The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains the preferred embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
The present invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the invention. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
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In one embodiment, the audio-visual content is a streaming video with closed caption text. The closed caption text is analyzed and selected keywords are selected for searching. For example, keywords selected from the displayed video are collected and passed to an advertisement selection server, which returns selected advertisements. The corresponding advertisements may be placed on a portion of the video display and may be displayed for a predetermined amount of time. For example, the keywords may include a persistence duration indicator that indicates the amount of time a keyword should be retained for use in searching. In one embodiment, during this time, the words for the displaying video are collected, and a new advertisement set is fetched and displayed, as the next set of words is collected. This time-based collection and harvesting of words places advertisements pertinent to the content of the video. In exemplary embodiments, the audio-visual content may not include a closed caption transcript and voice recognition software may be used to collect keywords for searching.
In another exemplary embodiment, recent search information may be combined with the keywords extracted from the audio-visual content. For example, suppose a user has been searching the Internet for memory sticks, it is obvious from this search that the user has a computer and uses a memory stick. The terms memory stick and computer may be added to the keywords used for the Internet search. In one embodiment, the use of recent search information may be based on a number of web sites visited, how often a specific site is visited, how long the user visited a site, whether the user purchased something from a site, or if the user explicitly clicked an option to remind him/her later of significant improvements to a product or special sales of the product. In exemplary embodiments, both the linear timing of the content as well as the search history of the user are used as parameters for the Internet search.
In one embodiment, an optional filter is provided to remove keywords that should never be presented as advertisements. The user may use a user preference system to store a list of terms that the user wishes to block from being used as keywords. In one example, a user who does not drink alcohol may not wish to see any advertisements or search results that relate to alcoholic beverages. Additionally, the user preferences system could also have default items of interest, which can be factored in when performing Internet searches. When the audio-visual content does not suggest any particular search words, the filter profile can provide general interest items.
In another embodiment, the user preference may include an option to notify the user when there is an advertisement or availability of a specific product, or when a product is advertised at or below a specified price. This option would be ideal for a user who wants to purchase a specific item and is willing to wait for the item to go on sale. Additionally, the user does not have to be watching television when the sale or advertisement comes on and instead can be notified the next time that he/she watches television. In another exemplary embodiment, the user may set a preference to be notified of the sale via email, SMS message, or other means, which is important if the sale or availability is for a limited time or limited supply.
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The capabilities of the present invention can be implemented in software, firmware, hardware or some combination thereof.
As one example, one or more aspects of the present invention can be included in an article of manufacture (e.g., one or more computer program products) having, for instance, computer usable media. The media has embodied therein, for instance, computer readable program code means for providing and facilitating the capabilities of the present invention. The article of manufacture can be included as a part of a computer system or sold separately.
Additionally, at least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform the capabilities of the present invention can be provided.
The flow diagrams depicted herein are just examples. There may be many variations to these diagrams or the steps (or operations) described therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the steps may be performed in a differing order, or steps may be added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are considered a part of the claimed invention.
While the preferred embodiment to the invention has been described, it will be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in the future, may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described.