Social and contextual recommendations

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processing system, perform a method comprising:

receiving a first recommendation from a first source user in response to performing an action corresponding to a specified action context associated with the first recommendation;

in response to receiving the first recommendation, determining, from source information accompanying the first recommendation, whether the first source user appears in social network information of a target user of the first recommendation; and

presenting a first presentation of the first recommendation to the target user if the first source user is in the social network of the target user or presenting a second presentation of the first recommendation to the target user if the first source user is not in the social network of the target user, the second presentation being different than the first presentation such that the second presentation is indicative of the first source user not being in the social network and the first presentation is indicative of the first source user being in the social network.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

including an identifier of the first source user in the presentation of the first recommendation.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

wherein presenting the second presentation of the first recommendation comprises preventing the first recommendation from being presented to the target user in response to the first source user not appearing in the social network information of the target user.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

when the first source user appears in the social network information of the target user, distinguishing the presentation of the first recommendation by emphasizing the first recommendation with respect to a second recommendation from a second source user that does not appear in the social network information of the target user.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the action includes at least one of executing a computer program, accessing a website, accessing information from a storage system, arriving at or leaving a physical location, completing a first task, or not performing a second task within a certain time.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the social network information includes one of an address book or a contact list.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

providing the target user with an option to block a subsequent recommendation from the source user.

8. A method performed by at least one processing system, the method comprising:

receiving a first recommendation from a first source user, the first recommendation being associated with an action context that defines one or more actions to be performed by a target user before the first recommendation is to be provided to that target user, the first recommendation further including a designation by the first source user of an identity of the target user;

storing the first recommendation along with a specification of the corresponding action context, a specification of the target user, a first presentation of the first recommendation to be presented when the target user is associated with the first source user via a social network, and a second presentation of the recommendation to be presented when the target user is not associated with the first source user via the social network, the second presentation being different than the first presentation such that the second presentation is indicative of the first source user not being in the social network and the first presentation is indicative of the first source user being in the social network; and

providing the first recommendation to the target user in response to detecting that an action corresponding to the action context has been performed by the target user.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

receiving a second recommendation from a second source user, the second recommendation designated by the second source user for receipt by the target user; and

preventing the second recommendation from being provided to the target user in response to the target user not appearing in the social network of the second source user.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

providing a notification to the target user that the first recommendation has been made prior to the target user performing the action or receiving the first recommendation.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

providing a mechanism for the target user to immediately access the first recommendation based on the notification.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the action includes at least one of executing a computer program, accessing a website, performing a function on a website, accessing information from a storage system, arriving at or leaving a physical location, completing a first task, or not performing a second task within a certain time.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein the first recommendation is for at least one of a good, a service, a source of information, or a place of interest.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising storing the first recommendation in multiple formats to allow for providing the first recommendation to the target user in one of said multiple formats, a selected format being suited to a target user domain in which the target user is acting.

15. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving information regarding target user activities from a target user domain; and

using the information regarding target user activities to determine whether the target user has performed the action corresponding to the action context.

16. A processing system comprising:

a memory storing a recommendation manager; and

at least one processor configured to execute the recommendation manager to:

determine that a target user has performed a set of actions that corresponds to an action context of a set of recommendations from a set of source users, wherein the action context defines one or more actions to be performed by the target user in order to trigger transmission of the corresponding set of recommendations to that target user, the action context being provided by a source user along with a designation of an identification of a target user to whom the corresponding set of recommendations will be transmitted in response to that target user performing the set of actions specified by the action context; and,

in response to receiving the indication that the target user performed the set of actions specified by the action context, provide the set of recommendations to the target user in a format that allows recommendations in the set of recommendations from source users in the set of source users that are in a social network of the target user to be identified by providing a first presentation for each of the recommendations to be presented when the target user is associated, via the social network, with a corresponding source user of each recommendation or a second presentation for each of the recommendations to be presented when the target user is not associated, via the social network, with the corresponding source user of each recommendation, the second presentation being different than the first presentation such that the second presentation is indicative of the first source user not being in the social network and the first presentation is indicative of the first source user being in the social network.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the format includes source information for each recommendation in the set of recommendations.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the processor configured to execute the recommendation manager to provide the set of source users with the ability to make the set of recommendations.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the set of actions includes at least one of executing a computer program, accessing a website, performing a function on a website, accessing information from a storage system, arriving at or leaving a physical location, completing a first task, or not performing a second task within a certain time.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein at least one of the set of recommendations is for a good, a service, a source of information, or a place of interest.

21. A method performed by at least one processing system, the method comprising:

monitoring actions taken by a number of target users in a target user domain;

comparing said actions to a number of stored recommendations, each stored recommendation comprising a specification of a target user a specification of an action context that defines one or more actions to be performed by the specified target user before the corresponding recommendation is provided to the specified target user, a first presentation of the recommendation to be presented to the target user when the target user is associated with a source user via a social network, and a second presentation of the recommendation to be presented to the target user when the target user is not associated with the source user via the social network, the second presentation being different than the first presentation such that the second presentation is indicative of the first source user not being in the social network and the first presentation is indicative of the first source user being in the social network;

providing one of the number of the stored recommendations of the source user to the target user in response to the target user matching the specification of the target user of the stored recommendation and the target user performing a set of actions matching the action context of the stored recommendation.