KR101023931B1 - Content item distribution - Google Patents

Abstract

The content item distribution system includes a distribution unit 105 that transmits content items such as television programs and advertisements. The distribution unit 105 includes the function of selecting a user associated identity from a plurality of user associated identities and selecting a content item. The distribution unit 105 sends a notification message to the presentation unit 103. The notification message includes an identification of the selected content item. The presentation unit 103 receives content items and the notification message. Presentation processor 305 presents the selected content item and detection unit 309 detects whether the selected content item is presented. If so, the overlay processor 311 generates a user notification presented to the user. The present invention can provide a television broadcast system capable of biasing user behavior to a selected content item by automatically providing a reward when a user views the selected content item.

Content items, MPEG stream, PVR, unicast, multicast.

Description

Content Item Distribution {CONTENT ITEM DISTRIBUTION}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to content item distribution, and in particular, but not exclusively, to distribution of programs and advertisements in a television broadcast system.

In recent years, the availability and provision of multimedia and entertainment content has increased substantially. For example, the number of available television and radio channels has increased significantly and the popularity of the Internet has provided new means of distributing content. As a result, users increasingly receive excessively different types of content from different sources.

In addition to increasing the availability of content, devices used to access, process, and provide content are also becoming increasingly complex due to more features and enhanced functionality. For example, it provides a set of features including the ability to automatically record TV programs, easily fast forward through commercials and program breaks, recommend TV programs, and so on. Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) have been introduced.

As a result, broadcasters and content providers have gradually reduced control and influence over which programs can be selected by the user. For example, users are less likely to watch commercials during a television program, resulting in reduced advertising revenue for the broadcaster.

Thus, a content item distribution system that includes a function that allows a distributor to efficiently and / or securely bias user awareness and / or consumption of content items would be useful.

Accordingly, the present invention seeks to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above mentioned disadvantages, alone or in any combination.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a content item distribution system comprising: as a distribution unit: first transmitting means for transmitting a plurality of content items, selection means for selecting a user associated identity from a plurality of user associated identities Means for selecting a selected content item from the plurality of content items, and second sending means for sending a notification message including an identification of the selected content item to a presentation unit; And the presentation unit: means for receiving the plurality of content items, means for presenting content items to a user, receiving means for receiving the notification message, detecting that the selected content item is presented. Detection indication in response to Detection means for generating, and containing the presentation means for presenting a user notification to the user in response to the detection indication, the content item distribution system that includes the presentation unit is provided.

The present invention provides an improved content item that may enable a distributor (eg, content provider or broadcaster) to provide intensives for efficiently and / or safely biasing user behavior for specific content items. It can provide a distribution system.

The content item distribution system may be a television or radio broadcast system, for example. The user associated identity can be the direct or indirect identity of the user or subscriber. For example, the user associated identity can be an identity for a particular user, such as a particular subscriber identity, and / or an identity of the presentation unit. The content items may be transmitted as a continuous stream of content items, such as in a broadcast of consecutive television or radio programs.

The presentation unit may itself include user interface means, such as a display or loudspeaker, for presenting the content item and / or by feeding them to a suitable external presentation device such as a television or radio. The content items may be presented. In particular, the presentation unit may be a set top box (STB) such as a receiver unit for digital television.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the first selection means is configured to randomly select the user associated identity from a plurality of user associated identities.

The system will be able to encourage the user to select efficient content incentives for efficient random incentives.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the second sending means is configured to broadcast the notification message to a plurality of presentation units, the notification message comprising an identity indication for the selected user associated identity, the presentation The presentation unit is further configured to determine whether the notification message is intended for the presentation unit in response to the identity indication.

This may in many embodiments enable improved and / or enhanced communication and / or enable improved reliability of the user bias function.

The notification message may be sent using the same communication or distribution means used for the content items. The user notification is presented only if the notification message is intended for the presentation unit.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the presentation unit further comprises means for sending a message to a remote processor in response to the detection indication, wherein the message indicates that the user notification has been presented to the user.

This may allow the remote processor to detect that the selected content item has been presented to the selected user, thereby allowing proper operation. For example, the remote processor may belong to a distributor / broadcaster and the message may be used by the distributor / broadcaster to initiate issuance of a reward to the selected user.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the content item distribution system further comprises user input means for receiving user input and the detection means generates a detection indication in response to receiving user input during presentation of the selected content item. It can be further configured to.

This may provide improved performance and enable rewards to be issued, in particular when the selected content item is actively consumed by, for example, a user who may perform a user action in response to detecting the user notification. can do.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the second transmitting means may be configured to encrypt the notification message and the receiving means may be configured to decrypt the notification message.

This enables improved performance and in particular enables a more reliable and / or secure system for biasing user consumption with selected content items.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting a plurality of content items; Selecting means for selecting a user associated identity from the plurality of user associated identities; Means for selecting a selected content item from the plurality of content items; And transmitting means for transmitting a notification message to the presentation unit, the notification message comprising the identification of the selected content item.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: means for receiving a plurality of content items; Means for presenting content items to a user; Receiving means for receiving a notification message including an identification of a selected content item of the plurality of content items; Detection means for generating a detection indication in response to detecting that the selected content item is presented; And means for presenting a user notification to the user in response to the detection indication.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a content item distribution method comprising: a distribution unit comprising: transmitting a plurality of content items, selecting a user associated identity from a plurality of user associated identities, from the plurality of content items Selecting a selected content item, and sending a notification message to the presentation unit, wherein the notification message comprises an identification of the selected content item, the presentation unit comprising: receiving the plurality of content items; Presenting the content items to the user, receiving the notification message, generating a detection indication in response to detecting that the selected content item is presented, and presenting a user notification to the user in response to the detection indication. Steps to A method of distributing content items is provided.

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and apparent with reference to the embodiment (s) described hereinafter.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the drawings.

1 illustrates an example of a television broadcast system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

2 illustrates an example of a distribution unit in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

3 illustrates an example of a television receiver in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

4 illustrates an example of a method of operation of a distribution unit in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.

5 illustrates an example of a method of operation of a presentation unit in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

The following description focuses on embodiments of the invention applicable to television broadcasting systems. However, the invention is not limited to this application and can be applied to many other systems, such as, for example, radio broadcasts or Internet based content distribution systems (eg online real time radio or video transmissions). Will be recognized.

1 illustrates an example of a television broadcast system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In the above example, the TV broadcast transmitter 101 transmits digital TV signals to a plurality of presentation units in the form of TV receivers 103. The TV receivers 103 may be, for example, televisions or set top boxes, such as digital TV receivers, personal video recorders (PVRs).

In the system, the TV broadcast transmitter 101 is coupled to a content server 105 which provides a stream of television content items transmitted as a single digital TV channel. The program stream received from the content server 105 includes TV programs interspersed with advertisements. In addition, various program information and linking content items may be presented between individual TV programs.

In current TV broadcast systems, advertisers and broadcasters are increasing that more and more customers are ignoring many content items, such as advertisements, for example by changing channels or fast forwarding through recorded TV program breaks. I'm facing a problem.

However, the television broadcasting systems of FIG. 1 not only include a function for allowing a broadcaster to distribute a TV broadcast for the user to select, but also securely and effectively implement a distribution incentive system that can bias users with desired content items. Includes features

The distribution system includes, in particular, the ability for broadcasters to automatically provide rewards to users who view certain content items. For example, the distribution system provides a mechanical means for rewarding selected users (eg randomly) when a particular content item is presented.

As a specific example, the distribution system may have an incentive scheme similar to that provided for lottery. The system is capable of automatic compensation for randomly selected users based on low complexity and secure interaction between TV broadcast transmitter 101 / content server 115 and individual TV receivers 103. The TV receivers 103 include a function that allows the distribution incentive scheme to be automatically implemented without the need to evaluate whether the user has been selected for compensation.

In this example, at least one user is randomly selected as a potential recipient of the reward but the reward is conditional for the user viewing a particular content item, such as a particular advertisement. The TV receiver 103 of the selected user receives a message indicating the selected content item and the potential reward. The TV receiver 103 then proceeds to detect whether the designated content item is actually presented to the user or whether the user skips the content item, for example by fast forwarding or changing channels. When the content item is presented to the user, the TV receiver 103 generates a user notification presented to the user, for example by presenting a message on the TV display.

Thus, the user is not presented with information about the selection of the content item or whether it has been selected for the reward. Rather, the user experiences being rewarded by watching a particular advertisement. Thus, users are biased to watch typical content items that they know are likely to be awarded an award. For example, viewers may be notified that awards are awarded to users who watch an ad at random (but not which advertisements, for example). Thus, the users are much more likely to watch the advertisements than to fast forward through them. Moreover, since an individual user has no information about who is pre-selected or which particular content item triggers a reward, a general bias to specific types of content items rather than for a particular content item will be achieved.

2 illustrates the content server 105 in more detail. The content server 105 includes a content stream processor 201 that generates content items in a continuous stream. For example, the content stream processor 201 may create a TV channel by successively combining content items corresponding to television programs, advertisements, and the like.

The content stream processor 201 is coupled with a first transmission controller 203 that receives a stream of content items corresponding to a television channel to be transmitted. The first transmission controller 203 causes the stream of content items to be transmitted. In particular, the first transmission controller 203 is coupled with a transmission interface 205 which is further coupled with the TV broadcast transmitter 101. The first transmission controller 203 schedules a stream of content items and supplies it to the broadcast transmitter 101 which broadcasts a signal to the TV receivers 103.

In addition, the content server 105 includes a content item selection unit 207 configured to select one or more specific content items from the stream of content items supplied by the content stream processor 201 to the first transmission controller 203. Include. The content item selection unit 207 receives information from the content stream processor 201, which in particular indicates which content items are included in the stream. For example, the constant stream processor 201 may provide information about which advertisements are to be included in the generated TV program.

The content item selection unit 207 proceeds to select one (or more) of the content items, such as one (or more) advertisements.

The content server 105 further includes a subscriber selection unit 209 configured to select a user associated identity from among a plurality of user associated identities. The user associated identity may in some embodiments be the user's direct identity, such as a user number or name. However, in many embodiments the user associated identity is not an indirect identity that identifies the receiving device associated with the user, such as the identity of the particular TV receiver 103 of FIG. 1, but rather. Thus, the user associated identity may generally be the identity of a set top box or the identity of a real television, such as a digital TV receiver or a PVR.

Therefore, in the example of the content server 105 it contains information about which system the TV receivers 103 belong to. In many applications, it will be appreciated that television distribution systems inherently have information related to the identity of subscribers. For example, in many cable or satellite television distribution systems, subscribers and associated subscriber identities (such as the identities of the device associated with the user) are recorded and stored, for example, for advertising purposes. In such embodiments, this information may be provided to the content server 105 by an operator of the system. Moreover, in embodiments where no explicit subscription is required, users may voluntarily register with the content server 105 to qualify for a reward and the subscriber selection unit 209 may select a user from among registered identities. You can select the associated identity. Therefore, in some embodiments only some users may be registered for the scheme.

In a particular example, the television broadcast system is a subscription based system. For each subscription, a TV receiver 103 with an associated subscriber identity is assigned and registered by the content server. Therefore, for the described manner, the subscription and subscriber identity are in this case directly linked to the TV receiver 103 rather than the user. In this example, the subscriber selection unit 209 selects the user associated identity by selecting a subscriber identity of the TV receiver 103.

In many embodiments, the subscriber identity is randomly selected completely randomly from among the registered subscriber identities. In other embodiments, more deterministic methods may be used, for example, where subscriber identities are selected sequentially to provide compensation within a certain time period for all users. In some embodiments, a combination of probabilistic and deterministic methods can be used, for example, by modifying the probability for the identity selected according to the number of previous rewards that have been assigned to a given subscriber identity. In some systems, the exact selection criteria may not be known to the user, so the substantially deterministic selection criteria make the rewards appear to be assigned substantially randomly.

The content item selection unit 207 and the subscriber selection unit 209 are coupled to a second transmission controller 211. The second transmission controller 211 is configured to generate a notification message that includes an indication of the selected content item. The second transmission controller 211 is coupled to the transmitter interface 205 and configured to transmit a notification message to the selected subscriber identity using the TV broadcast transmitter 101.

It will be appreciated that any suitable means can be used for sending the notification message to the selected subscriber identity.

For example, the notification message can be communicated with other programs using a traditional broadcast channel. This may be for example during the night on a dedicated channel or when the programs are rarely broadcast. In such cases, the notification message may be sent repeatedly to maximize the likelihood that the TV receiver 103 is available and will receive it. As another example, the notification message can be broadcast with each time the associated content item is broadcast.

As another example, the notification message may be transmitted via a communication means completely different from that for the transmission of the content items. For example, when the TV receivers 103 are connected to the internet, the notification message may be communicated as unicast / multicast using internet communication technologies.

Therefore, the notification message may be sent to the selected TV receiver 103 using a broadcast communication channel shared by many TV receivers 103 and / or to establish a dedicated communication channel for the selected TV receiver 103. Can be sent using. In the former case, the notification message typically also includes the identification of the selected TV receiver 103.

In particular, the second transmission controller 211 may include the selected subscriber identity in the notification message. In such cases, each individual TV receiver 103 may monitor a broadcast channel and for each transmitted notification message whether or not the notification message is directed to that particular TV receiver 103. , It may be evaluated whether or not it includes the subscriber identity of the TV receiver 103. If this is not the case, the received notification message is simply ignored.

It will also be appreciated that any suitable means of identifying the selected content item may be used by the notification message. For example, in some embodiments the selected content item can be identified by an indication of a particular transmission time for the content item. For example, the notification message simply indicates that the selected content item is a TV program transmitted from A instant to B instant.

In some embodiments, the stream of content items generated by the content stream processor 201 includes a content item indicator that indicates when a new content item starts and identifies a particular content item. For example, an MPEG stream may be generated that includes dedicated tags for each content item, for example each content item may be uniquely inserted into the metadata placeholder of the MPEG stream. It may have an identification number. In some embodiments, the notification message simply includes the identification of a suitable content item indicator, such as a unique identification number.

This may provide improved performance in many embodiments and in particular reduced sensitivity to schedule changes and broadcast delays.

3 shows one of the TV receivers 103 in more detail.

The TV receiver 103 includes an air interface receiver 301 that receives the content stream transmissions from the broadcast transmitter 101.

The air interface receiver 301 is coupled with a content item receiver 303 that receives a stream of content items transmitted from the TV broadcast transmitter 101. The content item receiver 303 is coupled with a presentation processor 305 configured to present the stream of received content items to a user. For example, where the TV receiver 103 is a digital TV receiver, the presentation processor 305 may be configured to generate a video output signal that is fed to a suitable display such as a monitor or television. Therefore, the TV receiver 103 receives the transmitted TV channels and presents them to the user. As can be appreciated, the user further controls the TV receiver 103 to change between different television channels according to the characteristics and capacities of the particular TV receiver 103 and to fast-forward through the recorded material or the like. can do.

The TV receiver 103 includes a notification message receiver 307 that is coupled with the air interface receiver 301 and receives a notification message sent by the second transmission controller 211 of the content server 105. .

In a particular example, the notification message may be transmitted using this same broadcast communication medium used for the stream of content items and may be explicitly transmitted as part of this broadcast. Thus, the notification message can be extracted in the broadcast transmission by the notification message receiver 307.

In other embodiments other communication means for communicating with the notification message may be used and thus the notification message receiver 307 may include the functionality necessary to receive the communication message via such communication means. For example, the notification message may in some embodiments be communicated over the Internet and the notification message receiver 307 may include the functionality necessary to access the Internet and to receive the message over the Internet.

Moreover, in some embodiments, the notification message is a dedicated message sent only to the selected TV receiver 103. However, in other embodiments, the notification message may be a broadcast message transmitted to a plurality of TV receivers. In this case, the notification message receiver 307 can monitor the broadcast communication means through which the notification message is transmitted. Moreover, for each received notification message it may extract subscriber identity information and compare it with the subscriber identity of the TV receiver 103. If the subscriber identities match, the notification message is considered to be directed to the TV receiver 103 and is further processed. Otherwise, the notification message is only ignored by the TV receiver 103.

The notification message receiver 307 is coupled with a detection unit 309 which is selected by the content item selection unit 207 and supplied with information identifying the content item identified in the notification message. In addition, the detection unit 309 is coupled with the presentation processor 305 to receive information that content items are currently being presented to the user.

The detection unit 309 is configured to generate a detection indication in response to detecting whether the selected content item is presented. In particular, when it is known that the selected content item is transmitted from the TV broadcast transmitter, the detection unit 309 detects whether the presentation processor 305 is actually presenting the selected content item. In so doing, a positive detection indication is generated.

As another example, the notification message may include an indication of a particular content item indicator in the received content item stream and the detection unit 309 may select a content item stream presented to detect whether the notification message includes a content item indicator. Can be monitored. For example, the content item stream may be an MPEG stream that includes dedicated tags that identify individual content items and the detection unit 309 detects the tags of the presented content items and includes them in a notification message. Can be compared).

In addition, the detection unit 309 is coupled with an overlay processor 311 which is also coupled with the presentation processor 305. When the detection unit 309 detects that the selected constant item is really present, a positive detection indication is supplied to the overlay processor 311 which proceeds to generate a user notification message indicating that the user has received a reward. The user notification message is overlaid on the image currently being presented to the user in a particular example.

Thus, the user will only experience a message appearing on the screen while watching the advertisement, notifying the user that the user has received an award for just watching the particular advertisement.

Therefore, in some embodiments, the presentation processor 305 may simply overlay the current display with some text information about the award and / or present the information on a secondary display, for example. Such information may include, for example, a password comprised of the number requested to confirm the award or discounted at the store.

In some embodiments, the presentation processor 305 may replace the selected content item with another content item. For example, an advertisement may be replaced by a customized advertisement. In some examples, the replacement content item may be received in a notification message or as part of a notification message.

In some embodiments, the detection unit 309 can detect if it is presented when the content item is received. For example, in some embodiments, a positive detection indication is only generated if a content item is presented when the content item is received. In such examples, the award is presented as to whether the user is actually watching the selected constant item that is being broadcast in real time.

In some embodiments, the TV receiver 103 may include the function of storing content items. For example, the TV receiver 103 may be a PVR capable of recording individual TV programs. In some such embodiments, the detection unit 309 may be configured to detect only when the content item is presented when it is broadcast, but alternatively or additionally the detection unit 309 may record the selected content item. A positive detection indication may be generated when presented during playback of a sequence of sequences.

Therefore, in such embodiments, an award may be presented to the user if he also watches the selected content item as part of a recorded program. For example, when a user watches a recorded TV program, the detection unit 309 can be rewarded with a reward if the detection unit 309 detects whether the user watches the selected advertisement during playback, rather than fast forwarding through the ad break.

In some embodiments, the detection unit 309 may also detect whether the entire selected content item is viewed from start to end. In such cases, the positive detection indication may be generated only if the entire content item is represented without fast forwarding any part of the content item.

In some embodiments, the TV receiver 103 may further comprise user input and the detection unit 309 may generate a positive detection indication only if the user provides proper input during the presentation of the content item. have.

For example, the detection unit 309 may first detect that the selected content item is being presented. It then generates a temporary detection indication and supplies it to the overlay processor 311. In response, the overlay processor may overlay the presented image with a user notification indicating that an award has been awarded when the user enters a particular user input. For example, the message may require the user to enter a specific number code using his remote controller.

In addition, the detection unit 309 may be coupled to the user input and detect whether the requested user input is received. In a particular example, the detection unit 309 determines whether the user has entered the required number code. If so, an affirmative detection indication is generated and advances to the overlay processor 311 which imposes an overlay message accordingly indicating that the award has been awarded.

This method can ensure that the award is only provided if the user is actively watching the selected content item. For example, it will ensure that the user does not receive an award just because he keeps the TV receiver 103 on.

In some embodiments, the overlay message can indicate another action performed by the user. For example, the overlay message may indicate that the user must call a specific phone number to claim the award.

In some embodiments, the sending of the notification message can provide increased security using encryption techniques. In addition, in some embodiments, encryption can be combined with the identification of the desired recipient. For example, each TV receiver 103 may have a public cryptographic key pair. In such cases, the second transmission controller 211 may encrypt the notification message using the public key of the selected TV receiver 103. The encrypted notification message may then be broadcast by the TV broadcast transmitter 101, for example. The notification message receiver 307 of different TV receivers 103 can receive the encrypted notification messages and apply their secret key to the encrypted notification message to decrypt it. This encryption will only be successful for the TV receiver 103 in which the public key was used. Therefore, only this receiver will continue to use the sent notification message to reward the user. Therefore a simple, efficient and safe system can be achieved.

In some embodiments, a return channel may exist from the TV receiver 103 to the remote server used by the operator to monitor and control the system. For example, the TV receivers 103 and the content server 105 can be coupled to the Internet so that the TV receivers 103 provide a means for sending messages to the content server 105. In this case, the overlay processor 311 may further include a function of notifying the content server 105 that a reward has been issued to the user. This can be used to automatically provide an award (eg when the award is free access to premium content) to generate a message that the operator presents the award to the user. Moreover, in such embodiments, the overlay processor 311 may include the identification of the TV receiver 103 which may be compared with the list of potential beneficiaries generated by the subscriber selection unit 209 and thus increased. Safety and reliability.

4 and 5 illustrate a method of distributing content items in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 4 shows the operation performed by the transmitter and FIG. 5 shows the method performed by the presentation unit, such as the TV receiver 103 of FIG. 1.

In step 401 a plurality of content items are transmitted from the transmitter. It will be appreciated that step 401 may be performed after or in parallel with steps 403 to 407.

In step 403 a subscriber identity is selected from a plurality of subscriber identities.

In step 405, the selected content item is selected from the plurality of content items.

In step 407, a notification message is sent to the presentation unit. The notification message includes an identification of the selected content item. The method then returns to step 401.

In step 501 the presentation unit receives the notification message.

In step 503 a plurality of content items is received.

In step 505 the content items are presented to the user.

In step 507, a detection indication is generated in response to detecting whether the selected content item is presented. If no positive detection indication is generated, the method returns to step 503. Otherwise it proceeds to step 509.

In step 509 a user notification is presented to the user in response to the detection indication.

It will be appreciated that the above description has been described with reference to different functional units and processors for clarity. However, it will be apparent that appropriate functional distribution between different functional units or processors may be used without compromising the present invention. For example, functionality described to be performed by separate processors or controllers may be performed by the same processor or controllers. Therefore, reference to specific functional units will only be recognized by reference to appropriate means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of the exact logical or physical structure or organization.

The invention may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. The present invention may optionally be implemented as computer software operating at least one or more data processors and / or digital signal processors. The elements and components of embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in any suitable manner physically, functionally and logically. Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or in some of other functional units. Likewise, the invention may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically or functionally distributed between different units and processors.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims. In addition, although a feature may appear to be described in terms of particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the present invention. In the claims, the term comprising does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps.

Moreover, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method steps may be implemented by a single unit or processor, for example. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different claims, they may be usefully combined, and inclusion in different claims does not mean that a combination of features is possible and / or not useful. Also, including a feature within one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this category but rather indicates that the feature is equally applicable to other claim categories as appropriate. In addition, the order of features in the claims does not imply any particular order in which the features act, and in particular the order of the individual steps in the method claim does not mean that the steps must be performed in this order. Rather, the steps will be performed in any suitable order.

Claims (19)

In a content item distribution system: As a deployment unit: First transmitting means for transmitting a plurality of content items, Selection means for selecting a user associated identity from a plurality of user associated identities, Means for selecting a selected content item from the plurality of content items, and Second distributing means for transmitting a notification message including an identification of the selected content item to a presentation unit, and As the presentation unit: Means for receiving the plurality of content items; Means for presenting content items to a user, Receiving means for receiving the notification message; Detection means for generating a detection indication in response to detecting that the selected content item is presented, and And the presentation unit including presentation means for presenting a user notification to the user in response to the detection indication. delete The method of claim 1, The second transmitting means is configured to broadcast the notification message to a plurality of presentation units, the notification message comprising an identity indication for the selected user associated identity, wherein the presentation unit is configured to send the notification message to the identity. And determine, in response to the indication, whether it is intended for the presentation unit. The method of claim 1, The presentation unit further comprises means for sending a message to a remote processor in response to the detection indication, wherein the message indicates that the user notification is presented to the users. The method of claim 1, And the means for detecting is configured to generate the detection indication if presented when the selected content item is received. The method of claim 1, Storage means for storing the received content items, the detection means being configured to generate the detection indication if the selected content item is presented by a search from the storage means. The method of claim 1, Further comprising user input means for receiving user input, wherein the detection means is further configured to generate the detection indication in response to receiving user input during presentation of the selected content item. The method of claim 7, wherein Means for presenting a user input request in response to detecting that the selected content item is presented. The method of claim 1, And wherein the identification of the selected content item comprises an indication of a transmission time for the selected content item. The method of claim 1, The first transmitting means is configured to transmit the plurality of content items as a stream of content items, the stream further comprising content item indicators, wherein the identification of the selected content item is associated with the selected content item. A content item distribution system comprising an indication of an item indicator. The method of claim 1, And the presentation means is configured to replace the selected content item with a different content item in response to the detection indication. The method of claim 1, And the presenting means is configured to overlay the presentation of the selected content item by the user notification. The method of claim 1, The second sending means is configured to encrypt the notification message and the receiving means is configured to decrypt the notification message. The method of claim 1, The second transmitting means is configured to encrypt the notification message using the public key for the selected user associated identity and to broadcast the notification message to a plurality of presentation units, the receiving means being associated with the presentation unit. And decrypt the notification message using a private key. The method of claim 1, And the user notification comprises an indication of the requested user action. The method of claim 1, And the selected content item is an advertising content item. In a distribution unit for a content item distribution system: Means for transmitting the plurality of content items; Selecting means for selecting a user associated identity from the plurality of user associated identities; Means for selecting a selected content item from the plurality of content items; And And sending means for sending a notification message to the presentation unit, the notification message comprising an identification of the selected content item. In the presentation unit for a content item distribution system: Means for receiving a plurality of content items; Means for presenting content items to a user; Receiving means for receiving a notification message including an identification of a selected content item of the plurality of content items; Detection means for generating a detection indication in response to detecting that the selected content item is presented; And Presentation means for presenting a user notification to the user in response to the detection indication. In the method of distributing content items: Deployment unit: Transmitting a plurality of content items, Selecting a user associated identity from the plurality of user associated identities, Selecting a selected content item from the plurality of content items, and Transmitting a notification message including an identification of the selected content item to a presentation unit, The presentation unit is: Receiving the plurality of content items; Presenting the content items to the user, Receiving the notification message, Generating a detection indication in response to detecting that the selected content item is presented, and Presenting a user notification to the user in response to the detection indication.

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