Techniques for rendering advertisments with rich media

Abstract

In one embodiment, an advertisement is matched to subject matter in a portion of rich media content, such as a digital video, Flash™ animation, etc. For example, during the playing of rich media content, it may be determined by audio recognition techniques that the content's subject matter matches or correlates with an advertisement. Rendering preferences associated with the advertisement are then determined. The rendering preferences may be used to determine how the advertisement should be rendered (i.e., displayed in association with the content). The advertisement is then served to a device. The advertisement is served such that it can be rendered relative to a time that the portion of media is being displayed on the device.

1 . A method for serving advertisements, the method comprising: 
 determining when an advertisement correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of rich media content;    determining rendering preferences associated with the advertisement; and    serving the advertisement to a device, the advertisement being served such that it can be rendered relative to a time the portion of the rich media content is being played on the device based on the rendering preferences.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein serving the advertisement comprises serving the advertisement such that the advertisement is rendered on the device serially with the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein serially comprises before, after, or in the middle of the playing of the portion of the rich media content.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein serving the advertisement comprises serving the advertisement such that the advertisement is rendered on the device in parallel with the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein serving the advertisement comprises serving the advertisement such that the advertisement is injected into or laid on top of portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein serving the advertisement comprises causing rendering of the advertisement on the device.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertisement is a different form of rich media content than the portion of the rich media content.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rendering preferences indicate a position to display the advertisement relative to the portion of the rich media content.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rendering preferences are specified by a user of the user device, a content owner of the rich media content and/or the advertiser of the advertisement.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertisement includes a coupon or map related to the advertisement.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein serving the advertisement comprises causing storing the advertisement at the device.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining when an advertisement correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of rich media content comprises using correlation recognition detection techniques to determine that the advertisement correlates the subject matter.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining when an advertisement correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of rich media content comprises time aligning the advertisement to correlate the advertisement to the subject matter to maximize a criteria.  
     
     
         14 . A method for rendering advertisements, the method comprising: 
 playing rich media content on a device;    receiving an advertisement that correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of the rich media content being played;    determining rendering preferences associated with the advertisement; and    rendering the advertisement, the advertisement being rendered such that it can be rendered relative to a time the portion of the rich media content is being played on the device based on the rendering preferences.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the advertisement is rendered on a display of the device.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the advertisement is rendered through a speaker of the device.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein rendering the advertisement comprises rendering the advertisement such that the advertisement is rendered serially with the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein serially comprises before or after the playing of the portion of the rich media content.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the advertisement is rendered with audio or visual cues that alert the user of a new and/or changing ad placement.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein rendering the advertisement comprises rendering the advertisement such that the advertisement is rendered on the device in parallel with the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein rendering the advertisement comprises rendering the advertisement such that the advertisement is injected into the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 detecting an event associated with the advertisement; and    performing an action for the event.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the action comprises: 
 stopping the playing of the rich media content; and    starting playing of the advertisement.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , where the action comprises displaying additional information for the advertisement.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising receiving additional information for the user.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein determining when an advertisement correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of rich media content comprises using correlation recognition detection techniques to determine that the advertisement correlates the subject matter.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein determining when an advertisement correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of rich media content comprises time aligning the advertisement to correlate the advertisement to the subject matter to maximize a criteria.  
     
     
         28 . An apparatus configured to serve advertisements, the apparatus comprising: 
 a correlation engine configured to determine when an advertisement correlates to subject matter associated with a portion of rich media content;    a rendering formatter configured to determine rendering preferences associated with the advertisement; and    an ad server configured to serve the advertisement to a device, the advertisement being served such that it can be rendered relative to a time the portion of the rich media content is being played on the device based on the rendering preferences.    
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the ad server is configured to serve the advertisement such that the advertisement is rendered on the device serially with the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the ad server is configured to serve the advertisement such that the advertisement is rendered on the device in parallel with the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the ad server is configured to serve the advertisement such that the advertisement is injected into the portion of rich media content.  
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the correlation engine is configured to correlate the advertisement to use correlation recognition detection techniques to determine that the advertisement correlates the subject matter.  
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the correlation engine is configured to time align the advertisement to correlate the advertisement to the subject matter to maximize a criteria.  
     
     
         34 . A method for correlating advertisements to rich media content, the method comprising: 
 recognizing information for the rich media content;    determining a plurality of advertisements to correlate to the recognized information; and    selecting an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements to associate with a portion of the rich media content based on one or more criteria.    
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein determining the plurality of advertisements to correlate comprises: 
 determining match information associated with an advertisement in the plurality of advertisements;    determining if the match information is found in the rich media content; and    correlating the advertisement with the rich media content if the match information is found in the rich media content.    
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein selecting the advertisement comprises: 
 determining scores for the one or more criteria for each of the plurality of advertisements; and    selecting the advertisement based on the determined scores.    
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the one or more criteria comprises a bid price for the advertisement, wherein an amount of the bid affects the score given to the advertisement.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein selecting the advertisement is performed to maximize revenue from bids associated with the plurality of advertisements.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the one or more criteria comprise lattice probability, match concentration, match position, geo-location, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic profile, and/or past performance.