IP Library Granted Patent US 8,484,142
Granted Patent B2
US 8,484,142 · App. 12/813,738 · Granted Jul 9, 2013

Integrating an internet preference learning facility into third parties

Inventors: Thomas Pinckney (Brighton, MA); Christopher Dixon (New York, NY); Matthew Ryan Gattis (New York, NY)
Assignee: eBay Inc.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,484,142
App. No.
12/813,738
Granted
Jul 9, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for a computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computers, helps target responses returned to a user through the use of a computer facility by performing the steps of (1) providing a user preference learning API to a third-party website to determine preferences of a user as related to a market of a third-party, wherein the preference learning API is executing as an extension of the computer facility; (2) receiving third-party information related to the market of the third-party; (3) collecting the preferences of the user and storing them as a user preference profile; (4) receiving a query from the user at the third-party website; and (5) using in the user preference learning API the third-party information related to the market of the third-party and the preferences of the user as stored in the user preference profile to provide a response back to the user that relates to the query from the user.

Claims (25)

1. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computers, helps target responses returned to a user through the use of a computer facility by performing the steps of:

providing a user preference learning API to a third-party website to determine preferences of a user as related to a market of a third-party, wherein the preference learning API is executing as an extension of the computer facility; receiving third-party information related to the market of the third-party; collecting the preferences of the user and storing them as a user preference profile; receiving a query from the user at the third-party website; and using in the user preference learning API the third-party information related to the market of the third-party and the preferences of the user as stored in the user preference profile to provide a response back to the user that relates to the query from the user.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computing facility is a machine learning facility.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the response is providing an advertisement to the user, wherein the advertisement is based on the preferences of the user as stored in the user preference profile.

4. The computer program product of claim 3 , wherein the advertisement is provided by the computer facility.

5. The computer program product of claim 3 , wherein the advertisement is provided through the third-party and enabled through preferences provided to the third-party from the computer facility.

6. The computer program product of claim 3 , wherein the advertisement is delivered to other users in a user's social network.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the response is providing a recommendation of at least one of a product and service related to the market of the third-party.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 , further, collecting the preferences of at least a second user to form a user preference profile for the at least second user, determining the second user to be similar to the user based on a comparison of preference profiles.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the response is providing a recommendation made by the second user.

10. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the collecting of preferences for the at least second user is taken from an internet based social construct, and the response is providing information to the user that shows the at least second user as a similar person on the construct.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the internet based social construct is a social network.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the collecting of preferences for the at least second user includes search result selections, the query is a search request, and the response is a search result ranked according to the search result selections of the at least second user.

13. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the collecting is from at least one of recommendations, purchases, and search result choices made by the user.

14. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the collecting is from sources that reveal location behaviors of the user.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the source is user location information from at least one of the web services foursquare, yelp, Google, Gowalla, and Facebook.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the source is user location information from a service provider.

17. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the third-party information consists of at least one of product information from product manufacturers, product information from web merchants, pricing information from other websites, availability information from other websites, pricing information from merchants, availability information from merchants, a review, comments, and ratings.

18. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the determining preferences is through the use of natural language processing.

19. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the API enables the collection of at least one of cost information, product information, personal information, and topical information.

20. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the collecting is from a user's interactions as represented in an internet based social interactive construct.

21. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein the Internet based social interactive construct is a social network.

22. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the response can be a list of reviews sorted by a review author's similarity to the user reading the reviews.

23. The computer program product of claim 1 , further comprising collecting the preferences of the user through third party websites.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 , wherein the collecting is through crawling third party websites.

Assignments (3)
CORRECTIVE DOCUMENT-APPLICAT'S REPRESENTATIVE SUBMITTED A REQUEST FOR RECORDATION OF MERGER DOCUMENT BETWEEN HUNCH, INC. AND EBAY INC. ON DECEMBER 2011, WHICH WAS RECORDED ON JANUARY 05, 2012 AT REEL 027475, FRAME 0958-0962. APPLICANT'S REPRESENTATIVE INADVERTENTLLY INCLUDED AN ADDITIONAL PAGE (REFERENCED HEREIN AS "INTEL-NUMONYX") WITH THE ORIGINAL MERGER DOCUMENT THAT WAS RECORDED. APPLICANT RESPECTFULLY REQUESTS THAT THE ORIGINAL MERGER DOCUMENT ATTACHED HERETO IS RECORDED WITHOUT THE INTEL-NUMONYX PAGE. Recorded Mar 16, 2012
From: HUNCH INC.
To: EBAY INC.
Reel/Frame 027890/0823 →
MERGER Recorded Dec 28, 2011
From: HUNCH INC.
To: EBAY INC.
Reel/Frame 027475/0958 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 29, 2010
From: PINCKNEY, THOMAS; DIXON, CHRISTOPHER; GATTIS, MATTHEW RYAN
To: HUNCH INC.
Reel/Frame 024759/0605 →
Continuity (8)
Continuation In Part 12483768 · Jun 12, 2009
Continuation In Part 12262862 · Oct 31, 2008
Provisional Application 61233326 · Aug 12, 2009
Provisional Application 61300511 · Feb 2, 2010
Provisional Application 61097394 · Sep 16, 2008
Provisional Application 60984948 · Nov 2, 2007
Provisional Application 61060226 · Jun 10, 2008
Related Publication 20100312650A1 · Dec 9, 2010