PROVIDING A PROGRAM LISTING

• US 20150256893A1
• Filed: 05/26/2015
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jayaram, Ranjith
• Granted Patent: US 9,438,961 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2408 Monitoring of the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. client requests monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44226 on social networks
• 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 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• 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

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a program listing include storing user profile data and a user identifier for a user; storing an association of the user identifier with user identifiers for each of the plurality of social contacts of the user; receiving program identifier data representing programs currently being viewed by the social contacts; ranking the program identifier data for each of the plurality of social contacts based at least in part on the user profile data; and sending display data representing the program identifier data for display in an order based on the ranking.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining one or more programs currently being viewed by social contacts of a user;

ranking the one or more programs currently being viewed by the social contacts based only upon factors of the user and the social contacts, wherein the ranking is calculated at least in part based on an affinity of each of the social contacts corresponding to the each of the one or more programs with the entity such that a closer affinity applies a better weight to the ranking than a less close affinity; and

generating display data for a rank-ordered display of program identifier data corresponding to the one or more programs, wherein the display data includes at least first program identifier data of a first of the social contacts with a first affinity and second program identifier data of a second of the social contacts with a second affinity that is less close than the first affinity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each of the social contacts, determining an affinity of the social contact based at least in part on social network data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the social network data comprises a user profile of the user and a user profile of the social contact, and

the determining an affinity of the social contact comprises identifying one or more relationships between the user profile of the user and the user profile of the social contact.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the social network data comprises a degree between the user and the social contact, wherein the degree is based on the number of contacts shared between the user and the social contact.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each of the social contacts, determining an affinity of the social contact based at least in part on a number of times that the user has selected one or more programs associated with the social contact.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the display data further comprises at least one identifier for at least one of the social contacts.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one identifier for the at least one of the social contacts is displayed alongside feedback of the one or more of the social contacts.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a user selecting a program, providing program information of the selected program to a social network of the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the factors of the user comprise a location of the user.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user input, wherein the user input corresponds with a genre; and

for each of the one or more programs;

determining whether the program matches the genre; and

excluding the program from the rank-ordered display in response to determining that the program does not match the genre.

11. A system comprising:

a hardware processor configured to;

determine one or more programs currently being viewed by social contacts of a user;

rank the one or more programs currently being viewed by the social contacts based only upon factors of the user and the social contacts, wherein the ranking is calculated at least in part based on an affinity of each of the social contacts corresponding to the each of the one or more programs with the entity such that a closer affinity applies a better weight to the ranking than a less close affinity; and

generate display data for a rank-ordered display of program identifier data corresponding to the one or more programs, wherein the display data includes at least first program identifier data of a first of the social contacts with a first affinity and second program identifier data of a second of the social contacts with a second affinity that is less close than the first affinity.

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

for each of the social contacts, determine an affinity of the social contact based at least in part on social network data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the social network data comprises a user profile of the user and a user profile of the social contact, and

the determining an affinity of the social contact comprises identifying one or more relationships between the user profile of the user and the user profile of the social contact.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the social network data comprises a degree between the user and the social contact, wherein the degree is based on the number of contacts shared between the user and the social contact.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

for each of the social contacts, determine an affinity of the social contact based at least in part on a number of times that the user has selected one or more programs associated with the social contact.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the display data further comprises at least one identifier for at least one of the social contacts.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one identifier for the at least one of the social contacts is displayed alongside feedback of the one or more of the social contacts.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

in response to a user selecting a program, provide program information of the selected program to a social network of the user.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the factors of the user comprise a location of the user.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

receive a user input, wherein the user input corresponds with a genre; and

for each of the one or more programs;

determine whether the program matches the genre; and

exclude the program from the rank-ordered display in response to determining that the program does not match the genre.