JP2018129052A - Customizing content delivery from brand page to user in social networking environment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of customizing a content to be delivered, in accordance with a user.SOLUTION: A social networking system 100 (SNS) user's interaction with a brand page may be tailored to match the user's interests. Content providers associate keywords with content posted to the brand page. A keyword may define a characteristic of a social networking system user to receive the content or may describe a characteristic of the content. The keywords are compared to a user profile of a user requesting the brand page and content posted to the brand page is selected for presentation to the user based on the user profile and the keywords. Content is presented to a user having a characteristic defined by criteria keyword. The selected content posted to the brand page is presented to the user requesting the brand page.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to social networking, and more particularly to personalized delivery of content items to users of social networking systems.

  Social utilities, that is, social utilities that track and enable connections between users (including people, businesses, and other entities) have become widespread in recent years. In particular, social networking systems allow users to more efficiently communicate information related to their friends or other connections in the social network. Social networks typically incorporate a system for maintaining connections between users within the social network and links to content likely to be associated with the user. Social networks also collect and maintain information about users of social networks. This information can be static, such as geographical location, employer, job title, age, music preference, interest, and any other attributes, such as tracking user actions in social networks, etc. It may be dynamic. This information may then be used to target information distribution so that information that is more likely to be of particular interest to the user can be communicated to the user.

  Social networking systems also allow entities to provide information to users within the social networking system while allowing humans to exchange information with each other. Examples of entities include businesses, organizations, and celebrities. The entity creates a brand page associated with the profile in the social networking system and posts the content item on the brand page. The social networking system then communicates the posted content item or the description of the posted content item to the social networking system user connected to the brand page. Thus, a brand page causes an entity to act as any other user of a social networking system and disseminate information to social networking system users.

  However, various types of entities have audiences that are composed of segments, and each segment has a particular interest in the entity. In the context of social networking, different social networking system users may have different levels of interest in different content posted on brand pages. For example, a user connected to a brand page associated with a sports equipment provider has varying degrees of interest in posting on the brand page for various sports products. Typically, users connected to a brand page are notified of content posted on the brand page without considering various levels of interest in the various content posted on the brand page.

  In order to better customize the interaction between brand pages associated with an entity and stored in a social networking system, one or more attributes of the content posted on the brand page is a user profile of the social networking system user. Used to select content that is presented to the user when the brand page is accessed. For example, content posted on a brand page is associated with a target criterion that defines at least one characteristic of a user of the social networking system. Targeting criteria are used to direct content to users of social networking systems that are specifically interested in the content posted on the brand page. In one embodiment, the user profile of the social networking system user connected to the brand page is accessed to determine whether the browsing user connected to the brand page has at least one characteristic defined by the target criteria. Have been used. When the browsing user connected to the brand page has a feature, the content posted on the brand page corresponding to at least one feature is presented to the browsing user.

  As another example, various brands posted on a brand page by an administrator so that the brand page contains content that the user has threshold intimacy or has the highest intimacy when viewed by the user User intimacy with sensitive content. The brand page manager associates keywords with content posted on a brand page describing the content. Based on the user's user profile and / or connection to objects in the social networking system, the user's intimacy for keywords associated with various content is determined. As a result of the content being selected to be included in the brand page based on intimacy, the content is more likely to be of interest to the user.

  For example, a page manager of a brand page associated with a sports equipment provider posts a story about a tennis lesson on the brand page and associates the story with the keyword “tennis”. The user profile or action log of a social networking system user connected to the brand page may be accessed and used to determine if the user is interested in “tennis”. For example, if “tennis” is listed as an interest in the user profile, or if other information associated with the user profile indicates that the user has at least a threshold affinity for “tennis” The user has intimacy with respect to “tennis”. If the user is interested in “tennis”, the content posted on the brand page associated with the keyword “tennis” is presented to the user. However, if the user is not interested in “tennis”, the content posted on the brand page associated with “tennis” is not presented to the user when the brand page is accessed. Thus, by associating keywords or other features with content posted on the brand page, the brand page is customized for various users based on the user's intimacy with the keyword or feature.

FIG. 4 is an event diagram illustrating a process for selecting content to provide to a user on a display according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a network diagram illustrating a system for providing content items to users of a social networking system, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a social networking system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an interaction diagram illustrating a process for selecting content items to display, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for selecting content items according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a page display of a personalized social networking system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a page display of a personalized social networking system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a page display of a personalized social networking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods described herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. Will do.

Overview FIG. 1 illustrates an example operation for selecting content posted on a brand page for presentation to a social networking system user. In FIG. 1, a first content item 140 and a second content item 144 are posted to the brand page 104, and the brand page 104 is stored by the social networking system 100. Entities generate and maintain brand pages 104 to post information about themselves or information about their products, or to provide other information to users of social networking system 100. Examples of content that an entity posts on the brand page 104 are stories about the services or products provided by the entity, pictures of the entity, pictures of products and / or services provided by the entity, introduction of new products, product sales, use Product stories within, product or service promotion proposals, articles and / or reviews describing products or services provided by the entity, or other pertinent information. In FIG. 1, it is shown that a first content item 140 and a second content item 144 are posted on the brand page 104. First content item 140 and second content item 144 may be presented to social networking users viewing brand page 104 in a variety of ways. For example, content items 140, 144 may be displayed on brand page 104, included in a news feed story sent to users connected to brand page 104, or one for users connected to brand page 104 or It is sent as multiple messages or delivered using any suitable channel.

  Because the social networking system user is linked to the brand page 104, it is updated when the content item is posted on the brand page 104 and receives updates or other appropriate information about the entity. For example, a social networking system user may become a friend with a brand page, follow a brand page, become a fan of a brand page, or establish a connection with a brand page and / or its associated entity in the social networking system 100. . Thus, the brand page 104 provides an entity with information about itself or its products and / or services to social networking system users to deepen the relationship between the entity and the social networking system user.

  For illustration purposes, the brand page 104 of FIG. 1 shows a sports equipment provider, a first content item 140 describing a tennis racket stocked by the sports equipment provider, and a running sold by the sports equipment provider. Associated with a second content item 144 describing the shoe. The first content item 140 is associated with the first keyword 116 and the second content item 144 is associated with the second keyword 120. The keywords associated with the content item can be the subject of the content item, the product associated with the content item, the entity associated with the content item, the creator of the content item, or any other appropriate associated with the content item. Describe the features of the content item, such as unique features. In one embodiment, one or more of the keywords associated with the content item may be a targeting criterion. Target criteria define one or more characteristics of a social networking system user to whom an entity intends to present a content item. For example, targeting criteria may be performed within or outside of one or more interests (eg, demographic information, membership in social networking systems, or other characteristics) included in a user profile, and social networking systems. Identify features that are inferred from the user actions Further examples of targeting criteria include location, action, event, type of connection to the user or entity, entity, user, employer, educational institution, intimacy, or other suitable information.

  In FIG. 1, the first keyword 116 identifies a “tennis” feature for the first content item 140, and the second keyword 120 identifies a “running” feature for the second content item 144. Identify. When the user accesses the brand page 104, the information associated with the user and the keywords associated with the content items included in the brand page are used to select the content items presented to the user by the brand page 104. Is done. If the keyword is a target criterion, the user profile information is compared with the keyword to determine whether the user satisfies the target criterion. For example, a user is determined to have the characteristics identified by the first keyword 120 if the user profile includes “tennis” as an interest. Although FIG. 1 shows a single keyword associated with different content items, in other embodiments, any number of keywords may be associated with a content item. As another example, on the brand page 104, the user's intimacy for a keyword is calculated and includes content items associated with the keyword for which the user has the highest intimacy or at least a threshold intimacy. Selected. In one embodiment, keywords 116, 120 are defined by an entity, and the entity also associates keywords 116, 120 with one or more content items 140, 144. As shown in FIG. 1, different content items 140, 144 posted on the brand page 104 may be associated with different keywords 116, 120.

  In a conventional social networking system, a user connected to the brand page 104 is presented with each content item 140, 144 posted on the brand page 140. For example, the traditional brand page 104 transmits a first content item 140 and a second content item 144 to the user. Therefore, the user who is connected to the brand page 104 who is not interested in running at all is presented with the second content item 144 and other content items focused on running from the brand page 104. Since different users connected to the brand page 104 have different interests, this results in the user manually selecting content items from the brand page 104 to identify content items of interest to the user. It will be.

  By associating the keywords 116, 120 with the content items 140, 144, the entity improves the interaction between the social networking system user and the brand page 104. The keywords 116, 120 allow the entity to associate the content item with one or more characteristics of the user that the entity is willing to present the content item to, or the content item is intimate to the user. Allows association with a feature. In one embodiment, the keywords 116, 120 identify information in the user profile of the social networking system that identifies the characteristics of the user for whom the entity is to receive the content item. For example, with keywords 116, 120 associated with content items 140, 144, the entity directs content items 140, 144 to a user having one or more characteristics specified by keywords 116, 120. Alternatively, the keywords 116, 120 identify topics or entities that the user may have intimacy or preference. Thus, the keywords 116, 120 allow an entity to better customize the content from the brand page 104 for social networking system users.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of using keywords 116, 120 to customize content items provided by brand page 104 to a social networking system user. In FIG. 1, a first user 122 and a second user 126 are connected to the brand page 104. The social networking system 100 also includes a first user profile 124 for the first user 122 and a second user profile 128 for the second user 126. FIG. 1 illustrates a first user profile 124 having a stored “interesting” interest and a second user profile 128 having a stored “running” interest. However, the user profiles 124, 128 can also include additional information regarding the first user 122 and the second user 126.

  In FIG. 1, social networking system 100 includes a content selector 170 that receives keywords 116, 120 from brand page 104 and retrieves data from first user profile 124 and second user profile 124. The content item to be presented to the first user 122 and the second user 126 through the brand page 104 is selected. The content selector 170 compares the user profile information of the user connected to the brand page 104 with the keywords 116 and 120. In one embodiment, content selector 170 also receives a content identifier that identifies the content item associated with keywords 116, 120 from brand page 104. The content selector 170 then delivers the content item to users who have user profile information that matches one or more keywords or that are connected to the brand page 104 that has at least a threshold affinity for the keywords. To do. In the example of FIG. 1, the first user profile 124 identifies “tennis” as an interest of the first user 122 that matches the first keyword 116, so that the content selector 170 has the first content item 140. Is distributed to the first user 122. Similarly, because the second user profile 128 identifies “running” as an interest of the second user 126 that matches the second keyword 120, the content selector 170 identifies the second content item 144 as the second content item 144. To the user 126.

  The example of FIG. 1 also illustrates customization of content displayed to the first user 122 and the second user 126. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 1 shows a first news feed 132 delivered to a first user 122 and a second news feed delivered to a second user 126. However, in various embodiments, the content is through a message to the users 122, 126, through a change in the appearance of the brand page 104 when accessed by the users 122, 126, or through any other suitable delivery mechanism. , May be distributed to the first user 122 and the second user 126 in various ways.

  In FIG. 1, the first user 122 is interested in “tennis”, which matches the first keyword 116. Accordingly, the first content item 140 is included in the first news feed 132 in addition to the additional story 148, which describes actions performed by other social networking users connected to the first user 122. . As shown in FIG. 1, the first news feed 132 includes a second news feed 122 because the first user 122 has no interest in “running” as specified by the second keyword 120. The content item 120 is not included. In other embodiments, the first newsfeed 132 also includes the second content item 120 in a less prominent place than the first content item 140. For example, the first content item 140 is located at the top of the first news feed 132 or visually distinguished from the second content item 144.

  Similarly, the second news feed 136 includes a second content item 144 in FIG. 1 because the second user 126 is interested in “running” as specified by the second keyword 120. The second newsfeed 136 also includes an additional story 152 that describes the actions of other users connected to the second user 126. In various embodiments, the second newsfeed 126 visually distinguishes the second content item 144 from the additional story 152.

  Accordingly, FIG. 1 illustrates an example of using keywords 116, 120 to customize content items from brand page 104 displayed in various users' news feeds. In other embodiments, the target criteria 116, 120 customizes the appearance of the brand page 104 when accessed by different users 122, 126, or messages about content sent from the brand page 104 to different users 122, 126. Allows additional types of customization, such as customizing

System Architecture FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram illustrating the system environment 200 of the social networking system 100. The system environment 200 includes one or more client devices 210, a network 220, one or more third party websites 230, and the social networking system 100. In alternative configurations, various and / or additional components may be included in the system environment 200. The embodiments described herein may be applied to online systems other than social networking systems.

  Client device 210 can receive user input and includes one or more computing devices that transmit and / or receive data over network 220. In one embodiment, client device 210 is a conventional computer system, such as a desktop or laptop computer. In another embodiment, the client device 210 may be a device with computer functionality, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone, smartphone, or similar device. Client device 210 is configured to communicate over network 220. In one embodiment, the client device 210 executes an application that allows a user of the client device 210 to interact with the social networking system 100. For example, the client device 210 executes a browser application to allow interaction between the client device 210 and the social networking system 100 over the network 220. In another embodiment, the client device 210 interacts with the social networking system 100 through an application programming interface (API) that runs on the client device's 210 native operating system, such as IOS® or ANDROID®. .

Client device 210 is configured to communicate through network 220, which includes any combination of local and / or wide area networks that use both wired and wireless communication systems. In one embodiment, the network 220 uses communication standard technologies and / or protocols. Accordingly, the network 220 uses technologies such as Ethernet (registered trademark), 802.11, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), 3G, 4G, CDMA, digital subscriber line (DSL), and the like. Includes links. Similarly, the networking protocol used in the network 220 includes multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), user datagram protocol (UDP). : User Datagram Protocol), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP: hypertext)
This includes a transport protocol (SMTP), a simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and a file transfer protocol (FTP). Data exchanged through the network 220 may be represented using techniques and / or formats that include a hypertext markup language (HTML) or an extensible markup language (XML). . In addition, all or part of the link may be encrypted, such as secure sockets layer (SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security (IPsec). It may be encrypted using standard techniques. The third party website 230 may be coupled to the network 220 to communicate with the social networking system 100, which is further described below in conjunction with FIG.

  FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the system architecture of social networking system 100. The social networking system 100 includes a user profile store 305, a content store 310, an action logger 315, an action log 320, a content selector 170, a news feed manager 325, an edge store 330, a display generator 335, and a web server 340. In other embodiments, the social networking system 100 includes additional, fewer or different modules for various applications. Conventional components such as network interfaces, security functions, load balancers, failover servers, management and network operations consoles are not shown to avoid obscuring the details of the system architecture.

  Each user of social networking system 100 is associated with a user profile, which is stored in user profile store 305. The user profile includes declarative information about the user that is explicitly shared by the user, and can also include profile information estimated by the social networking system 100. In one embodiment, the user profile includes a plurality of data fields, each data field describing one or more attributes of a corresponding user of the social networking system 100. User network information stored in the user profile store 305 includes social networking systems, including biographical, artificial statistical, and other types of descriptive information, such as work history, educational background, gender, hobbies or preferences, places, etc. Describe 100 users. The user profile can also store other information provided by the user, for example, images or videos. In certain embodiments, the user's image may be tagged with the identity of the user of the social networking system 100 displayed in the image. User profiles in the user profile store 305 may also be executed on content items in the content store 310 and maintain a reference of actions by corresponding users stored in the action log 320.

  While user profiles in the user profile store 305 are frequently associated with individuals, which allows humans to interact with each other through the social networking system 100, user profiles can also be entities such as businesses or organizations. May be stored. Thereby, the entity establishes a presence in the social networking system 100 to interconnect and exchange content with other social networking system users. Entities post information about themselves, their products, or provide other information to users of social networking systems using brand pages associated with the entity's user profile. Other users of the social networking system connect to the brand page to receive information posted on the brand page or to receive information from the brand page. The user profile associated with the brand page can include information about the entity itself, providing the user with background or information data about the entity.

  The content store 310 stores content items associated with the user profile, such as images, videos, and audio files. Content items from content store 310 may be displayed when a user's profile page is browsed, when a brand page is browsed, or when other content is browsed. For example, the displayed content item shows an image or video associated with the user profile or shows text describing the user's situation. These content items may be presented to the user on various communication channels. Examples of communication channels include brand pages, news feeds containing content items from users or entities, email, text messaging, notifications sent by the social networking system 100, sending content items to devices associated with the user. Includes a push notification channel, or other suitable communication channel.

  In addition, other content items may allow users to invite new users to the system to expand their connections to other users, or to users, objects, activities, or functions of social networking system 100 Promote user engagement by encouraging increased interaction with the social networking system 100 by displaying content related to. Examples of social networking content items include suggested connections or suggestions for performing other actions, media provided to or maintained by social networking system 100 (eg, photos or videos), by the user Provided by status messages or links posted to social networking systems, invitations, events, items in a user's wish list, groups, pages (eg, representing an organization or business entity), transactions, coupons, and social networking systems Or any other content accessible through it.

  The content store 310 also includes one or more brand pages associated with the entity's user profile. The brand page includes content associated with the entity and instructions for presenting the content to social networking system users. For example, the brand page identifies content that is associated with the entity's user profile and information that describes how to present the content to a user viewing the brand page. The content item store 310 also stores one or more keywords associated with each content item in the content store 310. The keyword may be a target criterion that identifies one or more characteristics of the user to whom the content item is to be delivered. Alternatively, the keywords can identify topics or features associated with the content so that the user's intimacy with respect to one or more of the keywords can be determined to represent the likelihood that the user is interested in the content. To do.

  The action logger 315 receives communications relating to user actions in and / or outside the social networking system 100 and populates the action log 320 with information relating to user actions. Such actions can include, for example, adding a connection to another user, sending a message to another user, uploading an image, reading a message from another user, another user, among others. Browsing the content associated with, participating in an event posted by another user. In one embodiment, the action logger 315 identifies the interaction between the social networking system user and the brand page in the social networking system 100, which is on the brand page to customize the content presented through the brand page. The target criteria associated with the content is communicated to the content selector 170. In addition, the actions described in relation to other objects are directed to specific users so that those actions are also associated with those users. These actions are stored in the action log 320.

  Action log 320 may be used by social networking system 100 to track user actions on social networking system 100 as well as on external websites that communicate information to social networking system 100. On social networking system 100, a user can comment on a post, share a link, check in to a physical location through a mobile device, sequentially access content items, or other interactions Interact with various objects. Information describing these actions is stored in the action log 320. Further examples of interactions with objects in the social networking system 100 included in the action log 320 include commenting on photo albums, communicating between users, becoming a musician fan, adding events to the calendar, groups Subscription, becoming a fan of a brand page, creating an event, authorizing an application, using an application, engaging in a transaction. In addition, the action log 320 records advertisements on the social networking system 100 and user interactions with other applications running on the social networking system 100. In one embodiment, the data from the action log 320 is used to estimate the user's interests or preferences, expand the interests included in the user profile, and allow a more complete understanding of the user's preferences. .

  The action log 320 also stores user actions performed at external websites. For example, an e-commerce website that primarily sells sporting goods at a discounted price identifies a user of the social networking system 100 through a social plug-in that allows the e-commerce website to identify the user of the social networking system 100. Because users of social networking system 100 can be uniquely identified, e-commerce websites, such as this sporting goods retailer, use information about the users when they browse the website. The action log 320 records data about these users, including web page browsing history, advertising involved, purchases made, and other patterns from purchases and purchases.

  The news feed manager 325 selectively provides content to users of the social networking system 100 and records the consumption of content by the user. In one embodiment, newsfeed manager 325 generates a story that describes a user's actions taken by other users of social networking system 100 that are connected to the user. In one example, a news feed generated by news feed manager 325 for a user includes comments made by other users with whom the user is connected. In another example, the generated news feed may be content posted to the social networking system 240 by other users of the social networking system connected to the user, or other made by other users connected to the user. Includes actions. New newsfeed stories generated by the newsfeed manager for the user may be ranked and stored by the social networking system 100. News feed manager 325 communicates with client device 210 over network 220 to provide content to users of social networking system 100.

  In one embodiment, the newsfeed manager 325 provides content, such as an in-line frame (iframe) through a social plug-in to the third party website 230 to provide a social networking system for entities associated with the third party website 230. The content posted on 100 is provided. As an example, a business entity that creates a brand page on the social networking system 100 may thirde content items posted on the brand page news feed on the social networking system 100 through a social plug-in installed on the third party website 230. There is a case where it is going to be published on the party website 230. Accordingly, content items posted on the brand page may be communicated to users connected to the brand page using various techniques. The content item may be included in a news feed that is presented to users in a domain of a social networking system or in a different domain, such as a domain associated with a third party website 230. In addition, newsfeed manager 325 delivers content items associated with the brand page to the user through a push channel that communicates the content items to an application running on one or more client devices 210.

  In one embodiment, the edge store 330 stores information in the edge object that describes the connection between the user on the social networking system 100 and other objects. Some edges may be defined by the user, allowing the user to specify their relationship with other users. For example, a user creates an edge with another user, such as a friend, colleague, spouse, etc., that is equivalent to the user's real life relationship. Other edges within the social networking system 100, such as expressing interest in social networking system pages, sharing links with other users of the social networking system, commenting on posts made by other users of the social networking system, etc. Generated when a user interacts with other objects.

  The edge store 330 stores edge objects that contain information about edges, such as objects, interests, and intimacy for other users. Intimacy, or intimacy, is calculated by the social networking system 100 over time to estimate the user's familiarity with objects, interests, and other users within the social networking system 100 based on actions taken by the user. May be. Examples of actions used to calculate a user's intimacy for another user, brand page, or keyword are a user commenting on a keyword or photo associated with another user, the user brand page or user The content on the profile is expressed as “Like”, the user posts content on the brand page or user profile, the frequency of interaction between the user and the brand page or content associated with keywords, Including sharing content associated with a keyword or another user, including subscribing to content associated with a user or keyword, or any other suitable action. Familiarity calculation is a U.S. patent application filed on Dec. 23, 2010, which is incorporated herein in its entirety and describes various systems for predicting user intimacy for social networking system content. This is further described in 12 / 978,265. Multiple interactions between a user and a particular object may be stored in one edge object in edge store 330 in one embodiment. In one embodiment, connections between users may be stored in the user profile store 310, and the user profile store 310 may access the edge store 330 to determine connections between users.

  Web server 340 links social networking system 100 to one or more client devices 210 and one or more third party websites 230 through network 220. Web server 340 provides services for web pages and other web-related content such as Java, Flash, XML, and the like. Web server 340 may communicate between social networking system 100 and client device 210, for example, instant messages, queued messages (eg, email), text and short message service (SMS) messages, or any other suitable Provides the ability to receive and route messages, such as messages sent using messaging techniques. The user sends a request to the web server 340 to upload information, such as an image or video stored in the content store 310, for example. In addition, the web server 340 provides an API function that transmits data directly to the operating system of the native client device, such as iOS®, ANDROID®, webOS®, or RIM.

  Content selector 170 identifies a content item from content store 310 for presentation to a user of the social networking system based on keywords associated with the content item and information stored in the user profile. In one embodiment, the content selector 170 selects content to be posted on a brand page delivered to the user by determining whether the user has the characteristics specified by the keyword. For example, the content selector 170 compares the interest identified by the user profile with the targeting criteria associated with the content. Alternatively, the content selector 170 selects content to be posted on the brand page for presentation to the user based on the user's intimacy for the keywords associated with the content.

  In one embodiment, content selector 170 communicates with content store 310, user profile store 305, and / or action log 320 to match a keyword associated with the content or information associated with the keyword. In response to a user having in the user profile, content is identified from the brand page for delivery to social networking system users. As an example, the content selector 170 identifies one or more interests of the user connected to the brand page from a user profile associated with the user. In one embodiment, the content selector 170 can identify the user's interest based on the interaction between the user and the brand page retrieved from the action log 320 so that the content selector 170 can identify the user's interest. Use brand page specific interactions to confirm interest. The content selector 170 communicates with the user profile store 305 to change the user's profile to include interests identified by the content selector 170 from user interaction with the brand page. For example, interaction between a user and content on a brand page that is associated with or contains a keyword causes the content selector 170 to update the user profile store 305 accordingly when the user is interested in the keyword. Let me decide.

  Upon determining the user's interest, the content selector 170 determines whether one or more of the interests match one or more keywords associated with the content item posted on the brand page. Content items associated with keywords that match the user's interest, such as targeting criteria, are then delivered to the user by the content selector 170. Accordingly, the content selector 170 uses data from the user profile store 305 and / or action log 320 to specify that a user connected to the brand page is a keyword associated with content posted on the brand page. Determining whether it has at least one feature. For example, content associated with a keyword that specifies an action, location, event, interest, connection, or any other suitable feature that matches the user's characteristics is selected for presentation to the user. Thereby, the content delivered to the user connected from the brand page can be customized based on the user characteristics. Examples of content delivered to users include promotional information provided by entities that describe products and services, product reviews, images or posts from other users that describe interactions with entities, entities and / or entities Includes other social objects that describe the product or service being offered.

  In other embodiments, the content selector 170 communicates with the edge store 330 to determine the user's intimacy for keywords associated with content posted on the brand page. The content selector 170 identifies content items posted on brand pages that are associated with keywords for which the user has the highest intimacy, or for which the user has at least a threshold intimacy. To personalize user interaction with the brand page, content item content posted on the brand page presented to the user, content items selected based on the user's intimacy, brand page, news feed story, email Presented to the user through a text message or using any other suitable communication channel. Presenting content items posted on the brand page based on the user's intimacy with the brand page increases the likelihood that the user will be interested in viewing the presented content item and interacts with the brand page The possibility of further increases.

  Display generator 335 determines when a user of social networking system 100 has requested that information be displayed and works with content selector 170 to customize content for the user requesting the content. Is displayed. For example, a user can navigate through social networking system 100 to a brand page, and display generator 335 changes the appearance of the brand page based on data from content selector 170. In one embodiment, the display generator 335 retrieves the content identified by the content selector 170 from the content store 310 and displays the retrieved content to provide the user with a customized page experience based on the user's profile or interests. To do. For example, a content item that is displayed when a user browses a brand page is more likely to be associated with a keyword that the user matches or a content item that is associated with a keyword for which the user has a threshold affinity. Changed to be prominently displayed. Display generator 335 provides a web page or some other suitable display format for presenting content to the user through client device 210. The display generator 355 notifies the content item selector 170 when a display is generated in response to a request from the user.

Selecting Content Items to Provide to Social Networking System Users FIG. 4 shows an interaction diagram of a method 400 for selecting content associated with a brand page for presentation to social networking system users. In one embodiment, social networking system 100 receives content for posting to a brand page through web server 340 (405). For example, the social networking system 100 receives articles, advertisements, videos, audio files, or other content from entities for posting to brand pages. In addition to the content, the web server 340 receives one or more keywords associated with the content (405). The keywords describe the content and / or describe one or more characteristics of the social networking system user to whom the content is presented. The content received by the web server 340 is communicated 410 to the content store 310 where the content is stored. In one embodiment, the received keywords are communicated to the content selector 170 (415). Alternatively, the keyword may be communicated to the content store 310, and the content selector 170 subsequently receives the keyword from the content store 310.

  In order to access the brand page or access content associated with the brand page, the social networking system user sends a request for access to the brand page from the client device 210 to the web server 340 of the social networking system 100. (420). The request includes an identifier for the social networking system user, and the web server 340 uses the identifier to request a user profile associated with the social networking system user from the user profile store 305 (425). After being identified, the user profile is communicated from the user profile store 305 to the content selector 170 (430). Additional information associated with the user, such as actions from action log 320 and / or edges from edge store 330 may be communicated to content selector 170.

  Based on the keywords associated with the content posted on the brand page and information from the user profile, the content selector 170 selects the content posted on the brand page for presentation to the user (435). The keywords can identify criteria such as interest, action, location, connection, connection type, event, group, or other information, and content selector 170 is associated with information from the user profile or the user. Compare information with keywords. Content that is posted to the brand page and associated with one or more keywords that match the information in the user profile is selected for presentation to the user (435).

  Alternatively, the keywords identify the characteristics of the content so that the entity providing the content can associate topics, products, events, brands, people, entities, or other information with the content. The content selector 170 can retrieve the user's intimacy for the one or more keywords associated with the content posted on the brand page from the edge store 330 and use the intimacy to present to the user. The content posted on the brand page is selected (435). Since the user's intimacy with respect to the keyword is an indicator of the user's likelihood of being interested in the content associated with the keyword, by selecting the content based on the user's intimacy (435), the content selector 170 , Increase the likelihood that the user will be interested in the selected content. In one embodiment, the content selector 170 selects content that is associated with a keyword for which the user has at least a threshold affinity (435). Alternatively, the content selector 170 selects content that is associated with the keyword that the user has the highest intimacy with respect to other keywords (435).

  The content selector 170 identifies the selected content posted to the content store 310 (440). For example, the content selector 170 retrieves content corresponding to the selected content identifier from the content store 310. Content posted to the selected brand page is communicated from the content store 310 to the web server 340 (445), which presents the selected content to the client device 210 associated with the user (450). . Alternatively, the content selector 170 transmits a content identifier associated with the selected content posted on the brand page to the web server 340, and the web server 340 retrieves the content corresponding to the content identifier from the content store 310. The retrieved content is then presented to the client device 210 (450).

  Selected content posted to the brand page may be presented 440 to the client device 210 in various ways. For example, the selected content may be displayed to the user by customizing the content included in the representation of the brand page shown to the user accessing the brand page. The representation of the brand page can include the selected content and does not include other content associated with the brand page, or the representation of the brand page has the selected content associated with the brand page Visually distinguish it from other content. This personalizes the content presented to the user through the brand page and increases the likelihood that the user will interact with the brand page. Alternatively, one or more stories describing the selected content are sent to the user in a news feed. In another example, a message that includes the selected content or that describes the selected content item is sent to the client device 210 associated with the user. The message may be any suitable, such as through a text message, through email, through a social plug-in included in a web page of a domain outside the social networking system 100, through a push notification channel, or through any other suitable communication technique. May be transmitted using a simple communication channel.

  FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of a method 500 for selecting content associated with a brand page for presentation to a social networking system user. The brand page associated with the entity is stored (505) by the social networking system 100. For example, the brand page is stored in the content store 310 of the social networking system 100 (505). Social networking system 100 also stores (510) user profiles of users of the social networking system and connections between user profiles. One or more of the user profiles have a connection to the brand page. The content for posting on the brand page and the keywords associated with the content are retrieved (515). As described above, the one or more keywords may be target criteria that define at least one characteristic of the social networking system user, such as the interest of the social networking system user. Another example of targeting criteria is that a social networking system user indicates that it is preferred to post content about an entity-specific topic or product, favoring the product or posting (ie, saying “Like” for the product or posting). ), Sending a post to another social networking system user, or any other interaction with the brand page or content on the brand page. One or more keywords describe a feature of the content, such as a topic, event, user, entity, or other information about the content. The keyword may be specified by an entity associated with the brand page.

  Social networking system 100 receives a request for access to a brand page from a user (520). For example, the user requests to browse a brand page from the client device 210. The request includes an identifier of the social networking system user and is used to identify a user profile associated with the user maintained by the social networking system 100. After being identified, the user profile is communicated from the user profile store 305 to the content selector 170 (430). Additional information associated with the user, such as actions from action log 320 and / or edges from edge store 330 may be communicated to content selector 170.

  Based on the keywords associated with the content posted on the brand page and information from the user profile, the content posted on the brand page is selected for presentation to the user (525). As explained above, the keywords identify criteria such as interest, action, location, connection, connection type, event, group, or other information. Accordingly, content associated with keywords matching the user profile information or other information associated with the user is selected for presentation to the user (435). Alternatively, the keywords can identify a characteristic of the content and allow the entity providing the content to associate a topic, product, event, brand, person, entity, or other information with the content. Thus, as further described above, user intimacy for various keywords is determined, and content is selected based on the user's intimacy for one or more keywords associated with the content. . For example, content associated with a keyword for which the user has at least a threshold intimacy is selected (525). Alternatively, the content associated with the keyword for which the user has the highest intimacy with respect to other keywords is selected (525). The selected content is presented to the user (530) as described above in conjunction with FIG.

  6A to 6C show examples of operations for changing the appearance of a brand page based on keywords associated with content posted on the brand page. FIG. 6A shows an example of a traditional displayed brand page 604. In one embodiment, the traditional displayed brand page 604 is an entity identifier 608, such as a name, logo, image, video, or other information identifying the entity associated with the traditional displayed brand page 604. including. The traditional displayed brand page 604 includes a plurality of content items 612, 616, 620. Often, multiple content items 612, 616, 620 provide a wide variety of information, so some of the content items 612, 262, 620 are of little value to a social networking system user viewing a brand page. In the example of FIG. 6A, brand page 604 is associated with a sports equipment provider, and content items 612, 616, 620 describe various products offered by the sports equipment provider. For example, content item 612 provides a review of a tennis racket sold by a sports equipment provider. Another content item 616 provides swimming technique instruction, and a further content item 620 advertises the current sale of running shoes by a sports equipment provider.

  Although various social networking system users may have varying degrees of interest in the various sports described by content items 612, 616, 620, a traditional displayed brand page 604 is displayed for each content item 612. , 616, 620 are displayed to each browsing user. This requires the user to select multiple content items 612, 616, 620 in order to find content of interest.

  FIG. 6B shows a brand page 624 customized for a viewing user based on keywords associated with content items 628, 632. In FIG. 6B, the keywords associated with the content items 628, 632 are target criteria, and the brand page 624 displays the content items associated with the target criteria satisfied by the viewing user more prominently. Customized. For example, if the viewing user's profile includes an interest in tennis, the content item 628 associated with the targeting criteria that defines the interest in tennis is displayed more prominently. For example, the brand page 624 displays the content item 628 near the top of the brand page 624 so that the viewing user can find the content item 628 more easily. Alternatively, the keyword associated with the content item 628 identifies that the content item 628 is associated with tennis and that the viewing user has at least a threshold affinity for tennis based on the user's user profile. The brand page 624 is customized to visually distinguish the content item 628 from other content items. In FIG. 6B, the brand page 624 also displays another content item 632 that is associated with a target criterion that the viewing user does not meet, but displays that other content item 632 in a less noticeable manner. For example, that other content item 632 is displayed below the brand page 624 and is distinguished from content 628 where reduced information is displayed or associated with target criteria that the user is satisfied with. In other embodiments, the other content item 632 may be obscured or not displayed to reduce the amount of information presented to the viewing user.

  FIG. 6C shows a further exemplary brand page 636 customized for a viewing user based on keywords associated with the content item. In FIG. 6B, the brand page 636 is associated with a keyword that is a target criterion that is not satisfied by the viewing user, or a content item that is associated with a keyword that identifies a feature that the viewing user does not meet the threshold intimacy of. Customized to reduce the display of. For example, the brand page 636 displays a content item 632 that is associated with a targeting criterion that specifies interest in running if the viewing user's profile includes interest in running. To increase the viewing user's attention to the content item 632, the brand page is associated with a keyword that identifies the feature that the viewing user does not match, or the user does not meet the threshold intimacy Instead of displaying the content item being displayed, an additional content message 644 is displayed. The viewing user views the additional content item by accessing the additional content message 644.

  In one embodiment, the user profile includes information that describes how the display of the brand page is customized. For example, the user profile includes preference information that indicates whether to customize the brand page as shown in FIGS. 6B, 6C or to customize the brand page in another suitable manner. Thus, by customizing the appearance of the brand page, the brand page makes the content more accessible to various users based on user characteristics. This customized presentation of content increases user interaction with the brand page and further strengthens the relationship between the user and the entity associated with the brand page.

  As explained above, the owner or administrator of a brand page social networking various content items (such as posted text, photos or photo albums, videos, deals, coupons, events or event invitations) Post to the system. The social networking system then determines whether a particular one of those posted content items may be presented to a user of the social networking system that has established a connection to the brand page. For example, a brand page owner or administrator can associate a posted content item with a target criterion, match the target criterion with the user's profile, and whether the content item may be presented to the user To decide. Alternatively, the system predicts the intimacy that the user will have for a particular posted content item and uses that intimacy to determine whether the content item may be presented to the user. . US patent application Ser. No. 12 / 978,265, filed Dec. 23, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes various systems for predicting user intimacy for social networking system content. Describe. By selectively providing content items posted in connection with the brand page to users who have established a connection with the brand page, the social networking system will be more relevant to the user's brand page. To personalize the user experience.

Summary The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.

  Part of this description describes embodiments of the present invention with respect to 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 effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Although these operations have been described functionally, computationally or logically, it should be understood that they are implemented by a computer program or equivalent electronic circuit, microcode, etc. Furthermore, it has been found that the arrangement of these operations can also be referred to as a module without loss of versatility, and in some cases convenient. The described operations and their associated modules may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or any combination 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 in a computer program product that includes a computer-readable medium that includes computer program code that may be executed by a computer processor to perform some or all of the described steps, operations, or processes. Is done.

  Embodiments of the present invention also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. The apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes and / or the apparatus comprises a general purpose computing device that is selectively enabled or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. It can also be included. Such a computer program may be stored on a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus. Further, any computing system referred to herein may be an architecture that includes a single processor or employs a multiprocessor design to increase computing power.

  Embodiments of the present invention also relate to products produced by the computing processes described herein. Such products can include information resulting from the computing process, where the information is stored in a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium and the computer program product or other data described herein. Includes any embodiment of the combination.

  Finally, the terminology used herein has been chosen primarily for readability and teaching purposes and has not been selected for an accurate overview or limitation of the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but by any claims presented in this application based on this specification. Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of the invention is intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow.

Claims (37)

Storing the brand page associated with the entity in a social networking system;
Storing one or more user profiles of users of the social networking system and a set of connections between the users, the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page;
Receiving a plurality of content items for posting to the brand page, wherein each content item is associated with one or more keywords describing the content item;
Receiving a request for browsing the brand page from a user having a user profile linked to the brand page;
Accessing a user profile associated with the user requesting browsing of the brand page;
Content that selects a content item from the plurality of content items based on a keyword associated with each of the plurality of content items and the user profile associated with the user requesting browsing of the brand page An item selection process;
Generating a personalized representation of the brand page for a user requesting browsing of the brand page, wherein the personalized representation of the brand page includes one or more of the selected content items. , Process and
A personalized representation sending step of sending the generated and personalized representation of the brand page to a user requesting viewing of the brand page for display.   The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein keywords associated with the content item include targeting criteria that define one or more characteristics of the social networking system that are eligible to be presented with the content item. .   The computer of claim 1, wherein the targeting criteria is selected from the group comprising interest, location, event, connection type, additional user, action, employer, educational institution, intimacy, and any combination thereof. Implemented method.   The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the keywords associated with the content item include features that describe the content item.   The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the keywords are selected from the group comprising topics, products, users, entities, events, and any combination thereof. The personalized expression transmission step includes:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising displaying the selected content item to visually distinguish the selected content item from an additional content item. The personalized expression transmission step includes:
Including a story associated with the selected content in a news feed sent to the electronic device, the electronic device associated with the user having a user profile linked to the brand page. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising the steps of: The user having a user profile linked to the brand page is
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising sending a message including the selected content to an electronic device associated with the user having a user profile linked to the brand page. The content item selection step includes:
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising matching the characteristics of the user profile associated with the user requesting browsing of the brand page with at least one keyword associated with a content item. Way. The content item selection step includes:
Determining the intimacy of the user requesting browsing of the brand page for a keyword associated with each of the plurality of content items;
The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising selecting a content item based on the determined intimacy. The content item selection step includes:
The computer-implemented method of claim 10, comprising the step of selecting a content item associated with a keyword that has at least a threshold affinity for the user requesting browsing of the brand page. The content item selection step includes:
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, comprising the step of selecting a content item associated with a keyword having the highest intimacy with respect to the intimacy determined by the user requesting browsing of the brand page. . Storing in an action log data describing one or more interactions between the user requesting browsing of the brand page and the generated and personalized representation of the brand page, the stored log Data associated with the user profile associated with the user requesting viewing of the brand page; and
One or more intimacy of the user requesting browsing of the brand page, the user profile associated with the user requesting browsing of the brand page and the generated and personalized representation of the brand page; Updating based on the one or more interactions between the computer-implemented method. Storing one or more user profiles of users of a social networking system and a set of connections between the users, the one or more user profiles including a connection to a brand page of the social networking system; Process,
Receiving a browsing request for browsing the brand page from a browsing user;
Retrieving keywords associated with a plurality of content items posted on the brand page;
Retrieving a user profile associated with the browsing user, wherein the user profile is associated with the browsing user maintained by the social networking system;
A content item selection step of selecting a content item from the plurality of content items based on the keyword associated with each of the plurality of content items and the user profile associated with the browsing user;
Presenting the selected content item to the viewing user, a content item presentation step.   15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein keywords associated with a content item include targeting criteria that define one or more characteristics of a social networking system that are eligible to be presented with the content item. .   16. The computer of claim 15, wherein the targeting criteria is selected from the group comprising interests, places, events, connection types, additional users, actions, employers, educational institutions, intimacy, and any combination thereof. Implemented method.   The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein keywords associated with the content item include features that describe the content item.   The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the keywords are selected from the group comprising topics, products, users, entities, events, and any combination thereof. The content item presentation step includes:
15. The process of including a story associated with the selected content in a news feed sent to an electronic device, wherein the electronic device is associated with the viewing user. The computer-implemented method described. The content item presentation step includes:
The computer-implemented method of claim 14, comprising sending a message including the selected content to an electronic device associated with the viewing user. The content item selection step includes:
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, comprising matching the characteristics of the user profile associated with the viewing user with at least one keyword associated with a content item. The content item selection step includes:
Determining the intimacy of the browsing user for a keyword associated with each of the plurality of content items;
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, comprising selecting a content item based on the determined intimacy. Storing the brand page associated with the entity in a social networking system;
Storing one or more user profiles of users of the social networking system and a set of connections between the users, the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page;
Posting content associated with one or more keywords to the brand page;
Receiving a request for access to the brand page from a browsing user associated with a user profile linked to the brand page;
Selecting content posted on the brand page based on one or more keywords associated with the content and the user profile associated with the viewing user;
Presenting the selected content to the viewing user. A social networking system,
A content store (310) for storing associated brand pages;
A user profile store (305) for storing one or more user profiles of a user and a set of connections between the users, the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page;
The content store (310) is configured to receive content for posting to the brand page, and the content is associated with a target criteria that defines user interests in the social networking system (310). 305)
A user profile of a viewing user from the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page and from the one or more user profiles including the connection to the brand page is included in the browsing user's user profile. A content selector (170) for determining whether to have an interest defined by the targeting criteria based in part on:
In response to determining that the browsing user's user profile is of interest, the content store delivers the content of the brand page to an electronic device (210) associated with the browsing user. A social networking system comprising the content selector (170) configured.   The user profile store (305) is configured to store keywords associated with a user profile, and the content selector (170) stores the interests of the viewing user's user profile defined by the target criteria. 25. The social networking system of claim 24, wherein the social networking system is configured to match a keyword of the user profile of the browsing user with a keyword of the target criteria to determine whether to have it. An action logger (315) for storing, in an action log, data describing one or more actions performed by a browsing user, in particular an interaction between the browsing user and the brand page, the stored data Includes an action logger (315) associated with the user profile of the browsing user;
The content selector (170) is configured to determine whether the user profile of the viewing user has the interest defined by the target criteria based on the action performed by the user. The social networking system according to claim 24 or 25.   A newsfeed manager (325) configured to communicate with a plug-in, preferably installed on a third party website (230), to publish the content received by the content store (310); The social networking system according to any one of claims 24 to 26.   A display generator (335) for determining when the viewing user has requested that information be displayed, wherein the viewing user's user profile from the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page is For determining whether to have an interest defined by the target criteria based in part on the user profile of the browsing user and for distributing the content by changing the appearance of the brand page 28. A social networking system according to any one of claims 24 to 27, comprising a display generator (335) configured to cooperate with the content selector (170). Storing the brand page associated with the entity in a social networking system;
Storing one or more user profiles of users of the social networking system and a set of connections between the users, the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page;
Receiving content for posting to the brand page, wherein the content is associated with a target criterion that defines interests of users of the social networking system;
Accessing the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page in response to the content receiving step;
Whether a viewing user's user profile from the one or more user profiles including a connection to the brand page has the interest defined by the targeting criteria based in part on the browsing user's user profile To decide. An interest determination process;
Responsive to determining that the user profile of the viewing user is interested in, delivering the content to the brand page to an electronic device associated with the viewing user, particularly by sending a message A computer-implemented method for use in a system according to any one of claims 24 to 28, comprising: a content distribution step. The content distribution process includes:
30. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, comprising a content display step of displaying the content on the brand page when the browsing user accesses the brand page with the electronic device. The content display step includes
Displaying the content such that the content is visually distinct from second content associated with a target criterion that defines the interest that is not included in the user profile of the viewing user. 32. The computer implemented method of claim 30, comprising: The interest determination step includes
32. A computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 29 to 31, comprising the step of matching, in particular character string matching, the keywords of the user profile of the browsing user with the keywords of the target criteria.   Storing data describing one or more interactions between the browsing user and the brand page in an action log, wherein the stored data is associated with the user profile of the browsing user; 33. A computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 29 to 32. The content distribution process includes:
34. The computer-implemented method of any of claims 29-33, comprising delivering a story associated with the content to the electronic device associated with the viewing user. Determining whether the user profile of the viewing user has characteristics defined by the target criteria;
Accessing an action log containing actions performed by the viewing user;
Determining whether the user profile of the browsing user has characteristics defined by the target criteria based on the action performed by the browsing user and the user profile of the browsing user; 35. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 29 to 34.   The feature is one or more of interest, demographic information, membership of a group of users of the social networking system, and actions performed by the viewing user, particularly an interaction between the viewing user and the brand page. 36. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 29 to 35, comprising an action performed by the viewing user including:   37. A computer readable storage medium storing computer program instructions in executable form, wherein the instructions implement the method of any of claims 29-36.

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