Messaging App Sponsored Content Placement for Thread Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Displaying sponsored content alongside message threads in online systems can displace important thread information, increasing user interaction effort and decreasing system usage, especially on devices with limited screen space.
Innovation Solution
The application determines the order of message threads based on unread messages and user likelihood of selection, placing sponsored content below threads with unread messages to prevent displacement and distraction, ensuring users easily access important threads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If sponsored content items are displayed alongside message threads, then revenue from sponsored content is increased, but user effort to identify threads increases and system usage decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different regions of the interface have different functions: sponsored content is placed in a specific region (below a threshold position) while message threads occupy other regions. This spatial differentiation allows sponsored content to be displayed without interfering with thread identification in critical areas, thus maintaining ease of operation while generating revenue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent resolves the contradiction by adding a dimensional constraint to sponsored content placement - specifically positioning it below a threshold position in the interface. This dimensional specification ensures that sponsored content appears in a location that does not displace or obscure message threads, allowing revenue generation without increasing user effort to find threads.
2Loss of energy
If sponsored content items are displayed in specific locations, then revenue is increased, but information identifying threads is displaced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designates specific regions with different qualities: sponsored content is confined to a particular location (below threshold position) while message threads are preserved in other regions. This local differentiation ensures that thread information remains visible and accessible without being displaced by sponsored content.
Solution Approach 2:
By specifying the dimensional position of sponsored content (below threshold position), the patent ensures that sponsored content occupies a space that does not overlap with thread information. This dimensional constraint prevents information loss while maintaining revenue generation capability.
3Loss of energy
If sponsored content is displayed above unread messages, then revenue is maximized, but user interaction with threads decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by restricting sponsored content to specific regions (below threshold position) that do not interfere with user interaction with message threads. This spatial differentiation ensures that sponsored content generation does not come at the cost of reduced thread interaction productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dimensional positioning (below threshold position) to place sponsored content in a location that does not obstruct or distract from unread messages. This dimensional constraint ensures that user productivity in interacting with threads is maintained while still displaying sponsored content for revenue generation.
Data Source
AI summary
A messaging application provides a user interface displaying a user's threads, where each thread includes at least one message between the user and another user. Via the user interface, the user may select a thread to access messages in the thread or to add one or more messages to the thread. The messaging application also displays a sponsored content item along with the threads, but displays the sponsored content item below threads having unread messages to avoid reducing engagement with threads the user is likely to select. In some embodiments, the messaging application predicts a probability that displaying the sponsored content item above a thread including an unread message thread will cause the user not to engage with the thread and displays the sponsored content item above the thread including the unread message if the predicted probability is below a threshold.