Methods and apparatus to locate unknown media devices

A computing system comprising:

• at least one memory storing computer-readable instructions;
• and
• at least one processor configured to execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
• detecting a transmission associated with a device address of a media device at an exposure site, the exposure site comprising a first media presentation device and one or more other media presentation devices;
• storing, in the at least one memory, an association of the device address with a location of the first media presentation device in a data structure, the association indicative of the media device transmitting network communications during a period of time when the first media presentation device is operating in an “on” state, the data structure comprising counts of a number of associations of the device address with the location of the first media presentation device and one or more other respective locations of the one or more other media presentation devices;
• and
• based on a total count of associations of the device address with the location of the first media presentation device, determining a probability that the media device is located at the location of the first media presentation device.

A method performed by a computing system, the method comprising:

• detecting a transmission associated with a device address of a media device at an exposure site, the exposure site comprising a first media presentation device and one or more other media presentation devices;
• storing, in memory, an association of the device address with a location of the first media presentation device in a data structure, the association indicative of the media device transmitting network communications during a period of time when the first media presentation device is operating in an “on” state, the data structure comprising counts of a number of associations of the device address with the location of the first media presentation device and one or more other respective locations of the one or more other media presentation devices;
• and
• based on a total count of associations of the device address with the location of the first media presentation device, determining a probability that the media device is located at the location of the first media presentation device.

An audience measurement computing system comprising:

• a network communications monitor configured to detect a transmission associated with a device address of a media device at an exposure site, the exposure site comprising a first media presentation device and one or more other media presentation devices;
• and
• a network activity measurement system configured to:
• store, in memory, an association of the device address with a location of the first media presentation device in a data structure, the association indicative of the media device transmitting network communications during a period of time when the first media presentation device is operating in an “on” state, the data structure comprising counts of a number of associations of the device address with the location of the first media presentation device and one or more other respective locations of the one or more other media presentation devices;
• and
• based on a total count of associations of the device address with the location of the first media presentation device, determine a probability that the media device is located at the location of the first media presentation device.