Jinni
Company typeMedia & Entertainment
FoundedJanuary 2008
Headquarters
Tel Aviv Edit this on Wikidata
,
Israel Edit this on Wikidata
ProductsDiscovery service for movies, TV shows, other media
WebsiteJinni.com
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Jinni was a website-based search engine and recommendation engine for movies, TV shows and short films. The service was powered by the Entertainment Genome, an approach to indexing titles based on attributes like mood, tone, plot, and structure. As of 2015, it was no longer available to the public, but is reportedly available via API and business-to-business licensing, where it reportedly impacts businesses like Comcast's Xfinity product, as well as other businesses using "smart" entertainment search.[not verified in body]

Description

The Jinni service included semantic search,[1] a meaning-based approach to interpreting queries by identifying concepts within the content, rather than keywords. The search engine served as a video discovery tool focusing on user tastes, including mood, plot, and other parameters, with options to browse and refine using additional terms, e.g., “action in a future dystopia” or “Beautiful Girls, funny.”[2][verification needed]

Jinni's semantic discovery engine was powered by that company's Entertainment Genome™, which reportedly contained thousands of "genes" automatically assigned to describe mood, style, plot and setting for every released movie or television program. These elements were then matched to subscribers' personal tastes according to their viewing history in order to provide a personalized discovery experience. Jinni also provided recommendations, according to a given user's favorites and ratings, of movies and TV shows.[3] Stated another way, the recommendations were based on available content and on the user's taste profile.[4]

As well as discovery, the Jinni website included internet television, the online streaming of film and television, mostly for titles available in the United States.[citation needed] Jinni also linked to other sites that rented or sold DVDs or offered downloads or streaming for a fee, such as Netflix, Amazon and Blockbuster.[1]

Jinni's technology involved a taxonomy created by film professionals, with new titles indexed via natural language processing and machine learning methods to automatically analyze reviews and metadata.[5]

Jinni's products included the website and APIs for TV operators and internet content providers.[5] Jinni's partners included SeaChange,[6] NDS,[7] and OpenTV.[8]

As of 2015, the business-to-business supply of its tools for use in "target[ing], deliver[ing], and measur[ing]... digital advertising efforts",[9][full citation needed] with its entertainment audience-targeting solution addressed to movie studios, TV networks and "over-the-top" video providers.[10][verification needed][jargon]

History

In March 2009, the Jinni website integrated the Netflix developer API. As a consequence, people could search the Netflix catalog, and "Instant Watch" catalog from Jinni, and add to their Netflix queues or begin streaming.[11] In May 2010, Google announced a strategic alliance with Jinni to allow access to its tools by Google TV.[12] In May 2011, Jinni announced it having raised US$5 million in Round B funding.[13]

In June 2012, Belgian cable operator Belgacom deployed a recommendation engine from Jinni on digital set-tops that allowed subscribers to browse for content based on "mood".[14] In July 2012, Jinni teamed up with Swisscom “for integration into [o]n [d]emand and live TV".[15][verification needed]

On November 6, 2013, Jinni launched a new customer-facing website and iPad application, providing personal recommendations based on a users "entertainment personality" as well as personalized TV listings, semantic content searches, and social-based group recommendations.[16] In May 2014, Jinni integrated its "mood" and "taste"-driven video discovery engine with AT&T’s U-verse TV platform.[17]

In June 2015, Jinni shut down its public service and now offers "solutions for pay TV [and] OTT operators" and "for entertainment advertisers".[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "» Semantic movie search engine Jinni (Get invites!)". Archived from the original on 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  2. ^ Schroeder, Stan (16 March 2009). "Jinni's Semantic Movie Search Now Works With Netflix". mashable.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  3. ^ Ostrow, Adam (11 February 2009). "Jinni's Genius Way to Recommend Movies". mashable.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  4. ^ Pash, Adam (13 February 2009). "Jinni Recommendation Service Like Pandora for Movies". lifehacker.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Jinni: Wants to be Pandora for Movies - ReadWriteWeb". Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  6. ^ Swedlow, Tracy (9 September 2009). "SeaChange Incorporates Jinni's Search-and-Recommendation Engine into its VOD Platform". itvt.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-14. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  7. ^ Albrecht, Chris (3 November 2009). "NDS Adds Jinni for Video Recommendations". newteevee.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  8. ^ "OpenTV, Jinni Team on Search". lightreading.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  9. ^ What is adtech?[full citation needed]
  10. ^ a b "Find movies, TV shows matching your taste and watch online - Jinni". 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Jinni searches Netflix better than Netflix". cnet.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  12. ^ Wauters, Robin (21 May 2010). "Jinni Is Building A Smart 'Taste Engine' For Google TV (Screenshots)". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  13. ^ Tsotsis, Alexia (5 January 2011). "Movie And TV Show Recommendation Engine Jinni Raises $5 Million". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Jinni deploys mood-based program guide on Belgacom set-tops - FierceCable". fiercecable.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Jinni Teams with Swisscom for Integration into TV". semanticweb.com. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  16. ^ "The Video Recommendation Engine Behind The Xbox Launches A Standalone iPad App". fastcompany.com. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  17. ^ "AT&T U-Verse Revs Up Jinni's Video Discovery Engine - Multichannel". multichannel.com. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2016.

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Further reading

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