System and Method of Content and Merchandise Recommendation

• US 20140157295A1
• Filed: 12/03/2012
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jagtiani, Kumar H., Creswell, Carroll W., Bansal, Pradeep K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,863,162 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/13
• 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 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• 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

Abstract

A method includes receiving a user selection of an option related to a first content item and sending data to a server to enable the server to update a user profile. The method also includes receiving a channel selection during or after playback of the first content item. The method further includes sending a content recommendation channel request to the server in response to the channel selection corresponding to a content recommendation channel selection and receiving a list of recommended content items from the server. The list of recommended content items is based on the user profile. The method also includes sending a merchandise recommendation channel request to the server in response to the channel selection corresponding to a merchandise recommendation channel selection and receiving a list of recommended merchandise items from the server. The list of recommended merchandise items is based on the user profile.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sending data from a set-top box device to a server to enable the server to update a user profile based on the data, wherein the data corresponds to a first content item, and wherein the user profile is based on received data for a plurality of content items;

receiving a channel selection during or after playback of the first content item at the set-top box device;

in response to the channel selection corresponding to a content recommendation channel selection;

receiving first user input that indicates whether to present content recommendations based on the user profile or based only on the first content item;

sending a content recommendation channel request to the server, wherein the content recommendation channel request includes a first identifier based on the first user input; and

receiving a list of recommended content items based on the first identifier from the server in response to the content recommendation channel request;

in response to the channel selection corresponding to a merchandise recommendation channel selection;

receiving second user input that indicates whether to present merchandise recommendations based on the user profile or based only on the first content item;

sending a merchandise recommendation channel request to the server, wherein the merchandise recommendation channel request includes a second identifier based on the second user input; and

receiving a list of recommended merchandise items based on the second identifier from the server in response to the merchandise recommendation channel request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the channel selection corresponds to a recommendation settings channel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data includes review information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the review information rates the first content item, rates an actor in the first content item, or both.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the channel selection corresponding to the merchandise recommendation channel selection, sending a full profile merchandise option and a partial profile merchandise option to a display prior to sending the merchandise recommendation channel request to the server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the merchandise recommendation channel request is sent to the server in response to receiving selection of the full profile merchandise option, wherein the second identifier indicates to present the merchandise recommendations based on the user profile.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the merchandise recommendation channel request is sent to the server in response to receiving selection of the partial profile merchandise option, and wherein the second identifier indicates to present the merchandise based only on the first content item.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first content item is a content item most recently sent to the set-top box device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an electronic programming guide to a display device coupled to the set-top box device and wherein receiving the channel selection comprises receiving user input identifying a channel option of the electronic programming guide, the channel option displayed at a location separate from a table that presents available programs.

10. A system comprising:

a profiler configured to;

receive, from a first device, first data indicating a user selection of an option related to a first content item, wherein the first device is associated with a user;

update a first user profile associated with the user based on the first data, wherein the first user profile is based only on the first content item and

update a second user profile associated with the user based on the first data, wherein the second user profile is based on a plurality of content items;

a content recommendation engine configured to;

generate a first list of recommended content items based on a content recommendation channel request received from a device associated with the user wherein the content recommendation channel request includes a first identifier that indicates whether to base the first list on the first user profile or the second user profile; and

send the first list to the device in response to the content recommendation channel request; and

a merchandise recommendation engine configured to;

generate a second list of recommended merchandise items based on a merchandise recommendation channel request from the device, wherein the merchandise recommendation channel request includes a second identifier that indicates whether to base the second list on the first user profile or the second user profile; and

send the second list to the device in response to the merchandise recommendation channel request.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the profiler is further configured to:

generate a plurality of user selectable options associated with the user profile; and

send the plurality of user selectable options to the device in response to a recommendation settings channel request received from the device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the profiler is further configured to:

receive, from the device, second data indicating a user selection of a particular option of the plurality of user selectable options; and

update the user profile based on the user selection.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first list is provided to the device via a merchandise recommendation channel, wherein the second list is provided to the device via a content recommendation channel, and wherein the merchandise recommendation channel is distinct from the content recommendation channel.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the recommended merchandise items include a performance ticket, a movie ticket, a venue ticket, a physical asset, an electronic asset, a reservation, a hotel reservation, a rental car reservation, a flight reservation, a vacation package, or a combination thereof.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the merchandise recommendation engine is further configured to generate the second list of recommended merchandise items based on a vendor promotion.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the first list includes a first content item provided by a first provider and a second content item provided by a second provider.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second user profile indicates a priority associated with a corresponding provider of each content item of the first list and wherein the content recommendation engine is further configured to sort the first list based on the priority.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the recommendation engine is further configured to send a reminder regarding a recommended content item of the first list to a second device associated with the user, wherein the reminder is sent based on a scheduled viewing time of the recommended content item and wherein the scheduled viewing time is based on a user calendar associated with the user, an electronic programming guide, or a combination thereof.

19. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:

sending data from a set-top box device to a server to enable the server to update a user profile based on the data, wherein the data corresponds to a first content item, and wherein the user profile is based on received data for a plurality of content items;

receiving a channel selection during or after playback of the first content item;

in response to the channel selection corresponding to a content recommendation channel selection;

receiving first user input that indicates whether to present content recommendations based on the user profile or based only on the first content item;

sending a content recommendation channel request to the server, wherein the content recommendation channel request includes a first identifier based on the first user input; and

receiving a list of recommended content items based on the first identifier from the server in response to the content recommendation channel request;

in response to the channel selection corresponding to a merchandise recommendation channel selection;

receiving second user input that indicates whether to present merchandise recommendations based on the user profile or based only on the first content item;

sending a merchandise recommendation channel request to the server, wherein the merchandise recommendation channel request includes a second identifier based on the second user input; and

receiving a list of recommended merchandise items based on the second identifier from the server in response to the merchandise recommendation channel request.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein the data comprises implicit data based on an amount of time that the first content item is displayed at a display device coupled to the set-top box device.