Google Inc.

Ingrid Mcaulay Trollope

Ant Oztaskent

Yaroslav Volovich

Andrew Robert Kirmse

Jan-Willem Maarse

Jurek Foryciarz

Margaret Hollendoner

A method is performed at a server system. The server system receives from an electronic device media content information. The server matches the media content information with stored content information, and identifies a media content item based on the matching. It also identifies a genre of the media content item and one or more entities relevant to the identified media content item. The server generates one or more user-selectable elections based on the genre of the media content item. It sends to the electronic device the user-selectable elections and a plurality of affordances. Each of the affordances provides a user of the electronic device with one of the user-selectable elections corresponding to a respective entity that is relevant to the identified media content item. The server receives from the electronic device a selection of the one or more user-selectable elections, and performs an operation associated with the selection.

Displaying information related to content playing on a device

An audience measurement service may monitor broadcasts in a region, ingesting closed captioning data, metadata, displayed text or logos, performing facial recognition on people, and/or generating audio/video fingerprints of broadcast content to create a database of content and associated keywords, along with times at which the content was broadcast. The audience measurement service may receive user search queries from a search provider and detect 'spiking' queries. The audience measurement service may determine whether the spiking queries are related, contextually and temporally, to an item of content identified in the database, and infer that users generating the queries likely viewed the item of content. In some implementations, the audience measurement service may also infer that the users likely viewed other items of content (e.g. advertisements) displayed during the prior or subsequent few minutes on the same broadcast channel as the query-triggering item.

System and method for associating search queries with remote content display

A server system detects presentation of a media content item being played at a first device in proximity to a second device associated with a first user. It also receives from the second device content information derived from sound output from the presentation of the media content item at the first device captured at the second device. Based on the received content information, it identifies the media content item being played at the first device and a plurality of first quotations associated with the media content item. The server system sends to the second device the first quotations and a plurality of quotation operation affordances. It receives selection by the first user of a first affordance of the quotation operation affordances for a first one of the first quotations. In accordance with the selection, it performs an operation with respect to the first one of the first quotations.

Displaying information related to spoken dialogue in content playing on a device

The various implementations described herein include methods and systems for displaying a summary of media content items. In one aspect, a method is performed at a server system that includes processors and memory storing programs for execution by the processors. The server system: (1) detects presentation of a media content item at a first device in proximity to a second device, including receiving from the second device content identification information; (2) identifies the media content item; (3) identifies entities related to the identified media content item; (4) determines a level of interest with respect to a user of the second device, for each of the identified entities; (5) selects a subset of the identified plurality of entities based on the determined level of interest; and (6) sends to the second device, a summary of the media content item, for presenting at the second device.

Displaying a summary of media content items

The various implementations described herein include methods and systems for displaying information related to content playing. In one aspect, a method is performed at a device with a display. The device: (1) determines whether media content is playing at a second device in its proximity; (2) in accordance with a determination that media content is playing, displays on the display a first affordance with a first user-selectable election; (3) receives a selection of the first election; (4) samples at the device program information from a media content item playing at the second device; (5) sends the information to a server; (6) receives from the server an identification of the media content item and second user-selectable elections; (7) displays second affordances providing the second elections; (8) receives a selection of a first one of the second elections; and (9) displays information regarding an entity relevant to the identified media content item.

A process adapts user-initiated search queries. The process executes at a client device with a microphone. The process downloads audio fingerprints from a remote server for a plurality of video programs, and downloads information that correlates the audio fingerprint to the video programs. The audio fingerprints are preselected according to relevancy criteria, including stored user preferences and prior search queries by the user. The audio fingerprints and correlating information are stored locally. The process detects ambient sound using the microphone and computes one or more sample audio fingerprints from the detected ambient sound. The process matches a sample audio fingerprint to a locally stored audio fingerprint and uses the correlating information to identify a first video program corresponding to the matched sample audio fingerprint. The process then receives user input to initiate a search query. The process provides auto-complete suggestions for the search query based on the first video program.

Adapting search query processing according to locally detected video content consumption

A method at a computer system includes: receiving a request from a user device for presenting a poll based on a broadcast program being viewed by a user of the user device, the request corresponding to a triggering event detected by the user device, the triggering event being initiated by the user on the user device; receiving from electronic devices search queries related to the broadcast program; identifying automatically popular moments of the broadcast program based on at least a corresponding history of search queries related to the broadcast program including the received search queries related to the broadcast program; generating a poll including one or more questions related to the broadcast program, the questions being populated based on the popular moments; and sending the generated poll to the user device configured for display by the user device, wherein the poll is configured to be actionable by the user.

Polls for media program moments

A method at a server includes identifying a media content item currently being presented in proximity to a first user; identifying, in an entities repository, one or more first quotations associated with the media content item, where the first quotations are determined to be popular in accordance with one or more popularity criteria; sending, to a client device associated with the first user, the first quotations and one or more affordances associated with the first quotations; receiving selection of a first affordance of the affordances, the first affordance associated with a respective quotation of the first quotations; and in accordance with the selection of the first affordance, performing an operation associated with the respective quotation.

A process provides a user with context-aware information. The process is performed at a client device with one or more processors, a microphone, and memory. The memory stores one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors. The process receives audio fingerprints for a plurality of video programs and information that correlates each respective received audio fingerprint to a respective video program, and stores the received audio fingerprints and correlating information in memory. The process detects ambient sound using the microphone, and computes one or more sample audio fingerprints from the detected ambient sound. The process matches one of the sample audio fingerprints to a first stored audio fingerprint and uses the correlating information to identify a first video program corresponding to the matched sample audio fingerprint. The process then provides the user with information related to the first video program.

Systems and methods for locally detecting consumed video content

A broadcast audience interaction and feedback system may discover and activate a recording function of a portable device of a user to record audio and/or video of media content output by a media device in proximity to the user. The audio or video data may be used to identify the content by matching audio or video fingerprints or signatures of the data recorded by the portable device with separately generated signatures or fingerprints associated with the content. Additional entities may be automatically associated with the content via capturing of metadata or closed captioning data during the content, OCR of displayed text in the content, or detection of other such entities. In some implementations, the portable device may also capture feedback from the user, including cheering, applause, and laughter, as well as explicit questions or comments, voting choices, etc. The feedback may be identified, and queries generated or additional functions performed based on the identified feedback, the identified media content, and/or one or more entities associated with the identified media content.

Systems and methods for broadcast audience interaction and participation

A computer-implemented method includes: detecting whether a user is watching media content; after detecting that the user is watching media, presenting on a user device a first affordance providing a first user-selectable election to receive information on entities relevant to the media content; in response to user selection of the election: sampling at the user device program information from the media content including one or more of audio signals and subtitles, and sending the program information to a server, which identifies the media content and generates one or more second user-selectable user elections for the identified media content and sends to the user device one or more second affordances providing the second user-selectable elections; displaying the second affordances on the user device; and in response to user selection of one of the second affordances, displaying on the user device information on a respective entity relevant to the media content.

A method at a server system includes: detecting presentation of a media content item, identifying the media content item and one or more entities related to the media content item, determining respective levels of interest in the identified entities based on one or more signals, selecting a subset of the entities based on the determined levels of interest, and sending to a client device of a user, for presenting at the client device, the selected subset of the entities.

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London, United Kingdom

Ingrid Mcaulay Trollope