Adaptively serving companion shared content

1. A system comprising:

a memory;

a processor, coupled to the memory, to:

provide, via an online service, media content for consumption by a user of a user device, wherein the media content is provided for playback in a viewing area within a media player portion presented by a media player on a screen of the user device;

provide in-stream content to the user device for automatic playback in the viewing area within the media player portion of the media player without the playback of the media content;

receive an indication of user interaction with the in-stream content that is automatically played back in the viewing area within the media player portion without the playback of the media content; and

responsive to the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content, that is automatically played back in the viewing area within the media player portion, satisfying a user interest criterion representing that the user has consumed the in-stream content for a time period equal to or longer than a threshold amount, select companion content to send to the user device, the companion content being related to the in-stream content.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor further to:

responsive to the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content satisfying a different user interest criterion, select second companion content to send to the user device, the second companion content being unrelated to the in-stream content.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein to select the second companion content to send to the user device, the processor further to:

select the second companion content based on at least one of prior user activity, user preferences, or user history.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor further to:

determine whether the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content satisfies the different user interest criterion based on whether the user has consumed the in-stream content for the time period less than the threshold amount.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the in-stream content is to display in the viewing area within the media player portion prior to a display of the media content.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the companion content is to display outside the media player portion on the screen of the user device.

7. The system of claim 1 , the processor further to:

determine the indication of user interaction associated with the in-stream content.

8. The system of claim 1 , the processor further to:

cause the selected companion content to be transmitted to the user device for display.

9. A method, comprising:

providing, via an online service, media content for consumption by a user of a user device, wherein the media content is provided for playback in a viewing area within a media player portion presented by a media player on a screen of the user device;

providing in-stream content to the user device for automatic playback in the viewing area within the media player portion of the media player without the playback of the media content;

receiving an indication of user interaction with the in-stream content that is automatically played back in the viewing area within the media player portion without the playback of the media content; and

responsive to the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content, that is automatically played back in the viewing area within the media player portion, satisfying a user interest criterion representing that the user has consumed the in-stream content for a time period equal to or longer than a threshold amount, selecting, by a processor, companion content to send to the user device, the companion content being related to the in-stream content.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

responsive to the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content satisfying a different user interest criterion, selecting second companion content to send to the user device, the second companion content being unrelated to the in-stream content.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprising:

determining whether the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content satisfies the different user interest criterion based on whether the user has consumed the in-stream content for the time period less than the threshold amount.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein selecting the second companion content to send to the user device, the method further comprising:

selecting the second companion content based on at least one of prior user activity, user preferences, or user history.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the companion content is to display outside the media player portion on the screen of the user device.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the in-stream content is to display in the viewing area within the media player portion prior to a display of the media content.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instruction that, responsive to execution by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

providing, via an online service, media content for consumption by a user of a user device, wherein the media content is provided for playback in a viewing area within a media player portion presented by a media player on a screen of the user device;

providing in-stream content to the user device for automatic playback in the viewing area within the media player portion of the media player without the playback of the media content;

receiving an indication of user interaction with the in-stream content that is automatically played back in the viewing area within the media player portion without the playback of the media content; and

responsive to the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content, that is automatically played back in the viewing area within the media player portion, satisfying a user interest criterion representing that the user has consumed the in-stream content for a time period equal to or longer than a threshold amount, selecting, by the processor, companion content to send to the user device, the companion content being related to the in-stream content.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

responsive to the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content satisfying a different user interest criterion, selecting second companion content to send to the user device, the second companion content being unrelated to the in-stream content.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , the operations further comprising:

determining whether the indication of user interaction with the in-stream content satisfies the different user interest criterion based on whether the user has consumed the in-stream content for the time period less than the threshold amount.