Methods and systems for providing serendipitous recommendations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9734244-B2
Application number	US-201414563672-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 8, 2014
Priority date	Dec 8, 2014
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods are described herein for returning search results that may be rare or surprising to what a user would expect a search performed on a user-input symbol would yield. As an example, if a user were searching for media related to the television show “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” by entering the search symbol “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the user would typically expect the search results to yield media related to that television show. However, if the user's profile indicates that the user is fascinated by astronomy, for example, the search result may also yield a result corresponding to a documentary discussing the composition of the sun.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing feedback to a user, the method comprising:
receiving a symbol comprising a plurality of terms from a user;
retrieving a user profile associated with the user;
modifying the symbol by applying a weight to each term of the plurality of terms based on an attribute of the user profile, wherein the applied weight is inversely correlated to a degree to which a respective term matches the attribute of the user profile;
performing a search based on the modified symbol;
generating for display search results returned by the search;
performing another search that is based on the symbol as it was prior to modifying the symbol; and
generating for display additional search results returned by the another search, wherein a search result of the search results generated for display based on the search performed based on the modified symbol is generated for display simultaneously with the additional search results.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the degree to which the respective term matches the attribute of the user profile is determined based on a frequency indicator indicating how often each term has historically been used by the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein applying the weight to each term of the plurality of terms further comprises:
comparing the frequency indicator corresponding to the respective term to a threshold; and
determining whether the frequency indicator corresponding to the respective term exceeds a threshold, wherein:
in response to determining the frequency indicator exceeds the threshold, the applied weight is nominal, and wherein
in response to determining the frequency indicator does not exceed the threshold, the applied weight is substantial.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search results are sorted based on preferences indicated by the user profile.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the search further comprises accessing the user profile to determine an experience that occurred in a predetermined period of time, and causing the search to be additionally based on the experience.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search result is displayed in an emphasized manner as compared to the display of the additional search results.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the search result is displayed in an overlay on top of the additional search results.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search is based on both the modified symbol and user preferences as indicated in the user profile.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing a database, wherein the user profile is retrieved from the database;
cross-referencing the symbol with the user profile; and
determining the degree to which the respective term matches the attribute of the user profile based on the cross-referencing.

10. A system for providing feedback to a user, the system comprising:
user input circuitry;
communications circuitry; and
control circuitry configured to:
receive, using the user input circuitry, a symbol comprising a plurality of terms from a user;
retrieve, using the communications circuitry, a user profile associated with the user;
modify the symbol by applying a weight to each term of the plurality of terms based on an attribute of the user profile, wherein the applied weight is inversely correlated to a degree to which a respective term matches the attribute of the user profile;
perform a search based on the modified symbol;
generate for display search results returned by the search;
perform another search that is based on the symbol as it was prior to modifying the symbol; and
generate for display additional search results returned by the another search, wherein a search result of the search results generated for display based on the search performed based on the modified symbol is generated for display simultaneously with the additional search results.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to, when determining the degree to which the respective term matches the attribute of the user profile, base the determination on a frequency indicator indicating how often each term has historically been used by the user.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when applying the weight to each term of the plurality of terms, to:
compare the frequency indicator corresponding to the respective term to a threshold; and
determine whether the frequency indicator corresponding to the respective term exceeds a threshold, wherein:
in response to determining the frequency indicator exceeds the threshold, the applied weight is nominal, and wherein
in response to determining the frequency indicator does not exceed the threshold, the applied weight is substantial.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to sort the search results based on preferences indicated by the user profile.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein control circuitry is further configured to, when performing the search, access the user profile to determine an experience that occurred in a predetermined period of time, and cause the search to be additionally based on the experience.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the search result is displayed in an emphasized manner as compared to the display of the additional search results.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the search result is displayed in an overlay on top of the additional search results.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the search is based on both the modified symbol and user preferences as indicated in the user profile.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
access, using the communications circuitry, a database, wherein the user profile is retrieved from the database;
cross-reference the symbol with the user profile; and
determine the degree to which the respective term matches the attribute of the user profile based on the cross-referencing.

Assignees

• Rovi Guides Inc

Inventors

• Wickenkamp Vanessa

Classifications

• G06F17/3053

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30867

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/3084

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30828 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F16/9535 Primary

  Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation · CPC title