Patent Application
20140075275
This disclosure relates generally digital magazines, and more particularly to generating a user-defined section of a digital magazine based on the results of a search query.
To discover interesting digital content, a user typically uses a web browser or other application to manually search various content sources. For example, a user searches for news articles on the website of an online newspaper, searches for blog posts from a popular technology blog, searches a social networking service for status updates from a friend, and searches a video sharing website for video content. However, accessing and searching multiple content sources, as well as reviewing search results from multiple content sources, to identify content is tedious and inefficient for users. Typically, content sources are not personalized for an individual user, resulting in many search results of little interest to a user. Search results from conventional content sources are also typically not presented in a format that encourages prolonged user engagement with the search results. Accordingly, a user searching conventional content sources often has difficulty readily identifying and accessing content most relevant to the user.
A digital magazine server creates a digital magazine for a user including content items for presentation to a user. The digital magazine server organizes content items having at least one common characteristic into various sections, and presents content items to the user according to the sections. Additionally, the digital magazine server creates a user-defined section of a digital magazine based on a search query received from a searching user. For example, the digital magazine server receives a request from a user to create a section of a digital magazine including content items satisfying a search query included in the request. By applying the search query to content sources, such as content feeds, the digital magazine server generates a search query result. In some embodiments, the content sources to which the search query is applied are specified by the user. Alternatively, the content sources to which the search query is applied are determined by the digital magazine server based on information about the user and content items on the digital magazine server. The search query result includes one or more content items selected from the content sources satisfying the search query. A section of the digital magazine including the one or more content items identified by the search query result is generated by the digital magazine server and presented to the user from which the request to create the section was received. Additionally, the section of the digital magazine including the content items identified by the search query result may be presented to additional users of the digital magazine server.
In some implementations, the digital magazine server determines that previously-selected content sources include additional content items after application of the search query and reapplies the search query to the previously-selected content sources. If a previously-selected content source includes additional content items satisfying the search query, the digital magazine server updates the search query result to include the additional content items satisfying the search query. The section including content items identified by the search query result is also updated to include the additional content items, and the updated section, including one or more of the additional content items satisfying the search query, is presented to digital magazine server users.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
A digital magazine server retrieves content from one or more sources and generates a personalized, customizable digital magazine for a user based on the retrieved content. The generated digital magazine is retrieved by a digital magazine application executing on a computing device (such as a mobile communication device, a tablet computer, or any other suitable computing system) and presented to the user. For example, based on selections made by the user or on behalf of the user, the digital server application generates a digital magazine including one or more sections having content items retrieved from a number of sources and personalized for the user. The generated digital magazine allows the user to more easily consume content that interests and inspires the user by presenting content items in an easily navigable print-style magazine interface via a computing device.
The digital magazine may be organized into a number of sections that each include content having a common characteristic (e.g., content obtained from a particular source). For example, a section of the digital magazine includes articles from an online news source (such as a website for a news organization), another section includes articles from a third-party-curated collection of content associated with a particular topic (e.g., a technology compilation), and an additional section includes content obtained from one or more accounts associated with the user and maintained by one or more social networking systems. For purposes of illustration, content included in a section is referred to herein as “content items” or “articles,” which may include textual articles, pictures, videos, products for sale, user-generated content (e.g., content posted on a social networking system), advertisements, and any other types of content capable of display within the context of a digital magazine.
A source 110 is a computing system capable of providing various types of content to a client device 130. For purposes of illustration, content provided by a source is also referred to herein as a “content feed.” Examples of content provided by a source 110 include text, images, video, or audio on web pages, web feeds, social networking information, messages, or other suitable data. Additional examples of content include user-generated content such as blogs, tweets, shared images, video or audio, social networking posts, and social networking status updates. Content provided by a source 110 may be received from a publisher (e.g., stories about news events, product information, entertainment, or educational material) and distributed by the source 110, or a source 110 may be a publisher of content it generates. For convenience, content from a source, regardless of its composition, may be referred to herein as an “article,” a “content item,” or as “content.” A content item may include various types of content, such as text, images, and video.
The sources 110 communicate with the client device 130 and the digital magazine server 140 via the network 120, which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, using both wired and/or wireless communication systems. In one embodiment, the network 120 uses standard communications technologies and/or protocols. For example, the network 120 includes communication links using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, code division multiple access (CDMA), digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Examples of networking protocols used for communicating via the network 120 include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol (FTP). Data exchanged over the network 120 may be represented using any suitable format, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensible markup language (XML). In some embodiments, all or some of the communication links of the network 120 may be encrypted using any suitable technique or techniques.
The client device 130 is one or more computing devices capable of receiving user input as well as transmitting and/or receiving data via the network 120. In one embodiment, the client device 130 is a conventional computer system, such as a desktop or a laptop computer. Alternatively, the client device 130 may be a device having computer functionality, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or another suitable device.
In one embodiment, the client device 130 executes an application allowing a user of the client device 130 to interact with the digital magazine server 140. For example, an application executing on the client device 130 communicates instructions or requests for content items to the digital magazine server 140 to modify content presented to a user of the client device 130. As another example, the client device 130 executes a browser that receives pages from the digital magazine server 140 and presents the pages to a user of the client device 130. In another embodiment, the client device 130 interacts with the digital magazine server 140 through an application programming interface (API) running on a native operating system of the client device 130, such as IOS® or ANDROID™. While
A display device 132 included in the client device 130 presents content items to a user of the client device 130. Examples of the display device 132 include a liquid crystal display (LCD), an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or any other suitable device. Different client devices 130 may have display devices 132 with different characteristics. For example, different client devices 130 have display devices 132 with different display areas, different resolutions, or differences in other characteristics.
One or more input devices 134 included in the client device 130 receive input from the user. Different input devices 134 may be included in the client device 130. For example, the client device 130 includes a touch-sensitive display for receiving input data, commands, or information from a user. Using a touch-sensitive display allows the client device 130 to combine the display device 132 and an input device 134, simplifying user interaction with presented content items. In other embodiments, the client device 130 may include a keyboard, a trackpad, a mouse, or any other device capable of receiving input from a user. In another example, the input device 134 is configured to receive information from a user of the client device through a touchless interface. Examples of a touchless interface include sensors, such as an image capture device, to receive gestures from a client device user without the user physically contacting the display device 132 or the client device 130. Additionally, in some embodiments, the client device 130 may include multiple input devices 134. Inputs received via the input device 134 may be processed by a digital magazine application associated with the digital magazine server 140 and executing on the client device 130 to allow a client device user to interact with content items presented by the digital magazine server 140.
The digital magazine server 140 receives content items from one or more sources 110, generates pages in a digital magazine by processing the received content, and provides the pages to the client device 130. As further described below in conjunction with
Each user of the digital magazine server 140 is associated with a user profile, which is stored in the user profile store 205. A user profile includes declarative information about the user that was explicitly shared by the user and may also include profile information inferred by the digital magazine server 140. In one embodiment, a user profile includes multiple data fields, each describing one or more attributes of the corresponding digital magazine server user. Examples of information stored in a user profile include biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptive information, such as gender, hobbies or preferences, location, or other suitable information. A user profile in the user profile store 205 also includes data describing interactions by a corresponding user with content items presented by the digital magazine server 140. For example, a user profile includes a content item identifier, a description of an interaction with the content item corresponding to the content item identifier, and a time when the interaction occurred.
While user profiles in the user profile store 205 are frequently associated with individuals, allowing individuals to provide and receive content items via the digital magazine server 140, user profiles may also be stored for entities such as businesses or organizations. This allows an entity to provide or access content items via the digital magazine server 140. An entity may post information about itself, about its products or provide other content items associated with the entity to users of the digital magazine server 140. For example, users of the digital magazine server 140 may receive a digital magazine or section including content items associated with an entity via the digital magazine server 140.
The template store 210 includes page templates each describing a spatial arrangement of content items relative to each other on a page (“layout”) for presentation by a client device 130. A page template includes one or more slots, each configured to present one or more content items. In some embodiments, slots in a page template may be configured to present a particular type of content item or to present a content item having one or more specified characteristics. For example, a slot in a page template is configured to present an image while another slot in the page template is configured to present text data. Each slot has a size (e.g., small, medium, or large) and an aspect ratio. One or more page templates may be associated with types of client devices 130, allowing content items to be presented in different relative locations and with different sizes when the content items are viewed using different client devices 130. Additionally, page templates may be associated with sources 110, allowing a source 110 to specify the format of pages presenting content items received from the source 110. For example, an online retailer is associated with a page template to allow the online retailer to present content items via the digital magazine server 140 with a specific organization. Examples of page templates are further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/187,840, filed on Jul. 21, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The content store 215 stores objects that each represent various types of content. For example, the content store 215 stores content items received from one or more sources 110 within a threshold time of a current time. Examples of content items stored by the content store 215 include a page post, a status update, a photograph, a video, a link, an article, video data, or any other type of content. A user may specify a section including content items having a common characteristic, and the common characteristic is stored in the content store 215 along with an association with the user profile of the user specifying the section.
The layout engine 220 retrieves content items from one or more sources 110 or from the content store 215 and generates a page including the content items based on a page template from the template store 210. Based on the retrieved content items, the layout engine 220 may identify candidate page templates from the template store 210, score the candidate page templates based on characteristics of the slots in different candidate page templates, based on previously-selected templates, and based on characteristics of the content items. Based on the scores associated with candidate page templates, the layout engine 220 selects a page template and associates the retrieved content items with one or more slots to generate a page where the retrieved content items are presented relative to each other and sized based on their associated slots. When associating a content item with a slot, the layout engine 220 may associate the content item with a slot configured to present a specific type of content item or to present content items having one or more specified characteristics. An example of using a page template to present content items is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/187,840, filed on Jul. 21, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The connection generator 225 monitors interactions between users and content items presented by the digital magazine server 140. Based on the interactions, the connection generator 225 determines connections between various content items, connections between users and content items, or connections between users of the digital magazine server 140. For example, the connection generator 225 identifies when users of the digital magazine server 140 provide feedback about a content item, access a content item, share a content item with other users, or perform other actions with content items. In some embodiments, the connection generator 225 retrieves data describing user interaction with content items from the user's user profile in the user profile store 205. Alternatively, user interactions with content items are communicated to the connection generator 225 when the interactions are received by the digital magazine server 140. The connection generator 225 may account for temporal information associated with user interactions with content items. For example, the connection generator 225 identifies user interactions with a content item within a specified time interval or applies a decay factor to identified user interactions based on times associated with interactions. The connection generator 225 generates a connection between a user and a content item if the user's interactions with the content item satisfy one or more criteria. In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 determines one or more weights specifying a strength of the connection between the user and the content item based on user interactions with the content item that satisfy one or more criteria. Generation of connections between a user and a content item is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/905,016, filed on May 29, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
If multiple content items are connected to a user, the connection generator 225 establishes implicit connections between each of the content items connected to the user. In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 maintains a user content graph identifying the implicit connections between content items connected to a user. In one embodiment, weights associated with connections between a user and content items are used to determine weights associated with various implicit connections between content items. User content graphs for multiple users of the digital magazine server 140 are combined to generate a global content graph describing connections between various content items provided by the digital magazine server 140 based on user interactions with various content items. For example, the global content graph is generated by combining user content graphs based on mutual connections between various content items in user content graphs.
In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 generates an adjacency matrix from the global content graph or from multiple user content graphs and stores the adjacency matrix in the connection store 230. The adjacency matrix describes connections between content items. For example, the adjacency matrix includes identifiers of content items and weights representing the strength or closeness of connections between content items based on the global content graph. As an example, the weights indicate a degree of similarity in subject matter or similarity of other characteristics associated with various content items. In other embodiments, the connection store 230 includes various adjacency matrices determined from various user content graphs; the adjacency matrices may be analyzed to generate an overall adjacency matrix for content items provided by the digital magazine server 140. Graph analysis techniques may be applied to the adjacency matrix to rank content items, to recommend content items to a user, or to otherwise analyze relationships between content items. An example of the adjacency matrix is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/905,016, filed on May 29, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In addition to identifying connections between content items, the connection generator 225 may also determine a social proximity between users of the digital magazine server 140 based on interactions between users and content items. The digital magazine server 140 determines social proximity, or “social distance,” between users using a variety of techniques. For example, the digital magazine server 140 analyzes additional users connected to each of two users of the digital magazine server 140 within a social networking system to determine the social proximity of the two users. In another example, the digital magazine server 140 determines social proximity between a first and a second user by analyzing the first user's interactions with content items posted by the second user, whether the content item is posted using the digital magazine server 140 or on another social networking system. Additional examples for determining social proximity between users of the digital magazine server 140 are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/905,016, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 determines a connection confidence value between a user and an additional user of the digital magazine server 140 based on the user's and the additional user's common interactions with particular content items. The connection confidence value may be a numerical score representing a measure of closeness between the user and the additional user. For example, a larger connection confidence value indicates a greater similarity between the user and the additional user. In one embodiment, if a user has at least a threshold connection confidence value with another user, the digital magazine server 140 stores a connection between the user and the additional user in the connection store 230.
Using data from the connection store 230, the recommendation engine 235 identifies content items from one or more sources 110 for recommending to a digital magazine server user. Hence, the recommendation engine 235 identifies content items potentially relevant to a user. In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 retrieves data describing interactions between a user and content items from the user's user profile and data describing connections between content items, and/or connections between users from the connection store 230. In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 uses stored information describing content items (e.g., topic, sections, subsections) and interactions between users and various content items (e.g., views, shares, saved, links, topics read, or recent activities) to identify content items that may be relevant to a digital magazine server user. For example, content items having an implicit connection of at least a threshold weight to a content item with which the user interacted are recommended to the user. As another example, the recommendation engine 235 presents a user with content items having one or more attributes in common with a content item with which an additional user having a threshold connection confidence score with the user interacted. Recommendations for additional content items may be presented to a user when the user views a content item using the digital magazine, may be presented as a notification to the user by the digital magazine server 140, or may be presented to the user through any suitable communication channel (e.g., e-mail).
In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 applies various filters to content items received from one or more sources 110 or from the content store 215 to efficiently provide a user with recommended content items. For example, the recommendation engine 235 analyzes attributes of content items in view of characteristics of a user retrieved from the user's user profile. Example attributes of content items include a type (e.g., image, story, link, video, audio, etc.), a source 110 from which a content item was received, time when a content item was retrieved, and subject matter of a content item. Example characteristics of a user include biographic information about the user, users connected to the user, and interactions between the user and content items. In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 analyzes attributes of content items in view of a user's characteristics for a specified time period to generate a set of recommended content items. The set of recommended content items may be presented to the user or may be further analyzed based on user characteristics and on content item attributes to generate a more refined set of recommended content items. For example, a setting included in a user's user profile specifies a length of time for analyzing content items to identify content items for recommending to the user, allowing a user to balance refinement of recommended content items with time used to identify recommended content items.
The search module 240 receives a search query from a user and retrieves content items from one or more sources 110 based on the search query. For example, content items having at least a portion of an attribute matching at least a portion of a search query are retrieved from one or more sources 110. The user may specify sources 110 from which content items are received through settings maintained by the user's user profile or by identifying one or more sources in the search query. In one embodiment, the search module 240 generates a section of the digital magazine including the content items identified based on the search query, as the identified content items have a common attribute of their association with the search query. Presenting identified content items identified from a search query allows a user to more easily identify additional content items at least partially matching the search query when additional content items are provided by sources 110.
To more efficiently identify content items based on search queries, the search module 240 may index content items from various sources 110, groups (or sections) of content items, and user profile information. In one embodiment, the index includes information about various content items, such as author, source, topic, creation date/time, user interaction information, document title, geographic metadata, document text, or other information capable of identifying the content item. In one example, the index includes user-supplied metadata, such as commentary on a content item, tags associated with the content item by the user, or categories associated with the content items by the user. Search queries are compared to information maintained in the index to identify content items for presentation to a user. The search module 240 may present identified content items based on a ranking. One or more factors associated with the content items may be used to generate the ranking. Examples of factors include: global popularity of a content item among users of the digital magazine server 140, connections between users interacting with a content item and the user providing the search query, and information from a source 110. Additionally, the search module 240 may assign a weight to the index information associated with each content item selected based on similarity between the index information and a search query and rank the content items based on their weights. For example, content items identified based on a search query are presented in a section of the digital magazine in an order based in part on the ranking of the content items.
Presenting the search results as a user-defined section of a digital magazine allows a digital magazine server user to access the search results by filtering sections of the digital magazine to identify the user-defined section. Allowing identification of search results by filtering for a section including the search results enables a user to more easily identify the search results from other content items and to identify additional contextually-related content items more easily than through conventional search methods. For example, the search results are presented in a digital magazine as an ordered listing based on the source 110 of the content items included in the search results; a user may filter the ordered listing based on sources 110 to readily access content items from specific sources 110.
Further, presenting search results as a section of a digital magazine allows additional users of the digital magazine server 140 to subscribe to the section and view the search results from a search query provided by another user. Additionally, search results presented in a section may be ranked based on interaction of digital magazine server users with content items in the search results, user profile information of users accessing the section, social proximity between digital magazine server users accessing content items in the search results, or other suitable information. In one embodiment, a section of a digital magazine generated based on search results satisfying a search query remains unchanged as additional content items satisfying the search query are identified from one or more sources 110. Alternatively, a section of a digital magazine including content items satisfying a search query is updated to include additional content items from one or more sources 110 satisfying the search query when the additional content items are provided by the one or more sources 110; similarly, the section may be updated as content items satisfying the search query are removed from one or more sources 110, allowing dynamic modification of content items presented by the section based on changes to content items provided by sources 110.
To increase user interaction with the digital magazine, the interface generator 245 maintains instructions associating received input with actions performed by the digital magazine server 140 or by a digital magazine application executing on a client device 130. For example, instructions maintained by the interface generator 245 associate types of inputs or specific inputs received via an input device 132 of a client device 130 with modifications to content presented by a digital magazine. As an example, if the input device 132 is a touch-sensitive display, the interface generator 245 includes instructions associating different gestures with navigation through content items presented by a digital magazine. Instructions from the interface generator 245 are communicated to a digital magazine application or other application executing on a client device 130 on which content from the digital magazine server 140 is presented. Inputs received via an input device 132 of the client device 130 are processed based on the instructions when content items are presented via the digital magazine server 140 is presented to simplify user interaction with content presented by the digital magazine server 140.
The web server 250 links the digital magazine server 140 via the network 120 to the one or more client devices 130, as well as to the one or more sources 110. The web server 250 serves web pages, as well as other content, such as JAVA®, FLASH®, XML and so forth. The web server 250 may retrieve content item from one or more sources 110. Additionally, the web server 250 communicates instructions for generating pages of content items from the layout engine 220 and instructions for processing received input from the interface generator 245 to a client device 130 for presentation to a user. The web server 250 also receives requests for content or other information from a client device 130 and communicates the request or information to components of the digital magazine server 140 to perform corresponding actions. Additionally, the web server 250 may provide application programming interface (API) functionality to send data directly to native client device operating systems, such as IOS®, ANDROID™, WEBOS®, or BlackberryOS.
For purposes of illustration,
In the example of
A content region 304 may present image data, text, data, a combination of image and text data, or any other information retrieved from a corresponding content item. For example, in
Sections may be further organized into subsections, with content items associated with one or more subsections presented in content regions. Information describing sections or subsections, such as a characteristic common to content items in a section or subsection, may be stored in the content store 215 and associated with a user profile to simplify generation of a section or subsection for the user. A page template associated with a subsection may be identified, and slots in the page template associated with the subsection used to determine presentation of content items from the subsection relative to each other. Referring to
The digital magazine server 140 receives 402 a request from a searching user via a client device 130 and the network 120 to create a section of a digital magazine including content satisfying a search query included in the request. For example, the search query includes one or more search terms describing an attribute of a content item. Example attributes of a content item described by a search term include a topic, a user, a source identifier, and a hash tag. A search term may include alphanumeric characters as well as symbols. A search term may also include structured data, such as a latitude-longitude pair, or an item from a controlled vocabulary, such as a stock ticker symbol or an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) airport code. Additionally, the request may identify one or more sources 110, allowing the user from which the request is received 402 to identify sources 110 from which content items are retrieved. For example, a request may specify the source “@flipboard_username” to search for content items associated with a digital magazine server user identified by “username.” Other types of sources 110 may be identified by the request, such as a social networking service, a digital magazine, a blog, or any source 110 accessible by the digital magazine server 140.
The digital magazine server 140 applies 406 the search query included in the search request to one or more sources 110. In one embodiment, the digital magazine server 140 applies 406 the search query to sources 110 identified by the request. Alternatively, the digital magazine server 140 selects sources 110 to which the search query is applied. For example, the digital magazine server 140 identifies sources 110 based on information in user profiles describing user interactions with content items provided by various sources 110, user profile information, connections between additional content items and content items with which the user from which the request was received interacted, connections between users, or other suitable information. This allows the digital magazine server 140 to identify sources 110 likely to include content items relevant to the user, increasing the likelihood of the search query providing the user with content items that interest and inspires the user to explore additional content and to share content items with other digital magazine server users. Selection of sources 110 by the digital magazine server 140 is further described below in conjunction with
To apply the search query, the digital magazine server 140 compares information included in the search request to information (e.g., author, source identifier, topic, creation date or time, user interaction information, document title, or other information suitable to uniquely identify the content item) maintained in an index of content items from various sources 110 maintained by the search module 240 and identifies content items having information at least partially matching the search query for presentation to a user. Alternatively, the digital magazine server 140 retrieves information describing content items from one or more sources 110 and compares the retrieved information to the search query to identify content items associated with information at least partially matching the search query.
Content items maintained by various sources 110 may be dynamically modified. For example, content items are added or deleted from a source 110 over time. As content items maintained by a source 110 are modified, the search query may be applied 404 to the source 110 to determine if the modified content items at least partially satisfy the search query. For example, if additional content items are added to a source 110, the digital magazine server 140 applies the search query to the source 110 to determine if one or more of the additional content items at least partially satisfy the search query. This allows the digital magazine server 140 to dynamically identify additional content items that at least partially satisfy the search query or to determine when content items that at least partially satisfy the search query are removed from a source 110. To determine if content items maintained by a source 110 have been modified (e.g., content items added to or deleted from the source 110 since application 404 of the search query to the source 110), the digital magazine server 140 may compare metadata from a content item received from a source 110, such as a time stamp, to a time stamp associated with application of the search query to the source 110 from which the content item was received.
Content items at least partially matching the search query are obtained 406 from one or more sources 110 as a search query result. In one embodiment, the digital magazine server 140 stores content identifiers of the items in the search query results in the content store 215 along with the search query to simplify retrieval of the content items at least partially matching the search query. The digital magazine server 140 receives 408 a request from a viewing user to access content from the digital magazine server 140 including the search query result. For example, a viewing user accesses a description of the search query, requests a section of a digital magazine having content items from the search query result, or provides an additional search query matching the search query from the searching user to the digital magazine server 140. The viewing user may be the searching user or may be a different user requesting one or more sections of the digital magazine. Additionally, the request may be received 408 from a different client device 130 than the client device 130 from which the request to create the section including content items satisfying the search query was received 402.
Using the search query result the digital magazine server 140 generates 410 a section of a digital magazine including one or more of the content items included in the search query result. An example of generation of a digital magazine section is further described above in conjunction with
In one embodiment, the digital magazine server 140 computes scores for each content item in the search query result based on one or more attributes associated with the content items. Examples of attributes used to compute scores for content items include: connections between users interacting with a content item and the searching user, interactions between the user requesting the section and content items presented by the digital magazine server, geographic information associated with the content items and the user requesting the section, and a popularity or a quality indicator associated with various content items. For example, a quality indicator provides an indication of the quality of an image associated with a content item or the number of images included in a content item. In another example, a quality indicator provides an indication of the number of times a keyword about a topic appears in one or more content items included in one or more selected content sources.
Using the scores, the digital magazine server 140 ranks the content items in the search query result. In some embodiments, when ranking the content items, the digital magazine server 140 applies one or more diversity settings based on content item attributes to increase the likelihood of the user requesting the section being presented with content items having different attributes. For example, if a threshold number of content items from a source 110 are within a range of the ranking, scores of additional content items from the source 110 are reduced to increase the likelihood of the section including content items from a variety of sources 110. Other attributes of content items may be used as a diversity setting, such as content item type, content item creation date, or any other suitable attribute.
The digital magazine server 140 may associate a weight with index information in the search module 240 associated with each content item in the search query result and use the weights to generate scores for content items in the search query. Additionally, weights may be associated with content items in the search query result based on attributes of the content items. Examples of attributes of content items associated with weights include a number of images included in a content item, a difference between a time associated with a content item and a time when the request for the section including the content item was received, an indication of the quality of the source 110 from which a content item was received, and a digital magazine server user associated with a content item.
Based at least in part on the scores, the digital magazine server 140 generates an ordered list that ranks the content items included in the search query result. Content items are selected from the ordered list for inclusion in the section including the search query result. For example, content items having at least a threshold position in the ordered list are selected for inclusion in the section. In some embodiments, the digital magazine server 140 accounts for one or more characteristics of the content items in the ordered list so the section includes content items having a variety of characteristics (e.g., various types of content items, content items from various sources 110, etc.) to encourage user interaction with content items in the section. Examples of characteristics of content items used when selecting content items include: type of content item, source 110 from which a content item was retrieved, and characteristics of a user associated with a content item. For example, content items are selected from the ordered list so a threshold number of content types are included in the section or a content items retrieved from a threshold number of sources 110 are included in the section. This allows the digital magazine server 140 to provide a user with content items from the search query result most likely to interest and inspire a user viewing the content items to interact with additional content provided by the digital magazine server 140.
To generate 410 the section including content items from the search query result, a layout for the content items selected from the search query listing is the determined based on one or more page templates to present content items included in the section to the user. In one embodiment, the digital magazine server 140 dynamically arranges the selected content items relative to each other based on a page template selected from the template store 210. For example, the digital magazine server 140 assigns a content item type to selected content items. Examples of content item types include: text data, image data, video data, social networking system data, message, and audio data. The digital magazine server 140 may convert content items received from various sources 110 into a standardized format where each content item is associated with a content item type according to rules included in the layout engine 220. Based on a content item type associated with various content items in the search query result, the digital magazine server 140 selects one or more page templates from the template store 210 and arranges the received content items based on the selected page templates.
The digital magazine server 140 may dynamically modify the content items in the generated section or the layout content items presented in the generated section of the digital magazine. For example, the digital magazine server 140 may update the layout and one or more of the content items included in the generated section of the digital magazine to allow a user to more easily explore content items from a set, or space, of sources 110. In another example, the digital magazine server 140 updates the layout of content items relative to each other in the section based on user interaction with content items in the section or updates the content items presented in the generated based on location information associated with a client device 130 presenting the section, based on a time of day when the section is presented, or based on interactions with content items by other digital magazine server users.
In one embodiment, if the digital magazine server 140 determines that additional content items satisfying the search query are included on one or more sources 110 after the search query result was obtained 406, the digital magazine server 140 generates an additional section of the digital magazine presenting the additional content items satisfying the search query. For example, a third-party curator adds additional content items satisfying the search query to a generated section of a digital magazine via a client device 130 after the digital magazine server 140 obtains 406 the search query. To present the additional content items to a user, the additional items are included in the generated section or an additional section including the additional content items is generated. In one example, a merchandiser adds brand advertising content items to a generated section of a digital magazine creating a print-style social advertisement that satisfies the search query. The digital magazine server 140 may generate an additional section including the brand advertising content items added by the third-party curator.
The digital magazine server 140 sends 412 the generated section of the digital magazine that includes content items from the search query result to a client device 130 for presentation to the viewing user. For example, the digital magazine server 140 sends 412 the generated section of the digital magazine to a client device 130 when a request from the viewing user to access the section of the digital magazine including content items from the search query result is received. The request may include an identifier of the section including content items from the search query result. As another example, the request indicates that the viewing user has subscribed to the section including content items from the search query result, so the generated section is sent 412 to a client device 130 associated with the viewing user at a subsequent time.
In another example, the digital magazine server 140 generates 410 the section of the digital magazine at specified intervals. The interval may be specified by the digital magazine server 140, by a setting in a user profile maintained by the digital magazine server 140 for a user viewing the generated section (e.g., when the viewing user elects to subscribe to the generate magazine). For example, the interval specifies generating the section including content items satisfying the search query when the digital magazine server 140 reapplies the search query to one or more sources 110. As another example, the section including content items satisfying the search query is generated 410 based on a viewing user's interactions with content items presented by the digital magazine (e.g., at time of day of when the user accesses the digital magazine server 140), or any interval suitable to allow discovery of new and interesting content. In a further example, the digital magazine server 140 generates 410 the section including content items satisfying the search query when a request to create the section is received from the searching user. Additionally, when generating 410 the section including content items satisfying the search query, the order in which one or more content items satisfying the search query may be modified based on interactions by the searching user with content items presented by the digital magazine server 140, allowing the generated section to account for additional interactions by the searching user with content items.
The generated section of the digital magazine may be displayed to a viewing user on the display of a client device 130 in a listing of multiple sections of a digital magazine, with each section including content items having a common characteristic (e.g., content items about a particular topic). The listing may be ordered by source of content items (e.g., digital magazine server 140, social networking system, video sharing system service, users of the digital magazine server 140, image sharing service, etc.). Alternatively, the digital magazine server 140 sends 412 the generated section to a client device 130 associated with a third-party curator, which adds additional content to the section. Through the digital magazine server 140, the generated section and additional content is sent 412 to a client device 130 for presentation to a viewing user. For example, the viewing user may interact with the additional content items access a digital magazine including content items associated with the third-party curator.
In one embodiment, the digital magazine server 140 selects sources to which a search query in a request to create a section of a digital magazine is applied. In the example shown by
The digital magazine server 140 retrieves connections between the identified content items and additional content items from the connection store 230. Based on the retrieved connections, the digital magazine server 140 determines 504 additional items connected to the content items with which the user interacted. In one embodiment, the digital magazine server 140 determines 504 additional content items connected to content items with which the user performed one or more types of interactions. Additionally, the digital magazine server 140 may determine 504 the additional items based in part on weights representing the strength or closeness of connections between content items based on a global content graph from the connection store 230. For example, additional content items are determined 504 to be content items having at least a threshold connection strength to a content item with which the user interacted or with which the user performed a specific type of interaction.
One or more sources 110 associated with the additional content items are determined 506. For example, a source identifier is associated with content item identifiers maintained in the user profile store 205 or in the content store 215, and source identifiers associated with the additional content items are determined 506. In one embodiment, the additional content items are ranked based in part on the strength of their connection to a content item with which the user interacted and sources 110 for additional content items having at least a threshold position in the ranking are determined 506.
While the digital magazine server 140 may apply the search query to the sources 110 determined 506 from the additional content items, in some embodiments, the digital magazine server 140 may refine source 110 selection based on connections between digital magazine server users. In the example shown by
Content items with which the additional users interacted are identified from user profiles of the additional users and sources 110 associated with the content items with which the additional users interacted are determined 510, as described above. In one embodiment, the additional users are ranked based in part on their connection confidence values with the user from which the search query was received and a group of additional users are identified from the ranking (e.g., users having at least a threshold position in the ranking); content items with which users in the group of additional users interacted are identified and sources 110 associated with those content items are determined 510. Based on the sources 110 providing the additional content items or the sources 110 associated with the content items with which additional users interacted, one or more sources 110 are selected 512 for application of the search query. For example, sources 110 may be selected which are disproportionally popular among the additional users relative to a global user base of the digital magazine server 140. These selected sources 110 are likely to be popular among people of like mind with the additional users in terms of interest, social circles, and viewpoints on issues. This increases the likelihood of the digital magazine server 140 identifying content items likely to engage a digital magazine server user.
The foregoing description of the embodiments 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 embodiments 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 embodiment, 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.
Embodiments 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.
Embodiments 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 embodiment 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 embodiments 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 benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/700,307, filed on Sep. 12, 2012, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/700,308, filed on Sep. 12, 2012, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/752,951, filed on Jan. 15, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/752,952, filed on Jan. 15, 2013, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61700307 | Sep 2012 | US | |
| 61700308 | Sep 2012 | US | |
| 61752951 | Jan 2013 | US | |
| 61752952 | Jan 2013 | US |
