In-application recommendation of deep states of native applications

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a processing device via a network, a request from a user device executing a first native application indicated in the request, the request indicating an accessed state of the first native application to which the first native application is set;

identifying, at the processing device, one or more categories of the accessed state of the first native application;

identifying, at the processing device, a plurality of recommended application resource identifiers based on features of the accessed state, each of the recommended application resource identifiers referencing a different state of a native application of a plurality of native applications and, when selected by the user within the accessed state, changing the accessed state of the first native application to the different state of native application of the plurality of native applications, the plurality of native applications including the first native application indicated by an application state indicator; and

for each of the recommended application resource identifiers:

identifying, by the processing device, one or more recommended categories of the state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier,

determining, by the processing device, whether to recommend the different state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier based on features of the accessed state and features of the state of the application, including at least one of the one or more categories of the accessed state and one or more recommended categories of the state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier, and

when the different state is to be recommended, providing, by the processing device and via the network, the recommended application resource identifier to the user device in recommendation results,

wherein the recommended application resource identifier includes information indicating a difference between the different state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier and the accessed state of the first native application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises an application resource identifier that, when selected by the user, sets the first native application to the accessed state.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether to recommend the different state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier comprises:

determining a score of the recommended application resource identifier based on the features of the state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier, including the one or more recommended categories, and the features of the accessed state, including the one or more categories, and

wherein the determination to recommend the different state is based on the score.

4. The method of claim 3 ,

wherein the request further comprises a geo-location of the user device, and

wherein the score of each recommended application resource identifier is further based on the geo-location.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the determining of the score of each recommended application resource identifier comprises:

retrieving an accessed state recommendation record from a plurality of recommendation records based on a resource identifier indicating the accessed state, the accessed state recommendation record storing features of the accessed state;

retrieving a recommendation record storing the recommended application resource identifier from a plurality of recommendation records based on one or more features stored in the recommendation record and one or more features stored in the accessed state recommendation record, each recommendation record of the plurality of recommendation records respectively defining features of a different state of one of a plurality of native applications; and

determining the score of the recommendation record based on the features stored in the recommendation record and the features stored in the accessed state recommendation record.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the retrieving of the accessed state recommendation record comprises:

determining whether the accessed state recommendation record is stored among the plurality of recommendation records; and

when the accessed state record is not stored among the plurality of recommendation records:

obtaining data associated with the accessed state of the first native application from the first native application,

generating the accessed state recommendation record,

storing the accessed state recommendation record among the plurality of recommendation records, and

retrieving the accessed state recommendation record.

7. The method of claim 5 ,

wherein each of the recommendation records comprises a plurality of fields that respectively define the one or more features of the defined state, each field having a weight attributed thereto, the weight being attributed to the feature defined in the field, and

wherein the score of a recommended application resource identifier is further based on the weights attributed to the one or more features defined in the recommendation record of the recommended application resource identifier.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises one or more request parameters, the request parameters defining a number of application resource identifiers to include in the recommendation results or types of application resource identifiers to include in the recommendation results.

9. The method of claim 1 , where at least one of the application resource identifiers is used to access a sponsored state of an application.

10. The method of claim 1 , where at least one of the application resource identifiers is used to access a state of a different native application.

11. A recommendation engine comprising:

a network interface device configured to communicate with external devices over a network;

a storage device configured to store a recommendation data store, the recommendation data store configured to:

store a plurality of recommendation records, each of the plurality of recommendation records respectively corresponding to a different state of one of a plurality of native applications, and

store an application resource identifier to access the different state of one of the plurality of native applications; and

a processing device configured to execute computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing device to:

receive, via a network, a request from a user device executing a first native application indicated in the request, the request indicating an accessed state of the first native application to which the first native application is set,

identify, at the processing device, one or more categories of the accessed state of the first native application,

identify a plurality of recommended application resource identifiers based on features of the accessed state defined in an accessed state recommendation record corresponding to the accessed state and stored in the recommendation data store, wherein each of the recommended application resource identifiers references a different state of one of the plurality of native applications and, when selected by the user within the accessed state, change the accessed state of the first native application to the different state of one of the plurality of native applications, the plurality of native applications including the first native application indicated by an application state indicator, and

for each of the recommended application resource identifiers:

identify one or more recommended categories of the state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier,

determine whether to recommend the different state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier based on features of the accessed state and features of the state of the application, including at least one of the one or more categories of the accessed state and one or more recommended categories of the state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier, and

when the different state is to be recommended, provide the recommended application resource identifier in recommendation results to the user device via the network,

wherein the recommended application resource identifier includes information indicating a difference between the different state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier and the accessed state of the first native application.

12. The recommendation engine of claim 11 , wherein the request comprises an application resource identifier that, when selected by the user, sets the first native application to the accessed state.

13. The recommendation engine of claim 11 , wherein the determining of whether to recommend the different state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier comprises:

determining a score of the recommended application resource identifier based on features of the state referenced by the recommended application resource identifier, including the one or more recommended categories, and the features of the accessed state, including the one or more categories, and

wherein the determination to recommend the different state is based on the score.

14. The recommendation engine of claim 13 ,

wherein the request further comprises a geo-location of the user device, and

wherein the score of each recommended application resource identifier is further based on the geo-location.

15. The recommendation engine of claim 13 , wherein the determining of the score of each recommended application resource identifier comprises:

retrieving the accessed state recommendation record from the recommendation data store based on an accessed state resource identifier indicating the accessed state, the accessed state recommendation record storing features of the accessed state,

retrieving a recommendation record storing the recommended application resource identifier from the recommendation data store based on one or more features stored in the recommendation record and one or more features stored in the accessed state recommendation record, and

determining the score of the recommendation record based on the features stored in the recommendation record and the features stored in the accessed state recommendation record.

16. The recommendation engine of claim 15 , wherein the retrieving of the accessed state recommendation record comprises:

determining whether the accessed state recommendation record is stored among the plurality of recommendation records, and

when the accessed state record is not stored among the plurality of recommendation records:

obtaining data associated with the accessed state of the first native application from the first native application,

generating the accessed state recommendation record,

storing the accessed state recommendation record among the plurality of recommendation records, and

retrieving the accessed state recommendation record.

17. The recommendation engine of claim 15 ,

wherein each of the recommendation records comprises a plurality of fields that respectively define the one or more features of the defined state, each field having a weight attributed thereto, the weight being attributed to the feature defined in the field, and

wherein the score of a recommended application resource identifier is further based on the weights attributed to the one or more features defined in the recommendation record of the recommended application resource identifier.

18. The recommendation engine of claim 11 , wherein the request comprises one or more request parameters, the request parameters defining a number of application resource identifiers to include in the recommendation results or types of application resource identifiers to include in the recommendation results.

19. The recommendation engine of claim 11 , where at least one of the application resource identifiers is used to access a sponsored state of an application.

20. The recommendation engine of claim 11 , where at least one of the application resource identifiers is used to access a state of a different native application.