Search assistant for digital media assets
First Claim
1. A method for processing a search string to be used in searching for digital media information, the digital media information pertaining to digital media assets, said method comprising:
- receiving, over a network at an online media store, at least one search character entered at a client device;
determining a set of words that match the at least one search character, each word in the determined set of words being associated with one or more digital media assets available at the online media store and each digital media asset having an associated media type;
for each respective word in the determined set of words;
determining whether the client device supports the media type of at least one of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective word in the determined set of words;
in accordance with a determination that the client device does not support the media type associated with any of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective word, removing the respective word from the determined set of words to produce a filtered set of words;
obtaining sales popularity data for each of the digital media assets that match the at least one word in the filtered set of words, wherein the sales popularity data is based on purchase data for each of the digital media assets; and
ordering the filtered set of words to prioritize the words based on the sales popularity data.
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Abstract
Techniques and systems for facilitating searching of digital media assets are disclosed. In one embodiment, a user can be assisted in entering search strings for searching a media repository (e.g., online media store) having a plurality of digital media assets that are available, e.g., available for purchase. As media assets are purchased from the media repository, popularity indications for such digital media assets can be adjusted. When the user enters a search character, a list of possible complete search strings corresponding to digital media assets available in the media repository can be obtained over a network and presented to the user.
258 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for processing a search string to be used in searching for digital media information, the digital media information pertaining to digital media assets, said method comprising:
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receiving, over a network at an online media store, at least one search character entered at a client device; determining a set of words that match the at least one search character, each word in the determined set of words being associated with one or more digital media assets available at the online media store and each digital media asset having an associated media type; for each respective word in the determined set of words; determining whether the client device supports the media type of at least one of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective word in the determined set of words; in accordance with a determination that the client device does not support the media type associated with any of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective word, removing the respective word from the determined set of words to produce a filtered set of words; obtaining sales popularity data for each of the digital media assets that match the at least one word in the filtered set of words, wherein the sales popularity data is based on purchase data for each of the digital media assets; and ordering the filtered set of words to prioritize the words based on the sales popularity data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for searching for digital media information available from an online media store, said method comprising:
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receiving a search hints request from a client application operating on a client device, the search hints request including at least a character string including at least one character; determining a set of search hints based on the character string, wherein said determining of the set of search hints obtains the matching search hints from a hints data structure and wherein the set of search hints correspond to digital media assets available in an online media repository and at least sales popularity data; obtaining a location of the client device; eliminating from the set of search hints those of the search hints in the set of search hints that are associated with a location other than the location of the client device; obtaining a media popularity indication for each of a plurality of the search hints in the set of search hints; and sending a portion of the search hints in the set of search hints to the client application on the client device, the portion of the search hints sent to the client application being less than all the search hints in the set of search hints. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a server system, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
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receiving a search hints request, the search hints request including at least a character string including at least one character; determining a set of search hints based on the character string, each search hint in the set of search hints being associated with one or more digital media assets available from the online media store and each digital media asset having an associated media type; for each respective search hint in the determined set of search hints; determining whether the client device supports the media type of at least one of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective search hint in the determined set of search hints; in accordance with a determination that the client device does not support the media type associated with any of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective search hint, removing the respective search hint from the determined set of search hints; obtaining a media popularity indication for each of a plurality of the search hints in the set of search hints; prioritizing each of the plurality of the search hints in the set of search hints based on the media popularity indication, the media popularity indication based on purchase data for the digital media assets; and selecting a subset of the search hints having the highest media popularity indications; and sending the subset of the search hints. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A server system for hosting an online media store for a plurality of digital media assets, comprising
one or more processors; -
memory storing one or more programs to be executed by the one or more processors; the one or more programs comprising instructions for; receiving at least one search character entered at a client device; determining a set of search hints that match the at least one search character, each search hint in the determined set of words being associated with one or more digital media assets available at the online media store and each digital media asset having an associated media type; for each respective word in the determined set of search hints; determining whether the client device supports the media type of at least one of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective search hint in the determined set of search hints; in accordance with a determination that the client device does not support the media type associated with any of the one or more digital media assets associated with the respective word, removing the respective search hint from the determined set of search hints; obtaining sales popularity data for each of the digital media assets that match the at least one search hint in the filtered set of search hints, wherein the sales popularity data is based on purchase data for each of the digital media assets; and ordering the set of search hints using the sales popularity data, the sales popularity data being based on the frequency at which purchases of respective digital media assets occur. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification