METHODS AND APPARATUS TO CORRELATE CENSUS MEASUREMENT DATA WITH PANEL DATA

• US 20140325551A1
• Filed: 12/18/2013
• Published: 10/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: McMillan, F. Gavin
• Granted Patent: US 9,635,404 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to correlate census measurement data with panel data. An example method disclosed herein includes instructing, via a first computing device of a monitoring entity, a media provider to embed a tag in media, the tag to cause a device accessing the media to send a message to the monitoring entity when the media is accessed by the device, the message to identify a geographic location of the device. The example method also includes accessing the message with a second computing device of the monitoring entity. The example method also includes identifying, with the second computing device of the monitoring entity, a panelist identifier based on the geographic location of the device. The example method also includes associating media identifying information included in the message with panelist data associated with the panelist identifier.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

instructing, via a first computing device of a monitoring entity, a media provider to embed a tag in media, the tag to cause a device accessing the media to send a message to the monitoring entity when the media is accessed by the device, the message to identify a geographic location of the device;

accessing the message with a second computing device of the monitoring entity;

identifying, with the second computing device of the monitoring entity, a panelist identifier based on the geographic location of the device; and

associating media identifying information included in the message with panelist data associated with the panelist identifier.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the media identifying information corresponds to media accessed by the device at the geographic location.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the tag is a reference to an executable monitoring instruction hosted external to the media.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the message is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol message.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the geographic location is determined via a global positioning system.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the geographic location is determined via cellular data.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the geographic location is determined via Wi-Fi data.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein a portion of the message is encrypted.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the panelist identifier based on the geographic location of the device further comprises:

determining a reference area associated with the panelist identifier;

determining whether the geographic location is within the reference area; and

wherein associating the media identifying information with the panelist data comprises associating the media identifying information with the panelist data in response to determining that the geographic location is within the reference area.

10. A system comprising:

a tag handler to instruct a media provider to embed a tag in media, the tag to cause a device accessing the media to send a message to a monitoring entity who does not provide or deliver the media when the media is accessed by the device, the message to identify a geographic location of the device;

a beacon handler to access the message; and

a panelist associator to identify a panelist identifier based on the geographic location of the device, the panelist associator to associate media identifying information conveyed by the message to panelist data associated with the panelist identifier.

11. A system as defined in claim 10, wherein the media identifying information corresponds to media accessed by the device at the geographic location.

12. A system as defined in claim 10, further comprising a beacon parser to extract the geographic location of the device from the message.

13. A system as defined in claim 10, further comprising a decrypter to decrypt the message.

14. A system as defined in claim 10, wherein the message is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol message.

15. A system as defined in claim 10, wherein the geographic location of the device is determined via a global positioning system.

16. A system as defined in claim 10, wherein the geographic location of the device is determined via cellular data.

17. A system as defined in claim 10, wherein the geographic location of the device is determined via Wi-Fi data.

18. A system as defined in claim 10, further comprising:

a location handler to identify a reference location associated with the panelist identifier; and

a comparator to determine a reference area based on the reference location, the comparator to determine whether the geographic location of the device is within the reference area;

the panelist associator to mark the corresponding monitoring information as panel data if an output of the comparator indicates the geographic location of the device is within the reference area.

19. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

instruct a media provider to embed a tag in media, the tag to cause a device accessing the media to send a message to a monitoring entity when the media is accessed by the device, the message to identify a geographic location of the device;

identify a panelist identifier based on the geographic location of the device; and

associate media identifying information included in the message with panelist data associated with the panelist identifier.

20. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to extract the geographic location of the device from the message.

21. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

determine a portion of the message is encrypted; and

decrypt the message.

22. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the message is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol message.

23. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the geographic location of the device is determined via a global positioning system.

24. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the geographic location of the device is determined via cellular data.

25. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the geographic location of the device is determined via Wi-Fi data.

26. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

identify a reference location associated with the panelist identifier;

determine a reference area based on the reference location;

determine whether the geographic location of the device is within the reference area; and

wherein to associate the media identifying information with the panelist data is to comprise associating the media identifying information with the panelist data in response to a determination that the geographic location of the device is within the reference area.

27-61. -61. (canceled)