System and method for voting on popular video intervals

Abstract

A system and method is provided for identifying popular intervals in online hosted videos. To determine popular intervals associated with a video, a plurality of votes for one or more intervals of the video are collected and organized into a plurality of groups. Each group includes votes for intervals of the video that are similar to each other. A group having the highest number of votes is identified, and a most popular clip of the video is formed based upon the intervals in the group with the highest number of votes. This process can be carried out to determine the groups having the second and third highest number of votes in a single video to form the second and third most popular clips in that video, as well as across numerous videos to identify the most popular clips within different videos.

1 . A computer-implemented method of identifying a popular clip of a video, comprising:
 displaying, by a client, a user interface illustrating a video received by the client from a server;   displaying, in the user interface, a timeline corresponding to the video; and   displaying, in the timeline, at least one marker visually distinguishing an indication of an interval of the video that is a popular clip.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interval of the video is specified by a start time in the video and includes a subset of content in the video identified as popular by users of clients that received the video from the server. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, in the user interface, a user interface element adapted to receive a vote by a user of the client designating the interval of the video that is the popular clip.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the video has a plurality of popular clips ranked in an order of popularity and displaying the at least one marker comprises:
 displaying, in the timeline, a plurality of markers representing a subset of the plurality of popular clips of the video, the represented subset of the plurality of popular clips selected responsive to the ranked order of the plurality of popular clips.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, in the user interface, a thumbnail image corresponding to the popular clip of the video responsive to an indication of interest in the popular clip by a user of the client.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, in the user interface, a plurality of markers in the timeline, the markers respectively associated with a plurality of popular clips of the video;   simultaneously displaying, in the user interface, a plurality of thumbnail images respectively corresponding to the plurality of popular clips of the video associated with the markers displayed in the timeline.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of popular clips of the video are ranked in an order of popularity and the plurality of thumbnail images are displayed in the ranked order. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computer to identify a popular clip of a video, the instructions comprising instructions executable to:
 display, by a client, a user interface illustrating a video received by the client from a server;   display, in the user interface, a timeline corresponding to the video; and   display, in the timeline, at least one marker visually distinguishing an indication of an interval of the video that is a popular clip.   
     
     
         9 . The medium of  claim 8 , wherein the interval of the video is specified by a start time in the video and includes a subset of content in the video identified as popular by users of clients that received the video from the server. 
     
     
         10 . The medium of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions executable by a computer to:
 display, in the user interface, a user interface element adapted to receive a vote by a user of the client designating the interval of the video that is the popular clip.   
     
     
         11 . The medium of  claim 8 , wherein the video has a plurality of popular clips ranked in an order of popularity and displaying the at least one marker comprises:
 displaying, in the timeline, a plurality of markers representing a subset of the plurality of popular clips of the video, the represented subset of the plurality of popular clips selected responsive to the ranked order of the plurality of popular clips.   
     
     
         12 . The medium of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions executable by a computer to:
 display, in the user interface, a thumbnail image corresponding to the popular clip of the video responsive to an indication of interest in the popular clip by a user of the client.   
     
     
         13 . The medium of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions executable by a computer to:
 display, in the user interface, a plurality of markers in the timeline, the markers respectively associated with a plurality of popular clips of the video;   simultaneously display, in the user interface, a plurality of thumbnail images respectively corresponding to the plurality of popular clips of the video associated with the markers displayed in the timeline.   
     
     
         14 . The medium of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of popular clips of the video are ranked in an order of popularity and the plurality of thumbnail images are displayed in the ranked order. 
     
     
         15 . A computer for identifying a popular clip of a video, comprising:
 a processor for executing computer program instructions; and   a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor, the instructions comprising instructions executable to:
 display, by a client, a user interface illustrating a video received by the client from a server; 
 display, in the user interface, a timeline corresponding to the video; and 
 display, in the timeline, at least one marker visually distinguishing an indication of an interval of the video that is a popular clip. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer of  claim 15 , the medium further comprising instructions executable by the processor to:
 display, in the user interface, a user interface element adapted to receive a vote by a user of the client designating the interval of the video that is the popular clip.   
     
     
         17 . The computer of  claim 15 , wherein the video has a plurality of popular clips ranked in an order of popularity and displaying the at least one marker comprises:
 displaying, in the timeline, a plurality of markers representing a subset of the plurality of popular clips of the video, the represented subset of the plurality of popular clips selected responsive to the ranked order of the plurality of popular clips.   
     
     
         18 . The computer of  claim 15 , the medium further comprising instructions executable by the processor to:
 display, in the user interface, a thumbnail image corresponding to the popular clip of the video responsive to an indication of interest in the popular clip by a user of the client.   
     
     
         19 . The computer of  claim 15 , the medium further comprising instructions executable by the processor to:
 display, in the user interface, a plurality of markers in the timeline, the markers respectively associated with a plurality of popular clips of the video;   simultaneously displaying, in the user interface, a plurality of thumbnail images respectively corresponding to the plurality of popular clips of the video associated with the markers displayed in the timeline.   
     
     
         20 . The computer of  claim 19 , wherein the plurality of popular clips of the video are ranked in an order of popularity and the plurality of thumbnail images are displayed in the ranked order.