Patents by Inventor Spencer Powell

Spencer Powell has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10848809
    Abstract: An online system receives a video-presentation request from a third party system. The video-presentation request comprises a video and a target audience specification for the video. The online system selects a plurality of users as the target audience of the video based on the target audience specification. From the target audience, the online system generates a sample subset of users and determines a sampled video reach count for the subset of users. A sample user who, as determined by the online system, would have viewed the view for at least a threshold duration, is included in the sampled video view count. The online system estimates a total video reach count for target audience by extrapolating the sampled video reach count for the subset of users to the target audience. The total video reach count can be used to determine a parameter for presenting the video on an online system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Jiajin Yu, Max K. Comer, Zhengyong Zhu, Kevin Wenkai Heh, Spencer Powell
  • Patent number: 10621623
    Abstract: An online system scores campaign audiences based on historical scoring data for similar audiences. A third party system selects a target audience and a day on which the target audience should be exposed to a campaign. The online system generates an availability grid and a score grid to determine a score for the target audience. Values in the availability grid are determined based on the availability of exposure time for the target audience on the specified date. Values in the score grid are based on historical scoring data for the same audience. The online system scores the target audience by interpolating between data points in the score grid based on a selected availability from the availability grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhengyong Zhu, Jiajin Yu, Spencer Powell
  • Patent number: 10616351
    Abstract: A social networking system maintains characteristics with its users, with various characteristics, such as age, specified by the users (i.e., “asserted characteristics”). The social networking system selects content for a user based at least in part on the characteristics associated with the user. To account for potential inaccuracies in an asserted age of a user, the social networking system clusters users based on ages of other users connected to users. The online system receives verified ages for users in a cluster from a trusted third party system that maintains more accurate characteristics for users than the social networking system. By comparing the asserted ages for users in the cluster to the verified ages for users in the cluster, the social networking system determines an accuracy of the asserted ages for users in the cluster. The accuracy may be used when selecting content for the users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Weidong Wang, Roshan Umesh Goli, Patrick James Kemp, Spencer Powell
  • Patent number: 10390065
    Abstract: An online system receives a video-presentation request from a third party system. The video-presentation request comprises a video and a target audience specification for the video. The online system selects a plurality of users as the target audience of the video based on the target audience specification. From the target audience, the online system generates a sample subset of users and determines a sampled video reach count for the subset of users. A sample user who, as determined by the online system, would have viewed the view for at least a threshold duration, is included in the sampled video view count. The online system estimates a total video reach count for target audience by extrapolating the sampled video reach count for the subset of users to the target audience. The total video reach count can be used to determine a parameter for presenting the video on an online system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Jiajin Yu, Max K. Comer, Zhengyong Zhu, Kevin Wenkai Heh, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20180324489
    Abstract: An online system receives a video-presentation request from a third party system. The video-presentation request comprises a video and a target audience specification for the video. The online system selects a plurality of users as the target audience of the video based on the target audience specification. From the target audience, the online system generates a sample subset of users and determines a sampled video reach count for the subset of users. A sample user who, as determined by the online system, would have viewed the view for at least a threshold duration, is included in the sampled video view count. The online system estimates a total video reach count for target audience by extrapolating the sampled video reach count for the subset of users to the target audience. The total video reach count can be used to determine a parameter for presenting the video on an online system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Inventors: Jiajin Yu, Max K. Comer, Zhengyong Zhu, Kevin Wenkai Heh, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20180218406
    Abstract: An online system scores campaign audiences based on historical scoring data for similar audiences. A third party system selects a target audience and a day on which the target audience should be exposed to a campaign. The online system generates an availability grid and a score grid to determine a score for the target audience. Values in the availability grid are determined based on the availability of exposure time for the target audience on the specified date. Values in the score grid are based on historical scoring data for the same audience. The online system scores the target audience by interpolating between data points in the score grid based on a selected availability from the availability grid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2017
    Publication date: August 2, 2018
    Inventors: Zhengyong Zhu, Jiajin Yu, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20170068722
    Abstract: A social networking system maintains characteristics with its users, with various characteristics, such as age, specified by the users (i.e., “asserted characteristics”). The social networking system selects content for a user based at least in part on the characteristics associated with the user. To account for potential inaccuracies in an asserted age of a user, the social networking system clusters users based on ages of other users connected to users. The online system receives verified ages for users in a cluster from a trusted third party system that maintains more accurate characteristics for users than the social networking system. By comparing the asserted ages for users in the cluster to the verified ages for users in the cluster, the social networking system determines an accuracy of the asserted ages for users in the cluster. The accuracy may be used when selecting content for the users.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2015
    Publication date: March 9, 2017
    Inventors: Weidong Wang, Roshan Umesh Goli, Patrick James Kemp, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20170024455
    Abstract: An online system receives information from an entity identifying a set of users of the online system and groups users included in the set into clusters based on their similarities using a clustering model or algorithm (e.g., k-means clustering) and based on one or more parameters specified by the entity. The online system generates expanded clusters that include additional users in one or more clusters based on similarities between the additional users and users in various clusters. If an additional user is included in multiple expanded clusters, the online assigns the additional user exclusively to an expanded cluster that best fits the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2015
    Publication date: January 26, 2017
    Inventors: Spencer Powell, Boris Pierre Arnoux, Sue Ann Hong, Daniel K. Chapsky, Adam Scott Berger, Nikhil Girish Nawathe, Christopher William Jones, Justin Thomas Palumbo, Edward R. Gan, Rituraj Kirti, Mui Thu Tran, Yujie Yang
  • Patent number: 9430561
    Abstract: An analysis system analyzes known user affinities to identify particular objects that serve as useful predictors of whether a given user will have an affinity for a given topic, even if the user has not previously expressly specified an affinity for that topic. Specifically, both the topic group of users associated with a given topic and the category group of users associated with the topic's more general category are identified. For each of a set of objects, degrees of divergence between the topic group and the category group are evaluated for a criterion evaluated with respect to the object. A topic profile is created based on objects for which there is a high degree of divergence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventor: Spencer Powell
  • Patent number: 9348886
    Abstract: A system forms sub-groups from a given user group of a social networking system and form descriptions of the sub-groups that provide an intuitive understanding of sub-group composition, such as likings of the sub-groups. In one embodiment, a given user group of a social networking system is clustered into a plurality of sub-groups, and representative characteristics—such as the characteristics of a composite or actual member of the sub-group—are determined for each sub-group. In order to form sub-group descriptions, a set of objects, such as pages of the social networking system, is ranked with respect to the representative characteristics of the sub-group. The highest-ranking objects for a sub-group are then used to form the description of that sub-group. For example, the topics associated with each of the highest-ranking pages can be combined into the sub-group description.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Boris Arnoux, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20150348134
    Abstract: An advertiser specifies an advertising campaign including one or more targeting criteria for presentation to users of an online system, which retrieves information describing previously completed advertisement auctions for presenting advertisement to users of the online system satisfying one or more of the targeting criteria. Based on the retrieved information, the online system associates various bid amounts with the advertising campaign and determines the advertising campaign's estimated performance for various bid amounts. For each bid amount, the online system determines a number of previously completed advertisement auctions that would have selected an advertisement from the advertising campaign, an amount that would have been charged to the advertiser if an advertisement campaign was selected, and a number of distinct users that would have been presented with an advertisement from the advertising campaign.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2014
    Publication date: December 3, 2015
    Applicant: FACEBOOK, INC.
    Inventors: Xiaohu Jiang, Dan Zhang, Wenjie Fu, Linji Yang, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20140358673
    Abstract: A group of social networking system users are associated with a holdout group for an advertisement. Users in the holdout group are not presented with the advertisement. When the advertisement is selected for presentation to a user, the social networking system presents the advertisement to the user if the user is not in the holdout group. However, if the user is in the holdout group, alternative content is presented to the user. If a user performs a conversion event associated with the advertisement via a client device, the social networking system determines a fee for an advertiser if the advertisement was presented to the user. The fee may be adjusted based on differences between conversion events by users in the holdout group for the advertisement and by users not in the holdout group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2013
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Inventors: Richard Bill Sim, Jun Yang, Eitan Shay, Jiahui Wu, Spencer Powell, William Bullock
  • Publication number: 20140172855
    Abstract: A system forms sub-groups from a given user group of a social networking system and form descriptions of the sub-groups that provide an intuitive understanding of sub-group composition, such as likings of the sub-groups. In one embodiment, a given user group of a social networking system is clustered into a plurality of sub-groups, and representative characteristics—such as the characteristics of a composite or actual member of the sub-group—are determined for each sub-group. In order to form sub-group descriptions, a set of objects, such as pages of the social networking system, is ranked with respect to the representative characteristics of the sub-group. The highest-ranking objects for a sub-group are then used to form the description of that sub-group. For example, the topics associated with each of the highest-ranking pages can be combined into the sub-group description.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Boris Arnoux, Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20140172857
    Abstract: An analysis system analyzes known user affinities to identify particular objects that serve as useful predictors of whether a given user will have an affinity for a given topic, even if the user has not previously expressly specified an affinity for that topic. Specifically, both the topic group of users associated with a given topic and the category group of users associated with the topic's more general category are identified. For each of a set of objects, degrees of divergence between the topic group and the category group are evaluated for a criterion evaluated with respect to the object. A topic profile is created based on objects for which there is a high degree of divergence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: Facebook
    Inventor: Spencer Powell
  • Publication number: 20130346213
    Abstract: A social networking system enables brands to form relationships with each other and use these relationships when communicating content to social networking system users. The social networking system receives an endorsement request from a brand to establish a relationship with another brand in the social networking system. Responsive to an approval from the other brand, the relationship is formed by the social networking system, and may be used to distribute content to users connected to one of the brands. For example, a brand may endorse an advertising brand, allowing the advertising brand to target the endorsement to users connected to the endorsing brand. The advertising brand may provide content, such as an advertisement, as well as the endorsement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Inventors: Spencer Powell, Sean Michael Bruich
  • Patent number: 8141909
    Abstract: An umbilical field connect assembly comprising: a first umbilical portion comprising two or more first bundled members chosen from electrical cables, fluid conduits, and optical fibers; a second umbilical portion comprising two or more second bundled members chosen from electrical cables, fluid conduits, and optical fibers; a first housing assembly having a first end coupled to the first umbilical portion and a second end comprising a first coupling plate having a plurality of first couplings chosen from male and female couplings positioned therein, one of the plurality of first couplings being positioned at an end of each of the first bundled members; a second housing assembly having a third end coupled to the second umbilical portion and a fourth end comprising a second coupling plate having a plurality of second couplings chosen from male and female couplings positioned therein, one of the second couplings being positioned at an end of each of the second bundled members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: Aker Subsea Inc.
    Inventors: Brett Clover, Jeff Lami, Spencer Powell, Maurus Kresse, Heith Little
  • Publication number: 20100038899
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to an umbilical field connect assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2009
    Publication date: February 18, 2010
    Inventors: Brett Clover, Jeff Lami, Spencer Powell, Maurus Kresse, Heith Little