Recommendation engine apparatus and methods

A web server apparatus associated with a network operator for use in a managed content delivery network, the apparatus comprising:

• a first storage apparatus configured to store a plurality of data representative of a plurality of respective user profiles associated with respective ones of users of respective client devices, the plurality of data representative of the user profiles each comprising data relating to historical content-related activity for the respective user;
• a digital processor apparatus in data communication with the first storage apparatus;
• and
• a second storage apparatus in data communication with the digital processor apparatus and comprising a computer program configured to, when executed on the digital processor apparatus:
• identify one or more recommended content items for one of the users based at least partly on a data structure generated from historical content-related activity data within data representative of a profile of the one of the users, the historical content-related activity data comprising data indicative of a plurality of user actions;
• provide, to the client device of that user, access to a list of the one or more recommended content items, the provision being based at least on one or more weighting factors associated with that user;
• receive, from the client device of that user, data indicating a selection of a content item of the one or more recommended content items;
• cause the selected content item to be provided to the client device of that user for rendering thereby;
• based at least on a negative value being applied to the one or more weighting factors, the negative value based at least on the plurality of user actions, generate an updated version of a data structure associated with the selected content item, and combine (i) the updated version of the data structure associated with the selected content item with (ii) the data structure generated from historical content-related activity data to produce a combined data structure;
• and
• based at least on a value correlated to the combined data structure being below a minimum value, remove the selected content item from the list of the one or more recommended content items;
• wherein the one or more weighting factors are correlated to respective portions of the data representative of the plurality of user actions based at least on a point of time associated with each of the user actions as reflected in the respective portions of the data.

A non-transitory computer-readable apparatus comprising a storage medium having at least one computer program thereon, the at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions configured to, upon execution by a processor apparatus, cause a network apparatus to:

• access data representative of a user profile maintained at a storage apparatus of a web server associated with a network operator, the user profile being associated with the user of a client device;
• identify one or more recommended content items for the user based at least partly on the data representative of the user profile;
• cause provision to the client device, via at least an Internet connection to the web server, of data relating to the one or more recommended content items;
• receive data indicative of a user action taken with respect to a content item of the one or more recommended content items, the data originated by the client device;
• based at least on the received data, make the content item accessible to the client device for presentation to the user;
• and
• update the data representative of the user profile based at least partly on the data indicative of the user action received from the client device, the update of the data representative of the user profile comprising application of one of a plurality of weighting factors to a data structure associated with the content item based at least on the user action taken with respect to the content item;
• wherein the identification of the one or more recommended content items for the user comprises an addition of data descriptive of the content item to a list of the one or more recommended content items when a score parameter associated with the content item meets or exceeds a prescribed criterion, the score parameter generated based at least on:
• (i) the updated data representative of the user profile, and (ii) the data structure with the one weighting factor applied thereto.

A non-transitory computer-readable apparatus comprising a storage medium having at least one computer program thereon, the at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions configured to, upon execution by a processor apparatus, cause a web server apparatus to:

• identify one or more recommended content items for one user of a plurality of users, the identification being based at least partly on a data structure generated from data relating to historical user interaction with content by the one user;
• provide, to a client device of the one user, access to a representation of the one or more recommended content items, the provision being based at least one on one or more weighting factors associated with the one user;
• receive, from the client device, data indicative of a selection of a content item of the one or more recommended content items by the one user;
• enable provision of the selected content item to the client device for rendering thereby;
• based at least on a prescribed value being applied to the one or more weighting factors, the prescribed value based at least on the data relating to the historical user interaction, generate an updated version of a data structure associated with the selected content item, and combine at least a portion of (i) the updated version of the data structure associated with the selected content item with at least a portion of (ii) the data relating to the historical user interaction to produce a combined data structure;
• and
• based at least on a value correlated to the combined data structure meeting a second prescribed criterion, remove the selected content item from the list of the one or more recommended content items;
• wherein the one or more weighting factors are correlated to respective portions of the data relating to the historical user interaction based at least on a temporal association.