Scheme for determining the locations and timing of advertisements and other insertions in media

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to execute steps comprising:

analyzing an image;

identifying one or more faces in the image using a face recognition technique;

determining a size of each of the identified faces;

designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area of interest based on the determined sizes of the identified faces and whether a face is a certain proportion to another face, wherein the certain proportion is defined by a threshold setting that is used to select faces for inclusion in the first area of interest;

determining whether an insertion area exists in the image where additional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest;

wherein the one or more computer programs are further adapted to cause the processor based system to execute steps comprising:

determining whether the insertion area can be divided into two or more regions based on color;

dividing the insertion area into two or more regions based on color; and

inserting the additional content into one of the two or more regions such that the additional content is completely contained within the one of the two or more regions.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the image comprises one frame in a sequence of frames of content.

3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein:

the identifying one or more faces in the image comprises identifying one or more faces in a scene depicted by the sequence of frames; and

the determining whether an insertion area exists in the image where additional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest comprises determining whether an insertion area exists in the scene where additional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the one or more computer programs are further adapted to cause the processor based system to execute steps comprising:

determining an amount of time that the insertion area is available when the sequence of frames is being played.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the one or more computer programs are further adapted to cause the processor based system to execute steps comprising:

determining a size of the insertion area.

6. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to execute steps comprising:

analyzing an image;

identifying one or more faces in the image using a face recognition technique;

determining a size of each of the identified faces;

designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area of interest based on the determined sizes of the identified faces and whether a face is a certain proportion to another face; and

determining whether an insertion area exists in the image where additional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest;

wherein the step of designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area of interest based on the determined sizes of the identified faces and whether a face is a certain proportion to another face comprises:

selecting a largest one of the identified faces and only ones of the identified faces that are not smaller than a certain percentage of the largest one of the identified faces.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the certain percentage is designated by a user.

8. A method, comprising:

analyzing a first sequence of frames of content;

identifying one or more faces in a scene depicted by the first sequence of frames using a face recognition technique;

determining a size of each of the identified faces;

designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area of interest based on the determined sizes of the identified faces and whether a face is a certain proportion to another face, wherein the certain proportion is defined by a threshold setting that is used to select faces for inclusion in the first area of interest;

determining whether an insertion area exists in the scene where additional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest;

determining whether the insertion area can be divided into two or more regions based on color;

dividing the insertion area into two or more regions based on color; and

inserting the additional content into one of the two or more regions such that the additional content is completely contained within the one of the two or more regions.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the content further comprises a second sequence of frames following the first sequence of frames.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

playing the content so that the first sequence of frames plays and displays the inserted additional content and then the second sequence of frames plays.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the playing the content further comprises:

providing an option to a user during the first sequence of frames to skip the inserted additional content.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the option to skip the inserted additional content is provided to the user after an elapsed amount of time.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the option to skip the inserted additional content is provided to the user in response to the user clicking on something on the user's screen.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to execute steps comprising:

playing a first sequence of frames, wherein the first sequence of frames includes an advertisement inserted into a scene depicted by at least some of the frames in the first sequence of frames; and

playing a second sequence of frames after the first sequence of frames;

wherein the advertisement was inserted into the scene in the first sequence of frames by a process that includes,

identifying one or more faces in the scene using a face recognition technique;

determining a size of each of the identified faces;

designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area of interest based on the determined sizes of the identified faces and whether a face is a certain proportion to another face, wherein the certain proportion is defined by a threshold setting that is used to select faces for inclusion in the first area of interest;

determining whether an insertion area exists in the scene where the advertisement can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest;

determining whether the insertion area can be divided into two or more regions based on color;

dividing the insertion area into two or more regions based on color; and

inserting the advertisement into one of the two or more regions such that the advertisement is completely contained within the one of the two or more regions.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the one or more computer programs are further adapted to cause the processor based system to execute steps comprising:

providing an option to a user during the playing of the first sequence of frames to skip the advertisement.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the option to skip the advertisement is provided to the user after an elapsed amount of time.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the option to skip the advertisement is provided to the user in response to the user clicking on something on the user's screen.