Labeling Content

A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, by the data processing apparatus and from a multimedia content provider, a multimedia program comprising audio content or video content and a plurality of program portions and a plurality of advertising portions at different locations within the audio content or video content;
• and
• for a given program portion that is preceded by a prior advertising portion and is adjacently followed by a subsequent advertising portion:
• determining a set of labels comprising one or more labels for the given program portion by analyzing content the program portions, including determining that the given program portion includes a first label and a second label, the set of labels being determined based on analysis of at least an audio content or a video content that is being presented in the given program portion;
• assigning, to each label a label time index indicative of a temporal position within the given program portion relative to a subsequent advertising portion;
• assigning weights to each label based on the label time indexes assigned to the labels, including:
• assigning, to the first label, a first weight that is higher than a second weight that is assigned to the second label based on the first label having a first label time index that is closer in temporal proximity to the subsequent advertising portion than a second label time index of the second label, and
• increasing weights of labels in proportion to a frequency with which the label occurs during the program portion;
• determining, by the data processing apparatus, a topic that is descriptive of the given program portion based on the set of labels, including selecting, as the topic that is descriptive of the given program portion, a given topic corresponding to the label having a highest weight;
• receiving a request from a user device for sponsored content to be provided in the subsequent advertising portion by the user device;
• identifying, by the data processing apparatus, the topic that is descriptive of the given program portion;
• selecting sponsored content based on the determined topic;
• and
• providing, to the user device, data specifying a location from which the selected sponsored content is available for presentation in the subsequent advertising portion by the user device,
• wherein the user device is configured to interact with a remote server to retrieve the selected sponsored content from the specified location based on the location, and present the selected sponsored content upon occurrence of the subsequent advertising portion.

A system comprising:

• a user device;
• and
• one or more computers operable to interact with the device and to:
• identify a multimedia program presented at the user device, the multimedia program comprising audio content or video content and a plurality of program portions and a plurality of advertising portions at different locations within the audio content or video content, a given program portion being proceeded by a prior advertising portion and being adjacently followed by a subsequent advertising portion;
• determine a set of labels comprising one or more labels for the given program portion, including determining that the given program portion includes a first and second label, the set of labels being determined based on analysis of at least an audio content or a video content that is being presented in the given program portion;
• assign, to each label a label time index indicative of a temporal position within the given program portion relative to the subsequent advertising portion;
• assign weights to each label based on the label time indexes assigned to the labels, including:
• assign, to the first label, a first weight that is higher than a second weight that is assigned to the second label based on the first label having a first label time index that is closer in temporal proximity to the subsequent advertising portion than a second label time index of a second time label, and
• increasing weights of labels in proportion to a frequency with which the label occurs during the given program portion;
• determine a topic that is descriptive of the given program portion based on the set of labels, including selecting, as the topic that is descriptive of the given program portion, a given topic corresponding to the label having a highest weight;
• receive, from the user device, a request for sponsored content to be provided in the subsequent advertising portion by the user device;
• identify the topic that is descriptive of the given program portion;
• select sponsored content based on the identified topic;
• and
• provide, to the user device, data specifying a location from which the given sponsored content is available for presentation in the subsequent advertising portion by the user device,
• wherein the user device is configured to interact with a remote server to retrieve the selected sponsored content from the specified location based on the location, and present the selected sponsored content upon occurrence of the subsequent advertising portion.