IP Library Granted Patent US 9,753,922
Granted Patent B2
US 9,753,922 · App. 15/158,989 · Granted Sep 5, 2017

Enhanced online user-interaction tracking

Inventors: Michael Häusler (Berlin, DE); Vyacheslav Zholudev (Berlin, DE); Darren Alvares (Berlin, DE); Horst Fickenscher (Berlin, DE); Niall Kelly (Berlin, DE)
Assignee: ResearchGate GmbH
G06F17/30011G06F17/3053G06F17/30867G06Q30/02H04L67/02H04L67/1044H04L67/22H04L67/42
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,753,922
App. No.
15/158,989
Granted
Sep 5, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for enhanced tracking of user interactions with online documents, such as, in accordance with various embodiments, interaction tracking on a sub-document level of granularity. In some embodiment, user interests or expertise are determined based at least in part on the tracked user interactions with document elements and topics associated with the elements.

Claims (39)

1. A method comprising:

analyzing contents of a plurality of documents to identify, for each document, document elements and their respective placements within the document;

ascertaining topics of at least some of the document elements based on keyword occurrences in the respective document elements;

in an electronic data repository, storing individually addressable database entries for the identified document elements, each database entry comprising a unique document-element identifier, and storing the ascertained topics in association with the respective document elements; and

using one or more computer processors,

tracking, at sub-document level, user interactions with the document elements and storing, for each of the interactions, at least the document-element identifier of the document element interacted with and an identifier of the interacting user; and

determining, for each of at least some of the interacting users, at least one of an interest or a field of expertise based at least in part on the tracked user interactions of that user and the topics associated with the interacted-with document elements, and

for at least one of the interacting users, recommending at least one of content or another user to the interacting user based on the determined field of interest or expertise.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein interests of the interacting users are determined based at least in part on consumer interactions of the respective users.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein fields of expertise of the interacting users are determined based at least in part on contributor interactions of the respective users.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein content comprising one or more documents is recommended to the at least one interacting user based on a match between topics associated with the one or more documents and the interest or field of expertise of the user.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, using the one or more computer processors, grouping users based on user attributes to define one or more user groups, and determining interests of the one or more user groups based at least in part on the tracked user interactions of users belonging to the respective user group and the topics associated with the interacted-with document elements.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the user attributes comprise at least one of a research discipline, a geographic regions, an institutional affiliation, an occupation, a seniority, or a reputation score associated with the respective user.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, using the one or more computer processors, generating, for one or more of the users, a recommendation of one or more documents based on a match between topics associated with the one or more documents and the interest determined for the user group to which the user belongs.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising further storing, for each of the interactions, at least one of a duration of interaction or a type of interaction, and weighting different types of interaction or different durations of interaction differently in determining the interest or fields of expertise of the at least some of the interacting users.

9. A system comprising:

one or more computer-readable hardware data storage devices storing

individually addressable database entries for a plurality of document elements identified within a plurality of documents, each database entry comprising a unique document-element identifier, and, for each of at least some of the document elements, one or more associated topics ascertained, at sub-document level, based on keyword occurrences in the respective document elements; and

for each of a plurality of user interactions with the document elements tracked at sub-document level, at least the document-element identifier of the document element interacted with and an identifier of the interacting user; and

one or more computer processors implementing one or more modules configured to:

determine, for each of at least some of the interacting users, at least one of an interest or a field of expertise based at least in part on the tracked user interactions of that user and the topics associated with the interacted-with document elements; and

for at least one of the interacting users, recommending at least one of content or another user to the interacting user based on the determined field of interest or expertise.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein interests of the interacting users are determined based at least in part on consumer interactions of the respective users.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein fields of expertise of the interacting users are determined based at least in part on contributor interactions of the respective users.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the recommended content comprises one or more documents recommended to the user based on a match between topics associated with the one or more documents and the interest or field of expertise of the user.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more modules are further configured to group users based on user attributes to define one or more user groups, and determine interests of the one or more user groups based at least in part on the tracked user interactions of users belonging to the respective user group and the topics associated with the interacted-with document elements.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user attributes comprise at least one of a research discipline, a geographic regions, an institutional affiliation, an occupation, a seniority, or a reputation score associated with the respective user.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more modules are further configured to generate, for one or more of the users, a recommendation of one or more documents based on a match between topics associated with the one or more documents and the interest determined for the user group to which the user belongs.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more computer-readable hardware data storage devices further store, for each of the interactions, at least one of a duration of interaction or a type of interaction, and wherein the one or more modules are further configured to weight different types of interaction or different durations of interaction differently in determining the interest or fields of expertise of the at least some of the interacting users.

17. One or more computer-readable hardware storage devices storing instructions which, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

analyzing contents of a plurality of documents to identify, for each document, document elements and their respective placements within the document;

ascertaining topics of at least some of the document elements based on keyword occurrences in the respective document elements;

storing individually addressable database entries for the identified document elements, each database entry comprising a unique document-element identifier, and storing the ascertained topics in association with the respective document elements; and

tracking, at sub-document level, user interactions with the document elements and storing, for each of the interactions, at least the document-element identifier of the document element interacted with and an identifier of the interacting user; and

determining, for each of at least some of the interacting users, at least one of an interest or a field of expertise based at least in part on the tracked user interactions of that user and the topics associated with the interacted-with document elements; and

for at least one of the interacting users, recommending at least one of content or another user to the interacting user based on the determined field of interest or expertise.

18. The one or more computer-readable hardware storage devices of claim 17 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more computers to recommend content comprising one or more documents to the user based on a match between topics associated with the one or more documents and the interest or field of expertise of the user.

19. The one or more computer-readable hardware storage devices of claim 17 , further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more computers to group users based on user attributes to define one or more user groups, and determine interests of the one or more user groups based at least in part on the tracked user interactions of users belonging to the respective user group and the topics associated with the interacted-with document elements.

20. The one or more computer-readable hardware storage devices of claim 19 , further storing instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more computers to generate, for one or more of the users, a recommendation of one or more documents based on a match between topics associated with the one or more documents and the interest determined for the user group to which the user belongs.

Assignments (4)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: OBSIDIAN AGENCY SERVICES, INC.
To: RESEARCHGATE GMBH
Reel/Frame 069773/0545 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 7, 2019
From: RESEARCHGATE GMBH
To: OBSIDIAN AGENCY SERVICES, INC.
Reel/Frame 050952/0439 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 29, 2018
From: RESEARCHGATE CORPORATION
To: RESEARCHGATE GMBH
Reel/Frame 046735/0114 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 23, 2017
From: HÄUSLER, MICHAEL; ZHOLUDEV, VYACHESLAV; ALVARES, DARREN; FICKENSCHER, HORST; KELLY, NIALL
To: RESEARCHGATE GMBH
Reel/Frame 041359/0396 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 62163728 · May 19, 2015
Provisional Application 62171056 · Jun 4, 2015
Related Publication 20160344828A1 · Nov 24, 2016