System and method for metadata-linked advertisements
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for providing metadata-selected advertisements are provided. These systems and methods may receive metadata and other media, select an object, read metadata attached to or associated with the selected object, select an advertisement based on the metadata, and display the selected advertisement. In addition, monitoring, collecting, and recording of predefined data concerning metadata selected advertisements may be provided. The invention also provides a receiver for receiving signals and/or data (e.g., programs, advertisements, program guides, metadata, etc.) and a processor for accepting a user's input signal, selecting an object, reading metadata attached to or associated with a selected object, selecting an advertisement, and displaying the selected advertisement.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at user equipment, a video program, a selectable object embedded in the video program by a server from which the video program is received, and metadata associated with the selectable object;
receiving, at the user equipment, a plurality of advertisements and metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements, wherein the metadata associated with each advertisement describes content of the respective advertisement;
causing the video program to be displayed on a viewing device, at the user equipment, wherein the object is displayed within a scene of the video program;
receiving a user selection of the object displayed within the scene of the video program on the viewing device;
comparing, at the user equipment, the metadata associated with the object selected by the user with the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements;
selecting, at the user equipment, without further user selection, one of the plurality of advertisements based on the metadata comparison;
if the selected advertisement is not stored on the user equipment, downloading the selected advertisement from a remote location; and
causing the selected advertisement to be displayed on the viewing device in response to the selection of one of the plurality of advertisements.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising periodically receiving the plurality of advertisements from the remote location.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising polling the remote location for the plurality of advertisements.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the plurality of advertisements at the user equipment.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising ordering one or more items presented in the selected advertisement.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the downloading is based on the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements includes source address information.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the downloading is based on the source address information.
9. A method comprising:
receiving, at user equipment, a video program and metadata associated with the video program;
receiving, at the user equipment, a plurality of advertisements and metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements, wherein the metadata associated with each advertisement describes content of the respective advertisement;
comparing, at the user equipment, the metadata associated with the video program with the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements;
selecting, at the user equipment, without user input, one of the plurality of advertisements based on the metadata comparison;
if the selected advertisement is not stored on the user equipment, downloading the selected advertisement from a remote location; and
causing the selected advertisement to be displayed on a viewing device, at the user equipment in response to the selection of one of the plurality of advertisements.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements includes source address information.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the downloading is based on the source address information.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the downloading is based on the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements.
13. The method of claim 9 further comprising periodically receiving the plurality of advertisements from the remote location.
14. The method of claim 9 further comprising polling the remote location for the plurality of advertisements.
15. The method of claim 9 further comprising storing the plurality of advertisements at the user equipment.
16. The method of claim 9 further comprising ordering one or more items presented in the selected advertisement.
17. A system comprising user equipment comprising:
a receiver that:
receives, at the user equipment, a video program, a selectable object embedded in the video program by a server from which the video program is received, and metadata associated with the selectable object; and
receives, at the user equipment, a plurality of advertisements and metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements, wherein the metadata associated with each advertisement describes content of the respective advertisement; and
a processor operative to:
cause the video program to be displayed on a viewing device, at the user equipment, wherein the object is displayed within a scene of the video program;
receive a user selection of the object displayed within the scene of the video program on the viewing device;
compare, at the user equipment, the metadata associated with the object selected by the user with the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements;
select, without further user selection, at the user equipment, one of the plurality of advertisements based on the metadata comparison;
if the selected advertisement is not stored on the user equipment, download the selected advertisement from a remote location; and
cause the selected advertisement to be displayed on the viewing device in response to the selection of one of the plurality of advertisements.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the receiver periodically receives the plurality of advertisements from the remote location.
19. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is configured to poll the remote location for the plurality of advertisements.
20. The system of claim 17 further comprising a storage unit for storing the plurality of advertisements at the user equipment.
21. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is operative to allow the user to order one or more items presented in the selected advertisement.
22. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further operative to download the selected advertisement based on the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements.
23. The system of claim 17 , wherein the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements includes source address information.
24. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further operative to download based on the source address information.
25. A system comprising user equipment comprising:
a receiver that:
receives, at user equipment, a video program and metadata associated with the video program; and
receives, at the user equipment, a plurality of advertisements and metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements, wherein the metadata associated with each advertisement describes content of the respective advertisement; and
a processor operative to:
compare, at the user equipment, the metadata associated with the video program with the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements;
select, at the user equipment, without user input, one of the plurality of advertisements based on the metadata comparison;
if the selected advertisement is not stored on the user equipment, download the selected advertisement from a remote location; and
cause the selected advertisement to be displayed on a viewing device, at the user equipment, in response to the selection of one of the plurality of advertisements.
26. The system of claim 25 wherein the receiver periodically receives the plurality of advertisements from the remote location.
27. The system of claim 25 wherein the processor is configured to poll the remote location for the plurality of advertisements.
28. The system of claim 25 further comprising a storage unit for storing the plurality of advertisements at the user equipment.
29. The system of claim 25 wherein the processor is operative to allow the user to order one or more items presented in the selected advertisement.
30. The system of claim 25 , wherein the processor is further operative to download the selected advertisement based on the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements.
31. The system of claim 25 , wherein the metadata associated with each of the plurality of advertisements includes source address information.
32. The system of claim 31 , wherein the processor is further operative to download based on the source address information.
33. A method for providing product information, comprising:
receiving a video program and metadata associated with the video program, wherein the metadata associated with the video program indicates that a product is included in the video program;
receiving product information and metadata associated with the product information, wherein the metadata associated with the product information describes content of the product information;
comparing the metadata associated with the video program with metadata associated with the product information;
determining that the product information is associated with the product included in the video program based on the comparison;
selecting, without user input, the product information for display based on the comparison;
if the selected product information is not stored on user equipment, downloading the selected product information from a remote location; and
causing the product information to be displayed, without user input, on a viewing device in response to the selection of the product information.
34. The method of claim 33 , wherein the downloading is based on the metadata associated with the product information.
35. The method of claim 33 , wherein the metadata associated with the product information includes source address information.
36. The method of claim 35 , wherein downloading is based on the source address information.
37. A method for providing product information, comprising:
receiving a video program and metadata associated with the video program, wherein the metadata describes the content of the video program at a time in the video program;
receiving product information;
receiving, at the time in the video program, a user input to display product information;
comparing, in response to the user input, the metadata associated with the video program with the product information;
determining that the product information is associated with the product included in the video program based on the comparison;
selecting, without further user input, the product information for display based on the comparison;
if the selected product information is not stored on user equipment, downloading the selected product information from a remote location; and
causing the product information to be displayed on a viewing device in response to the selection of the product information.
38. The method of claim 37 , wherein the downloading is based on the metadata associated with the video program.
39. The method of claim 37 , wherein the metadata associated with the video program includes source address information.
40. The method of claim 39 , wherein downloading is based on the source address information.
41. A system for providing product information, comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive a video program and metadata associated with the video program, wherein the metadata associated with the video program indicates that a product is included in the video program;
receive product information and metadata associated with the product information, wherein the metadata associated with the product information describes the content of the product information;
compare the metadata associated with the video program with metadata associated with the product information;
determine that the product information is associated with the product included in the video program based on the comparison;
select, without user input, the product information for display based on the comparison;
if the selected product information is not stored on user equipment, download the selected product information from a remote location; and
cause the product information to be displayed, without user input, on a viewing device, at the user equipment, in response to the selection of the product information.
42. The system of claim 41 , wherein the processor is further configured to download the selected product information based on the metadata associated with the product information.
43. The system of claim 41 , wherein the metadata associated with the product information includes source address information.
44. The system of claim 43 , wherein the processor is further configured to download based on the source address information.
45. A system for providing product information, comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive a video program and metadata associated with the video program, wherein the metadata describes the content of the video program at a time in the video program;
receive product information;
receive, at the time in the video program, a user input to display product information;
compare, in response to the user input, the metadata associated with the video program with the product information;
determine that the product information is associated with the product included in the video program based on the comparison;
select, without further user input, the product information for display based on the comparison;
if the selected product information is not stored on user equipment, download the selected product information from a remote location; and
cause the product information to be displayed on a viewing device in response to the selection of the product information.
46. The system of claim 45 , wherein the processor is further configured to download the selected product information based on the metadata associated with the video program.
47. The system of claim 45 , wherein the metadata associated with the video program includes source address information.
48. The system of claim 47 , wherein the processor is further configured to download based on the source address information.