Identifying extra material in companion content

• US 9,489,360 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2013
• Issued: 11/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audible Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Audible Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lester, Kevin Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Bloomquist, Keith
• Application Number:
  US14/019,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20150067459A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,160 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0253 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed which facilitate identifying extra substantive material within a content item not included within corresponding companion content items. For example, extra substantive material may include commentary, interviews, or improvisation included within an audio book and not included within a corresponding electronic book. Specifically, an electronic marketplace is disclosed that may analyze two companion content items to determine similarities and differences between the content items. Thereafter, portions that differ between the content items may be further analyzed to determine whether these portions include extra substantive material. Also disclosed is an electronic marketplace for providing information regarding content items, including the existence of extra substantive material within a content item. In some instances, the electronic marketplace may be configured to provide samples of extra content within a content item to a user.

Claims

1. A system for providing information regarding extra material within a content item, the system comprising:

an electronic data store configured to store an electronic book and an audio book that is at least a partial audio representation of the electronic book; and

a computing device in communication with the electronic data store, the computing device configured to at least;

generate alignment information mapping regions of the electronic book to corresponding regions of the audio book,

based at least in part on the alignment information, identify a region within the audio book that does not correspond to a region within the electronic book;

obtain, from a human interaction task service, verification that the region identified within the audio book contains extra material, wherein the extra material is absent from the electronic book and contributes to the substance of the audio book; and

cause transmission of a portion of the extra material to a user computing device as a sample of the audio book.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the extra material includes at least one of an interview, improvisational material, commentary, or a sample of an additional content item.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the alignment information is generated based at least in part on a comparison between text of the electronic book and a transcription of the audio book.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to at least determine that the region satisfies threshold criteria for detection of the extra material absent from the electronic book.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein satisfaction of the threshold criteria requires at least one of a minimum length of the region, inclusion of a predetermined word, exclusion of a predetermined word, or a location of the region within a predefined portion of the audio book.

6. A computer-implemented method for providing information regarding extra material within a content item, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first computing device, a first content item and a second content item that is at least a partial representation of the first content item;

generating, by the first computing device, alignment information mapping portions of the first content item to corresponding portions of the second content item,

determining, by the first computing device, a region within the first content item that does not correspond to a region within the second content item based at least in part on the generated alignment information;

analyzing, by the first computing device, the region within the first content item for the presence of extra material, wherein the extra material is absent from the second content item and contributes to the substance of the first content item; and

transmitting, from the first computing device, an indication to a second computing device that the first content item includes the extra material.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the first content item is at least one of textual content, video content, or audio content.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the indication that extra material is present within the first content item is included within a display page output on the second computing device.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the display page enables the second computing device to request a sample of the extra material.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving a request for a sample of the extra material; and

transmitting at least a portion of the extra material to the second computing device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein generating the alignment information comprises:

generating a comparison of text of the first content item and a transcription of the second content item;

determining a correlation measure from the comparison;

determining that the correlation measure satisfies a threshold; and

generating alignment information indicating that the text can be aligned with the transcription.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein generating the alignment information comprises:

generating a comparison of text of the first content item and a transcription of the second content item;

determining a correlation measure from the comparison;

determining that the correlation measure does not satisfy a threshold; and

generating alignment information indicating that the text cannot be aligned with the transcription.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein analyzing, by the first computing device, the region within the first content item for the presence of extra material comprises:

determining a length of the region within the first content; and

determining that the length of the region satisfies a threshold length.

14. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer system, configure the computer system to perform operations comprising:

generating alignment information that maps portions of a first content item to corresponding portions of a second content item, wherein the second content item at least partially represents the first content item;

identifying, based at least in part on the alignment information, a region within the first content item that is not represented within the second content item;

performing an analysis of the region within the first content item for the presence of extra material in the region, wherein the extra material is absent from the second content item and contributes to the substance of the first content item;

determining from the analysis that the extra material is present in the region; and

causing transmission to a user computing device of an indication of the extra material within the first content item.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the extra material includes at least one of an interview, improvisational material, commentary, or a sample of an additional content item.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the analysis comprises determining that the region satisfies a set of threshold criteria.

17. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the analysis further comprises determining that the region satisfies the set of threshold criteria using auditory processing of the first content item.

18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise causing transmission to a user computing device of at least a portion of the extra material within the first content item and absent from the second content item.

19. A system comprising:

an electronic data store configured to store a first content; and

a first computing device in communication with the electronic data store, the first computing device configured to at least;

generate alignment information that maps portions of the first content to corresponding portions a second content that is at least a partial representation of the first content; and

based at least in part on the alignment information, identify a region within the first content that does not correspond to a region within the second content;

analyze the region within the first content for the presence of extra material, wherein the extra material is absent from the second content and contributes to the substance of the first content; and

transmit to a second computing device an indication that the first content includes the extra material.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first computing device is further configured to transmit the indication within a display page detailing information regarding the first content.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the first computing device is further configured to provide at least a portion of the extra material to the second computing device.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the first computing device is configured to analyze the region within the first content for the presence of extra material by:

determining that the region with the first content satisfies a set of threshold criteria; and

in response to determining that the set of threshold criteria is satisfied, verifying that the region within the first content includes extra material.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the threshold criteria comprises at least one of:

a minimum length of the region,

inclusion of a predetermined word within the region,

exclusion of a predetermined word from the region, or

location of the region within a predefined portion of the first content.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the first computing device is further configured to determine that the region within the first content satisfies the set of threshold criteria using a textual analysis of the first content.