Methods and apparatus to detect uninstallation of an on-device meter

1. An apparatus to detect uninstallation of applications on mobile devices, the apparatus comprising:

means for detecting that an application is to be uninstalled from the mobile device, wherein the application is to gather status information of the means for detecting to ensure that the means for detecting is installed, wherein the application is to transmit the status information to a data collector;

means for displaying a prompt indicating whether the means for detecting is to be uninstalled when the application is to be uninstalled, wherein the means for displaying is to instruct a package manager to remove the means for detecting from the mobile device; and

means for communicating an uninstallation notification to the data collector when the application is to be uninstalled, and wherein the uninstallation notification is to enable identification of a panelist associated with the mobile device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the means for detecting is to detect that the application is to be uninstalled in response to a message from the package manager of the mobile device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a means for startup detection to cause the means for detecting to determine if the application has been uninstalled during startup of the mobile device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the application is an on-device meter application.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the means for detecting is to detect uninstallation of the on-device meter application.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the means for detecting is specifically dedicated to monitoring the on-device meter application.

7. An apparatus to detect uninstallation of an audience metering application on a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:

means for detecting that the audience metering application is to be uninstalled from the mobile device based on a notification broadcast within the mobile device, wherein the notification not communicated external to the mobile device, wherein the notification received from a package manager, wherein the audience metering application is to store monitoring information representative of usage of the mobile device;

means for uninstalling is to instruct a package manager to remove the means for detecting from the mobile device when the audience metering application is uninstalled; and

means for communicating to:

transmit the monitoring information to a data collector, the monitoring information stores in an event log by the audience metering application, wherein, the monitoring information not transmitter to the data collector by the audience metering application; and

transmit an uninstallation notification to the data collector when the audience metering application is to be uninstalled, wherein the uninstallation notification is to enable identification of a panelist associated with the mobile device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the means for detecting is to determine if the audience metering application has been uninstalled during startup of the mobile device.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the means for detecting is dedicated to monitoring only the audience metering application.

10. An apparatus to detect uninstallation of an audience metering process on a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:

means for detecting that the audience metering process is to be uninstalled from the mobile device based on a notification broadcast within the mobile device, wherein the notification is not communicated external to the mobile device, wherein the audience metering process is to store monitoring information representative of usage of the mobile device;

means for uninstalling to instruct a package manager to remove the means for detecting from the mobile device when the audience metering process is uninstalled; and

means for communicating to:

transmit the monitoring information to a data collector, wherein the monitoring information stored by the audience metering process, and wherein the monitoring information is not transmitted to the data collector by the audience metering process;

transmit an uninstallation notification to the data collector when the audience metering process is to be uninstalled, wherein the uninstallation notification is to enable identification of a panelist associated with the mobile device;

in response to transmission of the uninstallation notification to the data collector, cause an exit questionnaire to be presented, wherein the exit questionnaire to request a reason for the uninstallation of the audience metering process; and

in response to receipt of a response to the exit questionnaire, request uninstallation of the means for detecting.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the means for detecting is further to determine if the audience metering process has been uninstalled during startup of the mobile device.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the means for uninstalling is to display, in response to the notification, a prompt asking whether the audience metering process is to be uninstalled, and wherein the means for uninstalling to uninstall the audience metering process in response to a user response to the prompt indicating that the audience metering process is to be uninstalled.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the means for detecting is dedicated to monitoring only the audience metering process.