Sponsored listing recommendation engine

Abstract

An online music system includes a music database configured to store musical selections and to store a user profile for respective users of the online music system, an advertiser account management system to store bid amounts from advertisers seeking to provide information to the users of the online music system and a user recommendation system coupled to the music database to present information about musical selections to respective users based on the stored user profile and the stored bid amounts.

1 . A computer implemented online music system comprising:
 a music database configured to store musical selections and to store a user profile for respective users of the online music system;   an advertiser account management system to store bid amounts from advertisers seeking to provide information to the users of the online music system; and   a user recommendation system in data communication with the music database and the advertiser account management system to present information about musical selections to respective users based on the stored user profile and the stored bid amounts.   
     
     
         2 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 1  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to receive a content search request from a respective user and update the user profile for the respective user using information of the received content search request. 
     
     
         3 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 2  further comprising:
 a content search engine to identify content listings in a database which match the received content search request and to send a web page including matching content listings and the information about musical selections to the respective user 
 
     
     
         4 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 1  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to identify recommended musical selections for the respective user based on the user profile and to send a web page which includes the recommended musical selections and the information about musical selections to the respective user. 
     
     
         5 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 4  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to use collaborative filtering to determine content preferences for the respective user and to use collaborative filtering results to recommend the musical selections for the respective user. 
     
     
         6 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 5  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to use collaboratively filter the user profile of the respective user against user profiles of other users of the online music system. 
     
     
         7 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 4  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to
 monitor content consumed by or delivered to the respective user, 
 in response thereto, to identify one or more communities of content consumers to which the respective user belongs; and 
 subsequently, select content items from the identified one or more communities as the recommended musical selections. 
 
     
     
         8 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 4  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to
 identify one or more sponsored recommendations; and 
 send the web page which includes the recommended musical selections, the information about musical selections, and information about the sponsored recommendations, to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         9 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 8  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to
 retrieve account information for the respective user; 
 using the retrieved account information, determine ratings for musical selections in the database; 
 select highest rated musical selections for the respective user; 
 select sponsored recommendations for the respective user; 
 order the sponsored recommendations using expected revenue; and 
 return the ordered sponsored recommendations to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         10 . The computer implemented online music system of  claim 1  wherein the user recommendation system is configured to
 receive a content search request from a respective user; 
 retrieve account information for the respective user; 
 identify content items similar to the received content search request; 
 identify sponsored recommendations for the respective user based on the received content search request; 
 order the sponsored recommendations using expected revenue; and 
 return the ordered sponsored recommendations to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         11 . A computer implemented method for operating an online content system which provides online content to users, the method comprising:
 storing a user profile for respective users of the online content system;   storing bid amounts from advertisers seeking to provide information to the users of the online content system; and   presenting information about content selections to respective users based on the stored user profile and the stored bid amounts.   
     
     
         12 . The computer implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 receiving a content search request from a respective user; and 
 updating the user profile for the respective user using information of the received content search request. 
 
     
     
         13 . The computer implemented method of  claim 12  wherein updating the user profile comprises:
 collaborative filtering the received content search request with information of other stored user profiles; 
 using results of the collaborative filtering, identifying similar content selections from the other stored user profiles; and 
 presenting information about the identified similar content selections to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         14 . The computer implemented method of  claim 12  further comprising:
 identifying content listings in a database matching the received content search request; 
 formatting content search results using the matching content listings; and 
 sending a web page including the content search results and the information about content selections to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         15 . The computer implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 based on the user profile, identifying recommended content selections for the respective user; 
 sending a web page including the recommended content selections and the information about content selections to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         16 . The computer implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 receiving a content search request from a respective user; 
 determining a set of highest rated content selections for the respective user; 
 among the set of highest rated content selections, ordering content selections having stored bid amounts using expected revenue; and 
 presenting information about the identified similar content selections and the ordered content selections to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         17 . The computer implemented method of  claim 16  wherein determining a set of highest rated content selections for the respective user comprises:
 collaborative filtering content items identified by the respective user with content items identified by other respective users; and 
 selecting results of the collaborative filtering as the set of highest rated content selections. 
 
     
     
         18 . The computer implemented method of  claim 16  wherein determining a set of highest rated content selections for the respective user comprises:
 determining demographic information for the respective user; and 
 rating content selections based on the determined content information. 
 
     
     
         19 . The computer implemented method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 receiving a content search request from a respective user; 
 identifying content items stored in a database which are similar to the content search request; 
 for identified content items having associated bid amounts from advertisers, biasing the identified content items according to the associated bid amounts; 
 ordering the biased content selections using expected revenue; and 
 presenting information about the ordered content selections to the respective user. 
 
     
     
         20 . The computer implemented method of  claim 19  wherein identifying content items which are similar to the content search request comprises collaborative filtering of the content search request relative to content items stored in the database.