Card Feature Extraction From Rendered Images for Personalized Ranking

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing ranking algorithms in search engines and recommendation systems fail to capture user preferences beyond visible layout features, leading to suboptimal presentation of content items, particularly for users with specific preferences or disabilities.

Innovation Solution

Extract image features from digital representations of content items, combining them with user and contextual features to personalize ranking and display algorithms using machine learning models.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If ranking algorithms use only visible layout features and tags, then the system complexity remains low, but the personalization accuracy and user preference capture are insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepersonalization accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a visual representation (copy) of the card layout by rendering it as an image. This visual copy captures the actual visible layout features that users perceive, going beyond the abstract tag data. The rendered image serves as a faithful replica of the card's visual structure, enabling image processing techniques to extract meaningful layout features that reflect real user experience.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces traditional mechanical parsing methods (regex-based extraction from HTML/CSS) with image processing techniques. Instead of mechanically scraping layout information from source code, the system renders the card as an image and uses computer vision algorithms to automatically extract layout features. This substitution enables more accurate capture of visual patterns and spatial relationships that directly correspond to user perception.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Loss of information

If the system extracts comprehensive image features from rendered cards, then the feature extraction capability improves, but the processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefeature extraction completenessVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential layout features from the rendered card images rather than processing every pixel and detail. By identifying and extracting specific meaningful features such as text regions, image placements, layout patterns, and spatial relationships, the system captures the most important information for personalization while avoiding unnecessary computational overhead from processing redundant visual data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the card layout into distinct functional regions and feature types (e.g., header sections, content areas, media elements, footer elements). This segmentation allows the image processing system to analyze each region with appropriate algorithms, extracting relevant features from specific areas while skipping unnecessary processing in other areas, thereby reducing overall computational time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Adaptability or versatility

If the system incorporates user features and contextual features alongside image features, then the personalization quality improves, but the data processing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepersonalization qualityVSAvoiddata processing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple data sources (image features from rendered cards, user profile data, contextual information) into a unified feature representation. By combining these diverse feature types and feeding them together into machine learning models, the system creates a comprehensive personalization approach that leverages the complementary strengths of each data source while managing complexity through integrated processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal feature extraction framework that can handle multiple data types (visual, textual, user-profile, contextual) through a common processing architecture. The image processing pipeline serves as a universal approach that can be applied to various card types and content formats, while the same framework accommodates additional user and contextual features, making the system versatile without proportionally increasing complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS12353472B2Generic card feature extraction based on card rendering as an image
Publication Date: 2025.07.08 YAHOO ASSETS LLC
  • US12353472B2 patent drawing
  • US12353472B2 patent drawing
  • US12353472B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Methods and apparatus for using features of images representing content items to improve the presentation of the content items are disclosed. In one embodiment, a plurality of digital images are obtained, where each of the images represents a corresponding one of a plurality of content items Image features of each of the digital images are determined. Additional features including at least one of user features pertaining to a user of a client device or contextual features pertaining to the client device are ascertained. At least a portion of the content items are provided via a network to the client device using features that include or are derived from both the image features of each of the plurality of digital images and the additional features.