Enhanced content distribution using advertisements

• US 9,106,964 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2013
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verance Corporation
• Original Assignee: Verance Corporation
• Inventors: Zhao, Jian
• Primary Examiner(s): Chokshi, Pinkal R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gee, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US13/763,247
• Publication Number:
  US 20140075466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 725/22, 725/23, 725/25
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0249 based upon budgets or funds
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23892 involving embedding information at multiplex stream level, e.g. embedding a watermark at packet level
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4784 receiving rewards
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

Methods, devices, and computer program products are provided to enhance viewing of an entertainment content in the presence of advertisements. At a compliant device, an indication is received that the entertainment content is associated with a content policy information relating to presentation of advertisements during, or prior to, presentation of the entertainment content. A further indication is received that the entertainment content is associated with an advertisement award program. An advertisement award program message provides that the advertisements may be presented in a modified form in exchange for a specific number of award points. Upon receiving an indication agreeing to such an exchange, advertisements are allowed to be presented in a modified form. The content policy information can be ascertained through extraction of watermarks embedded in the advertisements or the entertainment content and/or through computation and matching of fingerprints associated with the advertisements or the entertainment content.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving an indication at a compliant device that an entertainment content is associated with a content policy information, the content policy information relating to presentation of one or more advertisements during, or prior to, presentation of the entertainment content, the content policy information obtained using a content identifier (CID) that is ascertained through one or both of;

(a) extraction of watermarks embedded in the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content or (b) computation and matching of fingerprints associated with the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content;

receiving an indication that the CID associated with the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements is associated with a plurality of advertisement award programs for a particular user of the complaint device;

providing an advertisement award program message indicating that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements is allowed in exchange for a specific number of award points of an advertisement award program;

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is desired, allowing the one or more advertisements to be presented in a modified form, and

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired;

(a) presenting the one or more advertisements without modification, wherein at least one of the one or more advertisements is associated with the CID that corresponds to more than one of the plurality of advertisement award programs for the particular user of the compliant device, (b) determining by the compliant device which of the plurality of the one or more advertisement award programs constitutes a preferred award program, and (c) crediting the preferred award program with award points associated with the at least one of the one or more advertisements that were presented in unmodified form.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content policy information is indicative that presentation of the one or more advertisements cannot be modified without receiving further input from a user or from a user device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement award program is associated with one of:

the user, or the compliant device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising accumulating further award points in return for one or more of the following:

presentation of one or more un-modified advertisements,

purchase of one or more specific entertainment contents, or

purchase of at least some of the specific number of award points.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising accumulating further award points in return for presentation of one or more unmodified advertisements on each of a plurality of devices associated with a user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein modified presentation of the one or more advertisements includes one or more of:

shortened presentation of the one or more advertisements or skipping of the one or more advertisements.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired, presenting a message indicating that presentation of the entertainment content is allowed upon an agreement to view the one or more advertisement in unmodified format; and

upon receiving an indication as to an agreement to view the one or more advertisements in unmodified format, presenting the one or more advertisements without modification.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired, presenting a message indicating that presentation of the entertainment content is allowed upon an agreement to view the one or more advertisement in unmodified format; and

upon receiving an indication as a lack of an agreement to view the one or more advertisements in unmodified format, providing a command to stop or prevent presentation of the entertainment content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each advertisement award program is owned by a particular entity, and award points of each advertisement award program are redeemable through other entities affiliated with the particular entity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the particular entity is one of:

an advertiser, a television network, an entertainment content owner, or a content distributor.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement award program is identified at least in-part by identifying the entertainment content using one or more of the following:

(A) watermarks that are embedded in the entertainment content,

(B) watermarks that are embedded in the one or more advertisements,

(C) fingerprints that are computed based on the entertainment content, or

(D) fingerprints that are computed based on the one or more advertisements.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the content policy information is associated with a specific aspect of the entertainment content, the specific aspect comprising one or more of;

a rights holder of the entertainment content,

a distribution channel of the entertainment content,

a platform on which the entertainment content is presented,

a genre of the entertainment content,

a release window of the entertainment content, or

a format of the entertainment content; and

the one or more advertisements in modified form are presented before allowing or resuming presentation of each entertainment content having the same specific aspect.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the rights holder of the entertainment content includes one of a creator or a distributor of the entertainment content.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the distribution channel includes one of over-the-top (OTT), over-the-air, video on demand (VOD), satellite, cable, wireless or Internet distribution channels.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the platform includes one of a mobile, desktop, or television platforms.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the content policy information (CPI) is ascertained through extraction of an embedded watermark comprising an advertisement-obliged CPI state informing the compliant device that an obligation to present the one or more advertisements exists.

16. A device, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive one or both of (a) an entertainment content and (b) one or more advertisements; and

a processor configured;

to receive an indication that an entertainment content is associated with a content policy information, the content policy information relating to presentation of one or more advertisements during, or prior to, presentation of the entertainment content, the content policy information obtained using a content identifier (CID) that is ascertained through one or both of (A) watermarks embedded in the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content, or (B) computation of fingerprints associated with the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content;

to receive an indication that the CID associated with the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements is associated with a plurality of advertisement award programs for a particular user,

to provide an advertisement award program message indicating that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements is allowed in exchange for a specific number of award points of an advertisement award program,

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is desired, to allow the one or more advertisements to be presented in a modified form, and

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired;

(a) present the one or more advertisements without modification, wherein at least one of the one or more advertisements is associated with the CID that corresponds to more than one of the plurality of advertisement award programs for the particular user, (b) determine by the compliant device which of the plurality of the one or more advertisement award programs constitutes a preferred award program, and (c) credit the preferred award program with award points associated with the at least one of the one or more advertisements that were presented in unmodified form.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the content policy information is indicative that presentation of the one or more advertisements cannot be modified without receiving further input.

18. The device of claim 16, wherein the advertisement award program is associated with one of:

the user, or the device.

19. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to accumulate further award points in return for one or more of the following:

presentation of one or more un-modified advertisements,

purchase of one or more specific entertainment contents, or

purchase of at least some of the specific number of award points.

20. The device of claim 16, wherein modified presentation of the one or more advertisements includes one or more of:

shortened presentation of the one or more advertisements or skipping of the one or more advertisements.

21. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired, present a message indicating that presentation of the entertainment content is allowed upon an agreement to view the one or more advertisement in unmodified format; and

upon receiving an indication as to an agreement to view the one or more advertisements in unmodified format, present the one or more advertisements without modification.

22. The device of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired, present a message indicating that presentation of the entertainment content is allowed upon an agreement to view the one or more advertisement in unmodified format; and

upon receiving an indication as to a lack of an agreement to view the one or more advertisements in unmodified format, provide a command to stop or prevent presentation of the entertainment content.

23. The device of claim 16, wherein each advertisement award program is owned by a particular entity, and wherein the particular entity is one of:

an advertiser, a television network, an entertainment content owner, or a content distributor.

24. The device of claim 16, wherein

the device includes at least one of:

(a) a watermark extractor configured to extract watermarks that are embedded in the entertainment content or in the one or more advertisements, or

(b) a fingerprint computation component configured to compute a fingerprint associated with the entertainment content or in the one or more advertisements; and

the device is further configured to identify the advertisement award program using one or more of the following;

(A) watermarks extracted from the entertainment content by the watermark extractor,

(B) watermarks extracted from the one or more advertisements by the watermark extractor,

(C) fingerprints computed based on the entertainment content by the fingerprint computation component, or

(D) fingerprints computed based on the one or more advertisements by the fingerprint computation component.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein one or both of the watermark extractor and fingerprint computation component are implemented as a component separate from the processor.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein one or both of the watermark extractor and fingerprint computation component are implemented as part of the processor.

27. The device of claim 16, wherein:

the content policy information is associated with a specific aspect of the entertainment content, the specific aspect comprising one or more of;

a rights holder of the entertainment content,

a distribution channel of the entertainment content,

a platform on which the entertainment content is presented,

a genre of the entertainment content,

a release window of the entertainment content, or

a format of the entertainment content; and

the processor is configured to allow presentation of the one or more advertisements in modified form for each entertainment content having the same specific aspect.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the rights holder of the entertainment content includes one of a creator or a distributor of the entertainment content.

29. The device of claim 27, wherein the distribution channel includes one of over-the-top (OTT), over-the-air, video on demand (VOD), satellite, cable, wireless or Internet distribution channels.

30. The device of claim 27, wherein the platform includes one of a mobile, desktop, or television platforms.

31. The device of claim 16, wherein the device is one of a:

mobile device, a set-top box device, a handheld device, a personal computer, or a Blu-ray playback device.

32. A computer program product, embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising:

program code for receiving an indication at a compliant device that an entertainment content is associated with a content policy information, the content policy information relating to presentation of one or more advertisements during, or prior to, presentation of the entertainment content, the content policy information obtained using a content identifier (CID) that is ascertained through one or both of (a) watermarks embedded in the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content, or (b) computation of fingerprints associated with the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content;

program code for receiving an indication that the CID associated with the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements is associated with a plurality of advertisement award programs for a particular user of the complaint device;

program code for providing an advertisement award program message indicating that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements is allowed in exchange for a specific number of award points of an advertisement award program;

program code for, upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is desired, allowing the one or more advertisements to be presented in a modified form, and program code for, upon receiving an indication that modified presentation of the one or more advertisements in exchange for the specific number of award points is not desired;

(a) presenting the one or more advertisements without modification, wherein at least one of the one or more advertisements is associated with the CID that corresponds to more than one of the plurality of advertisement award programs for the particular user of the compliant device, (b) determining by the compliant device which of the plurality of the one or more advertisement award programs constitutes a preferred award program, and (c) crediting the preferred award program with award points associated with the at least one of the one or more advertisements that were presented in unmodified form.