System and method for presenting targeted content

Abstract

A method and system for presenting targeted content to users over the internet is provided. The method includes enabling a user to sign into a website. An identifier is generated for the user, if the user is signing into the website for the first time. Information corresponding to the user is mined and the information is linked to the user. Further, verification is made to determine whether the generated identifier matches with existing identifiers. If the generated identifier matches with an existing identifier, then existing information corresponding to the matched identifier is linked to the user. Targeted content is presented to the user by processing at least the information linked to the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, performed by a computer system, for recommending to a first user of targeted gifts for a second user in an online social network of the first user, the first user operating a user terminal, the online social network of the first user established through a social networking platform communicable to both the computer system and the user terminal, the computer system comprising a database storing purchase activity information of a plurality of users, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing, by the computer system, a first user interface (UI) to the user terminal for display, the first UI containing one or more UI elements allowing the first user to authenticate to the social networking platform using the first user interface as a way for the first user to sign-up with or authenticate into the computer system;   receiving, by the computer system, social network information of the first user from the social networking platform after the first user successfully authenticates to the social network platform, the received social network information including information about the second user;   providing, by the computer system, a second UI to the user terminal for display, the second UI listing the second user as a selectable recipient for receiving one or more gift items from the first user;   receiving, by the computer system, selection information from the user terminal, the selection information indicating that the second user is selected by the first user as a recipient to receive one or more gifts from the first user;   extracting, by the computer system, social network information of the second user from the social networking platform,   determining, by the computer system, whether the database stores purchase activity information of the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user;   retrieving, when purchase activity information of the second user is determined to be present in the database, purchase activity information of the second user, and deciding one or more potential gift items for the second user using at least the retrieved purchase activity information of the second user; and   providing, by the computer system, a third UI to the user terminal for display, the third UI listing the decided one or more potential gift items as selectable for purchase for the second user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether the database stores purchase activity information of the second user comprises the steps of:
 generating an identifier for the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user; and   determining whether the identifier has already been created for the second user by querying the database; and   if the database indicates that the generated identifier matches an existing identifier stored in the database, informing the computer system that the database stores purchase activity information of the second user.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the generating of an identifier for the second user further comprises generating an identifier for the second user using a subset of first name, last name, date of birth, location and email address of the second user included in the extracted social network information of the second user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein collaborative filtering algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to decide specific goods or services which the second user may like or need, using the retrieved purchase activity information of the second user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a machine learning algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to perform sentiment analysis in order to classify the second user for better gifting needs so as to match the second user with appropriate gifts. 
     
     
         6 . A method, performed by a computer system, for recommending to a first user of targeted gifts for a second user in an online social network of the first user established through a first social networking platform, the first user operating a user terminal, the first social networking platform and a second social networking platform both communicable to both the computer system and the user terminal, the computer system comprising a database storing aggregated social network information of a plurality of system users, the aggregated social network information of each system user aggregated from one or more social networking platforms, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing, by the computer system, a first user interface (UI) to the user terminal for display, the first UI containing one or more UI elements allowing the first user to authenticate to the first online social networking platform using the first user interface as a way for the first user to sign-up with or authenticate into the computer system;   receiving, by the computer system, social network information of the first user from the first social networking platform after the first user successfully authenticates to the first social networking platform, the received social network information including information about the second user;   providing, by the computer system, a second UI to the user terminal for display, the second UI listing the second user as a selectable recipient for receiving one or more gift items from the first user;   receiving, by the computer system, selection information from the user terminal, the selection information indicating that the second user is selected by the first user as a recipient to receive one or more gifts from the first user;   extracting, by the computer system, social network information of the second user from the first social networking platform; and   determining, by the computer system, whether the database stores aggregated social network information of the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user;   if aggregated social network information of the second user is found in the database, retrieving, by the computer system, aggregated social network information of the second user, and deciding one or more potential gift items for the second user using at least the retrieved aggregated social network information of the second user; and   providing by the computer system, a third UI to the user terminal for display, the third UI listing the decided one or more potential gift items as selectable for purchase for the second user.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the determining of whether the database stores aggregated social network information of the second user comprises the steps of:
 generating an identifier for the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user; and   determining whether the identifier has already been created for the second user by querying the database; and   if the database indicates that the generated identifier matches an existing identifier stored in the database, informing the computer system that the database stores aggregated social network information of the second user.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the aggregated social network information of the second user includes at least one of social feeds of the second user, location of the second user, likes of the second user, and dislikes of the second user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein collaborative filtering algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to decide specific goods or services which the second user may like or need, using the aggregated social network information of the second user. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a machine learning algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to perform sentiment analysis in order to classify the second user for better gifting needs so as to match the second user with appropriate gifts. 
     
     
         11 . A system for recommending to a first user of targeted gifts for a second user in an online social network of the first user, the first user operating a user terminal, the online social network of the first user established through a social networking platform communicable to both the user terminal and the system, the system having a database storing purchase activity information of a plurality of users, the system comprising:
 a processor; 
 a system memory, said system memory storing a plurality of application modules adapted to perform, when executed by the processor, a set of steps comprising:
 providing a first user interface (UI) to the user terminal for display, the first UI containing one or more UI elements allowing the first user to authenticate to the social networking platform using the first user interface as a way for the first user to sign-up with or authenticate into the computer system; 
 receiving social network information of the first user from the social networking platform after the first user successfully authenticates to the social network platform, the received social network information including information about the second user; 
 providing a second UI to the user terminal for display, the second UI listing the second user as a selectable recipient for receiving one or more gift items from the first user; 
 receiving selection information from the user terminal, the selection information indicating that the second user is selected by the first user as a recipient to receive one or more gifts from the first user; 
 extracting social network information of the second user from the social networking platform, 
 determining whether the database stores purchase activity information of the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user; 
 retrieving, when purchase activity information of the second user is determined to be present in the database, purchase activity information of the second user, and deciding one or more potential gift items for the second user using at least the retrieved purchase activity information of the second user; and 
 providing, by the computer system, a third UI to the user terminal for display, the third UI listing the decided one or more potential gift items as selectable for purchase for the second user; and 
 
 the database configured to store the purchase activity information of the plurality of users and data received from the plurality of application modules. 
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the determining of whether the database stores purchase activity information of the second user comprises the steps of:
 generating an identifier for the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user; and   determining whether the identifier has already been created for the second user by querying the database; and   if the database indicates that the generated identifier matches an existing identifier stored in the database, informing the computer system that the database stores purchase activity information of the second user.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the generating of an identifier for the second user further comprises generating an identifier for the second user using a subset of first name, last name, date of birth, location and email address of the second user included in the extracted social network information of the second user. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein collaborative filtering algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to decide specific goods or services which the second user may like or need, using the retrieved purchase activity information of the second user. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein a machine learning algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to perform sentiment analysis in order to classify the second user for better gifting needs so as to match the second user with appropriate gifts. 
     
     
         16 . A system for recommending to a first user of targeted gifts for a second user in an online social network of the first user established through a first social networking platform, the first user operating a user terminal, the first social networking platform and a second social networking platform both communicable to both the computer system and the user terminal, the system comprising a database storing aggregated social network information of a plurality of users, the aggregated social network information of each user aggregated from one or more social networking platforms, the system comprising:
 a processor;   a system memory, said system memory storing a plurality of application modules adapted to perform, when executed by the processor, a set of steps comprising:
 providing, by the computer system, a first user interface (UI) to the user terminal for display, the first UI containing one or more UI elements allowing the first user to authenticate to the first online social networking platform using the first user interface as a way for the first user to sign-up with or authenticate into the computer system; 
 receiving, by the computer system, social network information of the first user from the first social networking platform after the first user successfully authenticates to the first social networking platform, the received social network information including information about the second user; 
 providing, by the computer system, a second UI to the user terminal for display, the second UI listing the second user as a selectable recipient for receiving one or more gift items from the first user; 
 receiving, by the computer system, selection information from the user terminal, the selection information indicating that the second user is selected by the first user as a recipient to receive one or more gifts from the first user; 
 extracting, by the computer system, social network information of the second user from the first social networking platform; and 
 determining, by the computer system, whether the database stores aggregated social network information of the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user; 
 if aggregated social network information of the second user is found in the database, retrieving, by the computer system, aggregated social network information of the second user, and deciding one or more potential gift items for the second user using at least the retrieved aggregated social network information of the second user; and 
 providing by the computer system, a third UI to the user terminal for display, the third UI listing the decided one or more potential gift items as selectable for purchase for the second user; and 
   the database configured to store the aggregated social network information of the plurality of users and data received from the plurality of application modules.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the determining of whether the database stores aggregated social network information of the second user comprises the steps of:
 generating an identifier for the second user using the extracted social network information of the second user; and   determining whether the identifier has already been created for the second user by querying the database; and   if the database indicates that the generated identifier matches an existing identifier stored in the database, informing the computer system that the database stores aggregated social network information of the second user.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the aggregated social network information of the second user includes at least one of social feeds of the second user, location of the second user, likes of the second user, and dislikes of the second user. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein collaborative filtering algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to decide specific goods or services which the second user may like or need, using the aggregated social network information of the second user. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein a machine learning algorithm is used in the deciding of one or more potential gift items for the second user, to perform sentiment analysis in order to classify the second user for better gifting needs so as to match the second user with appropriate gifts.