AD PROXY SERVICE

1 . A method comprising:

performing an ad proxy service at an ad proxy server, including:

receiving a prepare request, from a client device, to prepare an advertisement for display during an ad break in content playing at the client device;

obtaining client metadata regarding the client device;

negotiating the advertisement with an ad server by obtaining ad metadata; and

providing the ad metadata to the client device.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting an ad server, from a plurality of ad servers, to negotiate the advertisement with.

3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising selecting the ad server based on the client metadata.

4 . The method of claim 2 further comprising:

determining a selected number of ads to negotiate for the ad break; and

negotiating the selected number of ads by obtaining the ad metadata for the selected number of ads.

5 . The method of claim 4 further comprising:

storing the ad metadata for the selected number of ads to a list data structure; and

providing the list data structure to the client device.

6 . The method of claim 5 further comprising:

receiving a fetch request from the client device to retrieve the list data structure; and

providing the list data structure in response to the fetch request.

7 . The method of claim 6 further comprising:

selecting multiple ad servers, from the plurality of ad servers, to negotiate the selected number of ads with; and

determining a prioritized bidding opportunity schedule to establish which order to contact the multiple ad servers to offer opportunities to bid on the selected number of ad slots.

8 . The method of claim 7 further comprising:

determining, in response to the prepare request, a preparation time in which to negotiate the selected number of ads; and

finalizing the list data structure when any of the following events occur: the selected number of ads have been negotiated, the preparation time has expired, and the fetch request has been received.

9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

logging analytics data received from the client device regarding playback of the advertisement.

10 . A system comprising:

an ad proxy server configured to perform an ad proxy service, including:

receive a prepare request, from a client device, to prepare an advertisement for display during an ad break in content playing at the client device;

obtain client metadata regarding the client device;

negotiate the advertisement with an ad server by obtaining ad metadata; and

provide the ad metadata to the client device.

11 . The system of claim 10 comprising the ad proxy server further configured to:

negotiate the advertisement based on the content of the advertisement and the client metadata.

12 . The system of claim 10 comprising the ad proxy server further configured to:

determine a selected number of ads to negotiate for the ad break;

negotiate the selected number of ads by obtaining the ad metadata for the selected number of ads;

store the ad metadata for the selected number of ads to a list data structure; and

provide the list data structure to the client device.

13 . The system of claim 12 comprising the ad proxy server further configured to:

select multiple ad servers, from a plurality of ad servers, to negotiate the selected number of ads with; and

determine a prioritized bidding opportunity schedule to establish which order to contact the multiple ad servers to offer opportunities to bid on the selected number of ad slots.

14 . The system of claim 10 comprising the ad proxy server further configured to:

determine, in response to the prepare request, a preparation time in which to negotiate the advertisement;

monitor for

1) an expiration of the preparation time, and

2) receipt of a fetch request from the client device, directing the ad proxy server to provide the ad metadata to the client device, with detection of either acting as a trigger to finalize the ad metadata to provide to the client device; and

provide the ad metadata to the client device in response to the fetch request.

15 . The system of claim 10 further comprising:

the client device configured to obtain the advertisement for display during the ad break in the content, including:

obtain ad configuration information regarding the content;

send the prepare request to the ad proxy server at a first time prior to the ad break;

send a fetch request to the ad proxy server at a second time prior to the ad break, the fetch request directing the ad proxy server to provide the ad metadata corresponding to the advertisement to the client device;

obtain the advertisement based on the ad metadata; and

display the advertisement during the ad break.

16 . A memory device storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to perform a method comprising:

obtaining, at a client device from an ad proxy service, an advertisement for display during an ad break in content playing at the client device, including:

obtaining ad configuration information regarding the content;

sending a prepare request to the ad proxy service at a first time prior to the ad break, the prepare request directing the ad proxy service to prepare the advertisement;

sending a fetch request to the ad proxy service at a second time prior to the ad break, the fetch request directing the ad proxy service to provide ad metadata corresponding to the advertisement to the client device;

obtaining the advertisement based on the ad metadata; and

displaying the advertisement during the ad break.

17 . The memory device of claim 16 storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the method further comprising:

accessing the advertisement from an ad server based on the ad metadata, wherein the ad metadata includes a network address for the advertisement.

18 . The memory device of claim 17 storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the method further comprising:

sending client system metadata to the ad proxy service along with the prepare request.

19 . The memory device of claim 18 storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the method further comprising:

the client system metadata includes uniquely identifying information associated with the client device; and

accessing the advertisement from the ad server based on the uniquely identifying information and the ad metadata.

20 . The memory device of claim 16 storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the method further comprising:

obtaining analytics data corresponding to display of the advertisement during the ad break; and

transmitting the analytics data to a remote system.