Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10068023B2/en
Timestamp: 2020-08-07 02:17:41
Document Index: 249689540

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 119', 'application No. 62', 'art 600', 'art 600', 'art 700', 'art 700']

US10068023B2 - Systems and methods for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic - Google Patents
Systems and methods for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic Download PDF
US10068023B2
US10068023B2 US14/673,730 US201514673730A US10068023B2 US 10068023 B2 US10068023 B2 US 10068023B2 US 201514673730 A US201514673730 A US 201514673730A US 10068023 B2 US10068023 B2 US 10068023B2
US14/673,730
US20160188729A1 (en
2015-03-30 Priority to US14/673,730 priority patent/US10068023B2/en
2015-04-03 Assigned to ROVI GUIDES, INC. reassignment ROVI GUIDES, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: AGARWAL, VINEET, ARDHANARI, SANKAR, GILL, DAREN, GUPTA, AJAY, RAMAMOORTHY, GANESH, SAVARKAR, Abhijit, VENKATARAMAN, SASHIKUMAR
2016-06-30 Publication of US20160188729A1 publication Critical patent/US20160188729A1/en
2018-09-04 Publication of US10068023B2 publication Critical patent/US10068023B2/en
230000003247 decreasing Effects 0.000 claims description 19
239000002609 media Substances 0.000 abstract description 247
Systems and methods are described herein for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic. Control circuitry may identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic. The communications may comprise, for example, emails, text messages, online social media posts, websites or portions of a website, or any other online communication. The control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending and increase a strength of association between a first symbol associated with the topic and a second symbol associated with the topic such that when a search query is received that includes the first symbol, search results related to the second symbol have a higher probability of being returned.
This application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from U.S. provisional application No. 62/098,077, filed Dec. 30, 2014. The aforementioned, earlier-filed application is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Media providers typically provide a search function to allow users to search for desirable media assets. In order to provide more accurate search results, an interactive media guidance application may maintain a knowledge graph that includes contextual links between symbols. For example, a media guidance application may analyze historical search data and utilize a probabilistic classifier, such as a Naïve Bayes Classifier that determines the statistical probability that certain symbols relate to a certain topic. In this manner, the media guidance application may build a database that identifies related topics and symbols that may be used to return relevant search results to a user search query.
With the advent of social media, topics often explode in popularity for a relatively short period of time. Such topics are typically referred to as “trending” or “viral” topics. The accuracy of search algorithms may be improved by taking into account the “trending” status of topics and their related symbols.
Systems and methods are described herein for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic. In particular, systems and methods are described herein which may identify a trending topic, identify symbols that are related to the trending topic, and increase a strength of association between those symbols. As an illustrative example, the movie “Inception” may become a trending topic, as measured by the number of “likes” it has received in social media networks. The movie “Inception” may be related to the symbols “Leonardo DiCaprio” and “Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” two actors who star in the movie. Control circuitry may identify that “Inception” is trending and thereby increase the strength of association between “Leonardo DiCaprio” and “Joseph Gordon-Levitt” such that when a user search query is received with “Leonardo DiCaprio,” search results that include “Joseph Gordon-Levitt” are returned with a higher probability.
In some aspects, control circuitry may identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic. The communications may comprise, for example, communications on an online social network, email messages, text messages, Internet communications, websites, mobile application communications, and/or communications received from a third-party data source. The control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending and increase a strength of association between a first symbol associated with the topic and a second symbol associated with the topic such that when a search query is received that includes the first symbol, search results related to the second symbol have a higher probability of being returned.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending by determining whether the plurality of communications related to the topic exceeds a threshold number of communications. For instance, the control circuitry may receive indications of a certain number of social media posts that relate to the topic, and if the number of social media posts exceeds a threshold number, the control circuitry may determine that the topic is trending. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending by determining whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds a threshold rate. For instance, the control circuitry may receive indications (e.g., from a third-party data source) of creation times associated with the plurality of communications. The control circuitry may use the creation times to determine how quickly the plurality of communications are being created. As an illustrative example, the control circuitry may track a number of social media communications being created, such as a short online communication known as a “Tweet” provided through social media provider Twitter. The control circuitry may determine the number of Tweets per minute that relate to a certain topic, based on the creation times of the Tweets.
In other embodiments, the control circuitry may receive an indication of the rate of creations. For example, the control circuitry may receive an indication from a third-party data source of the Tweets per minute relating to a certain topic. The control circuitry may determine whether the rate of creation exceeds a threshold rate in order to determine whether the topic is trending. As an extension of the above example, the movie “Inception” may be mentioned in 10 Tweets per hour before opening night, but may be mentioned in 10,000 Tweets per hour on opening night. The spike in Tweets created may indicate that “Inception” is exploding in popularity and should be considered “trending” in the public opinion. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may receive an indication from a third-party data source that the topic is trending.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may identify a first symbol and a second symbol associated with the topic. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may access a database that identifies the first symbol as being related to the second symbol. For instance, the control circuitry may access a knowledge graph that compiles contextual relationships between symbols based on, for example, historical user search data. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may directly access historical user search data in order to identify a first symbol and a second symbol as associated with the topic. For instance, the control circuitry may identify a plurality of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain at least one of the first symbol or the second symbol. If the number of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain at least one of the first or second symbol exceeds a threshold, then the control circuitry may determine that the topic is related to the first or the second symbol. As an illustrative example, the control circuitry may analyze past user search queries to identify that queries about the television show “Friends” often includes the symbols “Jennifer Aniston” and “Joey Tribbiani.” The control circuitry may conclude based on these trends that the symbols “Jennifer Aniston” and “Joey Tribbiani” are related to the topic “Friends.”
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may increase the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol based on an amount by which the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number of communications. As an illustrative example, the threshold number of communications for a topic to be considered trending may be set at 10,000 communications. These communications may be any type of online communication, such as posts on a social network such as Facebook. Typically, social networks such as Facebook allow a plurality of users to create posts about topics of their choosing. For a topic that has 11,000 Facebook posts, the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol may be increased a relatively small amount. For a topic that has 1,000,000 Facebook posts, the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol may be increased a relatively large amount. In this manner, the control circuitry may increase the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol based on by how much the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may access a graded scale or a lookup table in order to determine how much to increase the strength of association based on the amount by which the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number of communications.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may increase the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol based on the rate at which the plurality of communications are created or based on an amount by which the rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds the threshold rate. For instance, the threshold rate for a trending topic may be set at 1,000 Tweets per hour. For a topic that is trending at 1,100 Tweets per hour, the control circuitry may increase the strength of association between the first and the second symbol a relatively small amount. For a topic that is trending at 1,000,000 Tweets per hour, the control circuitry may increase the strength of association between the first and the second symbol a relatively large amount. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may access a graded scale or a lookup table in order to determine how much to increase the strength of association based on the rate of creation of the plurality of communications.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may further determine whether the topic is no longer trending and, in response to determining that the topic is no longer trending, decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol. Topics typically do not trend for long periods of time, and when topics start to lose popularity, it may be appropriate to decrease the strength of association between its related keywords. As an illustrative example, a news story about the Super Bowl might receive a lot of public attention during the lead-up to the game and immediately after the game. However, after the game is played, the public attention may begin to wane. In this case, the strength of association of symbols associated with the Super Bowl may be decreased in order to reflect the relative decrease in popularity over time. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol a predetermined amount after a set period of time. In this manner, the strength of association may gradually decay over time. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine whether the plurality of communications related to the topic falls below a threshold number of communications or whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created falls below a threshold rate. In these cases, the topic may no longer be considered trending, and the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association to an original level. For example, the control circuitry may have increased the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol from a first strength of association to a second strength of association. When the topic is no longer trending, the control circuitry may then decrease the strength of association from the second strength of association to the first strength of association.
FIG. 5 shows an illustrative user search interface that provides a list of trending media assets in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and
FIG. 7 is another flowchart of illustrative steps for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.
Systems and methods are described herein for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic. A “trending” topic is one that has increased popularity for a certain period of time. Trending topics may be measured by a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, typically online communications. Control circuitry may identify a trending topic, identify symbols that are related to the trending topic, and increase a strength of association between those symbols. As used herein, “symbols” may refer to any keyword, phrase, or concept that may relate to a topic. As an illustrative example, the movie “Inception” may become a trending topic, as measured by the number of “likes” it has received in social media networks. The movie “Inception” may be related to the symbols “Leonardo DiCaprio” and “Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” two actors who star in the movie. Control circuitry may identify that “Inception” is trending and thereby increase the strength of association between “Leonardo DiCaprio” and “Joseph Gordon-Levitt” such that when a user search query is received with “Leonardo DiCaprio,” search results that include “Joseph Gordon-Levitt” are returned with a higher probability.
In some aspects, control circuitry may identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic. The communications may comprise, for example, communications on an online social network, email messages, text messages, Internet communications, websites, mobile application communications, and/or communications received from a third-party data source. The control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending based on the communications and increase a strength of association between a first symbol associated with the topic and a second symbol associated with the topic such that when a search query is received that includes the first symbol, search results related to the second symbol have a higher probability of being returned.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending by determining whether the plurality of communications related to the topic exceeds a threshold number of communications. For instance, the control circuitry may receive indications of a certain number of social media posts that relate to the topic, and if the number of social media posts exceeds a threshold number, the control circuitry may determine that the topic is trending. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine whether the topic is trending by determining whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds a threshold rate. For instance, the control circuitry may receive indications (e.g., from a third-party data source) of creation times associated with the plurality of communications. The control circuitry may use the creation times to determine how quickly the plurality of communications are being created. As an illustrative example, the control circuitry may determine the number of Tweets per minute that relate to a certain topic, based on the creation times of the Tweets. In other embodiments, the control circuitry may receive an indication of the rate of creations. For example, the control circuitry may receive an indication from a third-party data source of the Tweets per minute relating to a certain topic. The control circuitry may determine whether the rate of creation exceeds a threshold rate in order to determine whether the topic is trending. As an extension of the above example, the movie “Inception” may be mentioned in 10 Tweets per hour before opening night, but may be mentioned in 10,000 Tweets per hour on opening night. The spike in Tweets created may indicate that “Inception” is exploding in popularity and should be considered “trending” in the public opinion. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may receive an indication from a third-party data source that the topic is trending.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may identify a first symbol and a second symbol associated with the topic. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may access a database that identifies the first symbol as being related to the second symbol. For instance, the control circuitry may access a knowledge graph that compiles contextual relationships between symbols based on, for example, historical user search data. Knowledge graphs and their features are described in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/501,504, filed Sep. 30, 2014, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/500,309, filed Sep. 29, 2014, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/448,308, filed Jul. 31, 2014, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may increase the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol based on an amount by which the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number of communications. As an illustrative example, the threshold number of communications for a topic to be considered trending may be set at 10,000 posts on Facebook. The control circuitry may determine the number of communications about a certain topic by using any suitable method or combination of methods. For instance, each of the plurality of communications may be associated with metadata that indicates the topic of the communication, and the control circuitry may track this metadata in order to determine the number of communications relating to a particular topic. As an illustrative example, each of the plurality of communications may be a Tweet that includes a text identifier called a hashtag (typically indicated by the symbol #). The control circuitry may automatically detect the “#” symbol and determine that the keyword or phrase after the “#” is the topic of the Tweet. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine the topic of a communication by parsing the communication for keywords and associating the detected keywords with the topic.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry may further determine whether the topic is decreasing in popularity and/or whether the topic is no longer trending. For instance, the control circuitry may detect that the number of communications relating to a particular topic being created is decreasing over time. In response to determining a decrease in popularity, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol. Topics typically do not trend for long periods of time, and when a topic starts to lose popularity, it may be appropriate to decrease the strength of association between its related keywords. As an illustrative example, a news story about the Super Bowl might receive a lot of public attention during the lead-up to the game and immediately after the game. However, after the game is played, the public attention may begin to wane. In this case, the strength of association of symbols associated with the Super Bowl may be decreased in order to reflect the relative decrease in popularity over time. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol a predetermined amount after a set period of time. In this manner, the strength of association may gradually decay over time. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may determine whether the plurality of communications related to the topic falls below a threshold number of communications or whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created falls below a threshold rate. In these cases, the topic may no longer be considered as decreasing in popularity or no longer trending, and the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may dynamically decrease the strength of association an amount that is based on how much the topic decreased in popularity. For instance, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association a relatively small amount for a small decrease in popularity (measured, e.g., by a small decrease in the number of communications created or by a small decrease in the rate of communications created). Similarly, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association a relatively large amount for a large decrease in popularity (measured, e.g., by a large decrease in the number of communications created or by a large decrease in the rate of communications created). In some embodiments, the control circuitry may first detect whether the number of communications created or rate of communications created has exceeded a threshold before performing this type of dynamic change based on the amount of decrease in popularity. In some embodiments, the control circuitry may decrease the strength of association to an original level. For example, the control circuitry may have increased the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol from a first strength of association to a second strength of association. When the topic is no longer trending, the control circuitry may then decrease the strength of association from the second strength of association to the first strength of association.
In some embodiments, the media guidance data source 418 may comprise a database that maintains relationships between symbols. For example, the media guidance data source 418 may be a knowledge graph that contains contextual links between symbols. Control circuitry 304 may access guidance data source 418 in order to identify a first and a second symbol associated with a particular topic. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may have direct write access to the database such that control circuitry 304 may increase or decrease a strength of association between a first symbol and a second symbol. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may send requests to the media guidance data source 418 in order to increase or decrease a strength of association between a first symbol and a second symbol.
In some embodiments, media guidance data source 418 may comprise a social media network server that maintains communications for an online social media network. For example, media guidance data source 418 may be a Twitter server that receives, stores, and transmits Tweets from a plurality of Twitter users. In such embodiments, the media guidance data source 418 may receive a request from control circuitry 304 to provide statistical data on Tweets relating to a certain topic. For example, the control circuitry 304 may request the number of Tweets about a certain topic, the rate at which such Tweets are created, and/or the creation times of the Tweets about the topic. The control circuitry 304 may also request from the media guidance data source 418 a list of one or more trending topics.
FIG. 5 shows an illustrative user search interface 500 that provides a list of trending media assets in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The user search interface 500 includes search region 502, search bar 504, keyboard 506, trending region 508, media asset listings 510, 516, and 520, trending icons 512, 518, and 522, and trending statistic 514. User search interface 500 may be implemented on any suitable user equipment, such as any one of user equipment 402, 404, or 406 depicted in FIG. 4. The user search interface 500 may be displayed on any suitable display, such as display 312 depicted in FIG. 3, and audio components of user search interface 500, if any, may be produced by any suitable audio device, such as speakers 314. The user search interface may also detect user input through detection module 316, which may include both visual sensors to detect physical gestures and audio sensors, such as a microphone, to detect audio/speech inputs.
In some embodiments, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304, FIG. 3) may provide user search interface 500 as part of an interactive media guidance application. Search region 502 may provide a typical search bar 504 and keyboard 506 that allow a user to input one or more search terms into search bar 504, for example, using user input interface 310.
The control circuitry 304 may also provide trending region 508 that provides a list of trending media assets. The control circuitry 304 may provide the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 at any suitable time, such as prior to the user entering any search terms, while the user is entering search terms, or after a user has entered all search terms and initiated a search. In embodiments where the control circuitry 304 provides the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 prior to the user entering any search terms, the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 may represent the currently trending media assets. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 may rank the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 according to how much the media assets are trending. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 may rank the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 according to another measure of popularity, such as critic rating, user rating/feedback, how many users are currently watching, how many users recorded, how many users set reminders to watch the media asset, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may rank the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 according to similarity to a user preference profile. For example, the control circuitry 304 may compare user preferences stored in a profile (e.g., at storage 308 or media guidance data source 418) to characteristics associated with the media assets in order to determine which media assets most closely match the user's preferences.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may provide list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 while the user is entering search terms into search bar 504, such that the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 is dynamically populated based on partially-entered search queries. In these embodiments, control circuitry 304 may populate the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 with media assets 510, 516, and 520 that are related to the user's entered search terms. For example, the list of media assets 510, 516, and 520 may correspond to media assets that at least partially match the user's search criteria. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may dynamically change the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 as the user enters or deletes search terms. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may update the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 in real-time as updated trending statistics, such as updated information on trending statistic 514, are received (e.g., from storage 308 or from media guidance data source 418 through communications network 414). With regard to trending region 508, while the term “list” is used herein to describe media assets 510, 516, and 520, it will be understood that the media assets 510, 516, and 520 are provided in a list as an illustrative example only, and that the media assets 510, 516, and 520 may be presented in any other suitable manner.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users (e.g., by way of user input interface 310), the plurality of communications being related to a topic. The plurality of users may be connected through a network, such as communication network 414 depicted in FIG. 4. In some embodiments, the communication network 414 may comprise a local network, such as a local area network (LAN), while in other embodiments, the communications network 414 may comprise the Internet. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may directly receive the plurality of communications from the plurality of users (e.g., through user input interface 310). For instance, a media provider may receive user comments or feedback regarding certain media assets (e.g., through communications network 414). In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may receive indications of the plurality of communications from a third-party data source, such as media content source 416 or media guidance data source 418, both depicted in FIG. 4. For instance, the control circuitry 304 may query a social network server for information regarding user communications related to a particular topic. The control circuitry 304 may also query the third-party data source for indications of creation times and/or a rate of creation for the plurality of communications related to the topic. For example, as depicted in FIG. 5, the control circuitry 304 may receive information on the trending statistic 514, which is the number of Tweets per hour. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may only receive trending statistic 514 for media assets that exceed a certain threshold statistic. In the illustrative example depicted in FIG. 5, the threshold number of Tweets per hour in order for a media asset to be considered “trending” may be set at 500 Tweets per hour.
As depicted in FIG. 5, control circuitry 304 may sort the list of trending media assets 510, 516, and 520 according to the trending statistic 514. In this example, the media assets 510, 516, and 520 are arranged in order of descending number of Tweets per hour. The control circuitry 304 may associate each of the media assets 510, 516, and 520 with respective icons 512, 518, and 522. As depicted by icons 518 and 522, the icons may indicate either an increase or a decrease in trending status (i.e., trending statistic 514) through an up arrow or a down arrow. In the example depicted in FIG. 5, the control circuitry 304 may associate the media asset “Friends” with an increase in Tweets per hour (represented by the up arrow 518), indicating that it's increasing in popularity, and may associate the media asset “Seinfeld” with a decrease in Tweets per hour (represented by the down arrow 522), indicating that “Seinfeld” is trending, but decreasing in popularity. In FIG. 5, the control circuitry 304 may associate the media asset “American Idol” with a trending statistic 514 that has exceeded a second threshold, indicating that “American Idol” is currently extremely popular, as evidenced by the “HOT!” icon 512 and the up arrow.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may identify, for each of the trending media assets 510, 516, and 520, a first symbol and a second symbol associated with the topic. As discussed above, the control circuitry 304 may access a database, such as media content source 416 or media guidance data source 418, both depicted in FIG. 4, that identifies the first symbol as being related to the second symbol. In some embodiments, the database may store a knowledge graph that identifies contextual relationships between symbols, including the first symbol and the second symbol. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may determine that the first and the second symbols are related to the topic by referring to historical user search data, either directly (e.g., stored locally at storage 308) or indirectly (e.g., query a third-party data source such as media guidance data source 418 for the historical user search data). From the historical user search data, the control circuitry 304 may identify a plurality of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain at least one of the first symbol or the second symbol. If the number of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain at least one of the first or second symbol exceeds a threshold, then the control circuitry 304 may determine that the topic is related to the first or the second symbol.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may increase the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol based on the trending statistic 514. For example, the control circuitry 304 may increase the strength of association for the first and second symbols associated with “American Idol” a relatively large amount based on its high number of Tweets per hour compared to the other media assets 516 and 520. Similarly, the control circuitry 304 may increase the strength of association for the first and second symbols associated with “Seinfeld” a relatively small amount based on its low number of Tweets per hour compared to the other media assets 510 and 520. The control circuitry 304 may also increase the strength of association based on the rate of creation of the plurality of communications associated with the respective topics. For instance, since “American Idol” is indicated as “Hot!”, i.e., increasing rapidly in popularity, the control circuitry 304 may boost the strength of association for the first and second symbols associated with “American Idol” compared to the symbols associated with the other topics. The control circuitry 304 may store the strength of association between the first and second symbols in any suitable location, including locally at storage 308 depicted in FIG. 3 or remotely at media content source 416, media guidance data source 418, or any of user equipment 402, 404, and 406 depicted in FIG. 4.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may determine whether the topic is no longer trending or is decreasing in popularity. For instance, the control circuitry 304 may detect that the number of communications relating to the particular topic being created is decreasing over time. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may determine whether the plurality of communications related to the topic falls below a threshold number of communications or whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created falls below a threshold rate. In these cases, the topic may no longer be considered as decreasing in popularity or no longer trending, and the control circuitry 304 may decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol associated with that topic. As an illustrative example, the control circuitry 304 may monitor trending statistic 514 and determine whether the trending statistic 514 drops below a threshold value. If the trending statistic 514 does drop below the threshold value, then the control circuitry 304 may remove the media asset from the trending region 508 and decrease the strength of association of symbols related to that topic. In some embodiments, the strength of association is reverted back to an original value.
In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may detect when a topic is decreasing in popularity. Such topics may still be considered trending, such as the “Seinfeld” media asset 520 depicted in FIG. 5, but may be decreasing in popularity. The control circuitry 304 may make this determination by monitoring the rate of decrease of trending statistic 514. The control circuitry 304 may decrease the strength of association of the symbols relating to the topic accordingly. In some embodiments, the strength of association may be decreased based on the rate of decrease of trending statistic 514.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart 600 of illustrative steps for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Flowchart 600 includes identifying a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic at 602, determining whether a topic is trending based on the communications at 604, identifying a first symbol associated with the topic at 606, and in response to determining that the topic is trending, increasing a strength of association between the first symbol and a second symbol associated with the topic such that when a search query is received that includes the first symbol, search results relating to the second symbol have a higher probability of being returned at 608. It should be noted that process 600 or any thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices or combination of devices shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. For example, process 600 may be executed by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by control circuitry implemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4). In addition, one or more steps of process 600 may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiments.
At 602, the control circuitry 304 may identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic. For example, the control circuitry 304 may receive an indication of the plurality of communications from a remote data source, such as media guidance data source 418, through communications network 414. The plurality of communications may comprise one of: communications on an online social network, email messages, text messages, Internet communications, websites, mobile application communications, and/or communications received from a third-party data source (such as media guidance data source 418 depicted in FIG. 4). The control circuitry 304 may also receive the plurality of communications locally, such as from storage 308. As discussed above, the control circuitry 304 may identify the plurality of communications in any number of ways including, but not limited to, receiving the plurality of communications directly from a plurality of users (e.g., through user input interface 310) and/or querying a third-party database (e.g., media guidance data source 418) for the plurality of communications or indications of the plurality of communications.
At 604, the control circuitry 304 determines whether a topic is trending based on the communications. The control circuitry 304 may determine that a topic is trending if the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold number of communications. The threshold may be set in advance, for example by a media provider or an end user, and may be stored at storage 308 or media guidance data source 418. For example, an end user may set the threshold by inputting the threshold through the user input interface 310, and in response, the control circuitry 304 may store the threshold at either storage 308, media guidance data source 418, or both. The control circuitry 304 may further retrieve the threshold from either storage 308 or media guidance data source 418. The control circuitry 304 may also determine whether a topic is trending if a rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds a threshold rate. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may receive from a third-party data source (e.g., media guidance data source 418) an indication that the topic is trending. For example, Facebook may send a list of trending media assets to the control circuitry 304.
At 606, the control circuitry 304 may identify a first symbol associated with the topic. The control circuitry 304 may identify the first symbol using any technique discussed above or below. For instance, the control circuitry 304 may access a database (such as media guidance data source 418) that maintains a knowledge base comprising contextual links between symbols to identify the first and second symbols related to the topic. The control circuitry 304 may also analyze historical user search query data (e.g., stored at media guidance data source 418 and received through communications network 414) to calculate statistics on the probability that the first symbol appears in search queries associated with the topic. If the probability exceeds a certain threshold, then the control circuitry 304 may determine that the first symbol is associated with the topic.
At 608, the control circuitry 304 may increase a strength of association between the first symbol and a second symbol associated with the topic such that when a search query is received that includes the first symbol, search results relating to the second symbol have a higher probability of being returned. As discussed above, the strength of association may be increased based on, for example, the number of communications, by how much the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold number of communications, the rate of creation of the plurality of communications, or by how much the rate of creation of the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold rate.
FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart 700 of illustrative steps for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Flowchart 700 includes identifying a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users on an online social network, the plurality of communications related to a topic at 702, identifying creation times associated with each of the plurality of communications at 704, identifying a first symbol associated with the topic and a second symbol associated with the topic at 706, determining whether the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold at 708, determining whether a rate of creation of the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold rate at 710, increasing a strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol at 712, pausing for a period of time at 714, and optionally decreasing the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol at 716. It should be noted that process 700 or any step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices or combination of devices shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. For example, process 700 may be executed by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by control circuitry 304 implemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4). In addition, one or more steps of process 700 may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiments.
At 702, the control circuitry 304 may identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users on an online social network. The online social network may be maintained on a remote server, such as media content source 416 or media guidance data source 418, both depicted in FIG. 4. 702 may be substantially similar to 602 depicted in FIG. 6, except that the communications are associated with a plurality of users on an online social network. Communications associated with users on an online social network may be especially useful for identifying trending topics because the number of communications on the social network about the topic and/or the rate at which such communications are created may be a direct measure for determining how popular a topic is with the general public. As discussed, above, the control circuitry 304 may identify the plurality of communications in any suitable manner, including receiving the communications directly (e.g., through user input interface 310), retrieving the communications from local storage (e.g., from storage 308), or querying a third-party data source (e.g., media guidance data source 418) for the plurality of communications or indications of the plurality of communications.
At 704, the control circuitry 304 may identify creation times associated with each of the plurality of communications. For example, each of the plurality of communications may correspond to a post on the online social network at a particular point in time. The control circuitry 304 may query a third-party data source (e.g., media guidance data source 418) for indications of creation times and/or a rate of creation for the plurality of communications related to the topic. For example, as depicted in FIG. 5, the control circuitry 304 may receive information on the trending statistic 514, which is the number of Tweets per hour. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may only receive trending statistic 514 for media assets that exceed a certain threshold statistic. In the illustrative example depicted in FIG. 5, the threshold number of Tweets per hour in order for a media asset to be considered “trending” may be set at 500 Tweets per hour.
At 706, the control circuitry 304 may identify a first symbol associated with the topic and a second symbol associated with the topic, in much the same manner as discussed above with respect to 606 depicted in FIG. 6. As discussed above, the control circuitry 304 may access a database, such as media content source 416 or media guidance data source 418, both depicted in FIG. 4, that identifies the first symbol as being related to the topic. In some embodiments, the database may store a knowledge graph that identifies contextual relationships between symbols, including relationships between the first symbol, the second symbol, and the topic. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 304 may determine that the first and the second symbols are related to the topic by referring to historical user search data, either directly (e.g., stored locally at storage 308) or indirectly (e.g., query a third-party data source such as media guidance data source 418 for the historical user search data). From the historical user search data, the control circuitry 304 may identify a plurality of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain at least one of the first symbol or the second symbol. The prior search queries may be stored either locally (e.g., on storage 308) or remotely (e.g., at media guidance data source 418). If the number of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain at least one of the first or second symbol exceeds a threshold, then the control circuitry 304 may determine that the topic is related to the first or the second symbol.
At 708, the control circuitry 304 may determine whether the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold number of communications. The threshold number of communications may be set in advance, for example by a media provider, service provider, or end user, and may be stored, for example, at storage 308 or media guidance data source 418. In some embodiments, the threshold number of communications for determining whether a topic is trending may be changed by the end user using any suitable user interface, such as user search interface 500 depicted in FIG. 5. If the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number of communications, then the topic may be deemed as “trending,” and the control circuitry 304 may proceed to 712. If the plurality of communications does not exceed the threshold number of communications, then the control circuitry 304 may proceed to 710 as a secondary test for whether the topic is trending.
At 710, the control circuitry 304 may determine whether a rate of creation of the plurality of communications exceeds a threshold rate. For instance, as depicted in the illustrative example in FIG. 5, “American Idol” may be indicated as “Hot!”, i.e., increasing rapidly in popularity, because the rate of creation of the plurality of communications relating to “American Idol” has exceeded a threshold rate. If the rate of creation of the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold rate, then the control circuitry 304 may proceed to 712. If the rate of creation of the plurality of communications does not exceed the threshold rate, then the control circuitry 304 may proceed to 716 and optionally decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol. After 716, the control circuitry 304 may return to 702 to restart the process 700.
At 712, the control circuitry 304 may increase a strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol. 712 may be substantially similar to 608 discussed above in relation with FIG. 6. For example, the control circuitry 304 may increase the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol based on a trending statistic, such as trending statistic 514 depicted in FIG. 5. As discussed above in relation to the illustrative example depicted in FIG. 5, the control circuitry 304 may increase the strength of association for the first and second symbols associated with “American Idol” a relatively large amount based on its high number of Tweets per hour compared to the other media assets 516 and 520. Similarly, the control circuitry 304 may increase the strength of association for the first and second symbols associated with “Seinfeld” a relatively small amount based on its low number of Tweets per hour compared to the other media assets 510 and 520. The control circuitry 304 may also increase the strength of association based on the rate of creation of the plurality of communications associated with the respective topics. For instance, since “American Idol” is indicated as “Hot!”, i.e., increasing rapidly in popularity, the control circuitry 304 may boost the strength of association for the first and second symbols associated with “American Idol” compared to the symbols associated with the other topics. The control circuitry 304 may store the strength of association between the first and second symbols in any suitable location, including locally at storage 308 depicted in FIG. 3 or remotely at media content source 416, media guidance data source 418, or any of user equipment 402, 404, and 406 depicted in FIG. 4.
After increasing the strength of association at 712, the control circuitry 304 may pause for a period of time at 714 before returning to 708. During the period of time, more communications relating to the topic may have been created, and the control circuitry 304 may make another determination of whether the topic is trending via steps 708 and 710. If the topic is trending upwards, then the control circuitry 304 will continue through steps 708 and 710 as discussed above, and increase the strength of association once again at 712. If the topic is trending downwards, then the control circuitry 304 will proceed to 716 and optionally decrease the strength of association between the first symbol and the second symbol. In this manner, the control circuitry 304 may gradually decrease the strength of association over time back to an original strength of association.
1. A method for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic, the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic;
determining whether the topic is trending based on:
determining whether the plurality of communications related to the topic exceeds a threshold number of communications; and
determining whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds a threshold rate;
in response to determining that the topic is trending:
identifying, based on the plurality of communications, a first keyword associated with the topic;
retrieving, from a database maintaining relationships between keywords, a strength of association between the first keyword and a second keyword;
increasing a strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword such that when a search query is received that includes the first keyword, search results relating to the second keyword have a higher probability of being returned;
receiving a first search query comprising the first keyword;
in response to receiving the first search query comprising the first keyword:
receiving, from the database, the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword;
determining whether the strength of association exceeds a threshold minimum strength;
in response to determining that the strength of association exceeds the threshold minimum strength, searching for results matching the first keyword and for results matching the second keyword;
in response to determining that a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the strength of association has been increased, decreasing the strength of association between the first keyword and second keyword;
receiving a second search query comprising the first word, wherein the second search query is received after the predetermined amount of time has elapsed; and
in response to receiving the second search query:
determining whether the strength of association exceeds the threshold minimum strength; and
in response to determining that the strength of association does not exceed the threshold minimum strength, searching for results matching the first keyword without searching for results matching the second keyword.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of communications comprise one of: communications on an online social network, email messages, text messages, Internet communications, websites, mobile application communications, and/or communications received from a third-party data source.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein increasing the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword comprises increasing the strength of association based on at least one of: an amount that the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number of communications, the rate at which the plurality of communications are created, and an amount that the rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds the threshold rate.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the topic is trending comprises receiving from a third party data source an indication that the topic is trending.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the first keyword associated with the topic comprises identifying a plurality of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain the first keyword.
determining whether the topic is no longer trending; and
in response to determining that the topic is no longer trending, decreasing the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the topic is no longer trending comprises at least one of:
determining whether the plurality of communications related to the topic falls below a threshold number of communications, and
determining whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created falls below a threshold rate.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein increasing the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword comprises increasing the strength of association from a first strength of association to a second strength of association, and wherein decreasing the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword comprises decreasing the strength of association from the second strength of association to the first strength of association.
9. A system for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic, the system comprising:
identify a plurality of communications associated with a plurality of users, the plurality of communications being related to a topic;
determine whether the topic is trending based on:
identify, based on the plurality of communications, a first keyword associated with the topic;
retrieve, from a database maintaining relationships between keywords, a strength of association between the first keyword and a second keyword;
increase a strength of association between the first keyword and a second keyword such that when a search query is received that includes the first keyword, search results relating to the second keyword have a higher probability of being returned;
receive a first search query comprising the first keyword;
receive, from the database, the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword;
determine whether the strength of association exceeds a threshold minimum strength;
in response to determining that a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the strength of association has been increased, decrease the strength of association between the first keyword and second keyword;
receive a second search query comprising the first word, wherein the second search query is received after the predetermined amount of time has elapsed; and
determine whether the strength of association exceeds the threshold minimum strength; and
in response to determining that the strength of association does not exceed the threshold minimum strength, search for results matching the first keyword without searching for results matching the second keyword.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of communications comprise one of: communications on an online social network, email messages, text messages, Internet communications, websites, mobile application communications, and/or communications received from a third-party data source.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to increase the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword by increasing the strength of association based on at least one of: an amount that the plurality of communications exceeds the threshold number of communications, the rate at which the plurality of communications are created, and an amount that the rate at which the plurality of communications are created exceeds the threshold rate.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine whether the topic is trending by receiving from a third party data source an indication that the topic is trending.
13. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to identify the first keyword associated with the topic by identifying a plurality of prior search queries associated with the topic that contain the first keyword.
determine whether the topic is no longer trending; and
in response to determining that the topic is no longer trending, decrease the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword.
15. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine whether the topic is no longer trending by either: determining whether the plurality of communications related to the topic falls below a threshold number of communications; and determining whether a rate at which the plurality of communications are created falls below a threshold rate.
16. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is configured to increase the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword by increasing the strength of association from a first strength of association to a second strength of association, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to decrease the strength of association between the first keyword and the second keyword by decreasing the strength of association from the second strength of association to the first strength of association.
US14/673,730 2014-12-30 2015-03-30 Systems and methods for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic Active 2036-04-04 US10068023B2 (en)
US14/673,730 US10068023B2 (en) 2014-12-30 2015-03-30 Systems and methods for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic
US16/119,796 US20190087502A1 (en) 2014-12-30 2018-08-31 Systems and methods for updating links between keywords associated with a trending topic
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Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ARDHANARI, SANKAR;GILL, DAREN;SAVARKAR, ABHIJIT;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:035366/0135