Mechanism for rendering advertising objects into featured content

1. A method of inserting advertisements into a streaming video at an intermediary system, the method comprising:

receiving, at the intermediary system, a data stream including a video content selection comprising:

a first advertising segment representing content exclusively devoted to advertising;

a first content segment featuring primary content of the video content selection that is separate and distinct from the first advertising segment; and

a metatag embedded within the first content segment, the metatag modeling a template object appearing within first content segment so that an advertising object may be transformed using the template object, whereby the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment;

processing, with at least one processor, the data stream by the intermediary system, the processing of the data stream comprising extracting the metatag from the first content segment;

identifying, with the at least one processor, an advertising descriptor based on characteristics of a scene and the metatag extracted from the first content segment, wherein the advertising descriptor reflects a temporal transformation of the advertising object within the scene from a first appearance at a first instance to a second appearance at a second instance, and wherein the advertising object does not change its appearance between a third instance and a fourth instance even though the position of the advertising object does change between the third instance and the fourth instance,

wherein the identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection weight rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object from a set of available advertising objects based on a numerical selection weight value associated with the advertising object, the numerical selection weight value being included in the metatag embedded within the first content segment;

selecting the advertising object based on the identified advertising descriptor to reflect the temporal transformation of the advertising object within the scene so that the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment;

receiving temporal characteristics of the advertising object;

receiving temporal characteristics of the template object in the first content segment;

modifying the advertising object responsive to the temporal characteristics of the template object so that the advertising object changes over time;

modifying the video content selection by inserting the advertising object in the data stream such that the advertising object is integrated into a scene of the video content selection, where an image scene of the video content selection is modified to integrate and enable visual display of content from within the scene of the video content selection and the advertising object concurrently and so that the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment and so that the advertising object is displayed consistent with the temporal characteristics of the template object in the first content segment; and

transmitting the video content selection to a recipient.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the advertising object at the intermediary system.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising downloading the advertising object from a content server.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting the advertising object to the intermediary system as part of the data stream.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection rule, a modification rule, or an insertion rule from within the data stream.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection rule and selecting, as the advertising object, an advertising object which avoids a conflict between one or more other advertising objects in the content selection.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein selecting the advertising object which avoids the conflict includes selecting the advertising object in response to determining whether a competing product has appeared, appears, or will appear in the content selection.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein selecting the advertising object which avoids the conflict includes determining whether the advertising object conflicts with a theme of the content selection, and if so, selecting a different object supporting the theme.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a temporal rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object based on temporal characteristics associated with the advertising object that are supported by the content selection.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a preference rule associated with the recipient and configured to promote selection of the advertising object based on recipient preferences.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing an identification code rule associated with the recipient and configured to promote selection of the advertising object based on an identification code identifying the advertising object.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a recipient demographics rule associated with the recipient and configured to promote selection of the advertising object based on demographics of the recipient.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object using a revenue objective.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object using content selection descriptions.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object based on a placement location of the advertising object within the content selection.

16. The method of claim 5 wherein the modification rule specifies visual, audio, or temporal characteristics of the advertising object.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the temporal characteristics specify a sequence of visual states for the advertising object that varies over time.

18. The method of claim 5 wherein the insertion rule indicates an opportunity to render the advertising object at a specified time for a specified duration.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes analyzing metatags embedded within the first content segment of the data stream that describe one or more activities within the video content selection.

20. A system configured to insert advertisements into a streaming video at an intermediary system, the system comprising:

a first communications interface structured and arranged to:

receive a data stream including a video content selection comprising:

a first advertising segment representing content exclusively devoted to advertising;

a first content segment featuring primary content of the video content selection that is separate and distinct from the first advertising segment; and

a metatag embedded within the first content segment, the metatag modeling a template object appearing within first content segment so that an advertising object may be transformed using the template object, whereby the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment; and

a controller structured and arranged to:

process the data stream by extracting the metatag from the first content segment;

identify an advertising descriptor based on characteristics of a scene and the metatag extracted from the first content segment, wherein the advertising descriptor reflects a temporal transformation of the advertising object within the scene from a first appearance at a first instance to a second appearance at a second instance, and wherein the advertising object does not change its appearance between a third instance and a fourth instance even though the position of the advertising object does change between the third instance and the fourth instance,

wherein the identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection weight rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object from a set of available advertising objects using a numerical selection weight value associated with the advertising object, the numerical selection weight value being included in the metatag embedded within the first content segment;

select the advertising object based on the identified advertising descriptor to reflect the temporal transformation of the advertising object within the scene so that the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment;

receive temporal characteristics of the advertising object;

receive temporal characteristics of the template object in the first content segment;

modify the advertising object responsive to the temporal characteristics of the template object so that the advertising object changes over time;

modify the video content selection by inserting the advertising object in the data stream such that the advertising object is integrated into a scene of the video content selection, where an image scene of the video content selection is modified to integrate and enable visual display of content from within the scene of the video content selection and the advertising object concurrently and so that the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment and so that the advertising object is displayed consistent with the temporal characteristics of the template object in the first content segment; and

a second communications interface structured and arranged to transmit the video content selection to a recipient.

21. A method of inserting advertisements into a streaming video at an intermediary system, the method comprising:

receiving, at the intermediary system, a data stream including a video content selection comprising:

a first advertising segment representing content exclusively devoted to advertising;

a first content segment featuring primary content of the video content selection that is separate and distinct from the first advertising segment; and

a metatag embedded within the first content segment, the metatag modeling a template object appearing within first content segment so that an advertising object may be transformed using the template object, whereby the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment;

processing, with at least one processor, the data stream by the intermediary system, the processing of the data stream comprising extracting the metatag from the first content segment;

identifying, with the at least one processor, an advertising descriptor based on characteristics of a scene and the metatag extracted from the first content segment,

wherein the identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection weight rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object from a set of available advertising objects using a numerical selection weight value associated with the advertising object, the numerical selection weight value being included in the metatag embedded within the first content segment;

selecting the advertising object based on the identified advertising descriptor;

receiving temporal characteristics of the advertising object;

receiving temporal characteristics of the template object in the first content segment, wherein the temporal characteristics reflect a temporal transformation of the advertising object within the scene from a first appearance at a first instance to a second appearance at a second instance, whereby the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment, and wherein the advertising object does not change its appearance between a third instance and a fourth instance even though the position of the advertising object does change between the third instance and the fourth instance;

modifying the advertising object responsive to the temporal characteristics of the template object so that the advertising object changes over time;

modifying the video content selection by inserting the advertising object in the data stream such that the advertising object is integrated into a scene of the video content selection, where an image scene of the video content selection is modified to integrate and enable visual display of content from within the scene of the video content selection and the advertising object concurrently and so that the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the first content segment and so that the advertising object is displayed consistent with the temporal characteristics of the template object in the first content segment; and

transmitting the video content selection to a recipient.

22. A method of inserting advertisements into a streaming video at an intermediary system, the method comprising:

receiving, at the intermediary system, a data stream including a video content selection comprising a plurality of advertising segments, and a plurality of content segments which comprise featured content;

receiving, on the intermediary system, a metatag embedded within at least one of the plurality of content segments, the metatag modeling a template object appearing within the at least one content segment so that an advertising object may be transformed using the template object, whereby the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the at least one content segment;

processing, with at least one processor, the data stream by the intermediary system, the processing of the data stream comprising extracting the metatag from the at least one of the plurality of content segments;

identifying, with the at least one processor, an advertising descriptor based on characteristics of a scene and the metatag extracted from the at least one of the plurality of content segments, wherein the advertising descriptor specifies that the advertising object within the scene does not change its appearance between a first instance and a second instance even though the position of the advertising object does change between the first instance and the second instance,

wherein the identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection weight rule configured to promote selection of the advertising object from a set of available advertising objects using a numerical selection weight value associated with the advertising object, the numerical selection weight value being included in the metatag embedded within the at least one of the plurality of content segments;

receiving temporal characteristics associated with the advertising object;

receiving temporal characteristics associated with the template object;

modifying the advertising object responsive to the temporal characteristics associated with the template object so that the advertising object changes between a third instance and a fourth instance;

modifying the video content selection by inserting the advertising object in the data stream such that the advertising object is integrated into a scene of the video content selection, whereby the advertising object appears as if the advertising object was originally captured in the at least one content segment and so that the advertising object is displayed consistent with the temporal characteristics associated with the template object; and

transmitting the video content selection to a recipient.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising transmitting the advertising object to the intermediary system as part of the data stream.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein identifying the advertising descriptor includes referencing a selection rule and selecting, as the advertising object, an advertising object which avoids a conflict between one or more other advertising objects in the content selection.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein selecting the advertising object which avoids the conflict includes determining whether the advertising object conflicts with a theme of the content selection, and if so, selecting a different object supporting the theme.