Methods and systems for grabbing video surfers' attention while awaiting download
Methods and systems are disclosed in which an estimated time a user will have to wait before a user selected video begins playing is calculated. The estimated time may be calculated based on, for example, speed of the connection, quality of the video (e.g., HD versus standard definition), length of the video, load on the server at the current time, etc. A game may be selected based at least in part on the calculated estimated wait time and the approximate time to finish the game. In some embodiments, one or more advertisements may be selected based on, for example, the type of video selected by the user (e.g., Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy, etc.), the search term(s) used by the user to search for the video, history of games played (e.g., what games, if any, has the user played previously), etc. The selected game and the one or more advertisements may be served to the user substantially simultaneously.
1. A method comprising:
at a server computer system comprising processor and memory:
receiving a request from a user to play an online video;
calculating an estimated range of time that the user may have to wait before the video begins playing;
selecting at least one game based at least in part on an approximate time to complete the game being within the estimated range of time that the user may have to wait before the video begins playing, wherein the approximate time to complete the game is calculated based on an average time to complete the game; and
serving the at least one game to the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated range of time is calculated based on one or more factors including: speed of connection, quality of video, length of video and server load.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting one or more advertisements based on one or more advertisement selection factors; and
serving the one or more advertisements to the user.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more advertisement selection factors include: a type of the online video requested by the user and a search term used by the user to search for the video.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the approximate time to complete the game is based on an average time to complete the game.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the game is displayed in a new browser window.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more advertisements are displayed in the browser window.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
closing the browser window upon completion of the game.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting one or more advertisements based on a history of games played by the user; and
serving the one or more advertisements to the user.
10. A system comprising:
one or more server computers coupled to a network; and
one or more databases coupled to the one or more server computers;
wherein the one or more server computers are configured for:
receiving a request from a user to play an online video;
calculating an estimated range of time that the user may have to wait before the video begins playing;
selecting at least one game based at least in part on an approximate time to complete the game being within the estimated range of time that the user may have to wait before the video begins playing, wherein the approximate time to complete the game is calculated based on an average time to complete the game; and
serving the at least one game to the user.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the estimated range of time is calculated based on one or more factors including: speed of connection, quality of video, length of video and server load.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more server computers are further configured to:
select one or more advertisements based on one or more advertisement selection factors; and
serve the one or more advertisements to the user.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more-advertisement selection factors include: a type of the online video requested by the user and a search term used by the user to search for the video.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the approximate time to complete the game is based on an average time to complete the game.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the game is displayed in a new browser window.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more advertisements are displayed in the browser window.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more server computers are further configured to:
close the browser window upon completion of the game by the user.
18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the approximate time to complete the game is based on a median time to complete the game.
19. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to:
select one or more advertisements based on a history of games played by the user; and
serve the one or more advertisements to the user.
20. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions for executing a method comprising:
receiving a request from a user to play an online video, wherein the request from the user includes search terms used to search for the online video;
calculating, based on one or more factors including quality of the requested online video and length of the requested online video, an estimated range of time that the user may have to wait before the online video begins playing;
selecting at least one game based at least in part on an approximate time to complete the game, such that the approximate time to complete the game is less than or equal to the estimated range of time that the user may have to wait before the video begins playing;
determining user topics of interest based on the search terms; and
selecting one or more advertisements based on one or more advertisement selection factors including the search terms in the received request, the determined user topics of interest, and a history of games played by the user, wherein the advertisement is related to the determined user topics of interest; and
simultaneously serving the selected game and the one or more advertisements to the user such that the user sees the advertisement while playing the game.