IP Library Granted Patent US 12,050,653
Granted Patent B2
US 12,050,653 · App. 18/130,793 · Granted Jul 30, 2024

Systems and methods for discovering social accounts

Inventors: Devin Redmond (Encinitas, CA); Ray Kruck (Burlingame, CA); Richard Sutton (San Mateo, CA); Anthony Dorie (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: PROOFPOINT, INC.
G06F16/951
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,050,653
App. No.
18/130,793
Granted
Jul 30, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and systems allow organizations to discover accounts, subscriptions, properties, sites and other online portals within each distinct social network platform and across disparate social network platforms, publishing platforms and networks that represent, claim to represent or are relevant to their organization and/or brands based on search terms and facilitate the statistical reporting and analysis of activities on the discovered properties.

Claims (56)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving or obtaining, by a computer, at least two terms and a strength of a relationship between the terms, wherein one of the terms is associated with a user or an entity;

querying, by the computer, at least two disparate social network platforms on the terms;

providing, by the computer, responses from the at least two disparate social network platforms to a user device having a filter function;

applying, by the computer, the filter function to the responses from the subset of the at least two disparate social network platforms to obtain properties within each of the subset of the at least two disparate social network platforms;

receiving, by the computer through a user interface, an indication that a subset of the properties has been selected; and

providing, by the computer through the user interface, publicly available content associated with the selected subset of the properties to the user device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically executing query strings, each of the query strings containing a term associated with the user or the entity, wherein the automatically executing comprises querying the at least two disparate social network platforms on the term associated with the user or the entity.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

classifying the responses from the at least two disparate social network platforms.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the classifying comprises applying automatic classification based on a frequency of term appearance in metadata associated with the properties, a term location in the metadata, or a combination thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining metadata associated with the properties across the responses; and

categorizing, utilizing the metadata, the properties into categories.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:

combining the responses or a subset thereof with prior search results or groupings of the prior search results based on the categories, platform-specific sources, or classifications of the responses.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein applying the filter function to the responses limits a number of the properties based on an activity date, an activity level, a term inclusion, a term exclusion, a topical relevance to the user or the entity, or a combination thereof.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and

instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and translatable by the processor for:

receiving or obtaining at least two terms and a strength of a relationship between the terms, wherein one of the terms is associated with a user or an entity;

querying at least two disparate social network platforms on the terms;

providing responses from the at least two disparate social network platforms to a user device having a filter function;

applying the filter function to the responses from the subset of the at least two disparate social network platforms to obtain properties within each of the subset of the at least two disparate social network platforms;

receiving, through a user interface, an indication that a subset of the properties has been selected; and

providing, through the user interface, publicly available content associated with the selected subset of the properties to the user device.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

automatically executing query strings, each of the query strings containing a term associated with the user or the entity, wherein the automatically executing comprises querying the at least two disparate social network platforms on the term associated with the user or the entity.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

classifying the responses from the at least two disparate social network platforms.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the classifying comprises applying automatic classification based on a frequency of term appearance in metadata associated with the properties, a term location in the metadata, or a combination thereof.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

determining metadata associated with the properties across the responses; and

categorizing, utilizing the metadata, the properties into categories.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

combining the responses or a subset thereof with prior search results or groupings of the prior search results based on the categories, platform-specific sources, or classifications of the responses.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein applying the filter function to the responses limits a number of the properties based on an activity date, an activity level, a term inclusion, a term exclusion, a topical relevance to the user or the entity, or a combination thereof.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions translatable by a processor for:

receiving or obtaining at least two terms and a strength of a relationship between the terms, wherein one of the terms is associated with a user or an entity;

querying at least two disparate social network platforms on the terms;

providing responses from the at least two disparate social network platforms to a user device having a filter function;

applying the filter function to the responses from the subset of the at least two disparate social network platforms to obtain properties within each of the subset of the at least two disparate social network platforms;

receiving, through a user interface, an indication that a subset of the properties has been selected; and

providing, through the user interface, publicly available content associated with the selected subset of the properties to the user device.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

automatically executing query strings, each of the query strings containing a term associated with the user or the entity, wherein the automatically executing comprises querying the at least two disparate social network platforms on the term associated with the user or the entity.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

classifying the responses from the at least two disparate social network platforms.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the classifying comprises applying automatic classification based on a frequency of term appearance in metadata associated with the properties, a term location in the metadata, or a combination thereof.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor for:

determining metadata associated with the properties across the responses;

categorizing, utilizing the metadata, the properties into categories; and

combining the responses or a subset thereof with prior search results or groupings of the prior search results based on the categories, platform-specific sources, or classifications of the responses.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein applying the filter function to the responses limits a number of the properties based on an activity date, an activity level, a term inclusion, a term exclusion, a topical relevance to the user or the entity, or a combination thereof.

Assignments (5)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AGREEMENT SUPPLEMENT Recorded Dec 9, 2025
From: PROOFPOINT, INC.
To: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 073910/0027 →
SECOND LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 8, 2025
From: PROOFPOINT, INC.
To: U.S. BANK TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 073889/0677 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 10, 2023
From: REDMOND, DEVIN; KRUCK, RAY; DORIE, ANTHONY; SUTTON, RICHARD
To: SOCIAL IQ NETWORKS, INC.
Reel/Frame 063277/0108 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 10, 2023
From: NEXGATE, INC.
To: PROOFPOINT, INC.
Reel/Frame 063277/0120 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 10, 2023
From: SOCIAL IQ NETWORKS, INC.
To: NEXGATE, INC.
Reel/Frame 064021/0643 →