GB2542598A

GB2542598A - Influencing website content

Info

Publication number: GB2542598A
Application number: GB1516947.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hackett Christopher; Smith Tom; Carlson David; Warford Ian; Degroot Nelius
Original assignee: Mporium Group PLC
Current assignee: Mporium Group PLC
Priority date: 2015-09-24
Filing date: 2015-09-24
Publication date: 2017-03-29
Also published as: GB201516947D0

Abstract

A method of influencing website content comprises detecting an occurrence of a trigger term 3 (e.g. words, phrases) in a real time media source 4a-4d (e.g. television or radio channel, a social media site, a news or weather feed), and modifying a web site or page in response to the detection. The web site or page may be modified to display content related to the trigger term 3. The trigger term 3 may be detected in caption information and/or subtitle information associated with a television programme being broadcast or a video on demand stream. The web site or page may be modified following a predetermined delay from the detection of the trigger term 3.

Description

influencing Website Content

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for influencing website content.

It is common for consumers of media content to be using multiple devices at once. For example, a user may be watching a television programme while using a smartphone or tablet computer to surf the internet or interact with social media platforms such as Facebook. Sometimes a user may be motivated by television content (for example) to interact with their smartphone or tablet computer to find out more about something they saw on the television.

According to the invention there is provided a method of influencing website content, comprising: detecting an occurrence of a trigger term in a real time media source; and modifying a web site or page in response to the detection.

The web site or page may be modified to display content related to the trigger term.

The method may comprise maintaining a database of stored trigger terms associated with web sites or pages, matching the stored trigger terms against text extracted from the real time media source, and modifying the associated web site or page.

The web site or page may be modified by the occurrence of the trigger term for only a predetermined period of time.

The web site or page may be influenced substantially immediately following the detection of the trigger term.

The web site or page may be modified following a predetermined delay from the detection of the trigger term.

The media source may be one of a television channel, an on-demand video stream, a radio channel, a social media site, a news feed or a weather feed.

Where the media source is a television channel or a video on demand stream, the trigger term may be detected in caption information and/or subtitle information associated with the television programme being broadcast or the video on demand stream.

Subtitle information may be embedded within image data within the television broadcast signal or the video on demand stream, and the subtitle information may be converted into text using optical character recognition.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for influencing website content, comprising: a trigger detector for detecting an occurrence of a trigger term in a real time media source; and a controller for modifying a web site or page in response to the detection.

To help understanding of the invention, a specific embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a system for monitoring media streams and influencing access to web pages based on that monitoring;

Figure 2 schematically illustrates a system for detecting trigger terms in television captions;

Figure 3 is a schematic flow diagram which illustrates how trigger terms can be used to correlate events occurring in a media stream with traffic to a website; and

Figure 4 is a schematic flow diagram which illustrates how a user is provided with enhanced access to relevant web page content based on trigger words within media streams.

Referring to Figure 1, a system for monitoring media streams and influencing Internet search functions and web pages based on those media streams is shown. The system comprises a client front end 1 which a user having an association with a particular web site or page 9 is able to use to enter trigger terms (words or phrases) which he considers to be contextually relevant to his web site 9, and in particular which he thinks the occurrence of which in a media stream might cause viewers of the media stream to be driven to his web site 9. For example, if the web site 9 is a merchant site selling clothes then trigger terms relating to types, styles or makes of clothing may be of interest, since viewers seeing the items or events to which these trigger terms relate might be interested in visiting the web site 9. The user may also enter rules which govern what happens when a trigger term is detected in one or more media streams. The rules may relate to how searches, web pages or other media streams should be influenced or modified if that trigger term is detected. The trigger terms are provided to a trigger term database 2, which can be expected to store large numbers of trigger terms associated with various different client users (and/or their associated web sites), and with various different rules. It will therefore be understood that the occurrence of a particular trigger word in a media stream may invoke a number of rules in relation to different client users and their websites, if that trigger word has been registered by multiple client users. A trigger term detector 3 receives media data streams from multiple media sources 4 (four media sources are shown here - two TV channels 4a, 4b, a Facebook feed 4c and a Twitter feed 4d - but it will be appreciated that any number of TV channels, Internet feeds, radio or other real-time media sources such as news or weather feeds could be utilised) and detects when any of the trigger terms in the trigger term database 2 occur in any of media data streams. More particularly, the data from the media sources includes text which is compared against the trigger terms in the database 2. Certain types of media source, such as news or weather feeds, or social media feeds, are rich in text content, making it relatively straightforward to identify when trigger terms arise within those media sources. In other types of media source, such as television or radio, the media is less text based, making it more difficult to obtain trigger terms describing what is going on in the content. The example of television is discussed in some detail below. In the event that the trigger term detector 3 detects a trigger term in one of the media streams then this detection is recorded as a match in a match database 5. More particularly, the match database stores an indication that a detection of a particular trigger word has occurred, along with the media source originating the trigger word, and the time of the occurrence. It will be understood that the trigger term identified within the media stream is indicative of the content of the media stream.

In parallel with this, a web site monitor 8 monitors traffic to the client user’s web site 9, and records this with respect to time. Again, it will be appreciated that the web site monitor 8 may in fact monitor traffic to a large number of client user web sites, and store traffic information in association with an identification of the web site or client user. The level of traffic to the web site 9 (or in the alternative an indication of an amount of increase in traffic to the web site 9) at or shortly after (usually within a few minutes) the detection of the trigger term is stored into the match database 5 in association with the record of occurrence of the trigger term. The user is able to view, via the client front end 1, how the occurrence of particular trigger terms (and thus the occurrence of the underlying content indicated by the trigger terms) influences the traffic to his web site 9. So, for example if the trigger term was “red dress”, detected in caption information from a television programme in which a celebrity is wearing a red dress, then this might result in large number of television viewers looking up red dresses on the Internet, which might in turn result in an uplift in the number of visitors to the users web site 9. The data stored in the match database may comprise a correlation between the occurrence of the trigger term in the media source with a level of traffic to the website at or during a predetermined period of time after the occurrence of the trigger term. The user may have a number of trigger terms registered at the trigger term database 2, and matches for each of these, and associated web traffic information, are stored at the match database 5. This enables the user to determine which trigger words are the most effective. The traffic information may not simply relate to the number of site visits, but might also relate (in the case of an e-commerce site) to the number of purchases made, or the conversion rate from hits to purchases. The traffic information might also track specific segments or demographics of visitors, such as sex, location, likes and dislikes and so on, making it possible to identify from the traffic information the types of viewers which are being driven to the site by particular trigger words.

The detection of a trigger word by the trigger term detector 3 can also initiate the optimisation of an Internet search function 6 that will cause the search function to display predetermined information. For example, the predetermined information could be information relevant to the trigger word when appropriate keywords are used in the search (note that the keywords forming the basis of the internet search and the triggers words may be different). As a result, incidence of events within a media stream which are described by trigger words may be used to effectively tailor the information presented on a search results page in real time or near real time. This may give a user more efficient access to relevant information. Generally, the predetermined information will take the form of a link to the web site 9 (potentially in association with other information to assist a user in understanding the relevance of the web site 9 to their search) when invoked by a user performing a relevant search.

In this way, media content from a media source, which may be the trigger for a viewer of that media source to perform an Internet search, can be used as a trigger to cause the web site 9 to appear prominently in an Internet search results page when the viewer performs a search (for example on Google). This could happen either immediately upon detection and processing of the trigger term, or in some cases a short time later. For example, it has been found that if a viewer sees a product which is of interest to them they will tend to search for it immediately, while if they are interested in an audio track or a video clip they will tend to wait until the audio track or video clip has finished before performing an Internet search in relation to that item.

One possible implementation of this would be for the Internet search function 6 to trigger a Google Adwords campaign using suitable keywords. In this case, the web site 9 would be displayed on the search results page as an advertisement. In a similar manner, predetermined information could be displayed on a social media site such as Facebook or Linkedln in response to trigger terms appearing in a media stream. In either case, the search function or social media platform may only be influenced to display the predetermined information for a short period after the trigger term has occurred in a media stream. After this, the search function or social media platform may revert to default content or rules.

Similarly, the detection of a trigger word by the trigger term detector 3 can also trigger a web site optimiser 7 to initiate the optimisation of the web site 9, to which a user will hopefully be directed via the search results page. In particular, the web site can be modified to relate to the context or subject of the trigger term. As a result, a user will find the content which they were interested in being readily available on the website, rather than needing to navigate deep into the website to find it. Returning to the “red dress” example, the detection of the trigger term “red dress” may cause the main page of the web site 9 to switching from displaying information about a grey jacket to displaying information about a red dress available for purchase through the web site 9. In this way, a person searching for a red dress will not only find it more easily through the web search function, but will also locate it more easily on the web site to which that person clicks through from the search results page. As with the search optimisation, the web site optimisation may occur substantially straightaway in response to the trigger terms, or might be delayed for a predetermined time. Also similarly with search optimisation, the web site may revert back to its original state after a predetermined period of time has passed and the modified content has thus become less relevant.

Referring back to the match database, it will be appreciated that influencing the prominence of the user’s web site 9 and the immediate availability of content relevant to the trigger term at the web site 9 could be expected to increase the amount of traffic to the web site 9. As a result, the match database 5 is able to provide a good indication of how much of an enhancement to web site traffic is being achieved by way of influencing search results and web page optimisation. Accordingly, client users are able to identify which trigger words are providing maximum impact in driving viewers to their website.

In one example, at least some of the media sources are television channels. Referring to Figure 2, functional blocks for detecting trigger terms within these television channels are shown. In Figures 2, two tuners 21, 22 are provided, each for receiving a respective television channel and for decoding and outputting a sequence of image frames forming a video image. To the output of each turner is a respective subtitle extraction block 23, 24 for extracting a portion of each image frame which corresponds to a subtitle or caption location. The output of each extraction block 23, 24 is a respective optical character recognition block 25, 26 which is able to determine the text included within the subtitle and output it to a matching unit 27, which matches the recognised text against trigger terms stored in the database 2 shown in Figure 1. The elements 21-27 correspond to the trigger term detector 3 of Figure 1. In the case of a match, the match database 5, search function 6 and web site optimiser 7 are all informed of the detection, as described above in relation to Figure 1. The Figure 2 implementation may be important for territories, such as the United Kingdom, where subtitle data is embedded directly into the image. Where the subtitle data is available as text within the data stream (such as for video signals in the US) then a simplified trigger term detector can be used, omitting the requirement to perform optical character recognition.

Referring to Figure 3, a method of monitoring the influence of media content on website traffic is shown in the form of a flow diagram. At a step A1 web traffic (for example the number of visits) to a web site is monitored. At a step A2, a client enters trigger terms they deem relevant to their website. At a step A3, media streams are monitored with respect to those trigger terms, and if at a step A4 a trigger term is detected in a media stream then that occurrence is correlated with the monitored website traffic and stored in a database at a step A5. The correlated and stored data, or analytics conducted on that data, is then displayed at a step A6.

Referring to Figure 4, a method of influencing access to website content is shown in the form of a flow diagram. At a step B1, a media stream, in this case a television channel, is playing. At a step B2, a user is viewing the television channel. In parallel with the step B2, the system described above, and in particular the trigger term detector 3, is monitoring the television channel for trigger words. At a step B4, a particular event occurs within the television content which both gives rise to a trigger word being detected at a step B5, and is also (in parallel) of interest to a user at a step B8. In response to the detection of the trigger term, a search function relating to the event is modified at a step B6, and a website bearing content relevant to the event is also modified. The steps B5, B6 and B7 occur very quickly, typically in less than a minute. Accordingly, by the time the user initiates a web search at a step B9, the modifications have already been made, resulting in a search function carried out at a step BIO being the one modified at the step B6. Results of the modified search function are presented to the user at a step B11. Based on the results, the user may select the website at a step B12, which by this time will have been modified at the step B7, and thus when it opens the content of the website will have been tailored in view of the event, and in particular in view of the detection of the trigger term. The user is therefore able to access the website content at a step B14, without needing to navigate through the website to find the information which he was looking for based on the event witnessed on the television channel. In parallel with the above steps, the user is also using social media - for example Facebook or Twitter. These represent media streams in themselves, which are monitored by the step B3 and which represent events which might trigger the user (at the step B8) to perform a web search. Also though, the social media site experienced by the user may itself be controlled, at a step B16, in response to the detection of a trigger term, so as to place specific context relevant content where it can be readily found by the user.

The invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above described embodiment. For instance, while the above explanations are based on a search function, social media platform or web site being influenced based on a single trigger term, the triggering could instead occur in response to a certain number of instances of a trigger word occurring within a predetermined time window, or on particular ones of the media streams, or could instead occur in response to a certain combination of different trigger words occurring within a predetermined time window or on particular ones of the media streams.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of influencing website content, comprising: detecting an occurrence of a trigger term in a real time media source; and modifying a web site or page in response to the detection.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the web site or page is modified to display content related to the trigger term.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, comprising maintaining a database of stored trigger terms associated with web sites or pages, matching the stored trigger terms against text extracted from the real time media source, and modifying the associated web site or page.

4. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the web site or page is modified by the occurrence of the trigger term for only a predetermined period of time.

5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the web site or page is influenced substantially immediately following the detection of the trigger term.

6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the web site or page is modified following a predetermined delay from the detection of the trigger term.

7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the media source is one of a television channel, an on-demand video stream, a radio channel, a social media site, a news feed or a weather feed.

8. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the media source is a television channel or a video on demand stream and the trigger term is detected in caption information and/or subtitle information associated with the television programme being broadcast or the video on demand stream.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein subtitle information is embedded within image data within the television broadcast signal or the video on demand stream, and wherein the subtitle information is converted into text using optical character recognition.

10. An apparatus for influencing website content, comprising: a trigger detector for detecting an occurrence of a trigger term in a real time media source; and a controller for modifying a web site or page in response to the detection.

11. A method of influencing website content, the method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. Apparatus for influencing website content, the apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.