Serving a live stream as an advertisement

Abstract

A client device requests video content from a content server system, and receives sponsored content about a live stream of a live event, the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream. The client device displays the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream, the sponsored content displayed without displaying the requested video content. The client device displays with the portion of the live stream a control associated with displaying the live stream, and responsive to a user of the client device selecting the control while the portion of the live stream is being displayed, requests from the content server system content of the live stream, and displays the content of the live stream in lieu of the requested video content.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, by a processing device, a user request for video content from a client device;   determining, by the processing device, that a user of the client device is likely to be interested in watching a live stream capturing a live event;   determining, by the processing device, that sponsored content about the live stream is to be served to the client device, the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream;   providing, by the processing device to the client device, the sponsored content including the portion of the live-stream and a control associated with displaying the live stream, wherein the sponsored content is to be displayed prior to displaying the video content; and   responsive to a user selection of the control associated with displaying the live stream, providing, by the processing device to the client device, content of the live stream, the content of the live stream displayed to the user instead of the video content.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determination that the sponsored content about the live stream is to be served to the client device is based on metadata associated with the video content. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 responsive to the user not selecting the control for a predefined time period, providing to the client device the requested video content for presentation instead of the content of the live stream.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content is further provided with a second control associated with terminating the display of the portion of the live stream and initiating display of the video content. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 responsive to the user selecting the second control, providing to the client device the requested video content for presentation instead of the content of the live stream.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the portion of the live stream is identified for storing from among a plurality of transcoded versions of the live stream. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing to the client device, along with the portion of the live stream, a user interface, the user interface configured to include additional controls which when interacted with by the user, manipulate the playback of the portion of the live stream.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein manipulating the playback of the portion of the live stream includes at least one of pausing the display of the portion of the live stream, rewinding through the portion of the live stream, replaying the portion of the live stream or fast forwarding through the portion of the live stream. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 measuring interactions of the user with the additional controls; and   storing the measured interactions.   
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 requesting, by a client device, video content from a content server system;   receiving, at the client device, sponsored content about a live stream of a live event, the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream;   displaying, by the client device while the live stream is available for access by client device, the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream, the sponsored content displayed without displaying the requested video content;   displaying, by the client device, with the portion of the live stream a control associated with displaying the live stream;   responsive to a user of the client device selecting the control while the portion of the live stream is being displayed, requesting, by the client device from the content server system, content of the live stream, and displaying, by the client device, the content of the live stream in lieu of the requested video content.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 responsive to the user not selecting the control for a predefined time period, display, by the client device, the requested video content for presentation instead of the content of the live stream.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sponsored content is further displayed with a second control associated with terminating the display of the portion of the live stream and initiating display of the video content. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 responsive to the user selecting the second control, displaying, by the client device, the requested video content instead of the content of the live stream.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 displaying, along with the portion of the live stream, a user interface including additional controls which when interacted with by the user, manipulate the playback of the portion of the live stream.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein manipulating the playback of the portion of the live stream includes at least one of pausing the display of the portion of the live stream, rewinding through the portion of the live stream, replaying the portion of the live stream or fast forwarding through the portion of the live stream. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 transmitting to the content server system information on interactions of the user with the additional controls.   
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions which when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 requesting, by a client device, video content from a content server system;   receiving, at the client device, sponsored content about a live stream of a live event, the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream;   displaying, by the client device while the live stream is available for access by client device, the sponsored content including a portion of the live stream, the sponsored content displayed without displaying the requested video content;   displaying, by the client device, with the portion of the live stream a control associated with displaying the live stream; and   responsive to a user of the client device selecting the control while the portion of the live stream is being displayed, requesting, by the client device from the content server system, content of the live stream, and displaying, by the client device, the content of the live stream in lieu of the requested video content.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 responsive to the user not selecting the control for a predefined time period, display, by the client device, the requested video content for presentation instead of the content of the live stream.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the sponsored content is further displayed with a second control associated with terminating the display of the portion of the live stream and initiating display of the video content. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 responsive to the user selecting the second control, displaying, by the client device, the requested video content instead of the content of the live stream.