Methods and apparatus to generate audience measurement data from population sample data having incomplete demographic classifications

1. A method to improve an accuracy of online audience measurement, comprising:

receiving, via a first server at an audience measurement entity, first network communications including first beacon request messages, the first beacon request messages indicating first impressions representative of a video accessed on devices via the Internet, the first beacon request messages identifying time segments of the video presented at the devices and including at least one of user identifiers or device identifiers;

in response to receiving the first beacon request messages, sending, via the first server, second network communications to the devices, the second network communications including first re-direct response messages including a universal resource locator of a database proprietor;

accessing, with a processor at the audience measurement entity, first demographic information received via third network communications from the database proprietor, the first demographic information including first impressions counts attributed to respective demographic groups by a computer at the database proprietor, the first impressions counts representing the time segments of the video, the first impressions counts corresponding to the first impressions of the video, the computer producing a mismatch error in the first impressions counts, the mismatch error arising from the devices reporting the first impressions to a second server of the database proprietor in fourth network communications and a portion of the fourth network communications dropped over a public network so that a portion of the first impressions are not included in the first impressions counts, the fourth network communications including second beacon request messages sent by the devices to the second server of the database proprietor in response to the devices receiving the first re-direct response messages, the second beacon request messages including the at least one of the user identifiers or the device identifiers;

correcting the mismatch error produced by the computer in the first impressions counts by:

based on the first beacon request messages received via the first server of the audience measurement entity, detecting, by executing a first instruction with the processor at the audience measurement entity, that a second impressions count for a first one of the time segments of the video occurred;

detecting, by executing a second instruction with the processor, that no impressions for the first one of the time segments of the video were detected by the database proprietor, the impressions for the first one of the time segments of the video not detected by the database proprietor due to the dropped portion of the fourth network communications sent over the public network;

determining, by executing a third instruction with the processor, respective percentages of exposures of the video that are attributable to corresponding ones of the demographic groups, the determining of the respective percentages being based on the first demographic information provided by the database proprietor for exposures of other time segments of the video;

determining, by executing a fourth instruction with the processor, respective portions of the second impressions count corresponding to the demographic groups based on the respective percentages to determine the mismatch error, the mismatch error representing a count of missing impressions in the dropped portion of the fourth network communications; and

generating, by executing a fifth instruction with the processor, corrected impressions counts corresponding to the video by adding the count of the missing impressions to the first impressions counts; and

determining, by executing a sixth instruction with the processor, ratings information for the time segments of the video using the corrected impressions counts.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including:

detecting, based on the second beacon request messages, that a first number of duration units for the first one of the time segments of the video occurred;

detecting that no duration units for the first one of the time segments of the video were detected by the database proprietor;

determining respective second percentages of duration units of the video that are attributable to corresponding ones of the demographic groups, the determining of the respective second percentages being based on the first demographic information provided by the database proprietor for duration units of other time segments of the video;

attributing respective portions of the first number of duration units to the demographic groups based on the second percentages to determine imputed numbers of duration units; and

generating adjusted numbers of duration units based on the first numbers of duration units and the imputed numbers of duration units.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including:

determining third impressions counts of the video that are attributable to the respective demographic groups by summing subsets of the first impressions counts that correspond to respective ones of the demographic groups;

determining numbers of audience members attributable to the respective demographic groups based on impression frequencies corresponding to the demographic groups and the video; and

determining second ratings information for the video based on the third impressions counts and the numbers of audience members.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second beacon request messages include a first message identifying a non-duration type of impression of the video at a first one of the devices and a third message identifying one of the time segments of the video that were presented at the first one of the devices.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including:

determining a duration of a first one of the time segments presented at a first one of the devices based on first information transmitted in a first one of the second beacon request messages;

determining a third impressions count the first time segment presented at the devices based on a number of the second beacon request messages containing the first information; and

determining a total duration of the first time segment presented at the devices based on the duration of the first time segment and the third impressions count, the third impressions count and the total duration of the first time segment corresponding to a first one of the demographic groups.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second beacon request messages contain an identifier relating the first impressions to at least one of respective time segments of the video, a distributor of the video, a program distributed by the distributor and of which the video is a part, or an episode that belongs to the program and of which the video is at least a part.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including:

determining a proportion of the first impressions of a first one of the time segments that are attributed to a first one of the demographic groups by the database proprietor;

identifying a first subset of the first impressions of the first one of the time segments that are not attributed to any of the demographic groups by the database proprietor;

attributing a second subset of the first impressions of the first one of the time segments by applying the proportion to the first subset; and

combining the second subset of the first impressions with the impressions of the first one of the time segments that are attributed to the first one of the demographic groups by the database proprietor to determine redistributed impressions for the first one of the time segments, the determining of the respective percentages of exposures of the video being based on the redistributed impressions.

8. An audience measurement apparatus to improve an accuracy of online audience measurement, comprising:

a first impressions collector to:

receive via a first server, first network communications including first beacon request messages, the first beacon request messages indicating first impressions representative of a video accessed on devices via the Internet, the first beacon request messages identifying time segments of the video presented at the devices and including at least one of user identifiers or device identifiers; and

in response to receiving the first beacon request messages, send, via the first server, second network communications to the devices, the second network communications including first re-direct response messages including a universal resource locator of a database proprietor;

a second impressions collector to access first demographic information received via third network communications from the database proprietor, the first demographic information including first impressions counts attributed to respective demographic groups by a computer at the database proprietor, the first impressions counts representing the time segments of the video, the first impressions counts corresponding to the first impressions of the video, the computer producing a mismatch error in the first impressions counts, the mismatch error arising from the devices reporting the first impressions to a second server of the database proprietor in fourth network communications and a portion of the fourth network communications dropped over a public network so that a portion of the first impressions are not included in the first impressions counts, the fourth network communications including second beacon request messages sent by the devices to the second server of the database proprietor in response to the devices receiving the first re-direct response messages, the second beacon request messages including the at least one of the user identifiers or the device identifiers;

an exposure distribution data generator to correct the mismatch error produced by the computer by determining respective percentages of exposures of the video that are attributable to corresponding ones of the demographic groups, the exposure distribution data generator to determine the respective percentages based on the first demographic information provided by the database proprietor for exposures of the time segments of the video;

a segment imputer to:

detect, based on the first beacon request messages received via the first server, that a second impressions count for a first one of the time segments of the video occurred;

detect that no impressions for the first one of the time segments of the video were detected by the database proprietor, the impressions for the first one of the time segments of the video not detected by the database proprietor due to the dropped portion of the fourth network communications sent over the public network; and

attribute respective portions of the second impressions count to the demographic groups based on the respective percentages to determine the mismatch error, the mismatch error representing a count of missing impressions in the dropped portion of the fourth network communications; and

a ratings data generator to generate corrected impressions counts by adding the count of the missing impressions to the first impressions counts and to determine ratings information for the time segments of the video using the corrected impressions counts.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , further including:

a duration distribution data generator to determine respective second percentages of duration units of the video that are attributable to corresponding ones of the demographic groups, the duration distribution data generator to determine the respective second percentages based on the first demographic information provided by the database proprietor for duration units of other time segments of the video; and

a duration imputer to:

detect, based on the second beacon request messages, that a first number of duration units for the first one of the time segments of the video occurred;

detect that no duration units for the first one of the time segments of the video were detected by the database proprietor;

attribute respective portions of the first number of duration units to the demographic groups based on the respective second percentages to determine imputed numbers of duration units; and

generate adjusted numbers of duration units based on the first numbers of duration units and the imputed numbers of duration units.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , further including:

an exposure data generator to determine third impressions counts of the video that are attributable to the respective demographic groups by summing subsets of the first impressions counts that correspond to the respective demographic groups; and

an audience adjuster to determine numbers of audience members attributable to the respective demographic groups based on impression frequencies corresponding to the demographic groups and the video, the ratings data generator to determine second ratings information for the video based on the third impressions counts and the numbers of audience members.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the second beacon request messages include a first message identifying a non-duration type of impression of the video at a first one of the devices and a third message identifying one of the time segments of the video that were presented at the first one of the devices.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , further including:

a segment calibrator to determine a duration of a first one of the time segments presented at a first one of the devices based on first information transmitted in a first one of the second beacon request messages;

an impressions adjuster to determine a third impressions count the first time segment presented at the devices based on a number of the second beacon request messages containing the first information; and

an impression duration data generator to determine a total duration of the first time segment presented at the devices based on the duration of the first time segment and the third impressions count, the third impressions count and the total duration of the first time segment corresponding to a first one of the demographic groups.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the second beacon request messages contain an identifier relating the first impressions to at least one of respective time segments of the video, a distributor of the video, a program distributed by the distributor and of which the video is a part, or an episode that belongs to the program and of which the video is at least a part.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , further including a demographic distributor to:

determine a proportion of the first impressions of a first one of the time segments that are attributed to a first one of the demographic groups by the database proprietor;

identify a first subset of the first impressions of the first one of the time segments that are not attributed to any of the demographic groups by the database proprietor;

attribute a second subset of the first impressions of the first one of the time segments by applying the proportion to the first subset; and

combine the second subset of the first impressions with the impressions of the first one of the time segments that are attributed to the first one of the demographic groups by the database proprietor to determine redistributed impressions for the first one of the time segments, the segment imputer to determine the respective percentages of exposures of the video based on the redistributed impressions.

15. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable instruction which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

receive, via a first server at an audience measurement entity, first network communications including first beacon request messages, the first beacon request messages indicating first impressions representative of a video accessed on devices via the Internet, the first beacon request messages identifying time segments of the video presented at the devices and including at least one of user identifiers or device identifiers;

in response to receiving the first beacon request messages, sending, via the first server, second network communications to the devices, the second network communications including first re-direct response messages including a universal resource locator of a database proprietor;

access, at the audience measurement entity, first demographic information received via third network communications from the database proprietor, the first demographic information including first impressions counts of the video attributed to respective demographic groups by a computer at the database proprietor, the first impressions counts representing the time segments of the video, the first impressions counts corresponding to the first impressions of the video, the computer producing a mismatch error in the first impressions counts, the mismatch error arising from the devices reporting the first impressions to a second server of the database proprietor in fourth network communications and a portion of the fourth network communications dropped over a public network so that a portion of the first impressions are not included in the first impressions counts, the fourth network communications including second beacon request messages sent by the devices to the second server of the database proprietor in response to the devices receiving the first re-direct response messages, the second beacon request messages including at least one of the user identifiers or the device identifiers;

correct the mismatch error produced by the computer in the first impressions counts by:

based on the first beacon request messages received via the first server of the audience measurement entity, detect at the audience measurement entity that a second impressions count for a first one of the time segments of the video occurred;

detect that no impressions for the first one of the time segments of the video were detected by the database proprietor, the impressions for the first one of the time segments of the video not detected by the database proprietor due to the dropped portion of the fourth network communications sent over the public network;

based on the first demographic information provided by the database proprietor for exposures of other time segments of the video, determine respective percentages of exposures of the video that are attributable to corresponding ones of the demographic groups;

determine respective portions of the second impressions count corresponding to the demographic groups based on the respective percentages to determine the mismatch error, the mismatch error representing a count of impressions in the dropped portion of the fourth network communications;

generate corrected impressions counts by adding the count of the missing impressions to the first impressions counts, the corrected impressions counts corrected for errors arising from transmitting and receiving message over a public network; and

generate a report including ratings information for the time segments of the video using the corrected impressions count.

16. The storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to:

detect, based on the second beacon request messages, that a first number of duration units for the first one of the time segments of the video occurred;

detect that no duration units for the first one of the time segments of the video were detected by the database proprietor;

determine respective second percentages of duration units of the video that are attributable to corresponding ones of the demographic groups, the determining of the respective second percentages being based on the first demographic information provided by the database proprietor for duration units of other time segments of the video;

attribute respective portions of the first number of duration units to the demographic groups based on the respective second percentages to determine imputed numbers of duration units; and

generate adjusted numbers of duration units based on the first numbers of duration units and the imputed numbers of duration units.

17. The storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to:

determine third impressions counts of the video that are attributable to the respective demographic groups by summing subsets of the first impressions counts that correspond to the respective demographic groups;

determine numbers of audience members attributable to the respective demographic groups based on impression frequencies corresponding to the demographic groups and the media item; and

determine second ratings information for the video based on the third impressions counts and the numbers of audience members.

18. The storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the second beacon request messages include a first message identifying a non-duration type of impression of the video at a first one of the devices and a third message identifying one of the time segments of the video that were presented at the first one of the devices.

19. The storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to:

determine a duration of a first one of the time segments presented at a first one of the devices based on first information transmitted in a first one of the second beacon request messages;

determine a third impressions count the first time segment presented at the devices based on a number of the second beacon request messages containing the first information; and

determine a total duration of the first time segment presented at the devices based on the duration of the first time segment and the third impressions count, the third impressions count and the total duration of the first time segment corresponding to a first one of the demographic groups.

20. The storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the second beacon request messages contain an identifier relating the first impressions to at least one of respective time segments of the video, a distributor of the video, a program distributed by the distributor and of which the video is a part, or an episode that belongs to the program and of which the video is at least a part.