US2006010229A1PendingUtilityA1

User intention modeling for web navigation

Assignee: MICROSOFT CORPPriority: May 9, 2002Filed: Sep 6, 2005Published: Jan 12, 2006
Est. expiryMay 9, 2022(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
H04L 67/564G06F 17/18H04L 9/40H04L 67/62H04L 67/63H04L 67/568G06F 16/954H04L 69/329
46
PatentIndex Score
0
Cited by
0
References
0
Claims

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter models or predicts a user's intention during network or WWW navigation. Specifically, a statistical multi-step n-gram probability model is used to predict a user's optimal information goal. The optimal information goal is based on a sequence of previously visited network content pieces and a globally optimized navigation path through the sequence.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A computer-implemented method for modeling a user intention during network navigation, the method comprising: 
 predicting, based on a statistical multi-step n-gram probability model, an optimal information goal of the user; and    wherein the optimal information goal is based on a sequence of previously visited network content pieces and a globally optimized navigation path through the sequence.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a content piece of the sequence comprises a Web page.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein predicting the globally optimized navigation path is dynamically performed responsive to user Web navigation.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein predicting the optimal information goal further comprises: 
 recording a history of user action, the history comprising information corresponding to user navigation to a plurality of networked content pieces, the information further indicating at least the sequence of previously visited network content pieces;    for at least a portion of the sequence data, calculating respective probabilities that a user would visit a particular content piece n in the sequence from a content piece n−1 in the sequence; and    wherein predicting the optimal information goal is based on the respective probabilities.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the history further comprises a URL, a hyperlink, a user name, a start time, text corresponding to a URL, a query, elapsed time, or an object name.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein calculating respective probabilities that the user would visit a particular content piece n in the sequence from a content piece n−1 in the sequence is performed based on the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     
                       Pr 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         ( 
                         
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               w 
                               1 
                             
                           
                           , 
                           Λ 
                           , 
                           
                             w 
                             
                               i 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                           
                         
                         ) 
                       
                     
                     ≈ 
                       
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       Pr 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         ( 
                         
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 n 
                                 + 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                           
                           , 
                           … 
                           ⁢ 
                           
                               
                           
                           , 
                           
                             w 
                             
                               i 
                               - 
                               2 
                             
                           
                           , 
                           
                             w 
                             
                               i 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                           
                         
                         ) 
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   
                     = 
                       
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 n 
                                 + 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             … 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 2 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                       
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 n 
                                 + 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             … 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 2 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   
                     = 
                       
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         C 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           
                             ( 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   n 
                                   + 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               … 
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                   
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 i 
                               
                             
                             ) 
                           
                           / 
                           
                             C 
                             n 
                           
                         
                       
                       
                         C 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           
                             ( 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   n 
                                   + 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               … 
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                   
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                             ) 
                           
                           / 
                           
                             C 
                             
                               n 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   
                     
                       = 
                         
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         
                           
                             C 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             
                               ( 
                               
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     n 
                                     + 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 … 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 
                                     
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     2 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   i 
                                 
                               
                               ) 
                             
                           
                           
                             C 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             
                               ( 
                               
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     n 
                                     + 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 … 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 
                                     
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     2 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                               
                               ) 
                             
                           
                         
                         * 
                         C 
                       
                     
                     ; 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
         wherein, Pr represents the probability;  
         wherein user navigation to the plurality of networked content pieces is represented as w 1 , w 2 ,Λ, w i ,Λ, w L , where w i  is the ith visited content piece in the sequence; and  
         wherein C(w i−n+1 , . . . ,w i−2 ,w i−1 ,w i ) denotes the count of an n-Gram (w i−n+1 , . . . , w i−2 ,w i−1 ,w i ) appearing in training data, C n  is a total number of the n-grams, C n−1  is a total number of the (n−1)-grams, C equals to C n /C n−1 , C n , C n− , and C are constants.  
       
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the globally optimized navigation path is based on the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     argmax 
                     
                       w 
                       i 
                     
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     
                       ∏ 
                       
                         i 
                         = 
                         
                           k 
                           + 
                           1 
                         
                       
                       ∞ 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                         
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       Pr 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         ( 
                         
                           
                             w 
                             i 
                           
                           ❘ 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 2 
                               
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                         ) 
                       
                     
                   
                 
                 ; 
                 
                     
                 
                 ⁢ 
                 and 
               
               , 
             
           
         
         wherein k represents a number of networked content pieces that the user has already visited.  
       
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the globally optimized navigation path is based on the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   1 
                   t 
                 
                 ⁢ 
                 
                   
                     ∑ 
                     
                       i 
                       = 
                       
                         k 
                         + 
                         1 
                       
                     
                     
                       i 
                       = 
                       
                         k 
                         + 
                         t 
                       
                     
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                       
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     log 
                     ⁢ 
                     
                         
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       ( 
                       
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                       ) 
                     
                   
                 
               
               ; 
             
           
         
         wherein k represents a number of networked content pieces that the user has already visited; and  
         wherein t indicates how many steps are predicted.  
       
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising dynamically determining how many steps to the optimal information goal are to be predicted by employing a perplexity that reflects the entropy of the globally optimized navigation path.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the optimal information goal is determined according to the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 argmax 
                 t 
               
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               ⁢ 
               
                 
                   ( 
                   
                     
                       1 
                       t 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         ∑ 
                         
                           i 
                           = 
                           
                             k 
                             + 
                             1 
                           
                         
                         
                           i 
                           = 
                           
                             k 
                             + 
                             t 
                           
                         
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         log 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                     
                   
                   ) 
                 
                 . 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     
         11 . A computer-readable medium for modeling a user intention during network navigation, the computer-readable medium comprising computer-program instructions executable by a processor for: 
 predicting, based on a statistical multi-step n-gram probability model, an optimal information goal of the user; and    wherein the optimal information goal is based on a sequence of previously visited network content pieces and a globally optimized navigation path through the sequence.    
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein predicting the globally optimized navigation path is dynamically performed responsive to user Web navigation.  
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions for predicting the optimal information goal further comprise instructions for: 
 recording a history of user action, the history comprising information corresponding to user navigation to a plurality of networked content pieces, the information further indicating at least the sequence of previously visited network content pieces;    for at least a portion of the sequence data, calculating respective probabilities that a user would visit a particular content piece n in the sequence from a content piece n−1 in the sequence; and    wherein predicting the optimal information goal is based on the respective probabilities.    
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein calculating respective probabilities that the user would visit a particular content piece n in the sequence from a content piece n−1 in the sequence is performed based on the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     
                       Pr 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         ( 
                         
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               w 
                               1 
                             
                           
                           , 
                           Λ 
                           , 
                           
                             w 
                             
                               i 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                           
                         
                         ) 
                       
                     
                     ≈ 
                       
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       Pr 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         ( 
                         
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 n 
                                 + 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                           
                           , 
                           … 
                           ⁢ 
                           
                               
                           
                           , 
                           
                             w 
                             
                               i 
                               - 
                               2 
                             
                           
                           , 
                           
                             w 
                             
                               i 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                           
                         
                         ) 
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   
                     = 
                       
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 n 
                                 + 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             … 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 2 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                       
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 n 
                                 + 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             … 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 2 
                               
                             
                             , 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   
                     = 
                       
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         C 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           
                             ( 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   n 
                                   + 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               … 
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                   
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 i 
                               
                             
                             ) 
                           
                           / 
                           
                             C 
                             n 
                           
                         
                       
                       
                         C 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           
                             ( 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   n 
                                   + 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               … 
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                   
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               , 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                             ) 
                           
                           / 
                           
                             C 
                             
                               n 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   
                     
                       = 
                         
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         
                           
                             C 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             
                               ( 
                               
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     n 
                                     + 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 … 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 
                                     
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     2 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   i 
                                 
                               
                               ) 
                             
                           
                           
                             C 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             
                               ( 
                               
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     n 
                                     + 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 … 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 
                                     
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     2 
                                   
                                 
                                 , 
                                 
                                   w 
                                   
                                     i 
                                     - 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                               
                               ) 
                             
                           
                         
                         * 
                         C 
                       
                     
                     ; 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
         wherein, Pr represents the probability;  
         wherein user navigation to the plurality of networked content pieces is represented as w 1 ,w 2 ,Λ,w i ,Λ,w L , where w i  is the ith visited content piece in the sequence; and  
         wherein C(w i−n+1 , . . . ,w i−2 ,w i−1 ,w i ) denotes the count of an n-Gram (w i−n+1 , . . . , w i−2 ) w i−1 ,w i ) appearing in training data, C n  is a total number of the n-grams, C n−1  is a total number of the (n−1)-grams, C equals to C n /C n−1 , C n , C n− , and C are constants.  
       
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the globally optimized navigation path is based on the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     argmax 
                     
                       w 
                       i 
                     
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     
                       ∏ 
                       
                         i 
                         = 
                         
                           k 
                           + 
                           1 
                         
                       
                       ∞ 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                         
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       Pr 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         ( 
                         
                           
                             w 
                             i 
                           
                           ❘ 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 2 
                               
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             
                               w 
                               
                                 i 
                                 - 
                                 1 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                         ) 
                       
                     
                   
                 
                 ; 
                 
                     
                 
                 ⁢ 
                 and 
               
               , 
             
           
         
         wherein k represents a number of networked content pieces that the user has already visited.  
       
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the globally optimized navigation path is based on the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   1 
                   t 
                 
                 ⁢ 
                 
                   
                     ∑ 
                     
                       i 
                       = 
                       
                         k 
                         + 
                         1 
                       
                     
                     
                       i 
                       = 
                       
                         k 
                         + 
                         t 
                       
                     
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                       
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     log 
                     ⁢ 
                     
                         
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       ( 
                       
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                       ) 
                     
                   
                 
               
               ; 
             
           
         
         wherein k represents a number of networked content pieces that the user has already visited; and  
         wherein t indicates how many steps are predicted.  
       
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 20  further comprising instructions for dynamically determining how many steps to the optimal information goal are to be predicted by employing a perplexity that reflects the entropy of the globally optimized navigation path.  
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the optimal information goal is determined according to the following:  
       
         
           
             
               
                 argmax 
                 t 
               
               ⁢ 
               
                   
               
               ⁢ 
               
                 
                   ( 
                   
                     
                       1 
                       t 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         ∑ 
                         
                           i 
                           = 
                           
                             k 
                             + 
                             1 
                           
                         
                         
                           i 
                           = 
                           
                             k 
                             + 
                             t 
                           
                         
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                           
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         log 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         Pr 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                             
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           ( 
                           
                             
                               w 
                               i 
                             
                             ❘ 
                             
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 w 
                                 
                                   i 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                           ) 
                         
                       
                     
                   
                   ) 
                 
                 . 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     
         19 . A computing device for modeling a user intention during network navigation, the computing device comprising: 
 a processor; and    a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions that are fetched and executed by the processor for: 
 predicting, based on a statistical multi-step n-gram probability model, an optimal information goal of the user; and  
 wherein the optimal information goal is based on a sequence of previously visited network content pieces and a globally optimized navigation path through the sequence.  
   
     
     
         20 . The computing device of claim  23 , wherein the instructions for predicting the optimal information goal further comprise instructions for: 
 recording a history of user action, the history comprising information corresponding to user navigation to a plurality of networked content pieces, the information further indicating at least the sequence of previously visited network content pieces;    for at least a portion of the sequence data, calculating respective probabilities that a user would visit a particular content piece n in the sequence from a content piece n−1 in the sequence; and    wherein predicting the optimal information goal is based on the respective probabilities.

Join the waitlist — get patent alerts

Track US2006010229A1 — get alerts on status changes and closely related new filings.

We store only your email — no account needed. See our privacy policy.