The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 21, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 24, 1998
Steven J Altschuler, Redmond, WA (US);
Lani F Wu, Redmond, WA (US);
David Ingerman, New York, NY (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Resource usage data is used to infer degrees of influence between users. Once such inferences are made, a directed graph representation of the users and the inferred 'influence' between the users can be generated. 'Influential rumormongers' can then be determined from the directed graph, for example, by using a greedy graph covering algorithm. In this way, marketing information can be targeted to 'influential rumormongers' to optimize its dissemination and impact. If actual (explicit) data regarding the influence between users is known, such data may be used to refine or replace at least some edge values.