Identifying a discussion topic based on user interest information

• US 9,195,739 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2009
• Issued: 11/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Imig, Scott K., Rounthwaite, Robert L., Richardson, Matthew R., White, Ryen W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jacob, Ajith
• Application Number:
  US12/389,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20100228777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,468 Days
• Field of Search: 707/766
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/355 Class or cluster creation or modification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services

Abstract

Functionality is described for identifying a discussion topic based on user interest information. The user interest information may originate from one or more sources, such as the user'"'"'s search-related behavior. The functionality then provides an opportunity for the user to engage in a communication exchange associated with the identified discussion topic.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving interest information associated with a user;

associating the user with a first topic based on the interest information;

inviting the user to participate in a first communication exchange relating to the first topic, the first communication exchange including a plurality of participants associated with an ongoing discussion of the first topic;

analyzing, by one or more processing devices, the ongoing discussion of the first topic;

creating, based at least in part on the analysis of the ongoing discussion of the first topic, a second communication exchange relating to a second topic that is associated with the first topic; and

inviting the user and a subset of the plurality of participants to participate in the second communication exchange.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interest information is based partly on at least one query provided by the user to a search engine.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the interest information is based on at least one characteristic of the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first topic is selected with reference to a collection of topics and the collection of topics is associated with a plurality of communication exchanges, and wherein the associating the user with the first topic is based on an assessment that a number of the plurality of participants associated with the ongoing discussion of the first topic meets or exceeds a minimum number of participants or is less than a maximum number of participants.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the interest information is based on behavior exhibited by the user, and wherein the associating the user with the first topic is based on an assessment of an intent of the user in engaging in the behavior.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second communication exchanges include at least one of a chat-type communication exchange or a message board-type communication exchange.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second topic is a sub-topic of the first topic, and the analysis of the ongoing discussion identifies keywords that distinguish the sub-topic within the ongoing discussion of the first topic.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a number of participants associated with the first communication exchange meets or exceeds a threshold number of participants; and

splitting up the plurality of participants between the first communication exchange and the second communication exchange to reduce the number of participants associated with the first communication exchange.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the threshold number of participants indicates that the first communication exchange is overcrowded.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the user and the subset of the plurality of participants are associated with a common geographical origin; and

inviting the user and the subset of the plurality of participants to participate in the second communication exchange based partly on the association with the common geographical origin.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising inviting the user to participate in the second communication exchange relating to the second topic while the user is participating in the first communication exchange relating to the first topic.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising permitting the user to simultaneously participate in both the first communication exchange and the second communication exchange.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the second communication exchange is not included in the plurality of communication exchanges and the second communication is created after receiving the interest information associated with the user.

7. A system comprising:

one or more processing devices; and

one or more storage devices comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing devices, configure one or more computing devices to;

receive items from a plurality of users;

determine that the items are related and that the plurality of users have a common interest in a same topic;

create a communications exchange group based on determining that the items are related and that the plurality of users have the common interest in the same topic; and

invite the plurality of user to participate in the communications exchange group to discuss the same topic.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the items comprise search queries and the same topic is associated with a recent news event.

16. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more computing devices to:

analyze a discussion of the same topic in the communications exchange group;

create, based at least in part on the analysis of the discussion, another communications exchange group relating to another topic; and

invite a subset of the plurality of users to participate in the another communications exchange.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the another topic is a more specific topic compared to the same topic, and the analysis of the discussion of the same topic identifies keywords that distinguish the another topic within the discussion of the same topic.

18. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more computing devices to:

determine that the subset of the plurality of users are associated with a common geographical origin; and

invite the subset of the plurality users to participate in the another communications exchange based partly on the association with the common geographical origin.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processing devices;

one or more storage devices comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing devices, configure one or more computing devices to;

receive interest information associated with a user;

associate the user with a first topic based on the interest information;

invite the user to participate in a first communication exchange relating to the first topic, the first communication exchange including a plurality of participants associated with an ongoing discussion of the first topic;

analyze the ongoing discussion of the first topic;

create, based at least in part on the analysis of the ongoing discussion of the first topic, a second communication exchange relating to a second topic that is associated with the first topic; and

invite the user and a subset of the plurality of participants to participate in the second communication exchange.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second topic is a sub-topic of the first topic, and the analysis of the ongoing discussion of the first topic identifies keywords that distinguish the sub-topic within the ongoing discussion of the first topic.