# US 10,504,191 B2 · Engagement-based selection of content for member segments of social networks > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,504,191 B2 - Document ID: US10504191B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/066,937 - Filed: 2016-03-10 - Published: 2017-09-14 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-10 - Assignees: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Applicants: LinkedIn Corporation - Inventors: Michael Conover; Timothy P. Jurka; Claire D. McGinty; Quinn Z. Shen - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10504191B2 ## CPC - G06Q 10/10: Office automation; Time management - G06F 16/335: Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles (filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536) - G06F 16/9535: Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation - G06F 16/9536: Search customisation based on social or collaborative filtering - G06Q 10/44: Identification of trends within social networks, e.g. identification of trending topics - G06Q 10/48: using social graphs - G06Q 30/0241: Advertisements - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract The disclosed embodiments provide a system for processing data. During operation, the system calculates one or more quantiles from a distribution of historic user engagement with content within a member segment of a social network. Next, the system performs a comparison of the one or more quantiles with a current measurement of user engagement with a content item within the member segment. When the comparison indicates that the current measurement of user engagement exceeds a threshold, the system presents the content item to one or more members in the member segment. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: calculating, by a computer system, one or more quantiles from a distribution of historic user engagement with content within a member segment of a social network; performing, by the computer system, a comparison of the one or more quantiles with a current measurement of user engagement with a content item within the member segment; and when the comparison indicates that the current measurement of user engagement exceeds a threshold: selecting one or more members in the member segment for presentation of the content item, based on a lack of prior exposure to the content item; modifying an appearance of the content item to emphasize the content item; and presenting the content item with the modified appearance to the one or more members; wherein calculating the one or more quantiles from the distribution of historic user engagement with content within the member segment comprises: calculating the one or more quantiles from a set of historic measurements of user engagement with content within the member segment; and omitting one or more historic measurements from the set of historic measurements when an exposure of the member segment to one or more content items associated with the one or more historic measurements does not meet a minimum exposure level. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum exposure level comprises a minimum number of impressions. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: verifying a minimum level of user engagement with content within the member segment prior to performing the comparison. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold comprises a value from the one or more quantiles. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the content item to the one or more members in the member segment comprises: outputting a notification of the content item to the one or more members. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the current measurement of user engagement comprises a click-through rate (CTR) for the content item. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the member segment is associated with at least one of: an industry; a company; a company type; a skill; a decision maker; a publisher; one or more connections; and a job function. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold is customized based on an engagement profile of the member segment. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the customized threshold differs for each of a plurality of member segments in the social network. ### Claim 10 An apparatus, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: calculate one or more quantiles from a distribution of historic user engagement with content within a member segment of a social network; perform a comparison of the one or more quantiles with a current measurement of user engagement with a content item within the member segment; and when the comparison indicates that the current measurement of user engagement exceeds a threshold: select one or more members for presentation of the content item based on a lack of prior exposure to the content item; modify an appearance of the content item to emphasize the content item; and present the content item with the modified appearance to the one or more members; wherein calculating the one or more quantiles from the distribution of historic user engagement with content within the member segment comprises: calculating the one or more quantiles from a set of historic measurements of user engagement with content within the member segment; and omitting one or more historic measurements from the set of historic measurements when an exposure of the member segment to one or more content items associated with the one or more historic measurements does not meet a minimum exposure level. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: verify a minimum level of user engagement with content within the member segment prior to performing the comparison. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The apparatus of claim 10, wherein presenting the content item to the one or more members in the member segment comprises: outputting a notification of the content item to the one or more members. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the current measurement of user engagement comprises a click-through rate (CTR) for the content item. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the member segment is associated with at least one of: an industry; a company; a company type; a skill; a decision maker; a publisher; one or more connections; and a job function. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the threshold is customized based on an engagement profile of the member segment. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the customized threshold differs for each of a plurality of member segments in the social network. ### Claim 17 A system, comprising: a content-selection module comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to: calculate one or more quantiles from a distribution of historic user engagement with content within a member segment of a social network; and perform a comparison of the one or more quantiles with a current measurement of user engagement with a content item within the member segment; and a presentation module comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to, when the comparison indicates that the current measurement of user engagement exceeds a threshold: select one or more members in the member segment for presentation of the content item, based on a lack of prior exposure to the content item; modify an appearance of the content item to emphasize the content item; and present the content item with the modified appearance to the one or more members; wherein calculating the one or more quantiles from the distribution of historic user engagement with content within the member segment comprises: calculating the one or more quantiles from a set of historic measurements of user engagement with content within the member segment; and omitting one or more historic measurements from the set of historic measurements when an exposure of the member segment to one or more content items associated with the one or more historic measurements does not meet a minimum exposure level. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the threshold is customized based on an engagement profile of the member segment. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The system of claim 18, wherein the customized threshold differs for each of a plurality of member segments in the social network.