• Application Number:
  US11/873,692
• Publication Number:
  US 20090043781A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,232 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707722-780
• US Class Current: 707/731
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

In one embodiment of the present invention, a main server receives a content request identifying a content category from a client and identifies the client sending the request from the content request. Then, the content category from the content request is identified. The main server determines if the content category is included in a preference tag of the identified client. The preference tag comprises a plurality of hierarchical category identifiers selected from a hierarchical configuration of category identifiers. If the content category is included in the preference tag associated with the identified client, then personalized content according to the preference tag of the identified client is provided. Thus, a method and system for providing content according to personal preference are provided.

Claims

1. A method of providing a personalized content in a content providing server, comprising:

receiving, from a client, a content request identifying a content category;

identifying the client associated with the content request;

identifying the content category from the content request;

determining if the content category is included in a preference tag associated with the identified client, wherein the preference tag comprises a plurality of hierarchical category identifiers selected from a hierarchical configuration of category identifiers; and

in response to the content category being included in the preference tag associated with the identified client, providing personalized content in accordance with the preference tag of the identified client, and

in response to there being no preference tag associated with the identified client, providing the personalized content in accordance with preference tags of other clients, using collaborative filtering,

wherein providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag of the identified client comprises providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client using a preference score of the preference tag, wherein the preference score of the preference tag depends on a frequency of client accesses to content objects with the preference tag and on category weight as a function of type of event and tag level of the preference tag, and wherein the personalized content associated with the preference tag and a personalized content associated with a different preference tag of the identified client are provided to the identified client according to a ratio of the preference scores of the preference tags.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client further comprises the step of selecting at least one preference tag among the preference tags that include the content category based on the respective preference score.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client further comprises the step of controlling the amount of personalized content in accordance with the preference score of the preference tag.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client includes the step of providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag having the same tag level.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of updating the preference tag and the respective preference score.

6. A system for providing content to clients comprising:

one or more processors;

volatile storage and persistent storage;

a content storage module for storing content;

a client profile storage module for storing preference tags for each client; and

a control module for, in response to a content category received from the client being associated with a preference tag, providing personalized content in accordance with a preference tag that includes the content category, and in response to a content category received from the client not being associated with a preference tag, providing the personalized content in accordance with preference tags of other clients, using collaborative filtering;

a client content consumption history storage module for storing a history of content objects having a corresponding preference tag that a client has accessed; and

a client preference calculating module for calculating a preference score for each preference tag, wherein the preference score depends on a frequency of client accesses to content objects with the preference tag and on category weight as a function of type of event and tag level of the preference tag, and wherein the personalized content associated with the preference tag and a personalized content associated with a different preference tag of the client are provided to the client according to a ratio of the preference scores of the preference tags.

7. The system according to claim 6, further comprising a tag setting module for setting a tag to a content object that is stored in the content storage module.

8. The system according to claim 6, further comprising a means for performing collaborative filtering.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with executable instructions, operable when executed to cause one or more processors to:

receive, from a client, a content request identifying a content category;

identify the client associated with the content request;

identify the content category from the content request;

determine if the content category is included in a preference tag associated with the identified client, wherein the preference tag comprises a plurality of hierarchical category identifiers selected from a hierarchical configuration of category identifiers; and

in response to the content category being included in the preference tag associated with the identified client, provide personalized content in accordance with the preference tag of the identified client, and

in response to there being no preference tag associated with the identified client, provide the personalized content in accordance with preference tags of other clients, using collaborative filtering,

wherein providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag of the identified client comprises providing the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client using a preference score of the preference tag, wherein the preference score of the preference tag depends on a frequency of client accesses to content objects with the preference tag and on category weight as a function of type of event and tag level of the preference tag, and wherein the personalized content associated with the preference tag and a personalized content associated with a different preference tag of the identified client are provided to the identified client according to a ratio of the preference scores of the preference tags.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of provide the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client further comprises the logic causing the one or more processors to select at least one preference tag among the preference tags that include the content category based on the respective preference score.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of provide the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client further comprises the logic causing the one or more processors to control the amount of personalized content in accordance with the preference score of the preference tag.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the step of provide the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag that is included in the content category of the identified client includes the logic causing the one or more processors to provide the personalized content in accordance with the preference tag having the same tag level.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising the logic causing the one or more processors to update the preference tag and the respective preference score.