WO2008035278A1

WO2008035278A1 - System and method for using metadata to provide content for multimedia applications

Info

Publication number: WO2008035278A1
Application number: PCT/IB2007/053752
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Stephen May; Robin John Blackwell
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V.; U.S. Philips Corporation
Priority date: 2006-09-20
Filing date: 2007-09-17
Publication date: 2008-03-27

Abstract

A system, method, and storage medium for providing content for rendering to a multimedia program. The system and method includes identifying slots in the multimedia program (1 ); sending a query request asking for relevant identifiers to attach to each identified slot (2); attaching identifiers returned in response to the query to the respective slot (4); and sending a further request to resolve the attached identifiers into locators for the content for rendering (5). Preferably, each identifier is a CRID based upon TV-anytime platform, and each CRID may resolve to another CRID (260) or series of CRIDs (270, 280), which are then attached to each slot.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING METADATA TO PROVIDE CONTENT FOR MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS

The present invention is related to a system, method, and storage medium for using metadata to provide content for multimedia applications and, more specifically, for embedding a content reference identifier in metadata to provide reference to advertising material for multimedia applications, such as computer/electronic games, etc. TV-Anytime is a standard for delivering metadata over unidirectional and bidirectional transports, such as broadcast or IP. In particular, this metadata is used to refer to various aspects of audio/video content, such as program name, synopsis, time etc., with a typical use for creating and populating Electronic Program Guides (EPGs). TV-Anytime is an emerging platform developed by the TV-Anytime Forum in phases which are now published as an ETSI specification. TV-Anytime phase 1 addresses the areas of metadata, content referencing, and rights management and protection. TV-Anytime phase 2 addresses technologies related to content packaging, remote programming, content and user profile sharing. See: The TV- Anytime Forum, "Specification Series: S-2 (Phase 2) on: System Description", Final Specification, SP002v2.0, date: 8 April 2005, www.tv-anytime.org. TV-Anytime phase 2 supports new content types other than linear audio/video, such as games, web pages, music files, graphics, and data.

One aspect of TV-Anytime is its separation of a content identifier from the content location. Content Reference Identifiers (CRIDs) are used to reference a particular content. A process called "resolving" translates the CRID to an actual item of content identified by a locator. These identifiers (IDs) are used to search and retrieve metadata relating to the content or resolved into the location of the content itself, a location which can vary over time. Furthermore, CRIDs can reference other CRIDs, enabling CRIDs to represent a group of related content, such as series, for example. In the latter case, an additional identifier (ID) can be used to uniquely identify specific instances of content.

The use of CRIDs has an advantage that metadata providers can be independent of the content providers and references can be created well in advance of the content. Furthermore, the resolving process needed to handle the separation of reference from content location allows for content locators to change over time. Thus, the reference may change over time to point to a different content location.

The separation provided by the CRID enables a one-to-many mapping between content references and the locations of the contents. The search and selection yield a CRID, which is resolved into either a number of CRIDs or a number of locators. In the TV-Anytime system, the main provider groups can originate and resolve CRIDs. Ideally, the introduction of CRIDs into the broadcasting system is advantageous because it provides flexibility and reusability of content metadata. The resolving mechanism for CRIDs typically relies on a network which connects consumer devices to resolving servers maintained by the provider groups. Alternatively, resolution information is provided by the provider groups with the actual resolution occurring at the client device.

TV-Anytime also defines the metadata format for metadata that may be exchanged between the provider groups and the consumer devices. In a TV- Anytime environment, the metadata includes information about user preferences and history as well as descriptive data about content such as title, synopsis, scheduled broadcasting time, and segmentation information. In one aspect, the descriptive data is an essential element in the TV-Anytime system because it could be considered as an electronic content guide, whereby the TV-Anytime metadata allows the consumer to browse, navigate and select different types of content. Some metadata can provide in-depth descriptions, personalized recommendations and detail about a whole range of contents, both local and remote. In TV-Anytime metadata, program information and scheduling information are separated in such a way that scheduling information refers to its corresponding program information via the CRIDs. The separation of program information from scheduling information in TV-Anytime also provides a useful efficiency gain whenever programs are repeated or rebroadcast, since each instance can share a common set of program information. Advertisements directed to multimedia environments, for example in games, are becoming increasingly common and range from simple banners to product placement to plot integration. The advertisements can be dynamic, i.e., varying over time or each time the game is played. The advertisements may also be static, i.e., fixed throughout the game. Furthermore, the advertisements can be interactive, for example, linking directly to the advertisers product webpage, typically used in web-based games on a PC. However, current web-based game systems suffer from requiring proprietary translations or requiring location specific references embedded in games. In addition, advertising embedded in a game may not be current or could delay the release of a game.

Thus, there is a need for combining the flexibility of resolving a reference to an actual item of content identified by a locator. For example, there is a need to search and retrieve metadata relating to the content or metadata, which can be resolved into the location of the content, a location which can vary over time, with multimedia content, such as a computer type game.

The present invention provides a new system, method, and storage medium for linking to in-game advertised material (or even linking to the advertisement itself) utilizing metadata structures and access protocols to deliver content metadata over a number of transport mechanisms to multimedia environments, for example games played on networked devices such as game consoles, PCs, etc. According to one embodiment of the present invention, multimedia data is delivered alongside games. In a preferred embodiment TV-Anytime provides the metadata structures and access protocols required to deliver content metadata over a number of transport mechanisms. Rather than identifying unique IDs for the related content, it is based on Content Reference IDs (CRIDS). These CRIDs are references and therefore decoupled from the content they point to. The CRIDs are resolved to an actual item of content identified by a locator.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a CRID or series of CRIDs are attached to each advertising slot within a multimedia application, such as an electronic game. Each slot is then resolved to the actual content or range of content and display found at the locator. Variations of what is displayed can occur as the locator may vary based on some parameters, such as time, game level, etc., while the CRID will not. The attached CRIDs can also be replaced with other CRIDs over time. In addition, if a number of CRIDs are identified, then a particular instance, selected by an instance ID, can be chosen which best matches the requirements of the advertising slot.

According to a further embodiment a game contains a number of advertising slots identified by an ID. Each advertising slot will be capable of having one or more advertisements associated with it. In a preferred embodiment, each advertising slot ID will be a CRID and each advertisement will be identified by a CRID.

A further embodiment includes submitting data, which will allow the responses to be filtered based on the request, such as game type, user preferences, audio/video attributes (a low resolution slot will only need a low resolution advertisement), etc. This can either be submitted with every query or a profile can be built up and an ID used to identify the profile.

The use of CRIDs provides an advantage that metadata providers can be independent of the content providers and references can be created well in advance of the content. Furthermore, the resolving process needed to handle the separation of reference from content location allows for content locators to change over time. Additional advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and, which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1. is an example of querying and CRID resolving where matching content can be discovered and located; FIG. 2 is an example of a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of sequence diagram in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

As an illustration of the collection and handling of data, handling of metadata will be described by a device such as a multimedia rendering device, for example a Games Device 210 shown in Figure 2. Specifically, Figure 2 illustrates an example of a system using metadata for providing content to Games Device 210. It will be readily understood that part or all of the functionality ascribed to the Games Device 210 below could also be incorporated into one or more other devices, such as television receivers, personal digital recorders, set-top boxes or personal computers. It will also be readily understood that the network shown as the Internet includes any type of network, for example a LAN, WAN, or other transport mechanism, which allows the Games Device 210 to connect to one or more servers. The Games Device 210 with computer-readable instructions in a suitable format, such as an optical disc or solid state memory, can be used to store or distribute program instructions implementing the invention. The Servers 220, 230 and 240 shown separately in Figure 2 may be constituted by any number of devices and are not limited by the illustration of Figure 2. Figure 1 graphically illustrates a Query and CRID resolving. For example, a

Query and CRID resolving by the Games Device 210 of Figure 2. This querying can be used to find content via a number of parameters of the data, for example Title="News", Time="18:00". Additionally, this querying can also be used to achieve the CRID resolving according to the present invention. By using querying and CRID resolving, matching content can be discovered and located.

According to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to Figure 2, a game or other multimedia program will be executed by the Games Device 210. For simplicity the program will be referred to hereinafter as a game. The game will contain a number of advertising slots identified by some ID. As shown in Figure 2, the game includes advertising slots represented by AdSloti 260, AdSlot2 270, and AdSlot3 280. Any number of advertising slots can be included in the game.

In a preferred embodiment, each advertising slot ID will be a CRID. As shown in Figure 2, AdSlot1-AdSlot3 have an ID being respectively CRID1-CRID3. Each of these advertising slots AdSlot1-AdSlot3 will be capable of having one or more advertisements associated with it. For example, each CRID1-CRID3 may resolve to another CRID or series of CRIDs, which are then attached to each advertising slot. Thus, each advertising slot will have a unique ID, which can be used to identify what CRIDs have been associated with it, although in a preferred embodiment only one advertisement will be displayed to the user at any given time (per slot).

Each advertisement will be identified by a CRID. For example, in Figure 2, AdSloti (CRID1 ) has a single CRID attached (CRID4), whereas AdSlot2 (CRID2) has three attached CRIDs: CRID 5, 6 and 7. In accordance with TV-Anytime CRIDs, any attached CRID may reference other CRIDs (e.g., CRID8 references CRIDs 9 and 10 in Figure 2), and in turn these can also reference other CRIDs. The advertisements for all the locators that these CRIDs resolve to (for a specific advertising slot) represent the choice of advertisements for that slot. The process of translating a CRID into locator information is known in TV-

Anytime as location resolution. Location resolution involves mapping a location- independent content reference (the CRID) to its location in time (e.g. scheduled transmission time in a broadcast system) and space (e.g. TV channel, IP address). These locations in time and space are referred to as "locators." The process of location resolution may happen inside the Game Device 210 or by using a physically remote server, such as a server on the Internet. For example, by reference to Figure 2, a Game Device 210 is connected to a Metadata Server 220, Advertising Content Server 230 and Audio/Video Content Server 240 via the Internet 250. The Audio/Video Content Server 240 provides not only Audio/Video Content but multimedia content as well.

To the Game Device 210, the CRID essentially contains opaque information. In other words, Game Device 210 relies on external assistance, for example Metadata Server 220, in order to resolve the CRID information. A Metadata Server 220 provides the locator information for CRIDs. Usually multiple Metadata Servers are available, and the Game Device 210 must know which Metadata Server to use for a particular CRID. Often, this is the same body that created the CRID. The name of the authority is present in the CRID in the <authority> field. This name is typically present in the form of a registered Internet domain name. It is possible for a Metadata Server 220 to be found on the Internet using the domain name resolution process specified in the TV-Anytime specification SP004 or SP006.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 a specific example of translating an advertising slot into a locator will be described. As shown in Figure 2, AdSlot3 has an ID of CRID3 280 (related to CRID 106, shown in Figure 1 ). Upon querying the Metadata Server 220, CRID8 is returned and attached to the advertising slot (related to CRID 107b, shown in Figure 1 ). Upon a further query, CRIDs 9 and 10 are being referenced by CRID 8 and they are attached to the advertising slot (related to CRID 107c and d, shown in Figure 1 ). Thus, the Game Device 210 forms the Query for the advertising slot in order to retrieve a content item. This can be done in a variety of ways and according to an embodiment of the present invention, the Game Device 210 retrieves a content item based upon a game parameter, user profile, etc.

Once the CRID for the desired content item is known, the Game Device 210 tries to obtain locator information 1 10a-1 10d, Figure 1 , for the content item, using the CRID as input. As shown in Figure 1 , a CRID 105 could resolve to a single locator 1 10d. Alternatively a CRID 106 could refer to a series of CRIDs 107a- 107d or any number of locators 1 10a-1 10c. Thus CRID 106 could refer to, for example, a TV series, or a series of advertisements. CRID 106 is then resolved into a number of CRIDs 107a-107d for individual episodes of that series or advertisements. An additional ID can be used to uniquely identify specific instances of content. Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention a range of CRIDs can be collected under another CRID, e.g., package a range of advertisements, therefore tying an advertising slot to a single package CRID.

As mentioned above, in addition to determining content items based upon game parameters, the Games Device 210, or another device to which the Games Device 210 is connected, may be equipped to determine kinds of content items that a user may be interested in. This is known as user profiling or recommender systems. By keeping track of content items which the user views, and employing an implicit and/or explicit rating system for such content items, it becomes possible to predict with varying degrees of accuracy which other content items the user may be interested in. It then becomes possible to automatically resolve content items which are likely to be of interest to the user. Such content items could then be retrieved by the Games Device 210 and/or recorded by a PDR (Personal Digital Recorder). Many techniques for user profiling are known in the art. Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides that each advertising slot will have a unique ID, which can be used to identify what CRIDs have been associated with it. This unique ID can also be used when submitting data via TV-Anytime. In a preferred embodiment this unique ID can be either a CRID itself or related to the CRID that identifies the game. Thus, a CRID or series of CRIDs are attached to each advertising slot. Each slot is then resolved to the actual content or range of content and display found at the resolved locator. Variations of what is displayed can occur as the locator may vary based on some parameters, such as time, game parameter, or a user profile while the CRID will not. The attached CRIDs can also be replaced with other CRIDs over time. In addition, if a number of CRIDs are identified, then a particular instance, selected by an instance ID, can be chosen which best matches the requirements of the slot. As part of the querying method, data can be submitted which will allow the responses to be filtered based on the request, such as game type, audio/video attributes, etc. The data can either be submitted with every query or a profile can be built up and an ID used to identify the profile.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention a game developer can define the domain for the CRID. Having a CRID for the game will allow further metadata to be retrieved for that game and allow comparison with other games. It also has the advantage that the CRID can be used as part of a TV- Anytime system to enable users to discover games offered by a games publisher. If CRIDs are used, then a description of each advertising slot can be described in TV-Anytime data and a query can be performed on the advertising slots available in a game. Also the attachment can either be a push or a pull; if each slot has a CRID then it could resolve this to attach the list of CRIDs itself.

A further aspect of the present invention includes storing a history of the CRIDs used in the game. A user can then, at any point, access a list of previous advertisements and watch them again or request more details about the CRID as part of a standard TV-Anytime query, e.g., find related material for a CRID. A further aspect provides the ability to define rules for advertisement replacement in traditional audio/video content. These rules are extended to include features for games specific applications. Examples of rule definitions can be based on time of day, country, GPS coordinates or other trigger conditions. By using this feature, advertisements can vary dynamically. In addition, these rules can be programmed into a game and the game no longer needs to be continuously online, as the advertisements would vary based on these predefined rules. Preferably TV- anytime is extended for the application of providing rule definitions and in particular extending the rule based mechanism to game applications.

Another aspect provides the ability to submit data by utilizing the features of TV-Anytime. The submitted data can either be anonymous or personal data of viewing habits, preferences etc. By integrating this feature into games, a profile of a user can be generated and advertising targeted to particular game players. In addition, since TV-Anytime is for use with audio/video content the user profiling could be shared across the two different areas to generate a larger profile, e.g., films watched, games bought, advertisements liked, etc. In one embodiment this is achieved by using the query and CRID resolution technique where advertisements can be created for a game player that match their profile, i.e., the same CRID can resolve to different content depending on who is playing. This does not have to be specific to advertisements, though. The content to which the CRID is resolved to can be any content which can be rendered by the multimedia rendering device, such as the Game Device. For example, a football computer game can embed video clips of a player's favorite team as determined from the game player's profile. A further aspect provides that the Game Device can report its capabilities, for example a Game Device utilizing the TV-Anytime platform. The reporting of capabilities includes providing a description of the game being played along with related metadata. This metadata can be used in subsequent queries to tailor the CRIDs returned to match the type of game. For example to tailor advertisements based on the genre and time period the game is based on. Thus, games set in the present day may use advertisements as is, but games set in the past or future may require alternative advertisement types to blend in with the environment. Alternatively, this information could be used to determine the relative speed of the game to determine the most appropriate type of advertisement to show. The information could then tailor the instance of the CRID to be provided. In a still further aspect the CRIDs and associated advertisements may be provided to the Game Device via another channel, such as the broadcast channel in the case of mobile TV. If CRID resolution is done via the broadcast channel, then changes can occur without requiring an Internet connection. Thus, the CRID resolution mechanism can be used to reference content online, available on a broadcast channel or cached locally on the device. By caching information, the Game Device does not need to be connected to the Internet. An alternative aspect would be to use a proxy device such as a PC, which can maintain a permanent connection and a synchronization mechanism to a console, e.g., a handheld console where a constant WiFi connection would drain the battery. TV-Anytime metadata can be used to implement this synchronization.

An additional aspect is based upon utilizing TV-Anytime to define metadata to warn of parental control. This metadata can be used to indicate the advisory for a game as well as the advisory for individual advertisements within the game. In combination with targeted advertisements this would provide advantages of providing a safe tailored system. In addition, parents could monitor TV-Anytime submission profiles to view habits in order to prevent excessive usage.

Another aspect of the present invention provides the ability to integrate with an audio/video- based system. For example, this would enable a personal video recorder (PVR) to send notifications to a game that a particular episode of some audio/video content was about to be broadcast. The game could notify a user and give the option to pause the game and start watching the audio/video content instead. In return, a game would send notifications to an audio/video device that a new player is available. Additionally, PVR functionality is provided for the game itself. For example, if the game was tied to a live broadcast, then pausing the game can automatically use a PVR to pause the live content and restart when the pause is cancelled.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a mechanism whereby advertisers can include available offers, which can either be redeemed online or can be used to link directly with content, e.g. a link to a particular advertisement. One embodiment utilizes TV-Anytime phase 2 which introduces the concept of Coupons as a way of providing an electronic form of value to a user. By using Coupons with a TV-Anytime system a game coupon can be directly tied to a coupon for content, and the system could automatically integrate the two. This allows a games player to purchase particular content without leaving the game environment. A further aspect of the embodiment would be to include coupons as prizes for achieving certain goals in a game. The provision of coupons could also serve as an incentive to buy the game, e.g., 50% off new film downloads for a limited period. An additional aspect of the embodiment would be to provide the ability to purchase a subscription to consume content. Users would have an account containing their payment information and subscriptions purchased. When some content is selected for consuming, their account can be consulted for the relevant payment/subscription information.

Figure 3 shows a sequence of events for attaching CRIDs to a particular advertising slot, resolving them into the locators of each advertisement, downloading and rendering the advertisement in the game. As mentioned above the advertisement can be any type of content and not necessarily an advertisement.

Action 1 : The game is started. Action 2: In one embodiment of the present invention, the games device identifies all advertising slots in the game using their unique identifiers, which in a preferred embodiment are CRIDs. An alternative embodiment may be to only identify necessary advertising slots, e.g., advertising slots in that level of the game. A query request is made to the metadata server asking for relevant CRIDs to attach to each advertising slot. This request is repeated for each advertising slot. The server may apply rules, possibly based on the profile it has accumulated for the requesting user, or based on restrictions specified in the request, to select appropriate advertisements to return for each advertising slot. Action 3: CRIDs for advertisements deemed relevant by the metadata server are returned to the games device for attachment to the relevant advertising slots.

Action 4: The returned ad CRIDs are attached to their relevant advertising slot. Action 5: For each advertising slot, either in the game, on that level, or whatever appropriate scope is chosen, a request is made to the metadata server to resolve the attached CRIDs into locators to the advertisements themselves. In an alternative embodiment, the CRIDs are resolved into locators on the games device. Appropriate TV-Anytime resolution authority records are cached on the games device.

Action 6: Locators for the attached CRIDs are returned to the games device.

Action 7: A request is made to the Advertising Content Server 230 to download advertisements for each advertising slot using the locator. If multiple CRIDs are attached to an advertising slot, the games device picks a particular CRID for display, possibly based on a user profile, or other factors, such as time and date. The selection rules used can be proprietary or can use the interstitial replacement rule mechanism of TV-Anytime. In either case, either the server (online) or the games device (offline) can decide what should be shown at what time or location.

Action 8: The requested advertisements are downloaded to the Game device 210 for display in the game.

Action 9: The downloaded advertisements are rendered during game play. In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.

In an embodiment of the present invention, some or all of the method components are implemented as a computer executable code, which is capable of being distributed in a form of a computer readable medium of instructions and in a variety of forms. Such a computer executable code contains a plurality of computer instructions that when performed in a predefined order result with the execution of the tasks disclosed herein. Such computer executable code may be available as source code or in object code, and may be further comprised as part of, for example, a portable memory device or downloaded from the Internet, or embodied on a program storage unit or computer readable medium. The principles of the present invention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and software and because some of the constituent system components and methods depicted in the accompanying drawings may be implemented in software, the actual connections between the system components or the process function blocks may differ depending upon the manner in which the present invention is programmed.

The computer executable code may be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising any suitable architecture. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one or more central processing units ("CPU"), a random access memory ("RAM"), and input/output interfaces. The computer platform may also include an operating system and microinstruction code. The various processes and functions described herein may be either part of the microinstruction code or part of the application program, or any combination thereof, which may be executed by a CPU, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown. In addition, various other peripheral units may be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage unit and a printing unit.

Further, the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media such a floppy disc, a hard disk drive, a RAM (including DRAM, SDRAM and the like), a CD-ROM, a DVD- ROM, flash MEM, and transmission-type media such as digital and analog communications links, wired or wireless communications links using transmission forms such as, for example, radio frequency and light wave transmissions.

The functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Explicit use of the term "processor" or "controller" should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor hardware, ROM, RAM, and non-volatile storage. All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A multimedia system, comprising: a multimedia rendering device (210) executing a program containing at least one slot identified by an ID (identifier) for referencing content; a metadata server (230) for resolving the ID to location information for providing the content; and a content server (240) providing the content based on the location information.

2. The multimedia system of claim 1 , wherein the ID resolves to one or more further IDs, which are further resolved to the location information.

3. The multimedia system of claim 1 , wherein said multimedia rendering device (210) resolves the ID to one or more IDs to be attached to the at least one slot based on information from said metadata server (230).

4. The multimedia system of claim 1 , wherein the ID is a CRID (content reference identifier) based upon a TV-anytime platform and the CRID may resolve to another CRID (260) or a number of CRIDs (270, 280), which are then attached to the at least one slot.

5. The multimedia system of claim 4, wherein a change in program parameters during execution changes the CRID attached to the at least one slot.

6. The multimedia system of claim 1 , wherein data is submitted to said metadata server for filtering the resolving of the ID to the location information for providing the content .

7. The multimedia system of claim 1 , wherein the metadata server applies rules for filtering the resolving of the ID to the location information for providing the content based on a profile of a requesting user.

8. The multimedia system of claim 1 , wherein said program is an electronic game and said content is advertising, and wherein the location information changes based upon game parameters.

9. A method of providing content for rendering in a multimedia program, comprising: identifying at least one slot in the multimedia program (1 ); sending a query request asking for relevant identifiers to attach to the identified at least one slot (2); attaching relevant identifiers returned in response to the query request to the respective identified slot (4); and sending a further request to resolve the attached identifiers into locators for the content for rendering (5).

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: downloading the content for rendering based on a locator (7).

1 1 . The method of claim 9, wherein the query is sent to a metadata server (220) and the metadata server (220) returns the identifiers and the further request is sent to another metadata server to resolve the attached identifiers.

12. The method of claim 1 1 , further comprising: submitting data to said metadata server (220) for filtering a response from the metadata server (220), the response being the identifiers.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the metadata server (220) applies rules for filtering the response based on a profile of a requesting user.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the filtering is based upon parameters determined during execution of the multimedia program.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifiers for each slot includes one or more identifiers, which are further resolved to the location information.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein each identifier is a CRID based upon TV- anytime platform and the CRID may resolve to another CRID (260) or a number of CRIDs (270, 280), which are then attached to each slot.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the attached identifiers are changed over time based upon varying parameters.

18. A computer readable medium containing a program , which, when executed by a processor, causes said processor to carry out the acts, comprising: identifying at least one slot in the program (1 ); sending a query containing metadata requesting relevant identifiers to attach to the identified at least one slot (2); attaching identifiers returned in response to the query to the respective slot (4); and sending a request to resolve the attached identifiers into locators for the content for rendering (5).

19. The computer readable medium, further comprising the act of downloading the content for rendering based on a locator returned as a result of the request (7).