Patent ID: 9697528
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G06F,G06Q,H04L

Claim:
1. A method, in a data processing system comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, for tracking link sharing in a messaging environment of the data processing system, comprising: receiving, in the data processing system, first message information for a first message exchanged by a first user via the data processing system, wherein the first message information identifies a first link to content included in the first message; receiving, in the data processing system, second message information for a second message exchanged by a second user via the data processing system, wherein the second message information identifies a second link, different from the first link, included in the second message; calculating, by the data processing system, a relationship measure that measures a likelihood that the second link is related to the first link and points to a same source of content as the first link at least by calculating a probability value based on a level of similarity of the first link to the second link, wherein the probability value indicates a probability that the second link is a modified form of the first link and points to the same source of content; generating, by the data processing system, an association data structure associating the first link with the second link based on the relationship measure meeting a predetermined criterion; and tracking, by the data processing system, user interactions with the first link and the second link based on the generated association data structure, wherein calculating the probability value comprises calculating the probability value as a function of the determined level of similarity of the first link to the second link and a determined level of relationship between the first user and the second user.