Patents Examined by Shaun Sensenig
  • Patent number: 7882039
    Abstract: A system and method are directed towards automatically modifying an online dating service's search results based on adaptive personalizations from a user's activities. A user provides input to questions that seek information regarding the user. The invention employs the input to identify a list of candidates for a potential long-term social relationship with the user. The invention may then develop a unified search score for each candidate that represents a weighted sum of normalized search subscores. The subscores represent various user activities, affinities with a candidate, frequencies of viewing a candidate profile, and feedback about a candidate from the user. The unified search score for each candidate is then used to rank order the results presented to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventors: Aaron Frederick Weiss, Wei Wang, Egon Smola
  • Patent number: 7856407
    Abstract: A system and method links one or more disparate community awareness management (CAM) datasets for a community awareness program (CAP) with one or more spatial layers to create linked CAM datasets. One or more data attributes common to a CAM dataset and a spatial layer are identified, and the link is defined between the CAM dataset and the spatial layer. The spatial layer and the linked CAM dataset then may be queried using a single input query. Features from the spatial layer and features from the linked CAM dataset that match the query are generated for display. In one embodiment, a system and method manage CAP assets, transactions, interest areas for the CAP, and buffer areas for the CAP. An audience utility enables entering and maintaining audience data for the CAP. A journal utility enables making journal entries for one or more audience members, CAP assets, transactions, and/or other CAM data. A link document utility enables linking one or more documents to CAM data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2010
    Assignee: CeleritasWorks, LLC
    Inventors: Scott A. Evans, Robert L. Marshall, Brett A. Lester, Larry D. Miley
  • Patent number: 7716140
    Abstract: Systems and methods for controlling access to relationship information in a social network are described. One described method comprises receiving a request from an observer for relationship information indicating at least a first relationship between a target in a social network and a second entity in the social network, identifying at least a first privacy rule for the first relationship, and outputting at least part of the relationship information to the observer if the first privacy rule is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Alan Nielsen, Ellen Spertus, Alexandre Drobychev
  • Patent number: 7707122
    Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method are directed towards enabling information filtering using measures of an affinity of a relationship between subscribers of an online portal system. The affinity of a relationship may be determined based, in part, on the tracking of various online behaviors of and between subscribers of the portal system. Any of a variety of behaviors may be tracked, including message communications between subscribers, participation in instant messaging groups, purchases, activities, categories, and so forth. Such behaviors may be employed to determine a level of trust (or affinity) between subscribers of the portal system. This affinity measurement may be used to filter various information, including, but not limited to, product recommendations, ratings, polling queries, advertising, social network communications, personal ads, search results, and the like. Moreover, this affinity measurement may also be employed to perform message spam detection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Yahoo ! Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Everett Hull, F. Randall Farmer, Ellen Sue Perelman
  • Patent number: 7680676
    Abstract: A method for producing a programming element for a broadcast station entails generating an order in a database to produce a recorded announcement and identifying the script for the order. The script and an order are stored at a first location in the database by the salesman. The method continues by recalling the order from the database by a traffic director, assigning a cart number to the order, and storing the script and cart number at a second location in the database. The stored script, order and cart number are recalled from the second location by a producer at the broadcast station. The producer locates elements required in the script and produces the recorded announcement. The recorded announcement is stored at a third location with the order in the database. The method ends by retrieving the stored recorded announcement for use by the broadcast station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2010
    Inventors: Randy Schell, Lorraine Barrow