Patent ID: 7698720

Claim:
A method of modifying a user profile for evaluating media content in a distributed network, the distributed network having a client device and a server device, the method comprising: presenting, by a client device, a first prompt to a user for selection of a survey mode for establishing the user profile; if the survey mode is determined, then: causing presentation of a survey to the user, receiving demographic data that corresponds to a preference for content, identifying content categories that are inappropriate for the demographic data, and generating content tags that correspond to the demographic data; if the survey mode is not determined, then presenting a second prompt for manual construction of the user profile; if manual construction is selected, then: causing presentation of a user interface having a viewing history window pane, a categories window pane, and a user profile window pane, the viewing history window pane listing categories of content that have been previously viewed by the user and a viewing time associated with each category of content, the categories window pane listing category names and subcategory names from which the user may select to construct the user profile, and the user profile window pane list the category names and subcategory names that are currently associated with the user profile; and receiving the user's selection of the category names and the subcategory names to block from presentation; if manual construction is not selected, then detecting the user's viewing selection including a time of a selection and a duration of viewing of the selection to build, over time, categories of content that are not preferred; receiving tagged content comprising media content and at least one content tag with the content tag having a columnar arrangement comprising rows of data fields corresponding to a type of content in a first row, a title of the content in a lower second row, and an age range in a third row below the second row; organizing and storing the tagged content in memory according to a type of content, such that same types of content are grouped together in the memory; comparing the at least one content tag to the user profile; and when the at least one content tag is found in the user profile, then blocking the tagged content from presentation.