Abstract: A method for integrating audio recording and distributing. The method can include: detecting a user interface selection made by a user of a computing device; recording an audio snippet in response to the user interface selection; generating, by the first computing device, a social network message including an indication of the audio snippet; and transmitting the social network message to an external server for broadcasting to a set of user accounts of a real-time messaging platform.

Abstract: A method for testing web services includes obtaining, by a new version of a service deployed on a network framework, a request and an old response to the request generated by an old version of the service, generating, by the new version of the service, a new response to the request, and generating, by a comparison tool built into the network framework and accessible to the new version of the service, a comparison of the old response and the new response.

Abstract: A method for presenting stories includes creating clusters of documents. Each cluster corresponds to a story. A computer processor generates, for each cluster, a global ranking of social networking messages about the story. The method further includes identifying, for each cluster, a representative social networking message according to the global ranking, selecting, by the computer processor, for a user, a subset of the clusters, and presenting, to the user, the representative social networking message for each cluster in the subset of the clusters.

Abstract: A method for operating a server system. The method includes: receiving, by the server system, a request for a plurality of assets in a first format to fill an ad unit, in an application executing on a mobile device, with a native advertisement; receiving, by the server system and from an ad source over a network, ad content in a second format; converting, by a converter of the server system, the ad content in the second format to the plurality of assets in the first format; and sending, by the server system, the plurality of assets to the application, where the application fills the ad unit with the native advertisement including at least one of the plurality of assets.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for synchronising advertisements published on a group communications network with advertisements in a broadcast, the apparatus comprising: a receiver for receiving broadcast data; a communications interface in communication with a group communications network; a broadcast data content extractor adapted to derive search terms and advert data from the received broadcast data, the advert data relating to an advert received in the broadcast data, wherein on receipt of a query by a user of the group communications network, the query comprising one or more of the search terms, the communications interface publishes a group communication comprising at least a portion of the advert data on the group communications network.

Abstract: A method of placing advertisements involves sending, from a device, a request for at least one ad position, receiving, in response to the request, ad positioning information specifying an ad position in a stream and a related content position in the stream, determining, by the device, that a related content item is present in the stream, and overriding, by the device, the ad positioning information by placing an advertisement associated with the related content in the related content position within the stream.

Abstract: A method and system for capturing, sharing, viewing, and/or displaying one or more videos. A user of a computing device performs a gesture involving contacting a touch sensitive display. In response, a video segment is captured while the user maintains contact with the touch sensitive display. Upon releasing contact with the touch sensitive display, recording of the video segment is ceased. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the user may then record one or more additional video segments to be included in a video vignette.

Abstract: A system and method for message analysis, including: receiving, from a client device, a reporting request identifying a first broadcasted message authored by a context account of a messaging platform; identifying, by a computer processor, engagement data corresponding to engagement with the first broadcasted message by a set of engaging accounts of the messaging platform that engaged with the first broadcasted message; generating, using the engagement data and by the computer processor, propagation data representing propagation of the first broadcasted message in a connection graph of the messaging platform; and providing the propagation data for the client device in response to the reporting request, where the client device is operable to display a visual representation of the propagation data.

Abstract: A messaging system automatically populates a stream of messages using only a seed selected by the requesting account holder. In one embodiment, the seed includes the streams of one or more of the “top” accounts of the messaging system. Here, “top” is according to any one of a number of different metrics stored in the messaging system. With knowledge of the seed, the messaging system automatically populates a stream for the requesting account holder, without requiring any other input. As a result, an account holder is provided with a fully functioning stream with very little effort or knowledge required on their part.

Abstract: According to an aspect, a method for ranking messages of conversation graphs in a messaging platform using machine-learning signals includes receiving a conversation view request to retrieve messages of a conversation graph stored on a messaging platform and determining a plurality of predictive outcomes for each of a plurality of messages of the conversation graph using predictive models. The determining step may include obtaining a plurality of signals relevant to the predictive models, the plurality of signals including data structure-related signals relating to the conversation graph and inputting the plurality of signals to the predictive models. The method includes ranking the plurality of messages based on the predictive outcomes and transmitting at least a subset of the plurality of messages to be rendered on a client application according to the rank.

Abstract: Images of key phrases or hashtags appear on televised feeds. Image processing techniques, such as feature locating algorithms or character recognition algorithms, can be used to locate the images of key phrases in the images. Then, character recognition algorithms can be used to generate a list of candidate key phrases for the key phrase in image format. However, identification of the key phrase in image format is not completely accurate with conventional methods. Social media content items associated with the televised feed are used to filter the list of candidate key phrases. Using known information about the televised feed as well as about key phrases in text format in the social media content items, candidate key phrases in the list of candidate key phrases can be scored and, thus, a final candidate key phrase selected based on the scores.

Abstract: According to an aspect, a method for identifying relevant messages in a conversation graph on a messaging platform includes transmitting, over a network, messages between a plurality of users on the messaging platform, generating a conversation graph based on relationships between the messages, where the conversation graph includes a plurality of messages related to a conversation, and the plurality of messages of the conversation graph include a root message and one or more reply messages connected to the root message. The method includes marking a subset of the plurality of messages of the conversation graph as relevant to the conversation, including marking a message from a user account having a credibility rating over a threshold level, and transmitting, over the network, digital information to render the subset of the plurality of messages on a user interface of a computing device.

Abstract: A system and method for user content presentation, including: receiving, in association with a request to establish a graph relationship between a first account and a second account, a strength of relationship from the first account to the second account, the strength of relationship selected based on input from a user of the first account; selecting, by a computer processor, a delivery attribute associated with the second account based on the strength of relationship, where the delivery attribute is positively correlated with a measure of content authored by the second account to be provided to the first account; selecting content authored by the second account for inclusion in a stream of the first account based on the delivery attribute; and providing the stream of the first account for display on a client computing device.

Abstract: Methods, computer readable media, and apparatuses for providing enhanced user interface mechanics are presented. In one arrangement, a scrollable list of content items may be displayed. Input associated with a scroll command may be received. Then, based on the scroll command, a scrollable refresh trigger may be displayed. Subsequently, the scrollable list of content items may be refreshed in response to determining, based on the scroll command, that the scrollable refresh trigger has been activated. In at least one instance, it may be determined that the scrollable refresh trigger has been activated in response to determining that the scroll command was completed while the scrollable refresh trigger was fully displayed.

Abstract: Disclosed is a system for delegating authentication of an untrusted application executing on a client device. For delegated authentication, an untrusted application relies on a trusted application executing in the same environment for authentication purposes. The delegated authentication process avoids requiring the user of the untrusted application to provide authentication credentials. The disclosed system for delegating authentication enables any trusted application executing in the same computing environment to authenticate the untrusted application.

Abstract: A system and method for trend detection in a messaging platform. A trend detection model is selected and a time series having a plurality of instances of social data is received, wherein the instances of social data share a countable parameter. A count is made of occurrences of countable parameters in each instance of social data assigned to that bin and a trend detected based at least in part on the trend detection model and on the count for each bin.

Abstract: A neural network is trained to process received visual data to estimate a high-resolution version of the visual data using a training dataset and reference dataset. A set of training data is generated and a generator convolutional neural network parameterized by first weights and biases is trained by comparing characteristics of the training data to characteristics of the reference dataset. The first network is trained to generate super-resolved image data from low-resolution image data and the training includes modifying first weights and biases to optimize processed visual data based on the comparison between the characteristics of the training data and the characteristics of the reference dataset.

Abstract: Example systems and methods are described for implementing a swipe-to-like feature. In an example implementation, a list of content items is displayed on a touchscreen display, and based on detecting input of a first gesture, such as, for example, a swipe gesture, for a first one of the content items in the list, associating a predetermined first sentiment with the first content item.

Abstract: A system for online conversion attribution. The system includes a short uniform resource locator (URL) service programmed to, in response to receiving a short URL from a device: provide a cookie that includes a short URL ID to the device, and provide a short URL descriptor including the short URL ID to a user mapping service. The system further includes the user mapping service programmed to receive the short URL descriptor, receive a social media descriptor including a social media ID, map the short URL ID to the social media ID using the short URL descriptor and the social media descriptor, and attribute, using the mapping, a conversion on a website accessed using the device based upon receipt of the short URL ID from the device.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for information retrieval. One of the methods includes receiving a search query from a user device at a messaging system; determining one or more relevant messages responsive to the search query, the determining comprising: processing the search query using a first stage of a ranking system, the first stage using a first set of features to identify a first set of relevant message, processing the search query using a second stage of the ranking system, the second stage using a second set of features and the first set of relevant messages to determine a second set of relevant messages, and ranking the second set of relevant messages according to respective scores; and providing one or more results to the user device for display as search results.

Abstract: Disclosed is a system for recommending content of a predefined category to an account holder, detecting spam applications, or account holders based on the account holder application graphs. The system receives information corresponding to applications executing on the client device of the account holders and generates an application graph for each account holder that includes a list of predefined application categories that are preferred by the account holder. For each predefined category, a list of account holders preferring content relevant to that category is predicted based on the set of generated application graphs. Some application graphs may be detected as spam application graphs by comparing the generated application graphs with a set of predefined spam application graphs. Alternatively, if the generated application graph does not match the predefined spam application graphs, they are compared to a set of application graphs from a database to find similar application graphs.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for providing to user devices identifiers of edge servers from which to obtain content. One example system includes a traffic control service. The traffic control service is configured to receive polling requests from user devices. In response to a particular polling request, the traffic control service obtains aggregated data about the user devices and edge servers. The traffic control service selects, based on the aggregated data, a best edge server for the user device that sent the particular polling request. The traffic control service sends an identifier of the selected best edge server to the user device.

Abstract: A system and method for feature switching in software applications. A feature switching action (FSA) is received and at least one user device is identified based on the received FSA. At least one feature switching instruction (FSI) is generated based on the received FSA and the FSI is sent to at least one of the identified user devices. A feature switching instruction response (FSIR) is received from each user device that received a FSI and a feature switching action response (FSAR) is generated based on the received FSIRs.

Abstract: A real-time messaging platform and method are disclosed which suggests messages and accounts from the real-time messaging platform.

Abstract: In general, embodiments of the invention relate to servicing fill request using ad networks and demand-side partners.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for data retention and modification. One of the methods includes dividing partitions into a set of generations according to a retention policy; accumulating modification and deletion events that define changes to be applied to data of the distributed dataset; and when a triggering event occurs for a triggered generation in the set of generations, rolling an oldest partition out of the triggered generation, the rolling comprising: if the oldest partition has reached the end of a retention period for the dataset, marking the oldest partition for deletion in the triggered generation; otherwise: creating a new partition corresponding to the data of the oldest partition, wherein the data is cleaned using a scrubbing process; adding the new partition to a next generation in the set of generations; and marking the oldest partition for deletion in the triggered generation.

Abstract: A system and method for event-based content presentation, including: receiving a content presentation request to present a content item at an event where presentation of the content item can be captured. The content presentation request can include an event identifier identifying the event at which the content item is to be presented, and can further identify the content item to be displayed. The submitted content item can be presented on a content presentation device located at the event. Presentation of the content item can be captured and the resulting captured content presentation can be stored, broadcasted on a messaging platform, provided to the requesting user, etc.

Abstract: A method for establishing a trust association includes receiving, by a server, a request to associate a web source with an account, the request having a link to the web source, and accessing, by the server, the web source in response to the request to associate. The method further includes locating, by the server and within the web source, a tag associated with the account, creating, by the server and in response to locating the tag within the web source, a trust association between the account and the web source, and providing, by the server, an indicating of the trust association for display in a user interface of a client device.

Abstract: A real-time messaging platform and method is disclosed which classifies messages in accordance with a combination of user engagement events as modified to reflect the temporal structure of the user engagement events. A message can be assigned a metric based, for example, on a weighted combination of user engagement rates, decayed with time to reflect an intuition that recent interactions by one or more users with the message will have a greater impact than older interactions with the message. Different types of interaction by one or more users with the message can be assigned different weights when the different engagement events are combined and, also, can be assigned different temporal characteristics.

Abstract: A real-time messaging platform allows advertiser accounts to pay to insert candidate messages into the message streams requested by account holders. To accommodate multiple advertisers, the messaging platform controls an auction process that determines which candidate messages are selected for inclusion in a requested account holder's message stream. Selection is based on a bid for the candidate message, the message stream that is requested, and a variety of other factors that vary depending upon the implementation. The process for selection of candidate messages generally includes the following steps, though any given step may be omitted or combined into another step in a different implementation: targeting, filtering, prediction, ranking, and selection.

Abstract: A method involving obtaining a first plurality of topic groups (TGs), each having a membership of accounts, identifying a first plurality of accounts as authorities for an expertise topic, obtaining a second plurality of TGs with a number of accounts as members, wherein the first plurality of TGs comprises the second plurality of TGs, identifying a first frequent account which is a member in at least one of the second plurality of TGs, adding the first frequent account to the authorities of the expertise topic to obtain a second plurality of accounts as the authorities of the expertise topic, determining a third plurality of TGs in which a second number of accounts from the second plurality of accounts are members, determining that another frequent account is a member in one of the third plurality of TGs, and obtaining a ranking of accounts that are an authority on the expertise topic.

Abstract: A method, system, and non-transitory computer readable medium for identifying a relevant conversation. The method can include: identifying a conversation graph including identifiers of messages posted by a set of authoring accounts; identifying a relevance score for each authoring account; applying, by a computer processor, a first relevance filter to the conversation graph in order to modify the set of relevance scores; applying, by the computer processor and after applying the first relevance filter, a second relevance filter to the conversation graph in order to further modify the set of relevance scores; selecting, based on the set of relevance scores and after applying the second relevance filter, a subset of messages of the conversation graph for inclusion in the relevant conversation; and providing at least a portion of the relevant conversation to a client device.

Abstract: Behavioral analysis of a mobile application is performed to determine whether the application is malicious. During analysis, various user interactions are simulated in an emulated environment to activate many possible resulting behaviors of an application. The behaviors are classified as hard or soft signals. A probability of the application being malicious is determined through combining soft signals, and the application is classified as malicious or non-malicious. Users of the application, the developer of the application, or a distributor of the application are notified of the application classification to enable responsive action.

Abstract: According to an aspect, a method for ranking messages of conversation graphs in a messaging platform using predictive outcomes includes receiving, over a network, a conversation view request to retrieve messages of a conversation graph stored on a messaging platform, and determining, by the messaging platform, a plurality of predictive outcomes for each of a plurality of messages of the conversation graph using predictive models. The plurality of predictive outcomes includes a reciprocal engagement probability. The method includes ranking, by the messaging platform, the plurality of messages based on the predictive outcomes, and transmitting, by the messaging platform, over the network, at least a subset of the plurality of messages to be rendered on a client application according to the rank.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for performing computing and storage tasks in distributed systems. One of the methods includes obtaining multiple resource use information items associated with performance of a group of tasks on a distributed computing framework having multiple clusters; for each task of the group of tasks having a corresponding task type, determining a measure of operational load of performing the task on the distributed computing framework based on the selected resource use information items associated with the task and one or more unit measures associated with the task; combining each measure of operational load to compute a combined measure of operational load for performing the group of tasks on the distributed computing framework; identifying one or more properties of the group of tasks that indicate a need to adjust the combined measure; and adjusting the combined measure of operational load.

Abstract: A method for processing ads involves traversing an ad view hierarchy to obtain ad view information for a device, providing the ad view information to an ad server, sending, by the device, an ad request to the ad server, receiving, in response to the ad request, an ad. and displaying the ad on the device.

Abstract: Techniques of playing back a looping video file involve providing multiple video codecs for decoding a video file. Each video codec performs its own decoding operation on the looping video file, resulting in multiple buffers of video frames and a buffer of audio frames. Then, as the GPU renders the ending video frames from a first buffer, it begins rendering the beginning video frames from a second buffer. In this way, the beginning of a next video cycle is already rendered for viewing by the time a current video cycle is ending.

Abstract: Methods and systems for generating, identifying, and displaying message threads on a social messaging platform. One of the methods includes receiving a first and second messages posted to a social messaging platform by a user account; determining whether the second message is a reply to the first message posted by the user account; in response, determining if the first message is part of an existing message thread; in response to determining that the first message is not part of an existing thread, assigning a new thread identifier to both the first message and the second message, the thread identifier associating both messages with a new thread; in response to determining that the first message is part of an existing thread, assigning an existing thread identifier obtained from the first message to the second message.

Abstract: A system and method for performing regression testing on source code provides a data sample to one or more candidate instances executing a candidate version of source code for a code base and provides the data sample to plurality of baseline instances executing a baseline version of the source code. The baseline version of the source code and the candidate version of the source code differ. The regression testing system and method obtains candidate outputs from the one or more candidate instances and obtains baseline outputs from the plurality of baseline instances based on the provided data sample. One or more faults in the candidate version of the source code can be determined by comparing the candidate outputs the baseline outputs. A filter for excluding one or more data fields from the comparison can be generated based on a comparison between baseline outputs from one of the plurality of baseline instances and baseline outputs from another of the plurality of baseline instances.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for limiting load on host servers that implement a social messaging platform. An example user device sends, to a platform comprising a plurality of host servers, a first request. The request is directed to a first endpoint. The user device receives, in response to the first request, a first error that indicates that the first request was not processed. The user device determines a back off time and places subsequent requests to the platform that are initiated before the back off time elapses and that are directed to the first endpoint in a back off queue in an order in which the subsequent requests are initiated. The user device sends, to the platform, the requests in the back off queue after the back off time has elapsed, until the back off queue is empty.

Abstract: Systems and methods provide live broadcasts with real-time feedback from viewers using mobile computing devices. An example method includes providing a live feed broadcast from a source mobile device to a plurality of viewing devices, receiving, during the live feed broadcast, an engagement from one of the plurality of viewing devices, and associating the engagement with a particular time in the live feed broadcast. The method also includes providing an indication of the engagement to the source mobile device, wherein the source mobile device displays a graphic representation of the engagement during the live feed broadcast and adding the indication of the engagement to the live feed so that a graphic representation is displayed during the live feed at the particular time to users of the plurality of viewing devices. The viewing user may each have a graph relationship with a user of the source mobile device.

Abstract: A method for purchasing processing requests on a messaging platform including obtaining a broadcast message from a first client associated with a first social networking account, making a first determination that the broadcast message includes a reference to an item, making a second determination, based at least in part of a perceived inventory count for item that a vendor associated with the messaging platform is able to supply the item, based on the second determination, generating a new broadcast message that includes a buy-now card associated with the item, transmitting the new broadcast message to a second client associated with a second social networking account, receiving, after transmitting the new broadcast message, a purchase request for the second client, wherein the purchase request specifies the item, and processing, by the messaging platform, the purchase request.

Abstract: A system and method for feature switching in software applications. A feature switching action (FSA) is received and at least one user device is identified based on the received FSA. At least one feature switching instruction (FSI) is generated based on the received FSA and the FSI is sent to at least one of the identified user devices. A feature switching instruction response (FSIR) is received from each user device that received a FSI and a feature switching action response (FSAR) is generated based on the received FSIRs.

Abstract: In some implementations, a system may include a video broadcasting service, implemented on a server, configured to enable a mobile computing device to broadcast a live feed media stream of an event, over a network, to a plurality of viewing devices. The video broadcasting service is configured to receive the live feed media stream, over the network, from the mobile computing device, where the live feed media stream originates from an external device having a camera configured as a video source for the live feed media stream. The external device may be communicatively coupled to the mobile computing device. The video broadcasting service is configured to provide the live feed media stream, over the network, to the plurality of viewing devices.

Abstract: A messaging platform is configured to exchange social media messages, over a network, among a plurality of user devices each of which is executing a social media messaging application. The messaging platform is configured to provide, over the network, a moment of an event discussed by the social media messages for selection on a user interface of the social media messaging application. The moment is a collection of items that relate to the event, where the collection of items includes one or more selected messages that have been exchanged on the messaging platform that relate to the event. The collection of items can include text, video, and/or images of the event. When selected, the moment provides a display of the collection of items such that a user can view each item of the moment.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described that include providing, on a touchscreen display of an electronic device, a stream of content items, at least some of which are associated with a corresponding display anchor. Inputs are detected at the touchscreen display and the inputs are associated with a scroll speed. The scroll speed may be based on a detected distance between the inputs on the touchscreen and an elapsed time between at least two of the inputs. In response to determining a lack of input for a predefined time period, a display anchor can be determined and selected. The display anchor may correspond to a content item to be used as a pause location for the stream. The scrolling of the stream of content items can be paused at the pause location to use the selected display anchor to display the content item in a top viewable portion of the display.