Method and apparatus for searching media program databases

• US 8,364,707 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2012
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Yang, Ting-hao, Wang, Zhibing, Tang, Yizhe, Chang, Qian
• Primary Examiner(s): BURKE, JEFF A
• Application Number:
  US13/348,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20120117074A1
• Time in Patent Office: 384 Days
• Field of Search: 707/771, 707913-914, 725/61, 725/115, 725/145
• US Class Current: 707/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7867 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title and artist information, manually generated time, location and usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/913 Multimedia

Abstract

A method, apparatus, article of manufacture for providing list of a plurality of media programs responsive to a user search query is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of accepting an general search query from a user computer, identifying a synonym for the general search query, identifying a category for the general search query according to the identified synonym, performing a categorical search of a media program database using the identified synonym and the identified category to obtain a search result, and transmitting the search result to the user computer for presentation on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

Claims

1. A method of providing list of a plurality of media programs, each media program having associated data categorizable according to a plurality of data categories, the list responsive to a user search query, comprising the steps of:

accepting a general search query from a user computer;

identifying a synonym for the general search query, wherein the synonym includes one or more search terms that is determined to be synonymous with the general search query;

identifying only one of the plurality of data categories for the general search query according to a data category associated with the identified synonym;

without accepting further input from the user, performing a categorical search of a media program database using the identified synonym and the identified data category to obtain a categorical search result; and

transmitting the categorical search result to the user computer for presentation on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a synonym for the general search query comprises the step of:

searching a list having a plurality of synonyms.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of synonyms is generated by performing steps prior to the step of accepting an general search query from the user, the steps comprising the steps of:

accepting a plurality of previous general search queries from further users;

presenting a plurality of previous search results to the further users, each of the previous search results responsive to the corresponding previous general search queries, and each search result comprising a plurality of hotlinks, each hotlink associated with a media program responsive to the respective general search query;

accepting a selection of one of the plurality of hotlinks for each of the plurality of search results;

associating each of the previous general search queries with the media program associated with the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks; and

identifying at least one of the previous general search queries as a synonym for the media program if the selection of the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks associated with the media program is above a threshold percentage.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of synonyms is generated by performing steps prior to the step of accepting an general search query from the user, the steps comprising the steps of:

accepting a plurality of previous general search queries from the user;

presenting a plurality of previous search results to the user, each of the previous search results responsive to the corresponding previous general search queries, and each search result comprising a plurality of hotlinks, each hotlink associated with a media program responsive to the respective general search query;

accepting a selection of one of the plurality of hotlinks for each of the plurality of search results;

associating each of the previous general search queries with the media program associated with the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks; and

identifying at least one of the previous general search queries as a synonym for the media program if the selection of the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks associated with the media program is above a threshold percentage.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified data category is selected from the group comprising a media program title data category and a media program performer data category.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting the categorical search result on the display.

7. An apparatus for providing list of a plurality of media programs, each media program having associated data categorizable according to a plurality of data categories, the list responsive to a user search query, comprising:

means for accepting a general search query from a user computer;

means for identifying a synonym for the general search query, wherein the synonym includes one or more search terms that is determined to be synonymous with the general search query;

means for identifying only one of the plurality of data categories for the general search query according to a data category associated with the identified synonym;

means for performing a categorical search of a media program database using the identified synonym and the identified data category without further input from the user to obtain a categorical search result; and

means for transmitting the categorical search result to the user computer for presentation on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the means for identifying a synonym for the general search query comprises means for searching a list having a plurality of synonyms.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

means for accepting a plurality of previous general search queries from further users;

means for presenting a plurality of previous search results to the further users, each of the previous search results responsive to the corresponding previous general search queries, and each search result comprising a plurality of hotlinks, each hotlink associated with a media program responsive to the respective general search query;

means for accepting a selection of one of the plurality of hotlinks for each of the plurality of search results;

means for associating each of the previous general search queries with the media program associated with the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks; and

means for identifying at least one of the previous general search queries as a synonym for the media program if the selection of the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks associated with the media program is above a threshold percentage.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

means for accepting a plurality of previous general search queries from the user;

means for presenting a plurality of previous search results to the user, each of the previous search results responsive to the corresponding previous general search queries, and each search result comprising a plurality of hotlinks, each hotlink associated with a media program responsive to the respective general search query;

means for accepting a selection of one of the plurality of hotlinks for each of the plurality of search results; and

means for associating each of the previous general search queries with the media program associated with the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks; and

means for identifying at least one of the previous general search queries as a synonym for the media program if the selection of the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks associated with the media program is above a threshold percentage.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the identified data category is selected from the group comprising a media program title data category and a media program performer data category.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising means for presenting the categorical search result on the display.

13. A non-transitory program storage device, readable by a computer, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of providing list of a plurality of media programs, each media program having associated data categorizable according to a plurality of data categories, the list responsive to a user search query, the method steps comprising the steps of:

accepting a general search query from a user computer;

identifying a synonym for the general search query, wherein the synonym includes one or more search terms that is determined to be synonymous with the general search query;

identifying only one of the plurality of data categories for the general search query according to a data category associated with the identified synonym;

without accepting further input from the user, performing a categorical search of a media program database using the identified synonym and the identified data category to obtain a categorical search result; and

transmitting the search result to the user computer for presentation on a display communicatively coupled to the user computer.

14. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 13, wherein the step of identifying a synonym for the general search query comprises the step of:

searching a list having a plurality of synonyms.

15. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of synonyms is generated by performing steps prior to the step of accepting an general search query from the user, the steps comprising the steps of:

accepting a plurality of previous general search queries from further users;

presenting a plurality of previous search results to the further users, each of the previous search results responsive to the corresponding previous general search queries, and each search result comprising a plurality of hotlinks, each hotlink associated with a media program responsive to the respective general search query;

accepting a selection of one of the plurality of hotlinks for each of the plurality of search results;

associating each of the previous general search queries with the media program associated with the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks; and

identifying at least one of the previous general search queries as a synonym for the media program if the selection of the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks associated with the media program is above a threshold percentage.

16. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of synonyms is generated by performing steps prior to the step of accepting an general search query from the user, the steps comprising the steps of:

accepting a plurality of previous general search queries from the user;

presenting a plurality of previous search results to the user, each of the previous search results responsive to the corresponding previous general search queries, and each search result comprising a plurality of hotlinks, each hotlink associated with a media program responsive to the respective general search query;

accepting a selection of one of the plurality of hotlinks for each of the plurality of search results;

associating each of the previous general search queries with the media program associated with the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks; and

identifying at least one of the previous general search queries as a synonym for the media program if the selection of the respective one of the plurality of selected hotlinks associated with the media program is above a threshold percentage.

17. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 13, wherein the identified category is selected from the group comprising a media program title category and a media program performer category.

18. The non-transitory program storage device of claim 13, wherein the method steps further comprise the step of presenting the search result on the display.