Systems and methods for episodic advertisement tracking

Abstract

Methods and systems for an interactive media guidance application to prevent a user from experiencing an episodic advertisement out of order. Each episodic advertisement includes a plurality of advertisements intended to be viewed in an ordered sequence, and each advertisement of the sequence is part of a story that the episodic advertisement tells. The interactive media guidance application determines whether the user's viewing activity may cause the user to experience a particular advertisement of an episodic advertisement out of order, identifies an alternative advertisement of the episodic advertisement to present in place of the particular advertisement, and presents the alternative advertisement so as to prevent the user from experiencing the particular advertisement out of the ordered sequence of advertisements.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for storing episodic advertisements together, the method comprising:
 monitoring information associated with an advertisement generated for display to a user;   detecting a portion of the information indicates that the advertisement is part of a series of advertisements that when viewed in order tell a story; and   in response to detecting the portion of the information indicates that the advertisement is part of a series of advertisements, storing the advertisement in a location designated for storage of the series of advertisements.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the portion of the information includes a data field indicating that the advertisement is part of the series of advertisements. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving a user request to access the location; and   in response to the user request, generating for display a list of the series of advertisements.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising generating for display an option to access a different advertisement, wherein the different advertisement is subsequent to the advertisement in the series of advertisements. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising determining a length of time the user viewed the advertisement. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the advertisement is selected for display to the user in response to determining that the user has viewed a previous advertisement, wherein the previous advertisement precedes the advertisement in the series of advertisements. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising storing the advertisement in response to a user request. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising comparing the information to a user preference. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 detecting the user has partially viewed the advertisement;   in response to determining the user has partially viewed the advertisement:
 accessing a first data field, wherein the first data field indicates an amount of time that the user viewed the advertisement; and 
 accessing a second data field, wherein the second data field indicates a total length of the advertisement; 
 comparing the amount of time that the user viewed the advertisement to the total length of the advertisement; and 
 based on the comparison, determining whether to update a viewing progress associated with user relative to the series of advertisements. 
   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising indicating the viewing progress associated with the user in response to the user accessing the location. 
     
     
         31 . A system for storing episodic advertisements together, the system comprising:
 control circuitry configured to:
 monitoring information associated with an advertisement generated for display to a user; and 
 detecting a portion of the information indicates that the advertisement is part of a series of advertisements that when viewed in order tell a story; and 
   storage circuitry configured to:
 store the advertisement in a location designated for storage of the series of advertisements in response to the control circuitry detecting the portion of the information indicates that the advertisement is part of a series of advertisements. 
   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the portion of the information includes a data field indicating that the advertisement is part of the series of advertisements. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 receive a user request to access the location; and   in response to the user request, generate for display a list of the series of advertisements.   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate for display an option to access a different advertisement, wherein the different advertisement is subsequent to the advertisement in the series of advertisements. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine a length of time the user viewed the advertisement. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the advertisement is selected for display to the user in response to determining that the user has viewed a previous advertisement, wherein the previous advertisement precedes the advertisement in the series of advertisements. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the storage circuitry is further configured to store the advertisement in response to a user request. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to compare the information to a user preference. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to
 detect the user has partially viewed the advertisement;   in response to determining the user has partially viewed the advertisement:
 access a first data field, wherein the first data field indicates an amount of time that the user viewed the advertisement; and 
 access a second data field, wherein the second data field indicates a total length of the advertisement; 
 compare the amount of time that the user viewed the advertisement to the total length of the advertisement; and 
 based on the comparison, determine whether to update a viewing progress associated with user relative to the series of advertisements. 
   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to indicate the viewing progress associated with the user in response to the user accessing the location.