System and method for identifying contextual information in streaming content

A non-transitory medium holding computing device-executable instructions for identifying contextual information in a stream of content being delivered by a streaming platform, the computing device including at least one processor, the instructions when executed causing at least one computing device to:

• receive, at a server over a network, a request for additional content for insertion into a stream of content being delivered by a streaming platform to a user device;
• download a stream of content corresponding to an identified program in the stream of content being delivered by the streaming platform;
• identify a plurality of upcoming media file segments in the stream of content for the identified program;
• identify contextual information in one or more of the plurality of upcoming media file segments;
• store a record of the identified contextual information that indicates a time of appearance of the contextual information in the stream of content;
• identify scheduled breaks in the plurality of upcoming media file segments;
• map a time window of a pre-determined duration starting at a time of the request against the identified scheduled breaks in the plurality of upcoming media file segments;
• determine whether stored contextual information exists for the stream of content for an upcoming break within the time window;
• and
• deliver or facilitate the delivery of additional content to the requesting streaming platform using the contextual information to satisfy the request for additional content when the stored contextual information exists within the time window.

A system for identifying contextual information in a stream of content being delivered by a streaming platform, comprising:

• one or more network accessible storage locations holding additional content;
• a network accessible computing device equipped with at least one processor, the network-accessible computing device including an analysis module, the analysis module when executed by the at least one processor configured to:
• receive a request for additional content for insertion into a stream of content being delivered by a streaming platform to a user device;
• download a stream of content corresponding to an identified program in the stream of content being delivered by the streaming platform;
• identify a plurality of upcoming media file segments in the stream of content for the identified program;
• identify contextual information in one or more of the plurality of upcoming media file segments;
• store a record of the identified contextual information that indicates a time of appearance of the contextual information in the stream of content;
• identify scheduled breaks in the plurality of upcoming media file segments;
• map a time window of a pre-determined duration starting at a time of the request against the identified scheduled breaks in the plurality of upcoming media file segments;
• determine whether stored contextual information exists for the stream of content for an upcoming break within the time window;
• and
• deliver or facilitate the delivery of additional content from the one or more storage locations to the requesting streaming platform using the contextual information to satisfy the request for additional content when the stored contextual information exists within the time window.