Web Content Highlighting Service for Contextual Sharing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for information retrieval on the internet, such as bookmarks, lack context and stability, are inefficient for sharing and often require additional steps for users to access relevant content, and existing search engines rely heavily on metadata and author-voted relevance, which does not account for end-user opinions.

Innovation Solution

A system that allows users to selectively highlight and share content portions within web documents using a highlighting service, enabling easy retrieval and sharing without additional software, and determines document relevance based on user-generated highlights.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If users bookmark web pages for later retrieval, then they can save and access content, but the bookmarks lack context and require additional steps to access relevant content

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetime to access relevant contentVSAvoidease of sharing and accessing content

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the relevant portions of web content that users highlight, rather than requiring users to access entire web pages through bookmarks. This extraction mechanism allows users to directly retrieve specific highlighted content without navigating back to source pages, eliminating the need for additional access steps and providing immediate contextual information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments web content into highlightable portions that can be independently selected, shared, and retrieved. By dividing content into discrete highlightable units rather than treating entire pages as single entities, users can efficiently share and access only relevant segments without dealing with complete web pages or complex bookmark management.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Measurement precision

If search engines use metadata and author-voted relevance, then they can index and rank documents, but they do not account for end-user opinions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccuracy of relevance determinationVSAvoidability to incorporate user feedback

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a feedback mechanism where user highlights serve as direct input for determining content relevance. Each highlight represents explicit user feedback about what portions of content are valuable, and this collective feedback is aggregated to identify and promote relevant content in search results, thereby incorporating end-user opinions into the relevance determination process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent enables users to self-determine content relevance through their highlighting actions rather than relying solely on author-provided metadata or editor judgments. Users actively participate in the relevance determination process by highlighting content they find valuable, creating a distributed, user-driven relevance assessment system that adapts to actual user needs and preferences.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS11429685B2Sharing only a part of a web page—the part selected by a user

Publication Date: 2022.08.30 CHANDRA ROHIT

AI summary

A method, system, program and apparatus for sharing content portions is disclosed. An ordinary user, using a standard browser is empowered to be able to select portions of content within a currently displayed internet document. The user is presented with the ability to share the content portions selected by him specifically, and share them with his social graph and/or publish them to other locations. All this is accomplished without requiring additional software components be installed by the user.