Synchronizing advertisements

Abstract

An apparatus and method for synchronising advertisements published on a group communications network with advertisements in a broadcast, the apparatus comprising: a receiver for receiving broadcast data; a communications interface in communication with a group communications network; a broadcast data content extractor adapted to derive search terms and advert data from the received broadcast data, the advert data relating to an advert received in the broadcast data, wherein on receipt of a query by a user of the group communications network, the query comprising one or more of the search terms, the communications interface publishes a group communication comprising at least a portion of the advert data on the group communications network.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a receiver for receiving broadcast data;   a communications interface in communication with a group communications network;   a broadcast data content extractor responsive to the receiver and adapted to derive search terms and advert data from the received broadcast data, the advert data relating to an advert received in the broadcast data,   wherein on receipt of a query made by a user of the group communications network, the query comprising one or more of the search terms, the communications interface publishes a group communication comprising at least a portion of the advert data on the group communications network.   
     
     
         2 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the group communication is returned as a result of the query. 
     
     
         3 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the search terms are derived from broadcast listings data extracted from the received broadcast data. 
     
     
         4 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the group communication is published within a time period T from receipt of the advert data from the receiver. 
     
     
         5 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the group communication published on the group communication network is visible only to users who have not viewed a related group communication comprising the portion of the advert data. 
     
     
         6 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising an adaptive search engine arranged to:
 filter a stream of communications being received by the communications interface using one or more of the search terms to derive a sub-stream of communications; and   extract one or more additional search terms from the sub-stream of communications based on the content of the sub-stream.   
     
     
         7 . An apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein each of the one or more additional search terms are extracted based on the frequency of their appearance in communications in the sub-stream of communications over a period W. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein extraction of each of the one or more additional search terms depends on the probability of their appearance in subsequent communications in the sub-stream based on the frequency of their appearance in previous communications in the sub-stream. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the advert data comprises a broadcast time and a subject of the advert. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the broadcast data is received via one or more of an antenna, an internet protocol, a digital subscriber line, a digital cable, a digital satellite and a user input. 
     
     
         11 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the broadcast data includes one or more of a subtitle stream, an audio stream, a video stream and broadcast listings data. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the broadcast data is extracted from a live broadcast or a non-live broadcast stored on a storage medium. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the group communications network is a social media network. 
     
     
         14 . A method comprising:
 receiving broadcast data;   receiving communications from a group communications network;   deriving search terms and advert data from the received broadcast data, the advert data relating to an advert received in the broadcast data; and   in response to a query at the group communications network, publishing a group communication comprising advertising data associated with to the derived advert data on the group communications network.   
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein the group communication is returned as a result of the query. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein the search terms are derived from broadcast listings data extracted from the received broadcast data. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 14 , further comprising:
 filtering a stream of communications using one or more of the search terms to derive a sub-stream of communications;   extracting one or more additional search terms from the sub-stream of communications based on the content of the sub-stream.   
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein each of the one or more additional search terms are extracted based on the frequency of their appearance in communications in the sub-stream of communications over a period T. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 17 , wherein extraction of each of the one or more additional search terms depends on the probability of their appearance in subsequent communications in the sub-stream based on the frequency of their appearance in previous communications in the sub-stream. 
     
     
         20 . An method according to  claim 14 , wherein the advert data comprises a broadcast time and a subject of the advert. 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . (canceled)