System and method for presenting search results

• US 20060095412A1
• Filed: 04/11/2005
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Assets LLC
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Essas, Joseph, Zito, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,930,358 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/437 Administration of user profiles, e.g. generation, initialisation, adaptation, distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42209 for displaying non-command information, e.g. electronic program guide [EPG], e-mail, messages or a second television channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4858 for modifying screen layout parameters, e.g. fonts, size of the windows
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 : Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/445 : for displaying additional information H04N5/50 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 : Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

System and method for presenting search results. Search results may be mixed and/or prioritized based on one or more criteria. Search results may be mixed and/or prioritized based on user profile data, preferred advertiser/merchant rankings or a combination thereof. Search results may presented to a viewer on a display device simultaneously along with broadcast and/or streaming content. The search results may be “pushed” to a client-side device and presented along with related broadcast content. Alternatively, the search results may be based on one or more user-provided search criteria.

Claims

1. A method for presenting search results comprising:

parsing one or more search criteria;

generating said search result based on said parsing;

prioritizing said search result based on prioritization criteria;

presenting said prioritized search result to a user; and

processing a user selection from said search result.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more search criteria are provided by said user using a remote control device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more search criteria are based on a user profile of said user, said user profile to be based on a plurality of viewer actions.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said presenting said prioritized search result comprises presenting said prioritized search result to said user using push technology.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said prioritization criteria are based on one or more of a user profile, a merchant ranking, and a sponsored result.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said presenting said prioritized search result comprises presenting said prioritized search result on a display device coupled to a client-side device, wherein said display device is to simultaneously display broadcast content and non-broadcast content.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said client-side device is a set-top box, the method further comprising providing a video signal to said display device by said set-top box representative of said broadcast content and said non-broadcast content.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising associating said client-side device, coupled to said display device, with a viewer profile using a unique identification code.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said presenting comprises presenting said prioritized search result on a display portion of a remote control device.

11. A system for presenting search results comprising:

a remote server coupled to said client-side device over a network, said remote server to,

parse one or more search criteria,

generate said search result based on said parsing, and

prioritize said search result based on prioritization criteria; and

a client-side device coupled to a display device, said client-side device to,

present said prioritized search result to a user, and

process a user selection from said search result.

9. The method of claim 11, wherein said processing the user selection comprises presenting at least one of a television program and an online resource on a display device of said user.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said one or more search criteria are provided by said user using a remote control device.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein said one or more search criteria are based on a user profile of said user, said user profile to be based on a plurality of viewer actions.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said prioritized search result are presented to said user using push technology.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein said prioritization criteria are based on one or more of a user profile, a merchant ranking, and a sponsored result.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein said prioritized search result is presented on the display device simultaneously with one of broadcast content and non-broadcast content.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein said client-side device is to be associated with a viewer profile for said user using a unique identification code.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein said user selection is processed by said client-side device by presenting at least one of a television program and an online resource on the display device.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein said prioritized search result are presented to said user on a display portion of a remote control device.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein said client-side device is a set top box that receives broadcast content from a broadcast source and non-broadcast content over said network.

21. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer program code embodied therein, the computer program product including;

computer readable program code to parse one or more search criteria,

computer readable program code to generate a search result based on said parsing;

computer readable program code to prioritize said search result based on prioritization criteria;

computer readable program code to present said prioritized search result to a user; and

computer readable program code to process a user selection from said search result.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein said one or more search criteria are provided by said user using a remote control device.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein said one or more search criteria are based on a user profile of said user, said user profile to be based on a plurality of viewer actions.

24. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein said computer readable program code to present said prioritized search result comprises computer readable program code to present said prioritized search result to said user using push technology.

25. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein said prioritization criteria are based on one or more of a user profile, a merchant ranking, and a sponsored result.

26. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein said computer readable program code to present said prioritized search result comprises computer readable program code to present said prioritized search result on a display device coupled to a client-side device, wherein said display device is to simultaneously display broadcast content and non-broadcast content.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein said client-side device is a set-top box, and wherein the computer program product further includes computer readable program code to provide a video signal to said display device by said set-top box representative of said broadcast content and said non-broadcast content.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein said client-side device is associated with a viewer profile of said user with a unique identification code.

29. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein said computer readable program code to present comprises said computer readable program code to present said prioritized search result on a display portion of a remote control device.