IP Library Granted Patent US 9,635,404
Granted Patent B2
US 9,635,404 · App. 14/132,626 · Granted Apr 25, 2017

Methods and apparatus to correlate census measurement data with panel data

Inventor: F. Gavin McMillan (Tarpon Springs, FL)
Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
H04N21/25841H04N21/25883H04N21/6175
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,635,404
App. No.
14/132,626
Granted
Apr 25, 2017
Kind
B2
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 (47)

1. A method comprising:

instructing, via a first computing device of a monitoring entity, a media provider to associate a tag with media, the tag to cause a requesting device accessing the media to send a message to the monitoring entity when the media is accessed by the requesting device, the message to identify a geographic location of the requesting device and media identifying information, wherein the message does not include a registered panelist identifier;

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

determining, with the second computing device of the monitoring entity, locations of a plurality of panelist homes;

comparing, with the second computing device of the monitoring entity, the geographic location of the requesting device with the locations of the plurality of panelist homes, the plurality of panelist homes having Flail reference areas associated therewith; and

when the geographic location of the requesting device is within a reference area of a first one of the plurality of panelist homes:

identifying an unknown user of the requesting device as a panelist residing at the first one of the panelist homes; and

associating the media identifying information with panelist data associated with the first one of the panelist homes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the geographic location of the device is determined by a global positioning system in the device that determines the geographic location of the device in longitude and latitude coordinates.

10. A system comprising:

a tag handler to instruct a media provider to associate a tag with 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 and media identifying information, wherein the message does not include a registered panelist identifier;

a beacon handler to access the message;

a location handler to identify locations of a plurality of panelist homes;

the location handler to compare the geographic location of the device with the locations of the plurality of panelist homes, the plurality of panelist homes having reference areas associated therewith;

a comparator to determine whether the geographic location of the device is within a reference area of a first one of the plurality of panelist homes; and

a panelist associator to identifying an unknown user of the device as a panelist residing at the first one of the panelist homes and associate the media identifying information to panelist data associated with the first panelist home when an output of the comparator indicates the geographic location of the device is within the reference area of a first one of the plurality of panelist homes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18. The system as defined in claim 10 , wherein the geographic location of the device is determined by a global positioning system in the device that determines the geographic location of the device in longitude and latitude coordinates.

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

instruct a media provider to associate a tag with 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 and media identifying information, wherein the message does not include a registered panelist identifier;

determine locations of a plurality of panelist homes;

compare the geographic location of the device with the locations of the plurality of panelist homes; and

when the geographic location of the device is within a reference area of a first one of the plurality of panelist homes:

identifying an unknown user of the device as a panelist residing at the first one of the panelist homes; and

associate the media identifying information with panelist data associated with the first one of the panelist homes.

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

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

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

26. The tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 19 , wherein the geographic location of the device is determined by a global positioning system in the device that determines the geographic location of the device in longitude and latitude coordinates.

Assignments (10)
RELEASE (REEL 054066 / FRAME 0064) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063605/0001 →
RELEASE (REEL 053473 / FRAME 0001) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063603/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 8, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063574/0632 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 28, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063561/0381 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063560/0547 →
RELEASE (REEL 037172 / FRAME 0415) Recorded Oct 13, 2022
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 061750/0221 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE PATENTS LISTED ON SCHEDULE 1 RECORDED ON 6-9-2020 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 053473 FRAME 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT. Recorded Oct 7, 2020
From: A.C. NIELSEN (ARGENTINA) S.A.; A.C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A
Reel/Frame 054066/0064 →
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 9, 2020
From: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NIELSEN UK FINANCE I, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053473/0001 →
SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 30, 2015
From: THE NIELSEN COMPANY ((US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT FOR THE FIRST LIEN SECURED PARTIES
Reel/Frame 037172/0415 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 17, 2014
From: MCMILLAN, F. GAVIN
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 032696/0480 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 61815544 · Apr 24, 2013
Related Publication 20140325551A1 · Oct 30, 2014