Dynamic Advertisement During Live Streaming

A method for playing advertisements (ads) during a live streaming at a client computer, the method comprising:

• requesting a live stream from a streaming server, the live stream comprising a sequence of segments encoded in real-time;
• receiving an index file comprising a list of pointers to current segments of the live stream, the index file comprising an indicator for an end of list;
• playing the current segments of the live stream until the end of the list;
• monitoring a status of playing the current segments of the live stream;
• querying a status of the live stream from the streaming server in response to detecting playing the current segments of the live stream is stopped;
• responsive to a query result indicating an ad-break status, requesting ads from an ad server and playing the ads retrieved from a location received from the ad server;
• responsive to a query result indicating a live status, requesting an updated index file and resuming the playback of the live stream;
• and
• responsive to a query result indicating a dead status, terminating the live stream.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program instructions to cause a processor to insert an advertisement (ad) break into a live stream by a server computer, the computer program instructions comprising instructions to:

• receive index files periodically from a media encoder of a live stream, each index file comprising pointers to current segments of the live stream encoded in real-time;
• set a status of the live stream to a live status;
• determine whether a received index file includes a special marker;
• responsive to the received index file including no special marker, transmit the received index file to one or more client computers;
• and
• responsive to the received index file including the special marker and the special marker being an indicator for ad break,
• process the received index file by replacing segments following the indicator for ad break from the index file with a segment comprising an indicator for an end of list,
• update the status of the live stream to an ad-break status, and
• transmit the processed index file to the one or more client computers,
• wherein the received index file is only processed in response to a detection of the special marker.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program instructions to cause a processor to play advertisements (ads) during a live stream transmission to one or more client computers, the computer program instructions comprising instructions to:

• request a live stream from a streaming server, the live stream comprising a sequence of segments encoded in real-time;
• receive an index file comprising a list of pointers to current segments of the live stream, the index file comprising an indicator for an end of list;
• play the current segments of the live stream until the end of the list;
• monitor a status of playing the current segments of the live stream;
• query a status of the live stream from the streaming server in response to detecting playing the current segments of the live stream is stopped;
• responsive to a query result indicating an ad-break status, request ads from an ad server and playing the ads retrieved from a location received from the ad server;
• responsive to a query result indicating a live status, request an updated index file and resuming the playback of the live stream;
• and
• responsive to a query result indicating a dead status, terminate the live stream.