Patent Grant
11399264
The field of the invention relates to data processing, and more specifically to the selection of content for display to a user in a travel information system and database, and to related methods. The field of the invention may further relate to digital search and content retrieval, and more specifically to the selection and rating of locations and location-related content for display in a travel information system and database, and to related methods.
Travel systems are often designed to enable users to research and plan for travel. For instance, a user can select a destination that the user is interested in visiting, and can discover cities, hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions within the location. Therefore, a travel system provides travel content to a user. However, conventional travel systems, in selecting content for display to users, do not take full advantage of relevant user information, resulting in the display of less-relevant content, and a sub-optimal experience for the users.
Websites dedicated to travel allow users the ability research and plan for upcoming trips. For instance, a user can select a destination that the user is interested in visiting (such as Italy), and can discover cities, hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions within the location. Such websites, applications, and other travel-oriented portals (referred to herein as “travel systems”) can mine travel-specific information from the activities of users within the travel systems.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for selecting content for display to a user in a travel system comprising:
receiving, at a server of the travel system, a request from a mobile device of the user for content recommendations;
receiving, from the mobile device of the user, a location of the user;
identifying, by the server, a plurality of context characteristics of the user based on the location of the user;
for each of a plurality of content categories, scoring the content category based on the identified plurality of context characteristics of the user;
ranking, by the server, the plurality of content categories based on the content category scores;
for each of a subset of the plurality of content categories selected based on the content category rankings:
identifying, by the server, one or more content objects corresponding to the content category, each content object associated with a physical location within a threshold proximity of the location of the user; and
for each identified content object, determining, by the server, a likelihood that the user is interested in the identified content object based on one or more characteristics of the content object; and
updating, by the server, a display interface displayed by the mobile device of the user, the updated display interface comprising a plurality of interface portions such that each interface portion identifies a selected content category and displays a set of content objects corresponding to the selected content category and selected based on the determined likelihoods that the user is interested in the content objects.
An advantage is that more relevant content recommendations can be provided to the user.
The mobile device may be a smartphone or a tablet computer.
The displayed content objects may include advertisements, hotels, flights, train journeys or discounted travel deals.
Selected content categories may include one or more of: places to eat, events, things to do, hotels, flights, train journeys, or discounted travel deals.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a travel system including a server and a mobile device, the server including a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the server to:
receive a request from a mobile device of a user for content recommendations;
receive, from the mobile device of the user, a location of the user;
identify a plurality of context characteristics of the user based on the location of the user; for each of a plurality of content categories, score the content category based on the identified plurality of context characteristics of the user;
rank the plurality of content categories based on the content category scores;
for each of a subset of the plurality of content categories selected based on the content category rankings:
identify one or more content objects corresponding to the content category, each content object associated with a physical location within a threshold proximity of the location of the user; and
for each identified content object, determine a likelihood that the user is interested in the identified content object based on one or more characteristics of the content object; and update a display interface displayed by the mobile device of the user,
wherein the display interface of the mobile device comprises a plurality of interface portions such that each interface portion identifies a selected content category and displays a set of content objects corresponding to the selected content category and selected based on the determined likelihoods that the user is interested in the content objects.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for selecting content for display to a user in a travel system comprising:
identifying, by a server of the travel system, a plurality of context characteristics of the user based on a location of the user;
for each of a plurality of content categories, scoring the content category based on the identified plurality of context characteristics of the user;
for each of a subset of the plurality of content categories selected based on a score of each content category:
identifying, by the server, one or more content objects corresponding to the content category, each content object associated with a physical location within a threshold proximity of the location of the user; and
updating, by the server, a display interface displayed by a mobile device of the user, the updated display interface comprising a plurality of interface portions such that each interface portion identifies a selected content category and displays the identified one or more content objects corresponding to the selected content category.
Optional features of the invention are recited in the dependent Claims. Optional features of the invention may be combined.
Aspects of the invention will now be described, by way of example(s), with reference to the following Figures, in which:
The figures depict various examples of the present invention, or of aspects of the present invention, for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative examples of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
A travel system generates and provides personalized and geographically proximate content recommendations to a user of the travel system in order to inform the user of content objects (e.g., activities, restaurants, attractions, hotels, gatherings, bars, landmarks, a public event and the like) that are likely to be of interest to the user. In various examples, the request for personalized content recommendations is sent by a client device to the travel system. The travel system provides content recommendations to the user for display within a display interface of the client device.
Content recommendations provided by the travel system include both content categories (e.g., “Breakfast and Brunch Spots”, “Parks”, etc.) as well as content objects (e.g., restaurants, activities, attractions, or other entities). The travel system identifies content categories that are likely to be of interest to the user of the travel system based on context characteristics of the user. For example, context characteristics of a user may include whether the user of the travel system is a visitor or a local in the user's current geographical location. Additional context characteristics of a user include the current time of day, current day of the week, a current or future weather forecast, a current or future environmental condition (e.g., temperature, air quality, humidity), preferences associated with similar users of the travel system, characteristics of the location (e.g., whether the user is in a dense urban area or a less dense rural or semi-rural area, or the existence of physical or geopolitical boundaries), and the like. For each content category, the travel system additionally identifies content objects associated with the content category that are likely to be of interest to the user of the travel system based on characteristics of the content object. A content object may be an attraction, activity, event, restaurant, business, and the like. A content object characteristic for a content object can include a distance from the user's current geographical location to the location of the content object, a current status of the content object (e.g., currently open/closed), suitability of the content object based on a context characteristic (e.g., current weather or time of day), popularity of the content object based on user reviews, an ease or availability of transportation to the content object, preferences of similar users of the travel system, and the like. In various examples, the travel system may score and rank each content category and each content object within a selected set of content categories, and may provide the ranked content recommendations for display within a display interface on the client device.
The client device receives the content recommendations and displays the content recommendations to the user of the travel system within a display interface. In various examples, the most prominently displayed content category displayed by the client device are determined by the travel system as likely to be of greatest interest to the user of the travel system in view of the context characteristics of the user. Additionally, the content object most prominently displayed within each content category is determined by the travel system as most likely to be of greatest interest to the user of the travel system in view of the characteristics of the content object. As such, the user of the travel system can receive and view relevant content recommendations within one or more relevant content categories.
System Environment
The network 100 facilitates data transfer (e.g., communication) between the one or more client devices 102 and the travel system 110. The network 100 may be any wired or wireless local area network (LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN), such as an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. In various examples, the network 100 uses standard communication technologies and/or protocols. Examples of technologies used by the network 100 include Ethernet, 802.11, 3G, 4G, 802.16, or any other suitable communication technology. The network 100 may use wireless, wired, or a combination of wireless and wired communication technologies. Examples of protocols used by the network 100 include transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (TCP), or any other suitable communication protocol. Additionally or alternatively, specialized application software that runs natively on a client device 102 is used as an interface to connect to the network 100. For example, a client device 102 may communicate with the network 100 through a software application previously installed on the client device 102.
A client device 102 is accessed by a user of the travel system 110. Examples of client devices 102 include a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook, a tablet PC, and the like. Further examples of client devices 102 include mobile devices, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a wearable technology (e.g., smart watch or smart glasses) or any other suitable computing device. The client device 102 can execute an operating system, for example, a Microsoft Windows-compatible operating system (OS), Apple OS X, Android, and/or a Linux distribution.
As depicted in
In various examples, application module 120 may execute an application displaying a user interface, for example, an internet browser for allowing the user of the client device 102 to interact with the travel system 110. In other examples, the application module 120 executes a native application installed on the client device 102 that is associated with the travel system 110. In doing so, the user of the client device 102 may provide login credentials (e.g., a travel system user ID, password) to the travel system 110 through the application to authenticate an identity of the user and to access personalized content received from the travel system 110.
In various examples, the application module 120 provides a request to the travel system 110 to receive content recommendations. The request may be sent by the application module 120 in response to an action on the client device 102. For example, when the application module 120 launches the application associated with the travel system 110, the application module 120 can be configured to automatically send the request to the travel system 110. Likewise, the application module 120 can request content recommendations in response to a user input, such as selection of an option within the application associated with content recommendations. In response, the application module 120 can receive content recommendations from the travel system 110 and can present the received content recommendations to the user through the display interface 115 of the client device 102.
The display interface 115 is configured to present information to and receive input from a user of the client device 102. In some examples, the display interface 115 is a component of a travel system software application, while in other examples, the display interface comprises an operating system or other software API accessed and used by the travel system 100. The display interface 115 displays information such as content recommendations received from the travel system 110 within one or more interface portions. Additionally, the display interface 115 receives input (e.g., a user input or user selection) through input devices (e.g., a touchscreen) of the client device 102. In various examples, a user input may be a scroll gesture received on a client device touchscreen. In response, the display interface 115 may scroll all or a portion of a displayed interface (e.g., may scroll between presented content categories, or may scroll content objects within a presented content category).
The travel system 110 provides content recommendations for a user of the travel system that are displayed through the display interface 115 of the client device 102. In various examples, the content recommendations provided by a travel system 110 are uniquely tailored for each user. To do so, the travel system 110 may maintain information associated with each user such as the user's interests, a user's biographical information (e.g., name, age, hometown, birthplace), content the user has previously viewed or interacted with, user uploaded images, places a user has visited, user provided recommendations, and the like. Additionally, the travel system 110 may categorize users of the travel system 110 into various groups with one or more common interests (e.g., travel system characteristics), hereafter referred to as “tribes” of the travel system 110. Further details regarding the creation and the categorization of users of the travel system 110 into various tribes are described in U.S. application Ser. No. 14/171,521, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
To generate and provide content recommendations, the travel system 110 includes a content engine 200, a display interface engine 150, a content category storage module 160, and a content object storage module 170. The content engine 200 generates content recommendations for a user of the travel system 110. For example, the content engine 200 identifies one or more content categories stored in the content category store 160 that are likely of interest to the user of the travel system 110. Examples of content categories may include, but are not limited to: a little bit of history (content objects with particular historical relevance), backpacker favorites (content objects popular with users that enjoy backpacking), beat the heat (content objects that are appropriate when the temperature is high), breakfast and brunch spots, budget friendly dining, date night ideas, drink spot ideas, escape the gloom (content objects that are appropriate for adverse weather), events this week (event-type content objects occurring this week), fun with kids (kid-friendly content objects), get artsy (content objects that are popular with users that enjoy the arts), get caffeinated (coffee-related content objects), get outside (content objects involving the outdoors), get tipsy (content objects that are alcohol related), get your adventure on (content objects that are popular with adventurous users), go to bed (content objects associated with overnight stays), grab a drink, grab coffee & relax, grab dinner, happy hour o'clock, late night bites, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) friendly, local favorites (content objects popular with locals), lunch spots, luxury dining spots, nearby destinations (content objects within a threshold distance to the user), new in town (content objects that have opened within a recent threshold amount of time), outdoorsy friendly (content objects that accommodate people that enjoy the outdoors), rate it! (content objects that are seeking user feedback), restaurant ideas, satisfy your sweet tooth (content objects that are popular with users that enjoy sweet foods), something sweet (content objects for users seeking to make a romantic gesture), stay dry (content objects that are appropriate for inclement weather), stay warm (content objects that enable users to warm up), staycation! (content objects that are local to the user's location and popular with locals), things to do (content objects that give users ideas for activities), time to relax (content objects that are popular with users that enjoy relaxing activities), top cities, top drinks & nightlife, top hotels, top regions, top restaurants, top things to do, trendy dining, vegetarian friendly food, weekend getaways, and the like.
For each identified content category, the content engine 200 further identifies one or more content objects associated with the content category that are also likely to be of interest to the user of the travel system 110. Examples of content objects include a specific activity, a restaurant, an attraction, a gathering, a landmark, a public event, and the like. Each content object may have associated information (e.g., identifying information, operating hours, price range, ratings, descriptions (e.g., appropriate attire, reservations accepted, how busy the location is) and the like) that are stored in the content object store 170. Additionally, information associated with each content object also includes an identification of one or more content categories with which the content object is associated. For example, for a restaurant that serves coffee and brunch or breakfast, the travel system 110 may further store an identification of the “breakfast and brunch spots” and/or the “get caffeinated” content categories in association with the restaurant.
The display interface engine 150 provides an interface that includes the content recommendations to be presented through the display interface 115 of the client device 102. As used hereafter, content recommendations refer to both content categories and content objects associated with each content category. For example, reference is hereby made to
In various examples, the display interface engine 150 provides instructions to the client device 102 as to how the content recommendations are to be displayed by the display interface 115 of the client device 102. Therefore, the client device 102 can update the display interface 115 accordingly. For example, the display interface engine 150 provides content categories, content objects, and instructions that specify where each content category and content object is to be placed on the interface 300 (or a ranking of content categories and content objects within each category and an instruction to display the content categories and content objects in ranked order). Referring to
Selecting Content Recommendations
The context characteristics module 205 accesses various context characteristics of a user that are used in identifying the content categories that are to be presented to the user. Examples of context characteristics of the user include, but are not limited to: the user's current geographical location, whether the user is a traveler or a local based on the user's current geographical location, a current time of day, a current day of week, a current or future weather forecast, a current or future environmental condition (e.g., temperature, air quality, humidity), preferences associated with additional users of the travel system 110 in common tribes or with common characteristics as the user of the travel system 110, and the like.
The content object characteristics module 210 accesses various content object characteristics that are used in determining the content objects of selected content categories that are to be presented to the user of the travel system 110. Examples of content object characteristics include, but are not limited to: the user's current distance to the content object, a current status of the content object (e.g., open or closed), an ease or availability of transportation to the content object, preferences of additional users in a common tribe or with common characteristics as the user of the travel system 110, suitability of the content object based on a context characteristic (e.g., current weather or time of day), popularity of the content object based on user reviews, and the like.
The content scoring module 215 scores content categories and content objects within each content category based on the context characteristics of the user and content object characteristics, respectively. As such, the scored content categories and scored content objects within each content category can be provided to the content ranking module 220 in order to generate the content recommendations for a user of the travel system 110.
The content scoring module 215 may assign a weight to each context characteristic that is a measure of the importance of that context characteristic to the user in relation to other context characteristics of the user. One example ranking of context characteristics of the user includes: 1) whether the user is a traveler or a local based on the current geographical location, 2) a current time, 3) a current or future weather forecast, and 4) preferences of additional users in a common tribe of the travel system 110. In another example, the content scoring module 215 trains a machine learning model to assign and update weights assigned to each context characteristic based on actions taken by users within the travel system 110. For example, if a content category is presented to users of the travel system 110 but performs unexpectedly (e.g., exceeds expected interest or receives subpar interest from users), the machine learning model is trained to update the weight assigned to each context characteristic to reflect the increase or decrease in interest.
The content scoring module 215 may further determine a strength of association between each content category and each context characteristic of the user. A strength of association represents a measure of how relevant a content category is for a user of the travel system 110 associated with a particular context characteristic of the user. For example, if the context characteristic of the user identifies that the user of the travel system 110 is a traveler at a current geographical location, the content scoring module 215 may assign a high strength of association to a content category that is popular to travelers (e.g., top restaurants) and a low strength of association to a content category that is popular with locals (e.g., staycation!). Similarly, if the context characteristic of the user is a time of day in the morning (e.g., 8 AM), then the content scoring module 215 assigns a high strength of association to a content category that is relevant for that time of day (e.g., “get caffeinated” or “breakfast and brunch spots”) whereas less relevant content categories (e.g., “late night bites” or “go to bed”) are assigned a low strength of association.
The content scoring module 215 scores each content category based on the strength of association between the content category and each context characteristic of the user and associated context characteristic weight. The score for each content category represents an overall likely interest level of a user of the travel system 110 for that content category. A higher assigned strength of association and a greater weight for a context characteristic of the user results in a higher score for the content category in comparison to a lower assigned strength of association and/or a lower assigned weight (assuming all other variables are held constant). For example, the content scoring module 215 can determine a product of the assigned weight and the assigned strength of association for each context characteristic and sum all products to generate a score for the content category. The content scoring module 215 provides the score of each content category to the content ranking module 220.
For each content category, the content scoring module 215 further scores content objects within each content category. To identify content objects associated with each content category, the content scoring module 215 accesses information from the content object store 170 that identifies the content objects associated with each content category. The content scoring module 215 scores each content object based on content object characteristics. In various examples, each content object characteristic is assigned a weight that indicates a relative importance of the content object characteristic to a user or to the content category associated with the content object characteristic in comparison to other content object characteristics. An example ranking of content object characteristics includes: 1) the user's current distance to a location associated with the content object, 2) a current status of the content object (e.g., open or closed), 3) an ease of transportation to the content object, and 4) preferences of additional users in a common tribe or with common characteristics as the user of the travel system 110.
Additionally, the content scoring module 215 determines a measure of interest for each content object characteristic. A measure of interest represents how likely a user of the travel system 110 is interested in a content object associated with the content object characteristic.
For example, if the content object characteristic is the user's current distance to a location associated with the content object, the measure of interest determined by the content scoring module 215 for the content object may scale inversely according to the distance. This reflects the fact that a user of the travel system 110 may be less interested in a content object that is farther in distance from the user. In various examples, the content scoring module 215 may compare the user's current distance to a location associated with the content object to a threshold distance. If the user's current distance to the content object is greater than the threshold distance, the content scoring module 215 assigns a low measure of interest for that content object.
If the content object characteristic is a current status of the content object, the content scoring module 215 may employ a scoring system such that if the content object is currently open, the content scoring module 215 assigns a first measure of interest. On the other hand, if the content object is currently closed, the content scoring module 215 assigns a second measure of interest that is lower than the first measure of interest. In other examples, the content scoring module 215 may further consider the time remaining until a content object is to open or close. For example, if the content object is to open or begin within a threshold amount of time (e.g., 1 hour, 30 minutes, or the like), the content scoring module 215 may assign a higher measure of interest in comparison to a measure of interest if the content object is closed for a longer duration of time. Alternatively, if the content object is to close or end within a threshold amount of time, the content scoring module 215 can assign a lower measure of interest in comparison to a measure of interest if the content object is to be open for a longer duration of time.
If the content object characteristic is the ease of transportation to the content object, the content scoring module 215 may consider various factors including ease of accessing public transportation to the content object, current traffic conditions to the content object, overall travel time to the content object, and the like. The measure of interest for the “ease of transportation” content object characteristic decreases as the difficulty to access or arrive at the content object increases.
If the content object characteristic refers to the preferences of additional users in a common tribe of the travel system 110 as the user, or with one or more characteristics in common with the user, the content scoring module 215 can determine a measure of interest for the content object based on the actions of the additional users in the common tribe. For example, if the user of the travel system 110 identifies as a vegetarian and is in the vegetarian tribe of the travel system 110, the content scoring module 215 identifies the actions of the additional users that are also in the vegetarian tribe. If the additional users in the vegetarian tribe often frequent a content object and consistently post positive reviews regarding the content object, the content scoring module 215 assigns a high measure of interest which reflects that the content object would likely be of interest to the user of the travel system 110.
In various examples, the content scoring module 215 determines, for each content category, a score for each content object associated with the content category based on the assigned weight and assigned measure of interest for each content object characteristic. The score represents an overall likelihood that the user of the travel system 110 will be interested in the content object. A higher assigned measure of interest and a higher assigned weight for a content object characteristic results in a higher score for the content object in comparison to a lower assigned measure of interest and/or a lower assigned weight (assuming all other variables are held constant). The content scoring module 215 provides the score for each content object to the content ranking module 220.
The content ranking module 220 ranks the content categories and content objects based on their respective scores and determines which content recommendations are to be provided to a user of the travel system 110. In various examples, the content ranking module 220 identifies and provides a threshold number of the top ranked content categories. Furthermore, for each of the top ranked content categories, the content ranking module 220 identifies a threshold number of the top ranking content objects associated with the content category. In one example, if a ranked content category does not include a threshold number of content objects, the content category itself is removed from the ranking to prevent the presentation of a content category that has an inappropriately low number of content objects.
In various examples, the content ranking module 220 sets a threshold content category score, such that if a score of a content category is not above the threshold content category score, the content category is not included in the ranking. Similarly, the content ranking module 220 sets a threshold content object score, such that if a score of a content object is not above the threshold content object score, the content object is not included in the ranking.
The content ranking module 220 may generate a list of ranked content categories as well as ranked content objects within each ranked content category. The ranked content categories and ranked content objects are provided to the display interface engine 150 of the travel system 110 for display to the user.
Example Display Interfaces of Content Recommendations
In various examples, the interface 300 depicted in
Each content recommendation is presented in the interface 300 according to a likelihood that the user of the travel system 110 would be interested in the recommendation. For example, the most prominently presented content category (e.g., “Breakfast and Brunch Spots” 310) is the content category that is likely to be of highest interest to the user of the travel system 110 based on the context characteristics of the user. Additionally, within each content category, the most prominently presented content object (e.g., “LYFE Kitchen, Palo Alto” 330) is the content object that is likely to be of highest interest to the user of the travel system 110. The additional content categories (e.g., “Events this Week” 315 and additional content categories not currently shown in
Similarly, additional content objects (e.g., “Le Boulanger” 335 and additional content objects not currently shown in
Individual content categories of a plurality of content categories presented on the screen (e.g. 310, 315) may be independently scrollable eg. independently horizontally scrollable, or independently vertically scrollable.
In various examples the interface 300 is further configured to display a different interface in response to a user input. As one example, the interface 300 further includes additional selectable options such as “For You” 346, “search,” “activity,” and “more” 348 options. When the interface 300 receives an input on a selectable option, the interface 300 is configured to display a corresponding interface (e.g., a search interface, an activities interface, a more options interface).
The interface 300 can be updated in response to a scrolling input. In one example, the scrolling input is a downward scrolling gesture 385 received through the display interface 115 of the client device 102. Therefore, as depicted in
In another example, the scrolling input is a horizontal scrolling gesture 380 within an interface portion. For example, the horizontal scrolling gesture 380 causes the interface to correspondingly scroll content objects displayed within a content category to more prominently display a different content object (e.g., “Trellis Restaurant”). Similarly, a leftward horizontal scrolling gesture on an interface portion that identifies the “Things to Do” 355 content category causes the second interface 350 to more prominently display the “Stern Grove” 365 content object as opposed to the “Stanford Dish Trail” 360 content object.
In various examples, as shown in
The interface 300 and the second interface 350 are each configured to provide additional information regarding a specific content object. For example,
Referring to
The content object interface 400 is further configured to display a second content object interface in response to a user input. For example,
Process of Selecting and Displaying Content Recommendations
The travel system 110 ranks 525 the various content categories based on the determined scores. In various examples, a subset of the ranked content categories are selected based on the determined rankings. For each ranked content category from the subset of ranked content categories, the travel system 110 identifies 530 content objects that correspond to the content category. For each identified content object, the travel system 110 determines 535 a score representative of a user's likely level of interest in the identified content object based on characteristics of the content object and/or based on the context characteristics of the user.
The travel system 110 updates 540 a display interface that is displayed on a client device 102. The updated display interface includes at least one interface portion that identifies a content category and further includes a set of content objects that corresponds to the content category. In various examples, the most prominently placed content category (e.g., the top content category depicted in
Selection and Rating of Locations and Related Content Based on User Categorization
Users of travel systems can prioritize different types and aspects of travel. For instance, some users can prioritize budget or low-cost travel, others can prioritize luxury travel, and others can prioritize family travel. A pre-determined categorization of users with a common travel preference is referred to herein as a “tribe.” For instance, users that prioritize student travel are referred to herein as the “student” tribe. Accordingly, each tribe of users is associated with a travel category (or “tribe category” herein). Examples of tribe categories include, but are not limited to: budget travel, luxury travel, business travel, family travel, singles travel, student travel, wedding travel, honeymoon travel, bachelor/bachelorette travel, food travel, trendster travel, nightlife travel, adventure travel, outdoor activity travel, art & design travel, backpack travel, environmentally friendly or “green” travel, history travel, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender or “LGBT” travel, local culture travel, spiritual travel, vegetarian travel, wellness travel, and the like.
A set of weights can be determined for a user, indicating the user's preferences for each of one or more tribes. In some examples, each weight in the determined set of weights is a measure of affinity. For instance, if a user prioritizes student travel, the measure of affinity between the user and the student tribe can be determined to be 0.8 (on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0), and if the user does not prioritize family travel, the measure of affinity between the user and the family tribe can be determined to be 0.2. In some examples, for each user, a measure of affinity is determined between the user and every tribe. The measures of affinity for a user can be organized into an ordered set or a vector (referred to herein as a “tribe vector”) associated with the user, with each entry of the tribe vector being a measure of affinity between the user and a particular tribe. It should be noted that the measures of affinity between a user and particular tribes can be determined independently. As a result, a user can be associated with identical or similar measures of affinity for tribes with seemingly contradicting priorities. For instance, a user can be associated with a measure of affinity of 0.65 for the budget tribe, and a measure of affinity of 0.63 for the luxury tribe.
It should be noted that for the purposes of simplicity, the remainder of this description will refer to the sets of weights determined for a user as a set of measures of affinity organized into a user tribe vector. Further, it should be noted that instead of determining a set of weights for a user, a set of weights can be determined for a particular location query or a content request. For instance, for a content request, a user can select a particular tribe with which to identify content. In such an example, the selected tribe is not necessarily representative of the user's tribe preferences, and is instead used for a one-time content request.
Travel systems can organize travel information by location, and can include pages dedicated to locations. Examples of locations include countries, states, cities, towns, geographic areas, bodies of water, hotels, restaurants, spas, businesses, tourist attractions, museums, monuments, houses/lodges/cabins, and the like. Scores can be determined for locations, each representing a strength of association between a location and a tribe (hereinafter “tribe scores”). In some examples, such tribe scores are measures of affinity between a location and a tribe. The measures of affinity between locations and tribes can also be organized into location tribe vectors. Each entry of a location tribe vector associated with a location is a measure of affinity representing an affinity between a particular tribe and the location.
Travel systems can include content objects associated with locations, such as images, videos, ratings, scores, reviews, recommendations, itineraries, identities or usernames of users that have visited the locations, and the like. Content objects can include locations themselves. Such content objects can be displayed within pages dedicated to locations. For instance, for a page dedicated to the location “Rome, Italy”, the page can include images taken of/in Rome, reviews and recommendations of hotels in Rome, a list of users that have visited Rome, and the like. Content objects may be created and uploaded by users.
Tribe scores can also be determined for content objects, with each tribe score representing a strength of association between a content object and a tribe. In some examples, such tribe scores are measures of affinity between a content object and a tribe. The measures of affinity between content objects and tribes can also be organized into tribe vectors. Each entry of a tribe vector associated with a content object is a measure of affinity representing an affinity between a particular tribe and the content object. It should be noted that for the purposes of simplicity, the remainder of this description will refer to a set of tribe scores determined for a location or content object as a set of measures of affinity organized into a location or content object tribe vector.
Tribe vectors can be used to improve the experience of a user of a travel system. For instance, tribe vectors can be used to select locations for display in response to a search query, and to order selected locations. In addition, tribe vectors can be used to select content objects for display within a location page or within another travel system page or context. The computing and use of tribe vectors in a travel system is described below in greater detail.
System Environment
The querying user 1102 and the users 1104 can each be associated with a travel system user account, can have a screen name associated with the user account, and can have a profile associated with the user account. A user profile can include information uploaded by the user, such as biographical information, images, and the like. A user profile can also include information associated with a user's travels, such as locations the user has visited, content objects associated with locations uploaded by the user, and the like. For the purpose of simplicity, the remainder of this description will presume that each of the users 1104 has established a user profile and a user account. In addition, the remainder of this description will presume that the travel system 1110 includes content objects associated with locations created or uploaded by the users 1104. In practice, any number of users (such as hundreds or millions) can use the travel system, and can create or upload any number of content objects associated with any number of locations.
The querying user 1102 can access the travel system 1110 via the network 1100, and can perform any number of functions associated with the travel system. For instance, the querying user may plan a trip using the travel system, create an itinerary, purchase airfare, and the like. The querying user can query the travel system to identify potential locations for visiting, and the travel system can present location results in response to the query. The querying user can visit a page associated with a location, can browse content objects (such as images and reviews) associated with the location, and can upload or create content objects for the location. The querying user can also interact with other users, can visit profile pages or other users, and the like.
The querying user 1102 communicates with and accesses the travel system 1110 via the network 1100. The network may be a local area network, a wide area network, the internet, or any other network or combination of networks that allows communication between the entities of
The travel system 1110 can be a personal computer, a server, a data center, or any other computing device or system including a processor and configured to execute applications and/or computer instructions for performing the functionalities described herein. The travel system 1110 includes a user interface module 1115, a tribes module 1120, a query module 1125, a content selection module 1130, a users storage module 1140, a locations storage module 1145, and a content storage module 1150. It should be noted that in other examples, both the travel system specifically and the environment of
The users storage module 1140 stores information associated with users of the travel system 1110, such as profile page information, user account information, user biographical information, user history and preferences, and tribe vectors associated with users. The locations storage module 1145 stores information associated with locations, such as geographical information, travel-related information, a location category (such as “city,” “restaurant,” and the like), and tribe vectors associated with locations. The content storage module 1150 stores information associated with content objects, such as the content objects themselves (images, reviews, and the like), the identity of the location to which each content object is associated, the identity of the user that created or uploaded the content object, and tribe vectors associated with the content objects.
The user interface module 1115 provides the communicative interface between users and the travel system 1110. For instance, communications, such as search queries and requests for content, are received from the querying user 1102 and are routed by the user interface module to the query module 1125 and the content selection module 1130, respectively. Likewise, content objects received from a user 1104 are stored by the user interface module in the content storage module 1150. Communications from the travel system to a user are also routed by the user interface module. For instance, location search results from the query module and content objects selected by the content selection module are routed to the querying user by the user interface module. The user interface module can present one or more interfaces (such as graphical user interfaces, webpage, application interfaces, and the like) to users accessing the travel system.
The tribes module 1120 creates tribe vectors for users of the travel system 1110, for locations, and for content objects, for instance based on information stored in the users storage module 1140, the locations storage module 1145, and the content storage module 1150, respectively. Users, locations, and content objects are collectively referred to herein as “travel system entities.” It will be assumed for the remainder of the description that a tribe vector is created for each user of the travel system, for each location tracked by the travel system, and for each content object stored by the travel system, though it should be emphasized that in other examples, tribe vectors are only determined for certain users, locations, and/or content objects.
The tribes module 1120 creates a tribe vector for a travel system entity by determining a measure of affinity between the entity and each of a set of tribes, and by combining the determined measures of affinity into a vector. The tribes module can create a tribe vector for each travel system entity in advance of a received query or content request, upon the creation or uploading of an entity, in response to a search query or request for content received from a user, or in response to any other suitable event. The remainder of this description will presume that tribe vectors are computed for each entity in advance of receiving a query or content request.
The tribes module 1120 can determine measures of affinity for a user based on the preferences of the user. A user can select a priority for each tribe, and a measure of affinity can be determined for each tribe based on the user priority selection. For example, a user can select the “luxury” tribe as high priority, the “family” tribe as medium priority, and the “student” tribe as low priority. In response, the tribes module can determine a measure of affinity of 0.8 for the luxury tribe, 0.5 for the family tribe, and 0.2 for the student tribe. In some examples, users can select measures of affinity for tribes directly, for instance by entering a score between 0 and 100 for each tribe, or by adjusting a slider bar or dial that adjusts a measure of affinity for a particular tribe.
The tribes module 1120 can also determine measures of affinity for a user indirectly based on actions of the user. In such instances, measures of affinity can be determined based on tribes associated with a location. For example, if a user navigates to locations associated with a first set of tribes more often than if the user navigates to locations associated with a second set of tribes, the measures of affinity between the user and the first set of tribes can be greater than the measures of affinity between the user and the second set of tribes. Similarly, for content objects created or uploaded by a user in association with particular locations, measures of affinity can be determined for the user based on the tribes associated with the locations. Further, measures of affinity can be determined based on the user's check-ins to particular locations (the use of location-detection functionality on a device by a user to indicate the presence of the user at a location), a user's prior travel to particular locations, and the like.
The tribes module 1120 can also determine measures of affinity for a user based on characteristics of the user. For example, if a user is friends with or has otherwise established a connection with other users associated with high measures of affinity with a first set of tribes and/or low measures of affinity with a second set of tribes, the tribes module can determine high measures of affinity between the user and the first set of tribes and/or low measures of affinity with a second set of tribes. Further, measures of affinity can be determined based on biographical information provided by the user. For instance, if the user indicates that he is a student, a high measure of affinity can be determined between the user and the “student” tribe, and a low measure of affinity can be determined between the user and the “luxury” tribe. Finally, measures of affinity can be determined for a user based on common characteristics between the user and other users. For instance, if a set of users with a common characteristic (such as age, education, profession, family or relationship status, and the like) is associated with high or low measures of affinity for particular tribes, then similar measures of affinity can be determined for the particular tribes for a user sharing the common characteristic.
The tribes module 1120 can determine measures of affinity for a user based additionally on the actions of other users. For example, if a user is indicated by other users as an expert in a particular type of travel (such as “family” travel), the tribes module can determine a measure of affinity for the user based on the indication. In addition, if a set of users associated with particular tribes frequently communicate with or interact with a user, the tribes module can determine measures of affinity for the particular tribes for the user based on the communications or interactions.
The tribes module 1120 can determine measures of affinity for locations. Measures of affinity can be determined for a location based on the measures of affinity of users that navigate to, check-in to, or otherwise interact with a page associated with the location. Measures of affinity for a location can be determined based on an association of the location with particular tribes by users (“tags”). For example, if more users tag a restaurant as “budget” than “luxury,” the measure of affinity between the location and the budget tribe can be higher than between the location and the luxury tribe. Measures of affinity for a location can also be computed based on the manual association of particular tribes by trusted users, by travel system editors, or by individuals associated with the location itself (such as owners or employees).
The tribes module 1120 can determine measures of affinity for content objects created or uploaded by users. In one example, the measures of affinity between a particular content object and various tribes are the same as or similar to the measures of affinity between the user that created or uploaded the content object and the various tribes. Measures of affinity for a content object can also be determined based on the measures of affinity between the location to which the content object is associated and various tribes. Measures of affinity for a content object can also be determined based on characteristics of the content object. For example, if the content object includes the words “expensive” or “opulent,” a higher measure of affinity can be determined for the “luxury” tribe than for the “budget” tribe. In addition, measures of affinity for a content object can also be determined based on tags of the content object with particular tribes, for instance by the user that created or uploaded the content object, or by users that view or access the content object.
It should be emphasized that measures of affinity determined by the tribes module 1120 can be determined based on any combination of the factors described herein, or based on additional factors not described herein. For instance, the tribes module can mine data from external entities or web pages, from social networks, and the like to determine measures of affinity between travel system entities and tribes. Further, tribe vectors can be updated periodically, in response to certain actions taken by the users, or in real-time. It is presumed that ordering of the measures of affinity within the tribe vectors is substantially similar between travel system entities, with a particular entry of each tribe vector associated with one of a pre-determined set of tribes. Further, the tribe module can normalize measures of affinity associated with a particular tribe based on the number of users, locations, or content objects associated with measures of affinity for the tribe above a pre-determined threshold. For example, if the distribution of measures of affinity for a first tribe is skewed towards the bottom of a measure of affinity range, the measures of affinity can be normalized such that the distribution of the measures of affinity for the first tribe is more similar to the distribution of measures of affinity for a second tribe.
The tribe vectors of
Returning to the environment of
The query module 1125 selects a subset of locations from the identified set of locations for display to the querying user 1102. By selecting the most relevant subset of locations for display, the travel system 1110 beneficially improves the experience of the querying user in identifying locations most suitable or interesting to the querying user. The query module uses the accessed tribe vector associated with the querying user and the accessed tribe vectors associated with the identified set of locations to identify the most relevant locations within the identified set of locations. In one example, the query module identifies one or more tribes associated with the highest measures of affinity within the tribe vector associated with the querying user, and selects locations from the identified set of locations based on the values of the measures of affinity for the identified one or more tribes in the tribe vectors associated with the identified set of locations. For instance, if the greatest measure of affinity of a querying user's tribe vector is an affinity between the querying user and the “luxury” tribe, the query module can select a threshold number of locations from the identified set of locations including the highest measures of affinity for the luxury tribe.
The query module 1125 can also select a subset of locations from the identified set of locations based on other measures of similarity between the tribe vector associated with the querying user 1102 and the tribes vectors associated with the identified set of locations. In one example, the query module determines, for each location in the set of locations, a measure of correlation between the tribe vector associated with the user and the tribe vector associated with the location, such as a dot product or other suitable measure. In this example, the query module can select a subset of locations for display based on the determined measures of correlation, for instance, a threshold number of locations associated with the highest measures of correlation. Any other suitable measure of similarity can be used to identify the most relevant locations for display, for instance the cross-correlation between a user's tribe vector and a location tribe vector, the minimum entropy between the user's tribe vector and a location tribe vector, and the like.
The query module 1125, in response to selecting a subset of the identified set of locations, can display the selected subset of locations to the querying user 1102. In some examples, the selected subset of locations can be ordered by location type, by location popularity or rating, or by a strength of keyword match between a user's query and text associated with each location. The query module can also order the selected subset of locations based on the determined measures of similarity between the tribe vector associated with the querying user and the tribe vectors associated with the selected locations. For instance, if the subset of locations is selected based on the dot product between the user's tribe vector and the tribe vectors associated with the identified set of locations, then the locations in the subset of locations can be ordered from greatest dot product to smallest dot product.
In some examples, instead of computing a measure of correlation between a user tribe vector and each location tribe vector, the query module 1125 determines an overall score for each location in the set of locations based on a set of weights associated with a location query and a set of tribe scores associated with each location in the set of locations. In such examples, the query module can rank the locations based on the determined overall scores, and can select a subset of the locations based on the ranking of locations.
Returning to the environment of
The content selection module 1130 selects a subset of content objects from the identified set of content objects for display to the querying user 1102. As with before, selecting the most relevant subset of content objects for display beneficially improves the querying user's experience in using the travel system 1110. The content selection module uses the accessed tribe vector associated with the querying user and the accessed tribe vectors associated with the identified set of content objects to identify the most relevant content objects within the identified set of content objects. In one example, the content selection module identifies one or more tribes associated with the highest measures of affinity within the tribe vector associated with the querying user, and selects content objects from the identified set of content objects based on the values of the measures of affinity for the identified one or more tribes in the tribe vectors associated with the identified set of content objects. For instance, if the greatest measure of affinity of a querying user's tribe vector is an affinity between the querying user and the “family” tribe, the query module can select a threshold number of content objects from the identified set of content objects including the highest measures of affinity for the family tribe.
The content selection module 1130 can also select a subset of content objects from the identified set of content objects based on other measures of similarity between the tribe vector associated with the querying user 1102 and the tribes vectors associated with the identified set of content objects. Similarly to the query module 1125, the content selection module can determine, for each content object in the set of content objects, a measure of correlation between the tribe vector associated with the user and the tribe vector associated with the content object, such as a dot product or other suitable measure. In this example, the content selection module can select a subset of content objects for display based on the determined measures of correlation, for instance, a threshold number of content objects associated with the highest measures of correlation. Any other suitable measure of similarity can be used to identify the most relevant content objects for display, for instance the cross-correlation between a user's tribe vector and a content object tribe vector, the minimum entropy between the user's tribe vector and a content object tribe vector, and the like.
The content selection module 1125, in response to selecting a subset of the identified set of content objects, can display the selected subset of content objects to the querying user 1102. In some examples, the selected subset of content objects can be ordered by content object type, by a strength of keyword match between a user's query and text associated with each content object, or the like. The content selection module can also order the selected subset of content objects based on the determined measures of similarity between the tribe vector associated with the querying user and the tribe vectors associated with the selected content objects. For instance, if the subset of content objects is selected based on the dot product between the user's tribe vector and the tribe vectors associated with the identified set of content objects, then the content objects in the subset of content objects can be ordered from greatest dot product to smallest dot product.
In some examples, instead of computing a measure of correlation between a user tribe vector and each content object tribe vector, the content selection module 1130 determines an overall score for each content object in the set of content objects based on a set of weights associated with a content request and a set of tribe scores associated with each content object in the set of content objects. In such examples, the content selection module can rank the content objects based on the determined overall scores, and can select a subset of the content objects based on the ranking of content objects.
The location page of
A landing page can be displayed by the travel system 1110 to a querying user 1102, for instance when the querying user initially accesses the travel system, or when the querying user navigates to a home page portion of the travel system. The landing page can be populated with content objects based on the tribe vector associated with the querying user. For instance, if the tribe vector associated with the querying user includes high measures of affinity between the LGBT tribe, the luxury tribe, and the business tribe, content objects associated with tribe vectors including high measures of affinity for one or more of three tribes can be selected and displayed on the landing page. In some examples, a querying user can view different landing pages by selecting a “lens” (a tribe vector associated with a particular type of user, such as a user strongly associated with the “student” tribe, a user strongly associated with the “family” tribe, and the like), and the travel system can select locations and content objects for display in a landing page based on the selected lens.
Similarly, locations and/or content objects can be selected by the travel system 1110 for recommendation to the querying user 1102 based on a correlation or similarity between the tribe vector associated with the querying user and tribe vectors associated with locations and content objects. In one example, locations and/or content objects selected for recommendation to the querying user are displayed on a landing page, or within portions of other pages displayed by the travel system. Alternatively, locations and/or content objects selected for recommendation can be emailed to a querying user, presented within an application associated with the travel system, used to target advertising to the querying user, and the like.
Tribe vectors associated with travel system entities can be displayed within the travel system 1110. For instance, a tribe vector associated with a user can be displayed in a profile page associated with a user or within any other interface associated with the user. Similarly, tribe vectors associated with locations and content objects can be displayed in dedicated pages or interfaces associated with the locations and content objects, respectively. Displaying a tribe vector can include displaying a histogram representative of the tribe vector (with each histogram bar associated with a particular tribe, and with the height of the bar representative of the measure of affinity associated with the tribe). Tribe vectors can also be displayed in any other suitable form, for instance by displaying numerical values representative of the measures of affinity included in the tribe vectors, by displaying heat maps emphasizing tribes associated with the highest measures of affinity and de-emphasizing tribes associated with the lowest measures of affinity, and the like.
Operation
A set of locations is identified 1520 based on the query. Locations can be identified based on a category included in the received query, based on a keyword match between the received query and text associated with locations, and the like. A tribe vector associated with each location is accessed 1530. As with the tribe vector associated with the querying user, the tribe vectors associated with each location can be computed in response to receiving the query, or can be pre-computed and retrieved in response to receiving the query.
A measure of correlation is determined 1540, for each identified location, between the tribe vector associated with the location and the tribe vector associated with the querying user. Each determined measure of correlation can be a dot product between tribe vectors, a cross-correlation between tribe vectors, or any other measure of relatedness or similarity. A subset of the set of locations can be selected 1550 for display based on the determined measures of correlation. For instance, a threshold number of locations associated with the highest determined measures of correlation can be selected and displayed as a set of search results.
A set of content objects is identified 1620 based on the request. Content objects can be identified based on a content object type associated with the received request (e.g., images or reviews), based on a location associated with the request (such as review associated with the location), and the like. A tribe vector associated with each content object is accessed 1630. As with the tribe vector associated with the requesting user, the tribe vectors associated with each content object can be computed in response to receiving the request, or can be pre-computed and retrieved in response to receiving the request.
A measure of correlation is determined 1640, for each identified content object, between the tribe vector associated with the content object and the tribe vector associated with the requesting user. As described above, each determined measure of correlation can be a dot product between tribe vectors, a cross-correlation between tribe vectors, or any other measure of relatedness or similarity. A subset of the set of content objects can be selected 1650 for display based on the determined measures of correlation. For instance, the content object associated with the highest determined measure of correlation can be selected and displayed within a page associated with the received request.
Summary
A travel system generates and provides content recommendations to a user of the travel system. The travel system identifies content categories that are likely to be of interest to the user of the travel system based on context characteristics of the user such as whether the user is a traveler or a local at a particular geographic location. Additionally, the travel system further identifies content objects (e.g., attractions, activities, events, restaurants, businesses, and the like) for each identified content category that are likely to be of interest to the user based on characteristics of each content object. The identified content categories and content objects are provided as content recommendations for display to a user of the travel system, enabling a user to quickly navigate between content categories and content objects within each content category.
Targeted location-based search results can be provided to a user of a travel system based on one or more tribes of users to which the user belongs. A user can provide a search query, and a set of locations can be identified in response. A subset of the set of locations may be selected for display based on a correlation between a tribe vector associated with the user and tribe vectors associated with each identified location. A user can also request content objects from the travel system, for instance by navigating to a page associated with a location including portions for displaying content objects. A set of content objects may be identified in response to a request for content, and a subset of the content objects may be selected for display based on a correlation between the tribe vector associated with the user and tribe vectors associated with each content object.
The foregoing description of the examples of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.
Some portions of this description describe the examples of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, without loss of generality. The described operations and their associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.
Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In one example, a software module is implemented with a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or all of the steps, operations, or processes described.
Examples of the invention may also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise a general-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.
Examples of the invention may also relate to a product that is produced by a computing process described herein. Such a product may comprise information resulting from a computing process, where the information is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium and may include any example of a computer program product or other data combination described herein.
Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the examples of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
This application claims the priority of PCT/US2018/021267, filed on Mar. 7, 2018, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 15/452,418, filed Mar. 7, 2017, the entire contents of each of which being fully incorporated herein by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2018/021267 | 3/7/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2018/165241 | 9/13/2018 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9243913 | Lehman | Jan 2016 | B1 |
| 20120284105 | Li | Nov 2012 | A1 |
| 20140180798 | Bailey | Jun 2014 | A1 |
| 20150220544 | Zaltzman et al. | Aug 2015 | A1 |
| 20160360382 | Gross | Dec 2016 | A1 |
| 20160366546 | Yamasaki et al. | Dec 2016 | A1 |
| 20180260916 | Zaltzman et al. | Sep 2018 | A1 |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report, dated May 15, 2018, and Written Opinion issued in International Application No. PCT/US2018/021267. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210136537 A1 | May 2021 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15452418 | Mar 2017 | US |
| Child | 16491603 | US |
