Systems and methods for sharing video with advertisements over a network

Abstract

A user can create a video segment or employ an existing video segment, upload the segment to a server, indicate an advertisement to be associated with the video, and then send it to a recipient over a computer network. The user provides an indication that one or more particular video segments and advertisements are to be shared over the network. An identifier for the video segment is automatically created and the segment and the identifier are automatically uploaded to a host computer over the network such as the Internet. The video segment, the identifier (optionally with other identifying material such as an identity of the sender, and an advertisement selected by the sender can be stored at the direction of the host computer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of associating an advertisement with a streaming video, comprising:
 executing, by a first computer on a network:
 receiving an advertisement; 
 storing the advertisement to a storage device; 
 associating the advertisement with a streaming video that is embedded in a web page, wherein the streaming video file has an associated identification tag identifying the streaming video file and the identification tag is embedded in a webpage; and 
 transmitting, via a web page, the advertisement to a second computer on the network. 
   
     
     
         2 . A system for associating an advertisement with a streaming video, comprising:
 a first computer for receiving an advertisement;   a second computer for storing the advertisement to a storage device;   a third computer for associating the advertisement with a streaming video that is embedded in a web page, wherein the streaming video file has an associated identification tag identifying the streaming video file and the identification tag is embedded in a webpage; and   a fourth computer for transmitting, via a web page, the advertisement to a fifth computer.