Patent ID: 8725757

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: a program image displaying unit configured to display dynamic image data of a program on a display device, where the program is broadcast to the information processing apparatus over a network; a search key acquisition unit configured to acquire from a source related to the broadcast program-related information of a program whose image data is currently displayed and to extract and acquire a search key from the source without user involvement; a search execution unit configured to transmit a search request designating the search key to a search server and acquire a result of the search; a search result display unit configured to simultaneously display on the display device the result of the search in a part of a display screen along with the image data of the program; an indicator acquisition unit configured to repeatedly acquire an indicator indicative of a number of viewers viewing the program currently broadcast while the image data is displayed on the information processing apparatus; and a popularity determination unit configured to determine and update popularity of the program in accordance with the indicator, wherein, at a time in which the popularity of the program currently broadcast is at or above a certain threshold, the search key acquisition unit acquires information related to the program and uses the acquired information as the search key for a search request to be transmitted.