Contextual Link Clarification for Shareable URLs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Long and cryptic URLs are difficult to remember and often lost or forgotten during sharing, especially in character-limited interfaces, leading to issues with accessing the shared web pages.
Innovation Solution
A link clarification system that detects sharing events, replaces characters of the original URL with context attributes to generate a modified URL, and provides user prompts for substitution, making the modified URL easier to remember and recall.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If link-shortening services are used to replace lengthy URLs with fewer characters, then the URL length is reduced, but the replacement characters become cryptic and difficult to remember
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system that acts as a bridge between the original URL and the shared representation. This intermediary generates contextually meaningful replacements (such as descriptive text or mnemonic phrases) that connect the shortened form to the original content, making it easier to remember while maintaining the benefit of reduced length.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the URL from a purely character-based identifier into a contextual representation by changing its parameters. Instead of using random or sequential characters, the system modifies the URL structure to include meaningful descriptors, context attributes, or semantic information that enhances memorability while keeping the length manageable.
2Reliability
If the original URL is used for sharing, then the link remains accurate and functional, but the URL contains a large number of characters that are difficult to remember and may be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a contextual copy or representation of the original URL that preserves the link's functionality and accuracy. This copy includes contextual information about the target page (such as title, description, or key content) that makes it memorable, while the actual link remains intact and functional through the original URL or a reliable shortening service.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of the URL's target content before sharing, extracting contextual information in advance. This preliminary action allows the creation of a contextual representation that is both memorable and accurate, preparing the shared link with all necessary information before the sharing event occurs.
3Ease of operation
If contextual information is added to the URL, then memorability improves, but the URL structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the URL representation into distinct functional parts: the core link component (original URL or reliable shortener) and the contextual information component (descriptive text, mnemonics, or metadata). This segmentation allows the contextual information to enhance memorability without complicating the actual URL structure, as the two parts can be handled separately in the sharing system.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems may provide for detecting a sharing event with respect to an original uniform resource locator (URL) and replacing one or more characters of the original URL with a context attribute of the sharing event to obtain a modified URL. Additionally, a user prompt may be generated, wherein the user prompt includes a recommendation to substitute the modified URL for the original URL. In one example, at least a portion of the context attribute is independent of a web page associated with the original URL.