Systems and methods for accentuating candidate characters of strings relating to promotional content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10496255-B2
Application number	US-201615082760-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2016
Priority date	Mar 28, 2016
Publication date	Dec 3, 2019
Grant date	Dec 3, 2019

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided herein for accentuating candidate characters of strings relating to promotional content. To this end, a media guidance application may receive user input of a character through a user interface. The media guidance application may identify a plurality of strings that the character could be used to achieve, compare each string of the plurality of strings to entries of a promotional database, and identify, based on the comparing, a string that is designated as a promotional string. The media guidance application may then determine a next character of the promotional string, and may accentuate a portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for accentuating candidate characters of strings relating to promotional content, the method comprising:
receiving, through a user interface, user input of a stem comprising at least one character;
generating a plurality of expanded strings, wherein each of the plurality of expanded strings is generated by adding a respective set of subsequent characters after the stem;
determining whether a given expanded string of the plurality of expanded strings matches a keyword in a promotional database, wherein the promotional database associates the keyword with promotional content;
in response to determining that the given expanded string matches the keyword in the promotional database, determining a next character of the given expanded string; and
accentuating a portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character by:
comparing each expanded string of the plurality of expanded strings to a database that stores entries corresponding to monitored user interactions;
identifying, based on the comparing, an expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type;
determining a next character of the expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type; and
causing a size of the next character of the given expanded string to exceed the size of the next character of the expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein accentuating the portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character comprises increasing a size of a virtual button relative to the size of virtual buttons corresponding to other candidate characters.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein accentuating the portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character further comprises:
generating for display, within the virtual button, a representation of the promotional content;
receiving a user selection of the representation; and
in response to receiving the user selection, generating for display the promotional content.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the given expanded string of the plurality of expanded strings matches the keyword in the promotional database comprises identifying a plurality of keywords in the promotional database, wherein determining the next character of the given expanded string comprises determining a plurality of next characters, wherein each next character of the plurality of next characters corresponds to a respective keyword of the plurality of keywords, and wherein the method further comprises:
determining a level associated with each keyword of the plurality of keywords; and
differently accentuating each next character in accordance with the level associated with the respective keyword that is associated with the next character.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein two different keywords correspond to a same next character, and wherein the method further comprises:
creating an aggregated accentuation by aggregating a first accentuation and a second accentuation corresponding to each of the two different keywords; and
accentuating the same next character using the aggregated accentuation.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
generating for display within the accentuated same next character a representation of each promotional content corresponding to the two different keywords;
receiving a user selection of one of the representations; and
in response to receiving the user selection, generating for display the promotional content corresponding to the selected representation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein accentuating the portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character comprises reorganizing the user interface to include the next character in a preferred portion of the user interface.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of expanded strings comprises:
accessing a database comprising entries corresponding to known words;
comparing the stem and any other characters that precede the stem to data of the entries; and
identifying a plurality of words with stems that match the stem and any other characters that precede the stem.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating for display a visual representation of the promotional content; and
squelching a display of content relating to the expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type.

10. A system for accentuating candidate characters of strings relating to promotional content, the system comprising:
communications circuitry;
user interface circuitry; and
control circuitry configured to:
receive, using the user interface circuitry, user input of a stem comprising at least one character through a user interface;
generate a plurality of expanded strings, wherein each of the plurality of expanded strings is generated by adding a respective set of subsequent characters after the stem;
determine whether a given expanded string of the plurality of expanded strings matches a keyword in a promotional database, wherein the promotional database associates the keyword with promotional content;
in response to determining that the given expanded string matches the keyword in the promotional database, determine a next character of the given expanded string; and
accentuate a portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character by:
comparing each expanded string of the plurality of expanded strings to a database that stores entries corresponding to monitored user interactions;
identifying, based on the comparing, an expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type;
determining a next character of the expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type; and
causing a size of the next character of the given expanded string to exceed the size of the next character of the expanded string that the user is likely attempting to type.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when accentuating the portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character, to increase a size of a virtual button relative to the size of virtual buttons corresponding to other candidate characters.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when accentuating the portion of the user interface that corresponds to the next character, to:
generate for display, within the virtual button, a representation of the promotional content;
receive a user selection of the representation; and
in response to receiving the user selection, generate for display the promotional content.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine whether the given expanded string of the plurality of expanded strings matches the keyword in the promotional database by identifying a plurality of keywords in the promotional database, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine the next character of the given expanded string by determining a plurality of next characters, wherein each next character of the plurality of next characters corresponds to a respective keyword of the plurality of keywords, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
determine a level associated with each keyword of the plurality of keywords; and
differently accentuate each next character in accordance with the level associated with the respective keyword that is associated with the next character.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein two different keywords correspond to a same next character, and wherein the control circuitry is further

Assignees

• Rovi Guides Inc

Inventors

• Shanware Ajit

Classifications

• G06Q30/0256

  User search · CPC title

• G06F40/274

  Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs · CPC title

• G06F40/106 Primary

  Display of layout of documents; Previewing · CPC title

• G06F3/04886

  by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus · CPC title

• G06F40/194

  Calculation of difference between files · CPC title