Systems and methods to identify intentionally placed products

Abstract

Systems and methods to identify intentionally placed products in media content are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an audience measurement monitor to detect a presence of an intentionally placed prop in media by processing metadata stored in a local memory at the audience measurement monitor, user interaction with the prop causing a display of information related to the prop; detect a selection of a uniform resource locator (URL) displayed with the media by an audience member during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media, the selection of the URL causing a display device displaying the media to access a web page including information related to the intentionally placed prop; and identify the media in which the intentionally placed prop is located; and a collection facility to generate a report including at least one of the presence of the intentionally placed prop or the selection of URL.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 means for processing metadata, the means for processing to:
 detect a presence of an intentionally placed prop in media by processing metadata stored in a local memory, user interaction with the prop causing a display of information related to the prop; 
 detect a selection of a uniform resource locator (URL) displayed with the media by an audience member during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media, the selection of the URL causing a display device displaying the media to access a web page including information related to the intentionally placed prop; 
 in response to detecting the selection of the URL, initiating a timer; 
 in response to detecting that presentation of a webpage associated with the URL has ended at a location of the audience member, stopping the timer to determine a duration of time; and 
 identify the media in which the intentionally placed prop is located; and 
   means for generating a report including at least one of the presence of the intentionally placed prop or the duration of time.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the means for processing the metadata is to:
 record the presence of the intentionally placed prop in a product placement record; and   record the interaction with the intentionally placed prop in an event record.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the report indicates whether a characteristic associated with display of the intentionally placed prop met a term of a contract. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of a display size of the intentionally placed prop, a duration of display associated with the intentionally placed prop, a frequency of display of the intentionally placed prop. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the frequency of display includes at least one of a number of scenes in which the intentionally placed prop is displayed and a number of programs in which the intentionally placed prop is displayed. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the means for processing the metadata is to detect the interaction by detecting that the interaction with the intentionally placed prop occurred during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media. 
     
     
         7 . A system comprising:
 a logic circuit;   an audience measurement monitor to:
 detect a presence of an intentionally placed prop in media by processing metadata stored in a local memory at the audience measurement monitor, user interaction with the prop causing a display of information related to the prop; 
 detect a selection of a uniform resource locator (URL) displayed with the media by an audience member during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media, the selection of the URL causing a display device displaying the media to access a web page including information related to the intentionally placed prop; and 
 identify the media in which the intentionally placed prop is located; and 
   a collection facility to generate a report including at least one of the presence of the intentionally placed prop or the selection of URL, at least one of the audience measurement monitor or the collection facility including the logic circuit.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the audience measurement monitor is to:
 record the presence of the intentionally placed prop in a product placement record; and   record the interaction with the intentionally placed prop in an event record.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the report indicates whether a characteristic associated with display of the intentionally placed prop met a term of a contract. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of a display size of the intentionally placed prop, a duration of display associated with the intentionally placed prop, a frequency of display of the intentionally placed prop. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the frequency of display includes at least one of a number of scenes in which the intentionally placed prop is displayed and a number of programs in which the intentionally placed prop is displayed. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the audience measurement monitor is to detect the interaction by detecting that the interaction with the intentionally placed prop occurred during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media. 
     
     
         13 . One or more tangible computer readable mediums comprising instructions, which, when executed, cause one or more processors to at least:
 detect a presence of an intentionally placed prop in media by processing metadata stored in a local memory, user interaction with the prop causing a display of information related to the prop;   detect a selection of a uniform resource locator (URL) displayed with the media by an audience member during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media, the selection of the URL causing a display device displaying the media to access a web page including information related to the intentionally placed prop;   identify the media in which the intentionally placed prop is located; and   generate a report including at least one of the presence of the intentionally placed prop or the selection of URL.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more computer readable mediums of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
 record the presence of the intentionally placed prop in a product placement record; and   record the interaction with the intentionally placed prop in an event record.   
     
     
         15 . The one or more computer readable mediums of  claim 14 , wherein the report indicates whether a characteristic associated with display of the intentionally placed prop met a term of a contract. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more computer readable mediums of  claim 15 , wherein the characteristic includes at least one of a display size of the intentionally placed prop, a duration of display associated with the intentionally placed prop, a frequency of display of the intentionally placed prop. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more computer readable mediums of  claim 16 , wherein the frequency of display includes at least one of a number of scenes in which the intentionally placed prop is displayed and a number of programs in which the intentionally placed prop is displayed. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more computer readable mediums of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to detect the interaction by detecting that the interaction with the intentionally placed prop occurred during presentation of the intentionally placed prop in the media.