Merging content channels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9936242-B2
Application number	US-201414588152-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2014
Priority date	Feb 25, 2014
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A method for merging content channels is disclosed. The method includes identifying, by a processing device, target channels to merge into a result channel, wherein the result channel is formed in view of at least one set of users of the target channels viewing at least one of a same set or a similar set of content items from the target channels. The method further includes subscribing, by the processing device, the users of the target channels to the result channel and associating, by the processing device, the set of the content items of the target channels with the result channel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
identifying, by a processing device, two or more target channels to merge into a result channel;
grouping users of the target channels into sets of users based on an indication that the users viewed a similar set of the content items from the target channels;
in response to determining that a number of the sets satisfies a number of sets threshold condition and in response to determining that a number of the users in each of the sets that are subscribed to the target channels satisfies an overlap threshold condition, generating the result channel;
subscribing, by the processing device, the users of the target channels to the result channel;
associating, by the processing device, the set of the content items of the target channels with the result channel;
generating, without channel owner interaction, a user interface (UI) for the result channel utilizing formatting and UI elements of the target channels; and
updating activity information provided to a user of the target channels to reflect the result channel, wherein the activity information provided to the user of the target channels comprises a subset of content items from the result channel and other channels to which the user of the target channels is subscribed, and wherein updating the activity information further comprises updating, in the activity information of each of the users of the target channels, the items corresponding to the target channels to point to the result channel as an originator of the items, wherein the activity information is separate from the result channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the result channel and the target channels are provided by a content sharing platform.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein grouping the users of the target channels further comprises:
mapping the users of the target channels to the content items of the target channels that the users have viewed; and
determining whether each of the grouped sets of users satisfies a threshold span of the users over the target channels.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein, for each set of the sets of users, at least one of a difference between a number of users that are subscribed to each target channel or a difference between a percentage of users that are subscribed to each target channel is compared to the threshold span of the users.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein updating the information comprises updating feeds of the users of the result channel to reflect the result channel.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the updating further comprises, for each user of the set of users:
removing feed items corresponding to the target channel; and
replacing the feed items corresponding to the target channel with feed items of the result channel.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying further comprising:
suggesting to an owner of the target channels that the target channels be merged into the result channel; and
receiving confirmation from the owner to proceed with merging of the target channels into the result channel.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UI for the result channel is automatically generated, and wherein the UI elements comprise at least one of a name, profile avatar, or banners.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying further comprising:
suggesting to one or more owners of the target channels that the target channels be cross-promoted; and
receiving confirmation from the one or more owners to proceed with cross-promotion of the target channels.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the target channels comprise content items having at least one of a common topic, theme, or substance.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the target channels comprise content items having a common source.

12. An apparatus comprising:
a display device;
a memory communicably coupled to the display device; and
a processing device communicably coupled to the memory, the processing device to execute instructions to:
identify two or more target channels to merge into a result channel;
group users of the target channels into sets of users based on an indication that the users viewed a similar set of the content items from the target channels;
in response to determining that a number of the sets satisfies a number of sets threshold condition and in response to determining that a number of the users in each of the sets that are subscribed to the target channels satisfies an overlap threshold condition, generate the result channel
subscribe the users of the target channels to the result channel;
associate the set of the content items of the target channels with the result channel;
generate, without channel owner interaction, a user interface (UI) for the result channel utilizing formatting and UI elements of the target channels; and
update activity information provided to a user of the target channels to reflect the result channel, wherein the activity information provided to the user of the target channels comprises a subset of content items from the result channel and other channels to which the user of the target channels is subscribed, and wherein updating the activity information further comprises updating, in the activity information of each of the users of the target channels, the items corresponding to the target channels to point to the result channel as an originator of the items, wherein the activity information is separate from the result channel.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing device to group the users of the target channels further comprises the processing device to:
map the users of the target channels to the content items of the target channels that the users have viewed; and
determine whether each of the grouped sets of users satisfies a threshold span of the users over the target channels.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing device to update the information further comprises the processing device to update feeds of the users of the result channel to reflect the result channel.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing device to identify the target channels further comprises the processing device to:
suggest to an owner of the target channels that the target channels be merged into the result channel; and
receive confirmation from the owner to proceed with merging of the target channels into the result channel.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing device further to automatically generate the UI for the result channel, and wherein the UI element comprises at least one of a name, profile avatar, or banners.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the result channels and the target channel are provided by a content sharing platform, and wherein each of the target channels comprise content items of the content sharing platform having at least one of a common topic, theme, substance, or source.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to perform operations comprising:
identifying, by the processing device, two or more target channels to merge into a result channel;
grouping users of the target channels into sets of users based on an indication that the users viewed a similar set of the content items from the target channels;
in response to determining that a number of the sets satisfies a number of sets threshold condition and in response to determining that a number of the users in each of the sets that are subscribed to the target channels

Assignees

• Google Inc
• Google Llc

Inventors

• Schneider Michael Patrick
• Lewis Justin

Classifications

• H04N21/482

  End-user interface for programme selection · CPC title

• H04N21/2743

  Video hosting of uploaded data from client · CPC title

• H04N21/44016

  involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip · CPC title

• H04N21/2668 Primary

  Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles {(information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063)} · CPC title

• H04N21/25891

  being end-user preferences (retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18) · CPC title