Media consumption history

• US 10,198,442 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2013
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Sharifi, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Trujillo, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mueller, Kurt A
• Application Number:
  US14/142,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20150052168A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,866 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2455 Query execution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/433 using audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/489 using time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/685 using automatically derived transcript of audio data, e.g. lyrics speech recognition G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7834 using audio features
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/54 for retrieval

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus for receiving, from a user, a request that includes an entity identifier associated with an entity that is referenced by one or more query terms of a search query, determining that the entity is identified in a media consumption database as a media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user or that the entity is associated with a media item that is identified in the media consumption database as a media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user, and based on the determination, providing a response to the request, the response including data indicating that the entity is a media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user or that the entity is associated with a media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a user, a search query that identifies an entity;

querying a media consumption database that stores data representing a plurality of media items that are each identified as having been previously consumed by the user;

based on querying the media consumption database, determining that a particular media item, from among the plurality of media items, features the entity and is identified in the media consumption database as a media item that has been previously consumed by the user;

receiving a set of web results that are each distinct from the particular media item that features the entity, and that have each been identified in response to an Internet search performed using the search query; and

in response to receiving the search query, providing for output an interface that includes;

(i) a first display region that shows a listing of the set of web results, and

(ii) a second display region that shows information about the entity identified in the search query, wherein the information about the entity identified in the search query includes;

(a) an indication that the entity is featured in the particular media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user,

(b) an indication of a time when the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user, wherein the time when the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user is after a time that the particular media item was created, and

(c) an indication of a location where the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user,

wherein the second display region is separated by a distance from the first display region so as to visually distinguish the second display region from the first display region.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the user, the search query that identifies the entity comprises:

receiving a search query that includes one or more query terms; and

identifying the entity based on the one or more query terms.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving, from the user, data that includes a user identifier associated with the user; and

identifying, as the media consumption database and based on the data that includes the user identifier, a particular media consumption database that is associated with the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the media consumption database identifies multiple entities that are featured by the particular media item.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the Internet search is performed by a search engine using one or more query terms of the search query.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the particular media item is a video and the entity featured in the particular media item is an individual that appears in the video, or

the particular media item is a song and the entity featured in the particular media item is an artist that is featured in the song.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving audio data corresponding to a particular media item playing in an environment of a computing device of the user;

receiving a location indicator corresponding to a location where the computing device was located when the media item played in the environment of the computing device;

processing the audio data with an audio recognition engine to identify the particular media item; and

determining whether the particular media item was consumed by the user based on an identity of the particular media item and the location indicator.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one media item of the plurality of media items represented in the media consumption database is identified as having been previously consumed by the user based on an audio recognition engine having processed audio data captured in an environment of a computing device of the user to recognize the at least one media item.

9. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a user, a search query that identifies an entity;

querying a media consumption database that stores data representing a plurality of media items that are each identified as having been previously consumed by the user;

based on querying the media consumption database, determining that a particular media item, from among the plurality of media items, features the entity and is identified in the media consumption database as a media item that has been previously consumed by the user;

receiving a set of web results that are each distinct from the particular media item that features the entity, and that have each been identified in response to an Internet search performed using the search query; and

in response to receiving the search query, providing for output an interface that includes;

(i) a first display region that shows a listing of the set of web results, and

(ii) a second display region that shows information about the entity identified in the search query, wherein the information about the entity identified in the search query includes;

(a) an indication that the entity is featured in the particular media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user,

(b) an indication of a time when the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user, wherein the time when the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user is after a time that the particular media item was created, and

(c) an indication of a location where the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user,

wherein the second display region is separated by a distance from the first display region so as to visually distinguish the second display region from the first display region.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein receiving, from the user, the search query that identifies the entity comprises:

receiving a search query that includes one or more query terms; and

identifying the entity based on the one or more query terms.

11. The system of claim 9, comprising:

receiving, from the user, data that includes a user identifier associated with the user; and

identifying, as the media consumption database and based on the data that includes the user identifier, a particular media consumption database that is associated with the user.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the media consumption database identifies multiple entities that are featured by the particular media item.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a user, a search query that identifies an entity;

querying a media consumption database that stores data representing a plurality of media items that are each identified as having been previously consumed by the user;

based on querying the media consumption database, determining that a particular media item, from among the plurality of media items, features the entity and is identified in the media consumption database as a media item that has been previously consumed by the user;

receiving a set of web results that are each distinct from the particular media item that features the entity, and that have each been identified in response to an Internet search performed using the search query; and

in response to receiving the search query, providing for output an interface that includes;

(i) a first display region that shows a listing of the set of web results, and

(ii) a second display region that shows information about the entity identified in the search query, wherein the information about the entity identified in the search query includes;

(a) an indication that the entity is featured in the particular media item that has been indicated as consumed by the user,

(b) an indication of a time when the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user, wherein the time when the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user is after a time that the particular media item was created, and

(c) an indication of a location where the particular media item is identified as having been consumed by the user,

wherein the second display region is separated by a distance from the first display region so as to visually distinguish the second display region from the first display region.

14. The computer-readable device of claim 13, wherein receiving, from the user, the search query that identifies the entity comprises:

receiving a search query that includes one or more query terms; and

identifying the entity based on the one or more query terms.

15. The computer-readable device of claim 13, comprising:

receiving, from the user, data that includes a user identifier associated with the user; and

identifying, as the media consumption database and based on the data that includes the user identifier, a particular media consumption database that is associated with the user.