# US 10,503,789 B2 · Systems and methods for discovering social accounts > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,503,789 B2 - Document ID: US10503789B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/680,973 - Filed: 2017-08-18 - Published: 2018-06-07 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2012-04-17 - Assignees: Proofpoint, Inc. - Applicants: ProofPoint, Inc. - Inventors: Devin Redmond; Ray Kruck; Richard Sutton; Anthony Dorie - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10503789B2 ## CPC - G06F 16/9536: Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering - G06F 16/951: Indexing; Web crawling techniques - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Methods and systems allow organizations to discover accounts, subscriptions, properties, sites and other online portals within each distinct social network platform and across disparate social network platforms, publishing platforms and networks that represent, claim to represent or are relevant to their organization and/or brands based on search terms and facilitate the statistical reporting and analysis of activities on the discovered properties. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method for correlating multiple social network properties related to a common entity across multiple disparate social network platforms, the method comprising: submitting a search string related to the common entity to the social network platforms; formatting received social network property metadata matching the search string; storing formatted metadata in a database associated with the common entity; distinguishing, from the stored formatted metadata, metadata from an entity unrelated to the common entity that is neither generated on behalf of nor generated by a representative of the common entity from metadata, at least in part, at least one of sanctioned by, generated on behalf of, and generated by a representative of the common entity; and identifying at least one social network platform publishing content about the common entity with the social network property metadata. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein identifying at least one social network platform comprises monitoring social network publications for at least one of interesting, incorrect, offensive, and improper content regarding the common entity. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein formatting received social network property comprises normalizing metadata and categorizing social network properties in memory. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the search string comprises two search strings and the results received in response to each search string are categorized based on a relationship of those properties to the common entity. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3 further comprising running at least one of statistical aggregations and statistical analyses on the categorized social network properties to identify trends. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the search string comprises a plurality of terms. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6 further comprising providing a probabilistic weighting among the plurality of terms. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6 further comprising providing a weighting representing a relationship among the plurality of terms. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprise a property name. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprise content generated by users associated with the respective social network property. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprise security settings associated with the respective social network property. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprise view statistics associated with the respective social network property. ### Claim 13 A system for correlating multiple social network properties related to a common entity across multiple disparate social network platforms, the system comprising: at least one memory storing computer executable instructions; and at least one processing unit for executing the instructions stored in the memory, wherein execution of the instructions results in one or more application modules together comprising: a query processing module for: submitting a search string related to the common entity to the social network platforms; a normalization module for: formatting received social network property metadata matching the search string; storing formatted metadata in a database associated with the common entity; a schedule module for: distinguishing, from the stored formatted metadata, metadata from an entity unrelated to the common entity that is neither generated on behalf of nor generated by a representative of the common entity from metadata, at least in part, at least one of sanctioned by, generated on behalf of, and generated by a representative of the common entity; and identifying at least one social network platform publishing content about the common entity with the social network property metadata. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13 wherein the search string comprises a plurality terms. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14 further comprising providing a probabilistic weighting among the plurality of terms. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14 further comprising providing a weighting representing a relationship among the plurality of terms. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13 wherein at least a subset of the application programming interfaces are provided by the respective social network platforms. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13 wherein the metadata comprise a property name. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the metadata comprise user generated content created by users associated with the respective social network property. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the metadata comprise security settings associated with the respective social network property. ### Claim 21 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the metadata comprise view statistics associated with the respective social network property. ### Claim 22 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the search string comprises two search strings and the results received in response to each search string are categorized based on a relationship of those properties to the single entity. ### Claim 23 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein identifying at least one social network platform comprises monitoring social network publications for at least one of interesting, incorrect, offensive, and improper content regarding the common entity.