U.S. patent application number 14/193830 was filed with the patent office on 2015-03-12 for commercials on mobile devices.
This patent application is currently assigned to Penthera Partners, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Penthera Partners, Inc.. Invention is credited to Adam L. Berger, Richard David Jackson, Joshua Pressnell.
Application Number | 20150074715 14/193830 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50441632 |
Filed Date | 2015-03-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150074715 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Berger; Adam L. ; et
al. |
March 12, 2015 |
COMMERCIALS ON MOBILE DEVICES
Abstract
Among other things, a video item is downloaded to a mobile
device from a digital video recorder. The video item includes a
video program and commercials that have been previously embedded
within the video item. Before, during, or after the download of the
video item, information is reported from the mobile device to a
server about the video item, from which the server can select a set
of substitute commercials. One or more of these substitute
commercials are downloaded from the server. When the video item is
presented on the mobile device, the mobile device replaces at least
one of the original commercials that has been previously embedded
within the video item by a substitute commercial that has been
downloaded to the mobile device.
Inventors: |
Berger; Adam L.;
(Pittsburgh, PA) ; Pressnell; Joshua; (Dayton,
OH) ; Jackson; Richard David; (Curitiba, BR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Penthera Partners, Inc. |
Pittsburgh |
PA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Penthera Partners, Inc.
Pittsburgh
PA
|
Family ID: |
50441632 |
Appl. No.: |
14/193830 |
Filed: |
February 28, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14025797 |
Sep 12, 2013 |
8701145 |
|
|
14193830 |
|
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|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
725/34 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/435 20130101;
H04N 21/432 20130101; H04N 21/4331 20130101; H04N 21/433 20130101;
H04N 21/6181 20130101; H04N 21/2668 20130101; H04N 21/458 20130101;
H04N 21/4334 20130101; H04N 21/41407 20130101; H04N 21/472
20130101; H04N 21/4135 20130101; H04N 21/23424 20130101; H04N
21/812 20130101; H04N 21/4126 20130101; H04N 21/4147 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/34 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/2668 20060101
H04N021/2668; H04N 21/81 20060101 H04N021/81 |
Claims
1-22. (canceled)
23. A method comprising at a mobile device, downloading a video
item from a first server, the downloading complying with a rule
governing when downloading is permitted, the rule permitting
downloading only when a WiFi connection is available, the mobile
device providing an indication to the user about the downloading of
the video item, before, during, or after downloading the video
item, the mobile device reporting information to a second server
from which the second server can select one or more commercials, at
the mobile device, downloading at least one of the selected
commercials, the mobile device providing no indication to the user
about the downloading of the commercials, presenting the video item
from a storage of the mobile device at a time when the mobile
device is offline, when the video item is presented on the mobile
device, the mobile device presenting at least one of the downloaded
commercials, the mobile device storing information about when the
commercial was presented, the stored information comprising
information about at least one of the presented video item, the
presented commercials, or the mobile device.
24. (canceled)
25. The method of claim 23 comprising storing, in the storage of
the mobile device, the information about when the commercial was
presented,
26. The method of claim 23 comprising preventing the presentation
of the video item if the number of downloaded commercials stored in
the storage of the device is insufficient.
27. The method of claim 23 in which the commercial is associated
with a date, and the mobile device will not present the video item
at a time related to the date.
28. The method of claim 27 in which the date comprises an expiry
date, and the mobile device will not present the video item at any
time after the expiry date.
29. The method of claim 28 in which at least one of the commercials
downloaded to the mobile device does not have an expiry date, and
the mobile device inserts the commercial that does not have the
expiry date instead of a commercial that has an expiry date.
30. The method of claim 28 in which, based on the expiry date of
the commercial, the mobile device downloads another commercial
having a later expiry date.
31. The method of claim 23 in which the commercial is associated
with a date, and the mobile device marks the commercial as expired
based on the date.
32. The method of claim 23 in which the mobile device marks the
commercial as expired a predetermined amount of time after the
commercial has been downloaded.
33. The method of claim 23 in which the commercial is associated
with a number of impressions, and the mobile device determines
whether to insert the commercial based on an actual number of
presentations of the commercial and the associated number of
impressions.
34. The method of claim 23 comprising the mobile device downloading
another commercial depending on a condition-associated with a
downloaded commercial.
35. The method of claim 34 in which the condition comprises a
number of impressions allowable for each downloaded commercial.
36. The method of claim 34 in which the condition comprises a time
period.
37. The method of claim 36 in which the time period comprises a use
by date.
38. The method of claim 36 in which the time period comprises a
passage of time after an initial time.
39. The method of claim 38 in which the initial time comprises a
time when the commercial was downloaded.
40. The method of claim 34 in which the condition comprises a
geographic location of the mobile device.
41. (canceled)
42. (canceled)
43. (canceled)
44. (canceled)
45. (canceled)
46. (canceled)
47. (canceled)
48. (canceled)
49. (canceled)
Description
[0001] This application is related to U.S. provisional patent
application 61/828,481, filed on May 29, 2013, to non-provisional
patent application Ser. No. 13/923,103, filed on Jun. 20, 2013, and
to U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/016,963,
filed Sep. 3, 2013, the entire contents of all of which are
incorporated here by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This description relates to commercials on mobile
devices.
SUMMARY
[0003] In general, in an aspect, a video item is downloaded to a
mobile device from a digital video recorder. The video item
includes a video program and commercials that have been previously
embedded within the video item. Before, during, or after the
download of the video item, information is reported from the mobile
device to a server about the video item, from which the server can
select a set of substitute commercials. One or more of these
substitute commercials are downloaded from the server. When the
video item is presented on the mobile device, the mobile device
replaces at least one of the original commercials that has been
previously embedded within the video item by a substitute
commercial that has been downloaded to the mobile device.
[0004] Implementations may include one or a combination of any two
or more of the following features. The downloading from a digital
video recorder is from a cloud-based digital video recorder
comprising storage that is remote from the device. The downloading
from a digital video recorder is from a conventional digital video
recorder comprising storage that is contained within the device.
Information is acquired about the beginning time and the ending
time of each of the original commercials within the video item.
Information is acquired about the beginning time and the ending
time of each original commercial by algorithmically analyzing the
video item. Information about the beginning time and the ending
time is acquired by the DVR. Information about the beginning time
and the ending time is acquired at the mobile device. If the video
item is presented on the mobile device within a predetermined
period of time after the video item was recorded on the DVR, the
mobile device refrains from replacing at least one of the
commercials that has been previously embedded within the video item
with one of the substitute commercials. The period of time is based
on a value of the commercial during the period of time. The
substitute commercials are of higher value than the commercials for
which they are substituted. The substitute commercials are
maintained in a cache at the mobile device. The downloading is
initiated by the user of the mobile device. The downloading occurs
automatically, with no explicit action by the user of the mobile
device.
[0005] In general, in an aspect, at a digital video recorder, in
response to a request from a mobile device, downloading a video
item to the mobile device. The video item includes a video program
and commercials that have been previously embedded within the video
item. Substitute commercials are downloaded to the mobile device
for inclusion in the video item in place of the commercials that
had been previously embedded.
[0006] Implementations may include one or a combination of any two
or more of the following features. The digital video recorder
includes a cloud-based digital video recorder. The digital video
recorder includes a local digital video recorder.
[0007] In general, in an aspect, based on a request of a user, a
video item is downloaded to a mobile device from a cloud-based or
local digital video recorder. The video item includes a video
program and commercials that have been previously embedded within
the video item. Information is reported from the mobile device to a
server about the video item from which appropriate commercials can
be inferred. The video item is algorithmically analyzed to acquire
information about the beginning time and the ending time of each of
the commercials within the video item. One or more substitute
commercials are downloaded that have been selected based on the
information about the video item to a server. The commercials are
stored in a cache on the mobile device. When the video item is
presented on the mobile device, the mobile device substitutes for
at least one of the commercials that has been previously embedded
within the video item, a substitute commercial that has been
downloaded to the mobile device and stored in the cache.
[0008] In general, in an aspect, when playout of a video item at a
mobile device reaches a point at which a commercial is to be
inserted, the mobile device obtains a fresh commercial from a
server and plays out the fresh commercial.
[0009] Implementations may include one or a combination of any two
or more of the following features. The fresh commercial is
downloaded from the server and played out. Playback of the fresh
commercial is begun before the entire commercial has been obtained.
The fresh commercial is played out in place of a commercial held in
memory of the mobile device.
[0010] Other aspects, features, and implementations and
combinations of them can be expressed as methods, apparatus,
systems, components, methods of doing business, program programs,
means and steps for performing functions, and in other ways.
[0011] Other aspects, features, and implementations will become
apparent from the following description and from the claims.
DESCRIPTION
[0012] FIGS. 1 through 8 and FIG. 15 are block diagrams.
[0013] FIGS. 9 through 14 are screen shots.
[0014] FIGS. 16, 17, and 18 are flow diagrams.
[0015] FIG. 19 is a block diagram.
[0016] FIGS. 20, 21, and 22 are flow diagrams.
[0017] FIG. 23 is a schematic flow diagram.
[0018] FIG. 24 is a screenshot.
[0019] In the following description, we use the term "app" or
"application" or "mobile app" broadly to include, for example, an
executable binary that is installed and runs on a mobile device, or
a web site that the user navigates to within a web browser on the
mobile device, or a combination of them. An "app" may also refer to
multiple executable binaries that work in conjunction on a mobile
device to perform one or more functions; for example, an Android
service and an Android application that communicate with one
another.
[0020] We use the term "app" in the context of video broadly to
include, for example, any software, hardware, firmware, or
combination of them that is able to access, accept, process, or
play a video that is downloaded on or streamed to the mobile
device. We use the term "system" broadly to include, for example,
any set of components or facilities--mobile app, streaming video
server, content delivery network, and possibly other elements, for
example--that together comprise or provide or support a service
that delivers video to devices and plays them for users of the
devices. We use the term "streaming" broadly to include, for
example, a service that allows a user to view a video on a device
as the video is being delivered to the device, and in which the
entire video is typically not stored persistently on the device. We
use the term "mobile devices" broadly to include, for example, any
portable device, such as a cellular-enabled phone, a tablet, or a
laptop, that is capable of receiving a video stream over a wireless
network and playing the video stream as it is received. We use the
term "playing" broadly to include, for example, presenting the
video on the mobile device for viewing by the user. We sometimes
use the terms "playback" or "playout" interchangeably with
"playing." We use the term "wireless networks" broadly to include,
for example, 3G, 4G, LTE, 802.11 (also known as "WiFi"), Bluetooth,
and other well-known protocols for wireless data delivery. We use
the term "online" broadly to include, for example, having access to
a network connection; and the term "offline" broadly to include,
for example, not having access to a network connection.
[0021] We use the term "streaming video server" broadly to include,
for example, any server accessible to the mobile device over a
network connection and capable of delivering streaming video, for
example, in conformity with Microsoft Smooth, Apple HLS, or other
standard video-streaming protocols. We use the term "recommendation
engine" broadly to include, for example, a system that uses
historical data to identify items of potential interest to a user.
We use the term "analytics server" broadly to include, for example,
any server accessible to the mobile device over a network
connection and capable of one or more of the following functions:
receiving one or more files from a mobile device containing past
activity on the device, persisting this information, aggregating
this information with similar information received from other
devices, and generating a graphical or tabular representation of
this collected information.
Streaming Video
[0022] Streaming video to a mobile device has become a mature and
popular technology. Pay-TV distributors (e.g., Comcast, Time Warner
Cable, Charter, Cox), TV networks (e.g., HBO, ABC, AMC), and
various Internet-based services (e.g., Amazon, Netflix, YouTube)
each offer services that stream video over IP networks to mobile
devices.
[0023] Typically, so-called video streaming over IP relies on one
of two common Internet communication standards: TCP and UDP, each a
protocol for delivering data from one machine on the Internet to
another machine. Video streaming over IP can be performed in
unicast mode, (i.e., one source delivering video to one receiver).
In some cases, video streaming over IP can be performed in
broadcast or multicast mode (i.e., one source transmitting to
multiple receivers).
[0024] In conjunction with TCP or UDP, streaming video services
typically rely on enabling technologies such as video-encoding
protocols (e.g., Apple's HLS format and Microsoft's Smooth format)
that are designed for streaming video. These protocols allow the
user to experience smooth playout of the video even as network
conditions deteriorate or improve during playout. These protocols
also allow for a minimal delay between the user's request for the
video and the start of video playout. From a mobile device, a user
may access streaming video that has been encoded by one of the
protocols, using a web browser like Safari or Chrome running on the
mobile device. A user may also access streaming video using an
application installed and running on the mobile device, such as
Hulu Plus, Netflix, HBOGO, or SkyGo.
[0025] In some cases, the streamed videos may be "premium" content
(e.g., HBO), access to which requires, for example, a monthly
subscription fee. Such premium content typically includes few or no
commercials (we typically use the terms ads, advertisements, and
commercials interchangeably). In some cases, the streamed videos
may originate from ad-supported networks (e.g., ABC, AMC, Fox), in
which case the video may include commercials before, during, and
after playout, or any combination of two or more of those.
[0026] A streaming video service may offer VOD (video-on-demand) or
live TV, or both. By VOD, we mean a video service that offers a
catalog of videos from which the user may select and view an item.
Each of the videos in a VOD catalog was created at some time in the
past; therefore at the time when a video is being played, the
entire video is already in existence. In contrast, a live TV
service offers a group of video streams each of which is being
created in real time during streaming. Therefore, at the time when
a current portion of a live video stream is being played, later
portions of the same video stream are being created. In that sense,
a live TV video is incomplete during the time when it is being
played.
[0027] The general idea of managing the selection and insertion of
commercials into streaming video is not new. Products that do so
include Adobe Auditude, Freewheel, and BlackArrow.
Video Download
[0028] Recently, some companies have begun to introduce a video
download feature as a new feature in their streaming products. Some
companies have introduced exclusively video-download products,
i.e., products that offer download but not streaming. In either
case, video-download is a feature that allows users to download a
video from a network data repository to a mobile device. Two
examples of the former download-enabled services are Comcast's
Xfinity Player and BSkyB's SkyGo Extra app.
[0029] We use the term "download" broadly to include, for example,
any delivery of a video item in its entirety to a persistent
non-volatile storage of a mobile device. In download, the recipient
device stores the video persistently and can, for example, play out
the video long after (e.g., minutes, days, weeks or longer) the
delivery. The video item may consist of one file or of multiple
files. The video item that is downloaded may be a VOD item or a
live stream. In some cases, the mobile device may initiate the
download process by, for example, transmitting an HTTP `GET`
request to a remote server that stores the object to be downloaded.
In some cases, the mobile device may use a protocol, such as FTP,
to fetch the video item from the remote source.
[0030] We use the term "non-volatile storage" or "persistent
storage" broadly to include, for example, any technology such as
magnetic disk drive or solid-state memory that retains stored data,
for example, even while the device is powered off. Storing a video
in the device's non-volatile storage means or storing it
persistently that the stored video will remain on the device until
the user or another application deletes the video. We use the term
"data repository" broadly to include, for example, any storage
mechanism that can deliver data to the requesting devices over a
network connection. Within the context of video download, a "mobile
device" is normally capable of storing the downloaded video on the
device for later playout.
[0031] Among the advantages of a video-download feature are that a
user can download a video from, for example, a VOD catalog when the
user has access to a network connection, and the user is able to
play the video later, when he or she does not have (or adequate)
access to any network connection. For example, a user can download
a TV show or movie to her mobile device while she is at home,
before leaving for the airport. Later, while she is in an airplane,
she can play out the downloaded video, even though she has limited
or no Internet connectivity in the airplane.
[0032] An advantage of a video-download feature is that users can
consume high-quality videos from a VOD catalog even if the user
only has access to a low-quality network connection. For example,
imagine the user wants to view on her mobile device a 10-minute
video, which has been encoded in three formats: low quality (0.3
Mb/s), medium quality (0.8 Mb/s) and high-quality (1.8 Mb/s). Say
the user has a 0.6 Mb/s network connection. Over this network
connection, she can only stream the low-quality (0.3 Mb/s) version
of the video. Attempting to stream the medium- or high-quality
version of the video would fail, since the network connection
cannot support the required data throughput. However, she can
download the high-quality version of the video, even over the 0.6
Mb/s network connection. Over this network connection, the download
would require about 30 minutes. Once downloaded, the high-quality
video is available at the mobile device for the user to play out.
Thus, using download, a user can play out a high-quality video,
even lacking a corresponding high-throughput network
connection.
[0033] An advantage of a video-download feature is time-shifting
from a time when a live TV show is being shown, for example, a
rugby game scheduled for noon GMT, which is 4 AM Pacific Time, to a
later time that is convenient for a rugby fan living in California.
To do this, the fan can set his mobile device to record the show at
4 AM, and then the fan can watch the saved show at, e.g., 10 AM
local time.
[0034] An advantage of a video-download feature is in reducing the
use of expensive network connections. Typically, wireless operators
like Verizon Wireless impose a monthly limit on cellular data
usage, e.g., 2 GB per billing cycle, and impose an "overage" charge
for data usage exceeding that limit in a given billing cycle. For
instance, in mid 2013, the network operator Verizon Wireless
assesses a $15 overage fee per GB used above the subscriber's limit
in any one billing cycle. A Verizon Wireless subscriber with a 2 GB
quota can stream about 5.5 hours of 800 Kb/s video in a given
billing cycle over the Verizon network, before overage charges
apply. In other words, this Verizon Wireless subscriber is limited
to about 5.5 hours of streaming video over the Verizon Wireless
network until overage charges apply. A benefit of download is that
Verizon Wireless subscribers who can plan ahead (and who have
access to a download product) can download one or more videos in
advance using a WiFi connection (e.g., at home or in their office),
and subsequently watch these videos at a time and place where WiFi
connectivity isn't available, thus avoid the risk of an expensive
overage charge. In other words, download enables "wireless-mode
shifting" that reduces one's cellular data consumption without
reducing one's overall video consumption.
[0035] A system that supports the downloading of videos to a mobile
device may have some or all of the following features: [0036] Using
a mobile app or another tool (e.g., a web site, email, text
messaging, or a TV set top box), the user may select a movie, an
episode of a TV show, a live TV channel, or another video item and
request that the video item be downloaded to the user's mobile
device. [0037] Using a mobile app or another tool (e.g., a web
site, email, text messaging, or a TV set top box), the user may
select an episodic program (e.g., a weekly TV series, podcast, or
radio program) and request that some or all new episodes of the
series be automatically downloaded to the device as they become
available. [0038] Using a mobile app or another tool (e.g., a web
site, email, text messaging, or a TV set top box), the user may
select an episodic program (e.g., a weekly TV series, podcast, or
radio program) and request that some or all old episodes of the
series be automatically downloaded to the device. [0039] The user
may delete downloaded video items, one at a time or several at a
time, from the mobile device. [0040] The system may automatically
delete certain video items (e.g., older items, or items already
viewed) to make room for new ones. [0041] The mobile app may
transmit information related to its past activity (e.g. which video
items it downloaded and when) to an analytics server. [0042] The
system may employ a recommendation engine to identify videos that
are of likely interest to the user, based on other videos the user
has played and/or websites the user has visited, or other actions
the users has taken. The recommendation engine may also rely on
known behaviors of the user's friends (on social networks such as
Facebook) to identify videos of likely interest. The system may
automatically download these videos to the user's device. [0043]
The mobile device may query a remote server automatically,
recurrently, for the existence of one or more new videos that the
user has subscribed to, or that the recommendation engine has
selected for delivery to the device. Instead or in conjunction with
such queries, a remote server may trigger the mobile device to
initiate the download by transmitting a signal to the mobile
device. Server-initiated signaling protocols include, for instance,
APN (Apple Push Notification) for Apple mobile devices and GCM
(Google Cloud Messaging) for Android devices. [0044] The user may
view the status of currently-downloading videos and videos that are
queued for download. The status may include, for example, the
number of bytes downloaded and the number of bytes pending
download, the percentage completed, the estimated time until
download completion, and the number of videos to be downloaded in
advance of a given video. We use the phrase "queued for
downloading" to include, for example, scheduled to be downloaded to
the mobile device but not yet completely downloaded to the device.
[0045] The system may download to the mobile device metadata along
with the video item. Metadata may include, for example, a title,
description, parental rating, closed-captioning, and an image
corresponding to the video item. [0046] The system may enforce time
windowing on the downloaded video item. We use the term "time
windowing" broadly to include, for example, any controlling of the
times or time period during which a downloaded video item may or
may not be played, e.g., a date after which (or before which or
both) the video item is automatically made unplayable. At the time
of forced expiry (the end of the time window), for example, the
stored video item may be rendered unplayable or may be deleted from
the device. Digital rights management (DRM) technologies, such as
available from Adobe, Microsoft, SecureMedia, and Widevine, are one
mechanism for enforcing the unplayability of a video based on the
time windowing. [0047] The system may perform downloading in the
background. We use the term "in the background" to include, for
example, any process that begins without requiring intervention by
a user and/or that proceeds without notifying the user of the
download's start, progress, or completion. For example, a user can
specify that they want to download all new episodes of a TV show.
The app can then download to the device all new episodes of the TV
show, as the episodes become available. The user need not
explicitly initiate or even be aware that a particular item is
downloading. As another example, the app may automatically select
video items that are likely to be of interest to the user (based,
for instance, on other video items the user has recently viewed)
and automatically download these items to the user's device; again
in this case, the user need not explicitly initiate or request for
a specific video item to download. [0048] The user may receive an
alert or "notification" by email, text message, or a visual or
audible indicator on the mobile device, to indicate, for example,
that the video has been successfully downloaded in full to the
device and is now available for playout. (We sometimes use the word
video interchangeably with the phrase video item.) [0049] The
system may perform downloading according to a set of rules that
govern when downloading is permitted. For example, only when the
device has more than 500 MB of free space, only when the device has
more than 75% battery charge, or only when the device has a WiFi
connection, or some combination of and two of these and other
rules. [0050] The system may download video items from a remote
server on the public Internet, using standard protocols such as
HTTP, TCP, and/or UDP. [0051] The system may download video items
from another device, such as a smartphone, tablet, PC, game
console, or conventional digital video recorder (DVR). In each
case, the source device (from which the video items are downloaded)
contains a magnetic disk drive, solid-state memory, or other
persistent storage device where video items are stored. [0052] The
system may download video items from a network or "Cloud" digital
video recorder, which is a DVR in which the video items are stored
not on the DVR itself, but on a remote network server. [0053] The
downloading may occur through some combination of broadband
networks, WiFi, and Bluetooth. In some cases, the downloading may
occur through a cable that attaches the source device to the target
device. [0054] The system may allow the user to configure some or
all aspects of the behavior listed above.
[0055] FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile device screen shot for an
example VOD download system. The app presents the user a list or
gallery 290 of videos that can be selected for downloading. The
gallery may be grouped into broad categories 298, such as Classic
TV. Listed items may display the title's name 300, cover art 302,
and genre 304. Selecting an item may bring up an additional screen,
FIG. 11, with further description of the title 306, runtime and
video size information 308, and the option to stream the video now
310 ("Watch Now") or download the video for later viewing 312.
[0056] As shown in FIG. 12, the app can also present to the user a
view of videos 384 that have been downloaded 386, or are in the
process of being downloading 388, or are queued for download or may
present any combination of those. These are videos that the user
has explicitly requested to download, episodes of a series that the
user has subscribed to, or videos that some other system element
(for example, a recommendation engine) has elected to deliver to
the device, for example. This view may be interactive: the user can
see the progress 292 of pending downloads, and play 294 or delete
296 any of the fully-downloaded videos. The user may be able to
pause, resume, and cancel a single or two or more queued downloads,
or all queued downloads. Invoking the edit button in the upper
right-hand corner of the screen brings up a menu that enables the
user to delete downloaded items.
Online Video Advertising
[0057] Technology for managing, inserting, displaying, and
measuring the viewing of commercials within streaming video is
commonplace. Companies like Adobe, Freewheel, and BlackArrow have
products that manage the selection and insertion of commercials
into streaming video, and record when a commercial is presented for
viewing. We use the term "measuring" broadly to include, for
example, any tracking, observing, quantifying, recording, or
generation of metrics that relate to display, performance, or
presentation to a user and activities of the user associated with
an commercial, for instance, recording whether a user triggers an
interactive prompt displayed during the commercial (such as a
pop-up that when clicked brings the user to a webpage for more
information), or whether a user exits the video application instead
of watching the commercial. We use the term "ad server" broadly to
include, for example, any server that selects and delivers
advertisements for placement into any kind of Internet-delivered
content, such as web pages, audio, and video, or combinations of
them.
[0058] The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), an industry
consortium, has published a specification for the delivery and
playout of ads within streaming video, called the Digital Video Ad
Serving Template (VAST) (reference: http://www.iab.net/vast).
Commercials may be of different types, including linear, companion
ads, ad pods, and so on. The VAST specification describes the
different types and is incorporated here by reference in its
entirety. To simplify the discussion, we will focus on linear ads,
but the techniques and systems that we describe here apply to the
other ad types.
[0059] For background and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, we now present
an example of the placement, delivery, and consumption of
commercials within streaming video. For simplicity, this
description omits some elements of the workflow, such as
authentication, entitlement-checking, and the (often several)
layers of redirection between the app and the ad server. [0060] 1
USER LAUNCHES APP 8: On a mobile device 54, a user 10 launches 8 an
app 12. The app has been installed onto the mobile device prior to
launch. The user selects 13 a video item 14 from a catalog 16 of
video content 18 that is presented to the user by the app through a
user interface 19 of the mobile device. The catalog presents to the
user the video content that is available to the user and may
consist of all or a subset of the overall inventory 18 of video
content. The catalog may be stored on the mobile device and may
update its listing of available videos based on communication with
the inventory of video content 18. The catalog updates could occur
according to a schedule or when the user launches the app or a
combination of the two. The catalog may also be stored in a network
data repository. In some cases, the user may select a channel from
a menu of live TV channels. [0061] 2 APP REQUESTS VIDEO 20: After
the user selects a video from the VOD catalog or a channel from the
menu of live TV channels, the app initiates a request 22 to a
streaming video server 24 for the selected item. At a minimum, the
app request should contain information sufficient to identify the
item selected by the user, such as the item's title, or some other
unique item identifier that allows the streaming video server to
identify the requested item from its inventory of videos. The
request may contain a variety of other information, including
information related to the mobile device, such as a list of
supported video protocols, the screen size and supported video, and
the number of supported audio channels. The request may contain
identifying information about the user, which allows the system to
validate that the user is authorized to access the selected item.
The request may further contain preference information related to
start-up time for the stream, tolerance for buffering during stream
playout, and limits on data size of the stream. The app may
indicate to the user that the request has been sent to the
streaming video server or may indicate to the user that the request
has not been made successfully only if an error occurs. [0062] 3
STREAMING SERVER SELECTS VIDEO VERSION: The streaming video server
may maintain several different versions or "profiles" 31 of a given
video 14, corresponding to different encoding qualities, for
example, each appropriate for a particular range of network
capabilities and particular device screen resolutions. For a given
device request 22, the streaming video server selects 32 one
version of the video item. [0063] 4 STREAMING SERVER PREPARES
METADATA: The streaming video server will select and/or create a
file or set of files containing metadata 34 corresponding to the
video. This metadata may include, for example, a description of the
video, closed-caption text for the video, a production date for the
video, and "ad insertion points" 59. We use the term "ad insertion
points" broadly to include, for example, any indication of where in
a video an ad may be or must be inserted, for example, directives
on the frames or times at which to insert commercials into the
video. [0064] 5 AD SERVER SELECTS COMMERCIALS: The ad server 390
maintains an inventory 52 of commercials. The ad server stores the
video commercials themselves, or instead, the ad server may only
store links or pointers 392 to the commercials, which may be stored
in other locations 394. The ad server associates a set of metadata
57 with each individual commercial in this inventory. The
commercials themselves and the associated metadata may be supplied,
for example, by the advertisers themselves (e.g. Lexus, Capital One
or Walmart), or by an agency representing the advertiser (e.g. WPP,
Omnicom, Publicis, Group M). Using a selection algorithm 51, the ad
server chooses 47 (in FIG. 2, the location of the ad selection in
the sequence of actions need not be as shown) a set of commercials
53 from this full inventory 52 of commercials. The number of
selected commercials 53 will typically be equal to the number of
insertion points in the video. We describe this
commercial-selection process below in more detail. [0065] 6 SERVER
INITIATES DELIVERY 30: The streaming video server begins streaming
30 the video to the device. The video may be delivered using the
HTTP protocol, using a technology like progressive download or HTTP
Live Streaming (HLS). Before or during this step, the streaming
video server or ad server will also deliver 33 to the mobile device
a set of links to the selected commercials. Each link may be, for
instance, a URL (uniform resource locator or "web link") to a video
file containing the commercial. The set of links may be in the form
of an XML file which contains the URLs for the commercials, plus
the insertion point for each commercial in the video item (i.e. a
time offset, expressed in milliseconds, from the beginning of the
video item). [0066] 7 APP INITIATES PLAYOUT 40: Some time after it
has begun to receive the streaming video, referred to as the
start-up time, the app on the mobile device commences playout to
the user. It is typically not necessary for the streaming of the
video to have been completed before playout commences. [0067] 8 APP
SUSPENDS PLAYOUT 44: After a period of playout guided by the first
insertion point previously delivered to the app, the app suspends
playout of the video item. [0068] 9 APP PLAYS COMMERCIAL 70: The
app plays one of the commercials previously delivered to the app.
To play the commercial, the app may first open a network connection
to a separate video server, which delivers the commercial to the
app using a communication protocol such as UDP or TCP. [0069] 10
APP EXECUTES BEACON 72: The app may execute a tracking beacon 74
before, during, or after the commercial is played, or any
combination of two or more of those times. A tracking beacon is
essentially a network call 81 to a remote tracking server 80, which
records that the commercial is about to be played, is in the middle
of playout, or has completed playout on the mobile device. The
tracking server 80 may be the same as the analytic server 80 or ad
selection server 390, or it may be a different server. The data
recorded by the tracking server may be provided later to the
advertisers as verification that their commercials have been viewed
by users. [0070] 11 APP LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE ELEMENT 84: In some
cases, the user may perform an action through the user interface of
the device (e.g., press a key 86 or tap on the screen 88) during
playout of the commercial. Doing so may cause the app to stop
playout and launch the device web browser 90 using the URL 91 of
the advertiser 92 as the page to launch first. Instead of launching
the device web browser, the app may instead display advertiser's
content, contained in the commercial's metadata, through the app
itself. [0071] 12 APP RESUMES COMMERCIAL PLAYOUT 85: If playout of
the commercial is stopped during user interaction, the app may keep
track of the commercial's progress so that the app can resume
playout from that point of the commercial when the user is done
with the interactive element. The app may forego resuming the
commercial and instead resume the video (that triggered the ad)
from the insertion point. The app may continue to play the
commercial as a background (for example, dimmed) element of the
user interface while the user interacts with the interactive
element. The behavior of a commercial during user interaction with
an interactive element 340 may be controlled by that commercial's
metadata 342. Before launching the web page or in-app content of
the advertiser, the app may prompt the user 94 to confirm 346 her
intent (See FIG. 10). The user may view the web page or in-app
content. When the user is finished, she can close this view and
return to video playout.
[0072] The actions illustrated in FIG. 2 need not take place in the
exact sequence shown, some of the actions need not occur at all,
and other actions not shown may be part of the sequence.
[0073] When an app initiates a request for a video item, the ad
server will select a corresponding group of commercials, among its
inventory of commercials, for insertion into the video item during
playout. The selection process can rely on one or combinations of
any two or more of the following factors, among others:
* when the commercial becomes active or expires or both: A
commercial's metadata may specify that it may be played only after
a particular "start window," or not after a later "expiry window,"
or both. For example, a retailer may purchase 100,000 impressions
of a commercial for an upcoming President's Day sale, but not
before 3 days prior to the sale, and not after 6 PM on the day of
the sale. For another example, an advertiser may license a song
from a musician for two weeks, after which time the advertiser no
longer has the right to present the commercial with that music. The
ad server will only select ads whose start window has passed but
whose expiry window has not yet occurred. * the kinds of video
items (or specific videos or series) into which a commercial may be
inserted: An advertiser may negotiate the right to insert its
commercial inside a certain set of video content, and to exclude
its commercial from other video content. For example, an advertiser
may wish to display its commercial inside sports-related videos,
but not reality shows. We will call the former the "allowable"
videos for that advertiser. The commercial's metadata may express
this constraint. An ad server will only select a commercial if the
video item is allowable for that commercial. * the number of
overall impressions (views): Advertisers typically purchase a fixed
number of "impressions" for a commercial. We use the term
impressions broadly to include, for example, the number of times a
commercial was inserted into the video and the user either watched
the commercial to completion (allowed it to play through without
exiting out of the app) or triggered an interactive element from
the commercial or a combination of the two. The commercial's
metadata may express this information in some manner. The ad server
may use the number of remaining (paid-for but unfulfilled)
impressions as a selection criterion. * the specified sequence of
commercials: An advertiser may require that a series of related ads
be viewed in a particular sequence. For example, a car manufacturer
may wish to present to each viewer a sequence of ads: first a
superficial product "teaser" showing the exterior of the car in
motion, then a more revealing description of car's interior, and
finally, pricing and local dealer information. A commercial's
metadata may include whether the commercial is part of a sequence,
uniquely identify that sequence, and also indicate the commercial's
place within that sequence. By using selection criteria that
respect sequence ordering, commercials in a sequence may be
inserted into a video at their proper order. * demographic
information about the user: The ad server may employ in its
selection criteria the location of the user (e.g., a GPS location
or a coarser metric such as the city/state), the make and model of
mobile device (e.g. Apple iPad 3), and, where available, any other
personally-identifiable information such as age and gender.
[0074] The idea of delivering ads to mobile devices for later
presentation is not new. Companies that have done so include
Goldspot
(http://gigaom.com/2010/03/05/goldspot-delivers-mobile-ads-while-you-slee-
p/) and Transpera (which delivered to mobile phones video ads
inserted into web pages displayed on the mobile phone).
[0075] Here we describe a system that, among other things, handles
the insertion, measurement, and interactivity at the mobile device,
during the playing or videos and while the device is not connected
to a network.
[0076] As shown in FIG. 3, consider an app 101 installed on a
mobile device 102; the app (when the mobile device is online, as
shown on the left side of the figure) supports downloading 103
videos 105 from a server 104 for later playback (when the mobile
device is offline, as shown on the right side of the figure). Each
downloaded video is stored on the device's non-volatile storage
111. In some cases, once the videos are downloaded, the user 107
may initiate playback 109 of a previously-downloaded video while
the mobile device is offline.
[0077] The system and techniques that we describe here are designed
to support download and offline playout of ad-supported videos,
among other things.
[0078] Some key features include:
1. OFFLINE CACHE OF COMMERCIALS: The system maintains an offline
cache of commercials on the mobile device at all times. These
commercials are delivered to the device and saved in the device's
non-volatile storage, so that if the user plays out a downloaded
video while the device is offline (or in some examples, when the
device is online), downloaded commercials will be available for
playout before, during, and after playout of the video. We use the
term "offline cache" broadly to include for example, any kind of
non-volatile storage space on the device that is allocated for
commercial video and ad storage and over which the user generally
has no file-level control (such as playing and deleting videos).
The user may have the ability to configure the size of the offline
cache. In some examples, the cache may be implemented using
dedicated non-volatile memory on the device. In some cases, the
cache may be implemented in software at the app or OS level, using
general user storage space. 2. SELECTION FROM OFFLINE CACHE: During
offline video playout of a downloaded video, at every ad-insertion
point (before, during, or after the playout of the video), the app
may select a commercial from the offline cache of downloaded
commercials and play the commercial, without having to contact any
remote server, including the ad server. In some cases, even during
playout of downloaded video while the device is online, the app may
still rely on the offline cache of downloaded commercials. FIG. 18
shows the parallel workflows for ad selection when the device is
online and offline If the device is online, the device context the
ad server for ads and plays the downloaded video with ads streamed
from the server. Tracking beacons are executed in real-time. If the
device is offline, ads are selected from the local ad cache, the
downloaded video is played with selected downloaded ads inserted,
and tracking beacons are stored for later playback when the device
is again online. 3. RECORDING OF OFFLINE PLAYOUT: During offline
video playout, the system records the identity of each played
commercial, as well as the time of playout, the location of
playout, the identity of the video, and the insertion point within
the video. This information is saved on the mobile device, and
transmitted from the mobile device to a remote server when the
device's network connectivity is restored. In some implementations,
other kinds of information could also be recorded, saved, and
transmitted with respect to played commercials. 4. INTERACTIVITY
WHILE OFFLINE: Commercials on mobile devices often include
interactive elements that enable users to perform actions or cause
actions to occur. During offline video playout, if the app plays
out a commercial that includes an interactive element, the app will
record if the user performed an action, for example, indicated (for
example by tapping on the device screen) that the user wanted more
information about the advertiser. The app will later, once network
connectivity is restored, cause corresponding actions to occur, for
example, by providing the user the ability to access the requested
information (e.g., a web site).
[0079] Important functions of the system include: selecting
commercials; downloading commercials from a server; ensuring the
device has access to a sufficient number of commercials; providing
access to commercials; refreshing the cache of commercials on the
device; recording viewings by users of commercials; and enabling
interactivity associated with the viewing of the videos or
commercials; and combinations of any two or more of those functions
and others.
[0080] We cover each of a number of these aspects in turn.
[0081] We refer to FIG. 4, which is somewhat similar to FIG. 1. An
important difference is that in FIG. 4, the mobile device 201 now
includes an offline cache 202 of commercials 205. The offline cache
also stores metadata 207 for each commercial. The device also
includes a local ad engine 203 that executes a selection algorithm
204 to choose commercials from the offline cache 202, using the
metadata 207.
Selecting Commercials
[0082] In the streaming scenario, selecting commercials is entirely
the responsibility of the ad server; typically, no element on the
mobile device (including the app) has any responsibility for
selecting commercials.
[0083] The system and techniques that we describe here change this
approach to support offline playout of downloaded videos and
commercials in a number of ways including one or more of the
following and combinations of any two or more of them:
[0084] When the app downloads a video, it contacts the ad server to
request a set of corresponding commercials. The ad server performs
a selection algorithm to identify a group of commercials, just as
described above in the streaming scenario ("AD SERVER SELECTS
COMMERCIALS"). In this case, the app downloads the selected
commercials for later playout.
[0085] When the system downloads 210 a commercial 212 to the mobile
device and stores it 218, the system also downloads a set of
metadata 224. The local ad engine 204 uses this metadata to help
guide its selection 226 of one or more commercials from among the
locally-stored commercials.
[0086] In some cases, the metadata may can be embedded in the
commercials and therefore necessarily downloaded with them. In some
implementations, the metadata can be stored and delivered
separately and associated with the commercials. Any of a wide
variety of arrangements can be used to associate the metadata with
the commercials. Some metadata can be associated with more than one
commercial; in some other cases, each commercial has its own
metadata, not shared with other commercials.
[0087] A wide variety of fields of metadata can be defined and
used, including:
* A `use-by` field 228: the date or time after which the commercial
must be disabled or deleted from the device cache. We sometimes
refer to the `use-by` value as the expiry of the commercial. * A
`use-after` field 229: defines the start date or time for use of a
commercial. * A `use-against` field 230: specifies the allowable
video content, specific videos, or kinds of videos or video series
that this commercial may be inserted into. *A `max-impressions`
field 232: specifies the maximum number of times this commercial
should be shown on this device. * A `use-nearby` field: specifies
that the commercial should only be shown when the mobile device is
within a certain distance from a geographical marker (e.g. within
20 miles of Cleveland, Ohio or within 800 meters of Joe's Clam
Shack on Hilton Head Island, S.C.).
[0088] Other metadata delivered with the commercial could include,
for example, information that instructs the app to show the
commercials in a certain sequence. Any combination of two or more
such fields, and other fields, can constitute the metadata for a
commercial.
[0089] In some implementations, for efficiency in transmitting the
metadata from the ad server to the mobile device and storing the
metadata on the mobile device, the amount and the fields of
metadata that is downloaded to and stored on the mobile device are
smaller or fewer than the amount of metadata and the fields stored
on the server in scenarios such as the ones described earlier. In
such implementations, we call this set of metadata delivered to and
stored on the app a "reduced set of metadata". We refer to this set
as reduced in that it may and typically is a set of less metadata
than the set 57 shown in FIG. 1 used by a remote server to select
commercials. In some cases, it is possible to send more metadata to
the mobile device than can be stored there and to have the mobile
device store only a subset of what is downloaded. In some cases,
different mobile devices that have different storage capacities
could receive the same sets of metadata and reduce those sets to
different subsets to be stored locally. The metadata may be
delivered with the related commercial but also could in some
implementations be delivered separately or a combination of the
delivery techniques could be used
[0090] Prior to or during playout of a video, the local ad engine
204 consults this metadata to select from among the cached
commercials those to be inserted into the video, or before or after
the video.
[0091] As shown in FIG. 6, the ad server selects, from a universe
of all commercials 260 available at the ad server a group of
commercials to download 262 to the mobile device. From among the
downloaded commercials, one is selected 264 for playout at any
given insertion point in a video.
[0092] In making its selection of commercials, the ad server may
take into account that the mobile device will be downloading the
commercials for later playout, perhaps offline. The ad server will
be aware that the mobile device will be downloading the ads, from
information sent by the device to the ad server in the request
(e.g., information indicating that the request comes from a
specific user-agent such as a "download-player"). The ad server may
alter its selection accordingly. For instance, the ad server may
not select interactive commercials, since most interactive elements
work best with a live network connection.
[0093] The process of selecting and downloading commercials and
metadata to the mobile device is depicted in FIG. 16. As shown in
FIG. 16, the app initiates the download of the video item and then
contacts the ad server. The ad server selects appropriate
commercials and delivers them with metadata to the device. The
commercials and the metadata are saved on the device for later
use.
Managing the Cache of Commercials
[0094] In some circumstances, an insufficient number of downloaded
commercials, with respect to the number of downloaded videos, the
total duration of downloaded videos, the total number of insertion
points for all the downloaded videos, or some combination of any
two or more of these and other factors, may cause the app to
prevent playout of some of the downloaded videos. For instance, a
downloaded video may have three commercial insertion points. If the
device currently holds only two downloaded commercials, the app may
indicate that the video cannot playout offline until additional
commercials are available.
[0095] Downloading can occur in bursts in which two or more or a
large set of commercials is downloaded at one time, or can be
distributed so that individual commercials are downloaded from time
to time, or any combination of those. The app may download a large
number of commercials in low quality video formats, to quickly
populate the offline cache, and subsequently download
higher-quality versions of these (or other) commercials. For
example, the app may download twenty commercials, each 15 s in
duration and encoded at 0.3 Mb/s, for a total size of 11.2 MB.
Subsequently, the app may download a new batch of 20 commercials,
each 15 s in duration and encoded at 0.9 Mb/s, for a total size of
33.6 MB. The replacement of lower-quality versions by
higher-quality versions need not be done in batches but can be done
individually, for example. The logic for deciding how many
commercials to download and how frequently to replace the
commercials may reside on the app (at the mobile device), or may
reside at some other system component.
[0096] The app receives and stores 218 these downloaded commercials
on the mobile device, e.g., in the offline cache 202 on the mobile
device's non-volatile storage 222.
[0097] The app may be configured to have a quota, a maximum amount
of non-volatile storage to use in storing downloaded commercials.
For example, a 200 MB quota is enough space for 100 video
commercials each of size 2 MB. The app may set the quota as a fixed
number, or as a fraction of the overall non-volatile storage
capacity of the device, or in any of a variety of other ways. The
quota can change from time to time depending on various
factors.
[0098] The app may adhere to a set of rules 301 (FIG. 4) governing
when commercials may be delivered from the server to the device's
offline cache, e.g., only when the device is above 50% charged,
only when the network connection is WiFi; only when the device has
at least a certain amount of available storage space, or a
combination of any two or more of those and other factors. The app
may adhere to a set of rules governing when it can download
commercials over a cellular data network, e.g., only between
midnight and 5 AM, when the cellular network is not in heavy use.
The app may regulate the amount of data it consumes over a given
time period (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly) over a cellular network,
to avoid "overage charges" that are imposed on cellular subscribers
who consume excessive amounts of cellular data.
[0099] The app may moderate the pace at which it downloads
commercials based on the number of commercials stored in the
offline cache. For instance, the app may download commercials with
all available bandwidth until the app reaches a minimal threshold
of (e.g., 20) commercials in the offline cache, and then only
download at most 10 new commercials per week.
[0100] The app may download commercials before, during, or after
the download of user-selected videos or in any combination of two
or more of those times. It may do so without the user being aware
that the downloading is occurring. It may do so in the background,
without the app or any of its features being shown on the device's
screen. It may do so automatically, on a preset interval (e.g.,
every day or every week).
[0101] The app may interleave the download of commercials with the
download of videos. For example, the app may have a queue of five
user-requested videos (totaling 400 MB) and fifteen commercials
(totaling 30 MB) for a total download queue of 430 MB. The app may
alternate (one by one or in groups) the download of queued videos
with queued commercials in any sequence over time. The app may or
may not indicate to the user that it is downloading commercials.
The app may separate a queued video into several parts, and insert
a commercial (or part of a commercial) between downloading each
part. As shown in FIG. 8, for example, on the left 302, the queue
includes simply three user-selected videos to be downloaded in
order. In the middle 304, the queue has been altered so that seven
commercials have been interleaved in the download queue. To the
right 306, the user-selected videos have been broken up and
commercials have been interleaved not only between complete videos
but also between smaller parts of full videos.
[0102] In some implementations, commercials may "belong" to a
specific show and can only be played in conjunction with that show.
In the terminology we introduced above, the metadata for the
commercials would specify a particular show in the `use-against`
field. For example, an advertiser (Walmart, say) may purchase a set
of impressions against the show "Survivor" or against a specific
episode of "Survivor." In this scenario, when downloading
commercials, the app will download a set of appropriate commercials
for each downloaded video item. Since a 45-minute TV show typically
contains 15 minutes of commercials, the app will download 15
minutes of commercials for a 45-minute downloaded video item. One
might think of the cache of commercials on the device as segregated
into groups, one group belonging to each downloaded video item.
[0103] The app may download a set of "backup commercials" which are
available for insertion when no other commercial is available.
Typically, a backup commercial will have minimal constraints on
when it can be played--at any time, inside any video item, and no
expiry, among other examples. A backup commercial might be, for
example, a general promotion or a public service announcement that
has no inherent expiry. The app may select one of the saved backup
commercials in case another commercial that has an association with
a video program is not available for playout (e.g., they have all
expired.)
[0104] The app will not typically present a list of downloaded
commercials for the user to view and interact with; rather, the app
will silently store and manage these commercials, without
explicitly informing the user. The app may present a minimal view
to the user showing only that commercials are downloading.
[0105] Some mobile devices support the notion of multiple users,
each with their own login to the device. For example, starting with
version 4.2, Android devices support multiple users on a single
device, each with their own login. In some instances, the app can
provide a separate local ad cache 380 for each user 382, and draw
from that user's cache when that user is logged in (see FIG. 15).
One advantage of doing so is that the advertisers can target
individual users, not just devices. A husband and wife sharing a
single tablet may then see different commercials inside the same
downloaded TV show or other video.
Refreshing the Cache of Commercials
[0106] From time to time, the app may refresh its set of cached
commercials.
[0107] The refresh may be initiated from the app itself. The
refresh may be initiated from a server that sends a signal (e.g.,
and Android Push Notice or Apple Push Notification) to the app on
the device to perform the refresh. Triggering events for a refresh
may include (among other) any one or a combination of any two or
more of: (a) when a certain amount of time (say 3 days) has elapsed
since the app last performed a refresh of its cached commercials,
(b) when a certain number or fraction of cached commercials have
expired, and (c) when the location of the mobile device has changed
significantly (e.g. more than 50 miles) and a sufficient number of
cached commercials are now marked as "OutOfGeo."
[0108] Based on one of these triggering events, the app may
initiate a refresh of its cache of commercials. That is, the app
will contact the ad server to request a new inventory of
commercials.
[0109] The app may mark as expired any commercial that has been
played the number of times specified in its associated metadata
(defined above as "max impressions"), denoted by Q. The app may
mark as expired a commercial which has been played at least Q-k
times, where k is a fixed parameter in the app, for example 3. The
app may mark as expired a commercial that is past its "use-by"
metadata. The app may mark as expired a commercial that that has
resided on the device for a duration of time T, where T is a fixed
parameter in the app, for example one week. Various combinations of
any two or more of these and other conditions may also be applied
to control the expiry of commercials.
[0110] The app may mark as "OutOfGeo" any commercial for which the
"use-nearby" metadata indicates a different location from where the
device is now.
[0111] FIG. 17 depicts an example of the process by which the app
evaluates a single cached commercial. The app inspects the
commercial. If it is been viewed more than 10 times, it is marked
as expired. If it has not been viewed more than 10 times, and the
current time is past the "use-by" window, the app also marks the ad
as expired. If the ad has not been viewed more than 10 times and is
not passed the "use-by" window, the app checks whether the location
of the mobile device is outside of the "use-nearby" window. If so,
the ad is marked as "OutOfGeo". Otherwise, the ad is marked as
"InGeo".
[0112] When the refresh occurs, the app contacts the ad server to
request a new commercial to use in place of some or all of the
cached commercials. At the very least, the app will request a
replacement commercial for any expired commercial. The app may also
request a replacement for any commercial marked as "OutOfGeo." The
app queues the new commercials for download.
[0113] As an example of the "location change" criteria, imagine
that the app detects (using standard location-based APIs available
on mobile platforms such as iOS and Android) that the device has
moved from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio. Transparently and
without the user needing to be aware of it, the app will then mark
all appropriate commercials as "InGeo" or "OutOfGeo." When a
subsequent refresh occurs, the OutOfGeo commercials may be replaced
or retained in case the user moves back into the relevant
geographical area.
Providing Access to Commercials
[0114] In some implementations, the downloaded commercials are used
only for insertion into videos that are played by one app on the
device. However, in some implementations, other apps and features
of the mobile device can make use of the stored commercials and
associated metadata for a wide variety of purposes.
[0115] For example, a phone-dialing app 311 (FIG. 4) can play out a
previously-downloaded video commercial while the user is waiting
for the call to go through. An app can play out a
previously-downloaded commercial every time the device is powered
on. A game app 313 can require the user to view a
previously-downloaded commercial before playing the game. Another
video-playing app 310 can select from among the
previously-downloaded commercials and play out one or more at
pre-specified insertion points. The creators of an app may publish
two versions of the app for download and installation: a free
version that draws on one of the previously-downloaded commercials
on every app launch before the user may use the app, and a paid-for
version which is free of commercials.
[0116] In some implementations, to make it easier for app
developers to take advantage of the stored ads and metadata, the
app (or even the operating system of the mobile device) can expose
an API (application programming interface) 209 (FIG. 4) to other
apps 213 installed on the device, to permit those other apps to
request (and then playout) one or more commercials from the set of
previously-downloaded commercials. We call the software component
of the app that provides this functionality a "client ad engine."
The API may provide a mechanism by which the other apps can request
a commercial; the client ad engine will select from among the
stored commercials to choose an appropriate commercial. The API may
also permit other applications to add commercials into the set of
stored commercials.
[0117] Therefore, in some implementations, apps loaded on and
running on the mobile device can invoke the client ad engine to use
the stored commercials for a variety of purposes.
[0118] The following is an example of a simple API.
TABLE-US-00001 String getStoredCommercial(String appID); // returns
URL on disk of selected commercial bool saveStoredCommercial(String
commercialURL); // register a new downloaded commercial bool
recordPlayoutOfCommercial(String commercialURL); // record that a
commercial was played
[0119] Thus, multiple apps 213, 310, 311 and 313 can use one common
client ad engine 203 on the device through the API.
Recording Views and Tracking and Measuring Usage of Ads
[0120] Typically, streaming video systems include one or more
mechanisms for recording when a mobile device has begun, is
somewhere in the middle of playing, or has completed playout of a
commercial. As previously discussed, tracking beacons are one
common mechanism. Tracking beacons are typically a URL (i.e. the
address of an remote Internet server) that the device connects to
in order to register this event. Typically, an application or web
browser will perform a network call (typically using HTTP) to the
URL. The network call typically contains information including the
"user-agent" (a description of the device performing the network
call) and perhaps information stored from a previous transaction
(e.g. one or more web cookies).
[0121] The device must be online to execute the network call for
the tracking beacon. When the device is playing a
previously-downloaded commercial and the device is offline, the
device cannot reach a remote server to perform the tracking beacon,
or to in any other way report that a commercial has been played and
cannot report any other metrics concerning the use of commercials
on the device.
[0122] Instead, in some implementations, the app records on the
mobile device the URL of the tracking beacon, along with a
timestamp recording exactly when the device would have performed
the network call to the URL if the device were online. More
generally, the app records the identity of each commercial that is
played, along with a timestamp recording exactly when each
commercial was played. The app may also record other information
related to the playout of the commercial, including, for example,
the location of the device during playout of the commercial, the
identity of the video that the commercial was inserted into, and
the duration of the commercial that the user played. Other kinds of
information and combinations of information can be recorded. We
call this information for a commercial, collectively, an
"impression event." The impression event is stored on the device's
non-volatile memory in a cache 325. The cache may contain multiple
impression events recorded over a period of time.
[0123] When the cache is non-empty, the app checks for network
connectivity at regular intervals, and uploads this set of recorded
impression events from the cache to a remote server (i.e. an
analytics server) that accumulates this information (the server is
labeled analytics 326 in FIG. 4) when it can. It may be several
hours or even days before an impression event is transmitted from
the mobile device to the analytics server 326. In some
implementations, the app may automatically perform the network call
(to the URL of the tracking beacon) to a remote server once the
device regains network connectivity, whether or not the app is
active or running at the time the device regains network
connectivity. In some implementations, the app may upload a file
containing the stored tracking beacons to another server (a proxy),
which itself performs the network calls on behalf of the app.
[0124] In the download scenario, the app will be playing a
previously-downloaded commercial. If the device is online when the
commercial is played, then the app may perform the network call to
execute a tracking beacon. If the device is offline when the
commercial is played, the app may store the beacon 330 along with a
timestamp 332 of when the beacon was encountered. At the next or
subsequent opportunity when the device has network connectivity,
the app may call the beacon URL along with the timestamp.
Interactivity
[0125] One of the benefits of online video ads, as opposed to a TV
broadcast commercial, is interactivity. Online ads may encourage
the user of the device to perform an action (e.g., tap on the
screen, press a key, nod their head, or some other behavior), which
triggers the app to offer more information about the advertiser.
For example, FIG. 9 illustrates how a user may be encouraged to
indicate their interest, and FIG. 10 shows the result--a web page
for the advertiser which subsequently loads inside the device web
browser. Typically the app suspends playout of the commercial while
this action is performed, and playout resumes when the action is
complete.
[0126] Interactive commercials 340 often contain metadata 342 that
specifies the interactive element 344 (for example, using a
<VideoClicks> tag in the VAST specification).
[0127] In order to perform the associated action, e.g. launch a web
site or fetch data on a remote server, the app often needs network
connectivity. In this case, the action will fail when the user has
previously downloaded the commercial and is viewing it offline.
[0128] Here we introduce an implementation that supports
interactive commercials during offline playout in a number of ways
including one or more of the following and combinations of any two
or more of them:
[0129] When downloading the commercial, the app also downloads all
interactive instructions (in the case of a VAST-compliant system,
this means downloading XML data nested within the
<VideoClicks> element). If the user attempts to interact with
the commercial while the device is offline, but the interactive
element requires a network connection, the app records the user
intent 346, and informs the user that the action will be performed
when network connectivity is restored (See FIG. 13). If the user
attempts again (a second or subsequent time) to trigger the
interactive element while the device is offline, the app may ignore
the request, or it may again inform the user that the action will
be performed when network connectivity is restored.
[0130] Having recorded the user intent to access the interactive
content, the app may then begin monitoring for network
connectivity. Alternatively, this check for connectivity may be
performed by a separate application or process. The app may alert
348 the user (e.g., using a pop-up message on the home screen of
the device) when network connectivity is restored, to inform the
user that they can now perform the interactive action (e.g., launch
the associated web page) corresponding to the commercial they saw
previously (FIG. 14). In some cases, the app may perform this check
at every app launch. In some cases, the app may perform this check
at a fixed time interval. In some instances, the app may transmit
to a server element the user intent, and the server can
subsequently send an email to the user which includes the
interactive element; the advantage of the latter approach is that
the user can retain the email message and decide for themselves
when to access the interactive content.
[0131] To support deferred interactivity, the app monitors and
persistently records the user interactions with ads while
offline.
Videos from Digital Video Recorders (DVRs)
[0132] In some embodiments, the mobile device downloads from a
digital video recorder (DVR) one or more video items that have been
previously recorded using the DVR. At least some of the downloaded
video items can be integrated continuous videos that have ads
embedded in them, such as television shows.
[0133] We use the term DVR broadly to include, for example, any
electronic device that records video to a persistent storage, such
as a disk drive, either locally or in the "cloud" or a combination
of the two. A DVR typically offers at least the following
functionality: [0134] recording of a single TV show (or other video
item) for later viewing (e.g., a specific football game) [0135]
continual monitoring of a list of upcoming shows or other video
items and recording of items, for example, those items that match a
user-specified criteria (e.g. "All new episodes of Seinfeld" or
"the last 3 episodes of Mad Men.") [0136] replaying of
previously-saved TV shows or other video items [0137] deletion of
previously-recorded TV shows or other video items, for example, in
accordance with deletion rules or criteria
[0138] Certain DVRs may offer additional functionality such as
[0139] recording of more than one TV show or other video items
simultaneously [0140] copying or transferring of previously
recorded shows or other videos to an external device, such as a
smartphone or tablet
[0141] Typically, a DVR receives input from a network provider
(e.g., cable or satellite TV operator) and transmits output to a
television for viewing. A conventional DVR stores the recorded
video items in a magnetic disk drive or solid-state memory that is
contained within the DVR. A "Cloud DVR" stores the recorded video
items on a remote server, connected to the DVR through a two-way
network connection. Some DVR's can both store locally and store in
the "cloud". A DVR is sometimes also referred to as a PVR, or
"personal video recorder."
[0142] Video items can be downloaded from a conventional DVR to a
mobile device for later viewing using, for instance, the Slingbox
and TiVo Stream products that both offer "sync and go"
functionality to copy video items from a DVR to a mobile device.
FIG. 24 depicts a screen shot of a user interface on a computer of
one such product during the process of downloading a recorded TV
show to a mobile device.
[0143] In some cases, a product of this kind may work as follows:
[0144] 1. On a mobile device, the user launches an application (the
application and some of its key functional components are depicted
schematically in FIG. 19). The functional components include a
media player, a download manager, and persistent memory. The
download manager can include a policy manager, a cache manager, a
player proxy, and HLS stack, analytics, and configuration
facilities. The persistent memory can store metadata, a media
cache, and a cache of stored video items. [0145] 2. The application
establishes a connection with the DVR. The connection may be
through a cable that connects the device to the DVR. Alternatively,
the connection may be via a wireless protocol such as WiFi or
Bluetooth. The communication between the application and the DVR
may rely on common communication protocols such as TCP/IP and HTTP,
or a proprietary protocol. [0146] 3. The application transmits to
the DVR a request for a list of video items saved on the DVR. The
DVR transmits this list, and the application displays the list on
the screen. The user selects one video item from the list, for
downloading to the mobile device. In some cases, the application
may show only a partial list of video items on the DVR, if (for
instance) certain saved shows on the DVR are not allowed to be
copied. [0147] 4. The application transmits a request for the
selected item to the DVR. [0148] 5. The DVR converts ("transcodes")
the requested item to a file format that is compatible with and
usable by the target mobile device. For example, the DVR may store
the video item in MPEG-2 format, and in this step creates a copy of
the video item in h.264 format. During this step, the DVR may also
encrypt the video item. The DVR may perform this conversion step
when a mobile device requests the item. In some implementations,
the DVR may perform the conversion step during or immediately after
the video item is initially recorded. In some cases, a separate
device (e.g. a TiVo Stream) performs this conversion. [0149] 6. The
DVR delivers the transcoded item to the mobile device. The item may
be delivered in different formats, e.g., as a flat file (e.g.
.mp4), a streaming format such as Smooth or HLS, or as a
progressive download. [0150] 7. In some cases, the DVR may delete
the original recording before, during, or after the video is
downloaded to the mobile device.
[0151] A DVR typically does not distinguish between a TV show and
the commercials contained in that show. The DVR records video from
a specific TV channel from a start time to an end time. The
resulting recording on the DVR is typically a single, monolithic,
continuous, integrated video item consisting of the TV show and
whatever commercials and other video elements were embedded in the
recorded show as originally received at the DVR. In some cases, the
video item that is recorded may not be a single show, but instead
contain parts of one or multiple shows.
[0152] Today, those DVRs that support copying or transferring of
recorded video to a mobile device typically copy the entire video
item or stream, including whatever embedded commercials may
exist--wholesale (as an entire single monolithic integrated video
item) to the target mobile device.
[0153] In some cases it would be desirable if the commercials
embedded in the video item were to be replaced by other
commercials. Advantages of this approach, which we describe below,
include: [0154] The commercials embedded in the original video item
may expire. For instance, a user may record an episode of a TV show
the day before Thanksgiving that contains a commercial for a
one-day-only "Black Friday" sale the day after Thanksgiving. If the
user copies the video item from her DVR to her mobile device and
watches the video item a week later, that "Black Friday" commercial
has little or no value to the advertiser. [0155] There may be
higher-value commercials available to show, for example, when the
user is playing the video item on a mobile device, or in a
particular location. For instance, an advertiser may offer a
relatively higher rate (typically measured in "CPM" or "cost per
thousand impressions") for a guarantee that all their commercials
are viewed on an iPhone within the greater New York City area.
[0156] We now describe a method for replacing one or more of the
"baked-in" (embedded) commercials in the downloaded video item with
one or more higher-value or different commercials.
[0157] The overall workflow is depicted in FIGS. 20, 21, and 22.
All three figures depict similar basic steps. [0158] 1. The user
requests a video to be downloaded from the DVR to the mobile
device. [0159] 2. The application on the mobile device contacts the
DVR and executes the download. [0160] 3. The application contacts
the ad server and supplies information to the ad server that allows
the ad server to generate a list of commercials for the video item.
The information may include the name of the recorded video, the
channel of the recorded video, when the show was recorded, when the
show was downloaded to the mobile device, the make or model of the
mobile device, the location of the mobile device,
personally-identifying information about the user of the mobile
device, or combinations of any two of more of them and other
information. [0161] 4. Using the information supplied by the
application, the ad server selects a group of commercials and
delivers the commercials, or information such as a URL which
identifies the location of each commercial.
[0162] The variants among FIGS. 20, 21, and 22 revolve around
whether the DVR is a conventional DVR (FIG. 20) or Cloud DVR (FIG.
21, 22) and whether the user indicates her download request using
the application on the mobile device (FIGS. 20, 21) or on the DVR
itself (FIG. 22).
[0163] As shown in the process of FIG. 20, the user can request a
TV show download to the mobile device through the app running on
the mobile device. The request is transmitted through, for example,
a Wi-Fi router, to a conventional DVR that stores the videos on
disk and has transcoding facilities as described earlier. The app
on the mobile device also requests commercials for the show. This
can be done either in parallel with the request for the downloading
of the video, or before, or after the video has been downloaded to
the mobile device. Once the ad server has selected commercials for
the video, it delivers them through the Internet, a broadband
router, and a Wi-Fi router, in this instance, to the mobile
device.
[0164] The process shown in FIG. 21 is similar except that the
video item is delivered from the cloud DVR rather than from the
conventional DVR. The process shown in FIG. 22 is similar to the
one in FIG. 21 except that the request of the user is made from a
consumer device that can communicate with the cloud DVR.
[0165] As shown in FIG. 23, the source video stream (or video item)
as recorded by the DVR includes commercials and possibly other
items inserted in the original program, both illustrated by
vertical gray stripes. The copy of the video item as downloaded
from the DVR to the mobile device contains all of the commercials
and other items in the integrated whole video item, as mentioned
earlier. After downloading the video item from the DVR, the mobile
device applies an algorithm to detect the times of the start and
end of each commercial in the downloaded video. Such algorithms are
widely published, for instance
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Commercial_detection. The resulting
lookup table is stored in the mobile device's persistent storage
and contains a list of entries. Each entry identifies one of the
commercials (for example, C1) and identifies the beginning time or
the ending time of that commercial within the video item. The cache
of commercials stored on the mobile device is also shown on FIG.
23.
[0166] At some later time, the user may launch the application on
the mobile device and will see a menu of available videos,
including the video(s) downloaded from the DVR. The user can then
indicate her selection of a downloaded video to be played back.
[0167] During playout of the downloaded video, the application
monitors the amount of time elapsed since the beginning of the
video item, and compares the time against the entries in the lookup
table. When the application reaches the first commercial break in
the video, as indicated by a beginning-time entry in the lookup
table, the application selects a commercial from the list of
previously-downloaded commercials corresponding to this video. The
application pauses the video at the identified time and plays back
the selected commercial. The application monitors the playback of
the commercial. When the end of the commercial is reached, the
application resumes playout of the main content of the video item
beginning at the time identified in the lookup table as the ending
time of that commercial segment.
[0168] The previously-described logic related to each of the
tracking beacons, expiring and refreshing commercials, and using
backup commercials, and combinations of any two or more of them,
also may be applied in the context of FIGS. 20 through 23.
[0169] A wide variety of other variants of the processes described
above may also be used. For example, the commercial-detection may
be performed on the DVR itself, rather than the mobile device;
i.e., the DVR itself can perform a commercial-detection algorithm
to determine the location of the ads in the recorded video. The DVR
can then download the entire video (with commercials) to the mobile
device, or the DVR can remove the original commercials from the
video before downloading it to the mobile device. In either case,
the DVR delivers to the mobile device (along with the downloaded
video) a lookup table containing the time-offset of the commercials
in the recorded video.
[0170] If the device is online during video playout, the
application can directly query the ad server for "fresh"
commercials, rather than using the cached commercials. The
application can download and play or simply play (using progressive
download or another protocol) these fresh ads. When the ad server
responds with a set of URLs for the fresh commercials, the
application may compare these URLs against the already-downloaded
commercials, in case the application can simply use one of the
cached commercials, to save on the bandwidth of accessing the same
commercial again from the network. Instead of replacing the
original commercials immediately, the mobile device may retain the
original commercials for some number of days, for example, after
the show was originally broadcast. Nielsen-style ratings accord
credit to a TV network for airing a commercial up to 3 or sometimes
7 days after the show's initial broadcast, to capture much of the
subsequent playout that occurs using DVRs. In case the original
commercials are of high value, the mobile device may sometimes wait
until between 4 and 8 days after the DVR originally recorded the
video before replacing the original ads.
[0171] The techniques described here can be implemented in digital
electronic circuitry, or in hardware, firmware, software, or in
combinations of them. The techniques can be implemented as a
program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an
information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or
in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the
operation of a processor, a computer, or multiple computers. A
program can be written in any form of programming language,
including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed
in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module,
component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a
computing or mobile environment. A program can be deployed to be
executed on one computer or mobile device or on multiple computers
or mobile devices at one site or distributed across multiple sites
and interconnected by a communication network.
[0172] Activities that we describe can be performed by one or more
programmable processors executing a program to perform functions by
operating on input data and generating output. Method steps can
also be performed by, and apparatus of the invention can be
implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA
(field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific
integrated circuit). Modules can refer to portions of the program
and/or the processor/special circuitry that implements that
functionality.
[0173] Processors suitable for the execution of a program include,
by way of example, both general and special purpose
microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of
digital computer or mobile device. Generally, a processor will
receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random
access memory or both. Generally, a computer or mobile device will
also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or
transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for
storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical
disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying program
instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory,
including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g.,
EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g.,
internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and
CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be
supplemented by, or incorporated in special purpose logic
circuitry.
[0174] To provide for interaction with a user, the techniques that
we describe can be implemented on a computer or mobile device
having a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD
(liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the
user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a
trackball, or a touch surface, by which the user can provide input
to the computer or mobile device (e.g., interact with a user
interface element, for example, by clicking a button on such a
pointing device or touching the touch surface). Other kinds of
devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well;
for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of
sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or
tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any
form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.
[0175] The techniques that we describe can be implemented in a
distributed system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a
data server, and/or a middleware component, e.g., an application
server, and/or a front-end component, e.g., a client computer or
mobile device having a graphical user interface and/or a Web
browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of
the invention, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or
front-end components. The components of the system can be
interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication,
e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks
include a local area network ("LAN") and a wide area network
("WAN"), e.g., the Internet, cellular telephone networks, and
Wi-Fi, and include both wired and wireless networks.
[0176] The computing system can include clients and servers. A
client and server are generally remote from each other and
typically interact over a communication network. The relationship
of client and server arises by virtue of programs running on the
respective computers or mobile devices and having a client-server
relationship to each other.
[0177] Other implementations are within the scope of the following
claims.
* * * * *
References