Methods and apparatus to measure exposure to streaming media

• US 10,721,524 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2019
• Issued: 07/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Besehanic, Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar, Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): Boyd, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US16/296,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20190208269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 501 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/258 Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/437 Interfacing the upstream path of the transmission network, e.g. for transmitting client requests to a VOD server flow control in data networks H04L47/10; streaming protocols, e.g. RTP or RTCP, H04L65/65; scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests in data packet switching networks H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44226 on social networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to measure exposure to streaming media are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a processor, and memory including machine readable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: extract a series of tags associated with media playing on a presentation device, different ones of the tags in the series of the tags embedded in the media at different temporal positions within a duration of the media; identify a first tag from the series of tags to report to a central facility, the first tag identified based on a temporal proximity of the first tag to an event associated with the media playing on the presentation device; and transmit the identified first tag to the central facility, other tags in the series of tags not being transmitted to the central facility.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory including machine readable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to;

extract a series of tags associated with media playing on a presentation device, different ones of the tags in the series of tags embedded in the media at different temporal positions within a duration of the media;

identify a first tag from the series of tags to report to a central facility, the first tag identified based on a temporal proximity of the first tag to an event associated with the media playing on the presentation device; and

transmit the first tag to the central facility, other tags in the series of tags not being transmitted to the central facility, the other tags extracted at ones of the different temporal positions corresponding to portions of the media played on the presentation device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first tag corresponds to a last tag extracted in the series of tags before the event.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first tag corresponds to an earliest tag extracted in the series of tags after the event.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media is associated with a first uniform resource locator accessed by the presentation device.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the media is first media, the event corresponding to a change from a second uniform resource locator accessed by the presentation device to the first uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator associated with second media different than the first media associated with the first uniform resource locator.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is to:

identify a second tag associated with the second media for reporting to the central facility; and

transmit the second tag with the first tag, the first tag and the second tag indicative of an ending of the second media associated with the second uniform resource locator and a beginning of the first media associated with the first uniform resource locator.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is to:

identify a subset of the series of tags to report to the central facility, the subset including the first tag and additional tags, temporally adjacent ones of the additional tags separated within the duration of the media by at least one of the other tags not transmitted to the central facility; and

transmit the subset of the series of tags to the central facility.

8. An apparatus comprising:

means for extracting a series of tags associated with media playing on a presentation device, different ones of the tags in the series of tags embedded in the media at different temporal positions within a duration of the media;

means for identifying a first tag from the series of tags to report to a central facility, the first tag identified based on a temporal proximity of the first tag to an event associated with the media playing on the presentation device; and

means for transmitting the first tag to the central facility, other tags in the series of tags not being transmitted to the central facility, the first tag being extracted at a different point in time than the other tags, the other tags extracted at ones of the different temporal positions corresponding to portions of the media played on the presentation device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first tag corresponds to a last tag extracted in the series of tags before the event.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first tag corresponds to an earliest tag extracted in the series of tags after the event.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the media is associated with a first uniform resource locator accessed by the presentation device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the media is first media, the event corresponding to a change from a second uniform resource locator accessed by the presentation device to the first uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator associated with second media different than the first media associated with the first uniform resource locator.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the identifying means is to identify a second tag associated with the second media for reporting to the central facility, and the transmitting means is to transmit the second tag with the first tag, the first tag and the second tag indicative of an ending of the second media associated with the second uniform resource locator and a beginning of the first media associated with the first uniform resource locator.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the identifying means is to identify a subset of the series of tags to report to the central facility, the subset including the first tag and additional tags, temporally adjacent ones of the additional tags separated within the duration of the media by at least one of the other tags not transmitted to the central facility, the transmitting means is to transmit the subset of the series of tags to the central facility.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

extract a series of tags associated with media playing on a presentation device, different ones of the tags in the series of tags embedded in the media at different temporal positions within a duration of the media;

identify a first tag from the series of tags to report to a central facility, the first tag identified based on a temporal proximity of the first tag to an event associated with the media playing on the presentation device; and

transmit the first tag to the central facility, other tags in the series of tags not being transmitted to the central facility, the other tags extracted at ones of the different temporal positions corresponding to portions of the media played on the presentation device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first tag corresponds to a last tag extracted in the series of tags before the event.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first tag corresponds to an earliest tag extracted in the series of tags after the event.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the media is associated with a first uniform resource locator accessed by the presentation device.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the media is first media, the event corresponding to a change from a second uniform resource locator accessed by the presentation device to the first uniform resource locator, the second uniform resource locator associated with second media different than the first media associated with the first uniform resource locator.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

identify a subset of the series of tags to report to the central facility, the subset including the first tag and additional tags, temporally adjacent ones of the additional tags separated within the duration of the media by at least one of the other tags not transmitted to the central facility; and

transmit the subset of the series of tags to the central facility.