Patent ID: 7000194

Claim:
A computer implemented method for profiling a user based on the user's activity, the method comprising: assigning one or more topics to each of a plurality of documents based at least in part upon content contained in the documents; maintaining an affinity variable associated with the user for each of one or more of the topics assigned to a document attributed to the user; determining whether a first affinity variable for the user for a given topic has reached a threshold; and associating the user with the given topic for the first affinity variable which reaches the threshold; wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for a first topic for each document created by the user to which the first topic is assigned; comprising updating the affinity variable for a topic based upon the user's manipulation of a document to which the topic is assigned; wherein the user's manipulations comprise adding content to the document and deleting content from the document; comprising assigning a topic to the document based upon content added to or deleted from the document; and wherein the step of maintaining the affinity variable comprises updating the affinity variable for the topic assigned to the document based upon the added or deleted content.