Selecting content for co-located devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11544342-B1
Application number	US-202117199160-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 11, 2021
Priority date	Jul 2, 2014
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus include computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium, including a method for providing content. Co-located devices are identified, including first and second devices associated with first and second users. A determination is made that a device is configured to be viewable by multiple users based on device characteristics. Use data is gathered that is associated with current sessions associated with users related to their use of their respective devices, including first data related to the use of the first device and second data related to the use of the second device. The first and second data are aggregated and evaluated to identify a first content item to present on the first device. Second different content items are selected for display on other co-located devices based at least in part on the first content item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by one or more computing devices and from multiple user devices, location information including one or more of global positioning system (GPS) information, an indication of near-field communication (NFC) between the multiple user devices, or WiFi data indicating a same WiFi network is being used by the multiple user devices;
identifying, by the one or more computing devices and based on the location information, a set of co-located devices including a networked television and two or more wireless devices that are located at a same geographic location;
gathering, by the one or more computing devices, first data related to usage of the networked television at the same geographic location and second data related to usage of the two or more wireless devices at the same geographic location;
identifying, by the one or more computing devices, first content to present on the networked television based on an evaluation of the first data and the second data;
transmitting, by the one or more computing devices, the first content to the networked television;
selecting, by the one or more computing devices, second different content for display on both of the two or more wireless devices based on the two or more wireless devices being co-located devices with the networked television at the same geographic location while the first content is presented on the networked television; and
transmitting, by the one or more computing devices, the second different content to both of the two or more wireless devices separately while the two or more wireless devices are located at the same geographic location as the networked television and while the first content is being presented on the networked television, wherein the one or more computing devices are located at a different geographic location than the co-located devices and the networked television.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying a set of co-located devices includes receiving location information for both the networked television and the two or more wireless devices, evaluating the received location information to determine a relative distance between the networked television and the two or more wireless devices, and comparing the relative distance to a threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving login information for both a first user and a second different user from their respective devices, and wherein evaluating the aggregate data further includes evaluating respective profiles of the first user and the second different user to identify the first content.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the networked television includes determining that the networked television is a television because a screen size of the networked television is above a threshold size.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein gathering use data includes gathering data for only as long as the networked television and the two or more wireless devices are co-located.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying one or more filters to apply to the aggregate data based on one or more characteristics a first user of the networked television and a second different user of one of the two or more wireless devices, and filtering content selections based on the identified one or more filters prior to identifying the first content for presentation on the networked television.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the networked television, a request for content, and providing the first content for presentation on the networked television.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, that when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from multiple user devices, location information including one or more of global positioning system (GPS) information, an indication of near-field communication (NFC) between the multiple user devices, or WiFi data indicating a same WiFi network is being used by the multiple user devices;
identifying, based on the location information, a set of co-located devices including a networked television and two or more wireless devices that are located at a same geographic location;
gathering first data related to usage of the networked television at the same geographic location and second data related to usage of the two or more wireless devices at the same geographic location;
identifying first content to present on the networked television based on an evaluation of the first data and the second data;
transmitting the first content to the networked television;
selecting second different content for display on both of the two or more wireless devices based on the two or more wireless devices being co-located devices with the networked television at the same geographic location while the first content is presented on the networked television; and
transmitting the second different content to both of the two or more wireless devices separately while the two or more wireless devices are located at the same geographic location as the networked television and while the first content is being presented on the networked television, wherein the one or more computing devices are located at a different geographic location than the co-located devices and the networked television.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein identifying a set of co-located devices includes receiving location information for both the networked television and the two or more wireless devices, evaluating the received location information to determine a relative distance between the networked television and the two or more wireless devices, and comparing the relative distance to a threshold.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving login information for both a first user and a second different user from their respective devices, and wherein evaluating the aggregate data further includes evaluating respective profiles of the first user and the second different user to identify the first content.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein identifying the networked television includes determining that the networked television is a television because a screen size of the networked television is above a threshold size.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein gathering use data includes gathering data for only as long as the networked television and the two or more wireless devices are co-located.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise identifying one or more filters to apply to the aggregate data based on one or more characteristics a first user of the networked television and a second different user of one of the two or more wireless devices, and filtering content selections based on the identified one or more filters prior to identifying the first content for presentation on the networked television.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving, from the networked television, a request for content, and providing the first content for presentation on the networked television.

15. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memory elements including instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from multiple user devices, location information including one or more of glo

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Lewis Justin
• James Gavin

Classifications

• G06F16/955 Primary

  using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL] · CPC title

• G06F16/9537 Primary

  Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries · CPC title