Ontology based recommendation systems and methods

A computer-implemented method of recommending products and services, the method comprising:

• receiving an initial set of keywords from a profile associated with a user;
• identifying at least one concept among the initial set of keywords, the at least one concept including at least a subset of the initial set of keywords;
• comparing the at least one concept against a concept-specific ontology (CSO) database, the CSO database storing a plurality of concepts and respective property values indicating descriptive attributes of the plurality on concepts;
• determining a set of related keywords for the initial set of keywords, the set of related keywords identified in the CSO database based on the property values;
• and
• determining an item for recommendation to the user based on an association between the item and an expanded keyword set including the initial set of keywords and the set of related keywords.

A computer system for recommending products and services, the system comprising:

• a concept-specific ontology (CSO) database configured to store a plurality of concepts and respective property values indicating descriptive attributes of the plurality on concepts;
• and
• a recommendation engine configured to identify at least one concept among an initial set of keywords and compare the at least one concept against the CSO database, the initial set of keywords being associated with a profile associated with a user, the at least one concept including at least a subset of the initial set of keywords;
• the recommendation engine configured to determine a set of related keywords for the initial set of keywords, the set of related keywords identified in the CSO database based on the property values;
• and
• the recommendation engine configured to determine an item for recommendation to the user based on an association between the item and an expanded keyword set including the initial set of keywords and the set of related keywords.

A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program product including computer readable instructions configured to recommend products and services by:

• receiving an initial set of keywords from a profile associated with a user;
• identifying at least one concept associated with the initial set of keywords;
• comparing the at least one concept against a concept-specific ontology (CSO) database, the CSO database storing a plurality of concepts and respective property values indicating descriptive attributes of the plurality on concepts;
• determining a set of related keywords for the initial set of keywords, the set of related keywords identified in the database based on the property values;
• and
• determining an item for recommendation to the user based on an association between the item and an expanded keyword set including the initial set of keywords and the set of related keywords.