Social network content item federation based on item utility value

Abstract

Systems and methods for federating social network content items include determining an engagement value for content items based on previous interactions with content items from first and second content item sources stored in an electronic data storage, certain content items having selection metrics and value metrics according to varying selection schemas and a value schema. A utility value is generated for each of the at least some of the content items, the utility value including an engagement component and a monetary component. A user device displays the content items in an order based on the utility values.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A system, comprising:
 a network interface configured to communicate with devices via a network;   an electronic data storage, including:
 a first content item source including first content items each having a selection metric according to a first selection schema and a value metric according to a first value schema; and 
 a second content item source including second content items different than the first content items, each of the second content items having the selection metric according to a second selection schema different than the first selection schema; 
   a processor, configured to:
 determine an engagement value for each of the at least some of the content items based on previous interactions with content items from the first and second content item sources; 
 generate a utility value for each of the at least some of the content items, the utility value including:
 an engagement component based, at least in part, on the selection metric as received from a corresponding one of the first and second content item sources and the engagement value as determined; and 
 a monetary component based, at least in part, on the value metric as received the first content items; and 
 
 cause the user device to display at least some of the first and second content items in an order based, at least in part, on the first and second content items' respective utility values. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein processor is further configured to iteratively adjust the assignment of positions by applying a discount to the utility score of each of the plurality of content items that violates the diversity criterion. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the discount increases with each iteration. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the discount increases exponentially with each iteration. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the discount is applied to the utility score by multiplying the utility score by the discount. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the diversity criterion is one of multiple diversity criteria and wherein the processor is configured to iteratively adjust the assigning of positions according to the diversity criteria such that the discount is applied to each one of the plurality of content items that violates the any one of the diversity criteria. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the electronic data storage includes a plurality of 8 item sources, each of the content item sources including some of the plurality of content items ranked according to one of a plurality of ranking schemas, at least two of the plurality of content items sources utilizing different ones of the plurality of ranking schemas, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine the utility score individually for each of the plurality of content items based, at least in part, on the ranking schemas. 
     
     
         9 . A processor-implemented method, comprising:
 receive, from a first content item source, first content items, each having a selection metric according to a first selection schema and a value metric provided by a third party in compensation for displaying the first content item without respect to a position of the first content item in a feed according to a first value schema, first content items;   receive, from a second content item source including second content items different than the first content items, each of the second content items having the selection metric according to a second selection schema different than the first selection schema;   for each of the first content items, determine a utility score based on the associated selection metric and the associated value metric;   for each of the second content items, determine the utility score based on the associated selection metric;   rank the first and second content items according to their individually determined utility scores;   assign at least some of the plurality of content items to positions in the feed according to the rank;   iteratively adjust the assigning of positions according to a diversity criterion; and   cause a user interface to display the at least some of the plurality of content items according to the positions as iteratively adjusted.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein iteratively adjusting the assignment of positions includes applying a discount to the utility score of each of the plurality of content items that violates the diversity criterion. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the discount increases with each iteration. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the discount increases exponentially with each iteration. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein iteratively adjusting the assignment of positions includes applying to the utility score by multiplying the utility score by the discount. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the diversity criterion is one of multiple diversity criteria and wherein iteratively adjusting the assigning of positions is according to the diversity criteria such that the discount is applied to each one of the plurality of content items that violates the any one of the diversity criteria. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the electronic data storage includes a plurality of content item sources, each of the content item sources including some of the plurality of content items ranked according to one of a plurality of ranking schemas, at least two of the plurality of content items sources utilizing different ones of the plurality of ranking schemas, and wherein determining the utility score individually for each of the plurality of content items is based, at least in part, on the ranking schemas. 
     
     
         16 . A computer readable medium, comprising instructions which, when implemented by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receive, from a first content item source, first content items, each having a selection metric according to a first selection schema and a value metric provided by a third party in compensation for displaying the first content item without respect to a position of the first content item in a feed according to a first value schema, first content items;   receive, from a second content item source including second content items different than the first content items, each of the second content items having the selection metric according to a second selection schema different than the first selection schema;   for each of the first content items, determine a utility score based on the associated selection metric and the associated value metric;   for each of the second content items, determine the utility score based on the associated selection metric;   rank the first and second content items according to their individually determined utility scores;   assign at least some of the plurality of content items to positions in the feed according to the rank;   iteratively adjust the assigning of positions according to a diversity criterion; and   cause a user interface to display the at least some of the plurality of content items according to the positions as iteratively adjusted.   
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein iteratively adjusting the assignment of positions includes applying a discount to the utility score of each of the plurality of content items that violates the diversity criterion. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the discount increases with each iteration. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the discount increases exponentially with each iteration. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein iteratively adjusting the assignment of positions includes applying to the utility score by multiplying the utility score by the discount. 
     
     
         21 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the diversity criterion is one of multiple diversity criteria and wherein iteratively adjusting the assigning of positions is according to the diversity criteria such that the discount is applied to each one of the plurality of content items that violates the any one of the diversity criteria.