JP2016149802A - Interval based advertisement insertion used for delivery of video streams - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus for performing time window based adaptive advertisement insertion into video on demand (VOD) programs.SOLUTION: In the method, advertisements are inserted dynamically according to actual content viewing time, as opposed to fixed advertisement insertion points in conventional advertisement insertion. The method minimizes a negative impact on viewers caused by inserted advertisements in an interactive session, in which trick modes such as fast forward and rewind are frequently used.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3a

Description

  This principle relates to advertising. More particularly, it relates to time window based advertisement insertion for requested video programs.

  For video on demand programs, the user can use control commands to pause, fast forward, rewind, skip segments of the program, and randomly select video content. Traditional ad insertion techniques are based on a small number of fixed insertion points that exist between video segments used for the delivered program and do not work well for on-demand programs. For example, if the user operates the trick playback function while watching the on-demand program, the user avoids the advertisement by skipping the advertisement insertion point. From the advertiser's perspective, this is a problem because the advertisements purchased by the advertiser are not displayed.

  Some service providers address this skipping problem by forcing the user to view the advertisement by prohibiting the video server from skipping the advertisement. Thus, a video program can be flipped or fast-forwarded through the program event, but such trick play functionality is disabled during the inserted commercial, so the user is free of advertising time within the program. In the meantime you are forced to watch commercials.

  According to one aspect of the present principles, a method for displaying a message is the step of determining whether a playback device is in an active mode for a time window having a predetermined time window reference, wherein the playback device is inactive. When in mode, the time window does not include time, and when the time window criteria are met, identifying available message insertion points in the multimedia stream; and time window criteria Inserting a first message into the multimedia stream at a message insertion point after is satisfied.

  The active mode can include, for example, playing a multimedia stream at standard speed, and the inactive mode can include a trick mode of operation of the playback device. Trick mode or inactive mode can, for example, pause playback of the multimedia stream, fast-forward the multimedia stream (1x, 2x, 4x, etc.), rewind playback of the multimedia stream ( 1 ×, 2 ×, 4 ×, etc.) and slow motion playback of the multimedia stream. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the operations constituting the active and inactive modes can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present principles. For example, the active mode and the inactive mode can be determined by the operator of the service and may be different for each operator of the service.

  The predetermined time window criterion may be a predetermined time during which the message is not displayed to the user.

  According to another aspect, the method includes resuming the time window after the inserting step and repeating the determining, identifying, and inserting steps for the next message displayed to the user. . In this implementation, the time between the display of the first message to the user and the display of the next message is substantially equal to the active device time window period.

  According to yet another aspect, the method can further include marking the multimedia stream with a potential message insertion point before delivering the multimedia stream to the user, and determining, identifying And receiving a message insertion request prior to the inserting step. In yet other implementations, the method can further include ignoring additional message insertion requests until the determining, identifying, and inserting steps are performed on the received message insertion request.

  Multimedia streams to which this principle can be applied include, for example, television programs, audio programs, radio programs, video games, movies, streaming audio, streaming video, mobile video programs, mobile audio programs, and video on demand (VOD). ) Programs. Other multimedia streams to which this principle can be applied can also be included in this list.

  According to other aspects, the inserted message may be a static advertisement, an active advertisement, and / or a combination of one or more of the above.

  According to yet another implementation, the apparatus includes a processor and a multimedia message that communicates with the processor so that the processor and the storage device cooperate to provide a multimedia stream to the end user. Means for inserting into the stream. The inserting means configures the processor to determine when the multimedia stream is active for the time period defined by the time window and, when the time window criteria are met, Inserting into the stream. According to an implementation, the time window does not include the time elapsed when the multimedia stream is inactive.

  According to one implementation, the insertion means includes an advertisement insertion server in communication with the processor and the storage device, the processor and the storage device forming part of the program stream server. According to another implementation, the insertion means may include an advertisement insertion server integrated within the program stream server.

  The program stream server may include a trick mode detector configured to detect trick mode operation of the multimedia stream and a counter configured to monitor a time window of active playback of the multimedia stream. it can.

  Other aspects and features of the present principles will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are designed for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to define the scope of the present principles, which should be referred to the appended claims. Please understand that. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and are only intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein, unless otherwise specified. .

In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate like components throughout the drawings.
1 is a block diagram of an end-to-end advertisement insertion system. It is a figure which shows the linear advertisement insertion method of a prior art. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating time window based advertisement insertion according to an implementation of the present principles. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for dynamic advertisement insertion according to an implementation of the present principles. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of time window based advertisement insertion according to an implementation of the present principles. It is a block diagram of the advertisement insertion system by implementation of this principle.

  The present principle proposes an advertisement insertion method and apparatus for dynamically inserting advertisements based on the elapsed time when the user actually viewed the content. The elapsed time does not include time spent in the trick mode by the user, such as pause, fast forward, or rewind. When the elapsed time exceeds a preset threshold, an advertising program (ie, an appropriate audio / video format advertisement) is inserted at the appropriate time, such as the closest pre-specified insertion point. Since the ad is only presented to the user after the user has seen a legitimate program for some time, the negative impact on the user is minimized even if the video server does not allow the user to skip the ad . As a result, the method according to the present principle increases the likelihood that the advertising program will be delivered to the viewer.

  According to one implementation of the present principles, the advertisement insertion device is incorporated into an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) video on demand (VOD) system. According to other implementations, the ad insertion server can be incorporated into a video rich web server or video search engine.

  In the description of the present invention, the term “time window” refers to a time interval in which a value is increased (typically by a time unit such as seconds). The time window or time interval is increased when the video program is in “active mode” or non-trick playback mode. Typically, active mode is associated with the display of video programs in a real-time manner (not fast or slow). The time window or time interval is not increased when the video program is in the “inactive mode”, such as skipping, fast-forwarding the video program, reversing the video program, etc., under the influence of the trick play function.

  FIG. 1 illustrates an end-to-end advertisement insertion system according to an implementation of the present principles. The program streaming server 106 transmits the regular content 102 as a stream, and transmits an advertisement insertion request to the advertisement streaming server 108 when an advertisement insertion event is detected. When the advertisement streaming server 108 receives a request from the video (program) stream server 106, the advertisement streaming server 108 streams the advertisement content 104, and sends back a notification when the advertisement insertion is completed. Although multiple servers can be used to deliver programs and advertisements, in a video on demand (VOD) system, the video stream server 106 and the advertisement insertion server 108 can be combined into one server.

  2a and 2b illustrate a time window based ad insertion system of the present principles. FIG. 2a shows a conventional linear advertisement insertion, where the advertisement is inserted at fixed advertisement insertion points A and B of a linear program.

  FIG. 2b shows a new advertisement insertion scheme according to the implementation of this principle. All available ad insertion points P are pre-indexed in each program. In one aspect of this method, there are more advertisement insertion points P that are available in the program than the actual insertion points. Only those of these available ad insertion points P that meet the time window criteria become the actual insertion points during streaming. Thus, many of the available ad insertion points P are not used, only the available ad insertion points that follow after meeting the time window criteria, eg, after watching a program for 10 minutes, after that period. The closest available ad insertion point P is used for actual ad insertion.

  In one aspect of the invention, the artistic integrity of the video program should be maintained, and the insertion of advertisement insertion points P can be implemented at fixed time intervals. Such a method can be improved by manually specifying where such an insertion point P should be in the video program. However, since the amount of video content available is enormous, it may be difficult to manually define such an advertisement insertion point P for all video content. Thus, in any embodiment of the present invention, the generation of the advertisement insertion point P is performed automatically.

  One available method for automatically generating the advertisement insertion P is to have the server 106 analyze the attributes of the video program to be delivered. For example, splicing points can be used in video programs. Alternatively, the server 106 can apply fade-in, fade-out, abrupt scene changes, techniques for identifying scene changes that can be identified by scene change flags in the bitstream, or other methods in accordance with these principles. . Further, the advertisement insertion P can be confirmed by analyzing the metadata associated with the stream, where a change in metadata indicates a potential advertisement insertion point P.

  In order to eliminate the possibility of identifying potential advertisement insertion points too frequently, a limiting condition can be provided that reduces the overall number of advertisement insertion points P that are automatically identified. For example, in this limited condition, the maximum number of advertisement insertion points P specified during the selected period can be set. In addition, a plurality of criteria can be utilized to provide a rating for the identified advertisement insertion point P. For example, the advertisement insertion P specified in consideration of the fade-out sequence can be given a higher weight than the advertisement insertion P specified for changing the metadata. Other methods can be implemented according to these principles.

  It can also be seen that the user can switch to a different content stream (eg, content 1, content 2, content 3, content 4, etc. as shown in FIG. 2b) during the time window. The principles continue to apply the same method of inserting and displaying advertisements after each time window criterion is met. As shown in FIG. 2b, the selected ad insertion point depends on the point P available for the content currently being viewed or listened to.

  During the real-time stream transmission, the program is accessed randomly. Content 1-4 shows a scenario in which multiple content streams are accessed in a real-time streaming session. In actual use, content 1-4 may be different chapters of the same movie, different movies, different news clips, or the like. Thus, it appears that the available ad insertion points P in this example are occurring at random times, which is not the case. The reason is that a user watching such a program will probably switch between different stream video streams. The time window process only validates ad insertion points separated by a predefined time window. Time elapsed when operating the playback device in trick mode or during actual advertisement insertion is excluded from the time window or time interval.

  FIG. 3a shows a high level flow diagram of a method 300 for dynamic advertisement insertion according to an implementation of the present principles. Initially, it is determined whether the multimedia stream is in an active mode during a period defined by a time interval corresponding to a time window (290). In general, the active mode is defined by normal playback of a multimedia stream by a playback device. The playback device may be, for example, a set-top box having a VOD function, a computer, a DVD player, another video / audio on-demand playback device, or QUICKTIME ™, WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER ™, REAL PLAYER ™ ), FLASH (trademark), and other playback devices that use streaming media playback programs.

  During playback of the multimedia stream, one or more insertion requests can be received or defined. In response, the system identifies an available message insertion point in the multimedia stream when the time window criteria are met (ie, the duration of the active playback mode has elapsed) (292). The message is inserted into the first identified available message insertion point that occurs in the multimedia stream after meeting the established time window timing criteria. That is, the time interval is associated with a time window, and the value of the time interval increases while the video is viewed in normal or real-time display mode. The time interval is not incremented when the video is in trick play mode. Thus, the timing reference is a predetermined time value such as 5 minutes or 10 minutes. A comparison is performed to determine whether the time length of the time interval exceeds a predetermined time value. If the time interval exceeds a predetermined time value, the message is inserted at the first identified available message insertion point. If the time interval is less than the predetermined time interval, no message is inserted and the time interval associated with the time window is continuously incremented.

  FIG. 3b shows a more detailed flowchart illustrating the method of dynamic advertisement insertion 350 according to an implementation of the present principles. Initially, the clock or time recording counter associated with the time interval is reset (302) and it is determined whether the playback device is in trick mode (304) (ie, when operating in trick mode). , Playback of the stream is considered inactive). If not in trick mode, the time window counter associated with the time interval continues to be ticked / incremented (306). If in step 304 the trick mode is in effect, the time window counter ticks off and a determination is made as to whether the time window counter has exceeded a predetermined threshold time (308). The predetermined threshold time can be set by the user and stored in a setting file, or can be preset by the manufacturer or information / service provider. If the threshold has not been exceeded (308), the process returns to monitoring trick mode (304) and ticking the time window counter (306) until the counter threshold is met.

  If the threshold is met at step 310 and the time associated with the time interval exceeds the threshold, it is determined if there are any ad insertion points available in the stream packet (310). If not, the process returns to trick mode monitoring 304 and time window 306. If there is an ad insertion point available in the stream packet, the ad insertion point is validated (312) and ad insertion is performed at that point (314). Here, the advertisement insertion point is an advertisement insertion point first encountered in the stream packet. When complete, the time window counter associated with the time interval is reset and the system is ready to repeat the advertisement insertion process 300.

  FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of an advertisement insertion system 400 according to an implementation of the present principles. The video streamer 414 of the program streaming server 402 streams on-demand regular program content 102 to the end user in accordance with user session interaction requests such as play, pause, rewind, fast forward, etc. In addition, the video streamer 414 detects an advertisement insertion point in the regular program content 102. In general, the user knows that a user is playing a video stream via a playback device, such as a set-top box with VOD capability, a computer, or other video / audio on-demand playback device. Will be self-explanatory. A program streaming server typically includes a processor 405 and a storage device 406 (eg, RAM, ROM, hard disk, or other suitable storage device) for storing program commands to be executed by the processor. Although not explicitly shown, it should be understood that the processor 405 communicates with all components included within the program streaming server 402.

  An elapsed time counter 408 tracks the elapsed time during the playback mode. The trick modes implemented by the trick mode detector 407 (pause, fast forward, rewind, etc.) operate to disable the counter 408 so that the counter spends the time spent by the user in a given trick mode ( Can be excluded from the time window). If the elapsed time exceeds a predefined threshold determined by the comparator 412, the available ad insertion points detected by the program streamer are sent to the ad insertion server 404 to trigger an ad insertion event. Generated advertisement insertion signal. In one implementation, advertisement insertion server 404 and program streaming server 402 are implemented on a single server device.

  When the advertisement insertion request is received, the advertisement insertion server 404 executes advertisement insertion. Once advertisement insertion has begun, subsequent advertisement insertion requests are ignored by the advertisement insertion server until the current insertion is completed. Upon completion, the ad insertion server sends a reset signal back to the elapsed time counter 408 to clear the counter value or reset to 0, which causes the counter to count the elapsed time of the active mode operation during the time window. Start again.

  The implementation of the various processes and features described herein may be implemented in a variety of different devices or applications, particularly devices or applications related to data transmission and reception. Examples of devices include video coders, video decoders, video codecs, web servers, set top boxes, laptops, personal computers, and other communication devices. Of course, the apparatus may be a moving body and can be installed in a moving vehicle.

  Further, the method can be implemented by instructions executed by a processor, such instructions being integrated into a processor readable medium such as a software carrier, or a hard disk, compact disk, random access memory (“RAM”). Or in other storage devices such as read only memory ("ROM"). The instructions can form a clearly implemented application program on a processor readable medium. Of course, the processor may include a processor readable medium having instructions for executing the process, for example.

  A number of implementations have been described. However, it should be understood that various modifications are possible. For example, elements of different implementations can be combined, supplemented, changed, or removed to create other implementations. In addition, other structures and processes can be used in place of the disclosed structures and processes, and the resulting implementations at least essentially perform the same functions as the disclosed implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that they can be performed in the same manner and achieve at least essentially the same results. Accordingly, these and other implementations are within the scope of the claims.

A number of implementations have been described. However, it should be understood that various modifications are possible. For example, elements of different implementations can be combined, supplemented, changed, or removed to create other implementations. In addition, other structures and processes can be used in place of the disclosed structures and processes, and the resulting implementations at least essentially perform the same functions as the disclosed implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that they can be performed in the same manner and achieve at least essentially the same results. Accordingly, these and other implementations are within the scope of the claims.
[Appendix 1]
Determining (290) whether the playback device is in a first mode, wherein a time interval is incremented during the first mode, wherein the playback device is associated with a trick playback function; The time interval is not incremented when
Identifying a message insertion point for a multimedia stream when a time value associated with the time interval is at least one of a condition equal to and exceeding the threshold;
Inserting a first message into the multimedia stream at a subsequent message insertion point when the time value interval is at least one of a condition equal to and exceeding the threshold ( 294) and
How to display a message, including
[Appendix 2]
The method of claim 1, wherein the time interval includes a time during which a message is not displayed to a user.
[Appendix 3]
Resuming the time interval after the step of inserting;
Repeating the steps of determining, identifying and inserting a next message for display to the user, the time between the display of the first message and the display of the next message for the user Is substantially equal to the time interval of the first mode of the playback device in a non-trick playback mode;
The method according to appendix 1, further comprising:
[Appendix 4]
The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically marking a message insertion point on the multimedia stream before delivering the multimedia stream.
[Appendix 5]
The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of determining, identifying and inserting are performed while the user is watching in real time.
[Appendix 6]
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving a message insertion request prior to the step of determining, identifying and inserting.
[Appendix 7]
The method of claim 6, further comprising ignoring additional message insertion requests until the step of determining, identifying and inserting is performed on the received message insertion request.
[Appendix 8]
The multimedia stream is from the group consisting of television programs, audio programs, radio programs, video games, movies, streaming audio, streaming videos, mobile video programs, mobile audio programs, and video on demand (VOD) programs. The method of claim 1, comprising one selected.
[Appendix 9]
A processor (405);
A storage device (406) in communication with a server, wherein the processor and the storage device cooperate to provide a multimedia stream to an end user;
An inserter (404) for placing a message in the multimedia stream, the inserting means indicating when the multimedia stream is active during a period defined by a time interval associated with a non-trick playback mode; An inserter comprising: configuring a processor to determine; and inserting the message into the multimedia stream when a time period associated with the time interval meets a threshold value. The apparatus, wherein the time interval is not incremented when the stream is under the influence of trick mode operation.
[Appendix 10]
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the time interval includes a time during which no advertising message is displayed to the user.
[Appendix 11]
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the inserter includes an advertisement insertion server in communication with the processor and the storage device.
[Appendix 12]
The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor and the storage device form part of a program stream server, and the inserter includes an advertisement insertion server integrated within the program stream server.
[Appendix 13]
The program stream server
A trick mode detector configured to detect trick mode operation of the multimedia stream;
A counter configured to monitor a time interval of active playback of the multimedia stream;
The apparatus according to appendix 12, further comprising:
[Appendix 14]
In a computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for use in a video encoder,
Program code for determining whether a playback device is in an active mode for a time window having a predetermined time window reference, wherein the time window indicates a time when the playback device is in an inactive mode. Program code not included,
Program code for identifying available message insertion points in a multimedia stream when the time window criteria are met;
Program code for inserting a first message into the multimedia stream at the message insertion point immediately after the time window criterion is satisfied;
Including computer program products.
[Appendix 15]
Program code for resuming the time window after the set to be inserted;
A program code for repeating the steps of determining, identifying and inserting a next message for display to the user;
The time period between the display of the first message and the display of the next message to the user is substantially equal to the time window period of the playback device active mode. Computer program product.
[Appendix 16]
The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising program code for receiving a message insertion request prior to the steps of determining, identifying and inserting.
[Appendix 17]
Starting a time interval during normal playback of the multimedia stream, wherein a time value associated with the time interval is incremented only during the normal playback of the multimedia stream;
Comparing the time value with a threshold value, and when the time value satisfies the threshold value, an advertising message is inserted into the multimedia stream at the resulting message insertion point;
To display advertising messages, including
[Appendix 18]
Starting a further time interval after inserting the advertising message;
Incrementing said further time interval during normal playback of said multimedia stream, but said incrementing operation is not performed when said multimedia stream is under the influence of trick play mode;
Inserting a second advertisement message into the multimedia stream at a second generated message insertion point when the time value meets the threshold;
The method according to appendix 17, further comprising:
[Appendix 19]
Inserting the advertisement message into the multimedia stream at the first one of the message insertion points that occurs after the time value is at least one of the conditions that meet the threshold and exceed the threshold The method of claim 17, further comprising a step.

Claims (19)

Determining (290) whether the playback device is in a first mode, wherein a time interval is incremented during the first mode, wherein the playback device is associated with a trick playback function; The time interval is not incremented when
Identifying a message insertion point for a multimedia stream when a time value associated with the time interval is at least one of a condition equal to and exceeding the threshold;
Inserting a first message into the multimedia stream at a subsequent message insertion point when the time value interval is at least one of a condition equal to and exceeding the threshold ( 294). A method of displaying a message.   The method of claim 1, wherein the time interval includes a time during which a message is not displayed to a user. Resuming the time interval after the step of inserting;
Repeating the steps of determining, identifying and inserting a next message for display to the user, the time between the display of the first message and the display of the next message for the user The method of claim 1, further comprising: substantially equal to the time interval of the first mode of the playback device in a non-trick playback mode.   The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically marking a message insertion point on the multimedia stream before delivering the multimedia stream.   The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of determining, identifying and inserting are performed while the user is watching in real time.   The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a message insertion request prior to the step of determining, identifying and inserting.   7. The method of claim 6, further comprising ignoring additional message insertion requests until the step of determining, identifying and inserting is performed on the received message insertion request.   The multimedia stream is from the group consisting of television programs, audio programs, radio programs, video games, movies, streaming audio, streaming videos, mobile video programs, mobile audio programs, and video on demand (VOD) programs. The method of claim 1, comprising one selected. A processor (405);
A storage device (406) in communication with a server, wherein the processor and the storage device cooperate to provide a multimedia stream to an end user;
An inserter (404) for placing a message in the multimedia stream, the inserting means indicating when the multimedia stream is active during a period defined by a time interval associated with a non-trick playback mode; An inserter comprising: configuring a processor to determine; and inserting the message into the multimedia stream when a time period associated with the time interval meets a threshold value. The apparatus, wherein the time interval is not incremented when the stream is under the influence of trick mode operation.   The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the time interval includes a time during which no advertising message is displayed to the user.   The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the inserter includes an advertisement insertion server in communication with the processor and the storage device.   10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor and storage device are part of a program stream server, and the inserter includes an advertisement insertion server integrated within the program stream server. The program stream server
A trick mode detector configured to detect trick mode operation of the multimedia stream;
13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a counter configured to monitor a time interval for active playback of the multimedia stream. In a computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon for use in a video encoder,
Program code for determining whether a playback device is in an active mode for a time window having a predetermined time window reference, wherein the time window indicates a time when the playback device is in an inactive mode. Program code not included,
Program code for identifying available message insertion points in a multimedia stream when the time window criteria are met;
And a program code for inserting a first message into the multimedia stream at the message insertion point immediately after the time window criterion is satisfied. Program code for resuming the time window after the set to be inserted;
Program code for repeating the steps of determining, identifying and inserting a next message for display to the user, and displaying the first message to the user and displaying the next message; The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the time between is substantially equal to the time window period of the playback device active mode.   16. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising program code for receiving a message insertion request prior to the steps of determining, identifying and inserting. Starting a time interval during normal playback of the multimedia stream, wherein a time value associated with the time interval is incremented only during the normal playback of the multimedia stream;
Comparing the time value with a threshold value, and when the time value meets the threshold value, an advertising message is inserted into the multimedia stream at the resulting message insertion point. , How to display advertising messages. Starting a further time interval after inserting the advertising message;
Incrementing said further time interval during normal playback of said multimedia stream, but said incrementing operation is not performed when said multimedia stream is under the influence of trick play mode;
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising inserting a second advertisement message into the multimedia stream at a second generated message insertion point when the time value meets the threshold.   Inserting the advertisement message into the multimedia stream at the first one of the message insertion points that occurs after the time value is at least one of the conditions that meet the threshold and exceed the threshold The method of claim 17, further comprising a step.

Images