METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESENTING A SEARCH UTILITY IN AN EMBEDDED VIDEO

• US 20100287474A1
• Filed: 05/11/2009
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Hulu LLC (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Hua, Zheng, Feng, Eric I.
• Granted Patent: US 9,189,547 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/738 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for providing advertisements into a streamed media program is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of transmitting a webpage to a user computer, wherein the webpage includes instructions comprising instructions for embedding a media program player in the webpage, wherein the embedded media program player comprises an embedded search utility for accepting a textual user query, receiving a search query from the user computer in a media server, the search query entered into the embedded search utility, generating search results responsive to the user search query, transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage, rendering the search results using the media program player; and displaying the rendered search results to the user.

Claims

1. A method of providing search results to a user, comprising the steps of:

transmitting a webpage to a user computer, wherein the webpage includes instructions comprising instructions for embedding a media program player in the webpage, wherein the embedded media program player comprises an embedded search utility for accepting a textual user query;

receiving a search query from the user computer in a media server, the search query entered into the embedded search utility;

generating search results responsive to the user search query;

transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage;

rendering the search results using the media program player; and

displaying the rendered search results to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a selection of the rendered search results in the media server from the user computer, the selection comprising an identifier of a media program; and

transmitting the media program to the user computer for playback using the embedded media program player.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the webpage comprises the steps of:

transmitting the instructions for embedding the media program player to a third party server;

receiving a request for a webpage in the third party server;

embedding the media program player in the webpage by the third party server; and

transmitting the webpage from the third party server to the user computer.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the media program player is a flash player.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of receiving the search query comprises the step of passing the search query to the media program server via a web service call to the media program server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage comprises the step of returning a data object to the media program player, the data object expressed in a markup language.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the user computer is communicatively coupled to a display including a plurality of pixels; and

the step of displaying the rendered search results to the user comprises the step of commanding each pixel to a state selected from a group comprising a first state and a second state.

8. An apparatus for providing search results to a user, comprising:

means for transmitting a webpage to a user computer, wherein the webpage includes instructions comprising instructions for embedding a media program player in the webpage, wherein the embedded media program player comprises an embedded search utility for accepting a textual user query;

means for receiving a search query from the user computer in a media server, the search query entered into the embedded search utility;

means for generating search results responsive to the user search query;

means for transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage;

means for rendering the search results using the media program player; and

means for displaying the rendered search results to the user.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

means for receiving a selection of the rendered search results in the media server from the user computer, the selection comprising an identifier of a media program; and

means for transmitting the media program to the user computer for playback using the embedded media program player.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the means for transmitting the webpage comprises:

means for transmitting the instructions for embedding the media program player to a third party server;

means for receiving a request for a webpage in the third party server;

means for embedding the media program player in the webpage by the third party server; and

means for transmitting the webpage from the third party server to the user computer.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the media program player is a flash player.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the means for receiving the search query comprises means for passing the search query to the media program server via a web service call to the media program server.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means for transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage comprises means for returning a data object to the media program player, the data object expressed in a markup language.

14. An apparatus for providing search results to a user, comprising:

a media server, having a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions comprising instructions for

transmitting a webpage to a user computer, wherein the webpage includes instructions comprising instructions for embedding a media program player in the webpage, wherein the embedded media program player comprises an embedded search utility for accepting a textual user query;

receiving a search query from the user computer in a media server, the search query entered into the embedded search utility;

generating search results responsive to the user search query;

transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage;

wherein the user computer comprises a second processor and a second memory coupled to the second processor, the memory storing instructions comprising instructions for;

rendering the search results using the media program player; and

displaying the rendered search results to the user.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the user computer further comprises instructions for:

receiving a selection of the rendered search results in the media server from the user computer; and

playing the media program using the embedded media program player if the selection of the rendered search results is associated with a media program.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the media program player is a flash player.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second memory further comprises instructions for passing the search query to the media program server via a web service call to the media program server.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions for transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage comprises instructions for returning a data object to the media program player, the data object expressed in a markup language.

19. A program storage device, readable by a computer, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of presenting a program guide, each media program having a plurality of video frames, the method steps comprising the steps of:

transmitting a webpage to a user computer, wherein the webpage includes instructions comprising instructions for embedding a media program player in the webpage, wherein the embedded media program player comprises an embedded search utility for accepting a textual user query;

receiving a search query from the user computer in a media server, the search query entered into the embedded search utility;

generating search results responsive to the user search query; and

transmitting the search results to the media program player embedded in the webpage.

20. The program storage device of claim 19, wherein the method steps further comprise the steps of:

receiving a selection of the rendered search results in the media server from the user computer, the selection comprising an identifier of a media program; and

transmitting the media program to the user computer for playback using the embedded media program player.