Multicast Ad Serving With Cohort-Based Video Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing advertisement delivery methods in video streaming, particularly in OTT environments, are inefficient and costly due to the need for individual ad decisions for each viewer, leading to repeated ads and wastage of computing resources.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing both multicast and unicast video processing techniques to optimize advertisement placement by analyzing viewer data and generating intelligent ad schedules, reducing redundant ad serving through cohort-based processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If standard unicast ad insertion is used for each viewer, then ad targeting precision is improved, but computing resource consumption increases and ad serving costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audience into cohorts based on shared characteristics (geography, device type, content preferences) and processes each cohort separately using multicast. This allows ad decisions to be made once per cohort rather than once per individual viewer, reducing computing resource consumption while maintaining targeted delivery through cohort-specific ad selections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual viewers into cohort groups that share common attributes. By combining viewers into cohorts, the system can serve the same ad to multiple viewers simultaneously through multicast, reducing redundant ad processing and computing resource usage while still delivering relevant ads to each cohort.
2Adaptability or versatility
If individual ad decisions are made for each viewer, then ad relevance is improved, but ad serving costs increase due to repeated ad processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments viewers into cohorts and makes ad decisions at the cohort level rather than individual level. This segmentation approach reduces the number of ad decisions from potentially millions of individual viewers to a manageable number of cohorts, significantly reducing ad serving costs while maintaining relevance through cohort-specific ad selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates cohort representations that capture the essential characteristics of groups of viewers. Once ad decisions are made for a cohort, the same ad content is copied and distributed to all members of that cohort through multicast, eliminating redundant ad processing and reducing costs while maintaining consistent relevance across the cohort.
3Productivity
If multicast is used for broad reach, then ad delivery efficiency is improved, but ad targeting precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by creating finely-grained cohorts based on multiple dimensions including geography, device type, and content preferences. This segmentation enables multicast to be applied to small, well-defined groups rather than large heterogeneous audiences, maintaining targeting precision while achieving the efficiency benefits of multicast delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by tailoring ad content to specific cohort characteristics. Each cohort receives ads optimized for its particular attributes (e.g., region-specific ads for geographic cohorts, device-optimized ads for device-type cohorts), ensuring that multicast delivery maintains high targeting precision by adapting content to local cohort qualities.
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AI summary
Systems and methods for serving advertisement in a video stream are disclosed. An example method includes: obtaining one or more advertisement (ad) orders; generating, by a traffic engine, a first temporal schedule indicating a start time and an end time for a video stream and one or more timing references, each of the timing references indicating a respective position in the video stream for advertisement placement; generating, by a playout engine, a broadcast manifest based on the first temporal schedule; processing, using a multicast video processing unit, the video stream using a video encoder to generate a transport stream based on the video stream, the transport stream comprising one or more data markers for placements of one or more advertisements; modifying the broadcast manifest based on one or more optimization criteria; and generating a video output feed using the transport stream and the broadcast manifest.