System and method for bookmarking and auto-tagging a content item based on file type

Abstract

The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for bookmarking and tagging content items such as media files with user-defined tag information and system-defined tag information based on file types. Utilizing tag information, a user of a bookmarking and tagging service provider can easily search for and retrieve links to media files having specific tag information, even if the media files are located at geographically disparate sites. A user may also retrieve the media files using web feeds.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a command to bookmark a content item;   capturing content-identifying information that identifies the content item;   determining a file type of the content item;   tagging the content item with tag information based on the file type of the content item; and   storing the content-identifying information and tag information.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving a command to bookmark a content item comprises receiving a command via a browser control. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving a command to bookmark a content item comprises receiving a command via a button control or hyperlink added to a web page by a content provider. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein capturing content-identifying information comprises capturing a URL of the content item. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining a file type comprises identifying a file extension. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining a file type comprises determining that a content item is an audio file, a video file, an image file, or a formatted text document. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein determining a file type comprising determining that a content item is a MP3 file, a WAV file, a MPEG file, a AVI file, a MOV file, a JPEG file, a GIF file, a PNG file, a DOC file, or a PDF file. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein tagging the content item comprises associating system-defined tag information with the content item. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein system-defined tag information identifies a content item as an audio file, a video file, an image file, or a formatted text document. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein storing the content-identifying information and tag information comprises storing a bookmark in a database. 
   
   
       11 . A method comprising:
 receiving a command to search for bookmarked content items having specific tag information associated with the content items;   querying a database of bookmarked content items for bookmarks having the specific tag information; and   retrieving the bookmarks.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein receiving a command to search for bookmarked content items comprises receiving tag information from a user of a bookmarking and tagging service provider. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein receiving tag information comprises receiving input from a user navigating to a specific URL corresponding to a specific tag, receiving input from a user using a tag navigation control on a web page, or receiving input from a user clicking on a hyperlink associated with a specific tag. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein receiving tag information comprises receiving tag information corresponding to a specific file type of content items. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein receiving tag information corresponding to specific file types comprises receiving system-defined tag information corresponding to specific file types of audio files, video files, image files, or formatted text documents. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 displaying a list of retrieved bookmarks along with interactive controls if the bookmarked content items are audio files, video files, image files, or formatted text documents.   
   
   
       17 . The method  claim 16 , further comprising:
 providing a control for generating a feed corresponding to a web page including a set of retrieved bookmarks.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein providing a control for generating a feed comprises providing a button or hyperlink on a web page to generate an RSS file or an Atom file.