New Amazon Patents on Content Personalization

theodp writes "Defending its decision to concoct recommendations to steer customers to buy items at Amazon's new Apparel Store, a spokeswoman said Amazon "felt it would be evident to people that since the store was so new, we wouldn't have the transaction history to create database similarities." But in this just-published patent applicaton, Amazon earlier told the USPTO it's able to use product viewing histories to determine the similarity or relatedness between products for which little or no purchase history data exists. So which claim should you believe?"

new slogan...

[acehole]

'Amazon.com - we don't make a profit so we'll take yours instead' (Patent Pending)

"People who wear clothes buy..."

[shoppa]

Whenever I've visited Amazon in the past month or so they've been pushing their apparel store on me, with recommendations wrapped in:

People who wear clothes buy...

Clearly, the've been able to assume from my past book purchases that I wear clothes! Quick, patent it!

Prior Art? Sounds just like

[TotallyAmazed]

this [google.com] [google.com]. IOW you select/search for something the server says "other people who searched for $xyz also searched for ..." Amazon's doing the same thing. "Other people who bought 'HowToGetRidiculousPatents' also purchased 'Honest Business Practices by Microsoft'."

Re:"People who wear clothes buy..."

[Anonymous Coward]

Mmmm, perhaps who hasn't money for buying clothes hasn't money for books as well.

An Amazon line like "People who eat fried bananas while skating on sundays buy..." would have been more convincing.

Re:Yes, you can predict from books & cds to cl

[RebelTycoon]

Isn't it obvious that if I buy a book about God and Spirtuality that I am also interested in Anal Sex, which would mean that I am also interested in ...

Assless Leather Chaps

Amazon: Public Servant :-\

[lazylion]

Clearly, they have now learned enough of the horrors of so called, "Business Process Patents" that now they are patenting idiotic business practices which they never intend to implement as a public service so no other sleazy company can do so, thus saving us all therefrom.

er.. ..right?

In other news...

[TotallyAmazed]

Amazon patented "How to generate buzz & free publicity on SlashDot" Forget Amazon's patents... I want to be Pattin' an Amazon!!

Re:alternatives...

[tswinzig]

for those of you who (like me) dislikes amazons use of patents, show it by buying your books elsewhere. two good examples of elsewhere are

And for those of you who, like me, love shopping at Amazon.com, but hate patents, please boycott the US Patent Office.

I, for one, refuse to patent anything.

This explains so much...

[3ryon]

This explains why, when I view a book like The Selfish Gene (on evolutionary biology) Amazon gives me a recommendation like this:

People who bought The Selfish Gene also bought:
1. Clean Underwear from Target.

No, I am not kidding.