Content selection based on target device characteristics

• US 9,460,220 B1
• Filed: 03/26/2012
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jenkins, Jonathan A., Hill, Peter F., Taylor, Brett R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Dustin
• Assistant Examiner(s): TURRIATE GASTULO, JUAN CARLOS
• Application Number:
  US13/430,514
• Time in Patent Office: 1,653 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/337 Profile generation, learning or modification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]

Abstract

Various features are described for providing or recommending network-accessible content to users based partly on characteristics of user computing devices. The features are particularly useful for recommending network resources such as content pages to users, where the recommended network resources are determined to be popular or otherwise of interest to the users, and where the recommended network resources provide a satisfactory user experience on devices which share one or more characteristics with the user computing devices. Device characteristic data reported by the user computing devices can be used to make such assessments. Additional features include obtaining and transmitting versions of requested content that are determined to provide a satisfactory user experience on devices which share one or more characteristics with the user computing devices.

Claims

1. A system for recommending content, the system comprising:

a server comprising hardware configured to execute specific instructions, the server operable to;

receive, from a client device having a plurality of device characteristics, a request for a content page;

obtain historical request data associated with a plurality of requests for content pages from client devices, the client devices each having at least one device characteristic that is similar to at least one device characteristic of the client device, wherein the historical request data describes, at least, one or more performance metrics associated with content pages being presented on client devices that have particular device characteristics;

determine a recommendation of a content page related to the requested content page based, at least in part, on the historical request data and one or more of the plurality of device characteristics of the client device, wherein determining the recommendation comprises;

calculating a popularity level for one or more content pages associated with the historical request data; and

selecting a content page based at least in part on the one or more popularity levels; and

transmit data regarding the recommendation to the client device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more performance metrics associated with a content page being presented on a particular client device include measurements associated with a satisfactory user experience of the content page being presented on the particular client device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein a device characteristic comprises one of the following:

central processor unit (CPU) speed;

available memory;

network latency;

network bandwidth;

display size;

display resolution;

input type;

or installed codecs.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the server obtains historical request data and determines a second recommendation of a content page prior to receiving a second request from a second client device.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the recommended content page is more suitable for presentation on the client device than the requested content page.

5. A computer-implemented method for recommending content, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a client device having one or more device characteristics;

a request for a network resource; and

data regarding the one or more device characteristics;

determining, by a server comprising computing hardware, a recommendation of a network resource related to the requested network resource based, at least in part, on historical request data describing one or more performance metrics associated with network resources being presented on client devices that each have at least one device characteristic that is similar to at least one device characteristic of the client device, wherein determining the recommendation comprises;

calculating a popularity level for one or more network resources associated with the historical request data; and

selecting a network resource based at least in part on the one or more popularity; and

transmitting, by the server, data regarding the recommendation to the client device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the requested network resource and the recommended resource comprise content pages.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the device characteristics comprise technical features or functional capabilities of the client device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the device characteristics comprise at least one of the following:

central processor unit (CPU) speed;

available memory;

network latency;

network bandwidth;

display size;

display resolution;

input type;

or installed codecs.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the determination is further based at least in part on a geolocation of the client device.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein calculating the popularity level for one or more network resources is performed prior to receiving the request from the client device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein determining the recommendation is further based at least in part on the one or more popularity levels.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the performance metrics associated with a network resource being presented on a particular client device includes measurements associated with a satisfactory user experience of the network resource being presented on the particular client device.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the server is configured to host an instance of a browsing application in communication with a browsing application of the client device, the computer-implemented method further comprising:

processing, by the browsing application of the server, the requested network resource; and

transmitting, by the server, an initial processing result to the client device, wherein the initial processing result comprises the processed network resource.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the server is configured to host an instance of a browsing application in communication with a browsing application of the client device, the computer-implemented method further comprising:

processing, by the browsing application of the server, the recommended network resource; and

in response to receiving, from the client device, a request for the recommended resource, transmitting an initial processing result to the client device.

15. Non-transitory physical computer storage comprising a software browsing application configured to execute a process comprising:

displaying, to a user of a client device, a network resource;

obtaining device characteristic data, wherein the device characteristic data comprises data regarding one or more technical features or functional capabilities of the client device;

transmitting the device characteristic data to a server; and

receiving, from the server, data regarding one or more recommended network resources related to the displayed network resource,

wherein the one or more recommended network resources are recommended, by the server, based at least in part on data describing performance metrics associated with network resources being presented on client devices that each have at least one device characteristic that is similar to at least one device characteristic of the client device, the recommendation being further based, at least in part, on calculated popularity levels for one or more of the network resources having the at least one device characteristic.

16. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 15, wherein the displayed network resource and the one or more recommended network resources comprise content pages.

17. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 15, wherein the technical features and functional capabilities comprise:

central processor unit (CPU) speed;

available memory;

network latency;

network bandwidth;

display size;

display resolution;

input type;

or installed codecs.

18. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 15, wherein the process further comprises transmitting geolocation data to the server.

19. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 15, wherein the data regarding the one or more recommended network resources comprises a link or network address for each recommended network resource.

20. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 15, wherein the process further comprises displaying an interactive control in response to receiving data regarding one or more recommended resources.

21. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 20, wherein the process further comprises displaying a link to at least one recommended network resource in response to a user activating the interactive control.