Advertisement management system for digital video streams

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method of managing advertisements in a digital program stream is disclosed. One or more advertisements are obtained, each advertisement associated with characterization data that facilitates targeting each of the advertisements to a subscriber and an ad bit rate. One or more avails are recognized in the digital program stream, each avail having a characterization and the digital program stream having a program stream bit rate. At least one of the advertisements is identified for insertion into the at least one avail based in part on comparing the characterization data and a characterization of the at least one avail and comparing the ad bit rate for the respective advertisement and the program stream bit rate. The at least one advertisement is inserted into one of the avails, the ad bit rate for the received advertisement being less than or equal to the program stream bit rate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of managing advertisements in a digital program stream, the method comprising:
 obtaining one or more advertisements, each advertisement associated with characterization data supplied by an advertiser that facilitates targeting each of the advertisements to a subscriber and an ad bit rate for the respective advertisement;   recognizing one or more avails in the digital program stream for insertion of one of the advertisements, each of the one or avails having a characterization and the digital program stream having a program stream bit rate;   identifying at least one of the advertisements for insertion into the at least one avail prior to the inserting of the advertisement into the digital program stream based in part on comparing the characterization data and a characterization of the at least one avail and comparing the ad bit rate for the respective advertisement and the program stream bit rate;   obtaining the selected at least one advertisement from a storage medium; and   inserting the received at least one advertisement into one of the one or more avails, the ad bit rate for the received at least one advertisement less than or equal to the program stream bit rate.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 inserting the at least one advertisement prior to transmitting the digital program stream including the at least one advertisement to the subscriber.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 for each advertisement inserted into the digital program stream, receiving a number of subscribers viewing the inserted advertisement.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the number of subscribers is received from a switched digital video system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the number of subscribers is determined in a cable network using a return path data modem. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 inserting the at least one advertisement after transmitting the digital program stream.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital program stream including the at least one advertisement is transmitted over the internet. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital program stream including the at least one advertisement is transmitted over a wireless network. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the characterization data is supplied by the advertiser using an advertiser interface. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristics of the avails are provided by a content provider using an avail opportunities module. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the characterization data is used to form an ad characterization vector. 
     
     
         12 . A method of managing advertisements in a digital program stream, the method comprising:
 obtaining one or more advertisements, each advertisement associated with characterization data supplied by an advertiser, and an ad bit rate for the respective advertisement;   recognizing one or more avails in the digital program stream for insertion of one of the advertisements, each of the one or avails having a characterization and the digital program stream having a program stream bit rate;   identifying at least one of the advertisements for insertion into the at least one avail prior to the inserting of the advertisement into the digital program stream based in part on comparing the characterization data and a characterization of the at least one avail and comparing the ad bit rate for the respective advertisement and the program stream bit rate;   obtaining the selected at least one advertisement from a storage medium; and   inserting the received at least one advertisement into one of the one or more avails, the ad bit rate for the received at least one advertisement less than or equal to the program stream bit rate.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 inserting the compressed at least one advertisement into the corresponding at least one avail using an ad insertion module prior to transmitting the digital program stream including the at least one advertisement to the subscriber.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 for each of the advertisements inserted into the digital program stream, receiving a number of subscribers viewing the inserted advertisement.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the characterization data from step (a) facilitates targeting the at least one advertisement to a subscriber. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the identifying of part (c) is based in part on the characterization data from step (a) and a characterization of the avail provided by a content provider. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the characterization data is supplied by the advertiser using an advertiser interface. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the advertiser interface is included in a web browser. 
     
     
         19 . A system for managing advertisements in a digital program stream, the system comprising:
 a storage component for storing one or more advertisements, each advertisement associated with characterization data supplied by an advertiser, and an ad bit rate for the respective advertisement; and   a processor configured to:
 recognize one or more avails in the digital program stream for insertion of one of the advertisements, each of the one or avails having a characterization and the digital program stream having a program stream bit rate; 
 identify at least one of the advertisements for insertion into the at least one avail prior to the inserting of the advertisement into the digital program stream based in part on comparing the characterization data and a characterization of the at least one avail and comparing the ad bit rate for the respective advertisement and the program stream bit rate; 
 obtain the selected at least one advertisement from the storage component storage medium; and 
 insert the received at least one advertisement into one of the one or more avails, the ad bit rate for the received at least one advertisement less than or equal to the program stream bit rate.