Monetization of multimedia queries

• US 20070162428A1
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Farago, Julia H., Whyte, Nicholas A., Williams, Hugh J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,817,831 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method to monetize multimedia queries is provided. The method includes receiving a multimedia query from a client device. In response, to the multimedia query a collection of thumbnails representing multimedia files is created. Position information for advertisement information is generated based on multimedia content included in the multimedia files. The position information specifies where the advertisement information should be displayed. Accordingly, advertisement information associated with advertisers that pay above a specified threshold is displayed with thumbnails of the multimedia content or with the actual multimedia content.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method to monetize multimedia queries, the method comprising:

receiving a query associated with multimedia content;

selecting advertisement information based on terms included in the query;

determining whether to display the advertisement information; and

transmitting one or more multimedia files having the multimedia content.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected advertisement information is associated with an advertiser whose payment is above a specified payment threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining whether to display the advertisement information further comprises:

obscuring visibility of the multimedia content.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein obscuring visibility of the multimedia content further comprises:

separating the multimedia content from the advertisement information.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein obscuring visibility of the multimedia content further comprises:

adjusting a magnification associated with the multimedia content.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein obscuring visibility of the multimedia content further comprises:

altering at least one display property associated with the multimedia content.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the multimedia content is image, audio or video.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the multimedia content includes premium content.

9-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A graphical user interface to provide multimedia content in response to a multimedia query, the graphical user interface comprising:

a multimedia section to provide a set of multimedia files related to a query; and

an advertisement section to provide advertisement information based on terms included in the query, wherein the advertisement section is separated from the multimedia section and advertisement information is generated based on multimedia content in the set of multimedia files.

22. The graphical user interface according to claim 21, wherein the advertisements are located below thumbnails of the set of multimedia file.

23. The graphical user interface according to claim 21, wherein the advertisements are located left of thumbnails of the set of multimedia files.

24. The graphical user interface according to claim 21, wherein the advertisements are located right of thumbnails of the set of multimedia files.

25. The graphical user interface according to claim 21, wherein the advertisements are located above thumbnails of the set of multimedia files.

26. The graphical user interface according to claim 21, further comprising:

blank space separation between the advertisement section and multimedia section, wherein a size of the blank space separation is based on content in the set of multimedia files.

27. The graphical user interface according to claim 21, wherein the multimedia section displays thumbnails related to the set of multimedia files.

28. The graphical user interface according to claim 27, further comprising:

a visibility adjuster that reduces the visibility of the thumbnail images.

29. The graphical user interface according to claim 28, wherein the visibility adjuster comprises a zoom selector, which allows the user to reduce the size of thumbnails associated with the multimedia files.

30. The graphical user interface according to claim 28, wherein the visibility adjuster comprises a fuzz selector, that warps the thumbnails associated with the multimedia files.

31. A method to display advertisements on a client device in response to a multimedia query, the method comprising:

sending a multimedia query;

receiving advertisement information, multimedia files having content matching the multimedia query and position information;

utilizing the position information to determine where to locate advertisement information based on the content of the multimedia files; and

displaying the received information.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the multimedia files are obscured based on the source of the multimedia file.