Patent Publication Number: US-9411900-B2

Title: Integrated adaptive URL-shortening functionality

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/765,812, filed on Apr. 22, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention generally relates to the field of software systems, and more specifically, to techniques for generating shortened versions of links, such as uniform resource locators (URLs), that incorporate useful information associated with the links. 
     Users of the Internet frequently share URLs related to content of interest. For example, a user might share a web page of interest with the user&#39;s friends by typing or pasting the URL into an email, into a text message of a social networking or microblogging service, such as TWITTER, or into a message posting to be placed on the user&#39;s page on a social networking site, such as FACEBOOK. 
     However, the length of URLs often proves inconvenient. For example, a URL having a lengthy domain name and/or path may be inadvertently broken across multiple lines when processed by email systems, thus rendering it incapable of being used directly when clicked on by a recipient of the email. Also, microblogging services, social networking sites, and other online messaging systems may impose maximum character requirements on a user&#39;s messages, thereby restricting the use of long URLs in a message. Furthermore, long URLs can appear indecipherable and intimidating to users, leading to user reluctance to click on them. Thus, URL shortening services have been created to facilitate the shortening of URLs and the subsequent use thereof. A typical URL shortening service saves a mapping between an original URL and a shortened version thereof. When a user clicks a shortened URL, the user&#39;s computer obtains a page from the URL shortening service, which then redirects the user&#39;s computer to the original version of the URL that was associated with the shortened version. 
     However, the use of shortened URLs may introduce problems of its own. A typical shortened URL replaces the domain name of the original URL with that of the URL shortening service. It also strips out the path in the original URL, replacing it with text having no meaningful relationship to the path of the URL or to the content referenced by the URL. For example, a fictitious URL shortening service with a domain name of short.com might shorten the original URL http://www.interestingsite.com/presentations/gkchesterton/2006/essays.html to http://short.com/qwy128, which gives no indication of either the domain (i.e., www.interestingsite.com) or the path (presentations/gkchesterton/2006/essays.html) of the original URL, nor of what the content in essays.html is about. As a result, a user lacks the ability to determine based on the shortened URL either a location to which the original URL points or the properties of the content that it references. This loss of information leads to an increased risk of a user linking via the shortened URL to unanticipated and undesirable content associated with pranks, phishing, shock, and other malicious actions. 
     Conventional techniques fail to address these problems, either merely providing a random shortened URL that fails to incorporate useful information, or at best allowing users to request a particular shortened URL of their choice but giving no guidance on the choice and no guarantee that their choice will be available. Instead, existing systems force the users to devise shortened URLs and manually type them in and request them from the URL shortening service. 
     Further, obtaining a shortened URL using conventional techniques is a burdensome manual process. That is, conventional techniques are not integrated into the messaging services or other contexts in which shortened URLs are commonly used. Rather, the user is obliged (for example) to obtain a shortened URL from a URL shortening service, copy it, switch to the appropriate user interface portion of a messaging service by which the URL is shared, paste in the URL into the appropriate portion of the user interface, and compose whatever explanatory message is desired to accompany the shortened URL. 
     SUMMARY 
     To provide a shortened version of a link (e.g., a URL) that conveys useful information about the link&#39;s associated content, embodiments of the invention generate a shortened version of the link that comprises meaningful information about the original link. For example, in some embodiments such information includes portions of the link itself, such as domain and/or path components of the link&#39;s address text, content to which the link points, such as the text of a web page or other document referenced by the link&#39;s address text, or a rating of the content to which the link points. Thus, rather than generating an essentially random link, embodiments of the invention adaptively generate the shortened link to take into account the information about the link. Consequently, a user viewing the adaptively-generated shortened link can determine useful information about the content to which the shortened link leads based on the text of the shortened link itself. 
     In one embodiment, this adaptive generation of shortened versions of a link is integrated with a user interface in which the user views content associated with the link. For example, in one embodiment the adaptive link shortening functionality is integrated with an application that provides web browsing functionality. When the user takes an action leading to the transmission of a link, such as indicating a desire to share the link associated with the document (or other content) currently displayed in the browser, a plurality of shortened link candidates are generated. The candidates incorporate various portions and degrees of the identified information associated with the link, and the user may select one of the candidates as a substitute for the original, unshortened link, embedding it in a textual message by which the link is shared (for example). The selected one of the shortened link candidates may then be automatically registered with a remote link shortening service, and the message incorporating it sent. 
     In one embodiment, the adaptive generation takes into account a maximum message length prescribed by a service used to send the shortened link. This maximum length is taken into account when adaptively generating a shortened link. For example, if the message into which the link will be incorporated already contains text, then the shortened link is generated such that the sum of its length and the length of the existing message text does not exceed the maximum message length. 
     In one embodiment, the service by which the link is sent is selectable within the user interface. For example, a user interface element, such as a selection list, can be provided that allows a user to select whether to send the link within a text message, within a post to a social networking site, within an email, and the like. 
     The adaptive generation of the shortened link may be performed by different entities in different embodiments. For example, in one embodiment the shortened links are generated on the same client system that provides a user interface for displaying, and allowing a user to select, a shortened link. In another embodiment, the client provides the original link to a server, and the server generates one or more shortened links and provides them to the client, e.g., so that the user can select one of them as a substitute for the original link. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a high-level block diagram of a computing environment, according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2A  is a screenshot of an example user interface in a window of a web browser application in which embodiments of the present invention operate. 
         FIG. 2B  is a screenshot of the user interface, more specifically illustrating the display of a plurality of shortened URL candidates. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a process for adaptively generating a shortened link, according to one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     The figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a high-level block diagram of a computing environment  100  according to one embodiment.  FIG. 1  illustrates a client  110  and a server  120  connected by a network  140 . A user of the client  110  uses an application  111 , such as a web browser, that can communicate with the server  120 . The application  111  comprises a user interface for sending a link to a destination, such as by embedding the link within a textual message created within the user interface, and for displaying one or more shortened versions of the link and allowing the user to choose one of the shortened link candidates to be embedded in the message. A “link,” as described herein, comprises address text that points to a document or other content available via a network such as the Internet. One common example of a link is a uniform resource locator (URL), which has address text such as http://www.mysite.com/articles/news.htm pointing to a document news.htm, and the description set forth below is in terms of URLs. However, it is appreciated that links are not limited to URLs, but may include uniform resource identifiers (URIs) or other textual means of identifying documents or other content. 
     The server  120  provides a conventional URL shortening service  121  that registers a URL in association with a shortened version of the URL, the shortened version of the URL having a domain name corresponding to the server  120 . Referring to an earlier example, the original URL http://www.interestingsite.com/presentations/gkchesterton/2006/essays.html might be shortened to http://short.com/qwy128. (For purposes of future discussion, note that a URL is of the form protocol://username:password@domain:port/path?query_string#anchor, where many of these components are optional. Thus, the original URL above has protocol “http”, domain “www.interestingsite.com”, and path “presentations/gkchesterton/2006/essays.html”.) Requests for the shortened URL are made to the server  120  (e.g., to a system corresponding to the domain short.com), and its URL shortening service  121  looks up the original URL based on the path portion of the shortened URL (e.g., qwy128), determines the associated original URL, and causes a redirect to the content associated with the original URL, e.g., via an automatic HTTP redirect using HTTP 3xx status codes. 
     In one embodiment, the URL shortening service  121  permits a client  110  to request a particular shortened URL to correspond to the original URL, rather than automatically assigning a shortened URL without input from the client. In this embodiment, the application  111  on the client  110  can further comprise URL-shortening logic  112  that itself generates the one or more shortened versions of the URL from which the user can choose, and the URL shortening service merely receives the request for a particular shortened URL and—if the shortened URL is available (i.e., is not already in use)—registers the association between it and the original URL. In another embodiment, URL-shortening logic  122  is located on the server  120  and generates the one or more shortened versions of the URL (hereinafter referred to “shortened URL candidates”), providing them to the application  111  where they are displayed for selection by the user. 
     The server  120  and the URL shortening service  121  can be under the control of the same entity that created the URL-shortening logic  112  (and possibly the application  111 ), or they may be under the control of a completely separate third party. 
     For simplicity,  FIG. 1  depicts only one client  110  and one server  120 , although it is appreciated that there could be any number of each. For example, the client  110  could use any number of different servers  120  and URL shortening services  121 , with the choice of which URL shortening service  121  to use being an option that is configurable within the application  111 . Similarly, a given URL shortening service  121  might be replicated or otherwise distributed across multiple servers  120  for purposes such as load balancing. 
     The network  140  represents the communication pathways between the client  110  and the server  120 . In one embodiment, the network  140  uses standard Internet communications technologies and/or protocols. Thus, the network  140  can transmit data using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, integrated services digital network (ISDN), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network  140  can include the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), the hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), the simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), the file transfer protocol (FTP), the extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), etc. The data exchanged over the network  140  can be represented using technologies and/or formats including the hypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML), JavaScript object notation (JSON), the really simple syndication (RSS) format, etc. In addition, all or some links can be encrypted using conventional encryption technologies such as the secure sockets layer (SSL), transport layer security (TLS), secure HTTP (HTTPS) and/or virtual private networks (VPNs). In another embodiment, the entities can use custom and/or dedicated data communications technologies instead of, or in addition to, the ones described above. 
       FIG. 2A  is a screenshot of an example user interface  200  in a window of a web browser application  111  in which embodiments of the present invention operate. The user interface  200  comprises functionality enabling sharing of a URL, including functionality for displaying and enabling selection of shortened versions of the URL. More specifically, the user interface  200  comprises a content area  210  configured to display the content of a document—e.g., the web page corresponding to the URL http://www.bignewspaper.com/breaking-news/mainview/headlines.html, as shown in URL entry area  215 . The user interface  200  additionally comprises areas of the browser “chrome”  220 , i.e., portions of the browser window, distinct from the content area  210 , that are not used to display rendered network-accessible documents. 
     In particular, the chrome of the user interface  200  of  FIG. 2A  comprises a share button  225  that allows sharing of the content currently displayed within the content area  210 , such as the web page corresponding to the URL in the URL entry area  215 . Selecting the share button  225  causes display of a URL sharing interface  226 . The URL sharing interface  226  also allows a user to select, via a selection list  227 , a service for sharing the URL. For example, the selection list  227  of  FIG. 2A  depicts a choice of five possible services for sharing the URL, including two options for posting to various user pages of a social networking site such as FACEBOOK, an option for sending via a microblogging and social networking service such as TWITTER, an option for posting to a blogging site such as POSTEROUS, and an option for sending via email. 
       FIG. 2B  depicts the user interface  200  after a user chooses the third option of the selection list  227  of  FIG. 2A : sharing via a fictitious microblogging and social networking service, Chatter, in which users send text messages of no more than 140 characters. The URL sharing interface  226  has consequently changed to display the sharing options appropriate for the Chatter service, such as a text entry area  228  in which the user can enter text of the message to be sent. The text entry area  228  may be pre-populated with default text, such as the title of the web page or other document being shared, which the user can modify as desired, and the text of the URL corresponding to the web page. The URL sharing interface  226  further comprises a shortened URL selection list  229  that presents the user with a set of shortened URL candidates from which to choose, the chosen shortened URL candidate replacing the original URL within the message of the text entry area  228 . 
     The URL selection list  229  in the particular example of  FIG. 2B  contains four shortened URL candidates: short.com/123, short.com/bignewspaper.com/856, short.com/bignewspaper.com/breaking-news, and http://www.bignewspaper.com/breaking-news/mainview/headlines.html. The four candidates are arranged in order from most to least shortened, each successively containing more information about the source and content of the shared web page to which the original URL corresponds. For example, the first candidate, short.com/123, conveys no information about the source or content of the page, instead just having the domain name of the URL shortening service (i.e., short.com) and an appended random identifier (i.e., 123). The second candidate, short.com/bignewspaper.com/856, additionally includes the source of the page (i.e., the domain bignewspaper.com) in the path portion of the URL. The third candidate, short.com/bignewspaper.com/breaking-news, additionally includes a portion of the path of the original URL (i.e., /breaking-news). The fourth candidate is the original, unshortened URL. Although the example of  FIG. 2B  depicts four shortened URL candidates strictly ordered in increasing degrees of information conveyed, it is appreciated that any number of shortened URL candidates can presented to a user, and in any order. 
     In one embodiment, the shortened URL candidates displayed in the selection list  229  also change dynamically based on changes to text within the text entry area  228 . For example, the application  111  can determine the maximum message length (if any) associated with a particular sharing services chosen from the selection list  227 , as well as the number of characters already present within the text entry area  228 , and calculate how many characters remain available for shortened URLs. (In one embodiment, the application  111  has a priori knowledge of maximum message lengths of the various sharing techniques of the selection list  227 .) Then, based on the number of available characters, the application  111  may display a different set of shortened URL candidates. For example, if the user reduces the number of characters present within the text entry area  228  (e.g., by deleting some text), then the application  111  could display additional, longer candidates. Similarly, if the user increased the number of characters present (e.g., by typing or pasting additional text), the application  111  could stop displaying candidates that now exceeded the remaining number of available characters, or could continue to display them but mark them as unselectable, such as by displaying them in pale grey text. 
     It is appreciated that the shortened URL selection list  229  or other means of selecting a shortened URL need not occur solely within the context of use of the sharing button  225 , nor even within the context of a web browser, but rather could be used in any portion of a user interface of an application  111  in which a shortened URL is desired. Further, it is not limited to use with URLs embedded in messages sent via microblogging services, but can be used with any means for sharing a URL. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a process for adaptively shortening a URL, according to one embodiment. Initially, the application  111  of the client  110  of  FIG. 1  receives  310  a request to send a URL to some destination. For example, referring back to  FIGS. 2A-B , the request could be the user&#39;s selection of one of the sharing options of sharing selection menu  227 , such as the Chatter service for sending text messages. 
     In order to generate the various shortened URL candidates, information associated with the URL is then identified  320 . In one embodiment, this information that is identified includes the text of the URL itself—that is, segments of its domain and/or path components. (A “segment” refers to a logical, meaningful portion of the domain and/or path, such as portions of the URL text delimited by period (.) or slash (/) characters. For example, for the domain www.interestingsite.com, “www.interestingsite.com”, “interestingsite.com”, and “mysite” would be examples of segments, but meaningless snippets such as “inte”, “gsite”, and “s” would not. Similarly, for the pathname presentations/gkchesterton/2006/essays.html, segments would include “presentations/gkchesterton/2006”, “gkchesterton/presentations”, “presentations/gkchesterton”, “presentations/2006”, “2006/esssays”, and “essays”, for example.) In another embodiment, the information that is identified additionally and/or alternatively includes information from the content of the document pointed to be the URL, such as key words extracted from the document title (e.g., “Canadian pharmacy”), or semantically representative keywords derived based on analysis of the document content. In another embodiment, the information that is identified additionally and/or alternatively includes a rating of the content of the document pointed to by the URL. For example, the rating could represent the degree to which the content might be considered offensive, with ratings such as “G”, “PG”, “R”, “X”, or the like. Thus, original URLs http://some.porn.site/images/more/current/all.html and http://kidstoys.com/weeklyspecials/inoffensive/cuddlyanimals.html might be associated with ratings “X” and “G”, respectively. As another example, the rating could represent the perceived quality of the content according to some individual or organization. Ratings are specified in a number of different ways in different embodiments. For example, in one embodiment the rating is generated by the site generating the content pointed to by the URL—e.g., self-rating of potential offensiveness—and embedded within the content, such as within an XML tag. In another embodiment, the ratings are generated by the URL-shortening service  121  via an editorial mechanism, such as an automated content analysis module that analyzes the content to estimate (for example) how potentially offensive the content is based on keywords within the content. In another embodiment, the ratings are generated over time by a community of users who viewed and rated the content. For example, users might use their applications  111  to specify ratings (e.g., “PG” for offensiveness or “4-star” for quality) for the content, and the ratings could then be aggregated, averaged, and stored by the URL-shortening logic  112  and/or  122 . 
     The shortened URL candidates are then generated  330  based at least in part on the identified information. The domain of the shortened URLs is set to that of the URL shortening service  121 , and the path of the shortened URL can be set to comprise a variety of different types of identified information. For example, the path can be set to comprise the domain of the original URL, or portions of the path of the URL, such as the “bignewspaper.com” and “/breaking-news” of the second and third candidates from selection list  229  of  FIG. 2B . Additionally, the path can be set to comprise randomly-generated text, such as “123” or “856” from the first, second, and third candidates of  FIG. 2B . Further, the path can be set to comprise the information from the content of the document pointed to be the URL, which further provides the user viewing the shortened URL with a sense of the true nature of the information. For example, if the keywords “get rich quick” were extracted from a web page (either literally, or by determining through techniques such as machine learning that the content of the web page is semantically associated with the phrase “get rich quick”) they could then be embedded in the shortened URL, thus alerting a recipient of the URL that the linked page is unlikely to be of interest. Additionally or alternatively, the path can be set to comprise the determined ratings associated with the content, such as “PG” or “4-star,” thereby providing a sense of the opinions of others about the content. 
     This identification  320  of information associated with the URL, and the generation  330  of the shortened URL candidates, can be performed by the URL-shortening logic  112  or  122 , which as previously noted, can be located on client  110  or on the server  120 , respectively. If steps  320  and  330  are performed by URL-shortening logic  122  on the server  120 , then the URL-shortening logic  122  sends the resulting shortened URL candidates to the application  111  on the client  110  for use. 
     With the shortened URL candidates generated  330 , the application  111  displays  340  the shortened URL candidates, e.g., within the selection list  229  of  FIG. 2B . One of the candidates may be marked as the default, such as a candidate conveying the most information (e.g., the longest candidate), or a candidate with a particular predetermined type of information, such as the domain component of the original URL. The user then selects one of the shortened URL candidates (or accepts the default) and ultimately sends the selected shortened URL, e.g., within the message of text entry area  228  using the service specified in selection list  227 . 
     In an embodiment in which the shortened URL candidates are generated  330  using the URL-shortening logic  112  of the client  110 , the URL-shortening logic  112  can be configured to contact the URL shortening service  121  to verify that each of the candidates is in fact available before the candidates are displayed  140  to the user. 
     With the selected shortened URL sent, the recipient or other viewer of the shortened URL will need to be able to obtain the original URL based on it in order to obtain the content to which the original URL points. Thus, the selected shortened URL is registered  350  with the URL shortening service  121 , such as by the application  111  automatically using a web service provided by the URL shortening service  121  to associate the original URL and the selected shortened URL. 
     In one embodiment, the client  110  and/or the server  120  ensure that the shortened URL candidates displayed  340  to the user on the client  110  remain available to the user until the registering  350 —that is, they ensure that no other user registers one of the shortened URL candidates with the server  120  before the user makes his or her choice. This is accomplished in different ways in different embodiments. In one embodiment, all of the shortened URL candidates are simply registered at the time that they are generated  330 , thus preventing them from being re-registered. In another embodiment, the shortened URL candidates are reserved with the server  120  for a predetermined amount of time, e.g., 10 minutes, during which none of the candidates can be provided as candidates to, or registered by, a client other than the client  110  for which the candidates were first generated. After the end of the predetermined period, the server  120  releases any candidates not registered. In another embodiment, the shortened URL candidates are reserved for exclusive use by the client  110  until explicitly released. For example, the shortened URL candidates might be temporarily reserved or registered with the server  120  until the server  120  receives a notification that the client  110  has registered one of the candidates. In one embodiment, instead of specifically requiring reservation for, or release by, the client  110 , the server  120  equivalently requires that a candidate be registered only in association with the original URL for which the candidate was first generated. These various techniques are accomplished differently in embodiments in which the URL-shortening logic  112  of the client  110  generates the candidates, and in embodiments in which the URL-shortening logic  122  of the sever  120  generates the candidates. For example, in the former embodiment the client  110  sends requests to the URL-shortening service  121  to reserve the candidates, messages releasing the non-registered candidates, and the like. 
     It is appreciated that although the generation of a shortened URL has been described in the context of generating and presenting to a user a plurality of shortened URL candidates, the generation of a shortened URL using the above-described identification of information associated with the URL may be performed in other contexts, as well. As one example, a shortened URL incorporating segments of the domain and/or path components of an original URL may be automatically generated and embedded in a message, in a webpage, or in any other location in which a URL can be placed, with or without presenting a user with other candidates from which to choose, and with or without any input whatsoever from the user. For example, embodiments of the present invention might automatically place a shortened URL, shortened according to any of the above-disclosed techniques, into an email referencing a particular web page. 
     The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure. 
     Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, without loss of generality. The described operations and their associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof. 
     Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, a software module is implemented with a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or all of the steps, operations, or processes described. 
     Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise a general-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability. 
     Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a product that is produced by a computing process described herein. Such a product may comprise information resulting from a computing process, where the information is stored on a non transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer program product or other data combination described herein. 
     Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.