Video content including content item slots

Abstract

The serving of content with (e.g., on) video documents may be improved in a number of ways. For example, a system may accept information defining at least one ad spot associated with at least one instance of an video document, accept offers to have ads served in the ad spot(s), and arbitrate among competing ads, using at least the offers, to determine at least one ad to be served in that ad spot(s). As another example, a system may accept relevance information for an ad, determine at least one video document using the accepted relevance information, present information about the video document(s) to an ad provider associated with the ad, and accept, from the ad provider, an offer to have its ad served with at least one of the video document(s) accepted. As yet another example, a system may accept relevance information for an video document, determine a plurality of ads relevant to the video document using the relevance information and serving constraints of the ads, and select at least one of the determined relevant ads to be served with the video document. Examples of video documents include video files published on the Internet, television programs, live or recorded talk shows, video-voice mail, segments of a video conversation, etc.