System to build advertisement database from unreliable sources

1. A method comprising:

providing an advertisement database having storage that is initially empty of advertisement fingerprints;

obtaining a multimedia asset, the multimedia asset comprising at least one of video, audio and text;

identifying segments of the multimedia asset, each of the segments corresponding to a time period; and

for each of the segments:

determining whether the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement by:

extracting a predetermined number of fingerprints from the respective segment,

submitting, to the advertisement database, the predetermined number of fingerprints, and

receiving, from the advertisement database, a count of the extracted fingerprints matching fingerprints previously stored in the advertisement database; and

upon determining, based at least on the count, that the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement:

aligning a first series of frames of video data from the multimedia asset with a second series of frames of video data from the advertisement database to identify a beginning of the advertisement within the respective segment, and to identify an end of the advertisement within the respective segment; and

determining, based at least on the count, whether to add to the advertisement database an indication that a time period of the respective segment from the identified beginning of the advertisement to the identified end of the advertisement is a new advertisement.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying segments comprises:

submitting, to the advertisement database, the obtained multimedia asset; and

receiving, from the advertisement database, each segment of the multimedia asset, each segment being based on an estimated beginning for the respective segment and an estimated ending for the respective segment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining whether the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement comprises:

submitting, to the advertisement database, some number of fingerprints extracted from the respective segment, and

receiving, from the advertisement database, an indication of whether or not the respective segment is an advertisement; and

wherein the first series of frames of video data from the multimedia asset is a series of video frames associated with an extracted fingerprint, and

wherein the second series of frames of video data from the advertisement database is a series of video frames associated with a corresponding matching fingerprint.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining whether to add the indication comprises determining whether the count is less than a threshold; and

upon determining the count is less than the threshold:

adding, to the advertisement database, the predetermined number of fingerprints extracted from the respective segment as the indication that the respective segment is a new advertisement; and

setting a counter associated with the indication to one.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether to add the indication comprises determining whether the count is less than a threshold; and

upon determining the count is not less than the threshold, incrementing, by the advertisement database, a counter associated with the previously stored fingerprints that matched the count of extracted fingerprints.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

for each indication of an advertisement in the advertisement database:

determining whether a counter associated with the respective indication is greater than a threshold; and

upon determining the associated counter is not greater than the threshold, removing the respective indication from the advertisement database.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the removing comprises deleting any fingerprint corresponding to the respective indication from the advertisement database.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a fingerprint query, the fingerprint query comprising a number of fingerprints extracted from a multimedia asset segment;

submitting, to the advertisement database, the number of fingerprints;

receiving, from the advertisement database, an indication of whether the number of fingerprints matches previously stored fingerprints; and

upon receipt of an indication that the number of fingerprints matches previously stored fingerprints, replacing the multimedia asset segment with another multimedia asset segment.

9. A system, comprising:

a receiver connected to receive audio and video data from a multimedia stream;

a computer memory containing an advertisement database having storage that is initially empty of advertisement fingerprints; and

a processor in communication with the receiver and the computer memory, the processor programmed to:

obtain a multimedia asset, the multimedia asset comprising at least one of video, audio and text;

identify segments of the multimedia asset, each of the segments corresponding to a time period; and

for each of the segments:

determine whether the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement by:

extracting a predetermined number of fingerprints from the respective segment,

submitting, to the advertisement database, the predetermined number of fingerprints, and

receiving, from the advertisement database, a count of the extracted fingerprints matching fingerprints previously stored in the advertisement database; and

upon a determination, based at least on the count, that the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement:

align a first series of frames of video data from the multimedia asset with a second series of frames of video data from the advertisement database to identify a beginning of the advertisement within the respective segment, and to identify an end of the advertisement within the respective segment; and

determine, based at least on the count, whether to add to the advertisement database an indication that a time period of the respective segment from the identified beginning of the advertisement to the identified end of the advertisement is a new advertisement.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

submit, to the advertisement database, the obtained multimedia asset; and

receive, from the advertisement database, each segment of the multimedia asset, each segment being based on an estimated beginning for the respective segment and an estimated ending for the respective segment.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

determine whether the count is less than a threshold by counting the number of fingerprints that both match fingerprints previously stored in the advertisement database and also are associated with a single advertisement record identifier; and

upon a determination that the count is less than a threshold:

add, to the advertisement database, the predetermined number of fingerprints extracted from the respective segment as the indication that the respective segment is a new advertisement;

store, in the advertisement database, metadata related to the multimedia asset; and

set a counter associated with the indication to one.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

upon a determination that the count is not less than a threshold, increment a counter associated with the previously stored fingerprints that matched the count of extracted fingerprints.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

for each indication of an advertisement in the advertisement database:

determine whether a counter associated with the respective indication is greater than a threshold; and

upon a determination that the associated counter is not greater than the threshold, remove the respective indication from the advertisement database.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further programmed to remove the respective indication from the advertisement database by deleting any fingerprint corresponding to the respective indication from the advertisement database.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer instructions, the instructions causing a computer to:

provide an advertisement database having storage that is initially empty of advertisement fingerprints;

obtain a multimedia asset, the multimedia asset comprising at least one of video, audio and text;

identify segments of the multimedia asset, each of the segments corresponding to a time period; and

for each of the segments:

determine whether the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement by:

extracting a predetermined number of fingerprints from the respective segment,

submitting, to the advertisement database, the predetermined number of fingerprints, and

receiving, from the advertisement database, a count of the extracted fingerprints matching fingerprints previously stored in the advertisement database; and

upon a determination, based at least on the count, that the respective segment contains at least a portion of an advertisement:

align a first series of frames of video data from the multimedia asset with a second series of frames of video data from the advertisement database to identify a beginning of the advertisement within the respective segment, and to identify an end of the advertisement within the respective segment; and

determine, based at least on the count, whether to add to the advertisement database an indication that a time period of the respective segment from the identified beginning of the advertisement to the identified end of the advertisement is a new advertisement.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:

submit, to the advertisement database, the obtained multimedia asset; and

receive, from the advertisement database, each segment of the multimedia asset, each segment being based on an estimated beginning for the respective segment and an estimated ending for the respective segment.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:

determine whether the count is less than a threshold by counting the number of fingerprints that both match fingerprints previously stored in the advertisement database and also are associated with a single advertisement record identifier; and

upon a determination that the count is less than a threshold:

add, to the advertisement database, the predetermined number of fingerprints extracted from the respective segment as the indication that the respective segment is a new advertisement;

store, in the advertisement database, metadata related to the multimedia asset; and

set a counter associated with the indication to one.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:

upon a determination that the count is not less than a threshold, increment a counter associated with the previously stored fingerprints that matched the count of extracted fingerprints.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:

for each indication of an advertisement in the advertisement database:

determine whether a counter associated with the respective indication is greater than a threshold; and

upon a determination that the associated counter is not greater than the threshold, remove the respective indication from the advertisement database.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions further cause the computer to remove the respective indication from the advertisement database by deleting any fingerprint corresponding to the respective indication from the advertisement database.