Advanced Discovery products enable contextual search

Gracenote, a division of Nielsen, said it has launched Gracenote Video Descriptors, the first of its Advanced Discovery products that will enable more relevant searches of video content.

Gracenote Video Descriptors provide a new level of metadata for programming, including descriptions of a show’s moods, themes, scenarios and characters.

The added information will enable consumers who search for something to watch to get more contextual, relevant, nuanced results, which Gracenote says will produce more viewer engagement and loyalty for pay TV providers, over-the-top services and connected device manufacturers.

“Major streaming providers average around 40,000 TV episodes and movies in their catalogs but put the onus on their viewers to sort through and find relevant programming,” said Gracenote chief product officer Simon Adams. “By diving deeper into storylines and characters and assigning much more granular metadata to content, Gracenote Video Descriptors give TV providers powerful datasets enabling fresher discovery, recommendation and voice experiences that satisfy the full spectrum of viewer tastes or moods.”

To generate its descriptive metadata, Gracenote relies on a balance of expert human editors and advanced machine learning technologies to describe TV shows.

An episode of HBO’s Game of Throne could be categorized thematically under “Greed” and “Betrayal.” Scenarios could include “Power Struggle” and “Manipulation.” Moods could be “Dark” and “Gripping, while characters would include “Royalty” and “Dragons.” The combination would help viewers know what Game of Thrones is like and help viewers of the show find other programs they might like.

Further releases from the Advanced Discovery suite will be rolled out in 2019, the company said.