Methods and apparatus to monitor, verify, and rate the performance of airings of commercials

1. A method as for monitoring an advertisement, the method comprising:

analyzing received advertisement detection information associated with the advertisement, the advertisement detection information detected from a presentation of the advertisement;

identifying a buy order corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement based on the received advertisement detection information;

determining a purchased ratings value from the buy order;

comparing, via a processor, the purchased ratings value of the buy order to ratings information corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement to determine whether the advertisement was presented as indicated in the buy order;

generating a performance monitoring report using the buy order and the received advertisement detection information to indicate whether the ratings information is less than the purchased ratings value;

attempting to retrieve the ratings information from a first ratings source;

determining that the first ratings source is not available; and

selecting a second ratings source from a plurality of ratings sources, the second ratings source to provide the ratings information instead of the first ratings source.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting the first ratings source from the plurality of ratings sources, the first ratings source to provide the ratings information.

3. A method for monitoring an advertisement, the method comprising:

analyzing received advertisement detection information associated with the advertisement, the advertisement detection information detected from a presentation of the advertisement;

identifying a buy order corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement based on the received advertisement detection information;

determining a purchased ratings value from the buy order;

comparing, via a processor, the purchased ratings value of the buy order to ratings information corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement to determine whether the advertisement was presented as indicated in the buy order;

generating a performance monitoring report using the buy order and the received advertisement detection information to indicate whether the ratings information is less than the purchased ratings value;

extracting actual presentation information from the advertisement detection information;

matching the actual presentation information to expected presentation information in a database of buy orders; and

identifying the buy order when the expected presentation information associated with the buy order corresponds to the actual presentation information.

4. A method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the actual presentation information and the expected presentation information comprise at least one of a time of the presentation of the advertisement, a date of the presentation of the advertisement, a station of the presentation of the advertisement, or a market of the presentation of the advertisement.

5. An apparatus comprising:

a performance verifier to:

analyze received advertisement detection information associated with the advertisement, the advertisement detection information detected from a presentation of the advertisement;

identify a buy order corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement based on the received advertisement detection information;

determine a purchased ratings value from the buy order;

compare, via a processor, the purchased ratings value of the buy order to ratings information corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement to determine whether the advertisement was presented as indicated in the buy order

attempt to retrieve the ratings information from a first ratings source;

determine that the first ratings source is not available;

select a second ratings source from a plurality of ratings sources, the second ratings source to provide the ratings information instead of the first ratings source; and

a report generator to generate a performance monitoring report using the buy order and the received advertisement detection information to indicate whether the ratings information is less than the purchased ratings value.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 , wherein the performance verifier is further to select the first ratings source from the plurality of ratings sources, the first ratings source to provide the ratings information.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a performance verifier to:

analyze received advertisement detection information associated with the advertisement, the advertisement detection information detected from a presentation of the advertisement;

identify a buy order corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement based on the received advertisement detection information;

determine a purchased ratings value from the buy order;

compare, via a processor, the purchased ratings value of the buy order to ratings information corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement to determine whether the advertisement was presented as indicated in the buy order;

extract actual presentation information from the advertisement detection information;

match the actual presentation information to expected presentation information in a database of buy orders;

identify the buy order when the expected presentation information associated with the buy order corresponds to the actual presentation information; and

a report generator to generate a performance monitoring report using the buy order and the received advertisement detection information to indicate whether the ratings information is less than the purchased ratings value.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 , wherein the actual presentation information and the expected presentation information comprise at least one of a time of the presentation of the advertisement, a date of the presentation of the advertisement, a station of the presentation of the advertisement, or a market of the presentation of the advertisement.

9. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disc comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

analyze received advertisement detection information associated with the advertisement, the advertisement detection information detected from a presentation of the advertisement;

identify a buy order corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement based on the received advertisement detection information;

determine a purchased ratings value from the buy order;

compare, via a processor, the purchased ratings value of the buy order to ratings information corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement to determine whether the advertisement was presented as indicated in the buy order; and

generate a performance monitoring report using the buy order and the advertisement detection information to indicate whether the ratings information is less than the purchased ratings value

attempt to retrieve the ratings information from a first ratings source;

determine that the first ratings source is not available; and

select a second ratings source from a plurality of ratings sources, the second ratings source to provide the ratings information instead of the first ratings source.

10. A storage device or storage disc as defined in claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to select the first ratings source from the plurality of ratings sources, the first ratings source to provide the ratings information.

11. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disc comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

analyze received advertisement detection information associated with the advertisement, the advertisement detection information detected from a presentation of the advertisement;

identify a buy order corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement based on the received advertisement detection information;

determine a purchased ratings value from the buy order;

compare, via a processor, the purchased ratings value of the buy order to ratings information corresponding to the presentation of the advertisement to determine whether the advertisement was presented as indicated in the buy order;

generate a performance monitoring report using the buy order and the advertisement detection information to indicate whether the ratings information is less than the purchased ratings value;

extract actual presentation information from the advertisement detection information;

match the actual presentation information to expected presentation information in a database of buy orders; and

identify the buy order when the expected presentation information associated with the buy order corresponds to the actual presentation information.

12. A storage device or storage disc as defined in claim 11 , wherein the actual presentation information and the expected presentation information comprise at least one of a time of the presentation of the advertisement, a date of the presentation of the advertisement, a station of the presentation of the advertisement, or a market of the presentation of the advertisement.