Patents Assigned to Yahoo!
  • Patent number: 9331983
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for content-based billing is provided. Techniques are provided for intercepting, modifying, and retransmitting a request between various entities engaged in content-based billing in the context of the World Wide Web. Various techniques such as HTTP proxy servers, wireless protocol gateways, routers, and level 41 switches may be used for intercepting the request. The request maybe modified based on numerous factors such as profile information, levels of service, and requested content. The entities that engage in content-based billing include but are not limited to users (including mobile users), content providers, access providers (including HTTP proxy servers).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Pei-Yuan Zhou, Ivry Semel, Sailendra K. Padala, Philippe Le Rohelec
  • Patent number: 9329842
    Abstract: Method, system, and programs for providing a user interface are disclosed. In one example, a plurality of candidate user interfaces is determined. Each candidate user interface is associated with one or more parameters related to a user interface. Each of the plurality of candidate user interfaces is provided to a subset of users selected from the plurality of users. Inputs are obtained from the plurality of users with respect to each of the plurality of candidate user interfaces. One or more candidate user interfaces are selected from the plurality of candidate user interfaces based on the inputs. A new candidate user interface is generated based on the selected one or more candidate user interfaces. A user interface is identified based on the new candidate user interface and the selected one or more candidate user interfaces. The identified user interface is provided to the plurality of users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: YAHOO! INC.
    Inventors: Chris Chan, Tony Hairr, Katrina Tempero, Yu-Chin Tai, Wit Tatiyanupanwong
  • Patent number: 9332432
    Abstract: A request is received to access a user account. A geolocation of a mobile device registered with the user account is obtained directly from the mobile device. Authentication credentials for the user account are verified for correctness. A mobile device geolocation verification request is transmitted to a cellular data provider. The cellular data provider is equipped to independently determine a true geolocation region of the mobile device for comparison with the geolocation of the mobile device as obtained directly from the mobile device. A verification response to the mobile device geolocation verification request is received from the cellular data provider. The verification response indicates whether or not the geolocation of the mobile device as obtained directly from the mobile device corresponds to the true geolocation region of the mobile device. A response to the access request based on the verification response is transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Daryl Low, Marco Wirasinghe, Gautam Godse
  • Patent number: 9330181
    Abstract: Briefly, the disclosure describes embodiments of methods or apparatuses for document processing at distributed processing nodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Fakrudeen Ali Ahmed, Souri Nath Datta, Vikram Verma, Aravindan Raghuveer, Muralidhar Hanumantachar Sortur, Syama Prasad Suprasadachandranpillai, Tom Praison Rajadurai A, Sachidanand Alle
  • Publication number: 20160117727
    Abstract: Described herein are solutions for improving ad retargeting. For example, described herein are solutions for improving ad retargeting amongst various online marketing channels, such as search engine and native advertising marketing channels. The solutions can include adaptive ad retargeting. Adaptive ad retargeting can be beneficial in that it can solve the problem of ineffectively predicting which search terms to associate with advertising, such as in a more conventional process of selecting search terms in a search engine marketing campaign. Instead, for example, these technologies can identify behavior of individuals who have already interacted with certain advertising online, so that when similar behavior occurs by those individuals or other users, ads can be retargeted to such users effectively according to the similar behavior.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2014
    Publication date: April 28, 2016
    Applicant: YAHOO! INC.
    Inventors: Bruce Campbell, Jonathan Avni, Chloe Chen
  • Publication number: 20160119294
    Abstract: Methods, systems and programming for data traffic control and encryption. In one example, data traffic is received from a first node to be sent to a second node. The health of an encryption pathway between the first node and the second node is determined. The data traffic is sent to the second node over the network without going through the encryption pathway when the encryption pathway is not healthy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2014
    Publication date: April 28, 2016
    Applicant: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Nicholas Petach, Nitin Batta, Brian LaCroix, Igor Gashinsky
  • Patent number: 9324093
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method, advertising network, and computer readable medium for measuring ad performance metrics after user-initiated sharing activity at a website. The method commences by receiving an original internet ad, the original internet ad for hosting within a website (e.g. a social networking website), then recoding the original internet ad (also for hosting within a website) wherein the recoded sharable internet ad comprises ad sharing and instrumentation code for capturing, tracking and later reporting various user-initiated sharing activities by measuring online events using the ad sharing and instrumentation code (i.e. the online events being in response to user-initiated sharing activity) without requiring any explicit action to be provided by the website operator. In some cases, the measured event occurs in the form of expanding an ad, clicking a request to share, printing a coupon, or performing an online conversion action. The ad can comprise any forms of internet media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Vageesh Setty, Rampradeep Dodda, Prabhakar Goval
  • Patent number: 9324080
    Abstract: A method of modifying an Internet browser interface to provide shopping assistant functionality facilitating on-line shopping at a supported merchant Internet site. A wallet created in accordance with the present invention comprises a database having various user data stored therein under certain predetermined field names. A supported merchant data file identifies a plurality of supported merchants and enables the modified browser interface to determine when a shopper has navigated to a supported merchant web site. For each supported merchant, a rules and mapping file is created that may be used in connection with the wallet to map user-provided information in the wallet to corresponding fields in the merchant's check-out web page. When a user navigates to a supported merchant web site and desires to purchase merchandise and/or services from that merchant, the wallet automatically fills out the merchant's check-out web page(s), thereby simplifying on-line shopping and particularly, the check-out process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: YAHOO! INC.
    Inventors: Thomas Joshua Shafron, Qi Lu, Ashish Baldua
  • Patent number: 9323848
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating search results including searching by subdomain and providing sponsored results by subdomain is provided. A search system according to embodiments of the present invention analyzes search queries to determine if they are to be routed to subdomains and presents results include sponsored hits sponsored on a subdomain by subdomain basis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Ali Diab, Scott A. Gatz, Shyam Kapur, David Ku, Chuck Kung, Phu Hoang, Qi Lu, Lynne Pogue, Yuan Kui Shen, Norman Shi, Thai Tran, Eckart Walther, Jeff Weiner
  • Patent number: 9323843
    Abstract: When a user enters a primary search query into a primary search query input area to perform a first search of the primary search query, disclosed is a method and system for automatically entering the primary search query into a secondary search query input area to perform a second search of the primary search query. When the user enters a secondary search query into the secondary search query input area to perform a first search of the secondary search query, the method and system automatically enters the secondary search query into the primary search query input area to perform a second search of the secondary search query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Paul Broman, Jon Sweet, Tim Rechin, Jessi Dong, Frank Yoo, Burke Culligan
  • Publication number: 20160110755
    Abstract: Described herein are techniques and systems for online ad campaign tuning using proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers, such as proportional (P) controllers and proportional-integral (PI) controllers. Also, described herein are techniques and systems for shortening a learning/tuning phase of a PID controller used for optimizing an online ad campaign.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicant: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Yury Smirnov, Quan Lu, Kuang-chih Lee
  • Patent number: 9317595
    Abstract: Techniques are described herein for automatic generation of a title or summary from a long body of text. A grammatical tree representing one or more sentences of the long body of text is generated. One or more nodes from the grammatical tree are selected to be removed. According to one embodiment, a particular node is selected to be removed based on its position in the grammatical tree and its node-type, where the node type represents a grammatical element of the sentence. Once the particular node is selected, a branch of the tree is cut at the node. After branch has been cut, one or more sub-sentences are generated from the remaining nodes in the grammatical tree. The one or more sub-sentences may be returned as a title or summary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Xin Li, Hongjian Zhao
  • Patent number: 9317613
    Abstract: A system and method is described for large scale entity-specific classification of each entity-specific set of candidates in a collection of candidates for each specific entity in a collection of entities. The collection of entities may comprise a specific category or domain of entities (e.g. schools, restaurants, manufacturers, products, events, people). Candidates may comprise webpages or other resources with resource identifiers. Entity specific sets of candidates may be found by leveraging search engine query results and user interaction therewith for queries based on entity-specific attributes. The relationship(s) or class(es) for which candidate resources are being classified relative to a specific entity may comprise an authoritative, official home page (OHP), or other class (e.g. fan page, review, aggregator) relative to a specific entity. A feature generator generates entity-specific features for candidates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Sathiya K. Selvaraj, Philip L. Bohannon, Mridul Muralidharan, Cong Yu, Ashwin Machanavajjhala, Arun S. Iyer, Sundararajan Sellamanickam
  • Patent number: 9317272
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems and methods for improving interactions with and between computers supported by or configured with application servers or platforms. The systems interact to identify and retrieve data across platforms, which data can be used to improve the quality of tracking data used in processing interactions between or among processors in such systems. The disclosed systems and methods provide for conversion tracking. That is, the disclosed systems and methods enable the tracking of user information, associated with the user and/or the user's device, upon a user performing a conversion action including, but not limited to, downloading an application, visiting a website or downloading other types of online content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventor: Jesse Chor
  • Patent number: 9317602
    Abstract: A method of providing in-context exploration of a query results web page, wherein the web page has at least one element and a plurality of query results, receives an indication of interest in the at least one element, and in response to the indication, emphasizes at least one query result relative to the plurality of query results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventor: Roelof van Zwol
  • Patent number: 9317623
    Abstract: A system for converting formatting of display object, including a logic (e.g., a computing device) that can be operable to traverse and record a part of source code or binary data related to a first visible item displayed on a visual output device. The logic can then convert a first data type or data structure that includes the recorded part of source code or binary data to a second data type or data structure that still includes the recorded part of source code or binary data, where the second data type or data structure is related to a second visible item displayable on the visual output device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Lawrence Anthony Deguzman, Igor P. Zingerman
  • Publication number: 20160103758
    Abstract: The technologies described herein use a statistical test to determine whether differences between data sets of buckets in a bucket test, such as differences between averages of two buckets (e.g., differences between means of two buckets), are directionally larger than a predetermined or preset minimum threshold value. The statistical test may also provide an extension to specify the minimum threshold value as a percentage. Also, described herein are techniques for estimating different control variables of a bucket test, such as estimating minimum bucket size to provide sufficient statistical power with use of the minimum threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2014
    Publication date: April 14, 2016
    Applicant: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Zhenyu Zhao, Flavio T.P. Oliveira, Maria Stone, Miao Chen, Shalu Pandey, Kshitiz Tripathi
  • Patent number: 9311058
    Abstract: Example methods, apparatuses, or articles of manufacture are disclosed that may be implemented, in whole or in part, using one or more computing devices to facilitate or otherwise support one or more processes or operations for Jabba language.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventor: Josh Coalson
  • Patent number: 9311628
    Abstract: An appointment having an associated appointment location and a reminder time is received. The method also includes tracking a current location and a travel time, the travel time comprising an estimated amount of time for travel from the current location to the appointment location. Further, the method includes adjusting the reminder time to accommodate the travel time. Furthermore, the method includes activating an event reminder in accordance with the adjusted reminder time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Ashvin Agrawal, Subramaniam Venkatraman Krishnan
  • Patent number: D754185
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: YAHOO! INC.
    Inventors: Agnes Liu, Guy Schackman, Chialing Hsu Sarva, Bonnie Pan, Sophie Dufresne