System and method for providing sequential video and interactive content

Abstract

A system and method of providing sequential video and contextual based content to an end user viewing video content in a video player on an end user computing device is provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises storing a plurality of videos in a memory, storing a plurality of advertisements in a memory, receiving a plurality of requests from a plurality of different clients and wherein each request includes information identifying a first video and each of the plurality of clients initiates its request from one of a plurality of web pages and wherein the plurality of web pages form part of a plurality of different web sites. In addition, the plurality of web pages may include program code configured to cause a video to be presented in the video player. The method further comprises for each received request, selecting a plurality of videos based on information of the first video; and selecting a plurality of advertisements, wherein at least one of the plurality of advertisements is selected based on information of the first video and at least one of the plurality of advertisements is selected based on information of a selected video. In addition, the method may comprise for each received request, transmitting the plurality of videos to the requesting client for sequential presentation by the client; and transmitting the plurality of advertisements to the requesting client and wherein at least some of the plurality of advertisements are configured to be presented concurrently with a received video.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer implemented method comprising:
 receiving a request for a first video from a user device; 
 determining user data for the user device; 
 determining advertising content based on the user data; 
 determining contextual data for the first video; 
 determining a plurality of videos based on the contextual data; 
 determining, based on the contextual data, a presentation order from among a plurality of possible presentation orders for presenting the first video and the plurality of videos; 
 transmitting the first video and the plurality of videos to the user device;  
 fortransmitting code to the user device that controls automatic sequential presentation of the first video and the plurality of videos based on the presentation order; and 
 transmitting the advertising content to the user device for presentation with the first video and the plurality of videos. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user data comprises at least one of geographical information for the user device, demographical information for a user of the user device, technical information for the user device, and personal information for the user of the user device. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining contextual data comprises determining at least one of a web site on which the request for the first video was generated, a subject matter of the first video, a channel associated with the first video, and a rating of the first video. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertising content is further determined based on the contextual data. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining an advertising content element from a server. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein determining the advertising content comprises constructing the advertising content using the advertising content element. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the presentation order to the user device. 
     
     
       8. A server comprising:
 a memory comprising computer instructions; and 
 a processor coupled to the memory, wherein, in response to executing the computer instructions, the processor performs operations comprising: 
 receiving a request for a first video from a user device; 
 determining user data for the user device; 
 determining advertising content based on the user data; 
 determining contextual data for the first video; 
 determining a plurality of videos based on the contextual data; 
 determining, based on the contextual data, a presentation order from among a plurality of possible presentation orders for presenting the first video and the plurality of videos; 
 transmitting the first video and the plurality of videos to the user device;  
 fortransmitting code to the user device that controls automatic sequential presentation of the first video and the plurality of videos based on the presentation order; and 
 transmitting the advertising content to the user device for presentation with the first video and the plurality of videos. 
 
     
     
       9. The server of  claim 8 , wherein the request comprises a user identifier, and wherein the operations further comprise determining the user data by obtaining the user data from a database using the user identifier. 
     
     
       10. The server of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise determining user data by retrieving the user data from a cookie stored on the user device. 
     
     
       11. The server of  claim 8 , wherein the advertising content comprises a user input mechanism, and wherein the operations further comprise receiving additional user data via the user input mechanism. 
     
     
       12. The server of  claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a cue point in at least one of the first video and one of the plurality of videos to the user device. 
     
     
       13. The server of  claim 12 , wherein the cue point comprises at least one of a spatial location, a duration, a size, and a type of the advertising content to be inserted into at least one of the first video and the one of the plurality of videos. 
     
     
       14. The server of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a request for additional content from the user device, wherein the request comprises an indication of the cue point. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
 instructions to receive a request for a first video from a user device; 
 instructions to determine user data for the user device; 
 instructions to determine advertising content based on the user data; 
 instructions to determine contextual data for the first video; 
 instructions to determine a plurality of videos based on the contextual data; 
 instructions to determine, based on the contextual data, a presentation order from among a plurality of possible presentation orders for presenting the first video and the plurality of videos; 
 instructions to transmit the first video and the plurality of videos to the user device;  
 forinstructions to transmit code to the user device that controls automatic sequential presentation of the first video and the plurality of videos based on the presentation order; and 
 instructions to transmit the advertising content to the user device for presentation with the first video and the plurality of videos. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions to transmit thumbnail images associated with each of the plurality of videos for presentation proximate to the first video. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the advertising content comprises at least one of a spatial location, a duration, a presentation time, and a size of the advertising content. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions to receive second user data via a user input mechanism included in the advertising content, determine second advertising content based on the second user data, and transmit the second advertising content to the user device. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions to receive a request for a second video from among the plurality of videos, determine second contextual data for the second video, determine a second plurality of videos based on the second contextual data, and transmit the second plurality of videos to the user device. 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the advertising content comprises instructions to present a portion of the advertising content between presentations of the first video and the plurality of videos as the first video and the plurality of videos are automatically sequentially presented. 
     
     
       21. A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a request for a first video from a user device;   determining video metadata about the first video;   determining advertising content based on the video metadata;   determining contextual data for the first video;   determining a plurality of videos based on the contextual data;   determining, based on the contextual data, a presentation order from among a plurality of possible presentation orders for presenting the first video and the plurality of videos;   transmitting the first video and the plurality of videos to the user device;   transmitting code to the user device that controls automatic sequential presentation of the first video and the plurality of videos based on the presentation order; and   transmitting the advertising content to the user device for presentation with the first video and the plurality of videos.   
     
     
       22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the video metadata includes a subject matter type of the first video.