SYSTEM, APPARATUS, AND METHOD TO PROVIDE TARGETED CONTENT TO USERS OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

1 . A method of providing content targeted for a user of a third party social network, comprising:

collecting information about the user from the third party social network;

processing the collected information to identify keywords that are relevant to determining targeted-content for the user;

determining a relevant category for each identified keyword to determine one or more databases;

conducting a search using the each identified keyword over the determined databases for locating matching targeted-content; and

presenting the matching targeted-content to the user.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting information about the user includes collecting information about one or more of the following:

the user's preferences;

the user's favorites;

the user's hobbies; and

the user's interests.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the information about the user is collected from the user.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the information about the user is collected from a user profile database.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the collected information includes:

parsing the collected information into a set of discrete keywords;

identifying extraneous keywords that are not to be used for conducting a search; and

obtaining a subset of keywords by removing the extraneous keywords from the set of discrete keywords.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more from the determined databases are provided from an advertising network of a third party.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein conducting a search includes:

performing a direct matching searching; and

performing an indirect matching searching.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein performing a direct matching searching includes, using each identified keyword, querying the determined databases for matching targeted-content.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein performing an indirect matching searching includes:

determining a second keyword, wherein the second keyword is related one or more keywords in the subset determined from the parsed information; and

retrieving targeted-content from the determined databases using the second keyword.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the targeted-content is one or more of the following:

an advertisement for a product or service;

information regarding a product or service;

an offer to provide a product or service;

a promotion for a good or service; and

a coupon or other incentive for a good or service.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein presenting the matching targeted-content to the user includes:

generating an output including one or more groups of the matching targeted-content; and

presenting the output to the user,

wherein each group is determined based on the keyword and the relevant category for the keyword.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, if the relevant category is Music, a calendar including the targeted content that is concert information is generated for an output.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the concert information includes one or more from ticket purchase information, time information, venue information, and singer information.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the output is sent to the user via an email.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matching targeted-content is presented to the user more than once.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the targeted-content in a user profile database.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

collecting information about friends of the user from the third party social network, wherein the friends are designated by the user in the third party social network;

processing the collected information to identify a second set of keywords that are relevant to determining targeted-content for the user or the friends;

determining a relevant category for each identified keyword in the second set;

conducting a search using the each identified keyword in the second set over the targeted-content databases for locating matching targeted-content; and

presenting the matching targeted-content to the user.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising, presenting, to the user, information about friends who are interested in the matching targeted-content.

19 . The method of claim 11 , wherein, if the relevant category is Movies, the output is a calendar including the targeted content that is movie ticket information or other movie related content.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matching targeted-content is presented to the user in a Web page or via email.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matching targeted-content is provided by a third party service provider.

22 . A system for providing content targeted for a user of a third party social network, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

collect information about the user from the third party social network;

process the collected information to identify keywords that are relevant to determining targeted-content for the user;

determine a relevant category for each identified keyword;

conduct a search using the each identified keyword over content databases for locating targeted-content that matches the identified keyword; and

present the matching targeted-content to the user.

23 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the information about the user includes one or more of the following:

the user's preferences;

the user's favorites;

the user's hobbies; and

the user's interests.

24 . The system of claim 22 , wherein one or more of the content databases are constructed and maintained by a third party service provider that provides the system with a network interface to access the one or more of the content databases.

25 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

parse the collected information into a set of discrete keywords;

identify extraneous keywords that are not to be used for conducting a search; and

obtain a subset of keywords by removing the extraneous keywords from the set of discrete keywords.

26 . The system of claim 25 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a direct matching searching using each identified keyword, querying the content databases for matching targeted-content.

27 . The system of claim 26 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine a second keyword, wherein the second keyword is related one or more keywords in the subset determined from the parsed information; and

retrieve targeted-content from the databases using the second keyword.

28 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the targeted-content is one or more of the following:

an advertisement for a product or service;

information regarding a product or service;

an offer to provide a product or service;

a promotion for a good or service; and

a coupon or other incentive for a good or service.

29 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

group the matching targeted-content based on corresponding category;

generate an output based the grouping result; and

present the output to the user.

30 . The system of claim 22 , wherein, if the relevant category is Music, the output is a calendar including the targeted content that is concert information.

31 . The system of claim 30 , wherein the concert information includes one or more from ticket purchase information, time information, venue information, and singer information.

32 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the memory device further includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

collect information about friends of the user from the third party social network, wherein the friends are designated by the user in the third party social network;

process the collected information to identify a second set of keywords that are relevant to determining targeted-content for the user or the friends;

determine a relevant category for each identified keyword in the second set;

conduct a search, using the each identified keyword in the second set and the relevant category, over the targeted-content databases for locating matching targeted-content; and

presenting the matching targeted-content to the user.

33 . A method of providing concert content targeted for a user of a social network, comprising:

collecting information about the user from the social network;

processing the collected information to identify keywords that are relevant to determining concert content targeted for the user;

conducting a search using the each identified keyword over databases for locating matching concert content;

generating an output including the matching concert content; and

presenting the output to the user.

34 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the output is a calendar including information about the matching concert content.

35 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the information about the matching concert content includes one or more of ticket purchase information, time information, venue information, or artist information.

36 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising enabling a user to purchase a ticket for the matching concert content.

37 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising enabling a user to inform a friend in the social network about the matching concert content.

38 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the output is sent to the user via an email.

39 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the information about the user includes one or more information about preferences, interests, hobbies, and likes of the user.

40 . The method of claim 33 , wherein the information about the user includes information about friends of the user, including one or more information about preferences, interests, hobbies, and likes of each friend.

41 . The method of claim 40 , wherein information about a friend who is interested in the matching concert content is present to the user.

42 . The method of claim 41 , wherein the friend who is interest in the matching concert content is identified based on the one or more information about preferences, interests, hobbies, and likes of the friend.

43 . The method of claim 42 , wherein the identified friend receives the formation about the matching concert content.

44 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising enabling the user to specify criteria for the search.

45 . The method of claim 44 , wherein the specified criteria include a desired location of a concert.

46 . The method of claim 33 , wherein additional information is collected and processed for locating more matching concert content.

47 . The method of claim 46 , wherein the additional information is collected from a third party social network where the user is a member.

48 . The method of claim 33 , further comprising:

if the social network is a third party:

obtaining, from the user, a permission to access the social network, and

accessing the social network using the permission to obtain information relating to determining targeted-concert content,

wherein the obtained information includes information about the user and a list of friends designated by the user within the social network.

49 . The method of claim 48 , wherein accessing the third party social network includes using an API interface to directly access the third party social network.

50 . The method of claim 49 , wherein the API interface is provided by the third party social network.

51 . The method of claim 48 , wherein accessing the third party social network includes using screen scraping to obtain the list of friends.

52 . The method of claim 51 , wherein the permission is a user's login credential information.

53 . The method of claim 51 , wherein the information about the friend is obtained through screen scraping of a Web page in the third party social network.

54 . A server for providing concert content targeted for a user of a social network, the server comprising:

one or more databases for storing information about the user, concert content items, related-keywords, and interest-categories; and

a computing device communicatively coupled to the database, the computing device is operable to:

obtain information about the user;

process the obtained information to identify keywords that are relevant to determining concert content targeted for the user;

conduct a search using the each identified keyword over the databases for locating matching concert content items;

generate an output including the matching concert content items in a predetermined format; and

present the output to the user.

55 . The server of claim 54 , wherein the predetermined format is a calendar format, a Web page format, an email format, or text message format.

56 . The server of claim 54 , wherein the server communicates with a third party service provider to obtain the matching concert content items, the third party service provider independently managing concert content items.

57 . A method for finding targeted-content for a user with a first set of keywords that are identified from information about the user, the method comprising:

conducting a search over targeted-content databases with each keyword in the first set;

obtaining search results including targeted content that matched at least one keyword in the first set;

obtaining a second set of keywords by querying a related keyword database using each keyword in the first set,

wherein a keyword in the second set is relevant to at least one keyword in the first set;

conducting a search over the targeted-content databases with each keyword in the second set; and

obtaining additional search results including targeted content that matched at least one keyword in the second set.

58 . The method of claim 57 , wherein the obtained search results are presented to the user as direct matching content.

59 . The method of claim 57 , wherein the obtained additional search results are presented to the user as indirect matching content.

60 . The method of claim 57 , wherein the targeted content includes an advertisement, an offer, a promotion material, information about a product, information about a service, or a discount coupon.