Social Networking System Targeted Message Synchronization

Abstract

Targeted messages are sent to users of social networking system (SNS) based on the detection of airings of advertisements in time-based media. This approach allows advertisers to leverage their investment in, for example, television advertising by sending advertisements to SNS users who have likely seen the advertisements within shows that they have expressed interest in the context of a SNS. Time-based media streams are analyzed to detect the airings of advertisements within those streams. In one embodiment, SNS content items are received regarding individual users. Based on references in those content items between users and their interests, targeted messages may be sent to users. In another embodiment, targeted messages are sent to SNS users based on the airing of advertisements and targeting criteria provided by advertisers.

1 . A computer-executed method for sending messages to users of social networking systems, comprising:
 accessing a content item from a social networking system, the content item comprising references to a user of the social networking system, and to at least one selected from a group consisting of a television media event and an advertisement media event;   accessing a video stream broadcasted by an external broadcasting entity, the video stream comprising the television media event and the advertisement media event;   analyzing, using a computer processor, the video stream to determine that the advertisement media event has aired during an airing of the television media event;   sending the user a message through the social networking system, the sending of the message based on the determination and the references.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , wherein accessing the video stream comprising the advertisement media event comprises:
 accessing a plurality of advertisement metadata instances;   segmenting the video stream into segments corresponding to the media events, each segment having a beginning and an end; and   determining, for each advertisement metadata instance, a segment of the video stream that most likely aligns with the advertisement metadata instance.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the video stream to determine that the advertisement media event has aired during the airing of the television media event comprises:
 extracting event features from metadata annotations associated with the media events; and   mapping the event features of the advertisement media event to the event features of the television media event, the event features including an airing time and date.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that at least one selected from the group consisting of the television media event and the advertisement media event has aired within a recent time period;   determining whether the user matches a rule indicating when the message is to be sent to the user through the social networking system; and   responsive to the airing and the user matching the rule, sending the message.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a request for an advertisement from the social networking system;   determining whether the user matches a rule indicating conditions for sending the message; and   responsive to the request and the user matching the rule, sending the message.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , further comprising creating a mapping between the advertisement media event and the user based on the references and the determination that the advertisement media event has aired during the airing of the television media event, and wherein the message is sent based on the mapping. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , wherein a message content of the message is based on at least one selected from a group consisting of the references and the determination that the advertisement media event has aired during an airing of the television media event. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-executed method for sending messages to users of social networking systems, comprising:
 accessing a plurality of content items from a social networking system, each content item referencing at least one user of the social networking system and referencing at least one selected from a group consisting of a television media event and an advertisement media event;   accessing a video stream broadcasted by an external broadcasting entity, the video stream comprising the television media event and the advertisement media event;   analyzing the video stream to determine that the advertisement media event has aired during an airing of the television media event;   creating a plurality of mappings indicating users of the social networking system referenced by content items that also reference at least one selected from the group consisting of the television media event and the advertisement media event;   forming a population of users based on the mappings; and   sending a message to the population of users through the social networking system, the sending of the message based on the mappings.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-executed method of  claim 8 , wherein the population includes only those users meeting at least one selected from a group consisting of a demographic criterion, a content criterion, and a time criterion. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-executed method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining that the television media event has aired within a recent time period; and   responsive to the airing, sending the message.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-executed method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 receiving a request for an advertisement from the social networking system; and   responsive to the request, sending the message.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-executed method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining whether the population matches a rule indicating conditions for sending the message; and   responsive to the rule being matched, sending the message.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-executed method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining whether the population matches a rule indicating conditions for sending the message; and   responsive to the rule being matched, sending the message.   
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . The computer-executed method of  claim 8 , further comprising creating a mapping between the advertisement media event and the user based on the references and the determination that the advertisement media event has aired during the airing of the television media event, and wherein the message is sent based on the mapping. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-executed method for sending messages to users of social networking systems, comprising:
 accessing a video stream comprising a television media event and an advertisement media event;   accessing a video stream broadcasted by an external broadcasting entity, the video stream comprising the television media event and the advertisement media event;   analyzing the video stream to determine that the advertisement media event has aired during an airing of the television media event;   determining whether the rule is matched based upon the airing of the advertisement media event; and   responsive to the rule being matched, sending the message to the social networking system.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-executed method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 receiving a request from the social networking system;   responsive to the request, sending the message to the social networking system.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-executed method of  claim 16 , wherein the message is sent as part of a feed to the social networking system. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-executed method of  claim 16 , wherein the message is sent in a batch to the social networking system along with a plurality of other messages. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-executed method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 accessing a targeting criterion indicating conditions for receiving the advertisement;   responsive to the rule being matched, sending the targeting criterion with the message to the social networking system.   
     
     
         21 . The computer-executed method of  claim 20 , wherein the targeting criterion includes at least one selected from a group consisting of: demographic information, interests, television media event information, advertisement media event information, and time of occurrence of the airing. 
     
     
         22 . The computer-executed method of  claim 1 , wherein accessing the content item from the social networking system comprises determining a confidence score for the content item indicative of the probability that the content item is relevant to the television media event. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-executed method of  claim 22 , wherein determining the confidence score comprises:
 extracting event features from annotations associated with the television media event;   extracting social media features from the content item; and   identifying a relationship between the event features and social media features, the confidence score of the candidate social media content item being based at least partially on the relationship.