HK1179708A - Selecting content based on interest tags that are included in an interest cloud - Google Patents

Description

Selecting content based on interest tags included in an interest cloud

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a technique of selecting content to be provided to a user.

Background

In a computer network environment (e.g., the internet), users typically access sites hosted by content providers so that users can receive available content through those sites. Often, the user has no control over the content received from the content provider. For example, some content providers provide the same content to users who visit their sites. Other content providers may allow a user to enter keywords by which the content provider can determine the content provided for the user. If the content provider is able to provide content from other sources, it allows the user to select the source for which the content is provided.

Techniques for providing a user with more specifically adjusted content have been proposed. For example, some content providers gather information about each time a user visits a site hosted by them. For example, a content provider may categorize content available through its site and then track categories that users visit, how often users visit these categories, and so on. The content provider may use this information to determine what content is likely to appeal to the user. Typically, however, such techniques do not allow the user to control the content that he or she receives from the content provider.

Accordingly, there is a need for systems, methods, and computer program products that address one or more of the above-discussed shortcomings of conventional techniques for selecting content to provide to a user.

Disclosure of Invention

Further, various methods described herein are for selecting content based on interest tags included in an interest cloud. An interest cloud is a tag cloud that includes interest tags, which correspond to respective interests of a user. The user's interest is a topic that is considered more important to the user than other topics (based on information pertaining to the user). For example, the user's interests may be learned from information in the user's mail, vitality stream, web browsing history, and the like. In another example, a user may specify a topic as their interest.

For example, if a user adds an interest tag to an interest cloud, topics that fit the interest tag are considered to be the user's interest.

An example method is described to select content based on interest tags included in an interest cloud. According to the present example method, the interests of the user may be determined. An interest cloud is provided that includes interest tags. The interest tags correspond to interests of the user. Content provided to the user is selected based on the interest tags.

Example systems are also described. An example system includes an interest determination module, a cloud provider, and a content selector. The interest determination module is configured to determine interests of the user. The cloud provider is configured to provide an interest cloud including an interest tag. The interest tags correspond to interests of the user. The content selector is configured to select content to provide to the user based on the interest tags.

Example computer program products are also described. The computer program product includes a computer-readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for selecting content to provide to a user. The computer program logic includes first, second, and third program logic modules. The first program logic module is for causing the processor-based system to determine a user's interests. The second program logic module is for causing the processor-based system to provide an interest cloud comprising interest tags. The interest tags correspond to interests of the user. The third program logic module is for causing the processor-based system to select content to provide to the user based on the interest tags.

Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein. The embodiments presented herein are intended to be illustrative only. Additional embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles involved and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example computer system according to embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of an example method of selecting content based on interest tags included by an interest cloud in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIGS. 3 and 11-13 illustrate example interest clouds according to embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of an example method of providing an interest cloud in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of an example method of changing a priority attribute of an interest tag in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of an example method of allowing a user to change a content attribute of an interest tag in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of an example method of selecting content based on content attributes of interest tags, according to an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of an example method of adding an interest tag to an interest, according to an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of an example method of updating content provided to a user according to an embodiment described herein.

Fig. 10 and 17 are block diagrams of examples of executing the interest cloud module shown in fig. 1 according to embodiments described herein.

FIG. 14 depicts a flowchart of an example method of adding accumulated interest tags to interests in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 15 depicts a flowchart of an example method of recommending an interest tag to a user according to an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 16 depicts a flowchart of an example method of providing access to an interest cloud in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates example content that may be provided to a user according to embodiments described herein.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a computer in which embodiments may be implemented.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify corresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Detailed Description

I. Introduction to

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but is defined by the appended claims. Thus, modifications, such as those to the illustrated embodiments, beyond those shown in the drawings, may be incorporated into the invention.

"one embodiment", "an example embodiment", etc. of the present invention indicate that the described embodiments may include a unique feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the specific feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that such feature, structure, or characteristic may be implemented in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

Example embodiments can select content based on interest tags included in an interest cloud. An interest cloud is a tag cloud that includes interest tags, which correspond to the interests of individual users. The user's interests are topics that are considered more important to the user (based on user information) than other topics. For example, the user's interests may be learned from information in the user's mail, vitality stream, web browsing history, and the like. In another example, a user may specify a topic as their interest. For example, if a user adds an interest tag to an interest cloud, topics that fit the interest tag are considered to be the user's interest. The user's interests are distinguished from topics determined by keywords derived from, for example, web page search results, because such keywords are not based on information pertaining to the user. Rather, these keywords are based only on their occurrence in the web search results.

The techniques described herein for selecting content based on interest tags included in an interest cloud have various advantages over conventional techniques for selecting content. For example, the techniques described herein may enable a user to control content that he or she receives from a content provider. For example, a user may add, delete, and/or modify interest tags in an interest cloud. The user may prioritize and/or change the priority associated with the interest tags. The user may map each interest tag to a respective content type (e.g., image, news, etc.). Each interest tag may indicate a source of the interest tag. The content is based on the interest tags, and the content can be updated in real time as the interest tags are changed. The user may establish relationships between interest tags to accumulate interest tags. The relationship between interest tags may be based on Boolean operators. Some examples of Boolean operators include, but are not limited to AND, OR, NAND, NOR, AND the like. Example embodiments can recommend interest tags and/or relationships between interest tags to a user.

Example embodiments

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example computer system according to embodiments described herein. Generally, computer system 100 operates to provide content to a user in response to a request (e.g., a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request) made by the user. Content may include web pages, images, videos, other types of files, output of executable files, etc., and/or links thereto. According to an example embodiment, the computer system 100 is configured to select content to provide to the user based on the interest tags included in the respective interest clouds.

As shown in FIG. 1, computer system 100 includes a plurality of user systems 102A-102M, a network 104, and a plurality of servers 106A-106N. Communications are conducted between the user systems 102A-102M and the servers 106A-106N over the network 104 using well-known network communication protocols. The network 104 may be a wide area network (e.g., the internet), a Local Area Network (LAN), other types of networks, or a combination thereof.

The user systems 102A-102M are computers or other processing systems that each include one or more processors capable of communicating with the servers 106A-106N. The user systems 102A-102M are able to access sites (e.g., websites) hosted by the servers 104A-104N, and thus the user systems 102A-102M may access available content through the sites. The user systems 102A-102M are configured to provide requests (e.g., Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests) to the servers 106A-106N to request content stored on (or accessible by) the servers 106A-106N. For example, a user may send a content request using a client (e.g., a web crawler, web browser, client without web capabilities, etc.) configured in the user system 102 that the user owns or may use.

The servers 106A-106N are computers or other processing systems that each include one or more processors capable of communicating with the user systems 102A-102M. The servers 106A-106N are configured to host various sites (e.g., web sites) that are therefore accessible to users of the computer system 100. The servers 106A-106N are further configured to provide content to the user in response to requests (e.g., HTTP requests) received from the user.

First server 106A includes interest cloud module 108. Interest cloud module 108 is configured to determine interests of users accessing first server 106A. Any suitable technique or combination of techniques may be used to determine the interests of the user. For example, interest cloud module 108 may determine interests of the user based on interest indicators received from the user through the various user systems 102. According to the present example, the interest indicators specify the interests of the user. In another example, interest cloud module 108 examines (e.g., mines) information about the user to determine the user's interests. For example, the information may be stored on the first server 106A in the user system 102 of the user, and/or elsewhere. Such information may include email messages, vitality streams, web browsing history, and/or other information about the user.

Interest cloud module 108 is further configured to provide an interest cloud for each user. Interest cloud module 108 may populate each user's interest cloud with interest tags corresponding to the user's interests. The interest cloud may be interactive so that the user may edit his interest cloud. For example, interest cloud module 108 may add interest tags to a user's interest cloud, delete interest tags from its interest cloud, and/or modify interest tags included in the user's interest cloud based on instructions received from user system 102 (belonging to or available to the user).

Interest cloud module 108 is further configured to select content to provide to the users based on the interest tags included in the interest clouds of the respective users. For example, interest cloud module 108 may provide the first content to the first user based on the interest tags of the first user; interest cloud module 108 may provide the second content to the second user based on the second user's interest tag, and so on. Additional details regarding techniques for selecting content based on interest tags included in an interest cloud are discussed below.

First server 106A is shown to include interest cloud module 108 for explanation. It may be appreciated that any one or more of servers 106A-106N may include an interest cloud module, such as interest cloud module 108. It will also be appreciated that any one or more of the user systems 102A-102M may communicate with any one or more of the servers 106A-106N. Although the user systems 102A-102M are depicted as desktop computers in FIG. 1, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the user systems 102A-102M may comprise any system or device that supports a user, including but not limited to a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, and the like. It will be appreciated that although some operations are described herein as being performed by a user for ease of discussion, such operations may be performed by the respective user system 102 or interest cloud module 108 in response to instructions received from the user.

Fig. 2, 4-9, and 14 depict flowcharts 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1400 of example methods according to embodiments described herein. Flowcharts 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1400 may be performed by interest cloud module 108 of computer system 100 shown in fig. 1, for example. For purposes of explanation, the descriptions of flowcharts 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1400 are directed to interest cloud module 1000 shown in FIG. 10, which is an example of interest cloud module 108 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, interest cloud module 1000 includes an interest determination module 1002, a cloud provider 1004, a content selector 1006, a proximity module 1008, a priority module 1010, an association module 1012, a content provider 1014, and a recommendation module 1016. Other structural and operational embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts based on the discussion regarding flow diagrams 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1400.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of an example method of selecting content based on interest tags included by an interest cloud in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in FIG. 2, the method of flowchart 200 begins at step 202. In step 202, the interests of the user are determined. In practicing the example, interest determination module 1002 determines the interests of the user. For example, interest determination module 1002 may interpret indicators received from a user to determine the interests of the user. According to this example, the indicator specifies the interests of the user. In one aspect, the interest specified by the indicator may be based on an interest tag included in an interest cloud of another user. For example, the indicator may specify interest tags that the user selected from the interest clouds of other users. In another example, interest determination module 1002 may examine information about the user to determine the user's interests. The information may include any suitable type of information, such as email messages sent or received by the user, vitality streams, web browsing history, and so forth.

At step 204, an interest cloud including interest tags is provided. Each interest tag corresponds to a respective interest of the user. The interest cloud may be interactive to allow a user to add interest tags to, delete interest tags from, and/or modify interest tags included in the interest cloud, although the scope of the example embodiments is not limited in this respect. Modifying the interest tags may include changing a priority of the interest tags, changing a type of content associated with the interest tags, and the like. In an example implementation, cloud provider 1004 provides an interest cloud.

At step 206, content to be provided to the user is selected based on the interest tags. Although the scope of the present example embodiment is not limited in this respect, this content may be aggregated. The aggregated content is content that has merged content from multiple sources. In an example implementation, the content selector 1006 selects content to provide to the user.

In some example embodiments, the content is selected based on a priority of the respective interest tags. The priority of the interest tag corresponds to the degree to which the interest tag is taken into account to select content to be provided to the user. For example, an interest tag with a relatively higher priority may have a greater impact on what content is selected than an interest tag with a relatively lower priority. In such an embodiment, if the interest tags have priorities ranging from lowest to highest, the interest tag with the highest priority is matched with the content available to the user. A first subset of content matching the highest priority interest tag may be selected for presentation to the user. If more content is desired, the interest tag with the next highest priority is matched to the available content. In addition to the first subset, a second subset of content that matches the next highest priority interest tag may be selected for presentation to the user. For example, the second subset may be filtered such that the second subset no longer includes the content that the first subset includes. Content selection may continue in this manner until, for example, the amount of content selected has reached a threshold. In one aspect, the amount of content selected for each one or more priorities may be limited to a threshold amount for the respective priority.

Other elements of interest cloud module 1000 are discussed below with reference to fig. 4-9 and 14. It will be appreciated that interest cloud module 1000 may not include one or more of interest determination module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, and/or recommendation module 1016. Further, interest cloud module 1000 may include modules in addition to or in lieu of interest determination module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, and/or recommendation module 1016.

FIG. 3 shows an example interest cloud 300 in accordance with embodiments described herein. For example, interest cloud 300 may be provided to a user through a browsing program installed in a user system (e.g., any of user systems 102A-102M). As shown in FIG. 3, interest cloud 300 includes a plurality of interest tags 302. Interest tags 302 are labeled "hiking," "photography," "san jose (sanjose)," and so on, respectively. Each interest tag may be associated with one or more attributes. Examples of attributes include, but are not limited to, priority of the interest tag, type of content associated with the interest tag, source of the interest tag, whether the interest tag is tagged for disclosure to other users, and the like.

In FIG. 3, for purposes of illustration, cursor 318 is positioned near the interest tag "hiking" such that indicators 304, 306, and 308A-308C all appear. Each of indicators 304, 306, and 308A-308C is associated with a respective attribute of the interest tag "hiking". For example, indicators 304 and 306 are associated with a priority attribute of the interest tag "hiking". Thus, indicators 304 and 306 are referred to as priority indicators. Priority indicators 304 and 306 may be used to change the priority associated with the interest tag "hiking". For purposes of illustration, priority indicator 304 is represented by an upward arrow. The user may select (e.g., click on) the priority indicator 304 to increase the priority of the interest tag "hiking". For purposes of illustration, priority indicator 306 is represented by a downward arrow. The user may select priority indicator 306 to lower the priority of the interest tag "hiking".

Indicators 308A-308C are associated with content attributes for the interest tag "hiking". Thus, indicators 308A-308C are referred to as content indicators. Content indicators 308A-308C may be used to associate the interest tag "hiking" with a specified content type. The content indicators 308A-308C correspond to image content and news content, respectively. The interest tag "hiking" is shown in connection with three content types-video content, image content, and news content, for purposes of explanation and not intended to be limiting. For example, the interest tag "hiking" may not be associated with one or more of video content, image content, and/or news content. In another example, the interest tag "hiking" may be associated with other content types in addition to video content, image content, and/or news content.

The user enters interest into window 310 and selects add button 312 to add an interest tag corresponding to the interest to interest cloud 300. An add button 314 and a clear button 316 may be used to create a cumulative interest tag that includes two or more interest tags 302. The functionality associated with keys 314 and 316 will be further described below with reference to fig. 12 and 13.

The user deletes the interest tag from the interest cloud 300 through various methods. For example, a user may "right-click" on an interest tab to access a drop-down, pop-up, or equivalent menu, or other graphical interface element through which the user may select a "delete" indicator. In another example, the user may place cursor 318 near a designated portion (e.g., right, left, top, bottom, etc.) of the interest tag causing a "delete" indicator to be displayed. In other examples, the user may select a "delete" indicator to delete an interest tag from interest cloud 300.

In FIG. 3, cursor 318 is shown overlapping the interest tag "hiking". It will be appreciated, however, that the cursor 318 need not overlap the label so that it is located near the label. Furthermore, the priority indicators 304 and 306 and the content indicators 308A-308C shown in FIG. 3 are for explanation, not intended to be limiting. It will be appreciated that any suitable type of indicator corresponding to a suitable attribute may be provided to the interest tag to enable the user to control the value of those attributes.

It will be appreciated that the user does not necessarily have to place a cursor near the interest tag to determine the attributes of the interest tag. For example, an interest tag may be configured to indicate one or more of its attributes without requiring action by the user. For example, FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart 400 of an example method of providing an interest cloud in accordance with embodiments described herein. As shown in fig. 4, the method of flowchart 400 includes step 402. At step 402, a visual representation of each interest tag is provided in the interest cloud. Each visual representation indicates a source of a respective interest tag. For example, each visual representation may be associated with a respective color to indicate the source of a respective interest tag. According to the present example, each source may correspond to a different color. In another example, each visual representation may be associated with a respective icon (or icon type). According to the present example, each source may correspond to a different icon or icon type. A source is an example attribute that an interest tag may have. It will be appreciated that each visual representation may indicate any suitable attribute in addition to or in lieu of the source of the respective interest tag. In an example implementation, cloud provider 1004 visually renders each interest tag.

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart 500 of an example method of changing a priority attribute of an interest tag in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in FIG. 5, the method of flowchart 500 begins at step 502. At step 502, it is determined to place a cursor near an interest tag included within an interest cloud. The interest tag is associated with a first priority. In an example implementation, the proximity module 1008 determines that a cursor is placed near an interest tag. In some example embodiments, step 502 need not be performed.

At step 504, the user is provided with a priority selection element corresponding to the interest tag. A priority selection element allows a user to select a second priority to be associated with the interest tag. In an example implementation, the priority module 1010 provides a user with a priority selection element corresponding to an interest tag.

At step 506, a priority indicator is received from the user. The priority indicator specifies that the second priority is to be associated with the interest tag. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 receives a priority indicator from a user.

At step 508, the association of the interest tag is changed from a first priority to a second priority. Thus, it may be said that the priority attribute of the interest tag is changed to indicate that the interest tag is associated with the second priority. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 changes the association of the interest tag from a first priority to a second priority.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart 600 of an example method of allowing a user to change a content attribute of an interest tag in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in FIG. 6, the method of flowchart 600 begins at step 602. At step 602, it is determined to place a cursor near an interest tag included within an interest cloud. In an example implementation, the proximity module 1008 determines that a cursor is placed near an interest tag. In some example embodiments, step 602 need not be performed.

At step 604, the user is provided with a priority selection element corresponding to the interest tag. The content selection element allows the user to select a type of content to be provided to the user from a plurality of types of content associated with the interest tag. In an example implementation, the content selector 1006 provides the user with a content selection element corresponding to an interest tag.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart 700 of an example method of selecting content based on content attributes of interest tags in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in FIG. 7, the method of flowchart 700 begins at step 702. At step 702, a first content indicator is received from a user. The first content indicator specifies that a first subset of the interest tags are to be associated with a first type of content. The interest tags are included within the interest cloud. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 receives a first content indicator from a user.

At step 704, a first subset of the interest tags is associated with a first type of content. Thus, it can be said that the content attribute of each tag in the first subset is set to specify the first type of content. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 associates a first subset of interest tags with a first type of content.

At step 706, a second content indicator is received from the user. The second content designator indicates that a second subset of the interest tags are to be associated with a second type of content. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 receives a second content indicator from the user.

At step 708, a second subset of the interest tags is associated with a second type of content. Thus, it can be said that the content attribute of each tag in the second subset is set to specify the second type of content. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 associates a second subset of the interest tags with a second type of content.

At step 710, a first content of a first type to be provided to a user is selected based on a first subset of interest tags. In an example implementation, the content selector 1006 selects a first content of a first type to be provided to the user based on the first subset of interest tags.

At step 712, a second content of a second type is selected to be provided to the user based on the second subset of interest tags. In an example implementation, the content selector 1006 selects a second content of a second type to be provided to the user based on a second subset of the interest tags.

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart 800 of an example method of adding an interest tag to an interest in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in fig. 8, the method of flowchart 800 begins at step 802. At step 802, an add indicator is received from a user. The add indicator specifies a specified interest tag to be added to the interest cloud. The specified interest tag corresponds to the interest of the user. In an example implementation, cloud provider 1004 receives an add indicator from a user.

At step 804, the specified interest tags are added to the interest cloud. In an example implementation, cloud provider 1004 adds the specified interest tag to the interest cloud.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart 900 of an example method of updating content provided to a user in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in fig. 9, the method of flowchart 900 begins at step 902. In step 902, content is provided to a user. In an example implementation, the content provider 1014 provides content to a user.

At step 904, a modification indicator is received from a user. The modification indicator specifies a change to be made to at least one interest tag included in the interest cloud. In an example implementation, cloud provider 1004 receives a modification indicator from a user.

At step 906, changes are made to the interest tags that are specified to be changed to provide updated interest tags. In an example implementation, cloud provider 1004 changes the interest tags that specify changes to be made to them.

At step 908, the content is updated in real-time based on the updated interest tags. In an example implementation, the content provider 1014 updates the content in real-time based on the updated interest tags.

In an example embodiment, since the content is updated in real-time at step 908, a timed task is run as a background process to accumulate more relevant content, which cannot be provided to the user in real-time. In another example embodiment, step 908 is not performed, but rather a timed task is run and more relevant content is provided to the user.

11-13 illustrate other example interest clouds 1100, 1200, and 1300 according to embodiments described herein. As shown in FIG. 11, interest cloud 1100 includes a plurality of interest tags 1102, one of which is labeled "hiking". The interest tag "hiking" is associated with priority indicators 1104 and 1106 and content indicators 1108A-1108C. Priority indicator 1104 is used to lower the priority of the interest tag "hiking". The priority indicator 106 is used to increase the priority of the interest tag "hiking". Priority indicator 1104 is shown as a circle that includes an "X" indicating that the priority of the interest tag "hiking" cannot be lowered. For example, the priority associated with the interest tag "hiking" shown in FIG. 11 may be the lowest priority within a user selectable range of priorities.

The font size of the interest tag corresponds to the priority of the interest tag. For example, the font of interest tags with a relatively high priority is relatively large; while the fonts for interest tags having relatively lower priority are relatively smaller. As shown in FIG. 11, the font size of the interest tab "hiking" is minimized in the display associated with the interest tab 1102, reflecting that it has the lowest priority.

Content indicators 1108A-1108C correspond to video content, image content, and news content, respectively. The content indicator 1108A indicates that the interest tag "hiking" is associated with video content, meaning that the interest tag "hiking" is considered for providing video content to the user. Content indicator 1108B is shown as including an "X" indicating that the interest tag "hiking" is not related to image content. Content indicator 1108C is also shown as including an "X" indicating that the interest tag "hiking" is not related to news content. Therefore, in order to provide image content or news content to the user, the interest tag "hiking" is not taken into consideration.

As shown in FIG. 12, interest cloud 1200 includes a plurality of interest tags 1202. The user may select two or more interest tags 1202 to create a cumulative interest tag that includes the selected interest tags. For example, text 1204 indicates that the user has selected the interest tags "photograph", "interval shot (timescape)" and "dslr". The user may select the add button 1202 to add the cumulative interest tag "photograph + interval photograph + dslr" to the interest cloud 1206. Alternatively, the user may select clear button 1208 to eliminate text 1204. Once the text 1204 is dismissed, the user may again select two or more interest tags 1202 to create a cumulative interest tag that includes the selected interest tags.

As shown in FIG. 13, interest cloud 1300 includes a plurality of interest tags 1302. The plurality of interest tags 1302 includes a cumulative interest tag 1306, a combination of the interest tags "photograph," interval shot, "and" dslr. For example, the user may select the interest tags "photograph," "interval photograph," and "dslr," and then select the add button 1304 to add the cumulative interest tag 1306 "photograph + interval photograph + dslr" to the interest cloud 1300. Cumulative interest tag 1306 is associated with priority indicator 1310 and content indicators 1308A-1308C. The user may select priority indicator 1310 to lower the priority of cumulative interest tag 1306. FIG. 13 does not show a priority indicator for increasing the priority of cumulative interest tag 1306. For example, the priority of cumulative interest tag 1306 may be the highest priority within a user selectable range of priorities. According to this example, there is no need for a priority indicator that allows the user to increase the priority of cumulative interest tag 1306 unless the priority of cumulative interest tag 1306 is reduced below the highest priority. Cumulative interest tag 1306 is displayed with the largest font in relation to interest tag 1302 in FIG. 13, reflecting that the cumulative interest tag is associated with the highest priority.

FIG. 14 depicts a flowchart 1400 of an example method of adding accumulated interest tags to interests in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As shown in fig. 14, the method of flowchart 1400 begins at step 1402. At step 1402, it is determined to place a cursor proximate to a first interest tag included within an interest cloud. In an example implementation, the proximity module 1008 determines that a cursor is placed near the first interest tag.

At step 1404, the user is provided with a recommendation element corresponding to the first interest tag. The recommendation element recommends forming a relationship between a first interest tag and a second interest tag included in the interest cloud. For example, the recommendation element may recommend that the first interest tag AND the second interest tag be merged using a boolean operator (e.g., an AND operator, an OR operator, etc.). The recommendation module 1016 provides recommendations corresponding to the first interest tag to the user in an example implementation.

At step 1406, a relationship indicator is received from the user. The relationship indicator indicates that a relationship is to be formed between the first interest tag and the second interest tag. In an example implementation, the cloud provider 1014 receives a relationship indicator from a user.

At step 1408, cumulative interest tags are added to the interest cloud. The cumulative interest tags include a first interest tag and a second interest tag having a relationship specified by the relationship indicator. In an example implementation, the cloud provider 1014 adds a cumulative interest tag to the interest cloud.

At step 1410, the assigned priority is set to a first priority greater than the first interest tag based on the cumulative interest tags including the first interest tag, and the assigned priority is set to a second priority greater than the second interest tag based on the cumulative interest tags including the second interest tag. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 sets the specified priority to be greater than a first priority of the first interest tag and greater than a second priority of the second interest tag.

At step 1412, a priority is assigned to associate with the cumulative interest tag. In an example implementation, the association module 1012 associates a specified priority with the cumulative interest tags.

In some example embodiments, one or more steps 1402, 1404, 1406, 1408, 1410, and/or 1412 of flowchart 1400 may not be performed. Further, steps in addition to or in place of steps 1402, 1404, 1406, 1408, 1410, and/or 1412 may be performed.

FIG. 15 depicts a flowchart 1500 of an example method of recommending interest tags to a user in accordance with an embodiment described herein. FIG. 16 depicts a flowchart 1600 of an example method of providing access to an interest cloud in accordance with an embodiment described herein. For example, flowcharts 1500 and 1600 may be performed by interest cloud module 108 of computer system 100 shown in fig. 1. For purposes of explanation, flowcharts 1500 and 1600 are described with respect to interest cloud module 1700 shown in FIG. 17, which is an example of interest cloud module 108 according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, interest cloud module 1700 includes review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and access module 1706. Further structural and operational embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts based on the discussion of flowcharts 1500 and 1600.

As shown in fig. 15, the method of flowchart 1500 begins at step 1502. At step 1502, a request is received from a user regarding an interest tag recommendation to add to an interest cloud. In an example implementation, the review module 1702 receives a request from a user. In some example embodiments, step 1502 need not be performed.

At step 1504, data about the user is examined to determine interest tags to recommend. In an example implementation, the review module 1702 reviews the data about the user to determine interest tags to recommend.

At step 1506, the recommendation is provided to the user to add the recommended interest tag to the interest cloud. In an example implementation, the recommendation module 1704 provides the recommendation to the user.

As shown in FIG. 16, the method of flowchart 1600 includes a step 1602 in which a user's interest cloud access is provided to other users belonging to the user's affinity set in a social networking environment that is based on other users belonging to the affinity set. The so-called other user is often referred to as the user's "relationship". For example, an affinity set may be any group of people, including a group of friends, business partners, massively multiplayer online game players, a group of people with common interests, all users of a social network, application ("app"), or website, or a subgroup thereof. A user may belong to any number of affinity sets. In an example implementation, access module 1706 provides interest cloud access to other users belonging to the user's affinity set.

It will be appreciated that interest cloud module 1700 may not include one or more of review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and/or access module 1706. Moreover, interest cloud module 1700 may include modules in addition to or in place of review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and/or access module 1706.

FIG. 18 illustrates example content 1800 that may be provided to a user according to embodiments described herein. As shown in fig. 18, content 1800 includes three content types: image content 1802, news content 1804, and video content 1806. Interest tags associated with image content may be taken into account to select image content 1802; interest tags associated with news content may be taken into account to select news content 1804; and interest tags associated with the video content can be taken into account to select video content 1806.

Image content 1802 includes a plurality of images. The images P1-P13 of the plurality of images shown in fig. 18 are for explanation. News content 1804 includes a plurality of news articles. For purposes of explanation, each article is shown as a heading and corresponds to a preamble, although it will be appreciated that each article may be shown in any suitable manner. The user may select the title of the article, graphical interface elements associated with the article, the preamble of the article, etc. to read the entire article. Alternatively, each article in news content 1804 may be displayed as an entire article. The video content 1806 includes a plurality of videos. The images V1-V5 of the multiple images shown in FIG. 18 are for illustration.

Images other than images P1-P13, news other than the article shown in fig. 18, and/or videos other than videos V1-V5 may be viewed by using a scrolling element associated with the content 1800 or clicking a graphical interface element, such as a "next" button.

Image content 1802, news content 1804, and video content 1806 are shown in the columns shown in fig. 18, respectively, for purposes of explanation and not intended to be limiting. Different content types may be provided to any suitable configuration.

Other exemplary embodiments

It should be noted that interest cloud module 108 in FIG. 1 may include, for example, interest determination module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, and/or recommendation module shown in FIG. 10; review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and/or access module 1706 of FIG. 17; or any combination of parts thereof, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Interest cloud module 108, module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, recommendation module 1016, review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and access module 1706 may be executed in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, interest cloud module 108, module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, recommendation module 1016, review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and/or access module 1706 may be implemented as computer program code configured to be executed in one or more processors. In another example, interest cloud module 108, module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, recommendation module 1016, review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and/or access module 1706 may be implemented as hardware logic/electronic circuitry.

Example computer implementation

Embodiments described herein, including systems, methods/processes and/or apparatus, may be implemented using known servers/computers, such as computer 1900 shown in FIG. 19. For example, elements of the example computer system 100, including any of the user systems 102A-102M and any of the servers 106A-106N and elements thereof depicted in FIG. 1 (including the interest cloud modules and elements thereof depicted in FIGS. 1, 10, and 17), as well as each of the steps of the flowcharts 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1400, 1500, and 1600 depicted in FIGS. 2, 4-9, and 14-16, respectively, may be executed using one or more computers 1900.

Computer 1900 may be any commercially available or known computer capable of performing the functions described herein, such as those available from International Business Machines (IBM), Apple, Sun, HP, Dell, Cray, etc. Computer 1900 may be of any type, including a desktop computer, a server, and the like.

As shown in fig. 19, computer 1900 includes one or more processors (e.g., Central Processing Units (CPUs)) such as processor 1906. Processor 1906 may include, for example, interest cloud module 108 shown in fig. 1; interest determination module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, and/or recommendation module shown in FIG. 10; review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and/or access module 1706 of FIG. 17; or any combination of parts thereof, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. Processor 1906 is connected to a communication infrastructure 1902, such as a communication bus. In some embodiments, the processor 1906 may run multiple compute threads simultaneously.

Computer 1900 also includes a main memory 1908, such as Random Access Memory (RAM). Stored within the main memory are control logic 1924A (computer software) and data.

Computer 1900 also includes one or more secondary memory devices 1910. Secondary memory devices 1910 include, for example, a hard disk drive 1912 and/or a removable storage device or drive 1914, as well as other types of storage devices, such as memory cards and memory sticks. For example, computer 1900 may include an industry standard interface, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface for connecting devices, such as a memory stick. Removable storage drive 1914 represents a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a high density disk drive, an optical storage device, a tape backup initiator, or the like.

Removable storage drive 1914 interacts with a removable storage unit 1916. Removable storage unit 1916 includes a computer usable or readable storage medium 1918 having stored therein computer software 1924B (control logic) and/or data. Removable storage unit 1916 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, Compact Disc (CD), Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), blu-ray disc, optical storage disc, memory stick, memory card, or any other computer data storage device. Removable storage drive 1914 reads from and/or writes to removable storage unit 1916 in a well known manner.

Computer 1900 also includes input/output/display devices 1904, such as a monitor, keyboard, pointing device, etc.

Computer 1900 further includes a communication or network interface 1920. Communication interface 1920 allows computer 1900 to communicate with remote devices. For example, communication interface 1920 allows computer 1900 to communicate over a communication network or medium 1922 (representing a form of computer-usable or readable medium), such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), the Internet, and the like. Network interface 1920 may communicate with a remote site or network via a wired or wireless connection. Examples of communication interface 1922 include, but are not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (e.g., an ethernet card), a port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card, and the like.

Control logic 1924C may be transmitted to computer 1900 over communication medium 1922 and from computer 1900.

Any device or article comprising a computer usable or readable medium having control logic (software) stored therein is referred to herein as a computer program product or program storage device. Including, but not limited to, computer 1900, main memory 1908, secondary storage devices 1910, and removable storage unit 1916. Such computer program products, having control logic stored therein, which when executed by one or more data processing devices, cause such data processing devices to operate as described herein, represent embodiments of the present invention.

For example, each element of example servers 106A-106N, including interest cloud module 108 shown in FIG. 1; each of interest determination module 1002, cloud provider 1004, content selector 1006, proximity module 1008, priority module 1010, association module 1012, content provider 1014, and recommendation module 1016 depicted in fig. 10; each of review module 1702, recommendation module 1704, and access module 1706 depicted in fig. 17; each of the steps of flowcharts 200, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1400, 1500, and 1600 depicted in fig. 2, 4-9, and 14-16, respectively, may be implemented as control logic storable on a computer usable or computer readable medium, executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein and incorporated herein.

Conclusion V

While various embodiments have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be understood by those skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and details can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims (29)

1. A method, comprising:

determining a plurality of interests of a user;

providing an interest cloud comprising a plurality of interest tags as a response to determining the plurality of interests, each interest tag of the plurality of interest tags corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of interests; and

selecting content to provide to the user based on the plurality of interest tags.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an add indicator from a user, the add indicator specifying a specified interest tag to add to an interest cloud, the specified interest tag corresponding to an interest of the user; and

adding the specified interest tag to the interest cloud in response to receiving the add indicator.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of interest tags are respectively associated with a plurality of priorities, the method further comprising:

receiving a priority indicator from a user, the priority indicator specifying a specified priority to be associated with a specified interest tag of the plurality of interest tags; and

changing the association of the specified interest tag from a first priority to a specified priority in response to receiving the priority indicator.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining that a cursor is positioned in proximity to the specified interest tag; and

in response to determining that the cursor is positioned proximate to the specified interest tag, providing a priority selection element corresponding to the specified interest tag to the user, the priority selection element allowing the user to select a specified priority to be associated with the specified interest tag;

wherein receiving the priority indicator comprises:

receiving the priority indicator as a response to a user selecting the specified priority.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a first content indicator from the user, the first content indicator specifying that a first subset of the plurality of interest tags is to be associated with a first type of content;

in response to receiving the first content indicator, associating the first subset of the plurality of interest tags with the first type of content;

receiving a second content indicator from the user, the second content indicator specifying that a second subset of the plurality of interest tags is to be associated with a second type of content; and

in response to receiving the second content indicator, associating the second subset of the plurality of interest tags with the second type of content;

wherein selecting content to provide to the user comprises:

selecting a first content of a first type to provide to a user based on the first subset of the plurality of interest tags, and

selecting a second content of a second type to provide to the user based on the second subset of the plurality of interest tags.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a cursor is positioned proximate to a first interest tag of the plurality of interest tags; and

in response to determining that the cursor is positioned proximate to the first interest tag, providing a content selection element corresponding to the first interest tag to the user, the content selection element allowing the user to select a type of content to provide to the user from a plurality of types of content related to the first interest tag.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the interest cloud comprises:

providing a visual representation of each interest tag of the plurality of interest tags, each visual representation indicating a source of the respective interest tag.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing content to a user;

receiving a modification indicator from a user in response to providing the content to the user, the modification indicator specifying a change to be made to at least one of the plurality of interest tags;

in response to receiving the modification indicator, changing at least one interest tag of the plurality of interest tags to provide a plurality of updated interest tags; and

updating the content in real-time based on the updated plurality of interest tags.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a relationship indicator from a user, the relationship indicator specifying a relationship to be formed between a first interest tag of the plurality of interest tags and a second interest tag of the plurality of interest tags; and

in response to receiving the relationship indicator, adding cumulative interest tags to the interest cloud, the cumulative interest tags including the first interest tag and the second interest tag having the relationship specified by the relationship indicator.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining that a cursor is positioned proximate to the first interest tag; and

in response to determining that the cursor is positioned proximate to the first interest tag, providing a recommendation element corresponding to the first interest tag to the user, the recommendation element recommending a relationship formed between the first interest tag and the second interest tag;

wherein receiving the relationship indicator comprises:

receiving the relationship indicator as a response to the user providing the recommendation element.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

setting a designated priority to a first priority greater than the first interest tag based on the cumulative interest tag including the first interest tag and to a second priority greater than the second interest tag based on the cumulative interest tag including the second interest tag; and

associating the assigned priority with the cumulative interest tag.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from a user regarding an interest tag recommendation added to the interest cloud;

examining data pertaining to the user to determine recommended interest tags; and

providing a recommendation to a user to add the recommended interest tag to the interest cloud.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing access to the interest cloud to other users in a social network environment that belong to the user's affinity set, the social network environment being based on the other users that belong to the affinity set.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a plurality of interests of the user comprises:

a plurality of interests of the user is determined based on a selection indicator received from the user, the selection indicator specifying a plurality of second interest tags selected by the user from a second interest cloud of another user.

15. A system, comprising:

an interest module configured to determine a plurality of interests of a user;

a cloud provider configured to provide an interest cloud comprising a plurality of interest tags as a response to determining a plurality of interests, each of the plurality of interest tags corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of interests; and

a content selector configured to select content to provide to a user based on the plurality of interest tags.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a cloud modifier configured to add a specified interest tag to the interest cloud in response to receiving an add indicator from a user;

wherein the add indicator specifies the specified interest tag to be added to the interest cloud; and

wherein the specified interest tag corresponds to an interest of the user.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a priority module configured to change a priority associated with a specified interest tag of the plurality of interest tags to a specified priority in response to receiving a priority indicator from a user;

wherein the priority indicator indicates that the specified priority is to be associated with the specified interest tag.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a proximity module configured to determine that a cursor is positioned proximate to the specified interest tag;

wherein the cloud provider is further configured to provide a priority selection element corresponding to the specified interest tag to a user, the priority selection element allowing the user to select a specified priority to begin providing the priority indicator to the priority module in response to the cursor being positioned proximate to the specified interest tag.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

an association module configured to associate a first subset of the plurality of interest tags with a first type of content in response to receiving a first content indicator from a user, the association module further configured to associate a second subset of the plurality of interest tags with a second type of content in response to receiving a second content indicator from a user;

wherein the first content indicator indicates that the first subset of the plurality of interest tags is to be associated with the first type of content,

wherein the second content indicator indicates that the second subset of the plurality of interest tags is to be associated with the second type of content,

wherein the content comprises first content of the first type and second content of the second type; and

wherein the content selector is configured to select the first content to provide to a user based on the first subset of the plurality of interest tags and to select the second content to provide to the user based on the second subset of the plurality of interest tags.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a proximity module configured to determine that a cursor is positioned proximate to a first interest tag of the plurality of interest tags;

wherein the cloud provider is further configured to, in response to the cursor being positioned proximate to the first interest tag, provide a content selection element corresponding to the first interest tag to a user, the content selection element allowing the user to select a content type to provide to the user from a plurality of content types related to the first interest tag.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the cloud provider is configured to provide a visual representation of each of the plurality of interest tags; and

wherein each visual representation indicates a source of a respective interest tag.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the content selector is configured to update the content in real-time based on a change in at least one of the plurality of interest tags.

23. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a cloud modifier configured to add a cumulative interest tag to the interest cloud in response to receiving a relationship indicator from a user;

wherein the relationship indicator specifies a relationship to be formed between a first interest tag of the plurality of interest tags and a second interest tag of the plurality of interest tags; and

wherein the cumulative interest tags include the first interest tag and the second interest tag having the relationship specified by the relationship indicator.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

a proximity module configured to determine that a cursor is positioned proximate to the first interest tag;

wherein the cloud provider is further configured to provide a recommendation element corresponding to the first interest tag to a user in response to the cursor being placed proximate to the first interest tag, the recommendation element recommending that a relationship be formed between the first interest tag and the second interest tag, the recommendation element allowing a user to authorize forming the relationship to begin providing the relationship indicator to the cloud modifier.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

a priority module configured to set a designated priority to a first priority greater than the first interest tag based on the accumulated interest tag including the first interest tag, to a second priority greater than the second interest tag based on the accumulated interest tag including the second interest tag, the priority module further configured to associate a designated priority with the accumulated interest tag.

26. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

an examination module configured to examine data about a user to determine recommended interest tags in response to a request received from the user to add interest tags to the interest cloud recommendation; and

a recommendation module configured to provide a recommendation to a user to add the recommended interest tag to the interest cloud.

27. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

an access module configured to provide access to the interest cloud to other users belonging to the user's affinity set in a social networking environment based on the other users belonging to the affinity set.

28. The system of claim 15, wherein the interest module is configured to determine a plurality of interests of a user based on a selection indicator specifying a plurality of second interest tags selected by the user from a second interest cloud of another user.

29. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon, the computer program logic operable to allow a processor-based system to select content to be provided to a user, the computer program product comprising:

a first program logic module for determining a plurality of interests of a user for a processor-based system;

a second program logic module configured to allow the processor-based system to provide an interest cloud comprising a plurality of interest tags as a response to having determined a plurality of interests, each of the plurality of interest tags corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of interests; and

a third program logic module that allows the processor-based system to select content to provide to a user based on the plurality of interest tags.