# US 12,604,052 B2 · Methods and apparatus to associate audience members with over-the-top device media impressions > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,604,052 B2 - Document ID: US12604052B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/641,637 - Filed: 2024-04-22 - Published: 2024-08-15 - Granted: 2026-04-14 - Earliest claimed: 2016-12-31 - Assignees: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC - Applicants: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC - Inventors: Steven J. Splaine; Harith Gandhi; Kevin K. Gaynor; Gangadhar Jakkula; Narasimha Reddy Goli; Chris Nicotra; Kumar Rao - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12604052B2 ## CPC - H04N 21/25883: {being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address (arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52)} - G06F 16/78: Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually - H04N 21/25841: {involving the geographical location of the client (retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00)} - H04N 21/44213: {Monitoring of end-user related data (arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33)} - G06Q 30/0204: Market segmentation - G06Q 30/0241: Advertisements - G06Q 30/0246: {Traffic} - H04N 21/812: {involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02)} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract Methods and apparatus to associate audience members with over-the-top device media impressions. An example audience measurement apparatus includes a reporting message receiver to receive a first reporting message from a client device coupled to a residential gateway having an internet protocol (IP) address. An AME ID determiner is to assign an audience measurement entity (AME) identifier to the IP address provided by the received first reporting message. A redirect instructor is to send a redirect instruction to the client device to cause the client device to send a second reporting message to a database proprietor, the redirect instruction to include the AME identifier and the IP address. A DP message reporting receiver is to receive, in response to the sent redirect instruction, a third reporting message from the database proprietor that includes a database proprietor (DP) identifier. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computing system comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising: receive an impression request from an over-the-top (OTT) device; identify an internet protocol (IP) address associated with the impression request provided by the OTT device; access a database proprietor demographic identifier from a linkage mapping record that is associated with the identified IP address; request demographic information from a database proprietor based on the retrieved demographic identifier; associate the requested demographic information based on the demographic identifier to a viewer associated with the OTT device; and in response to determining that the IP address associated with the impression request does not match one or more IP addresses in the linkage mapping record, estimate an unknown household composition for a household that includes the viewer associated with the OTT device, wherein estimating the unknown household composition comprises: matching at least one address allocation block of the one or more IP addresses in the linkage mapping record to at least one address allocation block of the IP address; and randomly assigning a known household composition of a range of IP addresses that matched to the at least one address allocation block of the IP address as the unknown household composition. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computing system of claim 1, wherein the set of the operations further comprising: determine if the IP address associated with the impression request matches the one or more IP addresses mapped in the linkage mapping record prior to retrieving the demographic identifier from the linkage mapping record. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computing system of claim 1, wherein the set of the operations further comprising: identify similar characteristics between the IP address associated with the impression request and the IP addresses in the linkage mapping record in response to estimating of the unknown household composition. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The computing system of claim 3, wherein the set of the operations further comprising: obtain respective ones of database proprietor demographic identifiers associated with respective ones of the IP addresses identified with the similar characteristics as the IP address associated with the impression request. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The computing system of claim 4, wherein the set of the operations further comprising: request demographic information from the database proprietor based on the database proprietor demographic identifiers. ### Claim 6 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising: receive an impression request from an over-the-top (OTT) device; identify an internet protocol (IP) address associated with the impression request provided by the OTT device; access a database proprietor demographic identifier from a linkage mapping record that is associated with the identified IP address; request demographic information from a database proprietor based on the retrieved demographic identifier; associate the requested demographic information based on the demographic identifier to a viewer associated with the OTT device; and in response to determining that the IP address associated with the impression request does not match one or more IP addresses in the linkage mapping record, estimate an unknown household composition for a household that includes the viewer associated with the OTT device, wherein estimating the unknown household composition comprises: assign a known household composition of a range of IP addresses of the one or more IP addresses that matched at least one address allocation block to a respective address allocation block of the IP address as the unknown household composition. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the set of operations further comprising: determine if the IP address associated with the impression request matches the one or more IP addresses mapped in the linkage mapping record prior to retrieving the demographic identifier from the linkage mapping record. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the set of operations further comprising: identify similar characteristics between the IP address associated with the impression request and the IP addresses in the linkage mapping record in response to estimating of the unknown household composition. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the set of operations further comprising: obtain respective ones of database proprietor demographic identifiers associated with respective ones of the IP addresses identified with the similar characteristics as the IP address associated with the impression request. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the set of operations further comprising: request demographic information from the database proprietor based on the database proprietor demographic identifiers. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein, the OTT device is at least one of a video game console, a smart television, a digital media player, or a device that streams media content via the internet. ### Claim 12 A method comprising: receiving an impression request from an over-the-top (OTT) device; identifying an internet protocol (IP) address associated with the impression request provided by the OTT device; accessing a database proprietor demographic identifier from a linkage mapping record that is associated with the identified IP address; requesting demographic information from a database proprietor based on the retrieved demographic identifier; associating the requested demographic information based on the demographic identifier to a viewer associated with the OTT device; and in response to determining that the IP address associated with the impression request does not match one or more IP addresses in the linkage mapping record, estimate an unknown household composition for a household that includes the viewer associated with the OTT device, wherein estimating the unknown household composition comprises: matching at least one address allocation block of the one or more IP addresses in the linkage mapping record to at least one address allocation block of the IP address; and randomly assigning a known household composition of a range of IP addresses that matched to the at least one address allocation block of the IP address as the unknown household composition. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: prior to retrieving the demographic identifier from the linkage mapping record, determining if the IP address associated with the impression request matches the one or more IP addresses mapped in the linkage mapping record. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: identifying similar characteristics between the IP address associated with the impression request and the IP addresses in the linkage mapping record in response to the estimating of the unknown household composition. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: obtaining respective ones of database proprietor demographic identifiers associated with respective ones of the IP addresses identified with the similar characteristics as the IP address associated with the impression request. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: requesting demographic information from the database proprietor based on the database proprietor demographic identifiers. ### Claim 17 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the OTT device is at least one of a video game console, a smart television, a digital media player, or a device that streams media content via the internet.