US-20260129268-A1 - IDENTIFYING COMMERCIAL START AND END TIMES USING AD POD PROFILES

US20260129268A1US 20260129268 A1US20260129268 A1US 20260129268A1US-20260129268-A1

Abstract

In one example, a method is described. The method includes obtaining an advertisement pod. The advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in media content. The method includes identifying transitions in the advertisement pod; and applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod. The plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing advertisement pods, and the advertisement pod profile includes known transitions corresponding to start times and end times of advertisements. The method includes determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod; and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod.

Inventors

John T. Livoti
Stanley Wellington Woodruff

Assignees

THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251028

Claims (20)

1 . A method comprising: obtaining an advertisement pod, wherein the advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in a media content; identifying transitions in the advertisement pod; applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod, wherein the plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing timing of transitions between consecutive advertisements within advertisement pods, and wherein the advertisement pod profile comprises known transitions corresponding to respective durations of advertisements of the advertisement pod profile; determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod; and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a duration of the advertisement pod; selecting a set of advertisement pod profiles from the plurality of advertisement pod profiles based on the duration of the advertisement pod corresponding to durations of the set of advertisement pod profiles, wherein the selected set of advertisement pod profiles includes the advertisement pod profile; and comparing the transitions of the advertisement pod with transitions of each of the selected set of advertisement pod profiles, wherein the determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap is based on the comparing.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement pod is a portion of a video stream; and wherein identifying the transitions in the advertisement pod comprises identifying segments in the portion of the video stream that are either fading to black or black.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein identifying the transitions in the advertisement pod further comprises using the model to identify the segments.
5 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising: indicating, after identifying, the transitions on the advertisement pod.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein applying, using the model, the advertisement pod profile of the plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod comprises overlaying the advertisement pod profile with the advertisement pod.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein overlaying the advertisement pod profile with the advertisement pod comprises overlaying the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile with at least a portion of transitions of the advertisement pod.
8 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising: obtaining an advertisement pod, wherein the advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in a media content; identifying transitions in the advertisement pod; applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod, wherein the plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing advertisement pods, and wherein the advertisement pod profile comprises known transitions corresponding to start times and end times of advertisements; determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod; and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod.
9 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , the set of operations further comprising: determining a duration of the advertisement pod; selecting a set of advertisement pod profiles from the plurality of advertisement pod profiles based on the duration of the advertisement pod corresponding to durations of the set of advertisement pod profiles, wherein the selected set of advertisement pod profiles includes the advertisement pod profile; and comparing the transitions of the advertisement pod with transitions of each of the selected set of advertisement pod profiles, wherein the determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap is based on the comparing.
10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the advertisement pod is a portion of a video stream; and wherein identifying the transitions in the advertisement pod comprises identifying segments in the portion of the video stream that are either fading to black or black.
11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein identifying the transitions in the advertisement pod further comprises using the model to identify the segments.
12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein applying, using the model, the advertisement pod profile of the plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod comprises overlaying the advertisement pod profile with the advertisement pod.
13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein overlaying the advertisement pod profile with the advertisement pod comprises overlaying the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile with at least a portion of transitions of the advertisement pod.
14 . A computing system comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising: obtaining an advertisement pod, wherein the advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in a media content; identifying transitions in the advertisement pod; applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod, wherein the plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing advertisement pods, and wherein the advertisement pod profile comprises known transitions corresponding to start times and end times of advertisements; determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod; and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod.
15 . The computing system of claim 14 , the set of operations further comprising: determining a duration of the advertisement pod; selecting a set of advertisement pod profiles from the plurality of advertisement pod profiles based on the duration of the advertisement pod corresponding to durations of the set of advertisement pod profiles, wherein the selected set of advertisement pod profiles includes the advertisement pod profile; and comparing the transitions of the advertisement pod with transitions of each of the selected set of advertisement pod profiles, wherein the determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap is based on the comparing.
16 . The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the advertisement pod is a portion of a video stream; and wherein identifying the transitions in the advertisement pod comprises identifying segments in the portion of the video stream that are either fading to black or black.
17 . The computing system of claim 16 , wherein identifying the transitions in the advertisement pod further comprises using the model to identify the segments.
18 . The computing system of claim 16 , further comprising: indicating, after identifying, the transitions on the advertisement pod.
19 . The computing system of claim 14 , wherein applying, using the model, the advertisement pod profile of the plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod comprises overlaying the advertisement pod profile with the advertisement pod.
20 . The computing system of claim 19 , wherein overlaying the advertisement pod profile with the advertisement pod comprises overlaying the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile with at least a portion of transitions of the advertisement pod.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This disclosure claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 63/714,964, filed Nov. 1, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure relates in general to advertisement (“ad”) detection, and in particular, to determining start and end times of advertisements using ad pod profiles. Usage and Terminology In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified and/or unless the particular context clearly dictates otherwise, the terms “a” or “an” mean at least one, and the term “the” means the at least one. SUMMARY In one aspect a method is described. The method includes obtaining an advertisement pod. The advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in a media content. The method also includes identifying transitions in the advertisement pod and applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod. The plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing advertisement pods. The advertisement pod profile includes known transitions corresponding to respective durations of advertisements of the advertisement pod profile. The method also includes determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod. In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause performance of operations is described. The operations include obtaining an advertisement pod. The advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in a media content. The operations also include identifying transitions in the advertisement pod and applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod. The plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing advertisement pods. The advertisement pod profile includes known transitions corresponding to respective durations of advertisements of the advertisement pod profile. The operations also include determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod. In another aspect, a computing system is described. The computing system includes a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of operations. The operations include obtaining an advertisement pod. The advertisement pod is a consecutive set of advertisements shown in a media content. The operations also include identifying transitions in the advertisement pod and applying, using a model, an advertisement pod profile of a plurality of advertisement pod profiles to the advertisement pod. The plurality of advertisement pod profiles are templates representing advertisement pods. The advertisement pod profile includes known transitions corresponding to respective durations of advertisements of the advertisement pod profile. The operations also include determining that the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlap with at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod such that the advertisement pod profile corresponds to the advertisement pod and outputting data associated with the known transitions of the advertisement pod profile overlapping at least a portion of the transitions of the advertisement pod. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example computing device in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a data flow of the example computing device in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a data flow of the computing device in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic illustration of an ad pod in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 4B is a diagrammatic illustration of a plurality of ad pod profiles in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 4C is a diagrammatic illustration of the ad pod of FIG. 4A overlaid with each of the plurality of ad pod profiles of FIG. 4B in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an example method in accordance with one or more aspects. FIG. 6 is another flow