Methods and apparatus to measure exposure to streaming media using media watermarks
Methods and apparatus are disclosed to measure exposure to streaming media using media watermarks. An example apparatus includes a transcoder to transcode media into a streaming format, a media identifier to extract a watermark from the media, the watermark indicative of media identifying data, determine a source address at which the media will be hosted, and generate metadata of the media. The example apparatus further includes a reference database to store the metadata, a media transmitter to transmit the media to the media device in response to a first request for the media. In some examples, the media includes instructions to (1) determine a source Uniform Resource Locator, (2) determine a current playback time of the media, and (3) transmit a second request for metadata of the media. Example systems, methods, and apparatus disclosed herein enable a single set of monitoring instructions to be operated on multiple different devices and/or browsers.
1. An apparatus to measure exposure to streaming media, the apparatus comprising:
a memory; and
a logic circuit to:
transcode media into a streaming format to be transmitted to a media device, the media received from a service provider;
extract a watermark from the media, the watermark indicative of media identifying data;
determine a source address at which the media will be hosted;
generate metadata of the media based on the media identifying data;
store the metadata in association with the source address of the media and a time of the media identifying data corresponding to a time of the watermark;
transmit the media to the media device in response to a first request for the media, the media including instructions to cause the media device to (1) determine a source Uniform Resource Locator, (2) determine a current playback time of the media, and (3) transmit a second request for metadata of the media to the apparatus;
receive, from the media device, the second request for the metadata of the media, the second request including the source Uniform Resource Locator of the media and the current playback time of the media; and
transmit, to the media device in response to the second request, metadata associated with the source Uniform Resource Locator and the current playback time of the media.
2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second request is a hyper-text transport protocol (HTTP) request.
3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the metadata is formatted using an ID3 format and the media is transcoded into an MPEG4 transport stream.
4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the instructions are to further cause the media device to transmit the received metadata to an audience measurement collection facility.
5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the metadata corresponds to at least one of a position of the media, a distribution source of the media, or a content of the media.
6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the media is transmitted to the media device via HTTP live streaming (HLS).
7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the instructions are located within a webpage transmitted to the media device.
8. A method of measuring exposure to streaming media, the method comprising:
transcoding media into a streaming format to be transmitted to a media device, the media received from a service provider;
extracting a watermark from the media, the watermark indicative of media identifying data;
determining a source address at which the media will be hosted;
generating metadata of the media based on the media identifying data;
storing, in a database, the metadata in association with the source address of the media and a time of the media identifying data corresponding to a time of the watermark;
transmitting the media to the media device in response to a first request for the media, the media including instructions to cause the media device to (1) determine a source Uniform Resource Locator, (2) determine a current playback time of the media, and (3) transmit a second request for metadata of the media to the service provider;
receiving, from the media device, the second request for the metadata of the media, the second request including the source Uniform Resource Locator of the media and the current playback time of the media; and
transmitting, to the media device in response to the second request, metadata associated with the source Uniform Resource Locator and the current playback time of the media.
9. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the second request is a hyper-text transport protocol (HTTP) request.
10. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the media is transcoded into an MPEG4 transport stream.
11. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the metadata is formatted using an ID3 format and the media identifying data is at least one of codes or signatures.
12. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the metadata corresponds to at least one of a position of the media, a distribution source of the media, or a content of the media.
13. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the media is transmitted to the media device via HTTP live streaming (HLS).
14. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the instructions are located within a webpage transmitted to the media device.
15. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:
transcode media into a streaming format to be transmitted to a media device, the media received from a service provider;
extract a watermark from the media, the watermark indicative of media identifying data;
determine a source address at which the media will be hosted;
generate metadata of the media based on the media identifying data;
store, in a database, the metadata in association with the source address of the media and a time of the media identifying data corresponding to a time of the watermark;
transmit the media to the media device in response to a first request for the media, the media including instructions to cause the media device to (1) determine a source Uniform Resource Locator, (2) determine a current playback time of the media, and (3) transmit a second request for metadata of the media to the service provider;
receive, from the media device, the second request for the metadata of the media, the second request including the source Uniform Resource Locator of the media and the current playback time of the media; and
transmit, to the media device in response to the second request, metadata associated with the source Uniform Resource Locator and the current playback time of the media.
16. The tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the second request is a hyper-text transport protocol (HTTP) request.
17. The tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the metadata is formatted using an ID3 format and the media is transcoded into an MPEG4 transport stream.
18. The tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the metadata corresponds to at least one of a position of the media, a distribution source of the media, or a content of the media.
19. The tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the media is transmitted to the media device via HTTP live streaming (HLS).
20. The tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 15 , wherein the instructions are located within a webpage transmitted to the media device.