# US 8,751,582 B1 · Managing presence subscriptions for messaging services > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,751,582 B1 - Document ID: US8751582B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 11/210,227 - Filed: 2005-08-22 - Granted: 2014-06-10 - Earliest claimed: 2005-08-22 - Assignees: Google Inc. - Applicants: Reza Behforooz; Gary Steven Burd; David Bau; Jonathan David Perlow - Inventors: Reza Behforooz; Gary Steven Burd; David Bau; Jonathan David Perlow - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8751582B1 ## CPC - G06Q 10/107: Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing] - H04L 51/043: using or handling presence information - H04L 67/54: Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users - 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 - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Presence subscriptions for messaging services are managed by automatically subscribing contacts to a user's contact lists based one or more rules, subscription states and contact types. In some embodiments, presence subscriptions are managed by: identifying a set of contacts with respect to an identified user; applying subscription rules to the contacts; selecting a subset of contacts based on one or more subscription rules; and automatically establishing presence subscriptions for the subset of contacts. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of managing presence subscriptions for messaging services, comprising, at a computer system having one or more processors and memory: identifying a set of contacts with respect to an identified user; applying one or more subscription rules to the contacts; selecting a subset of the contacts based on the one or more subscription rules; and automatically establishing a presence subscription for each contact in the subset of contacts, wherein a presence subscription for a respective contact enables displaying to the identified user an indication of the online status of the respective contact. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the set of contacts are identified from email contacts. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, where applying subscription rules to the contacts and selecting a subset of contacts further comprises: determining a respective communication activity score for each of a plurality of the contacts; and selecting the subset of contacts based on the respective communication activity scores. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the respective communication activity score for a respective contact is based at least in part on frequency of email communications with the respective contact. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the selecting includes identifying a “top N” set of contacts based on frequency of email communications with the contacts. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the parameter N is adjustable. ### Claim 7 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein selecting the subset of contacts includes excluding contacts that have previously rejected a presence subscription invitation. ### Claim 8 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein selecting the subset of contacts includes excluding contacts for which the user has previously rejected a presence subscription invitation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the respective communication activity score for a respective contact is boosted based on at least one attribute of the respective contact. ### Claim 10 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, further comprising: determining a contact type for a contact; and determining, based on the contact type, whether or not to present the contact in a display region. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: associating a subscription state with a contact; and determining, based on the subscription state, whether or not to present the contact in a display region. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: moving a contact from a first subscription state to a second subscription state based on the one or more subscription rules. ### Claim 13 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by a processor in a system for managing presence subscriptions, cause the processor to perform the operations of: identifying a set of contacts with respect to an identifier user; applying one or more subscription rules to the contacts; selecting a subset of the contacts based on the one or more subscription rules; and automatically establishing a presence subscription for each contact in the subset of contacts, wherein a presence subscription for a respective contact enables displaying to the identified user an indication of the online status of the respective contact. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of contacts are identified from email contacts. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, where applying subscription rules to the contacts and selecting a subset of contacts further comprises: determining a respective communication activity score for each of a plurality of the contacts; and selecting the subset of contacts based on the respective communication activity scores. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the respective communication activity score for a respective contact is based at least in part on frequency of email communications with the respective contact. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the selecting includes identifying the top N contacts based on frequency of email communications with the contacts. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the parameter N is adjustable. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein selecting the subset of contacts includes excluding contacts that have previously rejected a presence subscription invitation. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein selecting the subset of contacts includes excluding contacts for which the user has previously rejected a presence subscription invitation. ### Claim 21 (depends on 15) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the respective communication activity score for a respective contact is boosted based on at least one attribute of the respective contact. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of: determining a contact type for a contact; and determining, based on the contact type, whether or not to present the contact in a display region. ### Claim 23 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of: associating a subscription state with a contact; and determining, based on the subscription state, whether or not to present the contact in a display region. ### Claim 24 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of: moving a contact from a first subscription state to a second subscription state based on the one or more subscription rules.