Crowd and profile based communication addresses

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for sending a message to a select subset of users in a select crowd of users. In one embodiment, a message to be delivered to a subset of users in a select crowd of users is received from a user device of a sending user. In response, one or more users in the crowd are selected as the subset of the users in the crowd to which the message is to be delivered. In one embodiment, the one or more users are selected based on a profile matching process. The message is then sent to the one or more users selected as the subset of the users in the crowd to which the message is to be delivered. Preferably, the message is sent to the one or more users anonymously such that the message does not identify the sending user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, from a device of a sending user, a message to be delivered to a subset of users in a select crowd of users;   selecting one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered; and   sending the message to the one or more users selected as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the select crowd of users is one of a plurality of dynamically defined crowds of users, and each crowd of the plurality of dynamically defined crowds of users includes a plurality of users that are spatially proximate to one another. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein sending the message comprises sending the message anonymously such that the message does not identify the sending user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein selecting the one or more users comprises selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on profile matching. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on profile matching comprises:
 for each user of at least some of the users in the select crowd of users, generating a match value based on a comparison of at least a subset of a user profile of the sending user to at least a subset of a user profile of the user; and 
 selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the match values of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users are all of the users in the select crowd of users. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users are one or more of the users in the select crowd of users that have enabled receipt of messages. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the user profile of the sending user comprises one or more profile categories, and the at least a subset of the user profile of the sending user is at least one profile category selected from the one or more profile categories. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein, for each user of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users, generating the match value comprises generating the match value for the user based on a comparison of the at least one profile category of the user profile of the sending user to at least a subset of the user profile of the user and at least one weight assigned to the at least one profile category. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5  wherein selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the match values of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users comprises:
 selecting a predefined number of users from the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users having the highest match values. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5  wherein selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the match values of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users comprises:
 selecting one or more users from the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users having match values that are greater than a defined minimum threshold score. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 4  wherein selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on profile matching comprises:
 for each user of at least some of the users in the select crowd of users:
 generating a match value based on a comparison of at least a subset of a user profile of the sending user to at least a subset of a user profile of the user; and 
 obtaining a referral rating for the user that is indicative of a desirability of the user as a recipient of the message; and 
 
 selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the match values and the referral ratings of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the referral rating for the user is an implicit referral rating for the user. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the referral rating for the user is an explicit referral rating for the user. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 4  wherein selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on profile matching comprises:
 for each user of at least some of the users in the select crowd of users:
 generating a match value based on a comparison of at least a subset of a user profile of the sending user to at least a subset of a user profile of the user; and 
 obtaining a responsiveness rating for the user that is indicative of whether the user is likely to respond to the message from the sending user based on past actions of the user; and 
 
 selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the match values and the responsiveness ratings of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein selecting the one or more users comprises:
 for each user of at least some of the users in the select crowd of users, obtaining a referral rating for the user that is indicative of a desirability of the user as a recipient of the message; and 
 selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the referral ratings of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the referral rating for the user is an implicit referral rating for the user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the referral rating for the user is an explicit referral rating for the user. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1  wherein selecting the one or more users comprises:
 for each user of at least some of the users in the select crowd of users, obtaining a responsiveness rating for the user that is indicative of a desirability of the user as a recipient of the message; and 
 selecting the one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered based on the responsiveness ratings of the at least some of the users in the select crowd of users. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving a response from a responding user from the one or more users to which the message was delivered; and 
 sending the response to the sending user at the device of the sending user. 
 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  wherein sending the response to the sending user comprises sending the response anonymously such that the response does not identify the responding user. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising:
 receiving, from the device of the sending user, a rating for the response assigned by the sending user; and 
 updating an explicit referral rating of the responding user based on the rating for the response assigned by the sending user. 
 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising:
 monitoring a location of the sending user to detect whether the sending user moves to a location of the select crowd of users; and 
 updating an implicit referral rating of the responding user based on whether the sending user moves to the location of the select crowd of users. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising, for each user of the one or more users to which the message was delivered, updating a responsiveness rating of the user based on whether the user responded to the message. 
     
     
         25 . A server comprising:
 a communication interface; and   a controller associated with the communication interface and adapted to:
 receive, from a device of a sending user, a message to be delivered to a subset of users in a select crowd of users; 
 select one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered; and 
 send the message to the one or more users selected as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered. 
   
     
     
         26 . A computer readable medium storing software for instructing a controller of a computing device to:
 receive, from a device of a sending user, a message to be delivered to a subset of users in a select crowd of users;   select one or more users from the users in the select crowd of users as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered; and   send the message to the one or more users selected as the subset of the users in the select crowd of users to which the message is to be delivered.