Methods and apparatus to monitor online activity
Methods and apparatus are disclosed to monitory online activity. An example apparatus includes at least one processor, and memory including instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to compare first uniform resource locators collected from a first client device of a known panelist with second uniform resource locators collected from second client devices associated with one or more users, the one or more users being unknown, and associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known panelist based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators.
1. An apparatus to monitor online activity, the apparatus comprising:
at least one memory;
instructions in the apparatus; and
at least one processor to execute the instructions to:
compare first uniform resource locators collected from a first client device of a known panelist with second uniform resource locators collected from second client devices associated with one or more users, the one or more users being unknown, the known panelist is registered with an audience measurement entity, at least one of the one or more users is not registered with the audience measurement entity;
associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known panelist based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators; and
associate the online activity with a panelist identifier corresponding to the known panelist.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is to execute the instructions to determine whether the ones of the second uniform resource locators match the first uniform resource locators based on a comparison of at least domain name portions of the ones of the second uniform resource locators and domain name portions of the first uniform resource locators.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is to execute the instructions to determine that the second uniform resource locators are accessed via a same internet protocol address associated with the second client devices to access the Internet.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , further including a data structure to store the second uniform resource locators in association with the internet protocol address registered via the second client devices.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a data structure to store the second uniform resource locators in corresponding groups based on corresponding cookie identifiers collected in association with the second uniform resource locators.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is to execute the instructions to determine whether the ones of the second uniform resource locators match the first uniform resource locators based on a comparison of differences between the at least portions of the ones of the second uniform resource locators and corresponding portions of the first uniform resource locators to a threshold.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first client device is a metered device, the second client devices are non-metered devices, the one or more users being unknown based on the one or more users being associated with the non-metered devices, and the at least one processor is to execute the instructions to instruct at least one of the second client devices associated with the known panelist to register an internet protocol address with the audience measurement entity.
8. An apparatus to monitor online activity, the apparatus comprising:
means for comparing first uniform resource locators collected from a first client device of a known panelist with second uniform resource locators collected from second client devices associated with one or more users, the one or more users being unknown, the known panelist is registered with an audience measurement entity, at least one of the one or more users is not registered with the audience measurement entity; and
means for mapping at least some of the second uniform resource locators to online activity of the known panelist, and the means for mapping to associate the online activity with a panelist identifier corresponding to the known panelist, the mapping based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the means for mapping is to determine whether the ones of the second uniform resource locators match the first uniform resource locators based on a comparison of at least domain name portions of the ones of the second uniform resource locators to domain name portions of the first uniform resource locators.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the means for comparing is to determine whether the second uniform resource locators are accessed via a same internet protocol address associated with the second client devices to access the Internet.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further including means for storing the second uniform resource locators in association with the internet protocol address registered via the second client devices.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 , further including means for storing the second uniform resource locators in corresponding groups based on corresponding cookie identifiers collected in association with the second uniform resource locators.
13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the means for mapping is to determine whether the ones of the second uniform resource locators match the first uniform resource locators based on a comparison of differences between the at least portions of the ones of the second uniform resource locators and corresponding portions of the first uniform resource locators to a similarity threshold.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first client device is a metered device, the second client devices are non-metered devices, the one or more users being unknown based on the one or more users being associated with the non-metered devices, and further including means for instructing at least one of the second client devices associated with the known panelist to register an internet protocol address with the audience measurement entity.
15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to at least:
in response to a selection of an online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a cookie identifier, compare first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in the online activity log, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators the known user is a panelist registered with an audience measurement entity, the one or more unknown users are not registered with the audience measurement entity;
associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known user based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators; and
associate the online activity with a panelist identifier corresponding to the panelist.
16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:
determine a quantity of the ones of the first uniform resource locators that match at least portions of the ones of the second uniform resource locators; and
in response to a determination that the quantity satisfies a threshold, associate the online activity log with the known user.
17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to at least:
in response to a selection of an online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a cookie identifier, compare first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in the online activity log, the known user is a panelist registered with an audience measurement entity, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators;
associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known user based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators;
instruct the panelist to register an internet protocol address with a server associated with the audience measurement entity; and
in response to a registration of the internet protocol address, associate at least one of the second client devices with the panelist based on the at least one of the second client devices having accessed the second uniform resource locators with the internet protocol address.
18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the at least one processor to:
transmit a message including at least one of an email or a text message to a third client device included in the second client devices, the message including a third uniform resource locator to direct the third client device to a registration website;
in response to the third client device obtaining the message, obtaining a registration request from the registration website; and
in response to the registration request, register the third client device with the audience measurement entity by associating the third client device with the internet protocol address.
19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to at least:
in response to a selection of an online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a first cookie identifier, compare first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in the online activity log, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the first cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators;
associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known user based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators;
instruct the second client devices to configure second cookie identifiers on the second client devices;
in response to ones of the second client devices accessing a tagged website, obtain corresponding ones of the second uniform resource locators and corresponding ones of the second cookie identifiers from the ones of the second client devices; and
store the ones of the second uniform resource locators into at least one group based on the respective ones of the second cookie identifiers.
20. An apparatus to monitor online activity, the apparatus comprising:
at least one memory;
instructions in the apparatus; and
at least one processor to execute the instructions to:
in response to a selection of an online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a cookie identifier, compare first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in the online activity log, the known user is a panelist registered with an audience measurement entity, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators;
associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known user based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators;
instruct the panelist to register an internet protocol address with a server associated with the audience measurement entity; and
in response to a registration of the internet protocol address, associate at least one of the second client devices with the panelist based on the at least one of the second client devices having accessed the second uniform resource locators with the internet protocol address.
21. An apparatus to monitor online activity, the apparatus comprising:
at least one memory;
instructions in the apparatus; and
at least one processor to execute the instructions to:
in response to a selection of an online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a first cookie identifier, compare first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in the online activity log, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the first cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators;
associate at least some of the second uniform resource locators as online activity of the known user based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators;
instruct the second client devices to configure second cookie identifiers on the second client devices;
in response to ones of the second client devices accessing a tagged website, obtain corresponding ones of the second uniform resource locators and corresponding ones of the second cookie identifiers from the ones of the second client devices; and
store the ones of the second uniform resource locators into at least one group based on the respective ones of the second cookie identifiers.
22. An apparatus to monitor online activity, the apparatus comprising:
means for comparing first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in an online activity log in response to a selection of the online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a cookie identifier, the known user is a panelist registered with an audience measurement entity, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators;
means for mapping at least some of the second uniform resource locators to online activity of the known user, the mapping based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators;
means for instructing the panelist to register an internet protocol address with a server associated with the audience measurement entity; and
the means for mapping to, in response to a registration of the internet protocol address, associate at least one of the second client devices with the panelist based on the at least one of the second client devices having accessed the second uniform resource locators with the internet protocol address.
23. An apparatus to monitor online activity, the apparatus comprising:
means for comparing first uniform resource locators obtained from a first client device of a known user to second uniform resource locators included in an online activity log in response to a selection of the online activity log associated with at least one unknown user based on a first cookie identifier, the second uniform resource locators obtained from second client devices associated with one or more unknown users, the first cookie identifier obtained in association with the second uniform resource locators;
means for mapping at least some of the second uniform resource locators to online activity of the known user, the mapping based on ones of the first uniform resource locators matching at least portions of ones of the second uniform resource locators;
means for instructing the second client devices to configure second cookie identifiers on the second client devices; and
means for storing corresponding ones of the second uniform resource locators and corresponding ones of the second cookie identifiers obtained from ones of the second client devices in response to the ones of the second client devices accessing a tagged website, and the means for storing to store the ones of the second uniform resource locators into at least one group based on the respective ones of the second cookie identifiers.