IP Library Granted Patent US 11,777,890
Granted Patent B2
US 11,777,890 · App. 17/382,776 · Granted Oct 3, 2023

Computerized systems and methods for a message frequency and control assistant

Inventor: Tom Gulik (Santa Clara, CA)
Assignee: YAHOO ASSETS LLC
H04L51/42H04L51/216
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,777,890
App. No.
17/382,776
Granted
Oct 3, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

An email system is configured to enable a user to identify frequent email senders and block or consolidate emails from such senders. The emails received within a predetermined time period from a sender, who is selected for consolidation by a user of an email account, are consolidated into one entry in the inbox. This mitigates the inbox from getting overcrowded with frequent emails from various senders. Statistics related to various senders are also generated in order to aid the user in identifying senders whose emails need to be consolidated or blocked.

Claims (52)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device, at a user's email account, a plurality of messages from a plurality of senders;

identifying, by the device, a respective sender of each of the received plurality of messages;

determining, by the device, a respective type of each of the received plurality of messages;

generating, by the device, statistics for the received plurality of messages based on the identified respective sender and the determined respective type of each of the received plurality of messages;

providing, by the device, the generated statistics for display to the user on a user device in a user interface associated with the user's email account, the generated statistics enabling identification of senders whose emails need to be blocked, the user interface including an interface object enabling the user to instruct the device to block the messages from the identified senders; and

preventing, by the device, messages from identified senders that are to be blocked from being displayed in an inbox of the user interface associated with the user's email account.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generated statistics and the interface object are included in a contacts portion of the user interface associated with the user's email account.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the interface object is displayed based on generated statistics for the identified senders.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing previously received messages in the inbox based on information related to the identified senders; and

modifying the inbox to remove previously received messages from the identified senders from being shown in the inbox.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request from the user for analysis of the user's email account; and

performing an analysis of the user's email account across the plurality of senders or the plurality of messages.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generated statistics comprise at least one of a frequency of messages transmitted by each of the plurality of senders, types of messages transmitted by each of the plurality of senders, and a percentage of messages transmitted by a sender that is transmitting particular types of messages.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generated statistics are in a graphical or pictorial representation, wherein the graphical representation of the generated statistics shows the number of messages received in a predetermined time period.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of senders is an individual and the respective type of a received message from the individual is a personal message.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of senders is a business entity and the respective type of a received message from the business entity is an advertisement, a promotion or a message related to a transaction.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective type of each received message is determined based on at least one of a subject line or content of the received message.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded with computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a device, perform a method comprising:

receiving, by the device, at an email account of a user, a plurality of messages from a plurality of senders;

identifying, by the device, a respective sender of each of the received plurality of messages;

determining, by the device, a respective type of each of the received plurality of messages;

generating, by the device, statistics for the received plurality of messages based on the identified respective sender and the determined respective type of each of the received plurality of messages;

providing, by the device, the generated statistics for display to the user on a user device in a user interface associated with the user's email account, the generated statistics enabling identification of senders whose emails need to be blocked, the user interface including an interface object enabling the user to instruct the device to block the messages from the identified senders; and

preventing, by the device, messages from identified senders that are to be blocked from being displayed in an inbox of the user interface associated with the user's email account.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the generated statistics and the interface object are included in a contacts portion of the user interface associated with the user's email account.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the interface object is displayed based on generated statistics for the identified senders.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising:

analyzing previously received messages in the inbox based on information related to the identified senders; and

modifying the inbox to remove previously received messages from the identified senders from being shown in the inbox.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving a request from the user for analysis of the user's email account; and

performing an analysis of the user's email account across the plurality of senders or the plurality of messages.

16. A device comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising:

logic executed by the processor for receiving at an email account of a user, a plurality of messages from a plurality of senders;

logic executed by the processor for identifying a respective sender of each of the received plurality of messages;

logic executed by the processor for determining a respective type of each of the received plurality of messages;

logic executed by the processor for generating statistics for the received plurality of messages based on the identified respective sender and the determined respective type of each of the received plurality of messages;

logic executed by the processor for providing the generated statistics for display to the user on a user device in a user interface associated with the user's email account, the generated statistics enabling identification of senders whose emails need to be blocked, the user interface including an interface object enabling the user to instruct the device to block the messages from the identified senders; and

logic executed by the processor for preventing messages from identified senders that are to be blocked from being displayed in an inbox of the user interface associated with the user's email account.

17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the generated statistics and the interface object are included in a contacts portion of the user interface associated with the user's email account.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the interface object is displayed based on generated statistics for the identified senders.

19. The device of claim 16 , further comprising:

analyzing previously received messages in the inbox based on information related to the identified senders; and

modifying the inbox to remove previously received messages from the identified senders from being shown in the inbox.

20. The device of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving a request from the user for analysis of the user's email account; and

performing an analysis of the user's email account across the plurality of senders or the plurality of messages.

Assignments (6)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (FIRST LIEN) Recorded Sep 29, 2022
From: YAHOO ASSETS LLC
To: ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 061571/0773 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 16, 2021
From: YAHOO AD TECH LLC (FORMERLY VERIZON MEDIA INC.)
To: YAHOO ASSETS LLC
Reel/Frame 058982/0282 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 22, 2021
From: GULIK, TOM
To: YAHOO! INC.
Reel/Frame 056947/0439 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 22, 2021
From: YAHOO! INC.
To: YAHOO HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 056960/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 22, 2021
From: YAHOO HOLDINGS, INC.
To: OATH INC.
Reel/Frame 056960/0442 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 22, 2021
From: OATH INC.
To: VERIZON MEDIA INC.
Reel/Frame 056961/0064 →