Systems and methods for acquiring, categorizing and delivering media in interactive media guidance applications
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are discussed for providing guidance for Internet-delivered media. In some embodiments, information on available media on the Internet is gathered. The information is associated with existing media guidance data. The associations enable a media guidance application to identify relevant online media and to display listings in a user-friendly way. A user interface for an online media guidance application is also provided. The user interface allows a user to narrow down the large amount of Internet-delivered media in a systematic way according to criteria that interests a user.
1. A method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet, comprising:
accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify videos provided by the Internet sites;
storing a metadata entry for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database;
automatically comparing the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database with metadata entries stored in a broadcast media guidance database to determine whether the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database are relevant to the metadata entries stored in the broadcast media guidance database;
determining, based on the comparison, that a first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to a first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database;
in response to determining that the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, linking the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database with the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database by storing a tag in the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that links the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database to guidance application data stored in the broadcast media guidance database that corresponds to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, wherein the guidance application data is associated with a broadcast video;
and
generating a display indicating the broadcast video, wherein the display includes (1) the guidance application data associated with the broadcast video, and (2) an indication of the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that is linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database.
2. The method defined in claim 1
wherein the Internet sites comprise web sites.
3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein accessing the plurality of Internet sites comprises crawling the Internet sites and scraping the metadata from the Internet sites.
4. The method defined in claim 1 wherein storing the metadata entry for each of the identified videos in the Internet video database comprises storing a URL to each of the identified videos.
5. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries that are linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database arranged in a video mosaic.
6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein:
the display indicates the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database using a frame from the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored the Internet video database; and
in response to a user selecting the frame, redirecting the user to the Internet site that provides the video of the selected frame.
7. The method defined in claim 5 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.
8. The method defined in claim 7 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.
9. The method defined in claim 7
wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.
10. The method defined in claim 5 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor's preference designations.
11. The method defined in claim 10 further comprising receiving the editor's preference designations.
12. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the guidance application data of the display comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database.
13. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising storing the identified Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database.
14. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the display is provided by an interactive program guide.
15. A system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet, comprising:
communication circuitry;
storage; and
processing circuitry configured to:
access a plurality of Internet sites using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided by the Internet sites;
store a metadata entry in the storage for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database;
automatically compare the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database with metadata stored in a broadcast media guidance database to determine whether the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database are relevant to the metadata entries stored in the broadcast media guidance database;
determine, based on the comparison, that a first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to a first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database;
in response to determining that the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, link the first metadata entry stored Internet video database with the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database by storing a tag in the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that links the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database to guidance application data stored in the broadcast media guidance database that corresponds to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, wherein the guidance application data is associated with a broadcast video;
generate a display indicating the broadcast video, wherein the display includes (1) the guidance application data associated with the broadcast video, and (2) the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that is linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database.
16. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the Internet sites comprise web sites.
17. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to crawl the Internet sites and scrape the metadata from the Internet sites.
18. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the stored metadata entry for each of the identified videos in the Internet video database comprises a URL to each corresponding video.
19. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries that are linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database arranged in a video mosaic.
20. The system defined in claim 15 wherein:
the display indicates the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database using a frame from the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database; and
the processing circuitry is further configured to redirect a user to an Internet site that provides the Internet video of the frame in response to the user selecting the frame.
21. The system defined in claim 19 wherein a subset of indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.
22. The system defined in claim 21 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.
23. The system defined in claim 21 wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.
24. The system defined in claim 19 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor's preference designations.
25. The system defined in claim 24 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to receive an editor's preference designations.
26. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the guidance application data of the display comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database.
27. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to store the identified Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database in the storage.
28. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the processing circuitry is configured by instructions of an interactive program guide.
29. A method for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:
automatically comparing a metadata entry corresponding to a broadcast media asset with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet video to determine whether the Internet video is relevant to the broadcast media asset;
determining, based on the comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset;
in response to determining that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset, linking the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video with the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset by storing a tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset that links the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video; and
generating a display that includes an asset identifier for the broadcast media asset, wherein the asset identifier includes (1) guidance data associated with the broadcast media asset, and (2) an indication of the Internet video.
30. The method defined in claim 29 further comprising:
accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify videos provided by the Internet sites; and
storing a metadata entry for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database.
31. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video comprises a URL to the Internet video.
32. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries corresponding to other Internet videos that are linked to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset.
33. The method defined in claim 32 wherein the indications are arranged in a video mosaic.
34. The method defined in claim 32 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor's preference designations.
35. The method defined in claim 34 further comprising receiving the editor's preference designations.
36. The method defined in claim 32 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.
37. The method defined in claim 36 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.
38. The method defined in claim 36 wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.
39. The method defined in claim 29 wherein:
the indication of the Internet video is a frame from the Internet video, and
in response to a user selecting the frame, the user is redirected to an Internet site that provides the Internet video.
40. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the display further comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video.
41. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the display is provided by an interactive program guide.
42. A system for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising circuitry configured to:
automatically compare a metadata entry corresponding to a broadcast media asset with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet video to determine whether the Internet video is relevant to the broadcast media asset;
determine, based on the comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset;
in response to determining that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset, link the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video with the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast asset by storing a tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset that links the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video; and
generate a display that includes an asset identifier for the broadcast media asset, wherein the asset identifier includes (1) guidance data associated with the broadcast media asset, and (2) an indication of the Internet video.
43. The system defined in claim 42 further comprising circuitry configured to:
access a plurality of Internet sites to identify videos provided by the Internet sites; and
store a metadata entry for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database.
44. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video comprises a URL to the Internet video.
45. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries corresponding to other Internet videos that are linked to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset.
46. The system defined in claim 45 wherein the indications are arranged in a video mosaic.
47. The system defined in claim 45 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor's preference designations.
48. The system defined in claim 47 further comprising input circuitry configured to receive the editor's preference designations.
49. The system defined in claim 45 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.
50. The system defined in claim 49 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.
51. The system defined in claim 49 wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.
52. The system defined in claim 42 wherein:
The indication of the Internet video is a frame from the Internet video, and
in response to a user selecting the frame, the user is redirected to an Internet site that provides the Internet video.
53. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the display further comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video.
54. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the display is provided by an interactive program guide.