Mixed media reality retrieval of differentially-weighted links

An apparatus for differentially weighting links associated with a mixed media document, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a matching unit stored on a memory and executable by the one or more processors, the matching unit for receiving an image query;
• a recognition unit coupled to the matching unit, the recognition unit for identifying a recognition result based on the image query;
• a result receiver coupled to the recognition unit, the result receiver for receiving the recognition result, the recognition result identifying at least a portion of a document and a location of the image query on at least the portion of the document;
• an acquisition unit coupled to the result receiver, the acquisition unit for dividing the recognition result into a plurality of zones using a segmented version of at least the portion of the document;
• a link retriever coupled to the acquisition unit, the link retriever for retrieving one or more links to external media from the hotspot database, the one or more links associated with the plurality of zones;
• a rank generator coupled to the link retriever, the rank generator for retrieving the overlap preference for each of the plurality of zones from the hotspot database, calculating an overlap percentage for each of the plurality of zones based on the location of the image query on at least the portion of the document and a percent of the image query that overlaps each zone, calculating a zone valuation for each of the plurality of zones by multiplying the overlap preference and the overlap percentage for a respective zone, and ranking the one or more links using the zone valuation for each of the plurality of zones, the zone valuation indicating a likelihood of displaying a link associated with a zone of the plurality of zones at a top of a list of links and the ranking being higher for a higher zone valuation;
• and
• a rankings provider coupled to the rank generator, the rankings provider for transmitting the list comprising the ranked links.

A system for integrating publishing and advertising content, the system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a gateway stored on a memory and executable by the one or more processors, the gateway for receiving a recognition result, the recognition result identifying at least a portion of a document and a location of the image query on at least the portion of the document, dividing the recognition result into a plurality of zones using a segmented version of at least the portion of the document, retrieving an overlap preference for each of the plurality of zones from a hotspot database, calculating an overlap percentage for each of the plurality of zones based on the location of the image query on at least the portion of the document and a percent of the image query that overlaps each zone, calculating a zone valuation for each of the plurality of zones by multiplying the overlap preference and the overlap percentage for a respective zone, retrieving one or more links to external media from the hotspot database, the one or more links associated with the plurality of zones, and ranking the one or more links using the zone valuation for each of the plurality of zones, the zone valuation indicating a likelihood of displaying a link associated with a zone of the plurality of zones at a top of the list of links and the ranking being higher for a higher zone valuation;
• a publisher executable by the one or more processors and coupled to the gateway, the publisher for providing publication content and hierarchical layout information;
• an advertising broker executable by the one or more processors and coupled to the publisher, the advertising broker for providing advertising content linked to locations within the publication content and preference information indicating when the linked advertising content should be displayed in conjunction with display of the publication content;
• and
• a service bureau executable by the one or more processors and coupled to the advertising broker, the service bureau for receiving a portion of the publication content as the recognition result after the recognition result is identified from a received image query, and providing a ranked list of the linked advertising content associated with the recognition result.