IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,456,140
Granted Patent B2
US 12,456,140 · App. 16/864,580 · Granted Oct 28, 2025

System, method, and computer storage media for employing user activity data of variants for improved search

Inventors: Gurudatta Horantur Shivaswamy (Saratoga, CA); Linyin Wu (Cupertino, CA); Manish Harshad Shah (Milpitas, CA); Atcharavan Vajarapong (San Jose, CA); Xiaoyuan Wu (Shanghai, CN); Jingying Wang (Shanghai, CN); Maoquan Wang (Shanghai, CN); Yuyangzi Fu (Nantong, CN)
Assignee: eBay Inc.
G06Q30/0631G06F16/24578G06F16/9535G06Q30/0621
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,456,140
App. No.
16/864,580
Granted
Oct 28, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A first variant of a listing and a second variant of the listing are received. The listing describes an item for sale in an electronic marketplace. The first variant describes a different iteration of the item relative to the second variant. First user activity data of the first variant is generated and second user activity data of the second variant is generated. The first user activity data corresponds to user input metrics associated with the first variant. The second user activity data corresponds to user input metrics associated with the second variant. A search engine receives a first query. Based at least in part on the first user activity data relative to the second user activity data, a first search result associated with the first variant is ranked higher than a second search result associated with the second variant.

Claims (62)

1. A computerized system comprising:

one or more processors; and

computer storage memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, implement a method comprising:

receiving a first listing and a second listing, each listing describes a same type of item for sale in an electronic marketplace;

computing, via at least an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) of the one or more processors, a first quantity of clicks of a first variant of a first listing and a second quantity of clicks of a second variant of the first listing, the first variant of the first listing and the second variant of the first listing representing different attributes of the first listing;

computing, via the ALU of the one or more processors, a third quantity of clicks of a third variant of a second listing and a fourth quantity of clicks of a fourth variant of the second listing, the third variant of the second listing and the fourth variant of the second listing representing different attributes of second listing;

determining that the first variant of the first listing and the third variant of the second listing correspond to a matching attribute that share a same value, wherein the matching attribute includes one of: a same size of the item, a same color of the item, or a same price of the item;

receiving, at a search engine, a first query describing the matching attribute;

ranking the first listing higher than the second listing based only on: the first query describing the matching attribute and the first quantity of clicks of the first variant of the first listing being higher than the third quantity of clicks of the third variant of the second listing, wherein the ranking is not based on the second quantity of clicks of the second variant of the first listing and the fourth quantity of clicks of the fourth variant of the second listing;

receiving a third listing that lacks any variant; and

based on determining that the third listing lacks any variant and determining that the first listing includes the first variant and the second variant and the second listing includes the third variant and the fourth variant, ranking the third listing below the first listing and the second listing by at least decaying the third listing.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first listing is presented in response to the first query being issued and wherein the second listing is presented in response to a second query being issued that is different than the first query.

3. The system of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

updating a data structure associated with the second variant such that the third quantity of clicks are now higher than the first quantity of clicks;

receiving another query associated with the item; and

based at least in part on the updating of the data structure, rank the second listing higher relative to the ranking of the second listing prior to the updating.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first listing includes a unique identifier that indicates that there are multiple iterations of the first listing and refers to a specific stock item in a seller's inventory or product catalog, wherein the first variant and the second variant have a same unique identifier as the first listing.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing of the first quantity of clicks and the third quantity of clicks is based on:

copying, by the one or more processors, activity data from a variant activity log to a first data structure and activity data from a listing activity log to a second data structure, the first data structure associating each variant with a listing identifier of the first listing and the second data structure referencing the first data structure; and

computing, by the one or more processors, the first and third quantities of clicks within a predefined time window, wherein the time window is defined by a window component and applied to the copied activity data in the first and second data structures.

6. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the computing of the third quantity of clicks further comprises deleting, by the one or more processors, one or more click counts associated with the third variant of the second listing based at least in part on the second listing corresponding to an expired listing.

7. The computerized system of claim 6 , wherein the second listing is determined to be expired based on an indication that a seller associated with the second listing has sold an item corresponding to the second listing.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a first listing and a second listing, each listing describes a same type of item for sale in an electronic marketplace;

computing, via at least an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) of the one or more processors, a first quantity of clicks of a first variant of a first listing and a second quantity of clicks of a second variant of the first listing, the first variant of the first listing and the second variant of the first listing representing different attributes of the first listing;

computing, via the ALU of the one or more processors, a third quantity of clicks of a third variant of a second listing and a fourth quantity of clicks of a fourth variant of the second listing, the third variant of the second listing and the fourth variant of the second listing representing different attributes of second listing;

determining that the first variant of the first listing and the third variant of the second listing correspond to a matching attribute that share a same value, wherein the matching attribute includes one of: a same size of the item, a same color of the item, or a same price of the item;

receiving, at a search engine, a first query describing the matching attribute;

ranking the first listing higher than the second listing based only on: the first query describing the matching attribute and the first quantity of clicks of the first variant of the first listing being higher than the third quantity of clicks of the third variant of the second listing, wherein the ranking is not based on the second quantity of clicks of the second variant of the first listing and the fourth quantity of clicks of the fourth variant of the second listing;

receiving a third listing that lacks any variant; and

based on determining that the third listing lacks any variant and determining that the first listing includes the first variant and the second variant and the second listing includes the third variant and the fourth variant, ranking the third listing below the first listing and the second listing by at least decaying the third listing.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the first listing is presented in response to the first query being issued and wherein the second listing is presented in response to a second query being issued that is different than the first query.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:

updating a data structure associated with the second variant such that the third quantity of clicks are now higher than the first quantity of clicks;

receiving another query associated with the item; and

based at least in part on the updating of the data structure, rank the second listing higher relative to the ranking of the second listing prior to the updating.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the first listing includes a unique identifier that indicates that there are multiple iterations of the first listing and refers to a specific stock item in a seller's inventory or product catalog, wherein the first variant and the second variant have a same unique identifier as the first listing.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the computing of the first quantity of clicks and the third quantity of clicks is based on:

copying, by the one or more processors, activity data from a variant activity log to a first data structure and activity data from a listing activity log to a second data structure, the first data structure associating each variant with a listing identifier of the first listing and the second data structure referencing the first data structure; and

computing, by the one or more processors, the first and third quantities of clicks within a predefined time window, wherein the time window is defined by a window component and applied to the copied activity data in the first and second data structures.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the computing of the third quantity of clicks further comprises deleting, by the one or more processors, one or more click counts associated with the third variant of the second listing based at least in part on the second listing corresponding to an expired listing.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the second listing is determined to be expired based on an indication that a seller associated with the second listing has sold an item corresponding to the second listing.

15. One or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving a first listing and a second listing, each listing describes a same type of item for sale in an electronic marketplace;

computing, via at least an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) of the one or more processors, a first quantity of clicks of a first variant of a first listing and a second quantity of clicks of a second variant of the first listing, the first variant of the first listing and the second variant of the first listing representing different attributes of the first listing;

computing, via the ALU of the one or more processors, a third quantity of clicks of a third variant of a second listing and a fourth quantity of clicks of a fourth variant of the second listing, the third variant of the second listing and the fourth variant of the second listing representing different attributes of second listing;

determining that the first variant of the first listing and the third variant of the second listing correspond to a matching attribute that share a same value, wherein the matching attribute includes one of: a same size of the item, a same color of the item, or a same price of the item;

receiving, at a search engine, a first query describing the matching attribute;

ranking the first listing higher than the second listing based only on: the first query describing the matching attribute and the first quantity of clicks of the first variant of the first listing being higher than the third quantity of clicks of the third variant of the second listing, wherein the ranking is not based on the second quantity of clicks of the second variant of the first listing and the fourth quantity of clicks of the fourth variant of the second listing;

receiving a third listing that lacks any variant; and

based on determining that the third listing lacks any variant and determining that the first listing includes the first variant and the second variant and the second listing includes the third variant and the fourth variant, ranking the third listing below the first listing and the second listing by at least decaying the third listing.

16. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15 , wherein the first listing is presented in response to the first query being issued and wherein the second listing is presented in response to a second query being issued that is different than the first query.

17. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15 , the method further comprising:

updating a data structure associated with the second variant such that the third quantity of clicks are now higher than the first quantity of clicks;

receiving another query associated with the item; and

based at least in part on the updating of the data structure, rank the second listing higher relative to the ranking of the second listing prior to the updating.

18. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15 , wherein the first listing includes a unique identifier that indicates that there are multiple iterations of the first listing and refers to a specific stock item in a seller's inventory or product catalog, wherein the first variant and the second variant have a same unique identifier as the first listing.

19. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15 , wherein the computing of the first quantity of clicks and the third quantity of clicks is based on:

copying, by the one or more processors, activity data from a variant activity log to a first data structure and activity data from a listing activity log to a second data structure, the first data structure associating each variant with a listing identifier of the first listing and the second data structure referencing the first data structure; and

computing, by the one or more processors, the first and third quantities of clicks within a predefined time window, wherein the time window is defined by a window component and applied to the copied activity data in the first and second data structures.

20. The one or more computer storage media of claim 15 , wherein the computing of the third quantity of clicks further comprises deleting, by the one or more processors, one or more click counts associated with the third variant of the second listing based at least in part on the second listing corresponding to an expired listing.

21. The one or more computer storage media of claim 20 , wherein the second listing is determined to be expired based on an indication that a seller associated with the second listing has sold an item corresponding to the second listing.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 18, 2020
From: SHIVASWAMY, GURUDATTA HORANTUR; WU, LINYIN; SHAH, MANISH HARSHAD; VAJARAPONG, ATCHARAVAN; WU, XIAOYUAN; WANG, JINGYING; WANG, MAOQUAN; FU, YUYANGZI
To: EBAY INC.
Reel/Frame 052684/0010 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210342915A1 · Nov 4, 2021
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