Sponsored stories unit creation from organic activity stream

• US 9,123,079 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2011
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zigoris, Philip Anastasios, Mathur, Nipun, Boland, Brian, Jin, Robert Kang-Xin
• Primary Examiner(s): Gillis, Brian J
• Assistant Examiner(s): DUONG, THAO DUC
• Application Number:
  US13/327,557
• Publication Number:
  US 20130159403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,356 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/249, 709/231, 709/218, 709/217
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to sponsored story generation from an organic activity stream in a social networking site. A user wishing to promote an entry from an organic activity stream may, using a sponsor user interface, specify the types of stories to promote to a portion of the home page displayed to a member of a social network.

Claims

1. A method comprising, by one or more computing systems:

receiving sponsor specifications designating a set of story characteristics for promoting a story as a sponsored story, the story characteristics comprising an object and one or more action types;

accessing a database of permissions for the object;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories;

in response to a positive determination;

generating a set of modified story characteristics based on the object permissions;

monitoring an organic activity stream for one or more stories describing an action on an object matching the designated object and one or more action types;

upon finding a match, promoting the one or more stories to be displayed as a sponsored story;

monitoring the one or more stories for changes in visibility of the one or more stories; and

updating the visibility of the sponsored story in accordance with the visibility of the one or more stories.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the set of modified story characteristics comprising:

for each of the one or more actions in the story characteristics further comprises;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories based on the action;

in response to a positive determination, including the action in the modified story characteristics; and

in response to a negative determination, excluding the action from the modified story characteristics.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of story characteristics further comprises one or more object instances.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein generating the set of modified story characteristics further comprises:

for each of the one or more object instances;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories for the object instance;

in response to a positive determination, including the instance in the modified story characteristics;

for each of the one or more actions in the story characteristics;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories based on the action;

in response to a positive determination, including the action/instance pair in the modified story characteristics; and

in response to a negative determination, excluding the action/instance pair from the modified story characteristics;

in response to a negative determination, excluding the instance from the modified story characteristics.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

periodically re-generating the set of modified story characteristics.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a change in visibility comprises deletion of the entry, and the sponsored story is deleted to reflect the change.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the visibility of the one or more stories is with respect to a viewing user.

7. A method comprising, by one or more computing systems:

receiving sponsor specifications designating a set of story characteristics for promoting a story as a sponsored story, the story characteristics comprising an object and one or more action types;

monitoring an organic activity stream for one or more stories describing an action on an object matching the designated object and one or more action types; and

upon finding a match, accessing a database of permissions for the object;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories for the story characteristics;

promoting the one or more stories to be displayed as a sponsored story;

monitoring the one or more stories for changes in visibility of the one or more stories; and

updating the visibility of the sponsored story in accordance with the visibility of the one or more stories.

18. The method of claim 7, wherein the visibility of the one or more stories is with respect to a viewing user.

8. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions operable, when executed by one or more computing systems, to:

receive sponsor specifications designating a set of story characteristics for promoting a story as a sponsored story, the story characteristics comprising an object and one or more action types;

access a database of permissions for the object;

determine if the object permissions permit sponsored stories;

in response to a positive determination;

generate a set of modified story characteristics based on the object permissions;

monitor an organic activity stream for one or more stories describing an action on an object matching designated object and one or more action types;

upon finding a match, promoting the one or more stories to be displayed as a sponsored story;

monitor the one or more stories for changes in visibility of the one or more stories; and

update the visibility of the sponsored story in accordance with the visibility of the one or more stories.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, generating the set of modified story characteristics comprising:

for each of the one or more actions in the story characteristics;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories based on the action;

in response to a positive determination, including the action in the modified story characteristics; and

in response to a negative determination, excluding the action from the modified story characteristics.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the set of story characteristics further comprises one or more object instances.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, generating the set of modified story characteristics comprising:

for each of the one or more object instances;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories for the object instance;

in response to a positive determination, including the instance in the modified story characteristics;

for each of the one or more actions in the story characteristics;

determining if the object permissions permit sponsored stories based on the action;

in response to a positive determination, including the action/instance pair in the modified story characteristics; and

in response to a negative determination, excluding the action/instance pair from the modified story characteristics;

in response to a negative determination, excluding the instance from the modified story characteristics.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, the instructions further operable, when executed, to:

periodically re-generate the set of modified story characteristics.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein a change in visibility comprises deletion of the entry, and the sponsored story is deleted to reflect the change.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the object types and instances may be user-defined.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the action types may be user-defined.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the organic activity stream includes actions performed on external systems.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the visibility of the one or more stories is with respect to a viewing user.