1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, by a local device, a first advertisement corresponding to a remote manifest of a remote device, wherein the first advertisement includes a service record corresponding to the remote device, wherein the service record is a content object with a name that is a hierarchically structured variable length identifier that includes contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level, wherein receiving the first advertisement is in response to transmitting, by the remote device, the first advertisement; and in response to determining that a local manifest of the local device and the remote manifest correspond to a same name prefix, wherein a name prefix includes one or more contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level and beginning from the most general level, updating the local manifest by inserting the service record of the first advertisement into the local manifest, wherein updating the local manifest allows other devices on a same network as the local device to discover the local device and services offered by the local device, and further allows the other devices to synchronize their respective manifests with the local manifest.