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Systems and methods for user-constructed hierarchical interest profiles and information retrieval using same

Systems and methods for user-constructed hierarchical interest profiles and information retrieval using same description/claims

The present invention relates to data processing systems, and in particular data processing systems for obtaining Web content in which the user may generate and provide a specialized or customized interest profile that may be applied to selectively filter the content provided to the user.

The World Wide Web (or simply, the “Web”) has become a readily available and extensive source of information and other resources to users of personal computers and workstations. Indeed, the explosive growth of the Web and the volume of information available, has complicated the user's task of locating the desired information. The user must spend increasing amounts of time performing keyword-based searches on one or more of the search engines available on the Web, or traversing links via portal sites in search of the information the user seeks. Additionally, search engine and portal providers commonly have only limited information which they use to present first-order search results, or top-level navigation links, respectively. Often, the limited information may be restricted to the simple keywords provided to the search. At best, a site might provide for site-specific personalization/preferences settings. Once created, these preferences are only available at that site. Moreover, these preference settings may not capture the full range of interests of the user. Thus, users must still perform manual filtering through search results or navigate through layers of content.

As a practical matter, it is difficult for a site to foresee, at a sufficiently granular level, the potential interests of its individual users. Although a provider can ask about preferences or interests, it cannot anticipate the essentially unlimited range of interests a user might have. Moreover, it is impractical for a provider to save and manage such data for each of its users.

Consequently, there is a need in the art for systems and methods that may be used by an individual to describe his or her interests, and that can then be used by a portal or search engine to customize portal links or automatically refine searches based on the user's personalized interests.

The aforementioned needs are addressed by the present invention. Accordingly, there is provided a method of delivering Web content. The method includes receiving a hierarchical data set of user-identified interests. The hierarchical data set is parsed, and responsive thereto, one or more keyword attribute values are extracted from the hierarchical data set. The extracted keyword values are applied to filter content for delivery to a requesting Web client.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate, FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary hierarchical interest profile represented in XML in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface GUI for managing hierarchical interest data that may be used in conjunction with the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates, in flow chart form, a methodology for applying hierarchical interest profiles to the delivery of Web content in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates alternative embodiments of the methodology of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 illustrates, in block diagram form, a data processing system which may be used in conjunction with the methodologies incorporating the present inventive principles.

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• Utility Patent

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