Patent Publication Number: US-2023164402-A1

Title: Relative prominence of elements within an advertisement

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/472,922, filed Sep. 13, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/843,539, filed Apr. 8, 2020 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,159,858), which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The subject disclosure relates to relative prominence of elements within an advertisement within a displayed video item. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Display of content items such as advertising within a video or other content is known, for example for targeting the content items to specific audiences or viewers. Such display has been used to insert product placement into content such as films or to modify product placement from one product to another. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a communications network in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  2 A  is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a system functioning within the communication network of  FIG.  1    in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  2 B  is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a system for displaying a content item while delivering media content to a media display device such as user device and functioning within the communication network of  FIG.  1    in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  2 C  depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  2 D  is a block diagram showing an exemplary user device displaying a content item in which other content items have been inserted in content delivery opportunities in accordance with the method of  FIG.  2 C . 
         FIG.  2 E  is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a system for displaying a content item while delivering media content to a media display device such as user device and functioning within the communication network of  FIG.  1    in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  3    is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a virtualized communication network in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  4    is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of a computing environment in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  5    is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of a mobile network platform in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
         FIG.  6    is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of a communication device in accordance with various aspects described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrative embodiments for determining how to present content elements within a combined content item with varying relative levels of prominence among the content elements. Presentation may be based on aggregate viewership of content elements or based on a specific viewer. Other embodiments are described in the subject disclosure. 
     One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include receiving, over a network, a request to deliver media content to a media display device and detecting a plurality of content placement opportunities in the media content. Aspects further include determining, for each content placement opportunity, a relative prominence score, including determining the relative prominence score based on a relative importance in a scene of the respective content placement opportunity. Aspects further include delivering the media content over the network to the media display device and selecting a plurality of content items to include in the media content. Selecting the content items includes selecting a respective content item for each respective content placement opportunity of the plurality of content placement opportunities according to the respective relative prominence score for the respective content placement opportunity. Each respective content item is delivered over the network to the media display device. 
     One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include providing a content item to a media display device and detecting a plurality of content placement opportunities in a scene of the content item, where each respective content placement opportunity of the plurality of content placement opportunities has a relative prominence in the scene of the content item. Aspects further include detecting a preference profile for a user of the media display device and identifying a first plurality of matching advertising items that match the preference profile for the user. Aspects further include selecting a second plurality of matching advertising items according to respective prominence information of the first plurality of matching advertising items and providing the second plurality of matching advertising items to the media display device. Each respective matching advertising item of the second plurality of matching advertising items is associated with a respective content placement opportunity of the plurality of content placement opportunities. 
     One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include, for example, providing to a user device a video content item including at least one scene which includes a plurality of advertisement placement opportunities and determining a preference profile for an individual associated with the user device. Aspects further include selecting a group of matching advertisements having advertisement profiles that match the preference profile for the individual and determining a relative prominence score for each advertisement placement opportunity. Aspects further include ordering the matching advertisements according to prominence information specified for each matching advertisement, wherein the prominence information corresponds to a relative desired prominence specified by an advertiser associated with the matching advertisement. Aspects further include providing the ordered matching advertisements to the user device according to the respective prominence information so that a matching advertisement having a greatest desired prominence is displayed in the video content item at an advertisement placement opportunity having a highest relative prominence score. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  1   , a block diagram is shown illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a communications network  100  in accordance with various aspects described herein. For example, communications network  100  can facilitate in whole or in part providing a content item such as a video or other media content item to audio/video display devices  144 , data terminals  114 , or other network elements  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156  wherein the content item includes a plurality of content placement opportunities which each have a relative prominence in a scene or portion of the content item, and providing advertisements or other content items according to desired prominence so that, for example, an advertisement having a highest desired prominence by an advertiser is placed most prominently in the content item. 
     In particular, a communications network  125  is presented for providing broadband access  110  to a plurality of data terminals  114  via access terminal  112 , wireless access  120  to a plurality of mobile devices  124  and vehicle  126  via base station or access point  122 , voice access  130  to a plurality of telephony devices  134 , via switching device  132  and/or media access  140  to a plurality of audio/video display devices  144  via media terminal  142 . In addition, communication network  125  is coupled to one or more content sources  175  of audio, video, graphics, text and/or other media. While broadband access  110 , wireless access  120 , voice access  130  and media access  140  are shown separately, one or more of these forms of access can be combined to provide multiple access services to a single client device (e.g., mobile devices  124  can receive media content via media terminal  142 , data terminal  114  can be provided voice access via switching device  132 , and so on). 
     The communications network  125  includes a plurality of network elements (NE)  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156 , etc. for facilitating the broadband access  110 , wireless access  120 , voice access  130 , media access  140  and/or the distribution of content from content sources  175 . The communications network  125  can include a circuit switched or packet switched network, a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network, Internet protocol (IP) network, a cable network, a passive or active optical network, a 4G, 5G, or higher generation wireless access network, WIMAX network, UltraWideband network, personal area network or other wireless access network, a broadcast satellite network and/or another communications network. 
     In various embodiments, the access terminal  112  can include a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), cable modem termination system (CMTS), optical line terminal (OLT) and/or other access terminal. The data terminals  114  can include personal computers, laptop computers, netbook computers, tablets or other computing devices along with digital subscriber line (DSL) modems, data over coax service interface specification (DOCSIS) modems or other cable modems, a wireless modem such as a 4G, 5G, or higher generation modem, an optical modem and/or other access devices. 
     In various embodiments, the base station or access point  122  can include a 4G, 5G, or higher generation base station, an access point that operates via an 802.11 standard such as 802.11n, 802.11ac or other wireless access terminal. The mobile devices  124  can include mobile phones, e-readers, tablets, phablets, wireless modems, and/or other mobile computing devices. 
     In various embodiments, the switching device  132  can include a private branch exchange or central office switch, a media services gateway, VoIP gateway or other gateway device and/or other switching device. The telephony devices  134  can include traditional telephones (with or without a terminal adapter), VoIP telephones and/or other telephony devices. 
     In various embodiments, the media terminal  142  can include a cable head-end or other TV head-end, a satellite receiver, gateway or other media terminal  142 . The display devices  144  can include televisions with or without a set top box, personal computers and/or other display devices. 
     In various embodiments, the content sources  175  include broadcast television and radio sources, video on demand platforms and streaming video and audio services platforms, one or more content data networks, data servers, web servers and other content servers, and/or other sources of media. 
     In various embodiments, the communications network  125  can include wired, optical and/or wireless links and the network elements  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156 , etc. can include service switching points, signal transfer points, service control points, network gateways, media distribution hubs, servers, firewalls, routers, edge devices, switches and other network nodes for routing and controlling communications traffic over wired, optical and wireless links as part of the Internet and other public networks as well as one or more private networks, for managing subscriber access, for billing and network management and for supporting other network functions. 
       FIG.  2 A  is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of displaying a content item while delivering media content to a media display device in a system functioning within the communication network of  FIG.  1    in accordance with various aspects described herein. In  FIG.  2 A , a user device  200  is displaying a first image  202  of a content item  204 . Also in  FIG.  2 A , by way of contrast, the user device  200  displays a second image  206  including the same content item  204 . The user device  200  in the illustrated example is a portable device such as a mobile telephone. The user device  200  includes a display screen suitable to display content items such as the images  202 ,  206  and the content item  204 . The user device  200  may further include a connection to a remote network for receiving content items such as the images  202 ,  206  and the content item  204 . Further, the user device  200  may further include a memory for storing content items such as the images  202 ,  206  and the content item  204 . 
     The content item  204  in the example includes an image of a man and a woman dressed in casual clothes. He wears an open shirt with a collar over a t-shirt. They stand facing the camera in front of a grassy area populated by other people who generally have their backs to the camera. Some of the other people appear to be in motion, either toward the camera or away from the camera. The man and the woman appear to be talking. He looks past the camera; she looks at him. The content item  204  may be a still image or may be a frame or image from a motion picture, television program, video game or other similar content. The details of the content item are important primarily as an illustrative example. The details and various aspects of the embodiments discussed herein may be extended to the widest variety of content items including video, still images, audio, text and other content types as well. 
     In the first image  202  of  FIG.  2 A , the front of the man&#39;s t-shirt is partially visible. It bears a first logo  208  and name of a first restaurant chain. In one embodiment, the first logo is part of the content of the first image  202  and the content item  204 . That is, for example, in a film incorporating the first image  202 , the man is wearing a shirt that actually includes the first logo  208 . The first logo  208  is part of the content of the first image  202  or of the content item  204  such as the video incorporating the image  202 . In another embodiment, the first logo  208  is located in an area  210  of the first image  202  that has been marked for insertion of one or more content items. The area  210  may be added to the first image  202  or content item  204  in order to receive the one or more content items. In the second image  206  of  FIG.  2 A , a second logo  212  of a second restaurant chain appears in the area  210 . The second logo  212  may be superimposed on the first logo  208  in the second image of the content item  204 . The second image  206  may be altered relative to the first image  202 , for example, by altering the content of the first image  202  to produce the second image  206 . This may be done in various examples my modifying pixels or frames or other encoded elements of the first image  202  to produce the second image  206 . 
     Substitution of a content element such as the second logo  212  for another content element such as the first logo  208  may be done for any suitable reason. In one example, the substitution may be done to target advertising to specific audiences or specific viewers. The substitution may be made to change a product placement in a movie or other video content. The substitution may be made by defining one or more screen areas such as area  210  that may be digitally changed. The change may be done either in advance or in real-time as the viewer is viewing the content including the advertising. When the change is done in advance, the content including the modified frames with image  206  may be communicated to the user device  200  or another location for storage and subsequent playback. When the change is done in real time, the substitution of the second logo  212  for the first logo  208  may be made according to a bidding process among advertisers for the opportunity to place a content item such as the second logo  212  in the area  210 . The bidding process may match aspects of a viewer of the content item with aspects of a product or service being advertised or marketed by the advertiser. Selection of a particular content item to target advertising to specific audiences or specific viewers may be based, for example, on the advertiser&#39;s willingness to have an advertisement appear in the area  210 , either by paying more to appear in the area  210  or in some other way. The bidding process may occur substantially in real time as the content is conveyed to the user device  200  and viewer. In other examples, other than substantially in real time, a user device such as a mobile begins streaming a movie which is know to have a predetermined number of content insertion opportunities to receive advertising or other content. In such an example, bidding may begin at the time of initiating the streaming and if the scene is eventually streamed then the object is added and the winning bidder is charged for the impression. 
       FIG.  2 B  is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a system  216  for displaying a content item while delivering media content to a media display device such as user device  200  and functioning within the communication network of  FIG.  1    in accordance with various aspects described herein. In  FIG.  2 B , the user device  200  is associated with a user  218  and may be any device for displaying content including media for interaction by the user  218 . Interaction by the user  218  may include seeing visual content and hearing audio content, as well as any other sensory perception such as response to a motion detection function of the user device or a motion creation device such as a vibrator of the user device. Interaction may also include manipulation of a user interface of the user device  200  to control the user device  200 . The manipulation of the user interface of the user device may occur in any suitable fashion, such actuation of a touch-sensitive display screen or one or more buttons or switches of the user device  200 , voice control of the user interface, or other techniques that may be developed. 
     Moreover in other embodiments, the user  218  may have other user devices in addition to the user device  200 . The user device  200  in the illustrated embodiment includes a mobile device such as a mobile telephone adapted for viewing content. The user device may be adapted for other functions as well, such as internet access and web page browsing, making radiotelephone calls, etc. In addition or instead, the user  218  may interact with content on other user devices such as a tablet computer, a laptop or desktop computer, a media player, a smart television, etc. The techniques described herein may be extended to the widest range of user devices or groups of user devices. 
     The system  216  in the exemplary embodiment of  FIG.  2 B  includes a media content server  220  in communication with a media content database  222 , an advertisement engine  224  in communication with an advertisement database  226 . In other embodiments, the system  216  may include any suitable components in addition to or in place of those shown in  FIG.  2 B . In typical embodiments, the user  218  and the user device  200  represent one user of many users that may access the media content server  220  and the advertisement engine over the network  228 . 
     The media content server  220  provides content to the network  228  for access by users such as the user  218 . Access may include downloading an entire file or a partial file of content. Access may include streaming of content, in which the content is sent in portions from the media content server  220 . The media content server  220  is in data communication with the media content database  222  to retrieve content and provide the content to the user device  200 . Media content provided by the media content server  220  may include the widest variety of content, including video content and audio content. Video content may include video items such as films, television programs, animated items, for example, of any duration. Audio content may include music, voice or conversations or other captured sounds. Media content may include live items, such as items currently broadcast or narrowcast to an audience or recorded items. Moreover, media content may include combinations of any of these, such as a transmission of a prerecorded sporting event with live voice-over commentary and music. The media content items may be conveyed over the network  228  to a single user, such as user  218 , or be conveyed to an audience of users at specific network addresses or may be broadcast to a broad audience over commercially available licensed broadcast channels. 
     The media content database  222  includes memory to store content such as video, audio and other content items. The media content database  222  may include any suitable number of disk drives and other data storage for storing content. Moreover, the media content database  222  or the media content server  220  may have access over networks such as the network  228  or other networks or devices to additional content that may be available for retrieval and storage at the media content database  222  for communication by the media content server  220  to an audience. 
     The advertisement engine  224  operates in conjunction with the advertisement database  226  to provide content items including advertisements to user devices such as the user device  200 . The advertisement engine  224  in some embodiments operates in conjunction with the media content server  220  to provide the content items. For example, as the media content server  220  provides content to the user device  200 , the media content server  220  may prompt the advertisement engine  224  to provide one or more advertisements or other content items to user devices such as the user device  200  in conjunction with the content. The advertisement engine  224  may retrieve the advertisement or other content item from the advertisement database  226 . The advertisement database  226 , similar to the media content database  222 , may include any suitable combination of storage elements such as disk drives to store data including content items such as advertisements. The retrieved content item may be in the form of a data file or other data structure containing instructions and data to cause an advertisement or other content item to be produced on the user device  200 . The advertisement or other content item may include one or more still images or video images. The advertisement or other content item may include audio such as music, speech or a combination. 
     In  FIG.  2 B , the first image  202  displays the content item  204 . In the illustrated embodiment, the content item  204  includes a plurality of content placement points  227 . The plurality of content placement points  227  in this example includes the area  210 , an area  230  and an area  232  in the image  202  and an audio point  234  in which a content items may be placed dynamically. The plurality of content placement points  227  may include other defined boundaries as well, for audible, visual or other content item insertion. 
     The plurality of content placement points  227  represent content placement opportunities in the content item  204 . As indicated, the content placement opportunities in this example may be visual or audible in nature. Visual opportunities may be a portion of the screen of the user device  200  that is prominent and part of a viewer&#39;s main attention or may be a background portion of the screen scene. Prominence may be relative and may have many factors. In the example of  FIG.  2 B , area  210  is in the foreground of the image  202  whereas area  230  and area  232  are in the background and are therefore less prominent to a viewer of the content item  204 . Further, area  210  is located on or near, or otherwise associated with, a character who is the focus of the viewer&#39;s attention, in this example because the man is speaking. Thus, area  210  has a higher relative prominence in the image  202 . Area  230  is a relatively static area in the background of the image  202  while, in contrast, area  232  is a dynamic area in that the area  232  is on or associated with a moving object, a woman in the background if the image  202 . Because movement or a moving object is more likely to command a viewer&#39;s attention, in some applications, the area  232  may have a higher relative prominence than the area  230 . Further, the area  230  is larger, or occupies a larger portion of the image  202 , than the area  232 . Because of its larger relative size, the area  230  may have a higher relative prominence than the area  232 . 
     Further, content items inserted into any of the plurality of content placement points  227  such as area  210 , area  230  and area  232 , may be given an enhanced relative prominence upon insertion into the image  202 . For example, the color or appearance of the content item may be selected to cause it to be more prominent than surrounding areas of the image  202 . In one example, if a content item is to be placed in a blank area that is colored green, such as a portion of lawn, the inserted content item may be colored red, or given a blue background behind white text, to appear relatively more prominent against the green background. In another example, where a scene shown in the image  202  is substantially dark, as a night scene, the inserted content item may be relatively brightly illuminated to command the viewer&#39;s attention. In yet another example, a content item may be presented with a dynamic sparkle or dazzle aspect to enhance its ability to attract the attention of the viewer. In yet another example, information known about a specific viewer may be used to enhance the relative prominence of a content placement point. For example, if it is known that a viewer attended a particular college or university, or lives in a particular town or neighborhood, the inserted content item may be combined with a visual depiction of that viewer-specific information. The enhancement of relative prominence for an inserted content item, or a content placement point, may be managed in any suitable way. 
     Further, each advertising or content placement opportunity may use additional metadata to describe its nature and its degree of prominence as a predictor of how much attention it may receive from a viewer. The relative degree of prominence may relate to a relative importance of an advertising or content placement opportunity in a scene or image. In other embodiments, the relative importance may relate to the degree of importance of an advertising or content placement opportunity across multiple or different scenes of the content item. A prominence score may be calculated for each ad opportunity by the media content server and inserted as metadata for the content. A prominence score for visual ad opportunities may be based on size, degree of importance to the scene, relative motion, and duration of time on screen, and other factors. In the example shown, for instance, scores might be as shown in the following Table 1. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Ad 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Opportunity 
                 Size 
                 Importance 
                 Motion 
                 Duration 
                 Total 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 1 
                 8 
                 10 
                 3 
                 10 
                 31 
               
               
                 2 
                 5 
                 3 
                 0 
                 10 
                 18 
               
               
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 9 
                 4 
                 19 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 1, each of the visual content placement opportunities is associated with a number shown in  FIG.  2 B . Thus, area  210  is represented in Table 1 by number 1; area  230  is represented in Table 1 as number 2; and area  232  is represented in Table 1 as number 3. Each visual content placement opportunity is given a relative prominence score for various aspects of prominence. In this example, the aspects of prominence which are scored include relative size of each opportunity, relative importance in a scene of each opportunity, relative motion of each opportunity, and duration of each opportunity. Thus, in the example of  FIG.  2 B , ad opportunity  1 , for area  210 , has a relatively large size in the image  202  so it is given a size score of 2. Ad opportunity  1  further has a high relative importance, since it is in the foreground of the image  202  and associated with a character who is speaking, so it is given a relatively high score of 10. The ad opportunity  1  is not in motion, so it is given a relatively low score of 3. The ad opportunity  1  remains in the image  202  throughout the entire duration of the scene so it is given a relatively high duration score of 10. The other ad opportunities, labeled  2  and  3  in  FIG.  2 B  and Table 1, are scored in similar fashion. A total score for each ad opportunity may be simple addition, as shown. Thus, ad opportunity  1  has a total score of 31, ad opportunity  2  has a total score of 18, and ad opportunity  3  has a total score of 19. In other examples, the respective scores for size, importance, motion and duration may be weighted or combined in some fashion. Other features, in addition to or instead of size, importance, motion and duration. 
     Audio insertion opportunities may be scored similarly. Relative prominence for audio ad insertion opportunities may be rated as peers of, or separately from, visual ad opportunities. In Table 2, audio ad insertion opportunities are added to Table 1 and are scored on factors including volume of the sounds, relevance to the scene or image, musicality and duration during the scene. In this example, audio ad insertion opportunity identified as number 4 in  FIG.  2 B  is scored 4 for volume, 3 for relevance, 8 for musicality and 10 for duration. Other factors for scoring audio ad insertion opportunities may be used as well. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Ad 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Opportunity 
                 Size 
                 Importance 
                 Motion 
                 Duration 
                 Total 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 1 
                 8 
                 10 
                 3 
                 10 
                 31 
               
               
                 2 
                 5 
                 3 
                 0 
                 10 
                 18 
               
               
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 9 
                 4 
                 19 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Volume 
                 Relevance 
                 Musicality 
                 Duration 
                 Total 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 4 
                 4 
                 3 
                 8 
                 10 
                 25 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In other examples, scores for audio ad insertion opportunities may be determined and used as with the visual ad insertion opportunities. Thus, factors for scoring an audio ad insertion opportunity may include a relative importance of sound to a scene or image, apparent motion of a sound in the sound design for a scene, or duration of the sound or audio clip during a scene. The result is that an audio ad from the advertisement database is inserted, for instance, as background audio. In examples, this may be a product jingle, prerecorded audio that contains dialogue including a product name, or an artificial intelligence- or machine learning-generated audio dialogue that may contain, for instance, a product name or some known information about the viewer (as knowingly shared by the viewer), such as the name of the college the viewer attended. 
     As indicated, the system  216  may use artificial intelligence or machine learning, or a combination of these, to generate alternative visual or audible content items for insertion in content placement opportunities, either visual or audible. For example, a machine learning algorithm may be used to generate and insert dialogue from a character to include, for instance, a product name. This may be readily extended to other examples as well. 
     In addition or instead, an operator of the media content server  220  may desire to modify the selected content item for any suitable reason by inserting particular content items, rather than advertisements, in the identified content placement opportunities. In one example, the requested content item may be targeted to language learners and a content placement opportunity may include inserting dialog in a particular language selected for particular viewers choosing to learn a particular language. Any other suitable reason for modifying visual, audible and other aspects of a requested content item may prompt the use of content placement opportunities in the requested content item. 
     Any number of means may be used to determine preferences for an individual viewer and choosing the most appropriate ads to insert. The degree of prominence to be used for each ad may also include data from an advertisement engine, which may include relative levels that advertisers are willing to pay for their ads to be presented. For example, the highest paying advertiser whose ad is a match for the user&#39;s preference profile may be presented in Ad Opportunity  1  (the most prominent one). Accordingly, other opportunities are filled, and the content is presented with the ads inserted. 
     Each of the plurality of content placement points  227 , including area  210 , area  230  and area  232 , may be defined by a spatial location on the image  202  and a temporal location in the content item  204 . Spatial locations may be defined in any suitable way, such as pixel location on the image  202 , displacement from a defined origin, etc. Temporal locations may be similarly defined in any suitable fashion, such as start and stop times from a defined origin time of the content item, a start time plus a duration, etc. The media content may contain metadata such as timestamp tags that are used to demark when advertising or other content placement opportunities occur. Visual content placement may be done in any suitable fashion, such as by superimposing one visual item over a preexisting visual item in the image  202 , such as substitution of the second logo  212  for the first logo  208  in the image  202 . In another example, visual content placement may be done by superimposing a content item in a relatively blank space of the image  202 , such as the area  230 . Instead of superimposition, any suitable way of inserting visual content into the image  202  may be used. Any of the plurality of content placement points  227 , including area  210 , area  230  and area  232 , may be used for insertion of a visual content item such as an advertisement. 
     Audible content placement opportunities may include background music or background dialogue. For a content item that represents an advertisement, audible content may be an advertiser&#39;s jingle or other song portion, or other audio component that provokes brand identification among listeners. In another example, an audible content item may include spoken words which may, for example, mention a product or brand by name in a way to attract the viewer&#39;s attention. 
     Similar to visual content items, audible content items and audio content points such as audio point  234  may be given an enhanced relative prominence. For example, an inserted content item at audio point may be presented at a higher volume relative to other sounds or audible content in a scene. In another example, an inserted content item at audio point  234  may be combined with another audible item calculated to capture audience attention, such as a tone or sound or portion of a well-known song. In yet another example, information known about a specific audience member may be used to enhance the relative prominence of an audible content placement item at, for example, audio point  234 . For example, if it is known that an audience member attended a particular college or university, or lives in a particular town or neighborhood, the inserted content item may be a spoken mention of the college name or neighborhood, or a portion of the college fight song or alma mater. The enhancement of relative prominence for an audible inserted content item, or audible content placement point, may be managed in any suitable way. 
     Audible content placement points such as audio point  234  may be defined in any suitable manner. In one example, an audible content placement point may be defined by a start time and stop time, or a start time plus a duration, from a predefined origin time for the content item  204 . The audible content placement points such as audio point  234  may be defined by a spatial location as well in some audio programming. For example, if a soundtrack for the content item  204  is in stereo, or includes enhanced sonic features, an audio content placement point such as audio point  234  may be inserted primarily in a left channel or a right channel of a stereo or multi-channel soundtrack, or may be made to vary or move between the channels in a dynamic fashion. 
     One way the human hearing mechanism (including the ears, nerves and brain processing, subsequently referred to as “the ear”) detects placement of a speaker (or source of sound) is by detecting the relative volume perceived by the listener&#39;s two ears. A sound whose volume is stronger in the left ear appears to be coming from a position to the left of the listener. This stereo effect is used advantageously in nearly all modern music reproduction systems and allows the creator of the music to position instruments left-to-right across the listener&#39;s virtual sound field. Another way the placement of a sound source is determined is by relative volume. A signal of lower volume sounds farther away than a signal of higher volume. Combined with the stereo effect, volume settings allow for, for example, near-left or far-right positioning of a sound source. A third way the human ear detects the position of a signal is a change in frequencies heard as a sound moves from the front of a listener&#39;s ear, where most frequencies are received with equal strength, to a position behind the listener&#39;s ear, where the higher frequencies are attenuated, and the lower frequencies seem more apparent. In a virtual environment, this effect, combined with a decrease in volume and left-right positioning, may give the listener the impression that a sound source has moved behind the listener, even with a two-channel stereo system. Additionally, changes to delay and echo may heighten this effect. Further, other parameter changes may provide the sensation that one participant is located behind another participant. Other enhancements or modifications may be made as well. The contents of U.S. Pat. No. 8,085,920 B1, issued Dec. 27, 2011, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The sound design of the content item  204  may be adapted or modified to define audio content placement points such as audio point  234 . 
     The system  216  may be configured to deliver content items such as content item  204  and placeable content items to the user device  200 . The media content server  220  may receive over the network  228  a request for a content item, such as content item  204 . 
     In an embodiment, the system  216  determines preferences of a viewer such as user  218  for targeting advertisements and other content to the viewer.  FIG.  2 C  depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method  240  in accordance with various aspects described herein. The method  240  may be performed by a processing system including a processor and memory of, for example, the media content server  220  of  FIG.  2 B . In other embodiments, other components of a system may perform the method  240 , either locally or in conjunction with other components accessible over a network such as network  228 . In one example, some or all of the operations of method  240  may be performed by the user device  200  or by a smart television or set top box or other media content device associated with a viewing device. The method begins at block  242 . 
     At block  244 , the method  240  includes an operation of receiving a request for a content item. The request may originate at a user device such as user device  200 ,  FIG.  2 B , or any other source. For example, a user such as user  218  of user device  200  may operate a user interface of the user device  200  to locate and select a content item of interest, such as a film or television program or stored video item. The user interface may present a menu of viewing options, for example, by accessing over the network  228  the media content server  220 . The user  218  selects the content item of interest using the menu and the selection is communicated over the network  228  as a request for the content item to the media content server  220 . The request for the content item may include any suitable information, such as identification information for the content item, identification information for the user device  200 , identification information for the user  218 , identification information for an account of the user  218  and identification information for other viewers present with the user  218  who will view the requested content item. 
     At block  246 , the method  240  includes an operation to determine if viewers such as the user  218  have agreed to use of their personal or confidential information or data in a system and process for providing content. This operation may be important to protect and keep confidential such information for viewers who are sensitive about the use of such information. Such an agreement may be provided by the user agreeing to the use of confidential information for purposes such as providing content items and the agreement may be recorded at a network location accessible by operations of the method  240 . If the user  218  or viewers present with the user, have not opted in to the service, the operation ends at block  248 . In such a case, the requested content item will be provided to the user device without modification. 
     If the viewers or user have opted in to the service, at block  250 , the method  240  includes an operation of accessing the requested content item. In one example, in the system  216  of  FIG.  2 B , the media content server  220  access the media content database  222  to locate the requested content item. If the media content database  222  does not already store the requested content item, the media content server  220  may access other locations to obtain the requested content item. 
     At block  252 , the method  240  includes an operation to identify insertion opportunities in the requested content item. In one example, the requested content item includes a number of scenes, such as a scene including images  202 ,  206  of  FIG.  2 A . In each respective scene, one or more content placement opportunities is identified. For each respective content placement opportunity of the one or more content placement opportunities, a prominence score is determined. Examples of prominence scores are described in conjunction with Table 1 and Table 2 and  FIG.  2 B . In some embodiments, content placement opportunities may include opportunities to insert advertisements for consumption by viewers of the selected content items. The advertisements and other content items may include visible content such as still images, video segments, and others. The advertisements and other content items may also include audible content items such as background sounds, dialog of characters, background dialog, and others. An operator of the media content server  220  may provide a paid service of providing advertisements to viewers for advertisers. 
     At block  254 , the method  240  includes an operation of selecting content items such as advertisements for the scene. Particular content items may be chosen for insertion into the content placement opportunities for any suitable reason. Block  254  in some embodiments may include steps of accessing user data  256  and accessing advertiser data  258 . 
     In order to target advertising to viewers of the selected content item, the method  240  includes accessing user data  256 . The user data  256  may include any information provided by users or other viewers or information collected about the viewers or users. The user data  256  may be used to develop a preference profile for the user. The preference profile includes information about likes and desires and interests of the user, as well as dislikes of the user. The preference profile for the user may be developed and modified over time as more information about the user is gathered and stored. 
     For example, a user&#39;s previous content selections from the media content server  220  may be retrieved. In another example, the user&#39;s previous purchase history of items, including media content items and other items, from online sources or in other retail locations, may be retrieved. Other information about the user may be retrieved as well, including geographic information, demographic information, psychographic information and behavioral information of the user or other viewers of the requested media content. The media content server  220  may have access to such information at the media content database  222 . In other examples, the media content server  220  may have access over networks such as the network  228  to other stored information, including the noted information, about the user or viewers. In still other examples, the media content server  220  may access particular information of the user or viewers and operate to draw inferences therefrom about interests of the user or viewers. For example, a machine learning algorithm may be used to develop a model for the user and user interests and to make predictions about user preferences. The predictions and all other information about the user and other viewers may be used to select advertising or other content items at block  254 . In some examples, the user may be associated with one or more advertising targeting segments. Such segment information may be accessed as well at block  254 . 
     Also at block  254 , the method may include accessing advertiser data  258 . In one example, the advertisement data  258  may be received from the advertisement database  226  or the advertisement engine  224 , or a combination of these. Advertiser data  258  may be received from respective advertisers about advertisements of the advertiser to be placed or included in content placement opportunities of the requested content item. Advertiser data  258  may include data defining content and advertisements including data files of visual advertising components any suitable format such as JPEG, MPEG or others. The advertiser data  258  may also include data defining content and advertisements including data files of audible advertising components in any suitable format, such as .wav, .aac and others. Further, the advertiser data  258  may include targeting information such as segments targeted by the advertiser for a particular product or campaign. Further, the advertiser data  258  may include information defining compensation the advertiser is willing to pay, such as a money amount, for placement of a particular advertisement in a content placement opportunity of the requested content item. 
     The advertiser data  258  may be used to determine which advertisement is selected for placement in a content placement opportunity of the requested content item. In that regard, information about one or more advertisements or advertisers from the advertiser data  258  may be compared with information about the user or viewers from the user data  256  at block  254 . Based on the comparison, one or more advertisements are selected for presentation in content placement opportunities of the scene of the requested content item. 
     Still further, the advertiser data  258  may include prominence information defining a degree of prominence to be used for each advertisement or content item of an advertiser. The advertiser may specify the respective prominence information for a respective advertisement. The degree of prominence may be expressed in any suitable manner, such as an advertiser&#39;s prominence designator or prominence score. The prominence designator or prominence score may be used to determine how an advertisement should be presented or which advertisement should be provided. 
     In some embodiments, block  254  includes operations of determining, for each respective content placement opportunity of the content item, a respective relative prominence score. In an example, determining the respective relative prominence score may include determining the relative prominence score based on a relative importance in a scene of the respective content placement opportunity. When the content item is delivered to the user device, content items are selected to populate the content placement opportunities. Selecting the content items, or advertisements in some examples, may include selecting a respective content item for each respective content placement opportunity according to the respective relative prominence score for the respective content placement opportunity. For a more prominent content placement opportunity, a more prominent advertisement may be selected. In some examples, relative prominence of an advertisement may be determined by an amount an advertiser is willing to pay to have the advertiser&#39;s advertisement placed in that content placement opportunity. 
     As noted, the user data  256  may be used to develop a preference profile for the user. Similarly, the advertiser data  258  may be used to develop and advertisement profile. The advertisement profile may form an indication of the type of viewers or consumers an advertiser is targeting for the advertisements of the advertiser. The advertisement profile may be for the advertiser, for individual advertisements, also referred to as campaigns or line items, or for groups of advertisements. The preference profile may be matched against advertisement profiles to select one or more advertisements suitable to show to the user. 
     The profile matching may be done in any suitable manner. In one example, the advertisement profile includes definitions of a number of audience segments. The segments identify characteristics of viewers of interest to the advertisers, such as Interested in Purchasing a New Car, New Parent, and Interested in Vacations to Tropical Destinations. Similarly, based on activities of the user, including purchases, viewing patterns, online activity, and information such as demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral information, the user may be placed into a plurality of audience segments. For example, if the viewer has requested and watched a television program about Hawaiian resort vacations, the view may be placed in the segment Interested in Vacations to Tropical Destinations. Similarly, if the user has purchased new baby clothes and other new baby items online, the user may be placed in the segment New Parent. To match the user&#39;s preference profile with the advertiser&#39;s advertisement profile then requires finding common segments among the two. Any other suitable method of matching users and advertisements may be used. 
     The prominence information may be used to select which advertisement is selected for a particular content placement opportunity or how the advertisement is presented. The prominence information for an advertisement may include relative levels that advertisers are willing to pay for their ads to be presented at content placement opportunities in the requested media content item. In one embodiment, advertisers may submit bids for advertisement placement, where each bid corresponds to a desired relative prominence in a scene. The advertiser may bid $1.00 to be placed in the most prominent location in a scene, $0.50 for the second most prominent location in the scene, $0.30 for the third most prominent location, etc. Relative prominence of locations may be determined based on a prominence score as illustrated in Table 1 and Table 2, for example. The bid amounts may be considered respective prominence information of the advertisers associated with the advertisements. 
     In an embodiment, an ad call is received to fill a group of ad placement opportunities is received. Each ad placement opportunity has a respective relative prominence as illustrated, for example, in  FIG.  2 B . In response to the ad call for the scene, an auction may be conducted, such as by the advertisement server, to determine which advertisements should be selected to fill the ad calls for the scene. For example, the highest paying advertiser whose ad is a match for the user&#39;s preference profile may be presented in Ad Opportunity  1 , the most prominent advertisement opportunity in the example of  FIG.  2 B . Other content placement opportunities are filled according to bid amounts and the requested content item is presented with the ads inserted. 
     Further, the prominence information may be used to adjust the relative prominence of presentation of an advertisement other content item. For example, if an advertiser desires heightened prominence for an audio content item, the volume of the content item, or its duration, may be increased when the content item is inserted in the requested content item. In another embodiment, if the advertiser pays a higher fee for heightened prominence, a visual item may be modified to cause it to be more visually arresting, such as with added dazzle or brighter colors or colors selected with high contrast to background colors. Other types of prominence modification or adaptation may be performed as well. 
     At block  260 , the method  240  includes an operation of presenting the requested content item in response to the request received at block  244 . The requested content item, with content items selected at block  254 , is provided in any suitable manner. For example, the requested content item may be prepared by the media content server  220  in full, with the selected content items inserted at each content placement opportunity, and stored, for example, at the media content database  222 . The prepared content item may then be communicated in full, as an entire file, to the user device  200 . 
     In another example, the prepared content item may be streamed to the user device  200 , with selected portions of video content including inserted content items, sent in sequence. In such an embodiment, as the video content is being presented at the user device, the user device or other playback device may detect a content placement opportunity. In response, the user device will generate an ad call. The media content server or the advertisement server will accordingly receive a call for a content item from the display device while delivering the media content over the network to the display device. The call for the content item corresponds to a viewing opportunity in the media content. Responsive to the ad call, the media content server or advertisement server may determine a respective relative prominence score for the viewing opportunity and select a content item or advertisement for the viewing opportunity according to the respective relative prominence score for the viewing opportunity. Based on relative prominence, the media content server may provide the selected content item to the display device. In this embodiment, each content placement opportunity is filled in response to a series of ad calls. This embodiment may reduce data processing and storage requirements of the media content server and better regulate traffic on the network  228  by only sending content to the user device  200  when required. 
     In another example, the operations of block  250 , block  252 , block  254  and block  260  may be performed in a loop. In such an embodiment, the requested content item is processed in portions, such as scene by scene, to identify ad insertion opportunities of each processed scene, block  252 , and to select ads for the processed scene, block  254 , and then provide the content including the processed scene to the user device  200 . Operations are then repeated for a next scene. In this manner, the ads are inserted into the requested content on essentially a real time basis, as the content is retrieved and presented to the user. Such an embodiment may reduce processing time and storage requirements of the media content server  220 . 
     The content items delivered at block  260  may delivered with any suitable data or other information. In one embodiment, in order to ensure reliable placement of the content items or advertisements in the media convent, the media content may be delivered with a content tag. The content tag includes, for example, a time stamp and metadata. The metadata may include a prominence indicator. The prominence indicator may provide an indication of how prominently the content item associated with the content tag should be displayed. The metadata of the content tag may include any other useful information for organizing and controlling how the content or advertisement is presented, visually or audibly. The method ends at block  262 . 
     While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respective processes are shown and described as a series of blocks in  FIG.  2 C , it is to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methods described herein. 
       FIG.  2 D  is a block diagram showing user device  200  displaying image  206  of content item  204  in which advertisements have been inserted in the content delivery opportunities of the content item  204 . By operation of the method  240  of  FIG.  2 C , for example, or by any other suitable operation, suitable ads have been selected and placed with relative prominence in the image  206 . Thus, second logo  212  has been placed in area  210  with a highest relative prominence. The second logo  212  are area  210  has a highly prominent position because, in this example, it is in the foreground of the image  206  and it is associated with a main character. In fact, in this example, the main character speaking in the scene, heightening the prominence of the area  210  and second logo  212  and the second logo  212  is placed on clothing of the character, in intimate association with him. 
     A third logo  264  has been placed in area  230  of the image  206 . This may be considered, in this example, to be an area of relatively low prominence. First, the area  230  and the third logo  264  are located in the deep background of the image  202 . Second, the area  230  and the third logo  264  are static and not in motion. Third, the area  230  and the third logo  264  are not associated with the characters in any obvious way. 
     A fourth logo  266  has been placed in area  232  of the image  206 . This may be considered, in this example, to be an area of relatively moderate prominence, less prominent in the scene and image  206  than are  210  but more prominent than are  230 . First, the area  232  and the fourth logo  266  are in the mid-background of the scene. Second, the area  232  and the fourth logo  266 , while not associated with one of the two main characters of the scene are in motion and attached to a background character. The factor of motion enhances the relative prominence of the area  232  and the fourth logo  266 . 
     Audible advertisements may similarly be selected and placed in accordance with the method  240  of  FIG.  2 C . The prominence of audible advertisements may be matched with relative prominence of the content placement opportunity associated with the sound design of the scene depicted in image  206 . If the primary characters in the image  206  are talking in the scene, the background sound may be of reduced prominence. However, if an advertising jingle is selected as the content item to be placed as the background audio for the scene, the content item of the advertising jingle may have heightened prominence in the scene. Moreover, if an advertising jingle or other audible content item is select to correlate with a visible content item such as one of the second logo  212 , the third logo  264  or the fourth logo  266 , the relative prominence of both the audible content item and the visible content item may be enhanced. The system and method in accordance with various aspects disclosed herein may be adapted to particular circumstances to modulate relative prominence of content items such as the second logo  212 , the third logo  264  or the fourth logo  266  and an audible content item placed in a scene including image  206  of content item  204   
       FIG.  2 E  is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a system  216  for displaying a content item  204  while delivering media content to a media display device and functioning within the communication network of  FIG.  1    in accordance with various aspects described herein. In the embodiment of  FIG.  2 E , the media display device is implemented in an environment  270  for viewing by an audience of several or many individuals  272 . One example of an environment  270  is a theater when the content item  204  is displayed on a screen such as by projection on a movie screen or by display on a relatively large electronic display. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  2 E , content placement opportunities of the content item  204  have been filled with content items such as advertisements, for example in accordance with the method  240  of  FIG.  2 C . Thus, in the example of  FIG.  2 E , second logo  212  has been placed in area  210 ; fifth logo  268  has been placed in area  232 ; and sixth logo  269  has been placed in area  232 . Suitable audible content has been provided as background audio at audio point  234 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  2 E , each individual  272  of the audience has a user device  200 . However, instead of displaying content item  204  on the user device  200 , each user provides inputs and other information to the system  216 . For example, each respective user device  200  may communicate with the media content server  220  and the advertisement engine  224  to provide information about each respective individual  272  associated with the respective user device  200 . Such information may include identification information for the individual  272  or the user device  200  or account associated with the individual. Such information may include an opt-in indicator for the individual  272  to share the individual&#39;s confidential information. Such information may include or be used to determine from the advertisement engine  224 , individual preference information for each respective individual  272 . In this manner, the method  240  of  FIG.  2 C  can be modified to provide advertisements and other content items for consumption by the individuals  272  in the environment  270 . Consumption of advertisements includes viewing visible advertisements and hearing audible advertisements. 
     In this embodiment, the media content server  220  may develop an aggregate audience score based on respective preference profiles of the individuals  272 . This may be done in any suitable fashion, such as by averaging or otherwise aggregating user interests. The media content server  220  may then use the aggregate audience score to determine an aggregate preference profile of the audience as a whole. The aggregate audience score, or the aggregate preference profile, may be used by the media content server  220  to make determinations of which ads to insert and at what level of prominence. This might occur, for instance, in a movie theater or other environment  270 . 
     The user devices  200  may further be used to collect audience feedback or other information from individuals  272  of the audience. For example, each user device  200  may be equipped with an application, or app, which collects information from the user device  200  and communicates the information over the network  228  to the media content server  220  and the advertisement engine  224 . The viewers may use the app on their respective user device  200 , for example, to vote for which products to see in the movie. 
     In another embodiment, the audience of individuals  272  may act as a collective crowd before the movie begins to influence the number of ads that get inserted. In an example, if the audience contributes an amount to a charity by appropriate actuation of the app on their user device  200 , no ads or a reduced number of ads may be inserted. The media content server  220  may prompt this interaction by individuals  272 , collect the responses and respond accordingly. Other activities and modifications may be implemented using the ability to aggregate audience information and responses by the media content server  220  and advertising engine  224 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  3   , a block diagram is shown illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment of a virtualized communication network  300  in accordance with various aspects described herein. In particular a virtualized communication network is presented that can be used to implement some or all of the subsystems and functions of communication network  100 , the subsystems and functions of system  216 , and method  240  presented in  FIGS.  1 ,  2 A,  2 B,  2 C,  2 D,  2 E and  3   . For example, virtualized communication network  300  can facilitate in whole or in part providing a content item such as a video or other media content item to virtual network elements (VNEs)  330 ,  332 ,  334 , wherein the content item includes a plurality of content placement opportunities which each have a relative prominence in a scene or portion of the content item, and providing advertisements or other content items according to desired prominence so that, for example, an advertisement having a highest desired prominence by an advertiser is placed most prominently in the content item. 
     In particular, a cloud networking architecture is shown that leverages cloud technologies and supports rapid innovation and scalability via a transport layer  350 , a virtualized network function cloud  325  and/or one or more cloud computing environments  375 . In various embodiments, this cloud networking architecture is an open architecture that leverages application programming interfaces (APIs); reduces complexity from services and operations; supports more nimble business models; and rapidly and seamlessly scales to meet evolving customer requirements including traffic growth, diversity of traffic types, and diversity of performance and reliability expectations. 
     In contrast to traditional network elements—which are typically integrated to perform a single function, the virtualized communication network employs virtual network elements (VNEs)  330 ,  332 ,  334 , etc. that perform some or all of the functions of network elements  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156 , etc. For example, the network architecture can provide a substrate of networking capability, often called Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) or simply infrastructure that is capable of being directed with software and Software Defined Networking (SDN) protocols to perform a broad variety of network functions and services. This infrastructure can include several types of substrates. The most typical type of substrate being servers that support Network Function Virtualization (NFV), followed by packet forwarding capabilities based on generic computing resources, with specialized network technologies brought to bear when general-purpose processors or general-purpose integrated circuit devices offered by merchants (referred to herein as merchant silicon) are not appropriate. In this case, communication services can be implemented as cloud-centric workloads. 
     As an example, a traditional network element  150  (shown in  FIG.  1   ), such as an edge router can be implemented via a VNE  330  composed of NFV software modules, merchant silicon, and associated controllers. The software can be written so that increasing workload consumes incremental resources from a common resource pool, and moreover so that it&#39;s elastic: so the resources are only consumed when needed. In a similar fashion, other network elements such as other routers, switches, edge caches, and middle boxes are instantiated from the common resource pool. Such sharing of infrastructure across a broad set of uses makes planning and growing infrastructure easier to manage. 
     In an embodiment, the transport layer  350  includes fiber, cable, wired and/or wireless transport elements, network elements and interfaces to provide broadband access  110 , wireless access  120 , voice access  130 , media access  140  and/or access to content sources  175  for distribution of content to any or all of the access technologies. In particular, in some cases a network element needs to be positioned at a specific place, and this allows for less sharing of common infrastructure. Other times, the network elements have specific physical layer adapters that cannot be abstracted or virtualized and might require special DSP code and analog front-ends (AFEs) that do not lend themselves to implementation as VNEs  330 ,  332  or  334 . These network elements can be included in transport layer  350 . 
     The virtualized network function cloud  325  interfaces with the transport layer  350  to provide the VNEs  330 ,  332 ,  334 , etc. to provide specific NFVs. In particular, the virtualized network function cloud  325  leverages cloud operations, applications, and architectures to support networking workloads. The virtualized network elements  330 ,  332  and  334  can employ network function software that provides either a one-for-one mapping of traditional network element function or alternately some combination of network functions designed for cloud computing. For example, VNEs  330 ,  332  and  334  can include route reflectors, domain name system (DNS) servers, and dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) servers, system architecture evolution (SAE) and/or mobility management entity (MME) gateways, broadband network gateways, IP edge routers for IP-VPN, Ethernet and other services, load balancers, distributers and other network elements. Because these elements don&#39;t typically need to forward large amounts of traffic, their workload can be distributed across a number of servers—each of which adds a portion of the capability, and overall which creates an elastic function with higher availability than its former monolithic version. These virtual network elements  330 ,  332 ,  334 , etc. can be instantiated and managed using an orchestration approach similar to those used in cloud compute services. 
     The cloud computing environments  375  can interface with the virtualized network function cloud  325  via APIs that expose functional capabilities of the VNEs  330 ,  332 ,  334 , etc. to provide the flexible and expanded capabilities to the virtualized network function cloud  325 . In particular, network workloads may have applications distributed across the virtualized network function cloud  325  and cloud computing environment  375  and in the commercial cloud or might simply orchestrate workloads supported entirely in NFV infrastructure from these third-party locations. 
     Turning now to  FIG.  4   , there is illustrated a block diagram of a computing environment in accordance with various aspects described herein. In order to provide additional context for various embodiments of the embodiments described herein,  FIG.  4    and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment  400  in which the various embodiments of the subject disclosure can be implemented. In particular, computing environment  400  can be used in the implementation of network elements  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156 , access terminal  112 , base station or access point  122 , switching device  132 , media terminal  142 , and/or VNEs  330 ,  332 ,  334 , etc. Each of these devices can be implemented via computer-executable instructions that can run on one or more computers, and/or in combination with other program modules and/or as a combination of hardware and software. For example, computing environment  400  can facilitate in whole or in part providing a content item such as a video or other media content item to implementations of audio/video display devices  144 , data terminals  114 , or other network elements  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156 , wherein the content item includes a plurality of content placement opportunities which each have a relative prominence in a scene or portion of the content item, and providing advertisements or other content items according to desired prominence so that, for example, an advertisement having a highest desired prominence by an advertiser is placed most prominently in the content item. 
     Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associated devices. 
     As used herein, a processing circuit includes one or more processors as well as other application specific circuits such as an application specific integrated circuit, digital logic circuit, state machine, programmable gate array or other circuit that processes input signals or data and that produces output signals or data in response thereto. It should be noted that while any functions and features described herein in association with the operation of a processor could likewise be performed by a processing circuit. 
     The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be also practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which can comprise computer-readable storage media and/or communications media, which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows. Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media that can be accessed by the computer and comprises both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implemented in connection with any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured data or unstructured data. 
     Computer-readable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to store desired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or “non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory or computer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquish rights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media that are not only propagating transitory signals per se. 
     Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local or remote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the information stored by the medium. 
     Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructured data in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and comprises any information delivery or transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media comprise wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. 
     With reference again to  FIG.  4   , the example environment can comprise a computer  402 , the computer  402  comprising a processing unit  404 , a system memory  406  and a system bus  408 . The system bus  408  couples system components including, but not limited to, the system memory  406  to the processing unit  404 . The processing unit  404  can be any of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures can also be employed as the processing unit  404 . 
     The system bus  408  can be any of several types of bus structure that can further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. The system memory  406  comprises ROM  410  and RAM  412 . A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer  402 , such as during startup. The RAM  412  can also comprise a high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data. 
     The computer  402  further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD)  414  (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal HDD  414  can also be configured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD)  416 , (e.g., to read from or write to a removable diskette  418 ) and an optical disk drive  420 , (e.g., reading a CD-ROM disk  422  or, to read from or write to other high capacity optical media such as the DVD). The HDD  414 , magnetic FDD  416  and optical disk drive  420  can be connected to the system bus  408  by a hard disk drive interface  424 , a magnetic disk drive interface  426  and an optical drive interface  428 , respectively. The hard disk drive interface  424  for external drive implementations comprises at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other external drive connection technologies are within contemplation of the embodiments described herein. 
     The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For the computer  402 , the drives and storage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format. Although the description of computer-readable storage media above refers to a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of storage media which are readable by a computer, such as zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also be used in the example operating environment, and further, that any such storage media can contain computer-executable instructions for performing the methods described herein. 
     A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM  412 , comprising an operating system  430 , one or more application programs  432 , other program modules  434  and program data  436 . All or portions of the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also be cached in the RAM  412 . The systems and methods described herein can be implemented utilizing various commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems. 
     A user can enter commands and information into the computer  402  through one or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard  438  and a pointing device, such as a mouse  440 . Other input devices (not shown) can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  404  through an input device interface  442  that can be coupled to the system bus  408 , but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an IR interface, etc. 
     A monitor  444  or other type of display device can be also connected to the system bus  408  via an interface, such as a video adapter  446 . It will also be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, a monitor  444  can also be any display device (e.g., another computer having a display, a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) for receiving display information associated with computer  402  via any communication means, including via the Internet and cloud-based networks. In addition to the monitor  444 , a computer typically comprises other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc. 
     The computer  402  can operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer(s)  448 . The remote computer(s)  448  can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically comprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer  402 , although, for purposes of brevity, only a remote memory/storage device  450  is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprise wired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN)  452  and/or larger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN)  454 . Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which can connect to a global communications network, e.g., the Internet. 
     When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer  402  can be connected to the LAN  452  through a wired and/or wireless communication network interface or adapter  456 . The adapter  456  can facilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN  452 , which can also comprise a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with the adapter  456 . 
     When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer  402  can comprise a modem  458  or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN  454  or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN  454 , such as by way of the Internet. The modem  458 , which can be internal or external and a wired or wireless device, can be connected to the system bus  408  via the input device interface  442 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer  402  or portions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device  450 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are example and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used. 
     The computer  402  can be operable to communicate with any wireless devices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication, e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portable data assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices. 
     Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bed in a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enables such devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out; anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, ag, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wired networks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands for example or with products that contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks used in many offices. 
     Turning now to  FIG.  5   , an embodiment  500  of a mobile network platform  510  is shown that is an example of network elements  150 ,  152 ,  154 ,  156 , and/or VNEs  330 ,  332 ,  334 , etc. For example, platform  510  can facilitate in whole or in part providing a content item such as a video or other media content item to user devices such as user device  200  of  FIG.  2 B , wherein the content item includes a plurality of content placement opportunities which each have a relative prominence in a scene or portion of the content item, and providing advertisements or other content items according to desired prominence so that, for example, an advertisement having a highest desired prominence by an advertiser is placed most prominently in the content item. 
     In one or more embodiments, the mobile network platform  510  can generate and receive signals transmitted and received by base stations or access points such as base station or access point  122 . Generally, mobile network platform  510  can comprise components, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers, or disparate platforms, that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g., internet protocol (IP), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)) and circuit-switched (CS) traffic (e.g., voice and data), as well as control generation for networked wireless telecommunication. As a non-limiting example, mobile network platform  510  can be included in telecommunications carrier networks and can be considered carrier-side components as discussed elsewhere herein. Mobile network platform  510  comprises CS gateway node(s)  512  which can interface CS traffic received from legacy networks like telephony network(s)  540  (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), or public land mobile network (PLMN)) or a signaling system #7 (SS7) network  560 . CS gateway node(s)  512  can authorize and authenticate traffic (e.g., voice) arising from such networks. Additionally, CS gateway node(s)  512  can access mobility, or roaming, data generated through SS7 network  560 ; for instance, mobility data stored in a visited location register (VLR), which can reside in memory  530 . Moreover, CS gateway node(s)  512  interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PS gateway node(s)  518 . As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gateway node(s)  512  can be realized at least in part in gateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN). It should be appreciated that functionality and specific operation of CS gateway node(s)  512 , PS gateway node(s)  518 , and serving node(s)  516 , is provided and dictated by radio technologies utilized by mobile network platform  510  for telecommunication over a radio access network  520  with other devices, such as a radiotelephone  575 . 
     In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic and signaling, PS gateway node(s)  518  can authorize and authenticate PS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions can comprise traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to the mobile network platform  510 , like wide area network(s) (WANs)  550 , enterprise network(s)  570 , and service network(s)  580 , which can be embodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced with mobile network platform  510  through PS gateway node(s)  518 . It is to be noted that WANs  550  and enterprise network(s)  570  can embody, at least in part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). Based on radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s) or radio access network  520 , PS gateway node(s)  518  can generate packet data protocol contexts when a data session is established; other data structures that facilitate routing of packetized data also can be generated. To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s)  518  can comprise a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in 3GPP UMTS network(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetized communication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Fi networks. 
     In embodiment  500 , mobile network platform  510  also comprises serving node(s)  516  that, based upon available radio technology layer(s) within technology resource(s) in the radio access network  520 , convey the various packetized flows of data streams received through PS gateway node(s)  518 . It is to be noted that for technology resource(s) that rely primarily on CS communication, server node(s) can deliver traffic without reliance on PS gateway node(s)  518 ; for example, server node(s) can embody at least in part a mobile switching center. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, serving node(s)  516  can be embodied in serving GPRS support node(s) (SGSN). 
     For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)  514  in mobile network platform  510  can execute numerous applications that can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows, and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Such application(s) can comprise add-on features to standard services (for example, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided by mobile network platform  510 . Data streams (e.g., content(s) that are part of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gateway node(s)  518  for authorization/authentication and initiation of a data session, and to serving node(s)  516  for communication thereafter. In addition to application server, server(s)  514  can comprise utility server(s), a utility server can comprise a provisioning server, an operations and maintenance server, a security server that can implement at least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as other security mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s) secure communication served through mobile network platform  510  to ensure network&#39;s operation and data integrity in addition to authorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s)  512  and PS gateway node(s)  518  can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s) can provision services from external network(s) like networks operated by a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN  550  or Global Positioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s) can also provision coverage through networks associated to mobile network platform  510  (e.g., deployed and operated by the same service provider), such as the distributed antenna networks that enhance wireless service coverage by providing more network coverage. 
     It is to be noted that server(s)  514  can comprise one or more processors configured to confer at least in part the functionality of mobile network platform  510 . To that end, the one or more processors can execute code instructions stored in memory  530 , for example. It should be appreciated that server(s)  514  can comprise a content manager, which operates in substantially the same manner as described hereinbefore. 
     In example embodiment  500 , memory  530  can store information related to operation of mobile network platform  510 . Other operational information can comprise provisioning information of mobile devices served through mobile network platform  510 , subscriber databases; application intelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates, flat-rate programs, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s) consistent with telecommunication protocols for operation of disparate radio, or wireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory  530  can also store information from at least one of telephony network(s)  540 , WAN  550 , SS7 network  560 , or enterprise network(s)  570 . In an aspect, memory  530  can be, for example, accessed as part of a data store component or as a remotely connected memory store. 
     In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosed subject matter,  FIG.  5   , and the following discussion, are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented. While the subject matter has been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on a computer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types. 
     Turning now to  FIG.  6   , an illustrative embodiment of a communication device  600  is shown. The communication device  600  can serve as an illustrative embodiment of devices such as data terminals  114 , mobile devices  124 , vehicle  126 , display devices  144  or other client devices for communication via either communications network  125 . For example, computing device  600  receiving over a network from a server a content item such as a video or other media content item, wherein the content item includes a plurality of content placement opportunities which each have a relative prominence in a scene or portion of the content item, and receiving advertisements or other content items according to desired prominence so that, for example, an advertisement having a highest desired prominence by an advertiser is placed most prominently in the content item by the computing device. 
     The communication device  600  can comprise a wireline and/or wireless transceiver  602  (herein transceiver  602 ), a user interface (UI)  604 , a power supply  614 , a location receiver  616 , a motion sensor  618 , an orientation sensor  620 , and a controller  606  for managing operations thereof. The transceiver  602  can support short-range or long-range wireless access technologies such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, WiFi, DECT, or cellular communication technologies, just to mention a few (Bluetooth® and ZigBee® are trademarks registered by the Bluetooth® Special Interest Group and the ZigBee® Alliance, respectively). Cellular technologies can include, for example, CDMA-1×, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generation wireless communication technologies as they arise. The transceiver  602  can also be adapted to support circuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN), packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP, etc.), and combinations thereof. 
     The UI  604  can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad  608  with a navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or a navigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device  600 . The keypad  608  can be an integral part of a housing assembly of the communication device  600  or an independent device operably coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or a wireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth®. The keypad  608  can represent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a QWERTY keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI  604  can further include a display  610  such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technology for conveying images to an end user of the communication device  600 . In an embodiment where the display  610  is touch-sensitive, a portion or all of the keypad  608  can be presented by way of the display  610  with navigation features. 
     The display  610  can use touch screen technology to also serve as a user interface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, the communication device  600  can be adapted to present a user interface having graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by a user with a touch of a finger. The display  610  can be equipped with capacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technology to detect how much surface area of a user&#39;s finger has been placed on a portion of the touch screen display. This sensing information can be used to control the manipulation of the GUI elements or other functions of the user interface. The display  610  can be an integral part of the housing assembly of the communication device  600  or an independent device communicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a cable) or a wireless interface. 
     The UI  604  can also include an audio system  612  that utilizes audio technology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard in proximity of a human ear) and high-volume audio (such as speakerphone for hands free operation). The audio system  612  can further include a microphone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audio system  612  can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI  604  can further include an image sensor  613  such as a charged coupled device (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images. 
     The power supply  614  can utilize common power management technologies such as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulation technologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energy to the components of the communication device  600  to facilitate long-range or short-range portable communications. Alternatively, or in combination, the charging system can utilize external power sources such as DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port or other suitable tethering technologies. 
     The location receiver  616  can utilize location technology such as a global positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS for identifying a location of the communication device  600  based on signals generated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used for facilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor  618  can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect motion of the communication device  600  in three-dimensional space. The orientation sensor  620  can utilize orientation sensing technology such as a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device  600  (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations in degrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics). 
     The communication device  600  can use the transceiver  602  to also determine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth®, or other wireless access points by sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival (TOA) or time of flight (TOF) measurements. The controller  606  can utilize computing technologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits, and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash, ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies for executing computer instructions, controlling, and processing data supplied by the aforementioned components of the communication device  600 . 
     Other components not shown in  FIG.  6    can be used in one or more embodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communication device  600  can include a slot for adding or removing an identity module such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). SIM or UICC cards can be used for identifying subscriber services, executing programs, storing subscriber data, and so on. 
     The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in the claims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only and doesn&#39;t otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “a first determination,” “a second determination,” and “a third determination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determination is to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc. 
     In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “data store,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any other information storage component relevant to operation and functionality of a component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can comprise both volatile and nonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, disk storage, and memory storage. Further, nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can comprise 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). Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methods herein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising, these and any other suitable types of memory. 
     Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can be practiced with other computer system configurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, smartphone, watch, tablet computers, netbook computers, etc.), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network; however, some if not all aspects of the subject disclosure can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     In one or more embodiments, information regarding use of services can be generated including services being accessed, media consumption history, user preferences, and so forth. This information can be obtained by various methods including user input, detecting types of communications (e.g., video content vs. audio content), analysis of content streams, sampling, and so forth. The generating, obtaining and/or monitoring of this information can be responsive to an authorization provided by the user. In one or more embodiments, an analysis of data can be subject to authorization from user(s) associated with the data, such as an opt-in, an opt-out, acknowledgement requirements, notifications, selective authorization based on types of data, and so forth. 
     Some of the embodiments described herein can also employ artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) or a combination of these to facilitate automating one or more features described herein. The embodiments (e.g., in connection with automatically identifying acquired cell sites that provide a maximum value/benefit after addition to an existing communication network) can employ various AI-based schemes for carrying out various embodiments thereof. Moreover, the classifier can be employed to determine a ranking or priority of each cell site of the acquired network. A classifier is a function that maps an input attribute vector, x=(x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , x 4 , . . . , xn), to a confidence that the input belongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence (class). Such classification can employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) to determine or infer an action that a user desires to be automatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example of a classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates by finding a hypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which the hypersurface attempts to split the triggering criteria from the non-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classification correct for testing data that is near, but not identical to training data. Other directed and undirected model classification approaches comprise, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification models providing different patterns of independence can be employed. Classification as used herein also is inclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to develop models of priority. 
     As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments can employ classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generic training data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing user equipment behavior, operator preferences, historical information, receiving extrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via a learning or training phase within a classifier constructor and feature selection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automatically learn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited to determining according to predetermined criteria which of the acquired cell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which of the acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existing communication network coverage, etc. 
     As used in some contexts in this application, in some embodiments, the terms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, or comprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, wherein the entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. As an 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, computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration and not limitation, 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. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be an apparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by a software or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein the processor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes at least a part of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be an apparatus that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts, the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to execute software or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality of the electronic components. While various components have been illustrated as separate components, it will be appreciated that multiple components can be implemented as a single component, or a single component can be implemented as multiple components, without departing from example embodiments. 
     Further, the various embodiments can 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 the disclosed subject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communications media. For example, computer readable storage 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). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications can be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments. 
     In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. 
     Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,” subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobile device” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to a wireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wireless communication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video, sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. The foregoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with reference to the related drawings. 
     Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” and the like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless context warrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should be appreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automated components supported through artificial intelligence or machine learning or a combination of these (e.g., a capacity to make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms), which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth. 
     As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially any computing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited to comprising, single-core processors; single-processors with software multithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithread execution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing processing units. 
     As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any other information storage component relevant to operation and functionality of a component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components or computer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. 
     What has been described above includes mere examples of various embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the present embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/or claimed herein are 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. 
     In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue” indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that the steps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used in conjunction with other routines. In this context, “start” indicates the beginning of the first step presented and may be preceded by other activities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue” indication reflects that the steps presented may be performed multiple times and/or may be succeeded by other activities not specifically shown. Further, while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering of steps, other orderings are likewise possible provided that the principles of causality are maintained. 
     As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/or indirect coupling between items via one or more intervening items. Such items and intervening items include, but are not limited to, junctions, communication paths, components, circuit elements, circuits, functional blocks, and/or devices. As an example of indirect coupling, a signal conveyed from a first item to a second item may be modified by one or more intervening items by modifying the form, nature or format of information in a signal, while one or more elements of the information in the signal are nevertheless conveyed in a manner than can be recognized by the second item. In a further example of indirect coupling, an action in a first item can cause a reaction on the second item, as a result of actions and/or reactions in one or more intervening items. 
     Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement which achieves the same or similar purpose may be substituted for the embodiments described or shown by the subject disclosure. The subject disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, can be used in the subject disclosure. For instance, one or more features from one or more embodiments can be combined with one or more features of one or more other embodiments. In one or more embodiments, features that are positively recited can also be negatively recited and excluded from the embodiment with or without replacement by another structural and/or functional feature. The steps or functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure can be performed in any order. The steps or functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure can be performed alone or in combination with other steps or functions of the subject disclosure, as well as from other embodiments or from other steps that have not been described in the subject disclosure. Further, more than or less than all of the features described with respect to an embodiment can also be utilized.