Group Media Session Ad Synchronization via Mediator Server
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing group media consumption systems face challenges in synchronizing advertisement display across all participants during a group watch session, particularly for personalized advertisements, and in allowing users to initiate a group watch session based on a specific portion of a content item.
Innovation Solution
The system enables the display of advertisements during a group session by identifying a common period of time for a commercial break and selecting personalized advertisements for each participant based on their user profiles, ensuring synchronized playback after the advertisements. Additionally, the system allows users to initiate a media content item group watch session with an identified contact, enabling them to start watching from any portion of the content item.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If synchronized advertisement display is implemented across all group session participants, then advertisement delivery is improved, but system complexity increases due to coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
A server acts as an intermediary to coordinate advertisement delivery across all group session participants. The server receives the content item, identifies commercial break periods, selects advertisements, and distributes them to all participants' computing devices, ensuring synchronized display without requiring direct peer-to-peer coordination between devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-identifying commercial break periods within the content item and pre-selecting advertisements before the group session begins. This allows the advertisement delivery mechanism to be established in advance, reducing real-time coordination complexity during the actual viewing session.
2Adaptability or versatility
If personalized advertisements are displayed to each participant, then advertisement effectiveness is improved, but synchronization difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by selecting different advertisements tailored to each participant's profile and preferences while maintaining the same commercial break timing structure. Each participant receives personalized ad content (different images, text, or videos) but within the same temporal framework, ensuring synchronization of the overall advertisement experience while allowing personalization at the content level.
3Ease of manufacture
If group watch session starts from the beginning of content item, then content delivery is simplified, but user flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-identifying commercial break periods within the content item structure. This allows the content delivery system to maintain a standardized beginning-to-end delivery model while enabling users to flexibly join sessions at any point, as the advertisement timing is already predetermined and can accommodate mid-session entries.
4Adaptability or versatility
If advertisement runtime varies across participants, then advertisement personalization is improved, but playback synchronization deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains consistent advertisement runtime across all participants while applying local quality through personalized ad content selection. Each participant receives advertisements of the same duration but with different content based on their profile, ensuring that playback synchronization is maintained while still achieving personalization goals.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for initiating a media content item group watch session with an identified contact. A user profile is identified, and a media content item is generated for output at a first computing device. A contact is identified based on the user profile and the media content item, and an invitation to join a media content item group session is generated based on the media content item and the identified contact. The invitation is transmitted to a second computing device associated with the contact, and an indication that the invitation has been accepted is received. The media content item group session is initiated between the first and second computing devices, and the media content item is received at the first and second computing devices.