Relevance bar for content listings

• US 8,972,875 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2007
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Gossweiler, Richard Carl III, Blackburn, John, Brown, David A., Gupta, Neha, Patel, Manish Gordhan, Sahami, Mehran, Taylor, Thomas H., Zigmond, Daniel John
• Primary Examiner(s): Theriault, Steven B
• Application Number:
  US11/739,566
• Publication Number:
  US 20080270395A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,870 Days
• Field of Search: 715/716, 715/719, 715/720, 715/723, 715/730, 715/764
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/438 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/489 using time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A client computer receives a set of search results ordered based on scheduled time of broadcast associated with respective listings of content. The listings of content include data representing time-bounded events. The client computer displays or otherwise presents a set of objects along an axis of a display bar, the objects corresponding to subsets of the search results. For example, the axis is associated with a unit of time or a unit of relevance.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

on a client system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of;

responsive to at least one constraint associated with a search query,

obtaining a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events based on relevance to the search query, wherein a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is associated with a respective broadcasting time;

presenting a first set of objects along a first axis of a relevance bar and concurrently displaying a grid containing at least a subset of a plurality of search results for the search query, wherein

(i) each object in the first set of objects corresponds to one or more time-bounded multimedia events in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events,

(ii) the first axis represents a unit of time,

(iii) the first set of objects is presented, at respective locations along the first axis of the relevance bar, in accordance with respective broadcasting times of the time-bounded multimedia events, and

(iv) the first set of objects is presented with respective visual indicia indicating a varying degree of relevance between content of a respective time-bounded multimedia event and the search query

stacking multiple objects corresponding to the first set of multimedia events along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and at the particular location along the first axis, wherein the particular location corresponds to a particular time, thereby indicating a quantity of multimedia events in the first set of multimedia events having a scheduled time of broadcast during the particular time; and

in response to user selection of an object on the relevance bar, preparing for presentation a window on the relevance bar, the window containing information about the multimedia event corresponding to the selected object.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is one of:

TV content, radio content, video content, movie content, multimedia content, Metadata Site Summary feed content, Multimedia Messaging Service content, games, or music.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

including a slider along the first axis of the relevance bar for moving to a new portion of the relevance bar.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,

wherein the relevance bar is displayed parallel to and offset from an edge of the grid.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further including presenting a second set of objects along the first axis of the relevance bar, wherein each of the objects in the second set of objects is presented at a location along the first axis corresponding to a particular time associated with the object, the second set of objects corresponding to a subset of multimedia events in the search results.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one constraint associated with the search query is a specified headend, a zip code, or a time period.

7. A method, comprising:

on a server system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of;

responsive to a user-submitted search query;

obtaining a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events based on relevance to the search query, wherein a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is associated with a respective broadcasting time;

preparing for presentation, a first set of objects along a first axis of a relevance bar and a grid containing at least a subset of a plurality of search results for the search query, wherein

(i) each object in the first set of objects corresponds to one or more multimedia events in the search results,

(ii) the first axis represents a unit of time,

(iii) the first set of objects is presented, at respective locations along the first axis of the relevance bar, in accordance with respective broadcasting times of the time-bounded multimedia events, and

(iv) the first set of objects is presented with respective visual indicia indicating a varying degree of relevance between content of a respective time-bounded multimedia event and the search query;

causing multiple objects corresponding to the plurality of multimedia events to be stacked along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and at the particular location along the first axis, wherein the particular location corresponds to a particular time, thereby indicating a quantity of multimedia events in the plurality of multimedia events having a scheduled time of broadcast during the particular time; and

in response to user selection of an object on the relevance bar, preparing for presentation a window on the relevance bar, the window containing information about the multimedia event corresponding to the selected object.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one constraint is a geographic location identifier of the user.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one constraint is at least one selected headend.

10. The method of claim 7, including responding to user selection of a portion of the relevance bar by sending to the client additional search results corresponding to the user selected portion of the relevance bar.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one constraint associated with the search query is a zip code or a time period.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors in a computer system, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

responsive to at least one constraint associated with a search query,

obtaining a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events based on relevance to the search query, wherein a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is associated with a respective broadcasting time;

presenting a first set of objects along a first axis of a relevance bar and a grid containing at least a subset of a plurality of search results for the search query, wherein

(i) each object in the first set of objects corresponds to one or more time-bounded multimedia events in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events,

(ii) the first axis represents a unit of time,

(iii) the first set of objects is presented, at respective locations along the first axis of the relevance bar, in accordance with the respective broadcasting time of the time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iv) the first set of objects is presented with respective visual indicia indicating a varying degree of relevance between content of a respective time-bounded multimedia event and the search query;

stacking multiple objects corresponding to the first set of multimedia events along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and at the particular location along the first axis, wherein the particular location corresponds to a particular time, thereby indicating a quantity of multimedia events in the first set of multimedia events having a scheduled time of broadcast during the particular time; and

in response to user selection of an object in the display bar, presenting a window on the display bar, the window containing information about the multimedia event corresponding to the selected object.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the at least one constraint associated with the search query is a specified headend, a zip code, or a time period.

16. The client system of claim 12, wherein a multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is one of:

TV content, radio content, video content, movie content, multimedia content, Metadata Site Summary feed content, Multimedia Messaging Service content, games, or music.

17. The client system of claim 12, the one or more programs further including instructions for:

presenting a slider along the first axis of the relevance bar for moving to a new portion of the relevance bar, and

receiving respective portions of the search results corresponding to the new portion.

18. The client system of claim 12,

wherein the display bar is displayed parallel to and offset from an edge of the grid.

14. A client system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors;

one or more programs stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

responsive to at least one constraint associated with a search query,

obtaining a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events based on relevance to the search query, wherein a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is associated with a respective broadcasting time;

presenting a first set of objects along a first axis of a relevance bar and a grid containing at least a subset of a plurality of search results for the search query, wherein

(i) each object in the first set of objects corresponds to one or more time-bounded multimedia events in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events,

(ii) the first axis represents a unit of time,

(iii) the first set of objects is presented, at respective locations along the first axis of the relevance bar, in accordance with the respective broadcasting time of the time-bounded multimedia events, and

(iv) the first set of objects is presented with respective visual indicia indicating a varying degree of relevance between content of a respective time-bounded multimedia event and the search query;

stacking multiple objects corresponding to the first set of multimedia events along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and at the particular location along the first axis, wherein the particular location corresponds to a particular time, thereby indicating a quantity of multimedia events in the first set of multimedia events having a scheduled time of broadcast during the particular time; and

in response to user selection of an object on the relevance bar, presenting a window on the relevance bar, the window containing information about the multimedia event corresponding to the selected object.

15. The client system of claim 14, wherein the at least one constraint associated with the search query is a specified headend, a zip code, or a time period.

19. A server system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors;

one or more programs stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

responsive to a user-submitted search query;

obtaining a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events based on relevance to the search query, wherein a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is associated with a respective broadcasting time;

preparing for presentation, a first set of objects, along a first axis of a relevance bar and a grid containing at least a subset of a plurality of search results for the search query, wherein

(i) each object in the first set of objects corresponds to one or more multimedia events in the search results,

(ii) the first axis represents a unit of time,

(iii) the first set of objects is presented, at respective locations along the first axis of the relevance bar, in accordance with respective broadcasting times of the time-bounded multimedia events, and

(iv) the first set of objects is presented with respective visual indicia indicating a varying degree of relevance between content of a respective time-bounded multimedia event and the search query;

causing multiple objects corresponding to the plurality of multimedia events to be stacked along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and at the particular location along the first axis, wherein the particular location corresponds to a particular time, thereby indicating a quantity of multimedia events in the plurality of multimedia events having a scheduled time of broadcast during the particular time; and

in response to user selection of an object on the relevance bar, preparing for presentation a window on the relevance bar, the window containing information about the multimedia event corresponding to the selected object.

20. The server system of claim 19, wherein a multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events is one of:

TV content, radio content, video content, movie content, multimedia content, Metadata Site Summary feed content, Multimedia Messaging Service content, games, or music.

21. The server system of claim 19 wherein the at least one constraint is a geographic location identifier of the user.

22. The server system of claim 19 wherein the at least one constraint is at least one selected headend.

23. The server system of claim 19, the one or more program further including instructions for responding to user selection of a portion of the relevance bar by preparing for presentation additional search results corresponding to the user selected portion of the relevance bar.

24. The server system of claim 19, wherein the at least one constraint associated with the search query is a specified headend, a zip code, or a time period.