Method and system for rendering a collection of media items

• US 8,799,249 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2007
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Martinez, Ronald
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Phuong Thao
• Application Number:
  US11/760,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20080306998A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,615 Days
• Field of Search: 707/705, 707/802, 707/913, 707/999.003, 707/999.104, 707/E17.001, 707/821, 709/217
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

The systems and methods disclosed herein relate to the identification, rendering, and publishing of collections of media items in an interactive computing environment.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

assembling, at a repository, a collection of one or more media items, the collection identified by a key value;

receiving, at a computing device, a rendering request to render at least a first media item from the collection within one or more media item containers that correspond to at least one web page, the rendering request comprising metadata associated with the one or more media items of the collection, wherein the key value comprises values for associating the rendering request with at least the first media item from the collection and controlling rendering of at least the first media item which includes identifying a media item container for rendering at least the first media item;

identifying, via the computing device, at least said first media item based on the key value, the key value associates the received metadata to the one or more media items; and

transmitting, over a network, at least said first media item from the collection for rendering within the one or more media item containers, wherein said rendering of at least said first media item is contingent upon the key value.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

transmitting, over the network, at least a second media item from the collection of one or more media items for rendering within the one or more media item containers.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the number of media items transmitted does not exceed the number of the one or more media item containers corresponding to at least one web page.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the second media item is transmitted to replace the first media item transmitted for rendering within the one or more media item containers.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

billing a vendor at a first billing rate for the step of transmitting the first media item from the collection; and

billing the vendor at a second billing rate for the step of transmitting the second media item from the collection.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

paying a user at least a portion of the first billing rate.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the first billing rate is substantially higher than the second billing rate.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein transmission of the first media item occurs at a first time and the transmission of the second media item occurs at a second time.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

billing a vendor on the basis of the difference between the first time and the second time.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving, from the computing device, an identification of a user account; and

billing the user account based upon the difference between the first time and the second time.

11. The method of claim 2 wherein the second media item is an advertisement corresponding to the first media item.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first media item is an advertisement.

13. The method of claim 2 wherein transmitting the second media item comprises:

identifying a transmission queue corresponding to the collection, the transmission queue ordering transmission of the second media item after transmission of the first media item.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein identifying the transmission queue further comprises:

identifying a transmission time that corresponds to the transmission of the second media item.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the transmission time of the second media item corresponds to a transmission time of the first media item.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, a collection request to identify the collection.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein receiving the collection request comprises:

receiving indicia for identifying the collection.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the indicia defines a category.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the indicia includes a keyword.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, an identification of a user account.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

billing the user account for the step of identifying the collection.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

receiving compensation from the user account.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the compensation is monetary compensation.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the key value identifies the user account.

25. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, an identification of a user account.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

billing the user account for the step of transmitting the first media item from the collection.

27. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

billing a vendor for the step of transmitting the first media item from the collection.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

paying a user at least a portion of the amount billed to the vendor.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the first media item includes a rendering priority and the method further comprises:

on the basis of the rendering priority, rendering the first media item within at least one of the one or more media item containers.

30. A method comprising:

assembling, at a repository, a plurality of media items into a collection, the media items including at least one common indicia;

publishing, over a network, the at least one common indicia;

receiving, at a computing device, a first request identifying the at least one common indicia;

generating, via the computing device, a key value based upon receipt of the first request;

identifying, via the computing device, the collection by the key value associated with the first request, the key value comprising values for associating the first request with at least one of the media items from the collection and controlling rendering of the at least one media item which includes identifying a media item container within a web page for said rendering of the at least one media item;

transmitting, over the network from the computing device, the key value to a client device; and

transmitting, over the network from the computing device, at least a first media item within the collection to the client device, wherein the at least said first media item is rendered contingent upon values identified by the key value.

31. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, a second request identifying the key value; and

transmitting at least a second media item within the collection to the client device.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the at least one of the plurality of media items within the collection is transmitted more frequently than any other of the plurality of media items within the collection.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the at least one common indicia corresponds to a category.

34. The method of claim 30 wherein the at least one common indicia corresponds to a keyword.

35. The method of claim 30 wherein the at least one common indicia corresponds to a frequency of transmission.

36. The method of claim 30 wherein the at least one common indicia corresponds to a vendor billing rate.

37. The method of claim 30 wherein transmitting at least the first media item to the client device is triggered by a request for at least the first media item corresponding to the key value that identifies the collection.

38. A system comprising:

a plurality of processors;

a media item repository that stores collections of one or more media items, each of the collections identified by a key value;

a media request module implemented by at least one of said plurality of processors that receives a rendering request to render at least a first media item from a collection, the rendering request comprising metadata associated with the one or more media items of the collection, wherein the key value comprises values for associating the rendering request with at least one of the media items from one or more collections and controlling rendering of the at least one media item which includes identifying a media item container from one or more media item containers for rendering of the at least one media item;

the media request module identifying at least said first media item based on the key value, the key value associates the received metadata to the one or more media items;

a media search module implemented by at least one of said plurality of processors that retrieves at least the first media item from the collection over a network; and

a media transmission module implemented by at least one of said plurality of processors that transmits over the network, to a client device, at least the first media item for rendering within said one or more media item containers that correspond to at least one web page, wherein said rendering of at least said first media item is contingent upon values identified by the key value.

39. The system of claim 38 further comprising:

a media item upload module that receives media items for storage as part of the one or more collections of one or more media items.

40. The system of claim 38 further comprising:

a media item publication module that publishes a common metadata attribute for the one or more collections of one or more media items.