Systems and methods for blocking selected commercials
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for blocking inappropriate or undesired media content. Commercials are reviewed and assigned ratings or other attributes. Metadata including one or more flags identifying a commercial's rating or other attribute is embedded or inserted into media guidance application data for the commercial or for the media content during which the commercial is to be displayed. The media guidance application data is then sent to a viewer's equipment. The equipment receives the media guidance application data, parses the data for the metadata, and then determines if the commercial can be displayed based on parental control restrictions set by a user.
1. A method for blocking selected commercials during display of video content, the method comprising:
receiving user input setting parental control restrictions for video content and commercials, wherein the parental control restrictions include one or more user specified keywords associated with the commercials;
retrieving, from a memory, one or more additional keywords based on the one or more user specified keywords, wherein the additional keywords are contextually related to the user specified keywords;
detecting when a commercial to be displayed with the video content violates the parental control restrictions based at least in part on the one or more user specified keywords and the one or more additional keywords; and
preventing display of the commercial if it violates the parental control restrictions while permitting display of the video content if it does not also violate the parental control restrictions.
2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the preventing step includes the step of replacing the commercial with another commercial that does not violate the parental control restrictions.
3. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the preventing step includes the step of replacing the commercial with a blank screen.
4. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the detecting step includes the step of detecting a ratings identifier in the commercial and comparing the ratings identifier to ratings information included in the parental control restrictions.
5. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the detecting step includes the step of detecting a ratings identifier in media guidance application data for the commercial and comparing the ratings identifier to ratings information included in the parental control restrictions.
6. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the detecting step includes the step of detecting a content identifier in the commercial or in media guidance application data for the commercial and comparing the content identifier to a content identifier included in the parental control restrictions.
7. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the detecting step includes the step of analyzing closed captioning data for the commercial and comparing the closed captioning data to the parental control restrictions.
8. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the commercial is selected from the group consisting of an advertisement for a product, an advertisement for a service, and a promotion for an upcoming video content.
9. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the detecting and preventing steps include the steps of comparing a rating of the commercial to a rating of the video content and preventing display of the commercial if the commercial rating is higher than the video content rating.
10. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the detecting and preventing steps include the steps of comparing the commercial to a list of blocked video content and preventing display of the commercial if it is a promotion of a video content within the list of blocked video content.
11. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the receiving step includes the step of implementing a media guidance application on equipment of the user, the media guidance application including a parental control mode.
12. The method as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the media guidance application is an interactive program guide.
13. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the violation of the parental control restrictions by the commercial is detected based at least in part on image recognition of at least one object to be displayed in the commercial.
14. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the one or more keywords include a title of one of the commercials.
15. A system for blocking selected commercials, the system comprising:
control circuitry operable to:
receive user input setting parental control restrictions for video content and commercials, wherein the parental control restrictions include one or more user specified keywords associated with the commercials;
retrieve, from a memory, one or more additional keywords based on the one or more user specified keywords, wherein the additional keywords are contextually related to the user specified keywords;
detect when a commercial to be displayed with a video content violates the parental control restrictions based at least in part on the one or more user specified keywords and the one or more additional keywords; and
prevent display of the commercial if it violates the parental control restrictions while permitting display of the video content if it does not also violate the parental control restrictions.
16. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to replace the commercial with another commercial that does not violate the parental control restrictions.
17. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to replace the commercial with a blank screen.
18. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to detect a ratings identifier in the commercial and compare the ratings identifier to ratings information included in the parental control restrictions.
19. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to detect a ratings identifier in media guidance application data for the commercial and compare the ratings identifier to ratings information included in the parental control restrictions.
20. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to detect a content identifier in the commercial or in media guidance application data for the commercial and compare the content identifier to a content identifier included in the parental control restrictions.
21. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to analyze closed captioning data for the commercial and to compare the closed captioning data to the parental control restrictions.
22. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the commercial is selected from the group consisting of an advertisement for a product, an advertisement for a service, and a promotion for an upcoming video content.
23. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to compare a rating of the commercial to a rating of the video content and prevent display of the commercial if the commercial rating is higher than the video content rating.
24. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to compare the commercial to a list of blocked video content and prevent display of the commercial if it is a promotion of a video content within the list of blocked video content.
25. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry implements a media guidance application.
26. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the violation of the parental control restrictions by the commercial is detected based at least in part on image recognition of at least one object to be displayed in the commercial.
27. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the one or more keywords include a title of one of the commercials.
28. A system for blocking selected commercials during display of video content, the system comprising:
means for receiving user input setting parental control restrictions for video content and commercials, wherein the parental control restrictions include one or more user specified keywords associated with the commercials;
means for retrieving, from a memory, one or more additional keywords based on the one or more user specified keywords, wherein the additional keywords are contextually related to the user specified keywords;
means for detecting when a commercial to be displayed with the video content violates the parental control restrictions based at least in part on the one or more user specified keywords and the one or more additional keywords; and
means for preventing display of the commercial if it violates the parental control restrictions while permitting display of the video content if it does not also violate the parental control restrictions.
29. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for replacing the commercial with another commercial that does not violate the parental control restrictions.
30. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for replacing the commercial with a blank screen.
31. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for detecting a ratings identifier in the commercial and comparing the ratings identifier to rating information included in the parental control restrictions.
32. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for detecting a ratings identifier in media guidance application data for the commercial and comparing the ratings identifier to rating information included in the parental control restrictions.
33. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for detecting a content identifier in the commercial or in media guidance application data for the commercial and comparing the content identifier to a content identifier included in the parental control restrictions.
34. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for comparing a rating of the commercial to a rating of the video content and preventing display of the commercial if the commercial rating is higher than the video content rating.
35. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for comparing the commercial to a list of blocked video content and preventing display of the commercial if it is a promotion of a video content within the list of blocked video content.
36. The system as set forth in claim 28 , further including means for analyzing closed captioning data for the commercial and comparing the closed captioning data to the parental control restrictions.
37. The system as set forth in claim 28 , wherein the commercial is selected from the group consisting of an advertisement for a product, an advertisement for a service, and a promotion for an upcoming video content.
38. The system as set forth in claim 28 , wherein the means for receiving includes means for implementing a media guidance application on equipment of the user, the media guidance application including a parental control mode.
39. The system as set forth in claim 38 , wherein the media guidance application is an interactive program guide.
40. The system as set forth in claim 28 , wherein the violation of the parental control restrictions by the commercial is detected based at least in part on image recognition of at least one object to be displayed in the commercial.
41. The system as set forth in claim 28 , wherein the one or more keywords include a title of one of the commercials.