Methods and systems for inserting media content
View Patent ↗A method and system for providing a content object is disclosed with an in-stream ad unit inserted into the content object for a content object player. The content object is audio and/or video. The processed content object is downloaded or streamed to the content object player. A method for content insertion is provided. In this method, a first media data is received from a server and a placement request is transmitted to a content provider service. As a result, a placement response is received from the content provider service. The placement response includes data identifying a second media data associated with the first media data. The second media data is retrieved and merged with the first media data. After the merge, the first and second media data are transmitted to the server.
1. A system for merging interchangeable advertisements with a requested audio and/or video object over a computer network, such as the Internet, the system comprising a first server including one or more hardware processors and a memory coupled to the one or more hardware processor wherein the memory includes instructions that, when executed by the one or more hardware processors, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations including to:
receive a first request over the computer network from a device, wherein:
the device is configured to play audio and/or video,
the first request comprises an audio and/or video identifier,
the audio and/or video identifier identifies an audio and/or video object,
a first media format corresponds to a media format of the audio and/or video object, and
a first sampling rate corresponds to a sampling rate of the audio and/or video object;
transmit a second request to an ad server, the second request comprising the audio and/or video identifier;
receive a response from the ad server, the response comprising:
a first advertisement identifier, wherein:
the first advertisement identifier identifies a first advertisement, the first advertisement being audio and/or video,
the first advertisement identifier is selected by the ad server based on the audio and/or video identifier,
a second media format corresponds to a media format of the first advertisement, and
a second sampling rate corresponds to a sampling rate of the first advertisement; and
a location identifier identifying a location where the first advertisement is to be merged with the audio and/or video object;
retrieve the first advertisement;
merge the first advertisement with the audio and/or video object at the location to create a first merged object when the first media format matches the second media format and the first sampling rate matches the second sampling rate;
merge a second advertisement with the audio and/or video object at the location to create a second merged object when the first media format does not match the second media format and/or the first sampling rate does not match the second sampling rate, wherein:
the first server converts the first advertisement into a second advertisement,
a third media format corresponds to a media format of the second advertisement,
a third sampling rate corresponds to a sampling rate of the second advertisement, and
the third media format matches the first media format and/or the third sampling rate matches the first sampling rate; and
transmit the first merged object or the second merged object to the device.
2. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 1 , further comprising the ad server, wherein the ad server is configured to:
receive the second request; and
compose the response.
3. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 1 , further comprising the ad server configured to track a number of the second request received from the first server.
4. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with a requested audio and/or video object over a computer network as recited in claim 3 , wherein the first server is further configured to:
monitor the transmission of the first merged object or the second merged object to the device; and
send a third request to the ad server to reduce the number of the second request received from the first server when the first merged object and/or the second merged object is not completed.
5. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 1 , further comprising the ad server, wherein the ad server is configured to:
receive a content request for the first advertisement; and
retrieve the first advertisement.
6. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first server is configured as a World Wide Web (Web) server.
7. A method for providing interchangeable advertisements with a requested audio and/or video object over a computer network, such as the Internet, the method comprising:
receiving a first request over the computer network from a device, wherein:
the device is configured to play audio and/or video,
the first request comprises an audio and/or video identifier,
the audio and/or video identifier identifies an audio and/or video object,
a first media format corresponds to a media format of the audio and/or video object, and
a first sampling rate corresponds to a sampling rate of the audio and/or video object;
transmitting a second request to an ad server, the second request comprising the audio and/or video identifier;
receiving a response from the ad server, the response comprising:
a first advertisement identifier, wherein:
the first advertisement identifier identifies a first advertisement, the first advertisement being audio and/or video,
the first advertisement identifier is selected by the ad server based on the audio and/or video identifier,
a second media format corresponds to a media format of the first advertisement, and
a second sampling rate corresponds to a sampling rate of the first advertisement; and
a location identifier identifying a location where the first advertisement is to be merged with the audio and/or video object;
retrieving the first advertisement;
merging the first advertisement with the audio and/or video object at the location to create a first merged object when the first media format matches the second media format and the first sampling rate matches the second sampling rate;
converting the first advertisement into a second advertisement when the first media format does not match the second media format and/or the first sampling rate does not match the second sampling rate, and merging the second advertisement with the audio and/or video object at the location to create a second merged object, wherein:
a third media format corresponds to a media format of the second advertisement,
a third sampling rate corresponds to a sampling rate of the second advertisement, and
the third media format matches the first media format and/or the third sampling rate matches the first sampling rate; and
transmitting the first merged object or the second merged object to the device.
8. The method for providing interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 7 , wherein retrieving the first advertisement comprises retrieving the first advertisement from a cache of the first server.
9. The method for providing interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving a third request for a second audio and/or video object from a second device configured to play audio and/or video;
determining not to merge the second audio and/or video object with an advertisement; and
transmitting the second audio and/or video object to the second device.
10. The method for providing interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 9 , wherein the second device is the first device.
11. The method for providing interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 7 , wherein the retrieving the first advertisement comprises:
sending a content request to the ad server for the first advertisement; and
receiving the first advertisement from the ad server.
12. The method for providing interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 7 , wherein merging the first advertisement with the audio and/or video object comprises preserving metadata associated the audio and/or video object and erasing metadata associated with the first advertisement.
13. The method for providing interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 7 , wherein the ad server is configured as a World Wide Web (Web) server.
14. A system for merging interchangeable advertisements with a requested audio and/or video object over a computer network, such as the Internet, the system comprising:
a first server including one or more hardware processors and a memory coupled to the one or more hardware processor wherein the memory includes instructions that, when executed by the one or more hardware processors, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations including to:
receive a first request over the computer network from a device, wherein:
the device is configured to play audio and/or video,
the first request comprises an audio and/or video identifier,
the audio and/or video identifier identifies an audio and/or video object, and
the audio and/or video object comprises one or more attributes;
transmit a second request to an ad server, the second request comprising the audio and/or video identifier;
receive a response from the ad server, the response comprising:
a mergeable advertisement, wherein:
the mergeable advertisement is audio and/or video,
the mergeable advertisement comprises one or more another attributes, the one or more another attributes of the mergeable advertisement match the one or more attributes of the audio and/or video object; and
a location identifier identifying a location where the mergeable advertisement is to be merged with the audio and/or video object;
merge the mergeable advertisement with the audio and/or video object at the location to create a merged object; and
transmit the merged object to the device; and
the ad server configured to:
receive the second request from the first server;
select a first advertisement based on the audio and/or video identifier, wherein the first advertisement comprises one or more further attributes;
compose the response to send to the first server comprising the first advertisement as the mergeable advertisement when the one or more further attributes of the first advertisement match the one or more attributes of the audio and/or video object; and
compose the response to send to the first server comprising a second advertisement as the mergeable advertisement when the one or more further attributes of the first advertisement do not match the one or more attributes of the audio and/or video object, wherein the ad server converts the first advertisement into the second advertisement so that the one or more additional attributes of the mergeable advertisement match the one or more attributes of the audio and/or video object.
15. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 14 , wherein the first server is further configured to authenticate the first request from the device.
16. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 14 , wherein the ad server is further configured to track a number of the second request received from the first server.
17. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 16 , wherein the number of the second request is tracked according to a type of media processing software used by the device.
18. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 16 , wherein the ad server is configured to reduce the number of the second request when the merged object is not fully transmitted to the device.
19. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 14 , wherein the first server is configured to preserve metadata associated with the audio and/or video object and erase metadata associated with the mergeable advertisement.
20. The system for merging interchangeable advertisements with the requested audio and/or video object over the computer network as recited in claim 14 , wherein the first server is configured as a World Wide Web (Web) server.