METHOD OF COLLECTING DATA USING AN EMBEDDED MEDIA PLAYER PAGE

1 - 33 . (canceled)

34 . A method of collecting data associated with media files, comprising:

receiving, at a log server, a plurality of time stamps transmitted from a media device at a plurality of time intervals while an embedded media player page is open on the media device, the embedded media player page including a media player for playing back a media file;

storing, at the log server, the time stamps in association with a play back of the media file;

determining, using a processor, a length of time the embedded media player page was open on the media device by calculating a difference between a first time stamp and a last time stamp of the plurality of time stamps;

determining whether the embedded media player page was open on the media device until the media file was played through completion by comparing the length of time the embedded media player page was open on the media device and a playing length of the media file;

recording, at the log server, a number of times that the media file has been played back; and

generating popularity data associated with the media file based on the number of times that the media file has been played back and information concerning whether the media file was played through completion for each play back of the media file.

35 . The method of claim 34 , further comprising:

maintaining a plurality of logs respectively associated with a plurality of media files, each log identifying a number of times the corresponding media file was played and whether the corresponding media file was played through completion; and

ranking the media files based the number of times each media file was played and whether the media file was played through completion.

36 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the embedded media player page includes instructions for requesting an advertisement from an advertisement server at predetermined time intervals while the embedded media player page is open, and for displaying the advertisement on the embedded media player page.

37 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the embedded media player page includes instructions for requesting the advertisement using a script file executed by the media device.

38 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the embedded media player page includes instructions for transmitting the time stamps to the log server at the predetermined time intervals at which the advertisement is requested.

39 . The method of claim 34 , further comprising:

receiving, at the log server, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for an invisible pixel graphics file.

40 . The method of claim 39 , wherein the invisible pixel graphics file is a one-pixel graphical interchange format (GIF) file.

41 . The method of claim 34 , further comprising:

receiving, at the log server, an Internet protocol (IP) address associated with the media device and a unique identifier associated with the media file.

42 . The method of claim 34 , further comprising:

storing a database including an index of a plurality of media files;

receiving a search query of the database; and

transmitting a list of media files based on the search query.

43 . The method of claim 42 , further comprising:

transmitting a ranking of the media files in the list.

44 . The method of claim 42 , further comprising:

transmitting, to the media device, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a host that provides the media files.

45 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a log server to perform the steps of:

receiving a plurality of time stamps transmitted from a media device at a plurality of time intervals while an embedded media player page is open on the media device, the embedded media player page including a media player for playing back a media file;

storing the time stamps in association with a play back of the media file;

determining, using the processor, a length of time the embedded media player page was open on the media device by calculating a difference between a first time stamp and a last time stamp of the plurality of time stamps;

determining whether the embedded media player page was open on the media device until the media file was played through completion by comparing the length of time the embedded media player page was open on the media device and a playing length of the media file;

recording a number of times that the media file has been played back; and

generating popularity data associated with the media file based on the number of times that the media file has been played back and information concerning whether the media file was played through completion for each play back of the media file.

46 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 45 , further storing instructions for:

maintaining a plurality of logs respectively associated with a plurality of media files, each log identifying a number of times the corresponding media file was played back and whether the media file was played through completion; and

ranking the media files based the numbers of times the media files were played and whether the media files were played through completion.

47 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 45 , wherein the embedded media player page includes instructions for requesting an advertisement from an advertisement server at predetermined time intervals while said embedded media player page is open, and for displaying the advertisement on the embedded media player page.

48 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 45 , further storing instructions for receiving a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for an invisible pixel graphics file.

49 . An apparatus for collecting data in association with a media file, the apparatus comprising:

a storage for storing instructions;

a processor for executing the instructions to perform the steps of:

receiving a plurality of time stamps transmitted from a media device at a plurality of time intervals while an embedded media player page is open on the media device, the embedded media player page including a media player for playing back of the media file;

storing the time stamps in association with a play back of the media file;

determining a length of time the embedded media player page was open on the media device by calculating a difference between a first time stamp and a last time stamp of the plurality of time stamps;

determining whether the embedded media player page was open on the media device until the media file was played through completion by comparing the length of time the embedded media player page was open on the media device and a playing length of the media file;

recording a number of times that the media file has been played back; and

generating popularity data associated with the media file based on the number of times that the media file has been played back and information concerning whether the media file was played through completion for each play back of the media file.

50 . The apparatus of claim 49 , further comprising instructions for:

maintaining a plurality of logs respectively associated with a plurality of media files, each log identifying a number of times the corresponding media file was played and whether the corresponding media file was played through completion; and

ranking the media files based the numbers of times each media file was played and whether the media files were played through completion.

51 . The apparatus of claim 49 , wherein the embedded media player page includes instructions for requesting an advertisement from a server at predetermined time intervals while the embedded media player page is open, and for displaying the advertisement on the embedded media player page.

52 . The apparatus of claim 49 , further comprising instructions for receiving a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for an invisible pixel graphics file.