US-12621508-B2 - Methods, systems, and media for streaming media content items containing advertising content

Abstract

Methods, systems, and media for streaming a media content item containing advertising content are provided. In some embodiments, the method comprises: identifying, in a manifest file at a server used to stream media content items, an indication that an advertising content item is to be played back at a first playback position for a first duration when streaming a media content item; determining a retrieval time to retrieve the advertising content item from an advertising source for an advertisement break; inserting, into the manifest file at the server used to stream media content items, a retrieval indication that the advertising content item is to be retrieved from the advertising source at a second playback time; retrieving the advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position; determining a remaining amount of time corresponding to an unfilled portion of the advertisement break based on a duration of the advertising content item; based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break, retrieving at least one additional advertisement content item for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break, where the at least one additional advertisement content item is selected from a plurality of processed advertising content items received from a plurality of network sources, where each of the plurality of network sources has uploaded and assigned at least a first advertising content item having a first duration and at least a second advertising content item having a second duration, and where the first duration associated with the first advertising content item is determined to be within a first range and the second duration associated with the second advertising content item is determined to be within a second range; and collapsing the remaining portion of the advertising break to the end of the at least one additional advertising content item that was retrieved.

Inventors

• Nabhan El-Rahman
• Kevin Paek
• James Verner Wilhite
• Maxim Levkov
• Akshita Gandra
• Ming Jing Qian

Assignees

• INTEGRAL AD SCIENCE, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240524

Claims (19)

1. 1 . A method for inserting content into media content, the method comprising: identifying, in a manifest file at a server used to stream media content items, at least one indication that at least one advertising content item is to be played back at a first playback position for a first duration when streaming a media content item; determining a retrieval time to retrieve the at least one advertising content item from an advertising source for an advertisement break; inserting, into the manifest file at the server used to stream media content items, a retrieval indication that the at least one advertising content item is to be retrieved from the advertising source at a second playback position; retrieving the at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position; determining a remaining amount of time corresponding to an unfilled portion of the advertisement break based on a duration of the at least one advertising content item; based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break, retrieving at least one additional advertisement content item for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break, wherein the at least one additional advertisement content item is selected from a plurality of processed advertising content items received from a plurality of network sources, wherein each of the plurality of network sources has uploaded and assigned at least a first advertising content item having a first duration and at least a second advertising content item having a second duration, and wherein the first duration associated with the first advertising content item is determined to be within a first range and the second duration associated with the second advertising content item is determined to be within a second range; and collapsing the remaining portion of the advertising break to the end of the at least one additional advertising content item that was retrieved.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position further comprises performing an advertising auction at the advertising source.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises generating a first quantity of placeholder segments and inserting the first quantity of placeholder segments into the media content item at the first playback position, and wherein each of the first quantity of placeholder segments is the second duration.
4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein a total duration across a sum of the first quantity of placeholder segments is equal to the first duration.
5. 5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein a third duration of the at least one advertising content item is different than the total duration for the first quantity of placeholder segments.
6. 6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein each of the first quantity of placeholder segments includes a discontinuity tag.
7. 7 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises: storing the at least one advertising content item in a first memory location; and transitioning from streaming one of the plurality of streaming segments and one of the first quantity of placeholder segments to streaming the advertisement content item from the first memory location.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises determining whether to retrieve a plurality of additional advertisement content items for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises determining whether to retrieve a plurality of additional advertisement content items that have been designated as on-demand house advertisements from one or more of the plurality of network sources for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break, wherein the on-demand house advertisements have been processed prior to receiving the manifest file.
10. 10 . A system for inserting content into media content, the system comprising: a hardware processor that: identifies, in a manifest file at a server used to stream media content items, at least one indication that at least one advertising content item is to be played back at a first playback position for a first duration when streaming a media content item; determines a retrieval time to retrieve the at least one advertising content item from an advertising source for an advertisement break; inserts, into the manifest file at the server used to stream media content items, a retrieval indication that the at least one advertising content item is to be retrieved from the advertising source at a second playback position; retrieves the at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position; determines a remaining amount of time corresponding to an unfilled portion of the advertisement break based on a duration of the at least one advertising content item; based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break, retrieves at least one additional advertisement content item for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break, wherein the at least one additional advertisement content item is selected from a plurality of processed advertising content items received from a plurality of network sources, wherein each of the plurality of network sources has uploaded and assigned at least a first advertising content item having a first duration and at least a second advertising content item having a second duration, and wherein the first duration associated with the first advertising content item is determined to be within a first range and the second duration associated with the second advertising content item is determined to be within a second range; and collapses the remaining portion of the advertising break to the end of the at least one additional advertising content item that was retrieved.
11. 11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein retrieving at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position further comprises performing an advertising auction at the advertising source.
12. 12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to generate a first quantity of placeholder segments and insert the first quantity of placeholder segments into the media content item at the first playback position, and wherein each of the first quantity of placeholder segments is the second duration.
13. 13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein a total duration across a sum of the first quantity of placeholder segments is equal to the first duration.
14. 14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein a third duration of the at least one advertising content item is different than the total duration for the first quantity of placeholder segments.
15. 15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein each of the first quantity of placeholder segments includes a discontinuity tag.
16. 16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: store the at least one advertising content item in a first memory location; and transition from streaming one of the plurality of streaming segments and one of the first quantity of placeholder segments to streaming the advertisement content item from the first memory location.
17. 17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to determine whether to retrieve a plurality of additional advertisement content items for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break.
18. 18 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the hardware processor is further configured to determine whether to retrieve a plurality of additional advertisement content items that have been designated as on-demand house advertisements from one or more of the plurality of network sources for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break, wherein the on-demand house advertisements have been processed prior to receiving the manifest file.
19. 19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for inserting content into media content, the method comprising: identifying, in a manifest file at a server used to stream media content items, at least one indication that at least one advertising content item is to be played back at a first playback position for a first duration when streaming a media content item; determining a retrieval time to retrieve the at least one advertising content item from an advertising source for an advertisement break; inserting, into the manifest file at the server used to stream media content items, a retrieval indication that the at least one advertising content item is to be retrieved from the advertising source at a second playback position; retrieving the at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position; determining a remaining amount of time corresponding to an unfilled portion of the advertisement break based on a duration of the at least one advertising content item; based on the remaining amount of time corresponding to the unfilled portion of the advertising break, retrieving at least one additional advertisement content item for insertion in the unfilled portion of the advertising break, wherein the at least one additional advertisement content item is selected from a plurality of processed advertising content items received from a plurality of network sources, wherein each of the plurality of network sources has uploaded and assigned at least a first advertising content item having a first duration and at least a second advertising content item having a second duration, and wherein the first duration associated with the first advertising content item is determined to be within a first range and the second duration associated with the second advertising content item is determined to be within a second range; and collapsing the remaining portion of the advertising break to the end of the at least one additional advertising content item that was retrieved.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/468,993, filed May 25, 2023, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/553,879, filed Feb. 15, 2024, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosed subject matter relates to methods, systems, and media for streaming media content items containing advertising content. BACKGROUND Many people use Internet-connected applications to stream media content items, including movies, television shows, music videos, and music. In some examples, the Internet-connected applications provide users with access to their media content for free while being supported by advertising revenue. Advertising revenue can be generated by inserting advertising content into a media content item, and the consumer can be required to watch the advertising content in exchange for continued viewing of the media content item. The Internet-connected application then tracks the viewed advertisements, and advertising companies whose advertising content is viewed then pay the Internet-connected application. In such situations, an Internet-connected application often pre-loads all of the advertising content needed for the entire duration of playback of the media content item. However, if the user does not watch the entire media content item, then some of the advertising content also goes unwatched. Thus, the effort to pre-load the advertising content into the media content item is wasted, leading to an inefficient use of resources by the Internet-connected application. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide new mechanisms for streaming media content items containing advertising content. SUMMARY Methods, systems, and media for streaming media content items containing advertising content are provided. In accordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, a method for inserting content into media content is provided, the method comprising: identifying, in a manifest file at a server used to stream media content items, at least one indication that at least one advertising content item is to be played back at a first playback position for a first duration when streaming a media content item; determining a retrieval time to retrieve the at least one advertising content item from an advertising source; inserting, into the manifest file at the server used to stream media content items, a retrieval indication that the at least one advertising content item is to be retrieved from the advertising source at a second playback time, wherein the second playback time is determined based on the first playback position and the retrieval time; generating, at the server used to stream media content items, a first quantity of placeholder segments and inserting the first quantity of placeholder segments into the media content item at the first playback position; retrieving at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position; storing the at least one advertising content item in a first memory location; and transitioning from streaming one of the plurality of streaming segments and the placeholder segments to streaming the advertisement content item from the first memory location. In some embodiments, retrieving at least one advertising content item from the advertising source when streaming of the media content item has reached the second playback position further comprises performing an advertising auction at the advertising source. In some embodiments, each placeholder segment is a second duration. In some embodiments, a total duration across a sum of the first quantity of placeholder segments is equal to the first duration. In some embodiments, a third duration of the at least one advertising content item is different than the total duration for the first quantity of placeholder segments. In some embodiments, each placeholder segment includes a discontinuity tag. In accordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, a system for inserting content into media content is provided, the system comprising a hardware processor that is configured to: identify, in a manifest file at a server used to stream media content items, at least one indication that at least one advertising content item is to be played back at a first playback position for a first duration when streaming a media content item; determine a retrieval time to retrieve the at least one advertising content item from an advertising source; insert, into the manifest file at the server used to stream media content items, a retrieval indication that the at least one advertising content item is to be retrieved from the advertising source at a second playback time, wherein the second playback time is determined based on the first playback position and the retrieval time; generate, at the s