Digital content hub

• US 8,595,203 B2
• Filed: 07/19/2012
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Monahan, Jay
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Wilson
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Jessica N
• Application Number:
  US13/552,935
• Publication Number:
  US 20120284134A1
• Time in Patent Office: 495 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

There are provided methods and systems to retrieve search result information and digital content. The system receives input information identifying a plurality of data sources from which to retrieve digital content. Next the system retrieves search result information, over the network, from the plurality of data sources based on the input information. Next the system retrieves the digital content, over the network, from at least one of the data sources based on the search result information. Finally, the system communicates digital content to a client machine.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving input information from a client machine, the input information being received via a single user interface and identifying a plurality of data sources from which to retrieve digital content, the plurality of data sources comprising a first data source including a first content provider and a second data source including a second content provider, the received input information further including a purchase limitation that is utilized to prevent a purchase amount from exceeding a predetermined amount;

responsive to the receiving of the input information, retrieving search result information, over a network, from the plurality of data sources based on metadata generated from the input information, the plurality of data sources including a plurality of search engines, the retrieving of the search result information including filtering the search result information based on a media type including at least one of a music video, a digital sample, or a streaming video;

responsive to the retrieving of the search result information, retrieving the digital content, over the network, from at least one of the plurality of data sources based on the search result information and the metadata, the retrieving of the digital content including determining whether the purchase amount exceeds the predetermined amount; and

responsive to retrieving the digital content, communicating the digital content to the client machine.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the digital content from the client machine to a portable client machine.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the input information includes at least one of receiving artist information, receiving creation information, and receiving category information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving of the artist information includes at least one of receiving a request for a type of artist, receiving a request for an artist, receiving a request for ticket information, or receiving a request for digital sample information, wherein the receiving of the creation information includes at least one of receiving a request for digital content that is released and receiving a request for a multimedia presentation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the search result information includes at least one of communicating a query to at least one data source to receive the search result information and communicating a subscription to at least one data source to receive the search result information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the search result information is performed periodically based on a predetermined period.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether payment is required after the digital content is retrieved from the data source.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving the digital content includes at least one of communicating a query to at least one data source to receive the digital content and communicating a subscription to at least one data source to receive the digital content.

9. The method of the claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the digital content includes communicating a subscription to at least one data source and receiving the digital content that is pushed from the data source based on a recommendation of the data source.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the digital content includes identifying whether payment is required to retrieve the digital content from the data source.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the digital content includes purchasing the digital content.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, on a predetermined communication channel, an alert that the digital content has been retrieved.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a recommendation for each search result information entry based on profile information, the generating the recommendation being responsive to the retrieval of the search result information, wherein the metadata includes the profile information, the profile information including a history of input information collected from a user over a predetermined period of time.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the retrieving of the digital content includes generating remote commands associated with the digital content, the remote commands included in the metadata, the remote commands including commands to communicate the digital content to the portable client machine.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of search engines includes a first search engine that corresponds to the first data source and a second search engine that corresponds to the second data source.

16. A system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions that are configured;

to receive input information from a client machine, the input information received via a single user interface, the received input information identifies a plurality of data sources from which to retrieve digital content, the plurality of data sources comprising a first data source that includes a first content provider and a second data source that includes a second content provider, the received input information further includes a purchase limitation that is utilize o prevent a purchase amount from exceeding a predetermined amount;

responsive to receipt of the input information, the instructions are configured to retrieve search result information, over a network, from a plurality of data sources based on metadata generated from the received input information, the plurality of data sources include a plurality of search engines, the retrieval of the search result information includes a fitter of the search result information based on a media type that includes at least one of a music video, a digital sample, or a streaming video; and

responsive to retrieval of the search result information, the instructions arc configured to retrieve the digital content, over the network, from at least one of the plurality of data sources based on the search result information and the metadata, the retrieval of the digital content includes a determination whether the purchase amount exceeds the predetermined amount; and

responsive to the retrieval of the digital content, the instructions are configured to communicate the digital content to the client machine.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a distribution module, at the client machine, to communicate the digital content to a portable client machine.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the input information includes at least one of artist information, creation information, and category information.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the artist information includes at least one of a request for a type of artist, a request for an artist, a request for ticket information, and a request for digital sample information, wherein the creation information is includes at least one of a request for digital content that is released and a request for a multimedia presentation.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to communicate a query to at least one data source to receive the search result information and wherein the instructions are configured to communicate a subscription to at least one data source to receive the search result information.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to retrieve search result information periodically based on a predetermined period.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to determine whether payment is required after the digital content is retrieved from the data source.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to communicate a query to at least one data source to receive the digital content and wherein the instructions are configured to communicate a subscription to at least one data source to receive the digital content.

24. The system of the claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to communicate a subscription to at least one data source and wherein the instructions are configured to receive the digital content that is pushed from the data source based on a recommendation of the data source.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to determine whether payment is required to retrieve the digital content from the data source.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to purchase the digital content.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to communicate, on a predetermined communication channel, an alert that the digital content has been retrieved.

28. A system comprising:

a means for receiving input information from a client machine, the input information received via a single user interface, the received input information includes an identification of a plurality of data sources from which to retrieve digital content, the plurality of data sources comprises a first data source that includes a first content provider and a second data source that includes a second content provider, the received input information further including a purchase limitation that is utilized to prevent a purchase amount from exceeding a predetermined amount, and, responsive to receipt of the input information, to retrieve search result information, over the network, from a plurality of data sources based on metadata generated from the input information, the plurality of data sources includes a plurality of search engines, the retrieving of the search result information including filtering the search result information based on a media type including at least one of a music video, a digital sample, or a streaming video; and

a means, responsive to retrieving of the search result information, for retrieving the digital content, over the network, from at least one of the plurality of data sources based on the search result information and the metadata, the retrieving of the digital content including determining whether the purchase amount exceeds the predetermined amount, and, responsive to retrieving of the digital content, communicating the digital content to the client machine.

29. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive input information from a client machine, the input information received via a single user interface, the received input information includes an identification of a plurality of data sources from which to retrieve digital content, the plurality of data sources comprises a first data source that includes a first content provider and a second data source that includes a second content provider, the received input information further including a purchase limitation that is utilized to prevent a purchase amount from exceeding a predetermined amount;

responsive to receipt of the input information, retrieve search result information, over a network, from a plurality of data sources based on metadata generated from the received input information, the plurality of data sources includes a plurality of search engines, the retrieval of the search result information includes a filtering of the search result information based on a media type that includes at least one of a music video, a digital sample, or a streaming video;

responsive to retrieval of the search result information, retrieve the digital content, over the network, from at least one of the plurality of data sources based on the search result information and the metadata, the retrieval of the digital content includes a determination whether the purchase amount exceeds the predetermined amount; and

responsive to retrieval of the digital content, communicate the digital content to the client machine.