Patent Publication Number: US-2007124762-A1

Title: Selective advertisement display for multimedia content

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      The video entertainment industry generates billions of dollars in revenue each year through, for example, ticket sales to movie theatres, DVD sales, rentals, contracts with television studios, licensing agreements, and the like. Another major source of revenue for television and movie studios is the sale of advertisements. For example, most thirty minute television programs are typically associated with at least three commercial breaks, wherein advertisers purchase time with respect to such programs. If the programs are popular, then price for time to advertise during such program can be quite substantial. This manner of selling advertisements enables owners of video content to generate a significant amount of revenue with respect to such content.  
      Currently, these advertisements are placed in the midst of a video stream, and provided to each and every user viewing the video regardless of personal interests of the user and/or context associated with the video. For example, an automobile manufacturer may wish to purchase time for advertising their product during one particular television program. Typically, however, the advertisement will have little or nothing to do with content that is displayed during the program. In other words, advertisers may only concern themselves with demographic information describing a type of user that typically watches certain programs or movies, and typically are not concerned with content of the program just prior to or after a commercial break.  
      Furthermore, the sale of advertisements today for video is confined to conventional televisions, certain portions of movies (e.g., prior to beginning of a movie), and at beginnings of DVDs. However, technology associated with graphical user interfaces upon portable devices has enabled viewing of video content on such portable devices. Furthermore, extended battery life enables these portable devices to display video content for several hours without being forced to recharge or replace the batteries. Thus, a user can watch several television programs or movies on such portable devices without needing to recharge or replace batteries. Today, however, there is no tailored means for providing advertisements on such portable devices. Rather, like conventional televisions, advertising content must be streamed within video content being viewed.  
     SUMMARY  
      The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the claimed subject matter. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.  
      Described herein are systems and methodologies that facilitate monetizing multimedia content (e.g., audio, video, and/or audio/video content). In other words, advertisers can purchase advertising space associated with particular multimedia content, and such advertisements can be selectively provided to a user. For instance, an actor in a television program may wear an article of clothing that is manufactured by a particular company, and such company may wish to provide additional information relating to the article of clothing in the form of an advertisement to a viewer (e.g., indicating price of the clothing, where the clothing can be purchased, . . . ). Therefore, upon the television program reaching a point where the article of clothing is worn by an actor, an advertisement can be automatically provided to the viewer. For instance, such advertisement can be located in a position upon a viewing screen so as not to substantially obstruct a view of the television program. In another example, the viewer may wish that the television program remain unobstructed with advertisements. Accordingly, an advertisement can be provided only after receiving user input, such as pausing a video, selection of a button on a remote control that indicates a user&#39;s interest in an item, etc. Thereafter, one or more advertisements associated with a current position of the video can be provided to the user.  
      In another example, advertisements can be embedded in a computer-readable edium together with video associated with such advertisements. Thus, a viewer watching a DVD can be selectively provided advertisements based upon a current scene being viewed. For instance, when the viewer pauses the DVD, advertisements relating to such scene can be retrieved from the DVD and displayed to the user. In a specific example, a scene on a DVD can portray several individuals eating pizza, and upon pausing the DVD during such scene advertisements for pizza companies can be displayed. It is to be understood, however, that the other computer-readable mediums can encapsulate the advertising content, such as compact disks, hard-drives, and the like.  
      In still another example, the multimedia content can be streaming audio and/or video or other broadcast multimedia item received at a computer or television. For instance, the television can be an IP-television, which enables bi-directional communications to occur between a television and a service provider. Based upon content of a video at a particular instance in time, specific advertisements can be retrieved from an advertisement server and displayed to the user. Furthermore, purchases can be made by the user based upon the advertisements. For example, upon pausing a program and/or upon selecting a certain button on a remote control, advertisements associated with a scene currently being viewed can be provided (e.g., for clothing apparel). A viewer can select one or more advertisements to receive more information, and can purchase an item associated with the advertisements as desired. Click-through data can be collected and forwarded to a service for pricing advertising space associated with multimedia content.  
      Further, advertisements can be selectively provided to an individual based at least in part upon information associated with such user. For example, if it can be determined that a user is within a particular demographic, advertisements can be selectively provided to such user based upon the demographic. For instance, if it is determined (through device ID, user ID, etc.) that a user is within an age demographic relating to senior citizens, advertisements that are associated with such age demographic (e.g., hearing aids, health insurance, . . . ) can be selectively provided upon pausing the program, selecting a button, or other suitable action. As can be discerned, advertisements can be selectively provided with respect to a program based upon any suitable demographic information, including sex, age, and/or location of typical viewers. Moreover, advertisements can be displayed based upon an analysis of multimedia content and demographic information, thereby enabling provision of highly relevant advertisements to viewers.  
      Advertisements can be displayed to a user based upon more than a current scene. For instance, user identity, IP address, time of day, time of year, metadata associated with the video, device utilized to display the content, and the like can be considered in connection with selecting an advertisement to display. Additionally, the form of an advertisement can change based upon such data. For example, a user employing a small-screen, low-resolution device can have an advertisement displayed differently than an individual watching video on a high-end big-screen television.  
      To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the claimed subject matter may be employed and the claimed matter is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features may become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a high-level block diagram of a system that facilitates monetizing multimedia content by displaying advertisements that can be associated with the multimedia content.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a system that facilitates display of advertisements to a user based at least in part upon viewing position of a multimedia item.  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a system that facilitates display of advertisements associated with scenes of audio and/or video.  
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a system that facilitates purchase of an item through a displayed advertisement.  
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a system that facilitates downloading advertisement information to a client.  
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a system that facilitates downloading a multimedia item together with advertisements associated therewith.  
       FIG. 7  is a representative flow diagram illustrating a methodology for selectively providing advertisements to a user.  
       FIG. 8  is a representative flow diagram illustrating a methodology for providing advertisements to a display device.  
       FIG. 9  is a representative flow diagram illustrating a methodology for selectively displaying advertisements from a received buy track.  
       FIG. 10  is a representative flow diagram illustrating a methodology for providing advertisements based upon device analysis and user-related data.  
       FIG. 11  is an exemplary user interface.  
       FIG. 12  is an exemplary remote control that can be employed in connection with features described herein.  
       FIG. 13  is a schematic block diagram illustrating a suitable operating environment.  
       FIG. 14  is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      The subject invention is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that such subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the subject invention.  
      As used in this application, the terms “component” and “system” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.  
      Furthermore, aspects of the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement various aspects of the subject invention. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ). Additionally it should be appreciated that a carrier wave can be employed to carry computer-readable electronic data such as those used in transmitting and receiving electronic mail or in accessing a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of what is described herein.  
      The claimed subject matter will now be described with respect to the drawings, where like numerals represent like elements throughout. Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an advertisement location and presentation system  100  is illustrated. The system  100  includes an analyzer component  102  that receives a multimedia item  104  (e.g., an audio, video, and/or audio video item) and analyzes at least a portion of such multimedia item  104 . In one example, the multimedia item  104  can be created to conform to IPTV, where digital television services are provided to subscribing customers using the Internet Protocol over a broadband connection. This service enables bi-directional communications to occur between a provider and recipient of multimedia. The analysis component  102  can analyze content of the multimedia item  104 , current location of the multimedia item  104 , device that is being employed to display or output the multimedia item  104 , a user that is reviewing the multimedia item  104  (such as demographic information associated with the user), and any other suitable data that may be associated with the multimedia item  104 . Furthermore, the multimedia item  104  can be streaming video, video encapsulated in a DVD or other computer-readable medium, or any other suitable multimedia item.  
      Results of the analysis undertaken by the analyzer component  102  can be provided to a presentation component  106 , which can selectively provide an advertisement  108  to a user by way of a output device  110 , wherein the output device  110  can be a television, a computer monitor, a graphical user interface on a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, a mobile media player, a radio, or any other suitable device. Furthermore, the advertisement  108  can be selected from amongst a plurality of advertisements. In one example, the advertisement  108  can be associated with content of the multimedia item  104  at a particular point in such multimedia item  104 . In more detail, at a particular point in time the multimedia item  104  can include several actors or actresses wearing clothing from a particular manufacturer. The analyzer component  102  can make a determination that such clothing is prominent in the multimedia item  104  at a particular point in time, and the presentation component  106  can provide an advertisement for such clothing (e.g., the advertisement  108 ) to a user through the output device  110 . The advertisement  108  can be presented concurrently with the multimedia item  104  in such a manner that content of the multimedia item  104  is not substantially obstructed and/or can be presented upon receiving user input, such as pausing the multimedia item  104  or depressing a “buy” button (or similar button).  
      In another example, the advertisement  108  can be provided to a user based at least in part upon demographic information associated with the user. For instance, if the reviewer of the multimedia item  104  is determined to lie within a male demographic between ages 15-20, the advertisement  108  can be selectively provided based upon such demographic information. Therefore, the presentation component  106  can tailor advertisements based at least in part upon individual user demographics. Further, the system  100  can be updated as user demographic alters (e.g., if the user moves, as the user ages, change in user device). The presentation component  106  can receive most recent demographic information and selectively provide the advertisement  108  based at least in part thereon. Still further, the advertisement  108  can be provided based solely upon contextual information, such as location of a user, time of day, and/or other suitable contextual data.  
      The presentation component  106  can select the advertisements, for example, from a computer-readable medium associated with the multimedia item  104 . For instance, a DVD can be packaged with the multimedia item  104  as well as advertisements associated with content of the multimedia item  104 . Thus, during particular scenes, if the user pauses the multimedia item  104 , then advertising content can be retrieved from the DVD and presented to the user through the output device  110 . In another example, the presentation component  106  can access a server through a broadband connection and receive the advertisement  108  from such server. In more detail, the analyzer component  102  can determine that the multimedia item  104  is associated with one particular scene, and can relay such information to the presentation component  106 . The presentation component  106  can then access the server with such information and retrieve an advertisement relating to the scene. Furthermore, the server can include advertisements that are tailored for particular display devices and/or particular users.  
      Now referring to  FIG. 2 , an advertisement presentation system  200  is illustrated. The system  200  includes a reception component  202  that receives user input with respect to the multimedia item  104 . For example, a user can pause the multimedia item  104  through depressing a button upon a remote control, a portable phone, through voice commands, etc. Similarly, the reception component  202  can receive input relating to a user&#39;s desire to purchase an item associated with a screen through selection of a “buy” button or other suitable button. Additionally, the reception component  202  can receive an indication that a user wishes to traverse through disparate scenes associated with the multimedia item  104  and be provided advertisements associated with such scenes. Still further, the reception component  202  can determine a type of device employed by a user through the user input, contextual information associated with the user input (e.g., time of day, user history, user context, IP address associated with a device, . . . ), etc. Upon receiving the user input from the reception component  202 , the analyzer component  102  can analyze the multimedia item  104  to determine content of the multimedia item  104  at particular locations associated with the user input and/or analyze demographic information associated with the user. For instance, given a location of the multimedia item  104 , an advertisement associated with such portion can be determined.  
      The presentation component  106  can retrieve or request the advertisement from an ad server  204 , which can include a plurality of advertisements  206  associated with several multimedia items (e.g., audio, video, and/or audio/video items). Thus, the presentation component  106  can provide the ad server  204  with an identity of the multimedia item  104 , scene of the multimedia item  104  at the time user input was received, content of the user input, demographic information associated with the user, device type that is being employed to review the multimedia item  104 , and/or contextual data associated with the user. Based upon such information, the presentation component  106  can receive an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements  206  that can relate to content of the multimedia item  104  and/or to a particular demographic (in contrast to simply being streamed in with a video regardless of content of the video). The selected advertisement  108  can be presented to a user on the output device  110 .  
      The system  200  enables prospective advertisers to associate advertisements with content of the multimedia item  104  and/or individual users based upon demographic information relating to the user. For example, an advertiser can purchase advertising space with respect to a particular scene within the multimedia item  104 , and have such advertisement presented to a user through the output device  110  automatically as the multimedia item  104  is played and/or upon receipt of the user input. In a specific example, a scene in the multimedia item  104  may include several actors and actresses dining on pizza. A pizza company can purchase advertisement time/space associated with such scene, and upon a user pausing the multimedia item  104  or selecting a “buy” button (or the like), the analyzer component  102  can pass scene identity (location) of the multimedia item  104  to the presentation component  106 , which can in turn receive the pizza company&#39;s advertisement and provide it to the user by way of the output device  110 . Accordingly, the system  200  provides for association between multimedia content and advertisements.  
      Turning now to  FIG. 3 , a system  300  that facilitates provision of advertisements to a user based at least in part upon current scene associated with a multimedia item (e.g., audio, video, and/or audio/video), demographic information associated with the multimedia item, and/or contextual data is illustrated. The system  300  includes the analyzer component  102 , wherein such analyzer component  102  analyzes the multimedia item  104  as it is being played and/or prior to the multimedia item  104  being played. Additionally or alternatively, the analyzer component  102  can receive and analyze demographic information associated with the user. In a specific example, the analyzer component  102  can be employed to determine a scene of the multimedia item  104  being reviewed when user input is received (e.g., a pause command). The system  300  further includes a sensing component  302  that senses contextual data associated with an individual reviewing the multimedia item  104  and/or being provided the multimedia item  104 . For example, the sensing component  302  can detect physical location of a user that is reviewing the multimedia item  104 , time of day, time of year, device being employed to review the multimedia  104 , and any other suitable contextual data.  
      The sensed contextual data ascertained by the sensing component  302  can be provided to the presentation component  106  together with a current scene determined by the analyzer component  102 . The presentation component  106  can then provide the advertisement  108  to the output device  110 , where the advertisement  108  is selected based at least in part upon the sensed contextual data and a scene of the multimedia item  104  provided by the analyzer component  102 . Use of the contextual data can cause the presentation component  106  to provide disparate advertisements to a user for different reviews of the multimedia item  104 . For example, in one review, the sensing component  302  can determine that it is near lunch time and that the user is at their place of residence. Based upon this determination, the advertisement  108  provided to the output device  110  by the presentation component  106  can be related to a food product that can be delivered to the user. In another review, the sensing component  302  may determine that the multimedia item  104  is being reviewed during evening hours, and the advertisement  108  provided to the output device  110  by the presentation component  106  may relate to home security systems.  
      The system  300  can further include a stepping component  304  that allows a user to step through scenes of the multimedia item  104  and review advertisements associated with such scenes. For example, a particular scene may include a particular furniture line, a food product, clothing, and various other items, while another scene may depict jewelry and an automobile. The user can employ the stepping component  304  to view all advertisements associated with the first scene and thereafter view all advertisements associated with the second scene. The advertisements can provide information to the user such as name of a product, where the product can be purchased, and/or can provide an option to purchase the item through the output device  110 .  
      Now referring to  FIG. 4 , an advertisement presentation system  400  is illustrated. The system  400  includes the analyzer component  102  that receives and analyzes the multimedia item  104 , such that the presentation component  106  can be provided with information about a particular scene of the multimedia item  104 . The presentation component  106  can then be employed to provide the advertisement  108  to the output device  110  based at least in part upon the information (e.g., current scene) provided by the analyzer component  102 . The system  400  can further include a highlighting component  402  that facilitates rendering content of the multimedia item  104  selectable by a user, wherein selection of the content causes an advertisement associated with such content to be output. For instance, an automobile within the multimedia item  104  can be highlighted through data manipulation or data overlay undertaken by the highlighting component  402 , wherein the content is selectable through clicking of a mouse, voice commands, a remote control keypad, and the like. In other words, selectable content can act as a hyperlink within the multimedia item  104 . Pursuant to one example, content may only be highlighted when hovered over by a pointing mechanism, thereby leaving the multimedia item  104  unobstructed. In another instance, the content may be lightly highlighted when a pointing mechanism is hovered over a display region, and then more prominently highlighted when hovered over particular content. The highlighting component  402  can cause video hyperlinks data to be broadcast as a stream within the multimedia item  104  and synchronized at the output device  110  with content of the multimedia item  104 .  
      The highlighting component  402  can provide, for example, a rectangle or other suitable shape that tracks particular content, wherein such shape may be applied to two key frames (across, for instance, hundreds of frames) for the beginning and ending of appearance of the content. The highlighting component  402  can then employ a tracking algorithm that can track the content even when the content is ambiguous or there are severe occlusions. If the content is obstructed by other content, the algorithm can infer the trajectory of the content based upon past movement or location of the content at the second key frame. Text can also be provided upon hover so as to provide additional information to the user regarding the content that is selectable. If the selectable content (rendered by the highlighting component  402 ) is selected, then an address associated therewith can be employed to provide the user with the advertisement  108  (wherein such advertisement is related to the selected content).  
      The system  400  can further include a purchasing component  404  that facilitates user purchase of an item through the advertisement  108  provided on the output device  110 . For example, the purchasing component  404  can accept and authorize payment information, such as with respect to a credit card or debit card. Furthermore, the purchasing component  404  can be associated with a shipping engine, wherein a user can provide information relating to where the item is to be shipped. The system  400  can also include a collection component  406  that collects and/or calculates data relating to selection of the advertisement  108  and other advertisements provided to the output device  110  by the presentation component  106 . This data can be, for example, click-through rates associated with the advertisements  108 , impressions associated with particular advertisements, number of purchases related to the advertisements, and other suitable data. This collection component  406  can thereafter relay this data to the presentation component  106 , which can provide advertisements to the output device  110  based at least in part upon such data. Furthermore, the click-through data and other related data can be employed in connection with determining prices for certain advertisements and/or portions of the multimedia item  104 . In other words, portions of the multimedia item  104  that are associated with a greater number of clicks or requests to view advertisements may be associated with a higher advertising price than other portions of the multimedia item  104 . Thus, the collection component  406  can report click-through data to an advertisement server.  
      Now referring to  FIG. 5 , a system  500  for providing users with advertisements based upon content of multimedia (audio, video, and/or audio/video) and/or demographic information related to specific users is illustrated. The system  500  includes the analyzer component  102 , which receives and analyzes the multimedia item  104 , receives and analyzes demographic information associated with a user or set of users, and/or receives and analyzes contextual data. For instance, the analyzer component  102  can determine an identity of the multimedia item  104 . In a more specific example, the multimedia item  104  can be read from a DVD, and the analyzer component  102  can determine title or content of such DVD. Similarly, the multimedia item  104  can be stored on a hard drive or within some other computer-readable medium, and the analyzer component  102  can determine title of the multimedia item  104 . Further, demographic information relating to a user or users can be received from a networked data store. This determined information can be provided to a download component  502 , which creates a connection to an ad server  504  over a broadband connection. In one example, the ad server  504  can be connected to the download component  502  by way of the Internet. The download component  502  can then proceed to receive advertising content from the ad server  504  that is to be associated with the multimedia item  104 .  
      The presentation component  106  can operate as described above, wherein the advertisement  108  is presented based at least in part upon an analysis of the multimedia item  104  undertaken by the analyzer component  102  and/or demographic information associated with a particular user. The download component  502 , the analyzer component  102 , the presentation component  106 , and the output device can all be located within a client  506 , thereby enabling seamless review of the multimedia item  104  and advertisement without connection delays or delays caused by lack of bandwidth. The advertising content received from the ad server  504  at the download component  502  can be unchanged with contextual conditions or can alter based upon context. If the advertising content is to alter given disparate contexts, the download component  502  can make inferences regarding which advertisements to associated with the multimedia item  104  given user identity, identity of the client, user context, time of day, and various other contextual information.  
      As used herein, the term “inference” refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources. Various classification schemes and/or systems (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks, expert systems, Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, data fusion engines . . . ) can be employed in connection with performing automatic and/or inferred action. In a specific example, trends associated with user buying habits can be detected and provided to the download component  502 , which can then analyze such data and infer advertising content to request from the ad server  504 . In another example, the ad server  504  can utilize contextual data to make inferences and provide advertising content to the download component  502  based upon contextual data.  
      Turning now to  FIG. 6 , a system  600  that facilitates provision of advertisements to a user based upon multimedia item content, contextual data, and/or demographic information associated with a particular user is illustrated. The system  600  includes the analyzer component  102 , which is communicatively coupled to a multimedia store  602 . For instance, the analyzer component  102  can be associated with a television, computer, or any other suitable presentation device, and the multimedia store  602  can be associated with a content provider, such as a cable company, a satellite television company, or other such provider. Thus, the multimedia store  602  can include one or more multimedia items  604 , demographic information associated with particular users, as well as advertisements associated with the stored multimedia items. In one example, the multimedia store  602  can be associated with an on-demand video service, wherein video is provided to a user by way of a network at the user&#39;s convenience. Thus, upon request of a multimedia item from the multimedia store  604 , advertisements associated therewith can be provided to the user with the requested video.  
      When the user reviews the multimedia item, the analyzer component  102  can analyze content, such as current scene, and provide such analysis to the presentation component  106 . Similarly, the analyzer component  102  can analyze the demographic information associated with a user and/or contextual data. While the multimedia item is being reviewed and/or upon receiving user input, the presentation component  106  can selectively provide the advertisement  108  (that is associated with a particular scene and/or demographic) to a user through the output device  110 . In one example, disparate fees can be provided for different modes of viewing video. For instance, a first, lesser charge may be associated with video if advertisements are provided on a display region while the video is being viewed. A second, greater expense may be associated with video if the user only wishes to be provided advertisements after user action (e.g., pausing the video). The system  600  thus provides novel means for generating revenue (through sale of advertisements associated with content) with respect to multimedia.  
      Referring now to  FIGS. 7-10 , methodologies in accordance with the claimed subject matter will now be described by way of a series of acts. It is to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with the claimed subject matter. Additionally, it should be further appreciated that the methodologies disclosed hereinafter and throughout this specification are capable of being stored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring such methodologies to computers. The term article of manufacture, as used herein, is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media.  
      Referring specifically to  FIG. 7 , a methodology  700  that can be employed in connection with monetizing multimedia content is illustrated. The methodology  700  begins at  702 , and at  704  a multimedia item is received. The multimedia item can be received through reading a removable disk, such as a DVD. In another example, the received multimedia item can be streaming video received over a network. Further, the received multimedia item can exist on a hard drive or in memory. Thus, the multimedia item can be received in any suitable manner. At  706 , while the multimedia item is being reviewed, a current position within the multimedia item is determined. For instance, the determined position can relate to a time from the beginning of the multimedia item, time from end of the multimedia item, a particular scene within the multimedia item, and the like, and can be determined in any suitable manner. At  708 , advertising content is selectively provided based at least in part upon the determined position, demographic information associated with a particular user, and/or contextual data. For example, an advertiser may wish to have their advertisement associated with a particular portion of video (e.g., when items associated with the advertiser are displayed within the video). Thus, the advertiser can purchase advertising time/space associated with one or more portions of the video. When the video is viewed by a user and the user provides an action (e.g., pausing, selecting content on a display region, . . . ), the advertisement associated with the determined position can be displayed to the user. The methodology then completes at  710 .  
      Now turning to  FIG. 8 , a methodology  800  for providing advertisements to a display region is illustrated. The methodology  800  begins at  802 , and at  804  video content is displayed. For example, the video content can be displayed on a television, a computer, a portable device, or any other suitable device. At  806 , user input relating to the video is received while the video content is being displayed. For instance, the user input can be selection of a hyper-linked video object, pausing of the video, selection of a “buy” button (or other suitable button), or other suitable user input.  
      At  808 , a location of the video at the time of receipt of user input is determined. The location can relate to a particular scene, a series of scenes, a time from beginning of the video, and the like. At  810 , the determined location is relayed to an ad server over a network connection, which can be wireless, wirelined, or a combination thereof. The ad server can include advertisements associated with various videos, wherein the advertisements may vary depending upon sensed context. At  812 , at least one advertisement is received from the advertisement server, wherein the advertisement is selected based at least in part upon the determined location at  808 . At  814 , the received advertisement is provided to the device employed to display the video content. Thus, it can be discerned that advertisements in the ad server can be updated over time; therefore, advertisements associated with a first viewing of the video may differ from advertisements associated with a second viewing of the video. The methodology  800  then completes at  816 .  
      Referring now to  FIG. 9 , a methodology  900  for selectively displaying advertisements to a user is illustrated. The methodology  900  initiates at  902 , and at  904  video is received. At  906 , identity of the video is determined. For example, if a DVD is played, title and content of the DVD can be determined to identify the video of video content within the DVD. At  908 , a buy track specific to the video is received, thereby placing advertisements associated with the video at the device used to display the video. At  910 , the video is played, for example, through an application designed for media play, through hardware that is utilized for playing DVDs, or any other suitable player. At  912 , advertisements are selectively displayed from the received buy track. For instance, when a user viewing the video pauses the video, advertisements that relate to such position can be retrieved from the buy track and provided to the user. The methodology  900  then completes at  914 .  
      Now turning to  FIG. 10 , a methodology  1000  for providing advertisements with respect to video content is illustrated. The methodology starts at  1002 , and at  1004  video is received. At  1006 , user input is received while the video is playing, such as a command to pause the video or to review advertisements associated with at least a portion of the video. At  1008 , a device utilized to play the video is analyzed. For example, the analysis can be through an active querying of the device to determine device identity and device parameters, wherein the query can initiate from an advertisement server. At  1010 , data relating to a user associated with the device is analyzed. Such data can include previous advertisements reviewed by the user, geographic location of the user, time of day, time of year, day of week, and the like. At  1012 , advertisements are selectively provided during the video and/or upon receipt of user input during play of the video based at least in part upon the device analysis and the user-data analysis. For instance, a certain advertisement may not be desirable to display on a graphical user interface of a portable device—therefore, a disparate advertisement can be selected. Further, if it can be determined that a user has reviewed a particular advertisement several times, it may be desirable to provide such user with a disparate advertisement. The methodology  1000  then completes at  1014 .  
      Turning now to  FIG. 11 , a representative depiction of a graphical user interface  1100  that can be employed in connection with features described herein is illustrated. The graphical user interface  1100  can include a display region  1102  in which video content is rendered. The interface  1100  can further include an advertisement region  1104  that can display advertisements while video is being presented in the display region  1102 . In a disparate embodiment, the advertisement region  1104  may only be displayed upon receipt of user input. For example, when a user pauses video displayed in the display region  1102 , the advertisement region  1104  can be created, and advertisements relating to content associated with the video at the time of receipt of the user input can be provided in the advertisement region  1104 . In still another example, the display region  1102  can include hyper-linked video objects, and upon hovering over such objects information relating to the objects can be displayed in the advertisement region  1104 . If the hyper-linked video object is selected, an advertisement for the selected content can be rendered in the advertisement region. Given these examples, it can be discerned that any suitable manner of displaying video and advertisements associated therewith are contemplated and intended to fall under the scope of the hereto-appended claims.  
      Now referring to  FIG. 12 , an exemplary remote control  1200  that can be employed to provide user input in accordance with various features described herein is illustrated. The remote control  1200  can include a button  1202  that causes a display device to be powered on or turned off. Furthermore, the remote control  1200  can include a pause button  1204  that may be depressed by a user, thereby causing video content displayed on the device to be paused. Upon pausing the video, advertisements associated with content of the video at the time of pausing can be provided to a user. In another example, the remote control  1200  can include a “buy”button  1206 , wherein depressing of such button  1206  causes advertisements associated with a current position of video to be displayed. Furthermore, the “buy”button can be employed to effectuate purchase of one or more items that are displayed on advertisements provided to the user. The remote control  1200  further includes various other buttons associated with conventional remote controls, such as a numerical keypad, a stop button, a menu button and the like. Accordingly, user input that causes advertisements to be displayed is not limited solely to pausing video or depressing the “buy” button  1206 , but can alter depending upon desired implementation. Furthermore, devices with keypads already associated therewith may not be associated with a remote control and/or may not need to receive input from a remote control in order to receive user input. For example, mobile devices include pressure sensitive screens and/or keypads, and the user input can be received through such screens and/or keypads. Similarly, computers include keypads, wherein users can provide sufficient input through suck keypads.  
      In order to provide additional context for various aspects of the subject invention,  FIG. 13  and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable operating environment  1310  in which various aspects of the claimed subject matter may be implemented. While the claimed subject matter is described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can also be implemented in combination with other program modules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.  
      Generally, however, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular data types. The operating environment  1310  is only one example of a suitable operating environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the features described herein. Other well known computer systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include but are not limited to, personal computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include the above systems or devices, and the like.  
      With reference to  FIG. 13 , an exemplary environment  1310  that can be employed in connection with selectively providing advertisements to a user includes a computer  1312 . The computer  1312  includes a processing unit  1314 , a system memory  1316 , and a system bus  1318 . The system bus  1318  couples system components including, but not limited to, the system memory  1316  to the processing unit  1314 . The processing unit  1314  can be any of various available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit  1314 .  
      The system bus  1318  can be any of several types of bus structure(s) including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available bus architectures including, but not limited to, 8-bit bus, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory Card International Association bus (PCMCIA), and Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI). The system memory  1316  includes volatile memory  1320  and nonvolatile memory  1322 . The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transfer information between elements within the computer  1312 , such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory  1322 . By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory  1322  can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory  1320  includes random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).  
      Computer  1312  also includes removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media.  FIG. 13  illustrates, for example a disk storage  1324 . Disk storage  1324  includes, but is not limited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS- 100  drive, flash memory card, or memory stick. In addition, disk storage  1324  can include storage media separately or in combination with other storage media including, but not limited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). For instance, a DVD-ROM drive can be employed in connection with reading video content from a DVD. To facilitate connection of the disk storage devices  1324  to the system bus  1318 , a removable or non-removable interface is typically used such as interface  1326 .  
      It is to be appreciated that  FIG. 13  describes software that acts as an intermediary between users and the basic computer resources described in suitable operating environment  1310 . Such software includes an operating system  1328 . Operating system  1328 , which can be stored on disk storage  1324 , acts to control and allocate resources of the computer system  1312 . System applications  1330  take advantage of the management of resources by operating system  1328  through program modules  1332  and program data  1334  stored either in system memory  1316  or on disk storage  1324 . It is to be appreciated that the subject invention can be implemented with various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.  
      A user enters commands or information into the computer  1312  through input device(s)  1336 . Input devices  1336  include, but are not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, remote control, and the like. As described above, advertisements can be provided to a user upon receipt of user input. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit  1314  through the system bus  1318  via interface port(s)  1338 . Interface port(s)  1338  include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s)  1340  use some of the same type of ports as input device(s)  1336 . Thus, for example, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer  1312 , and to output information from computer  1312  to an output device  1340 . Output adapter  1342  is provided to illustrate that there are some output devices  1340  like monitors, speakers, and printers among other output devices  1340  that require special adapters. The output adapters  1342  include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide a means of connection between the output device  1340  and the system bus  1318 . It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s)  1344 .  
      Computer  1312  can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)  1344 . The remote computer(s)  1344  can be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to computer  1312 . For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device  1346  is illustrated with remote computer(s)  1344 . Remote computer(s)  1344  is logically connected to computer  1312  through a network interface  1348  and then physically connected via communication connection  1350 . Network interface  1348  encompasses communication networks such as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).  
      Communication connection(s)  1350  refers to the hardware/software employed to connect the network interface  1348  to the bus  1318 . While communication connection  1350  is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer  1312 , it can also be external to computer  1312 . The hardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface  1348  includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.  
       FIG. 14  is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment  1400  with which the claimed subject matter can interact. The system  1400  includes one or more client(s)  1410 . The client(s)  1410  can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The system  1400  also includes one or more server(s)  1430 . The server(s)  1430  can also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers  1430  can house threads to perform transformations by employing the claimed subject matter, for example. One possible communication between a client  1410  and a server  1430  can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The system  1400  includes a communication framework  1450  that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s)  1410  and the server(s)  1430 . The client(s)  1410  are operably connected to one or more client data store(s)  1460  that can be employed to store information local to the client(s)  1410 . Similarly, the server(s)  1430  are operably connected to one or more server data store(s)  1440  that can be employed to store information local to the servers  1430 . In one particular example, the client(s)  1410  can be employed to display video to a user while the server(s) can be advertisement server(s) that house advertisements associated with displayed video. For instance, the client(s)  1410  can connect to the server(s) upon playing of a video to retrieve advertising information associated with the video.  
      What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing such subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.