Relevant multimedia advertising targeted based upon search query
View Patent ↗A facility for processing a search query is described. The facility identifies one or more items that satisfy the query, at least one of which is a media sequence. For each identified media sequence, the facility identifies an advertising message based upon the contents of the query. In response to the query, the facility returns a search result that indicates the identified items. When one of the identified media sequences is selected in the search result, the selected media sequence is provided in conjunction with the advertising message identified for it.
1. A method in a computing system for processing a search query, the computing system having a processor and memory, the method comprising:
identifying one or more media sequences satisfying the query;
identifying for each identified media sequence an advertising message based on metadata associated with the media sequence;
generating, for each identified media sequence, a link comprising a first identifier for the respective media sequence and a second identifier for the respective identified advertising message; and
in response to the query, returning a search result including the link generated for each identified media sequence, such that when a link for one of the identified media sequences is selected in the search result, the selected media sequence is displayed in conjunction with the advertising message identified for the selected media sequence,
wherein code for performing the method is stored in the memory and executed by the processor.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein, each link added to the returned search result for the identified media sequence contains information identifying both the identified media sequence and the advertising message identified for it, as well as a server configured to retrieve the identified media sequence and identified advertising message, concatenate the identified media sequence and identified advertising message, and return a result of the concatenation.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein, when one of the identified media sequences is selected in the search result, it is displayed proximate to a still image for the advertising message identified for the identified media sequence that, when activated by a user, displays the advertising message for the identified media sequence.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first identifier in each generated link comprises one of a numerical identifier or a URL pointing to the respective media sequence and the second identifier in each generated link comprises one of a numerical identifier or a URL pointing to the respective advertising message.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of the identified media sequences, the link added to the returned search result for the identified media sequence causes a browser in which the search result is displayed to independently retrieve the identified media sequence and the advertising message identified for it when followed.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the link added to the returned search result for the identified media sequence causes the browser in which the search result is displayed to retrieve a metafile, that in turn causes the browser to independently retrieve the identified media sequence and the advertising message identified for it.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the link added to the returned search result for the identified media sequence contains information identifying both the identified media sequence and the advertising message identified for it, as well as identifying a server configured to (1) retrieve the identified media sequence and identified advertising message, (2) concatenate the identified media sequence and identified advertising message, and (3) return the result of the concatenation.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of the identified media sequences, the link added to the returned search result for the identified media sequence causes a browser in which the search result is displayed to retrieve a single file containing the identified media sequence and the advertising message identified for it when followed.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein each identified media sequence has a type that is among a category of types, and wherein, for each identified media sequence, an advertising message is identified that has a type that is among the same category of types as the type of the identified media sequence.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein each identified advertising message is a media sequence.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein, for a particular identified media sequence, an advertising message is identified in response to a request to retrieve the particular media sequence.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying an advertising message for an identified media sequence further comprises identifying an advertising message in response to a request to play the media sequence.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein, when one of the identified media sequences is selected in the search result, the display of the identified media sequence is separated from the display of the advertising message identified for the identified media sequence by the display of a visual indication of a provider of the selected media sequence.
14. A method in a computing system for augmenting a plurality of media files with advertising, the computing system having a processor and memory, the method comprising:
accessing metadata associated with one of the media files, the metadata including words describing the media file;
identifying for the media file an advertising message that relates to the accessed metadata of the media file; and
generating a link to the media file, such that when the media file is accessed, contents of the media file are presented in conjunction with the advertising message identified for the media file, the link comprising a first one of a numerical identifier or a URL pointing to the media file and a second one of a numerical identifier or a URL pointing to the identified advertising message,
wherein code for performing the method is stored in the memory and executed by the processor.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the media file is an audio file.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein the media file is a video file.
17. A method in a computing system for generating a document intended to reference a designated media file, the computing system having a processor and memory, the method comprising:
selecting an advertising media file for association with the designated media file, based on metadata associated with the designated media file;
generating a metafile including a first identifier for the designated media file and a second identifier for the selected advertising media file, the first and second identifiers comprising at least one of a URL or a numerical identifier; and
associating the generated metafile with a document,
wherein code for performing the method is stored in the memory and executed by the processor.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the document is a web page.
19. The method of claim 17 wherein the metafile is used by a computer system accessing the document to present both the designated media file and the selected advertising media file.
20. The method of claim 17 wherein the generated metafile is bodily included in the generated document.
21. The method of claim 17 wherein the generated metafile is included in the generated document by reference.