Personalized Search via User Profile Segmentation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current online search engines and marketplaces fail to provide search results specific to individual users, despite advances in searching services, as they do not adequately utilize user prior action history and profile information to personalize search results.

Innovation Solution

Implementing personalized search services that contextualize user queries by incorporating user-specific data from action history and profiles, either by augmenting queries with preferred terms or scoring results based on user preferences, to provide more relevant search results tailored to individual users.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If general search mechanisms are used to serve the public as a whole, then search coverage and accessibility are improved, but search result personalization and relevance to individual users deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesearch result personalizationVSAvoidsearch system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the search system into multiple independent components: a profile manager that handles user data collection and storage, a search engine that processes queries, and a personalization module that integrates user profiles with search results. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in one function, improving personalization capability without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces user profiles as an intermediary layer between the search engine and search results. The profiles store user preferences, behavior patterns, and demographic information, acting as a mediator that translates generic search queries into personalized results without requiring fundamental changes to the underlying search engine architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If user-specific data is collected and processed to personalize search results, then search relevance to individual users is improved, but data processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesearch result relevanceVSAvoidsearch processing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-collecting and storing user profile information, including demographics, preferences, and behavior patterns, before search queries are submitted. User histories and preferences are maintained in advance in profile records, so that when a search is performed, the personalization can be applied quickly without extensive real-time data collection and analysis.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes parameters by transforming user profile data into weighted scoring criteria that can be efficiently applied during search result ranking. Instead of processing raw user data during search execution, the system converts user preferences into predefined parameters and weights that accelerate the personalization calculation process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS9852222B2Personalizing search results
Publication Date: 2017.12.26 EBAY INC
  • US9852222B2 patent drawing
  • US9852222B2 patent drawing
  • US9852222B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Some embodiments provide personalized search services. The personalized search services operate to contextualize what is being searched for and to provide at least some search results in that context that are specific to the user to whom the results are to be provided.