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Manchester, UK-based Made With Intent has raised £1.5m in seed funding, to support its team of 15 fully remote staff in bringing its segmentation platform and eCommerce tools to market. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has announced revenue of $670m for the first quarter of 2024, up 8% on a reported basis. Adjusted EBITDA was up 25% to $90m. More
Game company Roblox Corporation is to open up its platform to video advertisers, allowing them to reach those of its community of 71.5 million daily users who are aged thirteen and above. The firm has announced Kantar and Integral Ad Science (IAS) as its initial measurement partners. More
London-based agency Echo Research Limited, which specialises in reputation insight, benchmarking and intelligence, has acquired Reputation Dividend, which helps global companies to value their intangible reputational assets. More
In London, independent social and market research agency IFF Research has announced sixteen promotions, including five to the rank of Director, following a record year and the recent launch of a new career framework. More
In the UK,strategic insight agency Opinium has named ten more staff members as equity partners,as it aims for eventual 50% employee ownership. More
Kantar has announced a partnership with attention-based media quality measurement specialist Adelaide, enriching the outputs from the former's LIFT and LIFT+ products. More
Gartner has announced results for the first quarter of 2024, with revenue up 4.6% (FX neutral) to $1.473bn, and adjusted EBITDA of $382m, up 1.7% on the same basis. More
In the US, ad tech platform Infillion has relaunched MediaMath, the DSP and data management firm whose assets it acquired out of bankruptcy last summer. More
Insight-driven marcoms agency The Bliss Group has expanded its operations to the UK, opening a London office to serve its professional and financial services, healthcare, tech and 'impact' clients. More
Netherlands-based full service agency DVJ Insights has appointed Adrian Sanger as its new Head of Shopper Domain, reflecting its expanding work in shopper behaviour, innovation and brand strategy. More
Tech consulting and research firm Forrester has reported first quarter revenues down around 12% to $100.1m, and adjusted net income of $2.8m, down from $5.1m a year earlier. More
The Tesco Media & Insight Platform, which combines the British supermarket's loyalty card data and in-store insights with the expertise of its subsidiary dunnhumby, has appointed former Amazon exec Steve Edwards as Head of Agency, and former Pinterest man Russell Franklin as Head of Client Bus Dev. More
Kantar has promoted Simon Atherley to head up its yearling marketing effectiveness practice, alongside Kantar Insights UK MD Dom Boyd. More
In London, 'experience innovation' firm Valtech has announced the completion of its acquisition of digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta, in a deal valued at £239m. More
Kantar has announced a change in its measurement of the effectiveness of ads on social network Meta within its LIFT and LIFT+ products, which will now be available through its Direct Integrations platform. More
Fast-growing UK-based ad impact measurement specialist DAIVID has hired Mitch Eggers as Chief Scientist, the same title he held previously at Kantar. More
London-based consumer research company GWI has launched its Respondent Level Data (RLD) on the Snowflake Marketplace, giving users access to anonymised, unaggregated consumer data for advanced analytics. More
Kantar Media has promoted Rachel Macey to serve as Managing Director, TGI & Insight, UK and Ireland, replacing Sarah Sanderson who is stepping down. The firm has also promoted Trevor Vagg to Director, Insight, leading Kantar Media's Insight and Sport teams. More
WPP has issued a first quarter trading update, with like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs down 1.6% to £2.69bn. CEO Mark Read said the results were in line with expectations, reflecting tough comparatives, and that the firm 'remains on track to return to growth in the balance of the year'. More
London-based retail testing tech firm Virtual Store Trials (VST) has appointed Jenny Hall as Research Director. More
Adwanted UK has launched AudioLab, a solution offering real-time tracking and measurement of impressions and listen-through rate on digital audio platforms, including streaming and podcast. More
Strategic insight consultancy Firefish has hired Ajibola Bolarinwa as a Director in its US business, based in Los Angeles. More
London-based marketing intel and programmatic media specialist MiQ has launched its services in the Republic of Ireland, appointing Niall Murtagh to lead its expansion there in the role of Sales Director. More
Digital music pioneer Spotify has relinquished its membership of the IAB, according to reports. The company with the largest global audio ad-supported revenue is therefore no longer certified for podcast audience measurement, but says it is 'taking a pause' and 'remains committed to the IAB mission'. More
Ipsos, working with Google and UK online audience measurement standards body UKOM, has integrated YouTube viewing data into its iris platform. More
London-based Streetbees, whose platform captures and analyses in-the-moment feedback via mobile from 3.5 million 'bees' around the world, has integrated photo and video capture capabilities into its AI-powered market research tool, SBX. More
Marcoms network Stagwell, which owns the Harris Poll and Harris X brands as well as Maru Group, has opened its new EMEA headquarters in London's Blue Fin Building on the South Bank. More
Ipsos has reported continued solid growth in the first quarter of the year, with revenue up 4.5% in organic terms, to EUR 557.5m. The EMEA and Asia Pacific regions led the way with revenue up more than 9% in each case (organic) while the Americas saw a 3.2% decline. More
UK insight agency Simpson Carpenter has appointed Alexander Holmes as Senior Research Director with expertise in Automotive, Digital Entertainment and Tech, while Martyn Turze joins as Research Director heading up a new specialist sector, Sports. More
Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of legendary ad agency Ogilvy UK, has joined creative effectiveness platform DAIVID in the capacity of Strategic Advisor. More
DIY online survey pioneer SurveyMonkey has promoted Priya Gill to Global Head of Marketing, leading its marketing strategy and execution across all markets. More
UK marketing budgets grew strongly in Q1, although slightly less rapidly than in the previous, record-breaking quarter, according to the IPA's Bellwether report. Slightly more respondents reported rising market research budgets than falling, reversing the trend of the previous quarter. More
Digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify (DV) has apologised to X, formerly known as Twitter, for an error which over a recent four-month period gave the microblogging site brand safety ratings as low as 70%, when actual scores were as high as 99.99%, according to reports. More
Consumer insight and behavioural data technology company RealityMine has appointed former Google and YouTube advertising leader Phil Miles as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. More
Panel company Intra Research has appointed Helle Raun Oddershede as its new CEO, taking over from Marina Moshenska who moves into the role of Chief Operating Officer. More
British-based insight agency Opinium has promoted Wez Eathorne to the new role of Global Head of Brand, Comms & Product Research. More
British online audience measurement body UKOM has appointed 25-year Nielsen exec Sarah Miller as its Technical Consultant. More
Snap Inc, parent of photo sharing app Snapchat, has announced a partnership and integration with app marketplace Snowflake, promising its advertisers encrypted, privacy-safe and effective ad solutions and signal measurement. Snap also has a new measurement partnership with AppsFlyer. More
Marketing tech group Access Intelligence Plc has appointed Tom Ritchie as President of PR & Comms EMEA. More
London-based marketing group Unlimited, parent of insight agency Walnut, is to join Accenture Song, the business services behemoth's 'tech-powered creative group'. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. More
Nordic and DACH-focused small and medium-sized business specialist Nalka Invest is to acquire European data collection firm Norstat from its current parent, Triton, for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based Truth Consulting has announced five promotions: Catherine Anstead, Victor Reynoso and Kate Stratton become Directors, while Taiye Akin-Akinyosoye and Tom Sweeney are now Senior Consultants. More
Purchase transaction analytics specialist Behaviorally has announced a number of recent promotions, including Ethel Klein and Mavis Tong to VP Customer Success, Stephen Omogbehin to Vice President, IT, Coraline Petipas to Director, Customer Success and Natasha Gonzalez to Director, Behavioral Qualitative. More
Marketing intel and programmatic media specialist MiQ has announced the launch of its TV Intelligence platform in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, promising users a complete view of audience, campaign and competitor intelligence across linear TV, CTV and YouTube in one place. More
Social media management software firm Hootsuite is to acquire listening specialist Talkwalker, for an undisclosed sum. More
Manchester, UK-based product intelligence platform Vypr has appointed Glenn Porter as Chief Commercial Officer. More
UK video ad currency body Barb has appointed former TNS and RSMB exec Sara Cheeseman as Finance Director. She replaces long-time FD Nigel McLachlan, who is retiring. More
Experience Management (XM) company Qualtrics has appointed Juan Rodriguez as Chief Information Officer and Assaf Keren joins Qualtrics as Chief Security Officer. More
In Birmingham, UK, full service social research agency M.E.L Research has appointed Ayesha Lynn-Birkett as a Senior Research Executive, and promoted Angela Parton to Telephone Unit Manager. More
Eponymous online survey firm SurveyMonkey has promoted Jing Huang to VP, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Katie Miserany to SVP and Chief Communications Officer, and Craik Pyke to VP, Infrastructure and Security Engineering. The firm now boasts gender equality at both the C-Suite and VP levels. More
In London, Havas Media Network UK has joined cross-media measurement initiative Origin, completing the representation of the global marcoms networks within the programme. There are now 51 funding stakeholders in total including advertisers, media owners and advertising agencies. More
WPP-owned ad agency VML is to upgrade its proprietary digital commerce tech and retailer intelligence suite via a partnership with retail ecommerce management platform CommerceIQ. The latter's generative and predictive AI will help VML to optimize clients' digital shelf performance. More
B2B research firm NewtonX has appointed former American Express employee Kavita Anand as Vice President of Product, leading strategy, design and development for products including the firm's Knowledge Graph and its expert intelligence platform NewtonX Prime. More
London-based audience researcher RSMB has appointed Alison Finch as Client Account Lead with responsibility for radio audience currency RAJAR, replacing Anne Robshaw who is leaving the company after seventeen years. RSMB is an independent company jointly owned by Kantar and Havas. More
London-based global media measurement and optimisation platform Integral Ad Science (IAS) has won MRC accreditation for its integrated third-party calculation and reporting of YouTube video viewability, which is based on audited data from Google's ADH-MP. More
Ipsos has launched an Out of Home (OOH) advertising solution promising to help users assess and optimise OOH creative in as little as 24 hours. More
Comscore has launch its Social Incremental audiences service, part of its MMX Platform suite, in the UK. The solution measures incremental traffic across social media platforms, with deduplicated, person-level reach and a unified view across desktop, mobile and social. More
British-based ad impact measurement and forecasting specialist System1 Group Plc has appointed Mike Perlman as Chief Commercial Officer and Alex Banks as SVP of business development for The Americas. More
US-based mobile app market intelligence and insights provider Sensor Tower has announced the acquisition of mobile marketing firm data.ai, formerly known as App Annie. Terms were not disclosed. More
Market Research charity the MRBA has three days to run on its 2024 auction. Bidding for two tickets to Taylor Swift's sold-out Eras tour (Wembley Stadium concert, August) currently stands at £1,500, but those with more modest budgets can bid for bottles, days / meals out and other items. More
California-based CX solutions firm Five9 has appointed former Gartner exec Steve Blood as Vice President of Market Intelligence and Evangelism, based in Europe. More
In the UK, Samsung's advertising division has become the first CTV backer of Origin, the ISBA's cross-media measurement programme. More
Multichannel eCommerce enablement and analytics platform MikMak has enhanced its insights offering with the launch of a Custom Report Builder function, as well as a CX optimization tool, 'Headless Commerce API'. More
San Francisco-based predictive intelligence firm 6sense has appointed Jerome Levadoux as its first Chief Product Officer. More
In West Palm Beach, Florida, MR industry veterans Hugh Davis and Keith Price have launched ACKWEST Group, a holding company which will focus on buying and developing emerging tech-driven enterprises in the consumer insights and marketing services sector. More
Former Dynata Chief Gary Laben has joined retail and consumer goods analytics and inventory optimisation firm Trax, as CEO. More
UK television and video ad currency provider Barb has announced a major upgrade to its CFlight cross-media campaign reporting service. The tool now promises advertisers and agencies comprehensive campaign performance data against fourteen key traded audience groups. More
In London, Verve has announced the promotion of its former Joint Head of Insight Richard Preedy to the newly created role of Executive Director and Head of Artificial Intelligence. The firm is 'relaunching' itself to emphasize its focus on 'three intelligences': Artificial, Human and Cultural. More
Technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) has reported revenue for the full year 2023 of $291m, up 1.7% despite a very slow fourth quarter in which revenue dropped 11% to $66.2m. More
Miami-based PR platform Muck Rack has enhanced its measurement and reporting capabilities with new features for areas including media impact analysis, brand reputation insights and competitive analysis. More
UK audience measurement authority Barb has promoted Caroline Baxter to Chief Operating Officer, with a remit to work alongside CEO Justin Sampson on driving the organisation's move towards cross-device measurement and total campaign performance reporting. More
Comscore has reported full year 2023 revenue of $371.3m, down 1.4%, but with FX-neutral adjusted EBITDA up 29% to $46.9m. CEO Jon Carpenter pointed to growth in local TV measurement and in the CCR and Proximic offerings as strong indicators for the future. More
In the UK, business-to-business insights forum The Business Intelligence Group (BIG) is to be reintegrated as a network of the Market Research Society (MRS), a status it held in the 1990s before moving to independent operation. More
In London, brand lift measurement company ThisThat has secured an unspecified amount of funding from four founders of unicorn companies, in addition to other funds and angel investors. More
Global MR and data group YouGov has announced the rebranding of its Swiss subsidiary LINK, acquired in December 2021, as YouGov Switzerland. More
Madrid-based digital marketing group Samy Alliance, the parent of British-based research firm Capture Intelligence, has acquired Helsinki-based social media agency Kurio, giving it a presence in the Nordic countries. More
Insight and customer analytics group STRAT7 has announced twenty-one appointments / promotions, including four senior promotions at Crowd DNA, and the creation of eight new roles. More
Streaming data insights provider PlumResearch has appointed Jonathan Broughton as Research Director, tasked with advancing its analytics and insights capabilities in the entertainment industry. More
NIQ, the consumer intelligence company previously part of Nielsen and now combined with GfK, has launched a Global Media Division, which it says is 'designed to enhance the value advertisers derive from their marketing efforts' - and has appointed Lana Busignani to lead it. More
PAMCo, the company which oversees audience figures for British newspapers and magazines, has appointed Emma Holden as Acting MD after the departure of CEO of ten years Simon Redican. More
London-based APL Media is integrating the technology of US-based feedback software firm Social Asking, aiming to 'bring cutting-edge AI to audience engagement' and allow brands to understand their audience in real time. A new division of APL will serve as Social Asking's lead (UK) sales agent. More
Digital ads trade body IAB Europe has published a first set of European recommendation for metrics and measurement standards covering Retail Media digital advertising. More
Ipsos has launched InnoExplorer, which uses generative and analytical AI to help clients accelerate innovation cycles 'from months to days' and improve success rates. More
Brand tracking specialist Tracksuit has raised $13.5m in Series A funding, which it will use for its official launch in the US and UK markets, and to expand its research and platform capabilities. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has reported full year 2023 revenue of $2.53bn, down 6% year on year, and adjusted EBITDA of $360m, down 20%. However the company reports strong new business, good growth in EMEA and for its Marketing Cloud suite, and is forecasting a return to growth in 2024. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has agreed to acquire What's Next Partners (WNP), a French digital brand and marketing consultancy whose offer includes consumer intelligence, CRM and data analytics as well as strategic planning, ad creative and digital content production. More
In the US, Allison Wilt and Steve Ingledew have launched ContextualY, a specialist B2B research agency whose four founding Principals between them boast more than a hundred years of experience supporting technology clients and stakeholders. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has acquired London-based Sidekick, an agency collective with skills in experiential marketing, digital storytelling and branded content - and will combine it with its San Francisco-based global marketing and comms consultancy Allison. More
WPP has reported preliminary results for the full year 2023, with revenue (less pass-through costs) of £11.86bn, up 0.9% on a like-for-like basis, and operating profit down more than 60% to £531m. More
Ipsos has reported organic, constant currency revenue growth of 8.8% for the fourth quarter of 2023, and 3% for the full year, with operating profit stable at an all-time high of 13.1%. More
In Glasgow, Scotland, former RBS and YouGov Sport exec Bruce Cook has launched SponsorLab, a new sponsorship measurement tool for sponsors, agencies and rights holders. More
Business services behemoth Accenture has agreed to acquire CX analytics provider GemSeek, for an undisclosed sum. More
Longtime Ipsos exec and current Global Head of Audience Measurement Liz Landy is to leave the company at the end of this month. Daniel Wong-Chi-Man will step up to Lead the Audience Measurement Service Line globally, while Ipsos iris leader James Oates will add responsibility for the business in the UK. More
Reputation and risk intelligence provider Signal AI has acquired Social 360, which monitors and analyses online comment influencing the reputation of clients around the globe. More
UK-based agency Firefish Group has announced five promotions and seven new hires across the business. Fenella Twohig, Ciara Larkin, Rebekah Smith, Karen Chong, Chloe Lee, Jamie Robertson and Jonathan Dance all join the company. More
European consulting and digital services firm Sopra Steria has announced a partnership with media insights firm TRP Research to help broadcasters, advertisers and others understand the way television and VOD services are consumed across different devices and platforms by UK audiences. More
UK-based agency davies+mckerr has appointed former Crowd DNA Director David Power as Head of Quant. More
Publisher Gannett / USA TODAY Network has appointed a dedicated Chief Data Privacy Officer, Marci Moss, with a remit to safeguard the information entrusted to its publications by clients, partners, users and employees. More
In the UK, audience measurement body Barb has awarded the contract for a new piece of research, the CFlight Landscape Study, to insights consultancy BVA BDRC. The work will help barb to estimate TV audience size and profile for various platforms and to understand the dynamics of household VOD consumption. More
Online sample marketplace and research tech company PureSpectrum has appointed former Ipsos, Nebu and Bilendi exec Ian Roberts as Business Development Director for EMEA, based in London. More
AI-based ad optimisation and measurement firm LoopMe has announced the recruitment of more than fifty new employees, growing its workforce by some 20%. This includes the appointments of Slava Taraskin as VP Business Development, and Adam Parker as VP of Corporate Development & Strategy More
Nielsen is expanding its Connected TV (CTV) measurement of YouTube ads into eleven additional global markets, including Germany, India, Japan and the UK. More
In the US, technology researcher Forrester has reported full year 2023 revenue of $480.8m, down 11% on 2022. Adjusted net income was $36.6m, down from $47.2m a year earlier. More
Customer and employee experience firm Medallia has announced four AI-based innovations - Ask Athena, Intelligent Summaries, Smart Response and Themes - geared to personalising customer and employee experience; and has launched a fully self-service MR tool, Medallia Agile Research. More
Consumer behavioral data firm Circana has launched Liquid Data Engage, which allows retailers to manage market performance, category management, loyalty, supply chain, and retail media data assets in one solution, and identify opportunities for growth. More
London-based brand measurement company On Device Research has appointed Gulshan Mahay in the new role of Account Director, in its commercial team in the UK. More
Technology consulting firm Gartner has reported full year revenue of $5.9bn, up 8%, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.5bn, up 2% after allowing for currency changes. Revenue growth slowed again and EBITDA fell slightly in the fourth quarter. More
Ipsos has appointed former Kantar and Mintel exec Dale Beaton as head of its Brand Health Tracking (BHT) Service Line in the UK. More
Consumer data giant Circana has announced changes to its commercial organisation including the appointment of former CPG sector President Jeremy Allen as Chief Commercial Officer. Tim Bush, currently President, General Merchandise, will retire by the end of the year after two decades at Circana and NPD. More
In the US, innovation and experience consultancy Bounteous is to merge with digital engineering, data and AI services provider Accolite Digital, creating a new end-to-end digital transformation services consultancy with a focus on 'co-innovation'. More
Comscore has promoted Alejandro Fosk, previously SVP for Latin America, to EVP International, overseeing its EMEA, APAC and LATAM regions. More
Agile and automated market research platform Zappi has appointed Nataly Kelly as Chief Marketing Officer and promoted Babita Earle from EVP of Global Enterprise Partnerships to International MD. The firm also recently hired Melissa Clucas as CFO. More
Brand measurement company On Device Research has appointed Allan Breiland in the new role of Research Director ANZ, tasked with expanding and tailoring its brand measurement solutions across the region. More
Automated in-home product testing platform Highlight has announced changes to its leadership team, with the appointments of Priyanka Carr as COO and President, and Deirdre Norris as VP of Product. More
French audience metrics company Médiamétrie has announced that its UK subsidiary TAPE Consultancy will be rebranded to operate as part of Glance, its international division. More
Australia-based insights and data business Pureprofile has announced revenue up 8% to $AUD 24m for the half year ended 31st December, and EBITDA of $AUD 2.4m, up 6% or 21% on a like-for-like basis. More
UK-based 'human understanding' agency Walnut Unlimited has announced eleven recent promotions, including that of Becky McGee to Research Director and Yaasir Aslam, Alex Baines, Rachel Ellis and Adam Gilbert to AD roles. More
Origin, a cross-media measurement initiative led by the UK's advertising trade group ISBA has added six more advertiser stakeholders, and says its platform is now 'up and running'. More
Toluna has appointed Lucie Claire Vincent Ortiz to its Board of Directors. As a senior operating executive in multinational consumer product companies, including Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Philip Morris International, she will advise the Board with a particular focus on the needs of this sector. More
In an apparent volte face after refreshing and reinforcing the brand of its communications agency Hill & Knowlton as recently as November, WPP has announced the company will be merged with the group's other major PR firm BCW, with the combined entity renamed Burson. More
Manchester-based kids, parents and family specialist The Insights Family has secured a £5.6m investment, with which to continue and accelerate its rapid global growth. More
Insight agency Opinum has hired Matthew Barton as Senior Consultant, based in Amsterdam, supporting continued 'rapid growth' in Europe. More
Healthcare specialist Research Partnership has launched a new Alzheimer's Disease tracker in Germany, Japan and the US, as part of of its syndicated Therapy Watch series. The firm plans to expand the service to other key European markets this year. More
London-based ad measurement and impact optimisation firm DAIVID has promoted its EMEA MD Barney Worfolk-Smith to the role of Chief Growth Officer. More
In London, data-driven CXM company Merkle has launched a dedicated UK and Ireland Salesforce practice, promising clients the tools to optimise their use of data to enhance the customer experience. More
Audience intelligence platform Pulsar has launched a product called SEARCH, promising instant, search engine-style discovery of news coverage on any topic, across media types and languages. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital marketing group S4 Capital has issued a trading update following a 'difficult year' in which revenue declined around 4%, and says it does not expect any improvement in macro-economic conditions this year. More
MR and analytics group YouGov has promoted Tom Fisher to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), aiming to deepen its relationships with blue-chip clients. More
Media measurement and ad currency giant Nielsen has appointed former Buzzfeed exec Carole Robinson as Chief Communications Officer. More
Marketing budgets in UK companies are moving upwards more strongly than at any time in the last nine years, according to the latest 'Bellwether' report by advertising body the IPA. Breaking down results however reveals that market research is the one sector still in negative territory. More
London-based Firefish Group has rebranded its quant and data analytics business the numbers lab as 'Firefish Data', reflecting its evolution into an agency delivering 'fully connected, integrated and agile human insights consulting, driven by AI, connected data and new technologies'. More
New York-based customer engagement and CXM platform Emplifi, which grew out of the merger of Astute and Socialbakers, has appointed Ohad Hecht as its new CEO. More
Insights tech and panel provider Toluna has promoted Scott Axcell, formerly Head of Marketing for North America, to Chief Marketing Officer. He also joins the executive leadership team. More
Insight and communities firm Verve has announced eighteen promotions across its locations in London, Manchester, Sydney, Iasi (Romania) and Johannesburg, including the appointment of Kim Howard as Semiotics Research Director. More
Australia-based data and insights company Pureprofile is opening new offices in Germany and Portugal, its twelfth and thirteenth worldwide; and has appointed Thorsten Hardtke as Business Development Manager for DACH and Ricardo Cordova for Portugal and Spain. More
GroupM, WPP's media investment group, has announced it will integrate behavioral data into its Choreograph insights platform via Google's Audience Insights API. More
Brand and market research agency Savanta has appointed Richard Brooks as External Communications Director, strengthening its PR team with a UK General Election to be called this year. More
UK-based b2b services group Informa Plc is combining part of its business with US-based b2b purchase intent specialist TechTarget to create a new company in which Informa will hold a majority stake. The British firm will also pay $350m in cash. More
British-based behavioural intelligence platform NumberEight, which provides privacy-focused solutions for advertising, has secured $2.7m in Pre-Series A funding. The money will be used to drive commercial growth, enhance product development and expand in the US. More
WPP is examining a possible sale of its remaining stake in Kantar, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. More
Data collaboration platform InfoSum has launched a new solution called Private Path, aiming to help client organizations securely maximize the value of first-party data outside the clean room environment. More
GfK has completed the sale of its European Consumer Panel Services business (CPS GfK) to YouGov, a divestment required under competition law as part of the German-based global group's merger with retail data giant NIQ. The deal has been valued at around EUR 315m. More
Community-centered CX and insights firm Alida has a new CEO: Efrem Ainsley is promoted from COO to succeed Ross Wainwright, who recently stepped down from the role. More
Audience data and omniscreen measurement tech firm SambaTV has announced a partnership with independent cross-media dataset HyphaMetrics, combining data from the former's opted-in devices and the latter's panel. More
Real-time brand tracking and campaign evaluation firm Delineate has appointed former Publicis Sapient exec James Betteley ('JB') as its new Chief Technology Officer. Former CTO James Stewart transitions to a newly created Chief Operating Officer role. More
Kantar Media may be up for sale in 2024 for 'as much as £1bn', according to reports on Sky News. More
Founder Ross McCray is stepping down as CEO of VideoAmp, with former Discovery and Fox exec Peter Liguori joining as Executive Chairman and ex-Nielsen man Peter Bradbury as Chief Commercial and Growth Officer. The company will also cut almost 20% of its staff, according to reports. More
Consumer data giant Experian has announced new partnerships with media marketplace Sonobi and first party commerce data firm Attain. More
In London, media measurement and optimisation platform Integral Ad Science (IAS) has rolled out Quality Attention, a new product combining media quality, eye tracking and machine learning. The firm says the resulting transparent metrics will help advertisers increase ROI and boost conversions. More
The Insights Family, which provides intelligence focused on kids, parents and families, has relocated its Manchester headquarters to a larger space in the city centre, and has launched in the Republic of Ireland - described as its first 'Tier 2' market. More
Manchester, UK-based RealityMine, which monitors consumer use of digital devices for behavioural insights, has promoted Graham Dean to serve as its first Chief AI Officer and Ewan Leith to replace him as Chief Technology Officer. More
Insights group Human8 has announced a change of leadership at its cultural and creative consultancy Space Doctors. Co-founder and MD Fiona McNae will leave the company at the end of this year, after 22 years, to be replaced by Gareth Lewis and Cato Hunt. More
Social media intelligence and analytics group Meltwater will benefit from a $65m investment from Norwegian private equity firm Verdane, which takes an 11% stake in the company as a result - valuing Meltwater at around $592m. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has promoted Elspeth Rollert to become the first CEO of its Stagwell Marketing Cloud (SMC) division. She was previously its CMO. More
Tech markets insight firm Counterpoint Research has completed the acquisition of display industry specialist Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC). More
Consumer data and analytics firm NIQ has announced the launch of NIQ Labs, an innovation center which it says will 'harness the collective power of top-tier talent and capabilities acquired through strategic M&As'. More
London-based Arcane, which provides an AI 'co-pilot for modern marketers', has announced $5m in seed funding, which it will use to grow its engineering and data teams, and to enhance its platform's AI functionality. More
TV ad measurement company EDO is to enrich its CTV ad outcomes data via a partnership with Experian, whose demographic attributes data will allow more granular measurement across the major TV platforms and manufacturers. More
London-based digital customer experience agency Great State has promoted Jinny Mitchell-Kent and David Chandler to serve as Joint Managing Directors, effective immediately. They replace and will report to Stuart Avery who steps back into the role of Non-Executive Chairman. More
Digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has hired Nick Curran as Director of Business Development, charged with driving expansion of the firm's offer for financial services organisations into new regions. More
DRNO's News Editor of seventeen years Mel Crowther passed away last week after a battle with cancer. Mel has been a wonderful colleague and the driving force in making this publication what it is today, as well as a well-loved figure in the industry, and I'm sorry I know her loss will come as a shock to a lot of you. More
Consumer insights firm Big Village has launched a platform called Audience Intelligence, promising to help clients understand, target and evaluate consumer and b2b segments. More
In Chicago, fast-growing agency QualSights has appointed Tod Johnson and Karyn Schoenbart to its Board of Directors. More
UK-based B2B, healthcare and tech sector researcher RONIN International has appointed Venu Bendapudi as Vice President of US Sales. More
In Pasadena, California, behavioral and location insights specialist Near Intelligence, Inc. has announced it has entered Chapter 11 proceedings in a US Bankruptcy Court, which will supervise the attempted sale of its assets. More
WPP's consumer data specialist Wavemaker has appointed Irin Rahman as Chief Data and Technology Officer in the UK. More
Marcoms group Stagwell, the owner of the Harris Poll and Harris X brands as well as Maru Group, has announced European expansion plans with the launch of a 'global hub' office in London next month, and the promotion of James Townsend to serve as its first CEO of EMEA. More
Veteran UK commercial broadcaster ITV has created a new team, The ITV Insights Group, bringing together its experts in market and media research, analytics and data science. The team will be led by Neil Mortensen, previously Director of Audiences. More
Customer and employee experience solutions provider Medallia has appointed Nick Martin as SVP International. More
'In The Moment' emotive analytics firm Blue Yonder Research has been granted a patent in the US, UK and Europe for its Clickscape technology, which links measured emotions to specific moments in real time. More
In Manchester, UK, customer experience tech news and insights provider CX Today has announced the acquisition of community and content platform MyCustomer, for an undisclosed sum. More
UK ad currency provider Barb has awarded three contracts for audience measurement services: MetaBroadcast retains the metadata contract and adds the provision of interim overnight programme logs, while Clearcast will provide interim overnight commercial spot logs. More
Insights technology and panel provider Toluna has confirmed key leadership positions including regional Managing Directors, following its summer acquisition of MetrixLab. More
Social media intelligence specialist Bakamo has appointed Ipsita Bandyopadhyay, formerly Head of Research and Strategy at Mumbai's Quipper Research, as its new Research Director. More
We are 25! On 29th Nov 1998 the first job ad appeared on mrweb.com. We're celebrating with the relaunch of our directories, under a new brand and with an ambitious new approach; and with Thank You's to our regular advertisers and some special offers for new ones. More
Search intelligence platform Captify has appointed John Piontkowski as President of North America, based in New York; and James Jones as Chief Marketing Officer, based in London. More
US-based, AI-powered sponsorship analytics platform Relo Metrics has expanded its broadcast viewing and valuation data into the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, as well as Asia Pacific. More
Kantar has announced the launch in Spain of its Campaign Audience Validation solution, which helps guide strategic decision-making for ad campaigns. More
Real-time brand and campaign tracking firm Delineate has announced the expansion of its team in Latin America with the appointments of Netzica Reyes as a Client Insight Director and Andy Davies as Associate Client Director. More
UK-based ThisThat, a data company focused on influencer marketing measurement, has appointed Lucy Schofield as Finance Director and Joe Adsett as Growth Director, as it gears up for growth in 2024. More
European omnichannel advertising company Hawk was announced a strategic partnership with audience data company Samba TV, promising more effective targeting for clients. More
Media auditing, management and analytics firm MediaSense has appointed former Britbox International exec Matthew Gardner as COO, supporting plans for international growth. He replaces co-founder Andy Pearch, who moves to an NED role, with immediate effect. More
Mobile survey tech company Livepanel has appointed former Delineate Chief Ben Leet as a Strategic Advisor. More
UK-based broadcaster ITV has launched two measurement solutions, Addressable Lift and TV Auction Boost, allowing clients to measure TV ad business outcomes including web traffic, sales and profit. More
UK firm Edit Agency has acquired customer engagement and data strategy company CustomerKIND, for an undisclosed sum. More
UK TV audience measurement and ad currency body Barb has outlined a timetable for its upgrade to unified TV advertising metric CFlight. The organisation has also hired Luca Vannini for the newly created role of Head of Campaign Audiences, leading delivery of total campaign reporting. More
UK regulator the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned top web sites to make cookie changes to comply with data protection law, or face enforcement action. More
Public policy research, evidence, evaluation and comms agency Verian, until recently known as Kantar Public, has partnered with 'human-first AI solutions' provider Faculty, to support decision-making in government across the public sector. More
Manchester, UK-based data gatherer RealityMine has announced a partnership with US research veteran Bruce Friend, boosting the Stateside push for its recently launched product 'Connect'. More
British Out-Of-Home (OOH) measurement body Route has hired Eda Incekara as its first Marketing and Insight Manager, while Aidan West joins from CCData in the new role of Data Engineer, to help automate, 'wrangle' and surface Route's audience data. More
US-based agency Kepler has incorporated YouGov's Profiles and BrandIndex solutions into its service, to provide clients with market intelligence on a range of categories, for use in media planning and buying decisions. More
British-based reputation specialist Echo Research has partnered with UAE-based branding and creative comms consultancy All About Brands to provide on the ground support to its clients based in the region, supported by its existing teams in both the UK and USA. More
Consumer behaviour specialist ViewersLogic has launched a cross-platform media planning tool, fed by single-source data collected 24/7 from the firm's panel of consumers and using behaviour-based filters to identify target audiences. More
Kantar has launched a proprietary attention framework, which uses facial coding and new gaze monitoring components to give advertisers measures of both active and passive attention, and uncover how well ad content captures the attention of viewers on a second-by-second basis. More
Communications specialist MHP Group has launched a brand strategy offer called 'Reverb', building on its expertise in behavioural science to bring together strategy, creative, design and employee engagement. More
UK-based digital transformation, marketing automation and CRM consultancy Fuelius is opening an office in the US. More
Australia-based data and insights company Pureprofile has announced strong results for the third quarter of 2023, with revenue up 16% to $AUD 12.3m and continuing adjusted EBITDA of $AUD 1.5m, up 36%. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital has reported on a difficult third quarter, with net revenue down 15.4% (10% like-for-like) reflecting lower activity in its Content and Data&Digital media businesses. More
Mobile app measurement platform AppsFlyer has acquired devtodev, which helps developers analyze their games and apps, helping them to optimize user retention, maximize conversions and create personalized experiences. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
UK-based strategic insight and customer analytics group STRAT7 has launched a generative AI tool called strat7GPT, which ingests and analyses unstructured data uploaded from any text-based source, including verbatim survey responses, transcripts, PDFs, presentations and call logs. More
London-based insights and analytics growth consultancy Freemavens has appointed former Black Swan Data exec Lauren Warnock as Analytics Director, while former Kantar Consulting exec Stephanie Holt joins as Senior Consultant. More
Comscore has reported a 1.9% drop in third quarter revenue to $91.0m; but also improved EBITDA, and net income of $2.6m, compared with a net loss of $52.4m in Q3 2022. More
Tiburon, California-based company Jon Peddie Research has launched a consulting division to be known as JPRi. The new unit will provide strategic advice on product pipeline, marketing roadmap, M&A opportunities, and internal efficiency for clients in the Game Tech market. More
Toluna has confirmed its senior team following the June acquisition of MetrixLab. The firm's Chief Sales, Research, Technology and Financial Officers will remain in role while former MetrixLab Global HR Director Hans Verhulst becomes Chief People Officer and Jolique Weelink Chief Insight Officer. More
European data collection group Norstat has handed over management of its research panel in the Republic of Ireland to its newly acquired UK subsidiary Panelbase. More
Tech research and consulting group Gartner has announced third quarter revenue of $1.4bn, up 5.8% or 4.9% at constant currency. Profits were flat with adjusted EBITDA of $333m. More
Tech research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) has announced third quarter revenue up 4.2% to $71.8m (about half of this organic) and adjusted EBITDA flat at $10.6m. It has also announced the acquisition of Ventana Research, expanding its coverage into the software industry. More
UK-based real-time brand and campaign tracking firm Delineate has announced a round of promotions, including Steffan Evans who becomes Production Director in the firm's new Technology and Operations Centre, opened in Wales last month. More
Less than a year after setting up its ad intelligence unit Vivvix, Kantar has sold it to US-based MediaRadar, which now aims to become 'the definitive source of advertising data and insights'. More
Marcoms group Stagwell, which owns the Harris Poll and Harris X brands as well as Maru Group, has announced a revenue decline of 7% to $618m, for the third quarter of 2023. It has also announced the acquisition of social media marketing solutions provider Movers and Shakers LLC, for c.$15m in cash. More
Strategy consultancy The Forge has appointed Laura Halliday as a Director in its Brand Strategy practice, based in London. More
UK-based Ascential, the information and analytics company once known as EMAP, has announced it will sell its digital commerce and consumer research units for around £1.4bn, so as to focus on its events business. More
PR group Hill+Knowlton Strategies has announced the formation of a global Intelligence + Technology capability; a partnership with Pendulum Intelligence; and the launch of a proactive analytics tool, H+K Sonar, which helps firms detect, predict and mitigate harmful narratives online. More
Tech consultancy Forrester Research has announced third quarter revenue of $113.4m, down 11.2% from $127.7m a year earlier. The Consulting division reported the biggest fall, down 24.5% to $28.2m. More
UK-based marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has announced a number of senior appointments: Canada CEO Alfie Atkinson adds the role of 'CEO of UK', while Suzanne Strasser Grant, Danny Hopwood and Mauricio Leon join the company in EVP / C-Suite roles. More
Ipsos has reported third quarter revenue of EUR 588m, representing organic growth of 4.3% and restoring year-to-date organic growth after shrinkage in the first half. All the group's global regions shared in the Q3 growth, with EMEA leading the way. More
Global data and insights company Pureprofile has announced two appointments to strengthen its UK operations. Samantha Cooke joins as Senior Partnerships Manager UK, and Tyrone S'ng as Client Development Manager. More
WPP has reported third quarter revenue less pass-through costs of $2.837bn, down 0.6% on a like-for-like basis and 5.0% on a reported basis. Declines in North America and China offset growth in the UK, Western Continental Europe and the firm's 'Rest of World' region. More
Insights consultancy Verve has announced six promotions across its European team, including Lydia Martin to Research Director. More
DIY online survey synonym SurveyMonkey has launched Build with AI, a survey creation feature powered by OpenAI's GPT-3 software. More
Inight platform and sample exchange Cint has enhanced its attitudinal measurement product, Lucid Impact Measurement, with the integration of social media platform measurement. More
AI-powered ad creative effectiveness research platform DAIVID has appointed Dan Best as Strategic Advisor, Clients. More
Ipsos has acquired Ireland's Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A), which provides opinion and social research studies, as well as market studies - and will combine it with its own operations in the country to become 'the market research leader in Ireland'. The firm will be known as Ipsos B&A. More
London-based consultancy Thinks Insight & Strategy has reshaped its leadership structure with co-fonder Ben Shimson stepping into the CEO role; and promoted Richenda Devereux to Operations Partner. More
Kantar has announced a 'broad expansion' of AI capabilities within its brand strategy and creative development portfolio. They include Link subscriptions, to help stretch ad testing budgets; celebrity recognition in Link AI testing; predictive eye tracking; big data for threat detection; and help with 'sonic branding'. More
Toluna has promoted Dixit Chanana to the role of MD for India, including MetrixLab India and with full responsibility for the development of the Indian business of both brands. More
Divested government policy and comms advisory business Kantar Public will be rebranding globally as 'Verian' from November. More
In the US, AI-powered sponsorship analytics platform Relo Metrics has announced a strategic partnership with SponsorPulse to offer asset-level validation of sponsorship performance for the National Hockey League (NHL). More
UK TV audience measurement and ad currency body Barb has issued an invitation to tender for its Establishment Survey and panel recruitment contract. The panel will be expanded next year to include 7,000 homes. More
Today sees the launch of Ipsos RISE, which combines the group's corporate reputation and public affairs expertise with AI to provide 'a ground-breaking platform for modern brand, risk and reputation management'. More
Streaming service Netflix has made ad measurement a 'top priority', and will build on a recent partnership with Nielsen in the US to offer similar capabilities to partners in other countries, according to co-CEO Greg Peters. More
Customer and employee experience specialist Medallia has appointed Simonetta Turek as Chief Product Officer and a member of the executive leadership team. More
Users of consumer research platform Attest can now enhance surveys with video responses, adding a qual element to the firm's existing quant offer and bringing them together in its dashboard. More
Nielsen has launched its ONE Content cross-media measurement solution in a first country, Denmark, with plans to roll out around the world over the coming months. Sister product Neilsen ONE Ads is already available in twenty markets. More
Neighborhood networking service Nextdoor has launched new solutions to help users measure and optimize ad performance, both on- and off-line. More
British, tech-based insights and data firm Delineate is moving its headquarters to Ceredigion, on the west coast of Wales, and says it will build its team there to some 50 employees. More
Cloud-based marketing platform Zeta Global has announced new AI-enabled features for marketers looking to improve results and upgrade the consumer experience. The new additions include forecasting, modeling and attribution capabilities, and a customer intelligence app. More
Nielsen has announced that CFO Warren Jenson, who joined the ratings giant just five months ago, will add the role of company President to his existing responsibilities. He will oversee the modernisation of operations and manage Nielsen's IT, Corporate Development and Global Strategy functions. More
In the UK, STRAT7-owned cultural insight and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA has appointed Elliot Pigram as its new Global MD. Pigram will take the reins on 1st January next year from founder and CEO Andy Crysell, who will move to the position of non-executive Chair. More
Origin, the cross-media measurement initiative of the UK's advertising trade group ISBA, is to work with US-based cross-screen analytics provider Samba TV, to test television data from the latter's proprietary automated content recognition (ACR) technology. More
DIY online research pioneer and enterprise feedback platform SurveyMonkey has added MaxDiff Analysis features, using industry standard Best-Worst scaling methodology to assess respondent's preferences. Existing customers on Advantage or higher plans get the tools for free. More
In London, audience measurement solutions firm AudienceProject has appointed former Nielsen exec Paul Barnard as Managing Director for the UK. More
Research platform Fastuna has announced the departure of its MD of five years Maria Soroka, and the appointment of Ipsos veteran Rimantas (Rimas) Remontas to replace her. More
Kantar Media has signed an agreement with Romanian industry TV measurement body ARMA, to continue providing broadcast TV ratings to the market until the end of 2027. More
Canada-based opinion researcher the Angus Reid Group has appointed long-time Maru exec Michelle Walkey as Senior Vice President, leading the company's efforts across the financial services sector. More
London firm Unitary has raised $15m in series A funding, for use in scaling its AI video classification technology which 'understands video the same way that humans can'. More
UK-based insights and data firm Delineate has promoted Simon Sketchley to the role of Chief Client Officer, covering all aspects of client delivery including insight functions, data services and quality. More
Self-serve programmatic ad platform StackAdapt has partnered with B2B web site visitor identification software developer Lead Forensics, to expand its ABM (account based marketing) Targeting and Measurement solution in the EMEA and Canada. More
Insights consultancy Verve has appointed former Hall & Partners exec Deidre Sullivan as Senior Vice President, North America. She is based in New York. More
Connectivity giant Cisco is to splash out $28bn in cash to acquire Splunk, which focuses on cybersecurity, data analytics and observability. More
Human insight business One Minute to Midnight has launched a dedicated global quantitative unit called 'One Minute to Midnight & Counting'. More
WPP-owned marcoms network Wunderman Thompson has launched an AI-powered creative testing tool called 'Reveal', which measures the attention and the emotional connections that people have with brand content. More
The UK's TV audience measurement body Barb has upgraded its API to include non-linear viewing on broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD); subscription video-on-demand (SVOD); video sharing services and viewing on PCs, tablets and smartphones. More
In London, custom MR agency Tapestry Research has appointed former Firefish Numbers Lab exec Sam Elphinstone as Research & Strategy Director. More
London and New York-based customer data and experience specialist Ometria has raised £8m in growth capital, for use in further developing the retail-specific AI capabilities of its platform. More
DIY online survey pioneer SurveyMonkey has appointed former Cloudflare and AWS exec Amit Prakash as Chief Marketing Officer. More
Retail media analytics platform mimbi has raised EUR 1.5m in a funding round, and says the money will help accelerate its commercial development in Europe. The firm has also added former Cdiscount CEO Emmanuel Grenier and investor Marc Menasé to its board of Directors. More
AI-powered sponsorship analytics platform Relo Metrics has formed an Advisory Board, comprising Bayer's former Global Media Director Samuel Rueff; Sky Media UK's former MD Jamie West; and Dana Venino, who is currently Relo Metrics' Chief Customer Advisor. More
Long-time Nielsen exec Karthik Rao has been named as the company's new Chief Executive Officer, replacing David Kenny who moves to the role of Executive Chairman. More
First-party insights data company Dynata has appointed Brad Brockhaug for the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). He is based in New York. More
Consumer behaviour specialist ViewersLogic has launched its Single-Source Panel app on iOS. The panel was previously only available for Android users, and the firm says the expansion makes the panel more representative of the UK population. More
Nielsen's entertainment data provider Gracenote has launched a program to help content publishers and broadcasters get their 'Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV' (FAST) channels and programming distributed by major streaming platforms. More
Joint industry cross-media measurement programme Origin is partnering with media research specialist Differentology, to deliver its quarterly UK Media Landscape and Enumeration Survey. More
In the US, decision intelligence company Morning Consult has appointed Joseph DeVeny as Head of Research Solutions; Ryan Bien as Head of Analytics & Data Operations; and Alex Menendez as Head of Customer Success. All are based in the firm's Commercial division. More
Transatlantic quant and qual insights firm Illuminas has announced a merger with Rockbridge Associates, pooling expertise in sectors including technology, financial services, travel and education. More
Nielsen is planning to lay off 9% of its global workforce, in order to cut costs and 'realign revenue'. Employees received the news in a statement issued on Wednesday, and the cuts are expected to affect around 1,000 members of staff. More
In London, eCommerce software provider Shop Circle has raised $120m in a Series A round of funding, through a combination of equity and debt. The investment will be used by the firm to continue building and expanding its suite of eCommerce tools. More
Tugce Bulut and Oliver May, the co-founders of London-based mobile intelligence platform Streetbees, have left the business. The company is now led former Chief Commercial Officer, Vidisha Gaglani, and previous Chief Technology Officer Sean O'Connell. More
From next January, the UK's TV audience measurement body Barb is to assume responsibility for post-campaign validation tool CFlight, which provides the total reach and frequency of ad campaigns across all viewing platforms; including those aired on both linear and BVOD services. More
UK commercial radio industry body Radiocentre has launched a free online tool called 'Audio Need-states Navigator', to provide media decision-makers with audience insight based on data from its Generation Audio study of listeners. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile device data firm RealityMine has enhanced its video measurement offering with a tool called Connect, allowing for analysis of content consumption across major streaming platforms and all connected devices. More
London-based DMR (previously known as DigitalMR) has launched an AI 'theme identification' feature for social media listening, allowing users not just to listen to what their customers are saying, but also to predict what they will say next. More
In the UK, operations support MR business Omnisis has launched a brand called WeThink for its public opinion polling work. More
European MR and analytics agency DVJ Insights has appointed three consultants: Pavi Chandrasekaran in the UK, Joyce Pakkert in the Netherlands, and Dominik Ebbers in Germany. More
Sky Media has launched an ad targeting tool called Viewing Passions, which uses the group's first party data to create and target audiences based on viewing of a particular show or channel / genre. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published draft guidance concerning the gathering and use of biometric data, offered for public comment and consultation between now and 20th October. More
Marcoms giant Omnicom has announced an expansion of its partnership with corporate comms group Criteo to encompass digital shelf and other retail data; and a new deal between its OMG media services division and customer data science pioneer dunnhumby. More
US-based online news aggregation, content rating and discussion web site Reddit has launched two new tools to help advertisers measure campaign performance: Reddit Brand Lift and Reddit Conversion Lift. More
Data, analytics, and insight consultancy MESH Experience has appointed media veteran Brian Jacobs as a Non-Executive Director focused on managing investor relations, as it looks to scale. More
British-based behavioural intelligence platform NumberEight has unveiled an ID-less ad targeting product, Euclid Lite, allowing users to pitch ads based on age and gender without the use of any kind of personally identifiable information. More
Ireland-based publisher and RED C Research owner The Business Post Group has acquired research-based consultancy services provider Relish Research, for an undisclosed sum. More
UK radio measurement body RAJAR has announced that two people will fill the role of long-time Research Director Paul Kennedy, when he steps down after 22 years of service: John Carroll as Director of Research and Audiences, and Charles Lawrie as Research Operations Director. More
Stagwell-portfolio media agency Assembly, has launched its European Retail Media division, to deliver connected commerce solutions designed to help retail and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands scale, automate and improve margins at all stages of the consumer journey. More
In the UK, recently launched research and consultancy firm Pegasus Insight has appointed former Verve / BVA BDRC exec Chris Whitmore as Director, to help drive business growth. He is the third member of the new team. More
In the UK, WPP's consumer data specialist Wavemaker has promoted Sian Runnacles to the role of Chief Growth Officer, responsible for 'unlocking' growth for new and existing clients as well as growing the agency's specialist services including commerce, addressable, SEO and 'applied innovation'. More
CX and insights firm Alida and insights platform Discuss have deepened their partnership to extend the former's qualitative research solutions, adding Discuss's moderator capabilities to Alida's managed service offering in its Video Discussions product. More
YouGov has fully integrated Australian insights consultancy Faster Horses, and brought it under the YouGov corporate brand, two years after it acquired the business. More
Israel-based ad optimization company Nexxen has partnered with UK-based attention measurement platform Lumen Research, to deliver the latter's 'first' omnichannel solution to advertisers across CTV, online video and display. More
New York City and London-based data intelligence platform Tracer has closed an oversubscribed $18.1m Series A round of funding. More
WPP has partnered with DXP provider Optimizely, to help clients offer the best digital experience to each customer. More
Tech analyst Gartner has reported second quarter revenue growth of 10.0%, once adjusted for currency effects. Total revenue hit $1.503 billion, with profits stable (adjusted EBITDA of $384m, down 0.3%). More
Digital experience platform CoreMedia has acquired two companies: customer journey, engagement and personalization solutions firm BySide; and Smarkio, which provides chatbot solutions to B2C brands. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, direct-to-consumer customer engagement platform Odore has raised $5m in a seed round of funding, which it will use to expand its team and business globally, and launch new tools. More
In the UK, former Lifestream CEO Sam Curtis has returned to Kantar as Head of the Digital Analytics practice. More
UK insight agency Walnut UNLIMITED has named Jane Rudling as its new Managing Director, succeeding Chris Bland. The firm has also appointed two Research Directors - Vanessa Henry to lead its shopper proposition, and Raluca Usery in the Qualitative team. More
Tech research and consulting firm Forrester has announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30th, showing total revenue down 8.5% to $135.6m, and for the first half down 8.8% to $249.3m. More
Audience targeting solution Covatic has appointed Frans Vermeulen as Strategic Advisor, to strengthen the company's presence in the US market. More
WPP's consumer data specialist Wavemaker has announced that its Consultancy, Fast Growth and B2B Practices will be led by the three of its Global Client Presidents - Anna Hickey, Alastair Bannerman and Alex Altman, respectively. More
Australia-based research agency Mobile Digital Insights (MDI) has hired former Behaviorally exec Inna Merenkova as Managing Director for Europe, charged with building a standalone MDI Europe business. She is based in London. More
Ipsos has announced results for the second quarter of 2023, returning to very modest organic revenue growth thanks to a strong performance in emerging markets. The group says its business is 'returning to a more usual pattern' after Covid and is on course for a good year. More
Media measurement and optimisation platform Integral Ad Science (IAS) has announced an integration with PR and media company Criteo, offering a product for measuring onsite quality metrics for retail media. More
Sports marketing agency Wasserman has reached a deal to acquire London-based marketing and brand experience agency CSM Sport & Entertainment from marketing services group Chime. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Online survey specialist SurveyMonkey is expanding its Dublin office, as it lays out plans to invest in artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics. The moves follow its recent acquisition by a consortium led by insights sector investment firm Symphony Technology Group (STG). More
Total UK marketing budgets appear to be rising again, according to the IPA's quarterly Bellwether Report, but the authors say the rise is driven by record investment in short-term focused sales promotion activity. Views of MR budgets were little changed with slightly more respondents (2.9%) reporting decline than growth. More
In the UK, consumer behaviour data company ViewersLogic is partnering with media investment analysis specialist Ebiquity, integrating the data from its Single-Source Data Panel (SSD Panel) with Ebiquity's media optimisation platform. More
In London, Measure Protocol has announced the launch of a new consumer behavioral data platform, which integrates fully permissioned behavioral, demographic and psychographic data from multiple sources. More
WPP's consumer data specialist Wavemaker has promoted Premjeet Sodhi, currently its Chief Strategy Officer for India, to Global Head of Measurement and Analytics, based in New York. More
UK-based consumer intelligence technology company Measure Protocol has appointed Christie Hartbarger as its first Chief Revenue Officer. She is based in Chicago. More
London-based media measurement and optimisation platform Integral Ad Science (IAS) has expanded its Total Media Quality for Google Video Partners (GVP) service to provide measurement of brand safety and suitability measurement. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile device data firm RealityMine has made nine new appointments, including former BBC exec Mark Owen as Product Manager for its media content solutions. More
Marcoms firm Omnicom Media Group has acquired UK-based financial services agency Ptarmigan Media, whose range of services includes fully integrated media planning and buying, market research, search and social media, and content and creative. Terms were not disclosed. More
Global membership association ESOMAR has launched a task force to address the use of artificial intelligence in the research, insights and analytics sector. More
Leeds, UK-based consumer intelligence firm STRAT7 Researchbods has opened an office in New York, its first in the US. Former Echo-MR exec Steve Becker joins to help expand the firm's US operations. More
WPP has opened its first UK campus outside London, bringing together staff from its agencies in Manchester - including EssenceMediacom, formed from the merger of data and measurement-driven media agency Essence and media network MediaCom; and its consumer data specialist Wavemaker. More
GfK has entered into an agreement to sell its European Consumer Panel (CP) business to YouGov, as part of its deal to merge with NielsenIQ (NIQ). Terms of the CP sale have not been disclosed. More
In London, Kantar has hired former eBay / Amazon exec Bérengère Chaintreau-Fuchs for the newly created role of Global Panel Director in its Profiles division. More
In London, marketing group MSQ has appointed long-time Kantar exec Eleanor Lloyd-Malcolm as co-Managing Director of its data-driven consultancy, Freemavens. More
UK-based marcoms group UNLIMITED has launched a division called Unlimited B2B, bringing together the specialist strengths of its comms and marketing agencies Nelson Bostock and TMW Business, to helps clients improve conversion through every stage of the buying journey. More
Australia-based mobile insights consultancy MDI has acquired a majority stake in Moroccan based research agency Insightek, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, insight consultancy Bryter has hired Robert Downer as Senior Insight Consultant and Charlie Wood as Associate Insight Director, both in its Technology and Gaming team; along with four promotions in its healthcare team. More
In the UK, research and strategy consultancy Redblue has appointed Chloe Finnegan as a Director in its qualitative team. More
dentsu has completed the $516m acquisition of digital marketing business Tag Group from previous owner Advent International. The buy was first announced in March and among things should boost the global marcoms group's CX and personalisation offerings. More
Experience management platform Qualtrics has received a $500m investment from venture capital firm Accel. More
CRM software giant Salesforce has partnered with consulting division Deloitte Digital to offer business clients help in deploying AI in CRM functions. More
UK-based business, healthcare and tech sector researcher RONIN International has appointed Terry Sweeney as Head of North America. More
Tesco-owned data firm dunnhumby has appointed Josh Bottomley as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Dan Olley who had been in the post only since January 2022. More
In the UK, retail intelligence platform Upp. has raised $10m in a seed funding round, which it will use to continue improving its technology, accelerate the growth of its sales and marketing function, expand geographically, and launch new AI/ML-driven automation solutions for retailers. More
Austin, Texas-based MR software and services firm QuestionPro has acquired PathosAI, which analyses consumer emotions and motivations. More
Research panels and services company Bilendi & respondi has relaunched its Discuss tool with new qual research features based on ChatGPT. More
Ad tech company Outbrain has launched a platform called Onyx which promises to help clients optimise digital display and video ads for user attention. More
MrWeb has partnered with insight sector organisation GreenBook, publisher of the GRIT Report and the GreenBook Directory, and organiser of IIEX events, to further expand the reach and appeal of its job board, currently in its 25th year. WIRe (Women in Research) and ESOMAR are already partners. More
WPP's consumer data specialist Wavemaker has expanded its Global Growth team with the appointment of Natalie Yorke as Global Growth Partner based in London; Lynne Reilly as Chief Growth Officer in the Americas, and Natalia Lopez as Head of Growth for Latin America. More
WPP's media investment company GroupM has launched a service called Total TV Measurement, which it says will help its clients in the UK understand the value of addressable TV. More
Havas Media Network (HMN) has rolled out its CSA consumer behavior specialist business across its global network, promising clients improved understanding of customer data and higher ROI through analytics and machine learning solutions. More
Consumer insight consultancy BVA BDRC has promoted Lucy Watts, James Myring and James Bland to MD roles, overseeing the Financial and B2B, Media, and 'On the Move' divisions, respectively. The firm has also promoted Richard Stevenson and Kiran Kuttappa-Gold to its Board. More
Portugal-based media measurement platform Mediaprobe (previously known as MindProber) has appointed former Kynetec exec AJ Johnson as Chief Operating Officer, based in London. More
London-based customer interaction analysis specialist Glyphic AI has launched out of stealth with $5.5m in a pre-seed funding round. More
UK commercial radio industry body Radiocentre has re-appointed Donna Burns - this time as Head of Insight - after a four-year break from the organisation. More
Data and tech-enabled marcoms group MSQ Partners has been acquired by private equity firm One Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum. More
In London, Thinks Insight & Strategy (previously known as BritainThinks) has made four appointments, including Gabrielle Ferdinand as Research Lead. The firm has also promoted five members of its team. More
Israel-based ad optimization company Tremor International is changing its name to Nexxen, with its Amobee, Tremor Video, Unruly and Spearad brands all to be replaced. More
Audience measurement solutions provider RSMB has announced a partnership with analytics and activation tech company Streamhub, promising a 'unique' service for cross-platform measurement of linear and streamed TV viewing. Both firms are UK-based but Japan will be an initial focus. More
In India, analytics and insights company Course5 Intelligence has raised a further $53m in funding, which will be added to a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) 'war chest' of around $80m. More
Kantar has launched an ad creative testing solution called LINK+, built on its LINK normative advertising database and integrating the firm's ad testing capabilities into one solution, with results available in as little as six hours. More
In the UK, B2B and B2C billing solutions provider MDS Global has launched a marketing decision intelligence platform called MDS DecisionAI, providing insight to mobile network operators (MNOs), mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and sub-brands, as well as fixed line operators. More
In the UK, audience targeting solution Covatic has given its Board Chair, Sarah Lawson Johnston the role of Chief Revenue Officer. In addition, Sarah Whitfield joins the company as Chief Marketing Officer. More
WPP and graphics technology provider NVIDIA are developing an engine through which the former's artists and designers can create large volumes of more tailored and immersive 3D ad content, such as images or videos; and experiences such as 3D product configurators. More
UK broadcasting group ITV has launched a free measurement consultancy for its advertisers, called Geo-X, providing tools for them to run 'geo experiments' to prove the effectiveness of their campaigns. More
Brighton, UK-based social media listening and content marketing analytics firm Brandwatch has expanded its MR offering with the addition of Reddit Social Panels, tapping the consumer discussion site's communities and posts for fast, in-depth audience analysis. More
Digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has issued a trading update for its full year 2023, which will end in July, reporting reduced expectations and a market 'even more cautious than it expected' at the time of interim results in March. More
In the UK, Edinburgh and Manchester-based ad agency Leith has launched a standalone full-service market research capability, led by Paul Drawbridge in the newly created role of Research Director. More
London-based advertising effectiveness specialist System1 has launched a new service called Test Your Ad Digital, which it says will predict and improve the commercial impact of digital advertising. More
B2B tech purchase intent data firm TechTarget has announced that its Enterprise Strategy Group has expanded to EMEA and APAC, welcoming Brian McKenna and Aaron Tan as Regional Directors of Analyst Services for the two territories, respectively. More
Video insights provider Voxpopme has launched what it claims is the first AI-powered video survey - Smart SurvAI - allowing insights professionals to create survey questions with the help of OpenAI's ChatGPT. More
Brighton, UK-headquartered social media listening and content marketing analytics firm Brandwatch has expanded Iris, its AI-based in-app analytics tool, to enable brands to tap into recent advances in GPT technology. More
Customer and employee experience specialist Medallia has appointed Dan Madden as Chief Financial Officer and Robert Baca as Chief Technology Officer. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has reported first quarter revenue up 26.5% to £262m, representing like-for-like growth of 6.1%. Growth came mainly from the new Technology Services division and entirely from the Americas. More
In London, ad agency AMV BBDO has appointed Robyn D'Arcy as Head of Data, responsible for growing the firm's data offering and expanding its areas of expertise. More
Research software and solutions firm Forsta has added a self-serve visualization and data storytelling solution called Forsta Studio Canvas to its Human Experience (HX) Platform, combining data with imagery to illustrate the journey of customers and employees. More
Digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has acquired Edinburgh-based Forecast Data, whose AI and machine learning tools help businesses understand, predict and optimise their performance. The deal is valued at an initial consideration of £3m, with a total capped at £13.1m. More
SurveyMonkey parent Momentive has reported a GAAP loss of $23.8m in its first quarter, improving on a loss of $35.0m in the same period last year. Revenue was up 2% to $118.8m, from $116.9m in 2022 Q1. More
US-based tech research and consulting firm Gartner has reported an 11.6% increase in first quarter revenues to $1.4 billion, up 14.3% excluding the impact of foreign exchange. In the key Research division, revenue rose 7.1% on a reported basis to $1.2 billion (or 9.5% FX neutral). More
Kantar has launched an 'always-on' brand performance tracker called BrandNow, delivering daily benchmarks and short-term forecasts for 25 product and service categories. The solution is initially available for tracking US and UK markets. More
Digital advertising, marketing and technology services company S4 Capital is working on a succession plan for its founder and Executive Chairman Sir Martin Sorrell. More
Sky Group's Chief Business Officer Patrick Béhar is joining Kantar Media in September as Global Chief Executive. He will take over from Chris Allen, who has led the exec team since 2022 and will now focus exclusively on his role as Global CFO. More
Digital media measurement and verification firm Integral Ad Science (IAS) has partnered with attention measurement platform Lumen Research, to provide clients with an improved way to track which ad impressions have captured attention and are likely to lead to a business result. More
Automated consumer insights platform Zappi has expanded its Amplify ad development system, co-developed by consumer brands including PepsiCo, McDonald's and Reckitt, to help marketers optimize and validate their digital and TV advertisements at every stage of the creation process. More
Ipsos exec Tasneem Ali has joined the group's AI-enabled social media intelligence business Ipsos Synthesio as its Head in the UK. More
In London, programmatic media platform Dataseat has appointed former Facebook data scientist Matina Thomaidou as Vice President, Head of Data Science. More
In the UK, full-service social and MR agency IFF Research has promoted eleven of its employees, including Marc Cranney to Research Director. More
In London, research and strategy consultancy MTM has appointed Jonathan Stone as Director and Head of its Technology & Telco practice; Becky Ferguson as Director and Head of the Media & Advertising practice; and Michael Thompson for the newly created role of Head of UX Research. More
System1 shareholders have voted to keep Non-Executive Chairman Rupert Howell and founder and Executive President John Kearon in their existing roles, following demands for change by two former company execs. More
Independent UK organisation The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has appointed Kris Hicks to serve as its new Executive Director for Diversification and Development, starting in May. More
Marketing measurement provider Objective Platforrm has appointed long-time industry exec Roy Patel as UK Managing Director, based in London, while Marc Lücke joins as an Account Executive, based in Düsseldorf. More
Google has merged its artificial intelligence research units, DeepMind and Brain, to form a new unit called Google DeepMind. More
London-based voice analytics firm Phebi, which already uses AI to identify nonconscious emotion, has added generative AI to summarize research results and enable additional interaction with them. More
In London, specialist B2B marketing consultancy Gravity Global has hired brand strategist Stephen Cheliotis for a newly created role, Global Brand Insights Director. More
Ipsos has reported a 2.9% drop in Q1 revenues to EUR 532m, with organic decline of 2.8%. The firm had said when presenting its 2022 annual results that it anticipated a 'tougher first quarter'. The total is still 26% up on the figure for Q1 2019, pre-Covid, and Ipsos says it expects annual growth of c.5%. More
Marcoms agency network Wunderman Thompson has expanded its global B2B offering with the launch of an initiative called 'Inspired B2B', bringing together its expertise in creative, business transformation, content, experience, loyalty and personalisation, and commerce. More
Companies in the UK are more likely to be seeing MR budget cuts than increases, according to data from the latest Bellwether report from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). In the first quarter of 2023, a net 3.2% of firms reported declining spend. More
UK-based insights and data firm Delineate has announced the return of its former Business Development Director Tony Pelham to the company as Commercial Director. More
Research software and solutions firm Forsta has launched a qual research tool called Forsta Discussions, allowing clients to plan, conduct and monitor video focus groups within its 'Human Experience' (HX) platform. More
Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and Executive Chairman of digital advertising, marketing and technology services company S4 Capital, is undergoing 'further preventative treatment' following keyhole surgery in February to remove a tumour. More
Paris-based social media-sampled insights firm Episto has opened an office in London, and appointed former Nielsen and Lucid employee Julie Tebeka to lead it. More
YouGov has appointed Meta Platforms exec Steve Hatch as Chief Executive Officer from 1st August. He will take over from co-founder Stephan Shakespeare, who will become Non-Executive Chair, replacing Roger Parry. More
Momentive has rolled out three recently launched survey creation features for SurveyMonkey Enterprise and paid customers in the UK and Ireland. More
Ipsos has promoted Pedr Howard to the newly created role of Executive Vice President and Head of its Creative Excellence team in the US. More
Ipsos-owned B2B researcher Xperiti has launched a solution called Vepp, which it says will flag fraudulent profiles and ensure that only genuine respondents can participate in online surveys and panels. More
British big data-based decision intelligence firm Quantexa has announced a $129m Series E round of funding, which values the company at $1.8 billion. More
PR and comms monitoring group Onclusive has launched a CEO Index, analysing media coverage of the leaders of the US and Europe's biggest listed companies. BP's Bernard Looney has been named top ranking CEO in the UK, based on an overall impact score. More
In New York, Kantar's recently formed ad intelligence business Vivvix has appointed Matt Young as Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for all global revenue, customer success and commercial operations. More
Global insight and customer analytics group STRAT7 has acquired UK-based strategy, insight and planning consultancy Rainmakers CSI for an undisclosed sum. The company will be integrated into Incite, which STRAT7 acquired in 2021. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a £12.7m fine to short-form video hosting service TikTok for a number of breaches of data protection law, including failing to use children's personal data lawfully. More
Ben Leet has stepped down as CEO of UK-based insights and data firm Delineate, with former CEO and company founder James 'JT' Turner resuming the role. More
Marketing and communications agency Allison+Partners has launched a multicultural marketing offering called M365, comprising a team with expertise in 'ensuring diverse consumer groups are seen, heard and valued every day of the year'. More
British-based Mediatel is to rebrand with the name of its parent group Adwanted, two years on from its acquisition by the US- and France-focused company. The firm tracks trends across digital and traditional media. More
Mindshare UK has appointed Alexis Faulkner as Chief Transformation Officer, leading the group's Insights, Technology and Analytics and Digital Planning teams; and Richard Kelly as Chief Solutions Officer. Both are new roles. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital has reported full-year revenues of £1.07bn, representing like-for-like organic growth of 25.8%. Operational EBITDA was £124m, up sharply in H2 to over £90m versus £30m in H1. More
Dublin and London-based researcher RED C has added Ciara Reilly and Bryan Cox to its Group Management Team. More
Behavioural science-based marketing and MR consultancy System1 has added an audio-only element to its 'Test Your Ad' tool, allowing advertisers to optimise their audio ads for different audiences. More
Digital advertising, analytics and eCommerce firm Making Science has appointed former Head of Google Analytics 360 Toby McAra as Chief Revenue Officer, based in London. More
In London, consumer behaviour data company ViewersLogic has hired Shahnawaz Ahmed to head up its new Single-Source Data (SSD) Panel. More
Data firm Near Intelligence, Inc. has completed its merger with special purpose acquisition company KludeIn, and commenced trading on the Nasdaq. The firm's SaaS platform provides intelligence on people, places and products. More
In the UK, marcoms group WPP has acquired data-driven influencer marketing agency Goat for an undisclosed sum. More
UK audience measurement body UKOM has extended its endorsement of Ipsos' iris solution to 2027, following what the global agency describes as a 'series of successes'. In addition, Ipsos has added online video data insights to the iris platform. More
Two former senior execs of marketing and MR consultancy System1, former CEO Stefan Barden and ex-CFO James Geddes, are calling for board changes including the retirement of Rupert Howell as Chairman and NED, and the moving of founder John Kearon into an NED role. More
Comscore has launched a dedicated programmatic targeting division called 'Proximic by Comscore', which will provide end users with access to more than 2,600 predictive, ID-less audiences and content-level solutions across CTV, linear, digital, DOOH and audio. More
British Out-Of-Home (OOH) measurement body Route has issued an invitation for partners to design a measurement system for out-of-home advertising on posters and screens across Great Britain. More
UK-based insight and foresight platform Signoi has expanded its analytics toolkit to include automated video analysis, with a specific focus on TikTok. More
Five years after its acquisition, social media intelligence and AI-enabled consumer listening platform Synthesio has changed its brand name to Ipsos Synthesio. More
Channel 4 will be the first UK broadcaster to offer brands the option of using Microsoft's advertising and analytics division Xandr to deliver campaigns to viewers. The agreement covers ads on its All 4 free-to-view video on demand service. More
Predictive analytics startup Nexoya has raised $5m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to accelerate growth in Switzerland and Germany, while expanding into new markets such as Italy and the UK. It will also further develop its AI platform, and work to integrate additional advertising channels. More
SurveyMonkey parent Momentive has agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by insights sector investment firm Symphony Technology Group (STG), for approximately $1.5bn. More
Experience management firm Qualtrics is to be acquired by tech investor Silver Lake, in partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), for around $12.5bn in cash; and will become an independent, privately held company. More
Consumer insight provider InSites Consulting has changed its name to Human8, defining itself as a 'human-driven consultancy, connecting brands with people and culture to drive positive change'. More
Kantar has launched an advanced analytics solution called Digital Mirror, using NLP and advanced graph and correspondence analysis to spot trends and map them to off-line consumer and product segmentations. More
In the US, recently merged consumer data and insights firms Information Resources Inc. (IRI) and The NPD Group have named the combined company 'Circana', which CEO Kirk Perry says conveys the business's 360-degree, full-circle understanding of the consumer and market. More
In the UK, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) insight and data specialist Digital i has promoted Matt Ross to the role of Managing Director. He takes over from interim MD Emma Shelton, who is stepping back from daily operations to concentrate on chairing the firm's Board of Directors. More
In London, dentsu-owned customer experience management (CXM) company Merkle has promoted three execs for newly-created UK and Ireland executive leadership roles. Among them, Clare Morgan is promoted to Chief Client Officer. More
UK-based behaviour forecasting firm Ramp has raised $5m in a seed round of funding, which it will use to support the onboarding of new clients. More
In London, creative and technology company MSQ has hired Anna-Lee Bridgstock - formerly Director of Data, Intelligence and Planning at social media publisher LADbible - for the new role of Partner of Analytics & Insight in its Freemavens division. More
UK-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform Attio has raised $23.5m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to accelerate engineering and product development, and expand its go-to-market presence globally. More
In the UK, personalised beauty shopping marketplace Sourcerie has raised £1.8m in a pre-seed round of funding, which it will use to continue to build its tech platform and personalisation software for consumer skin, hair and body care consumers and brands. More
MrWeb's RAIDAR real-time ranking of top companies operating in analytics, insight and data is now fully operational, and you'll see financial results, CEO changes and other items from tonight's Daily Research News reflected in tomorrow's top 40. More
Customer and employee experience specialist Medallia has appointed Joe Tyrrell as CEO, replacing Leslie Stretch who is retiring and transitioning into an advisory role at the company. More
Comscore has reported financial results for the fourth quarter and calendar year 2022, with annual revenue up 2.7% to $376.4m, and adjusted EBITDA up 16% to $37.0m. More
British big data-based decision intelligence firm Quantexa has acquired Dublin's Aylien, which taps natural language processing to empower its customers to collect and analyze unstructured text data. More
UK-based ad optimisation and measurement company LoopMe has appointed Alberico de Nardis as Head of South East Asia, and moved Bernard Fung to the role of Head of North APAC. Simon Stone expands his role and becomes GM International, while Amazon exec Lisa Coffey joins as Global CRO. More
UK television audience measurement body Barb has appointed Khaled Serafy as its first Head of Data Science, charged with reviewing, verifying and developing the organisation's complex methods and models. More
Verve, which focuses on culture, communities and 'smart digital research', has launched a 'hub' in Melbourne, Australia and appointed Christina Tonkes to lead it as Senior Director. Meanwhile Mirjam Grari joins the team in Sydney. More
In the UK, kids, teens, parents and family market intelligence specialist The Insights Family has made eight new hires across its Technology, Research, Customer Success and Support divisions - as well as four promotions. More
Next15's data, MR and advisory company Savanta has launched its first European Consumer Confidence survey, which will be run quarterly to understand a range of factors, including awareness of brands' sustainability and data privacy actions. More
In the UK, consumer insights provider dunnhumby has launched a tool called Revenue Growth Planner, to enable consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands to forecast the sales impact of changes to a product's pricing and promotional strategy. More
'Data creation' platform Walr has appointed former Savanta EVP Peter Flower as Chief Operating Officer, while Tariq Badar joins as Chief Financial Officer. Meanwhile co-founder Patrick Fraser is stepping back from the day-to-day running of the firm, but will remain a Non-Executive Director. More
BARB, the UK's television audience measurement body, has announced a commitment to expand its measurement of audiences to include 'fit-for-TV' content on video-sharing platforms. At the same time the organisation has changed its company name to Barb Audiences Ltd. More
Marcoms giant Dentsu has acquired Madrid-based customer relationship management specialist Omega CRM Consulting, which it will add to its own CXM division Merkle. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Manchester, UK-based full service MR agency Mustard has promoted Molly Hilton and Joe Stanley to Research Manager roles, while hiring Emma France as Senior Research Executive, and adding Izzy Tooze and Nadja Moncolova to its graduate scheme. More
A European Parliament Committee has expressed serious doubts about the proposed 'adequacy decision' giving the green light to the latest rules for the transfer of data to and from the US. LIBE says the US commitments lack the robust safeguards and redress mechanisms required by GDPR. More
Communities specialist InSites Consulting has announced an expansion of its Executive Committee and the appointment of a first Chief Growth Officer - Managing Partner Tom De Ruyck. More
UK-based Verve, whose expertise includes community panels and culture, has announced the promotion of marketing and comms head Vicki Britton and the appointment of former Streetbees and Kantar exec Jadwiga Kozubek as a Director; as well as a raft of other promotions and hires. More
Dublin's RED C Research has strengthened its UK business with the appointment of Ettie Etela as Director and Genie Barton as Project Manager. More
SurveyMonkey parent Momentive has reported revenue up 8% to $480.9m for full year 2022. The rise is the net effect of rapid growth in the 'sales-assisted' segment - up 27% to $181.3m - while self-serve business remained flat at $299.6m. However the firm says it will also cut 14% of its workforce. More
UK Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising trade body Outsmart has announced the forthcoming launch of an industry-wide tool which will bring OOH media-owner data - both 'classic' and digital - into a single interface for buyers. More
Dublin and London-based researcher RED C has launched an online platform called RED C Direct, allowing clients to test their own ad creative, backed by the firm's survey design, sampling expertise, effectiveness model and norms. More
Ipsos has reported 2022 annual revenue up 12% to EUR 2.4 bn, representing organic growth of 5.6%. In the final quarter of the year, the business grew by 8.8%, including nearly 4% organic growth. More
Omni-channel measurement and attribution solutions provider Kochava has acquired London-based Machine Advertising, which uses analytics and machine learning techniques to help clients build products in the app marketing space. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Global technology comms consultancy Hotwire has launched a suite of data intelligence solutions, covering 'every aspect of the marketing journey'. More
In the US, research and advisory firm Forrester Research has reported a loss of $1.6m for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a profit of $8.0m for the same period a year earlier. Q4 revenue rose 2.4% to $136.9m, and over the whole of 2022 revenue was up 9% to $537.8m. More
Former Lightspeed, Ipsos and Schlesinger exec Matthew Seabrook has joined agile research solutions and panels firm Borderless Access, as its sales representative in the UK. More
In the UK, The Insights Family has hired Voxpopme co-founder Tom Williams as Chief Growth Officer, while moving Clive Maudsley to the role of COO. Founder Nick Richardson moves to Chief Strategy Officer, following the appointment of Rachel Bardill to lead the Marketing and Partnerships team. More
In Edinburgh, Scotland, fan experience and data platform Fanbase has raised £1m in a new round of funding, which it will use to expand its operations and marketing in North America. More
US-based tech research and consulting firm Gartner has reported Q4 2022 revenue of $1.5 bn - up 15% reported, or 20% on a constant currency basis. The largest division, Research, saw revenues up 9% on a reported basis to $1.18 bn, up 13% at constant currency. More
British tabloid newspaper The Sun has made its consumer insight tool 'Sun Polls' available as a commercial service for brands and educational institutions. More
US-based conversational artificial intelligence and automation specialist Uniphore has acquired UK firm Red Box, which offers a platform for capturing voice and screen metadata from conversations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Portuguese consumer neuroscience-based media research platform MindProber has appointed former Oracle Moat Product Head Irina Dzyubinsky as Chief Product Officer. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile data specialist RealityMine has launched a 'Data Marketplace', allowing clients to access digital behaviour data from real people via global, privacy-compliant datasets - including consumers' mobile search behaviour, web page visits, app usage, and ad and media exposure. More
London-based strategic insight consultancy Firefish has appointed Richard Owen as Group Head of Innovation, with a seat on its Board. More
Online community specialist C Space has promoted Kisha Payton to the newly created role of Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer, while Claire Kennard, Andy Fitzgibbons and Neha Mittal join the company's Senior Consultancy EMEA team. More
Enterprise tech company Syncfusion has added its business data analysis tool Bold BI to the SurveyMonkey App Directory, enabling users to import data from SurveyMonkey to create, customize and share business dashboards. More
WPP's media investment wing GroupM has announced the long-awaited launch of its new agency EssenceMediacom, comprised of 10,000 people across 120 offices globally. More
UK television audience measurement body BARB has launched the beta of an API which it says will give clients more flexibility into how they access its viewing data. More
German-based software giant SAP has announced plans to cut up to 3,000 jobs, and says it will explore the possible sale of its 71% stake in experience management firm Qualtrics. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile device data firm RealityMine has announced a formal partnership with a long-time collaborator, panel recruitment and data sourcing specialist Amplify MR, offering clients global private community and panel access. More
Community engagement platform OpenWeb has acquired proprietary audience management platform Jeeng, for around $100m, strengthening its offer helping brands to connect with online audience across channels and devices. More
UK-based ITV has increased its investment in data tech company InfoSum by 50% of its original amount, following the launch of the TV broadcaster's updated Planet V premium ad platform, and the recent launch of the Matchmaker VOD targeting product. Terms have not been disclosed. More
In the UK, personalization platform Fresh Relevance has launched a module helping B2B eCommerce companies engage with prospects and convert them to repeat customers. More
BARB, the UK's television audience measurement body, has awarded its panel expansion recruitment contract to Ipsos, which will grow the nationally representative panel of households from 5,150 to 7,000 homes. More
In the UK, marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has appointed former Quantcast exec John Thomson as Chief Revenue Officer, while Clare Beddow joins as Head of Commercial Strategy. More
In the US, web data extraction and integration provider Import.io has been acquired by venture equity firm Scaleworks, for an undisclosed sum. More
Portugal-based media research platform MindProber has appointed former Formula E media exec Sebastian Tiffert as Vice President of Client Development, charged with driving its expansion in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. He is based in London. More
UK market research budgets continued to contract during the final three months of last year, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report. Total marketing budgets grew during the period however, despite expectations that the economy had entered a recession. More
New York-based real-time media attention measurement specialist Adelaide has opened an office in London, to support brands and agencies across the UK and EMEA regions. The office will be led by former Oracle Advertising exec, Ed Bristow. More
In the UK, long-time BBC Children's exec Rachel Bardill has joined kids, teens, parents and family market intelligence provider The Insights Family, to lead its Marketing and Partnerships team. She is based in Manchester. More
As of today, you can filter MrWeb's recently-launched real-time ranking of top companies providing MR, insights, data and analytics activities, to include just one type (eg Full Service) or one headquarters country. Another ten firms have been assessed and added, making it a top 40. More
UK-based insights and data firm Delineate has announced two senior hires, Arun Mylavarapu as VP of Client Success and Simon Sketchley as Head of Data Services. More
Following last month's news that Nielsen is restructuring its business into three global units, and the departure of five of the firm's senior managers, the company has confirmed it is reducing total headcount to 'roughly in line with where it was a year ago'. More
Consumer data giant IRI has appointed former Amazon exec Florian Clemens as Vice President of Advertisers & Agencies EMEA, tasked with growing the company's media business across Europe. He is based in London. More
Kantar has appointed Cheong Tai Leung as Chief Executive Officer of its Insights Asia Pacific business. She is based in Singapore and takes over from Wayne Levings, who will now focus exclusively on his role as Kantar's Chief Client Officer. More
Car manufacturing conglomerate and mobility provider Stellantis, whose brands include Citroën, Fiat, Chrysler and Maserati, has announced the launch of a unit dedicated to B2B products, applications and services based on its massive data sets. More
Former MRS President and ad industry leading light Jeremy Bullmore has died aged 93, shortly after retiring from WPP after 67 years at the group and its predecessor companies. More
Groupe Publicis has announced the acquisition of London-based Yieldify, which will form part of the global marcoms giant's advertising and marketing technology division Epsilon. More
Alchemer, the experience management and enterprise feedback tech company once known as SurveyGizmo, has announced the acquisition of mobile CX specialist Apptentive. More
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Facebook parent Meta EUR 390m for breaking EU privacy rules, following the $725m settlement revealed in a US lawsuit this week and with a UK case looming at the end of the month. More
Investment firm BC Partners is to acquire a majority stake in New York and London-based Account Based Marketing (ABM) specialist Madison Logic, from private equity firm Clarion Capital Partners. Others including the firm's CEO and co-founders will retain their minority shareholdings. More
In the US, Meta, the parent of Facebook, has agreed to settle a lawsuit relating to the Cambridge Analytica data breach, and will pay $725m, reportedly the largest sum in a privacy-based class action. More
That's it for another year from DRNO - our next issue will be for January 3rd 2023. Our very best wishes for a Merry Christmas to all those of you celebrating it, a Happy New Year to all readers, and a big Thank You as ever for your support and feedback in 2022. More
Today we're launching RAIDAR. Like an industry top 30 companies list, but instead of publishing it once a year, we'll update it every day based on yesterday's DRNO stories and other company data; show our workings; include companies never before considered; and allow sorting by a long list of criteria. More
Nielsen is restructuring its business into three global business units, according to online publication AdAge: Nielsen Audience Measurement, Nielsen Analytics and Gracenote. Current COO Karthik Rao will become CEO of the first of these. More
Business Process Management (BPM) solutions provider WNS has acquired platform-based research and analytics firm The Smart Cube for $125m. WNS has also bought procurement platform consultancy OptiBuy for EUR 30m. More
NowVertical Group (NOW), which combines human expertise and big data analytics, is to acquire two UK-based data analytics specialists - Smartlytics Consultancy and Acrotrend Solutions - for a total of $6.45m. More
InnovidXP President Jo Kinsella has announced she is leaving the company 'to explore new adventures'. She joined in March when ad tech firm Innovid paid $160m to acquire measurement and optimization firm TVSquared. More
Kantar has launched a team called Global Connected Data Solutions, within its audience network Profiles division, to help advertisers maximise the value of their first-party data. More
Simon Redlich, Chief Executive of UK media ad currency body and auditor ABC, has been re-elected as Global President of the International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Certification (IFABC) for a second term. More
Automated consumer insights platform Zappi has raised $170m in growth capital, which it will use to expand data sets across new markets, verticals and categories; power its platform innovation with emerging technologies; and continue expanding its team globally. More
CEO Jami talks to MrWeb's Nick Thomas about how she came to be co-founding and growing a data collection business for the 21st century; embracing the tech, but keeping customer service front and center. Taken from the 'Data Visualization' special issue, out now. Available either to read or watch. More
Australia-based attention measurement company Amplified Intelligence has acquired ad verification company AttentvAds, for an undisclosed sum. More
Disney's Advertising division has announced an advanced integration with ad measurement, planning and optimization platform VideoAmp, using 'Clean Room' technology to offer clients ad metrics and privacy-compliant first-party data usage in the post-cookie world. More
Brighton, UK-based insight and foresight platform Signoi has unveiled a new service analysing videos from any source, and including the use of higher-order semiotic frameworks which it says can 'pinpoint significant shifts in motifs within a video, and ultimately capture the whole narrative in its essence'. More
US-based digital experience platform (DXP) Crownpeak has acquired product discovery specialist Attraqt for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based customer insights and analytics platform Chattermill has raised $26m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to support its expansion in the US and Europe, and develop its partner network worldwide. More
In San Francisco, video analytics company Twelve Labs has closed a $12m seed extension funding round, for use in adding product features, continuing R&D, and for further development of its foundation model for video understanding. More
Consumer research platform Catalyx has appointed Jenny Kieras, formerly of The Insights Family, as Global Head of Accounts. More
Australian customer insights and advisory consultancy Fiftyfive5 has been acquired by professional services giant Accenture for an undisclosed sum. More
Long-time Kantar CFO Olivier Lefranc has joined automated insight-gathering and sample management platform Cint, as Chief Financial Officer, based in Paris. More
UK-based consumer intelligence platform QuMind has launched a solution called Dynamic StoryBoards, to help clients bring context-rich insights into 'one clear visual'. More
Next15's data, MR and advisory group Savanta has merged four previously acquired companies - ComRes, MSI, YouthSight and MindSpark - under the Savanta brand name. More
Cologne, Germany-based media intelligence provider UNICEPTA has acquired British-based digital and media intelligence specialist Marble Global, for an undisclosed sum. More
Continuing our month-long focus on Data Visualization Sandro Kaulartz, Chief Innovation and Product Development Officer at Ipsos Social Intelligence, talks to MrWeb's Nick Thomas about Topic Modelling, data hybridization and the democratization of data science. Available to read or watch. More
Kids, teens, parents and family market intelligence provider The Insights Family has appointed Clive Maudsley as Managing Director, replacing Will Pearce, who had held the position for less than a year. Meanwhile founder Nick Richardson is stepping down from as CEO to focus on specific areas. More
Our 2022 Data Visualization special issue is published today. In this featured article, Forsta's VP Global Sales Manny Rodriguez outlines a strategy for designing and implementing visualizations that 'reach audiences, tap into their mindset and encourage them to make a move'. More
Ecommerce enablement platform AppHub has acquired Reviews.io, whose software facilitates customer reviews, loyalty programs, surveys and the management of user-generated content. Reports suggest the buyer paid around $72m in cash and shares. More
Culture, community panels and smart digital research specialist Verve has opened a Social Intelligence hub in Brighton, on the south coast of the UK, and a Communities hub in Toronto, Canada. More
Global online communities specialist InSites Consulting has appointed Els De Paepe as Chief People Officer (CPO). She succeeds former Join the Dots CEO Quentin Ashby, who has moved to the role of Global Head of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). More
Global tech consulting and outsourcing giant Capgemini has acquired behaviour change specialist 23red for an undisclosed sum. More
Former Market Research Society (MRS) President Jeremy Bullmore is retiring from his role as a non-executive director of WPP, at the age of 93. To celebrate his work over nearly seven decades, friends and colleagues have launched a portal called 'Best of Bullmore,' showcasing details about his career. More
In New York, digital asset management (DAM) platform Tenovos has secured a $10m Series B round of funding, co-led by Stanhope Capital Group, Bertelsmann investment fund BDMI and S4S Ventures, which is backed by shareowners of Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital. More
In Canada, privacy-preserving machine learning and natural language processing tech firm Private AI has raised $8m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to expand operations across Europe and enhance its products, including the launch of a self-service tool. More
UK TV broadcaster Channel 4 has announced a data partnership with Sainsbury's loyalty card initiative, Nectar360, to support advertiser targeting on Channel 4's streaming platform, All 4. More
Beginning a month-long focus on data visualization, the Forsta CEO talks to MrWeb's Nick Thomas about empathy, athletes, M&A, investing in tech, and 'seeing the future through mountains of data'. Available to read or watch. More
UK commercial television broadcaster ITV has partnered with TV insights company Adalyser, to launch a 'Share of Voice' tool, through which advertisers can benchmark their TV presence. The broadcaster has also launched a retail matching tool called Matchmaker. More
UK-based attention measurement platform Lumen has merged with media-buying platform Avocet, with the combined business taking the Lumen company name - and announcing a £3m funding round. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
London firm FlexMR has enhanced its suite of analysis and reporting tools with the launch of ActivateMR - using a variety of in-platform data collection sources to help researchers build collaborative, real-time dashboards. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital has reported 26.5% like-for-like revenue growth, in a third quarter trading update. Reported revenue was up 68.2% to £300.1m, and the firm says operational EBITDA for 2022 is in line with a revised target of c.£120m. More
Event-driven data engineering platform Quix has raised $12.9m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to grow its team, and accelerate investments in product, partnerships, community and open-source initiatives. More
Consumer insights provider Toluna has acquired the qualitative research technology platform developed by online MR specialist Further, for an undisclosed sum. This technology will be integrated into the end-to-end solution Toluna Start, to launch a new service called 'Toluna Start Qual'. More
Customer experience management specialist Sprinklr has extended its partnership with Salesforce, promising clients a more complete view of their customers. More
UK television broadcaster ITV has launched a tool called Automated Contextutal Targeting (ACT), to provide advertisers with insights into 'moods, objects and moments' in programmes that they can use to 'fine-tune' their campaigns. More
Comscore has reported a third quarter revenue rise of just 0.3% - to $92.8m from $92.5m in last year's Q3. Adjusted EBITDA was little changed at $11.7m (up 3.5%) while one-off costs turned net income of $2m a year ago into a net loss of $52.4m. More
International data collection and research tech company Schlesinger Group has hired former Kantar Americas CEO Reed Cundiff as Chief Executive Officer, following Steve Schlesinger's move into the role of Executive Chairman. Meanwhile Isaac Rogers becomes company President. More
Insights provider MetrixLab says it is trialling a methodology allowing respondents to answer survey questionnaires using voice recordings. More
Mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research (ODR) has launched a solution called Omnichannel Brand Impact, to provide brands, ad agencies and media owners with single source measurement for multi-media campaigns. More
BARB, the UK's television audience measurement service, has issued an invitation to tender for a contract to run its content ID system, from January 2025. More
Marcoms giant WPP has announced that John Rogers has decided to step down as Chief Financial Officer, and will be succeeded by former dunnhumby CFO Joanne Wilson. More
In the US, research and advisory firm Forrester has reported third quarter revenue of $127.7m, up 8.1%, led by the Research division which saw growth of 10.3% to $87.0m. More
SurveyMonkey owner Momentive has reported a net loss of $20.3m during the third quarter, down from $22.9m a year earlier, while revenue rose 6% to $121.4m. More
In the UK, marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has acquired privacy-focused audience platform AirGrid, for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based strategic insight agency Truth Consulting has appointed former Yonder director Hamish Asser as Senior Director, to help grow the company's quant offer and capabilities. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insights business Vypr has raised an additional £3.4m, which it will use to scale its product intelligence platform and consumer app, and invest in its commercial and product teams. More
Ad agency network M&C Saatchi looks set to remain independent, after a court session failed to get sufficient shareholder approval for Next 15's bid. The move was effectively blocked by investment vehicle ADV, whose own rival bid had earlier failed to find favour with the Saatchi Directors. More
Dynata has appointed a new Chief Executive: former Dodge Data and Analytics head Mike Petrullo replaces longstanding leader Gary S. Laben. More
Video-based insight specialist UserTesting, Inc. is to be acquired by private equity firms Thoma Bravo - the owner of Medallia and J.D. Power - and Sunstone Partners, for around $1.3 billion in cash. The investors both have shares in UserZoom, and say they will combine the two companies. More
Digital promotions and media tech company Quotient has rolled out its European grocery savings app Shopmium in the US, promising clients the ability to increase brand trial and loyalty while measuring online and off-line shopper interactions. More
Ipsos has reported a 14.3% increase in reported third quarter revenue, to EUR 601.5m from EUR 526.3m a year earlier. Organic revenue growth was 5.3%, while 8.0% resulted from currency effects. More
British-based video feedback and analytics company Voxpopme is to acquire US company HubUX, which provides a platform and service for quick turnaround qualitative and user experience (UX) research. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Culture, community panels and smart digital research specialist Verve has appointed seven new graduates at its office in Manchester and headquarters in London. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is warning organisations to assess the public risks of using emotion analysis technologies, before implementing these systems. The regulator says those firms which do not 'act responsibly' will be investigated. More
Digital publishing execs Nana B. Nyantekyi, Shannon Terry and Andrew Johnson have launched Spiny.ai - a content analytics, publisher intelligence and ad revenue generation business. The launch has been supported by a $2.5m venture capital funding round. More
Mobile phone data firm RealityMine and app-based data firm Qrious Insight have partnered, to offer behavioural custom panel building and community management along with behavioural targeted surveys for brands and their agencies. More
In London, personal data business CitizenMe has launched a self-service platform called the Ethical Human Data Marketplace, which it says will help marketers understand the changes in citizens' behaviour resulting from the use of smart devices, web3 and the metaverse. More
Australia-based consumer data company Pureprofile has announced record revenue of $12m (up 17%) and EBITDA of $1.0m for the quarter ending September 30th - despite a decision to shutter its Pure.amplify Media business in the UK. More
In Galway, Ireland, investigative intelligence analytics specialist Siren has appointed Dr Ryan Clarke as Managing Director of a new strategic and applied projects division, Siren Consulting. More
London-based strategic insight consultancy Rainmakers CSI has announced new hires including Megan Bateman as a Consultant, and Diellza Osmanaj and Sonny Dewhurst as Associate Consultants; and has promoted George Randell and Chris Tough to Senior Consultant roles. More
In the UK, more firms continue to report growth in marketing budgets than decline, despite the country's soaring cost of living and economic / political uncertainty, according to the IPA Bellwether Report. However, the net positive balance was at its lowest for 18 months. More
SurveyMonkey owner Momentive Global Inc has been approached regarding a possible sale and is discussing its options with advisors, according to Bloomberg. More
Paris-based experience optimization company AB Tasty has acquired Epoq internet services GmbH, an AI-driven recommendation and smart search solution headquartered in Ettlingen, Germany. More
SurveyMonkey parent company Momentive has made 11% of its workforce redundant, as part of what it calls a restructuring plan to improve operating margins and improve efficiency. More
Netflix has joined Disney+ in signing up with BARB, the UK's audience measurement body - a major move forward in measurement of streaming services and the first time Netflix has joined an industry-owned audience currency. More
Insights group MetrixLab is opening a second UK office, in Manchester, and appointed three people to work in it: Cecily Crawley joins as a Team Lead and Richard Lomax as an AD, while recent joiner Sam Smith will move from remote working. Three more positions are being recruited. More
London-based in-product research platform Ribbon has raised £2.6m in a seed round of funding, for use in continuing to build out its technology and grow its team. More
Data solutions business Sagacity has acquired London-based marketing and insight agency REaD Group, for an undisclosed sum. More
Marcoms group Dentsu has launched new gaming data and insights capabilities across 21 markets globally, bringing together research panel data from its Consumer Connection System (CCS) with specialist gaming data from Global Web Index (GWI). More
Nielsen has announced the completion of its previously announced sale to a private equity consortium in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $16 billion, including the assumption of debt. More
Kantar has added three new brand metrics to its Link AI for Digital predictive tool - Aided Awareness, Consideration and Purchase Intent - which it says 'make it possible to forecast digital ad effectiveness and brand consideration in as little as 15 minutes'. More
President Joe Biden has signed an executive order outlining US commitments to safeguarding personal data in transfers between the States and the EU. The rules slot into the new Privacy Framework agreed in principle in March this year, intended to replace the fallen Privacy Shield arrangement. More
UK-based insights and data firm Delineate has brought in Sandra Garbuno Alcantra as Head of LATAM. She worked for more than twenty years at Kantar, latterly as a Senior Client Lead. More
UK television audience measurement body BARB is looking for suppliers to recruit for an expanded panel. Submissions are due by 7th November 2022, with work beginning in January. More
US-based media optimisation platform Measured has launched a new benchmark comparison tool, and announced its official launch in the UK. More
London-based design research agency The Big Picture (TBP) has promoted Chris Aukett and Laura Pereira to serve as Joint Managing Directors. Former MD John Cassidy becomes company Chairman. More
In the UK, Omnicom-owned data-driven marketing agency network Hearts & Science has promoted Amy Matthews for the newly created role of Chief Experience Officer (CXO). More
4Sales, the advertising arm of UK TV broadcaster Channel 4, has partnered with media consumer behaviour measurement firm ViewersLogic to develop a platform which measures an individual consumer's journey to purchase, rather than just the media they consume. More
London-based digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has promoted Adam Hasemeyer to the role of Group Chief Executive Officer for the Americas region. He replaces Kelly Manthey, who moved into the position of Global CEO in July. More
Google has announced that its Surveys and Surveys 360 solutions will no longer be available after November 1st, as it believes in their current form they are no longer the best way to help businesses of all sizes run custom market research. More
Kantar's TGI consumer data team has partnered with location intelligence company Adsquare to help brands build targeted, cookieless and ID-free localised ad campaigns in Great Britain and France. More
Omnicom-owned data and analytics firm Annalect has named Marie Clayton UK Managing Director, and part of the firm's senior EMEA leadership team. More
Research agency 2CV has added Matt Haydock as Research Director in its UK Qualitative team; Jonathan Smetherham in its Singapore team as Research Director; and Heath Gregory in the US as an Associate Director. More
In the US, Comscore has set out a cost-cutting restructuring plan, which will see an undisclosed number of employees lose their jobs. More
Cultural insights and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA has opened an office in Los Angeles, headed by recently appointed David Stewart. The firm has also hired Hina Hussain as Head of Agency in New York, and Radha Patel as a Director in Singapore. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has appointed M:Metrics co-founder Seamus McAteer as an independent Director, to help build the business in North America and advise on overall product and corporate strategy. More
Long-time Kantar group CEO Eric Salama has been appointed as Global Chair of recently divested unit Kantar Public. More
Research and customer / employee experience technology provider Forsta has announced upgrades to its online focus group solution InterVu, integrating high quality video and audio for virtual experiences, enhancing sharing features, and adding quick polls and other features. More
YouGov has launched free 'Lite' versions of its BrandIndex and Profiles tools, allowing users to analyse their target audiences and track brand performance for no charge. More
Text analytics software firm Relative Insight, headquartered in the UK, has appointed long-time IBM exec Kimberly Shernoff to lead its US-based sales team from the firm's new Philadelphia office. More
In the US, marcoms network Stagwell has launched a Risk and Reputation business unit, to help business leaders audit the issues most important to their stakeholders, develop proactive and reactive strategies, and monitor and measure the impact of positions on business reputation. More
Kantar has expanded its YouTube measurement services, allowing marketers to assess ad effectiveness in both single channel and multi-channel campaigns. More
Automated insights platform Zappi has hired MRS Board Chair Sinéad Jefferies for a newly created role with a global remit, Senior Vice President of Customer Transformation. More
TV ad measurement firm iSpot has appointed Jodie McAfee as Senior Vice President of Agency Partnerships, to expand and deepen cooperation with agencies and lead initiatives aimed at helping those firms to integrate iSpot's products for buying, planning and optimization. More
In the UK, full-service agency IFF Research has appointed Hilary Burkitt, Sarah Cheesbrough, Daniel Pearmain and Jagjit Dosanjh-Elton as Directors in its London office. Dosanjh-Elton has been named the company's first Chief Financial Officer. More
Culture, community panels and smart digital research specialist Verve has appointed Kylie Fitzpatrick as a Director in its Manchester Hub. Additionally, the company has made hires in Sydney and London, along with six London promotions. More
In London, media intelligence provider Onclusive has appointed former Escalent exec Rob Stone as Chief Executive Officer, following the resignation of Manuel Moerbach, who has returned to New York. More
Marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has sold a majority stake to private equity firm Bridgepoint, in a deal said to value the company at up to $1 billion. More
Automotive giant General Motors will be the first advertiser to integrate its own first-party data with media group NBCUniversal's identity platform, NBCUnified. More
Web data platform Bright Data has announced the acquisition of eCommerce insights provider Market Beyond, adding digital shelf analytics to its range of services. On the back of this buy, the firm is launching a new division, Bright Insights. More
On-demand insights provider Toluna has appointed Jeff Claypoole as General Manager, Americas, responsible for sales and revenue growth in the region. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile device monitoring specialist RealityMine has announced three promotions to support client growth and ongoing product development: Craig Parker becomes Product Manager, Sarah Davis Head of Operational Excellence, and Richard Stewart Delivery Manager. More
Viewer engagement metrics firm TVision and attention measurement specialist Lumen Research have announced a formal partnership promising cross-platform attention measurement for US and UK customers; with TVision developing a new UK-based, opt-in panel. More
Private equity firm Beringer Capital has spent an undisclosed sum to acquire a majority stake in Toronto, Canada-based Dig Insights. More
US- and UK-based ReedPop, known for its pop-culture events and journalism, has launched an audience targeting platform called ENGAGE, promising in-depth user insights across its community of digital and in-person customers and accurate targeting of pop-culture fans worldwide. More
Next15's data and insights division Savanta has acquired London-based research firm Motif, a 40-strong consumer and b2b agency providing expertise in customer experience, brand strategy and proposition development. Terms were not disclosed. More
Community panels pioneer and culture expert Verve has launched ignite@VERVE, a new offer combining its heritage in communities and smart digital research with a range of proprietary tools including AI, a global network of 'cultural and creative individuals', and a new cultural values framework. More
BARB, the UK's television audience measurement service, has announced an industry consultation on the extension of its reporting to include all television and 'television-like' content on video-sharing platforms; and appointed former Vodafone exec Paul Evans as an independent adviser to lead it. More
Seven weeks on from launching, app-based data firm Qrious insight has added Craig Stevens to its leadership team as Chief Commercial Officer. More
In Singapore, government and public sector research and advisory business Kantar Public has appointed Cheryl Chung to lead its policy advisory business in Singapore. More
In London, B2B marketing specialist alan. has announced the launch of a research division called Integrated Intelligence, which it says aims 'to fundamentally change how B2B marketers understand their industries'. Josh Cohen and Emilie Pirson will lead the new unit. More
London-based media monitoring and market intelligence firm Signal AI has acquired US corporate reputation platform KELP. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Kantar has announced unaudited results for the first half of 2022, with 'gross revenue' up 5% (at constant currency rates) to $1.832bn and adjusted EBITDA up 6% to $310m. Unadjusted, revenue was down 1.8% to $1.566bn, while one-off events contributed to an operating loss of $88m. More
US-based cloud-based subscription management platform provider Zuora has announced plans to acquire London-based Zephr, which allows digital publishers to test, optimize and monetize their subscription products. Zuora will pay $44m in cash at close, plus up to $6m earn-out. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has hired former Nielsen exec Simon Clarke for the newly created role of Commercial Lead for Singapore and the APAC region. More
London-based media agency the7stars has launched a solution called 'Bridge', which promises to bring together UK media, data, and technology partners to help clients 'unlock the potential' of addressable data. More
Accenture's interactive customer experience and analytics business Accenture Song has hired former R/GA exec Tuomas Peltoniemi as Managing Director, Go-to-Market & Client Service, for Southeast Asia. More
Dynata has announced the formation of a Global Research and Data Sciences Center of Excellence (COE), led by Steven Millman and bringing together the expertise and methods of its Research Delivery, Panel Sciences and Data Sciences teams. More
Apple has launched two rankings of the top podcasts on its network: Top Subscriber Shows, which allows listeners to browse the top 100 shows individual included within a subscription; and Top Subscriber Channels, featuring the top 100 channels with a subscription and two or more shows. More
Zurich-based mobility analysis platform Teralytics has acquired the Streetlytics mobility data business from location infrastructure software firm Bentley Systems. Bentley is investing in Teralytics, but financial details have not been disclosed. More
Accenture has acquired data-driven commerce agency The Stable, which focuses on helping consumer brands build and operate their own digital commerce channels and manage their brand and sales performance. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Game and content creation platform Unity Software has rejected an unsolicited '$20 billion' bid from AppLovin, the parent of measurement company Adjust; and says it will continue with its own bid to buy ad tech and analytics firm ironSource. More
YouGov has promoted Laura Robbie, previously MD Australia, to the role of CEO of the Asia Pacific region, replacing Julien Chevignon who becomes CEO for Western Europe. More
Google has agreed to pay around $AUD 60m ($US 40m) to settle claims that it misled consumers about use of their location data, back in 2017-18. More
TV tech and all-screen ads and analytics company Samba TV has entered the Spanish market via a partnership with ad tech platform Smartclip. More
UK-based Mediatel Connected, which aggregates media research data from a variety of sources to track trends across digital and traditional media, has launched Performance, an app allowing users to channel digital marketing spend based on trends, performance scores and modelling. More
Retail data and research firm VST (Virtual Store Trials) has promoted Charlotte Kiddle to the newly created position of Chief Research & Partnership Officer. More
Research software firm Forsta has acquired crowdsourcing and innovation platform HelloIgnite, which helps companies collect, share and manage innovation ideas from employees in order to improve experiences for customers. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
In London, insight consultancy Firefish has appointed former Flamingo exec Joella Vera Bril as a Director, combing human insight and cultural strategy to help clients answer business and brand challenges. More
Professional services giant Accenture is to acquire Indonesia-based brand and experience agency Romp, for an undisclosed sum. More
WPP has reported interim results for the first half of 2022, with reported revenue up 10.2% to £6.755bn, equivalent to 8.7% growth like-for-like (LFL); and profit before tax up just over 6% to £419m. More
EU regulators are proposing a EUR 60m fine on French ad tech company Criteo for consumer tracking, profiling and targeting activities said to breach GDPR. The company 'strongly disagrees' with the findings, has time to respond in detail, and a final decision is likely to be taken in 2023. More
London-based entertainment research and consulting firm Ampere Analysis has opened its first international office, in Culver City, Los Angeles; and appointed a team of four there, led by Executive Director Guy Bisson. More
Glasgow, Scotland-based pharma sector social media intelligence company Talking Medicines has hired Mike Strassberg as its first US-based employee, based in New York. In his role as Chief Customer Officer, Strassberg is tasked with driving the firm's continued growth in the US. More
Australian ad tech firm Veridooh has launched in the UK, as part of a wider plan to expand its digital out-of-home (DOOH) verification solution to new markets. More
Online research, data and analytics tech firm YouGov has expanded in Latin America with the opening of an office in Mexico City, serving the research needs of brands and agencies in the region and providing operational support for the firm's work across the Americas. More
Digital advertising and tech services group S4Capital has named Colin Day Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, as part of plans to tighten its financial control, risk and governance processes; and Chris Martin as its first Chief Operating Officer. More
US-based ad network and targeting specialist Vibrant Media has launched a solution through which publishers can offer advanced contextual targeting tied to timely content - such as an event or specific content related to a product that has either a positive or negative tone. More
Kantar and China-based consumption and media research company Sinomonitor have announced a data sharing partnership, to improve access to the former firm's TGI consumer insight data and help their respective clients better understand their growth markets. More
Research software firm Forsta and local marketing platform Rio SEO, which are both owned by Press Ganey, are combining. Both will continue to serve current clients under their existing brands, while Forsta has welcomed all Rio SEO employees to its sales, ops, product and engineering teams. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Kantar has launched a fast-turnaround solution called Brand Equity Evaluation, to help users quickly answer questions about brand equity strength in a competitive environment, and how to improve it. More
In the UK, customer experience measurement platform Uncrowd has added former dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay to its Advisory Board. More
Paris-based user experience analytics firm Contentsquare has closed a $600m growth investment round, doubling its valuation to around $5.6 billion. Money will be used for geographical and product expansion, M&A, and to support long-term growth in key markets. More
Nielsen has announced the launch of the methodology it will use to give media buyers reach metrics for YouTube comparable to those provided for linear TV. The measurement spans computer, mobile and connected TV devices. More
Consumer data company Pureprofile has issued a business update for the period ended 30th June 2022, with full year revenue up 39% to $AUD 41.7m, and EBITDA up 28% to $AUD 4.0m. More
London-based intelligence platform Scuba Analytics has appointed Pete Caputo as Chief Customer Officer and Meno Schnapauff as Customer Solution Architect; and says it plans to expand into the EMEA region. More
Ipsos has reported second quarter revenue of EUR 574.0m, representing organic growth of 2.1% (reported growth 8.9%). After exceptional results in Q1, the group cited global events and the end of Covid measurement contracts - as well as strong comparatives from Q2 2021 - for the lower figures. More
Total UK marketing budgets continued to grow at a solid pace in the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest Bellwether Report from ad association the IPA; but market research was not among the gainers, with budgets falling for a net 6.5% of companies. More
Digital experience consultancy Bounteous has brought in former Merkle executive Michael McLaren to serve as President, North America. More
London-based digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has announced that CEO J Schwan is retiring from his role at the end of this month, and will be succeeded by Kelly Manthey, currently the Group's CEO for the Americas. More
Digital services group Informa is to acquire multi-market B2B audience development and digital content specialist Industry Dive, from private equity firm Falfurrias Capital Partners. Terms have not been disclosed. More
UK TV audience measurement body BARB has hired former InSites Consulting exec Matt Laycock for a newly created position, Audiences Director. He joins on 26th September. More
UK-based mobile phone data firm RealityMine has made three new hires at its 'Centre of Excellence in Data Science' in Manchester. More
UK-based customer insights and communities platform developer Researchbods has launched 'Expert Lab', providing clients with training and support for its proprietary insight community platform, ex-plor. More
London-based Future Anthem, which provides data science services to businesses in the gambling industry, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding, earmarked for company growth, product investment, and to launch in North America with a focus on sports betting. More
S4 Capital-owned digital transformation specialist TheoremOne has appointed Will Kelly as Chief Growth Officer, to help scale its cross-functional, go-to-market capabilities. Three further C-Suite appointments and two new VPs have also been announced. More
In London, insight-led integrated agency group UNLIMITED has appointed Elinor Jones as Managing Partner, to cover all government accounts, with a seat on TMW UNLIMITED's leadership team. More
US and UK-based API infrastructure platform Kevel, which is used to build custom ad platforms, has acquired Portuguese audience segmentation and customer data platform Velocidi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Video insights provider Voxpopme has launched Project Templates, providing a library of ready-made video surveys for running qual research and helping scale customer conversations. More
Insight group STRAT7 has announced organic growth of 30% for the financial year just ended; along with 5 appointments. Among them, former Bonamy Finch MD Paul Carney becomes a Partner in the Consultancy practice, with former Head of Advanced Analytics Paul Jackson filling his previous role. More
In the UK, advertiser association the ISBA has named Tom George the first Chief Executive Officer of Origin, its joint industry, cross-media measurement programme. He will take up his role in September. More
Forsta, the company formed last year through the merger of research software firms Confirmit and FocusVision, has launched Digital Diaries, a mobile ethnography app designed to obtain qualitative insights at scale. More
London-based Snowplow Analytics, which helps businesses collect and manage their customer behavioural data, has raised $40m in a Series B round of funding. The money will be used to grow its team, build support for new data types, and scale internationally. More
In London, CXM company Merkle has announced the senior team for its recently launched UK Experience & Commerce (E&C) practice, led by Paul Lynch. More
New York-based consumer insights platform Suzy has launched a service called Suzy Live Focus Groups, allowing researchers and marketers to run qual and quant research in one connected platform. More
NielsenIQ and GfK have announced an agreement through which the two firms will be 'combined', with NielsenIQ's owner Advent International being the majority shareholder. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Ipsos has launched a user experience (UX) facility called the Ipsos Experience Lab in the Franklin Center in downtown Chicago, providing space for focus groups, interviews, device tests and simulations. More
In London, data science and consumer behaviour prediction specialist Black Swan Data has raised $18.5m in a growth funding round, part of which it will use to expand further into the US market. More
British-based automated speech recognition platform Speechmatics has raised $62m in a Series B round of funding which it will use to support expansion across the US and Asia-Pacific, and to improve infrastructure - particularly the capacity of it data centre. More
Global analytics and insight company MESH Experience has appointed former Kantar exec Siham Chowdhury as Director of Data Science. More
London-based insight consultancy Basis has announced record results, with annual revenue up 20% to £27.4m for the year ended March 2022. More
In the UK two former executives of research firm Trinity McQueen, Chris Handford and Daniel Eddy, have launched a new full-service product consultancy, Waveform Insight Studio. More
UK-based data collection firm RONIN International has added an office in Lancaster, serving as a desk research, CATI and digital recruitment hub. With space for around thirty people, the location is part of the offices of RONIN's parent, digital marketer Rippleffect Group. More
Customer experience products and solutions company Sitel Group has agreed the acquisition for an undisclosed sum of Luxembourg-based competitor Majorel Group. The merger would form a combined entity with over 240,000 employees across 55 countries. More
WPP-owned data and measurement-driven agency Essence has promoted Barbara Blanzat Henao to the role of Senior Vice President, Analytics, EMEA, while Kate Mann has been promoted to SVP Agency Solutions and Operations, EMEA. More
Consumer data company Pureprofile has hired former Maru Group exec Shelley Barber as Business Development Director in the UK. More
Insight exchange and sample management platform Cint has added Tina Daniels, MD at Google, and long-time IBM exec Liselotte Engstam to its Board of Directors. The pair bring experience in tech, media measurement, engineering and international management. More
In London, Tesco-owned customer data science specialist dunnhumby has appointed Stacy Gratz as Regional Managing Director for Media, to lead strategic media planning and sales for the Tesco Media & Insight Platform. More
London-based location data ad technology and targeting firm Blis has secured a 'significant' but undisclosed amount of investment from private equity firm LDC, which it will use to grow and expand the business and double its headcount in the next few years. More
Kantar has launched a cross-category search prediction tool called Emerging Trends; added a suite of products and enhancements to its creative testing portfolio on Kantar Marketplace; and opened the iLab innovation centre. More
European sales intelligence provider Echobot and web visitor intelligence platform Leadfeeder have agreed to merge, using a EUR 180m investment from equity firm Great Hill Partners to support the deal. More
Melbourne, Australia-based tech-driven research agency Cubery has rolled out its platform in Canada, Singapore and Ireland. More
In Canada, research tech firm Potloc has raised CAD$35m in a Series B round comprising new equity funding and debt financing. The investment will be used to accelerate go-to-market strategy in North America and Europe, including recruitment of 120 more staff in Montreal, New York and Paris. More
US-based marketing consultancy R3 has acquired ad intelligence platform Adbrands, for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based rapid research firm Bolt Insight has received £1.275m investment from B2B tech venture capital company 212, to be used for development of new products, staff recruitment in its research and commercial teams, and expansion into new markets. More
Strategic insight agency Truth Consulting has appointed Kamaljit Kaur as a Director to support the growth of its office in Frankfurt, Germany. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile device monitoring specialist RealityMine is to launch a 'Centre of Excellence in Data Science', and has announced three new hires: Joel Ansbro in the Data Engineering team; Louis Ruston in the Apps team; and Mason Chee in the Data Products team. More
Independent British-based insight consultancy Trinity McQueen has announced sales of £7.4m in the year ending March 2022; some ten per cent up on the pre-pandemic figure (year ending March 2020). More
The Directors of M&C Saatchi have issued recommendations to shareholders ahead of votes on two bids for the company, advising rejection of the Next 15 offer purely on account of a drop in its share price, but preferring it to that of rival ADV, if the company is considered unable to continue as an independent. More
Marketing technology company The Brandtech Group has acquired a majority stake in Acorn-i, whose self-service Ignite platform provides a suite of eCommerce analytics and insights products combined with AI-powered retail media capabilities. Terms were not disclosed. More
CTV advertising delivery and measurement platform Innovid has launched InnovidXP, building on its acquisition of measurement and attribution specialist TVSquared and described as 'the first unified cross-platform solution directly integrated with ad serving data and creative personalization'. More
First-party data platform Dynata has appointed former employee Arun Kumar as Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, leading the business and teams across the region. More
Kantar has hired long-time Merkle exec Will Bordelon as Chief Executive Officer of its Insights business in the Americas. He will join on July 11th. More
Matt Britton started digital research platform Suzy in 2018, named it after a favourite song, worked with other non-researchers to build it, and got to $25 million annual recurring revenue 'faster than Salesforce and Qualtrics'. An interview with MrWeb's Nick Thomas - available as video or in print. More
Comscore has launched a platform called 'Total Digital', which combines the firm's digital and social media measurement tool and user experience (UX) data into a single dashboard. Users get a cross-platform view of how consumers are engaging with content and advertising. More
Investment vehicle AdvancedAdvT [ADV] has increased its offer for ad agency network M&C Saatchi to 209.4p per share, beating the 'final' offer of 198.3p per share made by marcoms consultancy Next 15, the owner of data and insights group Savanta. More
London-based insight consultancy Basis has appointed former Hall & Partners exec Laurie Visee as Head of its US Quantitative Offering. More
Marcoms giant WPP has promoted Michael Houston to the role of President of its business in the US, the group's largest market. More
Ipsos has unveiled a four-year plan to accelerate growth and shareholder value. This will include the group spending between EUR 100m and EUR 200m per year on 'smart acquisitions', while doubling its investments in data analytics, technology and 'knowledge panels'. More
UK-based agency group UNLIMITED and ad agency group Pablo have jointly won a £22m Cabinet Office contract, which will combine the former's Human Understanding Lab with the latter's creative expertise, to help deliver public service communications. More
London-based voice analysis technology firm Phebi has partnered with Toronto-based insights tech firm Ignite Connexion, which will provide Phebi with marketing, sales, implementation and customer support services across Canada. More
Kantar has announced an industry-wide cross-media planning initiative for Brazil, bringing together representatives from the country's media groups and platforms to help design an upgraded measurement solution. Kantar then plans to launch the solution before the end of the year. More
Upp, which connects Google Ads data with product performance data, has received an undisclosed amount of follow-on investment from Downing Ventures. More
In London, WPP consumer data specialist Wavemaker has appointed Radhika Radhakrishnan as Global Chief Financial Officer, and a member of the Global Leadership team. She will take up the role from mid-June. More
In the US, first-party data platform Dynata has acquired online panel and audience technology company Branded Research for an undisclosed sum. More
UK TV audience measurement body BARB has hired Caroline Baxter for the newly created role of Research Operations Director, and will recruit an Audiences Director to work with her. The creation of these two roles follows the resignation of Research Director Simon Bolus. More
UK-based mobile phone data firm RealityMine has added a solution called 'Embedded Browsing' to its reporting, allowing clients to measure the web browsing activity of users within social media apps. More
Customer analytics platform MoEngage has raised $77 Million in Series E funding, for use in expanding to Latin America and Australia, increasing its footprint elsewhere in the world, and to explore strategic acquisitions. More
Comscore has added CTV measurement to its Video Metrix Multi-Platform product, including YouTube traffic sharing measurement, for Spain and the UK; and says Italy, France and Germany will follow in July 2022. Meanwhile CEO Bill Livek has acquired another $1.15m of shares in the firm. More
London-based culture, communities and 'smart digital insight' firm Verve has strengthened its strategic insight offer with the appointment of former Hall & Partners and Breaking Blue exec Dr Adele James as Behavioural Scientist. Digital anthropologist Lily Echanis also joins the firm. More
Performance marketing agency NP Digital has acquired Brighton, UK-based AnswerThePublic, which taps autocomplete data from search engines to analyse the phrases and questions people are asking around a client's keywords. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Havas Media Group has partnered with eye tracking specialist Lumen Research to create bespoke tools to plan, measure, buy and optimise attention. More
WPP's media investment business GroupM has launched its Finecast addressable TV targeting company in Spain, at its headquarters in La Matriz. More
In the UK, former Eyeota Chief Operating Officer Jill Orr has joined purchase data and ad targeting firm Criteo as Retail Media Head for EMEA. More
Digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital has released results for the first quarter of 2022 in a trading update, with reported revenue up 70.1% to £206.8m, a rise of 40.6% on a like-for-like, pro forma basis. More
Ipsos has appointed Dr Jessica Ozan as the new Head of Education, Children and Families (ECF) within its Public Affairs division. More
Kantar has announced unaudited results for the first quarter of calendar 2022, including pro forma, currency-adjusted gross revenue up 6% to $911m, and adjusted EBITDA of $144m, up 16% from a year earlier and almost twice the pre-Covid Q1 2019 figure. More
UK watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a further investigation into Google's use of ad tech in three areas - demand-side platform, ad exchange and publisher ad server - due to concerns it may undermine competition. More
Recently-formed PR and comms monitoring group Onclusive has announced the acquisition of US-based media monitoring platform Critical Mention, for an undisclosed sum. More
Global marcoms group Omnicom has appointed former Conduent exec Brian Clayton as its first Chief Data Privacy Officer, responsible for driving its 'privacy-first' approach and ensuring compliance with global privacy regulation. More
dentsu-owned CX Management company Merkle has promoted Mark Atkinson, formerly VP for its Adobe EMEA alliance and enterprise sales lead, to the role of UK Chief Sales Officer. More
Interpublic's marketing intell company Kinesso has appointed four new Regional CEOs, Matt Ware, Andy Butters, Jorge Chavez and Sean Muzzy, all of whom are currently leaders in the group's Matterkind activation division and who will retain these roles alongside their new ones. More
Automated insight-gathering and sample management platform Cint has announced further leadership changes following its December acquisition of Lucid. CFO Joakim Andersson and COO Andy Ellis are stepping down, replaced respectively by Britta Mittler (interim) and Jake Wolff. More
Text analytics software firm Relative Insight has added ESOMAR President and WIRe founder Kristin Luck to its Advisory Board and former Cint leader Richard Thornton to its Board of Directors. More
Marketing firm What's Possible Group has appointed former WPP exec Patrick Mazzotta in the new role of Managing Director of Data, charged with building a centre of excellence for data, analytics and insight within the company. More
British-based marcoms consultancy Next 15, which owns data and insights group Savanta, has agreed to acquire ad agency network M&C Saatchi Plc in a £310m cash and share deal. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has fined facial recognition firm Clearview AI more than £7.5m for using images of people in the UK, and elsewhere, collected from the web and social media to create a global online database. More
UK-based mobile phone data firm RealityMine has launched a solution called RealLife Events, through which clients can deliver surveys to users, triggered by digital behaviour such as using a specific app, web site or making specific search queries. More
Retail tech provider Virtual Store Trials (VST) has launched a solution called 'E-commerce Fixture Testing', which offers a virtual simulation of eCommerce sites and apps through which CPG brands can conduct tests. More
US-based private equity firm KKR has acquired a majority of survey software firm Alchemer, with an investment of undisclosed size funding '[accelerated] growth through marketing, product innovation, industry partnerships and strategic mergers and acquisitions'. More
US-based digital UX insights firm UserZoom has acquired its French opposite number Testapic, expanding its footprint in the European market. More
Customer lifecycle and user retention platform CleverTap has agreed to acquire San Francisco-based Leanplum, a multi-channel customer engagement platform, for an undisclosed amount. CleverTap says the move makes it 'a truly global company'. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital is back on the acquisition trail despite its accounting troubles. TheoremOne, which provides software engineering and design for digital transformation, is merging into the company to form the hub of a new Technology Services offering. More
In the UK, insight business Walnut Unlimited has appointed four new Research Directors and two Associate Directors. More
Marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has rolled out its cross-channel YouTube and TV campaign analytics and measurement capability in the UK. More
Kantar has launched Link AI for Digital, an artificial intelligence-powered ad testing solution designed specifically for digital ad formats. More
Insight exchange and sample management platform Cint has expanded its Lucid Impact Measurement service into linear TV, giving marketers a combined view of their campaigns while delivering daily cross-screen reporting for brand lift insights. More
Kantar has agreed to acquire Reading, UK-based app survey platform and fraud prevention technology provider Qmee, majority owned by private equity firm capital D. Qmee will become a part of Kantar's primary research division Profiles. More
Nielsen has announced the end of its 45-day 'go-shop' period, in which the Board has investigated the potential for alternatives to its recently-announced acquisition by a consortium of private investors; and says no proposals have been submitted. More
Digital marketing agency Brainlabs has acquired social media influencer marketing agency Fanbytes, for an undisclosed sum. More
WPP has announced a leadership team for the new body formed by its recent merger of data and measurement-driven media agency Essence and media network MediaCom. It includes Richard Mooney as Global Chief Data Officer. More
Digital marketing agency Brainlabs has acquired India-based data services specialist Nabler, for an undisclosed sum. More
Tech researcher and consultancy Forrester Research has announced results for the first quarter ended March 31st, with revenue up 10% to $125.0 million. More
Independent social and market research agency IFF Research has made two dozen promotions - equivalent to 20% of its team - following 18% revenue growth in 2021-2. More
Kantar has sold its Kantar Public business to private equity firm Trilantic Europe for an undisclosed sum. Following the sale Kantar Public will establish itself as an independent evidence and advisory company for government and public sector organisations. More
After multiple delays, Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has at last published its full year results for 2021, showing revenue up 100.4% to £686.6m, equivalent to a 52.4% increase on a like-for-like basis. Operating EBITDA increased 62.4% to £101.0m (up 11.9% like-for-like). More
London-based machine learning start-up Quin AI has raised £582k in seed funding, which it will use to scale the business across the UK and Germany and build out its business offering. More
Kyoko Matsushita, the Global CEO of WPP's data-driven full service media agency Essence Global, has been named Chief Executive Officer of WPP in Japan. More
Consumer insights provider Toluna has expanded to Thailand, where it has hired former Nielsen exec Chumphol (Marc) Sivawettakul as Business Development Director, Southeast Asia. He is based in Bangkok. More
UK-based customer insights and communities platform developer Researchbods has launched a dedicated creative division called 'Studio', which will work with all teams across the business to enhance its creative offering. More
London-based data science-led communications management and measurement company Onclusive has hired Matthew Piercy for the newly created role of Chief Financial Officer. More
Marcoms network Publicis Groupe has acquired eCommerce analytics platform Profitero, for an undisclosed sum. More
In Australia, culture, community panels and smart digital insight specialist Verve has appointed Rikki Pearce as Managing Director and Head of its new 'Global Advanced Quant and Analytics' practice. More
UK-based management consultancy Analysys Mason has acquired US specialist satellite and space market research and consulting services provider Northern Sky Research (NSR) for an undisclosed sum. More
New York City-based B2B marketing research agency Adience has opened an office in London, where it has appointed James Keeling as Vice President. More
In the UK, personalisation platform Cooee has raised £300k in a pre-seed funding round, which it will use for further product development, to increase eCommerce store reach, and to launch an augmented reality (AR) version of its product. More
Cryptocurrency-focused media and research company Cryptonary has acquired the shares of its original co-founders, who became silent partners in the company after its re-brand in 2019. The valuation and specifics of the buyout have not been disclosed. More
Nielsen has reported first quarter revenue of $877m - a rise of 1.6%, but with organic real-terms growth of 3.4%. Adjusted EBITDA fell around 4% to $372m. More
UK-based consumer and sensory research agency PPL Insights and France-based consumer and shopper research specialist Strategir have formed a joint venture, to provide a broad range of research services linking all elements of the consumer journey. More
In Manchester, UK, culture, community panels and smart digital research specialist Verve has appointed former InSites Consulting exec Gav Holt as Executive Director in its senior team. More
Marcoms giant WPP has launched an end-to-end eCommerce service called Everymile, which will look after the entire process from the minute a customer visits a brand's web site - having first helped the target audience to find that site - and clicks to order, through to the delivery of their purchase. More
MrWeb and its job board partners ESOMAR and WIRe have launched a section dedicated to supporting Ukrainian insights and analytics professionals, whether refugees or those remaining in the war-torn country. This includes free job board postings and candidate registration services. More
In London, online sample marketplace PureSpectrum has appointed long-time Kantar Profiles exec Andy Cayton as Executive Vice President, tasked with developing and implementing solutions for clients across the firm's product suite. More
Data and research tech company Schlesinger Group has promoted Chawntae Applegate to the role of Executive Vice President of Global Client Solutions. More
Dublin-based eCommerce analytics platform Conjura has raised EUR 15m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to expand its solutions, broaden its UK and Ireland operations, and move into 'several' new international markets. More
The WindAcre Partnership LLC, now comfortably the largest Nielsen shareholder with 27.3%, says the share price could triple in the next three years and will host a webcast tomorrow arguing for a rejection of the Consortium bid. Meanwhile reports suggest the ratings firm could regain its MRC accreditation soon. More
Kantar has agreed to acquire Copenhagen, Denmark-based marketing measurement and optimisation company Blackwood Seven, for an undisclosed sum. More
In London, all-in-one research operations platform Ayda has appointed former Cint exec Richard Thornton as Chairman and Advisor, following a successful investment round. More
Online community specialist C Space has promoted three team members, while appointing former Kantar Consulting exec Ella Majava as Practice Director for Innovation and Consulting, and Risham Nadeem as a Business Director. More
London-based insights agency Opinium has hired music economist Chris Carey to lead its newly launched Music, Media and Entertainment division. More
Ipsos has reported 12.3% first quarter organic revenue growth and a 17.5% reported increase to EUR 547.8m. The firm says it is planning an 'exciting range' of potential acquisitions in key sectors and territories, especially in the USA. More
In Manchester, UK, corporate reputation specialist Steve Leigh has opened a research, measurement and evaluation consultancy called Sensu. The firm promises to help clients understand their audience; track reputation, profile and influence; and improve the quality of communications. More
B2B information, analytics and eCommerce optimisation specialist Ascential (previously known as EMAP) is to acquire Sellics, which offers AI-powered B2B solutions to help sellers, vendors and agencies optimize their Amazon strategies. Terms have not been disclosed. More
Measure Protocol, a blockchain-based marketplace for consumer behavioural data, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding, which it will use to further develop its technology and ramp up its marketing and sales efforts. More
London-based predictive visual analytics platform Dragonfly AI has raised £3m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to target growth across Europe and North America, scale up its sales engine, and invest in product development and R&D. More
Nielsen shareholder WindAcre said this week it would block the ratings giant's latest sale agreement, requesting a $1.1bn 'sweetener' for its support, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. SEC filings suggest WindAcre has secured millions more shares in Nielsen this week at a cost of around $0.9bn. More
Digital user experience insights specialist UserZoom has received an unspecified amount of strategic growth funding from investment firm Thoma Bravo, the owner of CX management firm Medallia. The funding values UserZoom at $800m. More
Canada-based research tech specialist Torfac has appointed former Branded researcher Vishal Yadav as Senior Director, Client Development, leading the expansion of its Sales team in the EU and APAC. More
Intrinsic in-game advertising pioneer Frameplay has launched a solution for measuring attention in the gaming sector. Intrinsic Time-in-View builds on the firm's proprietary viewability measures and has been validated by agencies Lumen and eye square, and endorsed by marcoms group dentsu. More
Trend analysis specialist Stylus has promoted former COO Victoria Rennie to Chief Executive, succeeding founder Marc Worth who moves to the role of Executive Chairman. More
Major league consumer data and insights firms IRI and The NPD Group have announced they are to merge, promising clients 'a view of total retail purchasing and consumption trends powered by advanced, predictive analytics' on IRI's Liquid Data technology platform. More
YouGov has launched a dataset called Global Profiles, to help brands, agencies and media planners understand their global audience. Data comes 43 markets, with five more to be added in August. More
Video streaming specialist 24i has acquired UK data company The Filter, which was co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel and uses data science and machine learning tech to help consumers find and watch more of their preferred video content. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, Kantar Public has hired former Alan Turing Institute exec Christine Foster for the newly created role of Global Chief Product Officer, Data Science. More
Consumer data company Pureprofile has appointed former Ipsos and maru exec Rachel Knowles as Head of Data & Insight UK. More
Facebook parent company Meta has suffered two reverses at the hands of a US District Court, granting class action status to advertisers claiming the company inflated its audience metrics; and allowing to proceed a suit by non-users of Facebook in Illinois over storage of images of their faces. More
Media investment analyst Ebiquity has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Sweden's MediaPath, and a definitive agreement to buy US firn Media Management Inc (MMi). Terms of the deals have not been disclosed. More
Shares in Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising group S4 Capital have slumped after its auditors PwC this week delayed the release of its preliminary statement of results for the second time in a month. The stock remained down 1/3 tonight even after a slight Friday recovery. More
In London, programme audience analyst TAPE Consultancy has promoted Beatrice Rossmanith to the role of Managing Director, as existing MDs Paul Youngbluth and John Peek prepare to leave the company in the summer. More
British video-based insight company Vox Pops International has become employee-owned through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). More
Nielsen has entered an agreement to be acquired by a private equity consortium led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation and Brookfield Business Partners, together with institutional partners, for $28 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $16bn. More
The United States government and the European Commission have trailered a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, addressing concerns which led to the demise of the last one in mid-2020, and allowing data to flow more freely again between the two. Critics are already clearing their diaries for 'Schrems III'. More
In the UK, insights platform QuMind has promoted Alan Hargreaves to the role of Managing Director, with Board level responsibility for the entire operation and co-responsibility for innovation. More
British multi-platform media group Future plc has acquired Waive, which uses machine learning to identify social media trends. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Andy Cumming, co-founder of Curiosity Research and European MD at InSites Consulting, died of sudden heart failure at his home on 12th January. More
M&C Saatchi Group's specialist growth and data consultancies Clear and Fluency have launched an AI-based intelligence platform called the Brand Desire Engine. More
Digital research specialist MetrixLab has appointed Ed Harrison as Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand. He replaces Vincent Blaney, who is returning to the UK in June to take up a position at the firm's London office. More
Nielsen's Board of Directors has opted 'not to proceed' with the unsolicited acquisition proposal reported last week from a private equity consortium, valuing the company at around $15bn. The decision follows major shareholder WindAcre's announcement that it would fight the deal. More
UK-based mobile phone data pioneer RealityMine has announced the addition of a feature called RealLife Checkout to its product offering, enabling passive receipt scanning for digital transactions. Clients can now track, directly, what products are bought and how much is paid for them. More
In Washington DC, decision intelligence company Morning Consult is expanding its Geopolitical Risk Analysis division with the appointment of Sonnet Frisbie as Managing Director, Geopolitical Risk Analyst for EMEA. More
US-based customer experience management specialist Medallia has launched a solution called Athena Studio, allowing organizations to create custom AI models and analytics for unstructured data, without any coding. More
In London, IPG-owned experience design and digital marketing agency Huge has appointed Frisco Chau as Global Head of Data and Insights. More
In the UK, real-time, contextual advertising exchange Yieldmo has appointed John Tigg as General Manager, International, and Guy Jackson as UK Commercial Director. More
Nielsen's shares soared by around 30% to $22.85 yesterday, after it was reported in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the firm is in talks to be acquired by a group of investors in a $15bn deal. More
Customer experience platform Emplifi, formed from the merger of VoC platform Astute and social media specialist Socialbakers, has announced a growth equity investment led by Sixth Street Growth and valuing the company at more than $1 billion. More
Stamford, CT-based tech research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) has reported fourth quarter revenue of $69.6m, up 6% at constant currency; and adjusted EBITDA of $10.2m, up 11%. Full year revenues were $277.8 m, up 9%, and full year adjusted EBITDA rose 37% to $38.8m. More
US-based CX platform Birdeye has closed a $60m Series C funding round led by tech-focused investment firm Accel-KKR, and says it will use the money to accelerate development of a full experience suite for local businesses; and to expand into Australia and the UK. More
Nielsen is suing measurement and attribution specialist TVSquared, claiming that it infringed a patent entitled: 'Methods and Apparatus to Collect Distributed User Information for Media Impressions and Search Terms'. The ratings giant's claim includes lost profits. More
In the US, enterprise co-creation platform Vurvey has launched a tool to help brands gather feedback from customers scanning QR codes. More
In New York, in-home product testing platform Highlight has raised $7m in a seed round of investment, including money from Momentive CEO Zander Lurie; Richard Thornton, former CEO of Cint; Tom Bernthal, CEO of Kelton; and Max Mullen, founder of Instacart. More
Community panels and smart digital research firm Verve is to open a Global Centre of Research Innovation in Sydney, Australia, and has appointed Dan Alexander-Head to lead it. More
Comscore and ad management platform WideOrbit have extended their partnership to create a solution called Comscore TV, powering automated TV ad buying and audience targeting across markets and demographics at scale. More
Indonesia-based customer analytics platform MoEngage, fresh from a $30m Series D funding, has announced the appointment of Jason Smith as VP of Sales for Europe, and plans to open dedicated offices in France, Spain and Italy as it doubles its team in the region. More
The Board of marcoms giant WPP has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and announced it is discontinuing operations in Russia, where it employs nearly 1,400 people. More
Momentive - formerly SurveyMonkey - has announced a $200m share repurchase program and plans for a renewed focus on delivering stockholder value. The firm has also promoted Priyanka (Pri) Carr from General Manager of its MR business, to COO. More
Continuing our focus on 'Measuring Brains & Bodies', Pedro talks about sweat, motor racing, suppliers who always say Yes, investors who always said No, banning the bull and embracing the (one-trick) pony, and how EDA (electrodermal activity) can grow into a currency for media engagement. More
British-based consultancy Next Fifteen Communications (Next 15) has agreed to acquire media and marketing services company Engine UK for £77.5m. More
Brighton, UK-based social media listening and content marketing analytics firm Brandwatch has acquired US and Poland-based influencer marketing platform Paladin, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, Interpublic-owned marketing and advertising group McCann has promoted former Kantar exec Gideon Wilkins to the role of Group Head of Research. More
MrWeb's special issue on 'Measuring Brains and Bodies' is launched today: viewing and downloading the 72-page pdf supplement is free: click the cover or the link below; or read on for the second part of Michelle Niedziela's article, which offers a guide to Best Practice in consumer neuroscience projects. More
Comscore CEO Bill Livek has announced plans to retire and move to the position of Non-Executive Vice Chairman after a successor has been found. As the news broke, the firm reported positive net income of $29m for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of $13.2m a year earlier. More
Online sample marketplace PureSpectrum has appointed long-time Ipsos exec Elena Speer to lead its sales team in the Northern European region. She is based in London. More
Nielsen has reported results for the 4th quarter and full year 2021, with annual reported revenue up 4.1% to $3.5bn (up 4.9% like-for-like), and full year adjusted EBITDA up 5.4% (constant currency) to $1.49bn. More
Nielsen has announced an expanded relationship with consumer data giant Experian, aimed at advancing person-based, cross-device measurement. Experian's marketing data will enhance the Nielsen Identity System by providing persistent IDs for analysis of behaviour on the 'open web'. More
Shareholders of customer experience (CX) specialist Zendesk have this evening rejected the proposed acquisition of Momentive, parent of SurveyMonkey. Despite Momentive shareholders giving majority support, the acquisition agreement will now be ditched. More
Comscore is partnering with digital media measurement, data and analytics provider DoubleVerify (DV) to develop a cross-platform media quality verification and audience measurement solution. More
Cross-screen television insights and analytics provider Samba TV has launched an advertising currency called 'incremental cost per thousand impressions' (iCPM), to help marketers only pay for ad impressions served within households previously unexposed to their linear TV campaigns. More
Ipsos has reported a 16.8% increase in annual revenue to EUR 2.14bn for 2021, with overall organic growth of 17.9%. Perhaps more significantly, the figures represent impressive organic growth of 10.4% when compared with 2019. More
Continuing our focus on 'Measuring Brains and Bodies', HCD Research's Michelle Niedziela runs through the key techniques in 'neuro', with advice on where to use them. The second part of the article, looking at Best Practices, will appear in DRNO when the pdf special issue is published early next week. More
UK-based agency group UNLIMITED has launched an insights platform called LUCA, which it says automates the gathering and analysis of digital data sources to deliver human understanding for brands. More
Packaged food manufacturing giant Kraft Heinz has announced a far-reaching partnership with Google, with the aim of improving its understanding of consumers, and tailoring products and experience to them. More
Marcoms group Havas has acquired UK-based digital experience agency Inviqa in what it describes as a 'substantial' eight-figure deal. More
Marcoms giant WPP has acquired North America-based influencer marketing agency Village Marketing, for an undisclosed sum. The company will now join the Wunderman Thompson network. More
Publishing and data group IDG Communications has rebranded as Foundry, reflecting its 'transformation from legacy media network to integrated marketing technology and data provider'. More
Kantar has announced senior appointments to strengthen its team in Australia. Straford Rodrigues returns from NA as Head of Media and Marketing Effectiveness; Lee Catlin joins as Senior Director, CX; and Head of Creative Irene Joshy has moved back to Melbourne from Singapore. More
Information services group Informa has sold its Pharma Intelligence business to private equity firm Warburg Pincus for £1.9bn. Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company joined Warburg Pincus in the deal, which sees Informa retain a 15% stake in the business. More
London-based child and family research specialist The Pineapple Lounge (TPL) has appointed former Truth Consulting exec Tim Spencer as Senior Strategy Director. More
Manchester-based kids, parents, and family researcher The Insights Family has hired Will Pearce for its newly created role of Managing Director, while appointing an additional ten new employees across all departments. More
Omnicom-owned data-driven marketing agency network Hearts & Science has promoted UK MD Garrett O'Reilly to the role of UK Chief Executive Officer. More
Strategic insight consultancy Firefish has hired Elisa Dominguez as Vice President of Qualitative & Multicultural Insights, based in Los Angeles, CA. More
London-based mobile advertising platform Ogury has appointed former Criteo exec Geoffroy Martin as Chief Operating Officer, to lead the company's international expansion and oversee revenue, operations, product, technology and marketing. He is based in Paris. More
Connected TV (CTV) advertising delivery and measurement platform Innovid has agreed to acquire measurement and attribution specialist TVSquared for $100m in cash and approximately $60m in stock. More
Automated insights platform Zappi has reported $50 million in sales in 2021, representing more than 30 percent growth in twelve months; and the hiring of more than 100 new employees during the year. More
In London, marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has promoted Pierre de Lannoy to the role of Strategy Director, responsible for driving its UK product development and commercial solutions across performance, identity and advanced TV. More
Less than a year after its formation from software firms Confirmit and FocusVision, research tech pioneer Forsta has been acquired by healthcare experience specialist Press Ganey, for an undisclosed sum. More
Continuing our focus on 'Measuring Brains & Bodies', HCD's VP of Research & Innovation talks about a career in 'neuro' (with a rat allergy); quantifying the stress of bad audio on a Zoom call; whether any perfume can live up to one of those weird ads; and much more besides. Available to watch or read. More
n the UK, communications group M&C Saatchi has launched a digital business innovation consultancy called Thread, to help clients develop digital products and services. More
Continuing our focus on 'Measuring Brains and Bodies', MindProber's Pedro Moreira looks at the company's use of electrodermal activity (EDA) to analyse the extraordinary success of the hit TV show. What worked best, and why? [Spoiler Alert: this makes reference to surprise scenes etc.] More
London-based GWI, whose software platform provides data about consumers' demographics, preferences and behavioural attitudes across 48 countries, has raised more than $180m in Series B funding, valuing the company at over $850 million. More
STG's newly formed media monitoring and measurement business Onclusive has appointed Manuel Moerbach as Chief Executive Officer. More
Personal data management specialist Swash has hired Arbitron Mobile founder Hannu Verkasalo and research analyst Seth Ulinski to build the business and connect it with their networks of market research contacts. The firm has also raised $19m in an oversubscribed round of funding. More
Media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has acquired Canada-based media auditing company Forde and Semple MediaWorks, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, newly appointed Information Commissioner John Edwards has launched a 'major listening exercise', inviting businesses, organisations and individuals to provide details about their experiences of working with regulatory body the ICO. More
Kantar has made its Link AI ad testing solution available on the Kantar Marketplace on-demand research platform. More
UK-based group Cello Health has sold its Digital Technology Advisory Group Ltd (DTAG), which includes 2CV, The Value Engineers (TVE) & Signal Agency, to private equity firm Vespa Capital. More
UK branding specialist Yonder Consulting has appointed Kate Langford as Recruitment Manager, responsible for acquisition of talent across the whole business. More
London-based customer advocacy platform Mention Me has raised $25m in a Series B round of funding, for use in international expansion - specifically to the US; for product development; and to make senior hires. More
GfK and cross-device targeting specialist Dstillery have expanded their partnership with the development of 32 new audience segments, through which digital marketers can target CPG shoppers. More
In Germany, online sample marketplace PureSpectrum has appointed former Bilendi exec Sebastian Wezel as Sales Director, Central Europe. More
Data-driven experience management company Merkle has fully integrated two of its B2B divisions - creative agency gyro and media agency Merkle | DWA - into its Merkle B2B business, and retired their brand names. More
London-based community panels and digital research specialist Verve has announced growth of 28% for the financial year ending 31st December 2021, taking turnover to £10.4m, following 23% growth in the prior year. The firm has also promoted eleven members of its team. More
In London, full-service digital creative agency AnalogFolk Group (AFG) has launched a business called MindWorks Consulting, which will apply behavioural economics to identify and influence changing customer behaviour. More
Wearable tech is everywhere, and offers great potential for collecting data, but how useful is it right now for answering specific research questions? Kathryn Ambroze, Manager of Behavioral and Marketing Sciences at HCD Research continues our month-long focus on 'Measuring Brains & Bodies'. More
Tesco-owned retail data science business dunnhumby has launched a platform called Sphere, for use in audience targeting, media booking, forecasting and measurement across a range of retail media channels. More
Sir Martin Sorrell has teamed up with Stanhope Capital Group founder Daniel Pinto to launch a venture capital fund called S4S Ventures, which will raise £110m from investors to fund early-stage 'Martech, Adtech, data tech, creative tech and emerging digital media / content firms'. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has hired Jonathan Clark for a newly created role, Chief Growth Officer. Clark is tasked with increasing membership of the firm's proprietary consumer panel, Curious Cat App. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising group S4 Capital has completed the acquisition of Santa Cruz, CA-based developer and data analytics firm 4 Mile Analytics, for an undisclosed sum. More
Kantar Public has hired long-time YouGov exec Tom Burgess for the newly created role of Global Panels Director, supporting its probability-based citizen panel, PUBLIC Voice. More
Ad targeting and retargeting specialist Criteo has appointed Ryan Cook as Managing Director, UK. He is based in London. More
Origin, a joint industry initiative led by UK advertiser trade body ISBA, has completed the first stage of its cross-media measurement proof of concept (POC) evaluation. More
In the first feature from our forthcoming special issue on neuroscience techniques, Michelle Niedziela and Glenn Kessler from title sponsor HCD Research give an introduction to the progress and potential of the field, and cut through some of the hype and misconceptions surrounding it. More
UK-based research and data business Delineate has hired Debbie Stephens for the newly created position of Product Research Director, overseeing the execution and launch of the firm's research products roadmap. More
Digital media measurement firm Integral Ad Science (IAS) has appointed former Yahoo! exec Csaba Szabo as Managing Director, EMEA, based in London. More
Streaming media measurement and engagement platform Conviva has teamed up with information services group Experian to provide segmentation data for streaming video publishers and their ecosystem partners. More
Media and entertainment company WarnerMedia has selected Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp as measurement partners, tasked with building a new suite of technologies to count viewers across linear, digital and connected television. More
Harris Poll owner Stagwell Group has acquired UK-based media agency Goodstuff Communications, which as well as providing media planning and buying services offers analytics, audience research and insight, and digital audits. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
AT&T has agreed to sell its advertising and analytics division Xandr to Microsoft. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
In the UK, full service social research and behavioural insights specialist M.E.L Research has appointed Kate Owen as Research Director and Claire Bennett as Associate Director in its Qualitative team. More
Technology publisher and B2B intelligence and targeting firm IDG Communications has announced the acquisition of Canada-based B2B sales and marketing intelligence platform LeadSift. More
Programmatic sampling and research tech firm Lucid, headquartered in the US, has announced a multi-year agreement with UK-based consumer research platform Attest. More
Comscore has acquired social media marketing analytics and measurement company Shareablee, for an undisclosed sum. More
First-party data platform Dynata has acquired AI and machine learning company 0ptimus Analytics, whose platform connects, models and transforms insights into activation in real time. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
John Robson and Magnus Willis, the founders of London-based consumer insight and brand strategy specialist Sparkler, have left the business to take time out for a 'rest and reset'. More
YouGov has given Özge Akçizmeci Üstün a newly created role of Strategic Account Lead for the Benelux region, aiming to increase its presence in the area. More
NielsenIQ has acquired Paris-based Foxintelligence (Foxintel), which tracks and measures eCommerce activity based on anonymized transaction data collected from consumers through dedicated apps. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Data-driven CXM and marketing firm Merkle has appointed Floris Oranje as UK Salesforce Practice Lead, and head of parent company dentsu's CXM Service Line in the country. More
Research and analytics group YouGov has acquired Zurich, Switzerland-based market and social research agency LINK Marketing Services AG. Terms were not disclosed. More
Forsta, the company formed through the merger of Confirmit, FocusVision and Dapresy, has announced a global partnership with London-based Phebi.AI, allowing clients to make use of Phebi's advanced voice analysis technology for qual and quant research on Forsta's end-to-end platform. More
First-party data platform Dynata has acquired brand and advertising research consultancy Ameritest, for an undisclosed sum. More
US-based insight automation specialist Heap has raised $110m in a Series D round of funding, which values the company at $960m. The investment will be used to scale the firm's global operations, and accelerate R&D for its digital analytics platform. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) has given this year's Agency of the Year Award to London-based insight firm Opinium, which had previously been shortlisted eight times in nine years. More
Kantar has reported revenue of $2,681m for the first three quarters of 2021, up 11% at constant currency although still down 5% from 2019 figures; and EBITDA of $445m, up 52% on 2020 and 39% (organic growth 33%) versus the same period in 2019. More
In the UK, former Kantar / Hall & Partners exec Jane Bloomfield has joined WPP-owned brand transformation specialist Landor & Fitch as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). More
Tesco has launched a closed loop platform, powered by its data science firm dunnhumby, to help suppliers and agencies engage with customers, and provide those customers with a more personalised and relevant shopping experience. More
Comscore has promoted Brian Pugh to the role of Chief Information Officer, responsible for developing new tech tools, for ensuring that data is secure, and for MRC and ISO accreditation of the firm's services. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says it plans to impose a potential fine of just over £17m on facial recognition start-up Clearview AI, and has also issued a notice to stop the company further processing UK citizens' personal data. More
Nielsen is suing panel-based TV audience measurement firms HyphaMetrics and TVision, claiming separate patent infringements. More
WPP agency MediaCom is launching a capability called Creative Analytics, to provide insight into future creative performance across programmatic display, search, social media and video. More
UK audience currency body BARB has announced it will add viewing figures for SVoD (Streaming Video On Demand) and video-sharing platforms into its daily reporting, with the upgrade completed next Monday. More
Momentive investor Legion Partners Asset Management says it will fight the SurveyMonkey owner's planned sale to online customer service and CX firm Zendesk. Legion says the price tag - originally c.$4bn but after share price falls now equivalent to around $3.4bn - undervalues the business. More
Marcoms giant WPP has opened a campus in the Czech capital Prague, where twelve of the group's agencies and 1,000 marketing, advertising, media, PR, data and research professional are now housed. More
Ian Forrester, former Insight Head at video tracking platform Unruly, has launched an AI-powered ad research platform called DAIVID, which automates ad testing by using facial coding, eye tracking and computer vision data to predict human attention levels and emotions. More
UK broadcaster ITV has launched an initiative called ITV AdLabs, through which it plans to develop offers including contextual targeting of ads based on factors such as moods and mealtimes. More
Comscore is rolling out its cookie-free audience targeting solution Predictive Audiences in 'the UK and EMEA', through a deal with Xandr, the advertising analytics division of AT&T. More
Ipsos has launched an early stage creative development solution called Instant|Labs, providing clients with an understanding of the potential of creative and ideas within just one day. More
New Delhi, India-based online quant research and respondent engagement specialist Internet Research Bureau (IRB) has appointed long-time Nielsen exec Sarah Hillis as Sales Director, based in its London office. More
In the UK, marketing automation platform Spotler has acquired Pure360, whose products include tools for web site personalisation and behavioural targeting. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
London firm Redblue has appointed Tim Coughlan as Associate Director, while Lydia McDonald joins as Senior Research Executive. More
US-based Behaviorally has appointed Peter Divers as Vice President of its Qualitative team in London, supporting clients across the UK and in Europe. More
Los Angeles-based entertainment MR firm Screen Engine/ASI (SE/ASI) has acquired London-based custom MR agency Tapestry Research. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
AI tech provider Media Distillery and Nielsen's music, video and sports tech company Gracenote have combined their technologies and data sets to create a solution helping pay-TV operators to improve their Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) for viewers. More
Kantar has appointed Duncan Houldsworth to lead its Brand & Marketing ROI Analytics practice in North America. More
AI-based analytics company ThoughtSpot has raised $100m in a Series F round of funding, which more than doubles its previous valuation to around $4.2 billion. More
Product analytics firm Mixpanel has raised $200m in a Series C round of funding, valuing the company at $1.05 billion. The firm will use the investment to accelerate product development and scale its team in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific over the next 12 to 18 months. More
Global data and measurement-driven media agency Essence has promoted Anna Berry to the role of UK Managing Director, replacing Ali Reed who has been appointed CEO of Omnicom-owned media and marcoms firm PHD. More
Marketing and consumer insights platform Prodege has secured an undisclosed 'major' investment from private equity firm Great Hill Partners, for use in rapid organic expansion and for targeted acquisitions. More
Dutch marcoms agency group Candid has agreed to acquire UK firm Brand Potential, for an undisclosed sum. More
Digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has sold its Edit customer data business to data driven marketing services provider The Salocin Group for £13.35m in cash. Salocin says it plans further acquisitions as it builds a data powered marketing services group. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has boosted its presence in Italy with the acquisition of creative content marketing agency Miyagi. Separately, the firm has a new CFO, Mary Basterfield. More
UK-based advanced analytics firm Marketscience has launched a marketing mix modelling approach called BaseDynamics, to quantify the short and long-term market effects of campaigns and strategies. More
Consumer insights provider Toluna has promoted Susan Vidler to the newly created position of Global Chief Research Officer, leading the group's global research team and responsible for developing, defining and implementing best practices across the research function. More
In the UK, personalized content and viewer insights provider ThinkAnalytics has hired Samuel Sweet for the newly created role of Chief Executive Officer of EMEA and AP. More
In London, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company Merkle has promoted Toby Benjamin for the new role of Managing Director of its Media practice. His remit includes driving collaboration between the practice and the firm's CXM experts. More
Comscore has reported revenue up 5% to $92.5m and adjusted EBITDA of $11.3m, up 55%, for the third quarter of 2021. Net income was $2.0m, compared with a net loss of $11.1m a year earlier. More
Shopper and product experience consultancy PRS IN VIVO has launched of AI Pack Screener 2, an early-stage packaging design screening and optimization tool combining AI and human input from the firm's experts. More
European data collection company Norstat has appointed Graciella Garmann in the new role of Chief Commercial Officer, based in Oslo, Norway. More
Following the recent decision of Facebook / Meta to delete its facial analysis data, a joint probe by the UK Information Commissioner's Office and its Australian counterpart the OAIC has found facial recognition provider Clearview AI in breach of privacy regulations. More
Stamford, CT-based tech research and advisory firm Information Services Group has announced revenue of $71m for the third quarter, up 14% (constant currency) on Q3 2020; and adjusted EBITDA of $10.2 million, up 24%. More
Business data and analytics veteran Dun & Bradstreet has agreed to acquire data onboarding and audience intelligence provider Eyeota and B2B data firm NetWise - strengthening its fast-growing Audience Solutions business and its capabilities in online B2B marketing. More
Technology researcher Forrester has announced third quarter revenue of $118.1m, up around 8.7% when compared either with Q3 2020 or 2019. More
Community panels pioneer Verve is opening a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) next month in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has appointed Heather Tluczek and Meryl Dovey to lead it, as MD and Head of New Business Development respectively. More
US-based customer and employee experience management firm Medallia has launched a platform combining actionable user feedback metrics with 'complete' behavioural data for real-time optimisation of digital experiences. The firm's $6.4bn acquisition by Thoma Bravo was completed last week. More
Tech consultancy Gartner has announced results for the third quarter of 2021, with revenues up 15.0% at constant currency to $1.16bn, and EBITDA of $305m, up 79.9% on the same basis. More
Data onboarding and audience intelligence provider Eyeota has expanded its partnership with Comscore, to provide cookie-free contextual targeting for a broad range of verticals, across the key global markets. More
Converged TV ad measurement and attribution specialist TVSquared has appointed Debbie Wogan as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and Jessica Hindlian as SVP of Identity and Partnerships. More
Cross-platform TV ad measurement specialist TVSquared has rolled out its fully automated cookie-less solution Advantage XP in the UK and Germany. More
In the UK, Ipsos has appointed former Advertising Association exec Karen Fraser as Senior Director, with responsibility for sustainability, creativity, trust and growth. More
Online customer service and CX firm Zendesk is to acquire Momentive, parent of SurveyMonkey, in an all-share deal which values the DIY survey brand and its associated companies at around $4bn. More
Nielsen has reported a 5.5% increase in third quarter revenue to $882m (up 6.6% in organic terms). The figure is about 1% ahead of 2019 Q3 revenues for Nielsen Global Media, although comparisons are difficult after the company split and the sale of the Connect / NielsenIQ business. More
In a trading update, marcoms giant WPP has reported 'very strong' third quarter performance, with revenue minus pass-through costs of £2.64bn, up 6.9% LFL on pre-pandemic levels (Q3 2019). More
Insight exchange and sample management platform Cint is to acquire rival firm Lucid for approximately $1.1 billion, of which c.$470m will be payable in newly issued Cint shares and c.$580m in cash. The deal should close by the end of the year. More
UK-headquartered behavioural insights agency Canvas8 has appointed brand strategist and semiotics specialist Marian St Laurent as its first US-based Insights Director, as it prepares to double both the size of its North American team and NA revenues next year. More
London-based personal data firm CitizenMe has raised $2m (£1.5m) which it will use to expand its position as a supplier of zero-party data, a term coined by Forrester Research to define 'data that a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a brand'. More
Long-time Kantar exec Tim Wragg has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of brand insights analytics and consulting agency Hall & Partners, succeeding Vanella Jackson who moves to the role of company Chairperson. More
Location data specialist Digital Envoy has acquired the analytics business of London-based Location Sciences. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Australia-based digital research platform Pureprofile has announced unaudited revenue of $10.2m for the first quarter of its new financial year, up 61% year on year; and EBITDA of $1.1m, up 29%. More
Ipsos has posted third quarter revenue of EUR 526.3m, up 12.3% versus Q3 2020 and 5.4% - or 8.5% in organic growth terms - compared with Q3 2019. The firm says profitability is 'in line with the objectives for the year announced in July', with a slight improvement predicted in operating margin. More
UK marketing budget growth is at its strongest in more than four years, according to the 2021 IPA Bellwether Report. Narrowly positive results for market research spend ended six years of downward movement for the sector. More
Real-time omni-channel attribution and measurement solutions company Kochava has appointed Arthur Novarina as Regional Vice President EMEA More
Research and analytics group YouGov has brought its recent Canadian sports research acquisition Charlton Insights under the main corporate brand. More
YouGov has reported revenue of £169.0m for the year to July 31st, up 18% in like-for-like terms and 11% reported. Reported pre-tax profit rose 24% to £18.9m, and adjusted operating profit rose 32% like-for-like (21% reported) to £31.2m. More
Toluna has appointed former Verint, Nielsen and Affinnova exec Kevin Daly in the new role of Chief Sales Officer. More
Cint has teamed up with audience profiling and targeting firm StatSocial to help clients target niche market research audiences, quickly and at scale. More
London-based mobile intelligence platform Streetbees has appointed Charlotte Forsyth as VP People, and Anthony Brew as VP Artificial Intelligence. The firm also recently brought in Sean O'Connell as VP Product. More
Nielsen has unveiled a new logo, which it says reflects the transformation of its culture and a redefined strategy focused solely on the global future of media. The outgoing logo had been served for the combined Nielsen entity before the sale of Global Connect (now Nielsen IQ). More
UK radio listening currency provider RAJAR has confirmed that after an eighteen month gap, new audience figures will be published on Thursday 28th October; with an enhanced set of methodologies including the first use of panellists and MediaCell technology. More
Video attention measurement and emotion analytics specialist Realeyes has appointed former Brand Networks CEO Dave Fall as Chief Product Officer. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has opened a new office in Gurgaon, India, where it has appointed Sandeep Srivastava as Managing Director. More
In New York, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company Merkle is promoting Michael Komasinski to the role of Chief Executive Officer. He will succeed Craig Dempster who is retiring after fifteen years with Merkle and four with parent company Dentsu. More
Mobile marketing and ad platform InMobi has agreed to acquire Appsumer, an insights and analytics platform for mobile app advertisers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
YouGov has acquired tech business Rezonence, in a move which it says will allow data collection at 'unprecedented scale', turning hundreds of millions of consumers across the world into potential zero-party virtual YouGov panellists. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Manchester United football club has hired Dominic Jordan for the newly created position of Director of Data Science, tasked with driving forward the club's use of data to help players and staff 'deliver success on the pitch'. More
Ipsos has announced the appointment of twenty-year Confirmit exec Wale Omiyale, as Global Head of Sales for Observer and Ipsos.Digital. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile research tech firm RealityMine has launched a qualitative licence programme, promising agencies and their clients the 'true picture of the real digital consumer and their lives'. More
In New York, location data firm Unacast has raised $16m in a new round of funding, which it will use to expand its offering for international clients outside the US, and to build a data buying platform. More
London-based community panels specialist Verve is planning to open an office in Manchester, which will initially be led by founder and CEO Andrew Cooper, who has relocated to the north of England; and Joint Head of Insight Richard Preedy. The firm has also hired three new execs. More
Kantar has launched a creative measurement tool called Digital Video AI, which can be used to predict the performance of online video ads in under fifteen minutes. More
Toluna has appointed Cate Rubenstein as SVP of Global Marketing, responsible for 'expanding and elevating' its brand. More
Marketing tech group Access Intelligence Plc has appointed Jay Krall as Global VP of Data, and Lisa Gilbert as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. More
Market intelligence platform AlphaSense has raised $180m in a Series C round of funding. The money will be invested in product development and content expansion, in growing customer service teams in North America and Europe, and engineering teams in Finland, India and New York. More
WPP and Snap Inc. (the camera company behind messaging app Snapchat) have partnered to help brands engage with more than 200 million 'Snapchatters' and deliver immersive experiences using augmented reality (AR). More
In London, programme viewing trend analyst Tape Consulting has appointed Beatrice Rossmanith as Client Service Director, tasked with looking after and developing the firm's broadcasting, content distribution and platform clients. More
London-based holding company STRAT7 has acquired Kin + Carta's strategic consultancy Incite, in a deal valued at £18m. More
London-based gaming sector ad technology and targeting platform Venatus has received an undisclosed amount of funding from private equity investor Livingbridge. The money will be used to fuel growth in the US and for expansion to new geographies. More
Ipsos has announced that Nathalie Roos will no longer be taking over as CEO, following the emergence of 'deep discrepancies' in her discussions with Didier Truchot. Instead, Ipsos MORI CEO Ben Page will take the top job, from November 15th. More
WPP has agreed to pay more than $19m to settle charges that it violated several provisions of the USA's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC accused the marcoms giant of breaches of protocols including anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting. More
Kantar has added creative and digital testing, concept and innovation testing solutions for users of its Marketplace platform in India. More
Audience engagement platform provider GMO Research has appointed former WiseWorks and Critical Mix exec Pratik Sharma as EVP of US and EMEA. More
Kantar has announced a partnership combining its TGI consumer data with insights from out-of-home (OOH) audience measurement business Route, to launch a new ad buying platform promising highly targeted campaigns. More
Twitter has agreed a settlement in a case accusing it of misleading investors with overly-bullish predictions of user growth. The company officially admits no wrongdoing but will shell out $809m if the deal is approved by an Oakland, CA judge. More
Programmatic research tech platform Lucid has appointed Eric Denker as Vice President heading up its Corporate Development and Strategy. More
Business services behemoth Accenture is to acquire Brazilian CX and commerce solutions business Experity, for an undisclosed sum. More
Kantar has been selected by Origin, a joint industry initiative led by UK advertiser trade body ISBA, to supply a single source panel for cross-media measurement; adding to the recent launch of a 'Cross Media Performance' solution in Latin America, with Unilever among the early adopters. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital plc has begun the growth of a third main practice area with the acquisition of tech services company Zemoga. More
CX and research tech company Forsta has appointed Brian Bhuta as Chief Product Officer, overseeing product development, leading innovation and evolving the architecture of the product suite. More
Ad agency division Wunderman Thompson Intelligence has launched a new report called 'Into the Metaverse', which covers everything brand owners and their agencies need to know about the 'shared online worlds in which physical, augmented, and virtual reality converge'. More
Kirsty Fuller, CEO of video intelligence platform Big Sofa Technologies, is stepping down from the role and will become a Non-Executive Director from next January. She will be succeeded by Sam Curtis, current Head of Client Partnerships and Business Development, in a planned transition. More
German MR tech provider quantilope has acquired UK-based qual video research company Plotto; and has announced the launch of inColor, which extends its existing Insights Automation platform as a standalone product for automated online qual. More
UK-based ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has acquired the business and assets of Chicago-based start-up Data Quorum, including its library of statistical tools. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has reported a 'very strong' first half, with like-for-like gross profit (net revenue) up 49%, and pro forma EBITDA up 36% - results described as 'more in line with the fast-growing digital platforms' than the more traditional major media groups. More
UK-based research and data business Delineate has announced senior management changes, with founder James (JT) Turner moving from the CEO role to that of President; COO Ben Leet stepping up to CEO; and former employee Chris Bunyan returning as Product Director. More
Professional associations ESOMAR and the Global Research Business Network (GRBN) have released two sets of guidelines - Primary Data Collection and Duty of Care - intended to strengthen the ethical standards framework available to their respective memberships. More
Consumer data and credit reporting agency TransUnion has agreed to acquire data firm Neustar for $3.1 billion, from an investment group led by Golden Gate Capital, with minority participation by GIC. Neustar's security business is excluded from the transaction. More
In the UK, media company Future plc has launched an audience data platform called Aperture, providing advertisers with access to the company's intent-based first-party data. More
In the US, customer intelligence platform InMoment has acquired structured and unstructured data and text analytics firm Lexalytics, for an undisclosed sum. More
UK-based mobile research tech firm RealityMine has launched gaming behavioural data capabilities, allowing it to capture and report on content that opted-in panellists have played across all mobile devices. More
In London, full-service agency IFF Research has made eleven new hires in the last quarter, including Catherine O'Driscoll who re-joined in June as Associate Director after eighteen months at charity GambleAware. More
Audience and gamer insights firm GWI has launched a platform to provide an in-depth view of global or local audiences. Tom Smith, company CEO and founder, says the platform enables businesses to access 'impactful audience insights' at a fraction of the cost of traditional MR. More
UK television marketing body Thinkbox has appointed Anthony Jones as Head of Research, replacing Oliver Robertson who has moved to a role at Amazon Advertising. More
In the UK, media and audience insight specialist Access Intelligence Group has appointed former Deliveroo exec Jake Steadman as Global Vice President of Insights. More
Former dunnhumby CEO Guillaume Bacuvier has been hired as Global Chief Executive Officer of Kantar's consumer panel division Worldpanel. He succeeds Josep Montserrat, who takes on the role of Non-Executive Chairman. More
Business-to-business research provider B2B International has promoted Tom Percival to the role of Managing Director, leading its London-based team. More
Digital media measurement platform DoubleVerify is to acquire European ad visibility analyst Meetrics in an all-cash transaction, amount unspecified, expected to close this quarter. More
In the UK, Leeds-based full-service agency Blue Yonder has appointed former Black Swan exec Mat Sloan as Head of its comms specialist Brand:Lab, taking over from MD Richard Heath. More
Ad platform LoopMe has received a patent for its PurchaseLoop advertising campaign measurement solution. The firm has also appointed former Nielsen exec Rob Cukierman as General Manager of Measurement and Product Partnerships, based in New York. More
Sports data tech company Genius Sports has acquired Spirable, which helps clients create and optimize personalized video content across social media, CRM, messenger and display channels. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In New York, customer experience and analytics specialist Accenture Interactive has appointed David Droga, founder of ad agency Droga5, as Chief Executive Officer and Creative Chairman, effective September 1st. He replaces Brian Whipple, who is retiring. More
First-party data and insights platform Dynata has appointed Dilip Nagaraja as Chief Technology Officer, driving the continued development of the firm's platform and automating the processing, access and distribution of its products. More
UK TV station Channel 4 has launched the Producers Performance Report, giving individual producers data on how their new programmes have performed on All 4 and the broadcaster's linear channels. More
In London, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company Merkle has opened a dedicated Technology Consulting practice, and appointed its Senior Director of Solutions Andy Ankrah to lead it. More
New York-based youth research specialist YPulse is adding Western European data to its youth insights platform, providing data and insights on Gen Z and Millennial consumers aged 13 to 39 in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain from next month. More
Kantar Chairman Adam Crozier is to add the Chairmanship of BT Group plc. He will join the Board in November and take up the role from 1st December, following the retirement of Jan du Plessis. More
London-based audience and gamer insights firm GWI is opening its first APAC office in Singapore in October, staffed by a combination of relocated European team members and locally sourced talent. More
Next15's data and insights group Savanta has acquired Pennsylvania, US-based full-service agency MSI International. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Vienna, Austria-based marketing analytics platform Adverity has closed a $120 million Series D financing round. More
In London, Uncommon Creative Studio has launched a Customer Experience (CX) division called the Practice, led by former Lida CEO Jonathan Goodman. More
Private equity firm Apiary Capital has acquired a 'significant stake' in London-based MediaSense, whose Analytics practice manages more than $15 billion of media expenditure on behalf of clients. More
Tokyo-based Macromill has announced the launch of a digital advertising business, Macromill Ads, tapping the data from its 1.3m proprietary consumer panelists to provide a one-stop service from ad planning and distribution to the measurement of effectiveness. More
Comscore has reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30th, with revenue down 1% to $87.7m, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.6m, dropping sharply from $9.2m a year earlier. The firm says the positive results of recent partnerships and agreements will show up later in the year. More
Momentive, until recently known as SurveyMonkey, has announced an expansion of its MR targeting capabilities to meet growing demand from b2b customers, and tapping the resources of Dynata and Schlesinger Group. More
UK-based integrated agency group Unlimited has promoted its CFO Ed Guest to the role of Chief Operating Officer. More
Consumer insights platform Toluna has added a range of new product development methodologies to its Start platform, including needs identification, ideation, and claims testing solutions. More
London-based youth insight and panel business YouthSight has hired six researchers, plus two new members for its Project Management team. This includes the appointment of former Yonder Consulting/Ipsos MORI exec Ralph Robinson as Senior Research Manager. More
In the UK, insight business Walnut Unlimited has promoted Chris Bland to the role of Managing Director, overseeing the day-to-day running of the agency. He takes over from Jane Rudling, who will continue in her role as Head of Unlimited's Insights & Analytics division. More
In the UK, Ol Janus has returned to customer engagement and data agency Havas helia in the newly created role of Group Head of Data. More
Global research and advisory company Gartner has reported a 20% increase in second quarter revenue to $1.2 billion, from $973.1m a year earlier. Research revenues rose 14.6% to $1,003.2m, while the Conferences division recovered half its Q2 2019 revenue for a total of $58.2m. More
UK audience measurement body BARB has launched metrics for 'total four-screen viewing', adding smartphones to its existing coverage of unduplicated reach and time spent viewing across TV sets, tablets and PCs. More
In interim results, WPP has reported a 'strong' first half, with revenue returning to 2019 levels 'a year ahead of plan'. H1 2021 revenue of £6.13bn was up 9.8% on last year's Covid-hit figure, and the group returned to a profit before tax (£394m) after losses of £3.18bn a year earlier. More
Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey) has reported a 20% increase in second quarter revenue to $109.4m, from $90.9m a year earlier; with a 33% rise in Enterprise sales to $33.9m and self-service revenue up 15% to $75.5m. More
In the US, Kantar has appointed former SurveyMonkey exec Chuck Brinker as Brand Guidance Product team Lead, starting next month; and Christoph Haschka as Group Director of Mergers and Acquisitions. More
From September, Nielsen will begin placing approximately 3,000 newly designed Portable People Meter (PPM) wearable audience measurement devices with a subset of its nearly 60,000 active PPM panelists, as part of plans to modernize its panels and improve panelist experience. More
In London, Beehive Research has appointed Tim Kerr as Senior Researcher and Charles Ray as Research Manager, supporting its expansion into the media and publishing arena. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has merged its digital content production company MediaMonks and digital media solutions provider MightyHive into a single data, digital media and tech brand called Media.Monks. More
In the US, first-party data company Dynata has acquired consumer engagement and survey platform inBrain.ai, for an undisclosed sum. More
Community panels pioneer Verve has appointed Tesco veteran Simon Taylor as a Research Director leading its grocery specialism, supporting key client the John Lewis Partnership; and has announced seven promotions. More
Fast-rising Manchester, UK-based researcher The Insights Family has announced a move to larger offices on the city's central King Street, and the opening of a satellite office in Mayfair, London, as well a roll-out in Poland and a number of hires. More
US-based technology specialist Forrester Research has reported second quarter revenue of $128.7m, up 13.4% on last year. Revenue from its Research division climbed to $81.0m from $75.0m in Q2 2020. More
London-based online specialist DigitalMR has been renamed DMR after expanding its artificial intelligence capabilities beyond 'digital' to include customer experience management, customer journey optimisation, alternative data for funds and other use cases. More
Experience Management giant Qualtrics has announced a definitive agreement to acquire conversational analytics firm Clarabridge, in a stock transaction valued at $1.125bn. More
Nielsen has announced a 6.2% increase in second quarter revenues to $861m on both a reported and organic basis (4.5% in constant currency terms), up from $811m in the prior year period, and similar to revenue for the Global Media half of the business in Q2 2019. More
New York-based real-time MR software platform Suzy has closed a $50 million Series D funding round, more than doubling the total is has raised to date. More
Shareholders in marcoms conglomerate MDC Partners Inc. have voted more than three to one in favour of its merger with Mark Penn's Stagwell Group, owner of the Harris and Harris Poll brands. More
Merkle, the CXM business of marcoms giant dentsu, has appointed Dan Wigley to lead its combined UK analytics practice. More
Nielsen has launched an approach to measure authenticated and unauthenticated web traffic and validate first-party server data with real consumer behavior. More
In the UK, GroupM-owned media agency Essence has announced that its EMEA Consulting division will now offer the group's data, media and technology expertise as a standalone service. More
Scott Muller has returned to Australian media company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) in the newly created role of Head of Content Insights. More
US-based customer experience management specialist Medallia has agreed terms of a sale to software investment firm Thoma Bravo, in an all-cash transaction valuing the company at $6.4 billion. Bids from other potential buyers will also be considered over the next 40 days. More
Comscore Chief Financial Officer Greg Fink will be leaving the company at the end of August, 'to pursue new interests'. More
Cross-screen television insights and analytics provider Samba TV has launched an interactive dashboard featuring geographic and demographic analysis of viewing in real time across the world, starting with the US, UK, Germany and Australia. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services investment vehicle S4Capital has secured new loan and debt facilities, to refinance existing borrowing and for future acquisitions. More
Personalized content and viewer insights provider ThinkAnalytics and Nielsen's entertainment metadata specialist Gracenote have partnered to launch a solution through which TV providers can improve image-based personalized video search and recommendations. More
In the UK, language and research services provider Mission Translate has appointed David Lamont as Global Sales Director and Steven Prior as Business Development Manager. More
First-party data platform Dynata has hired former Verto Analytics CEO Pat Brennan as VP, Panel Development; while Nancy Brigham joins as VP, Research Science; John Talierco as Product Owner; and Naveen Goel as VP, India Operations. More
UK market research budgets were revised down in the latest quarter, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report - extending the negative trend seen since the third quarter of 2015. However, the latest MR budget reduction was the 'softest' in two years. More
In New York, consumer insights platform Morning Consult has added seven former Kantar executives and three from Ipsos to its Commercial team. More
Kantar Public, the group's government and public sector practice, has announced a three-part investment strategy for its business in Germany. This includes the launch of a new Public Data Innovation Hub to support German data science, digital start-ups and micro businesses. More
Online communities specialist InSites Consulting has announced 10% revenue growth for the fiscal year 2020-2021, adding 'up to EUR 66m worldwide'. More
In Australia, M&C Saatchi has launched a marketing sciences practice called Precision, which will work with clients and support a group-wide learning and development program to increase 'data fluency' among the group's employees. More
From our special issue published this week, KL Communications founder Kevin Lonnie talks about what's changed and what hasn't in twenty years running a communities business; about getting customers to solve clients' business problems; and getting space men to talk to each other. More
Telecoms company Orange has acquired a small stake in French audience measurement agency Médiamétrie, and will now be represented on its Board. More
Mobile research tech firm RealityMine has launched a suite of data solutions specifically for researchers working in the entertainment sector. More
In Stockholm, Sweden, sample management platform Cint has appointed Marie-Louise Howett as Chief Human Resources Officer, responsible for guiding the company's global people, culture and workplace strategies. She replaces Johanna Isander, who left the firm in April. More
In the UK, consumer data company Pureprofile has hired former Dynata / Kantar Profiles exec Jon Wadsworth for a newly created role, Business Development Director, working across the UK and mainland Europe. More
Our 2021 Online Communities supplement is published today. In this article, Richard Preedy from title sponsor Verve looks at the role the company's community panels have played in the customer-focused transformation of retailer John Lewis. More
Hamburg, Germany-based insights automation platform quantilope is expanding to the UK with the opening of an office in London. More
Kantar has chosen a new Chief Executive - Chris Jansen, currently CEO of global schools group Cognita, starts in the role on 1st November. More
Twenty years to the day from its launch, North of England firm DJS Research has announced it is now an employee-owned business. More
Kantar has announced the formal integration of New Zealand's Colmar Brunton into its business, with the Colmar Brunton name to be phased out by the end of this year. All 121 staff in the country will join one of two new NZ divisions, Kantar or Kantar Public. More
In the MENA region, Kantar has promoted Amol Ghate to Managing Director, MENAP and Nermeen Bedeir to Managing Director, Insights Division, Egypt. More
Ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has appointed former Nielsen CMO and We Work exec Marcy Shinder to its board of directors. More
Continuing our focus on insight communities, Verve's Joint Head of Research talks about setting up the world's largest community panel; the boom in exploratory digital qual; and why he's seeing research better represented in board meetings than ever before. Available in print or as a video podcast. More
Google's phasing out of third-party cookies is no longer imminent. After sending the marketing community into a frenzy with its decision 18 months ago to drop cookie support from Chrome, the firm this week put the deadline back to at least mid-2023, linking the move to pressure from UK regulators. More
The UK government has asked Netflix, Amazon and other streaming services to disclose top-line viewing data for the shows they get from public service broadcasters the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. More
Ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has hired former IBM exec Lauren Palmer as Senior Product Manager guiding its advertising research product strategy. More
LA-based insights firm Echo MR has expanded its partnership with CXM and Insights platform Alida to Europe, just a few months after joining its partner network. More
Media intelligence and social analytics group Meltwater B.V. has agreed the acquisition of ten-year-old Silicon Valley-based business information crowd-sourcing company Owler for $18.9m in cash and $5.6m shares. More
Experience Management (XM) company Qualtrics has partnered with cloud customer experience and contact center solutions firm Genesys, adding the latter's customer engagement and activity data to the former's feedback for a single, actionable view of customer satisfaction. More
US-based software and solutions provider QuestionPro has launched a knowledge management (KM) system called the Insights Hub, which offers an indexable and searchable platform for corporate research. More
The European Union has formally approved the 'adequacy' of the UK's data protection protocols for the transfer of personal data between the two. More
In the UK, mobile research tech firm RealityMine and transaction measurement services firm Rippll have partnered to allow clients single source access to digital behavioural capture and transaction data from Rippll's Open Banking technology. More
Comscore is to integrate its contextual Activation suite into ad tech company Viant's cross-channel programmatic ad platform, Adelphic, allowing Viant's advertisers to use Comscore's cookie-free targeting solutions. More
Consumer insights platform DISQO has acquired New York and Helsinki-based cross-device measurement specialist Verto Analytics, for an undisclosed sum. More
Kantar has partnered with data collaboration platform InfoSum to help advertisers ad TGI consumer insights to their own first-party data, improving targeting. More
In the second article from our forthcoming special issue, Toluna's Director, Digital Solutions Jack Lee sets out why communities are an ideal way for a brand to get closer to its consumers; and how to make the most of what they can offer. More
Web and mobile app analytics platform Glassbox has raised $100m through an initial public offering (IPO), and will use the funds to expand its global presence and reach - both organically and through acquisition, and to invest in new staff and technology. More
As the insight world emerges from the shadow of Covid, 'only around 50% of formerly face to face activity will revert to type', says Verve's Andy Dexter, introducing a month of features focused on Online Communities, for our forthcoming special issue. More
In New York, consumer insights platform Morning Consult has raised $60m in a Series B round of funding, which values the company at $1.01 billion. Funds will be used for development of its data collection technology and expansion into the EMEA and APAC regions. More
Mark Inskip, the CEO of Kantar's UK and Ireland Media Division, has left the business to join staffing procurement firm Matrix SCM as Chief Executive Officer. He will be replaced on a temporary basis by EMEA MD Louise Ainsworth. More
In Australia, WPP-owned marcoms agency Ogilvy has appointed Torque Data founding partner Mark Albert as Chief Data and Analytics Officer, leading data execution across the Ogilvy ANZ Network. More
Digital ad verification firm Integral Ad Science (IAS) has today announced the filing of a registration statement with the U.S. SEC, for a proposed IPO of its common stock. More
Toluna has launched what it describes as 'the industry's first and only Enterprise Insights Subscription', giving clients 'limitless access' to its Toluna Start platform, expert personnel and insights from its global panel community. More
Target audience insights firm GWI has appointed former Brandwatch Chief Product Officer Bex Campbell, to lead its own product development efforts. More
Kids, parents and family research specialist The Insights Family and US experiential youth marketing agency InspiredConsumer have partnered to produce research solutions for clients in the US. More
Cross-platform television ad measurement specialist TVSquared has added Foursquare's location data to its ADvantage platform, enabling users to connect linear and OTT/CTV ads to physical outcomes such as store visits and foot traffic, and understand how campaigns impact off-line consumer behavior. More
In London, data-driven marketing agency Merkle has promoted Stephen Derbyshire for a newly created role, Adobe Experience Platform Practice Lead for EMEA, also heading up parent company dentsu's CXM Service Line. More
US-based media, events and research company International Data Group (IDG) is to be acquired by investment firm Blackstone for $1.3 billion. More
Comscore has partnered with conversation analytics specialist Spiketrap, to expand its Predictive Audiences cookieless targeting solution specifically for gamers. More
In the UK, commercial radio industry body Radiocentre has hired former Kinetic exec Tara Wilkinson for the newly created role of Head of Insight. More
Kantar's first quarter revenue was up 3% to $896m, with six of its seven divisions delivering growth. This includes double digit increases from the group's consumer and shopper behavior specialist Worldpanel, and public policy services provider Kantar Public. More
UK television audience measurement body BARB has awarded long-term contracts to Kantar and RSMB, beginning in January 2024. These include a deal for Kantar to increase BARB's panel from 5,150 to 7,000 homes - the largest increase in sample since BARB's launch in 1981. More
Consumer data company Pureprofile has expanded its media business Pure.amplify into the UK, where it will be led by Pureprofile's current Head of Performance Marketing, Catherine Jones. More
Ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has appointed Melanie LoBue as Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, based in the US. More
London-based ad fraud intelligence and marketing compliance platform Pixalate has launched the 'Publisher Trust Index', which provides a global approach to measurement and monthly rankings of mobile and Connected TV apps, based on traffic quality. More
User experience (UX) analytics platform Contentsquare has raised half a billion dollars in a Series E round of funding, which it will use to expand its leadership team in Europe and the US, and move into new markets across Asia. The round values the company at $2.8 billion. More
London-based marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has launched US Hispanic and Multicultural practices, while appointing LATAM market specialist Amanda Abrarpour to lead its Miami office. More
In London, WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has promoted Silvia Sparry for its newly created role of Global Chief Operating Officer (COO) from her former position as VP of Global Operations and Platforms. More
Nielsen has announced a $1.25 billion debt refinancing initiative, and says it is allocating funds to drive its new TV ratings platform Nielsen One. More
In New York, location intelligence provider Foursquare has acquired geospatial analytics and visualization platform Unfolded. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
In New York, WPP's media investment company GroupM has promoted Krystal Olivieri to the newly created role of Global Innovation Officer, tasked with elevating, enhancing and streamlining its data products and solutions. More
Ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has made three hires to support growth across the EMEA and APAC regions. The firm says its international sales team has doubled in size, and is planned to triple by the end of the year. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has promoted Susan Vidler to the role of European Chief Research Officer, from her most recent role as UK MD for Harris. The firm has also promoted Olivia Senneville to Executive Vice President, Finance. More
TV analytics specialist FourthWall Media has appointed Paul Haddad as Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. More
Britain's MRS has awarded the Gold Medal, its most prestigious honour, to former NOP MD Phyllis Macfarlane; and announced new fellows including research tech writer Tim Macer and two inspirational former Chairs of B2B research group BIG, Claire Labrum and Trevor Wilkinson. More
Video ad targeting firm Tremor Video is rolling out its UnrulyEQ suite of audience and psychographic intelligence solutions to clients in the US and Canada. The suite uses facial coding and survey-based techniques to help advertisers across CTV and video reach and engage audiences. More
In London, start-up Quix has raised $3.2m in a seed round of funding, which it will use to launch a real-time streaming analytics platform. More
In London, marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has appointed Candice Odhams as EVP Global Clients. In addition, Mike Gray has been promoted to Director of Client Partnerships, EMEA, and Rob Linton to Commercial Director of MiQ North. More
Software giant Oracle has launched what it claims is the world's first ad measurement technology for 3D in-game environments. More
UK-based insights firm Walnut Unlimited has taken on five new recruits, including Elisha Temminck and Alex Banks as Associate Directors. More
Comscore has reported results for the first quarter, with revenue up fractionally from $89.5m to $90.3m. Adjusted EBITDA was down 12.5% to $5.6m, but remains much stronger than in 2019. More
Technology consulting firm Forrester Research has reported revenue up 7% to $113.8m for the first quarter of 2021. The company has also launched Forrester Decisions, described as a 'premium portfolio' of 15 new research services. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile data and survey tech company RealityMine has added a competitor intelligence tool, Experience SDK, to its product offering. More
Location data ad technology firm Blis has entered the Japanese market through a partnership with digital transformation specialist Innovator Japan. The firm has also announced a Hong Kong franchise, which also covers Taiwan, and signed a reseller agreement in North America. More
US-based customer intelligence platform InMoment has appointed Nicolas Herz as Country Sales Director, to lead its expansion into France, and to strengthen its position in Benelux and across Europe. More
London-based content marketing platform ContentCal has raised $6.2m in a Series A round of investment, which it will use to develop a proprietary content intelligence platform, make new hires, open a US base and expand its UK headquarters. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.5% increase in first quarter revenue to $863m, with EBITDA climbing strongly (up 18.3%). More
Global industry association ESOMAR has teamed up with NewMR, Confirmit and more than twenty other organisations for the next wave of its survey among buyers and users of insights, measuring how usage and purchasing patterns are evolving. More
First quarter revenues at global research and advisory firm Gartner rose 8.4% to $1.1 billion, with reported profit more than doubling to $164.1m (vs $75m in Q1 2020). Adjusted EBITDA rose 50% to $320m, from $214m a year before. More
London-based youth insight and panel business YouthSight has been acquired by Next15's data and insights group Savanta. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has acquired Brazil-based digital performance agency Raccoon Group, to expand its data and digital media practice in Latin America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Community specialists Tribes Research and Syno International have agreed a partnership whereby Tribes will migrate all its communities to Syno's platform. The latter includes a survey tool, data lake and research automation products. More
Eye tracker developer Tobii is preparing to spin off its Dynavox arm, which develops speech generating devices, eye trackers and eye gaze/eye-controlled devices for people with disabilities and special needs. Along with the spin-off, Group CEO Henrik Eskilsson says he intends to step down. More
Kantar has launched what it says is South Africa's biggest ever consumer panel, measuring the FMCG purchasing behaviour of more than 6,500 local households at launch. More
Marcoms giant WPP has withdrawn around £200,000 in share awards from founder and former CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, who it claims leaked confidential information to a journalist following his departure in 2018. More
Kantar Chief Executive Alexis Nasard has stepped down after just four months in the role. Deputy CEO Ian Griffiths will lead the company until a new appointment is made. More
The recently merged business of research software firms Confirmit and FocusVision has a new name, Forsta. Both the original companies will continue to operate as usual while the organisation continues its integration plans and brand strategy roll out. More
WPP has launched a global data company called Choreograph, which brings the specialist data units of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson into a single business, accessible to all WPP clients and companies. More
Shares in WPP AUNZ have been suspended from the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange), following last week's shareholder vote in favour of a buyout of the business by British parent company WPP plc. More
YouGov has announced the acquisition of open banking start-up Lean App, adding financial transaction data to its panel, profiling and other products and services. More
Ipsos has posted revenue of EUR 466.3m in the first quarter of 2021, up 8.8% from Q1 2020 and up 10.5% from Q1 2019. Like-for-like, the increase was 14.1%, driven by a very strong performance in EMEA. More
Experience Management (XM) pioneer Qualtrics has reported first quarter revenue up 36% to $238.6m, and also says it turned an operating loss into a small (non-GAAP) profit during the period. More
Insights and data firm Pureprofile has reported revenues up 25% to $7.1m in the first three months of 2021; and says it plans to launch new partnerships, plus panels in Europe and Asia. More
Consumer intelligence platform Toluna has announced two senior appointments: Kelly Albada Jelgersma joins the company as Vice President Global Head of Sales Operations, and Houston Itzen as Global Head of Pricing. More
Tech buyer and seller marketplace Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD) has launched a division called Aberdeen Strategy & Research, delivering insights into the business technology market. Robin Peto will lead it as Managing Director. More
YouGov has launched a service called YouGov Safe, offering a fully opt-in, GDPR and CCPA compliant, cross-device tracker and data marketplace, which incentivises participants to choose who they share their data with. More
In the US, online sample company PureSpectrum has raised $17m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to continue building its team and to expand its product offering. More
Kantar has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Chicago-based consumer and market intelligence company Numerator from investment firm Vista Equity Partners. Sources suggest the deal is worth about $1.5 billion. More
Long-time Cint executive Richard Thornton has departed from the company for some 'planned time off with the family'. More
Kantar has partnered with video audience targeting and analytics platform Streamhub in a deal which the firms say offers new capabilities for the analysis and activation of online streaming audiences. More
Ipsos has acquired UK-based audio recognition technology firm Intrasonics for an undisclosed amount. More
UK-based marcoms group Next Fifteen Communications has acquired predictive data-led business Shopper Media Group (SMG) and its subsidiaries - Capture Marketing, Lobster Agency, and Threefold Agency - for £15.7m. More
Four specialists from different marketing disciplines have launched a collective called Crater Lake & Co, bringing together marketing analytics, creative strategy, media planning and market research to provide answers to questions around clients' marketing decisions. More
UK-based ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has appointed Alice Saje as Executive Vice President of Operations, to lead its Global Operations team across support, market expansion, fulfilment and business operations. More
In the US, Comscore has promoted analytics leader Michael Vinson to the position of Chief Research Officer. More
Kantar and Ipsos have been awarded contracts to deliver what they say is the 'world's first true cross-media total audience measurement solution', in the Netherlands. The contracts combine measurement of viewing, listening, browsing and reading in a single, integrated system. More
YouGov has launched a templated suite of brand research approaches called Consumer Journey Diagnostics, which it says 'blends the depth of custom research with the cost-effectiveness and speed of syndicated data'. More
In London, the BBC's commercial subsidiary BBC Studios has hired Penny Brough for a newly created SVP role, leading the Brand Marketing and Audience Insight team. She takes up the position on 7th June. More
UK-based insight industry language specialist Empower Translate has launched an Unstructured Data unit, providing localisation services for high volumes of participant data derived from large-scale surveys and product testing. More
Kantar has launched a new practice, Dx Analytics, focused on the analysis of unstructured data to provide clients with deeper insight, and help them measure and boost their digital marketing performance. More
Global group GfK has unveiled a new version of its gfknewron solution which gives clients instant access to the company's independent, predictive analytics for tech consumer goods across 27 countries. New features include AI-driven rolling, short-term forecasts; and price optimization tools. More
Brand researcher and consultancy Hall & Partners has launched A(i)LIVE, which incorporates behavioural and survey data from Dynata and technology from consumer intelligence tool Powr of You in what it calls 'the world's first 'living' market segmentation tool'. More
Recently merged Confirmit and FocusVision have appointed Christopher Nagy and Giles Whiting to their leadership team as Global President / CFO and COO, respectively. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital ad group S4Capital has announced a 15.2% like-for-like increase in revenue, in unaudited preliminary results for the full year 2020. EBITDA rose 18.3% on the same basis. Reported revenue, including acquisitions, was up 59.3% to £342.7m. More
Real-time targeting specialist Fanplayr has opened UK offices in London and Manchester, and has made three senior appointments for its new UK team. More
The Insight Climate Collective (ICC), a group calling on the industry to come together and play its part in tackling the environmental crisis, has appointed a Steering Committee to help put its strategy into action. More
Full-service agency DVJ Insights has appointed Jemma Toynebee-Smith as Client Consultant in its UK team, based in London. More
Trade association ESOMAR has named ScaleHouse Consulting founder Kristin Luck as President of its Council, replacing Joaquim Bretcha of Netquest who has completed his two-year term. MindSpark founder Nikki Lavoie is the new Vice President, and five of the remaining eight members are also women. More
Mobile research tech firm RealityMine has appointed Clare McHatton as Client Development Director, while Toby Lee joins the team as Data Products Engineer and Matthew Pemberton as Project Manager. More
Online MR and technology company Further has appointed Gemma Stephenson as Operations Director. More
In London, speech analysis tech firm Phebi has launched an Emotional Resonance Score (ERS), tracking emotional responses to a set of items or concepts, automatically comparing positive and negative responses and presenting the results in rank order. More
US-based geospatial data provider SafeGraph has raised $45m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to offer new ways for customers to buy data, and to roll out its model in the UK in April. More
Former Kantar TNS East Africa CEO Aggrey Maposa died last Tuesday, after battling a long-term illness. More
Experience management firm Qualtrics has announced a 29% increase in revenue for the full year 2020, to $763.5m, with a fourth quarter increase of 24% to $213.6m. Non-GAAP Q4 net loss was $8.1m, improved from $20.3m a year earlier, while for the full year the figure was $46m ($59.3m in 2019). More
Newly merged research tech businesses Confirmit and FocusVision have appointed three female staff to the leadership team: Qual Business MD Zhana Baleva, Chief People Officer Sara Cohen and Chief Legal Officer Rebecca Wright. More
WPP has reported a 9.3% fall in revenue to £12bn in 2020 from £13.2bn the previous year, while turning a 2019 profit of £1.3bn into a 2020 loss of £2.3bn. Despite this, the group says it has cut debt to its lowest level in sixteen years. More
In the UK, MR services provider Protel Fieldwork has added WATI (web-assisted telephone interviewing) to its portfolio. More
Comscore has partnered with enterprise AI solutions provider Hive, to expand the integration of artificial intelligence across its product portfolio. More
In London, marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has promoted Giles Ivey to the position of EMEA Chief Executive Officer, while Van Sideras has been named EMEA Chief Operations Officer and Freddie Turner takes Sideras' previous role as UK Managing Director. More
Kantar Media's former Global CEO Andy Brown has joined cross-platform TV ad measurement specialist TVSquared as an Executive Advisor. More
Customer experience management specialist Medallia is to acquire digital experience analytics firm Decibel, headquartered in London, for approximately $160m in cash. More
Comscore has reported preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2020. Q4 revenue fell some 5.5% to $90.0m, but profits rose - adjusted EBITDA was up around 70% in Q4 to $9.4m, and for the year as a whole rose dramatically. More
GfK has announced the launch of Brand Architect, a new framework which it says bridges the gap between consumer attitudes and actual behavior, to measure the strength of brands. More
StreamPulse, the in-home division of Texas-based neuromarketing researcher MediaScience has teamed up with neurometric equipment manufacturer Shimmer to develop StreamPulse Neuro, a system for measuring consumers' emotional response in a natural viewing environment. More
Nielsen has completed the previously announced sale of its consumer intelligence business NielsenIQ (formerly Nielsen Global Connect) for $2.7bn to affiliates of Advent Interrnational, in partnership with former TransUnion CEO James 'Jim' Peck. More
YouGov has acquired Toronto, Canada-based sports research firm Charlton Insights, for an undisclosed sum. More
In London, Kantar has hired former Neustar exec Ted Prince for a newly created role, Chief Product Officer, responsible for defining and delivering new offerings and real-time platforms. More
Google has announced that it won't build alternative identifiers to track individuals as they browse the web once third-party cookies are phased out; nor use them in other Google products. More
Nielsen's music, video and sports tech company Gracenote has launched a solution called 'Personalized Imagery', to help video services present the most appealing program images to viewers through their user interfaces, content carousels and program guides. More
Nielsen is selling its Advanced Video Advertising (AVA) business to TV streaming platform Roku, in a deal which includes Nielsen's video automatic content recognition (ACR) and dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technologies. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. More
Data from Kantar's Great Britain TGI consumer survey will now be updated and released on a monthly basis, in response to what the firm says are evolving demands for consumer insight. More
Paris-based MR data and tech firm Bilendi has announced the acquisition of HumanizeeSAS, the company that owns the Discussnow platform. More
In Illinois, USA, a federal judge has approved settlement of the 2015 lawsuit alleging that Facebook tagged the faces of users and used other biometric data without their permission. The social network will pay $650m, including 'at least' $345 for each of the class action's c.1.6m plaintiffs. More
Comscore has expanded its data agreement with marcoms giant Omnicom Group, to provide privacy-safe e-commerce and audience behavioral data for its Omni media planning and personalization platform. More
UK-based kids, parents & family panels firm The Insights People has added eight new team members since the start of the year, taking its headcount to 54, with a further 16 hires planned. The firm says that so far in 2021 it has added one new client every week. More
Emotion analytics specialist Realeyes has received a US patent for the core technology of its flagship PreView product, described as a 'computer-implemented system and method for determining attentiveness of users'. More
UK industry charity the Market Research Benevolent Association (MRBA) is launching its annual fundraising auction on the International Day of Happiness on 20th March. This year's event will be known as the 'Donate a Smile' auction. More
Global PR and marketing company Cision has agreed to acquire Brighton, UK-based social media listening and content marketing analytics firm Brandwatch, for $450 million. More
Debbie Clifford, Chief Financial Officer of SurveyMonkey, is leaving to become CFO of her previous employer Autodesk. SurveyMonkey has already initiated a search to find her replacement, with CEO Zander Lurie taking over the role until one is named. More
The UK Statistics Authority has set up a Centre for Applied Data Ethics, to provide practical guidance and support for researchers and statisticians; and to keep them abreast of new methods, technologies and data sources. More
Comscore has rolled out its cookie-free targeting capability 'Predictive Audiences' to France, Spain and Italy - it already operates in the UK and Germany. The firm has also partnered with audience technology platform Eyeota to offer access to cookie-less B2B audiences. More
Ipsos has reported Covid-hit full-year revenue of EUR 1.8bn, down 6.5% on a like-for-like basis, but managed organic growth of 1.4% in Q4 (vs Q4 2019). Negative currency effects dented reported figures for both periods. More
Nielsen has reported fourth quarter 2020 net income of $35m, compared to a loss of $109m in the prior year period. Revenue for the period fell just 1.1% to $1.67bn, while adjusted EBITDA was $560m, up 13.8%. For the full year, the company almost broke even, on revenues down 3.2%. More
YouGov has hired Hideyuki (Andy) Hata for a newly created role, Senior Strategic Advisor, YouGov Sport, tasked with establishing the business's commercial operations in Tokyo. More
Communities specialist InSites Consulting has expanded its Asian footprint with the acquisition of Taipei, Taiwan-based Answer. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Strategic insights firm Firefish USA has appointed long-time Kantar exec Sylvain Molinier as 'Senior Director of Futures', based in its Brooklyn, NY team. More
CX and marketing company Merkle is retiring its Aquila analytics brand, marking the final step in the integration of a firm acquired in 2017. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insights business Vypr has appointed Cint exec Richard Thornton to its board, following a £2.5m investment last month by YFM Equity Partners. More
The European Commission has published its draft UK 'adequacy decisions', which if adopted will allow for the continued free flow of personal data from the EU into the UK. More
In the US, Ipsos has appointed Christie Kawada as Head of Media Development and Audience Measurement. She takes over from Manny Flores, who moves to the position of Executive Vice President in the Client Organization. More
In London, ad group M&C Saatchi has launched a data consultancy called Fluency, promising to bring greater access to data and insights across organisations. It will be led by CEO Frisco Chau, who is also the wider group's Chief Data Officer. More
Shares in insight exchange and sample management platform Cint rose 30% to SEK 92.5 (EUR 9.2) per share from the original offer price of SEK 72 (EUR 7.2), after the firm placed its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Stockholm this morning. The listing values Cint at more than EUR 1bn. More
Kantar is to begin offering media monitoring services in Sri Lanka, following an agreement to acquire Nielsen's local media monitoring business in the country. The service will complement Kantar's existing TV audience measurement services. More
UK-based mobile research tech firm RealityMine has launched a product called RealLife Audio, to capture and report on the streamed audio content that panellists have listened to across a range of music, radio, podcast and audiobook streaming services. More
Next15's data and insights group Savanta has promoted four and hired three new employees as part of its expansion in the US. The promotees include thinqonline co-founder Mark Martins, who is now Americas EVP as well as Asia Pacific General Manager. More
Behavioural insights platform Veylinx, headquartered in Amsterdam, has raised $2m in a pre-Series A round of funding. The money will be used to expand its teams across Europe and the US, accelerate product development, and launch a new platform. More
Following its management buyout last month, French research and consulting firm BVA Group says it will reposition itself as an 'experience champion', and will take a more international and more 'participative' approach. More
In the US Kevin Kruper and Rocky Prozeller, former directors of British-based MR firm Incite, have launched a boutique insights consultancy called Old Salt. More
London-based survey platform Phebi has partnered with voice-enabled data capture specialist Analytical Factory, which will provide it with support services across the UK and other parts of Europe. Analytical Factory will also develop new apps based on Phebi's technology. More
Tech consulting and research group Gartner has reported Q4 revenue of $1.11bn, down 9% in the quarter and down 3% in the full year 2020, but the firm's double figure profit growth (full year adjusted EBITDA +20% FX neutral, and Q4 + 10%) supports CEO Gene Hall's bullish appraisal. More
US-based tech specialist Forrester Research has reported a 3.02% drop in fourth quarter revenue to $120.5m. For the full-year, total revenues were $449.0m, down from $461.7m in 2019. More
SurveyMonkey has reported a 20% increase in total revenue to $101.0m for the fourth quarter, ended December 31st 2020. Full-year 2020 revenue was up 22% year-on-year to $375.6m. More
UK broadcaster ITV has created new data roles - promoting Lara Izlan to Director of Data Strategy, while Clemence Burnichon joins as Director of Data Innovation, Mike Leverington will join next month as Director of Data Experimentation, and Kat Holmes becomes Director of Data Governance. More
The second of our new video podcasts is with Eugene Murphy of indeemo and includes discussion of mobile ethnography, the future of shopping, the impact of the pandemic on research methods and budgets, and the potential for qualitative in the post-Covid world. More
In the UK, customer feedback software company Customer Thermometer has been acquired by e-mail signature software and solutions provider Exclaimer Group. More
Ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has set up an Enterprise Team to help large organisations drive global business impact through insights. The new team is led by Babita Earle, with the title of EVP of Global Enterprise Customers and Partnerships. More
Crispin Beale, former Group CEO of Chime Insight & Engagement, has been appointed as an Advisor to the management team of shopper insights specialist Behaviorally (previously known as PRS IN VIVO USA); supporting the company's growth strategy in the UK and across Europe. More
In the UK, the co-founders of outdoor advertising company Primesight have launched a tag-based mobile location verification platform called GeoProve. More
In London, communications software and market intelligence firm Access Intelligence Group has hired former Accuity Exec Tom Golding as its first Chief Operating Officer. More
In London, language and behavioural science agency Schwa has launched an online process called The Tone Test, to help measure a company's 'tone of voice'. More
Real-time customer data specialist Tealium has raised $96m in a Series G round of funding, which it will use to drive product innovation and expand its global footprint. More
Social media intelligence firm Bakamo has expanded to the Middle East via a partnership with Kuwait-based AlFikra Co, formalizing an existing working arrangement which it says has 'significantly increased through the pandemic'. More
Customer experience (CX) and DIY survey firm Alchemer, formerly known as SurveyGizmo, has appointed former SAP exec Mary Beth Addison as SVP of Sales. More
Comscore has rolled out its cookie-free targeting capability 'Predictive Audiences' in the UK and Germany. More
Kantar has joined Google's Ads Data Hub (ADH), enabling marketers to assess YouTube ad performance across all devices and platforms without the use of pixels. More
From this week, Daily Research News will feature video interviews of around 20-25 minutes with leading figures in the insights and analytics world, giving you more depth on some of the stories in the news, and talking about themselves, their companies and their views. More
Cross-platform TV ad measurement specialist TVSquared has launched a fully-automated cookie-less solution called ADvantage XP, to measure the effectiveness of TV advertising for linear television, addressable and OTT/CTV. More
Online audience measurement body UKOM (UK Online Measurement) and Ipsos have announced the official launch of Ipsos iris, the new UK industry standard for online audience measurement. More
UK-based community panels specialist Verve has announced a 23% increase in revenues for the year ending 31st December 2020, to £8.1m. It has also hired Lucy Wetherhill, Claire Andrzejewski, Parker Mincey and six other new faces, and made eleven promotions. More
Research and data firm Savanta has promoted Caroline Hawkings as UK Managing Director, and Barbara Gurhan to CFO, while CTO Bart Read also joins the Board. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has appointed Paul Williamson as Managing Director of its North America business, while Stewart Li joins as Managing Director of China. More
Data-driven marketing and CX management company Merkle has promoted Sam Taverner to the role of EMEA Chief Growth Officer of the Merkle and dentsu CXM Service Line, and Liz Rutgersson to Chief Media Officer, Merkle Americas. More
In the US, experience management company Qualtrics has confirmed the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) of 51,695,568 shares at a price to the public of $30.00 per share. More
London-based customer data and experience platform ('CDXP') Exponea has been acquired by digital and commerce experience specialist Bloomreach for $150m, funded by investment company Sixth Street Growth. More
In the US, experience management company Qualtrics has appointed Julia Anas as Chief People Officer, Edward Chen as Head of Corporate Development and Strategy, and Gina Sheibley as Chief Communications Officer. More
Kantar has hired former Mindshare exec Paul Sturgeon for a newly created role, leading its Brand and Marketing ROI offer in the UK. More
Australia-based digital research platform Pureprofile has announced a record 26% increase in revenue for the quarter ending 31st December 2020. The total of $8.2m was driven by strong performance in all business units, and was 'well ahead of expectations', according to the firm. More
In London, consumer privacy-focused ad data platform Glimpse Protocol has raised EUR 1.4m in a seed round of funding, with investors including former Kantar CEO Eric Salama. More
In the UK, marketing and customer analytics consultancy STRAT7 has appointed former Kantar exec Giles Darby as Group Commercial Director; Richard Morland as Group Marketing Director; and Oliver Gwynne as Content & Digital Marketing Manager. More
Comscore has announced the launch of Movies Everywhere, which promises daily reporting of box office movie performance across all platforms. More
In the UK, data science and analytics consultancy Realise Unlimited has launched a method to help develop a deeper understanding of customers through their social media data. More
In the US, marcoms group Ogilvy has hired digital transformation specialist Steve Soechtig for a newly created role, Global Chief Executive Officer of its Experience business. More
Online community specialist C Space has promoted Jessica DeVlieger to the role of Global Chief Executive, replacing Charles Trevail, who will continue to lead parent company Omnicom's Interbrand Group around the world. DeVlieger is based in Boston. More
Tesco-owned customer data firm dunnhumby is preparing to launch an enterprise edition of its Model Lab machine learning automation tool for data scientists, built on cloud computing service Microsoft Azure. The tool will initially be available in the US. More
In the US, Kantar has sold its paid search intelligence unit - formerly known as AdGooroo - to AI-powered search intelligence specialist Adthena. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced plans to publish credit and debit card transaction data from the Bank of England, to help analyse how individuals have been spending their money during the past twelve months. More
UK-based insight and foresight platform Signoi has launched a set of AI-driven quant semiotic methods called Imagysis, to analyse images on social media and understand what people are posting about a brand or category. More
According to reports in UK media, Paris-headquartered marketing group Publicis has been holding talks with a private equity firm regarding the possible sale of all or a part of the group. More
In London, former Sky exec Phil Halliwell has joined full-service insight consultancy Relish as Insight Director. More
London-based Opinium has hired former Hall & Partners exec Tom McEnery as Research Director, and made six further appointments. More
Google has taken the unusual step of pronouncing its $2.1bn acquisition of wearable tech firm Fitbit a done deal, while regulatory investigations including that of the U.S. Department of Justice are still ongoing. Meanwhile Facebook's WhatsApp is mired in controversy over user data. More
Data-driven marketing and CX management company Merkle has appointed Simon Esland in the new role of VP Practice Lead, Marketing Decisioning, overseeing its partnership with Pegasystems. Esland was previously Group Head of Marketing Technology Strategy at Vodafone. More
In the US, market intelligence platform Premise Data has raised $85m in a Series E round of funding, which it will use to expand its platform capabilities and global network. More
Automated ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has hired Alison Scott as Senior Director, Customer Transformation, and Mary Lou Barney as Vice President, Strategic Accounts. The firm has also promoted Patricia Montesdeoca, Michelle Wu and Zontziry Johnson. More
Location intelligence firm Ubimo has partnered with OOH ad marketplace VIOOH to allow clients to access, analyse and target advertising across key outdoor sites in the US. More
Cultural insights and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA has moved founder Andy Crysell to the position of Chief Executive Officer, while Matilda Andersson has been promoted to Group MD, and Elyse Pigram moves up to MD for APAC. The firm has also made several new hires. More
Online community provider InSites Consulting has appointed former Nielsen / Synovate exec Eddie Au as Executive Director in its Hong Kong office. More
UK industry charity the Market Research Benevolent Association (MRBA) has issued a statement reminding those suffering from financial difficulties or other personal problems as a result of the pandemic and the new lockdown, that it is able to provide support. More
UK-based firm The Insights People has rolled out its Parents Insights service across thirteen countries, surveying 130,000 parents of children between the age of one and sixteen. Also new is a trend prediction service called 'Parents Insights Future Forecast'. More
In the US, experience management company Qualtrics has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), valuing the firm between $12bn and $14.4bn. More
Comscore has agreed to an investment deal which it will use to pay off its debt through the issuance of new shares. As part of the deal, the firm will also receive consumer-level data sets and rights from new investor, broadband and cable company Charter Communications. More
Research software firms Confirmit and FocusVision have announced plans to merge. The deal is dependent on receipt of regulatory approvals and expected to complete in the second quarter. Terms have not been disclosed. More
In the US, Polly MacIsaac has returned to online community specialist C Space as Chief Operating Officer, allowing Phil Burgess to relinquish his operations responsibilities and focus on his role as Chief People Officer. More
US-based customer intelligence platform InMoment has announced the acquisition of digital feedback solutions provider Wootric. More
Ad industry bible Campaign has launched its first 'truly global product', in the form of a tool monitoring the business performance of the world's top advertising and media agencies. More
Financial data technology company SRAX has appointed angel investor and cryptocurrency analyst Lou Kerner as CEO of its BIGtoken subsidiary - a consumer-managed data marketplace. More
Technology and services analyst HFS Research has launched a cloud research practice and appointed Joel Martin as Research Vice President for Cloud Strategies. More
London-based, employee owned insight and strategy consultancy BritainThinks has promoted Julia Ridpath to Research Director, Richenda Devereux to Director of Operations, and Helen Mason-Belshaw to Director of Finance; along with nine other promotions to Research Lead and SRE roles. More
Santa Barbara, California-based technology intelligence firm HG Insights has announced a 'significant growth investment' from growth equity firm Riverwood Capital. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital has announced two 'combinations', expanding both its MediaMonks content practice, with the addition of independent marketing firm Decoded Advertising; and its MightyHive data and digital media practice with the acquisition of San Francisco firm Metric Theory. More
DRNO is taking a break now until 4th January. It's been a strange old 12 months, but we're looking forward greatly to 2021. We wish those of you doing it a fantastic Christmas, and everyone a great New Year. More
WPP AUNZ has accepted an increased offer from its majority shareholder WPP, for the remainder of the company. The cash price of 70 cents per share means the total payable would be approximately $AUD 230m. More
Communities specialists Verve and Potentiate have merged in the UK, as part of a global strategic partnership between the two firms. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Research software firm Confirmit, which merged with reporting software provider Dapresy earlier this year, has paid an undisclosed sum for the latter's licensed regional distributor Dapresy Asia. More
In London, comms software and market intelligence firm Access Intelligence Group has appointed Phillip Palmer as Head of Corporate Strategy & Planning, and Michelle Goodall as Chief Marketing Officer. More
Kids, tweens and teens market intelligence specialist The Insights People has appointed four new team members and moved to a new 2,000 square foot office on Manchester's Portland Street. More
In London, mobile-based customer insights platform Streetbees has added $6.7m to its $40m Series B round of funding, which it says will provide its founders, early employees and angel investors with liquid assets. More
London-based customer data collaboration platform InfoSum has appointed its Chairman Brian Lesser as Chief Executive Officer. Company founder Nicholas Halstead will partner with Lesser as CTO, focusing on engineering, customer relationships and the 'future vision' of customer data. More
Former Oracle exec Graham Douglas has joined SurveyMonkey as Vice President of CX Sales in EMEA, tasked with expanding adoption of its GetFeedback platform across the region. He is based in Dublin. More
Tokyo-based marcoms giant dentsu is planning to cut 6,000 jobs - around 12.5 per cent of its 46,560-strong workforce based outside Japan - in the next twelve months, as a result of the downturn in global spending caused by Covid-19. The group says it will also eliminate 154 of its brands. More
In the UK, customer insights and communities platform developer STRAT7 ResearchBods has appointed Karen Lewis as Customer Success Lead, while Gordon Sherratt joins as Head of IT. Paul Wilson, Kelsey Cathchpole and Caitlin Fletcher also join the team. More
Digital research firm MetrixLab has extended its ACT Instant advertising pre-test tool worldwide, and across multiple ad formats including TV and banner ads. More
Online communities specialist InSites Consulting has brought its seven offices in Asia under its own name, retiring that of ABN Impact, which it acquired a year ago. More
UK-based Walnut Unlimited has appointed former Kantar Head of Shopper Ivan Browne to lead its own, newly enhanced shopper research offer. More
CX and voice-of-the-customer software firm Alchemer has announced a partnership with UK-based Voxpopme, allowing the former's clients to capture customer-recorded video feedback. More
Former Nielsen Chief Executive Mitch Barns has joined the Board of automated ad and innovation testing platform Zappi. More
In the US, DIY research software firm SurveyMonkey has hired former Neustar and IBM exec Ken Ewell for the newly created role of Chief Customer Officer, charged with leading and expanding the firm's customer success, professional services and support teams. More
In the US, Facebook has acquired customer relationship management platform Kustomer, which focuses on omnichannel enterprise customer service. The deal was valued at $1 billion according to a report in The Wall Street Journal which cited 'people familiar with the matter'. More
In London, real-time digital customer engagement, location and communications technology provider Localz has raised £2m in a venture round of funding, for further development of its product portfolio. More
UK-based Walnut Unlimited has expanded its shopper research toolkit, adding behavioural science, neuroscience and advanced analytics. More
Ipsos has made its InnoTest idea and concept testing solution available on the Ipsos.Digital DIY platform in seven countries - Brazil and the US plus Europe's 'big 5' - with eight more due to follow shortly. More
Nielsen has appointed Jamie Moldafsky, formerly CMO at Wells Fargo Bank, as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, effective immediately. More
Luxury markets specialist Altiant has launched the 'Millionaire Media Consumption Subscription', which analyses the habits of a thousand individuals with investible assets of at least $US 1 million, spread over four markets. More
Next15's data and insights group Savanta has launched a suite of tools called 'Savanta Essentials', promising a low-cost, fast turnaround approach to help businesses research key issues and engage with consumers. More
Sainsbury's loyalty and insights business Nectar360 has partnered with tech CitrusAd to launch a retail media platform allowing targeted sponsored product offers, banner advertising and analytics across the Sainsburys.co.uk web site. More
Online survey software firm Intellisurvey has hired four new members of staff, including former Dynata exec William Singleton as Director of Client Engagement, based in London. More
In London, retail scenario testing firm Virtual Store Trials (VST) has appointed long-time industry execs Helen Davis and Charlotte Kiddle as Account Directors, to lead partnerships with FMCG retailers and CPG brands. The company is also planning to open a US office next year. More
In Europe, data-driven digital signage provider Intuiface and face analysis specialist Sightcorp have integrated their solutions to create a no-code approach to running and measuring digital out-of-home ad placements, delivering individually targeted content at the right time and place. More
Apple has confirmed plans to introduce a feature known as 'App Tracking Transparency' (ATT) next year, which will prevent apps and web sites from monitoring the way a user behaves online. More
Continuing our focus on Data Visualization: Richard Thomas, CEO & founder of network monitoring firm Highlight, on the challenges of turning a mass of chaotic traffic and performance information into neat, colourful one-page panoramic views for use by non-technical clients. More
Australia-based digital research platform Pureprofile has appointed long-time industry exec Johnny Caldwell for its newly created role of Senior Business Development Director in the UK. More
In London, advanced analytics consultancy Realise Unlimited has introduced a lifetime value (LTV) modelling capability, to help identify the 'moments that matter' in a marketing campaign, including those that have the most impact on future customer value. More
In Sydney, Australia, 'Human Experience' agency Potentiate has hired Daniel Alexander-Head as Director of Innovation. More
UK-based marketing and customer analytics consultancy STRAT7 has acquired cultural insights and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA for an undisclosed sum. More
UK-based brand communications and experience research agency The Nursery has become employee-owned, with rights transferred to a trust set up for the benefit of all staff. More
YouGov has acquired Turkish online-focused MR firm Wizsight for an undisclosed sum. The company will be renamed YouGov Turkey. More
Customer experience management (CXM) and insights platform Alida - previously known as Vision Critical - has announced a partnership with video insights provider Voxpopme. More
Measure Protocol, a blockchain marketplace for person-based data, has launched a tool called Retro, which uses proprietary methodology to gather consumer data which the firm says has previously been almost impossible to access. More
Enterprise data exchange Harbr has raised $38.5m in Series A funding, and will use the money to scale up its team and accelerate onboarding of new customers. The firm doubled headcount in 2020 and says it plans to triple in 2021. More
Mobile app A/B testing service Taplytics has received an undisclosed amount of growth capital financing from CIBC Innovation Banking, for use in fuelling customer acquisition and growth plans across North America and Europe. More
In London, communities specialist Maru/Matchbox has promoted Sarah Beams for the newly created role of UK Managing Director, overseeing the delivery of the firm's UK strategy. More
In the UK, film industry researcher Stephen Follows has launched a web site called VOD Clickstream, providing analysis of the subscription video on demand (SVOD) sector. More
UK-based video intelligence platform Big Sofa Technologies has secured an undisclosed 'seven-figure' amount of funding, which it will use to drive the continued development of its platform and to make hires in the UK and US. More
Consumer intelligence platform Toluna has appointed former Nielsen MD Bruce Haymes as Non-Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. More
Data-driven marketing agency Merkle has promoted Anne Stagg to the newly created role of UK Chief Executive Officer, and CEO of its Customer Experience Management Line of Business (CXM). More
Comscore has reported lower revenue - down 6.7% to $88.0m - but adjusted EBITDA up around 14% to $7.3m, in the third quarter. The company also announced that as a result of its strategic review it will look to recapitalize with an anchor investor, lowering debt and enhancing liquidity. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital has issued a trading update for the third quarter, with like-for-like revenue up almost 13% and profit also up 'very strongly'. More
UK-based Walnut Unlimited have launched adMIRE, a new comms, media and ad testing approach using a single bespoke online survey and combining facial coding, implicit reaction time testing and explicit measurement. More
Kantar has promoted Chris Petranto to Global Head of Analytics, after sixteen years at the company. He replaces Gonzalo Fuentes who has moved to the role of COO of the group's Insights division. More
DIY survey pioneer SurveyMonkey has reported third quarter financial results for the period ended September 30th, with total revenue up 20% to $95.4m. More
From the Data Visualization special issue published last week: Ipsos.Digital CEO Andrei Postoaca talks about the challenges involved in developing a DIY research platform for one of the world's biggest and best known insight groups. More
Technology consultancy Gartner has reported results for the third quarter, with revenue down just 1% (constant currency) at $995m, and adjusted EBITDA up 19.4% on the same basis to $168m. Excluding the Conferences segment, revenue rose by around 5%. More
Former employees of GroupM and Comscore, Michael Bologna and Joanna Drews, have launched HyphaMetrics, which will use a proprietary panel of 5,000 homes to track viewing across devices. More
Digital MR products and solutions company Borderless Access has launched a sub-brand, BA Health, combining a range of technology and analytics-driven research capabilities for clients in healthcare, life-sciences and diagnostics, with a team strengthened by 24 recent appointments. More
Nielsen has found a buyer for its Global Connect business, in the shape of affiliates of private equity investor Advent and with a price tag of $2.7bn. More
Nielsen has announced revenues of $1,563m for the third quarter of 2020, down 3.3% year-on-year on a reported basis, and 3.0% at constant currency. Adjusted EBITDA was $501m, equivalent to a 6.1% rise at constant currency. More
Former Unilever and Kraft marketer Roger Jackson has launched SenseCheck, an online platform allowing b2b small businesses to give and receive anonymised, honest feedback about each other's marketing plans and campaigns. More
Forrester Research has reported third quarter revenue of $108.6m, a fraction down on last year's figure in like-for-like terms. However, CEO George Colony says demand for services increased during the pandemic. More
'Human Experience' agency Potentiate has brought in Voxpopme APAC leader Jem Wallis in the role of 'Head of Agile Qual'. More
Consumer intelligence platform Toluna has secured a 'significant' round of financing, which it will use to fund planned global growth initiatives. More
Former ESOMAR President Dan Foreman has made an undisclosed amount of investment in retail tech provider Virtual Store Trials (VST), which offers AI solutions for shelf and pack testing, macro-space optimization, planogram visualization, and automated planogram builds. More
Our Data Visualization special issue is published today. Here, in his Introduction, Ipsos co-founder & CEO Didier Truchot talks about clients' need for clarity, AI's potential to change our industry, and why insight professionals should be confident about the future. More
In London, mobile-based customer insights firm Streetbees has raised $40m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to accelerate development of its platform, and increase headcount from 100 to 230 during the next twelve months. More
Nielsen has announced that is consumer business will be renamed NielsenIQ, once it becomes a standalone company. Separately, a report in the Financial Times suggests that private equity group Advent International is in talks to buy the division in a deal valuing it at about $2.9bn. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ordered information giant Experian to make 'fundamental changes' to the way it handles people's personal data for marketing services purposes. Experian CEO Brian Cassin says his company will appeal the decision. More
Marcoms giant WPP has appointed former Baidu President and Microsoft China Chairman Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang as a Non-Executive Director on its Board, with effect from 1st January 2021. More
Ipsos has posted revenue of EUR 468.6m in the third quarter of 2020, down 6.2% on a reported basis but just 3.3% on a like-for-like, constant currency basis despite the impact of the pandemic. The group says this reflects 'a renewed stability since June', with recovery month by month. More
UK market research budgets experienced another 'marked decline' in the third quarter - the second sharpest since data collection for this category started in the final quarter of 2012 - according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report. More
Medallia's Senior Director of Product Management Vache Moroyan and his team are tasked with building dashboards that are a pleasure for research professionals to work with. Continuing our focus on Data Visualization - interview by Nick Thomas on September 22nd. More
Following the merger of anti-fraud and brand safety organizations the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) and the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS), industry-owned media auditor ABC is to manage the UK's Viewability and AV (Audio Visual) Standards. More
Communications giant Edelman has launched a Data & Intelligence (DxI) multidisciplinary agency, which will house the group's research, analytics and machine learning capabilities. More
Communities and research tech firm Further has appointed former Kantar Consulting Head of Global Qual Research Operations Sarah Taylor as an advisor. In addition, Claire Marshall joins as Finance Director, Clare Warren as Marketing Director, and Maria Colarusso as Client Support Executive. More
London and New York-based eCommerce financing and marketing analytics platform Wayflyer has raised $10.2m (£7.8m) in a seed capital round of investment, which it will use to fund up to one thousand more eCommerce stores, while further developing its proprietary technology. More
In London, Kantar has appointed long-time Procter & Gamble exec Alexis Nasard as Chief Executive Officer, effective 30th December. He replaces Eric Salama, who left the business in February. More
Tesco-owned customer data firm dunnhumby and retail media platform CitrusAd have announced a partnership. The resulting solution uses historical data from a customer's off- and online purchasing behaviour to help retailers showcase relevant products to shoppers using non-interruptive native ads. More
In the UK, full-service agency Research Strategy Group has appointed Michael Dorr as Senior Vice President, heading its London office. More
Data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company Merkle has promoted Michael Komasinski from EMEA President to President, Merkle Americas; while his previous role is to be taken by Margaret Wagner. These appointments will take effect January 1st, 2021. More
Simon Redlich, Chief Executive of UK media ad currency body and auditor ABC, has been appointed as as the new global President of the International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Certification (IFABC). More
Kantar has launched its Kantar Reputation intelligence platform in the UK. The platform which helps communications and PR professionals manage and analyse brand reputation across all media channels, is already available in France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Ireland. More
In the US, Ipsos-owned MMA (Marketing Management Analytics) has announced one relocation and two senior leadership appointments in the EMEA and APAC regions. More
Video advertising platform SpotX has launched its cross-platform measurement solution SpotX MetriX in the UK. More
Continuing our focus on Data Visualization, the LivingLens co-founder talks in-depth with MrWeb's Nick Thomas about family influences; starting, financing, building and selling the business; the huge potential for video and the importance of good data viz. Video version also available. More
UK-based customer feedback specialist Platform One has combined its insight community and experience management tools into a single application called 'Vision', to help clients identify and recruit community members based on experience touchpoints. More
Hungary and UK-based social media listening specialist Bakamo has opened an office in Washington DC, which will be led by founder and CEO Daniel Fazekas. More
Continuing our focus on Data Visualization, Debbie Senior, Toluna's VP Product Automation, looks at the 'need for speed', and other factors driving changes in the way we process, share and display data. More
Customer modeling platform Genus AI has launched a new artificial intelligence solution for eCommerce and direct-to-consumer brands. More
In London, insights and planning agency kubi kalloo has appointed Oscar Runeland as Director of Brand, leading its consultancy offer. More
Kicking off a week and a half of articles from our forthcoming Data Visualization special issue, Ipsos.Digital CEO Andrei Postoaca backs AI to unlock its full potential behind the scenes within ten years, allowing business needs to return to centre stage. More
Marketing and CX management company Merkle has promoted Sam Taverner to lead its newly created EMEA Technology Services division. Ben Gott takes over Taverner's previous position as SVP Marketing Solutions Europe. More
US-based Service Management Group (SMG) has partnered with video insight platform Voxpopme, to offer a combination of video feedback and experience management data. More
In London, online qual research platform VisionsLive has appointed long-time Askia exec Nick Southwood as Senior Business Development Manager. More
Kantar has reversed the decision to close its Philippines Media Division, made just a month ago. Its key client, TV and new media network ABS-CBN, had been set to close down but has now signed a new TAM contract with the agency. More
Comscore and LiveRamp have partnered on a new version of the latter's TV measurement solution. Now known as 'Data Plus Math powered by Comscore', the solution integrates the latter's established TV and digital ad exposure data with LiveRamp's identity and data connectivity solutions. More
UK-based marketing and media consultancy Ebiquity has promoted Leela Nair to the role of Managing Director, Asia Pacific. More
In the US, consumer data and credit reporting agency TransUnion has agreed to acquire TV audience measurement firm Tru Optik, in which it was already an investor. Terms of the buy have not been disclosed. More
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched a public consultation on draft Statutory Guidance outlining how it will regulate and enforce data protection legislation in the UK. The consultation will remain open until 5pm on Thursday 12th November. More
Yorkshire, UK-based behavioural research and user experience consultancy SimpleUsability has been acquired by communications agency CDS for an undisclosed sum. More
Northumberland-based insights firm DRG has confirmed the appointment of Paul Wealleans as Managing Director of its online research supplier Panelbase. More
In the US, online sample marketplace PureSpectrum has acquired market research services firm Inteligx, adding support and full service solutions to its offering. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Digital consultancy Appnovation has raised £6.8m in a follow-on equity round of financing, which it will use for global expansion and company growth - including scaling its teams in the UK and across Europe - as well as for potential acquisitions. More
In Stockholm, insight exchange and sample management platform Cint has appointed Joakim Andersson as Chief Financial Officer, replacing Lottie Saks, who left the company in May to join commercial vehicle business Haldex. More
Marcoms group Dentsu Aegis Network is to change its name to Dentsu International Limited, dropping a name it acquired with the purchase in 2012 of British-owned Aegis Group. More
Kantar is to launch its BrandZ index in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, ranking the top 30 most valuable brands across the two countries combined in terms of dollar value. More
Social listening consultancy Bakamo has appointed Katalin Moor as EVP responsible for clients, sales, marketing and operations. More
Kantar is planning to cut around ten percent of its US staff due to the impact of the pandemic, according to online reports. More
Data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company Merkle has promoted Azlan Raj for the new role of CMO for the EMEA region. More
Customer insights firm Vision Critical has changed its name to Alida, and aims to disrupt the global customer experience (CX) industry, taking on the likes of Qualtrics and Medallia. More
UK television audience measurement body BARB has issued a refreshed invitation to tender, covering five research contracts, as it looks to keep pace with changes in television viewing including the ongoing development of SVOD services and the roll-out of 5G mobile networks. More
Edinburgh-based cross-platform measurement specialist TVSquared has former Comscore and Comcast exec appointed Bob Ivins as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). More
In the UK, digital ad trade body the IAB has updated its 'Gold Standard' certification, which aims to increase cross-industry transparency and standardise firms' use of consumer data. More
YouGov has created two new senior roles - Global Sector Heads for Travel & Tourism, and Leisure & Entertainment - and has a new South African affiliate, MR agency KLA. More
Continuing our focus on Data Visualization this month and next, here are six key considerations for creating clear and engaging visuals, from the team at E-Tabs. More
Comscore has announced a partnership with cross-screen television data and analytics provider Samba TV, expanding its TV measurement footprint in Europe. More
UK professional body the MRS has noted a slight positive shift in the expectations of companies in the post-Covid world; and has downgraded its earlier call on the government to 'save the sector' to a more modest appeal for investment in infrastructure and innovation. More
First-party data and insights platform Dynata has acquired UK-based digital ethnography solution CrowdLab, which captures in-the-moment consumer opinions, attitudes and trends. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Nielsen has launched a database called Compass, which taps into the company's global scale to establish syndicated normative standards for campaign outcome measurement. More
UK-based full-service agency Market Measures has launched a Customer Experience (CX) practice called Market Measures 360CX, to be headed by CX specialist Tobin Sparrow. More
US online survey software provider QuestionPro has set up a reseller and distributor program, to make it easier for partners to integrate the firm's solutions directly into their own. More
From an interview with Paul Twite, Toluna's MD EMEA and LatAm, looking at the company's recent big announcements - rebranding and the launch of Toluna Start. For the podcast, and a fuller write-up including more personal reflections and detail, see the forthcoming Data Viz supplement. More
YouGov has expanded in the Asia Pacific region through a partnership with Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based behavioural science specialist Decision Lab. More
Data collection software developer Nebu has launched a '360-degree' application called Nebu Panel Manager, covering all aspects of panel operations - including multiple recruitment channels, member management functionalities, flexible sampling, and a rewards platform. More
In the US, customer experience management (CEM) specialist Sprinklr has raised $200m at a $2.7 billion valuation from private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, and an additional $150m in convertible securities from growth investment specialist Sixth Street Growth. More
Consumer intelligence platform Toluna has launched an end-to-end solution called 'Toluna Start', which will now form the core of its business. Users can access the firm's panel of more than 30 million members, uncover and share real-time insights to help fully understand the consumer journey. More
For the first half of 2020, Sir Martin Sorrell's marketing services investment vehicle S4Capital has reported pre-tax profit of £118k, compared with a loss of £8.5m last year. More
Data collection specialist Norstat has appointed Romain Barbet as Managing Director in its Paris office. He will replace Norstat France co-founder Marc-Antoine Jacoud, who is staying with the firm for the next couple of months to assist with the handover. More
Hall & Partners has teamed up with first-party data and insights platform Dynata, whose connected data capabilities and technology will power the ad and brand research specialist's data visualization and storytelling platform, The Hub. More
Digital experience management software firm Sitecore has appointed Steve Tzikakis as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Mark Frost, who will continue as an advisor to the business. Tzikakis will be based in the firm's London office. More
Kantar is shutting down its Philippines TV ratings service at the end of the year, following the closure of its biggest client, commercial television and new media network ABS-CBN. The move will result in Kantar having to lay off around 50 employees. More
Brighton, UK-based social media analyst Brandwatch has added a feature called Social Panels to its consumer research platform, to enable researchers to build panels and focus groups from authors on the most frequently used social media platforms. More
Video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has appointed former IPG Mediabrands Singapore CEO David Haddad as Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, based in the firm's Sydney office. More
In London, comms specialist The Creative Engagement Group (TCEG) has launched a Behavioural Science unit, headed up by Guy Champniss. More
Digital marcoms group Next15 has acquired Silicon Valley-based growth incubator Mach49, which it will use as the cornerstone of its previously announced plans to create a $100m innovation business, working alongside its data, tech and brand marketing firms. Terms were not disclosed. More
Great visuals and wide-ranging automation are a powerful combination for market researchers looking to justify budgets in the Covid era, says Confirmit Chief Product Officer Torbjörn (Tobi) Andersson. This is the first article from our forthcoming MrWeb 21 Years 'Data Visualization' special issue. More
London-based identity infrastructure provider InfoSum has raised $15.1m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use for expansion across North America and Europe. The firm has also named Brian Lesser, the founder of analytics business Xandr, as its new Executive Chairman. More
Audience technology platform Eyeota has achieved certification from the IAB's Tech Lab industry standards body for the latter's recently launched 'Data Transparency Standard Compliance Program'. More
Brighton, UK-based social media analyst Brandwatch has partnered with Philadelphia, PA-based real-time TV data specialist Kinetiq to provide cross-channel marketing intelligence. More
Research and analytics company MESH Experience has partnered with insights software and services agency Cambrian Analytics to build an interactive dashboard providing insights on brand performance. More
Marcoms giant WPP has reported a first half loss before tax of £2.58bn, compared to a profit of £409m a year earlier; and reported revenue down 12.3% to £5.58bn, from £6.37bn. Like-for-like (LFL) revenue declined 11.5%. More
Digital advertising and marketing services investment vehicle S4Capital has acquired London-based analytics and measurement provider Brightblue Consulting, which it will merge with data and digital media consultancy MightyHive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has promoted its UK MD Alex Khan to the position of Group Managing Director, International, heading up the company's commercial activity across the APAC region, while continuing to oversee all UK operations. More
In the UK, broadcaster ITV has entered a data partnership with identity infrastructure provider InfoSum, to give advertisers access to 30 million ITV Hub users without the need to exchange first-party data sets. More
Eye tracking hardware and software firm Tobii AB has announced results for the second quarter of 2020, with revenue down to SEK 332 million (US $37.75m) - an organic decline of 6%. More
San Francisco and London-based data science firm Dativa has changed its name to Deductive, reflecting a shift away from its origins as a generalist company, to one with a focus on offering a range of TV measurement and data services. More
London-based digital experience analytics firm Decibel has appointed Jason Lund as Chief Operating Officer (COO). More
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is re-opening its 'regulatory sandbox' service, this time with a focus on supporting organisations using children's personal data to develop products and services. More
Digital marketing services group Kin + Carta Europe has announced a number of promotions, including that of Matthew Froggatt, who adds the newly-created role of Global Chief Strategy Officer for the group to his existing responsibilities as CEO of its Incite research division. More
Research software and solutions company Confirmit has appointed Giles Whiting as its new COO and Rebecca Wright as Head of Legal. More
MR platform Attest has announced four senior appointments in its London headquarters - Andrew Wray, Patrick Hussain, Nia Barnabie and Andy Davis - following 'recent revenue growth of more than 160%'. The firm is also recruiting a number of staff for its New York office. More
Open source data visualization specialist Grafana Labs has raised $50m in Series B funding, and says it will 'aggressively accelerate its product roadmap' in key areas. The firm has also launched an Accelerator Program providing finance and developer access to those building with its software. More
Audience profiling firm Eyeota has expanded its data onboarding partnership with GfK to New Zealand and Switzerland, adding to fifteen countries already covered by the deal. More
In the US, market research and analytics company GutCheck has named former long-time Nielsen exec Rob Wengel as its new Chief Exec, replacing co-founder Matt Warta who has left the business. More
Rob Stevens, co-founder of user experience and behavioural research consultancy Bunnyfoot, and later Ipsos MORI's Group Head of UX, died suddenly on 25th July 2020 as a result of coronary heart disease. He was 49 years old. More
Comscore has reported an 8% drop in second quarter revenue to $88.6m, but also a strong move towards profitability. Net loss was $10.4m, compared to a $279m loss in Q2 2019; while adjusted EBITDA was $9.2m, against a loss of $3.2m a year ago. More
Panels and first-party data firm Dynata has acquired Salt Lake City and Chicago-based searchable insights platform Sharpr, for an undisclosed sum. More
In London, former Ipsos MORI, Universal Music and BBC exec Hanna Chalmers has launched a research and strategy collective called culturestudio. More
Data and insight industry association ESOMAR has launched the Insights Festival 2020, taking place online from 14th to 17th September. The event replaces the previously planned ESOMAR Congress 2020, due to take place in Toronto in October, and now postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic. More
Research software firm Confirmit has appointed former Dapresy CEO Tobi Andersson as Chief Product Officer, leading its product strategy and vision. More
SurveyMonkey has reported a 21% increase in second quarter revenue to $90.9m; alongside a net loss of $22.9m, compared with a loss of $18.5m in Q2 2019. More
Regional digital ad industry association IAB Europe and the global organisation's R&D and standard-setting consortium IAB Tech Lab have extended their partnership to launch the IAB Privacy Lab, which will help members develop standards for privacy, data protection and compliance. More
Manchester, UK-based creative collective Inc & Co has acquired Bath-based sports performance analysis and data management (PADM) firm Insight Analysis for an undisclosed sum. More
Analytics software provider FICO (formerly the Fair Isaac Corporation) has promoted Louise Lunn to the role of Head of EMEA Analytics, leading its newly created Global Analytics Delivery organisation and overseeing the firm's teams of data scientists worldwide. More
Nielsen has reported an 8.1% drop in second quarter revenue (-5.9% on a constant currency basis) to $1.49 billion compared with $1.63bn in the prior year period; while net loss was $30m, compared with net income of $123m in Q2 2019. More
Kantar has launched a survey solution called Accelerated Answers, which promises to deliver 'real insights from real consumers' in as little as six hours. More
In London, mobile-based customer insights platform Streetbees has hired former Foursquare MD Omid Ashtari as Chief Operating Officer, as the company plans an expansion and recruitment drive following 110% growth in the first six months of 2020. More
Online MR and technology company Further has launched two tools on its Together platform, one for analysing unstructured data and the other for concept testing. More
Tech industry consultancy Gartner has reported a 6% rise in second quarter revenue for its Research division - from $826.1m in Q2 2019 to $875.3m a year later. With currency effects removed, the rise was 8%. Events revenue was wiped out, but the firm says the division will bounce back. More
Ad and innovation testing platform Zappi has divided its executive team into two: the Futures team, which will set the company direction, and manage its vision and values; and the Leadership team, which will focus on day-to-day operations covering revenue, resourcing and efficiency. More
Behavioural research agency Watch Me Think has launched a qual-based evaluation approach for new consumer products, called the Post Launch Consumer Review (PLCR). More
Research and analytics group YouGov has signalled its intent to increase market share in the media sector by bringing in US and European 'heavy-hitters' Tamara Alesi and Julian Newby. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has announced a 3.5% drop in Research division revenues to $73.6m, in the second quarter. Chairman and CEO George Colony said the company had performed better than expected during a challenging quarter. More
Anti-fraud and brand safety organizations the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) and the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) are to merge under the TAG brand name. More
Research participant recruiter Liveminds has hired former Nielsen exec Kate Domingo to head its APAC regional office in Manila, in the Philippines; where it has also appointed Tristan Chong and John Paul Ocat as Behavioral Recruitment Executives. More
Research & Results, the organiser of the annual Munich, Germany-based trade show for market research, data and insights professionals, has decided to close its whole business because of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. More
UK-based kids, parents and family specialist The Insights People has expanded to Canada and Australia, to meet international demand for its market intelligence solutions. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital has acquired Orca Pacific, a full-service marketing agency which manages consumer brands' relationships with online retail giant Amazon. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Naomi Gooblar, the founder of London-based qual and quant fieldwork services firm Field Sauce, has set up a dedicated team called Field Sauce Kidz, working with young people aged from 0 to 20, as well as their parents and educators. More
Edinburgh, Scotland-based ad measurement and optimization firm TVSquared has partnered with Sky's ad sales arm Sky Media, to launch a web attribution tool across linear, on-demand, and addressable TV ad campaigns. More
Nielsen has sold its social media TV measurement and audience insights software provider Nielsen Social to Talkwalker, a specialist in social media listening and analytics. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
MR agency quantilope has raised $28m in a Series B found of funding, which it will use to further expand its offering in Europe, and particularly in the US. More
A new study conducted by industry trade association ESOMAR has highlighted that 7 in 10 people are concerned about sharing their personal data with businesses, while two thirds say they don't like the current privacy practices employed by data collectors. More
Ipsos has posted revenue of EUR 786m for the first half of the year, down 13% from last year's EUR 903.4m. The firm says that after a close to flat performance in the first quarter, the second was heavily affected by the 'havoc' wreaked by Covid-19. More
UK TV audience measurement body BARB has announced a year-long extension of the tender process for two of its main research contracts, as a result of the pandemic. The organisation has also begun investigating remote data collection alternatives. More
In the UK, the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is leading an initiative to establish industry-wide professional standards for data science. The move aims to give the public confidence in how their data is being used ethically, stored safely and analysed robustly. More
In the US, investment firm Saroras Private Capital has launched a new company called Apollo Intelligence Corporation, focused on tech-driven data and insights solutions for the life sciences and healthcare sectors; and has acquired data collection company SHG as part of it. More
Kantar has announced the launch of 'Project Moonshot', described as 'a major milestone' on the road to an advanced independent platform for measuring ad effectiveness. The initiative includes deals with Google, Pandora, in-game ad platform Anzu, Dish, Pinterest, Roku, Snap, Spotify and Twitter. More
Dentsu Aegis Network is to expand its business transformation specialist Isobar Consulting to India. The launch builds on existing consulting capabilities at agencies Fractal Ink and Isobar India; and the agency will be led by Priyanka Agrawal as Country Head. More
The holding company of Toluna, Harris Interactive Europe and KuRunData is adopting the Toluna name as its principal brand, replacing ITWP which will be phased out. Toluna is celebrating this change and its twenty years in business with a new corporate identity. More
San Francisco-based digital media consultancy MightyHive has launched a global data practice, promising client organizations better understanding of how their customers make business decisions. More
In the UK, marcoms group Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has appointed Merkle exec Nick McCarthy to lead its new EMEA Global Technology Alliances team. More
Data and marketing services company Acxiom has launched a portfolio of 'digital transformation solutions' called ConneCXions, combining its expertise in martech (including customer data platforms, identity and ethnical data use), with adtech applications. More
Former Kantar CEO Eric Salama has joined the Board of New York-based consumer insights platform Morning Consult, along with Karen van Bergen, former CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services investment vehicle S4Capital has raised £116m through the issue of 36.8 million shares at 315 pence each. Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund further acquisitions. More
UK market research budgets appear to have fallen sharply during the second quarter of the year, with a net balance of -42.2% of marketing execs recording a drop in spending, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report. More
Online communities specialist InSites Consulting has transferred Daniel Teixeira to Singapore, where he has taken up the role of Managing Director of its Asia brand, ABN Impact | InSites Consulting. More
In the UK, television marketing body Thinkbox has announced that its founding CEO and current non-executive Chair Tess Alps has decided to retire at the end of the year. More
In the US, advertising services and software company Mediaocean is to acquire multi-screen data science and marketing technology company 4C Insights for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based crowdsourcing, idea management and 'open innovation' platform Wazoku has raised £1.25m in a new funding round. The company has also acquired US-based innovation firm InnoCentive. More
Former Lightspeed GMI and Research Now exec Martin Filz has been appointed CEO at Australia-based digital research platform Pureprofile Ltd, effective 3rd August; while John Griffin is promoted to Chief Technology Officer. More
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have opened a joint investigation into Clearview AI, whose surveillance activities have been described as a 'threat to privacy, safety, and security'. More
In the US, word-of-mouth specialist Bazaarvoice has acquired visual commerce and analytics platform Curalate. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Panel provider Borderless Access has appointed long-time Dynata exec Kasia Churchill as Director, Sales - UK, based in London. More
London-based publisher data platform Permutive has raised $18.5m in a Series B round of funding, earmarked for international expansion. The firm has also added two new execs to its senior team. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's programmatic media practice MightyHive has appointed former Google Analytics leader Toby McAra as Head of Enterprise Data Solutions, EMEA. More
Former Dapresy director Rahul Jerome has launched a private membership community called The Insight Network, exclusively for practitioners and professionals in the research and insights sector. More
Nielsen is carrying out an 'optimization plan' to drive permanent cost savings and 'operational efficiencies', which will result in the loss of around 3,500 of its c.46,000 employees. The firm also plans to exit several smaller, underperforming markets and non-core businesses in H2 2020. More
London firm Measure Protocol, a person-based data marketplace using blockchain technology, has hired long-time industry exec John McLaren for a newly created role, Vice President of Sales. More
In the UK, the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched an Instagram-based tool running opinion polls, through which 13-25 year olds can share their views on issues relating to policy-making. More
In the UK, marcoms group Unlimited has opened a 'Human Understanding Lab', with a focus on the use of behaviour-led science in driving client performance. The lab supports Unlimited's four divisions: Marketing, Communications, Insight & Analytics and Digital. More
Palantir Technologies, the secretive US-based big data firm which helps predict and track events for intelligence agencies and governments, as well as private clients, is raising around $961m in equity funding, with around $550m already sold. More
In the UK, a Durham-based digital entrepreneur has developed an app which collects data and provides local shoppers with up-to-date offers. More
Experience management company Qualtrics has expanded its partnership with video analytics firm Voxpopme, to help clients access quant and qual feedback side-by-side on one system and obtain a 'more complete' view of their customers. More
Qual-led insight and strategy specialist BritainThinks has promoted one-time interns Raphael Malek and Lucy Morrell to the role of Research Director; while Teresa Kuhn and Phoebe Ward - who joined the company as interns last year - have been promoted to SRE. More
In the UK, Andrew Mitchell has returned to consumer data firm IRI as EVP of Regional Client Growth Delivery, responsible for leading and supporting the firm's commercial efforts. More
Kantar has added the newly created role of Deputy Chief Executive to the role of Chief Financial Officer Ian Griffiths. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital ad and marketing services group S4Capital is to acquire Australian digital strategy and analytics consultancy Lens10 for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle has promoted Niyi Duro-Emanuel for the newly created and expanded role of Vice President, Solutions, with a remit to help clients bring their adtech, martech and data capabilities together for a more contextually targeted approach. More
Tech publisher and marketing services firm IDG Communications has acquired account-based marketing (ABM) platform Triblio, for an undisclosed sum. More
Kantar has rolled out a suite of innovation and product development solutions on its Marketplace automated research platform. More
Kantar has launched Link AI, a fully-automated, artificial intelligence-powered tool to measure and predict the impact of creative. More
Former Circle Research exec Chris Wells has launched a B2B market research consultancy called Adience, based in New York City. More
In the US, programmatic sample platform Lucid has launched a real time advertising insights and analytics product called the Impact Measurement Dashboard, whose self-service features can be used to measure brand lift and optimize media performance for digital campaigns. More
Insight marketplace and MR tech provider Cint has expanded its APAC presence with the opening of an office in Singapore. More
Shopper insights agency PRS IN VIVO has enhanced its path-to-purchase measurement tool OmniPath, with enhanced single source data, social media listening and staged qualitative behavioral analysis, tracking the same consumers in context to influence their shopping behavior. More
Bubo.AI, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the optimum price consumers are willing to pay for a product, has raised £650k funding to help scale its operations across Europe and North America. More
Scott Ernst, Global CEO of online specialist Macromill, is to step down after the group's annual shareholders meeting in September. Toru Sasaki, Representative Executive Officer for the group's Japan Operation, will take over the role. More
US-based data company Clickagy has launched 'Privacy Clusters', a solution for targeting micro-groupings of individuals, which it says will help address the approaching end of third-party cookies in a privacy-compliant manner. More
Gordon Brown, the co-founder of Millward Brown, died peacefully at his home in the UK on Saturday 6th June, after a short battle with dementia. He was 76 years old. More
UK television audience measurement body BARB has launched the beta version of a BVOD planner (broadcast video-on-demand), to help agencies and advertisers plan campaigns across BARB-reported commercial broadcasters' linear channels and VOD platforms. More
Nicole Pike, former MD of Nielsen's video gaming analysis business Esports, has joined YouGov in the newly created role of Global Sector Head of Esports & Gaming. More
Broadcaster Channel 4 has appointed Khalid Hayat in the newly created role of Director of Strategy and Consumer Insight. More
Tech-enabled market and customer insights company Maru Group has launched an unstructured data engine, 'Maru/HUB Topic Modelling', which uses AI and machine learning to automatically group relevant comments together, without the need for user-defined rules and human biases. More
In the US, mobile research specialist MFour has appointed former Corelogic exec Aaron Wepler as Chief Technology Officer. He replaces Wendell Hicken, who left in October to take up the post of CTO at MR business Sense360. More
London-based insights agency Opinium has promoted Alexa Nightingale to its management board after eight years at the company. More
Nielsen Global Connect has launched a suite of shopper research solutions which use 'extreme' reality and gaming technology for virtual retail shelf and planogram testing, and to uncover in-store shopping behavior. More
UK-based data, insights and analytics consultancy STRAT7 has brought together its three agencies - ResearchBods, Bonamy Finch and LiFE - whose names will now all be prefixed with the STRAT7 brand. More
Eye tracking solutions provider Tobii has released a new wearable device, Tobii Pro Glasses 3, which it says will provide unbiased insights into human behaviour for both commercial and scientific use despite being 'exactly like putting on and wearing a standard pair of eyeglasses'. More
In the US, Google has moved former Yahoo! Labs research head Prabhakar Raghavan into the senior role of 'Head of Search and Assistant', reporting directly to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. More
UK-based insights and data firm delineate has boosted its leadership with the appointment of Wayne Evans in the new role of Chief Information Officer, and the promotions of Product Director James Stewart to CTO and Chief Customer Officer Ben Leet to COO. More
In the US, technology research and advisory firm ISG (Information Services Group) has launched a multi-country study examining the market for digital workplace services, including technologies used to support remote working during the pandemic. More
DIY survey software company SurveyMonkey is combining its customer experience (CX) solutions from two recent acquisitions into one umbrella brand, known as the GetFeedback Suite. More
Shopper data and insights business Nielsen Global Connect has appointed Tribune Media veteran Chandler Bigelow as its first Chief Financial Officer. More
Ipsos has launched an online solution called CreativeSpark, through which clients can evaluate video creative in the US and UK, in as little as 24 hours. The tool will be rolled out in sixteen additional markets throughout the year. More
Cultural insights and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA has expanded the role of its London Managing Director Matilda Andersson to include management of the business in Amsterdam. More
London-based digital experience analytics specialist Decibel has raised an additional $23m in Series B funding, which it will use to 'double down' on product innovation as North American and European demand grows. More
Kantar and Comscore have announced the renewal of their partnership with Italian TV audience measurement body Auditel. The contract, ongoing since August 2017, will now run until December 31st 2023. More
London-based community panel specialist Verve has introduced a 'fast-build' community panel service called Verve-Lite, giving access to an always-on group of customers and launched in as little as three days. More
In the US, community intelligence specialist Fuel Cycle has launched a platform called Ignition, which it says speeds up the gathering of customer and employee insights, simplifying and automating the research process. More
Concluding our DRNO coverage of the Mobile Insights special edition, an interview with the inspirational founder and CEO of app-based feedback business Streetbees. The second half of this, along with lots more mobile-focused content, can be found in the supplement itself. More
Kantar Media's Global CEO Andy Brown has left the business, less than a year after WPP agreed to sell 60% of Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital. Brown's next career move is not yet known, and his previous role has been filled on an interim basis by former Bain exec Serge Lupas. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's marcoms business S4Capital has acquired Latin American data and analytics consultancy Digodat and merged it with its programmatic media practice MightyHive. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Former QuenchTec CEO and Syno UK MD Allan Shaw has joined market research software development company Q One Tech as a Consultant, working with the team on business development, product expansion and strategy. More
Milan, Italy-based crowd testing platform AppQuality has raised EUR 3.5m in a new round of funding, some of which will be used for expansion into new European markets. More
Britain's Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has agreed that publishers will no longer have to make their circulation figures public. In addition, ABC will no longer publish its public monthly report, though the figures will still be available to advertisers. More
Continuing our excerpts from the recently published 'Mobile Age' special issue, Reach3 Insights CEO & founder Matt Kleinschmit looks at the rise of the mobile messaging-based Survey - with case studies from work for Jagermeister, Hyundai and Kimberly-Clark. More
London-based research platform Attest has raised $15m from an unnamed investor. This new round of funding will be used to further expand in the US, where it has hired Marc Schraer and Tamer Abouleinein. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) and Next15's data and insights group Savanta have officially launched a framework to guide businesses in building competitive advantage through market and social research. More
Global shopper insights agency PRS IN VIVO has expanded its LAB suite of qualitative services (Leverage Authentic Behavior) with the addition of two new modules - LivingLAB and ListenLAB. More
Ken Østreng, CEO of research software firm Confirmit, has left the company following its sale to Nordic private equity fund Verdane. Tech sector exec Kyle Ferguson has now taken over his role. More
Global consulting group Accenture has acquired Ahmedabad, India-based Byte Prophecy, described as an automated insights and big data analytics company, for an undisclosed sum. The buy adds nearly 50 data science and data engineering staff to its Applied Intelligence division. More
The insights sector is in line for an $18.7 billion loss in value due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report released by industry body ESOMAR and based on a survey of 2,889 professionals from 127 countries. More
DIY survey software provider SurveyMonkey has enhanced its app integration with the Microsoft Teams communication platform, to make it easier for team leaders and employees to generate surveys and collect feedback from one another in the 'new era' of home working. More
Nielsen Global Connect has launched Retail Pricing Analytics, an app which use artificial intelligence modules to help retailers set up, adjust and track pricing and promotion strategies. More
Measure Protocol, a blockchain-based marketplace for person-based data, has launched a rapid insights tool, 'Measure QuickAnswers'. The solution taps the company's community of Gen Z and Millennial mobile-only app users based in the US, Canada and the UK. More
Full-service data-driven marketing agency Cheil UK has promoted David Coombs to the role of Chief Executive Officer, following Peter Zillig's resignation in February to take up a new client-side opportunity. Coombs will take over the position on 1st July. More
Ipsos has partnered with mobile research tech firm RealityMine to create a cross-device panel measuring digital behaviour on smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. The panel will form part of Ipsos' contract to supply the UK's online audience measurement standard. More
Technology researcher Forrester Research has reported a 5.4% rise in first quarter revenue to $106.3m, equivalent to a 2% rise pro forma. Reported revenue for the research division increased 6% to $72.7m, and for advisory services and events 5% to $33.5m. More
Audience measurement firm Comscore has reported results for the quarter ended March 31st, including a 12.5% decline in revenue to $89.5m. However, the firm also turned a $2.5m adjusted EBITDA loss into a $6.4m profit. More
Technology advisory firm Gartner has announced first quarter revenue up 6.1% (at constant currency) to $1.02bn. Adjusted EBITDA jumped 52.8% on the same basis, to $214m. Results would have looked still better but for a pandemic-related slump in its small Conferences division. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's marcoms business S4 Capital has reported a 17% like-for-like increase in first quarter revenue to £71m, while on the same basis gross profit was up 19% to £60.7m. More
In the UK, customer data and intelligence provider ResearchBods has launched a pop-up community platform called 'ex-plor lite', providing the same features as its 'ex-plor' platform, but specifically designed as a short-term, self-serve solution that can be launched in just 24 hours. More
Brand tracking and consumer science firm Nepa has partnered with mobile research tech firm RealityMine, to provide behavioural data technology for the former's Omnichannel Path to Purchase and Digital Pulse solutions. More
Measure Protocol, a blockchain-based marketplace for person-based data, has launched a solution to help data buyers and market researchers gain a more 'holistic view' of their consumer audiences through passive mobile device data collection. More
Research and insight training company the Research Academy has brought forward the start date for its MRS Advanced Certificate online course, allowing workers on the UK government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to use the time to gain a professional qualification. More
US-based online survey software provider QuestionPro has launched a trivia, quiz and polling platform called LivePolls, to both 'engage and excite' audiences and help understand their preferences. One aim is to allow firms to check in with currently home working employees on a regular basis. More
Continuing our focus on mobile insights, Brandwatch founder & CEO Giles Palmer talks sifting through 1.5 trillion pages of data; pulling apart the Model-T Ford; and why our industry could grow fivefold in 5 years. Excerpts from a podcast interview by Jamin Brazil of Happy Market Research. More
US provider Strategy Analytics has expanded its Media and Intelligent Home Practice through the launch of a TV Streaming Platforms (TSP) research initiative; and the appointment of Edouard Bouffenie as Senior Analyst, based in London. More
Pharma and healthcare data giant IQVIA has reported Q1 revenue up 3.7% at constant currency, to $2.754bn, and adjusted EBITDA down slightly to $562m from $587m a year earlier. The firm says the pandemic has affected business but it expects 'a strong recovery' by the end of 2020. More
Nielsen has announced information sharing and 'cooperation' agreements with one of its largest shareholders, hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation, which now owns a 13% stake in the group. It will also set up a Finance Committee and add IPG exec Jonathan Miller to its Board. More
Nielsen has reported a 0.3% drop in first quarter revenues to $1.56 billion, equivalent to a 1.5% rise on a constant currency basis. It also turned a net profit of $43m in Q1 2019 into a net loss of $18m a year later, although adjusted EBITDA remained positive. More
Long-time Nielsen / Kantar exec Terrance Kent has been appointed CEO of SRDS (Standard Rate & Data Service), which Kantar recently sold to French ad tech company Adwanted Group. More
Marcoms giant WPP has reported a 4.9% fall in first quarter revenue, reflecting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has introduced further cost-saving measures. The group has also applied for a £600m government-backed loan. More
Nordic MR specialist Userneeds has partnered with mobile research tech firm RealityMine, aiming to provide a more holistic view of the digital behaviour of Nordic consumers. More
In Tokyo, Kantar has appointed former Dynata exec Justin He to lead its Profiles division, and manage the already established Japanese team. More
BBC Global News, a member of the broadcaster's commercial group of companies, has partnered with communities specialist Maru/Matchbox to uncover implicit, emotional reactions to its news coverage relating to the Covid-19 virus. More
In London, marcoms group Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has promoted Neil Gissler to the newly created role of Global Chief Operating Officer. More
Al (Albert) Angrisani, turnaround specialist and former President and CEO of Harris Interactive, died as a result of complications from COVID-19 at the Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro on Thursday, April 23rd, at the age of 70. More
Insight exchange and sample management platform Cint has completed its platform integration with P2Sample, which it acquired last year. The combination enables Cint to offer access to more than 100 million respondents. More
Data firm Acxion has promoted Mike Menzer to the role of Executive Vice President and General Manager of its international business. He has relocated to London from New Jersey to take up the position. More
The Board of Northumberland-based insights firm DRG has invited Paul Wealleans, Client Services Director at Panelbase, to take on the leadership of its online research supplier following the sudden death of its founder Angus Webb. More
Peak, which uses artificial intelligence to understand customers and automatically predict what they want, has raised $12m in an extended Series A round of investment. Funds will be used to support growth, for commercial expansion, and to ramp up investment in R&D. More
Continuing our focus on 'Insights in the Mobile Age' Mario Paic, Global Head of Data Science, looks at the rise of the smartphone and discusses its central role today at Ipsos Audience Measurement. More
Automated consumer insights platform Zappi has appointed two new client leaders: former Nielsen exec Elena Protopapas as Standard Account Manager in London, and former Ipsos exec Marek Slodyczka as Vice President, Global Accounts in New York. More
In London, voice technology firm Phebi has launched an SaaS product called Phebi Detect, which the firm claims makes it easier to process audio files collected during online or phone studies. More
Customer feedback analyst Mopinion has announced a software integration with UX analytics platform ContentSquare, combining digital experience analytics and customer feedback to provide context from the customer experience (CX) journey. More
Ipsos has posted first quarter revenue of EUR 428.7m, up 1.6% from the same period last year; but says its order book in the three weeks from March 30th has seen a significant fall. More
TV ad impact measurement company 605 has made a 'strategic' but unspecified investment' in London and Dublin-based advertising technology, measurement and services business Adscribe. More
YouGov has reported a 16% increase in revenue to £76.9m in its half-year (HY) results for the six months to 31st January, compared with HY 2019, when revenue increased 18% to £66.5m. The firm also says it has not yet seen any 'material impact' to the business from the Covid-19 pandemic. More
Continuing this week's focus on 'Insights in the Mobile Age' Andy Chandler, General Manager, UK & Ireland at mobile measurement and fraud prevention specialist Adjust, debunks three fashionable but misplaced ideas from this booming market. More
Market research has been listed as the worst-performing category in the latest IPA Bellwether Report, as UK marketing budgets decline at the fastest rate since the global financial crisis of 2009. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has appointed Nick Waters as Group Chief Executive Officer, following the resignation of Michael Karg last year. More
In the US, international data collection business Schlesinger Group has acquired qualitative technology-led research services provider 20|20 Research for an undisclosed sum. Jim Bryson, founder and former Chair at 20|20, is retiring from the business. More
'You've Missed the Boat - but they're Every 30 Minutes'. The concluding part of RealityMine CEO Chris Havemann's upbeat look at the impact of mobile tech on market research. Today: Why MR firms are 'fundamentally well-positioned', and where the immediate opportunities lie. More
Data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle is retiring its Periscopix brand as part of a drive towards an 'enhanced operating model'; and its media agency will now be known simply as Merkle. More
... but they're Every 30 Minutes. Kicking off a week of coverage from our 'Insight in the Mobile Age' supplement, RealityMine CEO Chris Havemann looks at the continuing opportunity for market researchers in a world of consumers and media changed almost out of recognition by the mobile revolution. Part 1 of 2. More
British engineering legend Rolls-Royce has announced the launch of Emer²gent, an alliance of data experts aiming to support global businesses and governments recovering from the economic impacts of Covid-19. Members include IBM and Google Cloud. More
Canada-based communities specialist Maru/Matchbox has launched a branded tool called 'Pop-up Communities', which it says can be deployed in just fourteen days. More
In Brussels, ad industry association IAB Europe has launched the first version of a framework of definitions and standards to support those who invest in digital media research. More
Marcoms group Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has brought forward the acquisition of the remaining shares in US-based data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle. According to reports, DAN has paid about $108m (£86.4m) to buy those shares from Merkle's staff and shareholders. More
In London, Omnicom's communications planning and media buying network PHD has appointed former Wavemaker Head of Quant Louise Twycross-Lewis as Head of Insight. More
South West of England-based digital specialist Caffeine Marketing, which also owns Caffeine Market Research, is opening an office in Bristol. More
Angus Webb, the founder and Managing Director of online research supplier Panelbase, died last Wednesday evening from the COVID-19 virus, at a hospital in Spain. He was 45 years old. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has launched an online data collection solution in China, to analyze cross-device consumer behavioral data in real time. More
Web site and mobile app analytics platform Glassbox has raised $40m in a Series C round of funding, which it will use to expand its teams globally, as well as invest in further enhancing its products. More
Marketing and MR Agency System 1 has announced that its Chief Financial Officer James Geddes is stepping down on April 20th, after seventeen years with the firm. He will be succeeded by former British Airways exec Chris Willford. More
Kantar has launched its Audiences service in Europe, with an initial roll-out in the UK, France and Germany. More
In London, live video streaming technology specialist HighTech Development has partnered with online video meeting software developer Whereby, to develop a suite of new products. The first of these tools is a platform for market research focus groups called HT FACE. More
Private equity firm Bain Capital has sold Kantar's SRDS (Standard Rate & Data Service) to French ad tech company Adwanted Group. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Marcoms giant WPP has launched plans to make around £2bn in savings, as the impact of the Covid-19 shutdown hits its business. More
Britain's official statistics service, the ONS, is introducing new surveys and data sources reflecting 'widespread disruption to the UK and constraints on its operations'. More
DIY research software firm SurveyMonkey has launched a suite of tools called Expert Solutions, through which customers can test product and marketing concepts with a global audience. More
DIY online research software company SurveyMonkey has appointed Amit Sethi as Vice President of Data, Karen Budell as VP of Brand Marketing and Gary Fuges as VP of Investor Relations. More
UK-based social media listening specialist Bakamo has appointed former Kantar director James MacGregor as Managing Director of its Public division. More
UK-based kids, tweens and teens specialist Kids Insights has launched in Mexico, where it will survey a total of 21,000 children each year. More
Last year, Facebook agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over the alleged inflation of its video audience metrics by anything up to 900%. An amended filing now claims the firm's execs were aware of its overestimating the number of people advertisers could reach, as far back as 2015. More
Global association ESOMAR is teaming up with MrWeb and its existing partner Women In Research to give data and insights professionals access to the world's largest specialist index of job opportunities, with new packages and offers also launched. More
Jane Frost, Chief Executive of Britain's MRS, has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak warning of the 'immediate and potentially catastrophic impact' of the Covid-19 crisis on the industry, and asking for further help in protecting it. More
Resuming our series looking in depth at mobile data and insights, QuenchTec Survey Designer Dennis Sewberath highlights seven ways to turn a survey into a 'beautiful conversation', for the sake of better feedback and higher completion rates. More
Stockholm, Sweden-based brand tracking and consumer science specialist Nepa has reported net sales up 10.7% (constant currency) in the fourth quarter of 2019 and 7.5% in the full year; but also an increased loss (EBIT) for both periods - a statistic its new CEO is determined to change. More
Governments in many countries are using or examining the use of location intelligence from mobile phones to track the spread of Coronavirus and the behaviour of their populations - leading some to worry about privacy; while private data from mobile analyst OnAudience compares the willingness of Poles, Italians and Brits to curtail their movements. More
Customer insights platform UserTesting has raised $100m in new funding, which it will use to increase market share and accelerate investment. The firm has also acquired Norway-based multilingual experience testing specialist Teston, for an undisclosed sum. More
Consumer intelligence platform Toluna has appointed Ron Ruffinott as a Senior Research Solutions Consultant based in the company's US headquarters in Connecticut; while Dixit Chanana joins as Country Director in India, based in the Gurgaon office. More
Comscore has completed a second round of discussions with potential buyers including Symphony Technology, according to reports. More
Technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group has reported a 3.6% decline in revenue for the full year to December 31st 2020, to $265.8m. Profit, in the form of adjusted EBITDA, eased off 4.6% to $31.5m for the year, but hit record levels in the last two quarters. More
UK-based emotion analytics specialist Realeyes has appointed Kyoko Tanaka to lead its Tokyo office. More
Audience measurement firm Comscore has announced a partnership with multiplayer entertainment platform Twitch, adding tagless audience reporting of the latter's livestreaming, including gaming and esports insights, to the former's digital audience solutions. More
Retail and consumer goods analytics firm Trax has acquired on-demand retail services platform Survey.com, which provides full-service research solutions, survey programming, data management and analysis, and reporting services. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
MR software firm Remesh has raised $25m in a Series A2 round of funding, which will be used to drive expansion of the company and its platform. More
In the UK, out-of-home (OOH) audience research body Route has launched a measurement system which offers 'spot level' audience measurement at 15-minute levels for ads shown on any digital poster or screen, in order to pinpoint who is exposed to ads and for how long. More
UK television audience measurement body BARB has combined its daily audience data with the IPA's TouchPoints survey, to help media owners, clients and agencies understand more about viewers through a wider range of behavioural definitions. More
Social media management software firm Hootsuite has partnered with UK-based analyst and insights firm Brandwatch to offer a new 'listening' solution allowing clients to find and analyse key conversations relevant to their brand. More
Cint has added Helene Stafferöd Westerlund as Chief Technology Officer, heading up its global technology objectives as part of its executive team. More
Online community specialist CMNTY corporation has announced a partnership with first-party data and insights platform Dynata, promising to help brands improve audience engagement via a more complete picture of customers. More
Marcoms holding company WPP has acquired London-based data science company Sandtable, which uses an approach called Agent Based Modelling (ABM) for behavioural analytics and advanced simulations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Resuming our series of articles on Insights in the Mobile Age, Ross McLean, Vice President, Mobile Qualitative at 20|20 Research details his four crucial tips for great mobile qual. More
In the US, Kantar has launched a service called 'Entertainment On Demand', to help the music industry and investors understand the consumer journey for digital video and music subscription services. The service will be rolled out in the UK, Germany, Australia and Japan in H2 2020. More
International data collection group Schlesinger Associates has acquired tech-led sample, survey and quantitative research specialist Market Cube, for an undisclosed sum. More
Data-driven marketing agency Merkle has opened an office in Aberdeen, as a direct result of what it describes as the growing requirement for people-based marketing and performance media expertise in northern Scotland. More
Edinburgh-based ad measurement and optimization firm TVSquared has promoted Jo Kinsella to the role of President, leading the firm's global commercial portfolio including client relations and strategic partnerships. She is based in the New York office. More
Comscore has reported financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31st 2019, with revenue and EBITDA declining but some indications in Q4 that a cost-cutting turnaround strategy is taking effect. The firm has also announced a data deal with Comcast. More
WPP has reported results for the fourth quarter and full year 2019. Improvements from Q3 were not maintained to the end of the year and shares tumbled around 14% on the news. Nevertheless CEO Mark Read said 'substantial progress' was made in the year the group sold a majority stake in Kantar. More
Nielsen Holdings plc has appointed Sean Cohan as Chief Growth Officer and President, International; and promoted Peter Bradbury to Chief Commercial Officer, U.S. and Karthik Rao to COO of its Media division. More
Ipsos has reported a 14.5% increase in full-year revenue to slightly more than EUR 2 billion; with organic, constant currency growth of 3.8%, the firm's best annual performance since 2011. More
Nielsen Holdings has announced 2019 revenues of $6.498bn, equivalent to a 1.7% rise at constant currency, although a fall of 0.3% as reported. Q4 revenues were $1.69bn, up 2.0% on a reported basis and 2.7% in constant currency terms. More
In Rotterdam, Netherlands, global consumer agency InSites Consulting has appointed former Haystack Consulting exec Kjell Massen as Business Director; and moved Margot Schuil to the role of Global Client Partner. Niels Schillewaert takes over Schuil's former role as country MD. More
In London, kids entertainment company Beano Studios has launched a kids and youth omnibus service through its insight consultancy, the Beano Brain. More
Stockholm, Sweden-based brand tracking and consumer science specialist Nepa has promoted Ann-Christine Fick to the position of Chief Financial Officer, while Michael Wallin joins in the newly created role of Head of Investor Relations. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's media consultancy MightyHive has appointed Julien Coquet as Director of Analytics for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is based in Paris, France. More
Oslo, Norway-based data collection specialist Norstat has appointed Mats Beck as Head of its newly established Strategy and M&A unit. More
Adam Crozier, former CEO of broadcaster ITV, the Football Association and Royal Mail, has been named Non-Executive Chairman of Kantar. More
In the UK, three former employees of 2CV Research - Adam Short, Ollie Willis and Alex Nketiah - have launched a global full-service insight agency called The Point, promising clients in the tech, entertainment and sport sectors 'better understanding'. More
In London, research and strategy consultancy MTM has promoted co-founder Caroline Wren to the new role of Managing Director, while fellow co-founders James Bryson and Richard Ellis will lead the Research and Commercial Strategy Consultancy teams, respectively. More
Ipsos has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in survey technology provider Askia, and says it will tap the firm's expertise and technology to develop the 'survey platform of the future'. More
Next15's data and insights group Savanta has announced the acquisition of the UK business of Future Thinking, which has 61 staff in offices in Oxford and London. Future Thinking France and the Gemseek division, which employ most of the Group's c.350 staff, are not part of the deal. More
Audience intelligence and consent management company Quantcast has partnered with mobile data solutions firm Kochava to help clients comply with the new CCPA legislation (California Consumer Privacy Act). More
Silicon Valley customer experience management specialist Medallia has agreed to pay around $26m in cash to acquire video feedback platform LivingLens, which it says will help it 'bring the voice of the customer and employee to life'. More
UK-based agency Trinity McQueen has announced the acquisition of Blinc Partnership, which specialises in research for content and creative development. More
Research, media and events provider Informa Tech is bringing together its analysis and research units into a single entity. Ovum, Heavy Reading, Tractica and most of what was previously IHS Markit's TMT research business will be unified under the new brand, Omdia. More
Consulting group Gartner has reported fourth quarter adjusted revenue up 11% at constant currency, to $1.2bn, with profits also increased. Full year revenue was up 11% on the same basis to $4.2bn. More
UK-based group Cello Health has agreed to pay £1.6m to comms software firm Access Intelligence (AI), after net assets of the former firm's social media analysis software business Pulsar fell below an agreed target following completion of its sale. More
Global consulting group Accenture is to close its media auditing arm, Accenture Media Management, by the end of August, amid claims of a potential conflict of interest with the group's digital advertising business, Accenture Interactive. More
In the UK, customer data and intelligence provider ResearchBods has hired Frances Revel for its newly created role of Head of Media Research. More
British broadcaster ITV has appointed rival Channel 4's Head of Data Science Sanjeevan Bala as Group Chief Data & AI Officer. He will take up his new position in May. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has acquired the remaining 49% stake it its Italian subsidiary Ebiquity Italy Media Advisorys, with the total consideration expected to be EUR 3.4m. More
Dentsu Aegis has acquired people-based identification and data tech company 4Cite Marketing, and will add it to the fast-growing Merkle data-driven marketing business. More
Continuing our special features on Insight in the Mobile Age Abraham Muller, CTO at Brandwatch Qriously, looks at how mobile methods can make election polling easier to implement and more accurate. More
London-based full-service agency Opinium is to open an office in Brussels, under the leadership of Director Emily Dickinson. More
AI-powered audience intelligence platform and social media analysis software firm Pulsar has hired consumer psychologist Nisa Bayindir for a newly created role, EVP Behavioural Science. More
Memories are short (well ours are anyway) and when we started our summary of 'the MR world in 2002' we expected to find an industry deeply affected by the global downturn of that year. Only when we got reading did we remember that of course, until 2009, research used to be recession-proof! More
In the UK, broadcaster the BBC has appointed Microsoft's Consumer Marketing Director Paul Davies as Director of Marketing and Audiences for Content, Radio and Education. More
New York and Helsinki-based cross-media measurement specialist Verto Analytics has completed a $16m round of funding, which it will use to fuel the commercial roll out of its behavioral analytics research platform in the US and Europe. More
In the UK, television audience measurement body BARB has begun reporting of unduplicated programme reach and time spent viewing figures across multiple screens. More
Telegraph Media Group (TMG), publisher of UK papers the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, has announced it will withdraw from the country's ABC circulation audits, as it continues to focus its strategy on building digital circulation. More
Adam Crozier, former CEO of broadcaster ITV, the Football Association and Royal Mail, is said to be discussing the role of Chairman at Kantar. More
Qual research, innovation and strategy agency The Sound has appointed Elizabeth Lockwood, a former Head of Europe for Ipsos Strategy3, to lead its UK office. She is tasked with expanding the firm's offer into new markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More
Tech and consumer specialist Breaking Blue Research is formally joining sister agency Cello Health Insight, in a move which the firms say will add specialist expertise to strengthen the overall business insights and analytics offer. More
Digital advertising industry body IAB UK has hired Elizabeth Lane for the newly created role of Head of Research and Measurement; Dominic Tillson as Head of Industry Relationships and Initiatives; and Antonio Forte as Industry Initiatives Executive. More
In the UK, neuroscientist Annette Thomas has been named Chief Executive Officer of Guardian Media Group (GMG), publisher of the Guardian newspaper. She will take up her new role on 2 March, at which point interim CEO Anna Bateson will return to her role as Chief Customer Officer. More
Nielsen has appointed David Rawlinson as Chief Executive Officer of its Global Connect business, while Linda Zukauckas will take up the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Global Media business. Both will join on February 3rd. More
Comscore's interim Chief Executive Dale Fuller has resigned as a Director of the company to 'pursue other ventures', following the recent promotion of Bill Livek to the CEO role. More
London firm Measure Protocol, a blockchain-based marketplace for person-based data, has hired ZappiStore's former Head of Operations Guy Wates for a newly created position, Director of Operations and Programmatic. More
'Accuracy and Authenticity - How Smartphones Revolutionised Research', by Verve's Richard Preedy. This is the first article in a series over the next 6 weeks focusing on mobile apps and surveys, mobile usage tracking and more. More
Panel firm Bilendi has announced four senior hires for its UK sales team: Ian Roberts joins as Sales Director, Sarah Hillis as Senior Sales Manager, Daniel Paraschiv as Senior Business Development Manager and Charlene Adamah as Senior Key Accounts Manager. More
Tesco-owned customer data firm dunnhumby is moving its customer insights products across to Microsoft's cloud platform Azure, in order to give more retailers and suppliers instant access to shopper and business insights. More
In London, research and strategy consultancy Redblue has appointed former Clear Strategy and Kantar Consulting exec Allison James as a Director. More
Kantar has appointed long-time Nielsen exec Chris Morley as Managing Director, UK, Ireland and USA for its Worldpanel division; while former Publicis behavioural economist and CX practitioner Dom Boyd joins as Managing Director, Offer for the UK Insights division. More
WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell's marcoms business S4Capital has merged its content practice with Mexico City-based data-driven digital agency Circus Marketing. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has acquired digital media monitoring and optimisation service Digital Decisions, for an initial consideration of EUR 0.7m. More
Former Cambridge Analytica CMO Jean Pierre van Tiel has been promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer at behavioural science and data science-led targeting specialist DPL, after the company secured £1.3m in an investment round. More
UKOM, the body which defines and governs Britain's online audience measurement standard, has appointed Ipsos as its new supplier from January 2021. It replaces Comscore, which has held the contract since 2012. More
Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corp has agreed to sell its video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly to video ad technology business Tremor International. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Kantar has appointed former ITV plc COO and CFO Ian Griffiths as its new Chief Financial Officer. He will join the company on January 16th. More
Top-level US MR body the Insights Association is to feature long-time WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell as a speaker at its CEO Summit later this month. More
Nielsen's entertainment data subsidiary Gracenote is expanding its Electronic Program Guide services into Europe - including Unique IDs and Deep Descriptive Metadata. More
This is 2019's last edition of Daily Research News. We wish a very Merry Christmas to all those celebrating it, and a Happy New Year and a great holiday to all readers, clients, contributors, partners and friends around the world. DRNO resumes in the first week of 2020. More
Netherlands-based full service agency DVJ Insights has brought in long-time GfK exec Michèle van Waterschoot to support the integration of its International Consulting teams, which operate in the Netherlands and the UK. More
Entertainment technology and TV data provider TiVo is to merge with audio, imaging and computing technology products firm Xperi Corp., in an all-stock deal with an enterprise value of $3bn. The TiVo name will remain on its products but the combined company will be known as Xperi. More
Nielsen has named Laurie Lovett as its new Chief Human Resources Officer, starting January 13th; and Christopher Taft as SVP Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. In addition, former Microsoft and CBS exec Nancy Tellem joins the Board. More
Ipsos has partnered with recently formed marketing agency Alchemy-RX in a deal which will bring each company's expertise to existing and potential clients, and expand client access to experts. More
Venture capital backed sports marketing firm Bruin Sports Capital has agreed to acquire the majority of consumer data analytics, sports marketing and technology practice Two Circles from WPP. Terms were not disclosed. More
Global consulting group Accenture has agreed to acquire Chicago-based data consultancy Clarity Insights, whose expertise spans data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning expertise. More
Marcoms giant Havas has acquired specialist digital and transformation consultancy Gate One, for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based marketing personalization company Qubit has hired Tracey Ryan O'Connor as VP of North America and Julia Fearn-Muller as VP of Customer Success, while Robin Trickett has been promoted to VP of Strategy. More
2001, like 1984, was a year for which fiction had given us very specific expectations, and while disappointingly little coasted through the heavens to the strains of the 'Blue Danube', some MR industry giants certainly soared. Here's our review of the year on DRNO. More
Kantar Chief Executive Eric Salama has decided to step down from his role at some point in 2020, after which he will serve as a non-executive Director and Consultant at the company. Kantar has already begun the process of recruiting a successor. More
Global consumer agency InSites Consulting has acquired Asia-based insight community specialist ABN Impact for an undisclosed sum. More
Australia-based start-up Qualie has rolled out its video-driven survey platform in the UK market, through a partnership with consumer and sensory specialist MMR Research Worldwide. More
Credit rating and analytics firm S&P Global has acquired 451 Research, LLC, which provides intelligence, expertise and data covering high-growth emerging technology segments. The transaction was signed and closed today and terms were not disclosed. More
Facebook Retail team head Maureen McDonagh is to join newspaper publisher Reach, formerly Trinity Mirror, in the new role of Chief Customer Officer. More
London-based customer experience solutions specialist Sabio Group has appointed Jonathan Gale as CEO. Former Chief Exec Andy Roberts will move to the role of Vice-Chairman, with a continuing focus on inorganic growth. More
WPP says it has completed the sale of 60% of Kantar to Bain Capital Private Equity, 'with respect to approximately 90% of the Kantar business', with the proceeds received; and says it will complete the remainder in the first half of 2020. More
WPP has announced that Michelle Harrison will move from CEO to non-executive Chair of its Government Practice - which she has led since its inception in 2012 - so as to focus on her role as Global CEO of Kantar's Public division. Global MD Sean Howard steps up to the vacant CEO role. More
Toluna has been awarded a U.S. patent for a new routing algorithm allowing dynamic profiling. The system pre-qualifies respondents on demographics such as country, age, income and education, and cross-references them with other data to establish qualification for a survey. More
Ipsos has rolled out its behavioral science-based Duel screening solution in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, through its Ipsos.Digital self-service research platform. More
In the UK, data science company Black Swan Data has appointed Rupert Day, former Global CEO of WPP media agency tenthavenue. In his new role, Day is responsible for applying the firm's Social Prediction technology to the retail, content and advertising industry sectors. More
Enterprise data and analytics provider LiveRamp has launched a preference and consent management platform (CMP) called Privacy Manager, to help clients comply with laws such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (the California Consumer Privacy Act). More
In the first of 21 articles to celebrate our anniversary, we look at the events of a year in the life of the MR industry, as seen through articles in Daily Research News. Quanties among you will work out that the last article will involve a bit of speculation, but we start with a look way back, at the Millennium year. More
Today it's exactly 21 years since MrWeb was officially launched - a traditional coming-of-age here in the UK. In Internet terms, 21 is ancient really, and we'll do a bit of looking backward over the next few weeks, but we also have major plans for the coming year. Details here - and your feedback wanted! More
UK-based marketing automation and audience understanding specialist BlueVenn has partnered with French database marketing agency Avanci, to deliver its customer data platform (CDP) across France, Switzerland and Belgium. More
A global 'hub' called OKRE has been launched, to support collaboration between the research sector and entertainment industries and help audiences better engage with the ideas that shape society. More
Canadian data firm AggregateIQ (AIQ) has been found to have broken privacy laws with some of the work it carried out for pro-Brexit campaign group Vote Leave and several US political campaigns. More
Facebook has launched a market research app called Viewpoints, paying users to take part in surveys. The company says it won't sell or share the resulting data with third parties. More
Hamburg, Germany-based market research platform Appinion has re-launched its consumer panel app, and is preparing to roll it out globally. More
Data collection company Norstat has a new owner, investment firm Triton having completed its acquisition today from former owners Foinco and Verdane. More
Nielsen TV data is to be integrated into YouTube's audience planning tool, Google Reach Planner. Roll-out is initially in the US, with plans to go global next year. More
Marcoms group Interpublic has created a new practice focused on 'digital responsibility', within its recently formed Kinesso targeting and optimisation company. Acxiom / LiveRamp executive Sheila Colclasure has been hired to head it up. More
London-based company Kin and Carta plc has agreed to acquire US-based Spire Digital, Inc. Both are specialists in digital transformation consulting. More
London-based Decibel, which provides real-time intelligence allowing businesses to measure and improve online customer experiences, has raised $17m in a Series B investment round. Funds will be used to further develop its technology and for expansion across Europe and North America. More
In Canada, consumer insight platform Potloc has closed a $13m Series A round of funding, which it will use to develop AI capabilities, recruit new staff and enter new markets - including the US and UK. More
In the US, Santa Monica-based esports audience monetization and data analytics firm FanAI has raised $8m in a Series A round of funding, and says it will expand its team from 20 to 30 employees, and grow its UK and European business. More
US software company Episerver is to acquire content personalization and analytics platform Idio, for an undisclosed sum. More
Consumer intelligence platform Toluna has added advanced scripting capabilities to its flagship QuickSurveys on-demand plaform, helping users to create and launch complex studies. More
In the UK, data regulator the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) has appointed Ellis Parry as its first Data Ethics Adviser, as the organisation considers the practical implications of the growing use of personal data. More
WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell has allegedly been involved in an 'explosive confrontation' with former colleague Jim Prior, over critical remarks he made about Sorrell to Campaign magazine. According to one eyewitness quoted in the FT, the bust-up led to Sorrell slapping Prior in the face. More
WPP is once again considering acquisitions, in 'faster growing segments such as technology and commerce', according to CEO Mark Read in a call with investors on Thursday. More
Marketing analytics firms Marketscience Consulting and Truesight Consulting have announced a merger, forming a single entity to be known as Marketscience. The two, based in the UK and US respectively, have worked in an exclusive partnership for the last two years. More
In Madrid, WPP Chief Exec Mark Read has opened the marcoms group's latest co-location campus, La Matriz, which is its largest in Europe to date. More
Michael Karg, the Group CEO of UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity, has stepped down from his role. He will be replaced by former YouGov CFO Alan Newman on an interim basis, while the search for a permanent CEO is undertaken. More
In the UK, online research supplier Panelbase has hired research veteran Johnny Caldwell in the newly created role of Innovation Consultant. He is based in London More
Tech-enabled research firm Maru Group has launched a direct access end-to-end insights platform, Maru/HUB, allowing users to create, view and analyze research projects 'on demand'. More
Irish Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has confirmed her office is working on 21 major investigations, of which no fewer than eleven concern Facebook or its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram. More
Fast-growing UK-based MR and consumer insights platform Attest has brought in Freddie Beesley, formerly Head of Product at DIY research firm Typeform, as Product Director. More
DIY research firm SurveyMonkey has reported results for the quarter ended September 30th, with revenue up 22% to $79.3m. Net loss was $16.3m, slashed from $102.4m a year earlier with operating costs falling sharply, although adjusted EBITDA fell from $17.0m to $11.5m. More
Audience insights firm GlobalWebIndex has launched 'TV Reach & Frequency', offering media planners the ability to plan TV campaigns across 44 international channels in 42 markets, and target niche micro-audiences using over 40,000 attributes on each Internet user. More
Tech research and advisory firm Information Services Group has announced moderate revenue growth of 2 percent in constant currency terms, to $68.1m in the third quarter. More
Nielsen has completed its strategic review, and announced plans to spin off its Global Connect business (similar, but not identical to the former 'Buy' segment), creating two independent publicly traded companies. The company also posted a respectable 2.4% constant currency revenue rise for Q3. More
UK-based social media monitoring specialist Bakamo has relocated its London office to a new, larger location in Shoreditch. As part of the expansion, Research Director Dávid Gáspár has relocated from the firm's Budapest-based operations centre to lead the team in London. More
Nielsen has launched its Influencer Brand Effect measurement solution, to help advertisers evaluate the effectiveness of influencer marketing. More
WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell's recently launched marcoms business S4Capital has reported third quarter revenue up almost 54% to £56.6m, with a nearly 50% increase in gross profit to £42.1m during the period. The figures reflect rapid organic growth as well as M&A. More
In the UK, industry-owned media auditor ABC has launched an online 'Data Hub' through which users can access current and historic audited data. More
Leeds and London-based agency Trinity McQueen has acquired product testing and healthcare specialist Allto Market Research (previously known as McCallum Layton). Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Digital research agency MetrixLab has launched a tool called 'ACT Instant', which uses machine and deep learning elements of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict advertising performance, without the need for surveys or respondents. More
Google has acquired wearable fitness / wellness tracker Fitbit in a deal valued at approximately $2.1 billion. Fitbit has issued an assurance that it will continue to put users in control of their data and that its health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. More
In London, qual-quant research and strategy consultancy Redblue has appointed Tom Scrimgour in the new role of Managing Director. More
Mobile data intelligence and verification specialist Location Sciences has expanded to Australia, where it will be led by digital marketer Rupert Pay as the company's local representative. More
Mobile measurement and fraud prevention specialist Adjust has expanded its UK team with the appointment of Andy Chandler as General Manager UK & Ireland, and Isabel Ferreira as Sales Director. Both will be based in the firm's London office. More
Research software firm Confirmit has appointed Howard Lax as Principal Director, CX Consulting, supporting clients in their efforts to design, develop and implement customer experience strategies. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has partnered with Data Stories Consulting to launch a new report called the 'State of Digital Brand Measurement'. More
Audience measurement firm Comscore has made two major announcements: a five-year deal with global film exhibitor Cinemex to provide an enterprise data platform and analytics software solutions; and an expansion of its partnership with global entertainment network Discovery, Inc. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital plc has brought in two new businesses via a merger with its existing MightyHive programmatic media practice. ConversionWorks, based in London, and Datalicious Korea will be integrated into and rebranded as part of MightyHive, strengthening its analytics skills and offer. More
US-based sample solutions provider InnovateMR has opened a new headquarters in Calabasas, California - adding to existing locations in Connecticut, London, Ahmedabad and New Delhi. The firm says its headcount has doubled during 2019. More
Ipsos has reported organic growth of 3% in the third quarter of the year. Reported revenue rose fully 16.7% to EUR 499.4m, driven by the acquisition of units of GfK since last year, and to a lesser extent by that of Synthesio and by currency effects. More
In a trading update for the third quarter, WPP has reported its first like-for-like (LFL) revenue increase of the year - with insight division Kantar sharing in the improvement. Group reported revenue rose 1.9% LFL to £3.29bn. More
Technology researcher Forrester has announced results for the third quarter, with total revenue up 28% to $108.6m, reflecting the acquisition of SiriusDecisions. More
Mobile research tech firm RealityMine has launched a feature called 'RealLife Social', giving researchers a window on the ads and sponsored content that opted-in users are exposed to on social media. More
Data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle has promoted Ben Gott to the position of SVP Digital Analytics for the EMEA region, overseeing a team combining the analytics team from its performance marketing agency Periscopix with its existing customer analytics business. More
In the UK, person-based, blockchain-powered data marketplace Measure Protocol has added community functionality into its MSR App, initially in partnership with global consumer insights agency Interpret, which will use it for a new video gaming community. More
Nielsen has added syndicated measurement of Amazon Prime Video to its Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) Content Ratings solution. More
Harris Interactive has launch two new products, hi brands Express and ad post-test Express, which it says deliver 'faster, more cost-effective brand and communications insights' for FMCG, financial services, technology, media and entertainment sectors. More
In the UK, former Cambridge MR Managing Director Mark Bagnall has set up his own agency ESP Live, which will focus on two areas of consumer research - development of products and techniques to re-shape the way research is conducted, and measurement of experiential marketing campaigns. More
London and Edinburgh-based eCommerce analytics and insights business e.fundamentals has raised £5.3m, which it will use to drive international expansion. More
For the first time in seven years, more UK marketers told the IPA's Bellwether survey their budgets decreased than increased during the third quarter of 2019 - although the change from the previous quarter was small. Figures for MR were the worst of any sub-sector and the worst in seven years. More
Havas Health & You, the marcoms group's healthcare and wellness arm, has partnered with personalized video content creation platform VidMob to launch a Data Science practice. More
Dynata has launched a platform integrating market research, advertising and marketing solutions which it promises will simplify 'every step in the insights lifecycle' - from audience selection and survey creation to analytics and reporting. More
Continuing a month of articles from our 21st birthday celebration feature looking at Online Communities, Julia Eisenberg and Isaac Rogers of US firm 20|20 Research look at the rise of the ' smaller, more tactical insights community', and the need to get that 'pit lane' running smoothly. More
Kantar has named Doreen Wang Country Leader in China. She will return from New York to Beijing in January to take up her new appointment. More
Cultural insights and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA has recruited RDSi director David Power to manage its quant and analytics offer, which is being rebranded as 'Crowd Numbers'. Power will join the firm in November. More
In the US, online community and survey tech provider Toluna has launched a specialized practice focused on the needs of the Media & Entertainment industry, led by long-time company exec Patricia Chapin-Bayley. More
Kantar has been awarded the contract to deliver national radio ratings currency in Sweden for the four years commencing on 1st August 2020. More
Full service agency Opinium Research has rolled out the results of the second '100 Most Connected UK Brands' survey, whilst launching the service in the US. More
GroupM's data and measurement-driven media agency Essence has announced the expansion of its services across China. More
In India, Kantar and artificial intelligence platform Frrole have partnered to launch a service called 'TGI Social+', which combines consumer profiles from Kantar's consumer survey TGI with social media analytics to provide a 'holistic' understanding of online consumers. More
Continuing our month-long in-depth look at online communities, Nick Thomas talks to InSites Consulting co-founder and CEO Kristof De Wulf about buying UK online research pioneer Join the Dots, its fourth acquisition in 18 months; and about plans for the future. More
British retailer M&S has hired former GroupM exec Mehdi Hosseini for a newly created role, Head of Data Science, including responsibility for recruiting for up to twenty new roles in the near future. More
In the UK Mediatel, which provides media data, market insight, news and events, has hired former Kantar Media exec Rob Laurence to lead its data analysis platform, Mediatel Connected. More
YouGov has reported a 17% increase in revenue to £136.5m for the full year ended 31st July. The UK led the way with revenue growing by 31%, while the US also fared well with a 17% rise. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's marcoms group S4Capital has acquired Silicon Valley-based digital marketing agency Firewood, and is merging it with its digital global content practice MediaMonks. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Edinburgh-based ad measurement and optimization firm TVSquared has partnered with video ad campaign tech platform Extreme Reach (ER), to allow advertisers to measure the performance of impressions served across all ad-supported OTT streaming services. More
In London, community panel specialist Verve has completed its fourth graduate intake, bringing the total number of graduate recruits to twelve. The firm recently appointed long-time MR recruitment specialist Sarah Penny as Talent Manager. More
Marcoms giant Interpublic Group has formed a new division, Kinesso, building on its recent acquisition of Acxiom to create data-based marketing applications focused on trust and security, campaign optimization and precision audiences. More
In London, former Save the Children insight leads Tom Skilbeck and Matt Williams have launched a consultancy called Chemistry Insight, dedicated exclusively to charities, movements and brands that 'seek to do good'. More
UK-based Brandwatch has transformed its leadership team with the addition of Guy Berruyer as Chairman of its Board, Fergus Gloster as an NED, Eva Klein as Chief Customer Officer, Dan Freund as Chief Sales Officer, and Ian Collins as CFO. More
A group of advertisers including EA, Mastercard, P&G and Unilever has launched a global initiative called the Cross Media Working Group, designed to ensure the advertiser's voice is heard in decisions on cross-media measurement. More
In the UK, full service agency Relish has appointed Neil Stevenson as Research Director in its Qualitative team, with a focus on building the company's Technology, Media and Gaming sectors. More
Nielsen Sports has launched an online platform to provide a view of fans' interests, media consumption, brand attitudes and purchasing habits from around the world. More
Panel provider Borderless Access has appointed former Dynata exec Max Czycholl as Vice President - Europe. He is based in Hamburg, Germany. More
Cazoo, an online used car sales platform, has hired former dunnhumby / MoneySuperMarket data chief Piers Stobbs as Chief Data Officer, ahead of its launch later this month. More
Continuing our month-long focus on online communities Stephen Cribbett, CEO and founder of Further looks at projects where communities excel, offering huge benefits over other formats - with case studies of work for Bupa, VouchForMe, Condé Nast and Keyhouse software. More
UK-based advisory group Cello Health has sold its social media analysis software business Pulsar to comms software firm Access Intelligence for £4.5m. Cello Health says the sale will enable it to focus on its higher growth/margin healthcare business and its core 'Signal' business. More
London-based research technology firm Liveminds has officially expanded to the US with the opening of an office in Chicago. More
European digital MR services firm Bilendi Group has updated its 'Bilendi Sample Management' platform, with the integration of new functionalities using artificial intelligence. More
UK-based marcoms giant WPP has appointed Argos CEO John Rogers as Chief Financial Officer, replacing Paul Richardson who is retiring from the company. Rogers will join the group and its Board in early 2020. More
Sweden-based holding company Modern Times Group MTG AB (MTG) has announced a partnership with Nielsen, providing sponsorship valuation and media measurement for its esports portfolio companies ESL Gaming GmbH and DreamHack. More
There are lots of options for those wishing to join this successful sector (see job listings in the publication) but how do you find the treasure and minimise the risk? Nick Thomas taps the experience of four of the sector's recruitment specialists to help you pick all the right cards and avoid the blues. More
Kantar has appointed Dolly DeNyse and Amy Fenton to its North American leadership team as Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Client Officer respectively. More
Our month-long focus on online communities continues with another podcast. Samsung's Director of European Countries CMI on work-life and other kinds of balance; the extremes of 'agile'; working on communities with Verve; backing up insights; and why brands should 'get out more'. More
Comscore has promoted Arturo Guillén to the role of SVP & Global Managing Director of its movie division, taking the reins from SVPs Steve Buck and Jim Zak. More
UK-based insights agency Kokoro (formerly ABA Research) has appointed former Virgin Media exec Martha Knight as Director of Digital Activation, leading its Digital Customer Experience programmes and UX research. More
Richard Millington of FeverBee lives and breathes online communities and has helped build them for everyone from Apple to Lego to the UN, but he's not first and foremost an insights professional. Communities have many other uses - so where do we sit in the bigger picture? More
Insights partnership RealityCheck Consulting has launched HXi, a new service for CX and decision journey mapping More
UK-based marketing and media Plc Ebiquity has announced flat revenue (£35.3m) and profits (PBIT £2.9m) in Interim Results for the six months ended 30th June, citing a 'transitional period'. More
Data firm Acxiom has combined with Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) to launch an omnichannel insight and targeting service, 'Work-Life Audiences', promising holistic audience insights and expanded data attributes for more than 30 million consumers. More
Our month-long focus on online communities goes client-side today. Hannah Downs, Head of Insight at UK agency ResearchBods, explains how the firm uses a community to help British broadcasting group ITV get closer to viewers. More
GfK has teamed up with digital measurement firm BrandTotal to allow marketers to track social campaigns that target custom segments. GfK says this includes 'dark marketing', highly targeted campaigns invisible to the general public but making up 88% of social media spend. More
... Not Just Talking About It. In the next in our month-long series focused on communities, Verve Executive Director Paul Lawson casts an expert eye over the many great uses of a community panel. More
Audience measurement firm Comscore has paid $5m to finalize a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, resolving its investigation into accounting and disclosure practices in the two years to February 2016. Former CEO Serge Matta has also made payments to both Comscore and the SEC. More
Facebook has announced the suspension of 'tens of thousands' of apps, created by around 400 different developers, as it continues an eighteen-month investigation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. More
Continuing our month-long focus on Online Communities, Andy Buckley, Head of Client Solutions at Join the Dots / InSites Consulting argues that communities need to 'step up their game' by giving clients access to a much wider range of methodologies and tools. Includes 3 case study summaries. More
Credit scoring and consumer analytics company Equifax has announced a global partnership with utility data aggregator Urjanet, allowing consumers and businesses to share payment data from thousands of utility, telecom and cable providers worldwide. More
Kantar has appointed Chloe Woolger as Commercial Director in its Customer Experience (CX) team, based in its London headquarters and reporting to Tim Pritchard, MD of CX at Kantar UK. More
Brighton, UK-based digital consumer intelligence company Brandwatch has unveiled new flagship product, Consumer Research, representing a '$50m investment' and integrating technology from social media analyst Crimson Hexagon, which it acquired last autumn. More
London-based research and analytics company YouGov has added a new partner in Japan, long-established agency Nippon Research Centre (NRC). The move extends its new affiliate Global Partnerships Programme across APAC. More
On 29th November 1998 MrWeb - publisher of DRNO - officially launched with the appearance of its first job ad. To celebrate our twenty-first birthday we're publishing special supplements on five major growth areas in the sector, beginning this month with online communities. More
UK-based brand research agency The Nursery has merged with recently acquired Arkenford, and moved to refurbished offices in Rathbone Place, London W1. More
Eurodata TV Worldwide, the international division of French audience measurement firm Médiamétrie has promoted François Lhomme to the role of Sales Director for the EMEA and APAC regions; and Kunal de Souza to an equivalent Americas role. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's recently formed marcoms business S4Capital has reported revenue of £87.97m for the first six months of 2019 - up an estimated 42%, or 38% in constant currency terms. According to the firm, it is on track to double in size organically by 2021. More
Comscore is extending its audience targeting solution to include connected TV (CTV), by licensing its data through Adobe Audience Manager, Google Display and Video 360, and Oracle Data Cloud. More
New York-based Semantic ad technology specialist Peer39 has opened an office in London, where it has appointed Andrew Morsy as Managing Director, International. The firm has also hired Alec Greenberg as Vice President of Partnerships in its NYC office. More
Birmingham, UK-based video feedback, insights and analytics company Voxpopme has closed a £7.5m ($9m) Series A1 round of equity financing, which it will use to fund further investment in its platform and add to its global team. More
UK-based insights and data firm Delineate has launched an audience planning tool called 'bertie', to help both agencies and in-house teams understand and engage with their B2B audiences. More
The insight sector around the world including traditional and new areas turned over around $80bn in 2018, according to ESOMAR's annual Global MR report - up from $76bn in 2017. New areas such as data analytics accounted for most but not all of the growth, rising around 10% year-on-year. More
Steve Buck, Comscore's SVP of Business Relations and Jim Zak, SVP of International Theatrical are among those to depart the company as it cuts 8% of its workforce, according to reports. More
Neura, which provides developers with analysis of how users engage with their apps, has raised $16m in a Series B round of funding. Funds will be used to expand its headcount, develop its business in the US and EU, and launch new products. More
Long-time Kantar exec Graham Page has joined US emotion measurement specialist Affectiva as Global MD of Media Analytics, leading a unit focused on the application of emotion analytics to content, media testing and the customer experience. More
US-based online ad intelligence firm Pathmatics has rolled out its flagship 'Pathmatics Explorer' product to the UK and Germany, giving publishers and agencies access to previously unavailable panel-based Facebook advertising data. More
London-based audience insights company GlobalWebIndex has hired former Groupon exec James Scott for a newly created position, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). More
Former Flamingo and TNS exec Lyn McGregor has been appointed as Head of Qualitative Research at Walnut Unlimited. More
Global CEM Software firm Sitecore has laid off around 70 employees, c.5% of its workforce, according to reports. More
Marcoms giant WPP is to open a new campus in San Francisco, in the heart of the US tech industry, where it will house more than 1,000 people from its companies around the city. More
Cambridge Analytica's former Lead Psychologist Patrick Fagan has teamed up with former ad agency execs Dan Thwaites and James Cragg to launch an audience behavioural change business called Capuchin. More
Global information services company Experian has made an undisclosed 'strategic investment' in location intelligence firm PlaceIQ. More
Comscore has disclosed plans to cut a further 8% of its workforce, adding to around 10% made redundant in the second quarter. More
Eye tracking hardware and software pioneer Tobii AB must fully divest recently acquired Smartbox Assistive Technology Ltd, after a ruling by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). More
Comscore Board member Paul J. Reilly has resigned, citing a lack of confidence in its operating strategy and innovation. In the last few days, the company's share price has dropped further to record lows around the $US 1.50 mark. More
Kantar is launching the 'Great British Podcast Tracker', billed as the country's 'first longitudinal service' measuring consumer behaviour and attitudes to podcasts and providing a continuous, representative, single source of insight, from September. More
Enterprise data and analytics provider LiveRamp has appointed Clark Kokich as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, replacing Jerry Gramaglia, who announced his intention not to seek re-election in February. More
Digital research firm MetrixLab has appointed four Regional Managing Directors: Angela Morgans for Europe, Rebeca Dreicon for LATAM, Rob Valsler for AMEA, and Kevin Moran for North America. Meanwhile two new teams will focus on innovation in the company's product portfolio. More
Marcoms group WPP AUNZ has agreed to sell its entire stake in insight and analytics arm Kantar in Australia and New Zealand, as part of the global sale of Kantar shares to Bain Capital. The deal values the ANZ business at $AUD 168m. More
In London, media researcher RSMB has appointed Chris Mundy as Chief Executive, following Steve Wilcox's decision to step aside from a full-time role at the company. More
Next15's data and insights group Savanta has hired five new US employees while announcing a move to a larger office in New York City. More
The ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) has confirmed that Comscore's validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) solution is the first product to receive certification for mobile web viewability, including for both display and video. More
Research software company SurveyMonkey has reported a 20% increase in second quarter revenue to $75.1m, driven by a 12% rise in the number of paying users and higher average revenue per user. Net loss was up almost 50% to $18.48m, although adjusted EBITDA was positive at $10.3m. More
Social media marketing agency Social Chain has launched a market research consultancy, Social Chain Data, which will tap into the parent company's expertise to help clients analyse their audiences and markets. More
Insight exchange and sample management platform Cint has acquired US-based P2Sample. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Nielsen has reported a 1.2% drop in second quarter revenues to $1.63bn - although excluding currency effects it would have risen by the same amount. Adjusted EBITDA increased 0.4% to $470m - a rise of 2% at constant currency. More
Mobile research technology firm RealityMine has added five new members of staff to its Manchester team. More
Digital media analytics specialist Quotient has launched a solution giving consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands consumer purchase history and intent data, from which to build targetable shopper segments for use in digital advertising. More
Tech markets consultancy Gartner has posted a 7% increase in second quarter revenue to $1.1bn (up 9% on a foreign currency-neutral basis). CEO Gene Hall says the company is well-positioned for sustained long-term, double digit growth. More
DIY research software company SurveyMonkey has expanded its executive team with the appointment of Lara Sasken Lindenbaum as Vice President of Communications; DuVal Hicks as Vice President of Sales Operations; and Dennis Scott as Vice President of Growth Marketing. More
UK data regulator the ICO has announced ten projects chosen for the beta phase of its 'Sandbox' service, which supports companies and public sector organisations looking to develop innovative and compliant data-based products and services. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital advertising and marketing services company S4 Capital plc has published a trading update for the first half of 2019, with like-for-like revenues and gross profit up around 40%, well ahead of its target. More
Ipsos has generated revenue of EUR 903.4m in the first half of 2019, up 14.9% compared with the first six months of 2018. Organic growth for the half year was 3.0%. More
US-based customer insights platform UserTesting has opened its first international office, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where it has appointed Bruce Hunter as European Regional Vice President. More
Microsoft has tapped its experience of helping business to test the impact of IT changes, to develop a campaign testing service called Experiments, to be offered shortly to users of its ad platform. More
Marcoms giant Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) is planning to drop the 'Aegis' part of its name and is continuing to streamline its Asia Pacific operations, reports suggest. More
M&A activity in the marketing sector in the first half of 2019 was largely driven by private equity (PE) investment, with most of the major marcoms networks absent from the list of the most active buyers, according to a report. More
Analyst firm HFS Research, which serves clients in technology and business operations, has acquired digital marketing agency Quigley Media, whose founder Tom Quigley become HFS' Chief Marketing Officer. More
Media and analytics firm Crossmedia Inc. has announced a partnership with former MDC Partners CMO Bob Kantor to launch a collaborative marketing services network called Dawn, with four members agencies already included and more to be added soon. More
ITWP, the parent company of Toluna, Harris Interactive Europe and KuRunData, has hired Michele Morelli as SVP of Global Marketing Strategy; promoted Tsahi Ben-Yosef to SVP of Product Innovation; and promoted Mathilde Lelievre to EVP of Global Operations. More
Buyout firms Court Square Capital Management LP and HGGC LLC are said to be working with investment bank Evercore Inc. to explore the sale of digital data collection specialist Dynata, with reports suggesting the price tag could exceed $3bn, including debt. More
Escalent, formerly Market Strategies International-Morpace, has promoted Mark Carpenter from Research Director to Joint MD of its European office based in Surrey, UK. More
Results from the Bellwether survey conducted by ad industry body the IPA suggest a cautious mood among the UK's marketers, with budgets unchanged. As usual more respondents reported decreases than increases in their MR budgets. More
London-based agency The Big Picture (TBP) has appointed longtime Basis Research Director Laura Pereira as Head of Quant, with a focus on innovative techniques in design research. More
Following Friday's announcement that WPP is to sell 60% of Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital, more details are emerging of the firm's plans, including possible eCommerce acquisitions and expansion of services like Kantar Marketplace. More
Facebook is to pay US regulators a record $5bn fine to settle the privacy breach investigation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to US media. Meanwhile Google is in trouble for allowing contractors to listen to snippets recorded by its 'Home' voice assistant. More
Automated MR platform Zappi and insight marketplace and MR tech provider Cint have announced a partnership to provide 'an integrated technology solution' giving Zappi customers results 'even faster than before, within hours', at much-reduced cost and with 'total control of their data'. More
Dallas-based full-service agency Beanstalk Digital has expanded its offering with the launch of a new data arm, Beanstalk Predictive, led by Chief Strategy Officer Matt Murphy and fuelled by a partnership with London-based AI-driven social media analyst Buzz Radar. More
Jumia, a pan-African e-commerce platform, has announced a link-up with UK-based analytics specialist Contentsquare, aiming to help clients provide seamless on-site experiences to customers and rapidly identify potential problems. More
WPP has agreed to sell 60% of its data, research, consulting and analytics business Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital, in a deal which values the whole of Kantar at around £3.2bn ($4.0bn). More
WPP-owned Kantar has launched a number of services to help marketers directly integrate their own datasets with data from its TGI consumer survey, to give enhanced audience profiling for campaign planning and digital media activation. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has partnered with digital rewards company NeoCurrency to enable its 'influencers' to receive the latter's bitcoin gift cards in exchange for sharing their opinion on brands, products and services through the Toluna Community. More
UK agency Walnut Unlimited has appointed former GfK exec Tijen Enver as Research Director, tasked with expanding its media research offering, building on its brand and comms work in the media space and across sectors. More
Insight exchange and tech platform Cint has announced a strategic partnership with data platform company Syno International, adding to the former's presence in APAC and EMEA, and to the survey audience available for clients of both firms. More
UK data regulator the ICO has published guidelines on the use of cookies, reflecting changes in the light of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in force now for just over a year. More
WPP has acquired a majority stake in Italian digital creative agency AQuest, whose services include user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, production and activations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Sky Media, the ad sales arm of communications company and broadcaster Sky, has launched a solution to enable media agencies and advertisers to plan, report and evaluate elements of their TV campaigns. More
German-based panel solutions and passive metering provider respondi has moved its London office to larger premises in the city. In addition, it has appointed Olga Yakovleva as Account Executive and Amar Sudra as Project Manager. More
Automated consumer insights platform Zappi has launched a tool called Optimize Reach, which uses TURF analysis to understand the combined reach of text-based stimuli, eliminating the need to manually re-run possible scenarios. More
Consumer data giant IRI has launched an automated, on-demand platform called the Media Profilers Application, to help FMCG brands, their media agencies and media owners isolate and measure the effects of their media campaigns in the market. More
In the UK, communications agency Influential has appointed consumer insight specialist Duncan Swan as Head of Research. More
Management consultancy Deloitte has announced that its creative agency Heat has launched a division called Heat AI, using machine learning to uncover online social media trends and conversations. More
Global consumer agency InSites Consulting has acquired UK-based insight community specialist Join the Dots, for an undisclosed sum. More
WPP has confirmed this evening it is now in exclusive talks with private equity firm Bain Capital, over the sale of a majority stake in Kantar. More
WPP has sold its 25 percent stake in comms group Chime, the owner of insight firm Watermelon, to Chime's majority shareholder Providence Equity Partners, for £54.4m plus potential future payments. More
In the US, automated consumer insights platform Zappi has appointed Zontziry 'Z' Johnson as Vice President of Customer Transformation. More
Consumer intelligence and measurement company Cuebiq has launched a solution allowing clients to provide verifiable proof of their compliance with the EU's GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in their use of its products and services. More
Digital data collection specialist Dynata has launched a multi-supplier, automated research platform called Dynata Marketplace, through which researchers can combine the firm's first-party consumer data with that of multiple third-party providers. More
Social media monitoring firm Brandwatch claims to have launched a new category called 'Digital Consumer Intelligence', which combines social media, (other) digital, survey and first-party data and applies artificial intelligence and data science techniques to generate new customer insights. More
Enterprise data and analytics provider LiveRamp has agreed to acquire Boston, MA-based media measurement company Data Plus Math. The deal promises clients 'a more effective way to buy, sell and measure data-driven television'. More
Comscore has secured funds from an institutional investor to the tune of around $20m, with potential to grow to $50m. The investor will buy Comscore common stock at just $7.33 per share, close to its current ten-year low valuation, but the funds should strengthen the firm as it continues to 'refocus'. More
Ad tech companies are 'immature in their understanding of data protection requirements', according to a new report from UK regulator the ICO, and appear to be breaching Europe's privacy rules'. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's recently launched marcoms group S4Capital has acquired Melbourne, Australia-based Adobe-led digital transformation and customer experience company BizTech. Terms were not disclosed. More
Belgium-based marketing automation firm ACTITO has acquired UK customer intelligence software provider SmartFocus for an undisclosed sum. More
Mobile research firms RealityMine and MFour have partnered to launch a solution called 'Connected Consumer Data', providing clients with a single-source continuous data set that combines observed digital and location behavior with validated surveys. More
In the UK, global insights provider Maru/Matchbox has appointed former GfK exec Peter Jenkins as Chief Client Officer, based in the Southampton office. More
London-based agency DigitalMR has launched a monthly social media intelligence report for the banking sector. More
BARB, the UK television audience measurement currency, has commissioned Kantar to install its 'Focal Meters' technology into the BARB panel of homes. More
Former Edelman CEO David Brain has co-founded a market research firm called Stickybeak in New Zealand, in partnership with pollster David Talbot, designer Kyle Hickey, and technology specialist Brody Nelson. More
CRM giant Salesforce has agreed to acquire analytics platform Tableau Software, in an all-stock transaction valued at around $15.7 billion, net of cash. More
Ycor, a French company owned by Publicis chairman Maurice Lévy, says it has put in its own bid for the Ad Server and DCO units of struggling tech firm Sizmek, higher than that of retail giant Amazon, and with the aim of maintaining an independent option for the industry. More
Audience technology platform Eyeota has appointed former Dentsu Aegis exec Phoebe Ang as its new CFO, based in Singapore. More
UK-based digital marketing group Be Heard has bought a 20% stake in transformation consultancy Digital Delivery Consulting Limited, which trades as 3pointsDigital (3PD). More
Google is to acquire business intelligence, data applications and embedded analytics provider Looker, in a deal valued at $2.6 billion in cash. More
In the US, Facebook-owned photo and video-sharing service Instagram has promoted Tamar Shapiro to the role of Head of Analytics, leading a team of more than 150 data scientists and data engineers. More
UK broadcaster Channel 4 is developing a data product - currently codenamed 'Project Agora' - allowing advertisers to match their own custom audience segments across the channel's twenty million active registered viewer base, in a cookie-less, GDPR compliant way. More
Media and entertainment insights provider MIDiA Research is launching a tracking platform called MIDiA Index, bringing together audience insights, trends and other data to help networks and agencies understand the impact of TV programmes. More
Marketing and MR Agency System 1 has reported flat constant currency revenue of £26.90m for the twelve month period ended 31st March 2019, and says it continues to invest heavily in its new AdRatings product. More
UK-based emotion analytics specialist Realeyes has raised $12.4m in a new round of investment, which it will use to fund expansion to Japan. More
Comscore has rolled out its Brand Survey Lift ad impact evaluation solution to six international markets - Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Spain and the UK. More
In the US, Comscore's recently appointed Chief Operating Officer Kathryn Bachmann has resigned a month after taking up the position. More
Location intelligence provider Foursquare is acquiring rival technology Placed from Snapchat owner Snap Inc. Funding for the deal will come from a $150m investment in Foursquare by merchant bank The Raine Group. More
Amazon has agreed to acquire the Ad Server and DCO personalization tools of bankrupt ad tech company Sizmek. The buy, whose terms were not disclosed, boosts the online retail giant's rapidly growing advertising business. More
Nielsen is extending its Digital Ad Ratings for YouTube's mobile app to 26 more countries, bringing the total to 34. More
Independent NED Mike Rogers has been appointed Chairman of consumer data giant Experian plc, effective 24th July. More
Vista Equity Partners, a firm co-founded by Robert F. Smith, the richest African-American in the United States, has joined the list of bidders competing to buy a majority stake in WPP's insight and analytics arm Kantar. More
Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is to investigate the functioning of Google's Ad Exchange across the European Union, and whether it complies with privacy rules including GDPR. More
France-based data marketplace operator Dawex has completed a funding round of EUR 5m, supporting global expansion and its ambition to become the 'reference' data exchange. More
Information and analytics firm IHS Markit has exchanged its Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) intelligence business for the Agribusiness Intelligence group which was previously part of publishing, information and events group Informa. More
Research software company SurveyMonkey has launched a cloud-based European data centre for new enterprise customers, allowing it to host data for customers located or doing business in the region. More
Kantar has appointed Gregory Aston as Global Head of Research, Digital Advertising Intelligence, based in New York; while Petra Mašínová joins as Global Director for Reputation Intelligence, based in Paris. More
Reports from several sources suggest that WPP has shortlisted private equity investors Bain Capital, Apollo, Platinum and a fourth undisclosed company to submit bids to buy a majority stake in its insight and analytics arm Kantar. More
Mobile research tech firm RealityMine has rolled out a service called RealLife Data Feeds, offering measurement for Walmart's US web site and app, alongside more extensive Amazon shopper data. More
In London, respondent access specialist Maru/Blue has hired long-time industry exec Nathan Pereira as Business Development Director on its Agency and Enterprise team, tasked with helping grow the company's presence in the UK. More
WPP's data, insights and consulting company Kantar has launched the 'Profiles Network', offering permission-based, GDPR compliant access to around 88 million people in 70 countries. The launch combines panel information from Kantar Profiles Division (formerly known as Lightspeed) with that from 28 additional organizations. More
Location intelligence tech company Ubimo has partnered with WPP's digital OOH ad network Kinetic, to provide real-time audience data for out-of-home campaigns. More
Comscore has promoted to fill the gaps left by the recent resignations of Will Hodgman and Joe Nguyen. Guido Fambach becomes EVP, EMEA & APAC, while Kedar Gavane moves up to the role of SVP, APAC, reporting to Fambach. More
Business intelligence, research and events group Informa plc has formally launched a new division, Informa Tech, bringing together research, media, training and events brands from across the group to serve the global Technology community. Gary Nugent serves as the new unit's CEO. More
Facebook has commenced action against a South Korean firm, Rankwave, which it says sold its data unlawfully for marketing and advertising purposes. More
Social media intelligence firm Brandwatch has unveiled a new flagship Consumer Research product, bringing together its original intuitive front-end with the machine learning techniques and historical data archive of Crimson Hexagon, with which it merged last autumn. More
Technology research and advisory firm ISG (Information Services Group) has announced a decline in revenue for the quarter ended March 31st to $64.8m - down 6%, or 3% at constant currency. The profit measure adjusted EBITDA declined from $5.8m to $3.6m. More
Comscore SVP of Asia Pacific Joe Nguyen has left the company after nearly a decade, as news breaks of an imminent 10% cut in workforce and a possible sale of the business. More
Dynata has partnered with local audience data specialist Eyeota to offer access to hard-to-reach global B2B and consumer audiences at scale. More
Marketing and media consultancy Ebiquity has hired Jed Meyer as MD of its North American offices, while promoting Nick Pugh to MD, UK & Ireland; Laetitia Zinetti to MD of Continental Europe; and Christian Zimmer to MD for its German, Austrian and Swiss (DACH) business. More
Comscore has commenced a strategic review which aims for an initial $20m in cost savings, following a 3.4% fall in first quarter revenue to $102.3m; and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.5m, compared with a gain of $3.6m in the prior year period. More
Tech research and advisory firm Gartner has reported an 8% increase in revenue in its Research segment, to $825m for the three months ended March 31st - equivalent to an 11% rise on a constant currency basis. More
Behavioural research specialist EyeSee has opened an office in London, to be run by former Nielsen exec Payal Patel who joins in the role of Director of Business Development. More
London-based digital consumer insight company GlobalWebIndex has appointed former Comscore exec Hugh McGoran as Senior Vice President of Revenue, North America, based in New York. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's recently launched marcoms business S4 Capital has reported a 38% increase in revenue to £40.9m for the three-month period ending 31st March, with gross profit up more than 37% to £32.8m. More
Melbourne, Australia-based tech-driven research agency Cubery has rolled out its platform in the US and UK. More
US-based Forrester Research has reported a 33% increase in first quarter Research Services revenue to $72.4m, reflecting the acquisition of b2b researcher SiriusDecisions. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.9% fall in first quarter revenue (+0.4% on constant currency terms), to $1.6bn, with net income down 40% to $43m from $72m a year ago, but adjusted EBITDA up slightly (+0.5%) at $415m. More
WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell's recently launched marcoms business S4 Capital paid him £140k in salary, bonus and pension contribution, for just over six months' work last year, the firm's annual report reveals. More
Kantar and content discovery platform Flipboard have partnered to offer brands a view into consumer engagement patterns across thousands of publishers and content creators. More
Bain Capital and Apollo Global Management LLC are among those moving into the next stage of bidding for Kantar, according to sources, quoted on Bloomberg; while private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Apax Partners have dropped out. More
Ipsos has reported organic growth of 2.4% for the first quarter of 2019, which coupled with acquisitions including Synthesio and parts of GfK drove reported revenue up an impressive 15.0% to EUR 422.1m. More
First quarter revenue less pass-through costs in WPP's Kantar (DIM) division was flat (up 0.1% like-for-like), while the rest of the marcoms group saw declines. Kantar, whose sale process is said to be 'progressing well', saw particularly strong growth in Asia Pacific, LatAm and the Middle East. More
Automated consumer insights platform Zappi has opened a new office in Hamburg, Germany to support clients across Central Europe. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's recently formed marcoms business S4 Capital has expanded its digital content and programmatic capabilities with the acquisition of Amsterdam and Miami-based film production studio Caramel Pictures and São Paulo-based programmatic consultancy ProgMedia. More
San Francisco-based ad targeting specialist Blueshift has raised $15m in a Series B round of funding, for use in a planned expansion to North Carolina, the UK and India. More
Cultural insights and strategy consultancy Crowd DNA is opening an office in Sydney, in July. The business will be led by Elyse Pigram, who is transferring back to her native Australia after more than a year in the firm's London office. More
In the UK, location planning specialist CACI has teamed up with behavioural measurement data provider Huq Industries to add new on-demand geo-behavioural insight capabilities to ifs offer. More
London-based YouGov has expanded its Global Partnerships Programme with the addition of new members in Russia, Poland, Pakistan and Egypt. Additional partners are in development across the EMEA and APAC regions. More
In London, Omnicom-owned brand and communications research consultancy Hall & Partners has promoted Sue Klinck to the newly created role of Global Head of People and Culture. More
London-based System1 Group plc has released a trading update for the 12 months ending 31st March 2019, showing a 1% annual decline in its key gross profit measure, to £22m, but a much improved second half performance (up 4%). More
Paris, France-headquartered TV and radio analytics platform Admo.tv has raised EUR 6m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to add 70 new employees at its London office and open new offices in Spain and Germany. More
In the UK, television audience measurement body BARB has issued an invitation to tender for two of its main research contracts: the first for its audience measurement panel and data publication, and the second for survey design and methodology. More
UK-based video intelligence platform LivingLens has released a 'blurring' option, developed to overcome a number of privacy and permission issues, such as when an end brand can't be revealed during the fieldwork phase of a project. More
YouGov has announced an 18% rise in revenue to £66.5m for the half year period ending 31st January 2019, compared with £56.3m in the prior year period. The firm says US demand for data products and services has enabled it to withstand the political uncertainty hitting business in Europe. More
Digital marcoms group Next Fifteen Communications has reported net revenue of £224m for the year ended 31st January 2019, with organic growth of 6.4% on a constant currency basis, and pre-tax profit up 23% to £36m. Research division Savanta stood out with organic growth of 30.6%. More
Chief Executive Bryan Wiener and President Sarah Hofstetter are leaving audience measurement company Comscore due to 'irreconcilable differences over how to execute the company's strategy'. More
Nielsen CEO David Kenny has signed the LEAD (Leading Executives Advancing Diversity) Network CEO Pledge, committing the company to increasing the number of women in senior leadership roles globally. More
Social media-based marketing agency Social Chain has appointed McVal Osborne as its first Head of Data and Insights, based in its London office. More
Business intelligence, research and events group Informa Plc has launched a corporate venture capital fund, which will make early-stage investments in the 'knowledge and information economy'. More
The UK's cross-industry measurement standards body JICWEBS has appointed former IAB CEO Guy Phillipson as its new Chairman. He replaces Richard Foan who set up the organisation in 1999 with trade bodies ISBA, the IPA, the IAB and the AOP. More
UK-based marketing and media consultancy Ebiquity Plc has announced results for the calendar year 2018, with an effective like-for-like revenue increase of 7% for its continuing business, but underlying profit before tax down £2.7m to £5.2m. More
News UK, the publisher of British newspapers The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, has launched an influencer marketing agency called The Fifth, which will combine verified audience data with storytelling creativity, studio production and trend forecasting. More
The Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe) has appointed Daniel Knapp as its first Chief Economist, to strengthen the market analysis and economic research offering for its corporate members and network of National IABs. More
In Cheshire, UK, insight and comms agency Tribe Communications has merged with media analysis specialist Crescendo. The merged agency will be known as Tribe and will launch a new specialist PR and marketing measurement unit called Qualimetrics. More
Technology research and advisory firm ISG (Information Services Group) has announced Q4 revenues up 4% at constant currencies to $67.9m and full-year 2018 revenues up 1% on the same basis to $275.8m. Full year adjusted EBITDA fell 1.4% to $33.0m. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's new group S4 Capital has presented its inaugural results for the period ending 31st December 2018. Pro forma revenue for the company and predecessors was £135.9m, up 58% on 2017; while pro-forma operational EBITDA was £22.4m, up 99%. More
Oracle is phasing out its offer of AddThis audience data in Europe, as a result of the post-GDPR regulatory environment. More
Kantar is dispensing with brands including TNS, Millward Brown, Lightspeed, Worldpanel and IMRB, and from 2nd April will deliver 'all services and offerings under the Kantar brand name'. More
In London, former Flamingo director Hadley Coull has launched an insight and strategy 'collective' called Headz, consisting of a network of independent researchers, strategists and consultants who will work with clients across the tech, media, and gaming sectors. More
WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell is to receive shares worth around £2.1m from the group's executive performance bonus scheme, nearly a year after leaving the company amid claims of possible misuse of company assets and 'personal misconduct'. More
New York-based ad targeting tech specialist AppNexus has announced plans to hire 60 new employees for its services, commercial and other functional teams across Europe, including the big five economies. More
YouGov media planning and audience segmentation tool Profiles has been combined with the IPA's TouchPoints survey, which provides an annual view of where, when and in what mood people consume media in Britain. More
Online video analytics tech developer Innovid has hired Seamus Whittingham to lead its EMEA team as Managing Director, based in London. More
In London, PR group Newgate Communications has set up a Market and Social Research practice, led by Kantar's former Head of Qual, Dan Clay. More
UK-based marketing services firm The Unlimited Group has acquired advanced analytics company Model Citizens, and rebranded it as Realise Unlimited. The Group has also announced a major contract for Ford in the UK. More
The Communications Committee of the UK's House of Lords has called for the establishment of a new regulatory framework for services in the digital world, and set out ten guiding principles it thinks should form its basis. More
London-based agency Basis has appointed former Hall & Partners Health CEO Soumya Roy as Chief Executive of its rapidly-growing New York office. More
Confirmit may be headed for new ownership, following a court ruling that shares in the research software firm can be forcibly sold. The ruling is an attempt to recover $320m which the company's Norwegian billionaire owner Alexander Vik owes to Deutsche Bank. More
Kantar has officially launched its 'Marketplace' on-demand research store, which combines a sample reaching 80 million consumers worldwide with the ability to deliver quick turnaround self-serve custom surveys, insight solutions and expert consulting. Will Galgey will lead it as CEO. More
Insight exchange and sample management platform Cint has created a global enterprise solutions team, focusing on clients with 'advanced, high value and technology-led requirements'. Greg Dunbar will lead it, as EVP of Enterprise, joined by Mike Misel as SVP of Enterprise for the Americas. More
Consumer insight firm Join the Dots has hired former System 1 exec Maria Spinelli as Head of Asia, based in Singapore and replacing Karen Schofield who is to leaving at the end of the month to 'pursue other interests'. More
WPP expects to announce a deal selling a majority stake in Kantar to an investor by the middle of the year, according to Chief Executive Mark Read. More
Audience measurement firm Comscore has reduced its net loss to $27.2m on a GAAP basis, compared with $71.9m a year earlier, while reporting a 6.2% increase in fourth quarter revenue to $109.3m. For the full year 2018, revenue was up 3.9% to $419.5m. More
WPP has reported a 4.5% decline (1.8% in constant currency terms) in revenue for its Kantar data investment management (DIM) division, for the year 2018. Reported revenue was down from £2.7bn in 2017 to £2.56bn in 2018. More
Dentsu Aegis Network has launched its dentsu X media business in Canada. The agency uses an insight-driven media planning approach which goes beyond consumers' claimed behaviour and aims to understand audiences based on their motivations. More
In London, former Unilever exec Clare Salter has joined independent digital creative agency AnalogFolk as Managing Partner - Data Intelligence. More
Nielsen has reported a 0.9% decrease in full year 2018 revenue to $6.5bn. The company will now restructure into two new segments, Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect, and CEO David Kenny says its 2019 focus is to transform into a 'product-driven technology organization'. More
Ipsos has reported organic growth of just 0.7% for 2018, with currency fluctuations reducing reported revenue to EUR 1.7bn, 1.7% down on the previous year. Q4 revenue was up 4.5% to EUR 535.6m, as the firm consolidates recent acquisitions. More
Dynata - until recently known as Research Now SSI - has received a US patent for its automated graphing system, which will improve both the accuracy of profiling data and the quality of the respondent experience. More
WPP has hired Walmart exec Jacqui Canney as EVP, Global Chief People Officer, responsible for all aspects of employee strategy, including recruitment, talent management, leadership development and learning. She joins on June 1st and succeeds Mark Linaugh. More
Data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle has launched a dedicated 'northern hub' in Edinburgh, to service clients in Scotland and the north of England. More
Global MR association ESOMAR has welcomed news of a preliminary agreement by EU bodies on a new copyright directive which includes exemptions for text and data mining (TDM). More
AI-based influencer marketing and social media engagement platform Sideqik has raised $5m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to add more than 60 employees in the US and Europe. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's new company S4 Capital is to open for business in India, with offices in Mumbai and Bangalore, and has brought in former Ogilvy India WW President Poran Malani to lead them. More
Facebook must answer questions from Congress about failures over the data security of users of its 'closed' health groups; and has also withdrawn its controversial Onavo VPN app. Rival Google is under fire over a hidden microphone in its 'Nest' security devices. More
Kantar Media has partnered with media management software provider PRgloo, to provide access to the latter's cloud-based CRM platform and enable in-house communication teams to manage, record and analyse all aspects of their relations with journalists and influencers. More
Ian Pierpoint, founder of youth research specialist The Sound, has launched a new agency called Further&Further, which combines qual research methodologies with immersive documentary film-making. More
In London, automated online MR platform Fastuna has hired corporate researcher Maria Soroka as Managing Director for Europe. More
Edinburgh-based ad performance specialist TVSquared has partnered with DVR and TV tech provider TiVo, to add deterministic TV viewing data to its ADvantage performance measurement and optimization platform. More
DIY survey specialist SurveyMonkey has partnered with Microsoft, to help users integrate and visualize business survey feedback and uncover insights, within the tools they are already using. More
US-based research and advisory firm Forrester has reported an 11% rise in research revenues to $62.0m for the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with $56.9m in the prior year period. Full year research revenues were up 6% to $228.3m. More
SurveyMonkey's parent company SVMK has reported a 19% increase in fourth quarter and full-year revenue to $68m and $254m respectively. Meanwhile CFO Tim Maly plans to retire, to pursue his passion for 'climbing, skiing and adventure in the mountains'. More
In the US, consumer insights specialists GfK MRI and Simmons Research have formed a joint venture called MRI-Simmons, jointly owned by respective parent companies GfK and SymphonyAI Group, with GfK as the majority partner. More
Online sampling and digital data collection firm Dynata - which until recently was known as Research Now SSI - has partnered with online ad targeting specialist TruSignal, to help brands drive more precisely targeted marketing campaigns. More
Marketing personalisation tech firm Qubit has appointed Marco Vergani as Chief Operating Officer, based in its London headquarters. More
Digital MR services firm Bilendi Group has signed an agreement to acquire Italy's online panel provider Via! for an undisclosed sum. Former Research Now-SSI Italy CEO Patrizia Elli joins Via! to accelerate development of the Italian market. More
Online sample marketplace PureSpectrum has launched a DIY eCommerce insights platform called Storefront. More
In the UK, online food ordering and delivery service Just Eat has hired easyJet exec Alberto Rey Villaverde as Chief Data Officer, starting on 11th March. More
US-based sampling firm InnovateMR has promoted Amanda Keller-Grill to VP of Product Strategy and Jake Leal to Director of Platform Solutions, and has launched new features for its Pegasus self-serve platform. More
Kantar company Lightspeed has promoted Jackie Blackler and Simon Buckley to serve as Co-Managing Directors, leading the firm's EMEA business from its offices in London. More
London-based marketing personalisation specialist DataSine has raised £4m ($5.2m) in a Series A round of funding. The investment will be used to expand and roll out its Pomegranate SaaS marketing platform, through which brands can personalise their content for different audiences. More
In London, Strive Insight has added four new members to its team: Sofia Savage as Associate Director, Alice Cappelli and Benjamin Darnell as Research Managers, and Kulay Labitigan as Narrative Designer. More
In New York, WPP's media investment arm GroupM has appointed research analyst Brian Wieser as Global President, Business Intelligence (BI). More
Tech industry consultancy Gartner has reported a 7% rise in revenues to $1.1bn for the fourth quarter of 2018 (+12% in constant currency terms), while EBITDA, excluding divested operations, rose 6% to $211m. More
Israel-based digital ad platform Taptica has acquired RhythmOne in a $US 176m all-stock deal, creating a powerful combination with another recent acquisition, Tremor Video DSP. Tremor Executive Chairman Ofer Druker will become CEO of the enlarged group. More
PR and media intelligence firm Cision has appointed Precise Media Group co-founders Peter Low and Keir Fawcus to head up its EMEA team, as MD and SVP of Sales respectively. The two both worked at Kantar Media after the WPP division acquired Precise in 2014. More
Content discovery and personalisation platform Outbrain has re-organised its UK management team, with Stephanie Himoff, former MD of Northern Europe, taking on the corporate role of Vice President of Global Publishers and Platforms. More
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie has joined Swedish fashion group Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) as a Consulting Director of Research, to help the company use data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand its customers. More
In the UK, digital marcoms group Next15 has announced plans to bring all its data businesses under one brand - MIG data and insights - so as to offer customers 'a more tightly integrated set of services in Europe and the US'. More
Former WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell has repaid the company £170k of personal expenses for items such as ski trips, travel for his wife and child, and objects for his home in New York, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. More
Research Now and SSI have completed their merger, with the joint business now known as 'Research Now SSI' and led by former Research Now CEO Gary Laben. More
In the US, online community specialist C Space has hired former FutureBrand Global Chairman Chris Nurko for a newly created position, Chief Growth & Innovation Officer, starting at the beginning of next month. More
In the UK, research and insights firm delineate has appointed Tracy 'Tarcey' Hubbard as Senior Director, to build its Custom Research practice; Susann Jerry as a Partner heading the Media and Content arm; and Steffan Evans as Digital Research Executive. More
Data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle has appointed Julia Crawley-Boevey as Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for EMEA, and says next year will see its M&A activity in the region 'increasing significantly'. More
YouGov has given Ben Glanville the task of replicating the growth of its UK Data Services offering - including its omnibus - across a number of key markets, including Germany, France and the Nordics. More
WPP company Ogilvy & Mather has acquired a majority stake in Hong Kong-based digital consultancy ARBA, whose design and software engineering services focus on sales acceleration and customer experience. More
Internet giant eBay has acquired Canadian eCommerce research specialist Terapeak for an undisclosed sum. More
comScore CFO Gregory Fink has been appointed as the company's Principal Accounting Officer Elect, replacing Michelle Spencer, who had only served in the role since last January. No explanation has yet been given. More
In London, full service global media agency Initiative UK has appointed Charlotte Eagland as Head of Consumer Insight & Analytics. She will take up her new position in February. More
Tesco-owned customer data business dunnhumby has launched an online documentary series focusing on innovation in North America's food retail industry, with the first episode airing today. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has announced a social media data partnership with customer intelligence platform FullContact, to deliver '360-degree' person, customer, and relationship insights. More
London-based Human, which develops technology to interpret subconscious emotional traits and predict human behaviour, has launched software which it claims can read consumers' subliminal facial expressions and reactions to products and campaigns in real-time. More
Audience measurement firm comScore says it plans to cut 175 jobs, and that COO Cameron Meierhoefer has stepped down. More
YouGov has announced the acquisition of Sydney-based MR firm and opinion pollster Galaxy Research Pty Ltd, which will be combined with YouGov's existing Australian business under the leadership of Galaxy founder and MD David Briggs. More
Harris parent company The Stagwell Group has acquired London-based marketing agency Forward3D Group, for an undisclosed sum. Forward3D runs campaigns across digital media formats using technology based on linguistics and data science. More
Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corp has launched an audience targeting platform called News IQ, combining first-party data from across its media properties, with data science tools. More
Automated MR company ZappiStore has expanded to Latin America with the appointment of former GfK exec Gabriel Velez, who will lead its operations across the region. More
UK-based online research specialist FlexMR has opened an office in South Carolina, where it has appointed industry exec Lindsay Smith in the role of Client Development, US. More
In the UK, tech market research company DigitalMR has added a feature called 'Intercept Surveys' to its existing listening247 and communities247 products, promising real-time feedback from site visitors, and improved completion rates. More
Seattle-based online qual firm Discuss.io has appointed long-time Ipsos exec Frank Jellinek as Growth Director for the UK and Europe. More
Facebook has selected European ad visibility analyst Meetrics as its first viewability measurement partner based outside the US. More
In the UK, marcoms network the Unlimited Group has combined four of its existing insight businesses to form Walnut Unlimited, which it describes as a 'human understanding' agency. More
In London, consumer and cultural insight agency Flamingo has made three senior hires: Lucas Galan as Head of Digital Forensics, Hazel Wilkinson as Head of Client Services, and Morten Jensen as Innovation Strategist in the Future Trends and Innovation team. More
In London, data-driven performance marketing agency Merkle has promoted Michael Komasinski to the role of President of EMEA, tasked with driving the firm's growth strategy across the region. He replaces Tim Berry, who has returned to the US. More
London-based online community specialist Verve has launched a multi-country 'pop-up communities' approach for qual studies. Local language moderation combined with captioned video allows head office staff to 'hear and feel the customer emotion' firsthand, while understanding it in English. More
Spanish language broadcast network NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and tech and communities business Maru/Matchbox have hooked up to launch what the firms describe as the largest insight community of its kind. More
Cint is adding its audience data, covering more than 40 million consumers across 100 countries, to the data marketplace and analytics platform of Sydney, Aus-based Data Republic, offering clients improved customer insight and targeting. More
UK-based mobile survey solutions provider OnePoint Global has promoted Mark Procter, Head of Global Operations, to its Senior Management Team. The firm has also hired Collette Taylor and Sian Bentley-Magee as Marketing Managers of its SME and Enterprise markets. More
Today we are launching a survey of the UK market research industry, in partnership with B2B specialist Circle Research. If you're a UK insights or analytics professional, we want your input! More
UK-based video insight specialist Voxpopme has received a seven-figure Series A round of investment from Mercia Fund Managers, for use in global expansion. More
UK-based capture and analytics provider LivingLens has added industry names Leonard Murphy and Gregg Archibald to its advisory board. More
European online specialist InSites Consulting has acquired Sydney, Australia-based Direction First, adding to its existing facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, the US and Germany. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
In the UK, mobile intelligence company Location Sciences has partnered with mobile MR and sample specialist On Device Research, to help brands and agencies measure media effectiveness and store visit uplift. More
In the UK, grocery shopping comparison web site mySupermarket has made its premium purchase intent data segments available through local audience data firm Eyeota's Private Data Marketplace (PDMP). More
Dun & Bradstreet's former UK CEO Christian Erlandson is joining GfK as Chief Customer Officer next Monday. He will take over responsibility for sales and business activities across all regions from CEO Peter Feld. More
Marcoms giant Dentsu Aegis Network has agreed to buy Netherlands and Dubai-based performance marketing agency Oxyma Group, which will subsequently be integrated into its Merkle subsidiary. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Social network analyst Engager has partnered with TAM Ireland to measure how the country's TV audiences engage with social media. More
Crowdsourced in-store data provider BeMyEye has raised $10.5m in a Series C round of financing, which it will use to accelerate its European expansion and scale the business globally. More
UK-based behavioural economics specialist The Behavioural Architects has announced 'four new significant hires' and says it has 'big plans for further expansion in 2018'. More
Marketing budgets in North America have fallen back to 2015 levels in 2017 after three years of growth, according to a survey by Gartner. The proportion of budget spent on marketing technology is also well down on last year. More
UK political information provider Dods Group has acquired a 30% stake in social media monitoring and analysis services provider Social360, for £1.65m in cash. More
London-based personal data firm CitizenMe has added access to an 'Expert Network' to its platform, to connect companies to professionals in the insight industry. More
New York-based VICE Media is rolling out its 'VICE Voices' youth insights platform and portal in the UK, to capture the opinions of UK millennials and understand what drives their attitudes and behaviour. More
comScore co-founder Gian Fulgoni has brought forward his retirement date, originally planned for the end of next January, and stepped down as CEO. No reason has been given for this change. More
Manchester, UK-based text and big data analytics firm Hello Soda has raised £5.5m in a round of funding, which it will use to continue its global growth plans. More
Edinburgh-based ad measurement and optimization firm TVSquared has acquired German television ad tracking specialist wywy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, former BrainJuicer and System1 Group COO Alex Batchelor has joined behavioural research agency Watch Me Think as Non-Executive Chair. More
US-based Information Services Group has announced results for the third quarter of 2017. Revenue rose 30 percent at constant currency to $68.3m, in part due to the acquisition of Alsbridge Holdings in December. More
Nielsen has rolled out a web-based forecasting solution called Marketing Budget Explorer, helping marketers evaluate thousands of combinations of marketing allocations and budget options to make better media planning decisions. More
Shropshire, UK-based virtual reality (VR) company Igloo Vision has opened operations in both the New York and Los Angeles areas, where it will offer access to its '360 degree projection dome' environments. More
Toluna has announced its intention to define and lead a new business concept and market category, 'Insights on Demand', and says it is collaborating with industry thought leaders and creating educational resources to advance its vision. More
Joe Lewis, Head of Insight at the UK's Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), is leaving at the end of the year to set up his own audience measurement business, Measured Media Consulting (MMC). More
YouGov Group Chief Strategy Officer Alex McIntosh has been promoted to the role of Chief Financial Officer, replacing Alan Newman who is leaving the company at the end of the year. Both McIntosh and COO Sundip Chahal will be given seats on the Board. More
DIY research company SurveyMonkey has partnered with insights exchange operator Cint, to provide its users with access to the latter firm's 40 million respondents in 100 countries. More
MARU Group's tech and communities business Maru/Matchbox has appointed three industry veterans for its Qualitative Center of Excellence. More
Ad visibility analyst Meetrics has been granted full accreditation by the US-based Media Rating Council (MRC), across both anti-fraud and viewability, including in-app environments. The firm says it is the first in Europe with this combination of awards. More
Ipsos grew its Q3 revenue to EUR 434.0m, equivalent to organic growth of 4.9% and representing 'solid recovery'. Due to currency effects - a fall in the value of the US dollar and pound sterling against the euro - the reported figure was up only 0.5%. More
Technology research and advisory company Gartner has reported Research revenue of $653.4m for the third quarter of 2017, a rise of 38% at constant currencies - reflecting its acquisition of CEB. For the group, Gartner reported a Q3 loss of $48.2m, compared with a profit a year earlier. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has enhanced its DIY Samplify platform with the addition of a survey authoring tool, designed for individuals with no special research expertise. More
WPP's Data Investment Management (DIM) arm has seen third quarter like-for-like revenue fall 2.9%. CEO Sir Martin Sorrell admitted to investors that it had been a 'tough quarter' as the group predicts a 'broadly flat' 2017. More
WPP marcoms agency J. Walter Thompson has acquired a majority stake in Brazilian eCommerce and iCloud specialist E-Next Consultoria e Serviços de Internet (Enext). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, specialist MR agency YouthSight has partnered with video data mining and analysis specialist LivingLens, to capture and analyse video from projects such as its OpinionPanel Community youth research panel. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has reported third quarter revenue up 3% for its Research division and 6% in its Advisory Services and Events wing, for a total of $80.4m (Q3 2016 $77.4m). Pro forma net income fell slightly to $5.6m on substantially increased operating expenses. More
B2B research specialist Circle Research has hired Amanda Boote for the newly created role of Engagement Director, including responsibility for driving global growth and client relationships. More
comScore co-founder and CEO Gian Fulgoni is to retire at the end of January, shortly after his 70th birthday. Following this will resume his previous Chairman Emeritus role, and provide the firm with advisory services for a further twelve months. More
London-based Adbrain has been acquired by ad tech platform The Trade Desk, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the US, Twitter has formally agreed to submit a set of key metrics for accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC), which has begun the first phase of the process. More
Online competitive intelligence provider Hitwise has partnered with Kantar Media to enable marketers to combine data on their audiences' opinions and attitudes with their search and web site visiting behaviour. More
US-based MR and community intelligence platform provider FUEL CYCLE has teamed up with UK-based video insight specialist Voxpopme to launch a video capture and analysis capability. The partners say this reduces the amount of time required to analyze videos from days to minutes. More
In the UK, Out-of-Home (OoH) advertising business Exterion Media has added digital signage on London buses, to display geo-targeted messages relevant to their location, including nearby landmarks and shops. More
Research and advisory services provider MARU Group has promoted Demitry Estrin to the role of Chief Operating Officer of its tech and communities business Maru/Matchbox. More
Social media intelligence firm Brandwatch has launched an enterprise-level solution called Quick Search, to help users instantly segment all social media data. More
London-based company Attest has launched two new tools - Brand Intelligence Essentials and 360° - to help brands understand their position in the market. More
US and Canadian professional bodies the Insights Association and MRIA have written an open letter to Apple, claiming that its new Safari browser poses 'a severe and almost insuperable problem for online marketing research and analytics'. More
WPP has partnered with customer experience management software company Sitecore, which offers tools for collecting customer data and real-time insights using machine learning. More
UK market research budgets appear to have fallen for the ninth successive quarter - but at a much slower rate than previously, according to the latest 2017 IPA Bellwether Report. Meanwhile marketing budgets have risen for a net 10% of companies. More
Digital business analyst HfS Research has expanded its team of industry analysts. Saurabh Gupta joins as Chief Strategy Officer, overseeing the firm's global research function; while Elena Christopher, John O'Brien, Suvradeep Bhattacharjee and Ollie O'Donoghue also join. More
Omnicom has moved its online community specialist C Space into its Interbrand Group, and at the same time named C Space CEO Charles Trevail as the new Chief Exec of Interbrand. He succeeds Jez Frampton who is retiring at the end of the year. More
Digital data solutions leaders Research Now and SSI have signed a merger agreement. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
In the UK, former Thinkbox media researcher David Brennan and former Carat Insight MD Sue Elms have set up a new consultancy called BE Insight, to help clients maximise the value of their existing and future intelligence resources. More
Insights exchange operator Cint has partnered with data commercialization platform Narrative I/O, to give clients access to 'self-declared' first-person data. More
YouGov has released preliminary results for the year ended 31st July 2017, with revenue up 9% on a constant currency basis to £107.0m, and adjusted profit before tax up 24% to £16.4m. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has integrated passive data-based Digital Tracking within its end-to-end real-time insights platform. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots is to open an office in New York, led by Jeff Haselum who has been promoted to Head of US Research. More
Kantar Media has teamed up with software firm TechEdge to create a dedicated audience analytics software unit, focused on bringing innovative products to market. Andreas Velter will lead the new business, reporting to Kantar Media CEO & Chairman Andy Brown. More
Online video research firm Discuss.io has added Dawn Re and Beth Winter to its Business Development team and Ashley Wali to the Product team, all based in the US; meanwhile Senior Account Manager Zuzka Žilková relocates to the London office. More
Media group Dentsu Aegis Network has signed a two-year licence to use YouGov's segmentation and media planning tool Profiles for its audience understanding, strategy and activation needs. The group previously used Kantar TGI. More
Along with a host of hardware launches this week, Google has announced the roll-out of the 'Insights Engine Project', including six products using machine learning to promote data visualization and integration. More
Brighton, UK-based social media intelligence Brandwatch has announced its first direct integration with Twitter Ads. Clients of its audience analytics product can upload 'fine-tuned' lists of Twitter users for highly targeted paid campaigns. More
The three founders of London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly are stepping down from their roles, two years on from its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corp. More
Tech consultancy Gartner is 'exploring and evaluating strategic alternatives', including a possible sale, for its CEB Talent Assessment business, formerly SHL. More
UK-based agency System1 has upgraded its award-winning Predictive Markets idea testing technique. Next Generation Predictive Markets draws on learnings from over 40,000 tests and promises clients 'improved accuracy and greater speed at a lower cost'. More
UK consultancy Simpson Carpenter is expanding its pharma and biotech operation with a new office in Manchester's MediaCity. Alex Martin and Shaan Bassi join the company and will be based in the new location. More
Insights and marketing services holding company Reimagine has appointed Dan Fitzgerald, previously Chief Client and Marketing Officer at Lightspeed, to its leadership team as Managing Partner. More
UK firm Ebiquity has announced Interim Results for the six months ended 30th June, with revenue of £44.6m, flat on a like-for-like constant currency basis. The group says its Advertising Intelligence subscription services have returned to growth on the back of two new metrics products. More
Nielsen Sports has shuffled and strengthened its leadership team. Middle East leader Jon Long will move to London in January as MD, UK and Ireland, to be joined by Richard Brinkman, former Global head of KantarSport. Long replaces Jon Stainer who has moved to an expanded MD Americas role. More
UK-based mobile survey solutions firm OnePoint Global has launched the latest version of its My Surveys app, promising 'a unique and highly branded experience' as well as the option to collect data whilst the participant is off-line. More
comScore has given Wesley Nichols, Paul Reilly and Bryan Wiener seats on its Board of Directors, as part of its settlement agreement with one of its largest shareholders Starboard Value. More
UK-based research provider B2B International has relocated its Asian headquarters in Beijing, to expand its in-house fieldwork capacity. More
US research and advisory firm Forrester has launched an app called Tap, allowing consumers to suggest how brands can improve their customer experience. More
In the US, comScore has appointed Joseph Rostock as Chief Information Officer, leading the technology division, and at the same time promoted Yvonne Bigbee to CTO, reporting to him. More
In the UK, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is to provide independent audits to companies providing anti-fraud products, under a scheme launched by the country's Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS). More
In Chicago, WPP's content division Wavemaker has appointed Aaron Smith as Global Chief Client Officer. He will take up the role next Monday. More
Nielsen has agreed to acquire multi-touch attribution and marketing mix modelling specialist Visual IQ, which measures ROI at both the individual person and store level. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
comScore has launched an ad targeting product suite called 'Activation', using a combination of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning assets. More
In the UK, WPP's media investment arm GroupM has launched an addressable TV targeting company called Finecast, helping advertisers deliver relevant ads to viewers across multiple on demand, linear and live streaming TV environments. More
DRNO's Nick Thomas wraps up his review of the 70th Congress with a general verdict - and as you may have guessed after the first three reviews, it's a good one. Not by any means unqualified however - whisper it low, he'll even have a go at the clients. Part 4 of 4. More
Cint has relocated Deputy CEO Richard Thornton from San Francisco back to London, taking the new role of Chief Operating Officer; while Oscar Carlsson has been appointed Chief Innovation Officer, based in San Francisco. Greg Dunbar and James Rogers are also promoted to new EVP roles. More
Contrary to what you might have concluded from our last two reports, there was lots of talk in Amsterdam about both the great trends shaping market research, and the specifics of current projects and problems. Our correspondent Nick Thomas found some gems in the latter. Part 3 of 4. More
UK-based behavioural science specialist System1 has launched a product called the Digital Content Tracker, to measure emotional response to a brand's online video content against that of its major competitors. More
Marketing personalization tech firm Qubit has promoted Joe Smith to Chief Revenue Officer and appointed Leah Anathan as CMO, and says it is hiring across multiple locations across three continents. More
Last year saw the MR industry experience its highest level of growth since 2010, according to the latest study by international association ESOMAR. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has launched a new targeting capability, to help advertisers across South East Asia connect with those consumers most likely to emotionally engage with a specific ad. More
WPP marcom network Wunderman has acquired a majority stake in digital marketing agency Pierry, as part of its strategy to focus on technology, data and digital content. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Tokyo, Japan-based online specialist Macromill has acquired US-based research agency Acturus through its MetrixLab US subsidiary. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, point of sale (POS) consumer targeting specialist Ecrebo has appointed former Aimia and dunnhumby exec Michael Poyser as Chief Analytics Officer. More
In the UK, recently launched digital product consultancy Pivot has merged with full-service digital user experience (UX) agency MadeByPi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Former dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay has been hired to lead a new company called Outra, which will connect data, insight and opinions to target consumers based on their attitudes and behaviour. The team also includes former Tory party strategists Jim Messina and Lynton Crosby. More
WPP's public sector unit The Government Practice has appointed Sean Howard as Global Managing Director, reporting to CEO Michelle Harrison. More
US-based survey sample firm ProdegeMR has partnered with Lucid, whose Fulcrum distribution channel will aid its expansion in the European market. More
Automated MR technology company ZappiStore has appointed former Millward Brown exec Jared Carr as its new VP of Strategic Client Transformation. More
Online survey pioneer Confirmit has announced a partnership with mobile messaging firm Infobip, offering enhanced international SMS capabilities and coverage to those engaged in research, customer experience and employee engagement programmes. More
comScore has announced a global roll-out for its free Viewability measurement service, which allows users to measure digital campaigns continuously within and across publishers and ad networks. More
US-based sampling and data collection provider Critical Mix has appointed former Lightspeed execs Matt Shepherd and Jon Williams as Sales Directors in its London office. More
Los Angeles-based tech-driven panel company Active Measure has hired former Lightspeed Research exec Bonnie Breslauer for the newly created role of Chief Customer Officer. More
Nielsen Brandbank - which collects, manages and distributes FMCG product and brand image content - has launched its first full-service content studio in the US. More
Social media intelligence specialist Brandwatch has launched a free tool called the 'Social Intelligence Maturity Model' (SIMM), to measure the value of a business's social media strategy and guide its future growth. More
Microsoft has patented a tool called the 'Opinion Search Engine', to help companies collect and understand customer feedback and product reviews across the web, and to help consumers with their product choices. More
Prediction market research, analytics and software specialist Consensus Point has launched its Hunnu tool on ZappiStore's automated research platform. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has appointed Angie French as Chief Executive Officer, EMEA. She will join on 1st November, taking over from Caroline Frankum who was promoted to Global CEO in April. More
Ad technology platform Adform has partnered with digital data collection specialist Research Now, to offer targeting of consumers at the 'right time on the right device'. More
Research data solutions firm SSI has launched a self-service suite of tools, for use by experts and novices. The tools cover everything from sampling and survey building to reporting of results. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has rolled out its LifePoints mobile engagement app in the UK and Australia. More
Microsoft veteran Dave Coplin has left to set up a consultancy called The Envisioners, aiming to help organisations and individuals see the full potential of technology, with a focus on the humans who use it. More
Leeds, UK-based full-service marketing services agency Brass has hired Sam Bannister as Head of Insight. More
In the UK, social media ad targeting firm RadiumOne has promoted Louise Briggs to the role of Director Business Operations, and Emma Hazelhurst to Director of Business Development. More
GfK has announced a transformation and investment programme, aimed at sharpening its focus on customer needs, accelerating digitization and getting the company 'back on a sustainable growth path'. Plans include a 'one office per country' strategy. More
WPP-owned ideas and innovation company AKQA has acquired Denmark-based digital strategy, creativity and technology specialist DIS/PLAY for an undisclosed sum. More
The UK government has set out its aims for data protection and international data flow after Brexit, in the last of its current round of positional papers. Britain will seek a close alignment with EU laws, including adherence to the GDPR from next May. More
Kantar Media's purchase of Irish company Newsaccess has been cleared by the country's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), following an extensive investigation and with Kantar required to make divestments and contract changes. More
Digital marketing dashboard and call tracking platform NinjaCat is opening a UK office, boosting its growth in EMEA markets. More
Chicago-based 3-D research specialist InContext Solutions has integrated its virtual reality (VR) headset into its flagship ShopperMX platform, allowing retailers and brands to view and collaborate on new retail concepts. More
WPP has slashed its full-year growth forecast for revenues and net sales to between zero and 1%, as clients cut their marketing budgets. For the second quarter, like-for-like revenue in the Data Investment Management (DIM) division fell 4.6% to £669m. More
Terry Kent, the former Global CEO of Kantar Media's Ad Intelligence business, has set up an advisory firm for early-phase ad and media startups. More
WPP has acquired London-based brand strategy and design agency Design Bridge for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based content provider StoryStream has raised $1.2m in a funding round, and will use it to add artificial intelligence (AI) to its offering. To lead this initiative, former SmartFocus exec Janet Bastiman has joined as Chief Science Officer. More
UK-based market research and ad company System1 Group is expecting a decline in profit for the year ending 31st March 2018. Full year profit before tax is set to fall by between 10% and 15% from the £6.3m achieved last year. More
Nielsen has launched a new video gaming analysis business called Nielsen Esports, which will provide sponsorship valuation, fan insights, custom industry research and consulting services to rights holders, media platforms and brands. More
Kantar has announced that Richard Ingleton will take over the role of Chief Executive Officer of its Insights Division, from Travyn Rhall who will be leaving the business in November. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment about Rhall's next career move. More
Lightspeed has launched the 'Gravity Network', a partnership arrangement between selected data companies to provide 'a vastly larger pool than traditionally sourced Double Opt-In (DOI) research panels alone'. Partners in the network include Cint, Lucid, Tap Research, P2Sample and Dalia. More
SRKay Consulting Group, a division of London and Mumbai-based SRK Group, has launched a specialist service for companies facing challenges with customer experience management (CEM). 'Serena Way' draws on ' deep customer psychology' and will be rolled out globally. More
UK-based digital audience platform MPP Global has appointed Heath Podvesker as General Manager Americas, Melissa Pegus as VP of Channel and Strategic Alliances and Trena De Landro as VP of Publishing and Media. More
Social media intelligence company Brandwatch has added a service called Benchmarked Reports to its Audiences analytics product - allowing users to compare any three audiences, including the followers of any Twitter account. More
UK-based mobile survey technology provider OnePoint Global has created a new interface for its platform, offering the ability to create and launch mobile research projects from any device, any time and anywhere. More
In the UK, qual and quant agency Critical Research has acquired B2B research specialist Saville Rossiter-Base (SR-B) for an undisclosed sum. More
CEO Jamin Brazil and Chief Product Officer Jayme Plunkett, the co-founders of MR tech firm Decipher, have left research technology and services group FocusVision, according to industry sources. More
US organisation GreenBook has beta launched Savio, a platform inspired by the 'gig economy' and allowing users to buy in research expertise to use with online research tools or as a standalone service. Features include ratings and reviews, project management tools and payment processing. More
In the UK, Harris Interactive has launched PopUP Communities, powered by Toluna technology and offering quick and cost-effective insights. More
Cross-industry body The European Viewability Steering Group (EVSG) has launched a 'European Viewability Certification Framework', including a first set of viewability measurement principles. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has appointed marketing strategist Tracey Hunter as Senior Client Director, while Martin Bryant joins as Client Director. More
In London, digital research data firm Research Now has hired former McKinsey insights consultant Floriane Locatelli as Business Development Director for the EMEA region. More
US research and advisory company Gartner has reported a 34% rise in second quarter Research division revenue (33% at constant currencies), to $613.7m. The result follows the acquisition of talent management insights firm CEB. More
Toluna has added to its real-time insights platform QuickSurveys with the launch of QuickCommunities, a DIY product for building, creating and recruiting target consumers into a custom community. More
Kantar Media is to integrate Facebook data into its Twitter TV Ratings tool, which will be renamed the Kantar Social TV Ratings tool. More
US-based holding company Information Services Group (ISG) has announced results for the second quarter and first half ended June 30th 2017, with revenues up 15 percent at constant currency to $68.0m, in part reflecting an acquisition in December. More
WPP division GroupM is losing its North American CEO Brian Lesser to AT&T, where he will build and lead an advertising and analytics business, tapping the telecoms giant's customer data and DirecTV programmatic assets. More
Strategy and consulting firm Accenture has acquired marketing and sales capability consultancy Brand Learning, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, consumer collaboration specialist C Space has hired former BBC exec Zoe Cotter-Morton for the newly created role of Human Resources Director, driving its 'people strategy' and supporting growth. More
In the US, privacy watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging it to halt Google's tracking of consumers' in-store purchases. More
In the UK, management consultancy PwC has acquired Leeds and London-based boutique agency Optimisa Research for an undisclosed sum. More
In London, brand performance measurement specialist Morar HPI has launched a creative services division called ARGO, offering evidence-based brand development work as well as stand-alone brand and creative services. More
In London, marketing intelligence software firm Visual IQ has appointed former IBM exec Theresa Colarusso as Senior Vice President of Customer Success. More
New York-based hedge fund Starboard Value has bought a stake in comScore, aiming to force the company to schedule its first Annual General Meeting in two years. More
Nielsen has reported a 3.0% increase in second quarter revenue to $1.644bn, equivalent to a 4.1% rise on a constant currency basis. In organic terms - excluding the acquisition of Gracenote - the quarter was almost flat. More
In the US, technology specialist Forrester has reported a 1% fall in Research revenues for the three months ended June 30th, to $54.6m. However, a strong performance by the Advisory Services and Events division meant group revenue rose 2.2% to $87.8m. More
Ipsos has reported what it has described as an 'uneventful' first-half year, with revenue of EUR 833.8m, almost unchanged from a year before, and organic growth of just 1 percent. More
The management of UK-based telecoms and IT sector market research agency Rhetorik have bought the firm in a deal supported by a team of UK and North American data tech-focused investors. Terms were not disclosed. More
US-based on-demand panel and sample company Innovate MR has opened an office in London, where it has appointed Brendan Russell to supervise its European sales strategy. More
Former respondi UK MD Christopher Morasch has joined German-based mobile survey specialist Dalia Research as Head of Sales. More
Ad auditing firm Adloox has been accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its measures of desktop digital video viewable ad impressions, mobile web display served ad impressions, and mobile web SIVT (sophisticated invalid traffic). More
The Stagwell Group has signed a 13-year lease for two floors in One World Trade Center, where it says it will bring together its portfolio of companies including Harris Insights & Analytics and former Nielsen company National Research Group. More
IRI has launched a solution called Marketing Mix (MMX) 7x3, offering analytics capabilities based on its LIQUID MODELING platform to 'smaller' brands or those looking for a quick summary, at the lower price point of £7,000. Results are delivered to a client's inbox within three weeks. More
UK-based, kids-focused digital media platform SuperAwesome has received new growth capital - reportedly around £20m - from Mayfair Equity Partners. More
In the UK, the House of Lords' recently formed Select Committee on Political Polling and Digital Media has announced a 'public call for evidence' on issues relating to the effects of political polling and digital media on politics. More
WPP communications agency Grey has acquired Paris-based full service creative, technology, data and media agency Extrême-Sensio (Sensio) for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, enterprise technology firm Thunderhead has added a feature called 'Audience' to its customer engagement platform, designed to uncover insight from every interaction in the customer journey. More
In the US, data activation platform Sizmek is to acquire predictive marketing software company Rocket Fuel for approximately $145m. More
UK-based online communities specialist Verve has launched a dedicated Innovation practice, for businesses seeking customer feedback on product and service design. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has promoted Jennifer Carrea to the role of CEO Americas and Global Health, replacing David Shanker who is leaving to 'pursue new opportunities'. More
In the UK, insight and big data business Beyond Analysis and online customer intelligence provider Celebrus Technologies have teamed up to help organisations develop and act on customer insight generated by omnichannel businesses. More
Global MR groups The Research Club, Women In Research (WIRe) and MrWeb have teamed up to put the world's biggest listing of research job opportunities in front of a hugely expanded audience of potential candidates. The search is also in a new more mobile-friendly format. More
London-based full-service agency Acacia Avenue has launched its 'Namer' names test solution on ZappiStore's automated MR platform. More
DIY research giant SurveyMonkey has unveiled a rebrand and a major upgrade of its products, including a refreshed logo; a new platform, 'People Powered Data'; tools for customer experience data and employee surveys; an integrated version of its Audience product; and a 'Genius' survey design coach. More
Israel-based digital ad platform Taptica has acquired a 57 percent share of Japanese mobile ad tech firm Adinnovation Inc. (ADI), for up to $5.7m. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has been granted a US patent for its 'Honesty Detector' online respondent validation product. More
Kantar Media has expanded its cross-platform ad intelligence capabilities with the addition of programmatic advertising data, initially available in the US and with roll-out planned for other key markets. More
Nielsen has partnered with podcasting company Panoply Media to introduce audience targeting to podcasting for what the firms claim is the first time. More
WPP division Wunderman has launched an artificial intelligence division, tasked with developing enterprise-grade AI solutions for marketers across customer care, acquisition and retention, and product development. More
In the UK, digital communications group Next15 has made its second purchase of the week - this time acquiring B2B MR consultancy Circle Research through its data and insights subsidiary, MIG Global Limited (MIG). The initial consideration is £5.21m. More
In the UK, digital marcoms group Next 15 has acquired data-driven B2B content marketing strategy firm Velocity Partners for an initial consideration of c.£5.9m. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has launched a served called Total View Attribution, helping clients assess which media channels and campaigns are most effective and warrant increased investment. More
Kantar has launched a new service integrating consumer insights and behavioral data from across its portfolio with shopper and media data, allowing clients to 'fully leverage the studies they run with Kantar for targeting purposes'. More
Local audience data specialist Eyeota has partnered with YouGov to provide clients with an extensive database of consumer opinion and behavior data spanning the US, the UK and Germany. More
Senior GfK Leader Dr. Gerhard Hausruckinger has resigned from the company after seven years on the Management Board. Meanwhile Christoph D. Erbenich has been appointed as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer. More
UK-based Firefish has appointed former Flamingo exec Eric Paice as a Director in its US office, based in Brooklyn, NY. More
UK-based publishing group Centaur Media Plc is set to dispose of its Home Interest business for £32m, and to acquire business telemarketing agency MarketMakers for an initial £13.4m, thus sharpening its focus on b2b information, insights and events. More
comScore has become the first company to receive ABC certification for a video viewability measurement, based on JICWEBS industry agreed standards. The measure sits within the company's validated Campaign Essentials tool (vCE). More
WPP has merged its digital ad agency POSSIBLE with the older and larger Wunderman. POSSIBLE, formed only in 2011, will continue to operate as a standalone brand within its new home. More
Data-driven CRM and performance marketing agency Merkle has acquired UK-based big data analytics firm Aquilla Insight. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Havas Media has launched a division called Socialyse Influence, which will monitor all client influencer campaigns, and ensure they are accurately measured. More
In London, advertising and digital transformation agency R/GA has hired Hanan Belarbi for the newly created role of Head of Data, EMEA. More
The UK's Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) is changing from a part-time entity into a limited company operating full-time, in a bid to tackle online ad fraud and promote brand safety. More
UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has launched a dedicated qualitative research unit under the new brand name of Spirit. More
Companies' intangible assets - including the value of their brands, reputation and employee skills - should be included on balance sheets in financial reporting, according to a growing lobby of experts from both multinationals and consultancies. More
Social media intelligence specialist Brandwatch has unveiled an image recognition platform that it says can track and analyze any logo. More
UK-based data and analytics consultancy MESH has partnered with antipodean shopper consultancy 3Feet to bring the former's Real-time Experience Tracking (RET) methodology and experience metrics to Australia and New Zealand. More
Social media ad targeting firm RadiumOne has been acquired by San Francisco ad tech firm RhythmOne, for a reported $22m of which three quarters will be paid in shares at a future date. RhythmOne has also announced a change of CEO. More
Consumer panels firm Netquest has appointed Johnny Caldwell as MD of a new company, Netquest UK. More
WPP agencies POSSIBLE and Mindshare have linked up to launch an integrated marketing and commerce offer to help companies optimise their investments across the various platforms of online shopping giant Amazon. More
Nielsen has unveiled a 'Connected System' promising FMCG and retail decision-makers analysis of 'what's happening in the market from every angle', and designed to 'foster collaboration and align organizations'. The System integrates Nielsen data with data from partner companies. More
Suzy Aronstam, a Director of UK-based agency Future Thinking, died peacefully on Sunday 18th June, after a period of illness. More
In the Republic of Ireland, PR industry body the PRII has asked competition regulators to intervene in Kantar Media's acquisition of family-owned Newsaccess, and compel the WPP firm to divest part of its Irish business. More
Content and revenue protection firm Verimatrix has acquired the MiriMON real-time insight technology and development team from UK-based GfK company Genius Digital, with whom it will remain partners. More
Amsterdam-based software company Upinion has launched a new messaging app for use in market research, exploiting the rise of messaging tools like WhatsApp and consumers' familiarity and comfort with using them. More
Research associations ESOMAR, AGOF and EFAMRO have combined with three broadcasting and publishing associations to form a new Coalition for Audience Measurement, supporting the EU as it considers reform of it ePrivacy Directive. More
UK television broadcaster Channel 4 has appointed Ben Marsden as Head of Audience Research and Insight. He will take up the role in mid-July, replacing Leonie Hodge who is leaving to work as a consultant. More
WPP has acquired a minority stake in US-based mobile display ad specialist Celtra, whose AdCreator tool provides viewability metrics across both in-app and mobile web environments. Unilever is another participant in the $15m financing round. More
London-based mobile marketing company Verve has acquired German proximity-based push marketing specialist matchinguu for an undisclosed sum. More
UK-based marcoms business Next15 is merging its two research brands, Morar Consulting and HPI. The new Morar HPI will employ around 60 people and will be headed up by Julian Dailly as Managing Director. More
comScore's Chief Technology Officer Michael Brown is to leave the company, as a restructuring exercise combines the technology and product teams into a group reporting to COO Cameron Meierhoefer - according to a filing. More
London-based insight and strategy agency Flamingo has promoted MD Andy Davidson to become its first Chief Strategy Officer. More
Location-based marketing solutions provider Rippll has announced a partnership with digital ID specialist Adbrain. The firms will combine cross-platform consumer insights with real time footfall data, helping clients to understand each customer's journey and behaviour. More
In the UK, insight and ad agency System 1 Group has announced that its Chief Operating Officer Alex Batchelor is leaving the business, as the role is being split into two, non-Board positions. More
WPP's audience intelligence and activation solution [m]PLATFORM has promoted Jenny Bullis to Global Chief Strategy Officer, with a seat on the platform's global executive committee. She will move to the new role over the next few months. More
Nielsen has launched what it describes as the first-ever audio data management platform (DMP), which connects radio formats to real off-line purchase data for 'highly specific radio audience targeting'. More
In London, marcoms giant Dentsu Aegis Network has appointed Mark Keddie as its first Global Data Protection Officer, ahead of the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which governs the general use and privacy of EU citizens' data. More
Digital media measurement firm Verto Analytics has launched a product called Audience Profiles, which promises publishers in the US and Europe data on consumer behavior, demographics and device usage, plus competitive insights all in one package. More
comScore has expanded its Board of Directors from seven people to twelve. The new arrivals are Lisa Gersh, Joshua Peirez, Mark Harris, Jacques Kerrest and Susan Riley. More
Cross-screen data management platform (DMP) Lotame has partnered with insights exchange operator Cint, to enable publishers and advertisers to create custom research panels. More
Another UK General Election has come and gone, with winners and losers amongst the survey firms as well as the politicians. Once again most people seem to be stunned by the result; while the adjustments made after the last election look like the key reason they didn't get this one broadly right. Who'd be a pollster? More
In London, software developer We Are Personal (WAP) has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) ad campaign personalisation tool, through which marketers can dynamically change their entire web site to match each user's needs. More
More than a fifth (21.3%) of WPP investors voted against or abstained on the issue of CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's £48m pay package, at yesterday's AGM. However, this was an improvement on the 34% of investors who rejected the pay deal last year, and almost 60% who were against it in 2012. More
In the UK, cable and satellite TV news channel CNN's commercial operations division has set up an Audiences and Data unit, which will invest in artificial intelligence and data science to replace the firm's existing research function. The new initiative is led by data scientist Mark Sear. More
Snap Inc., the parent company of photo and video-sharing app Snapchat, has acquired location-based ad targeting firm Placed in a deal reported to be worth more than $200m. More
In London, WPP digital data collection arm Lightspeed has promoted Leon De Koning to the newly created role of VP, Client Sales EMEA, overseeing strategic account planning and client services, and expanding the business development team. He will also oversee three new EMEA vertical divisions. More
Paris-based mass media conglomerate Vivendi has entered into an official agreement to buy Bolloré Group's c.60% majority stake in multinational marcoms group Havas, at a price of EUR 9.25 per share. More
Online insights exchange Cint has opened an office in Hong Kong, where it has appointed Ronald Leung as APAC Regional VP of Supply and Heather Hughes as APAC Regional VP of Partnerships and Alliances. The firm has also made hires in the US and UK. More
London and Leeds-based Trinity McQueen has announced year-on-year growth of around ten percent, with sales up to £4.92m in the 12 months ending September 2016. More
In the UK, data collection agency Populus Data Solutions has launched what it says is the research industry's first virtual reality online panel, PopulusLive VR. More
WPP agency Wunderman has acquired digital transformation consultancy The Cocktail, based in Spain. More
Eye-tracking tech firm Tobii has acquired Sticky, which uses webcam-based eye tracking technology to measure ad effectiveness. The deal will be financed with an undisclosed amount of cash, with an option to provide part of the consideration in Tobii shares. More
In the UK, WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has appointed former Kantar exec Hannah Soar as Director, Business Transformation, responsible for developing, supporting and influencing strategic behavioural change management efforts. More
UK-based market intelligence firm The Business Research Company has relocated its Hyderabad, India team to a larger office in the city, where it plans to increase staff numbers from 70 to 150 in the coming months. More
Former shareholders of Rentrak could receive around $19m to settle claims relating to the effect on share price of comScore's accounting investigation last year. The proposed settlement is currently seeking preliminary approval from a judge in Oregon. More
Kantar's digital data collection arm Lightspeed is opening an office in Bangkok, Thailand, and has appointed Benchawan (Best) Phumphuengsri and Anis The as Client Development Managers in the region. More
Facebook has been fined EUR 110 million by the European Commission, for providing misleading information when it acquired WhatsApp, in 2014. More
Business information and events group Informa has expanded and restructured its Business Intelligence division, as it combines with the brands and businesses acquired from New York-based Penton Information Services last November. More
Consumer intelligence specialist NGDATA has acquired New York-based business data management and analytics consultancy Eccella for an undisclosed sum. More
Data-driven business intelligence consultancy Future Thinking and its data science sister agency GemSeek have opened an office in Dubai. More
London-based insights and planning agency kubi kalloo has outgrown its former premises in Old Street and relocated to a larger space, a stone's throw away in Scrutton Street. More
In the US, Harris Insights & Analytics (formerly Harris Interactive) has appointed long-time WPP execs John Gerzema and Will Johnson as co-CEOs, while Jonathan Gardner joins as Chief Operating Officer. More
International communication consultancy Leidar has hired former Brunswick Research exec Phil Riggins to lead its Brand and Reputation practice, whose approach combines opinion research, digital analytics and campaign methodologies. More
GfK has reported a 2.4% drop in first quarter group sales to EUR 352m, while the profit measure EBITDA fell 34.3% to EUR 29.4m. More
Less than two months after joining UK-based consumer and cultural insight agency Flamingo, Desirée Lopez has been named Chief Executive Officer, replacing co-founder Kirsty Fuller who is leaving the business. Seven of the company's eight global offices are being closed by parent Omnicom. More
Nielsen has expanded its measure of Twitter mobile campaigns to 23 new markets, adding to the US where it was launched last year. More
Former dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay has joined the Board of Stockholm-based brand tracking researcher Nepa. More
comScore has launched a syndicated service called OTT Intelligence, to measure US household viewing of over-the-top (OTT) content on television screens. More
In the UK, a citizen-led non-partisan group led by Sam Jeffers and Louis Knight-Webb has launched a plug-in tool called Who Targets Me? (WTM), to identify which political parties are targeting individuals through their Facebook feeds. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has launched an automated research solution called SmartAR, promising completed surveys in a matter of days. More
Twitter has partnered with Tesco data firm dunnhumby, to help FMCG brands quantify how their investment in its targeted advertising impacts on sales. More
UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has been acquired by its senior management team from founders and previous majority shareholders Pete and Trish Comley. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Loss-making Israeli online ad targeting company Matomy Media Group has announced it will henceforth focus its resources on programmatic mobile and video advertising, and domain monetization, exiting 'a broad range of other activities'. More
In London, survey platform Attest has hired former Vizeum exec Chrissy Totty as Insight Champion, with a remit to help clients understand consumer motivations and behaviour; and has appointed Mark Walker as Marketing Director. More
In the UK, digital audience platform MPP Global has raised £12m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to expand into new geographic markets and further develop its technology. The firm has also appointed former Mimecast COO Keith Wallington as Chairman. More
Mobile survey technology provider OnePoint Global has launched In-App, a mobile survey solution which collects feedback from inside an existing customer app, regardless of whether consumers are online or off-line. More
Omnicom-owned brand and communications research consultancy Hall & Partners has promoted Soumya Roy to Chief Executive Officer of its New York operation. More
UK-based cart abandonment analytics and personalisation specialist Yieldify has raised $6m in its second funding round. More
Creston's Unlimited Group has combined its customer journey specialist EMO and customer relationship marketing agency The Real Adventure, to form a new Bristol-based business called Prophecy Unlimited. More
WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's pay for 2017 will fall by around £22m in 2017, with further drops scheduled for 2018 and 2021. The firm, whose high-paying 'Leap' scheme had in any case expired this year, notes that it 'understands share owners' increasing discomfort' with levels of 'reward opportunities'. More
Ipsos has recorded first quarter revenue of EUR 390.1m, representing organic growth of 1%, and says sales activity indicates this will increase in subsequent quarters. The group plans to announce a new programme of transformation at its June 6th Investor Day. More
WPP has reported a flat quarter, with group like-for-like revenue up 0.2%. In the Data Investment Management division, Kantar, like-for-like revenue once again trailed the rest of the group, down 3.4%, despite strong growth in net sales in the UK, Latin America and Africa. More
US technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 3% drop in its first quarter Research revenues, to $51.7m. Overall first quarter group revenues were down slightly from $77.4m to $77.2m. More
Social media intelligence specialist Brandwatch has expanded its relationship with Twitter, with teams working more closely together to bring new innovations to market. More
Nielsen has reported first quarter revenues of $1.5 billion, up 3.2% after excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations. The result was driven by a strong performance in the Watch media research division, while the Buy side saw a decline. More
comScore is to offer a free viewability measurement service, with data for display video, and mobile inventory compatible with metrics from its flagship vCE service. More
UK-based video data mining specialist LivingLens has partnered with Qualtrics to make its video capture and analysis available on the latter's Experience Management Platform. More
In the UK, online retail giant Amazon has launched a personalised shopping service incorporating weather data. The system will suggest relevant summer items based on the weather conditions where a customer lives. More
In Edinburgh, tech entrepreneur Patrick Clover has launched a firm called BlackBX, offering 'legal guest Wi-Fi' which gathers raw data on a venue's customers and helps businesses engage with them. More
In London, WPP-owned brand activation agency Geometry Global has moved UK CEO Sarah Todd to the role of Head of Shopper Marketing EMEA. Her previous role will be filled by M&C Saatchi Shop founder and former MD Michelle Whelan. More
Following its recent acquisition of media and entertainment data provider Gracenote, Nielsen is formally adopting the latter's 'IDs' as the standard content identifier across all its audience measurement solutions. More
Media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has rolled out its digital ad intelligence platform Portfolio Digital in the UK, following its launch in Australia at the beginning of the year. More
In the UK, Nielsen has launched an employee resource group (ERG) called MOSAIC (Multinational Organization Supporting an Inclusive Culture) at its office in Oxford, where the firm says its employees identify with 57 different nationalities. More
In the US, software giant Oracle has acquired digital ad analytics and viewability measurement specialist Moat. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has hired former WPP / Kantar exec George Pappachen for a newly created position, EVP Corporate Development & Strategy. More
UK market research budgets appear to have fallen for the seventh quarter in a row, according to the latest Bellwether Report by the IPA. However, respondents were very positive indeed about other marketing spend. More
Omnicom is closing seven of the eight global offices of its consumer and cultural insight agency Flamingo, citing 'underperformance' and its need to now focus on growth opportunities in London. More
US-based survey technology firm Qualtrics has raised $180m in a Series C round of funding, valuing the business at $2.5 billion. More
Recently launched online self-service MR platform Research Engine has added a tool called 'Emotion Video Test', which tracks basic emotions in those watching videos. More
UK-based video insight specialist Voxpopme has upgraded its visual storytelling tool Showreel Generator. Image slides and colour schemes can now be added, allowing clients to include their brand's look and feel in any output they produce. More
US-based sampling automation provider Lucid has raised $60m in a minority investment round led by private equity firm North Bridge Growth Equity. The funds will be used for further product development and to expand the team. More
Dentsu Aegis Network's full service digital marketing agency Isobar has launched a fast-turnaround version of its proprietary neuroscience product MindSight, designed to help understand the emotions used to decode complex human responses. More
In the US, MFour Mobile Research has received $5m in funding, which it will use to expand its business, products and staff numbers. More
Global media giant Viacom has promoted Colleen Fahey Rush to EVP, Insights & Audience Science, and Chief Research Officer of its Viacom Media Networks subsidiary, effective immediately. More
GfK has appointed three new members to its Supervisory Board: Thomas Ebeling, Johannes P. Huth and Philipp Freise, following its agreement with investment group KKR which is now its partner in running the global group. They replace Peter Goldschmidt, Aliza Knox and Bruno Piace. More
London-based Attest, whose platform promises clients the ability to do a lot more market research, quicker, has secured a further $3.1m in funding. More
Clear, the brand and marketing strategy company within ad agency group M&C Saatchi, has opened an office in Los Angeles, its first on the US west coast. The office will be led by consumer tech expert Ki Choi, and signals expansion into the booming sector. More
In the UK, full service insight and innovation consultancy FreshMinds has appointed four new members of staff at its London-based offices. It has also promoted Steven Martin, James Wallis and Sofia Savage to Senior Consultant. More
In the UK, former GfK director Andy Stillwell has launched a specialist business-to-business market research agency called InsightB2B, which will integrate market data with analysis of buyer behaviour. More
Research technology and panel exchange operator Cint has hired former Nasdaq director Johanna Isander for a newly created position, Chief Human Resources Officer, supporting its global growth and talent management initiatives. More
In the UK, iCube Marketing founders Chris Horne and Mike Heisig have launched an online self-service MR platform called researchengine.org, offering users access to 'ready to use' products which deliver insights at speed. More
Academic publisher SAGE has partnered with the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath to launch the Public Data Lab, which will facilitate research, engagement and public debate around the future of the data society. More
In the US, digital analytics specialist Webtrends has sold its Infinity big data platform to software giant Oracle for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, just under half of Webtrends' employees will move to Oracle during the next few months. More
UK audience research body BARB has promoted Joe Lewis for the newly created position of Head of Insight, tasked with uncovering untapped material in its data and sharing it with the wider industry. More
Kantar TNS has launched a new concept test product called eValuateNow, on the ZappiStore research automation platform. More
Marcoms network Dentsu Aegis has acquired digital agency Leapfrog Online, which offers a range of data integration, performance media, conversion optimization and predictive analytics solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Australian micro-influencer platform TRIBE has launched in the UK, following an AUD $5.35m Series A funding round. More
Analytics and research firm Absolutdata has launched an artificial intelligence-driven decision engine, the NAVIK AI Platform, which helps clients optimize business decisions 'on an ongoing basis without having to build a data science team'. More
London-based customer engagement tech firm Thunderhead has partnered with Merkle division DBG, which focuses on integrating data to improve customer communication. More
In an interim report, Sweden-based Voice of the Customer specialist Nepa AB has announced a 'fantastic year', including net sales growth of 25.3% in Q4. Full year 2016 net sales increased 19.4% SEK 184.4m ($US 20.6m). The firm has also recently acquired the outstanding 20% of shares in its sales subsidiary Nepa India. More
Digital MR services firm Bilendi Group has paid an undisclosed cash sum to acquire Leuven, Belgium-based panel specialist iVOX. More
Kantar Media and local audience data provider Eyeota have extended their TGI-based segmentation partnership to Germany and France. More
GfK has appointed three execs to lead a new Customer and Audience Activation service, which creates segments using local audience data from partner firm Eyeota. Existing employee Niko Waesche will lead the unit while Cornelia Reitinger and Lauren Coppin join as Directors. More
Customer experience (CX) software and services provider MaritzCX has partnered with mobile survey technology provider OnePoint Global, to provide clients with a mobile CX survey solution. More
UK-based mobile video MR specialist Voxpopme has appointed industry veteran Jem Wallis as Regional Director of Asia Pacific, based in Sydney. More
London-based polling and research specialist ComRes has launched a new division, which will focus exclusively on supporting organisations following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has hired Jay Rampuria to lead global business development for both itself and parent company ITWP. More
YouGov has reported a revenue rise of 24% to £51.4m for the six months to 31st January 2017 - equivalent to 8% on a constant currency basis. The rise was driven by 'strong growth' in the firm's subscription-based Data Products and Services business. More
UK-based customer relationship management (CRM) specialist Workbooks Online Limited has launched a tool which promises to convert anonymous web traffic into leads. More
Interpublic innovation arm IPG Mediabrands has appointed Arun Kumar as its first Chief Data & Marketing Technology Officer. He takes up the new position alongside his existing role managing global operations at sister company Cadreon, which focuses on data, tech, insights and activation. More
Ipsos has partnered with viewability measurement specialist Moat to launch a solution called Connect:Digital, which pre-tests digital ads via a combination of creative impact analysis and digital trading measures. More
UK-based consumer and cultural insight agency Flamingo has hired former TNS BMRB Chief Exec Desirée Lopez for a newly created role, Head of Behavioural and Social Strategy, leading its behavioural science offer and its Social Purpose specialist unit. More
UK-based video analytics firm Big Sofa has expanded to the US with the official opening of an office in Philadelphia, PA. More
UK-based online community specialist LRWTonic has appointed five new members of staff at its offices in London. More
UK-based Brand View, whose tools help clients track and analyse prices, products and promotions, has released OnSite 2, a tracking tool for global pricing analysis. More
Digital agency group Mirum, part of WPP's J. Walter Thompson network, has agreed to acquire Chinese company 3Ti Solutions Inc. More
London-based online community specialist Verve has relocated its Romanian office to larger premises, to accommodate its growing team. More
In the UK, video data mining and analysis specialist LivingLens has raised £1.3m in a round of funding which it will use to accelerate development of its enterprise video analytics tech platform, and to further expand its teams and open operations in the US. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has promoted Caroline Frankum to Chief Executive Officer, replacing David Day who is leaving for a role in the UK Foreign Office. Nick Nyhan becomes Chairman. More
Spanish multinational broadband and telecoms provider Telefonica is to acquire UK-based geolocation footfall data specialist Statiq. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but sources value it at £3.5m. More
Sir Martin Sorrell has cemented his place as comfortably the highest paid exec in the UK's FTSE 100 companies, securing just under £41.6m in this year's pay award under the now-expiring performance-related 'Leap' scheme. Then again, what's a pound worth nowadays? More
IBM and Salesforce have entered a global strategic partnership to deliver joint solutions using artificial intelligence. A new practice within IBM Global Business Services will help clients rapidly deploy tools combining IBM Watson's big data with Salesforce Einstein's customer insights. More
GfK has appointed consumer goods industry exec Peter Feld as its new Chief Executive Officer. His predecessor Matthias Hartmann resigned last August due to 'differing views' on the long-term direction of the business between himself and majority shareholder GfK Verein. More
US-based mobile research and retail data collection specialist Field Agent has expanded to the UK, where it has promoted Robin Shuker to the role of Managing Director. More
Facebook has partnered with European ad visibility analyst Meetrics, to offer advertisers new options to verify the viewability and view duration of their video ad campaigns across Facebook services. More
In the UK, brand building specialist Andrew Marsden has launched a brand activation agency called Pilgrim Marketing, offering clients business strategy and brand positioning services combined with creativity and access to in-house research. More
In London, marcoms network Four Communications Group has acquired social media marketing and insights agency Legend Engage, for an undisclosed sum. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile research tech firm RealityMine has added automated passive mobile data to its TouchPoints Canada study, enhancing its insights into how Canadians use their mobile devices. More
Manchester, UK-based Join the Dots has reported revenue growth of 26%, to £9.8m for 2016, matching its growth rate for each of the two previous years. More
Marcoms giant WPP has reported like-for-like falls in revenue for its Data Investment Management (DIM) arm Kantar, of 1.6% in the fourth quarter and 0.9% for the full year. However like-for-like net sales, which WPP has long said are a better indicator, rose 1.5% and 0.9% respectively. More
WPP-owned digital data collection firm Lightspeed has partnered with emotion measurement specialist Affectiva, to analyse its panellists' reactions to ads via their facial expressions. More
In London, behavioural analytics and location-based marketing company Movvo has launched the 'Data Maturity Curve', a tool allowing shopping centres to measure how their use of data enhances retail performance; benchmark against the industry; and improve ROI on the data they collect. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna is planning to increase the size of its respondent community by 20 per cent during the second half of 2017, and has hired Kyle Kim-Hays as EVP for Global Digital Marketing, responsible for the push. More
UK firm OnePoint Global is making the source code for its mobile survey platform available on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis, allowing clients to build their own survey solutions, integrate survey modules into their existing platforms, or take a 'white label' approach. More
UK-based mobile video MR specialist Voxpopme has launched its on-demand video feedback app in Ireland. More
Link, the long-established ad copy testing solution developed by Kantar Millward Brown, has completed an audit by the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB), recognised in the industry for assessing connections between marketing activities, metrics and financial performance. More
Ipsos has reported 2016 revenue of EUR 1,782.7m, virtually the same as in 2015 but representing 3 percent organic growth - currency effects cancelled out the growth in the Euros figure. More
comScore CEO Gian Fulgoni has told investors the firm expects the public release of its ExtendedTV product sometime in 2017; and a return to stock exchange listing in the summer. Fulgoni also expressed disappointment with the spread of the flagship vCE product. More
Realface, a start-up developing facial recognition technology, has become Apple's fourth buy in the country, for a price reported as 'a couple of million dollars'. More
UK-based insight agency BrainJuicer aims to rebrand as System1 Research, forming System1 Group together with its recently-launched creative house, System1 Agency. More
Nielsen's recently acquired entertainment data provider Gracenote is connecting its video, music and sports databases, allowing clients to use its data and IDs to drive voice and text search, intuitive user experiences, and more personalized media recommendations. More
Online specialist YouGov has opened an office in Manchester, to support its customer base in the north of England and Scotland. More
comScore has announced it will report mobile video metrics for YouTube and its partner channels across its core audience measurement services. More
US-based location data provider Factual has announced a drive for growth in Europe, and appointed former PlaceIQ exec Mandeep Mason as Managing Director for the region. More
Glasgow-based FMCG marketing platform Adimo has closed a £1m seed round of funding, which it will use to expand its commercial team and target new customers. More
Ad auditing firm Adloox has become the first European tech company to be accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for all 30 categories of ad fraud covered by the watchdog. More
Professional services company Accenture has agreed to buy a majority stake in digital agency SinnerSchrader, which focuses on the development of digital products and services, analysis of online user behaviour, and software and web site design. More
Israeli digital ad tech firm Taptica has opened an office in London, to focus on clients across the UK and Europe. More
WPP company Ogilvy & Mather has acquired an undisclosed stake in its Irish digital partner Eightytwenty Customer Experience, which includes customer journey and ideation specialist Black and Lime. More
Scottish ad measurement and optimization firm TVSquared has raised $6.5m to fund growth, including continued development of its technology and team. More
UK audience research body BARB has awarded its Dovetail Fusion cross-screen measurement contract to Kantar Media. The body began testing options from Kantar and Nielsen in late 2015. More
Eye-tracking tech firm Tobii AB has reported results for the fourth quarter and full year 2016, with SEK 1,053m ($119m) in annual sales, and increasing cash reserves for investment in VR and smartphones. More
Ad agency network M&C Saatchi has acquired Australian insight-based marcoms group Bohemia, which uses real-time location and other customer data to drive its media planning and buying services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, data-driven CRM and performance marketing agency Merkle has promoted Michael Komasinski to the role of Global Chief Operating Officer for its Services business. He will also serve as General Manager for Media Services, Europe. More
WPP ad group Y&R has set up a technology and business division which will access group services such as B2B brand analysis from the BrandAsset Valuator, and a social media listening capability for insights on the behavior of business decision-makers. More
GfK shareholders have accepted an offer from US-based private equity firm KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) for 18.54 percent of the business. The buy is part of an agreement with majority shareholder GfK Verein to support the group's long-term growth strategy. More
UK-based BrainJuicer says it will rebrand, unifying its MR business with its recently-launched ad agency and sharpening its focus on behavioural science. The new name, 'though it may not be hard to fathom, has not yet been officially revealed. More
Nielsen has reported 2 percent growth in fourth quarter revenues to $1,656m, similar to the growth figure for the whole of 2016. Q4 revenue in the Buy consumer purchase behaviour segment fell 1.3% to $868m, while Watch media research revenue rose 5.8% to $788m. More
In the US, research and advisory group Forrester has reported a 1 per cent rise in revenue in its Research division, to $54.2m for the fourth quarter of 2016. Total group revenues were up 3.0 percent to $83.4m. For the whole of 2016, group revenue rose 4.0 percent to $326.1m. More
Brand strategy and insight agency BrainJuicer has reported a 24% rise in revenue to £31.24m for the twelve months of 2016, compared with £25.18m in 2015. The firm says this growth - equivalent to 15 percent on a constant currency basis, is 'testament to the strength of its System1 approach'. More
In the UK, consumer insight and engagement specialist Audiense has raised £3.8m in a round of funding, which it will use to support its growth plans. These include ramping up sales and marketing, adding new platform functionality, and expanding to North America. More
Brand strategy and insight agency BrainJuicer has promoted Alex Hunt to the role of President, Research Business, in charge of running its market research offering worldwide, and with a seat on the company's Board of Directors. More
comScore has announced that it is unable to meet the February 23rd deadline to file late financial reports and regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing requirements, and warns that this may result in its stock being delisted from the exchange. More
Technology research and advisory company Gartner has reported a 9% increase in fourth quarter 2016 group revenue, to $703.2m, driven by Research revenue which was up 15% at constant currencies, to $478.8m. More
Netherlands-based online research and marketing analytics firm MetrixLab has appointed former GfK exec Ian Davis as Senior Client Director for Financial Services, based in its UK office. More
Israel, US and UK-based social media listening specialist Tracx has raised $12.5m in funding, which it will use to support continued sales and marketing growth, and to expand its product portfolio. More
WPP's recently formed data, analytics and digital services business [m]PLATFORM has hired former Mindshare COO Paul Rowlinson to fill the role of UK Managing Director. More
GfK has launched a unit called Supercrunch, which will offer clients a new type of automated, user-defined analysis to support marketing decisions. The division will be led by Norbert Wirth, who previously served as the group's Global Head of Data and Science. More
Research software firm Confirmit has promoted CFO Ken Østreng to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer. He replaces Henning Hansen who, in his own words, has resigned to focus on other priorities, spend more time with his family, and 'start a new chapter'. More
Chime Insight & Engagement Group has appointed nine new members of staff, including former Northstar Research exec Jack Miles as Insight Director, heading qual and quant projects across a range of sectors. More
In a trading statement issued today, GfK said that both sales and adjusted income had fallen in 2016, in part as a result of negative currency effects. More
Kantar is to roll out its Twitter TV Ratings service in Argentina and Colombia, from this week, giving clients there a variety of metrics on social media activity related to TV shows, events coverage and free-to-air networks. Launch in Peru should follow 'before the summer'. More
Financial brokerage and FTSE 250 company TP ICAP has acquired assets of MR, analytics and business consulting firm Burton-Taylor International Consulting LLC, via its data & analytics division. Founder and Managing Partner Douglas Taylor will join TP ICAP. More
In London, marketing firm Four Communications Group has acquired public affairs and corporate communications agency Insight Consulting Group (ICG), whose services include market and competitor analysis and perception audits. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Cello has made a 'significant investment' in its audience intelligence division Pulsar, and merged it with its qual specialist agency FACE. Further details about the investment have not been disclosed. More
WPP audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has named John Wittesaele as President EMEA, while promoting Arshan Saha to the role of President Asia Pacific. More
In the UK, comScore has received certification from the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) for its desktop display viewability measure in its validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) tool. More
Retail information firm The NPD Group has acquired the US portion of Nielsen's information services for the book industry, including US-based BookScan, Books & Consumers, PubEasy and PubNet; plus the three PubTrack services - Digital, Higher Education and Christian. More
UK consumer and MR consultancy Incite has relocated Principals Jenni Forbes and John Tearle from its London HQ to its office in San Francisco. The firm has also hired Caroline Aulis in its New York office, which will move to larger premises by the end of the first quarter. More
Around forty percent of marketers in a new survey say they will be carrying out independent audits of Facebook's audience metrics, following the social network's recent measurement problems. More
Software veteran Oracle has partnered with audience profiling firm Eyeota, offering the latter's data via the Oracle Data Management Platform and Marketing Cloud. Users will be able to target and personalize campaigns outside the US - in Europe, APAC, and elsewhere in the Americas. More
Data-driven marketing firm MediaMath has revamped its senior management, in preparation for a new phase of expansion. These include a new President, Global Heads of Sales and Key Accounts, and C-Suite positions for Technology, Product and Strategy. More
Research and advisory services provider MARU Group has promoted Steve Brockway to the new position of Managing Director of MARU Operations Group UK, as Board member Liz Boffey moves into his old role as MD for Maru/edr. More
UK-based BrainJuicer has announced gross profits up 27% to £25.6m for the calendar year 2016 - equivalent to 15 percent at constant currencies. The rise was driven primarily by the continued 'strong progress' of its US business and an 'encouraging recovery' in Continental Europe. More
New York-based Integral Ad Science (IAS) has hired former Adobe MD Nick Morley for a newly created role, Managing Director EMEA, with a remit to deliver growth and expansion across Europe. He will be based in London. More
Emotion analytics specialist Realeyes has hired industry veteran Tina Gaffney for the global role of Head of Customer Success. She will work from the US, reporting to London-based CEO Mihkel Jäätma. More
Brighton, UK-based social media intelligence specialist Brandwatch has launched a customisable tool called 'Unlimited Historical Data', allowing users to view 36 months of trends, benchmark their work, check for seasonality, and better understand current activity. More
IT solutions firm TEC Communications has launched a technology called SmartWifi, through which marketers can connect a visitor's preferences and buying history to their real-time experience. More
BrainJuicer's European MD Mark Johnson has moved across to the firm's marcoms business System1 Agency, to drive the next phase of its expansion plans. More
Former IAB Chief Executive Guy Phillipson has been hired by digital marketing agency and online buzz measurement specialist iCrossing, for the role of UK Chairman. More
UK-based mobile video MR specialist Voxpopme has partnered with US emotion measurement specialist Affectiva to enable clients to analyse facial expressions in new and existing video feedback. More
Digital marketing services firm Be Heard Group Plc has extended the role of Robin Price - adding the responsibilities of COO, a newly created post, to his existing job as CFO. More
US market research associations CASRO and MRA have completed their merger, forming the Insights Association. More
Asset management firm The Carlyle Group has joined up with former leaders of Nielsen Catalina Solutions to buy consumer segmentation division Claritas from Nielsen, for an undisclosed sum. More
Technology research and advisory company Gartner has agreed to acquire best practice and talent management insights firm CEB, in a cash and stock transaction valued at around $2.6bn. More
In the UK, the IAB has named Jon Mew as its new CEO, replacing Guy Phillipson who is stepping down after 12 years in the role. More
Global pricing strategy consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners has appointed London and Yorkshire-based Dr. Peter Colman as a Partner, leading its Technology and Industrials business in the UK and Ireland. More
Twitter has followed Facebook in announcing errors in the way it measures ad traffic. Reports suggest a bug in the microblogging firm's Android app inflated video ad metrics by up to 35 percent. Facebook itself has held talks with the MRC on a possible audit of its methods. More
Nielsen has appointed Nancy Ramsey Phillips as Chief Human Resources Officer, effective next week. She joins from Broadcom Corporation where she was EVP and CHRO; and replaces Mary Liz Finn, who announced her retirement from Nielsen in September. More
British audience research body BARB has been strengthened by the addition of joint venture broadcaster UKTV to its ownership group. More
This is the last edition of Daily Research News for 2016. We wish all our readers, clients, contributors and friends around the world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. More
Nielsen has acquired London-based consumer insights and analytics company VisualDNA, for an undisclosed sum. More
Harris Poll creator Louis Harris died of heart problems on Saturday, at his home in Key West, Florida. He was 95 years old. More
Broadcaster Channel 4 has hired neuroscientist Greg Detre for a newly created position, Chief Data Scientist, with a remit to 'revolutionise' how the business uses behavioural data for both commercial and creative ends. More
Mobile data platform Ogury has opened an office in New York, where co-founder and COO Thomas Pasquet has relocated to manage the business. The firm has also launched a solution called 360 Mobile Analytics, and hired former comScore exec Christophe Bize to lead the initiative. More
News Corp-owned video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has partnered with analytics technology specialist IBM Watson to develop a cognitive-powered psychographic targeting tool called Unruly DNA. More
Real-time information and analytics business Neustar is to be acquired by a private investment group for approximately $2.9 billion. An affiliate of fund manager GIC will also invest in Neustar and will become a minority owner of the company after the transaction has closed. More
In the UK, WPP agency MediaCom has acquired a majority stake in Manchester-based user experience studio Code Computer Love, which creates digital products, campaigns and capabilities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
ESOMAR and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have updated their code to clarify researchers' responsibilities when using new methods for collecting data - in light of current levels of consumer concern about privacy. More
In London, radio advertising specialist Radio Response has appointed former MRIB Managing Director Jon Mais as Head of Strategy for Audience Measurement. More
Facebook has owned up to another problem with the metrics it provides to advertisers, this time surrounding discrepancies between like and share button counts and those for mobile search queries. More
US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is launching an offer for a substantial minority stake in GfK, and has entered an agreement with its majority shareholder GfK Verein to support the group's long-term growth strategy. More
comScore co-founder Magid Abraham has resigned from the company's Board of Directors, to concentrate on his role as Executive Chairman of wearable technology developer APX Labs. More
Kantar TNS was one of the big winners at last night's MRS Awards, taking home the Grand Prix for Greatest Impact; the MRS/BIG Award for B2B Research, alongside digital data collection arm Lightspeed; and the awards for New Consumer Insights and Social Media Research (the latter with Unilever). More
US and UK-based customer journey analyst Kitewheel has announced promotions for two new senior management positions; and says it will shortly move its London office within the city to provide more flexibility for its growing client roster and workforce. More
New York and London-based B2B purchase intent data provider Madison Logic has been acquired by private equity firm Clarion Capital Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, full service researcher BDRC has appointed Andrew Lea as Experience Design Director, to launch and lead its new Digital User Experience (UX) and Usability division. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has opened an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where it has appointed Lindsay Dominguez as Client Development Lead. More
In the UK, Voice of the Customer (VoC) specialist Nepa has promoted Lindsay Parry (nee Cowan) to the role of Managing Director. She replaces Johnny Caldwell, who left following Nepa AB's recent acquisition of the outstanding 9.9 percent of Nepa UK Ltd. More
WPP's media investment arm GroupM has brought together all its data, analytics and digital services in a new suite of products, [m]PLATFORM, creating what it claims is the ad industry's 'most powerful collection of data, technology and expertise for audience addressability'. More
Former BBC Sport Digital Development Editor Chris Hurst is joining Nielsen Sports as Head of Digital for the UK. More
Online insights exchange provider Cint has appointed Kevin Gianatiempo to spearhead strategic partnerships in North America as part of its 'NextGen' strategy. He will be based in the recently launched San Francisco office. More
London-based Glassbox Digital has launched a solution linking customers' experience of their digital properties to business outcomes. Glassbox DEPA allows users to view individual sessions as customers do, monitor performance KPIs and see how they are affecting business. More
Paris-based predictive software platform Sidetrade has acquired UK predictive analytics platform BrightTarget, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the US, Joan Lewis has resigned from her role as Chair of comScore's Board, and has been replaced by former US Postmaster General William Henderson. More
IBM Watson has launched a new Internet of Things (IoT) consulting service, staffed by 1,500 consultants, data scientists and design and security experts at its IoT headquarters in Munich, Germany and in eight other IoT centres in Asia, Europe and the Americas. More
Quadrangle has undergone a restructure involving the promotion of Adrian Ward and Jenny Betteridge to Director roles, creating two client-facing teams, and re-defining the role of the partners with a focus on mentoring directors and supporting the teams. More
The Mozilla organisation has launched a new browser, Firefox Focus, which blocks third party tracking software by default and allows users to erase sessions with a single tap. More
London-based online communities specialist Verve has brought in two more senior hires at headquarters: former Quadrangle exec Nick Baker joins as MD Research & Consulting, while Emma Beech leaves Lightspeed GMI to become the firm's new VP Operations Europe. More
WPP has announced the formation of a global multi-year partnership between its Data Alliance organisation and music streaming service Spotify. More
Facebook has owned up to further errors in its reporting of page visits, and has announced moves to give users 'more clarity and confidence about the insights it provides' - including new partnerships, more communication about activities and the formation of a new 'Measurement Council'. More
Audience measurement firm comScore has been granted more time to regain compliance with the listing rules of stock exchange Nasdaq. More
Ipsos has announced changes in its ownership structure, designed to simplify it and ensure the company's independence over the long term - following the death in December 2014 of co-founder Jean-Marc Lech. More
A sharp fall in income for GfK's Consumer Experiences segment (-7.4%) more than balanced growth in Consumer Choices (+5.4%) in the first nine months of 2016, giving GfK as a whole a 1.7% organic decline in sales. Third quarter sales fell to EUR 355.3m while EBITDA dropped by around a quarter to EUR 43.3m. More
In the UK, full-service marcoms provider the hps group has acquired Covent Garden-based brand, communications and new product development research specialist MM-Eye, from its former owner MM-Eye International Ag in Germany. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
In the US, marketing software giant Adobe has acquired online video ad targeting specialist TubeMogul for approximately $540m. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of Adobe's 2017 fiscal year. More
In the UK, digital marcoms group Next Fifteen Communications has acquired an 85% stake in London-based brand and communication specialist HPI Research through its data and insights subsidiary Morar. The deal will be met with an initial consideration of just under £1.3m. More
UK-based online communities specialist Verve has appointed Marie Patenio as leader of its Chicago office, as Tim Martin returns to London from his secondment. The firm has also announced five further appointments in Chicago and Toronto. More
UK broadcaster ITV will be the first to use media network Havas' custom artificial intelligence system EagleAi, to provide its audience with insights into US voters' intentions prior to the presidential election result being called. More
comScore has been awarded MRC accreditation for its Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) detection and filtration methodology, for both desktop and mobile traffic. More
UK-based software solutions firm Sensum has upgraded its Sensum Insights neuromarketing solution, to include facial-recognition, eye-tracking & implicit testing technology - a first for a self-service solution, the company says. More
Technology analyst Gartner has reported a 16% rise in third quarter Research division revenue to $461.5m - or a 17% increase excluding the impact of foreign exchange. More
In London, IT, healthcare and B2B MR firm RONIN Development Corporation has been sold out of administration as a going concern to creative digital marketing agency Fat Media. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
WPP's Data Investment Management arm has reported a 12.1% increase in third quarter revenue to £655m, reflecting the lower value of the pound. On a like-for-like basis, DIM revenue fell 2%, while other divisions averaged more than 4% growth. More
Stockholm-based Voice of the Customer specialist Nepa AB has acquired the outstanding 9.9 percent of Nepa UK Ltd. Following the move, the company says it has 'parted ways' with UK MD Johnny Caldwell. More
Ipsos has reported a 0.9% increase in third quarter revenue to EUR 431.7m, with organic growth a 'satisfactory' 3.2% during the period. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 4% rise in third quarter group revenue to $77.4m (compared with $74.8m in the prior year period). Within its Research division the increase was only 1%, to $52.7m. More
In the UK, media measurement body the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) has named Derek Morris as its Chairman Designate. He will take up the position of Chairman alongside his existing role at Publicis Media, after the next ABC Board meeting on 7th December. More
Google has acquired California-based eye-tracking technology firm Eyefluence. Terms have not been disclosed. More
Research data solutions and technology firm SSI has rolled out a real-time, dashboard-based project reporting and monitoring tool called SSI DataView. More
Bristol, UK-based marketing automation and customer analytics specialist BlueVenn has opened a US headquarters in Boston. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.5% rise in third quarter revenue to $1.57bn (3.6% on a constant currency basis) compared to Q3 2015. The 'Watch' segment grew rapidly (up 6.7% at constant currency), while restructuring in 'Buy' held back its revenue and drove an 8.3% fall in Nielsen's overall net income to $132m. More
Consumer and media intelligence specialist Neustar Marketshare has appointed Luis Chaves and Sven Bagemihl as Managing Directors in the UK and Germany respectively. More
YouGov has hired Ben Leet as UK General Manager, overseeing the sales, marketing and client services teams. More
Automated MR platform ZappiStore has raised £12m from Amsterdam-based venture capital firm Prime Ventures, which specialises in European tech companies. More
In the US, Nielsen Sports has appointed former Repucom execs Danny Townsend and Glenn Lovett as Co-Managing Directors, following its acquisition of the business earlier in the year. In addition, Repucom founder Paul Smith has announced he will leave the business at the end of the year. More
From today, DRNO will be adding a new section focusing on more news of actual surveys - from project wins to interesting fieldwork and results. See the link above for 'Survey Briefs'. We're also, for the first time, offering advertisers a chance to sit at the very top of the news email, for one day. More
Market research, events and publishing company Light Reading has partnered with business networking specialist KNect365 to launch a community, dedicated to tracking and analyzing the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. More
In the UK, image recognition technology developer GumGum has promoted Phil Schraeder to the role of President and Chief Operating Officer, with a focus on maintaining and building strategic brand and publisher relationships. More
Nashville, Tennessee-based MR technology and services firm 20|20 Research is acquiring MR tech developer iModerate, for an undisclosed sum. More
US-based survey technology firm Qualtrics has appointed Microsoft veteran Zig Serafin as Chief Operating Officer, leading operations in the run up to a planned IPO. More
WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed has promoted Andrew Van Wezel to Vice President of Operations and Simon Buckley to Vice President of Sales, both within EMEA. More
UK-based full service agency MindMover has appointed former employee Georgina Botting as Commercial Director, with a remit to help the business achieve future growth plans. More
Digital ad verification specialist DoubleVerify has appointed Steve Brown as Managing Director for the European region, based in London. More
Social media intelligence provider Linkfluence has raised EUR 12m, with which to continue rapid international growth and investment in R&D. More
Marketing spend in the UK looks to be rising, despite the climate of uncertainty created by the Brexit vote in June, according to the IPA's quarterly Bellwether Report. More
Kantar Media has unveiled a new cross-platform ad intelligence offering, including significantly enhanced digital monitoring to help advertising buyers and sellers analyze opportunities across channels in a more 'integrated and holistic manner'. More
In Westlake Village, California, former Cint US MD Michael McCrary has launched PureSpectrum, a new global marketplace for buyers and sellers of online sample. The company is backed by strategic investments from Research Now and Critical Mix. More
Brighton, UK-based social media analytics specialist Brandwatch has opened a Paris office, its sixth location worldwide; and has appointed Bertrand Saint-Martin as VP for France. More
YouGov has announced strong preliminary results for the year ended 31st July, with group revenue up 12% on a constant currency basis to £88.2m, and adjusted profit before tax up 46% to £13.3m. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has launched a Media Management unit, to help advertisers respond to recent market trends. More
Tim Britton has left his role as Head of Strategy & Transformation for PwC's r2i global data research and insight centre, to take up the position of Managing Director of the Open Research Group at academic publishing company Springer Nature. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has expanded its presence in Latin America through the opening of its first office in Brazil, led by Luca Bon as Sales Director. More
German sample and panel provider respondi has promoted Jennifer Roberton to the role of Managing Director, responsible for the UK office and market. The firm has also welcomed four new members to its Board, while founder and CEO Otto Hellwig continues to oversee management of the firm. More
In London, digital marcoms group Next15 has launched a data collection agency called Viga, led by former Research Now exec Lewis Reeves. More
Following a High Court settlement, Millward Brown has received public apologies from MetrixLab and its UK MD Angela Morgans, over the passing of confidential information. More
French audience measurement firm Mediametrie has announced that its audience analysis division EurodataTV Worldwide has acquired a 52% stake in programme analysis specialist TAPE Consultancy. Joint MDs John Peek and Paul Youngbluth will retain 48% of TAPE's shares. More
US media conglomerate Viacom has promoted Christian Kurz to the new global role of SVP, Global Consumer Insights, overseeing corporate and consumer research, with a focus on exploring new technologies and consumer behavior. More
Leeds, UK-based full-service agency Boxclever has launched a new company called Whizzbox Analytics, providing a dedicated team of analysts who will work alongside agency clients at each stage of the research process. More
UK television measurement body BARB has hired former Guardian News and Media Head of Research Rhiannon Griffiths as Head of Strategic Developments. More
Mobile data analytics and personalisation platform Pixoneye has raised £2.4m in a series A round of funding. This will be used to develop procedures for aggregating and analysing mobile data without transferring it into the cloud for processing. More
Former GfK Director Babita Earle has joined research automation innovator ZappiStore as Global Accounts and Partnership Director. More
Australian-owned data analysis and programmatic media company Pureprofile is to acquire digital marketing group Cohort Holdings Australia Pty Ltd, whose lead generation solutions are offered in Australia, the UK and the US. More
In the UK, qualitative video research company Watch Me Think has appointed former Unilever exec Jenny Hearne as 'Head of Thinkers' Thoughts', while MRS co-Chair Danny Russell has been named as Chief Advisor. More
Shopper insight specialist Kantar Retail has partnered with eye tracking firm SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), to create a virtual shopping experience that provides shopper data via a controlled environment. More
In the UK, social media intelligence specialist Brandwatch has launched a division called the Global Customer Success group, and appointed Pat Phelan as EVP heading it up. More
Brand strategy and research agency BrainJuicer has launched a System1 Digital Ad Testing solution, which promises to predict digital content ROI, shareability and click-through rates, while providing diagnostics for improving performance. More
Nielsen has partnered with research and technology firm Vision Critical, promising clients the ability to extract additional value from their insight communities and better understand their customers. More
Google has acquired location-based analytics firm Urban Engines, which will be incorporated into its Maps product. More
Cross-device audience measurement firm Verto Analytics has launched its syndicated services in the UK, offering analysis including dynamic usage patterns and user demographics, by the hour or day. More
A new body supported by major corporations and ad associations will seek to 'improve consumers' experience with online advertising', basing its strategy on consumer research and aiming to counter the rise of ad blocking. More
Northumberland, UK-based success story Dipsticks Research has rebranded, bringing together no fewer than seven group companies under the new umbrella brand of DRG. More
London-based Informa has acquired professional information services and exhibitions group Penton, headquartered in New York, in a £1.2 billion deal. More
In the UK, outdoor advertising audience research body Route has commissioned Ipsos Connect UK to undertake an expanded and renewed six-year research project, providing data to the outdoor industry until 2023. The new contract, funded by an injection of £20m, begins on 1st April 2017. More
Omnicom-owned ad agency BBDO has appointed former MEC digital analytics head Sharona Sankar-King for the newly created role of Head of Marketing Science, based in its New York office. More
comScore has expanded the mobile demographic reporting capabilities in its validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) service, in Canada and the UK. More
In the UK, Ipsos Connect has partnered with Partnership Audits & Consulting (PACL), to provide evaluation services for brands involved in sponsorship or marketing partnership activities. More
US-based audience-driven ad and media analytics firm Samba TV has rolled out its 'Sync and Retarget' digital ad buying platform in the UK market. To support this move, the firm has set up a London office as its European HQ, where it has appointed Hitesh Bhatt and Jay Fowdar. More
Edinburgh big data analytics firm Aquila Insight has geared up for further rapid expansion with a move to larger offices, still within the technology incubator Codebase on Lady Lawson Street. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has launched two products which it claims will bring 'emotional intelligence' to digital advertising. More
WPP's data investment management division Kantar has re-branded its twelve operating businesses with a unifying prefix, for example 'Kantar TNS' and 'Kantar Millward Brown'. The exception is digital data collection specialist Lightspeed GMI, which now reverts to its original name Lightspeed. More
Bloomberg Media has hired former Dentsu Aegis Network exec Michelle Lynn as Global Head of Data Science and Insights, responsible for leading initiatives, and managing Data and Research teams globally from its office in New York. More
Marcoms group Dentsu Aegis Network has hired Stefan Bardega as UK Chief Executive of its digital marketing agency iProspect. He replaces Chris Whitelaw, who was promoted to the post of EMEA President and Global Commercial Director at the beginning of this year. More
In the US, research technology and services group FocusVision has promoted Zhana Baleva to the role of Regional Head of EMEA, while also promoting three other members of staff. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has acquired Israel-based digital tracking specialist Crossense from incubator firm Nielsen Innovate. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has launched a platform called Portfolio, enabling clients to view, sort and analyse competitor advertising creative and spend, across fifteen European countries and up to 80 territories worldwide. More
Oslo, Norway-based fieldwork group Norstat has opened an office in Paris, where it has appointed former Research Now MD Marc-Antoine Jacoud as Managing Director. More
Former McDonalds Consumer Insights Lead Joseph Chen has joined online research 'app store' platform ZappiStore as Vice President for the Canadian market. More
Mobile device-level data platform Ogury has raised $15m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to open a new office in New York later this month, while continuing to invest in technology, R&D and recruitment. Existing offices are in London, Paris, Milan, Rome and Madrid. More
Audience measurement firm comScore says it will request a hearing to discuss a return to compliance with NASDAQ requirements, after a notification from the exchange's Listing Qualifications Department that its shares will otherwise be suspended in a week's time. More
London-based Video data tech company Big Sofa has appointed former FocusVision EMEA MD Richard Collins to the newly created position of Chief Customer Officer, responsible for managing its global client base. More
New York-based data-driven marketing tech firm Zeta Interactive has raised $45m in new funding, which it will use to grow in the US, UK and internationally, while accelerating its acquisition strategy. More
Data science firm Jaywing has acquired Leeds, UK-based digital marketing agency Bloom Media for an initial £2.41m, with an additional consideration of up to £5.75m subject to performance over a two-year period. More
Research technology and panel exchange operator Cint has opened an office in San Francisco; its fifth location in the US and second on the west coast. Deputy CEO Richard Thornton is relocating from London to head up the new office and build the team. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has opened a new office in India, based in the Cyber City business hub in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. More
US-based location data management firm Yext has appointed former Criteo MD Jon Buss as Managing Director of its recently launched UK and Northern Europe operations. More
European ad visibility analyst Meetrics has completed a third funding round, which it will use to open offices in Italy, Poland and the Nordic countries. More
GfK's majority owner GfK Verein has dismissed a report published in German weekly magazine WirtschaftsWoche, which claimed the company may be considering putting itself up for sale. More
US-based mobile campaign analyst Kochava is opening a European headquarters in the heart of Dublin, and has hired Fred Thuard as EMEA Director of Sales. More
Indoor positioning solutions specialist sensewhere has received a £1.4m grant from Scottish Enterprise, which it will use to add staff and further develop its location software. More
GfK may be considering putting itself up for sale, alongside other options, according to reports in German weekly magazine, WirtschaftsWoche. More
Instant messaging service WhatsApp has announced it will share user information with its parent company Facebook, whose corporate advertising clients can use it to improve their ad targeting. More
WPP continues to buy comScore shares, with another 120,000 purchased this week at an average cost of $28.39 per share. More
WPP has reported Q2 revenue of £3.46bn, up 3.5% in like-for-like (LFL) terms. Net sales, the group's preferred measure, rose 4.3% on the same basis. As in previous quarters data investment management (DIM) lagged other divisions, with LFL revenue down -0.4% and net sales up 2.0%. More
Technology media company TechTarget has rolled out its B2B purchase intent data service, IT Deal Alert Priority Engine, in the EMEA region. More
WPP has acquired a further 120,000 shares in comScore, split evenly between Friday and Monday, for around $27.25 apiece. More
US-based sampling automation provider Lucid has launched an independent, third-party-verified quality assurance and measurement program, which allows market researchers to test multiple characteristics of more than 40 major sample panels. More
In the UK, subscription-free satellite TV provider Freesat has launched a live audience measurement service, which shows viewer behaviour across channels and programmes gathered from more than 100,000 connected set-top boxes. More
In London, GfK has hired former Kantar Worldpanel exec Imran Choudhary for a newly created role, Key Account Director, Technology. More
Marcomms giant WPP has resumed its buying of comScore stock, with the purchase of a further 120,000 at c.$26 apiece last week. The measurement firm's share price has dropped by a third since January this year. More
Marketing group Enero - the parent of insight agencies Jigsaw and The Leading Edge (TLE), has followed strong 2016 results with an announcement that it is back in the mood for acquisitions - following a seven-year period in which it battled for survival. More
Media intelligence and communications specialist Cision has appointed Kevin Akeroyd as Global Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Peter Granat who has moved into the role of Chairman of the Board. More
London-based big data privacy and analytics specialist Privitar has raised £3m in a funding round, which it will use to accelerate growth in the UK and expand across Europe. More
GfK has announced that its results for the first six months of the year are 'below prior year's financials for the same reporting period', and warns it is no longer likely that group sales growth will outperform the market. More
Sampling automation provider Lucid has hired Emel Mohammadally as Executive Director of Business Development at its office in London. More
US-based IT industry analyst Gartner has reported a 17% constant currency increase in second quarter revenue for its Research division, to $449.2m. More
Mobile survey technology provider OnePoint Global has appointed former TNS North America Chief Financial Officer Rick Carbone as Corporate Advisor and interim CFO. More
WPP division J. Walter Thompson has acquired full service digital agency iStrategyLabs (ISL) for an undisclosed sum. More
Mobile marketing platform Pulsate has closed a $1.5m round of funding from dunnhumby Ventures and PayPal, along with Enterprise Ireland and other private investors. The firm has also launched a suite of tools for mobile app engagement, analytics and location-based targeting. More
Online qual software and services provider Dub has appointed Simona Kats as Senior Research Consultant in the US, and Gareth Mellor as Marketing Manager in the UK. More
Market research, events and publishing company Light Reading has been acquired by London-based business information and events group Informa for an undisclosed sum. More
IT industry specialist Forrester Research has reported a 5% increase in second quarter Research division revenues to $55.0m from $52.6m in the prior year period, while revenue rose by 9% from $30.2m to $32.8m in its Advisory Services and Events arm. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has promoted Nicolas Bidon to the role of Chief Executive Officer, EMEA, with Jana Kusick taking his old role as Global CEO of ad targeting subsidiary plista. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.4% increase in second quarter revenues to $1.596bn, with both its Buy and Watch businesses providing a 'solid performance'. On a constant currency basis, revenues were up 4.5%. More
Ipsos has reported first half 2016 revenue of EUR 833.6m, equivalent to 3 percent organic growth once currency effects are excluded. The result is an improvement after a flat 2015. More
In London, tech market research company DigitalMR has appointed Maksim Sipos as its first Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the adaptation and technical delivery of its listening247 and communities247 tools, and its DIY software-as-a-service offering. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has introduced a range of techniques to combat what it calls 'communications saturation' - experienced by consumers since the introduction of smartphones and the increasing use of social media. More
US telecoms giant Verizon Communications Inc. has agreed to purchase the core web assets of Yahoo!, for around $4.8bn. Stakes in two other businesses worth around $40bn between them are not included in the deal. More
UK online retailer Shop Direct has appointed has appointed McKinsey & Company junior partner Assi Gol to lead its customer intelligence teams. He replaces Dene Jones, who left the company earlier this year. More
Liverpool, UK-based data firm Ruler Analytics has received a 'six-figure' investment from The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, managed by AXM Venture Capital. Funds will be used to recruit, scale infrastructure and roll out the firm's product internationally. More
comScore co-founder Magid Abraham has resigned as Executive Chairman of the Board, to focus on his new role as Executive Chairman of wearable technology developer APX Labs. He will remain on the comScore Board for the remainder of his term, which expires in 2018. More
YouGov has opened an office in Washington D.C., with a focus on custom, academic, public affairs and public opinion research. Amy Emmatty joins as Managing Director of the new operation. More
In London, multi-platform usability testing specialist Usability247 has added Saul Annett as a new member of its Board, responsible for commercial and corporate social responsibility activities. More
The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), set up by the UK government and often known as the 'Nudge Unit' is expanding with the opening of new offices in Singapore and Manchester, and additions to its existing team in Sydney. More
In the UK, IAB Chief Executive Guy Phillipson is stepping down from the role next January, after twelve years heading the industry body. He says he plans to stay involved in the media sector through advisory and non-exec roles. More
In London, Kantar Media has updated its real-time ratings capabilities with new features to make it easier for broadcasters to interpret and analyse audience data on their smartphones, tablets and PCs, and to assess how programmes are being received by the audience. More
Global communication agency Lewis has launched an analytics division called Observa, providing clients with a modular suite of tools to uncover audience intelligence, brand reputation, media and influencer relations, as well as market opportunities. More
UK-based agency BrainJuicer has reported revenue up 13 percent, or 9 percent at constant currencies, in a trading update for the first half of the year. Gross profit growth was in double figures, with the Americas and Continental Europe leading the way. More
WPP Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell, 71, and his wife Cristiana are expecting their first child together in November. More
London-based data collection business ICM Direct has boosed its data services team with three new hires - Iulian Lincu, Kar-Hoo Lee and Vlad Stanculescu - and the promotion of Kumeshnie du Plessis to Data Services Manager. More
Gamer behaviour analyst GameAnalytics has been acquired by mobile ad platform Mobvista for an undisclosed sum. More
The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) division of broadcaster Turner has hired Channel 4 insight exec Pedro Cosa for a newly created role, Vice President Insights & Analytics. He will join the firm in September. More
WPP's marketing foresight consultancy Gain Theory has promoted Alan Bloodworth to the role of Chief Executive Officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa. More
US Democratic Senator Al Franken has written to the CEO of Niantic, the company behind smartphone game Pokémon Go, demanding information regarding the record-breaking app's privacy settings. More
Former ESOMAR President Dan Foreman has taken on another Non-Executive Director role, this time with Amsterdam-based consumer insights platform Veylinx. More
WPP-owned ad network Grey Group has acquired a majority stake in the holding company of Brussels-based creative agency Famous, whose big data services include web analytics, customer segmentation, A/B testing and social media measurement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Sir Martin Sorrell and other senior figures from the marketing and ad industry have been reacting to Britain's decision to leave the EU, most with alarm but some mixing this with relish for the challenge and possible long-term opportunities. More
Shopper behaviour division Kantar Worldpanel has formed a global partnership with Facebook, integrating the latter's data on mobile ad exposure data with the former's Consumer Mix Model (CMM) service. More
Nielsen has launched its Marketing Cloud in Europe. The platform, which combines analytics, data management, planning and marketing activation, will be available immediately in the UK and France, to be joined soon by Germany, Italy and Spain. More
Fast-growing UK business consultancy BrandCap is launching a new practice in New York, and has appointed former Interbrand President David Martin to lead it as Chairman. More
BrainJuicer has officially launched its 'System1 - Feel More: Buy More' creative agency, which taps the group's work in behavioural science and its belief that the emotional, instinctive 'System 1' brain trumps the rational, evaluative 'System 2' brain when consumers make brand choices. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has partnered with data intelligence firm Adbrain to create a single source solution measuring the impact of cross-device advertising. More
Twitter has introduced a solution called Emoji Keyword Targeting for its Twitter Ads service, allowing advertisers to target people who have recently tweeted or engaged with Tweets featuring emojis. More
In London, data-driven CRM specialist Merkle has appointed Azlan Raj as Vice President, Digital Analytics, responsible for helping expand its Digital Analytics practice in Europe. More
Year-old WPP consultancy Gain Theory has promoted Manjiry Tamhane to the role of Worldwide CEO. She succeeds Jason Harrison, who is moving to lead the new GroupM agency Team Arrow Partners. More
Microsoft is to buy LinkedIn Corp for $26.2bn in cash, a premium of just under 50 percent to its Friday closing share price. The firms say LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence. More
Mobile measurement and attribution specialist Medialets has opened an APAC headquarters in Singapore and announced senior appointments in North America and London. More
Israel-based digital ad platform Taptica has further expanded its Asian offering with a new office in Seoul, adding to a recent launch in Beijing; and has appointed Hoon Lee as General Manager in South Korea. More
Big data modeller Media iQ has announced a global partnership with audience data specialist Eyeota, and will use its segments to help clients optimise their ad campaigns. More
In a trading update, WPP says its Data Investment Management division Kantar returned to like-for-like growth in April, after a flat first quarter. Net sales were up 5.8 percent at constant currency, or 0.3 percent like-for-like. For the Group as a whole, the comparable figure was 3.1 percent. More
Around a third of WPP shareholders voted against CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's proposed £70m pay package at yesterday's annual general meeting in London. More
UK full-service research and insights consultancy Simpson Carpenter has appointed Joanna Grankin as Development Lead in its Innovation team. More
ComRes MD Katharine Peacock has left the business to join the Brunswick Group as Director of Insight. Separately, ComRes has promoted Tom Mludzinski to the role of Research Director, overseeing the firm's political, media, sport, charity and government work. More
The UK's Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) has produced guidelines for products that aim to measure the viewability of online video. More
Digital information provider Citizenme has launched a mobile app to enable people to access their own smartphone and social media profile data, providing 'insights into their digital personality traits' and the ability to exchange their data for cash rewards with brands. More
Procter and Gamble (P&G) veteran Mahmoud Ghazal has joined qualitative social media research start up Bakamo.Social as Global Head of Operations and Delivery, and will also lead the firm's newly-opened office in Geneva, Switzerland. More
UK-based mobile research technology firm RealityMine has appointed Paul Street as Director, Global Research and Analytics in Toronto, Canada. More
After three - relatively - quiet years, City of London analysts believe WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell will face increased shareholder opposition to his £70m salary and shares package at next Wednesday's Annual General Meeting. More
GfK has appointed Gavin McLauchlan as Business Development Director, Global and UK Media. More
In Singapore, WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed GMI has promoted Neha Jindal to the role of Regional Operations Lead for the Asia Pacific region. More
Online specialist BrainJuicer has opened an office in Australia, led by company veteran Ed Harrison as Managing Director. More
comScore has received ABC UK (Audit Bureau of Circulations) accreditation for the Content Verification (CV) feature of its validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) tool, which measures whether online ads have been delivered and whether they have reached their target audience. More
Mobile survey technology specialist Lumi has released a new version of its Meetoo real-time messaging and polling app, allowing anonymous feedback and a range of customisation features. More
Amsterdam-based passive metering technology firm Wakoopa - now a subsidiary of GfK - has launched a marketplace giving researchers access to behavioral data on a global scale. More
US research company Lieberman Research Worldwide (LRW) has acquired UK-based online community specialist Tonic Insight, for an undisclosed sum. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has launched its digital ad targeting specialist plista in the US and Canada. More
WPP digital data collection firm Lightspeed Group has hired former Hall & Partners EMEA CEO Caroline Frankum with the same title, plus a seat on the Board. She will replace Martin Filtz, who moved into the post of CEO, Asia Pacific in January. More
US-based social media analytics firm NetBase has expanded in to Europe with the opening of offices in London, Paris and Heidelberg; all led by Jose Puyol who currently serves as VP and General Manager of the firm's Agency and Digital Practice. More
London-based data science start-up Black Swan has appointed Jeff Headley, formerly Global Head of Personalisation at dunnhumby, as US Managing Director, based in its New York office. More
Two agencies have given updates on their (potentially rather different) accounting headaches. comScore says its internal investigation into accounting irregularities should be completed next month; while separately, Cello Group has settled a VAT dispute with an agreement to pay a total of £5.3m. More
London-based opinion and behaviour consultancy Britain Thinks is the latest agency to appoint an Advisory Board. The impressive triumvirate consists of Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein, UK McCann Worldgroup CEO Mark Lund and Mumsnet founder and CEO Justine Roberts. More
GfK has achieved 'moderate' organic growth of 0.9% during the first quarter of the year. Currency effects meant the reported sales figure declined 0.6% to EUR 360.5m versus Q1 2015. The firm's Consumer Choices sector grew strongly while 'Consumer Experiences' revenue fell. More
Business information firm Innodata has agreed to acquire the assets of and rights to media monitoring business Agility, part of PR Newswire, when the latter is sold to Cision. Financial terms were not disclosed. More
Dublin based agency RED C Research & Marketing has appointed Millward Brown veteran Conor Murphy as a Director. More
The UK's Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) has published 'Good Practice Principles' for use in auditing company procedures to combat fraudulent ads. More
Research data solutions and technology firm SSI has launched a service called Smart Cell Sample, centred on a cell phone database of 480 million numbers, through which researchers can target US participants by geographic and demographic variables. More
GfK has unveiled a tool called Connected Consumer Index, to provide a single measure of how much, and on what devices, consumers in 78 countries and eight regions connect with each other and with digital content. More
Kantar Retail has transferred Cédric Guyot to the CEO role in its Virtual Reality unit, replacing Jeremy Cohen who moves into the role of CEO Kantar Retail Europe. More
Kantar has entered into a partnership with Google Consumer Surveys, whose panels it will 'validate' by monitoring their accuracy, responsiveness and representativeness. More
comScore and media measurement specialist Kantar Media IBOPE have partnered to launch a series of cross-platform solutions in Latin America. More
Online marketplace provider Cint has launched a real-time insights tool, Cint Connect, which it says offers 'the world's first self-serve eco-system for audience and ad effectiveness measurement'. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has reported a 20 percent increase in staff numbers, supporting 'mass customer adoption of its digital research platform'. More
There may be no timescale set, but WPP has confirmed that it is beginning to think about who may eventually replace CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, including internal and external candidates. More
Personalized entertainment and audience discovery specialist Rovi Corporation is spending around $1.1bn to buy 'next generation TV' and audience analytics firm TiVo. The TiVo name will be retained for the combined corporation. More
WPP has reported first quarter revenue of £3.076bn, up 5.1% in like-for-like terms. Net sales - its preferred measure - rose 3.2%. As in recent quarters however, insight division Kantar performed less well than other units, with like-for-like revenue and net sales figures flat (up 0.5% and down 0.1% respectively). More
Another Canadian has taken a top UK public sector job - this time it's not the Bank of England, but the ICO. Elizabeth Denham, who currently holds a similar role in the province of British Columbia, has been approved by Parliament as the new data protection supremo. More
Technology-focused Forrester Research has announced first quarter revenue of $77.4m, up 3 percent on Q1 2015. More
Ipsos has announced organic growth of 3.7 percent for the first quarter of 2016, with revenue rising to EUR 386.9m, its best result for some time. The rise 'concerns all regions', with revenue up 4.6% in emerging economies and up 3.3% in developed markets. More
Nielsen has launched a new service, the Total Channel Solution, promising its clients the ability to 'unify' all their data sets - proprietary and third party, across multiple platforms - and get 'a full picture view of all factors affecting their business '. More
Customer data pioneer dunnhumby has bought a share of marketing management tech company Aptaris, three months after the firms announced they would integrate their software. More
Acxiom subsidiary LiveRamp has expanded its data onboarding service to the UK, France and Canada. Last week the firm appointed Jeff Smith as its new CMO and teamed up with DigitasLBi. More
UK-based full service qual agency Tonic Insight has appointed Michael Aronsson and Lauren Moranor as Account Executives in its New York office, following a number of client wins. More
Facebook has three new partners verifying metrics on viewings of its photo and video ads: comScore, Nielsen and Integral Ad Science. The firms will start verifying ad viewability and attention metrics 'in the next few months'. More
UK-based add association the IPA has appointed two new execs, Clare McNally-Luke and Dan Flynn. The two will help grow the association's TouchPoints survey, which provides an annual view of where, when and in what mood people consume media in Britain. More
News broadcaster CNBC has launched an in-house commercial agency called CNBC Catalyst, with a focus on delivering research and data to help brands shape their campaigns. To help drive this effort, the firm has hired media researcher David Evans as Head of Data and Insight. More
Former dunnhumby exec Paul Cook has joined user-generated profiles provider autoGraph.me as Business Development Director in London. More
In the UK, WPP firms Millward Brown and Kantar Worldpanel have partnered to develop a new solution called Sales Insights, which allows clients to evaluate digital marketing campaigns simultaneously on two measures: brand uplift and actual sales. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has appointed former GroupM exec Harry Harcus as Managing Director, UK. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.0% rise in first quarter revenue to $1,487m, equivalent to growth of 5.2% on a constant currency basis. Growth reflects what it describes as 'solid performance' in both its Buy and Watch businesses. More
The Media Rating Council (MRC) has accredited the Audience module in comScore's vCE 2.0 tool. Now, with both its Audience and its Validation modules accredited, the firm claims to be the first to offer an MRC-accredited viewable GRP for desktop display and video campaigns. More
Research consultancy Kadence International is relocating Singapore MD Greg Clayton back to the UK in May, to take up the role of Managing Director for UK/Europe. Replacing him in Singapore is Insight Director Phil Steggals, whose current position will be taken by Patrick Young. More
Kantar Media has today announced a partnership with local audience data provider Eyeota. Beginning in the UK, the deal will give advertisers and media buyers access to pre-defined segments built from the research firm's TGI consumer and media study, for use in online ad targeting. More
The European Parliament has adopted new data protection legislation, following four years of sometimes tortuous negotiation. Meanwhile European data regulators have expressed doubts about the Privacy Shield framework for data transfers with the US, laid out in February. More
Nielsen and eCommerce analytics company Profitero have partnered to incorporate the latter's Digital Shelf 360 suite into the former's eCommerce offering, allowing FMCG manufacturers to correlate digital shelf analytics with actual sales data. More
Behavioural ad targeting and technology specialist Phorm is to cease trading, having been unable to secure the additional equity and/or debt funding it needed to continue operating. In almost a decade, the company has run up debts of more than $300m. More
US-based sampling automation provider Lucid has appointed former Research Now MD Ben Hogg as Managing Director, EMEA; while promoting Brett Schnittlich to the role of President and CTO, and Andy Ellis to Chief Operating Officer. More
In London, video ad tech and emotion analytics platform Vyking has launched a suite of tools called ReactivAds, which deliver personalized ads based on real-time analysis of facial expressions. More
London-based communications research agency MESH Experience has appointed Kahren Kersten as Experience Director for the EMEA region, responsible for leading its London-based team. More
Nielsen has launched its own 'Marketing Cloud', allowing clients to deliver targeted promotional and engagement initiatives to their customers across multiple platforms. More
In the UK, a team of five independent consultants has set up a 'virtual consultancy' called The Measurement Practice (TMP), to help in-house and agency comms teams maximise the insight and value from their communications research programmes. More
London-based location data tech firm Blis has raised $25m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use to expand into new markets, including the US. More
Media services division Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has unveiled a new data-driven marketing agency network, Hearts & Science; and appointed Scott Hagedorn - formerly Chief Executive of its analytics division Annalect - as its CEO. More
UK-based research company Join the Dots has announced 2015 revenue of £7.75m, an annual increase of 27%. More
WPP division MEC has launched a specialist content division, MEC Wavemaker, pulling together its diverse existing services in the area into one unit. The insight- and data-driven unit will operate initially in ten markets across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and will be led by MEC's global COO Alastair Aird. More
Mobile usage and consumer analytics firm RealityMine has appointed Tom O'Sullivan, former EVP, Business Development with Symphony Advanced Media, as its Chief Revenue Officer. More
UKOM, the cross-industry organisation set up to oversee the measurement of online audiences, has appointed Microsoft veteran Julie Forey as its first Director of Insight. More
US-based DIY research company SurveyMonkey has launched a mobile app insights platform, providing app publishers with data on more than a thousand mobile apps ad well as the overall app economy. The launch follows the acquisition of app data start-up firm Renzu. More
Music industry web site Mediabase, which offers airplay charts and analysis, has announced a partnership with music recognition and content sharing app Shazam, and will offer weekly analysis of the latter's top songs in the US, Canada and Europe. More
In London, global research and thought leadership community the Leading Edge Forum (LEF) has appointed Gartner veteran Dave Aron as Global Research Director. More
Global panel marketplace provider Cint has promoted Richard Thornton to the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer. His remit includes driving corporate business development in future markets. More
Facebook has teamed up with Tesco's data business dunnhumby to tie ads on the social network in with off-line sales. More
Millward Brown has appointed former Warc CEO Louise Ainsworth as Chief Exec in the UK. She replaces UK MD Dale Beaton, who is transferring to the role of SVP Global Practice Lead. More
YouGov-owned sports and sponsorship specialist SMG Insight has appointed former Repucom MD Charlie Dundas as Commercial Director. More
Four former Hall & Partners execs have launched a new London-based qualitative agency called Compton+Dean, focusing on brand and communications research. More
UK-based BrainJuicer is planning to commence a share buy-back, using existing cash resources to purchase up to one million of its ordinary shares. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has launched a suite of study templates for common research topics, offering a rapid and lower-cost solution for business decision-makers, but still with input from a researcher. More
In the UK, online research technology and services provider FlexMR has hired industry veteran Charles Pearson for the newly created role of SVP of Strategic Business Development, responsible for new business with end clients, agencies and consultancies globally. More
London-based brand consultancy Morar has named co-founder Roger Perowne as MD, and Julian Dailly as Head of Consulting. The firm has also hired former Redshift Research Director Jane Hall, and Paddy Sutton, founder of The Nautilus branding consultancy. More
Recently formed research, insight and advisory services provider MARU Group has appointed Publicis and TNS veteran Steve Ducat as Chief Financial Officer. More
GfK has partnered with local audience data specialist Eyeota, to make its regional purchasing power data available to advertisers in the UK and Europe, and help them tailor their online ads to specific income target groups by region. More
In London, digital customer experience software firm Q-nomy has launched a solution called Q-Flow Insight, to enable retailers and service providers to analyse customer journeys in physical stores and across online and mobile platforms. More
Nielsen is planning to expand Digital Ad Ratings to eight new markets globally by the end of 2016, adding to seventeen countries where it is already available. More
Television measurement body BARB has launched The UK Television Landscape Report, a quarterly review of population trends and changes in how people watch TV. More
UK-based online research agency YouGov plc has announced interim results for the six months ended 31st January 2016, showing revenue of £41.5m, up 13% at constant currencies, and adjusted profit before tax up by 42% to £5.0m. More
WPP is linking the panels and other data sources of its Kantar / DIM division with the expertise and planning tools of its GroupM media investment management division, to launch LIVE Panel. The new consumer and media insight solution will help advertisers develop and measure 'precise and targeted' media plans. More
UK-based BrainJuicer Group has announced 'modest' revenue growth of 3% (constant currency) in the calendar year 2015, to £25.18m. This is the second year of slower growth for the pioneering company, which nevertheless increased profits and cash at hand. More
Kantar Media has enhanced its TGI Clickstream study with the addition of metered consumer mobile behaviour, including phones and tablets. More
Google has unveiled a new suite of analytics solutions, including four new and two rebranded tools, intended as an 'enterprise-class' platform to help developers and marketers with the challenges posed by a multi-screen world. More
Data-driven marketing agency Merkle has reported 2015 net revenue of $435m - up 14% on the previous year. Growth reflects a number of acquisitions designed to expand the company's global reach. More
WPP's Data Alliance has expanded its reach to Jakarta, Indonesia, to meet demand from local agencies and clients - and has appointed Wijaya Santoso to lead it. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has appointed former WPP exec Gary Laben as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Kurt Knapton who resigned last October. Meanwhile John Rothwell has added the title of President to his existing role as Chief Operating Officer. More
Millward Brown has launched a real-time communications measurement tool called AdNow, to help marketers evaluate campaign performance for multiple pieces of advertising across digital media channels. More
London-based YouthSight has introduced a new 'vox pop' service called SnapMe, allowing clients to get video feedback from members of the firm's OpinionPanel community via their smartphone cameras. More
The UK's 'professional research and evidence market' has grown massively in the last three and a half years to an annual turnover of £4.8bn - up 62% - and a workforce of 73,000 professionals, according to a report by PwC for the MRS. More
WPP Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell has received shares worth £60m, according to reports. With salary and annual bonuses the figure is 'likely to approach £70m'. The share award is triggered by the group's success in outperforming both its peers and the FTSE 100 over five years. More
Former YouGov UK CEO Tim Britton is joining consultancy PwC to lead strategy and transformation in its r2i research and insight centre of excellence. More
UK-based digital marketing group Be Heard has conditionally agreed to acquire design and UX agency MMT Ltd for an initial consideration of £5.1m, plus a further £15.4m subject to performance up to 2019. More
UK-based marketing analytics, customer intelligence and targeting firm iJento has been acquired by 'business building' investment company Blenheim Chalcot for an undisclosed sum. More
In London, news publisher the Financial Times has appointed Sacha Bunatyan as Global B2C Marketing Director, responsible for expanding audience reach, reader engagement and paid-for readership numbers. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has added a tool called PowerAttitudes to its QuickSurveys DIY survey platform, to enable marketers to generate 'immediate insights' on the consumer attitudes driving usage and purchase behavior. More
In the UK, TV broadcaster Channel 4 has promoted Sarah Rose to the role of Director Consumer Insight, following the news that Gill Whitehead is leaving to join Google as Senior Director of Market Insight, EMEA. More
Multi-screen measurement firm Verto Analytics has opened an office in London and hired former comScore UK MD Michael Read as Managing Director. The firm has also appointed Alison Murdock as SVP, Marketing in the US. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has beta-launched a dashboard called Unruly Pulse, analysing emotional response to video ads, and the resulting trends. More
Shares in audience measurement specialist comScore plunged 35% to $26.52 yesterday, after the firm disclosed that its Audit Committee has not finalized an ongoing review of 'certain potential accounting matters'. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has appointed three new members of staff - Paul Das, Lindsay Hart and Bri McIntosh. More
Media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has appointed Tim Hussain as UK Head of Digital Media, to help the company further develop digital measurement tools and techniques. More
WPP has reported total 2015 revenue up 5.3% on a like-for-like basis, with headline EBITDA of £2.002bn, up 7.7% at constant currency. Revenue in pounds was up 6.1% to £12.235 bn. The insight-focused 'data investment management' division (DIM) remained flat for the year, although slightly improved in Q4. More
Research Now co-founder and former CEO Chris Havemann has joined the Board of Manchester, UK-based research tech and consumer analytics specialist RealityMine as a Non-Executive Director. More
In London, financial services and technology insights specialist Strive has appointed former Incite execs Mark Yeomans as a Director and Paul Whelan as Creative Director. More
Millward Brown has partnered with on-demand online community specialist GutCheck to launch a qualitative tool called Pre-LinkNow, which offers a copy-testing framework to help marketers better understand ad performance. More
Millward Brown has agreed to acquire the business operations of marketing analytics company Analytics Quotient (AQ), which employs around 400 people and offers both data visualization tools and custom analytics solutions. More
Hampshire, UK-based eDigitalResearch, recently acquired by MARU Group, has hired Heather Mcrae as Senior CFO, while promoting Kat Hughes and Naomi Crisp to Associate Director. More
In the UK, the Guardian's former Data Editor Alberto Nardelli is joining news and entertainment website BuzzFeed as Europe Editor. More
London-based full service media research agency The Blinc Partnership has appointed former Ipsos-ASI MD Justin Charlton-Jones as Managing Director. More
London-based Silverman Research has partnered with consumer goods giant Unilever to launch a new real-time survey and discussion tool called Crowdoscope. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has added an emotional targeting feature to its Unruly-in-Article format, to enable advertisers to target the people most likely to engage emotionally with specific video creatives. More
Nielsen has reported constant currency revenue rises of 5.6% for the fourth quarter of 2015 and 5.0% for the year as a whole. Reported revenue dipped 0.6% in Q4 to $1.624bn, and 1.8% for the full year to $6.172bn. More
Digital marketing agency AnalogFolk has launched a global data solutions business, based in London, where it has appointed former Havas helia execs Ben Silcox as Chief Data Officer and Mark Barry as Head of Business Solutions. More
Technology specialist Forrester has reported revenue of $313.7m for the full year 2015, $81m of it in the fourth quarter. In constant currency terms Research revenues rose 5 percent while advisory services and events were up 2 percent. More
Data-driven marketing agency Merkle has acquired London-based DBG, which helps clients integrate data from different sources for effective customer communication. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Manchester-based agency Join the Dots has opened an office in Singapore, its first outside the UK. Karen Schofield, previously the company's Innovations Director, will head it up as MD, Singapore. More
UK-based full service research agency Trinity McQueen has announced another year of double-digit growth, with turnover up 13 percent to £4.48m in the 12 months ending September 2015. The firm also has eight new recruits. More
Last week, the European Commission and the US agreed a new framework for the transfer of data between the two, known as the EU-US Privacy Shield. Under this, US companies and government agencies will have new obligations to guarantee protection for personal data. More
Kantar has moved Adrian Gonzalez into a broader group role in charge of its Consumer Insights businesses - he was previously CEO of Millward Brown's Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific (AMAP) region. TNS APAC CEO Chris Riquier is among those leaving the business in the restructure. More
IT industry research and analysis specialist Gartner has reported a 10% rise in fourth quarter revenue to $643.8m, driven by a 13% revenue increase in its Research division to $420.5m. For the full year 2015, Research revenue was up 10% to $1.58bn. More
UK-based web analytics platform Decibel Insight has expanded to the US with the opening of new offices in Boston, MA and Austin, TX. More
UK research agency Populus has promoted seven members of staff, including Laurence Stellings to the position of Director in its Reputation and Strategy division, and Daisy Powell-Chandler to Senior Consultant. More
MR app marketplace ZappiStore has promoted Christophe Ovaere to CMO, increasing his focus on the firm's brand, product marketing and key partner relations. More
Artesian Solutions, a UK-based provider of customer engagement and sales acceleration software, has opened its first overseas office, in Boston, MA, USA. Newly appointed VP of Sales Tom Beriau is joined in the US by co-founder Mike Blackadder, who will relocate. More
GfK returned to organic growth (up 1.1%) during the 2015 financial year, after a decline of 2.0% the previous year. Reported sales increased by 6.3% to EUR 1.54bn (from EUR 1.45bn). More
Shareholders have approved comScore's bid to buy film and TV measurement firm Rentrak, and the acquisition is expected to close by end of business today. More
Research industry body ESOMAR has teamed up with Kantar, comScore, GfK and Nielsen to launch an initiative called 'Research Choices', which aims to help the general public understand how their data is used for audience measurement research. More
UK marcoms group Chime Communications has appointed former Diageo CEO Paul Walsh as Chairman, replacing Lord Davies, who has stepped down following the firm's acquisition by WPP and buyout specialist Provident Equity Partners last summer. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now is preparing to roll out an automated, template-based suite of survey solutions for those with limited budgets. More
Research data solutions and technology firm SSI has acquired LA-based Instantly - whose services include panels and product concept testing - for an undisclosed sum. More
UK-based customer feedback software provider Platform One has launched a new product called 'Instant Community', which it says collects customer data at 'every single touchpoint'. More
Utrecht, Netherlands-based research firm DVJ Insights has appointed Simon McDonald as Managing Director in the UK, where he will work alongside existing Commercial Director Roy Patel to increase the firm's presence in the market. More
In the UK, Guardian News & Media (GNM) has outlined a three-year business plan, which includes the creation of a new Data and Insight team to support editorial and commercial innovation; and the implementation of an ad model that tracks evolving market trends. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has promoted Nader Kobeissi to the newly created position of Global Managing Director. More
In London, start-up company people.io is trialling an app allowing consumers to trade information about their tastes and preferences for credits, exchangeable for goods or services. More
UK-based online communities specialist Verve has announced twelve promotions, and the appointment of Jodie Chamberlain as Research Manager in its recently-opened northern office. Existing staff Warren Lister, Olly Robinson and Ana Garcia all become Director / RDs. More
WPP-owned digital agency POSSIBLE has acquired German full-service digital agency Conrad Caine. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has expanded its presence in the Asia Pacific region with the opening of its first office in Malaysia. The new operation will be led by Christine Tan, Senior Director, Southeast Asia. More
In the UK, eDigitalResearch has doubled its office space by relocating to a fully refurbished 18,500 square foot location in The Hub, at Berrywood Business Village, in Southampton - the place where the business first started back in 1999. More
US research technology and services group FocusVision has acquired software firm Kinesis Survey Technologies, and renamed it KinesisPanel. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Netherlands TV industry body Stichting KijkOnderzoek (SKO) has announced that it is now working with data scientists from Kantar Media to deliver daily online TV ratings to the market. More
IBM has acquired Koblenz, Germany-based anti-fraud software firm IRIS Analytics, for an undisclosed sum; and simultaneously announced the launch of a cloud-based service for retailers, IBM Dynamic Pricing. More
Michael Kenyon, who died aged 72 in December after a long illness, spent nearly fifty years in the research industry and was MrWeb's Director of US Operations between 2003 and 2008, helping to establish the site and the Daily Research News service Stateside. More
In Europe, Nielsen has launched a Customer Experience practice, building on its alliance with CEM software firm ResponseTek and centred around the Nielsen Listening Platform, a real-time customer feedback platform the two announced a year ago. More
Palo Alto, CA-based DIY online survey platform SurveyMonkey has appointed Zander Lurie as its new Chief Executive Officer, less than six months after hiring former HP exec Bill Veghte to replace CEO Dave Goldberg, who died suddenly last May. More
Market research budgets fell for many companies in the final three months of 2015, according to the most recent IPA Bellwether Report of UK marketing expenditure. Respondents reporting a fall in MR budgets outnumbered those reporting a rise by an even bigger margin than in Q3. More
WPP audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has promoted Nicolle Pangis to the role of Global Chief Operating Officer, overseeing business operations, HR, partnerships, product management, and tech development across the Americas, Europe and AsiaPac. More
WPP has acquired a minority interest in Hispanic media and tech company Mitú, which creates original content, and analyses its Latino audience's consumption of that content across social media. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP agency MediaCom has set up a global partnership with emotional analytics specialist Realeyes, to incorporate emotion measurement technology into its content testing and media planning services. More
Kantar has acquired a majority stake in its partner in Denmark and Sweden, Millward Brown Denmark ApS, which has been a Millward Brown licensee since 1997. More
WPP brand, media and comms researcher Millward Brown has introduced a solution called Digital Behavior Analytics (DBA), which uses data drawn from search patterns and social media conversations to provide insights on brand health and marketing campaign performance. More
In the US, mobile research firm MFour Mobile has appointed former Instantly exec Scott Worthge as Senior Solutions Executive. More
London-based online retailing consultancy Summit has hired former dunnhumby exec Martin Corcoran for the newly created role of Head of Insight Consulting. More
Christopher Morasch, former MD UK of Respondi, has joined German MR agency Management Consult. More
Customer data pioneer dunnhumby has announced a partnership with Aptaris, whose software manages and integrates clients' marketing and promotions management. Clients will gain new tools for scenario planning, forecasting and response measurement. More
Nielsen has appointed James A. Attwood, Jr. as non-executive Chairman of its Board of Directors, effective January 1st and succeeding David L. Calhoun. More
After several years of prevarication, the EU looks set to approve its raft of data protection measures, having at last agreed on the wording in mid-December. They include strict requirements for data protection compliance and heavy fines for breaches. More
Online gaming giant Tencent has struck separate deals with WPP's GroupM and with Dentsu Aegis Network, giving access to data from the Chinese firm's huge customer base of c.860m active monthly users. More
WPP has continued its large-scale purchase of comScore stock, adding around $7.2m worth in three purchases since the morning of 24th December. More
WPP has upped its stake in comScore through the purchase of 120,000 comScore shares at an average cost of $38.56 each and a value of $4.62m, and a second purchase of 84,913 shares at an average price of $38.57 each, and a total of $3.27m. More
Millward Brown and comScore have teamed up to connect validated ad viewing with changes in consumer behaviour, helping brands assess the performance of their digital advertising. The service will cover 'all markets outside the US, Canada and Taiwan'. More
Long-time Kantar Media employee Nick Burfitt has re-located from London to Singapore, to serve as Managing Director for Asia Pacific. He takes charge of the firm's recently awarded contract to supply multi-platform TV ratings in Thailand. More
In the UK, Oxfordshire-based consumer insight and sensory specialist MMR Research has launched an online portal called MMR-TV, through which large volumes of video content can be analysed and edited. More
WPP-owned online panel provider Lightspeed has announced the promotion of Martin Filz to Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, effective January 1st, 2016. President and Global CEO David Day will temporarily take over Filz's former role as CEO for EMEA. More
In the UK, former 2CV Research MD Mark Bagnall is joining Basis Research as Head of Innovation. His remit includes 'consistently updating the firm's intellectual tool kit' as well as developing specific new proprietary tools and techniques. More
Following months of rumours, WPP has agreed to merge its Australian and New Zealand businesses with struggling Australia-based STW Communications Group Ltd, increasing its shareholding from 23.6% to 61.5%. STW's name will be changed 'to align it with WPP'. More
Manchester, UK-based RealityMine, which provides mobile MR technologies and consumer analytics, has announced a $17.25m investment from growth equity firm Kennet Partners. More
Dublin, Ireland-based online store analytics provider Clavis Insight has launched a new service, Advanced Amazon Analytics (AAA), which includes technology to track activity, pricing and availability for client and competitor brands on the retail giant's one hour delivery app, Amazon Prime Now. More
In London, Harris Interactive has appointed Sabrina Qureshi as Head of Online Communities, replacing Pete Cooke who has taken on the expanded role of Head of Digital. More
The UK government is looking for freelance user researchers and organisations with user research labs to apply to become approved suppliers. The search is part of a new procurement initiative 'Digital Outcomes and Specialists'. More
UK-based MR app store ZappiStore has appointed Jamie Shacklock as Director of Research Architecture, to help drive strategic partnerships with research agencies and end-user brands. More
More than one-third of insights providers agree with the statement that '50% of full-service market research suppliers will be out of business within five years', according to findings from the latest GreenBook Research Industry Trends Report (GRIT) *. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) has published its Annual League Table, with data drawn from 86 eligible organisations generating a combined turnover of more than £2.7 billion. The figure represents overall year-on-year growth of 4%. More
Ad software firm Phorm has partnered with behavioural targeting specialist Insomnis to develop a new service called 'Hover Rate', telling advertisers how many Internet users have hovered their cursor over, but not clicked on, their display ads. More
In London, digital data collection specialist Research Now has promoted Aaron Simmons to the role of Senior Vice President, Northern Europe Client Development. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has rolled out a new capability called 'Unruly Custom Audiences', in Australia. The tool helps advertisers connect with those consumers most likely to experience a strong emotional connection to a specific video. More
In the UK, the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) has appointed its current Executive Director of Audit, Finance & ICT Simon Redlich as interim Chief Executive Officer from 1st January, after the departure of Jerry Wright. More
In the UK, social media analytics specialist Starcount has raised £5m from a group of investors which includes former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy. More
UK-based marketing tech company Affective Logic has raised around £387k through a crowdfunding platform called the SyndicateRoom. Some of the money will be used to develop an SaaS version of the firm's Affect semantics-based marketing management tool. More
Manchester, UK-based research agency Join the Dots has taken on eight new graduates, the third wave of its annual Graduate Development Programme. It has also hired former TBWA exec Hollie Clark, who will design creative strategies for global brands. More
Global marketing activity continued to grow in November, with European execs the most optimistic and those in the Americas least so, according to the Global Marketing Index (GMI) compiled by World Economics. More
In the UK, full service agency Boxclever has launched a Marketing Effectiveness business, and hired former Nunwood Board Director Colin Bunn to lead it. More
Katherine Edwards, a former Director at supermarket giant Tesco, has joined London-based insight consultancy BritainThinks in the new role of Director of Stakeholder Engagement. More
WPP's J. Walter Thompson Company is to take a majority stake in Lebanon-based creative digital agency Cleartag, whose services include social media analysis, curation of online communities and user experience research. More
Online marketplace eBay is beefing up its predictive targeting offer in the UK with new tools and segments to help advertisers personalise their promotions. Segments cover Christmas shopping behaviour and different phases of parenthood. More
Brand and comms researcher Hall & Partners has hired three staff for its mobile-focused division, Tempo, running since February and formally launched just last month. Simon Walker joins as 'Director of Crowds' and Kimberly Webb as Director, while Gedas Tamutis takes the role of 'Project Engager'. More
Mobile video feedback specialist Voxpopme has announced a partnership with US-based customer experience optimisation firm InMoment, adding the former's video capture and analytics capabilities to the latter's Voice of Customer (VoC) platform. More
US-based sampling automation provider Lucid has launched a digital marketing tool called Proof, which promises to combine measurement of audience exposure with reaction across mobile and non-mobile platforms. More
Consumer tracking firm The NPD Group has launched a new analytic service integrating clients' own segmentation schemes with sales and market share 'data of record' for every industry and country covered by its survey-based trackers. More
UK-based InsightBee, a service which gives access to the desk and primary research skills of a network of consultants via an online interface, has announced a partnership with independent consultant network MBA & Company. More
In California, Nielsen has sold its entertainment research subsidiary NRG to Stagwell Group, the investment company formed recently by Mark Penn, co-founder of Penn Schoen Berland. Terms were not disclosed. More
UK-based research agency B2B International has launched an advice and consultancy division, and says it is looking to accelerate its expansion. More
Media agency Maxus, part of WPP's GroupM, is to acquire Dutch media buying agency Helder Marketing & Communicatie B.V. More
Research technology firm OMR Globus has launched a free customer feedback tool and portal called Q123, including survey set-up, analysis and reporting. More
Woking, UK-based MR and marketing services agency Create Convo has hired Oli Loughran as Marketing Manager, and added new services to its portfolio including neuromarketing and video engagement. More
GfK has reported 0.7% organic growth for the third quarter, with sales in Euros up 4% to EUR 371.4m. For the first nine months of the year, the group saw sales rise 6.0% to EUR 1.118bn - up just 0.4% in organic terms. More
UK TV audience research body BARB has agreed 'fusion projects' with Kantar Media and Nielsen for its Project Dovetail initiative, which will combine panel data with census data for TV viewing through all computer devices. More
Mobile segmentation and analytics specialist Swrve has closed a $30m round of funding, which it will use to expand the business, further develop its products, and hire new staff. In addition, the firm has acquired mobile data automation platform adaptive.io for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, industry-owned independent measurement body the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is launching a monthly Newsbrands service in December, reporting print and digital figures together for the first time. More
GfK has introduced a new brand and communications tracking platform, providing real-time access to data, dynamic 'hot alerts' based on a variety of KPIs, and data visualization tools. More
Czech Republic ratings body the Association of TV Organisations (ATO) has chosen Kantar Media and comScore to deliver a cross-platform measurement pilot of TV and video content. More
The EU says it expects to replace and improve upon its suspended Safe Harbor agreement with the US within three months; the US FCC continues to consider issues surrounding Do Not Track and TCPA; and some telephone researchers find ingenious ways to survive the latter. More
UK-based research / business intelligence firm Future Thinking has streamlined its company structure with a simplified offer. More
Focusing in on its role as an all-round audience measurement firm, comScore is selling its BI service Digital Analytix to Adobe; entering a strategic partnership with streaming service Spotify; and launching a household media measure called the 'Total Home Panel'. More
Real-time information services provider Neustar, Inc. has agreed to acquire analytics technology provider MarketShare Partners, LLC for $450m - although the resulting tax benefits mean it will effectively pay $390m. More
comScore has reported third quarter results for 2015, with revenue up 13% to $92.4m vs Q3 2014, and a slightly larger rise in the profit measure adjusted EBITDA, which rose 16% to $23.4m. More
Multi-screen audience measurement specialist Rentrak has reported a 30% rise in second quarter revenue to $32.8m. The result was driven by a 53% increase for the TV Everywhere product line, up from $13.3m to $20.4m in the prior year period. More
US-based IT industry researcher Gartner has reported an 8% increase in revenue for its Research division - to $396.2m from $365.3m in Q3 2014. More
WPP has agreed to buy a majority stake in digital agency Essence, which claims to be the world's largest independent buyer of digital media. Following the deal, whose precise terms have not been disclosed, Essence will become part of WPP's media investment arm GroupM. More
In New York, tech media and services company IDG Communications has partnered with Google to introduce a new program which the firms claim will provide 100% viewable ads. More
Chief Operating Officer Brian J. West has resigned from Nielsen, effective at the end of the year when his responsibilities 'will be divided among existing company executives'. More
IBM is not just partnering with The Weather Company, but buying most of its assets. Data from its B2B, mobile and cloud-based web properties will be integrated into IBM Watson's new IoT Unit and IoT Cloud platform. More
Publicis digital agency DigitasLBi has partnered with UK charity YouthNet to launch an insight platform called YouthLab, through which brands can explore the impact of social media on the lives of young people. More
Technology consulting specialist Forrester Research has reported a 3% increase in Research revenue to $52.2m for the third quarter, compared with $50.6m in Q3 2014. However, on a constant currency basis, Research revenue rose 7%. More
In the US, YouTube video ad buying and marketing platform Pixability has appointed John Baker as Chief Data Scientist. More
WPP has reported like-for-like revenue up 4.6% for Q3 2015. The insight division, known as 'Data Investment Management', was among those 'improving versus the second quarter' but once again was the only one to report a slight decline in revenue. More
Cross-device ad targeting and analytics specialist Adelphic has opened an office in London, where it has appointed former Facebook / Microsoft exec Nicholas Mills as General Manager, EMEA. More
Digital TV and DVR pioneer TiVo has announced that its TiVo Research audience measurement division will provide free TV ratings from the first quarter of 2016, in order to 'celebrate' comScore's forthcoming acquisition of Rentrak. More
Sky Media, the broadcaster's ad sales division, has developed a targeting tool called Sky AdVance. The solution promises to help advertisers target audiences with the most appropriate advertisements, 'at the right time, in the right sequence, and on the right screen'. More
Creston subsidiary Marketing Sciences Unlimited has launched a panel called Reflected Life, to provide continuous data on the digital footprint of the UK population. More
Israeli measurement technology firm MRL (Mobile Research Labs) has been granted a UK patent for a mobile app-based system which both identifies the presence of ambient sound attributable to a specific ad or programme, and engages a person for a related survey. More
Nielsen has reported a 5.0% constant currency increase in third quarter revenue to $1.53bn on a basis, and adjusted EBITDA up 6.9% to $479m on the same basis. More
Ipsos has reported a 3.7% increase in revenue to EUR 428m for the period from July to September, but at constant scope and exchange rates this equates to a fall of 2.2%. The decline cancels out a small real-terms rise in the first half of the year. More
Online store analytics specialist Clavis Insight has received a $20m growth equity investment, part of which will help expand its sales and customer support efforts in the US, Europe and China. The firm has also appointed Jeremy Radcliffe as its UK General Manager. More
Film and TV measurement firm Rentrak has announced a partnership with London-based movie data firm Gower Street Analytics (GSA), aiming to create advanced data science and real-time movie measurement products. More
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is restructuring its leadership along more collective lines, as it both gears up for forthcoming changes in EU data protection law and reacts to recommendations in the high profile Leveson enquiry. More
UK agency eDigitalResearch has promoted its COO Steve Brockway to Managing Director, and appointed two new members to its Board. Founding Directors Chris Russell and Michelle Fuller are moving to the role of Joint Executive Chair, driving the firm's global growth. More
The hearing of Kantar Market Research Services' appeal against Indian government guidelines effectively banning its TAM joint venture with Nielsen has been postponed yet again, this time to February 9th 2016. More
European social media intelligence provider Linkfluence has acquired Chinese competitor ActSocial. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has rolled out its syndicated Mobile Metrix solution in Indonesia, where it is also jointly developing mobile panels with Kantar. More
Global investment firm Mithril Capital has agreed to buy UK-based digital media and analytics group Agenda 21 in a reverse takeover, and appointed Engine Group co-founder and former CEO Peter Scott to lead the venture. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now is looking for a new President and CEO, following Kurt Knapton's decision to resign for personal reasons. He will remain on the Board of Directors once his successor has been identified. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly is set to open an office In Tokyo as part of its global expansion plans. Separately, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has appointed Unruly co-founder and CEO Sarah Wood as a technology ambassador for the city. More
In London, GfK has hires James Howitt for the newly created role of Digital Lead, UK, driving the promotion of its digital media research capabilities and solutions. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has formally launched a mobile-focused division called Tempo, which uses technology to gather 'in the moment' feedback in the form of data, pictures, video and stories. More
Chris Haydon has re-joined Manchester, UK-based agency Join the Dots as Senior Research Director after a three-year stint in London. In addition, Benjamin Buckby joins as Research Manager, and Justine Colin, Martina Raviele and James Collinson as SREs. More
YouGov has reported a 13 percent revenue rise - including organic growth of 11% - in preliminary results for the year ended 31st July. The year saw strong growth in new markets France and Asia Pacific; and a higher proportion of revenue from favoured product lines. More
WPP has increased its holding in struggling Australian group STW Communications, owner of a number of data and MR agencies. More
WPP has appointed the UK government's Deputy Director of Communications Sean Larkins as Director of Consulting and Capability, leading a new consultancy offer within its Government & Public Sector Practice. More
In the UK, online communities specialist Verve has opened a Northern office in Leeds, and appointed Bryony Hughes to lead it. Ten more staff have also joined the company in its offices in London, Chicago and Iasi (Romania). More
Nielsen has added mobile campaign measurement to its Digital Ad Ratings service in five more countries - Australia, France, Germany, Italy and the UK - and will add Brazil by the end of the year. More
Kantar has added sentiment analysis to its Twitter TV ratings dashboard service 'Instar Social', to uncover further insights into the conversations taking place about TV programmes on Twitter. More
In the UK, Research Now co-founder Andrew Cooper and the firm's former Chairman Geoff Westmore have led a $1.5m investment in mobile video MR specialist Voxpopme. More
Cello-owned co-creation agency FACE has appointed six new consultants in New York and London, following several new clients wins in the digital sector. More
Full service agency Relish Research has appointed former TNS director Rebecca Harrison as Head of Qualitative. The firm has also hired Yimen Lee as an Account Director, Ute Wenkemann as Qualitative Research Manager, and Matt O'Brien as an SRE. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has rolled out its 'moment' marketing solution Xaxis Triggers in the MENA region. The system allows advertisers to use external factors such as a weather forecast, TV ads or stock prices to trigger complementary programmatic campaigns. More
Kantar has moved Efrain Ribeiro into the role of company-wide Chief Research Officer, replacing Renee Smith who is leaving to join Colorado-based research company GutCheck (see today's DRNO). Ribeiro will take up the new role on November 1st. More
Online research 'app store' platform ZappiStore has appointed former Lightspeed GMI exec Roxan Toll as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing in Singapore; while Eileen Rozic joins in the US as Vice President of Sales, West Coast. More
Oxfordshire, UK-based MMR Research Worldwide has launched MMR Express, a suite of tools for rapid and cost-effective insights. The solutions include screening, concept and package testing and optimisation, online focus groups and video, and rapid sensory evaluation. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity is appointing Razorfish exec Michael Karg as Group Chief Executive Officer from next year, when he will replace Michael Greenlees who is stepping down from the role after eight years with the business. More
UK commercial radio association Radiocenter has launched a new tool called Brand Music Navigator, to help advertisers and agencies optimize their use of music to strengthen brands. More
Digital analytics specialist comScore is to buy film and TV measurement firm Rentrak in an all stock deal valued at around $732m. This acquisition, which will create a new giant in cross-platform measurement, is expected to close in early 2016. More
GfK has announced it now has all the assets needed to fully evaluate ads across media - including at a brand impact level. This involves the actual measurement of individual exposure to ads, as well as attribution of those exposures across multiple devices and different ecosystems. More
Millward Brown Digital has introduced a mobile solution through which to evaluate the effectiveness of ads on Facebook and Instagram. More
UK agency eDigitalResearch has launched a tool called HUB Text Analytics, to help explore verbatim comments from a range of data, including social media and live chat exchanges. More
WPP audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has announced a partnership with six major Chinese firms in the digital and data arena, bringing their audience data into Xaxis' data management platform (DMP). More
In London, independent agency Firefish has hired Steve Banks as a Qualitative Director focused on financial services. More
In London, shopper analytics specialist Walkbase has partnered with Samsung to provide in-store analytics to retailers who use the electronics giant's digital screens. More
Latin American media measurement specialist IBOPE Media is to be rebranded in the region as Kantar IBOPE Media, following the WPP division's recent investment. More
US-based Civicom Marketing Research Services has opened an office in London, to support client qual research needs across the UK and EU. More
UK-based full service agency Tpoll has been re-named MindMover, and has announced the appointment of Laura Lake as Managing Director. More
Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corp has agreed to acquire London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly, for an initial £56m and with potential for £56m more in future performance-related payments. More
UK-based health and consumer marketing group Cello has reported a 50% drop in pre-tax profit to £1.7m for the six months to the end of June, driven by investment in its US operations and a £1.1m provision made for an ongoing case with the UK tax authorities. More
Online community and survey tech provider Toluna has received a $10m investment from its holding company ITWP Acquisitions, for use in promoting its QuickSurveys DIY online consumer insights platform. More
IBM has hired former Thomas Cook CEO Harriet Green to lead its newly launched Internet of Things (IoT) business unit, which will bring together its strengths in big data, advanced analytics and cognitive computing. More
Digital media operations and data analysis firm Theorem has acquired UK-based FaR Partners, a data-driven consultancy which helps publishers and media owners benchmark their performance. Terms were not disclosed. More
Two former eBay researchers, Nicolas Bulois and Barbara Langer, have set up a new agency, Insight Angels, offering 'flexible freelance support' to clients and agencies. More
WPP has extended its strategic partnership with marketing software giant Adobe, to provide solutions to clients through six specialist WPP agencies called 'the WPP-Adobe Alliance'. Separately, WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell has spoken about the 'very low standards' of some online audience measures, including Facebook's. More
British online audience measurement body UKOM has appointed Ian Dowds as its first CEO. More
Research software firm Confirmit has developed a location and beacon triggering solution, to help clients understand 'in-the-moment' customer behaviour. The company has also ammounced its official launch in Australia. More
Online research company Lightspeed GMI has announced a global roll-out for its survey programming platform, QuestionArts, backed by a newly strengthened leadership team. More
Liverpool, UK-based video analysis specialist LivingLens has hired Andrew Mitchell as Global Commercial Director, Matt Marontate as Business Development Director, and Adam Cooper as Head of Technology. More
Veteran online company AOL has acquired end-to-end mobile platform Millennial Media, Inc., whose services include ad targeting and analytics. The deal, $1.75 per share of the acquired firm's common stock, values it at around $US 238m (£156m). More
Kerry Sette has joined Ogilvy Public Relations (Ogilvy PR) as EVP / Research Director of its Research Group, based in New York. More
The Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo) - the replacement for the UK's NRS - has appointed Ipsos MORI to provide the published media industry's new audience measurement service; and has named Aviva Group Brand Director Jan Gooding as its new Chair. More
Berlin-based social media analytics specialist Searchmetrics has appointed Volker Smid as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Tom Schuster who has left the company. More
Czech Republic-based social media monitoring company Sociabakers has appointed Robert Lang as its new Chief Executive Officer, replacing co-founder Jan Rezab who takes on the role of Executive Chairman. More
The UK's Financial Times (FT) has promoted Tom Betts for the new role of Chief Data Officer. He also joins the publisher's Executive Board, which oversees its global strategy and performance. More
In the UK, retail and healthcare data giant IRI has introduced a solution called Digital Active, to help FMCG marketers isolate and measure the effect of digital media spend on FMCG sales in-store. More
UK-based consultancy FreshMinds has launched an ideation approach called Spark, promising to help brands in the early stages of the innovation process by generating ideas for new products and services. The firm's existing product suite has also been upgraded. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna has introduced the 'Mobile Member App', allowing users to participate in surveys while on the move, and post their own questions to the firm's community of nearly nine million members. More
Brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has announced the opening of an office in Dubai, led by Managing Director Ziad Skaff, who previously served as Regional Executive Director of Research and Insights at sister company Omnicom Media Group MENA. More
Publicis-owned full-service digital agency Razorfish Global has acquired Sydney-based firm 2DataFish, a consultancy focused on Adobe data analytics and marketing optimisation. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Management consultancy Accenture has acquired Brazilian digital agency AD.Dialeto. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More
Interpublic division IPG Mediabrands has hired media auditor Charles Godbold for the newly created role of Global Director of Media Intelligence Systems. He will take up the post in October, after relocating from Sydney, Australia to London. More
WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell is urging Rentrak and comScore to join forces and find a solution to what he describes as 'faulty measurement' of digital ad views and viewability. More
TV audience rating body BARC India has confirmed that it has partnered with Nielsen/Kantar joint venture TAM India, to form a new meter management company. According to a statement issued by BARC, ratings data produced by the new firm will be the sole trading currency for the country. More
In London, digital marketing agency and online buzz measurement specialist iCrossing has promoted Chief Strategy Officer Mark Iremonger to the role of UK CEO, replacing Paul Doleman who is leaving the business. More
WPP has reported that revenue in its Data Investment Management (DIM) arm fell slightly (0.3%) to £1.173bn during the first half of the year, from £1.176bn in last year's first six months; while DIM headline profit before tax rose 11.7% to £100.6m from £88.1m a year earlier. More
Brand tracking researcher Nepa UK has partnered with qualitative social media intelligence specialist Bakamo Social, promising their shared clients a holistic understanding of consumer behaviour. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has rolled out a solution called Viewpoint, in Asia Pacific, and says it is the first fully programmatic product to guarantee 100% viewability in the region. More
In the UK, eDigitalResearch has appointed Angie Coombe as Research Manager and David Jeans as Senior Researcher Manager in its Insight team, while Darryl Sherborne joins the Strategic Technical team as Project Manager. The firm has also appointed four others, and promoted two. More
In New York, managed analytics firm Ugam has partnered with mobile and online survey technology provider OnePoint Global to enhance its mobile and SMS survey capabilities. More
Technology industry B2B data and insights provider Aberdeen Group has announced major enhancements to its CI Technology Data Set, following the company's change of ownership in April. More
Media research company 'other lines of enquiry' has consolidated its TV broadcast, radio and press research offerings under one umbrella brand, reflecting the converging of media platforms as well as company growth. Former Ipsos AD Sara Rice joins the newly merged team as Senior Manager. More
WPP-owned digital research specialist Lightspeed GMI has opened an office in Gurgaon, India, with a team led by Ashish Pandey, Client Development Manager and Siddhartha Dutta, General Manager. More
Media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has appointed former Nielsen MD Peter Cornelius as Director of Client Service - Media for Australia and New Zealand. More
In New York, WPP's brand, media and comms researcher Millward Brown has hired former Kantar IT EVP Matt Glace as Global Chief Information Officer, and a member of its global Board. More
Partners Kantar Media and mobile survey platform GeoPoll have announced the launch of a joint service bringing 'reliable, real-time audience measurement' to a swathe of African states. The service is currently available across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. More
London-based full service agency Opinium Research has hired former Millward Brown exec James Sweatman to head its Technology division. More
UK-based marcoms group Chime has announced revenues down 7% to £184.5m, with profit before tax slumping from £9.57m in H1 2014 to just £1.41m. Much of the drop hinged however on difficult comparatives and the effect of cyclical sporting events, and the insight division CIE was solid. More
In London, DIY survey software firm Qualtrics has appointed Ian McVey as Head of Enterprise Sales for Northern Europe, responsible for setting up and staffing the business in the UK. More
GfK has reported organic growth of just 0.3% in the first half of 2015. Reported sales climbed 7.1% to EUR 747.2m, but almost all this increase resulted from the weak Euro. Adjusted operating income rose 3.7% to EUR 71.2m, and CEO Matthias Hartmann sales should pick up in the second half. More
Further evidence of the increasing recognition given to User Experience skills: ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty has promoted its own Head of UX Adam Powers to be the company's first Chief Experience Officer. More
A busy two weeks for Google: alongside the high profile announcement of a new CEO and the creation of a parent company, Alphabet, the search and advertising giant has signed new metrics deals with comScore and Nielsen, and registered a new ad viewability patent. More
Multi-screen measurement specialist Rentrak has reported a 23% rise in fiscal 2016 first quarter revenue to $27.5m ($22.3m in the prior year period), driven by a 49% revenue increase in its TV Everywhere division. More
Marcoms giant WPP is planning to bring together its agencies in eleven locations in Madrid, Spain, into the former Telefonica headquarters in the Chamberi neighbourhood of the city. The move brings more than 40 companies and around 2,500 people under one roof. More
Netherlands-based online research and marketing analytics firm MetrixLab has appointed three new client directors at its offices in the UK. More
In the UK, video data mining and analysis specialist LivingLens has raised £1m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to expand its client servicing function, and to develop additional video technology. More
In New York, information solutions giant Experian Marketing Services has hired MR industry veteran Pasquale (Pat) Pellegrini for the newly created role of Chief Research Officer and General Manager. More
In the US, WPP-owned online specialist Lightspeed GMI has appointed Michael Krameisen as Director of Business Development. He joins with more than 25 years' business development experience gained in the marketing research industry. More
A committee of MPs is assessing whether the UK Government is doing enough to help UK businesses make the most of their big data, while looking at issues around consumer data protection and privacy. More
WPP-owned media agency Mindshare APAC has launched a regional team called FAST, to provide services to brands looking to make sense of their marcoms data. More
In London, Havas Media Group (HMG) has hired former IPG Mediabrands exec Yvonne O'Brien for a newly created role, Group Chief Insight Officer. She takes up the position on 11th August. More
Consumer data firm dunnhumby has upgraded its Behavioural Attitudinal Research (BAR) tool, to enable brands to measure themselves against their competitors based on chosen brand attributes. More
Finnish information technology giant Nokia has sold its HERE digital mapping and location analytics business to a consortium of automotive companies, with a price tag of around EUR 2.8 billion. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported a 16% pro forma increase in second quarter revenue to $91.3m, and first half revenues up 15% to $178.3m. More
London-based IFF Research has announced five new hires - Sara Dobie and Sam Morris as SREs, graduate trainees Conor Healy and Jeffy Henderson, and Mark Lynch as Marketing Executive. Three employees are also promoted. More
Experian has upgraded its Experian Marketing Suite with the addition of new features including addressable advertising and predictive intelligence tools powered by its massive consumer database. More
In the US, IT industry analyst Gartner has reported a 5% increase in second quarter revenue to $547.9m, amounting to a 12% increase at constant currency. More
WPP's digital data collection arm Lightspeed GMI has appointed Susanne Goller and Johannes Van Lochem as Key Account Directors in its London office. More
WPP and buyout specialist Provident Equity Partners are in 'advanced discussions' to buy UK marcoms group Chime Communications for around £350m. More
Nielsen has reported second quarter revenues of $1,559m, down 2.2% in dollars but up 4.8% on a constant currency basis, compared with the second quarter of 2014. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has reported revenue of £76.3m for the year to the end of April - an 11% increase on a constant currency basis. More
WPP's Kantar Media has acquired a stake in digital media intelligence specialist BIScience, which specialises in cross-channel and global digital media monitoring, planning and optimization. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Games analytics and personalization specialist deltaDNA has added an ad management solution, SmartAds, to its platform. The new addition combines intelligent player targeting with ad mediation in order to increase in-game ad revenues. More
Canada-based social media analyst Engagement Labs has completed the acquisition of Word-of-Mouth specialist Keller Fay Group, for an undisclosed amount. More
Ipsos has reported half-year revenues up 10.2% in Euros to EUR 832.9m. Given that the Euro has lost around 20% of its value against the dollar and 10% against the pound in the last 12 months, this equates to a real-terms decline of -0.4%. Profit measures showed a slight improvement. More
GroupM has partnered with Networked Insights, giving execs from the WPP firm access to real-time social media consumer data via the 'Kairos' marketing analytics platform. More
Microsoft has launched Pulse for Market Research, part of its Bing Pulse audience engagement division and billed as 'a [free] self-service solution for surveys, live content rating, and moderated response groups of any size'. More
Alibaba Group and Unilever China have announced a comprehensive strategic partnership giving the global consumer goods giant access to Alibaba's data-driven ecosystem to target customers across China. More
Sports marketing firm Repucom has appointed Shane Mattiske as Joint Managing Director, with a remit to drive the consulting and strategy side of the business. More
Canada-based privacy specialist Nymity is to open a European headquarters in London, helping companies comply with fast-changing privacy and data protection laws including the upcoming and long-awaited / delayed EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More
British-based technology company Privitar, a specialist in big data security, has closed a seed funding round of more than $1m from investors including the two most recent former CEOs of Reuters. More
UK marketing budgets grew again in Q2 2015, according to the latest IPA Bellwether report, but marketers' general confidence declined due to company prospects and general doubt about the global economy. The picture for MR budgets improved slightly from April's report. More
UK-based online researcher BrainJuicer has issued a half-year trading update, in advance of formal results due on September 24th. Revenue rose four percent but pre-tax profits will be around 25% down on last year with overheads growing faster than revenues. More
ISP-level ad targeting company Phorm has announced change at the top as it enters a new phase in its development. Out goes company founder and long-time CEO Kent Ertugrul, along with CFO Andy Croxson, and in comes former Arbitron exec Timothy Todd Smith as the new Chief Exec. More
Mobile and technology panel division Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has launched a new consumer panel in India, consisting of more than 20,000 individual members and said to represent more than five hundred million people. More
Piers Leonard, Research Manager at social media research specialist FACE, has died after a battle with leukaemia. More
London-based customer retail specialist Perception Research Services has launched a new hybrid quant and qual methodology for evaluating e-commerce offerings. More
UK-based business services marketplace blur Group has announced the launch of a Business Intelligence product giving data on global business services e-commerce trends and markets. More
Two months after its launch, global alliance The Digital Insight Network has announced five new partner firms, based in the USA, Russia, Italy, Poland and Austria. More
Networking giant Cisco has committed to invest more than $1 billion in multiple digital projects in the UK over the next three to five years. This includes $150m on Internet of Everything (IoE) start-ups. More
WPP-owned Kantar is consolidating its activities in Israel by transferring Millward Brown's country license to TNS. The group says this will help it expand its presence in the market and provide better service both for local and global clients. More
In Thailand, GroupM digital unit mInteraction has launched a Research & Consumer Insights division, and appointed Pan Jroongtanapibarn as Manager, Strategy Resources & Insights. More
Kantar Media has launched an app called 'TGI Target Snapshot', to enable agency execs to access and understand insights into a range of consumer behaviour, including brand usage, consumption levels, shopper type, demographics and media consumption. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile research technology firm RealityMine has appointed Arbitron veteran Dottye Gould-Smith as Director of Product Methods, based in New York City. More
Ad targeting firm Phorm in its accounts for 2014 has once again reported a colossal operating loss - this time $37.9m (2013: $35.1m) - and tiny revenues of $351k (2013: $280k). The company has closed its operation in Turkey to focus on China, the US - and Russia where some revenue is now arriving. More
UK research consultancy Simpson Carpenter has appointed former Cello Health Insight Director Dave Bostock as Head of Digital. More
Israeli social media analytics business Twtrland has rebranded as Klear, and has raised $1.5m in funding, quadrupling its total investment to date. The company says it will focus the cash on marketing and sales, principally in the UK and US. More
WPP has taken steps to become the first international marcoms group to conduct business on the island of Cuba. More
Ipsos has brought together several of its retail measurement services to form a new Market Measurement business unit, which will be managed globally. More
Former Nielsen and GMI exec Simon Guy is heading up a new digital research company, DataChefs, based in Davos, Switzerland and with a global partner network. More
Glen Westlake, the founder of Birmingham, UK-based business analytics company IT Performs has sold the company to SAP consultancy firm itelligence Business Solutions in order to focus on a new company, Kairos, specialising in cloud-based predictive analytics. More
The UK's Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) has updated its guidelines for products that measure the viewability of online ads. More
UK audience research body BARB has awarded its newly combined Establishment Survey and Panel Recruitment contract to Ipsos Connect, from January 2016 for an initial three years. This combination replaces two previous contracts and follows a successful pilot study by BARB in 2014. More
In the UK, big data and sentiment analysis specialist Digital Contact has raised £2.4m ($3.8m) in investment funding, which it says will be used to increase the efficiency of its analytics engine. More
Manchester, UK-based agency Join the Dots has appointed former Tesco exec Mark MacNaughton as an Account Development Director, and Tim Burge as an Associate Director. More
In the UK Nik Harta, formerly a Director of agency markettiers4dc and the founder of its research division Opinion Matters, has left to form his own full-service research and marketing agency, Yolo Communications. More
TNS has announced the launch of Social TR*M, an approach which combines traditional surveys with social media analysis to give deeper insight into consumers' feelings about products and services. More
Recently formed London agency Red Dot Research has rebranded as 3GEM Research and Insights, aligning itself with a sister company, 3GEM Media, specialising in PR. More
WPP's GroupM has acquired Netherlands-based firm Greenhouse Group, which provides digital media and marketing services through four operating companies. Among these is Source Republic, whose services include insight and analysis. More
Kenya-based marketing services firm Scangroup Limited has prefixed its name with WPP, reflecting its majority ownership by the group, and signifying the 'shared vision and values' of the two firms. More
UK television measurement body BARB has announced two new appointments to help deliver its expanding range of services: Paul Smith joins as Project Manager and Sonja Ajdin as Research Manager. More
WPP has increased its shareholding in Denmark-based TAM analysis software company TechEdge, from 20 to 49 percent. More
Technology veteran James Powell is to join Nielsen as Global Chief Technology Officer, from July 6th, from Thomson Reuters where he is EVP and CTO. More
Mobile data intelligence platform AdNear is expanding into Europe, appointing former TrustE Managing Director Ken Parnham as General Manager of Europe, based in its new London office. More
New York-based ad tech company AppNexus has agreed to acquire RealMedia Latin America (RMLA) - its fifth company buy in twelve months - giving it a strong foothold in the continent. Separately, AppNexus has joined comScore's 'Trust' initiative and launched a new tool. More
UK-based mobile research technology firm RealityMine has appointed former TNS Director Jonathan Briggs as MD of Australia, based in its Sydney office. More
In London, Kantar Media has hired Nathalie Zimmerman-Nénon for the newly created position of Managing Director of its global sports business. More
Around 20% of WPP's investors refused to endorse CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's £43m pay package at this afternoon's Annual General Meeting - quite a lot, 'though quite a lot fewer than in some previous years. More
In the Netherlands, online publishing industry group VINEX and its partner Stichting KijkOnderzoek, (SKO) the body responsible for the reporting and monitoring of viewing behaviour, have expanded their contract with Kantar Media to include measurement of all online viewing behaviour. More
In London, WPP brand, media and comms researcher Millward Brown has appointed former Digital Radio UK director Jane Ostler as Sector Managing Director, Media and Digital. More
According to reports in the UK press, marcoms giant WPP will face a shareholder rebellion over CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's £43m pay package at tomorrow's AGM. More
In the UK, the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) has announced that CEO Jerry Wright will be stepping down from the post at the end of 2015, after seven years with the organisation. More
UK-based youth research and marketing strategist Dubit has appointed children's media, play and learning insights specialist David Kleeman as Senior Vice President of Global Trends, based in its New York office. More
San Francisco-based online ratings firm Quantcast has acquired Stockholm-based digital ad agency Ad Performance - for an undisclosed sum - and has opened a new office in Milan, Italy. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has launched a new 'mobile-first' performance ad business called Light Reaction, which will combine Xaxis data with scientific insight into how audiences perceive, relate and react to ads. More
In the UK, video big data technology specialist Big Sofa has launched a crowdfunding initiative, with the aim of raising £700k in exchange for a 10% equity stake in the company. More
Cello's social media intelligence division Pulsar has teamed up with social media analyst Datasift to provide Pulsar clients with access to anonymous and aggregated content data about Facebook activity and topics. More
Media and information giant Thomson Reuters has expanded its MarketPsych analysis service, to provide investors with insight about the emotions and perceptions embedded in news, blogs and social media, and their impact on markets and trading strategies. More
Ad giant Dentsu Aegis Network is to acquire Polish agency Marketing Wizards, which lists SEO, CRM, web analytics and usability services among its portfolio of services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Mobile segmentation and analytics specialist Swrve has opened a European Data Centre, where it will retain customer mobile data within the borders of the European Union, to eliminate the risks associated with transferring app users' personal data overseas. More
Kantar Media has launched a tool called TGI Digital Planner, which taps into off- and online behavioural data from its TGI consumer insight study, to help identify the most appropriate target for advertisers. More
Surrey, UK-based MR community and panel management tech company MARSC has announced a partnership with New York-based MR software and solutions firm thinqonline. More
In the UK, the National Readership Survey (NRS) is to add comScore's mobile and tablet estimates to the next release of its print and digital data product the NRS PADD, following changes to the way comScore measure mobile audiences. More
Nielsen has acquired neuromarketing firm Innerscope Research, which it will merge with its brain specialist company NeuroFocus under the Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience brand name. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
FEPE, the worldwide association of outdoor advertising companies, has partnered with a consortium of firms to develop what it claims will be the first standardised industry approach to measuring digital out-of-home (OOH) audiences. More
WPP has promoted Tamara Ingram to the new position of Chief Client Officer, overseeing more than 50 client teams and all the marcoms giant's global accounts. More
UK-based firm TVbeat has rolled out its real-time television audience measurement solutions to broadcasters and agencies in Croatia. More
WPP digital agency Mirum has acquired a majority stake in German full-service digital marketing agency RSK Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
US-based DIY survey software firm Qualtrics is to create an additional 100 jobs at its European HQ in the centre of Dublin, where it will employ up to 250 staff by the end of 2016. More
KPMG Capital, the venture fund belonging to accounting and advisory giant KPMG, has invested in data mining and predictive modelling firm SDART, while also providing funding for KPMG proprietary solutions Astrus and Customer Compass. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. More
London-based mobile survey tech firm Lumi has announced a strategic partnership with panel marketplace platform provider Cint, combining technologies to create 'the largest mobile-first panel'. More
UK-based Voice of the Customer specialist eDigitalResearch has announced record 25% growth in its annual turnover, to 'just shy of £10m' for the 2014/2015 financial year. More
SSI has launched a geo-location product, SSI Proximity Sample, which integrates with its mobile data collection app QuickThoughts and survey quality tool QuestTest to provide an end-to-end mobile survey solution. More
WPP has acquired a majority stake in London-based and data-driven sports marketing agency Two Circles Ltd, and will immediately incorporate it into ESP, a new global agency within GroupM serving rightsholders from the worlds of sports and entertainment. More
Digital agency group Razorfish Global has appointed former Gravity4 exec Samih Fadli as its first Chief Intelligence Officer, based in Seattle and leading its fast-growing Data Intelligence Practice. More
In London, mobile app quality specialist Perfecto Mobile has launched the Mobile Test Coverage Index, a benchmarking service to help app developers and marketers test their products on the most appropriate devices and systems. More
Ipsos has announced the appointment of Tim Farmer to lead the deployment of its electronic TV and Radio audience measurement service MediaCell, within the newly formed Ipsos Connect division. More
TNS has appointed former Ipsos MORI exec Debbie Shuttlewood as Head of Mystery Customer Research in the UK, replacing Simon Taylor who moves to the role of Group Director in TNS Tech and Finance. More
A number of research organisations have come together to lead a new industry initiative called 'Insights 2020 - Driving Customer-Centric Growth', with the aim of studying the future of market research, insights and analytics strategy, structure and capability. More
GfK has reported first quarter sales of EUR 362.5m, an 8.2% rise of which 6.8% is the result of currency effects, and just 1.3% is organic growth. However, operating income and margins were up. More
WPP sister agencies TNS and Kantar Media have partnered with emerging markets mobile survey platform GeoPoll, to deploy a new range of research products and services across Africa. More
UK-based Creston Unlimited has announced a partnership with The Digital Consultancy, which helps clients analyse and understand the difference between digital consumers' expectations and their actual experience. More
The British Polling Council, supported by the Market Research Society (MRS), is setting up an independent enquiry to look into why UK pollsters underestimated or completely missed the Conservative lead over Labour during the run-up to yesterday's general election. More
Technology specialist Gartner has reported a 5% increase in first quarter revenue to $471.2m, with the profit measure normalized EBITDA falling 5% to $80.7m. Separately, the Board has authorized $1.2bn for share repurchase. More
In London, news and information services provider CNN International Commercial has hired former IDG UK exec Rob Bradley for a newly created role, Head of Digital Advertising Sales and Data. More
Research-led media group Light Reading has launched its first region-specific research service, focusing on Africa and the Middle East (AME). More
Research organisation The Reputation Institute has appointed Ed Coke as Director of Consulting Services and Jason Stokes as Vice President of Sales - both for the UK and Ireland. More
In the North of England, online panel firm ResearchBods has acquired Harrogate-based phone, panel, community and online qual specialist ClearStream Research. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Data driven CRM specialist Merkle has acquired London-based performance marketing agency Periscopix, which specializes in search, programmatic media and web analytics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Digital audience measurement firm comScore has announced the acquisition of California-based digital ad analytics specialist Proximic; and has reported first quarter revenue up 14% to $87.3m, and the profit measure adjusted EBITDA 25% higher at $21.3m. More
SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg died on Friday whilst on holiday in Mexico with his family, apparently as a result of an accident in the gym. He was 47. More
Sir Martin Sorrell, the CEO of marcoms giant WPP, received a 44% increase in 2014 pay, bringing his salary package to almost £43m. This makes Sorrell the highest-paid FTSE 100 CEO, with a pay package more than twice the size of the second highest earner*. More
Joe Burgess, an Account Manager at media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity, was killed last month after being hit by a London tube train during the morning rush hour. He died in St Mary's Hospital on 13th April, three days after the accident. More
A new industry association has been set up by six membership bodies in Scotland, to help promote collaboration between those working in the market research, marcoms, media and publishing sectors, and to support the country's reputation for creativity and innovation. More
Online fashion retailer Zalando has opened a 'Fashion Insights Centre' in Dublin's Silicon Docks, and plans to recruit up to 200 new staff for it over the next three years, including specialists in big data, data science and engineering. More
WPP-owned marcoms network J.Walter Thompson has launched a global business intelligence practice, offering a combination of research, innovation and data analytics across its global network. More
Tech specialist Forrester Research has reported first quarter revenue up to $75.2m from $73.1m in Q1 2014. Revenues from the Research division were up 2% to $51.9m from $50.8m, while Advisory Services and Events revenues rose 5% to $23.3m from $22.2m a year earlier. More
Kantar Media has launched a solution to help clients promote media inventory, using insights from its TGI consumer study. More
Vancouver-based research and brand consultancy The Sound has made four of its staff Partners in the business. More
A group of six independent research companies have set up an international association called The Digital Insight Network, focusing purely on digital methodologies. Members will share best practice and innovations, and assist each other with global research projects. More
In London and Hong Kong, two branding veterans have set up a new company called WeAreFearless, using consumer neuroscience to help clients understand brand partnerships, experiences and storytelling. More
comScore and Kantar Media are rolling out their first joint offering for cross-media audience measurement, to key clients. More
Creston-owned fieldwork business ICM Direct has appointed Michael Phillips as Data Services Director and Ali Yusuf as Solutions Development Executive, while promoting Mona Bläute to the role of Deputy Operations Director. Former Data Services Director Teresa Lynch has retired. More
UK television broadcaster Channel 4 has promoted Charlie Palmer to the role of Head of Viewer Relationship Management, to drive the consumer-facing element of its data strategy. More
London-based online survey and panel management specialist Demographix has hired Gina Lee-Young for the newly created position of Head of Insight. More
Berlin-based mobile audience data and targeting specialist adsquare has appointed Karel Ellis-Gray as Country Manager UK. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile research tech firm RealityMine is expanding its syndicated TouchPoints and passive measurement business to 20 new markets worldwide; simultaneously securing rights to the TouchPoints name and the services of the co-founders of USA TouchPoints. More
UK-based Chime has announced eight new appointments in its Insight & Engagement Group (CIE), spanning its Facts International, CIE Commercial, Watermelon, Cherry Picked and Opinion Leader businesses. More
Nielsen has announced the sale of another 20-23m of its shares with another underwritten secondary offering. Shares were trading last week above $46 - a considerable rise since the last offer, in December. More
European social media monitoring and analytics platform Talkwalker has launched a suite of social media data applications which it says make instant actionable analysis of social media data available to 'every customer facing department in an organization'. More
Digital audience specialist comScore has rolled out its 'Industry Trust Initiative' in Canada; and is shortly to extend its 'Trust Profiles' metrics to a total of 44 global markets. More
WPP has reported like-for-like first quarter revenue growth across all its business sectors except for the Data Investment Management (DIM) division, where revenue fell 1.4% to £558m from £566m in the prior year period. More
Ipsos has reported 0.8% organic growth in revenue for the first quarter of 2015 - though measured in Euros revenue was up 10.6% to EUR 379.6m. More
Digital research consultancy Mavens of London is opening a US headquarters in San Diego, California, and a Latin American base in Sao Paulo, Brazil. More
Marcoms network Publicis Worldwide has acquired London-based shopper marketing agency Vivid Brand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
US-based location analytics specialist PlaceIQ has appointed former Microsoft exec Mandeep Mason to spearhead its expansion into the EMEA region. More
UK agency eDigitalResearch has added the facility to embed surveys directly into its clients' apps and trigger feedback prompts via beacon technology. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.1% drop in first quarter 2015 revenue to $1.46 billion, caused by the impact of foreign exchange - at constant currency, revenue was up 4.4%. Profits rose 8.6% to $63m from $58m in Q1 2014. More
In London, marcoms group Creston has acquired user experience, digital design and technology consultancy How Splendid Ltd (Splendid) for an undisclosed sum. More
US-based online survey and analysis tool provider SurveyGizmo has opened a support office in London, as part of its plan to extend its services to international markets. More
UKOM, the cross-industry organisation set up to oversee the measurement of online audiences, has renewed comScore's contract to act as its exclusive partner for online media audience measurement in the UK. More
GfK has named Ben van der Werf to succeed company veteran Richard Jameson as head of its Consumer Experiences business in the UK, plus the Nordics and Baltics. Jameson leaves in mid-May after more than 25 years at the firm, to pursue as yet unspecified 'new opportunities'. More
Ipsos has announced a suite of research offerings based on geolocation technology and exploiting the Google Consumer Surveys platform. More
Research and technology firm Instantly is to build a research panel focused on South Asian audiences in the UK, on behalf of ethnic audience research specialist Quant Edge Ltd and known as Multi Cultural Britain Think. More
The European Commission has awarded EUR 3.6m to Imperial College London and emotion measurement specialist Realeyes, to develop their technology. More
WPP's Data Alliance has expanded its reach to Sub-Saharan Africa, with the opening of an office in Cape Town led by former VP of Strategy and Operations Devon Tighe. More
In the UK, consumer insight and brand consultancy Nutshell has launched a mobile app which can host traditional surveys, supplemented by uploads of photos or video clips. More
The IPA's latest Bellwether survey of marketing executives indicates a further upward revision to UK marketing budgets during the first quarter of 2015, but says spend on market research fell by 1.3%, having risen 0.6% in the previous quarter. More
Nielsen Book has announced a partnership with Chinese retail tracking service Openbook. The deal promises clients in the English language book markets in the US and UK a better understanding of the market in China, and vice versa. More
WPP has acquired New York-based mobile ad serving and measurement platform Medialets, for an undisclosed sum. More
Marcoms giant WPP has launched a consultancy called Gain Theory, which brings together analytics, technology solutions, and consumer research and insight capabilities from around the group. More
Twitter is planning to cut off access to its data 'firehose' - the stream of tweets and related information it currently provides to third party vendors. More
Outdoor advertising company Primesight has partnered with mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research to launch a solution called Primemobile Live, described as the first real-time reporting platform for outdoor ad campaigns. More
In New York, former [x+1] CEO John Nardone has joined ad serving, measurement and technology company Flashtalking as Chief Executive Officer. More
Paris-based social media monitoring and competitive intelligence firm Digimind has launched a measurement tool which can be used to analyze numerous social media accounts in a single interface. More
A new company called PAMCO has been set up to replace the National Readership Survey (NRS) as the organisation which oversees the audience figures for British newspapers and magazines. Known as PAMCO, the new firm will provide more up-to-date cross-platform data. More
In the UK, media ratings provider Digital-i has appointed former BBC and Channel 4 researcher Claire Grimmond as Managing Director, replacing founder Ali Vahdati who has taken on the role of Chairman. More
In the UK, WPP-owned digital data collection specialist Lightspeed GMI has hired former Research Now ops exec Emma Beech for the newly created role of Vice President, Operations EMEA, overseeing its operations teams in Europe. More
In the US, digital analytics consultancy Analytics Pros has appointed former Pitney Bowes exec Vicki O'Meara as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding co-owner and Board member Charlotte Whitmore. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna has appointed Ludovic Milet as Managing Director, APAC, based in Hong Kong and leading the business across the region. More
IBM is to invest $3 billion over the next four years to establish an Internet of Things (IoT) unit, which will capitalize on the company's expertise in gathering, combining and making sense of real-time data gathered from a variety of sources. More
WPP-owned media agency MEC South Africa has appointed former Effective Measure MD Alan Morrissey as Head of Analytics & Insights. More
London-based mobile ad tracking and app analytics start-up InstallTracker has raised $1m in seed funding, with which to launch its product, expand its team of developers, and open a 24/7 support division. More
UK-based agency SPA Future Thinking has dropped the first part of its name, as it prepares for 'aggressive' expansion. More
A lawyer for the European Commission has told European citizens to close their Facebook accounts if they want to protect their private information from being accessed by the US intelligence services. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis is to acquire Action Exchange, Inc. (ActionX), a US-based multi-screen targeting business, with terms not disclosed. More
In the UK, Millward Brown has formally announced the appointment of Jane Bloomfield, previously Head of Innovations at Hall & Partners, as Brand Development Director. More
In the UK, full service cultural insights and innovation specialist CrowdDNA has appointed two new members of staff, while promoting Sarah Brierley to the position of Business and Strategy Director, and Aurelie Jamard to Associate Director of Innovation. More
Today we're launching a new recruitment site, 1potato, dedicated to opportunities for data and analytics professionals. Many readers and users of MrWeb / DRNO have been asking for something like it for years, and with the big data / data science boom, the time should be ripe. More
Industry organisations ESOMAR and the Global Research Business Network (GRBN) have published new online research guidelines, which focus on ensuring the integrity of sample quality. More
IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched a smartphone app called ElectUK, which allows users to track, analyse and visualise Twitter conversations about the forthcoming general election. More
In the UK, Chime's Insight & Engagement Group (CIE) has restored its revenues to the record 2012 level of £13.6m, after a substantial drop to £11.0m in 2013. More
Manchester, UK-based agency Join the Dots has reported a 25% rise in annual revenue to £6.1m, driven by both existing clients and a number of new community contracts. More
Millward Brown has rolled out a rapid response copy-testing solution for digital advertising requirements, available through MR app store ZappiStore. More
UK-based online research firm YouGov has announced interim results for the six months ended 31st January, with revenue up 11% year-on-year to £36.2m - up 10% in organic terms - and adjusted profit before tax up from £3.0m to £3.5m. More
Media giant Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) is expanding its PACE Panel platform, which combines media usage diary data, passive mobile usage data and custom research panel capabilities. More
Location-based marketing specialist xAd has announced four senior hires: former Twitter exec Paul Gelb; former Facebook Director Lissette Fernandez; Reagan Nunnally, previously of Google; and James Davies, currently Chief Strategy Officer at outdoor ad firm Posterscope. More
Laurence (Larry) Gold, the former publisher of market research industry journal Inside Research, has died at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer. More
UK paper The Financial Times has hired Havas content chief Renée Kaplan for the newly created role of Head of Audience Engagement. She will take up the post in May. More
UK-based online specialist BrainJuicer has decided to close its office in Italy, which has made a 'significant' loss. The group as a whole published its formal results yesterday, confirming it had grown revenue just 1% in 2014, to £24.65m. More
Private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Research Now. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. More
Online MR software company Confirmit has introduced a new SaaS environment for its Horizons product in Australia and New Zealand. More
New York-based ad targeting tech specialist AppNexus, in which WPP is an investor, is to acquire rival firm Yieldex, in a cash and stock deal said to be worth about $100m. More
New York-based social media analyst Dataminr has raised $130m in growth capital in a Series D financing round led by Fidelity Management and Research Company. More
Research technology and services group FocusVision has acquired Melbourne, Australia-based Insight Marketing Systems, creator of the Research Reporter SaaS platform. The buy is FocusVision's third in the last 12 months, as it seeks to round out its family of research offerings. More
In London four former employees of Screen Digest have launched Ampere Analysis, a new company backed by a panel of investors. The firm aims to shake up the information sector with a combination of new methodologies and techniques based around big data. More
Sampling, data collection and analytics firm SSI has agreed to purchase the majority of the assets of MRops, which supplier end-to-end research operations services to research agencies and consultancies. More
Reports say WPP has now made a bid for a majority stake in retail data powerhouse dunnhumby, with current owner Tesco apparently keen to retain a minority share. Separately, the media giant's CEO Sir Martin Sorrell is said to be 'in line for a £36m bonus'. More
Omnicom-owned brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners is moving its global headquarters across the Thames to Bankside, making room for further growth. More
In the US, healthcare data specialist Lightspeed All Global has appointed John Daly and Jacki Spear as directors in its Business Development team. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has hired David Shiffman as Senior Vice President of Marketing Solutions in the US, while Duncan Trigg takes up the position of Vice President of Advertising Effectiveness in London. More
Marcoms giant Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired Greek digital agency Mindworks, which will now operate under the name Isobar-iProspect Advertising Services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
London-based online community specialist Verve has received an undisclosed amount of series A funding in a round led by investment firm Subito Partners, whose founders Geoff Westmore and Neil Brown join the Verve Board. More
Investment continues to flow into analytics companies: VoC predictive analytics firm First Insight, location-based social media specialist Geofeedia, people analytics company Culture Amp and prospect scoring firm Growth Intelligence have all announced funding wins so far in March. More
WPP has announced preliminary results for 2014 including like-for-like revenue up 8.2%, like-for-like net sales up 3.3%, and good profits - EBITDA grew 7.5% at constant currency. However like-for-like revenue in the firm's insight or 'Data Investment Management' division (DIM) was up just 0.6%. More
Mobile and online survey technology company OnePoint Global has enhanced its platform with new features for users of SPSS Dimensions, making it easier for them to script and deploy off-line and online surveys via any mobile channel. More
UK-based BDRC Group has reported a 17.8% increase in turnover to £24.5m for the twelve months ended 30th September 2014, compared with £20.8m the previous year. Gross profits climbed 19.4%. More
Face CEO and founding partner Andrew Needham is stepping back from the day-to-day running of the business to become Chairman, ahead of a planned exit later in the year. He is replaced by COO and co-founder Job Muscroft. More
London-based online community specialist Verve has added Apple's iBeacon technology to its Community Panel app, allowing it to track individual members as they travel into and around stores fitted with the iBeacon device. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) has elected Crispin Beale, CEO of Chime Insight and Engagement, and Danny Russell, UK General Manager of Business Intelligence at Telefonica, as its new joint Chairmen, replacing Richard Silman who took on the role last April. More
In the UK, OnePoll, which specialises in conducting online polls for PR purposes, has acquired panel provider 2Brewarded. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Surrey-based Media Marketing Research International (MMR) has partnered with technology firm Klood to launch an online listening and analysis solution called Brand Data Intelligence (BDI), for use across the healthcare sector. More
MR agency B2B International has expanded its UK headquarters in Bramhall, Manchester and revealed a five-year plan to double its annual turnover to £15m. More
European-based Bilendi, which combines MR and online loyalty services, has agreed to acquire the Springboard UK access panel from Vision Critical, strengthening its online panels offering in the UK. More
In the UK, research firm Simpson Carpenter is forming a new department dedicated to comms research, and has appointed former Flamingo Group Insight Director Kirsty Higgins to lead it as Head of Communications Research. More
Nielsen is planning to move its legal domicile from the Netherlands to the UK in the third quarter of the year, in a bid to attract a broader group of investors from around the world. This change is not expected to significantly alter the firm's worldwide corporate tax rate. More
Global agency TNS has launched a mini crowdsourcing tool called ThinkTank, through which clients will be able to interact and debate with a carefully selected group of consumers on issues affecting their business. More
Ipsos has brought together its brand communication, advertising and media businesses under a new division called Ipsos Connect, which has replaced legacy brands Ipsos ASI and Ipsos MediaCT. More
Ipsos has reported a 2.2% increase in fourth quarter revenue to EUR 500.7m - a rise it describes as a 'timid return to growth' reflecting more favourable foreign exchange trends - and 'slight' organic growth of 0.8%. More
In the UK, media agency OMD has set up a real-time insights and ideas team it is calling The Newsroom. To do so, it is partnering with Buzzfeed, The Guardian, Global Radio, Outbrain, Google and Facebook. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has acquired Spanish media auditing firm Media Value (MV) from shareholders, including its co-founder Mauricio Barange, for a total consideration of up to EUR 6m. More
Digital specialist comScore has rolled out its mobile audience solution Mobile Metrix in the UK, providing measurement of total mobile audience behaviour across smartphones and tablets. More
US-based full service ad agency Deutsch LA has appointed analytics specialist Duncan Houldsworth as Executive Director of Data Strategy, in charge of the firm's Analytics team. More
The Israeli Audience Research Board (IARB) has extended Kantar Media's contract for television measurement until 2019. More
London-based qual and quant agency Critical Research has acquired insight and data collection firm RSM research, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the US, Millward Brown has launched a new business which brings together marketing science, strategic research and analytic consulting experts from its Marketing Science and MaPS (Marketing and Planning Systems) teams. More
London-based BDRC Group has launched BDRC Americas, a joint venture with Washington, DC-based full service researcher Fusion Analytics, which merges into the new company. More
In London, Basis Research has appointed Dr Sarah Jenkins, formerly Head of Qualitative in Ipsos MORI's MediaCT division, as a Senior Director to lead and develop its media, content and technology offer. More
YouGov has confirmed former Chief Strategy Officer Alex McIntosh as its new UK CEO, replacing Tim Britton. More
In a deal with some similarities to the recent US tie-in with Rentrak, WPP is to take a 15% to 20% stake in comScore through its Kantar data and insight arm, while comScore acquires a number of Kantar assets in Europe. More
Nielsen has reported Q4 revenue up 1.4% to $1.6 billion. Excluding the impact of the Arbitron and Harris Interactive acquisitions, the increase was just 0.1%. However the firm notes that this was its 34th consecutive quarter of revenue growth. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported a 19% increase in its four quarter 2014 revenue to $89.1m on a pro forma basis, while full year revenue increased 18% to $325.2m. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 5% increase in Research revenues to $53.8m in the fourth quarter of 2014. The group's Advisory Services and Events revenues rose 3% to $26.9m. More
Netherlands-based software provider CMNTY has launched a solution allowing researchers and marketers to build their own customised online communities for research or engagement projects. More
European fieldwork group Norstat has appointed Marc Leimann as Managing Director in Germany, replacing Christoph Irmer who moves into the group position of Chief Marketing Officer. More
Digital data collection provider Research Now has made a number of changes in its executive leadership team, including the promotions of John Rothwell, Kathy Rowley and Melanie Courtright to C-suite and EVP roles. More
European-based MR and online loyalty specialist Bilendi is to acquire Nordic agency M3 Research for an undisclosed sum. In a statement, Bilendi said the transaction should double revenues from its 'Services for Market Research' division in 2016. More
Mehmet Xhambazi and Abdi Saïd, co-founders of Response Fusion and former directors of OnePoll, have set up a new London-based company called Red Dot Research, which specialises in multimode online MR and panel provision, as well as PR research services. More
US online sample and research operations company Market Cube has set up an office in London, where it has appointed former Lightspeed Research exec Roy Patel as European Regional Head. More
In the UK Simon Marquis, Chairman of the National Readership Survey (NRS), is stepping down from the role at the end of the year, to 'make way for new blood' and a new system of governance across the sector. More
In Australia, behavioural insights firm Beyond Analysis has appointed ad agency veteran Jeff Sanders as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Neil Boulton who is leaving the company this month. More
Tech research firm Gartner has reported a 12% rise in fourth quarter 2014 revenue to $584.0m, compared with Q4 2013. Revenue in its core Research division also increased 12%, to $373.4m. More
Brand, media and comms researcher Millward Brown has promoted Chirantan Ray to the role of Managing Director in its Shanghai office; and appointed Robert Fuchs as Head of Media and Digital for Greater China and North Asia - also based in Shanghai. More
In the US, social media analytics specialist tracx has secured an $18m Series C round of financing, which it will use to drive product innovation, hire new staff, and fund the launch of additional global offices. More
A new guide which takes a fresh look at measuring social media impact has been launched by industry bodies the MRS (Market Research Society), IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising), and The Marketing Society, working with Facebook and Twitter. More
Omnicom's DAS Group of Companies has acquired Berlin-based digital consulting and transformation agency TLGG. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
LA-based research technology company uSamp is changing its name to Instantly, Inc. While planning substantial investment in its sample business, the firm says the new name will allow it to grow this in tandem with its burgeoning insights platform. More
GfK has reported a 2.9% drop in annual sales to EUR 1.451 billion from EUR 1.495 billion the previous year. Currency effects accounted for a 0.9% reduction: in organic terms, sales were down by 2.1%. More
London-based newspaper marketing body Newsworks has embarked on the second phase of a formal process to find suitable partners for a new audience measurement system. More
Colin Strong, UK Head of Industry, GfK, is leaving at the end of March after nineteen years with the business, to join online communities specialist Verve in the newly created position of Managing Director of Verve Ventures. Meanwhile GfK has announced three senior appointments of its own. More
The Havas Creative Group is merging its data agencies Havas EHS and Havas Discovery into a new brand called Helia, which will have combined data-related revenue of more than $70m, and 700 staff including more than 200 data scientists. More
London-based online communities specialist Verve has hired former Research Now exec Pete Flower for the newly created role of Community Development Director, focused on delivering community panel innovation. The company has also recruited five other new members of staff. More
Surrey, UK-based MR community and panel management tech company MARSC has promoted Allan Shaw to the position of Director of Sales & Marketing, while appointing industry veteran Pat Molloy as a non-executive member of its Board. More
dunnhumby Ventures has participated in a $1.2m seed investment in Dublin-based mobile marketing specialist Pulsate, which uses iBeacon technology to send customers messages and promotions relevant to their current location. More
Former Infotools MD Ian Murray and Conquest Research Director Catherine Heaney have launched a new agency called house51, which will offer brand, communications and social research through a network of senior consultants. More
Private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners is to acquire an undisclosed number of shares in digital data collection specialist Research Now from a group of the latter's shareholders. Financial terms of the transaction have not been released. More
Sports marketing research group Repucom has commenced a restructure of its business operations in Europe, including the departure by mutual consent of President Europe Marcel Cordes. Meanwhile Alexandre Callay has joined as Global Director Media Research and Content. More
The year 2015 is starting with marketers in buoyant mood, according to the Global Marketing Index (GMI) compiled by WARC sister company World Economics. Individual ratings for trading conditions, marketing budgets and staffing levels all showed positive movement. More
UK-based Voice of the Customer specialist eDigitalResearch has strengthened its technical and insight teams with five new hires - including Liz Boffey as a Research Director - and four promotions. More
Millward Brown has launched a rapid copy-testing solution for TV, LinkNow, promising results in as few as six hours. Based on the firm's well known Link solution, the new product is available through MR app store ZappiStore. More
Kantar Media has extended its contract providing TV audience measurement in Romania, until the end of 2019. The win follows a competitive tender process by ARMA, the country's television joint industry committee, and comes three years to the month after the current contract began. More
Apple has reportedly acquired UK-based music analytics start-up Semetric, provider of the Musicmetric tool which allows music industry clients to track sales, downloads and social media metrics for their artists. More
YouGov UK CEO Tim Britton has left the company after seven years, to pursue 'the next stage of his career'. He is replaced on an interim basis by Chief Strategy Officer Alex McIntosh. More
In London, Kantar Media has hired former BBC director Margo Swadley for the new role of Managing Director, UK TV & Video Measurement. More
WPP-owned Lightspeed GMI has expanded its online respondent validation product Honesty Detector to 27 markets across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. More
British ad management company Admedo has acquired New York-based online advertising and retargeting specialist Dispop. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, sports broadcast measurement specialist Repucom has hired former Lawn Tennis Association Chief Commercial Officer Simon Long as Head of Sales for the UK and Ireland (UK&I). More
UK-based research innovator BrainJuicer has announced a 1% increase in revenue to £24.6m in 2014. However, the firm said it had performed well in the US, where revenue increased by some 5%-6% on a constant currency basis. More
In the UK, mobile MR technology and consumer analytics specialist RealityMine has secured $2.5m of new investment funding, which it will use to recruit additional technical, sales and client support staff at its Manchester headquarters. More
In the UK, marketing budgets have increased for the ninth successive quarter, according to the IPA Bellwether report. While growth in Q4 2014 was at a slower rate, the average growth rate for marketing budgets in 2014 was the highest recorded in the survey's fifteen-year history. More
European firm Meetrics has been accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for the viewable ad impression measurement in its Ad Attention Monitor product - for both display and video ads. More
WPP-owned brand and media specialist Millward Brown has appointed Karen Rivoire as Chief Human Resources Officer, to lead the firm's strategy for attracting, retaining, and developing 'top talent'. More
In the UK, user experience design agency Foolproof has acquired personalisation and targeting technology specialist Knit for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, guest WiFi provider Purple WiFi has raised $5m in a funding round led by former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy. The investment will be used for international expansion, targeting EMEA, APAC and the Americas. More
Paris, London and Tokyo-based app re-targeting specialist Accengage has raised $3m in funding, which it will use to expand its team and develop new product features. More
Cambridge, MA-based outsourcing advisory and analyst firm HfS Research has hired Fred McClimans for the newly created position of Chief Client Officer, and Bram Weerts as Vice President of Global Business Development. More
UK-based business-to-business agency B2B International has opened an office in Singapore - its third location in the Asia Pacific region. More
Ogilvy & Mather's social media commerce, online listening and impact analysis practice has appointed Samson Choi as General Manager in Hong Kong. More
Virgin Media has appointed former Unilever and British Airways marketer Kerris Bright as Chief Marketing Officer, with an expanded remit that includes data, insight and analytics. She will join the company on 19th January. More
London and New York-based Tonic Insight, formed last year from the merger of consumer-focused Spring Research and its online communities specialist Tuned In, has launched a suite of online qual tools promising rapid delivery of results. More
UK-based research innovator BrainJuicer Group has announced senior internal promotions in the Americas and Europe and the opening soon of an office in Miami. More
Global research tech and services company 20|20 Research has opened a UK office from which it will service its online qual offerings throughout EMEA. FocusVision veteran David Chandler will head up the new location in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. More
London-based online communities specialist Verve has announced rapid growth in the final quarter of 2014 - detailing no fewer than 22 appointments - and ambitious plans for 2015. More
From all of us at MrWeb and Daily Research News to all of you, our readers and friends around the world, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for your support in 2014! More
London-based online research software and services provider Dub is relocating to new offices off City Road at the beginning of January, in preparation for an increase in headcount. More
Plymouth, UK-based online ad targeting firm Intelligent Optimisations has received a £250k grant from the GAIN Growth Fund, which it says it will use to recruit software engineers, data scientists, sales, marketing and finance execs. More
In the UK, business intelligence and big data software reseller IS Solutions is to buy Speed-Trap Holdings (STH), the parent company of online behaviour specialist Celebrus Technologies, for approximately £7.5m. More
Brand and media specialist Millward Brown has acquired full-service agency Habitus Investigación, in Ecuador. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, newspaper marketing body Newsworks has appointed former Havas exec Denise Turner as Director of Insight. She will take up her new post in early 2015. More
In Mexico, WPP has acquired digital agency Clarus, which lists research and digital consumer insights among its services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based cart abandonment analytics and personalisation specialist Yieldify has launched in the ANZ market with the opening of an office in Sydney, Australia. More
WPP's Kantar has acquired the majority interest in IBOPE Media, which comprises IBOPE Pesquisa de Midia e Participações, IBOPE Latinoamericana, and IMI.com. It has also bought the remainder of Millward Brown do Brasil and a minority share in IBOPE's political and social subsidiary. More
Technology firm Brandwatch has acquired London-based social media analytics specialist PeerIndex, for an undisclosed amount of cash and equity. More
WPP has appointed Smith & Nephew Chairman Roberto Quarta as a non-executive Director and Chairman-designate, succeeding Philip Lader. He will join the Board on 1st January 2015 and offer himself for re-election at the group's AGM in June. More
DIY survey software firm SurveyMonkey has raised $250m in an equity funding round, which it will use to pursue future M&A transactions and to enable existing investors and employees to sell some of their equity. According to reports, the funding values the firm at $2 billion. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile MR technology firm RealityMine has announced a follow-on funding round of £1.6m, and says it aims to triple its turnover for the second year running. More
Customer, employee, and market strategy research specialist ORC International has launched an online communities division, and appointed former Communispace exec Jennifer Adams to lead it. More
In London, Guardian Media Group has appointed Charlotte Putnam as Audience Director, in charge of the newspaper's Commercial Insight, Consumer Insight, and Primary Research functions. The paper has also hired ITV's Sonia Sudhakar as Director of Digital Growth. More
WPP marcoms group JWT has acquired a majority stake in Wellington, New Zealand-based digital agency Heyday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Attendees at last night's MRS Awards ceremony in London saw Ipsos MORI and biopharma client Amgen scoop both 'The Grand Prix Award for Greatest Impact' and the 'Healthcare Research' prizes for their work highlighting patient experience for Psoriasis sufferers. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna has launched a short-term branded panel product called PanelPortalLight, which can be launched in less than four weeks and host up to 2,000 members. More
Kantar Media and CSM Media Research - a joint venture firm between CTR Market Research and Kantar Media - have partnered with Hong Kong's largest TV broadcaster Now TV, to roll out the region's first cross-platform television audience measurement system using return path data (RPD) technology. More
Recently formed market strategy division Millward Brown Vermeer has appointed former London2012 consultant Patrick Fry as Director, responsible for leading the firm's engagements in Australia and New Zealand. More
UK full service agency Simpson Carpenter has appointed former BrainJuicer and SPA Future Thinking exec Paul Roberts as Digital Director, to focus on developing new methods and ideas in areas such as analytics, video and visualisation. More
An EU Working Party has published new Guidelines on the 'Right to be Forgotten', intended to help search engines to implement the ruling by the EU's Court of Justice (ECJ) in May, which required them to consider requests from individuals for the removal of links to information about them. More
Kantar Media has launched its Twitter TV Ratings service in Spain. The move follows the UK launch of the tool in October and the acquisition of Barcelona-based TV and social media analytics agency The Data Republic in April. More
The Merlien Institute - which runs conferences and events for MR professionals - has launched a new set of Awards to celebrate innovation in the industry and recognize individuals who have achieved 'significant breakthroughs' in mobile market research. More
Content intelligence platform idio has completed a $6.2m round of funding, from investors including M&A advisory firm Quayle Munro. More
UK-based digital communications group Next Fifteen has acquired a 75% stake in London-based brand performance researcher Morar, for up to £1.8m in cash. More
Marketing services giant Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired London-based social media agency Tempero for an undisclosed sum. Tempero, whose services include community management and 'listening', will eventually operate as the European arm of the Network's social media division ICUC. More
WPP has extended its relationship with IBM, to expand its use of big data and analytics, and develop new digital services that will be run and managed within a global hybrid cloud infrastructure. More
UK-based mobile video MR specialist VoxPopMe has expanded to Singapore with the appointment of Robert Fry as Managing Director, Asia Pacific. The firm has also launched an app for iPhone, with an Android version available early in 2015. More
Ipsos has announced that its Co-President Jean-Marc Lech died this morning in Paris, after suffering from a 'serious health issue' since the summer. More
Multi-screen measurement specialist Rentrak has completed its acquisition of the US-based TV measurement assets of Kantar Media, in an all-stock deal worth about $128m - c.$30m more than was initially anticipated. More
UK-based digital MR specialist eDigitalResearch has appointed former Ordnance Survey Head of Insights and Product Innovation Liz Ratcliffe as Product Manager in its Product Marketing division. More
Digital marketing agency Prompt Communications has introduced a social media measurement and ranking serviced called Channel Social Influence (CSI), promising technology businesses help in measuring the online influence of their partners and partner networks. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has named Mickey Zhang as Managing Director in China. More
In the UK, app developer Mobikats has launched the Beura iBeacon Mobile Marketing Platform, which will allow brands to track audiences in real time and deliver tailored services including rewards points and service information. More
In Ireland, retail and trade eCommerce solutions firm Magico is to double its workforce to 24, supporting a research and development project to develop a big data analytics tool called Magico DARE. More
Ireland's radio industry has announced that it will trial a new people metering audience measurement system next year, as a possible alternative to the current system used for the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) ratings. More
Buses in Norwich, UK, are piloting a new initiative using beacon technology to deliver location-based messages from retailers to passengers' smart devices. More
In the UK, Kantar Media has admitted to a problem with its published BARB viewing data for July-September, requiring it to reissue certain audience data files. More
Omnicom-owned brand and comms research firm Hall & Partners has appointed former InsightExpress exec Todd Trautz as a Partner in its New York-based Consumer team. More
In the UK, the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) has announced that comScore, DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science and Moat are the first four firms to receive its new viewability certification; and will be included in the body's first viewability products comparison report. More
Judy Taylor, the co-founder of Leapfrog Research & Planning, has joined Tonic Insight in a non-executive consultancy role at its office in London. The firm has also appointed three new Account Executives in New York. More
UK-based insights consultancy Simpson Carpenter has appointed two former TNS researchers, to boost its innovation and technology specialisms. More
UK-based Kadence International has today been sold to full service Japanese MR group CMG (Cross Marketing Group) for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based agency ruby cha cha has appointed former Engage Research director Hetta Bramley as Director of Insight and Planning at its Shoreditch office. More
London-based online research specialist DigitalMR has partnered with MRB Hellas to roll out its 'listening247' and 'communities247' services to companies in Greece. More
Yahoo! has acquired video ad firm BrightRoll, which measures billions of video impressions each month using a reporting suite featuring tools from comScore, Nielsen, Vizu and InsightExpress. The deal was valued at around $640m in cash. More
UK radio and television audience measurement veteran Tony Twyman died last Friday, 31st October, at the age of 82. More
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has selected comScore's Digital Analytix audience demographics platform to provide analytics across its entire range of digital content - including web, mobile and video - for both domestic and global services. More
Online research specialist YouGov has launched a new media planning and audience segmentation tool called YouGov Profiles, to provide clients with a detailed portrait of their customers' lives and the products and services they use. More
US web analytics and tag management firm Tealium has opened an EMEA headquarters in the UK, from which to service clients across the region. More
Palo Alto, CA-based online DIY research specialist SurveyMonkey has rolled out its 'Audience' sampling service in the UK, providing businesses with direct online access to a panel of tens of thousands of consumers. More
MR and market intelligence company Dobney Research has launched new web survey software called Cxoice. The package offers a non-linear questionnaire allowing respondents to choose their route and pick out the topics and values they care about and want to rate or select. More
Palo Alto, California-based private equity firm HGGC has become the majority owner of the parent of sampling, data collection and analytics firm Survey Sampling International (SSI). The company was previously owned by two other investors, who will retain minority stakes. More
Research technology and panel exchange operator Cint has announced a new strategic global relationship with DIY online research firm SurveyMonkey. More
Millward Brown has expanded its team in Indonesia with eight appointments, including former Diageo exec Chris Thomas as Director of strategic consulting arm Millward Brown Vermeer. More
Marcoms group Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired full service mobile agency Fetch, which offers mobile strategy, media, creative and analytics services. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, it is estimated to be worth around £30m. More
Technology research and analysis specialist Gartner has reported a 15% increase in third quarter revenue to $470.9m. For the Research division specifically, revenue was also up 15%, to $365.3m. More
UK-based 72Point, the parent of OnePoll, is expanding to the US market with the launch of an office in New York, offering a range of content-led marketing and social media products. More
UK audience research body BARB has extended Kantar Media's TV measurement panel contract and RSMB's contract for survey design and methodology until the end of 2018. The organisation will also combine two of its main research contracts from January 2016. More
Japanese online specialist Macromill has merged with Netherlands-based online research and analytics firm MetrixLab. The combined firm will now operate under the Macromill brand, and has plans to open new offices in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Russia. More
TV audience measurement body TAM Ireland has begun a pilot scheme to capture data on laptop and PC viewing, using an initial test panel of 60 homes established using Nielsen's Netsight meter. More
US-based multi-screen ad technology provider Jivox has opened an office in London, where it has appointed online media specialist Murly Tiwari as Managing Director, responsible for leading UK sales efforts and partnerships. More
Digital ad specialist Sophia has received a £1.1m round of funding for its Ambiance solution, which delivers ads according to the online content consumers are viewing, in real-time. More
US-based marketing personalization and targeting firm Sailthru is developing a new service called Sightlines, which predicts the future behavior of users for eCommerce and media companies. More
Nielsen has acquired concept testing and forecasting software specialist Affinnova, and will integrate the latter's team into its Innovation Practice division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Marketing services network WPP has reported a slower than expected 3.1% rise in third quarter revenue to £2.76bn. Reported revenue in its Data Investment Management division fell 4.7% to £588m, but allowing for currency effects and acquisitions, like-for-like revenue growth was 0.5%. More
Twitter and IBM have formed an alliance to help businesses and institutions better understand their customers, markets and trends. More
Technology specialist Forrester has reported an 8.3% increase in third quarter revenue to $75.4m, with research division revenues up by a more moderate 2%, to $50.6m. More
In London, Kantar Media has appointed Alex Kuhnel as Chief Operating Officer of its TGI global online / off-line consumer behaviour and media consumption study. More
UK e-commerce industry association IMRG has launched the e-Retail Benchmarking System, which promises to help online retailers measure their performance against similar organisations on a daily basis, from a PC, tablet or smartphone. More
Full service agency Opinium has appointed former FreshMinds Research execs Andrew Littlewood and Adam Wilson at its central London-based offices. More
US-based information and analytics firm IHS is to acquire two subsidiary firms from retail researcher the NPD Group: flat-panel display specialist DisplaySearch and solar energy MR business Solarbuzz. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based mobile video MR specialist VoxPopMe has expanded to the US with the appointment of former Qualvu exec Dean Macko as Managing Director, North America. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported a 15% increase in third quarter revenues to $82.1m, but posted a GAAP net loss of $3.3m on the back of a $6.9m impairment charge. The latter relates to the firm's mobile operator analytics division, which it intends shortly to divest or shut down. More
Daily deals site Groupon is to create 100 new jobs for an Engineering & Marketing Centre in Dublin. Skills sought include data analysis, digital marketing and software engineering staff. More
Nielsen has reported third quarter revenue of $1.57 bn, a 13.3% increase year-on-year but reduced to 2.5% once the effects of acquiring Harris and Arbitron are removed. Similarly, profits fell nearly 30% - to $91m - but adjusted EBITDA was up 19.8% to $477m. More
Search giant Google has expanded its Consumer Barometer, to provide additional insights into online shopper behaviour and digital media consumption. More
Ipsos has reported third quarter revenue of EUR 412.7m, representing marginal organic growth (0.2%) year-on-year. The decline in reported figures slowed to 1.4%. More
PR software company Cision has acquired UK-based media intelligence and insights firm Gorkana Group from its parent Discovery Group Holdings. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP firm Ogilvy & Mather has launched a Global Center of Data Excellence it calls 'OgilvyAmp', to help clients develop innovative approaches for using their data. More
WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has appointed Sawato (Stephan) Yoshii as Country Manager for Japan, with responsibility for business development, partnerships and publisher relations. More
US-based social media analysis firm Crimson Hexagon has opened European headquarters on London's South Bank. More
In the UK, newspaper and consumer magazine publishers have issued a time frame for their audience measurement review, with the aim of testing a new multi-platform system from mid-2015 and rolling it out from early 2016. More
In London, online community and consumer collaboration specialist Communispace has hired Franco Bonadio as Chief Creative Officer, responsible for setting the vision, goals and priorities of the firm's creative teams around the world. More
Surrey, UK-based tech research specialist EasyInsites Ltd has been acquired by Tribes Research Ltd, a full service agency with a focus on online communities and other digital research services. Tribes is co-owned by one of EasyInsites' founders, Jo Winning. More
Charles Pearson, co-founder of Guildford, Surrey-based EasyInsites, has left the firm to lead client development in North America for community panel specialist Verve. More
Cambridge, UK-based emerging technologies researcher IDTechEx has appointed Mr. Yasuo Yamamoto as Head of Business Development in Japan. More
Another fortnight, another NED role for ESOMAR President Dan Foreman, this time with fast-growing Berlin-based technology firm Dalia Research. More
UK-based agency RSM has released results from its six-monthly survey of research professionals. Among the findings, the agency notes strong support for the value of, and confidence in the continuing use of, 'traditional' methods of data collection. More
In the UK, marketing budgets were revised up for the eighth consecutive quarter, reflecting continued confidence in the business outlook, according to the Q3 2014 Bellwether report from ad association the IPA. More
Kantar Media has agreed to acquire the audio watermarking unit of digital tech firm Civolution, whose products are used by broadcast channels across the world to track their media content and audiences. Financial details were not disclosed. More
US-based digital marketing services firm MediaMath has acquired UK-based social media ad platform Upcast; and has appointed programmatic ad specialist Stuart Bartram as its first Australian Country Manager. More
London-based brand communications agency PrettyGreen has launched a sister company, Pretty Black&White, combining research, planning and creative functions. More
London-based insight consultancy Firefish has announced six appointments. Simon Gedman joins as an Associate Director, while five Research Executives are added to the team - Ellie O'Dell, Anna Leggett, Posy Knightly-Brown, Tom Hayes and Toni Coker. More
UK-based database marketing and loyalty scheme specialist GI Insight has acquired a majority stake in digital media analysis firm Cognesia, formerly known as Intellitracker. More
Online research specialist YouGov has reported preliminary results for the year ended 31st July 2014, with revenue up 10% in constant currency terms, to £67.4m, and adjusted profit before tax rising 12%. More
Millward Brown has appointed Philip Dickinson, formerly of Kraft Foods / Mondelçz International, as Group Head of its Food and Household client management team in the UK, based in Warwick. More
DIY online research firm SurveyMonkey has announced a new app, allowing users to send and analyze surveys from within the widely used Salesforce platform. More
IBM has opened a New York HQ for its recently-launched Watson Group, housing more than 600 staff of the new self-service analytics division; and unveiled the first five 'Watson Client Experience Centers' for client support and training, in the cities of Dublin, London, Melbourne, Sao Paulo and Singapore. More
Film and television measurement specialist Rentrak is to acquire the US TV measurement business of WPP's Kantar Media for $98m in Rentrak common stock. WPP will then spend a further $56m to bring its overall share of the US-based firm to 16.7%. The deal gives WPP's GroupM agencies full access to Rentrak audience data. More
UK group St. Ives Plc has reported a 3% annual increase in revenue to £327.6m, providing what it calls 'clear evidence' of the success its strategy to move into marketing services through a major M&A push. More
Kantar Media is to provide a proprietary audience measurement service for Malaysian Pay TV and radio group Astro. Launched next year, the new service will make use of Kantar Worldpanel's Malaysian household FMCG panel. More
Consumer insight and anti-fraud specialist Transactis has set up a 'fraud and loss prevention coalition' known as TRADE, through which retailers can share their transactional and consumer insight data in a bid to spot potential fraudsters. More
Omnicom-owned brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has teamed up with the UK's IPA and America's 4A's to capture the ad industry's views on what makes great advertising. More
Kantar's telecoms purchasing and usage trend analysis division, Worldpanel ComTech has launched a new consumer panel in Russia; and has announced it is increasing its panel in China by 50% to 22,000 individuals. More
British retailer Argos has appointed Ian Dobson as Head of Customer and Market Insight, based at its head office in Milton Keynes. More
The Insight Centre for Data Analytics - a joint initiative between University College Dublin, the National University of Ireland at Galway, University College Cork, and Dublin City University - has appointed Oliver Daniels as Chief Executive Officer. He will join on 21st October. More
Voice-of-customer specialist eDigitalResearch has partnered with analysis software firm Lexalytics, to develop a new real-time text analytics tool. More
San Francisco-based audience measurement and digital ad firm Quantcast has acquired London company Struq, a specialist in personalisation and cross-device retargeting, for an undisclosed sum. More
Kantar Media says it will launch the UK's first official metric for measuring Twitter TV audience engagement in mid-October. More
How much is a piece of personal data worth? According to a study conducted by mobile giant Orange, consumers' price tag is around £13 for a single piece if it is shared with a brand they already know, and £15 for organisations they have not dealt with previously. More
WPP-owned brand development and insight consultancy Added Value has appointed Lynne Gordon as Managing Director, based in its office in Johannesburg. More
Facebook has launched a cross-device user tracking ad product, based on the Atlas software it acquired from Microsoft earlier this year. Meanwhile Ello, a social network which spurns advertising, is reportedly adding as many as 35,000 new users an hour. More
GfK has acquired UK-based online retail and pricing intelligence firm Cogenta, which will now be fully integrated into the German-based group as the GfK Online Pricing Intelligence solution. More
Ipsos has hired Jake Dorn as Senior Vice President - Chief Client Director for Microsoft, based in Seattle, Washington and leading the agency's global initiatives with the software giant. More
London-based online communities specialist Verve has opened an office in Toronto, and has appointed former Research Now exec Suzanne Costa to lead it. More
San Mateo, CA-based social media analytics specialist Viralheat has opened a European office in London, where it has appointed John Hayes as Marketing Director. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed former Added Value quant leader Gabor Koska as a Partner in its Consumer team. More
Investment vehicle dunnhumby Ventures has participated in a $4m Series A round of funding for eCommerce analytics firm Content Analytics, which will use the investment to scale its sales and marketing and expand its engineering team. More
In the UK, comScore has announced that its partnership developing metrics with the GSMA mobile operators' trade association is to terminate at the end of 2014. The digital measurement giant will shortly launch a new service called Mobile Metrix, working with cross-industry body UKOM. More
New York-based ad technology firm AppNexus has received $25m in funding from WPP, and in turn, has agreed to acquire the Open AdStream (OAS) ad serving platform from the marcoms giant's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis. More
WPP's digital network VML has agreed to acquire Shanghai-based social media monitoring specialist Teein. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Online research specialist BrainJuicer has reported a 'relatively flat' first half year, with a 4% rise in revenue to £11.2m (H1 2013: £10.8m). A decline in US and UK turnover was more than compensated by strong performances in Asia, continental Europe and Brazil. More
Media and digital marcoms giant Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired the standalone search and content marketing agency business of US-based Covario. The business offers local SEO, social media automation, and analytic tools. More
Liverpool, UK-based video analysis specialist LivingLens has raised £206k in follow-up seed funding from a range of angel investors, and plans to use the money to expand its technology and sales capability, and to move into new offices in London. More
In London, sports marketing researcher Repucom has promoted Jon Stainer for the new role of Managing Director of the UK and Ireland. More
In the UK, trade body the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has brought in University of East Anglia (UEA) Psychology Lecturer Dr Simon Hampton, to provide the organisation with a deeper understanding of the latest theories about digital technology and its effect on user behaviour. More
London-based online communities specialist Verve has announced seven more hires, including former GfK execs Rich Preedy and Olly Robinson who will help drive the expansion of its International service. More
Millward Brown has promoted Doreen Wang to the role of Global Head of BrandZ, its high profile brand equity measure. More
Online research tech company uSamp has opened an office in Frankfurt, Germany and hired Susanne Minneker and Catherine Gibbon who will be based there. More
UK television audience body BARB has announced the launch of a new measurement technique, developed with Kantar Media, for panellists' viewing on iPad and Android tablets. More
Survey and reporting software firm Confirmit has launched the Confirmit Panel App, which it says will allow clients to offer a 'seamless mobile experience' to participants in their research and customer panels. More
The global research industry grew faster than inflation in 2013, with turnover for 'traditionally defined MR' passing the $40bn mark, according to ESOMAR's annual report, just released. More
London-based social media analytics firm PeerIndex has launched a crowdfunding campaign, looking to raise $500k for further product development in exchange for a 10% stake in the company. More
WPP marcoms agency JWT has acquired a majority stake in Sao Paulo-based user experience agency Try, also known as Cairos Usabilidade Eireli. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, Millward Brown has appointed consumer brand specialist Robin Wood as Chief Solutions and Marketing Officer. More
Business information provider Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) has appointed AOL's former Global CTO Curtis Brown as Chief Information Officer (CIO), responsible for the firm's portfolio of technology, proprietary data and related intellectual property. More
UK-based full service research provider BDRC has opened an office in Jakarta, Indonesia, and expanded Piers Lee's role to include oversight of the new operation. The firm has also added two new members of staff to its senior management team in Asia. More
In South Africa, WPP's majority-owned digital agency Aqua has acquired marketing and ecommerce tech company Applogix, whose design and development services are based on UX and user needs research, and web analytics. More
Recently formed strategic consultancy Millward Brown Vermeer has launched in Australia, and appointed Caspar Wright as Managing Partner there. More
CIE, the Insight & Engagement Group within UK firm Chime, has reported first half operating profit up 22% to £1.4m, and a 5% increase in operating income to £4.2m. However, revenue was flat at £5.37m compared with £5.35m in the prior year period. More
US-based online research and analytics firm InsightExpress has been acquired by WPP's brand, media and comms research specialist Millward Brown. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP's data investment management division (DIM) has reported Q2 net sales of £436m and revenue of £611m, the latter up 2.6% in like-for-like terms but well below the overall group growth of 10.2%. More
In the UK, former Mindshare CEO Jed Glanvill has been brought in by newspaper industry body Newsworks, to chair an advisory group compiling a brief for a 'future-proof' cross-platform measurement system and approving the appointment of research providers. More
WPP's healthcare data company All Global has been integrated into the group's online panels specialist Lightspeed Research, allowing combined access to general population panels and physician and payor panels. More
In London, KPMG and Imperial College have partnered to create the 'KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics', fuelled by a $20m investment from the management consulting giant. More
US-based network customer behaviour analyst Empirix has acquired Dublin, Ireland-based Verios Software & Systems, adding to its ability to analyse customer experience of mobile devices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Global marketers' confidence fell in August despite overall conditions improving across the sector, according to Warc's latest Global Marketing Index (GMI). More
Shopper insights specialists Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) is combining its data on what consumers watch and buy, with set-top-box (STB) data from FourthWall Media, in order to extend its single-source panel for CPG marketers. More
Nielsen has promoted Steve Hasker to the role of Global President, overseeing its business across the media sector, in addition to leading its product portfolio across both Watch and Buy segments. More
San Francisco-based audience measurement and digital advertising firm Quantcast has promoted former Yahoo! exec Matt White to Managing Director of its UK operation, replacing Phil Macauley who has moved up to the position of EMEA MD. More
Retail analytics giant dunnhumby has acquired a 50% stake in consumer behaviour modelling firm Sandtable, and will create a joint venture through which to develop new ways of predicting and understanding consumer behaviour. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Budapest-based social media insights specialist Replise has made its Mind Radar and Social Scan social media monitoring tools available through the online research 'app store' platform ZappiStore. More
Panel exchange operator Cint has relocated to new premises in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, where it has appointed Arianne Dumayas as Project and Customer Support Manager. More
In the US, customer experience management (CEM) software firm Medallia, which last week partnered with TNS, has received $50m in funding from its existing sole institutional investor, Sequoia Capital. More
Advertising retargeting firm AdRoll has opened an office in London, where it has appointed former Google exec Michael Bertaut as Managing Director of EMEA Strategic Sales. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners (H&P) has launched a new service called 'Video Selfies', to help capture real-time consumer feedback from its YourWord online community. More
Online research specialist YouGov has promoted Sundip Chahal to the newly created role of Group Chief Operating Officer. More
London-based online research 'app store' platform ZappiStore has commenced operations in Singapore and will open an office there in the first week of November. A Boston office will also be opened, later this month. More
GfK has reported a 1.6% organic decline in sales for the first half of 2014, to EUR 697.9m, magnified to 4.2% by currency effects - but says that it is now seeing the positive effects of the 'strategic realignment' plan it has been pursuing. More
A new service from Twitter promises advertisers the chance to choose their own definition of success, measure performance accordingly, and pay only for the specific results they have selected up-front. More
UK data protection watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has spoken up in qualified support of the European Court's recent ruling, which it says is not a 'Right to be Forgotten' but a reasonable task for Google to address on a case by case basis. More
Digital ad solutions firm Rocket Fuel Inc. is to acquire New York-based online audience targeting firm [x+1] for a neat $100m in cash plus 5.4m shares of its own common stock, valuing the deal at around $230m. Rocket Fuel also reported second quarter revenue up 70% year-on-year to $92.6m. More
Tonic Insight, former earlier this year from the merging of Spring Research and its previously online communities division Tuned In Research, has appointed David Miller to head up its New York office as EVP, and promoted Matt Ayers to VP of Client Services. More
comScore is to pay an undisclosed sum for MdotLabs, an agency which 'detects non-human traffic' (NHT) - not by watching the skies, but by looking down at some of the murkier practices inflating digital audience figures. The measurement giant, which announced strong growth today, also appointed Mel Wesley as its new CFO. More
IT research and consulting firm Gartner has reported second quarter revenue of $519.8m, up 17% year on year, or 16% excluding currency effects. Profits jumped likewise: normalized EBITDA also rose 17%, to $105.0m. More
Brazil's Justice Ministry has rebuked the country's largest telecoms company Oi and fined it $1.6m for tracking and targeting-related privacy violations. It's apparently a 'first-of-its-kind' for the country, but it's eerily reminiscent of the first time we heard the name of Oi's partner company, Phorm. More
Resurgent UK firm Nunwood has reported 23 percent growth in first half sales to £5.3m, from a disappointing £4.3m in H1 2013. A list of big client wins has been matched by a £1m investment in its Fizz: Experience Management reporting technology and £330,000 in its Customer Experience Excellence Centre. More
In the UK, advertising division Ipsos ASI has announced three senior appointments: Caroline Walker as MD, Paul Edwards as a Non-Executive Director and Lucy Burnham as a team leader. More
GroupM, the global media investment management operation within WPP, has promoted Harvey Goldhersz to the new role of Chief Data Officer and CEO of GroupM Analytics, and Phil Cowdell to replace him North America CEO of its MediaCom subsidiary. More
Manchester, UK-based research agency Join the Dots has reported revenue growth of 16% in the first half of the year, compared with H1 2013. More
ORC International is to join two partner firms in 'a next generation marketing services company' with annual revenues of c.$400m, following the acquisition of marcoms group Engine by ORC's Chicago-based backers Lake Capital. Partner firms will keep their separate identity. More
In the UK, a House of Lords committee has reported that the ECJ's search engine 'right to be forgotten' ruling is 'unworkable' and says it is 'wrong in principle'; while Google has told the EU that implementing it is a hard task, and has asked for clarification on how it should decide cases. More
German-based consulting firm Simon-Kucher & Partners has reported first half revenue growth of 14 percent to EUR 82.5m, and says it made 80 new hires, raising its headcount to 720. More
US technology research and consulting firm Forrester Research has reported second quarter revenue of $82.9m, up 5% from $79.0m 12 months previously. Revenue for the Research division rose more slowly, up 2% to $52.3m. More
Nielsen has reported a 15% increase in second quarter 2014 revenue to $1.59bn - excluding acquisitions the figure was still a very respectable 4.4%. Q2 profit fell to $76m from $426m due to fees for re-financing long-term debt, but Adjusted EBITDA was up 16.2% to $460m. More
UK-based online community specialist Verve has appointed former GfK exec Ryan Garner to head up its Personal Information Economy proposition, while recruiting six other new members of staff. More
UK-based full service provider BDRC has officially launched a digital research agency called Alligator Research, led by former Toluna director Suzy Hassan. More
Professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) is to acquire Australian full service agency Sweeney Research. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Global media auditor BPA Worldwide has been approved as a verification provider to the Digital Trade Standards Group (DTSG), developed by UK-based JICWEBS to ensure independent comparability of web measurement. More
In London, Kantar has invested an undisclosed amount in self-service online research 'app store' platform ZappiStore. More
Ipsos has reported a 5.9% drop in first half revenue to EUR 756m, with currency effects responsible for most of the fall (5.1%). In organic terms, second quarter decline all but wiped out the modest gains of the first quarter, giving overall H1 organic growth of 0.1%. More
Online MR software company Confirmit has launched a new solution called 'Confirmit Genius' for text and social media analytics. More
Yahoo! has acquired US app measurement and advertising platform Flurry, in line with its declared intention to build and support 'useful, inspiring, and beautiful' mobile apps and monetization solutions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Kantar Worldpanel has added to its new presence in Africa with the launch of a consumer panel in Egypt, covering both urban and rural areas and with the first data available in January 2015. More
London-based insight consultancy Firefish has revealed impressive revenue figures for the first year of operation of its US office - $1.9m - and says it will be further expanding its team 'in the coming months' to cope with demand. More
Manchester, UK-based agency Join the Dots has appointed Jane Dugdale, formerly of Colgate-Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark Europe, as a Research Director; and David Waring as an AD. Three other recent hires have also been announced. More
Millward Brown has launched its new Vermeer brand and business strategy consultancy in South Africa, servicing clients across Africa and the Middle East and with Nicki Cunliffe at the helm. More
Online research specialist BrainJuicer has issued a pre-close trading update for the six months to 30th June, announcing revenue up 10% in constant currency terms, or 4% reported. More
UK-based media and marketing insights specialist Ebiquity has reported total revenue growth of 8% at constant currency - reported revenue was up 7.2% to £68.5m (2013: £64.0m). The firm has also announced a business restructure. More
In London, the BBC has appointed GfK's Head of Innovation Nick North to lead its Audiences teams. He will take up the role on 15th September. More
UK-based digital PR agency Prompt has launched a social media division and service called Prompt Social, through which it will analyze online discussions and provide guidance relating to customers, competitors, and target audiences. More
The High Court in Delhi has once again adjourned Kantar Media Research's appeal against new government guidelines imposed on its TAM TV audience measurement service. The case will now be heard on 26th August. More
In the UK, WPP-owned Kantar Media has segmented data from its TGI consumer insight tool to make available a new range of pre-defined groups of consumers called TGI Standard Audiences, which can be used by advertisers to inform the programmatic trading and delivery of online advertising. More
The UK's newspaper industry is to appoint a strategy consultant to advise on the building of an audience measurement system to reflect the way people now read newspapers - across print, laptops, tablets and mobile. More
Omnicom-owned brand and comms research firm Hall & Partners has opened an office in Tokyo, Japan, where it has recruited qual specialist Buntari (Tari) Martosudirjo as Research Director. More
Global consumer insights and marketing analytics provider MetrixLab has appointed digital and media research specialist Angela Morgans as Managing Director in the UK. More
UK-based business information and services firm Progressive Digital Media Group has acquired CurrentAnalysis; a consultancy which provides market intelligence to IT and telecoms professionals. The cash deal is valued at $19.6m payable on completion. More
Brighton, UK-based global insight consultancy Space Doctors has appointed former Added Value semiotics specialist Cato Hunt to lead its London office. The firm has also announced plans to establish teams in Asia Pacific and the Americas. More
Kantar Media has rolled out its FishEye social media monitoring and analytics solutions to the Irish market. More
Chinese microblogging service Weibo has announced a partnership with Kantar-backed TV and radio audience measurement firm CSM Media Research, to develop a system for evaluating the impact of social media on TV audiences. More
UK-based online community specialist Verve has partnered with MR agency InsightAsia to meet client demand for full service quant and qual community panel research across Asia. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has appointed former SPA Future Thinking exec William Ullstein as Commercial Director. More
ITWP, the parent company of online community and survey technology provider Toluna, has acquired Harris Interactive's European arm from Nielsen. As part of the deal, Nielsen will take a minority share in ITWP. More
Kantar has acquired data visualization and interactive specialist Guardian Digital Agency from its parent company Guardian News & Media. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK data regulator The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is planning to investigate Facebook's recent psychological experiment, in which the firm manipulated users' news feeds to assess the impact on the mood of their subsequent posts. More
In the UK, two former Lancaster University researchers have launched a language analysis service for marketers, called Relative Insight. Their technology was originally developed to help catch criminals through the analysis of the language they used in their online conversations. More
Global marcoms network Publicis Groupe has set up a new digital agency called ROAR, offering a full range of user experience, strategy, creative, media and analytics services. More
Netherlands-based community research software provider CMNTY has opened an office in London, and has appointed Alastair Macmillan to lead it. More
Online ad personalisation specialist Phorm has published audited final results for the year ended 31st December 2013, showing another massive operating loss, this time $35.1m dollars on turnover of just $280k. More
UK-based agency business intelligence firm SPA Future Thinking has appointed Tom Meyritz, formerly of QuestBack, Lightspeed and Ciao, as Commercial Director, responsible for leading business development across all areas of the company. More
TV audience measurement body TAM Ireland has set out its plans for the extension of its measurement services over the next few years, including its intention 'to measure all forms of viewing across all devices by 2017'. More
Cello's social media intelligence division Pulsar has launched a customer care and publishing platform called FLOW and a social media enterprise analytics tool called TEAM. More
In the UK, 'destination management firm' Indestinate has been named one of the five winners of a contest run by government body IC tomorrow, for a platform using near real-time and historic location data to deliver personalised travel experiences. More
WPP-owned firm The Data Alliance has partnered with location analytics specialist Factual, giving WPP group companies access to data that maps the known location of mobile phones to physical places, including more than 65 million businesses in 50 countries. More
Community panel specialist Verve has opened a dedicated survey programming office in Iași, Romania, headed by Senior Survey Programmer Eugen Tuchendria. More
In Sydney, Australia, BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) has appointed former Nunwood/TLE researcher Joe Lynch as Head of Research and Consumer Insights, starting in August. More
Tonic Insight has promoted Anna Wills to the role of Managing Director UK, and Lucie Holliday to that of Group Director, Research & Innovation. More
Millward Brown has acquired global marketing strategy consultancy EffectiveBrands, and will merge it with its Optimor brand strategy division to form a new business called Millward Brown Vermeer. More
WPP-owned Kantar Media has rolled out its TGI (Target Group Index) consumer insights business in the US. More
UK-based independent communications company Engine Group has acquired youth consumer insights and consulting firm The Intelligence Group (IG) from Creative Artists Agency (CAA). The company will be merged with Engine's creative and consumer engagement agency Noise. More
Facebook has announced that it will begin tracking users' behaviour on other web sites as well as its own, in order to target advertising more effectively. An opt-out will be available, in addition to the option to see why an ad has been served, and to edit one's own advertising profile. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has hired former Ipsos director Nader Kobeissi as Managing Director for the MENA region, launching the company's new Dubai office. More
US-based cross-media analytics firm MarketShare has appointed former GfK Panel Services MD Lucien van der Hoeven as EVP for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). More
Employee-owned MR provider Illuminas has reported a 27% revenue rise to £10m for the year ended February 2014. The firm has also appointed Steven Maskell as Senior Vice President in its New York office. More
UK-based Brass Insight has changed its name to Trinity McQueen, as part of a management buyout by its Joint MDs Anna Cliffe and Robin Horsfield. The rebrand will move it away from its former parent firm, marcoms agency Brass. More
In London, Fox International has promoted Christian Brent to the newly created role of Senior Vice President of Global Research and Audience Strategy for Fox International Channels (FIC). More
Creston's insight division - which comprises Marketing Sciences and ICM - has reported a 7% increase in annual revenue to £12.9m. The remainder of the Group by contrast saw a slight decline in revenue and profit. More
In London, online specialist YouGov has promoted Paul Marshall to Director in the Media & Technology team, and Simon Mottram to Lead Consulting Director. In addition, James Starkie has re-joined the firm as Business Development Consultant in the Reputation team. More
Kantar Media has acquired a majority stake in Precise Media Group Holdings Limited, which provides monitoring and evaluation services to the PR and communications industries. The price and details of the percentage of shares bought have not been disclosed. More
Four weeks on from the European Court's landmark decision granting individuals a 'right to be forgotten' in search results, Google says it is receiving about 10,000 requests for removal each day; and will reportedly flag up removed items in searches, as well as reporting regularly on their total volume. More
London-based Voodoo Research has appointed former Millward Brown exec Alex Duckett as a Junior Partner, as it continues to grow its quantitative offering. More
Trading solutions provider and online ad marketplace AppNexus has announced the acquisition of French firm Alenty, which specialises in online ad viewability. More
European-based MR and online loyalty specialist Maximiles is to rebrand as Bilendi, 'putting data insights firmly at the centre of its two core activities' as it looks to double the size of its research arm by 2016. More
Mobile survey technology provider OnePoint Global is launching an app giving researchers access to regular mobile survey ideas from around the world. More
Multi-screen audience measurement specialist Rentrak has reported a 40% rise in Q4 revenue to $21.6m, mainly driven by its TV Everywhere measurement segment, where revenue nearly doubled to $10m. For the full year 2014, revenue was up 33% to $75.6m. More
comScore is putting up $14m to settle claims that the firm collects personal and confidential information - such as credit card numbers, passwords and Social Security numbers - from consumers' computers without their knowledge. More
Facebook has acquired Finnish mobile data firm Pryte, whose patent-pending technology measures real-time user activity, including app use, to trigger marketing and charging activity. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In New York, online research and technology specialist Toluna has promoted John Bremer to Group Chief Research and Strategy Officer. More
In the UK, full service agency Relish Research has appointed three new London members of staff, bringing the company's team to 26 across its two offices. More
Enterprise data and analytics company Acxiom has sold its UK call centre outsourcing operation 2Touch, to European business process outsourcing provider Parseq. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
George Terhanian has left Toluna to join consumer specialist The NPD Group in the newly created role of Group President and Chief Research and Analytics Officer. More
Global online sample aggregator EMI Research Solutions has opened its first European office, in London. More
US ad analytics and trading tools provider Yieldex has opened of an office in London, and appointed ad industry veterans Mark Williams and Nigel Edmund-Jones to kick-start its European business. More
NYC-based digital ad technology platform Magnetic has acquired site optimization and retargeting provider Cognitive Match, with which it has been partnering on campaigns for more than two years. More
Following weeks of speculation, Apple has paid $3 billion to acquire audio specialist Beats Electronics, and its subscription-based online music streaming service Beats Music, which combines algorithm-based personalization with expert music suggestions. More
Nielsen has announced three appointments for senior communications roles, including Ben Billingsley and Flavie Lemarchand-Wood to leadership positions in its Global Watch division, and Kristie Stegen in an expanded role as Global Head of Internal Communications. More
Newcastle and London-based creative, technology and insights specialist d.fferento/ogy has appointed James Dickie as Head of Research. More
GfK has increased its stake in UK-based Genius Digital, to become the TV viewer data specialist's majority shareholder. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Don Elgie, the founder and former Group CEO of UK-based insight and communications group Creston, has joined social media management agency Emoderation as Non-Executive Chair. More
Machine data analytics specialist Sumo Logic has raised $30m in a funding round, and will use it for geographic expansion into the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. More
Stockholm-based customer intelligence integrator Innometrics has moved to larger offices in central London. More
Kantar-owned research technology and panels firm GMI (Global Market Insite) has opened a new office in Frankfurt, and appointed Key Account Director Norman-René Schwalme to lead it. More
Brighton, UK-based social media monitoring and analytics specialist Brandwatch has raised $22m in growth funding, and says it will double its product and engineering teams, accelerate development of its platforms and continue with international expansion. More
Optimism among marketing execs remains high, according to the May wave of the Warc Global Marketing Index (GMI), with respondents generally upping their forecasts for marketing budgets and positive about trading conditions. More
In the UK, Jim Easton, former CEO of customer and market insight specialist AMR International, has launched a new consulting firm, Plural Strategy Group, focusing on media, events, agribusiness and software markets. More
UK agency Bonamy Finch has launched a free app, 'SigTester', allowing a rapid assessment of whether results are statistically significant. It can also be used to estimate confidence intervals and sample size requirements. More
Millward Brown has agreed to acquire its Romanian partner agency Daedalus Consulting S.R.L., along with its wholly-owned subsidiary Visionwise Consulting, for an undisclosed sum. The firms will now become Millward Brown Romania. More
Software giant SAP is to acquire SeeWhy, a provider of cloud-based behavioral targeting solutions with offices in the UK and US. The buy will enhance SAP's hybris real-time personalised marketing platform. More
UK-based Voice of the Customer specialist eDigitalResearch has reported a 20 percent rise in annual turnover to £7.5m, and says it has employed an additional 30 new members of staff over the past twelve months. More
Stockholm-based panel exchange operator Cint has boosted its UK customer service and sales teams with three new hires and the promotion of Jane Attale (nee Mills) to the leadership role of UK Sales Director. More
Millward Brown has appointed Jérome Simulin to the new position of SVP, Strategic Client Growth, Europe, based in Paris. Simulin was previously SVP of Europe for marketing tech firm Affinnova, helping to launch and grow its European business. More
Ipsos' MediaCT division, which specialises in measuring how consumers use and respond to media across different platforms, has opened a Data Science Hub in London. The new initiative is led by Neil Farrer, who takes on the role of Chief Data Science Officer. More
Kantar Media-owned digital marketing intelligence specialist AdGooroo has opened an office in London, adding to support for its client base of advertisers and agencies across the UK. More
City events publisher Time Out Group has acquired Hugecity, which mines Facebook event, friend and location data to deliver personalised event information to users' laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP-owned direct and interactive marketing network OgilvyOne has appointed Olivier Janus as Head of Data UK, in charge of the Data Services team in the country. More
GfK has announced results for the first quarter, with an organic decline of 0.7% in sales, reported as EUR 334.9m, a decline of 3.5% due to currency effects. However the Group said it achieved 'a significant increase in all profit indicators', and has confirmed its forecast for the year. More
Enterprise data and analytics company Acxiom has agreed to acquire privately held customer data 'onboarding' specialist LiveRamp for around $310m in cash. It has also announced flat fiscal year 2014 revenue, at c.$1.1bn, and forecasts a 5% drop in fiscal 2015 as it exits its analog paper survey business in Europe. More
WPP's marketing communications agency Grey has agreed to acquire a majority stake in South African advertising and communications company The Volcano Group, whose services include insight generation in addition to advertising, PR, digital and social media consultancy. More
Digital data collection specialist Research Now has announced that MD, Americas Craig Stevens is to leave the business after a decade to pursue new opportunities, and that John Rothwell will step into his shoes. More
Customer data pioneer dunnhumby has teamed up with BSkyB's customer intelligence business Sky IQ to what the firms describe as 'the largest panel of viewing and shopping insight in the UK', offering clients new ad targeting possibilities. More
Online research innovator BrainJuicer has warned in an AGM statement today of an increase in its costs, resulting from increased share based payment charges and the expansion of its account management teams to support long-term growth. Shares were down 21% as of Monday morning. More
London-based IFF Research has added two more new directors: Pamela Bremner will strengthen the firm's work in the employment & benefits and health & lifestyle sectors, while Danny Millar joins as Interviewing Services Director. More
Cello's Health Insight division has launched two new mobile apps designed to provide richer, more relevant quant and qual data. Respondents including patients, healthcare professionals, payors and pharma field forces can include images and record videos as part of their feedback. More
'Socially intelligent' researcher Face, part of the Cello Group, has recruited two senior execs from M&C Saatchi brand agency Clear: James Hirst, as London-based Global Business Development Director, and Sofia Mavros, based in Hong Kong in the role of Research Director of the Asia team. More
Digital audience measurement specialist comScore has announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Kenneth Tarpey, will retire in August this year. The firm is currently seeking a successor. More
The Omnicom-Publicis merger has been called off. Unforeseen complexities had slowed the progress of the $35bn deal (£20.65bn) to the point where the two parties apparently felt it was distracting and unsettling their businesses. Publicis CEO Maurice Lévy has also suggested it was becoming an Omnicom takeover. More
Research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) has announced results for the quarter ended March 31st. Revenues slid 5% to $48.2m (reported and constant currency), with a sharp rise in Europe (up 15% to $19.8m) more than counterbalanced by falls of 14-15% in the Americas and Asia Pacific. More
California-based online media platform blinkx plc has acquired LYFE Mobile, which offers a mobile Demand Side Platform (DSP) and Data Management Platform (DMP), in an all cash transaction. More
North Tyneside, UK-based Ebiquity has acquired the remaining minority share in its US subsidiary, Billetts America LLC, from the firm's Chairman. More
UK-based consumer and cultural insight agency Flamingo is opening an office in São Paulo, in September, to serve as a hub for research throughout Brazil and the wider Latam region. More
Brand engagement and communications research specialist Hall & Partners has relocated its global headquarters within London, from Dean Street in Soho, to Holborn in WC1, to support recent and planned growth in the business. More
In London, former Nunwood leader James Walker is joining PwC-owned management consultancy Strategy& as Lead Partner - Demand Analytics, in charge of the firm's EMEA Customer Insight Marketing Analytics Center of Excellence. More
In London, Kantar Media has hired former Ipsos MORI Marketing Director Anna Reeves for the newly created Board-level role of Global Commercial Director, in charge of its marketing and business development teams, and the shaping of new offerings. More
Marcoms giant WPP has acquired a controlling interest in South Africa and London-based digital marketing agency Quirk Group, for an undisclosed sum. More
Tech sector researcher and analyst Gartner has reported a 12% increase in its first quarter Research revenue to $348.1m, compared with Q1 2013. More
Consumer specialist The NPD Group has promoted Jim Kelley to the role of President of its newly combined Sports and Leisure Trends business. More
US technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 1% rise in research division revenues to $50.79m in the first quarter 2014. More
Former BSkyB Research Director Harry Mirpuri has joined central London consultancy FreshMinds as a Director. More
WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell saw his annual pay package rise by nearly two-thirds to £29.8m in 2013, from £17.5m the previous year, boosted by a plan linked to the company's share price and performance. More
London-based TV audience measurement startup TVbeat has appointed former Endemol and Disney exec Tom Toumazis as Chairman of its Board. More
UK-based real-time tracking and analytics firm EVRYTHNG has raised $7m in a Series A investment round. More
WPP Chief Exec Sir Martin Sorrell, whose marcoms group would no longer be the world's largest if the planned Publicis-Omnicom merger goes ahead, has told analysts he believes there is a '30% to 50% chance' the merger process will collapse. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported a 14% increase in first quarter revenue to $76.9m, from $68.9m a year previously, while the firm's net loss fell to $782k from $2.0m. More
Three years on from a decision to look into definitions for web users' Do Not Track requests, Internet standards group W3C has put up a draft for public scrutiny; and separately, in Australia, the IAB has announced the formation of a body to combat online ad fraud, the Brand Safety Council (BSC). More
WPP's Data Investment Management (DIM) division saw revenues fall 3.8% to £566m in the first quarter of 2014, while net sales dropped 4.5% to £406m. More
US-based digital media buying platform MediaMath has acquired Tactads, a firm providing cookie-less and cross-device ad targeting technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Nielsen has reported a 12.9% rise in first quarter 2014 revenues to $1.49 billion, driven by 28% growth in its media research business following the acquisition of Arbitron. More
Global marketing budgets continued to rise in the second quarter of 2014, partly driven by planned mobile and digital spend - according to the latest data from Warc's Global Marketing Index. More
Ipsos has reported a 4.5% drop in revenue to EUR 343.3m in the first quarter of 2014, compared with EUR 359.6m a year previously. However organic growth - at constant scope and exchange rates - was 1.5%, in line with the performances recorded in the third and fourth quarters of 2013. More
Nielsen is in the 'final stages' of testing for the expansion of its Online Campaign Ratings product to mobile. The new service is scheduled for launch in the summer. More
IPA's Bellwether Report for the first quarter of 2014 shows a record number of UK firms reporting rising marketing budgets, completing a year of sustained improvement for the sector. More
In a decision which could have far-reaching consequences for new areas of research and marketing, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) last week issued a judgement removing the legal foundation for telecoms providers' retention of individual customer traffic and location data. More
In the US, WPP's Kantar Media has launched an initiative which uses its subscription-only media planning platform, SRDS.com, to help advertisers find and buy suitable digital media slots for their campaigns. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna is integrating BrainJuicer's proprietary emotion measure FaceTrace into its global survey platform. The upgrade will allow clients to gauge emotional reactions to stimuli such as products, web sites, packaging and ads. More
In the UK, the BBC is looking for qual, quant and specialist agencies for its new research roster. Successful agencies will be appointed for a four-year term. More
In London, community panel specialist Verve has hired Emel Mohammadally as Innovations Director, a newly created position, with a remit to roll out new technologies, tools and approaches for clients. More
Alex Yoder, former CEO of online analytics pioneer Webtrends, has joined UK-based media and marketing insights specialist Ebiquity as Chief Executive Officer, Americas. More
Online panel specialist Research Now has appointed BlueKai co-founder Michael Bigby as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a member of its Executive Leadership team. More
UK-based BrainJuicer has appointed Carlos 'Cadu' Eduardo Chiba as Client Director, Brazil, based in its São Paulo office. More
Palo Alto, CA-based DIY research specialist SurveyMonkey is moving its European headquarters to Dublin, where corporation taxes are far lower than in the UK. The firm will hire 50 new members of staff in Ireland, and relocate its international team there from its office in Lisbon. More
London-based mobile research technology specialist Lumi has appointed former Cint MD Daniel Cunill as European Sales Manager. More
London-based emotional analytics specialist Realeyes has signed an agreement to provide Ipsos with facial coding and body gesture response metrics, to help measure how people feel while they view advertising and communications content. More
Brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners (H&P) has appointed qual health researcher Jeanette Hodgson as a Partner in its London office, while promoting Marie Bennett to the same level. More
US-based hyper-local digital ad targeting specialist MaxPoint has established European headquarters in London, and appointed Jeanette Taylor as UK Country Manager. More
WPP's Data Alliance practice has partnered with publisher eMarketer, to provide all WPP operating companies with access to the latter's global database of digital marketing research data. More
Marcoms giant WPP has launched a global Government & Public Sector Practice to drive 'excellence' in government communications. The new initiative is led by Dr Michelle Harrison, who is also CEO of the group's TNS BMRB agency. More
London-based business information and events group Informa has merged its technology consultancy Ovum with Informa Telecoms and Media Research, under the Ovum name. More
International media analysis and business intelligence firm Commetric has appointed Sally Hammond as Managing Director in the US. More
Video analytics firm Vidiro, ebook consumption and reader behaviour specialist Jellybooks, and GPS-driven retail offer app Tempster are among the winners of the 'Digital Innovation' competition organised by government-funded IC Tomorrow. Winners receive funding and mentoring. More
UK-based online shopping cart recovery software provider Ve Interactive has opened an office in Hong Kong, to support is AsiaPac client base. More
Millward Brown has launched Link for Apps, an extension of its long-established ad evaluation tool Link, available initially in the US and Canada and promising to help marketers understand the impact of mobile apps on brands. More
Nielsen has announced the completion of a Proof Of Concept study in partnership with CBS, on the 'power of combining media buys for major advertising campaigns'; and separately the integration by media technology company Syncbak of its Software Development Kit (SDK). More
Retail analytics giant dunnhumby has confirmed it has acquired Berlin-based ad targeting and retail retargeting firm Sociomantic Labs. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, online shopping cart recovery software provider Ve Interactive has acquired retargeting company adGenie, whose services include helping measure and track the effectiveness of online and conventional ads. The deal was described as a 'multi-million pound acquisition'. More
London-based technology and design company Iconeme has launched a product called VM Beacon, which enables shop mannequins to transmit information to shoppers' smartphones about the clothes on display, and meanwhile collect data about these consumers. More
Kantar's online specialist Lightspeed GMI has launched a service called Survey Cycle, which combines its research design and project management skills with Google Consumer Surveys, to deliver 'micro surveys' comprising ten questions or fewer. More
London-based TV streaming site ScreenHits, whose proprietary technology integrates viewer votes with other industry data to predict the potential success of a TV show, has raised around £720k ($1.2m) from the UK government and a group of angel investors. More
In London, real-time marketing platform SHIFT has appointed former AOL Europe CEO Kate Burns as Managing Director of its UK and European operations. More
WPP's brand and media specialist Millward Brown has appointed Narayanan Radhakrishnan as Chief Client Officer, South East Asia (SEA) - a role vacated by Priti Mehra, who became MD in Singapore last month. More
Audience measurement specialist Kantar Media has acquired Barcelona-based TV and social media analytics agency The Data Republic. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has launched a multi-platform audience metric for use across desktop computers, smartphones and tablets. More
Ad personalisation specialist Phorm is aiming to raise £10m through the placement of around 91m new ordinary shares, at a price of eleven pence each. More
Kantar and Twitter have strengthened their global partnership with a five-year agreement under the program name 'Data of Now', and will collaborate on new research products. In addition, the firms' 'social TV' ratings and analytics will be extended to new regions in Asia, Africa and Europe. More
Enterprise analytic data management firm Cloudera has announced another $740m in financing, this time from chipmaker Intel, which becomes an 18 percent shareholder in the booming firm. More
Twitter has announced two further acquisitions in the field of 'social TV', French startup Mesagraph and UK firm SecondSync, both of which provide analysis of social media chat concerning TV programmes. Terms were not disclosed. More
Online research specialist YouGov has reported a 9% increase in revenue to £32.6m for the six months to 31st January, while adjusted operating profit was up 31% to £2.9m. The company made a loss of £400k, reportedly because of costs relating to two acquisitions made during the period. More
WPP's digital agency network Wunderman has acquired London-based product data specialist FusePump for an undisclosed sum. More
US-based social media solutions firm Lithium Technologies has acquired social media analytics firm Klout for a reported $200m - double the price first mooted in February. More
Social media intelligence company Replise has appointed Dan Foreman as Non-Executive Director on its Board. In addition, Dominika Poleszak has been promoted to the role of Managing Director in Warsaw and Sven Sperling has been named Managing Director in Hamburg. More
Britain's National Statistician has recommended to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority that the country's ten-year census is retained, but moved online from its previously paper-based format. More
Marcoms giant WPP has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai-based social media marketing agency Social Wavelength, which offers a range of brand communication, social media outreach, and social media monitoring solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna has launched an automated survey tool called PowerPosition, promising fast-turnaround insights into positioning and communications. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed former Saatchi & Saatchi planner Ailean Mills with the title of Head of Cultural Investigation. More
In the UK, Alex Wright has returned to TNS as Director in the Technology & Finance business, after working at west London-based Winmark. More
Despite a drop in annual revenue from £13.6m to £11.0m, Chime's Insight and Engagement (CIE) division has reported a 19% rise in operating income to £9.1m for the year 2013, while operating profit increased 29% to £2.8m. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna has opened an office in Seoul, Korea, where it has promoted Kayne Park to the position of Country Director. More
Dublin-based RED C Research has launched a new online omnibus called RED Line, which enables users to ask questions in Ireland, the UK, or both markets together. More
London-based social media community management and moderation firm Emoderation has launched a regional headquarters in Sydney, from where it will provide services to clients across Australia and the Asia Pacific region. More
IC Tomorrow - which is part of the UK government-funded Technology Strategy Board - is launching a 'data innovation' contest, offering five small companies the chance to win up to £25k each for ideas which will help businesses extract value from data. More
uSamp co-founders Matt Dusig and Gregg Lavin have launched a new firm called Innovate, which they say will 'pinpoint' global panelists on demand and deliver sample via connected APIs. More
In the UK, Chancellor George Osborne has announced funding of £42 million over five years for a new institute dedicated to ensuring Britain 'leads the way' in the use of big data, named after Second World War codebreaker and computing pioneer Alan Turing. More
Digital marketing solutions firm IgnitionOne has completed the acquisition of marketing tech firm Knotice, adding data management and multi-channel digital messaging to its suite of solutions. Separately, WPP is to acquire a majority stake in UK-based digital tech consultancy Cognifide Ltd. More
In London, Simon Glanville has rejoined healthcare & B2B specialist RONIN Corporation, as UK Managing Director. More
London-based emotional analytics specialist Realeyes has appointed former Nielsen Director of Sales Bill Jaris as its first President of North America, based in New York. More
US-based big data specialist Cloudera has raised another huge round of funding, adding another $160m to its coffers and more than doubling the total raised to date. More
Manchester-based consumer research agency Join the Dots has announced a 23% increase in annual revenue to £4.9m in 2013, driven by a mix of existing and new clients, and 35% growth in international revenues. More
UK-based consumer targeting firm Purple WiFi has expanded to the US, where it has appointed media and technology exec Anne Lakstigala as Vice President, Americas, to direct the company's sales activity from Silicon Valley. More
South Africa's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has commissioned UK-based media research veteran Roger Gane to provide technical input into the development of a new national radio audience research survey. More
Described by MRS CEO Jane Frost as a 'brand in his own right', WPP leader Sir Martin Sorrell opened this year's conference with an overview of how his group is moving towards a more 'digital' future. Mel Crowther reports. More
Online research pioneer YouGov has appointed Bianca Bruhn as CEO of its Nordic business, based in its Copenhagen office and with responsibility for the firm's operations in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. More
London-based media evaluation specialist Salience Insight has agreed to acquire the US operations of media content analysis pioneer CARMA International. More
Consumer specialist firefish has appointed former TLE exec Dee Campbell as Research Manager in its New York office, while in London Yimen Lee joins as Associate Director and Heather Williams as Research Manager. More
Social media monitoring and analytics software company Synthesio has secured $20m in a Series B round of funding, which it will use for research and product development, and for expansion of its teams in the US, Europe and Singapore. More
Research-based PR consultancy PRIME Research has hired Richard Bagnall for its newly created role of Chief Executive Officer in the UK and SVP of PRIME Research Europe. Bagnall will focus on developing the firm's business domestically and throughout the world. More
London-based TV audience measurement startup TVbeat has secured $2m in funding, which it plans to use to develop its real-time big data TV analytics system and roll it out across Europe. More
In the UK, the Market Research Benevolent Organisation (MRBA) is hosting its annual online charity auction, to raise funds for industry personnel who are in need of financial help. More
Retail analytics giant dunnhumby is reportedly close to buying Berlin-based ad targeting and retail retargeting firm Sociomantic Labs for an estimated $175 - 200m. More
In the UK, location analytics technology TagBeacons has been launched in a south coast shopping centre. The tool will allow the centre's retailers to deliver targeted ads and discount offers to their shoppers' mobile phones. More
In London, digital ad agency Tribal Worldwide has hired former Accenture exec Jonathan Lovatt-Young to lead design and user experience (UX) strategy. He takes up his new role tomorrow. More
The High Court in Delhi has given further breathing space to TAM and to the Indian ad industry, previously threatened with a ratings blackout for much of the year, by adjourning until July the hearing of the appeal brought by Kantar Media against new government guidelines. More
WPP Chief Exec Sir Martin Sorrell has received 1.78m shares, worth around £22.7m, under the company's now-discontinued long-term incentive plan, LEAP. More
Recently-rebranded London-based mobile research technology specialist Lumi has announced the launch of Lumi Say, a new DIY mobile survey app which extends the existing Lumi SURVEY platform. More
Millward Brown has appointed Nichola Rastrick as its new MD of Southeast Asia, succeeding the recently promoted Gonzalo Fuentes. Rastrick's current role as MD Singapore is filled by Priti Mehra who steps up from the role of Chief Client Officer, Southeast Asia. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed former Kantar Group/Millward Brown recruitment consultant Estelle Shepherd as Global Head of People, with a remit to 'hire the best talent' and support and develop careers. More
Netherlands-based online research and marketing analytics firm MetrixLab has reported a 22% increase in annual revenue to EUR 49m ($67m), with revenues up 25% in the UK. More
Nielsen has announced that a group of its shareholders is planning to sell 30 million shares of common stock, with a possible value of around $1.4bn. More
UK marketing services and print group St. Ives Plc, which owns consumer research specialist Incite, has acquired digital marketing agency Realise in a £21.7m cash and shares deal. More
In London, community panels specialist Verve has reported a strong start to 2014, including the arrival of twelve new team members. More
UK-based mobile market research technology developer Sumo Insight has raised an undisclosed amount of venture capital from B2B start-up accelerator Collider. More
WPP's Data Investment Management Division (DIM) has reported a 3.6% increase in annual revenue for 2013. More
Ipsos has reported a 4.3% decline in annual revenue to EUR 1.71bn, from EUR 1.79bn in 2012. The company blames the fall on exchange rates, its partial withdrawal from Eurozone countries like Greece and Portugal, and the sale of its Los Angeles-based film testing arm. Organic growth was 0.8%. More
London-based mobile research technology specialist Lumi Mobile and its audience response and voting systems business IML Worldwide are now to be known simply as Lumi, following their recent merger. More
Brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has promoted Grant Bird to the role of Managing Partner, London, replacing Caroline Frankum whose promotion to European Consumer CEO was announced yesterday. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has named Caroline Frankum Chief Executive Officer of its European Consumer business. More
Software giant Oracle has agreed to acquire BlueKai, the cloud-based big data audience targeting platform, in a deal reportedly worth between $400m and $450m. More
Millward Brown is releasing a DIY version of eStatic, its copy-testing solution for print and outdoor advertising, available via market research 'app store' ZappiStore. More
Digital measurement giant comScore has announced a partnership with enterprise data firm Acxiom, aimed at enhancing and accelerating their respective audience reporting and multi-channel marketing offers. More
Former Leo Burnett Group Head of Research Steve Watkins has been appointed as a Research Director at pioneering UK agency Join the Dots. Emma Kirk and Mo Mahar have also joined the company. More
Nielsen has promoted CFO Brian West to Chief Operating Officer, replacing Mitchell Habib; and has appointed Jamere Jackson, who joins from General Electric, to fill the vacant finance role. More
UK-based researchers in RSM's 6-monthly survey are increasingly optimistic about research spend and about the economy in general; and are increasingly likely to have worked with at least one emerging technique, in an industry seen as changing rapidly. More
UK-based research firm SPA Future Thinking has introduced a new brand performance tracking tool called BrandBox, which includes a measure of the influence of 'Connectors' or advocates. More
In Chicago, Marla Commons has returned to consumer product and media intelligence provider Mintel as Vice President of Research, in charge of the US Consumer Research and Insight teams. More
In the UK, WPP-owned Kantar Media has promoted Richard Poustie to the position of Chief Executive Officer of its TGI & Custom division, which has recently been expanded to include the Kantar Sport business. More
Mobile research technology firm OnePoint Global has opened an office in Madrid, where it has appointed former Ipsos Loyalty exec César Rodriguez as Sales Director for the Iberia market. More
Online analytics pioneer Webtrends has named former Coremetrics CEO Joe Davis as its latest Chief Executive, just five months after appointing David Mitchell to the role. More
Czech Republic-based social media monitoring firm Socialbakers has completed a $26m Series C financing round, and says it will invest in new product development initiatives, while strengthening client support, sales and marketing in the US and other markets around the world. More
In the UK and Ireland, Interpublic's media innovation holding company IPG Mediabrands has created a new Marketing Sciences division, and appointed Yvonne O'Brien to lead its team of twenty insight and analytics specialists. More
San Francisco-based Peanut Labs has set up an office in London, from where it will offer social media sampling services across the UK, France and Germany. Will Carroll and Lewis Reeves join from sister company Research Now, to lead the new office. More
Marketing group Next Fifteen Communications (Next 15) has acquired Hampshire, UK-based B2B intelligence provider Continuous Insight (CI), and upped its stake in digital marketing consultancy Agent3 Ltd beyond the 50 percent mark. More
Media measurement specialist Salience Insight has appointed former Pulse Train CEO Pat Molloy as Consulting Chief Information Officer, charged with streamlining and integrating the group's technology. More
London-based research technologist Lumi Mobile has appointed Kimberly White as Director of Business Development. More
Nielsen has reported a 5.5% increase in annual revenue to $5.7 billion. Media measurement arm 'Watch', enlarged by the Arbitron buy, saw revenue rise 11.2%, compared with 1.9% growth in the consumer research 'Buy' division. More
US-based social media solutions firm Lithium Technologies is to acquire social media analytics firm Klout, in a deal which is reported to be worth at least $100m. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 3% rise in Q4 revenue to $77.5m, despite a 1% revenue drop in its biggest division, Research, to $51.4m. The latter was driven by an 'expected' contraction in the firm's syndicated data business. More
In New York, digital measurement specialist comScore has hired former Arbitron EVP, New Product Innovation Manish Bhatia for its newly created role of Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing the sales, servicing, sales operations and business operations teams on a global basis. More
US ad intelligence firm Integral Ad Science has acquired London-based mobile advertising analytics company Simplytics for an undisclosed sum. More
UK-headquartered youth research and marketing strategist Dubit has opened its first US office in Los Angeles, led by Brad Schultz, the former Head of Moshi TV. More
Marketing services giant Omnicom has merged its advanced analytics and predictive modelling agency The Modellers into its ad and brand research specialist Hall & Partners. More
Market research, events and publishing company Light Reading has been acquired by co-founder Stephen Saunders from its current owner UBM. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in a statement, UBM said it will retain a 'significant minority stake' in the business. More
Channel 4 has introduced targeted advertising for its video on demand service, following an increase in its audience database to more than 10 million registered viewers - including, it says, one half of all 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK. More
London-based Red Zebra Analytics - the creator of the '3D Offers' digital banking loyalty programme - has raised a 'seven figure' Series A round of funding to expand its sales and marketing efforts. More
Nielsen has today announced today that it has completed its tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Harris Interactive, and that the acquisition should close today. More
Media analysis and business intelligence firm Commetric has appointed former GMI exec Dietmar Walter as its new CEO, effective today. More
WPP has announced that Xaxis, its audience profiling and targeting division, has agreed to acquire Netherlands-based media trading firm Bannerconnect, whose offer includes real-time campaign optimisation platform Bright. More
Brand and communications research group Hall & Partners has announced the promotion of Josh Shames to Managing Partner, Chicago, after more than seven years at the company. More
GfK's sales have dipped back below the EUR 1.5 billion mark, not helped by a strengthening of the currency: the 2013 figure fell by 1.3%, from EUR 1.514bn in 2012 to EUR 1.495bn in 2013 despite modest organic growth of 0.8%. Adjusted operating income crept up by 1.5% to EUR 190m. More
Healthcare market research, market access and brand planning specialist OPEN Plan, which is part of Chime Communication's Insight and Engagement arm, has appointed Neil Rees as Head of Research and Catherine Swanson as an SRE. More
Paris-based social media monitoring and competitive intelligence firm Digimind has opened offices in Singapore and London, as the first phase of a three-year international expansion plan. More
In London, online panel specialist Research Now has promoted Ben Hogg to the position of Managing Director of EMEA, Portfolio Companies. More
In the UK, digital ad platform Specific Media has launched a targeting solution called 'TV Audience Segments', allowing targeting of online users based on their off-line viewing habits such as TV sports viewing. More
In a trading update, ad targeting provider Phorm has announced the commercial launch of its operations in China, as well as an expansion of its services in Turkey with launches with another five ISPs. More
London-based online, mobile and social media specialist Effective Research has expanded to Latin America with the opening of an office in Bogotá, Colombia. More
US-based research tech firm Decipher has added new mobile capabilities to its Beacon survey and reporting platform, to enable the uploading of rich media such as videos and photos via smartphones. More
In the UK, the National Readership Survey has announced that Radio Advertising Bureau MD Simon Redican will be its next CEO, replacing Mike Ironside when he leaves at the end of June. More
ESOMAR President Dan Foreman has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors at online DIY market research platform ZappiStore. More
Social media relationship platform HootSuite has acquired analytics firm uberVU for an undisclosed sum. More
Millward Brown has named Carmen Bohoyo as Managing Director in Turkey, based in its Istanbul office. She replaces Dimitris Mannoussakis, who continues as MD of Millward Brown in Greece. More
Millward Brown has signed a multi-year deal with emotion measurement specialist Affectiva to integrate the latter's Affdex automated facial coding as a standard feature in all MB's 'Link' ad copy testing services. More
Online MR software company Confirmit has acquired social media intelligence and text analytics specialist Integrasco. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More
Ipsos MediaCT has launched a real-time content monitor called MediaMoments, allowing clients to understand how, when and where their content is consumed, and how experience of consumption differs according to platform. More
Angus Reid, the Executive Chairman of research community and survey tech firm Vision Critical, sold $10.5m worth of company shares last month, in a move which one analyst is claiming 'clears the deck' for a potential IPO. More
In New York, research-based branding consultancy the magnetic collective (tmc) has appointed Keith Navratil as a Partner, taking a leading role in innovation while developing content covering trends and topics influencing the MR industry. More
Data collection and sampling solutions provider SSI has added a further three countries - Brazil, South Korea and New Zealand - to its QuickThoughts mobile data collection platform; and has launched a new business sample source for researchers, SSI B2B inSSItes. More
Research company nQuire Services has opened an office in Shanghai, to handle an increasing volume of work in China. Company President Tom Fuller has moved to the country to head up the new business. More
Expanding UK-based agency BDRC Continental has created two new divisions, Commercial and On the Move, and promoted Ian Stevens and Matt Costin, respectively, to lead them as Managing Directors. Five other promotions include Richard Smith, who becomes a Director and joins the Board. More
Panels specialist Research Now has promoted Chris Dubreuil from SVP of Client Development - Northern Europe to Managing Director of Northern Europe. More
UK-based online specialist BrainJuicer has reported a 17% increase in revenue to £24m for the year ended 31st December 2013. Pre-tax profit for the period will be around £3.5m, compared to £1.5m in 2012 and £2.8m in 2011. More
Nielsen has increased its offer to buy Harris Interactive from $2.00 to $2.04 per share, valuing the company at around $118.9m. More
Brighton, UK-based social media monitoring and analytics provider Brandwatch is setting up an office in central San Francisco, where it has appointed former Topsy execs Even Walser as VP, Enterprise Sales and Aaron Hayes-Roth as VP, Strategic Alliances. More
Diane Hessan, President and CEO of online community specialist Communispace, is to move into the role of Chairman, and has named co-creation expert Charles Trevail as her successor. More
UK analytics firm Ebiquity has confirmed it is no longer considering the sale of its business; and has itself acquired Hong Kong-based China Media Consulting, the holding company of the CMCG Group, for an initial sum of $HK 20m (c.£1.6m). More
Research community and survey technology specialist Vision Critical has secured a $3.5m share investment from Difference Capital Financial. The firm has also appointed former OMERS Ventures MD Derek Smyth as its first ever Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). More
Mobile research technology firm OnePoint Global has opened an office in France, and has appointed former Annik Principal Consultant Gary Stocks to lead the new venture. More
Manchester, UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has promoted Research Operations Director Paul Child to the role of Talent Director, responsible for the management, promotion and direction of its newly established in-house learning centre, the 'dotacademy'. More
The Indian government has announced it will regulate television ratings agencies in the country, requiring them to register with the I&B Ministry within 30 days, and raise sample size to a minimum of 20,000 panel homes - potentially a blow to Nielsen/Kantar joint venture TAM. More
Online research specialist YouGov has extended its reach to China and South East Asia through the acquisition of Asian MR and tech firm Decision Fuel (DF). YouGov will pay an initial sum of £0.6m, but the full deal is expected to total $5m before 2017. More
Branka Orosnjak has returned to London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners as a Partner. More
Former Paddy Power Insight Director Danny Russell has joined mobile phone giant Telefónica O2 as General Manager of Business Intelligence. The firm has also made two other senior appointments in its marketing team, which is led by Marketing & Consumer Director Nina Bibby. More
Retail intelligence technology firm Cogenta has launched a multi-national version of its pricing app, to enable international retailers, manufacturers, brand managers and researchers to monitor consumer goods pricing data in 23 countries around the globe. More
WPP's media investment management unit GroupM has acquired Berlin-based digital ad targeting specialist plista, for an undisclosed sum. More
WPP's media investment management arm GroupM has launched a TV audience targeting division called Modi Media, tapping into the group's TV implementation, optimization, research and data capabilities. More
Online research specialist BrainJuicer has introduced the FeelMore50 - a ranking of the '50 most effective emotional ads' in the US. More
DIY online research platform ZappiStore, already available in the UK, US, Australia, France and Germany, has been rolled out in Canada. The firm says it plans 'aggressive expansion' in 2014. More
MRS President Rita Clifton has been made a CBE in the UK's New Year's Honours List for 'services to the advertising industry'. More
China-based brand development and marketing insight consultancy Oracle Added Value is to adopt the global brand name and logo of Added Value. More
UK-based business information firm Progressive Digital Media Group Plc has completed its $3.3m acquisition of Pyramid Research. More
Social media analyst DataSift is tapping into data from China's Twittter-like social media network Sina Weibo, allowing clients to analyze audiences, monitor brands and sentiment, and access real-time consumer behavior data. More
Rupert Murchoch's News Corp group is paying EUR 18m (c.$24.6m) for Dublin-based social media news agency Storyful, which offers a combination of journalistic expertise and proprietary technology, including social media dashboards and other real-time discovery tools and feeds. More
WPP-owned media investment management company GroupM is set to acquire a majority stake in Vietnam-based full service social media marketing agency ClickMedia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
The business outlook for marketers around the world remains positive, according to Warc's latest Global Marketing Index (GMI), which takes into account marketers' expectations for trading conditions, marketing and staffing levels. More
Ipsos has confirmed that former TNS Regional CEO Judith Passingham will join its online data collection arm Ipsos Interactive Services (IIS) as Global CEO on 2nd January 2014. IIS was formerly part of Global Operations, led by Stewart Jones, and will now operate as a separate business. More
David Pemsel, Guardian News and Media's former Chief Commercial Officer, has been promoted to Deputy CEO, tasked with expanding UK services including marketing and audience insight, advertising and sales. More
Kantar Media has announced the acquisition of Singapore-based social media listening firm FishEye Analytics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis is launching in Indonesia and the Philippines, and appointed Arshad Rahman to lead its efforts in the two new markets. More
UK audience research body BARB has announced a deal with information services group Experian, allowing customers to analyse potential TV channel splits and schedule choices using the latter's Mosaic geodemographic groups. More
UK-based insight and communications group Creston plc has announced that Keith Bates is to step down from the role of Head of Creston Insight, seeking 'new challenges' outside the Group. More
Palo Alto, CA-based DIY research specialist SurveyMonkey is scouting around various German cities in search of a potential location for a new office. More
WPP-owned communications network Ogilvy & Mather has agreed to acquire a majority stake in social media marketing agency Social Lab, based in Brussels, Belgium. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
The UK's Financial Times has rolled out a 'semantic profiling' service called 'FT Smart Match', which assesses the meaning of news content on FT.com and allows advertisers to match their copy with relevant articles. More
WPP research and ad agencies Millward Brown and Ogilvy & Mather have partnered to launch a syndicated tool called The Brand Cross-Cultural Index (BCCI), designed to help understand a brand's value across racial or ethnic segments. More
US-based survey and panel management software firm Kinesis Survey Technologies has appointed former CfMC Managing Director Daniele Pizzocchero to lead its European Customer Support team. More
US-based fieldwork group Schlesinger Associates has appointed former uSamp director Kristen Tripphahn as Vice President, Global Panels, to oversee their growth and development, and drive best practice in panel management. More
Online MR software company Confirmit has added a 'backchecking' feature to its survey on-demand application (SODA), to enable researchers to verify data collected in the field via mobile devices using a desktop or mobile device, an app, or a browser. More
Brand and media specialist Millward Brown has opened an office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to support local, regional and global clients operating in the country. Piotr Chodakowski joins to lead the new operation, with a team of ten. More
In London, online sampling and technology company uSamp has promoted Ben Leet to the position of Managing Director for Europe, following the departure of Gaelle Norman who has returned to France to set up her own market research support consultancy. More
Brand tracking and advanced analytics agency Nepa has promoted Research Manager Gabi Clark to the role of Head of Insight for the UK. More
Progressive Digital Media Group (PDMG), which provides business information to consumer and technology markets, has acquired ICT market analysis specialist Pyramid Research from United Business Media (UBM), for $3.3m in cash. More
Online community and survey technology provider Toluna has added geo-fencing capabilities to its TolunaMobile Diary app, enabling users to target respondents based on their location. More
Two years on from its launch, YouGov's French office has announced a substantial expansion of its staff, to date adding Jean-Romain Lehr as Marketing & Business Development Manager, Diane Thebaudeau as Research Manager and Lucie Schweizer as Research Executive. More
US-based web personalisation software provider Monetate has added $8 million to its funding, bringing its total to date to $43m, and says revenues have doubled and staff numbers expanded to 200 over the past year. More
Manchester, UK-based passive mobile behaviour tools developer RealityMine has bought media usage study USA TouchPoints, which was previously operated by the Media Behavior Institute (MBI). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Palo Alto, CA-based online DIY research specialist SurveyMonkey is planning to open an office in London's Tech City, where it will hire up to 50 sales, marketing and business development specialists. More
WPP has merged audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis with its digital marketing tech specialist 24/7 Media, to form what it says is the world's largest programmatic media and technology platform. The merged firm will keep the Xaxis name. More
uSamp co-founders Matt Dusig and Gregg Lavin have confirmed that they have left the company to 'explore new opportunities'. More
London-based mobile research and sample specialist On Device Research has appointed former Research Now director Martin Tomlinson as Managing Director of its Singapore office, in charge of the South East Asia region. More
UK-based sales and marketing automation specialist Salesformics has introduced a new tool called 'Twitter Filters', to enable businesses to discover when their prospects and customers are talking about topics of interest, but not necessarily mentioning the company or brand by name. More
Social media analyst DataSift has raised $42m in a Series C round of funding, and plans to accelerate company growth with increased investment in its social data platform and sales and marketing team. More
Predictive analytics company Blue Yonder is to open a 'Data Science Academy' (DSA) in Europe early next year, with the aim of training execs to 'identify Big Data opportunities within their own companies.' More
WPP firm GreyPossible has acquired the business and assets of Amsterdam-based digital marketing firm Media Republic, whose services include social media analysis and management via its Social365 unit. More
UK-based insight and comms group Creston has reported results for the six months ending 30th September. Overall revenue fell 4.0% year-on-year to £35.7m, and headline EBITDA from £5.4m to £4.6m, but the Insight division grew revenue by ten percent to £6.1m and improved profitability. More
Hard to believe, but on Friday 29th November, DRNO's publisher MrWeb is celebrating 15 years in business. More
Confirmit has announced strong results for the third quarter of 2013, with 'solid double digit revenue growth' and particularly impressive growth in multi-year contracts, up 130 percent for the year as a whole. More
London-based research firm YouthSight continues to expand with the appointment of Josephine Hansom as Head of Brand, Policy and Professional research, plus other appointments and an office move. More
WPP has taken a majority stake in Johannesburg, South Africa-based strategic comms agency Cerebra Communications, whose services focus around building and running brand communities. More
Ad and brand research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed Marc DeCongelio as Qualitative Research Director, and Frank Harrison as Research Director, Health. Both are based in New York. More
UK-based out-of-home (OOH) comms agency Posterscope has reached an agreement with mobile phone network EE to incorporate anonymised mobile usage data on consumer movements and location-based digital behaviour, into its 'Planner' ad optimisation app. More
UK-based consumer insight and database marketing company Transactis has announced a partnership with California's TeleSign, whose PhoneID suite helps detect suspicious mobile phone users. More
Nielsen is to buy Harris Interactive for around $116.6m, or $2 a share. The deal was unanimously approved on Monday by the Board of Directors of Harris, which has recently improved profits despite a continuing slide in its revenues. More
Ipsos Loyalty has appointed Nick Lygo-Baker as Head of its real-time customer feedback platform ViewsCast in the UK. More
Canadian social media analyst Seevibes, which focuses on TV-related conversations, has acquired French opposite number TvTweet, as the first step in its expansion into Europe. More
Former ad planner and Essential Research co-founder Luca Antilli has joined London-based online community specialist Verve as a Partner. More
Omnicom-owned communications network FleishmanHillard has hired former Coca-Cola insights leader Christina Liao as Senior Vice President and Senior Partner, Director of Applied Data, in charge of its global Research and Analytics practice. More
WPP-owned marcoms network Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) has opened a 'Marketing Analytics Centre of Excellence' in Singapore, which it says will turn Pan-Asian consumer insights into customised, targeted and measurable marketing strategies. More
Marketers around the world are growing in confidence, according to Warc's latest Global Marketing Index (GMI). The overall index hit a two year high - climbing three points to 57.8 from 54.8 in October, on a scale where values above 50 indicate a positive trend. More
US-based social media insight provider Mass Relevance has opened an office in London's Oxford Street, to help European clients integrate data from relevant social media conversations into their media, marketing and advertising campaigns. More
WPP-owned global marcoms network Y&R has acquired a majority stake in Turkish social media specialist Plasenta Conversation Agency, for an undisclosed sum. More
Online ad targeting specialist Phorm has placed 100 million new ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange AIM market, in order to raise £10m for 'general working capital purposes'. More
Online DIY survey specialist SurveyMonkey has launched Enterprise, an enhanced version of its survey product promising organisations the ability to bring individual users into a centrally managed system. More
Digital marketing agency XM Asia Pacific, a part of WPP, has announced the launch of a Behavioural Sciences practice, building on the expertise in the Consumer Experience Lab it established last year. More
GfK has reported a 4% drop in sales to EUR 361.4m during the third quarter 2013, from EUR 376.7m in Q3 2012, driven by what the firm describes as the 'considerable impact' of negative currency exchange effects. Like-for-like, sales were down by around 1.5%. More
Harris Interactive has reported 'flat' first quarter fiscal 2014 results, with revenue down 1.9% to $32.4m, from $33m in the prior year period, driven by declines in the US and German operations, offset by results in Canada, France and the UK. More
Google is testing a system which will track a user's location on the high street, in order to serve them targeted ads relating to the shops they have visited. More
Multivariate and A/B testing specialist Ezoic has raised $5.6m in a Series A round of funding, which it will use to launch its site layout optimisation software out of private beta in Q1 2014. More
In London, management consulting giant KPMG has launched a £66m fund that will invest in big data and analytics businesses through acquisitions and technology partnerships. More
In the UK, mobile market research technology developer Sumo Insight has launched a real-time research platform created by the firm's co-founders: former Nokia researcher Tina Newport and former EE marketer Colin White. More
Adobe has added a mobile module to its analytics suite the Adobe Marketing Cloud, offering clients better understanding of how users engage with mobile apps. More
Google is working with a number of its advertising clients on the use of Nielsen's Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) in the assessment of YouTube campaigns. The search giant, which already partners with comScore's vCE, said it was offering clients 'objective, credentialed, third-party measurement options'. More
Global research consultancy The Behavioural Architects (TBA) has hired five new members of staff at its offices in London, Shanghai and Sydney. More
Echo Research founder and former CEO Sandra Macleod has joined corporate reputation and brand research consultancy Reputation Dividend as a Partner and Director. More
In the UK, media intelligence company Realwire has launched a social media listening tool called Lissted, which identifies influencers taking part in relevant online conversations. More
Technology research and analysis specialist Gartner has reported an 11% Q3 revenue rise in its Research arm - to $316.5m. For the group as a whole, revenue increased 10% year-on-year to $410.7m. More
comScore and viewability measurement firm Moat have voluntarily agreed to withdraw the claims each firm made during a patent infringement lawsuit brought by comScore last year. More
Mobile research technology firm OnePoint Global has opened an office in Amsterdam, where it has appointed former Ipsos EFM Head Otto Vroegop as Sales Director, Netherlands. Separately, the firm has hired past Ipsos MORI exec Ben Phillips as Sales Director, UK. More
Former Research Now and Verve execs Jo Winning and Kevin Goldberg have set up a full service online research agency called Tribes Research, based in Guildford, Surrey. More
Nielsen is to promote Mitch Barns to the role of Chief Executive Officer from January 1st 2014, replacing David Calhoun who takes on the role of Executive Chairman. More
In the UK, software development lab Gumbyte has launched a 'social intelligence' platform called CrowdVu, to identify B2B influencers from their social media conversations, and segment these individuals by sector and region. More
In the UK, Creston-owned product development specialist Marketing Sciences has appointed former Nokia researcher Richard Snoxell as Research Director in its Technology team, Jenny Guerreri as Research Manager in the Product Testing team, and Nick Rafferty as Senior Data Analyst. More
Manchester-based consumer research agency Join the Dots has moved to a new head office in the city, reporting £1 million of new client business and 20% growth in 2013. More
The US government will not be challenging the ad world's mega-merger, between global groups Omnicom and Publicis, following the expiry of a deadline this week. More
Millward Brown Digital has introduced a suite of behavior-based mobile intelligence solutions, to provide new insights on how people use their mobile devices while shopping. More
WPP has reported third quarter revenue growth of 3.2% in its 'Data Investment Management' (DIM) businesses, to £617m, and growth of 2.6% to £1.8 billion for the first nine months of the year. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has met its revenue guidance for Q3, with revenue up 1.6% year-on-year to $69.6m. However, revenues from its majority Research division fell 1% to $49.8m. More
Ipsos has announced a 5% drop in third quarter revenues to EUR 418m (Q2 2012: EUR 440m) - the result of a 6.8% negative currency effect. The decline was partly offset by 1.8% organic growth during the period. More
Nielsen has reported a 2.7% increase in third quarter revenue to $1.39 billion, the result of a 2.2% rise in the 'Buy' consumer research arm to $871m, and a 3.4% rise in the 'Watch' media research arm to $516m. More
Internet companies including Facebook, Google, and Yahoo! could face fines of up to EUR 100m (£84.8m) if they break consumer data protection rulings agreed by the EU Civil Liberties Committee yesterday. More
Nielsen has partnered with data giant Experian Marketing Services to add additional demographic and lifestyle segments to its Online Campaign Ratings tool. Variables include estimated household income range, family size and education level. More
Mobile research technology firm OnePoint Global has appointed Rob Huijboom as Chief Commercial Officer, to build and lead the firm's global sales team, and open eight new offices around the globe. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) has strengthened its Code of Conduct and issued new Mobile Research Guidelines, emphasizing privacy and data protection rights. More
London-based MR community and panel specialist Verve has launched AllDevice, a suite of JavaScript tools to enhance respondent experience on... all devices - including iPhones and iPads, which don't support Flash. More
YouGov's Middle Eastern subsidiary has expanded its team in Dubai with five new staff, including Ali Draycott who joins as Commercial Director MENA. Also joining are quallies Milos Bugarcic and Hend Abdel Sattar, and quant researchers Isaac Thiga and Nidhi Sharma. More
Millward Brown has appointed Roger Li as Chief Talent Officer for the Africa, Middle-East and Asia-Pacific region, reporting to Adrian Gonzalez, the region's CEO and with a seat on its executive board. More
In the US, the judge who threw out TRA's patent infringement lawsuit against Kantar has now ordered that decision to be withdrawn from the record. More
MR technology firm Decrypt, the UK arm of US-based Decipher Market Research, has promoted Richard Collins to the position of Managing Director in the London office. More
London-based research technology firm Lumi Mobile has been selected as one of the first tech companies to join the government and private sector-backed 'Future Fifty' scheme, set up to support high growth companies in the UK. More
TNS has launched an 'express' version of its flagship ConversionModel brand equity tool, which it says will enable businesses to identify growth opportunities and build brand equity in a matter of hours. More
UK trade bodies the IPA, Marketing Society, and Market Research Society have launched the first stage of a cross-industry research initiative to study the role of social media, including how to measure its effectiveness and return on investment. More
While UK marketing spend has risen at the strongest rate recorded in nearly thirteen years, market research budgets were down in Q3, according to the latest IPA Bellwether survey. More
Nielsen has officially rolled out its Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings tool in the UK, offering advertisers and agencies a means to integrate media planning and measurement across television and the Internet. More
Research Now has released a new version of its Mobile platform, featuring its newly developed 'Relevant Movement' geo-location technology and integration of its Mobile Access Panel. More
Brand tracking researcher Nepa UK has relocated its London offices to a larger site in Soho, where Business Development Director Johnny Caldwell has been promoted to the role of UK Managing Director. More
Online research and polling firm YouGov has reported an 8% rise in group revenue to £62.6m for the year ended 31 July 2013. UK, US and Middle East companies all saw substantial growth. More
London-based brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners has launched a Global Brand and Marketing team, to help client-facing staff translate big data insights into 'visually interesting' ways to share a client's story. More
Stockholm-based panel exchange operator Cint has made nine appointments to support its global expansion plans. More
Manchester, UK-based marcoms agency Foundry Communications has appointed former McCann strategist Julie Neilson to lead its Research & Planning division. The firm has also opened 'virtual offices' in Dundee and Birmingham, and affiliate offices in Europe, the US and Asia. More
In the UK, digital communications analysis specialist KBC Media has launched a social media mystery shopping service called Intelligage. More
Facebook has agreed to acquire Israeli mobile data company Onavo, whose software helps app users and developers optimise their use of data, and whose Onavo Insights division is billed as 'the first mobile market intelligence service based on real engagement data'. Terms were not disclosed. More
Big data-driven marketing and CRM firm XL Marketing Corp. has acquired the data and email services company Intela LLC , and will merge Intela's data and customer acquisition businesses with its own UK subsidiary, Virtuoso Advertising. More
IBM is to acquire Dublin-based company The Now Factory, which offers telecoms providers insights into how people use and interact with mobile services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, National Readership Survey CEO Mike Ironside has announced his intention to step down from the role in June 2014. More
Big data firm Pursway, which tracks the influence of opinion leaders on purchasing habits, has raised $7.2m in funding, earmarked for expansion and for speeding up product innovation. More
Nigel Sharrocks, previously CEO of Aegis Media Global Brands, has joined UK TV ratings body BARB as Chairman, succeeding Nigel Walmsley who moves on after eleven years in the role. More
Customer experience management specialist Nunwood has developed a new system called Fizz: Experience Management, which connects people in all parts of a business to real-time customer insights and alerts. More
Mobile research technology firm OnePoint Global has initiated a recruitment drive to fill 45 new positions in its Development and Innovation teams. The firm is also launching the OnePoint Global Innovation Centre (OPIC). More
UK consultancy FreshMinds Research has merged with its sister social and digital agency FreshNetworks. The new innovation consultancy formed will be known simply as FreshMinds and will offer a combination of research, predictive data analytics and digital strategy services. More
Millward Brown Digital has launched Conversion Tracker, which it says allows marketers to see competitors' onsite activity 'like never before', as well as learning from top performers and isolating key issues affecting their own performance. More
Online ad targeting specialist Phorm has officially launched operations in mainland China, and says it is already averaging 4.3 million users per day. More
Digital ad intelligence specialist Exponential Interactive has teamed up with WPP-owned behavioural targeting services firm I-Behavior, to help advertisers target consumers online based on their high street purchasing habits. More
US-based Qualtrics, which provides software for DIY data collection and analysis, has expanded to Europe with the opening of an office in Dublin, Ireland. The firm has also confirmed plans to create 150 new jobs in the EMEA region within the next 36 months. More
Global marcoms group Aegis Media has acquired Russian digital agency Traffic, whose range of services includes web and app development, social media marketing, media planning and buying, research, and analytics. More
Online research specialist BrainJuicer has partnered with branding agency MBLM to launch a consumer study using neuroscience methods to understand the decision-making process and the drivers of 'brand intimacy'. More
Nielsen has announced that Vice Chair Susan D. Whiting has decided to retire at the end of 2013, after thirty-five years with the company. More
Millward Brown has appointed two Regional Managing Directors in Europe: Benoît Tranzer takes responsibility for France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands; and Jean-Michel Janoueix for Central / Eastern Europe and the Nordics. More
UK-based research consultancy Incite has announced a number of appointments in its recently opened New York and Singapore offices. More
Nielsen has announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Arbitron, which was finally cleared by the FTC a week ago. Arbitron becomes Nielsen Audio and will be integrated into Nielsen's US Watch business segment. More
London-based research community and panel firm Verve has expanded its qual team with three specialist senior hires - Richie Jones, Tim Martin and Lisa Chautard, bolstering both its digital and face to face skills base. More
Mansoor Khan has been promoted to the new role of Director of MENA and South Asia, Kantar Media Audiences, as the company looks to build on existing operations in the UAE, Egypt and Turkey. More
ISP-level ad targeting pioneer Phorm has announced 'strong sustained growth in revenue and other KPIs', based on its Turkish operations. More
GfK has announced a strategic investment in Genius Digital, giving its clients access to the firm's technology for collecting and acting upon customer data from IP-enabled video devices. More
Kantar Media is rolling out an app version of its InfoSys+ TV audience analysis service, allowing broadcast audience data to be viewed on mobile devices. More
Online MR software pioneer Confirmit has moved its EMEA headquarters to the landmark Blue Fin building on London's South Bank, where it will combine staff from its existing City of London and Guildford offices. More
Analytics software firm Acxiom has launched the Audience Operating System (AOS), a tool helping marketers to connect disparate data sources in order to profile and target consumers. More
Panel exchange operator Cint and research software specialist Nebu have announced a partnership, integrating Cint's Link system with Nebu's offering to give the latter's clients automatic access to the former's 10 million double opt-in OpinionHUB respondents, in 57 countries. More
Decrypt, the UK-based wing of US research technology firm Decipher, has announced an agreement with German MR IT solutions provider datab, to distribute the Beacon survey and reporting platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More
UK-based agency Vision One has launched AdProbe, which measures the performance of advertising (including TV and radio) against seven emotional triggers, linking them via an 'E-index' score to purchase intentions and overall ad effectiveness. More
The FTC has announced it has reached an agreement with Nielsen, allowing the latter's acquisition of Arbitron to go through, with a condition safeguarding Arbitron's September 2012 cross-platform project with comScore and broadcaster ESPN. More
Leading edge UK-based agency BrainJuicer has announced Interim Results for the six months ended 30th June, with revenue up 4% to £10.8m, and operating profit up 81% to £1.3m. More
Speculation in the papers suggests that Nielsen's $1.3bn merger with Arbitron could finally get approval today from the FTC, perhaps with an agreement to license technology to comScore. However, at time of going to press, nothing further has been announced. More
Google is looking at a system which would replace 'cookies' with a system of anonymous identifiers for individual consumers, according to an official of the company. More
Facebook has launched a tool to help telecoms carriers and operators to measure the success of their advertising on the social network. The product links sales, including those in stores, with ad impressions served. More
Sampling and data collection firm SSI has rolled out its QuickThoughts mobile app in France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK, and says 'at least ten' more countries will follow before the end of the year. More
Aegis Media has acquired Spanish full service comms agency Ymedia, whose offer includes research, strategy, planning and buying, brand content creation, direct response and modeling services. Terms were not disclosed. More
UK-based social media analytics provider Brandwatch has introduced a tool called Vizia, providing visual displays of real-time social media data on multiple screens, including smartphones and tablets. More
Online analytics pioneer Webtrends has named David Mitchell as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Alex Yoder who has left the company for reasons as yet unclear. More
WPP-owned Xaxis - which links the group's ad buying technologies with a proprietary database containing 'the world's largest pool of audience profiles' - has appointed former Microsoft leader Christian Wilkens as Managing Director for Germany. More
Global MR industry turnover grew by 3.2% to $39.1 billion in 2012, according to ESOMAR's latest Global Market Research Report. During the year, strong performance was seen in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America, countering 'sluggish' performances elsewhere. More
UK broadcaster ITV has appointed former Google UK and Ireland Strategic Marketing Director Sarah Speake as Director of Commercial Marketing and Research. She will replace Paul Gilshan who left earlier in the year to join Freesat. More
Kantar Media has teamed up with audience targeting specialist I-Behavior to develop a service called Ad-Vantage, allowing advertisers to reach specifically defined consumer groups online. More
Customer experience management consultancy Nunwood has appointed twelve new members of staff at its London and Sydney offices, on the back of several new business wins from clients including British Airways and the Post Office in the UK and Suncorp Bank & Insurance in Australia. More
UK-based ad technology company Crimtan has integrated Digital Element's IP geolocation intelligence technology into its RAMP360 platform, to enable geographic targeting of online advertising at zip/post code level. More
Publishing giant Gannett has appointed media veteran Judy Vogel as Vice President of Research, responsible for leading corporate research and addressing ad sales, digital, editorial and brand strategy. More
Kantar Media has given Andy Brown the role of Chief Executive Officer, replacing Jean-Michel Portier who retired earlier this year. More
US sampling and data collection provider Critical Mix has acquired SurveyMonkey's ZoomPanel community, and will combine it with its own online panel sample in the US, UK, France, Canada and Australia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP-owned marcoms network Ogilvy & Mather is to acquire a majority stake in Indian digital tech firm PennyWise, which offers a range of software and services for mobile app development; social media monitoring; SEO; analytics and business intelligence. More
In the UK, WPP-owned Kantar Media has promoted Sarah Sanderson to the position of Managing Director of its Custom research unit. She replaces Liz McMahon, who is transferring to sister agency TNS UK as Managing Director, Consumer. More
London-based online research software and services provider Dub has added a number of new languages to its web and mobile platforms including Mandarin, Turkish, Polish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, Urdu and Hindi. More
In the UK, financial sector corporate affairs and public policy consultancy Cicero Group has acquired political comment monitoring service Yatterbox. Exact terms of the deal, which value Yatterbox at a 'significant six-figure sum', were not disclosed. More
Ana Garcia has returned to London-based research panel and online community specialist Verve as Associate Director of Team, with a remit to bring staff recruitment in-house. The firm has also hired five new employees. More
In London, ad and brand research specialist Hall & Partners has transferred its European CEO Paul Edwards to the position of Chief Strategic Officer. More
Nielsen has once agreed to extend the period for regulatory review of the Arbitron transaction, into September - but continues to stress that it is 'confident in the ultimate outcome'. More
PR group Edelman has launched its Edelman Berland research and analytics subsidiary in Greater China, and has relocated Fergus Clarke from its Abu Dhabi office to Hong Kong to lead it as Head of Research for Edelman Berland Greater China. More
Vincent Bollore, Chairman of marketing services holding group Havas, has resigned and passed the reins to his son Yannick. More
WPP subsidiary tenthavenue has acquired a minority interest in UK-based multi-platform agency Candyspace Media Ltd, whose services include user experience, testing, analytics and project management. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has introduced an enhanced service to track US mobile commerce (m-commerce) sales - whether via smartphones or tablets - and analyse by product category and leading individual retailer. More
Marcoms group Chime has reported a 'strong' half year for its CIE (Insight & Engagement) arm, with operating profit up 33% to £1.2m, compared with £0.7m in the first six months of 2012. Reported revenue of £5.35m for the division is almost unchanged from H1 2012. More
UK-based consumer agency Firefish has appointed former GfK design research specialist Rose Tomlins as Qualitative Director, strengthening its technology and service design offering. More
Harris Interactive has reported a 5% drop in revenue for the year ended June 30th, to $140.3m; but adjusted EBITDA growth of 25% to $15.3m, leading CEO Al Angrisani to describe fiscal 2013 as a 'pivotal year' in the firm's turnaround process. More
Nielsen is to acquire the Business Intelligence and Commerce Solutions products of bibliographic information specialist R.R. Bowker, aiming to measure the impact of eBook sales in the US and UK, and analyse by demographics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has acquired US multi-channel digital analytics consulting company Stratigent for an initial consideration of around $4m, with up to $3m more dependent on the firm's performance in the remainder of 2013. More
In London, WPP-owned ad agency Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) has appointed Marshall Manson as Managing Director, EAME of its Social@Ogilvy practice, which taps the agency's network of social media strategists for solutions such as online listening and conversation impact analysis. More
In the UK, the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) has unveiled a collaboration with the ad association IPA's Touchpoints survey, to help planners analyse media's role in connecting with and influencing consumers at relevant moments. More
Targeting and media measurement provider Trueffect has announced a strategic partnership with UK based marketing insights firm RedArk, and has also received TRUSTe and Safe Harbor certification for privacy compliance. More
According to reports, India's Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has shortlisted five bidders for the technology section of its soon-to-be-launched television ratings system. TAM Media Research is not said to be amongst them, although both its backers, Nielsen and Kantar, are. More
The City of London Corporation, which provides local authority services to the business district around St Paul's, has ordered marketing agency Renew to stop collecting data using devices in recycling bins in the Square Mile streets. More
Apple has introduced a new set of rules to ensure that developers no longer use behavioral ad targeting techniques aimed at those aged under 13. Developers must also ensure that children's apps include a privacy policy and a system for seeking parental permission for in-app purchases. More
GfK has announced organic revenue growth of 1.7% in the first half of 2013, with sales totalling EUR 728.6m, and a 'particularly profitable' Q2, with adjusted operating income up 15.7 percent. More
WPP is to accelerate its move towards digital sources and fast-growth markets, raising longstanding targets for the proportion of business from each, according to a LinkedIn post by CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. He also appears to be phasing out the words 'research' and 'insight' in favour of a catchy new expression... More
UK-based consumer insight and database marketing company Transactis is upgrading its data centre and moving its Liverpool office to a new location. More
DIY online research platform ZappiStore is expanding to France and Germany, just four months after launching. More
Strategic qual consultancy The Sound Research has appointed Kelli Johnson, formerly VP, Strategy Director at Leo Burnett, as Vice President and Head of its Chicago Operations. More
WPP is increasing its stake in Kenya-based marketing services firm Scangroup Limited, JV partner of its subsidiary Millward Brown, and will now hold a majority (50.1 percent of shares). More
WPP-owned brand and media specialist Millward Brown has bought a 'majority stake' in Brazilian consultancy BrandAnalytics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Harris Interactive has launched QuickQuery instant (QQi), which combines expert survey design guidance with the DIY tools of Google Consumer Surveys. More
The world's 25 largest research firms reported a 'better than expected' 2012, thanks in large part to syndicated services and global acquisitions, according to industry authority Jack Honomichl. More
In the UK, mobile research firm CrowdLab has updated its platform with the addition of several new functions, while introducing a 'white label' version to enable agencies to build their own branded apps. In addition, the solution is now available in 'any language'. More
Social media analytics firm Starcount has acquired H&D Ventures, the company set up by Tesco Clubcard creators Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby, for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, audience measurement and analysis specialist Kantar Media has acquired a minority stake in social media TV analytics company SecondSync. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Bob Carrigan, the CEO of media, events and research group IDG Communications Worldwide, is stepping down from his position at the end of September, when he will be replaced by company veterans Michael Friedenberg and David Hill. More
London-based research firm YouthSight has spun off its co-creation tool Bright Young Minds into a separate business, to help brands and creative agencies collaborate with the 'top 25%' of skilled young people via its OpinionPanel Community. More
Analytics-driven UK-based media agency m/SIX is opening its first US office, in New York City, and has appointed David Stopforth as Managing Director. More
Technology specialist Gartner has reported a 12% rise in second quarter revenue for its Research division, which brought in $311.2m. More
The private-equity backers of e-Rewards - owner of Research Now and Peanut Labs - are said to be in discussions to find a buyer, according to sources quoted on Bloomberg, with a price tag of 'at least $600m' according to one contact. More
Audience measurement giant Kantar Media is to work with Twitter to develop a suite of planning and analytics tools for UK broadcasters, media agencies and the wider television industry. More
London-based full service agency Basis Research has reported a 26% increase in revenues to £6.1m for the financial year ending 31 March 2013, reflecting a sustained period of organic growth. More
Nielsen has reported a 3% rise in second quarter revenue to $1.38 billion, driven by a 2% increase in its Buy retail measurement division and 5% in its Watch media analytics arm. More
In the UK, London-based audience targeting firm Affectv has completed a £2m Series A round of funding, which it plans to use to increase its sales, engineering and operations teams, while expanding across Europe and Asia. More
Publicis and Omnicom are to merge to form the world's largest marcoms network, with a combined staff of 130,000 and a market value of $35.1 billion. The move pushes WPP to second place in the ranking. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported its highest quarterly revenue to date, up 21% on the prior year period to $69.9m. More
Manchester, UK-based mobile market research technology firm RealityMine has raised £600k in equity funding, which it plans to use to finance the recruitment of additional technical, sales and client-support staff in the city. More
Following a 2.7% fall in first quarter revenue, Ipsos has reported a 0.4% rise in its second quarter figures. However, negative currency effects meant that total first half 2013 revenues fell by 4% to EUR 803.7m. More
MR software and services firm MarketTools has acquired mobile research specialist RawData, which provides a service to passively track consumer behavior across multiple media platforms. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Forrester Research CEO George Colony has described the firm's recovery as a 'work in progress', while reporting a fall in second quarter revenue to $78.2m, from $79.1m a year previously. More
London and New York-based Qriously, which provides a location-based public opinion survey app, has launched a new service called 'Opinion Targeting', offering to match mobile ads to consumers' preferences and sentiments. More
London-based co-creation consultancy Promise Communispace has appointed former Flamingo Board Director Jo Shaw, to lead a team of consultants focusing on strategic insight and innovation work using collaboration and co-creation techniques. More
Ipsos has filed a lawsuit in London's High Court against Aegis, claiming that the marcoms giant failed to disclose tax and fraud probes at Synovate, before it sold the company for £525m ($792m). As a result, Ipsos is seeking up to £65.8m ($100m) in compensation from Aegis. More
Ipsos Retail Performance has launched a new Shopper Insights suite which it says will enable managers and other store staff to understand and interpret both their traffic and transactional data. More
US-based retail price comparison service Shopzilla is to launch its 'Aisle A' audience targeting division in Europe, offering marketers access to proprietary shopping intent data across the region. More
Kadence International has reported a 35% year-on-year increase in net revenues to $27m for the year ending 30th June 2013. Business in Indonesia, the US and Singapore was particularly brisk. More
Foviance co-founder Paul Blunden has set up a firm called Usability247, to provide 24-7 multi-platform user experience research and usability testing services to clients around the world. More
Online sampling and technology company uSamp has closed $15m in a Series D round of funding, with development of its instant.ly survey product one of the priorities for investment. More
Toluna has launched an app, TolunaMobile Diary, which gathers feedback on consumer activities in real-time. More
Marketing budgets in many British firms were revised upwards in the second quarter of 2013, giving the most optimistic picture in six years according to one measure in the latest IPA Bellwether survey, published today. Market research budgets however appear little changed. More
Online specialist BrainJuicer is predicting a 4% increase in half year sales (vs H1 2012) and gross profit up approximately 6%, after what the firm describes as a 'difficult end' to 2012. More
Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim has taken a $40m (£26.9m) stake in British music and TV discovery app Shazam, less than a month after the firm launched a new TV metric to analyse the real-time activity of its user base. More
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has told Google to change privacy policies which it says provide insufficient information to users and are therefore in breach of the country's Data Protection Act. More
Watermelon Research, the specialist digital company within Chime's CIE division, has announced the opening of an office in Sydney, its first in the Asia Pacific region. Company MD Mark Squires will oversee the setup and management of the new office. More
While turnover in the UK market research industry is still 'fragile', the sector has reported a slower decline in the past twelve months according to research conducted by the Market Research Society (MRS). A majority of firms expect growth in 2013. More
Nielsen has launched beta trials of its Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings tool in the UK with brands including Unilever and Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods), agencies Aegis, OMG and Universal McCann London, and several publishers and ad networks. More
GfK has introduced a communications tracker to measure the social and emotional reaction of consumers to the various 'touch points' for a particular brand, and identify those the individual finds most memorable. More
WPP-owned digital agency VML has agreed to acquire a majority stake in South African full service digital marketing specialist NATIVE. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based consumer and cultural insight agency Flamingo is opening a sixth international office next month in Mumbai, adding to bases in London, New York, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. More
Panel and research technology provider Toluna has opened an office in Singapore, where Julie dePontbriand takes up the role of Director, ASEAN. Meanwhile, the firm's Hong Kong office will shortly be relocating from Sheung Wan to Central. More
John Mackay, the owner of sampling agency Mr Sample, has joined ad optimisation specialist MediaAnlayzer as Business Development Director, to lead the roll out of the company's services across the UK. More
UK-based Kadence International has launched in Vietnam - the fifth Asian country in which it now has a presence - with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi; and has appointed Ivy Trang as Country Head, leading a team of nine. More
comScore has promoted Serge Matta to President, after twelve years at the company, most recently as President of Commercial Solutions and leader of the global sales organization. More
App-based music and television identification and sharing service Shazam has launched a new TV metric called the 'Shazam Engagement Rate', which analyses the real-time activity of the firm's user base to provide insights on when and where TV ads resonate most with consumers. More
US-based shopper behavior specialist MarketingLab has rolled out its neuromarketing service SellCheck in the UK, offering brand owners and retailers a new way to measure the effectiveness of their shopper marketing materials. More
WPP-owned Xaxis - which links the group's ad-buying technologies with a proprietary database containing what the firm describes as the 'world's largest pool of audience profiles' - has opened an office in Taiwan, led by former Yahoo! exec K.C. Pan. More
Ipsos has launched a social media research and communities division called Ipsos SMX (Social Media Exchange), to provide clients with new approaches to market research into consumer engagement and interaction. More
The founders of photo sharing site TweetPhoto have set up a DIY mobile survey platform called SlimSurveys, in a bid to take on companies like Survey Monkey which they claim provide a 'terrible experience' for survey takers. More
In the UK, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has embarked on a qual/quant research project to find out how consumers move from one device to another as they navigate along the path-to-purchase. Consumer agency Firefish will be using its Fisheye approach to support the initiative. More
London-based consumer insight technology firm Lumi Mobile has appointed electronics industry exec and former test pilot Pat Moody as Chief Operating Officer, working from Michigan in the US. Moody will play a key role in the integration of newly acquired IML. More
Yahoo! Asia Pacific and Millward Brown have announced a partnership using the latter's AdIndex solution to help clients evaluate the brand impact of digital advertising, both in general and on Yahoo! properties. More
UK-based Tpoll has announced a new online qual research platform, developed in-house and allowing researchers to moderate forums simultaneously in different languages across formats and in different time zones. More
From August, UK TV ratings body BARB will begin measuring catch-up viewing in addition to traditional screen viewing. The former includes services such as the BBC iPlayer, 4oD, ITV Player and Sky Go. More
In the UK, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of consumers' choice regarding online targeted advertising. More
Dataminr, a Twitter analytics firm serving the financial and government sectors, has raised $30m, which it plans to use both to accelerate growth in its current markets and to expand into new verticals. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has opened a 'Social Video Lab' in New York, to enable companies to benchmark their social media videos against those of their competitors. More
Full service agency Kadence International has made three senior appointments supporting its expansion in India. More
GfK has acquired Sensemetric Web & Social Media Mining, as part of its plans to centralize its existing social media services in a global Intelligence Center. Terms of the buy were not disclosed. More
Echo Research founder and former CEO Sandra Macleod is leaving the company to act as a consultant, advising boards and executives on their approach to reputation management. More
UK consultancy Brand Potential has appointed Ferrero's former Head of Insight Susie Gaunt as Client Director - Insight & Strategy. More
Marcoms giant WPP has agreed a global partnership with Twitter and will use its data to give clients 'more effective campaigns, enhanced targeting, and more real-time insight'. More
WPP's digital marketing agency VML is to acquire a 49% stake in Polish full-service interactive agency Heureka Group, which has its own proprietary social media analytics arm called Brand Fibres. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Online sampling and technology company uSamp has appointed three new members of staff to support expansion both in the US and Europe. More
Deepender Rana has been promoted to the role of Head of Millward Brown Greater China, replacing Adrian Gonzalez who was yesterday named CEO of the firm's Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific (AMAP) region. More
Digital audience measurement pioneer comScore has announced the launch of the 'next generation' Multi-Platform version of its Digital Analytix product, offering clients a broader view of customers' behavior. More
Millward Brown has appointed Adrian Gonzalez as CEO of its Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific (AMAP) region, effective July 15th. He succeeds Travyn Rhall, recently promoted to Global CEO. More
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo! - arguably the five biggest names on the Internet - have written to UK Home Secretary Theresa May, warning they will not co-operate with plans to store personal data on online behaviour, according to a letter leaked in The Guardian newspaper. More
Barclaycard CMO and customer-centricity advocate Nina Bibby is to join O2 owner Telefónica UK in six months' time, in the role of Marketing and Consumer Director. More
A New York state judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought last summer against WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell by Sabharwal & Finkel, the law firm at the time representing TAM India case plaintiff New Delhi Television. More
uSamp has announced the newest version of its iPoll mobile app, which it says offers improved performance and a faster, more intuitive in-app user experience. More
MMR Research Worldwide has launched a real-time, point-of-purchase survey app called MyDiaLog, which allows users to share videos, pictures and audio clips recorded on their smartphones. More
In the UK, full service agency Tpoll has launched a panel called 'The Future Thinking Forum', comprising 'tech savvy' individuals who enjoy discussing the latest product innovations, gadgets and software. More
Millward Brown has promoted Maureen Van Wijk to the position of Managing Director in Ireland, replacing Richard Waring who has left to 'pursue other interests'. More
Brand and communications researcher Hall & Partners has appointed Jim Forrest as Global Partner, Digital Innovations, based in New York, with a remit to drive digital strategy and the creation, global roll-out and integration of digital capabilities across the company. More
Brighton, UK-based social media analytics provider Brandwatch has launched a new tool, Channels, which aims to bring together analysis of a client's owned and earned media assets across different social networks in one place. More
Former Philips exec Oana Stroie has been revealed as the voice behind the Angry_MR_Client Twitter account as she joins Cello-owned co-creation agency Face as an Account Manager. Former NM Incite director Erika Ammerman has also joined the firm, as Head of Social Media Research. More
Millward Brown has appointed Travyn Rhall as Global CEO, succeeding Eileen Campbell who is stepping down in mid-July for personal reasons. More
Aegis Media has acquired Amsterdam-based social media agency Social Embassy, which uses research to understand online reputation, survey consumers and interview stakeholders. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, OnePoll, which specialises in conducting online polls for PR purposes, has acquired London-based opinion polling agency Response Fusion for 'a six-figure sum'. More
UK marketing services and print group St. Ives has continued its recent buying spree, with the acquisition of London and Leeds-based digital agency Branded3 from co-founders Vin Chinnaraja and Patrick Altoft. The deal is valued at up to £10.7m. More
Kantar companies Dynamic Logic and Compete have teamed up with online media viewability firm Double Verify to launch a tool called Advance, which combines exposure metrics and effectiveness measures in a unified reporting and optimization system. More
WPP brand and media specialist Millward Brown has opened an office in Dhaka, Bangladesh, headed by Samina Afrin, who recently joined the company from Nielsen. More
Former Ipsos MORI Scotland exec Margaret Frazer has opened a new agency called 9 Dots Insights, with bases in Edinburgh and London and offering market, brand and communications research as well as strategic marketing consultancy. More
In the UK, a partnership between Ipsos MORI and mobile phone company EE is in the public eye after the Sunday Times said data on EE customers was being offered to the Metropolitan Police. Both EE and MRS Code-compliant Ipsos MORI have confirmed that the data is aggregated and anonymised. More
GfK has issued an ad hoc statement on preliminary figures for the first quarter, showing organic sales growth of only 0.6 percent, and adjusted operating income and margin down on Q1 2012. However the global group says order levels are good and it should meet annual forecasts of 3-4 percent sales growth. More
Singapore-based consultancy TapestryWorks has announced the launch of BehaviourWorks, a new framework for evaluating shopper behaviour for point-of-sale, web site design and promotional materials, building on advances in neuroscience and behavioural economics. More
London-based research panel and online community specialist Verve has moved to a new loft space in The Leather Market near Tower Bridge, in preparation for substantial growth during the year. The firm has also appointed Georgina Botting and Sali Turner as Directors. More
Research Now has joined online community specialist Vision Critical's Global Partner Program, in order to offer the latter's insight community technologies to its own clients and prospects around the world. More
Radio ratings giant Arbitron has reported a 5.1% increase in Q1 revenue to $111.8m, compared with $106.4m in the prior year period. Earnings are slightly down - Q1 EBITDA was to $34.7m vs $36.6m a year earlier - due the firm says to the costs associated with the planned Nielsen merger. More
Bart Michels, UK MD of WPP's brand development and insight consultancy Added Value, will take on the role of Global Chief Executive Officer from 1st July, replacing Janine Hawkins who is leaving the company. More
A team of researchers from Cambridge University have developed a smartphone app called 'Emotion Sense', which collects data from a user's mobile phone in order to understand what triggers their mood swings. More
Harris Interactive has reported third quarter revenue down 2% to $33.6m, and bookings down 13% to $34.4m. However, profits climbed and operating income was $1.1m, compared with a loss of $371k a year previously. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported 'record revenues', with first quarter figures up 11% to $68.8m compared with $62.3m a year ago, driven by its Audience Analytics business and mobile and multi-platform products. More
Technology research specialist Gartner has reported a 10% increase in first quarter total group revenue to $406.8m - with the Research division posting an impressive 13% increase to $310.3m. More
GfK has acquired the remainder of subsidiaries GfK Etilize in the US, media control GfK International in Germany, and GfK UK Entertainments in the UK. More
Nick Mawditt, Global Director of Insight and Marketing at WPP's out-of-home agency Kinetic Worldwide, is set to join rival Talon Outdoor in July, as the agency's new Director of Research and Insight. More
North of England-based company Dollywagon Media Sciences has launched a new business called Colourtext, which offers a dashboard providing semantic analysis of content on social networks. More
Alan Gould, the co-founder of IAG Research, has joined online sampling and technology company uSamp as Chief Executive Officer, while the firm's founders Matt Dusig and Gregg Lavin will continue to operate the firm's core sampling business. More
The UK government has launched a competition to find a commercial firm to help spin out its Behavioural Insights Team or 'Nudge Unit' into a separate joint venture. The resulting unit will be part-owned by Whitehall, with the partner putting in new investment, and employees becoming shareholders. More
London-based mobile research tech specialist Lumi Mobile has expanded to Asia with the opening of a subsidiary in Hong Kong. More
Global information giant Experian has launched a platform integrating real-time data and customer insight to help marketers create materials for campaigns across on and off-line channels. More
Nielsen is piloting a new solution, 'Nielsen Digital Program Ratings', designed to measure audiences who view TV content online. More
UK-based business-to-business agency B2B International has posted what it describes as its 'best ever' start-of-year figures, with first quarter revenue of £1.7m, up 108% from Q1 2012. More
In London, Kate Anderson has been promoted to the position of Joint MD of Cello-owned RS Consulting Group. She replaces Phil Stubington, who will now focus on developing the group's key accounts, while leading its innovation development programme. More
In Liverpool, UK, MR agency Curiosity Insight and social networking site AllJoinOn.com have launched CrowdZoo, described as the country's 'first' MR solution combining 'a feature-packed, easy to use online bulletin board' and 'the research participants to use it'. More
UK firm SecondSync, which analyses the relationship between conversations in social media and TV programmes and audiences, has integrated overnight TV ratings from audience measurement body BARB into its dashboard system. More
WPP's Consumer Insight division has reported a 3.2% increase in revenue from £569m to £588m for the first quarter. Like-for-like - allowing for currency changes and the effect of acquisitions - the rise was only 1%. More
Nielsen has reported a 3% increase in Q1 revenues to $1.38 billion, despite performance in Europe which CFO Brian West said in a conference call continues to be a 'pretty big drag' on the company. More
Online insight community specialist Tuned In has opened an office in New York City, where it has relocated AD Matthew Ayers and Research Manager Katie O'Driscoll. More
Ipsos has reported a 5.3% drop in first quarter revenues to EUR 359.6m, which equates to a 2.7% drop at constant scope and exchange rates. The firm says these figures reflect a decrease in commercial activity in the final quarter of 2012. More
Facebook has set up a UK Advisory Board comprising eleven representatives from major brands and agencies who will meet four times a year to discuss insights, campaign measurement, product development and marketing best practices. More
Online sampling and technology company uSamp has opened an office in Paris, France, where it has appointed former SSI exec Franck Pernez as Sales Director, to support its expansion in Europe. More
Kantar Media has won a multi-year contract to measure subscriber behaviour for Indian Direct to Home (DTH) TV provider Tata Sky. The service, launching later this year, is billed as the first Return Path Data audience research service in India. More
The Editor of The Guardian newspaper's Datablog and Datastore online resources, Simon Rogers, has quit his job to join Twitter in the US as the firm's first Data Editor. James Ball will step into his shoes in the UK. More
Cello-owned co-creation agency Face has launched a social media research platform called Pulsar TRAC, designed specifically to handle large volumes of data. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has released an analytics dashboard through which brands and agencies can measure the impact of their social media video strategies against those of their competitors. More
Online specialist BrainJuicer has appointed former PepsiCo shopper insights exec Will Leach as Vice President of its methodological unit Behavioral Labs in Texas. More
UK-based consumer insight and strategic consulting firm The Future Foundation has expanded to the US with the opening of an office in New York, where it has relocated Heather Corker in the role of VP, Consumer Trends, North America. More
Research Now Mobile has added multilingual capabilities to its research platform, allowing for surveys to be authored in more than 50 languages. A launch scheduler, a quota management system and improved location-based targeting also feature in the new upgrade. More
WPP's digital investment arm has joined a third round of funding for Leading Smart Holdings, giving it further involvement in Chinese digital advertising measurement company Miaozhen Systems. More
UK-based BrainJuicer Group has hired Maria Spinelli as Vice President, BrainJuicer Southeast Asia, based in Singapore. The company launched offices in Mumbai and New Delhi in 2012 and Shanghai in 2010. More
Digital audience specialist comScore has suffered a legal setback in Illinois, where a federal judge has ruled it could be open to a class action suit over claims of privacy violations. More
App measurement and advertising platform Flurry is to make its Flurry Analytics service available for apps and mobile-optimized web sites, in the next few weeks. More
In New York, ad and marketing effectiveness specialist Dynamic Logic has upgraded its AdIndex for Mobile solution, to enable clients to identify ad exposure across the entire mobile 'ecosystem'. More
David Thorpe, the VP of Strategy and Analysis at marketing agency network SapientNitro, has taken a one-year secondment to join the UK Cabinet Office, where he will serve as Deputy Director of Digital Policy in the Government Digital Service (GDS) team. More
Panel and research technology specialist Vision Critical has relocated to larger premises in central London following a year in which turnover increased by 66% and staff numbers were up 30%. More
UK custom panel and community specialist EasyInsites has reported a 40% year-on-year increase in first quarter revenue to more than £300k. The firm has also promoted two members of staff and hired Martin Levett as Web and Survey Programmer. More
Tuesday's lunchtime keynote speaker Simon Rogers is Editor of the Guardian newspaper's online data resource, and he and his team generate editorial through a combination of raw numbers and the insight journalists bring to it. DRNO's News Editor Mel Crowther watched with her pen poised. More
UK-based web management software firm Decibel Technology has introduced an analytics tool called Decibel Insight, to provide information on the value and behaviour of clients' web site visitors. More
Digital audience measurement giant comScore has officially launched its MMX Multi-Platform service in the USA, combining and deduping audience across PCs, smartphones and tablets. More
It's not quite real-time blogging, is it, but there's something to be said for taking time to reflect... Nick Thomas kicks off a series of carefully considered reports from the MRS Conference in London last week, and finds it not very 'shocking' or 'new', but not at all bad either. More
Japanese advertising giant Dentsu is close to completing its acquisition of London-based Aegis Group, having finally received clearance from China's Ministry of Commerce. More
Last week's MRS Conference in London featured two sessions focused on big data. Interesting, high powered... and ultimately frustrating, but perhaps only because it's too large a topic, already, not to have its own conference. Nick Thomas reports. More
Enero Group has launched a Data Sciences Unit, in response to growing client demand for data driven marketing solutions. The unit will initially be launched in Australia and the UK, and will then be rolled out to Brazil and the US 'over the coming year'. More
In the UK, Simpson Carpenter has recruited two client side qual researchers: Tony Comerford joins as Account Director after seventeen years at Procter & Gamble, and Joanna Zukunft joins from the Marketing and Audiences team at the BBC, as an SRE. More
Online research and polling firm YouGov has reported strong results for the 6 months ending January 31st, the first half of its financial year, with like-for-like revenue growth of 5% and adjusted profit before tax up by 16% to £2.6m. More
London-based Realeyes, which measures facial expressions and quantifies people's emotional reactions through standard video devices such as webcams and in-store cameras, has completed a $3.2m round of investment. More
In the UK, Dave Stevinson, former Sales Director of parts and peripherals distributor VIP Computers, has launched a new analytics and business Intelligence (BI) firm, GNR Corporation, focused on clients in the IT distribution 'channel'. More
M&C Saatchi-owned brand research specialist Clear has reported a 'very tough year', with revenues slowing as nine of their top ten clients cut spending by 50%, resulting in a headline operating profit drop from £2m to £0.3m. More
For the first time since it was founded in 2000, online specialist BrainJuicer has reported a 'poor year', citing a combination of flat sales and cost increases for a 45% drop in operating profit to £1.5m from £2.7m in 2011. Revenues increased very slightly to £20.8m. More
Online ad targeting specialist Phorm has raised £3m in funds through the placement of convertible secured loan notes - with £1.5m available immediately, and the balance payable once the company's Turkish operations become profitable. More
GfK has launched its Brand and Customer Experience practice (BaCE) in the UK, and promoted Iain Stanfield to lead it. More
Panel firm Research Now has announced an international deal with Experian Marketing Services, the data giant's insight and targeting wing, combining online behavioural data with the ability to survey the same individuals. More
A new agency called Wess Digital has been set up in the UK, to offer political parties and campaign groups access to data on people's political voting preferences and their support for specific issues-driven campaigns. More
German online ad visibility measurement specialist Meetrics has opened an office in the UK, and appointed Eyeblaster founder Anant Joshi to lead it. The firm is also opening a South East Asia HQ in Thailand, led by recently appointed Nutchsara Cayir. More
GfK has confirmed a 10.2% increase in 2012 sales to EUR 1.5 billion, exceeding its target of 9%. 'Strong' organic growth of 3.1% is cited as a key reason for beating the target. More
In London, the University of Westminster has launched a Centre for Social Media Research (CSMR), through which it will conduct research into the social, cultural and political-economic aspects of social media, while exploring how it might transform the practice of research. More
Turkish online research and data collection specialist HoraCore has signed a deal to offer DigitalMR's eCommunities platform and social media research services to clients across its home country. More
WPP's media investment management group GroupM has opened a new Consulting Services division, whose offer will include marketing and media analytics, as well as business forecasting. More
In the US, consumer insights group Pure Moxie has bought what it describes as a 'significant stake' in technology firm aSi Media, with the aim of enhancing its own digital insight services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based researcher SPA Future Thinking has appointed former TNS ops leader Sue Homeyard as Director of Operations. More
Online research software and solutions provider Confirmit has launched a mobile feedback and research app called MyMobile, allowing businesses to feed insights back to stakeholders via any type of mobile device. More
Revenue at Chime's Insight and Engagement division rose more than 50% to £13.6m in 2012. Operating income was up 53% to £7.6m and operating profit more than tripled to £2.2m from £0.7m. More
Toluna has promoted Mark Simon to MD of North America, allowing previous incumbent George Terhanian to focus on his other role of Group Chief Strategy and Products Officer. Paul Twite replaces Simon as UK MD, while former Ipsos exec Julie Paul also joins the firm. More
Millward Brown has promoted Soumya Saklani to the position of Managing Director, Sub Saharan Africa and Chris Githaiga to support him as Managing Director of the East Africa region. More
North of England full service agency Dipsticks Research has promoted Penny Browell to the position of Research Director, responsible for the firm's 'Other Lines of Enquiry' media research arm in addition to her current role as Head of the TV research division otherlines.tv. More
Experian Marketing Services has announced the launch of Hitwise Mobile, which will provide clients with 'comprehensive data and insights' about mobile consumer behaviour. More
WPP has announced preliminary results for 2012. Group revenues rose 3.5% to around £10.4bn, and headline EBITDA rose 7% to £1.76bn; but in the Consumer Insight division, like-for-like revenues rose just 0.8%, with gross margin down 1.1%. More
...as bad as you fear, or as good as you hope *. Wise words, or at least a good starting point for a feature on threats and opportunities for the research profession, overwhelmed as we sometimes are by hype and alarmism. This is the last of our seven features celebrating job ad no.100,000. More
Ipsos has reported 2012 revenues of EUR 1.8bn, up from EUR 1.4bn in 2011, but disappointing given the addition of Synovate. Accustomed to rapid growth, the group blamed the stall on politicians, the integration process and competitor poaching of senior staff. Profits however remained solid. More
The UK's National Readership Survey (NRS) has awarded comScore the online audience measurement contract for its print and digital data product NRS PADD. More
London-based social media analytics firm PeerIndex has launched a new platform which rewards consumers with products and discounts in exchange for their influence on social media networking sites. More
GfK has integrated its 'EMO Scan' facial expression measure into its existing ad testing system, to help clients understand consumers' spontaneous emotional response to advertising. More
The outlook for marketers has continued to improve, according to the latest wave of Warc's Global Marketing Index, which shows a third successive month of improvement. More
San Francisco-based audience measurement and digital advertising firm Quantcast has opened a new EMEA Operations Centre in Dublin, Ireland, to support the expansion of the firm's advertising business across Europe. More
Audience measurement specialist Kantar Media has announced a data sharing agreement with 'social TV' analytics company SecondSync. More
San Francisco-based business planning and analytics software firm Anaplan has expanded in Europe with the acquisition of its UK and Ireland reseller Vue Analytics, and the opening of a European HQ in Paris. More
Nicky Forsyth, the MD of Surrey-based sampling and panel management software firm MARSC, is to leave at the end of March, and will look for 'new opportunities' later in the year. From April, the firm's Director of Consultancy Julian Simpson will take over the position of MD. More
Cello-owned co-creation agency Face has appointed Andrew Ho as Managing Director of its recently opened operations in Asia. More
Not too little, not too much, with three vital ingredients and a splash of flavouring... Continuing our celebrations of job ad no.100,000, Nick Thomas gives a simple but effective recipe for a good job ad. More
Here are the best set of mean salary stats for the UK MR industry you're ever likely to see. Best as in good, solid bases and careful compilation; and the average rise is not bad either. But there's one shocker, and it doesn't take a great analyst to spot it. MrWeb's Nick Thomas continues our celebrations for job no. 100,000. More
comScore has reported record fourth quarter revenue of $68.4m, up 9% over the prior year period. This was driven by growth across its Media Metrix suite of audience measurement tools, which offset declines in its copy testing business. More
US-based technology specialist Forrester Research has reported annual revenue up six percent to $202.9m for its Research arm (from $191.5m in 2011). However, its Advisory services business declined two percent to $89.9m, and the firm is planning to make 30 staff redundant. More
Millward Brown has developed a model which it claims 'cracks the code' for how brands drive financial growth for their organisations. More
According to reports in the press, Facebook is in talks with Microsoft to buy the latter's Atlas Solutions media measurement platform, for something under $100m. More
Is it possible to talk about the mass of new skills and techniques bombarding the profession without feeling depressed about the traditional skills of the market researcher? Most definitely, says MrWeb co-founder Nick Thomas, continuing our celebration of 100,000 MR job ads. More
US defence technology contractor Raytheon has developed a tool which it claims can model the future behavior of social media users, while tracking their physical movements. More
London-based online research specialist DigitalMR has launched a solution called eViewer, to enable any company with an online presence to observe how customers interact with and react to their web sites, video clips, online games, mobile apps and adverts. More
Nielsen has reported a 1% rise in revenue to $5.6 billion for the full year 2012, compared with the 8% increase it posted the previous year. Revenue in the firm's Buy retail measurement division was flat while the Watch media analytics arm saw a 3% increase. More
Market research was once said to be 'recession-proof', but we don't hear that quite so often these days. Are we in a 'double-dip'? And in our new, more cautious mode, who are we recruiting and how many of them? Nick Thomas looks at the stats for 2005-12 as we celebrate our 100,000th job ad this week. More
Curiosity Research founder Andy Cumming and his former employee Sally Lewis have joined UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots, in Manchester, as Research Director and Senior Research Manager respectively. More
UK-based BDRC Group has added a China office to its existing overseas locations in Singapore and Sydney. Based in Beijing, the new office will be led by former B2B International China Deputy GM Siew Wong. More
Japanese advertising giant Dentsu has postponed the target completion date for its acquisition of Aegis, by one month to 28th March, following an agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the only body yet to give its clearance for the deal to go through. More
UK-based B2B media company UBM has sold its portfolio of Data Services businesses to private equity fund manager Electra Partners, for a consideration of £160m including a £40m vendor loan note. More
Technology specialist Gartner saw revenues in its Research division rise 14% to $300.2m in the three months ended December 31, 2012, while for the full year, they climbed 12% to $1.13 billion. More
Harris Interactive has once again reported a drop in revenue and a rise in profit. Fourth quarter revenue fell 5% to $37.1m, but 18 months into its 'business turnaround' initiative, company profits have risen 81% to $2.9m. More
Reports from the US say Twitter has acquired Bluefin Labs - which tracks social media conversations about TV programs - in a deal worth between $50m and $100m. More
Nielsen and Arbitron have voluntarily agreed to provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with additional time to review Nielsen's proposed takeover of the radio ratings giant. More
UK-based business research specialist B2B International has reported its best ever year, with 2012 turnover up 28% to £5.1m. North America and Europe led the way. More
Video advertising platform Adap.tv has introduced a tool to verify the 'viewability' of video ads in real-time, allowing ad measurement to discount those impressions that do not appear to the user. More
Brand valuation consultancy Intangible Business has appointed former Lightspeed Business Development Director Sam Latifi for the newly created role of Head of Research, as the company looks to expand its research and insights arm. More
UK MP Maria Miller says that advertising should be regarded as the 'oil in the machinery' of a recovering market, following the release of an Advertising Association/Deloitte report that has highlighted the sector's £100bn contribution to the UK economy. More
Qual specialist The Sound Research has appointed former BBC research leader Stuart Knapman to head its London office, replacing Andrew Davidson, who joined Flamingo in December as Head of its UK Practice. More
Preliminary results indicate that GfK's full-year revenue rose 10.2% in 2012, to approximately EUR 1.5bn, with organic growth of 3.1%. More
London-based video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly has developed a tool to enable advertisers to predict the 'shareability' of their video content prior to launch. More
UK group Chime Communications has announced five appointments in its Chime Insight & Engagement Group (CIE), including three at London-based Watermelon Research. More
UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has appointed former TNS director Mark Walton and former Buzzback manager Ed Wheeler to drive new business across all areas of the company, from its newly established office in London. More
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has appointed ITV's Director of Media Jenny Bullis for the newly created role of Director of its data and analytics business Annalect. More
London-based book publisher HarperCollins has appointed former EMI Music SVP of Insight David Boyle, to bring consumer insight to 'every aspect of the publishing process', from acquisition and content development to sales and marketing. More
Worldwide marketing budgets have risen for the first time in more than eight months, according to Warc's latest Global Marketing Index (GMI). More
Matthew Bayfield, co-founder of UK-based insight and analysis firm Tree, has left to join WPP-owned OgilvyOne as Head of Data for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. More
Semetric, the firm behind digital music analytics platform Musicmetric, has raised £3m ($4.7m) in new financing from two backers, and says it will use the funds to expand into new sectors. More
Panel and research technology specialist Vision Critical has acquired text analytics specialist DiscoverText. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
US-based digital agency 360i, whose services include consumer insights, measurement and analytics - has opened its first office outside the US, in London, where it has appointed Dentsu's former Chief Development Officer Rob Connolly as MD. More
Online specialist BrainJuicer has made 9% of its workforce redundant, saving £0.8m in costs following 'disappointing' trading in the final months of 2012. More
Millward Brown has announced a major expansion of its Link and Facial Coding technology, and says two of its biggest clients, Unilever and The Coca-Cola Company, will use the technique for all their ad testing in 2013. More
Marketing performance measurement firm Ebiquity Plc has announced interim Results for the six months ended 31 October 2012, including revenues up 27% to £30.5m and 'underlying' profit before tax up from £2.2m to £2.7m. In organic terms, however, revenues grew at a more modest 2%. More
In the UK, mobile network O2 has lost its Marketing and Consumer Director Sally Cowdry to National Lottery operator Camelot, where she will take the same title, with a role including consumer insight. She joins her new employer in 'a few months' after helping O2 with the transition. More
Online specialist Lightspeed Research has announced new roles for three of its senior managers, following the integration of sample and research tech firm GMI. Andrew Cayton becomes Global COO, Martin Filz CEO EMEA and Efrain Ribeiro Global Chief Research Officer. More
In the US, legal proceedings arising from the behavioral targeting trials of NebuAd in 2008 seem finally to be rumbling towards a conclusion. Claims against several of the six ISPs accused with the now defunct ad targeting company have recently been dismissed and/or downgraded. More
London and New York-based media and creative agency Essence Digital has acquired Seattle-based mobile ad company Point Reach, which delivers campaigns backed by 'strong analytics'. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Mobile advertising network InMobi has acquired UK-based mobile analytics technology developer Overlay Media for an undisclosed sum. More
Qual specialist The Sound Research has reported its most profitable year so far, with 2012 revenue up 25% to $7.4m. More
North of England-based online panel firm ResearchBods has appointed former Nunwood exec Marcus Silversides as Operations Manager, to oversee both its project delivery team and its expansion plans. More
Global customer and employee research agency ORC International has acquired Cincinnati-based consumer specialist MRSI (Marketing Research Services Inc.) from market research network the MVL Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Brazilian football legend Ronaldo has joined comms giant WPP as an intern, apparently in a bid to learn about the world of advertising. More
Mobile research tech specialist Lumi Mobile has moved into new offices in London's Fleet Street, as it gears up for growth in 2013. More
UK-based Engage Research has appointed quant specialist and former Hall & Partners exec Jen Halliwell as a Director based in its new Putney offices. More
In accordance with plans announced in November and ratified by shareholders last month, WPP has returned its tax headquarters to the UK. The group also announced it has taken a twenty percent stake in Buenos Aires-based digital marketing specialist Globant. More
WPP-owned Kantar has acquired digital marketing intelligence specialist AdGooroo, which provides market research services for search engine advertisers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Better trading conditions have prompted marketers to report a 'generally improved' outlook in December, according to Warc's latest Global Marketing Index (GMI). However, the survey suggests this confidence has not carried over to the budget setting process. More
WPP-owned marcoms network Wunderman has acquired a majority stake in Bienalto, a digital marketing agency based in Sydney, Australia, which specialises in online analytics, user experience and 'customer dialogue' programmes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Personalised ad solutions firm myThings has launched what it describes as a 'first-of-its-kind' pre-targeting solution, which analyses the visual attributes of a product in order to predict shopping behaviour. More
Nielsen has announced it is to acquire Arbitron for around $1.26 bn, or $48 per share of common stock. The transaction has been approved by both Boards and is subject to customary closing conditions. More
Online ad targeting specialist Phorm has welcomed new behavioural advertising laws introduced by the Turkish regulator, which it says 'reduce unfair competition' while having little effect on its business in the country it hopes will finally bring it a profit. More
London-based Decipher Media Research (DMR) has launched MediaBug, a bi-annual tracker promising media clients 'a unique perspective on the evolution of media consumption in the UK', with a specific focus on the disruption of established viewing behaviour by new technologies and services. More
Nielsen has rolled out its real-time ad measurement and optimisation tool Online Brand Effect in the UK. More
Online analytics pioneer Webtrends has launched a digital intelligence solution called 'Webtrends Streams', through which users can gather real-time visitor data across all their digital properties. More
In the UK, web behaviour analytics specialist QuBit has secured $7.5m in Series A funding to help market its new SaaS platform, while further developing its OpenTag tool. The firm will also use the funds to help build its presence in the US and across Europe. More
YouGov's UK Managing Director Phil Rance is to join research consultancy Quadrangle early next year, as Corporate Development Director. More
Alan Gould, the co-founder of ad effectiveness measurement firm IAG Research, has stepped down from the Board of Harris Interactive, citing increased responsibilities at venture capital firm Greycroft Partners. More
Social media monitoring firm Socialbakers has announced the beta launch of a new app called 'Fake Followers', to help marketers identify how many Twitter followers are real, fake or inactive. More
Jo Winning, the co-founder of custom panel and community specialist EasyInsites, has left to join London-based Verve as Business Development Consultant. More
Media agency Universal McCann (UM) is to roll out its digital media data management and insights division Decision Sciences in Europe, via a new London office and a rebrand in Frankfurt. More
UK-based user experience design specialist Foolproof has hired Jonathan Culling as UX Director, with responsibility for overseeing its 20-strong team of consultants, and helping develop new services. More
Online analytics company Searchmetrics has enhanced its flagship search analytics software to allow analysis of search performance on 'all the major search engines in a total of 123 countries'. More
London-based agency MESH Planning has made two senior appointments, reflecting a year of expansion for the company. Jo Rigby joins as Managing Director, EMEA and Nicki Boswell as Senior Experience Director. More
Online ad association IAB Australia has announced it will retire the 'Monthly Unique Browser' metric (UB) in the country as of February 1st next year, replacing it with the people-based Unique Audience (UA) metric. Nielsen will stop reporting UB within its Market Intelligence product. More
Online customer experience specialist Foresee has appointed Chris Harman as UK Managing Director, following the doubling of both UK sales and research teams over the past year. More
UK-based researcher Neil Cary has launched a new business, Asia Opinions Ltd, offering research services to British and Asian companies, including access to consumer panels, and its own online survey tool, Surveygoo.com. More
More money has been pouring into companies expanding in the analytics space, including big data and social media specialists. Two US firms, analytics advisory service IIA and big data start-up BitYota receive $1m and $12m respectively, and European start-up Teleportd $1m for its Nitrogram photo analytics product. More
Digital audience measurement giant comScore has announced the US Beta release of its new tool, MMX Multi-Platform, which promises unduplicated accounting of audience size and demographics across multiple devices. More
Omnicom division Diversified Agency Services (DAS) has acquired London-based innovation and co-creation consultancy Promise Corporation and says it will merge it with online community specialist Communispace, which it bought last year. More
comScore has launched Brand Survey Lift Pulse (BSL Pulse), a product for measuring the breakthrough and impact of campaigns in real-time. The tool is part of the AdEffx suite and debuts in 23 markets worldwide. More
UK store group The John Lewis Partnership has announced that current Lloyds Banking Group Customer Value chief Paul de Laat will move to the retailer in January to become its first Customer Insight Director. More
Online insight community specialist Tuned In has appointed Hall & Partners founder Mike Hall as a non-executive member of its Board. More
Marketers are growing more pessimistic following cuts to their budgets across Asia Pacific and Europe and stagnant figures in the US, according to Warc's latest Global Marketing Index (GMI) report. More
UK call tracking and web analytics firm AdInsight has changed its name to 'ResponseTap', which it says better reflects the position of the company going forward. More
Independent UK public body the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has introduced a set of guidelines to help practitioners manage individuals' privacy rights and the risks associated with the use of anonymised data. More
In the UK, the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) has announced its intention to enforce EU self-regulation for online behavioural advertising (OBA) from next February. More
Trading in the final months of 2012 is proving 'disappointing' for online specialist BrainJuicer, according to the firm's interim statement issued earlier today. Revenue during the last quarter is likely to fall 'significantly below' 2011 levels. More
UK firm SocialBro - which has developed a web app for the management and analysis of Twitter communities - has raised EUR 500,000 (c.£400k), which it will use to establish a London-based marketing operation and business development team. More
UK consumer insight and sensory specialist MMR Research Worldwide has partnered with consumer-generated video insights firm 'Watch Me Think', which offers panellists financial rewards in exchange for submitting smartphone videos containing their feedback on specific topics. More
UK-based Aegis Group plc has announced the acquisition of Benelux-based performance marketing agency Netsociety, and will merge it into its existing search and performance marketing division, iProspect. Terms were not disclosed. More
In the UK, the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) is calling for information to help it explore the extent to which businesses are monitoring online shopper behaviour, and then using resulting data to target consumers with personalised prices. More
Mobile customer engagement firm piJnz Group has introduced a mobile web analytics and landing page management platform called SignalMind, to provide metrics for mobile marketers. More
GfK has reported 'a significant sales increase' of 9.8% to EUR 1,096.8m in the first nine months of 2012, with much of the rise however due to currency effects and acquisitions. Q3 revenue was up 11.3% to EUR 376.7m. EBITDA fell 18.5% to EUR 50.6m. More
Millward Brown is boosting its support for clients in North Africa via a Cairo office, its third new location in the Africa and Middle East region this year, and led by Praveen Abraham. More
WPP has announced further details of its proposal to return its headquarters from Ireland to the UK, including a timetable which sees shares in 'New WPP' trading on the LSE at the start of 2013. More
Social media analyst DataSift has raised $15 million in a second round of funding, which it says it will use to grow and develop its technology more rapidly. More
Mobile app optimisation specialist Swrve has raised $6.25m in a round of financing led by Atlantic Bridge Partners and Intel Capital, and says it will create 100 new R&D jobs in its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. More
Nielsen and its McKinsey joint venture NM Incite have announced the acquisition of SocialGuide, which provides analysis of social media conversations about TV programs. Terms were not disclosed. More
Digital marketing solutions firm IgnitionOne - part of Japanese ad giant Dentsu - has appointed Michael Stephanblome as its UK Managing Director, as it completes the integration of his advertising exchange AdJug into its platform. More
UK radio research body RAJAR has commissioned Ipsos MediaCT to extend its Radio Listener Panel for a further year, as it continues to evaluate the agency's MediaCell smartphone measurement system. More
Japanese ad giant Dentsu's £3.16bn takeover of Aegis is being held up by delays in getting approval from Chinese regulators. More
Sports broadcast measurement specialist Repucom has appointed former Kantar Sport Head Bruno Lalande, for the newly created role of Director of Strategy, EMEA, based in Paris. More
Former Synovate Global CEO Adrian Chedore has joined Asia-focused MR consultancy ABN Impact as Chairman. More
UK research provider BDRC Continental has launched a Sports & Sponsorship division and appointed Director Mark Long to lead it. More
Harris Interactive has reported a 12% drop in revenue to $33m for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, from $37.8m in the prior year period; but has turned loss into profit as it continues its 'turnaround' and 'rightsizing' activities. More
Digital measurement specialist comScore has reported a 9% rise in third quarter revenue to $64.3m, a figure it says was held back by declines in its ad copy testing business, which is slated for a possible sale. Net loss was reduced to just over $3m. More
Gartner has reported third quarter 2012 revenues of $284.0m in its Research division - up 11% year-on-year, or 14% excluding currency effects. The Consulting division grew much slower, with revenues up just 1% (4% at constant currencies) to $71.7m. More
Ipsos ASI has launched a tool called Live|Test, combining behavioural web analytics with survey data to help marketers and advertisers decide on the best way to optimize their digital ad campaigns prior to launch. More
Marcoms giant WPP has agreed to buy a majority stake in digital marketing agency Netbooster Asia, which offers a full range of online services including web research and benchmarking, and social media monitoring. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, the National Readership Survey (NRS) has launched a mobile and tablet app, offering access to its data on print and digital audiences. More
Emerging markets specialist Borderless Access Panels has expanded its client-facing teams with the appointment of industry execs Matt Gershner in New York and Matthew Hurst in London. More
Microsoft Advertising has hired former Experian researcher Faye Weeks for the newly created role of Senior Marketing Research Intelligence Manager, based in its London office. More
The majority of users of UK web sites are allowing the use of third party ad cookies, according to a recent analysis of the impact of the EU Cookie Directive by data privacy specialist TRUSTe. More
Kantar has appointed Walter Patanella as Chief Executive of Media Monitoring and Evaluation at its Media Intelligence Europe subsidiary, following its recent acquisition of an 87% stake in media monitoring specialist Press Index, where he served as MD. More
Former Synovate parent Aegis Group plc has announced the acquisition of Japanese performance marketing and search agency Hablar, for an undisclosed sum. The agency will be merged into Aegis' search and performance marketing division, iProspect. More
WPP has reported third quarter consumer insight revenue of £591m, down from £593m in the prior year period and up just a fraction ( 0.8%) on a like-for-like basis. More
European online specialist InSites Consulting has unveiled a network of more than 150 experienced qual moderators across 30 countries, to help run its market research online communities (MROCs). More
US technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 2% rise in revenue in its Research arm to $50.3m from $49.2m in the prior year period. However, the firm's total revenues dropped to $68.5m from $69.8m as a result of an 11% decline in its Advisory Services division. More
Ipsos has reported 9-month revenues of just under EUR 1.28bn, up 45.1% on a constant currency basis since gobbling up Synovate a year ago. The firm says now that the integration is complete, it will 'resume its focus on growth' and on meeting its service quality and profitability targets. More
Consumer and retail specialist The NPD Group has restructured its European management team in response to what it describes as the 'changing needs' of clients and retail partners. As part of the reshuffle, David Pritchard has been named General Manager of Commercial Activity. More
Digital audience specialist Effective Measure has appointed former ABC UK exec Alan Morrissey as Country Managing Director in South Africa. More
WPP-owned online behavioural measurement firm Kantar Media Compete has settled charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission that it 'deceived consumers' by not disclosing the extent of the personal data it was gathering about them. More
Nielsen has announced third quarter revenue up 5% year-on-year, on a constant currency basis, to $1.423bn, with its Buy (4%) and Watch (5%) segments both contributing. Adjusted EBITDA rose 7% on the same basis to $424m. More
Former AGB and TNS director Dr Stephan Buck died on the 3rd October at the age of 75, after a three-year battle with cancer. More
'Holistic' web-based MR firm DigitalMR is moving into a larger London office, reflecting UK headcount more than doubled in the last twelve months. More
UK marketing budgets appear to have fallen slightly for a second successive quarter, according to the latest IPA Bellwether survey. Business confidence among marketers has also fallen, with a tough trading environment hampering profitability and cash flow. More
Panel exchange operator Cint is looking for further expansion with the help of EUR 6.9m ($9m) raised from its existing owners, Prime Technology Ventures and Nordic venture capital firm Creandum. More
Ian Billington and Paul Cartmell, the co-founders of London-based marcoms group Billington Cartmell (BCL), are leaving following the sale of their agency to investment group Hutton Collins Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Nielsen has rolled out its ad measurement service Online Campaign Ratings in the UK, following a pre-launch test with consumer goods giants Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser. More
UK-based YouGov has reported a 4% increase in revenue to £58.1m for the year ended 31 July 2012, up from £55.1m in the prior year period. The US and UK businesses saw strong performances, more than off-setting the effects of disposals in Germany and the end of a major contract in Iraq. More
Cello-owned co-creation agency Face has expanded to Asia with the opening of two new offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. More
A new body called the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA) has been launched in Brussels, to manage aspects of a self-regulatory programme aimed at making online behavioural advertising (OBA) more transparent across Europe. More
European-based ad platform provider Ebuzzing has launched a dashboard service to measure the reach, impact and sentiment of social media video campaigns. More
Newbury-based Celebrus Technologies has enhanced its digital analytics platform to link individuals' behaviour on web sites and mobile apps with their interactions with the leading social media platforms. More
Newbury-based digital analytics specialist Celebrus Technologies has raised £1m in new capital, which it will use to drive further insight and business value from big data, while strengthening its relationships with its international partners. More
Broadband and telecoms giant Telefónica has partnered with GfK to open a big data business unit called Telefónica Dynamic Insights, which will sell anonymised and aggregated mobile network data to companies and public sector organisations worldwide. More
Online sampling and technology company uSamp has promoted George Llorens to the role of Executive Vice President, Global Head of Sales, tasked with further driving sales in Europe, where the firm reported growth of 104% in the past year. More
UK-based Behavioural Economics specialist The Behavioural Architects (TBA) is opening an office in Sydney, Australia, adding to existing bases in Shanghai, London and Oxford. Ad planner Mike Daniels is appointed to run the new business. More
UK mobile phone retailer The Carphone Warehouse used misleading research-based claims in an ad on its web site for a child-safe network, Bemilo, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled. More
UK-based experience design agency Foolproof has acquired Singapore-based user experience agency One to One Global, thus extending its services to Asia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Twitter has partnered with Nielsen to launch a service which will enable brands to create surveys directly within the social networking site, in order to gather data on users' purchase intent and brand awareness. More
Online insight community specialist Tuned In has moved into larger office space at its premises in Camden Town, London, to house a number of new staff including former FreshMinds director Richie Jones and Circus strategist Natasha Wallace. More
London and New York-based Essence Digital has acquired US-based media analytics agency Black Bag Advertising (BBA) for an undisclosed sum. More
Ad targeting company Phorm has continued its cash burn in the first six months of 2012, again making little revenue, but says its Turkish operation is performing sufficiently well to at last make the group 'profitable during the next financial year'. More
Harris Interactive's former global brand and communications specialist Jeni Lee Chapman has been hired for the post of Managing Director of PR and communications measurement agency Gorkana Group, at its offices in New York. More
In the UK, Google has partnered with GfK's usability research specialist nurago to launch the 'Screenwise Trends Panel', to explore how people consume media and examine their attitudes towards brands and ads across different media platforms. More
French ad agency network Publicis Groupe has acquired Amsterdam-based digital marketing agency LBi for EUR 416m (£333m). More
Qureshi Market Research MD Bob Qureshi has opened a new facility in London's West End, offering eye tracking, dial testing and NeuroFocus services. The five-studio facility also provides access to a bar for use in drinks research projects. More
In London, former Kantar Worldpanel MD Michelle Carter has joined panel and research technology specialist Vision Critical as Head of Client Service. More
In the UK, The National Readership Survey (NRS) has appointed media consultant Alison Finch as Director of Client & Insight, to oversee client relationships for its NRS PADD service, which combines print data collected by Ipsos Mori with web site readership figures from UKOM/Nielsen. More
Online specialist BrainJuicer has opened a 'client-facing' practice in India, where it has appointed Pooja Haldea as Managing Director – India, based in New Delhi, and Sarah Cowell-Thomas as Head of Juice Generation – India, based in Mumbai. More
Hollywood-based social media research firm Fizziology has expanded to Europe with the opening of an office in London, which offers a proprietary system to capture and measure UK social media conversations. More
Michael Berland has left WPP-owned MR and political polling specialist Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) to join PR giant Edelman as CEO of a newly-named research and analytics business, Edelman Berland, into which the group's existing research firm StrategyOne will be integrated. More
According to reports in the UK press, WPP is planning to 'refresh' its Board of Directors, after shareholders voted against a proposed 60% increase in CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's pay package back in June. More
Survey software firm Voxco has partnered with panel access provider Cint, whose OpinionHUB insight platform will give Voxco clients access to more than seven million individuals worldwide. More
Twitter has introduced interest-based ad targeting for its Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts campaigns, while Facebook is to allow brands to use their consumer data to reach users through the site. More
WPP has reported revenue up just 1.2% to £1.19bn in its consumer insight division in the first half of the year, while headline operating profit fell slightly to £84m. The group has also confirmed that following tax changes, it plans to move its HQ back to the UK from Ireland. More
US competitor ad monitor WhatRunsWhere has acquired UK-based start-up Mobile Ad Spy, which tracks details of ads running on mobile web sites around the globe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, research and measurement consultancy StrategyOne - which is part of the Edelman PR network - has appointed former ICM Research Director Emily Hunt as Director of Insights, to lead its primary insights function. More
Marketing spend is in decline, not just in Europe, but also in the previously buoyant Asia Pacific region, according to a report from advertising research site Warc. However other indicators, such as general business confidence, were more positive. More
UK-based user experience consultancy Foviance has announced it is to merge with service design agency Seren Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Irish sports betting chain Paddy Power has appointed former BskyB exec Danny Russell as its first Insight Director, and former Domino's Pizza director Robin Auld as Brand Director. Both commence their new roles in mid-October. More
Harris Interactive has reported an 8.2% decline in revenue to $147.5m for the full year fiscal 2012 - a majority of which the firm says was part of a 'right-sizing' plan. More
Aegis shareholders have accepted the offer made by Japanese ad giant Dentsu to buy the company - including the Aztec retail information and scan-data business - for a total price of £3.16 billion. More
GfK has reported a 9.1% increase in sales to EUR 720.1m for the first half of 2012, most of which comes from currency effects and acquisitions. Organic growth of just 1.7% results from a healthy 4.2% rise in the Consumer Choices business combined with flat performance from Consumer Experiences. More
Brand and communications specialist Hall & Partners has promoted Caroline Dukes to Managing Partner in its London office, and Joann Schaumann to Managing Partner in New York. More
Full-service MR agency and panels and online tech specialist Toluna have agreed a deal which will give online community and panel solutions to CMI's clients worldwide. More
Kantar Media has bought AGB Nielsen's 50% stake in the TGI (Target Group Index) service operating in Turkey. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based mobile research platform CrowdLab has appointed former FreshMinds exec Niall Smith as Research & Technology Director; and a further five staff to support the ongoing delivery of the firm's services. More
In the UK, global marketing and technology agency LBi has appointed Michele Chang-McGrath as Head of Research. Her role includes launching a series of initiatives to understand emerging digital behaviour in mobile, eCommerce and online content. More
Technology specialist ABI Research has opened a new UK-based research and forecasting facility in Wellingborough, Northants, to house its growing team of analysts and to support local clients. More
New York-based communications agency Initiative has appointed former Nielsen execs Michael Heberle and Richard Sussman for senior roles in its recently restructured Performance Analytics team. More
YouGov has recorded a 'solid trading performance' for the year ended 31 July 2012 in an update issued by the London Stock Exchange. More
In the US, the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung patent lawsuit is throwing some interesting light on the business style of the iPhone and iPad giant - including the fact that it's not so averse to market research as it has sometimes claimed. More
comScore has announced financial results for the second quarter of 2012, including a much-slowed growth in revenue - up just 4% to $60.3m. Adjusted EBITDA remained relatively robust at $9.6m (16% of revenue), compared to $11.1m in Q2 2011. More
Technology specialist Gartner has reported second quarter revenues up 9% to $397.5m - equivalent to growth of 12% at constant currencies. A very good quarter for the group's Research division was only slightly dented by a flat performance from the smaller Consulting wing. More
Online ad targeting company Phorm is to raise £7m ($10.8m) to fund its expansion in Turkey, announced on DRNO in July; and says impressive numbers have already opted into its operation there. More
GfK has combined two recent acquisitions, KN Dimestore and nurago, to create a new global practice, Digital Market Intelligence (DMI), which promises clients a complete picture of their digital marketing and advertising ROI. More
Dubai-based News Group International (NGI) has acquired UK-based Report International and US PR and social media research specialist KDPaine & Partners, and will add them to its measurement company, Salience Insight, while maintaining them as distinct brands. More
Google has bought US-based online marketing service Wildfire, reportedly for around $250m (£159m). More
WPP-owned brand, media and comms research specialist Millward Brown is implementing a new 'service delivery' model across its North America operations, which involves centralizing a number of back office positions, resulting in the loss of around sixty non-research staff. More
London-based research panel and online community specialist Verve has closed a £0.75m round of funding, which it will use for product development and recruitment purposes. More
UK-based market research agency Firefish has reported a 23% increase in turnover to £7.7m for the past 12 months, and has appointed former Hall & Partners exec Majbritt Rijs as Head of Quantitative. More
Nielsen has partnered with Israeli-based venture capital fund Partam Hightech to launch a subsidiary called Nielsen Innovate, which will help develop and fund business ideas and bring them to market for its clients globally. More
In the US, technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 7% increase in second quarter revenues to $79.1m from $73.5m a year previously. More
Customer loyalty specialist Maritz has set up a Business Services division, to focus on the changes being experienced by service industries as a result of the current economic climate, technological breakthroughs, and changing consumer behaviour. More
UK research and marketing solutions firm Progressive Digital Media (PDM) has reported a12.5% increase in first half revenue in its Business Intelligence division, which includes research agencies IDC and the iD Factor. More
MEC Access, WPP's events sponsorship marketing unit, has launched a research and analysis tool called 'Partnership Intelligence', to track consumer interest, media consumption and attitudes towards sponsorship of sports, music, the arts, film and TV events. More
Ipsos has reported a 53.4% increase in first half revenues to EUR 837.0m, reflecting the integration of Synovate into its financial statements. More
Nielsen has reported a 1% fall in second quarter revenue to $1.39 billion as a result of weak foreign currency exchange rates - but on a constant currency basis, revenue was up 4%. More
Online sampling and technology company uSamp has joined NBCUniversal's Olympics Lab research initiative, to help the media network track consumers' real-time reactions and behavior during the London 2012 Games. More
In London, specialist social research division TNS BMRB has hired former NatCen director Carli Lessof as Director of Development, and former EdComs Research Director Desiree Lopez as Head of Qualitative Research. More
In the UK, a new DIY survey platform called Usurv is to offer a similar service to Google Consumer Surveys, but without the use of cookies to infer demographic information about respondents. More
WPP innovation agency GroupM Next has signed an agreement with social media specialist Curalate, to provide GroupM clients with engagement analytics from the Pinterest social platform. More
WPP has acquired a majority stake in marketing technology solutions firm Acceleration, via its WPP Digital group. More
UK broadcasting measurement body BARB is to expand the circulation of its Web TV meter, adding another 500 homes to its core panel, currently just 100-strong. The system measures TV viewing via laptops and PCs. More
Watermelon Research, the recently launched digital specialist within Chime's Insight and Engagement Group (CIE), has hired Mark Barrett, Jo Brockhurst and Maninder Kaur Sahota as Consultants in its London office. More
Enterprise feedback management (EFM) and Social CRM technology specialist QuestBack has launched a social engagement tool, Listen & Act, which will help clients integrate insights from social media with their CRM data. More
Millward Brown has announced the acquisition of Chilean research firm Cadem Advertising S.A. Cadem has operated as MB's licensee for a number of years and now becomes a wholly owned subsidiary, renamed Millward Brown Chile. More
Marketing and PR group Adventis has filed to appoint administrators, having recently sold its last two subsidiaries, channel optimisation specialist bChannels and campaign analysis division Second2. More
EMI Music is to release parts of its 'EMI Million Interview Dataset' to around 150 data scientists from non-profit organisation Data Science London, who will study what EMI describes as the 'most extensive collection of data on music consumers ever shared'. More
GfK has acquired the remaining 40% of user experience firm SirValUse Consulting and usability research specialist nurago. More
MR association ESOMAR has launched a guide to help researchers comply with the recently introduced EU cookie law relating to the capture of online visitor information. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has reported a 20% increase in revenue to £52.9m for the year ended 30 April 2012, driven by its Analytics division which grew by 56% to £27.9m during the period. More
Online sampling and data collection firm Research Now has completed its rebrand and integration of mobile research specialist iPinion, which has been renamed 'Research Now Mobile'. More
UK-based consumer insight and strategic consulting firm The Future Foundation has appointed former Iconoculture exec Nick Chiarelli as Key Account Director, to spearhead new business initiatives and develop its content and consultancy offerings. More
NBC Olympics, the unit responsible for producing and promoting NBCUniversal's coverage of London 2012, is launching two apps to provide live streaming of the games, using Adobe technologies to enable brands to measure user traffic and deliver targeted advertising to followers. More
Japanese ad giant Dentsu has made an offer to acquire UK-based media buying and marcoms group Aegis in a £3.16 billion deal, which includes the latter's Aztec retail information and scan-data business. The acquisition is subject to Aegis shareholder approval. More
Business information and events group Centaur Media has acquired London-based Internet research and training firm Econsultancy for an initial consideration of £12m in cash, and up to £38m more based on performance for the year ending December 2015. More
UK marketing execs' confidence in the prospects for their industry dropped sharply in the second quarter of 2012, according to the IPA's Bellwether survey. However, so far roughly as many report marketing budgets rising (22%) as falling (23%). More
After more than six years in its office in Charing Cross Road, London-based brand and communications research agency Hall & Partners has returned to its Soho, where it was founded more than twenty years ago. More
Consumer insight technology firm Lumi Mobile has launched a self-service tool called Lumi SURVEY, which it says can be deployed across all major mobile operating systems. More
UK-based Online specialist BrainJuicer has appointed former P&G researcher Teri Hall as Vice President, North America. Based in the firm's Chicago office, Hall will oversee client accounts across the American Midwest region, and support EVP Alex Hunt. More
Online ad targeting provider Phorm has announced the launch of commercial operations in Turkey, following an agreement with Turkish ISP TTNET. More
Brand and ad research specialist Hall & Partners has hired Andy Chappin, previously CFO of TNS UK, as its new Global CFO - its fourth major hire so far this year. More
This article was posted in error and has now been removed - our apologies for any inconvenience. More
London-based BDRC Continental has launched a social media monitoring and sentiment analysis tool called PillowChat, to enable hotels to monitor, measure and understand the online 'chat' about their brands. More
WPP has confirmed it is in the process of buying an 87% stake in media monitoring and analysis specialist Press Index. The price of EUR 6.81 per share values the company at EUR 11.2m. More
UK-based ecommerce service provider eCommera has appointed former IBM Coremetrics Director John Squire to lead its Retail Predictive Analytics Software division, and spearhead the firm's US expansion. More
Web technology provider Apica has raised $5m in Series C financing, for use in product development, marketing support and global expandsion of its cloud and mobile testing and monitoring services. More
London-based opinion specialist BritainThinks has appointed former Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) researcher Rana Baroud as Research Lead at its offices in Somerset House. More
Global media planning and buying group Carat has appointed Mike Vitti as Senior Vice President of Data and Analytics, to oversee a practice comprising around 30 US staff. More
Behavioural ad targeting company Phorm has reported another large operating loss, with revenues for 2011 not taking off as expected, but says it believes that 'it will become increasingly clear to investors that the long wait for revenues will have been worthwhile.' More
UK-based SPA Future Thinking has launched Volumetric Choice Based Conjoint (VCBC), a new modelling methodology which it says will forecast a brand's value and volume shifts against competitors. More
UK-based eDigitalResearch has appointed former Nielsen exec Neil Callaghan as Head of Business Development, to help lead a major business drive for the company. More
UK-based insight agency Clarite Research has launched a tool which uses virtual 'Post-It' notes to enable respondents to provide feedback on any form of online communication. More
Behavioural research consultancy SimpleUsability has appointed four new members of staff: Emma Travis, Alex Priestley, Laura Carlton and Sharon Dale. More
In the UK, former Nielsen Online MD (EMEA) Louise Ainsworth has taken up the post of Chief Executive Officer of online intelligence service and marketing and research publisher Warc. More
In the UK, Ipsos has appointed Victoria Kaulback as Senior Brand Strategist in its research innovation centre, the Open Thinking Exchange (IOTX), where she is tasked with introducing the firm's first 'productised' solutions in Europe. More
In the UK, full service agency Discovery Group has promoted media and telecoms research specialist Colin Rice to the position of Research Director; and Jessica Francis from SRE to Research Consultant. More
In the UK, Harris Interactive has appointed former Ipsos director Lee Langford as Research Director in its Telecoms, Media, Tech & Entertainment (TMTE) division. More
The BSI has launched a revised version of its international standard for market and social research - BS ISO 20252 - to reflect the impact of new technologies on research methods, including online and mobile as well as the increasing use of panels. More
Nielsen has announced the launch of its TV Brand Effect service in China and Germany. The service gives metrics on a TV ad's 'breakthrough', or 'resonance', for purposes of real-time or post-campaign optimization. More
The Trust Alliance, the recently formed standards and guidelines partnership for online healthcare data collection has greatly expanded its membership with the signing up of three new firms, Medimix, Toluna and UniversalSurvey (SurveyHealthCare). More
Retail data specialist dunnhumby has hired former MicroStrategy exec Nishat Mehta to drive the global expansion and commercialization of its solutions as EVP, Global Partners, based in New York City. More
PR Newswire, known for its press release services but increasingly focused on providing multimedia content and measurement platforms, has launched a web and social media monitoring platform for China. More
Kantar Media TGI has launched a new service called 'TGI Clickstream', allowing marketers, communications agencies and media owners to gain a picture of web sites and sections visited by specific, 'complex' target groups of consumers. More
In the UK, Kantar Media Audiences CEO Richard Marks is leaving the firm in August to set up his own consultancy business. He will be replaced by Richard Asquith, who currently leads the firm's TGI and Custom division. More
UK-based researcher SPA Future Thinking has introduced an ethnographic tool called See-Me, which it claims 'bridges the gap' between actual and recalled consumer behaviour. More
UK Market Research Society (MRS) President Rita Clifton is leaving her role as Chairman of branding consultancy Interbrand London, to set up her own private office and to take on additional non-executive roles. More
WPP's global media network Mindshare has launched a data-driven marketing intelligence platform called CORE, which combines its own media data and consumer insight capabilities with sources including Visible Measures, Nielsen, Acxiom and Adobe. More
The All England Lawn Tennis Club has teamed up with IBM to launch a new Wimbledon web site, which uses predictive analytics featuring historical and immediate data, to determine the top three things a player must do in order to succeed in a specific match. More
In the UK, media group Future Publishing has recruited former T-Mobile insights leader Simon Wainwright for the newly created role of Market Research Director, with responsibility for driving its consumer insight strategy. More
Social media analysis firm uberVU has hired Kantar Media Compete's former General Manager Gregg Poulin as Chief Marketing Officer, with a remit to help the firm refine its customer acquisition and demand generation strategies while directing all marketing initiatives. More
The fifty largest research firms reported a 5.1% increase in US-based aggregated revenues to $9.2 billion in 2011, according to the 39th annual report by industry authority Jack Honomichl. More
Global insight and marketing group Cello has acquired the remaining shares of co-creation agency Face, four years after first investing in it. More
Kantar Media TGI and Nielsen have teamed up to launch a new media analysis tool in Ireland, combining Nielsen's TV data with the TGI survey of consumers' brand and product use, attitudes and media habits. More
Interpublic Group-owned media agency Initiative has appointed former Microsoft Advertising exec Marc Bresseel as 'G14 President', responsible for its highest performing markets outside the US. He takes up the London-based role in September. More
Customer loyalty software firm Satmetrix has launched a tool called SparkScore, which benchmarks brands' social media sentiment using customer satisfaction measure Net Promoter. More
Panel and research technology provider Toluna has updated its mobile app to enable members of its research community to participate in in-depth 'traditional' surveys. More
WPP is in talks to acquire a stake in media monitoring and analysis specialist Press Index, in a deal which would involve buying 87% of the outstanding shares in the company from its founders and other sellers. More
UK-based behavioral insights firm Beyond Analysis has opened an office in the US, led by Hunter Albright, who has been appointed CEO for North America and Global Head of Consulting. More
WPP shareholders have voted against a proposed 60% increase in CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's pay package. Separately, WPP says its Consumer Insight arm has been 'stable' in the first four months of 2012, with a 3.3% revenue rise adding to the group's £3.2 billion turnover. More
Nielsen has revised its full year 2012 revenue guidance downwards, following what it describes as 'changes to operating conditions' in its Buy consumer purchase behavior division outside the US. The company is now expecting constant current revenue growth of 5% to 6% for the full year. More
Klaus Nadler has been appointed CEO of GroupM Switzerland, effective immediately. He succeeds interim CEO Peter Lammerhuber, who will continue to oversee GroupM Switzerland and remains CEO of GroupM Austria. More
Radio ratings giant Arbitron has appointed former Nielsen exec Derrik Dennis as Director of Sales for its mobile measurement solutions, which include the syndicated Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels. More
In the UK, Creston Group company ICM has introduced a new online methodology for predicting election results, the Wisdom Index, which it is running for the Sunday Telegraph. More
Behavioural ad tech company Phorm is planning to raise £20m in return for a 20% equity stake in its new operating subsidiary in China. The firm has also announced its intention to relocate its holding company from Delaware in the US, to Singapore. More
Access panel provider Cint has appointed former Cobalt Sky exec Allan Shaw as Senior Account Manager in the UK, to drive new business across the PR, media and advertising sectors. More
Former ICM Group Chairman Justin Sampson has been appointed as CEO of UK television measurement body BARB, succeeding Bjarne Thelin who announced his resignation in February after nine years in the role. More
US-based Federated Sample has appointed former Greenfield Online MD Andy Ellis as Senior Vice President for Corporate Development. More
Researchers Dorothy and Ray Parker have set up a new marketing research and competitor intelligence company called 4insight in St Helier, Jersey, which offers what they claim to be the Channel Islands' first professional viewing studios. More
In the UK, leading edge research firm BrainJuicer has announced that Simon Godfrey intends to retire from the company's board of directors at the end of September this year. He will be replaced by Graham Blashill, who joins from a career with Imperial Tobacco. More
In the UK, MR veterans Hashim Emadi and Steve Elliott have launched a new company, RSVP Research, which will use a 'virtual office' setup to offer clients fast turnaround and low cost work. More
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech is launching what it bills as 'the first continuous panel to gather representative mobile phone data in China'. More
The UK's ICO (Information Commissioners Office) has apparently made significant last-minute relaxations in its guidance regarding changes to the new EU cookie law. Separately, ESOMAR and EFAMRO have attended meetings of the Council of Europe regarding EU data protection plans. More
UK e-commerce association IMRG (Interactive Media In Retail Group) has partnered with European trade association EMOTA to launch the IMR Smart Knowledge Base, an open-access library of insights into the performance of the global e-commerce market. More
In the US, WPP subsidiary MEC has announced the launch of Crossmedia, a new proprietary tool for optimizing multimedia campaign sales. The product is based on the work of the company's Analytics and Insights (A&I) practice. More
GfK is integrating elements of its brand, communication, satisfaction and loyalty research into a new global practice, Brand and Customer Experience, and has appointed Helen Zeitoun to head it up. More
In Surrey, UK, sampling and panel management software provider MARSC Ltd has announced an online community solution, which combines a panellist interface with a fully featured content management system. More
UK Yellow Pages owner Yell has announced it is to rebrand as 'hibu'. Also this week, the company has reported a significant decline in revenues and the departure of Group Chief Marketing Officer Jenny Ashmore after just seven months. More
UK-based mobile web payments and analytics company Bango has announced plans to raise £3.25m from institutional investors to fund growth in the US, and strengthen its team and customer base. The move still requires shareholder approval. More
In the UK, BDRC Group has acquired retail specialist ESA Market Research Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. More
Twitter has announced its support for the US FTC's Do Not Track initiative, which restricts how third parties collect and store data about browsing behavior. More
UK-based River Research has appointed Tom Skilbeck as Head of Online Communities, and promoted Zoe Best to Research Director, heading up its Brand Strategy and Innovation offer. Spencer Gray also joins as Head of Audio Visual, bringing high-end video production in-house. More
Kees de Jong, the CEO of data collection and sampling solutions specialist SSI, has moved to the role of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He has been replaced by Chris Fanning, who joined the firm in February as President and COO. More
GfK has reported an 11.3% increase in sales to EUR 345.1m for the first three months of 2012, with organic growth of 4.9%. Adjusted operating income rose 10.2% to EUR 33.5m. The firm says its new 'Own the Future' corporate strategy has contributed to the healthy figures. More
UK-based reputation analysis specialist Echo Research has promoted Ben Lloyd and Sam Knowles to Joint MDs, allowing CEO and founder Sandra Macleod to focus on growing global client relationships and operations across parent company Ebiquity. More
North of England-based Dipsticks Research has promoted Andreas Thorslund to the post of Head of Brand and Communications Research. Three other members of staff have also been promoted. More
UK-based customer intelligence technology supplier iJento has partnered with US full-service digital measurement group Keystone Solutions to offer clients enhanced web analytics with multichannel capabilities, and detailed visitor-level analysis for use in segmentation and personalization. More
Zodiak Kids, the children's division at Zodiak Media, has created an international research department, 'The Research Lab', and promoted François Vallerian, Research Manager at Marathon Media, to lead it. More
Online research software provider Confirmit has reported a buoyant first quarter for the year with more than $15m in revenues, and strong growth in mobile solutions following its acquisition of Techneos. More
Online healthcare specialist WorldOne has announced the appointment of Eva Laparra as MD Southern Europe. She joins from Vision Critical in Spain. More
Research Now owner e-Rewards, Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire mobile research specialist iPinion, LLC, which will be rebranded as 'Research Now Mobile'. More
In Cambridge, UK, software developer Chris Arnold has officially launched a new company, Percollate, which offers a social media analysis tool for sourcing relevant Twitter audiences. More
Harris Interactive CEO Al Angrisani has reiterated his confidence in the firm's turnaround program, after reporting a drop in net loss to $300k for the three months ending 31st March, from $2.3m a year earlier. However, during the period, revenue fell 8% to $34.1m from $37.0m last year. More
Social media monitoring and analytics firm DataSift has secured $7.2m in a follow-on Series A round of funding from existing investors, which it plans to use to accelerate growth. Separately, the firm has moved into a new office in San Francisco's SOMA district. More
UK-based insight and analysis firm Tree has partnered with mobile data technology provider IMImobile, to offer a suite of customer insight solutions to mobile operators, brands and organisations across Asia. More
UK call tracking and web analytics firm AdInsight has secured £1.6m in its first round of venture capital funding. More
Ratings giant Arbitron has added tablet measurement to its new UK Mobile Trends Panel service, a meter-based measure of how consumers use their phones to surf the web, engage with social media and act on mobile advertising. More
Customer intelligence technology supplier iJento has announced a global partnership with web analytics consultancy Semphonic, which will help clients track and understand both digital and multichannel customer behaviour. More
WPP has reported first quarter revenues up 7.4% at constant currencies, to £2.39 bn. Organic revenue growth was 4.0%. However the consumer insight division once again lagged behind with revenues up 3.3% on a constant currency basis, or 1.3% excluding acquisitions. More
In the UK, behavioural research and usability consultancy SimpleUsability has announced the addition of a new laboratory and observation room to its Leeds office, and the appointment of Steven Lilley as Head of Technology. More
Ipsos has reported a 46% increase in first quarter revenues to EUR 379.9m, reflecting the addition of Synovate's business. However, it admits the need to integrate the two businesses has slowed expansion: volume of sales was down slightly on Q1 2011, and organic growth of just 2% is expected this year. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 7 percent revenue increase to $70.3m for the first quarter of 2012, compared with $65.7m for the prior year period; and net income of $3.2m, up from $2.9m. More
Stakeholder and employee engagement specialist Dawn Smith has been appointed Research Director at Bristol-based customer insight and brand strategy consultancy 100%Cotton. More
Nielsen has reported a 3% rise in revenue to $1.3 billion for the first quarter ended March 31. Growth was fairly even in its Buy consumer purchase behavior segment (up 2.7% to $800m)and its Watch media research division (up 2.6% to $480m). More
Web-based consumer researcher BuzzBack has partnered with Swedish eye tracking solutions firm MRC international, to offer new ways for marketers to evaluate their packaging and communications. More
UK-based eDigitalResearch has launched a service called the HUB Text Analysis solution, which sifts unstructured comments published online. More
Belgian-based online specialist InSites Consulting has relocated its London operation to larger premises in the heart of Clerkenwell, following what it says has been a period of rapid growth. More
In the UK, WPP-owned media agency MEC has bolstered its Analytics and Insight team with the appointment of former BSkyB exec Jonathan Edwards as Data and Technology Services Director, with a remit to help integrate data into clients' marketing strategies. More
Online audience specialist comScore has appointed former Microsoft researcher Beth Uyenco as SVP of International Research, to support the firm's initiatives with local market measurement JICs*, including UKOM in the UK. More
Gartner Australasia has agreed to acquire IDEAS International, a firm which provides enterprise IT research, insight, analysis and tools to technology vendors and global IT users. The cash deal is valued at approximately $AUD 20m. More
In the UK, book publisher Harper Collins has appointed the BBC's Head of Digital Insight Rufus Weston as Customer Insight Director. More
WPP Digital has acquired a $7m (£4.3m) minority stake in Dolphin Software, which trades as shopping comparison site mySupermarket. The firm has more than two million monthly unique users in the UK, and also offers retailers and analysts insights into consumer sales activity. More
UK marketers are about as likely to be raising as lowering their budgets this year, and are still cautious in their own plans for the coming year, but are far more confident about general prospects for their own companies and sectors, according to the latest IPA Bellwether. More
UK-based Mintel is introducing a series of social media reports, which it says will offer a 'first of its kind' view of consumer relationships with brands, both online and off-line. More
The Indian government is taking advantage of current trade talks with the EU to press for 'data secure' status for the country. Officials said India had made significant changes in its data protection laws and that restrictions - which limit the inflow of outsourcing work - should be lifted. More
Martin Filz has been appointed as Managing Director for the EMEA Region at panel and research software company GMI, recently acquired by Lightspeed Research. He was previously MD for EMEA and APAC at Research Now. More
Access panel provider Cint has announced partnerships with Chinese panel Tudou, and News Corporation subsidiary STAR TV of India. The new panels will be available on Cint's OpinionHUB and the alliances are in collaboration with Swedish online tracking specialist Nepa. More
Online panel and survey technology provider Toluna has unveiled a new web site with an upgraded social media voting community. The firm aims to improve community engagement and further promote participation in its surveys. More
UK television broadcaster ITV has commissioned custom panels specialist EasyInsites to expand its 'Viewback' panel to cover all its daytime shows, including Daybreak, Lorraine, Loose Women and This Morning. More
London-based YouthSight has introduced a new co-creation tool called 'Bright Young Minds', which segments the 'best and brightest' students and young people from its OpinionPanel Community for projects including new product development and innovation. More
In the UK, online healthcare data collection firm WorldOne has appointed Harris Interactive veteran Neil Phillips as Vice President of Quality. The firm says that in addition to enhancing its own procedures, Phillips will contribute to improving quality standards across the industry. More
Marcoms giant WPP has acquired US-based user experience (UX) agency EffectiveUI. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, broadcaster Channel 4 has appointed former Red Bee Media exec Clare Phillips for the new role of Head of Audience Research and Insight, leading a team which provides support to the programming, marketing and strategy teams. More
Panel and research technology specialist Vision Critical has appointed former Synovate North America CEO Scott Miller as President and COO of International Business. More
Online research firm YouGov plc has announced interim results for the six months ended 31 January 2012, with organic revenue growth of 12% and adjusted profit before tax of £2.2m. YouGov expects to pay its first dividend, when full year results are out. More
UK-based Yell Group, which began life as the online version of Yellow Pages and now offers a variety of digital services, has appointed former Sitel exec Tim Schuh in the new role of Chief Customer Experience Officer. More
Google has launched a product combining DIY surveys with access to targeted respondents. Google Consumer Surveys will cost users a fixed fee per response from selected persons accessing premium content pages in Google's publisher network. More
New Jersey-based Bowker, which provides information for the publishing industry, has merged its US-based PubTrack Consumer and UK-based Book Marketing Limited (BML) under a new global brand, named Bowker Market Research. More
Interactive marketing technology company React2Media has merged its US operations with semantic targeting specialist ad pepper media USA. More
US-based digital measurement and web analytics company Semphonic has partnered with London-based online business optimisation consultancy AEP Convert to expand its digital measurement service across Europe. More
Harris Interactive has been told it can continue trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange, after achieving the necessary share price of $1+ for more than ten consecutive days. More
Media and information giant Hearst Corporation has acquired a twenty percent stake in UK-based consumer behaviour and trend spotting specialist Stylus Media Group. Financial terms were not disclosed. More
In the UK, comms group Karmarama is extending its youth capabilities with the launch of a youth insights agency called KID, founded and led by Senior Planner Jono Holt. More
Media and communications research provider Ipsos MediaCT has rolled out its passive radio audience measurement tool MediaCell across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), to measure which radio stations respondents are listing to in the region. More
In the UK, TNS has promoted Joseph Webb - who joined the company as a graduate trainee as recently as 2007 - to the position of Head of Digital. More
London-based online research specialist DigitalMR has appointed Piotr Idzik as Country Director for Poland, with a remit to develop client relationships and drive sales of the firm's portfolio across the Polish and CEE markets. More
Online specialist BrainJuicer has reported results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011, confirming 27% revenue growth to £20.71m and profit after tax up 25% to £1.85m. More
Adobe has announced a raft of new software and solutions within its Digital Marketing Suite, aimed at simplifying the process of analysing and optimising clients' use of online media. More
Online sampling and panel exchange firm Cint has announced a new partnership with UK online parenting community Netmums Ltd, giving its clients access to an 'unrivalled' number of individuals in the 'Mothers of Babies' category in the UK. More
Online video analytics firm Skytide has hired analytics and business intelligence veteran Dr Hamid Bahadori as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering, to lead the firm's product development initiatives. More
Predicting the future was very much the order of the first day of the MRS Conference in London. The Keynote address, the workshops and the papers teemed with it and with new words describing it. Who better to navigate its infinite delta streams than our Features Editor Teresa Lynch? More
WPP's marcoms network JWT has acquired a minority stake in digital agency Converge Technologies, in Pakistan. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but WPP says the buy was funded by a subscription for new shares. More
London-based PeerIndex, which quantifies the impact of 'social influencers' across the web, has raised £3m in Series A funds, which it will use to expand both its commercial model and its 'PeerPerks' consumer-facing influence marketing service. More
UK-based marketing services group Euro RSCG has re-branded its Skybridge company as EuroRSCG People, following the integration of research agency Heist and ad recruitment agency Riley. More
WPP's GroupM is working with Nielsen to develop a new cross-platform measurement service, integrating media planning and measurement across television and the Internet. More
Ipsos has announced the appointment of Synovate veteran Jenny Broughton as a Global Talent Management Partner, and separately has given more details of the structure of its new InnoQuest Practice. More
In the UK, social media monitoring company Brandwatch has raised $6m in a round of financing led by Nauta Capital. Carles Ferrer, General Partner at Nauta will join the board, while Al Sisto, Venture Partner, will join as an observer. More
Online researcher YouGov has appointed John Gilbert as Technology and Telecoms Consulting Director. More
In the UK Paul Roberts, a former MD at BrainJuicer, has joined SPA Future Thinking as Group Digital Director. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) has announced that former GfK NOP Head Phyllis Macfarlane will become its new Chairman in April, following the completion of Vanella Jackson's two-year term. More
Panel and research technology specialist Vision Critical has announced revenue growth of 17% to $CAN 72m in 2011. More
UK firm Progressive Digital Media (PDM) has reported 'disappointing' 2011 results in its B2C division, revenues falling to £6.2m from £8.5m and contribution from £2.3m to £1.4m. However, the group said research agencies The iD Factor and ICD Research, which sit within the division, stood up well. More
US company Survey Analytics has added a gamification platform called BadgeFarm to its IdeaScale crowdsourcing application, in a bid to increase user engagement in its clients' communities. More
British Prime Minister David Cameron has appointed Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales as a consultant for a new crowdsourcing initiative, designed to encourage the public to get more involved in policy-making. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has announced the acquisition of media consulting firm Fairbrother Lenz Eley (FLE), for an initial consideration of £5m and up to £6m extra dependent on 2012 performance. More
In London, Freud Communications founder Matthew Freud has bought a 3.23% share in online polling specialist YouGov for approximately £2.26m. More
Search engine Ask.com has launched a new mobile app, Pollroll, combining instant polling with a Q&A service. More
In the US, the Board of Harris Interactive has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $3m of the firm's common stock over the next 24 months, funded with cash generated from operations. The firm's share price passed the $1 mark this week for the first time in 10 months. More
In London, online research specialist DigitalMR has appointed former Kantar Worldpanel exec Tom Hogg as Commercial Director, responsible for implementing global sales and marketing strategies to promote awareness and drive uptake of the firm's research portfolio. More
In the US, panel and research technology provider Toluna has launched a new methodology called SmartSelect, to enable researchers to pick potential survey respondents according to specific demographic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. More
US consumer privacy organization TRUSTe has unveiled a solution to help businesses prepare for compliance with the 'EU Cookie Directive', which requires web publishers to obtain prior consent before they store or access consumer information via cookies and similar technologies. More
UK-based mobile data collection specialist OnePoint Global has appointed former Synovate Global CEO Robert Philpott as Global Managing Director, based in the US with a remit to position the company for 'aggressive growth and scale'. More
UK-based group Chime PLC has partnered with two current leaders of its Insight and Engagement Division (CIE), Chairman Nick Lamb and CEO Crispin Beale, and its former Group Operations Director Mark Squires to launch a new digital MR agency, Watermelon Research. More
UK Group Chime Communications has reported a 17% revenue hike for its Insight and Engagement division (CIE), to £12.1m for the year 2011. Operating income rose 8% to £7.9m. More
Irish broadcaster UTV Media has acquired social media monitoring specialist Simply Zesty from its founders Niall Harbison and Lauren Fisher, and from MR firm SPA Future Thinking which held a stake in the business. The deal is valued at up to £5m. More
comScore's Chief Operating Officer Greg Dale has moved across to the position of Executive Vice President, International, following last year's departure of Wolf Allisat. Cameron Meierhoefer now becomes COO, while Serge Matta is promoted and Tom Karrat hired for divisional President roles. More
London-based app analytics firm Mopapp has received EUR 1.5m in funding from credit reporting and business information firm CRIF. More
UK consultancy Foviance, which offers usability, user experience and web analytics consultancy, has appointed Ben Langdon as its new President. Current Executive Chairman Philip Hunt moves to a Non-Executive position.
More
US-based social media sampling firm Peanut Labs has launched a new DIY research product to provide users with access to a 'ready-to-poll' group of respondents. More
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has brought together all its search and optimization agencies under its Resolution Media brand, to offer integrated services across areas including SEO, digital behavior analysis, behavioral targeting, social media and mobile. More
UK-based online specialist BrainJuicer has appointed former Microsoft Market Research Manager Ralph Komen as Client Director in the Netherlands. More
WPP-owned ad agency Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) has launched a practice called Social@Ogilvy, through which the agency's global network of social media strategists will deliver solutions for areas including social media commerce, online listening and impact analysis. More
Ad and brand research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed former Synovate leader Andy Waller as Global Chief Operating Officer. More
US media network NBCUniversal (NBCU) has partnered with Google and comScore to explore new ways to measure single source consumption of video content on TV, PCs and mobiles / tablets during the 2012 London Olympics. More
WPP agencies tenthavenue and GroupM have linked up in China to acquire full service mobile marketing agency Wisereach, and launch a new company, MJoule, providing a 'holistic view' of mobile consumer behavior. More
According to reports in the press, the BBC's Director of Marketing & Audiences Helen Normoyle is leaving the broadcaster in May, to become Chief Marketing Officer at furniture retailer DFS. More
3D experience and product lifecycle management specialist Dassault Systemes has acquired social media intelligence and monitoring platform Netvibes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Nielsen has reported good growth and profit with full year 2011 revenues up 8% (6% at constant currencies) to $5.53bn and adjusted EBITDA up 10% (8%) to $1.546 bn. More
Ad and brand research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed Kevin Ford as Global Head of Research Solutions, based in London and reporting to Global CEO Vanella Jackson. More
In the UK, WPP-owned MediaCom has promoted Peter Fyfe to the newly created role of Head of Social Media, to lead a team of ten social media specialists focusing on monitoring, consultancy, campaign activation and community management. More
Troubled agency Harris Interactive has announced second quarter results, with net income rising to $1.6m from $0.3m in the prior year period; but revenues falling 13% to $39.1m from $44.9m. More
WPP's global retail practice The Store has launched a new resource offering clients access to a range of services covering shopper insights, store design, customer relationship management, in-store communications, packaging and e-commerce. More
In the UK, online privacy and compliance specialist Evidon has launched a tool to help publishers keep tabs on the cookies and tracking tools used on their web sites, so as to comply with the disclosure requirements of the ePrivacy Directive. More
Manchester, UK-based B2B International is to open an office in Chicago, adding to its New York business opened in 2008 and helping the business research specialist service clients in the mid-west and beyond. More
GfK has announced revenue up 6.2% to EUR 1.374 billion in 2011, in preliminary figures released today. Almost all (5.8%) was organic growth. Operating income grew relatively little due to specific items including write-downs and recruitment of a new CEO. More
Belgian agency InSites Consulting has announced revenue growth of around 28% to more than 16 million Euros; office openings in Timisoara, Romania and in New York; expansion to 120 employees; and a number of senior appointments. More
In separate developments today, two companies - digital advertising firm CPX Interactive and device identification tech specialists BlueCava - have announced new tools for circumnavigating the Euro Cookie Directive, to be enforced from May 25th this year. More
Japanese research and online panel provider GMO Research/JMI has today announced the opening of its first UK office, and the appointment of veteran researcher Jonathan Sheldrake as European Sales Director. More
TV ratings body TAM Ireland has appointed media sector veteran Jill McGrath as Head of its TV Audience Measurement service, replacing Aidan Dunne who is retiring. More
The European Commission (EC) has dropped its legal action against the UK Government, over the latter's decision not to prosecute behavioural ad technology firm Phorm for breach of EU data protection and privacy rules. More
In the US, BrainJuicer has appointed planning specialist Rene Huey-Lipton as Senior Vice President, in charge of the firm's 'Juice Generation' team, which helps clients generate insights and ideas at the early stages of development. More
In the UK, MPG Media Contacts - which is part of ad and communications services group Havas - has appointed former Zenithoptimedia Head of Strategy Hamid Habib to lead its Catalyst division, which combines research, analysis and 'idea facilitation'. More
Retail analysis giant SymphonyIRI has partnered with UK independent grocery comparison web site mySupermarket, to provide what the firms describe as 'the first' multi-channel view of shoppers' behaviour in the UK - both online and in-store. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has reported a 17% increase in revenue to £24.0m for the six months ended 31 October 2011, with organic growth of 6%. Operating profit rose 75% to £2.51m from £1.44m. More
Global management consulting, tech services and outsourcing company Accenture has agreed to acquire Madrid-based predictive analytics specialist Neo Metrics Analytics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
WPP-owned international communications consultancy Hill+Knowlton Strategies has launched a new unit called Research+Data Insights (R+D Insights), offering both data analytics and primary research. More
Murray Hardie has re-joined brand and comms research specialist Hall & Partners as US Chief Executive Officer, after a 10-year break spent working in comms planning positions. He assumes overall responsibility for US operations from Global CEO Vanella Jackson. More
In the US, online sampling and data collection company Research Now has made changes to its senior team with three promotions: Craig Stevens to CRO for the Americas; Martin Filz to MD for EMEA and APAC; and Konstanze Just to SVP of Global Marketing. More
In an interim trading statement, research group Cello has announced a 'solid' full year performance for 2011 and says its growing focus on the resilient pharmaceuticals sector is 'paying off'. More
WPP-owned PR giant Burson-Marsteller has acquired a majority stake in Finnish reputation management consultancy Pohjoisranta, which offers a range of research services including reputation surveys, competitor analyses and stakeholder studies. Terms were not disclosed. More
International online specialist BrainJuicer has reported a 26% increase in full year revenue to £20m, for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011. In a trading update, the firm says this increase was primarily fuelled by continued growth in the US. More
Cint has re-branded its product names to reflect its twin focus on sample access and panel management solutions - and also has a new logo. Separately, the firm has appointed former SSI exec Anita Haddu as Director of Panel Development, Europe. More
Kantar Media has acquired Chinese social media research, monitoring and analysis firm CIC, to complement its own range of social media capabilities in the country. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK-based custom panel solutions specialist EasyInsites has reported a 37% increase in annual revenue to £750,000 for 2011. The firm has also moved into new office space and doubled the size of its team with the appointment of four new members of staff. More
In the UK, full service consultancy FreshMinds Research has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of Rosaleen Goldrick as head of its Consumer Goods and Gaming team, and Ross Antrobus as head of the Retail and Automotive team. More
Panel and research technology provider Toluna has introduced a new version of its iPad and iPhone app, to enable panellists to participate in its DIY QuickSurveys directly through their mobile devices. More
Online sampling and data collection specialist Research Now has opened a new office in Rotterdam, where it has appointed former Sample Answers exec Kerem Köksal as Client Development Manager, Benelux, responsible for driving growth in the region. More
US-based word-of-mouth specialist Bazaarvoice has relocated Chief Client Officer Mark Riggs to London, where he has taken up the post of General Manager for Europe, tasked with raising the profile of the company's solutions across the continent. More
Independent London-based media agency the7stars has appointed former Aevolve Group Director Dale Simmons as Director of Data, overseeing the firm's insight, evaluation and analysis activity and with a remit to establish an insight team. More
Every month Daily Research News publishes over 150 stories from the market research industry and 2011's grand total of items was 1,886. So which of them grabbed you? Features Editor Teresa Lynch looks at the most read stories. More
UK privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch has called for foot traffic monitoring firm Path Intelligence to give consumers the chance to opt out of its system, which tracks their mobile phone signals as they move around shopping centres. More
London-based social media video ad platform Unruly Media has received $25m (£16m) in a Series A investment, which will be used to 'aggressively accelerate' its international expansion. More
The team at MrWeb would like to wish all our readers and friends around the world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. More
UK-based marketing tech specialist Performance Horizon Group (PHG) has upgraded its online tool ExactView, to enable measurement of the value of sales generated through social media platforms including Facebook. More
Global information services giant Experian has acquired UK-based web monitoring firm Garlik. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Experian said the transaction had been funded from its own existing cash resources. More
In the US, Nielsen and comScore have settled patent infringement lawsuits relating to both firms' online measurement copyrights, and as part of the deal, Nielsen has acquired $19m of comScore common stock. More
Company acquisitions in the online survey software market will continue apace, according to a new report produced by industry analysis publisher IBISWorld. More
Paul Walton, the co-founder and CEO of Cello-owned brand development consultancy The Value Engineers (TVE), is to retire at the end of the year. More
In the UK, ICM Research has launched a 'Crisis Management' analysis service, to help clients predict the likely public response to crises such as bad publicity; and to measure and track the effect of the crisis while it is still ongoing. More
Harris Interactive is to request a hearing to avoid delisting from the Nasdaq Stock Market, after its shares failed to repass the market's $1 threshold in 180 days since its last warning. More
The UK advertising and market research sectors are expected to see spending growth of 11.6% between 2011 and 2016, according to economic forecasting specialist the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). More
Waltham, Massachusetts-based engagement marketing specialist Constant Contact has opened an office in London through which it will provide UK support for its suite of e-mail, social media and event marketing tools, and its online survey solutions. More
In the US, Nielsen has announced the appointment of Rick Kash as Vice Chair and Mitchell Habib as Chief Operating Officer. Both appointments are effective from January 1st 2012. More
In the UK, Creston-owned ICM Group has strengthened its data collection and field services with the promotion of Neil Sykes to Operations Director in the UK, and Rebekah Joseph as Field Director at subsidiary Fieldwork UK. More
SPA Future Thinking's Research & Innovations Director Chris Handford has left to set up a digital research consultancy called Resound Digital. More
DIY survey technology firm SurveyMonkey has partnered with equity investment firm TPG Growth to acquire research software and services firm MarketTools. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources say that it values SurveyMonkey at roughly $1 billion. More
UK-based user experience and behavioural research consultancy Bunnyfoot has sold its Scottish arm to former MD Sarah Ronald, who has renamed the operation 'Nile'. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
James Walker, formerly Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Nunwood, has moved to global brand and marketing consultancy Prophet to lead a new analytics practice with a presence in its London and New York offices. More
Panel and research technology provider Toluna has named Harris Interactive veteran Jim Fredrickson as Group Chief Operations Officer. More
Social media analysis firm uberVU has established a North American corporate headquarters, where it has appointed technology business specialist Mark Pascarella as its new Chief Executive Officer. More
UK-based eDigitalResearch has appointed Virgin Media's former Head of Customer Experience Insight Anna Ritchie as Research Director. The firm has also hired Katharine Watters as Research Manager in its Retail team and Gillian Gargett as Data Manager in the Technical team. More
Jeremy Philips has resigned as CEO of the Photon Group, the parent company of insight firms The Leading Edge and Jigsaw Research. Philips was brought in to save the debt-laden group 18 months ago, and 'though challenges remain, leaves with a sense of 'mission accomplished'. More
In the UK, field and tab specialist Facts International has partnered with survey software and services provider SNAP, to offer clients an instant and 'unique' update service on tablets and smartphones. More
In the UK, Creston-owned ICM Research has hired former Synovate exec Tom Bailey as Head of Analytics, while Ruth Moyer joins the Technology team and Matt Draper the Financial Services team, both as Research Directors. More
YouGov has appointed former TNS Digital manager Dan Brilot as Media Consulting Director, based in London, with a remit to introduce new methodologies and products to the team's international client base. More
UK marcoms group Media Square - the parent of market research agency Illuminas - has been acquired through a management buyout (MBO), following an earlier announcement that its bank had refused further funding. More
Publicis-owned digital marketing agency VivaKi has appointed Geoff Smith as Head of Activation for its dedicated R&D facility, the VivaKi Nerve Center (VNC), where he will lead the firm's Audience on Demand (AOD) team in the UK. More
WPP Chief Exec Sir Martin Sorrrell has told the UK government that its proposed tax reforms do not go far enough to lure his business back from Ireland to its original UK headquarters. More
US social media ad technology firm BLiNQ Media - which delivers Facebook advertising results combined with real-time audience insight - has expanded its leadership team in Boston while opening a new office in Chicago. More
Online customer intelligence provider Celebrus Technologies has developed a tool to enable web site owners to monitor the usage of YouTube video content embedded on their sites, and gather insight into how it is received and engaged with at an individual level. More
Ipsos has announced its new senior leadership line-up for the UK, following the Synovate acquisition. Former Synovate senior execs Dave Hannay, Hilary Worton, Paul Stamper, Deborah McCrudden and Yusuf Ramadan are all included in CEO Ben Page's team. More
WPP is to acquire US firm The Glover Park Group, which advises on public and government affairs, digital and other advertising and brand strategy, and conducts opinion research. More
Translation software group SDL is to acquire social media monitoring firm Alterian after the latter's board today unanimously recommended approval of a sweetened offer. The all-cash price of 110p a share values Alterian at £68.4m. More
Online specialist YouGov has rolled out its weekly brand and product polling tool Launch Monitor in the UK, following its recent introduction in Scandinavia. More
Following its acquisition of Synovate, Ipsos has promoted Grant Bertoli to the position of CEO for South East Asia (SEA), and confirmed the appointment of Synovate's Singapore MD Miranda Cheung as MD of Ipsos in Singapore and SEA. Senior European and US roles have also been finalised. More
UK-based analytics and social media monitoring specialist Alterian has reported a 6% drop in revenue to £17.2m for the six months ended 30 September 2011, while registering an operating loss of £18.6m resulting from its current business review. More
IBM veteran Matthias Hartmann has officially taken up the post of Chief Executive Officer of GfK, replacing Professor Dr. Klaus L. Wübbenhorst who has stepped down. More
Robin Shuker, one of the founders of UK-based online qual research tools provider ChatCloud has resigned as MD to 'pursue other interests', just a year after co-founding the company. More
In London, Kantar has announced a deal with app software firm Lumi Mobile, whose mobile phone-based consumer insight technology it will help to commercialise. Kantar also takes a minority equity stake in the business. More
In the UK, full service consultancy FreshMinds Research has expanded in London with ten new staff appointments. More
Digital marketing specialist Steve Pritchard has opened a social media tracking agency in Leeds, UK. threeten10 will provide bespoke social media analytics along with client training courses and workshops. More
UK-based digital research and analytics firm Trufflenet has expanded to Australia though a partnership with PR agency Professional Public Relations (PPR). More
North of England-based online research supplier Panelbase has officially opened its new office in London, where it has appointed former Lightspeed Research exec Andrew Pringle as Client Development Manager. More
In the UK, user experience (UX) design agency Flow has appointed Rob Varney as Director of Design. Varney will lead the firm's brand refocus exercise following its merger with competitor Foolproof at the beginning of the year. More
UK market research agency Firefish has appointed planner John Jones, formerly of Red Bee Media, as Group Head. He leads a team working on retail, FMCG and media accounts. More
Online auction giant eBay has announced the acquisition of the team and technology of Hunch, which uses data mining and predictive modelling to create customised recommendations for site visitors. More
US social media research firm Feedback has launched in the UK, with the opening of an office in Islington, London, led by co-founders President and CEO Jeff Thompson and Executive Vice President Dean Browell. More
US-based digital video ad services firm BrightRoll has secured $30m in funding, which will be used to further invest in technology and research, and to expand its senior leadership team across a number of operations and strategic roles. More
Social media filtering platform DataSift - which was launched in the UK in 2008 by TweetMe creator Nick Halstead - has rolled out in the US with the opening of a San Francisco HQ. More
GfK has reported a good performance for the third quarter and first nine months of 2011. Q3 organic sales growth was 5.2% and the adjusted margin was up slightly on Q3 the previous year to 15.7%. Sales in the first 9 months of the year totalled EUR 999m - up 7.1% (7.0% organic). More
In London, digital product placement specialist MirriAd has announced enhanced functionality for its placement and analysis platform, intended to decrease an advertiser's financial exposure before and during campaigns. More
Skuuudle, a UK-based provider of competitive intelligence and price automation services to online businesses, has announced plans for significant expansion 'in the coming months'. More
Qual research and technology company Quester has added Simplified Chinese to the language capabilities of its 'virtual moderator' package, Socrates - already available in English, French, German and Spanish versions. More
In the UK, consumer research specialist Firefish has appointed radio industry exec MJ Olaore as its new Chief Operating Officer. Samantha Siva also joins as Qualitative Director and Karen Harwood as Field Project Manager. More
UK-based analytics and social media monitoring specialist Alterian is considering a revised bid from translation software firm SDL, which is now offering 110p per Alterian share (or £68.7m). More
US software giant Adobe - which owns web analytics firm Omniture and online audience behavior specialist Demdex - has announced plans to restructure its Digital Media and Digital Marketing teams, cutting around 750 staff in North America and Europe. More
In the UK, online sampling and data collection specialist Research Now has launched a Youth version of its OmniTaxi service, designed to offer a fast turnaround of short online surveys aimed at the 16 to 24-year-old market. More
In the UK, Ipsos MediaCT has launched a suite of research tools under the umbrella name of Mobi-Vision, to enable clients to capture insights in real-time via their smartphones. More
In the UK, ZenithOptimedia has made a number of appointments in its global marketing effectiveness agency Ninah Consulting, including former Nunwood analytics chief Colin Bunn who takes up the position of Director. More
Mobile giant O2 is creating a Business Intelligence team as a focus for data from across the business, according to press reports. Andy Day, Head of CRM since 2008, will head up the new division. More
Following its recent acquisition of Synovate and in line with plans to withdraw the Synovate brand in January, Ipsos has restructured its team in China. Five 'Combined Country Managers' will ready the businesses for integration while ensuring they run separately until the end of the year. More
Online measurement firm comScore has reported third quarter revenue up an impressive 29% to $58.8m, although expenses also grew very rapidly leaving profits little changed. More
London-based full service agency Opinium Research has launched a new division focusing on the healthcare sector. More
In the US, Gartner's research division has reported record contract value - up 14% to $1,036m in Q3 2011. Revenue rose 17% to $345.8m compared with last year's Q3, while net income climbed 52% to $30.5m. More
WPP-owned PR giant Burson-Marsteller has launched the 'Fan Experience' - a research-based service to understand how consumers respond to and interact with sponsorships and endorsements in the fields of sports, arts, culture and entertainment. More
Harris Interactive has reported a 3.5% increase in first-quarter revenue to $38.3m. Bookings however were down 11% for the quarter and CEO Al Angrisani says the firm is still facing 'major challenges' with sales. More
PR and research firm Brunswick Group has opened a third Chinese office in Shanghai, and appointed two un-named 'senior individuals' to expand its investor relations and research capabilities in Hong Kong. More
MPs on the UK Parliament's Justice Committee have argued for tougher action on breaches of the Data Protection Act, including custodial sentences. More
Nielsen has announced good results for the quarter ended September 30th, including revenues up 10% (6% at constant currencies) to $1,413m, and adjusted EBITDA up 7% in real terms, at $408m. More
Embattled UK-based social media analytics firm Alterian has announced cuts aimed at reducing its cost base by £10.6 million, including the reduction of its workforce from over 400 people to around 260. More
Google has cut off one source of information for web analytics systems, citing concern for its users' privacy. As of October 18th, 'organic search' queries carried out by end users logged into products like YouTube, Gmail and Google+ will no longer be available to its own or others' systems. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has announced third quarter results, with a substantial rise in revenues to $69.8m from $59.8m in Q3 2010. More
Ipsos - now the world's third largest market research company - has reported organic growth of 6.0% for the first nine months of the year, with revenue rising to EUR 845.8m. Growth slowed slightly in the third quarter and the firm is hunkering down for tough economic times ahead. More
UK-based analytics and social media monitoring specialist Alterian has rejected an offer from FTSE 250 translation software firm SDL, valuing it at just under £50m More
Online ad targeting company Phorm has arranged a £30m equity placing with institutional and other investors including its existing NED Mark Schneider. The funds will enable it to repay earlier borrowing and to proceed with its fledgling businesses in a number of countries. More
WPP has made a further investment, via its WPP Digital investment arm, in China-based online ad measurement specialist Moment Systems. More
Panel and research technology provider Toluna has announced a proprietary, web-based data reporting and analysis tool, TolunaAnalytics, which will be offered as standard to users of its PanelPortal product and of data collection services. More
Online specialist YouGov has today announced the launch of YouGov France, based in Paris, and appointed Julien Chevignon to lead it. More
In the US, software provider Adobe has introduced the Adobe AudienceResearch solution, a tool giving publishers and digital marketers metrics on the size and engagement of audiences for web sites, mobile apps and digital magazines. More
UK-based user experience consultancy Foviance has partnered with German eye tracking specialist SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) to launch a new web site, through which clients can find out if they have engaged with their online customers on an emotional level. More
In the UK, Mike Talbot and Tim McCarthy, the co-founders of analytics and social media monitoring specialist Alterian, have resigned their posts 'by mutual consent'. Two other non-executive directors have also resigned from the Board. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has acquired Australian media analytics consultancy Falkner Media Management (FMM) for an initial consideration of $AUD 4m (£2.5m). An additional $AUD 1.9m will be paid if the firm meets certain performance criteria by 2014. More
UK marketing budgets in all categories rose during Q3 according to the latest IPA Bellwether survey, with online seeing the largest quarter-on-quarter jump in the history of the report. Despite this, marketing executives' general confidence in their sectors hit a two-and-a-half year low. More
Online music insight and analytics service SoundOut has appointed former Nielsen exec Rob Sisco as President for North America, responsible for establishing partnerships with radio networks and labels in the US and Canada. More
UK book market specialist BML Bowker has launched a new service to track the purchasing habits of e-book consumers in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America. More
Ipsos has completed its acquisition of Synovate for £528.8m - up £3.8m from the previously agreed figure of £525m - to form the third largest market research company in the world. More
UK consultancy Brand Potential has appointed former Kadence International Insight Director Alex Smith as Insight & Strategy Consultant. More
In the UK, YouGov has announced preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2011, with revenue growing 26.9% to 56.1m and adjusted operating profit 39.5% to £5.3m. The results reflect organic revenue growth of 9% as well as US acquisitions. More
In the UK, mobile data collection specialist OnePoint Global has announced the launch of the TellMe App, which allows respondents to upload pictures, barcodes, video and voice as well as sending geo-location information to researchers. More
UK television measurement body BARB has called for those involved in the industry to join a new working group, with the aim of co-ordinating the use of data and further developing the potential for TV measurement. More
In the UK, digital marketing agency Click Consult has introduced socialTRAX, a tool designed to monitor the progress of social media marketing campaigns by tracking a range of metrics such as social network referral traffic, feedback and reviews. More
Three professional associations from the US and UK have formed a coalition with the aim of defining, developing and promoting global industry standards for social media measurement. More
YouGov has appointed technology research specialist Steve Ingledew as Managing Director, San Francisco, in its US custom division YouGov Definitive Insights. More
WPP is launching its social and traditional media listening arm Kantar Media Cymfony in Europe, with the opening of a new office in London servicing clients this side of The Pond. More
UK agencies Ci Research and Brand Vista have launched the Brand Alignment Monitor (BAM), a tool promising a 360 degree analysis of how well a brand measures up to its vision and values. More
Gaming software giant Electronic Arts and partner firm nPario have announced the launch of an insights platform, EA Legend, which will give marketers data on their campaigns and audiences across mobile, social, online and console games reaching over 300 million people worldwide. More
Google has launched a premium version of its web site traffic and marketing tool Google Analytics. The new service will be available for $150,000 per annum and be available in the US, Canada and the UK. More
Behavioural ad targeting specialist Phorm has announced interim results for the six month period ended 30 June 2011. The firm continues to burn cash at the rate of more than $2m a month but reports promising results from its operations in Brazil and now Romania. More
Harris Interactive's results for the fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2011 show a further decline in revenues in real terms, and a significant rise in operating loss. Recently appointed Interim CEO Al Angrisani says there is 'not going to be a quick or easy fix' for the company's problems. More
Online ad targeting technology company Phorm has announced the launch in Romania of both its Discovery personalization engine and the Open Internet Exchange (OIX) advertising marketplace. More
Research software provider Voxco has announced three senior appointments strengthening its presence in France and Germany. More
In the UK, BSkyB's customer intelligence business Sky IQ has partnered with marketing services agency ExactTarget to launch a portfolio of marketing insight products and services, designed to help brands better understand and market to potential customers. More
European agency SKOPOS Market Insight has rolled out its NEKXT mystery shopping service in the UK. More
Respondent 'twilight', ghost stories, echoing halls, strange languages and geeky folk gathered in the chapel... Not the next fantasy blockbuster but the annual conference of the Association for Survey Computing, an alternative to ESOMAR thoroughly enjoyed by Features Editor Teresa Lynch. More
In the US, Kurt Knapton has returned to e-Rewards as President and CEO, following the recent resignation of Chris Havemann. More
In the UK, Ipsos MORI has appointed former Nielsen BASES EMEA MD Susan Malcolm as Managing Director for its Ipsos Marketing division. More
Family, friends and colleagues have paid tribute to former Millward Brown MD Tony Copeland, who died recently aged 66 after a short illness. Copeland is credited with leading the development of the agency's international network of offices in the late 1980s and 1990s. More
WPP's salary body is to consider a fifty percent rise in the basic salary of CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, who in November 2008 rejected a scheduled review as 'inappropriate' for the economic climate. Sorrell's £1m basic, unchanged since January 2007, is a smallish part of his total income from the firm. More
Customer experience specialist Maritz Research has announced a new measurement technique examining 'Make or Break' factors in customer relationships. More
In the UK, yearling agency SPA Future Thinking has acquired full-service media and technology specialist Essential Research for an undisclosed sum. More
TNS has taken its TRI*M Reputation Manager product into the digital sphere, to help clients analyse online media and take appropriate action. More
In London, online measurement specialist comScore has appointed Laurence Bird as Senior Research Director for the EMEA region. More
UK-based real-time voice of the customer software specialist Fizzback has been bought by NICE, provider of cross-channel analytics-based solutions - for $80 million in cash. The deal is expected to close next month. More
Online sample provider uSamp has hired eight new members of staff to support the growth of its recently opened London office. More
UK agency Ci Research has launched Ci Nation, an online tool which offers clients a rapid means of communicating with their customers for continuous and ad hoc research, including online polls, discussion groups and live online chats. More
Online panel and survey technology firm Toluna has launched PanelPortal Connect, which integrates its community management platform PanelPortal with Facebook. More
UK-based online specialist Tpoll has appointed former Harris Interactive youth research leader Stephen Mellor as Qualitative Director, with a remit to develop the agency's qual offering. More
Nunwood has appointed former HPI Research Partner Conny Weyrich as Account Director, working in its Insight Division in London. More
The market research industry has returned to growth following two 'very challenging years', according to ESOMAR's Global Market Research 2011 report. Global turnover rose to US $31.2 billion in 2010, representing a total year-on-year growth of 5.2%, or 2.8% allowing for inflation. More
International online specialist BrainJuicer has reported a 26% increase in revenue to £9.09m for the six months ended 30 June 2011 (H1 2010 £7.21m), driven by 'strong growth' in the US, which accounted for 33% of total revenues. More
Panel exchange operator Cint has opened a new office in Japan, where it has partnered with technology-based market research firm Borders, to offer access to more than 500,000 panellists across the country. More
In London, Ipsos MediaCT has established a test panel of just over 350 respondents for its mobile phone-based radio measurement system, MediaCell. The move follows successful initial trials of the device. More
US-based technology research firm Yankee Group has added new capabilities to its online data visualization platform, including the ability to browse through popular metrics in an index format. More
Ipsos is planning to issue around EUR 200m worth of new shares, to part-fund its acquisition of Synovate. More
Online survey and reporting software company Confirmit has acquired mobile survey technology provider Techneos Systems, and will add its solutions to the Horizons reporting tool. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Kantar has acquired research technology and panels firm GMI (Global Market Insite), which it will combine with own online panel specialist Lightspeed Research. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Maritz Research has acquired Wiesbaden, Germany-based MR consultancy Imagin AG, a specialist in stakeholder and customer feedback management; along with subsidiary call centre company Customer Care International GmbH (CCI). More
In the UK, b2b media group Emap International has appointed Duncan Painter as its new CEO, replacing David Gilbertson, who stepped down in May. Painter is currently MD of customer intelligence provider Sky IQ and previously led consulting group ClarityBlue. More
In the UK, behavioural targeting and social media commerce company Reevoo has launched an analytics dashboard promising insight into the impact of online reviews and the performance of social media commerce strategies. More
YouGov has significantly strengthened its senior team with the hiring of Phil Rance and Andreas Sperling, formerly in leadership roles at Research Now and Millward Brown respectively; and the promotion of Tim Britton from CEO, UK to CEO, EMEA. More
In the UK, custom community and online specialist Join the Dots (formerly known as Virtual Surveys) has promoted Andy Buckley to Head of Research. More
Stockholm-based brand tracking researcher Nepa AB says it has made its first senior hiring in the UK, a year after opening the new office. Olly Watts, formerly of Opinium and TNS, joins as an Account Manager. More
IBM has this week strengthened its fast-growing Business Analytics offering - which includes SPSS, Coremetrics, Netezza and Unica - with two further acquisitions, risk management firm software provider Algorithmics and threat and fraud specialist i2. More
German sample and panel provider respondi AG has today announced the opening of a UK subsidiary: respondi Ltd. Christopher Morasch, Chief Sales Officer at respondi AG will take on the role of UK Managing Director. More
Branding and retail specialist Razor Research has promoted Elle Atton to the role of Director and appointed Matt Arnold, formerly Head of Qual at Quadrangle, also as a Director. More
WPP has made a non-binding offer to acquire the shares of ad and marketing services company D.A. Consortium Inc. (DAC) from Japan's Asatsu-DK Inc., in which the ad and insights giant already has a 22.9% stake. More
Synovate has reported an 8.4% rise in revenue to £269.7m for the first half of the year, ahead of its forthcoming sale to Ipsos for an agreed £525m. Organic gross revenue growth was 6.6% and operating profit rose 14.9% to £5.4m despite a ten percent rise in headcount. More
Synovate-owned Marketing Management Analytics (MMA) has appointed a global executive team including EVPs Doug Brooks and Todd Gustafson. More
Wunderman subsidiary KnowledgeBase Marketing (KBM Group) has launched in the UK, offering a range of data, analytics and marketing services. The division will be led by database marketing specialist Caroline Worboys. More
US-based word-of-mouth (WOM) research and consulting firm Keller Fay has officially rolled out its TalkTrack study in the UK, to continuously measure both offline and online word-of-mouth feedback. More
In the UK, Tangent Communications has merged its insight agency Snowball with its digital creative agency Tangent One under the Tangent Snowball brand, in order to provide clients with a range of 'insight to influence' services. More
Synovate-owned Marketing Management Analytics (MMA) has opened an operation in Bangalore, India from which it plans to develop advanced predictive and optimization techniques for use with behavioural and attitudinal data. More
IgnitionOne - the digital marketing technology arm of Japanese ad giant Dentsu - has bought ad exchange AdJug for an undisclosed sum. The agency says the combination should give clients simplified buying, targeting and measurement of online advertising. More
In the UK, full service research agency Crowd DNA has launched a new campaign and brand measurement tool called Impact DNA, drawing on its experience from testing more than 75 campaigns. More
The world's 25 largest research firms had revenues of $18.8 billion in 2010, up 4.9% on the previous 'dismal' year - a 'very healthy turnaround' according to industry authority Jack Honomichl. However, 'real' revenues were not quite back to their 2008 levels, and some companies continued to shrink. More
David Nelems, the founder of market research video streaming specialist ActiveGroup Ventures, has returned to the company as Chief Executive Officer. He left the firm in 2007 following its sale to the MVL Group. More
In the UK, Robin Hilton and Jonathan Clough - who previously worked at youth research and marketing strategist Dubit - have formed a new online panel firm. ResearchBods offers specialist panels for consumer; online qual; and research among youth, kids and families. More
Customer feedback solutions provider Opinionmeter has launched a new survey app for the iOS platform, which automatically detects if no Internet connection is available and stores data locally on the device, and then uploads that data when connectivity resumes. More
Aegis-owned digital marketing agency iProspect has appointed Misty Locke, co-founder of digital agency Range Online Media, as its Global Chief Marketing & Performance Officer. More
GfK has reported sales of EUR 660.1m in sales for the first half of 2011, reflecting 8.0% organic growth year-on-year. Adjusted operating income rose 16.8% (organic 18.0%) to EUR 83.9m. The Group has also announced the acquisition of a 25% stake in US firm MBI. More
US-based online b2b marketing and targeting firm Genius has opened its first overseas office, in Leeds, UK, and appointed Mark Donkin to lead it as Managing Director. More
Echo Research has been appointed as the lead contractor for the provision of EU-related media analysis for the European Commission (EC). The four year contract is valued between EUR 4 million and EUR 7 million. More
Online specialist YouGov has moved its US CEO Doug Rivers to the role of Chief Innovations Officer, with a seat on the plc Board. The firm has also promoted Definitive Insights co-founder Doss Struse to the position of President of YouGov America. More
UK-based survey software and research solutions firm Snap Surveys has integrated Cint's Direct Sample (CDS) into its offering, giving its clients access to six million panellists worldwide. More
In the UK, mobile business and marketing solutions firm 2ergo has launched a campaign tool called mobileDNA, which provides access to a database of 10 million opt-in mobile phone users. More
Nielsen is planning to launch a service which uses gross ratings points (GRP) for ad campaigns on Facebook and other online platforms, allowing comparison with measures of audience reach for television, print and outdoor advertising. More
US technology researcher Gartner has reported a 16% revenue increase to $365.5m for the second quarter of 2011, while net income has leapt 60% to $32.2m, compared with Q2 2010. More
Norwegian online survey technology firm QuestBack has acquired and will merge with German panel and survey software firm Globalpark. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected that the joint company will exceed turnover of EUR 40 million within its first year of operation. More
Online survey and reporting software company Confirmit has opened its first German office in Cologne, to be led by Business Development Director Dan Starkey. More
In the UK, media agency Initiative has appointed former Associated Newspapers Insight Manager Liz Parker as Head of Research Worldwide. More
US technology specialist Forrester Research has reported a 13.6% increase in second quarter revenue to $73.5m, compared with $64.7m in the prior year period. However, net income dropped 20% to $5.5m from $6.9m in Q2 2010. More
Nielsen has reported a 10% rise in revenue to $1.4 billion for the second quarter, the result of a 14% increase in its Buy consumer purchase behavior segment and a 4% increase in its Watch media research arm. More
Fresh from announcing its deal to buy Synovate, Ipsos has achieved organic growth of 6.3% in the first half of the year, reporting a 5.6% increase in revenues to EUR 558.2m. More
Chris Havemann, President and CEO of e-Rewards, is leaving the business to 'pursue new opportunities', but will remain in his current role until a replacement is selected. It is not yet known what his next career move will be. More
UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has reported a 108% increase in total revenue to £44.2m for the year ended 30 April 2011 (2010: £21m). During the period, operating profit doubled to £5.3m (2010: £2.6m). More
Ipsos has agreed to acquire Synovate for £525m (EUR 595m), creating the world's third largest market research company. The deal is to be funded with cash, new debt financing, and a rights offering to Ipsos shareholders. More
According to reports in the UK press, Publicis and WPP are both planning to make bids for the remainder of marcoms group Aegis, once it has completed the sale of its market research arm Synovate. More
Opinium Research has partnered with technology firm Roundpoint, to launch a new mobile research platform, giving access to a panel of respondents. More
MR associations CASRO and ESOMAR are to join forces to develop and implement a standard promoting consistency and transparency in the online sampling process. More
In London, ad giant M&C Saatchi has taken a 25% stake in a new data and insight-based marketing consultancy, formed by two former Ogilvy strategists. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) is seeking input for a new white paper, 'Online Data Collection and Privacy', which aims to set out legal and ethical parameters in this area and clarify the market research sector's standpoint. More
UK-based custom panel solutions specialist EasyInsites has enhanced its EasyPanel product with the aim of making its panel web sites 'more engaging and community oriented'. To support this effort, the firm has hired web developer Charlie Fairclough. More
In London, GfK NOP has appointed former YouGov director Neil Thorington as Deputy MD, GfK Financial, with a particular focus on implementing new digital research tools and techniques. More
PR agency network Edelman has launched BlogLevel; a new tool to help identify who is influential on particular topics across the blogosphere. The firm has also released version 2.0 of its TweetLevel service, which pinpoints those who are influential on Twitter. More
Multinational directories giant Yell Group has partnered with word-of-mouth agency Bazaarvoice to provide its more than 1.3 million advertisers with analysis of online customer conversations, as well as insights about online consumer sentiment and behaviour. More
In London, global ad firm M&C Saatchi has acquired the remainder of social media agency Human Digital, having taken a 25% share in the firm in March. Terms of this phase of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the UK, former Nebu exec Betty Adamou has launched a new consultancy called Research Through Gaming (R.T.G.), which converts surveys into computer research games through which to collect 'Playspondent' feedback and boost response rates. More
Google has partnered with Kantar to establish a 3,000-strong opt-in panel which will measure TV and online media consumption in the UK. More
In the UK, it has been revealed that Doughty Hanson - which owns the Vue cinema chain - is the mystery company interested in buying Aegis' market research arm Synovate. More
Internet giant Yahoo! plans to make changes to its terms and conditions to allow its systems to read and analyse users' e-mails and then send them targeted advertising based on their interests and hobbies. More
In the UK, a group of 13 MPs have tabled a motion expressing concern about online privacy, with particular reference to WPP's plans to build a database of half a billion Internet users for behavioural ad targeting purposes. More
In the UK, WPP-owned Grey Advertising has partnered with social media agency Wildfire Word of Mouth (which has rebranded as The Social Partners), to combine social media with offline' influencer' programmes. More
In London, Asif Mirza has set up his own firm, Mobile Fieldwork, to offer mobile research and data collection services to market research, marketing, media and PR agencies, as well as end clients. More
Online audience measurement specialist comScore has signed a $50m 'revolving credit' deal with the Bank of America, which it plans to use for working capital and general corporate purposes. More
In the UK, PR firm Brunswick Group has appointed Phil Riggins as a Partner in its Opinion Research Practice, Brunswick Research. More
UK-based media, entertainment and leisure research specialist Brand Driver has expanded its management and research teams with four new appointments. More
Aegis may be offered up to £600m for Synovate by an as-yet unidentified bidder, according to reports: considerably more than the rumoured value of the current 'exclusive' Ipsos bid, c.£520m. More
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has experienced a 90% fall in recorded traffic to its web site, following its implementation of the new EU Directive obliging all companies to seek informed up-front consent from visitors to the site for using cookies. More
TNS has announced a European partnership with digital ad measurement specialist Alenty, to deliver a solution assessing the business impact of display ads. Initially available France, Germany, Spain and the UK, the service should roll out to more countries soon. More
Behavioral advertising company Phorm yesterday reported an operating loss of $27.9m for the year ended December 2010. The company reported zero revenue for the period but says this will change in the current financial year. More
Panel exchange operator Cint has announced new partnerships with operators of student panels, the UK's National Union of Students (NUS) and Student Beans, and Irish student panel W5. More
GfK is to restructure its business following a major review, and from next January will operate through two new divisions, 'Consumer Choices' and 'Customer Experiences', under the new tagline: 'Own the Future'. More
Kantar Media has announced the European launch of its online behavioural measurement firm Compete, with the opening of a new office in London. More
UK television measurement body BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board) is to roll out a viewing meter which promises measurement of TV viewed via a PC or laptop. More
Kantar is to roll out MarketTools' TrueSample quality solution across its network, following the breakdown of the Promedius Group, the not-for-profit quality consortium it launched with GfK and Ipsos less than a year ago. More
UKOM, the cross-industry organisation set up to oversee the measurement of online audiences, is to begin a major review of its main audience contract next month, allowing time to consider 'major changes' before the end of the contract - currently with Nielsen - in December 2012. More
In the US, Millward Brown has appointed Susan Steele as Global Chief Human Resources Officer, responsible for leading the firm's human resources and talent strategy worldwide. More
Language Connect - a specialist in market research language services - and online qual platform provider VisionsLive have partnered to provide a simultaneous interpreting and moderating service for international online qual groups. More
WPP has entered the ad targeting fray with the launch of Xaxis, a new firm which links the group's ad-buying technologies with a proprietary database containing what it describes as the 'world's largest pool of audience profiles'. More
In the UK, Ipsos MediaCT has partnered with Finnish mobile measurement firm Zokem to launch the M3 solution; a new app that combines the collection of smartphone and tablet usage data combined with event-based survey polls. More
Research firm Kadence International has increased the size of the CATI facility at its London HQ from 50 to 75 stations. More
A group of private equity firms has formed a holding company called Whitefield, tasked with acquiring a global network of analytics-driven marketing solutions companies. More
RAJAR, the UK's radio audience research body, has extended its audience measurement contract with Ipsos MORI through to 2014. The agency has conducted the programme since RAJAR was founded in 1992. More
Online measurement specialist comScore has introduced a new service called 'Device Essential', for measuring digital traffic from 'all devices' - including computers, mobile phones, tables, music players, e-readers and gaming devices. More
US-based comms market specialist Infonetics Research has opened an office in the UK, led by George Stojsavljevic as Senior Account Director for EMEA; and an office in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. More
In the UK, three former leaders of The Futures Company (TFC) - Crawford Hollingworth, Sian Davies and Sarah Davies - have launched a global insight and research consultancy called The Behavioural Architects. The trio are also planning to open a second office in China later this year. More
Marketing services network McCann Worldgroup has hired Marc Schwartz as Global Director of Performance Analytics and moved Laura Simpson from London to become Global IQ Director, heading up a new NYC-based Marketing Sciences practice. More
Marcoms giant WPP has filed a lawsuit against media measurement and analytics firm TRA, reportedly over claims by the latter that its Media TRAnalytics tool has been 'ripped off' by WPP subsidiary Kantar Media Audiences. More
Panel and sample specialist Cint has promoted Terence McCarron to the role of Managing Director of North America, following the departure of Michael McCrary after just a year in the post. McCarron was previously SVP of North American Sales. More
UK-based co-creation and planning agency Face is opening an office in New York later this month, and has relocated its most senior Research Director Philip McNaughton to lead and develop US operations. More
In the US, the Nasdaq Stock Market has given Harris Interactive another notice of a possible delisting, following a drop in its share price below $1. This news follows last week's shake-up in the firm's leadership, and the departure of Chief Finance Officer Pavan Bhalla. More
Former Yahoo! Europe VP Stephen Taylor has become Chairman of Manchester, UK-based call tracking and web analytics firm AdInsight. More
Marketing and customer intelligence software provider smartFOCUS has been acquired by online campaign manager Emailvision, in a deal reported to be valued at £25.3m in cash. More
UK-based SPA Future Thinking has introduced three tools to help brands and broadcasters measure the impact of sponsorship, product placement and multimedia campaigns. More
London-based co-creation agency Promise Group has appointed former FreshMinds Head of Consumer Research Phil Burgess as Consultancy Director for its Promise Communities division. More
WPP Chief Exec Sir Martin Sorrell has suggested that the group may double the amount available for acquisitions this year, as it looks to invest in new media and emerging markets and take advantage of better conditions in the ad industry. More
The Bank of England has revealed in an article in its latest 'Quarterly Bulletin' that it is using Google 'Insights for Search' to gather information on the state of the British economy. More
French-based ad group Publicis has dismissed speculation that it might be considering a bid for Synovate, and reports suggest that WPP is also an unlikely rival for front-runner Ipsos. More
UK-based agency Virtual Surveys has re-branded under the name 'Join the Dots', which it says reflects its growth and development, as well as its evolving business focus. More
UK-based online research specialist BrainJuicer has appointed Matte Wicklin to oversee its activities in the American south and southeast regions. More
In the UK, Creston-owned ICM Direct has appointed former Research Now panel specialist Pat McCarthy as Head of its online research division. More
European digital marketing agency Adform has launched a 'new generation' of banner advertisements, whose messages can be tailored to the individual user's specific interests. More
UK measurement body RAJAR has added an online self-completion diary and Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) to its range of data collection methods for radio audience rating. The new approaches will be rolled out from next month. More
Lightspeed Research has unveiled a new custom panels and communities offering, Lightspeed Engage, which promises to give clients 'access to relevant consumer insights wherever, whenever and however they need them.' More
The Board of Aegis Group has confirmed that it is in talks with Ipsos about the possible sale of its market research arm Synovate. Analysts suggest a price of around £500m and the combination would create the world's fourth largest research agency. More
In the UK, Kantar Media has promoted Allister Nixon from CFO to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, Kantar Media Audiences, charged with maintaining and enhancing the performance of the firm's metered measurement services. More
ruby cha cha - the Sydney-based research-based planning agency which was founded in 2008 by three former directors of The Leading Edge (TLE) - has opened an office in London from which to service UK and global clients. More
Online sampling and data collection firm Research Now has relocated Emel Mohammadally from London to Sydney to lead its Client Development team in Australia, while appointing James Burrows as Senior Vice President of Client Development in New York. More
London-based online research software and services provider Dub has opened its first US office in Los Angeles, to support existing clients in the North and South American markets. More
Synovate has announced the global launch of mobile research capabilities including SMS / text and mobile online surveys, as well as app development. Thomas Edwards has been promoted to lead the initiative. More
GfK has partnered with its part-owned usability research specialist nurago to launch 'Connected Life.dx', a tool tying in browsing and consumer purchasing behaviour across fixed and mobile platforms. More
Research Now has this week launched an online campaign measurement product, ADimension, which combines its global opinion panels with Quantcast's measurement tech to create what the firm calls 'a superior, sustainable, permission-based measurement methodology' for campaign evaluation. More
In the UK GamesAnalytics, data mining and game monetization specialist, has appointed Mark Robinson as Chief Operating Officer. More
UK ad association the ISBA has launched two best practice guides for digital advertisers, one covering mobile marketing and the other the setting of smart objectives and KPIs for brands. More
UK-based marcomms group Media Square plc, which owns research agency Illuminas, has reported a 15% revenue increase year-on-year, and all but wiped out the loss it made in 2009-10. More
GfK Media has today announced the appointment of Jude De Souza, formerly of the BBC, as Research Manager for its ITV Panel. More
medeConnect Healthcare Insight, the MR division of doctors.net.uk, is the leading force in a new alliance, Networks in Health, billed as the largest alliance of professional physician communities in Europe. The firm has also hired Nicola Miles in a senior Business Development role. More
Research Now has hired Kevin Murphy in the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He brings nearly 30 years of experience in the IT industry, most recently from ecommerce and payment solutions provider First Data Corporation where he was SVP of Retail and Alliance Services Product Delivery. More
Gaming market researcher Newzoo and app store analyst Distimo have announced a partnership to provide unique monthly data on game sales and downloads across all Apple App Stores, covering the US and six European nations. More
In London, co-creation agency Promise has appointed two new Executive Directors, Richard Bowden-Doyle and Ed Herten, to work with the company both in the UK and the US. More
In the UK, media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity has acquired TCRG Holdings Limited, the parent company of reputation specialist Echo Research. The deal is worth an initial £3.5m in cash, and up to £10m if Echo achieves certain targets over the next two years. More
Online customer behaviour specialist Site Intelligence has raised $7m in funding, which it will use to support plans for global expansion. More
In the UK, consumer specialist Perception Research Services International (PRS) has appointed former Harris Interactive director Alki Manias as Vice President, Account Manager in its London office. More
Last week's BIG Conference - the only such B2B research bash in the world - opened last Wednesday with its infamous pre-sessions entertainments. Features Editor Teresa Lynch reports on the question researchers couldn't answer (or understand), and explains why Apple is not an innovator. More
Online ad bodies the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe and the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) have merged to form a single European trade association combining their membership, research efforts and expertise. More
Online sampling and panels specialist Research Now has introduced a new smartphone app, billed as the first in a series of mobile data collection capabilities to be launched this year. More
Eye tracking specialist Tobii Technology has launched a new testing solution, which it claims is the first to be specifically designed for usability studies on mobile devices and mobile applications. More
Panel and survey software firm Globalpark has released the latest version of its Enterprise Feedback Suite (EFS), which enables market researchers to recruit and gather customer feedback directly in Facebook. More
UK-based analytics software company Alterian has upgraded its social media monitoring tool SM2, by adding the ability to track conversation sentiment in Greek. More
GfK has reported a strong first quarter in its 2011 financial year, with consolidated sales up 10.4% to EUR 310.2 million and organic growth of 8.0%. More
In London, market research agency BrainJuicer has appointed Federico Trovato, former Head of Consumer and Market Intelligence at Philips - as Chief Client Satisfaction Officer. He will also join the Executive Management Team and will start in August. More
Brand and marketing insight consultancy Added Value has announced four senior promotions, consisting of two newly created Offer Development roles and two moves from Europe to the US. More
Synovate has reported 'strong growth' in North America and other regions during quarter one, but says 'difficult market conditions' continue to impact the businesses in Southern Europe while the UK market remains 'challenging'. More
In the UK, social media tracking firm Trufflenet has appointed former Harris Interactive exec Ed Chatham as Managing Director. Chatham will work to grow the firm by developing partnerships with marcoms agencies and expansion into other markets. More
In the UK, media measurement standards body the ABC has launched a new set of metrics to measure and evaluate online app activity. More
In Australia, Photon-owned insights and strategy consultancy The Leading Edge (TLE) has created three new senior roles as part of the expansion of its global network; moved Tim Riches to the role of MD of its Sydney office; and announced three further senior hires. More
Apple is the world's number 1 brand by a distance, adding 84% to last year's valuation to leapfrog mobile o/s rival Google, according to Millward Brown's Brandz index, just published. More
Electronics market specialist IMS Research has set up a Touch Market Research & Consulting practice in the US, and appointed touch technology specialist Geoff Walker to lead it as Principal Analyst. More
US technology researcher Gartner has reported an 11% increase in first quarter revenue to $329.6m, with a 50% rise in net income to $29.2m, compared with $19.4m in Q1 2010. The company has now seen net income rise in the last four quarters. More
In the UK, customer experience measurement specialist Maritz Research has reported a revenue increase of £1.07m, from £8.4m in the fiscal year 2009 to £9.4m in 2010. In the last 12 months, the firm has also recruited 80 new researchers in Europe and Asia. More
BrainJuicer CEO John Kearon has sold 700,000 company shares and CFO James Geddes 75,000, in response to 'institutional demand' from investors wanting to take a stake in the company. More
TV ratings body TAM Ireland has brought in RSMB TV Research to carry out an independent audit on recent audience figures, following complaints about those supplied by Nielsen. More
Investment firm Robaco International has launched an online sample marketplace called ex-sample.com, through which panel providers can bid to win projects from market research agencies. More
In the US, Harris Interactive has brought back its former Chief Operating Officer Al Angrisani to advise it on turnaround strategy, following a 9% revenue drop in quarterly revenue. More
Consumer insight revenues at WPP have risen 3.4% on a constant currency basis, to £552.8m in the first quarter of 2011, compared with £542.5m in the prior year period. More
Nielsen has seen an 8.9% increase in revenue to $1.3bn for the first quarter of 2011. Net income rose from $16m to $64m but the firm reported a $181m loss in Q1 due to $206m costs relating to its recent initial public offering (IPO). More
Netherlands-based online market research agency MetrixLab has appointed former Kantar Worldpanel director Chris Kingsland to lead its NPD & Innovations division in the UK. More
Unilever has sold its remaining 13.5% stake in online research specialist BrainJuicer, offloading c.1.68m BrainJuicer shares for £2.35 each, and raising around £3.9m in the process. More
In the UK, Infogroup-owned ORC International has launched a new Data Solutions group, which will help clients handle large amounts of complex research and administrative data. More
UK marketing budgets were revised down again in Q1 2011 in response to public sector spending cuts and rapidly rising cost pressures, according to the latest Bellwether survey published by ad association the IPA. More
Online panel and survey tech firm Toluna has announced two senior hires: John Bremer joins as Chief Research Officer (CRO) and Peter Shafer as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions. More
In the UK, online analytics and visitor behaviour specialist Intellitracker has changed its name to Cognesia, reflecting a shift in focus towards behavioural targeting. More
Shares in UK-based analytics software company Alterian have plunged by more than a third, after the firm issued its second profits warning in just over a week. More
The High Court of Justice in England and Wales has today approved the sale of online panel and research technology provider Toluna to ITWP, a firm set up by Belgian investor Verlinvest to oversee and manage the deal. More
UK-based Speed-Trap, which monitors and evaluates online behaviour, has re-branded as Celebrus Technologies Limited, to reflect changes in its technology offer and assist with promotion and international expansion. More
In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dropped its investigation into 'phone giant BT's trials of Phorm software, which it used in 2007 to serve personalised ads to tens of thousands of customers without their consent. More
Behavioral targeting platform Rocket Fuel has secured $6.6m in Series C funding, which it will use for new product development. The firm has also made its behavioural profiling technology available in the UK through the opening of European headquarters in London. More
Online measurement specialist comScore has rolled out its new audience measurement tool AdEffx Campaign Essentials across Europe. The firm has also announced the roll-out of its Video Metrix service in Turkey. More
In the UK, Havas-owned digital agency Media Contacts has launched a dedicated social media unit called Socialyse, which will create measureable social campaigns based on insight derived from consumer data. More
Panel and survey technology provider Toluna has launched an iPhone app to facilitate survey response from its four million panellists. More
In the UK, Leapfrog Research & Planning has hired former GlaxoSmithKline marketer Tim Brooks for the new role of Managing Director, with responsibility for helping drive the firm through a period of anticipated growth and expansion. More
Panels and research technology firm Vision Critical has promoted Kris Hartvigsen to the post of Senior Vice President of Business Development, Direct Sales for Europe. He will be based in London. More
In London, trend-based marketing insights consultancy SCB Partners has appointed Margaret Frazer as its Senior Research Director, with responsibility for the development of research methodologies and a team of 18 research and brand professionals. More
UK-based pollster and online MR firm YouGov plc has agreed to acquire Portland, Oregon-based Definitive Insights (DI), for an initial consideration of $1m and further performance-related payments adding to an anticipated $4.8m. YouGov also announced half-year revenue up 26.8% with an improved profit margin of 8.1%. More
For the financial year 2010, GfK has reported an 11.1% rise in income to a record EUR 1.29 billion. Adjusted operating income climbed from EUR 147.2m to EUR 185.0m with operating margin also at a historical high, 14.3%. More
In the UK, satellite broadcasting giant BSkyB is commencing a campaign to persuade its pay-TV customers of the 'benefits' of its AdSmart platform, which delivers targeted ads to households based on their subscription package and location. More
Synovate has promoted Jon Harper to the post of Global Head of Brand & Communications in London, and John Carroll to Global Head of Customer Experience in Chicago. More
In the UK, Holden Pearmain co-founder David Pearmain has returned to agency life after a year as a consultant, joining Impact Research, a company started by two of his former employees. More
French financier Vincent Bolloré has indicated that he may be willing to sell his 26.5% stake in Synovate's parent firm Aegis, according to a report in the UK's Guardian newspaper. More
Research provider Kadence International has appointed Barbara Gourley as Insights Director and a member of its UK Board, responsible for building, leading and mentoring the UK quant research team. More
Global online sampling and data collection firm Research Now has moved Martin Filz from Sydney, Australia to the position of Managing Director in the UK. He is replaced in his previous role as Managing Director for Asia Pacific by James Burge. More
Online research specialist BrainJuicer has reported a 38% revenue rise to £16.36m for the 12 months ended 31 December 2010 (2009: £11.81m), with growth driven primarily by its UK and North America teams which represent 48% and 25% of business respectively. More
Kantar Media has promoted John McCarthy to the post of Head of Marketing Communications UK, promoting the firm's customised media research, media monitoring and evaluation services to media agencies, media owners and brands. More
Tuesday afternoon kicked off with a session on researching children's buying behaviour, with speakers mapping out some of the minefield it represents, before a highly-informed audience. Teresa Lynch reports. More
Another year, another venue for the MRS Conference: this time The Grange St Paul's Hotel, London. Features Editor Teresa Lynch gives you a rapid roundup of everything you need to know (honest) about the first morning of Research 2011. More
In the US, the ARF (Advertising Research Foundation) has unveiled the first results from its review of current neuromarketing methods. The study finds it to be 'a valuable tool' but gives many reasons for caution. More
Behavioural targeting pioneer Phorm has raised a further £10m in funds via a placing of convertible secured loan notes with new and existing investors; and says initial results from its first Brazilian paid campaigns are promising. More
Chancellor George Osborne is working hard to persuade Sir Martin Sorrell to move WPP's tax base back from Ireland to the UK, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph. More
Insight-focused Havas agency MPG Media Contacts is reorganising its Strategy Department into two distinct functions, and strengthening it with a number of promotions and hires. More
Panel and sample specialist Cint has announced two new partnerships centred around its newly acquired DIY mobile relationship marketing platform, Thumbspeak. More
Sample exchange operator Cint has increased the size of its Irish sample to more than 20,000 through the addition of RED C Research/ICM Newvista Live, Delve Research, and SensorPro consumer panels, as well as the student-focused W5 panel. More
In the UK, SKOPOS Market Insight has hired former Carphone Warehouse Senior Insight Manager Kevin Macdonald as Director for Digital/Media/Leisure. More
UK-based digital user experience (Ux) consultancy HeathWallace has established a new team in Melbourne, with the aim of expanding across Australia. More
comScore has today announced the launch of Digital Analytix, an 'agile and flexible' package of data analysis tools for in-depth research into site-level activity. The new software is powered by the firm's proprietary Atomix technology which uses un-aggregated data to deliver reports. More
In the UK, next generation digital media platform Specific Media has appointed Chris Worrell, previously Insight Manager at News International, as its new European Research Manager. More
Canadian social media company Radian6, which specializes in providing a platform to listen to, measure and engage with customers across the entire social web, has acquired London-based 6Consulting. Terms were not disclosed. More
Panel and survey technology provider Toluna is planning the launch of a Tunisian site, 'in support of the country's nascent democracy'. More
Sample exchange operator Cint has announced two partnerships this week, integrating its CPX exchange with DIY online tool SurveyGizmo and with the advanced questionnaire design and data collection services of Action Dialog Partner (ADP). More
Online panel firm Research Now has hired Corinne Villalba as Client Development Director based in Paris. More
London-based online co-creation platform The Sense Network is relaunching after a decade, with a new site architecture facilitating collaboration with other agencies and allowing its 2,000 members to take a more active role, launching and managing their own collaborative projects. More
In the US, marketing services group Omnicom has partnered with AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo! in order to gain access to their consumer data and provide highly targeted online ads based on information such as users' gender, location and age. More
UK-based Verve has appointed two former Vision Critical execs - Steevan Glover as Director of Commercial Development and Andrew Reid as Managing Director. Reid replaces Jeannie Arthur who is leaving to set up a new business. More
Plans to take online panel and research technology firm Toluna private have taken another step forward with the approval of the boards of Toluna itself and of ITWP, the firm created to carry through the transaction. More
In the UK, Millward Brown has appointed company veteran Duncan Southgate as Global Brand Director for Digital - the third of five such newly created roles planned across the company. More
Online panel firm Toluna has reported 2010 group revenues of £73.6m, up from £49.5m in 2009 - but on a pro forma basis allowing for the Greenfield ISS acquisition, the rise was just 2%. Profit after tax, however, jumped to £6.6m from £1.6m in 2009. More
London-based firm Qriously has broken cover with the introduction of a survey app, which provides a measure of real-time, location-based public opinion. More
In London, Progressive Digital Media (PDM) - the parent of online research firms The iD Factor and ICD Research - has reported a 29.4% rise in group revenue to £48.0m for 2010 (2009: £37.1m). More
Marcoms giant WPP has recorded a 4.4% increase in 2010 revenues to £2.43 billion in its Consumer Insight division. Meanwhile operating margins improved by 1.1 points to 9.7%. More
In the UK, customer intelligence specialist Indicia has taken a stake in social media and search consultancy Make It Rain. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In the US, Nielsen has promoted Mary Liz Finn to the position of Chief Human Resources Officer, to lead the firm's human capital strategy, and oversee leadership development programs, compensation and benefits packages. More
Online sample exchange Cint has moved to bigger premises in Farringdon, London, having outgrown its previous offices in Oxford Circus where it moved just two years ago. The firm has also relocated its Southern Europe team to new space in Barcelona. More
Nielsen has reported 2010 revenue of $5.13 billion, a 6.1% increase on a constant currency basis. Net income of $132m for the year compares well with a loss of $489m in 2009. More
In London, former Hall & Partners researcher Richard Owen has founded CrowdLab, which offers a mobile sampling and research platform as well as full qual/quant agency services. More
In the UK, qual specialist Firefly Millward Brown has appointed Meredith Bourgery as its first Global Qualitative Account Director, to develop and execute initiatives that support brand development strategy for the firm's largest European clients. More
Research software company Confirmit has announced record revenues for 2010, with double-digit organic growth leading to fourth quarter revenue of US$16m. More
In the run up to Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on March 18th, SPA Future Thinking will be tracking engagement and recall of the charity's advertising campaign among members of the public and fundraisers. More
In the US, media advisor BIA/Kelsey has launched a new service dedicated to analyzing the growing social media 'ecosystem', and recommending the best opportunities for driving revenues with social platforms. More
Ipsos has reported a 20.9% increase in 2010 revenues to EUR 1,140.8m, compared with EUR 943m the previous year, while for the period, net profit climbed 25.7% to EUR 66.2m. More
In the US, social media engagement firm Vitrue has closed a $17m Series C financing round, which it plans to use to open new domestic and international offices and hire between 100 and 150 new staff for them. More
In the UK, media research veteran Roger Gane is to retire from his post as Research Director at RSMB in March, after a 40-year career in the market and media research sectors. More
Online measurement specialist comScore has recorded 'record quarterly revenue' - up 52% on the previous year to $51.2m - while reporting a net loss of $494k compared with net income of $1.6m, resulting from acquisition and severance costs. More
UK agency HPI Research has launched a new division called Mobilocity, to conduct market research via mobile phones. More
Ipsos has announced the UK roll-out of its GamePlan Insights tool, which examines behavioural and attitudinal trends in the videogame market. More
Online panel and research technology firm Toluna is to be taken private, in a deal valuing the company at £161m ($259m). Toluna's third-largest shareholder, family-owned Belgian company Verlinvest will fund the acquisition from its own assets and has formed a company called ITWP to complete it. More
Harris Interactive, which is in the process of restructuring its UK business following a major contract loss, today announced the appointment of Steve Reiman, an expert in managing online communities and usability trials, as Head of Qualitative Research. More
In the UK, citizen engagement specialists Jonathan MacDonald and Tayo Medupin have set up a marketing platform called Human Dialogue, which offers panellist feedback and consultancy advice to help companies optimize their mobile marketing campaigns. More
Graham Williams, co-founder of media specialist M-Lab Research, has joined London-based market research agency BDRC Continental as Research Director. More
In the UK, B2B International has taken a 50% stake in Leeds-based Frank Communications, to enable it to provide design, advertising and marketing services to its existing market research clients. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
Online research specialist YouGov has hooked up with digital marketing agency Adform to offer a service which tests how one or more banner ads are received by a target group prior to a campaign being launched. More
In the UK, game industry specialist Chris Wright has launched a company helping online game publishers with data mining and monetisation. Services include real-time behavioural analytics, predictive modelling and individual targeted in-game marketing. More
US-based customer feedback firm Mindshare Technologies and Munich-based mystery shopping specialist International Service Check have partnered to launch a new venture called 'Fast Insight', which they plan to roll out across Europe and the Middle East. More
In the UK, content analytics platform idio has acquired social media development agency thrudigital for an undisclosed sum. More
Canadian-based research software firm Voxco has opened a new office in the UK, where it has appointed Richard Owen as Managing Director. More
Online research specialist BrainJuicer has promoted Krishna Kabra to the post of Senior Vice President, in charge of its operations in Canada. More
The US office of market research and insight agency Kadence International has reported a 98% increase in insight-driven revenues to $1.4m for the last six months of 2010, compared with the same period in 2009. More
In the UK, former BBC digital strategist James Micklethwait has been hired by commercial broadcaster ITV for the newly created role of Director of Product Strategy, overseeing product development, audience research, and web analytics. He starts in April. More
Electronics market research specialist IMS Research has appointed 25 new analysts for teams across several sectors in the UK, US, Taiwan, China and Korea. More
Millward Brown has announced the appointment of Ronald D. Markham as Chief Information Officer; and the setting up of a Client Advisory Board to keep the company truly customer-focused. More
Harris Interactive has announced revenue up 2% at constant currencies to $44.9m, along with a small profit, for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2011. More
Harris Interactive has appointed Nathalie Perrio-Combeaux and Patrick Van Bloeme as co-CEOs of its UK operations, replacing Robert Salvoni whose position as President, International has been eliminated as part of a 'shake-up' of the UK business. More
Global media network Havas is launching a social media division at the end of the month, to offer central support for teams of more than 40 dedicated specialists based in its UK agencies. Former IAB exec Amy Kean joins as Director of Social Media. More
Nielsen has priced its forthcoming initial public offering (IPO) at around $1.64bn or $23.00 per share. The shares will trade from today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'NLSN'. More
In New York, Millward Brown has appointed Rob Hernandez for the newly created post of Global Brand Director of its qual research network Firefly - the first of five such roles planned across the company. More
UK research association the ICG (Independent Consultants Group) has introduced a new training guide to help non-researchers working in UK organisations conduct their own online surveys. More
In the UK, market research and insight agency Kadence International has appointed Marcus Boyland as Insight Director and Board Member. More
Leeds-based marketing and insight comms agency Brass has opened an office in London to service clients in South East England. More
UK-based independent IFF Research has launched an SME Omnibus which it claims is the fastest turnaround telephone business omnibus in the UK. More
Retail behaviour research specialist Shoppercentric has appointed former Marks & Spencer Head of Customer Insight Susie Spencer as a Director. More
Survey reporting and distribution company Dapresy has opened a German office, in Berlin, and appointed Mats Flodin to it as Sales Manager. More
Andrew Jeavons, former MD of Nebu USA, has joined online survey and analytical tools provider Survey Analytics as Executive Vice President. More
Unilever has sold a further 89,686 shares in UK-based online market research specialist BrainJuicer, reducing its stake in the firm to 13.5%. More
In London, Kantar Media has appointed Giselle Bodie for the new position of Chief Operations Officer for Media Monitoring and Evaluation in Europe. More
UK-based media and marketing insights specialist Ebiquity has reported a 122% climb in total group revenues to £20.5m (2009: £9.3m) for the six months ended 31 October 2010, partly driven by its acquisition of ad and media intelligence firm Xtreme Information last April. More
Qual specialist Firefly Millward Brown has appointed Cécile Conaré as CEO of the UK business and Director of Europe. More
Ahead of the official release of its financial results for calendar year 2010, Nielsen has reported an expected revenue increase of between 6.3% and 6.7% to between $5,110m and $5,130m (2009 = $4,808m), equivalent to 5.8% to 6.2% on a constant currency basis. More
In the UK, newly formed full service MR agency Samson Research has appointed media research veteran Richard Windle to lead its Digital Communications practice. More
In the UK, branding specialists Simon Coker and Nick Burrows have launched Brand Spirit - a new agency which will connect internal and external brand building, while profiling customers' attitudes, motivations and behaviours. More
Online sample exchange Cint has launched a new service to enable smaller business to access its Cint Panel Exchange (CPX) through plug-ins and third party software. The new 'Cint Direct' offering will be led by Stefan Hök, who joins as Senior Vice President. More
In the UK, custom healthcare specialist Insight Research Group has launched an online pharmaceutical MR community called 'eVillage', to help brands engage with a wide array of healthcare professionals ('HCPs'). More
Experian has acquired a majority stake in Techlightenment, a Shoreditch based social technology company, from its founders. The firm will now form part of Experian's UK Marketing Services division. More
The remit of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is to be extended to include web site marketing from the 1st of March. A campaign to promote the fact was launched today. More
The latest IPA/BDO Bellwether survey, published today, gives very little cheer. UK marketing budgets were revised down in the fourth quarter and there is uncertainty about an end to the recession. Mind you, we're not sure it tells us much about the prospects for market research. More
London-based BrainJuicer has released an update for the financial year ending 31st December 2010, with a revenue increase of more than 35% to £16m. Final results will be announced on 24th March this year. More
comScore has launched an enhanced version of its online video measurement service, Video Metrix, for the UK market. More
In the UK, user experience design agencies Foolproof and Flow Interactive have merged, to create what they describe as 'Europe's largest specialist UX agency' with 70 staff and initial turnover in excess of £5.5m. More
Ipsos MORI has appointed Lindsay Cowan, formerly TNS Research International's Global Director of Shopper Insight, as Head of UK Retail and Shopper. More
In Germany, search analytics and web intelligence provider Searchmetrics has secured a $6.75m investment, earmarked for continued international expansion. More
US-based DIY survey firm SurveyMonkey has acquired a 49.9% stake in the UK's Clicktools, which develops on-demand software tools for gathering customer feedback. Terms were not disclosed. More
Brand and communications research specialist Hall & Partners has appointed Mark Stapylton as Managing Partner in its New York office. More
UK consultancy Simpson Carpenter has launched a new healthcare and pharmaceutical research division, headed by Anna Sawka who joins from Aequus Research. Further appointments are planned for early 2011. More
In the UK, full service research agency Crowd DNA has appointed trend and consumer insight specialist Terna Jibo as Research and Strategy Director. More
US-based survey and panel management software firm Kinesis Survey Technologies has opened a European office in London, and appointed former NEBU and Intellex exec Tariq Mirza as Managing Director of European Operations. More
Youth research and marketing strategist Dubit is launching what it describes as the UK's first 'direct to youth' online omnibus survey, offering companies regular access to its research panel. More
GfK Retail & Technology has launched the 'Network Intelligence Solution' (NIS), a new tool using data from operators' IP traffic to produce insights into daily mobile Internet usage. More
TNS has kicked off the new year with a new 'global positioning' known as DISCOVER, which it says reflects its commitment to 'leading the way in research into new frontiers and making discoveries that help clients to develop opportunities'. More
In the UK, medeConnect Healthcare Insight, the market research division of Doctors.net.uk, has appointed Anna Garofalo as Managing Director. More
Panels and MR technology firm Toluna has launched SafeView, a system to ensure the confidentiality of client concepts tested with online survey respondents. More
Nielsen's Chief Human Resources Officer Roberto (Bob) Llamas is to leave the firm at the end of the first quarter 2011. The firm plans to name a successor during the transition period. More
In the UK, marcoms consultancy Smye Holland Associates is planning further overseas expansion in 2011, following the appointment of Onno Jol as General Manager of its operations in The Netherlands. More
In the UK, media and marketing analytics specialist Ebiquity is relocating to North Tyneside, as it merges its London and Newcastle offices. Around 60 new jobs have been created ahead of the move, and the firm says there is potential for further expansion within months. More
In the UK Graham Farrant, formerly Operations Director at NatCen, has set up Your Site Check, a firm which applies cognitive methodologies to test and evaluate web sites. More
Last week's 'Festival of NewMR' broke new ground in various ways. DRNO Features Editor and virtual conference-goer Teresa Lynch looks back at 24 hours of leading edge thought and trailing edge fashion... More
In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has again deferred its decision on whether or not to charge Phorm and BT over the trial of tracking technology in 2006-7. More
GfK has appointed Joe Staton as Director and General Manager for its Roper Consulting business, responsible for the day-to-day running of the London office, and for innovation in its global consumer trends and insight offer. More
Vision Critical has hired Mike Stevens, formerly a divisional head at Simpson Carpenter, as Senior Vice President of UK Research. More
UK research agency FreshMinds has hired former JRA exec Niall Smith as Head of Research Expertise and Development, responsible for providing methodological expertise to its 40 researchers and working across its diverse client portfolio. More
UK-based web site visitor tracking specialist Prospectvision has opened an office in the US, near Grand Rapids, Michigan. More
Global interactive network Havas Digital has appointed former Microsoft exec Ciaran McConaghy as its UK-based Head of Data and Analytics, with a remit to champion all emerging forms of data analysis, site analytics and data modelling. More
US agency Radius Global Market Research has opened a new London office, dedicated to serving clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The venture is being led by former Ipsos Director Michael Fodor. More
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has asked the Department of Health (DoH) for clarification about its online data sharing agreement with Facebook. More
Research and MR technology firm Vision Critical has appointed former TNS researcher Gina Lagos as Senior Research Director in the UK. More
WPP has raised its 2011 growth forecast, with Martin Sorrell suggesting the group will also be able to raise its dividend. Separately, the group has reportedly invested in a new consultancy venture launched by former Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. More
In the UK, the BBC is introducing its own 'Live Plus 7' system, which supplements traditional 'overnight' audience figures with numbers viewing the same programmes on any of a number of platforms up to seven days later. More
Online customer behaviour analysis firm Site Intelligence has received an unknown amount of equity funding from Oxford Capital Partners, while appointing Peter Ryan as Chief Executive Officer. More
In the UK, social media monitoring firm Trevanian Legg has launched a service to gather and analyse unprompted comments about brands from a wide range of social media platforms. More
In the UK, online market research specialist BrainJuicer's Chief Operating Officer Alex Batchelor has been elected to the company's Board as an Executive Director. More
In the UK, Labour MP Tom Watson has complained to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley about a code on the NHS Choices web site, which enables Facebook and other firms to track the medical conditions users have searched. More
European research agency InSites Consulting has appointed social media and trend specialist Polle de Maagt, to support the addition of marketing consultancy to its portfolio of services. More
UK-based web analytics company Maxsi has launched myLiveDashboard, a new online system which provides live real-time reporting on e-commerce web site activity. More
UK-based sports consultancy TSE Group is to be converted into an international marcoms business called Porta Communications, which will act as an investment vehicle for buying market research, PR and advertising firms. More
Launched in London and New York, a new firm called Amplicate will provide access to statistics gathered from more than 40 million consumer opinions, on the products, services and issues they love and hate. More
Software giant Adobe is planning to open a new data centre outside London, to serve clients of its Omniture Business Unit in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More
UK media intelligence agency Durrants has acquired a stake in Brighton-based social media monitoring company Brandwatch, which now aims to expand its US offer and extend its service to cover Russia and China. More
Custom panel and community specialist Verve has added survey scripting and data analysis functionality to its VERVE Engine platform by integrating it with Askia software. More
Wi-fi data accidentally collected by Google's Street View cars will be deleted 'as soon as possible', according to the office of the UK's Information Commissioner. Separately, US and UK privacy policy unfolds and is criticised; and Tim Berners-Lee expresses fatherly concern. More
Global PR firm Weber Shandwick has launched a social media crisis simulator, FireBell, which offers those clients who dare 'an authentic, real-time experience of being under attack on social media channels'. More
Nunwood has promoted Andy Moore to the position of Global Managing Director, with responsibility for the firm's operations across the European, US and APAC regions. He takes over from Phil Rushfirth, who is moving to Los Angeles to drive the US business. More
US-based chip manufacturing giant Intel has acquired Canadian out-of-home (OoH) audience measurement technology developer CognoVision for an undisclosed amount. More
Kadence International has reported a 59% increase in global revenues to $4.2m for the first quarter of its new financial year - the period between July and September of 2010 - compared with the same period in 2009. More
In the UK, co-creation specialist Face has launched an online community called X-crowd, which promises to connect 'tech lovers' with global technology brands. More
In Leeds, UK, three former Nunwood Board directors have founded full service agency Boxclever. More
WPP is merging its business advisory and public opinion research firm Public Strategies with its international communications agency Hill and Knowlton (H&K), to offer joint capabilities in public affairs, research, digital and financial services. More
In the UK, TNS has moved James Fergusson to the post of Global Technology Head, responsible for leading the sector team and strengthening its presence across all markets. More
Lightspeed Research has moved its global headquarters from Basking Ridge to Warren, also in New Jersey. More
UK-based Nunwood has launched a league table of national and international brands rated on customer experience. Online retail giant Amazon tops the overall list, based on feedback from 5,500 consumers. More
GfK has announced third quarter organic sales growth of 9.2%, up from an already strong 8.0% in the second quarter and 5.3% in the first quarter; and adjusted operating income up 27% to EUR 48.5m. More
Synovate parent Aegis Group has reported organic revenue growth of 9.7% in the third quarter, and 5.2% for the nine month period, but has warned of slower growth in the fourth quarter. Synovate outperformed the media division with revenue up 11.5% for the quarter and 5.7% over 9 months. More
Leeds, UK-based youth research and marketing strategist Dubit has added Claire Jolley, Jen Holmes and John Crichton to its research team; and has promoted Jonathan Clough to the role of Head of Online Research Services. More
Synovate has launched a global analytics consulting practice, Synovate Management Analytics (SMA), promising clients the ability to make holistic, strategic decisions by integrating research, analytics and data sources for each project. More
In the UK, the coalition government has proposed amendments to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), taking a tougher line with ISPs looking to monitor their customers' online movements, as in the much discussed BT / Phorm trials. More
Customer engagement technology specialist Alterian has announced a multi-year partnership with Experian Marketing Services to provide clients with a solution integrating data from multiple channels into a centralized database. More
Online sampling and data collection company Research Now has relocated its headquarters from Dallas to a larger site in Plano, Texas, with future growth in mind. More
The BBC has announced it will re-tender its market research framework contract, compiling a roster of providers for use over a term of two years beginning with the third quarter of 2011. More
Assessment of ROI and more general measurement are two of the biggest challenges to further investment in social media activity, according to research by new partners, the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and advertisers' association the ISBA. More
WPP-owned online research specialist Lightspeed has strengthened its office in Wimbledon, UK with three new project manager hires and a promotion. More
In the UK, home products giant Unilever has sold a further 720,000 shares in online market research specialist BrainJuicer, reducing its stake in the firm to 14.2%. More
Ahead of its official financial report which will be published on 15th November, GfK has announced a 10.8% revenue increase to EUR 931m for the first nine months of 2010 (prior year: EUR 840.2m), of which 7.4% is attributable to organic sales growth. More
Online sampling and data collection firm Research Now has appointed Marc-Antoine Jacoud as Managing Director of Southern Europe, responsible for leading client development in France, Italy and Spain. More
In the UK, GfK has added the position of Chief Marketing Officer of GfK Media to Nick North's existing role as Joint Head of GfK NOP Media. He also becomes Secretary of the GfK Media Board. More
UK record label trade body the BPI has established a new Innovation Panel, through which it will share consumer research, help identify and value market opportunities, and provide a forum for dialogue with labels on service design and market strategy. More
German user and brand research specialist Eye Square has opened a new office in London, led by usability specialist Gareth Tuck. More
The BBC has axed the role of Director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences (MC&A) held by Sharon Baylay, and integrated her team into an expanded division led by COO Caroline Thompson. More
UK-based Verve - which specialises in customer advisory panels and online brand communities - has appointed five new members of staff, and promoted Client Services Director Jeremy Hollow to the position of Sales Director. More
Online ad trade association IAB Europe has warned its members they should not use technology that 'respawns' cookies after consumers have deleted them, calling it unacceptable and probably illegal. More
In the UK, Chime company Opinion Leader has hired Dominic Scott-Malden as Research Director, to boost its expertise in advertising research. Catherine Plews also joins the firm as Senior Research Executive. More
Research Now has opened an office in Milan to provide its 'greatly expanded' base of Italian clients with skilled local account management. Client Development Manager Robinson Leoni will head up the office. More
Panel specialist e-Rewards has completed its acquisition of San Francisco-based social media sampling firm Peanut Labs, the company confirmed on Friday. More
YouGov has announced preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2010, with a good second half performance bringing full year results in line with expectations after a fall in late 2009. One-off items led to a substantial reported operating loss of £9.6m (2009: £0.7m). More
In the UK, online marketing research specialist OnePoll has appointed consumer trend authority William Higham as Managing Director. More
US-based social media tracking and targeting firm Lotame has opened an office in the UK, and where it has appointed former AOL executive Chris Stark as Managing Director. More
In the UK, Nielsen veteran Marco Barbaccia has joined Ipsos MediaCT as International Director of Electronic and Digital Audience Measurement. More
Nunwood has opened an office in Sydney, Australia, headed by former BBC researcher Anna Thomas who joins the company as Joint Managing Director, APAC. Meanwhile Ann Thompson is promoted to Joint MD based in Auckland, NZ. More
In the US, Harris Interactive has named Pavan Bhalla as its new Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, replacing Robert Cox who left the firm last year. More
US-based online video research solutions provider Qualvu has opened an office in Dublin, from which to serve its European clients. The new operation is led by former ad agency account planner and research consultant Anne-Marie O'Sullivan. More
Channel Islands-based mobile marketing and ad technology company Velti has acquired US mobile ad exchange network and analytics provider Mobclix. More
TNS has formed a new central division called Corporate Development, incorporating a number of current areas of marketing and strategy expertise. Matthew Froggatt, until now Technology Sector Head, has been appointed to lead the new unit as Chief Development Officer. More
Kantar Media has introduced DirectHEAT, a new subscription service delivering custommised multimedia ad intelligence to media sellers. More
In the UK, home products giant Unilever has sold nearly half its shares in online market research specialist BrainJuicer - equivalent to around 16% of the company - raising around £4.1m in the process. More
UK-based Virtual Surveys has appointed former eBay user experience specialist James Lang as Web Research Director. More
Behavioural targeting firm Phorm has posted a loss before tax of $15.7m (£9.8m) in the six months to the end of June, and is still using up cash reserves at $1.8m a month; but reports better than expected opt-in rates in Brazil, where its offer is nearing commercial launch. More
The IAB and other digital and ad industry bodies are working with the EU Commission to develop a pan-European self-regulatory framework for behavioural targeting of ads, following a meeting last week over the future of the practice. More
Panels and MR technology firm Toluna has hired former Harris Interactive leader Dr. George Terhanian as its Group Chief Strategy and Products Officer. More
e-Rewards, the parent company of online panel specialist Research Now is to acquire US-based social media sample provider Peanut Labs in a deal expected to complete next month. Terms were not disclosed. More
Kantar has linked its Worldpanel scanned FMCG household purchase data with data from Kantar Media's TGI consumer insight survey. The resulting service, TGI Worldpanel, promises clients a detailed understanding of the link between media consumption, consumer attitudes and UK purchasing. More
Panel firm e-Rewards, Inc. has announced that it is adopting the name of its recent acquisition, Research Now, on a worldwide basis with immediate effect; and is introducing a new corporate identity. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) today launched two separate sets of draft guidelines: one on research with children and young people and one on online research. More
Nick Palmer is moving from Hall & Partners London to lead the firm's new Sydney, Australia-based brand and comms research joint venture with Open Mind. More
UK-based agency BrainJuicer has formally announced 49% revenue growth to £7.2m for the first half of 2010. Operating profit was up 119%, and profit before tax 108%. More
Ad targeting firm Phorm says it is making good progress in Brazil, serving its first ads to opted-in customers of national ISP Oi, signing agreements with a number of large publishers and partner web sites, and beginning a trial of its Navegador product with phone company Telefonica. More
Vision Critical has promoted Monique Morden to the role of President of its Global Partner Program and Chief Operating Officer for National Panels, and says it aims to expand the Program rapidly. More
George Terhanian, Harris Interactive's long-time European chief and more recently in charge of its US Centers of Excellence, is to leave the firm at the end of the month 'to pursue another career opportunity'. More
US-based research technology specialist Decipher has reported 55% year-over-year revenue growth for the first six months of 2010. The firm is about to move to a new office in Los Angeles, and is planning to open facilities in Manhattan and London in the coming months. More
Online panel and technology firm Toluna has reported a 164% increase in revenues to £36.2m for the six months ended 30 June 2010, which it says reflects the successful integration of Greenfield Online ISS into the group. More
In the UK, Kantar Media has rolled out a new approach to regional readership data collection, which it says offers a 'considerable cost saving' for publishers conducting regular readership research. More
In the UK, Creston-owned ICM Group has appointed BT's former research head James Turner and Optimisa's former CEO Andrew Wiseman to its Board, while announcing that MD Matt Burn and Director Gary Muncaster are about to leave the company. More
Sample marketplace firm Cint has secured a $13m investment, earmarked for expanding the business in both new and existing markets, extending its product portfolio and strengthening its team. More
US online measurement giant comScore has appointed Wolf Allisat as Executive Vice President, responsible for overseeing international expansion strategy in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. More
Out-of-home (OoH) media agency Kinetic has formed a data consultancy division called Meta, to help clients 'unlock' and maximize the value of existing consumer information by linking data from a variety of locations and transaction types. More
WPP-owned Millward Brown has brought all its global qualitative agencies together under a single brand, Firefly Millward Brown. More
UK-based user experience consultancy User Vision has opened an office in Dubai, to service clients in the Middle East and North Africa. More
WPP's brand activation agency network G2 has taken a majority stake in Chinese shopper marketing consultancy DPI. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, WPP-owned communications consultancy Maxus has hired Martin Lawson for the new role of Global Data and Insights Director. More
In the UK, The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is examining the process which mobile and broadband provider TalkTalk uses to monitor its customers' web browsing habits. More
In the UK, full service agency SPA has been acquired by private equity firm Next Wave Partners as part of a plan to merge it with Future Thinking, in which Next Wave holds a 60% stake. More
In the UK, media communications specialist Elizabeth Filippouli has launched Global Thinkers - a branding, media intelligence and PR agency designed to help clients manage and analyse their online reputation. More
In the UK, TV audience measurement body BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board), has appointed former GfK NOP Media AD Joe Lewis as Research Manager. More
US and UK-based e-mail marketing firm e-Dialog has launched the 'Centre for Digital Marketing Excellence', to provide clients with primary research and analysis of global online marketing trends and consumer attitudes. More
UK-based marketing and engagement analytics software provider Alterian has acquired US-based Intrepid, which focuses on market research and social media analytics, in a deal worth up to $11.5m. More
IFF Research founder and former Market Research Society Chairman Lord McIntosh of Haringey died on Friday at the age of 77, after a battle with cancer. More
Online sampling and data collection firm Research Now has moved to new larger premises in Sydney, Australia, to accommodate its recently expanded team and in anticipation of future growth. More
Aegis Group plc has announced a significant improvement in its 2010 interim results. Total revenue rose 4.2% to £663.3m, representing organic growth of 3.2%. The upturn in large part reflects a rebound at MR arm Synovate. More
In the UK, brand research specialist Millward Brown has hired former Yahoo! HR leader Kerstin von der Brelie for its newly created post of Chief Talent Officer - Europe. More
In the UK, marcoms group Chime has reported a 10.9% increase in its Research and Engagement Division's half year adjusted operating profit to £379k. Operating income rose to £3.5m from £3m in the prior year period. More
Kantar Media is planning to add qualitative research to its futurePROOF quantitative study, to provide an understanding of how media behaviour changes among early adopters of the iPad. More
Revenue and profits in WPP's Consumer Insight division rose in the first six months of 2010: the former slowly, up 2.4% on a like-for-like basis from a low comparative, but the latter more rapidly with headline profit before interest and tax (PBIT) up 22% to £83.7m. More
WPP's insight division Kantar has appointed panel specialist Renee Smith as Chief Research Officer in the US, and has moved Tim Kelsall to the role of SVP, Client Strategy, Innovation and Delivery at its brand research division Millward Brown, in the UK. More
In the UK, Kantar Worldpanel has enhanced its syndicated mobile study, ComTech, adding information on usage, supplier and billing cross-referenced against the four channels of mobile, broadband, landline and pay TV. More
UK-based Verve, specialist in customer advisory panels and online brand communities, has expanded its Sydney-based team with the appointment of Betty Mai as Partner, Australia and New Zealand; and Chantal Brady as Online Community Manager. More
Harris Interactive has announced fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2010 results. In the latter, revenue fell fully nine per cent, showing the scale of problems, but operating loss of $56.4m in fiscal 2009 was all but wiped out following moves to restructure and stabilize the business. More
UK-based online MR firm Tpoll has launched a new qualitative software tool called Tqual, developed in-house. The tool can be integrated with the company's existing survey and community platform Tquant, or used as a standalone. More
B2B International is about to open an office in Regent's Place, London, from where it will focus on sales and project delivery in the South East of the UK and mainland Europe. More
Nielsen has increased the amount it wants to raise by selling stock to $2.01bn, in its initial public offering (IPO) filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm has also added two new categories for measuring TV viewing. More
GfK has raised its 2010 sales and income expectations following a 12.3% rise in second quarter sales to EUR 328.7m, and a 9.4% rise in first half sales to EUR 609.6m. The firm now expects a 6% rise in sales for the year, which is double its original projection. More
Online specialist Michalis Michael has opened DigitalMR, an agency focusing on web-based market research, with headquarters in London, UK and Nicosia, Cyprus. More
New Scientist is a publication full of scientific scepticism and not particularly renowned for its love of marketing or market research. So if it says, 'I'm convinced this time there's something in it', we should perhaps listen. MrWeb's Nick Thomas interviews the magazine's Deputy Editor, Graham Lawton. More
UK-based online research specialist YouGov has expanded its presence in the US with the acquisition of marketing and research consulting firm the Harrison Group. More
Online panel and survey technology firm Toluna has rolled out its UPS (Unified Panelist System) globally. Separately, in the US, the firm has hired Jeff Scott as President and promoted Ron Franscella to the post of Chief Revenue Officer. More
Strategic research firm Hotspex has appointed former Millward Brown Canada President James Conrad as Executive Vice President, to lead sales and drive growth. More
CIMM, the coalition of US firms formed last September to promote innovation in TV and cross-platform video audience measurement, is to fund the rollout of the IPA's UK TouchPoints study in the US. It will be fielded by the Media Behavior Institute (MBI) in partnership with GfK MRI. More
Interactive research and technology firm Vision Critical has announced results for the first half of 2010. On a constant currency basis, total revenues rose 43% versus a year earlier and CEO Angus Reid says the company is 'on track to earn approximately $70 million in revenue in 2010'. More
Caroline Osborne has been appointed Director of GfK NOP Consumer Products & Retail, with a particular remit to enhance the company's shopper insight, customer satisfaction, segmentation and U&A offers. More
In the UK, Kantar-owned TNS-BMRB, which offers insight for government and not-for-profit clients, has launched a mixed mode research programme to prompt new thinking and best practice for tracking social trends across multiple modes of research. More
The UK's Central Office of Information (COI) has announced a reduction in staff numbers from 737 to 450, as a result of the government's freeze on non-essential advertising and marketing spend, and the consequent reduction in its workload. More
French-based online loyalty and rewards specialist Maximiles has agreed to acquire Panelbiz Gmbh, one of the major players in the German online panels market, with the biggest access panel in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. More
Open Mind Research Group has teamed up with Hall & Partners to form a new boutique consultancy, which CEO Dr Vicki Arbes says will 'compete at a different level' in the Australian market. More
UK-based online researcher YouGov has announced that operating profit for the year ended 31 July 2010 was 'significantly ahead' of the prior year period. The firm has also appointed Camilla Parker Bowles' nephew Ben Elliot as a non-executive Director. More
Nielsen has announced results for the quarter and six months ended June 30. Reported quarterly revenues rose to $1,270m, up 7% year-on-year and reported operating income rose 6% from $172m to $182m - a rise of 10% after adjusting for one-off costs and currency changes. More
The NPD Group and electronics retailer Best Buy Co. have extended their agreement to share point-of-sale data for a further two and a half years. More
comScore has announced record revenues of $42m for the second quarter of 2010, up 34% year-on-year. Adjusted earnings also rose by around 28.5%. More
Two of the research industry's top four firms, Kantar and GfK, have announced an initiative aimed at promoting and assuring online data quality. The firms will seek 'broad industry participation' in their not-for-profit consortium, the Promedius Group. More
Global research group Ipsos has reported a very strong performance for the first six months of 2010, with revenue up 18.1% to EUR 528.8m (organic growth 7.7%) and adjusted net profit up 33.7% to EUR 32.0m. More
In the UK, the Central Office of Information (COI) has reported a fall in spending on advertising, marketing and research in the past year, and has warned of more substantial cuts to come. More
UK group Chime Communications plc has appointed Toluna exec Mark Squires as Group Operations Director for its Research & Engagement Division. Meanwhile the Division's former bosses Viki Cooke and Deborah Mattinson are to launch a new consultancy called Britain Thinks. More
Shell company Fieldbury has agreed a reverse takeover of MobileWave for £1.07m. MobileWave's PlanetOi' combines a social networking platform, mobile phone app, sales promotion and market research tool and a rewards scheme. More
In the UK, specialist social media agency Yomego has launched a new tool, 'social media reputation' (SMR), which promises brands insight and analysis into their reputation across 29,000 social media channels. More
Online sampling and data collection specialist Research Now has expanded its team in Munich, Germany, and moved to new office in Hallbergmoos, near the city's airport. More
In New York, Kantar Video has partnered with video technology firm Anvato, to add syndication and copyright tracking to its Videolytics online and mobile video platform. More
In the UK, media and communications research provider Ipsos MediaCT has partnered with qualitative media specialist Work Research to launch a qual joint venture called 'Work with Ipsos'. More
GfK has promoted Julia Beaver to the position of Head of GfK NOP Research Panels, which specialises in continuous or longitudinal consumer panels. Most recently, Beaver was Deputy MD at GfK Financial. More
WPP's digital investment arm has acquired an interest in Chinese digital ad measurement company Moment Systems, founded in 2006 in Beijing and currently employing 90 people. Reports suggest the marcoms giant is also eyeing the possible sale of Photon companies in Australia. More
BrainJuicer has appointed Orlando Wood as Managing Director of its methodological unit BrainJuicer Labs, and appointed him to the Company's Management Team. More
Infegy - the developer of social web analytics platform Social Radar - has opened a European sales and support office in Birmingham, UK, and appoined Gray Dudek as European Managing Director. More
Survey Sampling International (SSI) has appointed former Greenfield-Ciao director Chris Watson as Managing Director of its UK business. More
Online market research specialist BrainJuicer has reported growth of 48% for the first half of 2010, primarily driven by its business in the UK and US. More
Digital trade body the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), has launched a framework to guide social media measurement in the UK. More
In the UK, the radio audience measurement body RAJAR has appointed Jerry Hill as Chief Executive Officer, following the departure of Sally de la Bedoyere in May. More
US-based panel company e-Rewards has issued $6.75m worth of stock options and incentives to a number of its directors and executive officers. More
UK marketing budgets were down a fraction in Q2 amid uncertainty regarding the economic outlook, according to the latest IPA/BDO Bellwether survey published today. Budgets for Internet marketing were however revised upwards. More
Harris Interactive has announced a new financing plan reducing its lenders from five to one and extending its revolving line of credit by three more years to 2013. Separately, marketing services firm SPAR Group has secured a $6.5m revolving credit facility for growth and possible acquisitions. More
GfK has become the first foreign market research company to be granted a license to open a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. The firm has also opened a branch in Kenya, acquired the outstanding shares of GfK Mode in India and GfK Kynetec in the UK, and increased its stake in Shopping Brasil. More
Market research software provider Confirmit has launched a new SMS Survey extension, to enable users to reach more people with tailored text-based cell phone surveys. More
Behavioural ad targeting firm Phorm has placed 1,176,000 new common shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, in a bid to raise around $3m, which it plans to use to expand its service in Brazil and other future markets. More
In the UK, full-service marketing and management consultancy Realia has opened a dedicated research business to provide marketers with evidence-based decision support. The unit is headed by former IFF Director Sue Burden. More
Central London-based Jigsaw Research has appointed Monique Rotik as Director in charge of the Media and Communications practice, and a member of its senior level research team. More
In the UK, Eventus Software Directors Cathrene Rowell and Kevin Simpson have set up a new company, CaKe Research, to offer both platform-only and full-service online qualitative research services. More
In the UK, Barry Noble has returned to online research specialist Tpoll to take up the position of Managing Director, following a three year 'self-imposed exile' in Barcelona. More
In the US, Ipsos has launched the Open Thinking Exchange - a new organization dedicated to 'opening the exchange of ideas and information between marketers and their consumers'. More
Behavioural ad targeting company Phorm has reported a 40% drop in operating loss to $29.7m from $49.8m last year, following positive foreign exchange caused by the appreciation of the US dollar against sterling. More
WPP-owned Kantar Media has released 'Connect', a new solution that integrates a publisher's own web site metrics with survey data, to create a single-source database that links online behaviour to the attitudes that drive it. More
In the UK, Harris Interactive has launched a new approach to analysing the way people make purchase decisions across a wide range of products and service categories. More
UK-based digital MR specialist eDigitalResearch has rolled out eConceptTest - a suite of research methodologies designed to help marketers test their latest idea, service or product on the general public. More
Kantar-owner WPP has reported improved results for the first five months of the year. Both Group revenues and those for the Insight division rose around 2% worldwide on a like-for-like basis while growth in May was well over 5%. More
UK audience measurement body BARB (The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board) has announced it will test a new meter which promises measurement of television viewed via a PC or laptop. More
Are mobile surveys more intrusive? Will ICE change the face of online panels? Why don't we entirely trust Neuroscience? And should we now be a bit less worried about Google? From today, join the debate on the big issues in our MRT section. More
Just as you thought the World Cup was 'so last week' here we go again with (among other things) call centre productivity; social media match predictions; and the disturbing prospect of Diego Maradona running round Buenos Aires naked. More
US-based business analytics technology provider Anametrix has opened sales and technical operations in London and Amsterdam, while striking deals with resellers in Spain, China, Australia and Israel. More
Online panel and technology company uSamp has closed a $10 million Series C round of financing, led by OpenView Venture Partners of Boston. More
WPP is backing a 'hybrid' start-up ad agency, True Worldwide, which places 'a better understanding of consumers and their behavior' at the heart of its strategy. The ambitious new firm has reportedly been in talks with Kantar about linking its new technology with more traditional research tools. More
Online market research specialist BrainJuicer has appointed FMCG specialist Han Zantingh as Managing Director for its new consultancy in Shanghai. More
In the UK, Cranfield University and communications research agency MESH are to collaborate on the development of a suite of analytics tools, assisted by a government 'Knowledge Transfer Partnership' (KTP) grant. More
GfK has appointed Colm Mallon as Territory Manager Ireland in its Retail and Technology division, responsible for servicing manufacturer clients and retailers and developing panels in the Irish market. More
In the UK, WPP-owned Kantar Media has developed a predictive tool to provide insights into how consumers will react to newspapers introducing paywalls on their web sites. More
A modest 38% of England fans will throw World Cup 'sickies' this month, costing the UK c.£1bn in lost work - but not in vain, as it can be scientifically proven that England are going to win. Yes, predictably, we are inundated with stats, and our Features Editor Teresa Lynch will bottle only the finest for you. More
US electronics and media market intelligence specialist iSuppli is to acquire UK-based Screen Digest, which conducts market research into the film TV, broadband and mobile media, cinema, home entertainment and video games sectors. Terms were not disclosed. More
A number of leading panel firms have joined with MR technology firm Imperium, to launch an industry-wide user group focused on driving optimal sample quality. More
Millward Brown has moved Tim Wragg into the new position of CEO - Europe, following last year's integration of its UK and Ireland business with mainland European operations, and the formation of a pan-European Board. More
In the US and UK, Aegis Media has launched a sports sponsorship and lifestyle marketing agency called Team Epic, which combines its Velocity Sports & Entertainment and Vivid Marketing agencies, with the research capabilities of Sponsorship Research International (SRi). More
TV ratings body TAM Ireland is to expand the size of its television audience measurement panel, while introducing the ability to track time shifted viewing (TSV) - a move which it says makes Ireland among the earliest countries to measure such trends in viewing behaviour. More
Harris Interactive has gone live with its 'Research Lifestreaming' platform, which aims to provide a 360-degree view of panellists by linking the information they post online with survey responses and behavioral data. More
Nielsen has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $1.75bn in an initial public offering (IPO), which it will use to pay down debt and for 'general corporate purposes'. More
Industry association IAB Europe has partnered with Google to launch a new tool which provides agencies and advertisers with consumer information across 27 countries and 36 product categories. More
In Melbourne, Australia, Millward Brown has re-hired Martin Attwood as Senior Account Director. Most recently, he was Consumer and Shopper Insights Manager for Schweppes Australia. More
London-based online sampling and data collection specialist Research Now has launched a tool to enable clients to track online advertising campaigns. More
In the UK, relationship marketing firm HS&P Group has merged its various divisions - Crayon, HS&P, Legends and the Loyalty Practice - into one agency which will focus on consumer insights, creativity and accountability. More
Nielsen Online's UK Managing Director Stephen Brooks has left, as part of a company restructure. More
Global information giant Experian has partnered with targeted ad tracking software developer INVIDI, to provide consumer segmentation across traditional and digital media for advertisers, TV networks and multichannel TV distributors. More
In London, Synovate has revealed more information about the launch of its 'Digital Centre of Excellence' which will specialise in understanding and measuring the effectiveness of brands' advertising and communications through digital media. More
Hampshire, UK-based online MR firm eDigitalResearch has announced the launch of HUB, a new insight and analysis tool. In addition, the firm reports six new appointments, expanded office premises and a 25% growth in sales. More
Ad and brand research specialist Hall & Partners has announced the opening of a new office in Singapore, to be headed by Managing Partner Hilary Lee. More
Online survey technology and panels firm Toluna has reported revenue of more than £17m during the first three months of 2010 and says both revenues and profits in the quarter were slightly ahead of budget. More
Online research firm InSites Consulting has announced rapid growth and the opening of new offices in the Netherlands, UK and Switzerland. Four senior hires will help to support and consolidate the expansion. More
Simpson Carpenter has hired Abi Markey, former Deputy MD of specialist qual agency Directions Research & Marketing to head up the agency's qualitative team. More
UK-based MR software firm Cobalt-Sky has announced a new system for the display of surveys, promising a 'new visual survey experience' based on an easy to use survey interface that overlays SPSS web survey software. More
The second day of the BIG Conference opened on a beautiful May morning with a champagne breakfast. Our Features Editor Teresa Lynch reports from Wales on some papers arguing researchers can't go back to how they were; and some dancing which suggests they will keep trying. More
UK newspaper the Financial Times has become the first national daily to opt out of the online circulation analysis of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABCe). The FT says volume traffic measures have become 'less relevant to its advertisers and clients'. More
By dint of starting on a Wednesday night, the conference of BIG, the UK's b2b research group, is the only one on the circuit which manages two out of two mornings-after-the-night-before. Our Features Editor Teresa Lynch waits for skies and heads to clear, and reports. More
UK-based EasyInsites has announced the availability of a panel of viewers of breakfast television station GMTV on its Cint panel exchange (CPX). More
WPP Group is gearing up to restart its acquisition strategy across the Asia-Pacific region, according to CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, speaking at The Financial Times and Marketing magazine event in Singapore on Tuesday. More
Social media monitoring and engagement firm Visible Technologies has announced the opening of a London headquarters to lead its expansion into Europe. More
Aegis' research arm Synovate has reported a 1.9% organic decline in first quarter revenue, compared with 10.1% and 5.5% declines respectively in the third and fourth quarters of 2009. Separately, Synovate has launched a 'Digital Centre of Excellence', based in London. More
Online market research specialist BrainJuicer has opened an office in São Paulo, Brazil, headed by former Philips Director Gabriel Aleixo. More
US-based web audience measurement specialist Quantcast has expanded into Europe, and appointed former Yahoo! Director Philip Macauley to spearhead the venture as UK Managing Director. More
As part of an internal restructure, Nielsen has transferred Ivar Michaelsen from its Denmark office, to lead its operation in Germany, while appointing Justin Sargent as Group Managing Director for UK and Ireland. More
In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is investigating if it has a case to take BT to court over its trials of Phorm software, which it used in 2007 to serve personalised ads to tens of thousands of customers without their consent. More
AOL has made three key marketing appointments, including the promotion of Scott Joslin to Director of Research and Business Intelligence, based in London. More
In the UK, the Financial Times (FT) has launched a model that measures the number of people who read its news in print and online, which it is hoping to roll out across the newspaper industry. More
Global information services giant Experian is divesting part of its UK database marketing activities to form a new consumer and media insight business with its client British Sky Broadcasting (Sky). Terms have not been disclosed. More
GfK claims to be back on track with an increase in both Q1 sales and income. During the first quarter of 2010, the global group reported a 6.1% sales increase to EUR 280.9m from Q1 2009, up 5.2% in organic terms. Income rose 71.2% to EUR 25.3m during the period. More
In the UK, The Oxford Research Agency (TORA) has invested EUR 500k in Irish social media firm Simply Zesty, to add a 'new level' of social media to its research capabilities. More
The Research and Engagement Division of UK-based Chime Communications has returned to profit in the first half of 2010, following a restructure initiated by recently appointed CEO Crispin Beale. More
Ipsos says it is confident in its ability to return to 'significant and profitable growth' in 2010, after reporting a 14% rise in first quarter revenue to EUR 236.9m, compared with EUR 207.3m in the prior year period. More
Now that contacting the mobile-only demographic is becoming a core sampling issue (23% of all households in the US and rising) ESOMAR has published guidelines on research via mobile phone. More
Recently launched research panel provider krea has partnered with sample marketplace firm Cint to recruit new panels and increase the overall sample available to clients across India. More
Out-of-home (OoH) media agency Kinetic has formed a new think tank which will explore the impact of changing consumer behaviour, technology and data on the future of communications and commerce. More
In the UK, Nielsen has appointed AOL Europe's former Director of Insights and Sales Strategy Andrew Bradford, as a new member of its European online division. More
Harris Interactive has announced improved results for the third quarter of its fiscal 2010, with bookings well up on 2009 and operating loss cut from $7.3m to $0.9m year-on-year. However, President and CEO Kimberly Till says the company 'still has more work to do' to complete its recovery. More
In the UK, marcoms giant WPP has developed a dashboard which combines media spend and performance data from its GroupM media arm with research from insight division Kantar, together with information on social media content, web analytics and client CRM data. More
UK brand communication research consultancy i to i research has rolled out a new tool called iCITE, to track brands and issues online. More
Nielsen is said to be preparing to trade as a public company, inviting a number of investment banks to underwrite an initial public offering (IPO) which could be worth up to $21bn. More
Canada-based custom panels and interactive research firm Vision Critical has appointed Sally Campbell as Managing Director of its UK operation. More
UK-based custom panels specialist Verve has launched a solution to enable clients to create short-term, closed branded panels or communities with their customers, to meet a specific research project objective. More
Sports broadcasting network Eurosport has launched a new TV audience measurement system, while claiming to be the first media owner to offer a pan-European audience panel. The firm has also introduced a new system to measure mobile Internet and mobile consumption. More
Kantar Media has merged its media measurement and evaluation agency Millward Brown Precis Europe/UK into its Intelligence Sector. The merger will be effective 1 May 2010. More
The Internet is just 'People doing stuff with stuff', according to Matt Rhodes, Director of Client Services at FreshNetworks. Features Editor Teresa Lynch spent Thursday huddled with the alchemists hoping to turn it into insight, at the one day conference of the UK's ASC. More
In the UK, text mining specialist Linguamatics is using natural language processing technology to analyse general election-related tweets and group those with the same meaning. More
In the UK, BrainJuicer CEO John Kearon and investor Unilever have sold 650,000 shares back to the company, in order to set up an equity-based incentive scheme for its employees and management, and support the firm's growth strategy. More
In London, FreshMinds has reported revenues of £3.17m in 2009 - more than three times the previous year's figure - and profits of £374k. More
Brand and communications research consultancy Hall & Partners has opened its ninth office, in Berlin, Germany, headed by former Sony insights specialist Michaela Bergenthal. More
In the UK, medical market research fieldwork agency Gillian Kenny Associates (GKA) has launched a suite of qual online research tools, which bring researcher and respondent together via online focus groups, depth interviews and bulletin boards. More
Marketing budgets rose in Q1 for the first time in ten quarters, according to the latest IPA/BDO Bellwether survey, which is published today. The survey of marketers in 300 UK companies found c.21% reporting a rise in spend. More
Cint has launched Sample Direct, a service promising those doing their own online research 'access to quality panels of consumers at the click of a button' and offering fully automated sampling and send-out procedures. More
Last night, researchers in the UK were busy conducting instant polls to track response to the nation's first televised leader debate, which drew 9.4 million viewers. More
In the UK, full-service market research agency MASMI has named former Synovate director Michalis Michael as Managing Director for Western Europe. More
Online researcher YouGov has announced a decline in both turnover (down 6% to £21.3m) and operating profit (down 16% to £1.35m). More
RAJAR Chief Executive Sally de la Bedoyere has announced she will leave the UK radio audience measurement organisation at the end of June. More
In the UK, sample marketplace firm Cint has promoted former Sales Director Stephen Hughes to the position of UK Managing Director. More
Online panels and software firm Toluna has announced the US launch of Panel Portal, the firm's custom panel technology. More
In the UK, political polling group Tweetminster is analysing around two million Tweets, as part of an experiment to determine whether activity on Twitter correlates to electoral success in May's general election. More
In the UK, software provider Alterian has launched WebJourney, a web behaviour analytics solution which provides information on individual visitors' interactions with content on an organisation's site. More
US marketing research, data and advisory firm SiriusDecisions has opened an office in the UK, where it has transferred VP of Sales Georgie Donahue to take on responsibility for building the firm's client base in the EMEA region. More
Online panels and software firm Toluna has announced final results for the year ended 31 December 2009. Underlying profit before tax of £7.6 million is well ahead of market expectations, while the integration of Greenfield Online is transforming its global position. More
The UK's regulators have been flexing muscles this week, with implications for market researchers and associated professions. Tougher fines are ahead for 'silent callers' and, separately, for misusers of consumer data; while Ofcom is likely to use mystery shopping to target misleading ISPs. More
On day two, a session on The Future of Market Research looked at some up-and-coming MR technologies and techniques, leading to a debate about their potential to shape the future of the industry. Our News Editor Mel Crowther reviews the arguments. More
GfK has announced a partnership between its subsidiary GfK Asia Pte Ltd and global mobile media industry trade association Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), which promises insight for the mobile content industry. More
In the second day's fast-paced 'Ideas Rush' session, three agency side researchers and a client gave their personal take on the issues currently facing the MR industry. DRNO's News Editor Mel Crowther watched on. More
Embattled behavioural ad targeting company Phorm has launched its Open Internet Exchange (OIX) platform and its Web Discover tool in Brazil, where it claims to have already generated R$10m (US $5.6m) of pre-booked ad revenue. More
For those readers who are neither insomniacs nor business travellers who find themselves tuning in to the BBC in far flung hotel rooms, Stephen Sackur did need some introduction... DRNO's Teresa Lynch does the honours. More
A good ad appeals not just to an individual but to a social network, according to speakers at this year's MRS Conference in a Tuesday session on new approaches to ad research. Teresa Lynch watched, listened and once again, would have liked to ask the odd question. More
UK agency Conquest has launched InfeXious, a research tool measuring the viral potential of ads. Conquest claims that consumers are neurologically impelled to broadcast 'infectious' ideas through social media such as Facebook and Twitter. More
Panels specialist Toluna has added community features for its panellists in fifteen more countries, bringing the total to 34. More
Aegis, Synovate's parent company, is raising funds through the issue of a convertible bond for c.£190m, which it plans to use to make acquisitions in the US and China. More
UKOM - the UK Online Measurement Company - has appointed former BMRB researcher Jeremy Smythe as General Manager, replacing Peter Bowman who left the role in January. More
In Germany, YouGov Psychonomics has bought the remainder of ServiceRating, a firm which offers analysis on the quality of service and advice provided by companies across the insurance, financial services and utilities sectors. More
Google and WPP have announced the recipients of the second round of grants for their jointly funded research award program, including researchers at academic institutions in the US, Israel and the UK. More
UK ad agency McCann Manchester has announced it will acquire research firm The Blue Banana Agency, for an undisclosed sum. More
Online audience specialist comScore has released results from nearly 20 European studies, showing good performance by online ads in driving advertiser site visits - regardless of small numbers of direct clickthroughs in some cases. More
UK-based marketing services group Chime Communications Plc has reported its 'best results ever', with full-year profit up 14% to £18.8m; despite a continued 'very disappointing' performance by its research division, where only Facts International is said to have done well. More
Millward Brown has unveiled a new 'Creative Viral Potential' (CVP) metric which aims to spot the potential of an ad to 'go viral'. More
Arab world researcher YouGovSiraj has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Jordanian custom MR firm Analyseize, to co-operate on conducting joint research projects, exchanging data and expertise, and developing new projects serving the Arab world, and specifically the Jordanian market. More
Online market researcher BrainJuicer has reported rapid growth in 2009, with full year pre-tax profit up 21% to £1.66m; revenues up 27% to £11.8m; and operating profit up the same percentage to £1.65m. More
Canadian research and social media intelligence firm MediaBadger has opened an office in west London, to co-ordinate all UK and European clients and projects. More
Panel, community and survey software firm Globalpark has introduced a new mobile panel solution at its annual Mobile Research Conference in London this week. More
In London, Howdo Research, a new consultancy established in the autumn by former NOP and JRA exec Simon Cheshire, is reporting a buoyant start to business. More
Marcoms giant WPP saw revenues in its insights division fall 9.5% on a like-for-like basis during 2009, whilst on the same basis gross margin fell by 7.7%. More
In the US, GfK-owned MRI and the Media Behavior Institute (MBI) plan to deliver a syndicated, consumer-centric multi-media database using the TouchPoints methodology developed by the IPA in the UK. More
UK social media monitoring firm WaveMetrix has launched a new methodology designed to measure and understand online consumer advocacy. More
Wimbledon-based survey research consultancy Simpson Carpenter has appointed the former MD of TNS-RI's Business Services Division Mike Stevens, as Director of Telecommunications Research. More
UK-based mobile research technology firm OnePoint Surveys has opened its first international office in Madison Avenue, New York and has plans to open two more international offices during the year. More
56% of UK companies consider their marketing measurement capability to be 'non-existent or basic', according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), in partnership with consultants Deloitte. More
Online sampling and panel company Research Now has announced what it describes as 'the first B2B and Affluent Consumer panels in the Middle East'. More
London-based uberVU, a realtime social media analytics company, is launching a product to help small and medium businesses and freelancers monitor and measure social media. More
The Nielsen Company has announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2009. Revenue was almost exactly level with the previous year ($4,806m) but up 4% if currency fluctuations are excluded. More
GfK has reported a 4.6% decline in 2009 sales to EUR 1,164m, taking into account acquisitions and currency effects. However, for the fourth quarter, the group recorded sales of EUR 324m, compared with EUR 282m in Q3. More
In London, a collective of agencies, organisations, academics and individuals have joined to launch The Co-Creation Hub; a platform through which participants can co-create new products and services. More
YouGov co-founder and CEO Nadhim Zahawi is preparing to step down from his role, after being selected to stand as the parliamentary candidate for the safe Conservative Party seat of Stratford-on-Avon in the forthcoming general election. More
US digital marketing agency One to One Interactive (OTO) has acquired UK customer experience research consultancy fhios, which it will roll into its neuromarketing research unit OTOinsights. Terms were not disclosed. More
Roger Parry, the non-executive Chairman of UK-based marcoms group Media Square – which owns market research agency Illuminas – has announced plans to step down from the role, after the firm's AGM in July. More
In the UK, marketing agency GyroHSR has launched a new data practice, to meet clients' needs for greater alignment between data and analytics expertise, and campaign and creative planning. More
Kantar owned TNS and Compete have launched a web evaluation service, which identifies areas of a brand's web site that are underperforming, and goes on to recommend how the client can enhance the site for optimal performance. More
GfK Retail and Technology have announced the launch of their Mobile Telecom retail panel in the Republic of Ireland, tracking the country's mobile market sales for the first time. More
In the UK, three former colleagues have opened a new consultancy, Brand Potential. Chris Molloy, Mary Say and Tom Lovett were previously Head of Insight, MD and Commercial Director respectively at brand agency 1HQ. More
Technology research giant Gartner has reported a 5% fourth quarter 2009 drop in total revenue to $328.8m, while rival Forrester Research posted a revenue decline of 2% to $61.5m, compared with the same period in 2008. More
UKOM - the UK Online Measurement Company - and Nielsen have officially launched the UKOM Audience Planning System (APS), by publishing inaugural data from the online audience measurement system. More
In Denver, US, former iModerate director Adam Henderson has opened a new qualitative market research consultancy with a focus on social media metrics. More
Global information giant Experian has rolled out its Hitwise online audience measurement service in France, to report on 75,000 web sites across more than 160 industries. More
Customer insight solutions specialist MarketTools has promoted Lynn Christensen to the position of Chief Development Officer, responsible for its software engineering, user experience, performance optimization, quality assurance and customer support teams. More
In the US, online measurement specialist comScore has appointed former AOL ad technology leader Chris Nicotra as Chief Technology Officer, responsible for overseeing software and data application engineering, and the infrastructure technology teams. More
London-based Internet research and training firm Econsultancy has hired former Marketing Sherpa Research Director Stefan Tornquist, to lead the US expansion of its research and best practice programs. More
In London, business information provider Progressive Digital Media (PDM) - which owns research firms The iD Factor and ICD Research - has reported group revenues of £18.3m for the six months to 31 October 2009, and says that over the calendar year 2009, it made a profit. More
In London, The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) has launched an Insight Council, comprising heads of research and digital commercial specialists from both EIAA member companies and agencies. More
In the UK, non-profit trade association the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has commissioned online panel specialist Lightspeed Research to conduct monthly research to provide members with reports on mobile usage and behaviour. More
Web analytics firm Webtrends has released a new tool to measure and quantify how customers are engaging with both mobile web sites and mobile applications. More
A new online research business has been launched by six agencies, offering online services across 15 European countries with access to more than 1.4 million European panellists. More
Panel and technology services provider ToLuna has released a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2009. Revenue is expected to exceed £49m, slightly ahead of market expectations, with underlying pre-tax profit of at least £7m. More
Fast growing UK-based online agency BrainJuicer has hired Alex Batchelor as Chief Operating Officer. Batchelor held brand and marketing leadership roles at Interbrand, Orange and Royal Mail and is the current Chairman of the Marketing Society. More
Ipsos has acquired LA-based hi-tech entertainment research specialist OTX (Online Testing Exchange) for an undisclosed sum. More
In its second rebrand of the week, Kantar has re-named the TNS Worldpanel network as Kantar Worldpanel. Earlier in the week the group rebranded its media assets. More
After eighteen months of losses, Harris Interactive has posted net income of $1.3m on revenue of $44.6m for the quarter ending December 31. More
In the US, Millward Brown and its digital unit Dynamic Logic have partnered with Kantar sister-firm Cymfony, to integrate analysis of discussions on social media sites, blogs and message forums into their suite of digital, media and marketing solutions. More
UK-based Business Logic Systems - which provides real-time customer intelligence for mobile network operators - has appointed Vodafone's former CMO Tim Yates as CEO, to lead the firm's global expansion. More
Nielsen is rolling out its Facebook ad measurement tool BrandLift in the UK, to offer clients a better understanding of the impact of online advertising in the overall marketing mix. More
WPP-owned insight consultancy Kantar has re-branded the media assets of TNS, KMR Group and BMRB Media as Kantar Media. More
Canadian-based custom panel and technology specialist Vision Critical has relocated its London office to accommodate its UK team, which has tripled in size in the last year. More
In a move that should please privacy advocates and regulators including the EC, Microsoft has announced changes to its data storage policy for the Bing search engine. Bing will now keep search data including IP addresses for just six months. More
Research-led media group Light Reading, which focuses on the comms market, has opened offices in Mumbai and New Delhi and appointed telecoms industry specialists Kailash Shirodkar and Gagandeep Kaur to drive sales and marketing and content in India. More
In the US, Harris Interactive has hired industry veteran Jeni Lee Chapman as Executive Vice President, Global Brand and Communication Consulting. More
In the UK, the BBC is conducting a 20 week review of its marketing strategy across its TV, radio and digital services, but would not comment on whether job cuts would be made as a result. More
Online market research specialist BrainJuicer is anticipating revenue growth of around 26% to £11.7m (2008: £9.3m) for the year ended 31 December 2009, when it announces its full results on 9 March. More
UK marketing spend fell for the ninth quarter running in Q4, according to the IPA's regular Bellwether survey. However the report says budget cuts were the smallest in two years and optimism about the financial outlook was at its highest for five years. More
UK-based marcoms group Cagney has agreed the sale of its research and analysis subsidiary Tree London to Chime Communications. Along with the sale of ad agency CST the move enables Cagney to shake off debt and refocus on core activities. More
The UK government has missed its deadline for a response to the EC over Internet privacy concerns arising from the Phorm / BT ad targeting controversy. More
UK MR firm McCallum Layton has launched a new online service that provides a fully integrated research and insight management solution comprised of quant and qual techniques, together with a secure project management portal, The Hub. More
US neuromarketing research specialist Sands Research Inc (SRI) has opened its first European office in Surrey, England, and appointed retail specialist Joe Oliver to its Board of Directors. More
US-based ActiveGroup, which provides video streaming to the market research industry, has hired former Opinium MD Dan Foreman to lead international business development from its London office. More
Four former Drummond Madell and GfK researchers have launched a specialist brand strategy, innovation and communications research agency in central London. More
Online research specialist MarketTools has launched a new self-service tool to enable users to create and deploy online communities, through which they can engage in real-time conversations with their current or target customers. More
In the UK, online research consultancy Opinium Research has appointed former MASMI Director James Endersby as Managing Director, following the departure of Dan Foreman last November. More
The UK web analytics market grew by 9% to £85m in 2009, according to research published in the most recent edition of the Econsultancy Web Analytics Buyer's Guide. More
Database giant Infogroup has announced a rebrand, aimed at providing clients with 'a more unified approach'. MR subsidiary Opinion Research Corporation is among the major brands keeping their identity while strengthening their positioning as an Infogroup company. More
IBM has launched a London Analytics Solution Centre, based in its Southbank office, to provide advanced analytics expertise to its UK-based clients. More
Media buyer Carat Ireland and market research firm iReach have launched a new monthly study examining Irish online consumer issues and trends. More
US-based e-Rewards has completed its £85.1m acquisition of UK-headquartered online panel specialist Research Now. More
In London, FreshMinds Research has doubled the size of its Holborn office, to provide space for its growing team of research consultants. More
In the UK, digital marketing trade association The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has appointed NORAS founder Tim Elkington as Head of Research, in advance of the January launch of the country's first web measurement currency. More
Harris Interactive has added Clarabridge's text analytics to its flagship Harris Poll, in order to combine opinions posted on social media and other online sites with public opinion measured through its surveys. More
Kantar's web analytics firm Compete and WPP's Media Innovation Group (MIG) have linked up to enhance the latter's B3 ad optimization product through the addition of the former's online consumer data. More
The Nielsen Company is selling eight publications including Billboard music magazine and The Hollywood Reporter, to a newly formed media investment group, e5 Global Media LLC; and is discontinuing two other titles. More
UK-based user interface analysis specialist Speed-Trap has announced a partnership with customer info company The Database Group. More
Ipsos has launched a specialist gaming research practice, 3D. The unit integrates new tools and various existing skills from within the group to focus on the needs of game developers, marketers and console manufacturers. More
European advertising firm Bark Group Inc. has announced two partnerships aimed at enhancing its ad campaigns through research and analysis: with neuromarketing research company Mindmetic and digital campaign analyst Glass box ApS. More
In the UK, custom panels specialist EasyInsites is to build and maintain a new research panel for breakfast television station GMTV, incorporating a dynamic web site, direct incentives and on-screen recruitment. More
Sample marketplace firm Cint is moving its global sales headquarters to the UK, and has promoted UK MD Richard Thornton to the role of Global Sales Director. More
WPP Chief Martin Sorrell has told a Reuters summit that with 'vicious' price activity in the market, he expects the group's 2010 revenues to be flat. Sorrell says new business activity in his media businesses is strong, but in MR and creative functions there is less cheer. More
Retail market intelligence giant IRI (Information Resources, Inc.) has enhanced its Consumer and Shopper Insights platforms with a series of new digital media solutions. Partners including [x+1] and Dynamic Logic have already announced new offers based on the technology. More
IT research giant Gartner, Inc. has agreed to acquire supply chain specialist AMR Research, Inc. for approximately $64 million in cash. More
Technology consulting group Forrester Research has announced the acquisition of the Strategic Oxygen business from Massachusetts, USA-based Monitor Group, for an undisclosed sum. More
Harris Interactive has regained its compliance with the Nasdaq Stock Market listing standards, which require listed firms' stock to be valued at a minimum of a dollar per share. More
GfK NOP Media has rolled out a panel in the UK which combines online and offline media consumption with consumer sales data, to help advertisers and agencies measure the ROI of their media campaigns. More
The Newspaper Society (NS) - which represents and promotes the interests of Britain's regional and local media - has launched what it claims to be the UK's first integrated print and online audience currency. More
UK-headquartered global insight consultancy Nunwood has announced plans to open four new offices early next year, starting with New Zealand and Australia and following up with launches in both The Netherlands and California later in the first quarter of 2010. More
Communications software firm GMC Software Technology has promoted Peter Mnller to the position of President of its new subsidiary GMC Analytics. More
In the UK, digital marketing agency Magiq has launched with the introduction of a suite of online products, designed to enable marketers to personalize web site content based on real-time behavioural and activity data as well as visitors' historic profiles. More
Nielsen's group revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2009 were down 1% to $1.25bn from the same period last year. CFO Brian West described the quarter as having been 'steady'. More
In Ireland, web consultancy iQ Content has opened a purpose built usability studio where web, Internet and advertising firms will be able to conduct market research. More
US electronics market research specialist IMS Research has acquired recently founded Young Market Research (YMR), which provides marketing intelligence and consulting in the solar, solid-state lighting and display industries. Terms were undisclosed. More
In the UK, Speed-Trap - which monitors and evaluates web site usage - has promoted Simon Burton to the post of Managing Director, responsible for overseeing all aspects of sales and business development globally. More
comScore has partnered with non-profit organization the Wikimedia Foundation to improve understanding of the reach and impact of free knowledge on the web. More
WPP has reported a like-for-like revenue decline of 8.7% for the third quarter - a smaller drop than was seen in the second quarter. Consumer insight revenues stayed depressed although margin was better. The firm also pointed to strong regional differences and predicted a 'LUV' shaped recession. More
Harris Interactive has announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, with revenue of $38.9m, down $11.3m or 23% on the previous period, but operating loss almost eliminated due to cost-cutting measures. More
In Germany, Ciao Surveys Managing Director Alberto Abisso is leaving after five years, following Toluna's acquisition of Ciao's parent company Greenfield Online. More
In the UK, almost three quarters (72%) of Internet users are unaware of the online advertising industry's use of behavioural targeting, a new survey suggests. More
Online panel specialist Research Now has opened its seventh European office in Madrid, to provide a local service for Spanish clients. More
In the UK, Review Centre, which provides independent product and service reviews, is to create a consumer research panel which will provide marketers and researchers with access to the opinions of its four million monthly users. More
Online panel firm e-Rewards has confirmed that its founder and current Chairman and CEO Hal Brierley will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board, after the firm has completed its acquisition of panel provider Research Now. More
Less than two days after it was announced that e-Rewards was considering buying online panel specialist Research Now, the firms have agreed on the terms of a cash acquisition, which values Research Now at around £85.1m. More
Harris Interactive's Asia President Anthony Venus has decided to leave the firm in mid-November. He will re-locate from Hong Kong to Sydney, where he plans to pursue a career in private equity. More
In the UK, co-creation consultancy Sense Worldwide and innovation body NESTA have teamed up to launch a platform through which third-party brands can come together to create new products and joint ventures. More
GfK has created a global database of point-of-sale data for electronic consumer goods. The 'Digital World' service has been designed by GfK Retail and Technology in conjunction with the US Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). More
In the UK, FreshMinds Research has launched a suite of social media monitoring services, to enable clients to gain insight into how and why online consumer conversations are shaping their brand, both on and offline. More
US-based e-Rewards has made an indicative approach to online panel specialist Research Now, which may lead to an offer for the latter's entire share capital. The price would be not less than £4.30 in cash per share. More
In the UK, GfK NOP Media is launching a new panel of eight-to-fifteen-year-olds, 'rate it!', to offer better understanding of 'the next generation of media consumers'. More
Social media analytics firm Attentio and celebrity web site TheNod.com have released the first results from a collaboration to track and analyse celebrity brand associations. More
Online data collection featured heavily in this year's London Stock Exchange AIM Awards, with Toluna and Research Now both taking major trophies at last night's award ceremony. More
In New York, Nielsen has hired Steve Hasker to fill the newly created position of President, Media Product Leadership and Advertiser Solutions - a new business unit set up to help advertisers 'deliver the right messages to the right consumers'. More
At a launch event held yesterday, UKOM - the UK online measurement body - unveiled further details about the online audience planning system it is developing in partnership with Nielsen. More
Digital marketing agency iCrossing has released a social media monitoring application for the iPhone, that enables users to search Twitter, Digg and thousands of forums and blogs. More
In Sydney, Australia, online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has announced the appointment of Martin Filz as Managing Director, Asia Pacific from 1 November, replacing Jason Buchanan who is leaving to 'explore a new business venture'. More
UKOM - the UK online measurement body - has appointed Douglas McArthur, founder and former CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), as its new Chairman, as it prepares for the January 2010 launch of the country's first web measurement currency. More
UK marketing spend fell for the eighth quarter running in Q3, but the fall is still slowing and marketers are more optimistic, according to the latest quarterly IPA/BDO Bellwether survey, which is published today. More
Nielsen Online has underlined its commitment to the panel-based methodology it will use for the UK's first web measurement currency, following competitor comScore's proposal of a 'person-centric' approach using a hybrid technique employing cookie deletion. More
In the UK, TNS has launched a tool that claims to provide clients with an 'early warning' of rival ad campaigns, and which it says 'bridges the gap' between ad pre-testing and tracking. More
In the UK, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has launched a web site to provide consumers with information about online behavioural advertising, including details of how to opt out. More
A new search intelligence firm has been launched with $1m in Series A funding provided by investor Amadeus and Angels Seed Fund (AASF). London and San Francisco-based Linkdex aims to provide a view of how web sites connect with each other. More
In The Netherlands, online market research agency MetrixLab has appointed former Research International VP Alexander Kleijngeld to spearhead the international expansion of its NPD & Innovation unit. More
In the UK, online measurement firm comScore has submitted a proposal to the electronic arm of the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABCe), to develop a new 'person-centric' gauge for web site traffic measurement. More
The biggest new MrWeb section in nine years opens today with launch articles from five research luminaries. 'MRT' is an online home for custom panel builders, mobile researchers, data miners, neuromarketers and many others at the leading edge of what we broadly define as 'MR'. More
In the US, regulators have given graphic design software giant Adobe the go ahead to proceed with its acquisition of web analytics firm Omniture for around $1.8 billion, or $21.50 per share. The offer deadline for shareholders is October 22. More
Former Ipsos operations head Efrain Ribeiro has joined online panel specialist Lightspeed Research as Chief Operating Officer, based in the US and responsible for global online operations. More
Andrew Wiseman is leaving UK-based group Optimisa Research to join customer panel specialist Verve, and will establish a Leeds office for the company. More
UK retail giant Asda plans to 'empower' consumers by enabling them to get involved in every aspect of the business - from product development to the look and feel of packaging. More
Online specialist Research Now is to offer Experian's consumer segmentation tool Mosaic, across its panels globally. More
UK agency Leapfrog Research & Planning has restructured to create three distinct business areas and reorganised its senior management team to oversee the changes, which are designed to optimize growth and client service. More
The practice of 'digital fingerprinting' may breach Canadian privacy laws - and by extension those of many European and Asian countries - according to a statement today by Canada's Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. More
UKOM, the UK online measurement body, has appointed Nielsen as its official partner to create the country's first currency for planning advertising campaigns on the Internet. More
WPP agency Added Value is launching three new initiatives to help clients address strategic marketing questions facing their business and brands. The first, AV-id(TM), uses the principles of social networking to help clients develop and refine conceptual marketing ideas in real time. More
UK-based custom panels firm EasyInsites has formally launched its EasyMobile product, allowing it to conduct rapid polling via mobile phones. The new system uses the OnePoint survey platform. More
UK-based online research specialist BrainJuicer has confirmed 22% revenue growth to £4.85m (H1 2008: £3.97m) for the six months ended 30 June 2009. More
In the UK, healthcare and medical market fieldwork agency Healthcare Landscape has launched a series of research blogs where patients and carers can discuss a variety of medical issues on an anonymous basis. More
In London, Synovate has hired Marc Chester for the newly created role of Community Panels Director. More
London-based communications research agency MESH Planning has launched an 'experience database', aiming to enable marketers to measure every single consumer interaction with their brands in real-time. More
Online panel specialist Lightspeed Research has promoted Andrew Cayton to the post of Chief Executive Officer of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business. More
US web analytics firm Omniture and online measurement specialist comScore have partnered to deliver what they describe as a 'unified digital audience measurement system'. More
Behavioural ad targeting company Phorm has reported a $15m pre-tax loss for the first half of the year; down from $25.6m in the same period last year. Separately, Chief Technology Officer Stratis Scleparis has announced he is leaving the firm. More
In the US, the Nasdaq Stock Market has given Harris Interactive 180 days to increase its share price, as this has now fallen below the $1 per share requirement for the previous 30 consecutive business days. More
In the UK, Katugas Research Services has launched a system which categorises posts on Twitter according to their content. More
Panel and online research software provider Toluna has reported strong revenue and profit growth and increased market share in all European territories in the first half of 2009. Revenue grew 67% to £13.7m and first-half operating profits were up 21% to £1.6m. More
UK digital marketing firm Tangent has acquired customer insight agency Snowball for a maximum consideration of £3.25m in cash and shares. More
Graphic design and display software giant Adobe Systems Incorporated is to acquire web analytics and online business optimization firm Omniture, Inc. for around $1.8 billion. More
FreshMinds Research has announced the formation of a distinct Research Communities and Panels division, and the arrival of James Turner, formerly Head of Research at BT, to lead it. More
High profile UK-based start-up Verve is already opening its first overseas offices, in Sydney, Australia - and will launch customer advisory panels and online brand communities in Australia and New Zealand. More
European agency SKOPOS has launched Netnography, a social media measurement tool, and a web site analysis solution called Webalyzer. More
In the UK, online gambling firm Devilfish Gaming - named after its poker playing ambassador David 'Devilfish' Ulliott - has diversified by launching a consultancy which will provide market research and market and competitor analysis to the gaming industry. More
Synovate has updated its online community panels; integrating qual and quant research with a number of applications to help clients spot trends and obtain feedback about product ideas. More
UberVu - which tracks comments across sites like Twitter and Facebook - has launched the public beta test of its new service, which enables users to type in a search keyword and then see how many people are discussing it and where the conversations are happening. More
New York-headquartered MSW - previously McCollum Spielman Worldwide - has partnered with UK-based Insight Engineers to introduce its brand and communications research approaches across Europe. More
In the UK, the GSMA - the trade association for mobile operators - has selected comScore to be its partner for its Mobile Media Metrics (MMM) audience measurement service, designed to define common metrics and measurements for mobile advertising. More
Online measurement firm comScore has appointed industry veterans Anne Hunter as Vice President of Advertising Effectiveness Products, and Daryl McNutt as Vice President of Marketing Solutions, Media. More
In the UK, consumer protection body The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to conduct a new study of online advertising, which will also examine the practice of behavioural targeting. More
Synovate parent Aegis has reported an 86% drop in first half pre-tax profits to £6.6m despite growing revenues by 4.8%. The research agency itself made an underlying operating loss of £3.2m in the first half, compared with a £7.9m profit a year earlier. More
Online panels specialist Research Now has teamed up with Reed Business Information's (RBI) 'Computer Weekly' magazine to create a purpose built panel of IT professionals across the UK. More
In the UK, digital media company Struq has launched a technology platform that allows advertisers to customise and deliver ads in real-time, based on users' online behaviour and activities. More
UK marcoms giant and Kantar-owner WPP has reported a 47.9% drop in first-half net profit to £108.4m from £208.2m a year earlier, but predicts a brighter performance for the rest of 2009. Like-for-like consumer insight revenue was down 10%. More
Analysts expect ad giant and Kantar owner WPP to cut its sales forecast again this week. However the firm's debt position and strategic focus are considered solid, while buoyant reports in the UK press suggest business confidence in general has turned the corner. More
Harris Interactive has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2009, showing a 23% decline in annual revenue. More
The latest release of Google Insights for Search looks into the future and predicts what will be searched for, based on a combination of current searches and the way trends have developed in the past. More
Researchers who joined together to form the Association Collaborative Effort (ACE) last September, have announced their first combined effort - a set of terms and definitions for online research. More
Media giant Time Warner has signed a seven year agreement with Nielsen, which will bring together TV, online, mobile measurement services, research on advertising segmentation and targeting, and consumer engagement research, under one contract. More
London-based market research agency BDRC has launched an ad evaluation service, AdForensics, which enables clients to test up to three creative executions simultaneously with a 200-strong sample of their target audience. More
Internet ratings firm Quantcast has stopped using a system which resurrects traditional browser cookies after users have deleted them. More
Nielsen has reported a 6% dip in revenues to $2.36bn for the six months ended June 30 2009. Revenues for its market research business dropped 11.7% to $1.25bn from $1.42bn in the year earlier period. More
GfK has reported a decline in sales and operating income during the first half of the year despite an improvement in the second quarter. In organic terms, first half sales were down 8.5%. More
Revenues for the top 25 global research firms increased 3.9% last year, to $18.9bn, according to the new Honomichl Global Top 25 ranking, to be published in the AMA's 'Marketing News' this month. Allowing for inflation, the figure equates to a tiny real increase of 0.6%. More
Datamonitor is integrating its three technology research brands - Butler Group, Datamonitor Technology and Ovum - under the Ovum name from September 1st. On the same day it wll launch two new research services. More
Media services giant Publicis Groupe has acquired digital agency Razorfish from Microsoft for around $530m. Razorfish, which joined the software giant as part of its acquisition of aQuantive in 2007, places a strong emphasis on insight and analytics. More
In the UK, panel and online community specialist Verve continues to expand with the appointment of two former iD Factor execs. Amyas Peto joins as UK Operations Director and Paul Ferreira as Technical Design Manager. More
Business and professional information giant Thomson Reuters has reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, showing revenue growth and margin expansion, with continuing progress on the Reuters integration. Today, shareholders gave it the OK to drop its London and Nasdaq listings. More
Canadian-based custom panels and communities specialist Vision Critical has announced a 75% increase in first-half gross revenue, versus the same period in 2008. More
Information provider and CEM software firm ResponseTek Networks Corp has launched an application to monitor brand 'buzz' on Twitter, including scans for positive or negative sentiment. More
In the UK, online measurement firm comScore has been selected as the sole provider of site content vetting on behalf of the Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) - a council of the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) founded to police the activities of sales houses. More
Synovate has rolled out its Marketing Management Analytics (MMA) business across the Asia Pacific region. More
In the UK, ad-supported mobile phone network Blyk - which launched a research service for its users in December - is to close at the end of August. More
An investigation is being conducted by SPSS shareholders who believe that the firm's recent acquisition by IBM 'appears to be unfair'. More
Microsoft and comScore are collaborating to build a hybrid audience measurement tool, which will allow advertisers to determine and predict how consumers will respond to their digital ads. More
Online research agency YouGov has announced that its full-year trading is in line with current market expectations, but says it is expecting 'tough market conditions' to continue at least until the end of 2009. More
Online measurement firm comScore has announced financial results for the second quarter of 2009, with revenue, GAAP income before taxes and EBITDA all higher than forecast, at $31.4m, $2.6m and $7.0m respectively. More
Publishing giant Reed-Elsevier is selling off parts of its US Reed Business Information portfolio after reporting a dive in profits. However, research firm Marketcast and information supplier Reed Construction Data will not be among the sell-offs, which are mostly magazine titles. More
Ad industry execs including Sir Martin Sorrell have welcomed yesterday's news of a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! to work together on search and advertising. More
Media market intelligence firms Media Partners Asia (MPA) and Screen Digest are to collaborate to offer research and consulting services to clients in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. More
Computer giant IBM is to acquire SPSS for around $1.2 billion. The deal should close later this year, subject to shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other conditions. More
Harris Interactive has hired Edward Chatham for the newly created position of UK Sales and Marketing Director. More
In the UK, information services giant Experian has updated its consumer segmentation tool Mosaic, in a move which it says reflects demographic and social changes that have occurred in British society since 2003. More
US-based EMI Music has promoted David Boyle to the position of Vice President, Consumer Insight and Validation in its Global Digital Marketing team; an expanded role working across all three global business units and based in London. More
US-based online market research panel operator e-Rewards has appointed former TNS Director Mark Walton as Senior Vice President of International Operations, responsible for Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. More
B2B specialist Kadence International has reported a 40% climb in UK revenue to £4m during the financial year 2008-09. More
In the UK, Nationwide Building Society is the latest firm to bar the tracking of its site visitors by Phorm's controversial online behavioural targeting software. Nationwide joins other high profile firms including Amazon and Wikipedia. More
In the UK, the government's marketing and communications unit the Central Office of Information (COI) has published its annual report and accounts for 2008/9, showing an increase in spending on market research of almost 30% from £22.7m to £29.4m. In four years, spend has more than doubled from £13.2m. More
WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell has extolled the virtues of organic growth; of helping ad budgets to follow consumers online; and of a balance between local and multinational clients, as he looks five years into the future of WPP. More
Media services firm PR Newswire has announced the EMEA launch of an intelligence tool, Social Media Metrics. The tool is powered by Sentiment Metrics, a real-time analysis system and dashboard breaking down mentions of brands and companies by sentiment, demographics, influence and authority. More
While UK organisations' budgets are down, b2b market research spend appears resilient, according to the findings of the B2B Barometer survey conducted recently by Circle Research. More
ToLuna CEO Frederic-Charles Petit has welcomed the staff of the Internet Survey Solutions (ISS) division of Greenfield Online to his firm, following the completion of its acquisition from Microsoft. More
WPP-owned media communication specialist MediaCom has promoted Carsten Lind to the role of Regional Head of Insight for EMEA, supporting local insight departments and developing new insight tools across the region. More
In the UK Alterian, a provider of analytics and marketing software, has acquired Techrigy, a social media monitoring and analytics software firm. Terms were not disclosed. More
OgilvyPR's social media and marketing practice '360 Degree Digital Influence' has launched a tool to help marketers evaluate the impact of social media across different types of advertising and communications. More
Online qual specialist Blauw Research has announced a tool for continually assessing brand exposure and evaluating communications on Twitter; and launched a suite of research products including 'Superpromoter', a tool which identifies and assesses brand champions. More
In the US, Nielsen has launched what it describes as the industry's 'most advanced panel and platform' for measuring Internet audiences - increasing its measurement of web sites from 3,000 to more than 30,000. More
The IPA's latest Bellwether survey has found that for the second quarter in a row, the rate of decline in marketing spend has eased, with one in three companies now reporting that their financial prospects have improved compared to one in four reporting a deterioration. More
Directors at panels specialist ToLuna have given the thumbs up for the purchase of the Internet Survey Solutions (ISS) division of Greenfield Online from Microsoft. More
London-based communications agency WDMP has appointed Glen Patrick to head its Planning, Insight & Analytics team, and Lucy Acheson to lead its data function. More
UK-based online research specialist BrainJuicer has reported revenue growth of around 22%, in its trading update for the first six months of 2009. More
User experience consultancy Bunnyfoot and ad agency OgilvyOne have partnered in Hong Kong to provide a range of services to measure ad response and increase understanding and recall. More
In the UK, online research specialist Tpoll has launched a tool which analyses the build up of events that contribute to a customer's decision-making process. More
In Belgium, social media analytics firm Attentio has promoted Amaia Lasa to the position of CEO, in place of co-founder Simon McDermott, who has taken on the role of UK Country Manager and Chief Communication Officer. More
In the UK, BT has dropped its arrangement with behavioural ad targeting company Phorm, citing the need to divert investment to meet its public commitment to developing next generation broadband and television services. More
UK digital marketing specialist Digital Marketing Group plc (DMG) has announced the launch of new agency DemographDMG, which it says will provide 'digital research with a human touch'. More
UK customer insight provider Speed-Trap has extended the reach of its web visitor measurement technology, to include visitors accessing sites via almost any mobile device. More
UK-based digital market research specialist eDigitalResearch has rolled out a new online video vox pop tool, to enable web visitors to record their feedback about a client's product or service. More
US ratings giant Arbitron has told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it has no authority to impose regulations on its Portable People Meter (PPM) system, which replaces previously used paper diary-based methods for logging radio listening habits. More
From next Monday, Millward Brown IMS and Lansdowne Market Research will combine into a single company named Millward Brown Lansdowne. The new firm will be part of Millward Brown Ireland, along with Millward Brown Ulster. More
UK agency Conquest has launched a concept testing product, designed to measure gut reaction to new product ideas. More
WPP's insight division Kantar is to merge Lightspeed Research's online panel business with the TNS 6th Dimension network of online managed access panels. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now has beaten its predictions for first half revenues, growing them 24% to £23.6m (2008: £19.1m). More
UK Government stats unit the Central Office of Information (COI), has overhauled its market research roster to create a 'framework' including 108 agencies from across the UK. Half of these firms are new to the roster. More
French-based advertising company Publicis Groupe is feeling acquisitive, according to remarks made to Dow Jones Newswires at Cannes last week by CEO Maurice Levy. Market research companies may be targets. More
Microsoft has sold the survey division of Greenfield Online to panels specialist ToLuna for a cash consideration of $40m (just over £24m). The french-based company will use a placing and subscription to raise c.£26m net for the acquisition and other investment. More
Online research specialist MarketTools has launched a panel of IT professionals, using its TrueSample validation technology. More
Growing e-marketing specialist CreatorMail has moved its London offices from Russell Square to Mabledon Place, Bloomsbury, as its data and analysis team grows with the arrival of execs from Experian and Tree, alongisde expansion for its eCRM, online and business solutions systems. More
Millward Brown Optimor - the consulting unit dedicated to brand strategy and marketing investment - has made its annual 'BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Brands' ranking available as a free application on the iPhone. More
In the UK, online marketing services group TMN - which owns online research firms The iD Factor and ICD Research - has received shareholder approval to go ahead with its acquisition of business information provider Progressive Digital Media. More
In the UK, technology-led marketing agency Blueview has acquired Logicall Results, which offers market research, lead generation and appointment setting for the technology sector. More
Following the recent launch of Bing, Microsoft is linking up with marcoms giant WPP to conduct research which will explore the dynamics between search engine marketing and brand building. More
In the UK, Sky News has re-launched its online research group - the Sky News Panel - with a new user web site supported by an online and TV recruitment campaign to attract new members. More
In the UK, the advertiser body ISBA has been approached by The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to advise on the terms of a code of best practice, which will cover online information collection and behavioural targeting issues. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now has launched a 'family' of mobile survey products called Momentum. The new technology offers quick polls using SMS; and online surveys using WAP, GPRS and 3G connections. More
In the UK, B2B publisher Emap has confirmed that Neil Bradford, the Co-CEO of its Data and Insight division, has left the firm after just one year. More
In the UK, user experience consultancy User Vision has unveiled a new service to allow global clients to watch focus groups and user tests sessions carried out at its HQ, live from their own offices. More
In the UK, the BBC is developing an audience measurement tool which will provide insight into how audiences 'pick and mix' content across a variety of viewing platforms. More
Behavioural ad technology company Phorm has posted an operating loss of $49.8m (2007: $32.8m) for the year ended 31 December 2008, and a further $19.7m for the first six months of 2009. More
Marketers using social media such as Twitter to reach their target audiences should be subject to tighter regulation, according to European regulators quoted in a report in the Financial Times. More
Online market research agency InSites Consulting, headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, will be opening offices in London, UK and Geneva, Switzerland in July. More
Reputation analysis and comms research specialist Echo Research has launched a fully automated online media monitoring, evaluation and benchmarking service. More
Technology giant IBM has announced plans to invest $100m in a five-year program to conduct research into mobile communications. More
Nielsen and secure identity solutions firm Digimarc are to launch two joint ventures that will combine the latter's solutions for deterring fraud, counterfeiting and piracy with the former's consumer and business data. The ventures replace a more informal agreement in place since 2007. More
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released guidelines to establish a common methodology for measuring ads that appear in PC or console-based games. More
In Sydney, research veterans Alex Sweeney and Alasdair Johnston have formed Clarity Strategic Research, a new agency offering qual and quant research services to the financial, B2B, telecoms, retail, FMCG and media sectors. More
The UK government is embarking on a major ROI assessment of its web presence, led by the COI (Central Office of Information). Industry-owned not for profit body ABCe has been appointed to run the programme, which is billed as 'the largest project of its kind to date'. More
In the US, the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) has reported findings from its 'Foundations of Quality' (FoQ) project, examining the key issue of quality of online survey response. More
European agency SKOPOS has launched the m-Suite(TM), a collection of mobile-based qual and quant research tools, giving respondents simple access via their own mobile phones to surveys, interviews, diaries, video and other research features. More
Behavioural ad technology firm Phorm has sold 19.4% of its shares to institutional investors, in order to raise around £15m. It will use the money to continue the implementation of its service in the UK and Korean markets. More
David Day will become Global CEO of Kantar-owned online panel specialist Lightspeed Research, following the departure of Anne Hedde, who is leaving to pursue a different role with a competitor. More
Dubai-based Real Opinions has opened an office in central London, which will be run by founder and CEO Dan Healy. More
In the UK, new research agency EasyInsites is the latest to appoint an Advisory Board. Senior market research and food marketing executives from Europe and North America will help guide the firm's strategy and approach in the marketplace. More
Nielsen has re-organised its consumer research group into a global practice, and appointed practice expert teams across its five geographic regions. More
Lawyers involved in a privacy violation suit against behavioral targeting company NebuAd are now claiming that the firm went into US receivership specifically in order to avoid having to pay possible damages. A new firm has been launched in the UK. More
Behavioural ad specialist Phorm has launched a new patent-pending widget that personalises users' web site visits. The software highlights content which it recognises as being of interest to the visitor from their previous web-surfing history. More
At today's AGM, WPP shareholders gave the thumbs up to a scheme which could see CEO Sir Martin Sorrell receive a £60m bonus over the next five years. Meanwhile Sorrell announced a 6.7% dip in like-for-like revenues for the first four months of the year, which sent shares tumbling 4.8% to 456.25p. More
Microsoft is hoping to boost its search engine market share with the launch of 'Bing', billed as a next generation search helping customers to make faster, more informed decisions. More
Online measurement giant comScore has announced the arrival of Media Metrix 360, a 'panel-centric hybrid' solution to digital audience measurement. More
The UK Online Measurement (UKOM) company, which plans to launch a single online audience measurement currency, is in preliminary discussions with Nielsen Online to provide the data. More
In the UK, Kingston University is leading a £1.1m research project to find out if it is possible to nudge individual behaviour in a 'socially-desirable direction', simply by telling people what others are doing. More
Online panel specialist Lightspeed Research has launched a sample de-duplication platform that prevents respondents from retaking a survey from the same computer, through either multiple panels or by using multiple identities. More
In the UK, digital agency Imagini has rolled out the beta version of a tool that enables bloggers and web publishers to add personalised product recommendations to their sites, and generate demographic, psychographic and behavioural analytics from their site visitors. More
Barry Flanigan, former Head of Marketing at Telegraph Media Group (TMG), has joined social networking site MySpace as Director of Marketing and Audience Development for the UK and Ireland. More
In the UK, Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has created a new research department, to identify opportunities in existing and emerging markets, as well as analyse the challenges facing the business and industry as a whole. More
Shareholders at marcoms giant WPP are opposing a scheme which could result in CEO Sir Martin Sorrell receiving up to £59.7m ($95m) worth of free shares during the next five years. More
US broadcast and cable tracking firm Media Monitors has opened an office in London, from which it will provide radio stations, advertisers and agencies with same-day online reports. More
New UK technology, telecoms and media research provider Verve has appointed three to its Advisory Board. Professor Patrick (Paddy) Barwise, Gareth Firth and David Packford are all cash investors and shareholders in the company. More
Key personnel from behavioural targeting firm NebuAd, which ceased trading on Friday, are launching a new UK-based company called 'Insight Ready', according to reports. More
In the UK, Speed-Trap - which monitors and evaluates web site usage - has introduced online analytics software that captures and analyses visitor interaction with non-browser-based applications that run on desktops or on mobile devices. More
In the US, behavioral targeting firm NebuAd has ceased trading, following legal problems. The firm was sued last autumn and questions asked in Congress concerning its purchase of information about web users, without their permission. More
Research software provider Confirmit has delivered double-digit organic growth during the first quarter, and won a seven-figure contract with a global retailer for its customer feedback program. More
UK-based media group Aegis has announced organic decline in revenues for the first quarter for both its main divisions. With currency and acquisition effects revenue rose 4.8% for Aegis Media and 9.6% for MR division Synovate; without them it fell 13.1% and 9.1% respectively. More
MR industry supplier companies from three countries have combined to create a global VideoDiary(TM) research panel. QualVu, EasyInsites and Cint, of Denver, Stockholm and London respectively, say the panel will give brands instant access to screened participants for qual research. More
Online panel marketplace provider Cint is opening a German office in Berlin. German CEO Michael Henrich will manage the office and will take responsibility for customer development and support in all German speaking countries, including Austria and Switzerland. More
For the first three months of the year, GfK's sales slipped 1.3% from €268.1m in Q1 2008 to €264.7m. In order to absorb further 'crisis-related losses' the firm has announced measures to reduce personnel costs including short-time work, hiring freezes, salary cuts and redundancies. More
Users of Internet audience measurement are not satisfied with the metrics and information available to them, according to feedback from a new survey conducted among more than 800 executives from ad agencies, media publishers, ad networks and advertisers across the globe. More
In the UK, Harris Interactive has appointed Robert Salvoni as UK and European Managing Director, replacing George Terhanian who took up the post of President of Global Solutions earlier this year. More
Harris Interactive has reported a 30.4% fall in revenue for the third quarter of 2009; from $57.3m in 2008 to $39.9m this year. The revenue decline impacted nearly all the firm's geographic regions, including the US, where revenue was down 33% for the quarter. More
US web site analytics provider SeeWhy has secured $4.5m in new funding and appointed Scott Silk as Chief Executive Officer.The firm has also opened a new SaaS delivery center in Edinburgh, Scotland and launched a free Abandonment Tracker service. More
Harris Interactive has amended its credit agreement in a move which President and CEO Kimberly Till says will provide it with 'the financial stability and flexibility needed' as the firm continues to implement its strategic plan. More
In the US, technology-driven market research firm Invoke Solutions has launched a 'fully fused' omnibus, offering a real-time blend of qual and quant approaches, which will enable clients to view results while the survey is still in field. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now is predicting first half revenues will rise 23% to £23.5m (2008: £19.1m), ahead of its interim results which are due out on Wednesday 1 July 2009. More
Nearly a third (31%) of marketers say they have decreased their use of market research as a result of the recession, compared with 14% who have upped their investment in this area, according to an online survey conducted by B2B International. A number of positive trends also emerge. More
First quarter revenue at online audience measurement firm comScore increased 16% to $30.6m from the prior year period, but the firm has cut its 2009 full-year revenue growth forecast to 10-12% from its previous prediction of 15%. More
Online research firm YouGov has launched a new study to provide insight into the mobile phone purchasing experience from a customer perspective. More
UK marcoms giant WPP has reported a 5.8% fall in Q1 revenues, excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations. The firm says this reflects a cut in client spending in reaction to the global financial and economic crisis. More
Online market research agency YouGov has acquired US branding, customer sat and new product research specialist Clear Horizons for an initial fee of $600k, which could rise to $2.7m based on performance targets over the next three years. More
US market research data collection agency MRops has expanded into Europe with the opening of an office in London. More
In the US, Harris Interactive has appointed former industry tech specialist Richard Scionti as Global Chief Technology Officer, responsible for process automation and solutions development, as well as leading the firm's efforts in the social media space. More
Online retail companies are struggling to understand visitor behaviour and to produce analytics they trust to give them a good picture of ROI, according to new research from Internet marketing and business optimization specialist Coremetrics. More
In the UK, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Communication (APPGC) has launched an investigation into developing areas of Internet practice including behavioural targeting and online privacy. The BBC and AT&T have also been in the news for behavioural targeting activity. More
Media and online sentiment analyst Spectrum has launched a tool which gauges online sentiment regarding FTSE 100 companies and plots it against share prices and other financial data. The service, called Fin-buzz(TM), also allows comparison against the category as a whole. More
In the UK, new technology, telecoms and media research provider Verve has expanded its London team with three senior appointments. More
The BBC is cutting £20m from the budget of its £100m Marketing, Communications and Audiences (MC&A) division, according to reports in the Guardian newspaper. More
No.4 ranked search engine Ask.com is re-hiring Jeeves after three years as it battles / butles for market share in the UK. Research by YouGov found most people wanted the butler reinstated, and that more UK respondents knew the AskJeeves brand (83%) than the function of Ask.com (72%). More
Stephen Hughes, formerly EU Commercial Director for CfMC, has joined recently launched Cint UK as Sales Director. More
Record numbers of first-timers booked for a research conference? It doesn't sound like 2009. But BIG, the UK's b2b research association, says a more open, debate-oriented style and a strong client-side presence are two of the factors bringing in the new faces as it gears up for its annual get-together. More
Britain's advertisers have called on the European Commission to cancel its legal challenge over the UK government's policy on behavioural targeting technology, via trade association the ISBA. More
Canadian-based Mob4Hire, which offers crowd sourced mobile application testing and market research, is targeting growth across the Atlantic with the appointment of Chantelle Hyde-Lewis as Director, Business Development, UK & EMEA. More
Panel firm ToLuna Plc has reported results for the year ended 31 December 2008, another year of strong growth with revenue up 74% to £21.7m (35% excluding the effect of acquisitions), and profit before tax up 48% to £4.7m. More
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has confirmed that his firm has no official links with Twitter Partners, a newly launched London-based agency which allows clients to receive feedback on their brands and products by monitoring the microblogging leader. More
The European Commission has launched legal action against the UK Government, over its failure to force behavioural ad technology firm Phorm to comply with EU data protection and privacy rules. More
UK customer insight specialist Beyond Analysis and social media services firm Netemic have partnered to deliver a social media analysis engine which predicts and analyses market trends and monitors brand equity through the millions of online conversations across the Internet. More
UK online performance researcher eDigitalResearch has opened a new London office, managed by Head of Business Development Dominic Bean. More
In the UK, online research agency YouGov has launched a study to track the attitudes and behaviours of affluent and high net worth individuals towards finance, media and general expenditure. More
Hi-tech researcher OTX (Online Testing eXchange) has launched a new business intelligence tool and tracking service which aggregates consumer data on hundreds of games on a weekly basis, and forecasts future consumer behaviour around each title. More
UK-based web analytics provider Site Intelligence has opened an office in Sydney, Australia to enable local organisations to use its business intelligence across both online and offline data. More
In the UK, online agency Fly Research has bought Q Research, which specialises in using the mobile phone to conduct large scale MR with young people. Through the acquisition, the firm plans to develop the UK's first nationally representative mobile panel. More
Rumours that up to 50% of YouGov's UK staff are to be made redundant have been strongly denied by UK CEO Tim Britton. Britton says a review announced this week is intended to 'cut the firm's cloth' to match current conditions and will probably mean 'a small number' of job cuts. More
In London, two marketing analysts have launched a new marketing and data analytics consultancy with a focus on linking digital advertising with traditional forms of marketing communications. More
The European Union will step-in to counter surfer profiling and breaches in data privacy, according to its Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. Kuneva believes that online users' privacy rights are being abused by advertisers. More
Harris Interactive has announced that up to 30 UK jobs could go, as part of its plans to streamline the business. Meanwhile, continuing its US restructure, the firm has appointed former TNS Chief Information Officer Enzo Micali as Global EVP of Technology and Operations. More
GfK has reported an increase in income of €58.4m to €1,220.4m for the year 2008, reflecting organic growth of 5.5%. More
In London, former Research Now Director Charles Pearson has today announced the launch of a new research agency, EasyInsites, focusing on custom panel solutions and using technology from Cint AB. Research Now's former Client Development Director Jo Winning joins him in the venture. More
Ad targeting software company Phorm has announced the beginning of a market trial with KT, Korea's biggest Internet service provider (ISP); the opening of an office in Seoul; and the appointment of Daniel Park as CEO of Phorm Korea. More
Nielsen has reported 2008 revenues up 4.5% on a constant currency basis to $5bn, despite a climate which CFO Brian West predicts 'won't get any better, any time soon'. More
In Which our special correspondent Phyllis Vangelder reports on a session about the need for researchers to tell stories (but not make them up, of course); an old-fashioned medium makes a timely reappearance and wins a prize; and some general remarks are made on 'Research 2009'. More
Marcoms giant WPP is preparing to make thousands of staff redundant this year, in response to declining revenues and its £1.1bn debt-financed acquisition of TNS. Credit agencies S&P and Moody have downgraded the firm's rating from stable to negative. More
UK-based Portio Group is launching a new division, Portio Consult, providing technical, marketing and commercial consultancy services to companies at all stages of growth in the converging fields of telecoms, media, technology and communications. More
Given a choice of good venues for their Tuesday evening eating and drinking, delegates could be forgiven for missing the start the next morning (we did). Could the mid-morning panel session on 'Opportunities and Threats' for MR wake them up with its promise of being 'live, revealing and controversial'? More
The afternoon's online research session explored a number of areas around the theme, generally running over familiar ground. The exception was a paper on the use of ethnography to create connections between emerging trends in both the real and online worlds. More
In the afternoon, Nick Southgate from ad agency Grey London introduced a session on 'Research and Advertising Media in the 21st Century', including papers on the impact of in-game advertising, and a comparison of consumer engagement for ads on sites such as YouTube and those on TV. More
Not everything at 'Research 2009' was planned and finalised before this rather irritating downturn came along, it seems (see the keynote write-up). The Conference dared to utter the other R word this afternoon, with a look at possible winners and losers. More
BrainJuicer Group has appointed Alex Hunt as VP of Client Service in the USA. He will be based in New York until the autumn, when he will open up the firm's Chicago office. More
Europe-based agency SKOPOS has designed a trio of online and qual and quant tools to evaluate new and traditional media. More
British marcoms group Aegis - which owns market research firm Synovate - has announced plans to cut around 780 jobs across its global operations as part of a cost-saving plan to beat the downturn. Meanwhile CEO John Napier denied reports he has held merger talks with competitor Havas. More
UK-based online research specialist BrainJuicer Group has reported a 2008 organic revenue increase of 42% to £9.3m for 2008, while pre-tax profits rose 56% to £1.37m. More
Online media and data analysis firm Theorem has expanded its UK operations by moving to larger offices in Soho, London, and hiring Philip Stromeyer for the new position of Manager, Client Services. More
Synovate has announced an agreement with Canadian software provider Vision Critical, to power its online community panels around the globe. More
Martin Sorrell has talked of 'big, big opportunities' and 'a tsunami of funds... waiting for the recovery' in an interview with the BBC. The WPP chief also discussed his views on headcount reduction in a recession, on Google, and the future market share of different advertising media. More
Harris Interactive has made a further 90 staff redundant - 16% of its US full-time workforce - in a bid to make $10m in cost savings. The firm saved $9.5m through headcount reduction in October and December last year. More
In the UK, the technology, media and telecoms division of Harris Interactive has launched a syndicated study designed to understand media convergence as it affects young people. More
European panels firm Toluna has partnered with technical solutions provider nurago to launch a service which enables advertisers, planners and media buyers to analyse the response of more than half a million of Toluna's panel members to campaigns in six European countries. More
In the US, Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has promoted Robin Lake to the post of Vice President of Research, in charge of all research and related analysis for the group. More
In the UK, social media research consultancy Trendstream has launched a bi-annual web usage study to provide a global view of web trends and the impact and growth of social media. Fieldwork will be conducted by Lightspeed Research. More
In the UK, communications group Creston has used research conducted by its research company ICM to launch a media campaign planning service to help brands engage with consumers in the social media space. More
Arbitron is moving its corporate headquarters from New York City to Columbia, Maryland, where its research and engineering operations are already based. The NYC location will continue as a sales office. President and CEO Michael Skarzynski says he wants 'to live and work where the operational core of the business resides'. More
US research software firm Vovici and high-profile London-based start-up Verve have announced a strategic partnership to provide fully serviced customer communities and advisory panels for corporate clients in Europe. More
WPP has reported healthy results for the full year 2008. Like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% came from a combination of a strong first half and slower second half. Insight division Kantar provided 17.1% of all WPP revenue and 12.8% of operating profit. More
Lightspeed Research has announced three more additions to its Wimbledon, UK team this month. Angela Bonora joins as a Project Manager, Puja Myne as Sales Coordinator and Matthew Seabrook as a Client Operations Manager. More
Research and marketing job losses at ITV appear a strong possibility as the UK broadcasting group cuts 600 staff in response to 'unprecedented conditions' in the sector. More
Millward Brown has acquired Copenhagen-based qual agency Alsted Research for an undisclosed sum. More
According to preliminary figures, GfK has achieved organic revenue growth of 5.5% to €1,220m for the financial year 2008. The firm has also implemented a new efficiency programme which it says should save €30m between now and 2012. More
The Kantar Group is streamlining its businesses after buying TNS. The TNS Custom business will merge with Research International and will be generally known as TNS. A new social research force for the UK is established in TNS-BMRB, while Kantar has four new vertical sector operating units: Media, Health, Retail and Worldpanel. More
YouGov executives have considered taking the company private following its share price tumble this month, according to private equity sources quoted in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper. More
Most web surfers are not happy with having information collected about them in order for advertisers to provide them with more tailored ads, even where the info is not personally identifiable, according to study results from ad technology firm Burst Media. More
In the UK, phone giant BT is still being questioned about its use of customers' data without their permission, during a trial of Phorm's online ad targeting platform 'Webwise' back in 2006. More
Marketing research agency Data Development Worldwide (DDW) has increased the size of its online 'Know More' panel to provide access to 3.4 million households and 6 million consumers in the US and 1.5 million consumers in Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia and Scandinavia. More
Marcoms agency Prompt Communications has launched a market research service to provide quant and qual insights into market conditions, demands and opportunities for B2B firms. Its focus at present is on technology companies across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific. More
New London-based technology, telecoms and media research provider Verve has hired former Synovate CEO/CFO Peter Chopra as Partner, Strategic Finance and International Development. More
In the UK, TMN Group, which owns MR firms ICD Research and iD Factor, has suspended trading in its shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM ), as it discusses a potential reverse takeover of the company. More
Web-focused 'Voice of Customer' analytics provider iPerceptions has upgraded its 4Q survey solution with advanced visitor segmentation capabilities. More
Mobile industry trade association the GSMA is planning to launch an audience measurement system which it says will enable media and ad agencies, brands and publishers to deliver better mobile ad campaigns. More
United Business Media's publishing, events and research group Light Reading is opening a new office in Beijing, China, from where it will launch an Asia-specific site to cover key trends and news with analysis targeted at communications service providers in India and China. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now has added four new tools to its Rich Media toolkit, which provides clients with Flash survey enhancements. More
Former Ciao Europe MD Richard Thornton has joined Sweden-based panels firm Cint as UK MD, managing its expansion into the UK market. He will start by opening an office in London and recruiting sales and support staff. More
The BBC has appointed Sharon Baylay as Director of its Marketing, Communications and Audiences division. Formerly General Manager of Microsoft Online Services Division UK, she replaces Tim Davie who was promoted from the role last year. More
Ipsos has reported full-year organic growth of 7.8% with revenues up 5.6% to €979.3m from 2007. The group says that in 2009 it intends to deliver further growth, while maintaining margins - at the very least - at their 2008 level. More
UK-based online performance researcher eDigitalResearch (eDR) has realigned its business structure to cope with increased turnover and company growth. The firm has also promoted Nada Gillard to the position of Research Manager. More
In New York, media's 'most quoted man' Jon Mandel has left his role as President of NielsenConnect, which is closing after two years in operation. More
Fourth quarter net income at online audience measurement firm comScore jumped 60% to $20.4m or 67 cents per share, from $12.7m, 42 cents per share, in the same period the previous year. More
Panels and technology firm Toluna has reported a revenue increase of more than 70% to £21m for 2008, from £12.5m in 2007. Excluding the effect of acquisitions, revenue rose by just over a third. More
Forrester Research has reported revenues of $62.9m for the fourth quarter, up from $58.2m the previous year, while for the year ended December 31, 2008, total revenues increased to $240.9m from $212.1m a year before. More
Brand innovation company Clear has opened an office in Hong Kong, to enable it to manage projects in Asia for its global clients. More
Ciao Surveys has extended its partnership with Yuseo, a specialist in the ergonomics of interactive systems. The firms' e-Performance Observatory solution will now analyse users' experience of e-commerce high-tech web sites in the UK, Germany and France. More
In the UK, Synovate has appointed former BT Insight Chief Jonathan Wibberley as Research Director in its Technology sector team. More
Full service online research agency mo'web has appointed Cathrene Rowel as its new Director, replacing Tom Fuller who has returned to the States to set up the firm's first US operations. More
B2B research specialist Kadence has reported revenue of US$7.8m in the six months to December 2008 - 40% up on the same period a year before. More
Harris Interactive has announced a steep decline in revenue for the second quarter of its fiscal 2009, to $50.7m from $62.7m a year previously. An already substantial operating loss for the quarter looked a lot worse after a write-down of $40.3m for goodwill impairment. More
WPP's new partner Omniture has announced results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2008. Revenue of $296m is more than double the 2007 figure - on a like-for-like basis it grew 113%. More
Shares in online market research agency YouGov fell 45% this morning, following its prediction that revenue for the six months to the end of January would fall short of expectations. More
Technology market research firm Gartner has posted a 1% increase in fourth quarter profit to $347.3m, helped by good growth in its research and consulting segments. For the year, the firm has posted a 9% revenue increase to $1.28bn. More
Mike Hess, the former Director of Global Research and Consumer Insights at ad agency OMD, is to join Aegis-owned media agency Carat as EVP-Research, Marketing Science and Consumer Insight. More
In the UK, Mike Read has been promoted to the post of Senior Vice President and Managing Director of comScore Europe, responsible for all EMEA commercial activities. He will also oversee the firm's European offices in the UK and France, with Germany soon to come. More
In the UK, Interpublic-owned media agency Initiative has created a new planning and insight unit incorporating its previously separate research department. More
Harris Interactive's US-based President of North American and Global Operations, David Vaden, is set to leave the firm on Friday. The company has also agreed adjusted terms for its purchase of Canadian research provider Decima. More
Online market research agency YouGov is bringing together all its solely-owned international operations under the YouGov brand. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now has announced a 60% increase in group revenues to £41.2m for 2008, compared with £25.8m a year previously. Profit before tax was £5.7m, compared with £0.3m in 2007. More
Google's platform for TV advertisers is to offer new time-shifted viewership data, showing how and when viewers see commercials in recorded programs, via an alliance with technology solutions distributor MediaBank. More
TMN Group plc, which owns MR firms ICD Research and iD Factor, says that due to a 'continued decline in performance' its profit will be 50 per cent below expectations for the full year, and that it will make staff cuts 'across the company'. More
Marcoms giant WPP has announced a partnership with US web analytics firm Omniture to provide clients with 'more effective insights' across both digital and traditional media channels. The deal involves WPP investing $25m in Omniture stock. More
Web-based consumer researcher BuzzBack has reported a 35% increase in sales in 2008, with growth in profits following expansion of the business. More
In Japan, IT solutions giant NEC has developed a digital signage board containing face recognition technology, which can serve up targeted ad content according to the viewer's gender and age and measure how interested they were in a particular ad. More
In the UK, new technology, telecoms and media research provider Verve has hired Nina Pocock as Project Team Leader and Charlotte Brady as Business Development Executive. More
In the UK, music industry financing platform Slicethepie has launched a web-based consumer insight and music analytics service which it claims will help identify the commercial potential of any track, and give an indication of its most suitable target market. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now has opened an office in Auckland, New Zealand, and appointed former TNS exec Martin Tomlinson as Client Development Manager. More
In London, full-service research agency SPA has restructured its business into three divisions, each with its own Managing Director. It has also promoted Jo Lockett from Marketing Director to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer to oversee non-research functions. More
For the first time, the number of people worldwide aged 15+ using the Internet in a single month has passed the one billion mark. Online audience measurement firm comScore says the milestone was passed in December. More
In the UK, technology, telecoms and media research provider Verve has hired former FreshMinds COO/MD Jeannie Arthur as Partner and UK MD. More
Global communications group WPP is planning to move away from its role as a traditional media and advertising supplier, to concentrate on becoming a more insight-led organisation, says CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. More
UK-based Holden Pearmain Research has launched a new panel service which aims to convert clients' customer databases into 'managed, incentivised and engaged' dedicated client panels. Payam Ghamsari joins to head up the new Panel Solutions Team. More
Harris Interactive has launched a specialist youth and kids practice that will operate within its Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) division in the UK. The new division is headed by Steve Mellor. More
In the UK, online market research agency YouGov has launched a quarterly report that tracks consumers' use of social networking sites and their levels of engagement and advocacy. More
UK-based online quant research specialist BrainJuicer Group Plc has issued a trading statement with 2008 results ahead of market expectations. Reported revenue rose more than 40% to £9m – all organic growth - and operating profit was up by 45% to over £1.2m. More
London-based Intellitracker Ltd has launched Visitor Profiler, a suite of behavioural targeting tools for profiling and segmenting web site visitors based on their actions. More
AOP (the Association of Online Publishers) has appointed Tim Cain in the newly created role of Head of Research and Insight, reporting to the association's Acting Director Liz Somerville. More
In the UK, relationship marketing group Hicklin Slade & Partners (HS&P) has launched Legends; a multi-channel word-of-mouth (WOM) agency which aims to 'create on- and offline consumer conversations' for brands. More
Computer giant IBM has unveiled a portfolio of solutions designed to help retailers analyze data and apply it to business processes. More
UK headquartered 'online buzz' research specialist WaveMetrix has reported its third consecutive year of 50% growth in turnover. More
After almost exactly two years at the helm of SSI, Jim Follett has departed the company and is replaced by Bloomerce founder Kees de Jong. Dennis J. Beckingham meanwhile joins the firm as President and CFO. More
Richard Thornton has resigned as Managing Director of Ciao Surveys after five years at the firm, saying in a statement that 'it was a natural time to move on'. He leaves today. More
More record-breaking bad news for UK marketers. The latest quarterly Bellwether survey published today by the IPA says marketing budgets have dropped for a fifth successive quarter, and fallen year-on-year for the first time in the survey's history. More
WPP's insight and consultancy division The Kantar Group has made what it claims is an industry first appointment, with the naming of George Pappachen in the newly-created role of Chief Privacy Officer. More
Omnicom-owned brand and communications research specialist Hall & Partners has acquired a majority stake in Jigsaw International, a custom qualitative research agency based in Shanghai, China. Terms were not disclosed. More
B2B specialist Kadence has promoted Kieron Mathews to the position of Managing Director of London-based Kadence UK, giving Group Chairman Simon Everard more time to guide the firm's strong international growth. More
In the US, media ratings company Arbitron has settled a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who had claimed that the firm's Portable People Meter (PPM) ratings misrepresent minority listenership. More
In the UK, demographic and market information firm CACI has developed a web intelligence tool to enable businesses to monitor customers' web activity and then target them with tailored communications based on their profiles. More
A report in the UK's Observer newspaper which outlined WPP's plans to cut thousands of jobs in Western Europe and North America has been denied by a company spokesperson. More
In the UK, stakeholder engagement consultancy Engage Group has launched a Research and Analytics unit, and appointed former YouGov Directors Andy Brown and Sarah Jordan to head the new offering. More
Online analytics firm WebTrends has partnered with music, videos and games chain HMV to track user interaction with the retail giant's in-store transactional and information-point kiosks. More
Online ad targeting provider Phorm has announced that UK CEO Hugo Drayton and UK CFO Lynne Millar are leaving the company, while Nan Richards and Andrew Croxson join in senior roles and Nick Barnett is promoted. More
Some of the world's biggest advertising groups have this week announced thousands of job cuts. However, their MR firms seem to be relatively little affected so far, as do PR subsidiaries, while ad agencies themselves bear the brunt. More
Harris Interactive's new President and CEO Kimberly Till has implemented a series of restructuring initiatives, including a net loss of 51 US jobs, c.8% of the total US full-time workforce; the formation of new vertical teams; and changes in senior management. More
GfK has acquired a 74% majority stake in Egyptian consumer research company Market Insight; and has formed a joint venture with the Median Group under the name of GfK Custom Research Middle East Holding, in which GfK holds a 51% share. More
Medical fieldwork agency Healthcare Landscape has rolled out its patient and caregiver panel to agencies in the US. More
France Telecom-owned mobile and broadband provider Orange has launched a 'Technocentre' in Britain, where 'twenty-first century' services will be developed for its customers. More
Ad targeting software company Phorm has announced the conclusion of its trial with ISP partner BT, and says that subject to a successful evaluation, the UK telecoms giant 'expects to move towards deployment'. More
In the UK, youth mobile phone network Blyk has launched a research service for its target group of around 200,000 16 to 24-year-olds who use the free service. More
Employee-owned marketing research firm Hotspex is establishing a new team in Soho, London to serve its existing and new European clients. Paul Acerbi will head the new team, and has relocated from the firm's headquarters in Toronto. More
Direct marketing and MR group TMN has made a post-tax loss of £476k for the first six months of the financial year, compared with a profit of nearly £1m a year previously. Revenue at its online research subsidiaries iD Factor and ICD climbed 30% from the year-earlier figure, while group turnover rose 72% to £15.5m. More
In the UK, the former Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems (JICIMS) is to be re-launched as the UK Online Measurement (UKOM) company, following recent news that its original stakeholders had withdrawn financial support. More
Panels and software firm Toluna has launched a new polling service that enables companies to launch online surveys, access its panel community, and receive real-time poll results 24/7. More
Custom online panel firm Vision Critical has announced a new branch in Sydney, Australia, extending its presence into the Asia Pacific region. Kris Hartvigsen will lead the operation as MD, Australia. Last week, the firm announced the release of its newest online research platform, Sparq. More
Hi-tech researcher OTX has launched a new sampling engine, OTXCortex(sm), promising high quality data, new levels of security and an improved survey-taking experience for consumers. More
In the UK, commercial radio trade body RadioCentre is cutting seven of its thirty-five staff, in response to the economic climate. Departures include members of the organsiation's recently formed Insight Team. More
In the UK, The Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems (JICIMS) is having to re-think its plans to establish an online audience measurement standard, following news that its original stakeholders have withdrawn financial support. More
Online research specialist MarketTools has conducted research which it says conclusively demonstrates the connection between fraudulent survey respondents and skewed survey data. More
In London, the founders of Research Now, Hall & Partners and the iD Factor – Andrew Cooper, Mike Hall and Jon Gumbrell – have launched Verve, a new technology, telecoms and media-focused research provider. More senior personnel are set to join in the next two months. More
Pyramid Research – the telecom research arm of TechWeb's Light Reading Communications Network – has relocated its corporate headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and its offices in London and Hong Kong to new facilities. More
UK-based online performance researcher eDigitalResearch has launched a word of mouth (WoM) marketing tool, to allow customers to record their personal feedback and views on products and services. More
Online research and panels specialist Research Now is forecasting results ahead of previous market expectations, including reported revenues up more than 55% to £41m, and operating profit up 120% to around £6.2m, for the year ended 31 October 2008. More
Research software provider Confirmit has announced its most successful quarter to date for new business revenue, along with revenue growth of 51% for the nine months ending September 2008. More
Controversial Internet ad targeting company Phorm has announced several changes in the composition of its Board, including the appointment of Norman Lamont, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 to 1993. Three others join the board; four people leave citing differences of opinion with the CEO. More
Sample provider Peanut Labs has this week announced the availability of its Sample3.0 advanced methodology in the UK. More
UK agency Virtual Surveys has hired former Harris researcher Andy Buckley to head up its rapidly expanding work in the online communities area. He leads a specialist team formed only in the summer and already boasting nine people. More
In the UK, market research exhibition The Insight Show is to be integrated into a cross-discipline event called 'Marketing Week Live', which will be held at Olympia in London next summer. More
In the US, physician network Epocrates has expanded its opt-in panel to include physicians and pharmacists in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. More
In the UK, healthcare panel firm Pearl Medical has ceased trading, after being unable to raise the short-term financing required to continue operations. More
Nielsen is moving into direct competition with Arbitron over US radio ratings: two major radio broadcasters today announced a switch to Nielsen Media's ratings service in a number of markets from Q3 of 2009. Arbitron has described the once-a-year Nielsen service as 'a step backward'. More
TNS has launched Digital Suite, described as a 'new generation' of online ad monitoring tools. The suite combines cookie tracking technology with the company's 6th Dimension Panel to give in-depth analysis of online ad consumption. More
Microsoft will for the time being remain the owner of Greenfield Online's Internet Survey Solutions (ISS) business, after potential buyer ZM Capital failed to meet financing conditions. President and CEO Al Angrisani will stay on in an advisory capacity while a new home is sought. More
Nielsen CEO David Calhoun says the firm plans to push for dominance in the 'three screen audience measurement' market, and can continue to grow despite world economic problems. The firm reported revenue of $1,260m in the third quarter, up 3% after excluding currency fluctuations. More
Synovate has announced four new appointments including former Opinion Leader exec Liz Owen as Research Director of its UK Qualitative specialist team. Wai Tang, Daoud Fakhri and Victoria Mansell also join the firm. More
London-based agency SPA is diversifying into the B2B, public and transport/travel sectors with the appointment of Janet Wright as Research Director, responsible for developing new revenue streams and building up a specialist team. More
Despite painting a grim picture of an unfolding 'financial, economic and ideological crisis' around the globe, Ipsos has reported Q3 revenues of Euros 234.2m, a 5.9% increase compared with Q3 2007. Organic revenue growth was 8.2%. More
A lawsuit has been filed against behavioral targeting firm NebuAd and six Internet service providers (ISPs) who tested its platform, in an attempt to force the company to obtain users' express consent prior to monitoring their web surfing activity. More
Nielsen and WPP have signed an asset swapping agreement. Nielsen will acquire WPP's half of AGBNielsen Media Research (AGBNMR), and in return, WPP will take over three of Nielsen's media services assets. More
Thwarted in its TNS marriage plans, GfK appears to be enjoying the single life. Revenue for the first nine months of the year rose to €883.8m, representing organic growth of 7.2% (up from 5.5% the previous year); and adjusted operating income up 1.7% to €104.3m. The firm described the results as 'satisfactory' in the current economic climate. More
In the UK, Omnicom-owned brand and communications research specialist Hall & Partners has promoted Vanella Jackson to the post of Worldwide CEO. She replaces Terry Willie, who is leaving at the end of the year to pursue private interests. More
In the UK, user experience consultancy Foviance has acquired Oxford-based Applied Insights, a provider of web and predictive analytics for the improvement of customers' online performance. Terms were not disclosed. More
Sony BMG is launching a broad-ranging communications and artist agency, SBX, as a pan-European joint venture with communications company Exposure. Marcel Engh will lead the agency as MD. More
Troubled group IPT Holdings has sold off two more of its businesses, UK-based research firms Integra Insight and RWCEL. The latter includes subsidiaries Tpoll and The Simulating World Research Company. More
Online research and panels firm Research Now has promoted Sébastien Croizard to lead its French business as MD. He was previously Commercial Director for the office. More
Online audience measurement firm comScore has reported a 37% Q3 revenue increase to $30.7m, while launching a new service to track distributed web content across third party sites. More
The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) and the Internet Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe) have officially launched their industry-wide survey into the use of online audience and traffic measurement techniques; and appointed Elizabeth Van Couvering to help guide the initiative. More
UK mobile and broadband provider Orange has pulled out of plans to use behavioural targeting firm Phorm's controversial targeted ad technology, because of concerns about customer privacy. More
Online data collection and panel specialist Research Now has promoted Chris Dubreuil to the newly created role of Head of Client Development in the UK. More
UK-based online performance researcher eDigitalResearch has appointed Dominic Bean as Head of Business Development, Lloyd Viney as Head of the firm's Commercial team, and Naomi Greene and Graham Larkin as Research Analysts. More
Harris Interactive has announced that President & CEO Greg Novak is leaving the firm, to be replaced by former TNS North American CEO Kimberley Till. The company has also announced today that it will make around 30 US staff redundant. More
Online research specialist MarketTools has launched an on-demand research solution that it says integrates survey tools, online panels and communities, and research best practices into one platform. More
Online market research agency MetrixLab has developed a new eye-tracking technique to measure how people look at entire web sites. More
New York-headquartered online customer satisfaction specialist iPerceptions has introduced four new reporting and analysis tools to help marketers mine verbatim customer feedback gathered from web site visitors. More
The venture capital company run by the founder of Big Brother and Deal or No Deal producer Endemol has taken a 30% stake in European online MR agency MetrixLab. More
Social networking site 'Hey! Nielsen' is to close. The research giant says it is 'working on a new consumer site' but has not yet given details of the reason for the closure or the nature of the new offering. More
Online audience measurement firm comScore has doubled the number of web sites it reports on worldwide, to offer more robust and granular site audience data and improve its trending capabilities. More
Survey Sampling International (SSI) has launched a new strategy for expanding the availability and diversity of panel members worldwide and improving the quality of sample provided to clients. More
In the UK, Spring Research's youth division Tuned In is to launch a monthly cultural report to cover new developments within music, fashion, digital and sports, as well as key movements driving attitudinal and behavioural changes amongst the 16-34 market. More
In the UK, the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) is rolling out the second phase of an online solution which helps users analyse the diary data contained in its TouchPoints multi-media survey of consumers habits. More
Online customer satisfaction metrics agency ForeSee Results and web analytics firm OX2/LBi have partnered to offer their behavioural and satisfaction-based metrics to clients in Europe. More
In the UK, online market research agency YouGov has abandoned plans to form a hedge fund after its partners failed to raise the necessary funds. More
Online data collection and panel specialist Research Now has appointed Adam Portner as SVP in San Francisco, David Bilicic as SVP in New York, and Steve Rosen as Finance Director, North America. In addition, Charles Pearson has been promoted to the new role of SVP, Panel Excellence. More
YouGov has announced results for the year ended 31 July 2008. Turnover has almost tripled to £40.4m and normalised operating profit rose 55% to £8.7m, although reported profit is down 29% to £4.0m. More
UK marketing budgets have fallen for the fourth successive quarter, and by more than at any other time in the past nine years, according to the IPA's latest Bellwether survey, published today. More
WPP has declared its offer for TNS 'unconditional as to acceptances' after securing the approval of shareholders representing 81.78% of TNS stock by its latest deadline of 3pm today, UK time – well over its new 75% target. More
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has called Arbitron's early PPM launch on Monday 'an affront to racial and ethnic minorities in New York and around the country'. However, a number of radio broadcasters have come out in support of the ratings firm, saying the FCC has no jurisdiction in the area. More
US-based online market research panel operator e-Rewards has attracted a $60m minority investment from private equity and buyout firm TA Associates. More
UK real-time behavioural analytics firm SeeWhy Software has launched a solution that tracks an individual's 'digital mood' during an ecommerce experience. More
Arbitron is turning to the courts to prevent the current enquiry into its representation of ethnic audiences from stopping publication of its PPM listening estimates, which today went commercial in eight new markets. The firm cites 'unfair conduct' by the New York Attorney General. More
Direct marketing and data group IPT (Interactive Prospect Targeting) has sold the majority of its UK operations for 1.3 million pounds to investment company Volvere Plc. More
Digital marketing group TMN has appointed Datamonitor founder Mike Danson to the Board as a non-executive director. Danson currently holds 28.78% of the ordinary share capital of the TMN Group. More
In the UK, Digital Marketing Group has acquired Gasbox Ltd for £1.0m in cash and up to £9m in deferred payments depending on performance. The buy will strengthen DMG's Direct Marketing division, which uses customer data to produce highly targeted campaigns. More
In the UK, online measurement standards body ABCe has launched a new initiative to provide greater transparency in ratings. Media owners taking its web traffic audit, based on site-centric transactional data, can now add demographic, lifestyle and media data via a validated on-site survey. More
UK television channel ITV is testing technology developed by recently established Californian start-up Keystream as a possible way to fight the problem of viewers skipping its commercial breaks. More
SKOPOS market insight has doubled its global sales and profit in two years – the former to around £5 million - and has appointed two new senior staff, Scott Dodgson and Anna Galicia, to its Research & Insight team in the UK. More
At the Old Bailey in London, Matthew Fagan has been found guilty of the murder of Cathy Marlow and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommended minimum of 26 years. More
UK-based marketing services group Indicia has launched a specialist web analytics firm, e-customermetrics, and appointed online customer analytics expert Steve Farquhar to run it as Managing Consultant. More
WPP has again extended its deadline for TNS shareholders to decide on its £1.2bn bid - to this Friday, October 3rd - but has now received acceptances from 33.8% of them - up from just 11% two weeks previously. More
Online audience measurement firm comScore expects to double its revenue to $200m in the next two to three years, according to President & CEO Magid Abraham. More
In the UK, technology firm Knowledge Online (KOL) has launched new software for the vending sector, which it says will improve the speed and accuracy of real-time and automated survey creation on a PDA. More
In the UK, online research agency eDigitalResearch has launched a new version of its communities tool, incorporating facilities for participants to create profiles and upload photographs and personal information. More
TNS is to adopt research software provider Vovici's Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) Platform and Community Builder Model as its standard platform for building custom online panels and communities for its customers. More
The man accused of murdering Cathy Marlow at Research Now's offices in South London, has said that she was still alive when he left the building. More
For the first half of the year, European panels and software firm Toluna has posted a flat pre-tax profit of £1.39m, despite revenue growth of 36% to £8.2m million and organic revenue up 32%. More
In the UK, Steve Evans has returned to Harris Interactive after a two year absence, as a Research Director working for music, film and entertainment clients; and providing insights into the digital consumer to the firm's Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) clients. More
TPI, the outsourcing data and advisory firm owned by Information Services Group (ISG), has launched a new business unit with an independent management team which will provide information and insights to outsourcing and offshoring service providers. More
Online fieldwork provider Research Now has established a joint venture in Shanghai and opened an office in Singapore, while launching eight new Asian panels. More
The UK Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) has OK'd the use of Phorm's controversial user-behaviour ad-serving technology, stating that the system does not break EU data protection laws so long as users are given an easy option to opt-out. More
204 weeks separate the Beijing Olympics and the start of the next games in London – precisely one week for each country that took part in the events in China. MrWeb will be following a trail across the world for the next four years, each week profiling one country and its research industry, linking also to news, jobs and suppliers. More
In London, the jury in the Cathy Marlow murder case has heard harrowing details of how the Research Now Finance Manager died. More
It's a good week for panel launches in Belgium. Yesterday Lightspeed, now European online data collection firm ODC has announced one, as well as launching a new tool to keep panellists motivated. More
In the UK, user experience consultancy User Vision has launched what it describes as the first fully comprehensive multi-media testing lab with eye tracking, offering insights to broadcasters, set top box manufacturers, advertisers and content producers. More
In the US, Nielsen has appointed Ed Dandridge as Senior VP and Chief Communications Officer, responsible for managing communications between Nielsen and its key audiences and stakeholders inside and outside the company. More
On a day of chaos for stock markets, shares in online research success story YouGov have continued to climb on speculation that it is pondering a large US buy, and might itself be the subject of a bid from a larger research or marketing services group. More
At the Old Bailey in London, the trial is underway of former Research Now employee Matthew Fagan, who stands accused of the murder of Finance Manager Cathy Marlow. Fagan denies murder, but has admitted to stealing six Dell laptop computers from the firm. More
In response to pressure from European Union data protection officials, Internet giant Google has halved the length of time it will retain personal search data; pledging to anonymize IP addresses after nine months. More
US-based business intelligence and analytical software giant SAS has launched a new tool, 'SAS for Customer Experience Analytics', through an agreement with UK-based firm Speed-Trap, which uses Web 2.0 technology to deliver online customer insight. More
Microsoft has revealed that it is selling the Greenfield Online Internet Survey Solutions (ISS) business to ZM Surveys, a 'shell' organization affiliated with media-focused private equity firm ZM Capital. Terms were not disclosed. More
Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) has rolled out its weekly online omnibus CARAVAN – which provides consumer opinion on brand awareness, product image, and market trends – across Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. More
UK-based online market research agency BrainJuicer has confirmed significant organic growth for the first half of the year, with revenue up by 37% from £2.9m to £3.9m. For the six months ended 30 June 2008, operating profit increased 33% to £196,000. More
UK marketing services group TMN has reported that revenue for its research agencies iD Factor and ICD Research rose 42.5% to £2.7m in its end-of-year results (2007: £1.9m). Operating profit for the period was £532,000, compared with £388,000 last year. More
In London, the Newspaper Marketing Agency (NMA) has made a number of appointments in marketing and insight roles, responding to demand for more campaign assessment and audience research. More
Online panel firm Research Now has opened an office in Dallas, headed by newly appointed VP of Client Development, Joe Cunningham. The firm has also made a number of appointments in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. More
Magazine trade association the PPA (Periodical Publishers Association) is to consolidate its various research departments into a single research unit, following a review by incoming CEO Jonathan Shephard. More
Greenfield Online has revealed the identity of its new potential buyer - Microsoft. Having offered $486m to clinch the deal, the software giant intends to sell Greenfield's online survey arm and just keep the Ciao comparison shopping web sites. More
GfK has cancelled plans to acquire UK rival TNS after failing to secure funding for the deal. TNS, whose shareholders must vote this week on the bid of its remaining suitor WPP, also announced 6-monthly results today with revenue and profit rises both in double figures. More
Billionaire investor and Havas Chairman Vincent Bolloré has bought another $376,000-worth of Harris Interactive shares, bringing his stake in the business to nearly 13%. More
Harris Interactive has announced results for its fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. Annual revenue was up 13% to $238.7m, but pro forma organic revenue was down 1%, with a decline of 3% in North American more than cancelling out good growth of 6% in Europe. More
WPP has announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30th June 2008, showing good revenue and profit figures in all regions and for all divisions including insight. While his own firm may be healthy however, CEO Sir Martin Sorrell says the current merger process is 'not doing [TNS] much good'. More
OTX Europe has hired Andy Davidson as Director. He will lead the company's trends and youth specialisms and strengthen the Media, Entertainment & Insight division. More
In the UK, B2B specialist Information Arts has been given sole rights to sell DM company Harte-Hanks' Ci Technology Database (CiTDB). A number of Harte Hanks staff will join the firm, which is also introducing a new range of data and insight services for users of the database. More
Consumer and retail research providers The NPD Group and GfK Chart-Track, and publisher Enterbrain have partnered to produce a single source of data on video game software sales in their respective countries: the US, UK and Japan. More
Entertainment research firm MarketCast has appointed former Nielsen executive Henry Piney as London-based Managing Director, to oversee the expansion of its international business and presence in the interactive entertainment sector. More
Datamonitor founder Mike Danson has increased his shareholding in TMN plc, which owns research firms ICD and the iD Factor, above the 25% threshold. Meanwhile a new joint bid is said to be taking shape for Datamonitor's new owner, Informa. More
Panel operator e-Rewards Europe has announced a partnership with travel loyalty firm AIRMILES, whose members will receive miles for enrolling in the panel and participating in online surveys. More
Nielsen has reported increased second quarter revenues of $1,304m, up 12% from the same period in the previous year; and a year-on-year rise of 12% in first half revenues to $2,518m. More
In the UK, the Newspaper Marketing Agency (NMA) has launched a tool to provide data about readership of national newspapers online. More
In the UK, online market research agency YouGov has warned that 2008 profits will be impacted by a one-off £1.2m cost it incurred by terminating merger talks. However, the firm said gross margins will be slightly ahead of market expectations and detailed a range of recent initiatives. More
In the US, Greenfield Online, which has recently received two takeover offers, has seen a decline in net income to $2.1m, compared with $3.1m a year earlier. More
In Europe, predictive targeting technology firm Nugg.ad is to combine Nielsen Homescan panel data with survey data it gathers from visitors to its partner web sites, to help advertisers target consumers through online marketing campaigns. More
Former ACNielsen Exec Terilyn Reber has established an international coalition of data collection agencies, to offer CATI/WebCATI and online research to clients around the world. More
In the US, Greenfield Online has announced that in addition to the offer made by investment firm the Quadrangle Group to buy the company, a second offer has been submitted by an unnamed party to acquire its stock for $17.50 per share. More
In the UK, JICIMS (the Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems) has appointed Research International's former Worldwide CEO Mark Cranmer as its first Chairman, heading up its initiative to establish a single online measurement currency. More
Indian-based market research outsourcing firm exëvo has launched a Global Technology Panel, comprising more than 125,000 dedicated business and consumer panellists across 15 countries. Meanwhile, Research Now has launched an online panel in India. More
UK-based healthcare fieldwork agency WorldOne Research has unveiled a European and US GP omnibus. The service taps into the firm's Global Physician Panel which includes more than 320,000 physicians and 60,000 allied healthcare practitioners worldwide. More
In the UK, TV marketing body Thinkbox has commissioned consumer agency Work Research to conduct an in-depth qual and quant research study to uncover online TV's value to advertisers. More
WPP has posted TNS shareholders a formal offer for the company, valuing it at $2.28bn. It includes news of an option to sell TNS' television monitoring arm TAM to Ipsos, if required to meet EU competition law. More
UK-based agency SPA has established a dedicated team to focus on Internet and Web research, and appointed Chris Handford to head it up. More
In the UK, BBC Worldwide has promoted Helen Kellie to the new post of Director of Marketing and Audiences, responsible for building its marketing and audience research functions. She takes up the new post on 1 October. More
In the US, technology research and consulting firm Forrester has acquired rival JupiterResearch and its parent company JUPR Holdings for $23m in cash plus assumed liabilities. In addition, Forrester has posted Q2 revenue of $63.5m, compared with $55.2m last year. More
In the UK, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has appointed former PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Executive Nicki Lynas as Head of Research. She joins on 9 September. More
With just a week to go before the start of the Beijing Olympics, Knowledge Networks (KN) has announced it is to provide overnight data about time spent consuming Olympic content across more than a dozen NBC Universal properties. More
In the UK, the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) has launched a web-based tool to help users access and analyse the diary data in TouchPoints – the institute's consumer-centric multi-media survey which collects data about how people spend their time. More
TNS' Technology division is rolling out its ComTech study across Europe, giving customers access to 1.2 million interviews a year across the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The research measures the converging markets of mobile telecoms, fixed line, broadband and Pay TV. More
MR software provider Confirmit has launched its web-based survey analysis package Confirmit Pulsar as an On-Demand (ASP) service, to enable users to access the tool from a shared, secure environment via the Internet. More
Fresh from its BBC contract win, UK-based eDigitalResearch has appointed Derek Eccleston as Head of Research. He has worked previously in management positions at Harris Interactive and Sony. More
In the UK, the BBC has awarded digital market research provider eDigitalResearch a three year contract to provide quarterly user analysis and usability surveys for a number of its bbc.co.uk web sites. More
In the UK, marketing services group TMN, the parent of research agencies iD Factor and ICD Research, has called off talks with private equity firm August Equity to fund a management buyout led by CEO Mark Smith and FD Craig Dixon. More
MR software provider Confirmit has increased revenue in the second quarter by 80% to $11.0m, and operating profit 154% to $1.2m. More
In the UK, TNS has promoted two execs to lead its new contracts for broadcasting research body BARB: Chris Balch becomes MD of the new BARB Service Team within TNS Media Research, while Graeme Griffiths takes on the role of Services Director for TNS Custom Media. More
In the UK, The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) is doubling the number of campaigns its quantitative research tool RadioGauge will analyse this summer. More
In the UK, media, entertainment and communications research agency Essential has appointed former TNS Managing Consultant Sarah Calver as Senior Research Manager in its qualitative research team. More
UK marketing budgets have dropped for the third consecutive quarter, according to the Q2 2008 Bellwether Report, the quarterly survey of marketing spend, published today by the IPA. The downturn is now the most significant since that which followed the 9/11 attacks in late 2001. More
In the UK, privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has chosen not-for-profit research organisation RAND Europe to carry out an assessment of the future of data protection law in Europe and identify areas for reform. More
2007 was a mixed bag for US research providers, some reporting impressive growth and others struggling, according to figures in the latest Honomichl 50, just out. Overall, growth was a respectable 6%, the mean of the two previous years, achieved despite a US workforce reduction of c.1,300 among the top 50 firms. More
In the UK Alterian, a provider of analytics and marketing software, has acquired web content management firm Mediasurface, to enhance its services for the measurement of online customer behaviour. The cash and share deal is valued at £18.1m. More
Rob Stevens, co-founder of UK-based behavioural research consultancy Bunnyfoot, has moved the firm's established eye-tracking expertise into a new, separate consultancy, which will test consumers' behavioural response to offline media including TV, print and outdoor, as well as packaging. More
Despite approval from the Board of the GfK Verein, the 'merger of equals' with TNS continues to face pressure from two sides: Sir Martin Sorrell, who has one more day to decide for or against a 'hostile' bid; and workers and a former Chairman at the German firm he describes as 'very traditional'. More
GfK has acquired a majority share in games, music and video retail information provider Chart-Track Limited, upping its existing 9% stake to 55% from July 1st. Based in West London, the firm uses POS information to compile charts for music and video in Ireland and games software in the UK and Denmark. More
NBC Universal (NBCU) is to use the forthcoming Beijing Olympics as a unique testing environment for a more rounded measurement of media consumption, covering a wide variety of media. More
Lightspeed Research has announced three new appointments in its London office, located in currently tennis-mad SW19. Saleem Ghumranand and Alex Mazurovs join as Project Managers, and Fiona Bryce as a Product Marketing Director. More
The proposed $426m sale of Greenfield Online to media and communications investment firm the Quadrangle Group is being hampered by complaints from investors Springhouse Capital and Pennant Capital that the agreed sum undervalues the company. More
UK marketing communications group Aegis has acquired independent research agency Steadman Group in Africa, in a move which it says will add media monitoring and strategic consulting to Synovate's existing market research expertise. More
In the UK, Harris Interactive plans to make between fifteen and twenty full-time employees redundant. The firm says the move will help align the cost structure of its UK operations with the evolving needs of the business. More
In the UK, Andrew Cooper, Founder and Group MD of online panel firm Research Now, is to step down as part of a restructure designed to streamline management during the firm's next phase of growth and development. More
UK-based online market research agency BrainJuicer has recorded increased revenues of 38% for the first six months of 2008, and confirmed that it is growing in line with expectations. More
Online on-demand research specialist MarketTools is rolling out its online sample quality system across Europe, commencing in the UK. More
Panels and Research Process Outsourcing (RPO) firm The Pulse Group has announced its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the PLUS markets in London, with trading commencing today. More
GfK NOP has launched a Media Insight division, to be headed by Julia Lamaison. The firm says the new division is a 'direct response to the market need for in-depth interpretation and insight from research data'. More
The BBC has announced the promotion of the head of its marketing division, Tim Davie, to the role of Director of Audio and Music, overseeing Radios 1 to 5 and the four digital-only networks, plus the Proms, radio drama and TV music entertainment. More
In the UK, media watchdog Ofcom has named Peter Phillips, Partner of Strategy and Market Developments, as a member of its Executive Board with effect from 1 July 2008. The regulator also announced that Chairman David Currie will step down next year. More
UK-based IT and telecoms insight specialist Analysys Mason has acquired OSS Observer, a US-based telecom software market research firm. Terms were not disclosed. More
Both TNS and WPP have reported healthy revenue growth in the first five months of 2008 - the former doing particularly well in the UK, balancing a slight decline in the US. Meanwhile Martin Sorrell has again asked TNS for more financial information. More
Google has unveiled a free web analytics, research and media planning tool to enable media buyers to determine the web sites where their online ads will have most impact, based on demographics and traffic info. More
Ipsos is to acquire Buenos Aires-headquartered research firm Livra Panels, which provides online panels and data collection services for market research agencies in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets. Terms were not disclosed. More
The UK market research industry has reported revenue growth of 2.3% to an estimated £1.8bn, according to the latest figures from the Market Research Society (MRS). This follows growth of 2.5% in 2005 and 2.4% in 2006. More
European panel and survey technology provider Toluna has bought US-based panel management firm Common Knowledge for an initial $8.49m in cash and a deferred cash sum of $2.16m. More
Online market research agency Lightspeed Research has launched Beauty and Personal Grooming Panels in the UK, Germany, France, Canada and the US, to offer data to manufacturers of personal care products, toiletries, cosmetics and related consumer goods. More
Research and predictive analytics software giant SPSS has launched a text mining tool to enable users to analyze unstructured data from social media, consumer blogs, community boards, e-mail, call center notes, RSS feeds and surveys. More
Greenfield Online is to be sold to private media and communications investment firm the Quadrangle Group for approximately $426m (£217m). More
Online research agency BrainJuicer has opened an office in Switzerland, while also announcing plans to acquire Melbourne-based market research firm The Slater Marketing Group. More
In the UK, marketers remain upbeat about their own organisation's prospects even if they feel less positive about the UK's economic outlook, according to research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). More
TNS has agreed to open its books and give WPP the same information it gave to GfK as part of their recent merger agreement. Meanwhile, reports suggest that the GfK-TNS merger may face an EU competition probe; and may be 'sweetened' by a cash bonus for TNS shareholders. More
In the UK, mobile survey firm OnePoint Surveys has partnered with Dipsticks Research to launch OmNow, a mobile omnibus promising nationally representative results within four hours. More
In the UK, newspaper publisher Mirror Group has launched an online research community, Mirror Mouthpiece, on the back of its 5,000-strong reader panel, operating since 2003. More
Google is integrating its Google Analytics traffic analysis tool with its Google TV Ads program. Some observers are interpreting the move as further evidence that the search giant is headed for direct competition with Nielsen. More
Online research specialist Lightspeed has made five recent European appointments including hires in its London, Paris and Hamburg offices. More
In the UK, comms specialist Farncombe Technology has launched a joint venture with digital and telecoms consultancy TMT Strategy Advisors. More
GfK and TNS have agreed the terms for their 'merger of equals' to create GfK-TNS plc. Aside from 'significant opportunities' for revenue growth, the firms say the move will bring annual pre-tax benefits through cost reduction of at least Euros 97m (£76m) by the end of the third full year following completion. More
Mobile survey specialist OnePoint has launched OnePoint Reward, an incentive system delivering cash to mobile phones, in the form of points which respondents can redeem immediately on completion of a survey, at 19,000 retail outlets across the UK. More
Research Now has opened an office in Los Angeles, to be headed by Tobin Bailey as Vice President, Client Development, West and Central Regions. More
Content optimisation specialist Maxymiser has launched a behavioural targeting suite, designed to help clients optimise web site content (as opposed to advertising), and billed as 'the first of its kind in the UK'. More
Full service healthcare consultancy Double Helix Development has announced the launch of Web Sthealth(TM), a tool for data-capture and analysis of patients in online forums. More
MR software provider Confirmit today announced the debut of version 12.5, the latest update of its flagship product. In addition to immediate benefits, the firm says it lays the foundation for big changes in the future releases. More
comScore has announced the acquisition of mobile measurement firm M:Metrics, Inc., for a cash payment of $44.3m and the issue of c.50,000 share purchase options for comScore stock. More
UK firm Opinion Health has acquired Pearl Medical, which operates a panel of around 2000 primary-care doctors. More
Nielsen has extended its online audience profiling service to the mobile Web. The new service provides marketers and publishers with lifestyle and demographic information for the audience of more than 200 mobile web sites. More
The Nielsen Company and its subsidiary Interactive Market Systems (IMS) have announced the launch of IMS Clear Decisions(TM), a new software platform claiming to simplify access to media and marketing data and speed up the generation of insights from it. More
YouGov is gearing up for the launch next month of an investment fund based on research findings from its YouGovAlpha subsidiary. More
Behavioural targeting and browser tracking remain hot topics. This week saw a US lawmaker quizzing Google on data security issues relating to its takeover of DoubleClick; it also saw the launch of software which runs interference with trackers like Phorm by random background web surfing. More
In the UK, digital marketing group TMN, which owns research agencies iD Factor and ICD, is in talks with private equity firm August Equity over a possible £38.5m management buy-out led by CEO Mark Smith and FD Craig Dixon. More
London-based communications research agency MESH Planning has opened its first office in the Asia Pacific region and appointed former InsightAsia MD Craig Griffin as Managing Director in Singapore. More
In Canada, research software developer Vision Critical has reported triple digit growth for the third consecutive year. The firm has also teamed up with US full-service agency Creative Marketing Research (CMR) to develop proprietary online customer advisory panels. More
Ipsos first quarter revenues rose 6.2% to €217.3m from Q1 2007. Despite slow going in North America, global organic growth reached 9.6%, which the firm said exceeded its full-year targets. More
GfK has described its Q1 results as 'sound', with organic growth in sales up 5.1% to €268.1m and consolidated total income rising almost 21% to €12.5m. More
Nielsen has reported $1,214m revenues for Q1, an increase of 13% from Q1 2007. Excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, the increase was a healthy 8%. However, the firm still made a net loss from continuing operations of $82m. More
Greenfield Online, Inc. has reported first quarter results, with rapid revenue growth for its Comparison Shopping business (up 60.3% year-on-year to $10.8m) masking a 3% decline for its Internet survey solutions segment. Greenfield has also agreed in principle to settle a pending class action lawsuit regarding 'false and misleading' projections. More
Business information provider D&B last week reported results for the first quarter of 2008, ended March 31st. Revenue rose 8% on the year (excluding currency effects) to $414.7m, of which the Sales & Marketing Solutions division accounted for $109.7m, up 5%. More
UK-based EPG Health Media has launched a new online panel of healthcare professionals in Europe, for regular participation in clinical and scientific surveys. The company also says it has 'ambitious plans to provide global reach'. More
UK research agency Conquest has launched an online tool to measure unconscious emotional reactions to brands by tapping into the metaphors consumers use to describe and express their feelings. More
YouGov has won the battle of the pollsters in London's Mayoral race, correctly predicting the result and the margin, and leaving more egg on the face of outgoing Mayor Ken Livingstone whose team had claimed its survey figures were 'farcical'. More
Harris Interactive has reported third quarter fiscal 2008 results showing consolidated revenue up 11% to $57.3m, with a very good performance from newly acquired companies in Asia, France, Canada and Germany. However, due to declines in the US and UK, consolidated pro forma organic revenue dropped 4%. More
US online measurement firm comScore has reported Q1 revenue of $26.4m, up 41% from $18.6m in Q1 2007. Pre-tax net income rose by 165% to $4.2m, net income by 64% to $2.5m and adjusted EBITDA by 104% to $5.6m. More
In the US, Survey Sampling International (SSI) has conducted a study to analyze the motivating psychological factors behind survey participation using a new principle called self-determination theory or SDT. More
In the US, an institutional investor has filed a law suit against ratings giant Arbitron, charging the firm with 'false and misleading statements' regarding the roll out of its Portable People Meter (PPM) service. More
UK-based panels firm Research Now is anticipating total revenue for the six months ending 30 April 2008 to exceed £18.5m versus £9.9m last year – a leap of 85%. Operating profit is expected be £2.3m, up from just £300,000 a year ago. More
In the UK, online market research agency YouGov has launched a new syndicated tracking service to connect with the 32% of the population who were born between 1946 and 1964. More
Top five global MR firms TNS and GfK are in discussions about a possible 'merger of equals', which would create the world's second-largest market and information group. More
UK radio audience body RAJAR will cut short its investment in its experimental electronic measurement panel, run by TNS using Arbitron's PPM, and will launch an industry-wide review of audience research options. It will also field test a new online diary system, to be designed by Nunwood, in July. More
A spokeswoman for incumbent London Mayor Ken Livingstone has denounced as 'farcical' figures from pollsters YouGov, which suggest rival candidate Boris Johnson has widened his lead from six to ten points. More
The growth of MR subsidiaries iD Factor and ICD Research is expected to help parent TMN plc to full-year pre-tax profit within 10% to 15% of management predictions, despite a significant shortfall at its email marketing agency EDR. The latter's quarterly revenues will be around £1.5m below earlier predictions. More
Tim Heald, Commercial Director at London panels firm The iD Factor has admitted throwing a foam 'stress ball' at Respect MP George Galloway yesterday as he harangued the public through a megaphone on his open-top election bus. Heald spoke to police and was released with an official caution. More
Indian company Satyam Computer Services has bought the market research and customer analytics operation of Caterpillar Inc. for $60m (c.£30.2m); and Belgium-based consulting firm S&V Management Consultants for $35.5m (£17.8m). More
The combined value of the world's top 100 brands – headed by Google – rose by 21% last year, according to the third annual BrandZ (TM) Ranking from ROI specialist Millward Brown Optimor. More
In the US, the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) has responded to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) proposals to regulate online behavioral advertising, by requesting that any definition of the practice excludes survey opinion and marketing research. More
In London, social network site Facebook has hired Trevor Johnson for its Market Development division, where he will oversee trade marketing and market development. The UK team is run by Blake Chandlee, who joined in October as the firm's first European employee. More
Kantar Operations – the internal operations division for the Kantar Group – has ditched its dedicated consumer interviewer panel due to the continuing advance of online data collection. More
Datamonitor founder and former CEO Mike Danson has upped his stake in takeover target TMN plc, the UK-based parent of research agencies iD Factor and ICD Research, to 19.2%. More
In the UK, direct marketing and data group IPT (Interactive Prospect Targeting) has posted a pretax loss of £966,000 for the year to 31 December 2007, compared with a profit of about £3.39m the previous year. More
Online measurement firm comScore has announced the availability of its Video Metrix service in four new markets: the UK, France, Germany and Canada – and has released some initial results. The service was launched in the US more than two years ago. More
In the UK, online research software provider Demographix is to launch Panelwise, a fully-integrated panel management system incorporating new Web 2.0 based interactive workflow features. More
Nielsen Online has appointed four new senior members of staff in the UK to support its growth in EMEA markets. More
In the UK, two Omnicom-owned companies - researcher Hall & Partners and digital ad firm Agency Republic - have combined to produce a model which they claim enables brands to measure impact and engagement for all forms of digital communications. More
In the UK, Comperio, the research arm of US sports marketing and media group IMG, has promoted Iain Barnett to the position of MD. Barnett will oversee the firm's global network of offices, and have direct responsibility for all business operations and strategy development. More
GfK has made a series of acquisitions, including Turkish market research firm Bilseim International, the remaining 35% of Swiss oncology specialist GfK Research Matters, the Brazilian MR company Shopping Brazil, and the watch panel set up by French MR agency Société V. More
In the UK, Tangent has pulled out of talks to acquire rival digital marketing company TMN, parent of research agencies ID Factor and ICD Research. Meanwhile newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror and private equity firms August Equity and 3i are all believed to have expressed an interest in buying the c.£40m business. More
Consumer packaged goods specialist Information Resources Inc (IRI) has partnered with the GfK/TNS-owned Europanel Association to offer what the firms describe as 'the widest-reaching, single-panel research service in the world'. More
For the year 2007, European panel and survey technology provider Toluna has reported sales growth of 49% to £12.5m, and pre-tax profits up by 42% to £3.2m. More
In the US, research technology specialist MarketTools has acquired Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) firm CustomerSat, which will form the basis of a new Customer Insight Management division. More
New-York headquartered online customer satisfaction specialist iPerceptions has opened a permanent office in central London to provide a 'gateway' for its services into the UK and the rest of Europe. More
London-based Q Research – which specialises in using the mobile phone to conduct large scale market research with young people – has developed a mobile research platform for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) projects and satisfaction surveys. More
In the UK, digital entertainment firm HUGE Entertainment has formed a partnership with ethnic research firm ETHNOS. The venture aims to help media owners and platform operators to identify revenue-generating on-demand entertainment opportunities among ethnic audiences. More
YouGov has announced interim results for the six months ended 31 January 2008, with acquisitions helping to treble its turnover and more than quadruple its headcount year-on-year. Organic revenue growth was 43% while profit before tax increased 30% to £3.0m. More
GfK has confirmed a record year of trading in 2007 with organic sales up 5.8% to EUR1,162m. Adjusted operating income rose 4.7% to EUR157.6m and margin crept up to 13.6%. The firm has also announced plans to change its legal form to an SE, or Societas Europaea. More
London-based firm Opinionpanel has launched 'The Future Panel' for anyone wanting to conduct research with young people and prospective higher education (HE) students. More
Harris Interactive has appointed Stephen Wallace as its new Chief Information Officer, responsible for infrastructure and information security. More
In the UK, broadcast regulator Ofcom has hired Jonathan Thompson as its new Director of Strategy, to start in June. Until now, Thompson has worked as Channel 4's Director of Strategy and Research. More
In her fourth and final report from MRS Conference 2008, Phyllis Vangelder joins web analysts on the trail of site visitors, and hears how carbon neutral corporates can accurately gauge the public's response. More
In the UK, B2B marketing and research firm Quadriga Consulting and MR agency Blauw Research have joined forces to offer a global research resource for IT and telecoms assignments. More
In the UK, Harris Interactive has acquired the online consumer Canvasse Opinion Panel from Experian – terms were not disclosed. The panel will add up to 200,000 members to the current multi-million Harris Poll Online Panel. More
UK 'phone giant BT is facing a possible lawsuit after it admitted using business customers' data without permission, in a trial run for 'Webwise' software from analytics and ad-serving company Phorm. Others including Webfather Tim Berners-Lee have been joining the privacy debate. More
In the UK, marketing group TMN Plc has reacted coolly to a £40m preliminary approach from Tangent Communications, saying that the proposed price 'significantly undervalues' the company and its prospects. More
In the UK, digital marketing group Tangent Communications is considering a c.£40m takeover bid for rival TMN, which owns research agencies iD Factor and ICD Research. More
In the UK, media, entertainment and communications research agency Essential has appointed Chris Hurry as Senior Research Manager in the firm's quant department. Hurry was previously Customer Insights Manager at GCap Radio. More
TNS has grouped several of its North American operating units into a new division, TNS media, with Dean DeBiase as CEO. TNS media intelligence and TNS media research join newly-acquired companies Compete and Cymfony to form the new entity. More
No evidence of an economic squeeze in today's financial news from online researcher BrainJuicer. Audited results for the year ended 31 December 2007 show organic revenue up 42% to £6.57m and operating profit up 77% to £844,000. More
M:Metrics has launched its M:Ad competitive tracking service for mobile advertising in the UK, four months after its successful rollout in the United States. The company says the service will be rolled out to the major European markets during 2008. More
The Nielsen Company continues to break new ground following its rebranding from VNU last year. Today it announced its first global brand awareness campaign, built around a marketing collaboration with The New York Times Company and including sole sponsorship of an Olympics Special issue of the latter's 'PLAY' sports magazine. More
In the UK, online market research agency YouGov has signed an agreement with stockbroker Numis and equity fund management firm FOUR Capital Partners, to form a venture hedge fund to exploit investment opportunities identified through its consumer research. More
TNS has promoted Richard Marks to the position of Global Sector Head of TNS Media Research – the Internet, TV and radio audience measurement arm of TNS Media. More
In the UK, YouGov has appointed Andy Barker as Head of Qualitative, to work with sector heads to develop an integrated consulting offer for clients. More
Online panel specialist Lightspeed Research has launched a new weekly omnibus to provide clients with fast access to consumer opinion across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. More
In the UK, BBC Worldwide has promoted Stella Creasey to the newly created role of VP of Research for Global TV Sales. More
TNS has announced an agreement to acquire online behaviour measurement company Compete, Inc. for US$75m in cash, doubling if targets are met over two years. The company also reported full year results for 2007, with revenue of UK£1,067.7m, representing underlying growth of 5.4%. More
Ofcom's former Director of Market Research and current Director of Media Literacy and Convergent Media, Helen Normoyle, is to join the BBC in May as Head of Audiences. More
Online panel community and survey technology provider Toluna has announced the launch of a Japanese panel community, currently at 25,000 active members and forecast to reach 40,000 by June 2008. More
In the final quarter of 2007 GfK achieved organic growth of 6.5% and a margin of 16.8% – a figure the firm says is the most successful in its history. Based on preliminary data, the group also reported an organic sales increase of 5.8% to Euros 1,162m for the full year. More
Nielsen Online has appointed Rene Lamsfuss to the newly created role of Senior Director, Product & Methodology EMEA, where he will work alongside European industry bodies to tailor the firm's suite of Internet measurement technologies to the needs of the regional market. More
A Conference with lots of clients? It may just happen. The b2b research association BIG is changing the focus for this year's annual gathering, to concentrate on the wider business issues affecting clients, and boasts speakers from many of the main b2b research buyers. More
Arbitron and Nielsen have ditched development of 'Project Apollo', their much-vaunted scheme to give a better understanding of the link between consumer exposure to advertising through multiple media and shopping / purchasing behaviour. More
Ipsos has posted full year revenue of Euros 927.2m, up 8.2% on the back of organic growth of 9.1%. Strong performances in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe more than offset a slight decline in the group's North American revenue. More
The UK's five main mobile phone operators have agreed to work together to define common metrics and measurements for mobile advertising, beginning with traffic to mobile sites. If successful, the metrics should be rolled out internationally. More
Global b2b research specialist Kadence has reported revenue growth of 18% in 2007, reaching $9.3 million. The group says all its established international offices performed strongly while new locations were launched in Malaysia and Indonesia. More
Danish firm iMotions, whose Emotion Tool(TM) measures emotional response to visual stimuli, has partnered with Edinburgh-based user experience consultancy User Vision to launch its software in the UK. More
Aegis Media has launched Ævolve, a new unit bringing together the firm's forty data and insight specialists from the UK and Ireland. More
Research Process Outsourcing (RPO) firm Pulse Group has opened an office in London headed by Jonathan Sheldrake, who joins as Associate Director for Europe. More
WPP has launched a new research tool to evaluate sponsorship within the arts, music, film festivals, entertainment and sports markets. More
YouGov has appointed Tim Britton as Managing Director of its UK operation. He assumes responsibility for all aspects of YouGov UK's core business from Group CEO Nadhim Zahawi, who has doubled up in the role since Panos Manolopoulos moved to head international operations. More
Greenfield Online has reported a net revenue increase of 30.2% to $38.4m for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with $29.5m in the same period last year. Although the comparison shopping business grew faster, the firm's Internet Survey solutions segment recorded an impressive 19.2% rise to $26.7m. More
Online research agency BrainJuicer has hired Susan Casserly Griffin as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. She will be based in New York and will work with BrainJuicer's global offices servicing clients in more than 50 countries. More
While Internet ratings firm comScore has posted a 39% increase in Q4 2007 revenue to $25.3m, its forecast of lower-than-expected profit for both Q1 and 2008 led to shares tumbling more than 11% in after-hours trading last night. More
Online panel firm Research Now has appointed Phil Rance to the newly created position of UK Commercial Director, with overall responsibility for client development. More
London-based BDRC has acquired Continental Research from its US owner Arbitron. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
In London, survey software firm Merlinco has expanded with the opening of a new survey analysis department to provide an in-house facility for clients, and a hosting service for the firm's web survey facilities. More
UK survey design and data processing agency IDA has ditched its central London offices in favour of a 'virtual company' structure. MD Peter Jackling is the only remaining IDA employee, with the other seven former members of staff now working independently and directly with the firm's clients. More
US-based media research consultancy Interpret has opened an office in London and appointed Christina Costa as European Research Director. More
Former Henley Centre exec Marcus Hickman has teamed up with Jo Davies, formerly of KPMG and Cranfield School of Management, to form a new insight and strategy firm, Davies Hickman Partners. Hickman takes the role of Chief Executive. More
European panel and survey technology provider Toluna says it expects to report 2007 growth of more than 45% in both sales and operating profits. More
In London, ABI Research has promoted Stuart Carlaw to VP and Research Director, in charge of the mobile wireless practice team. He will continue to serve as Senior Executive, overseeing European operations. More
German consultancy IFM International Sportanalysen GmbH (IFM) has acquired a majority stake in the UK's Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS). More
Harris Interactive has released results for its second quarter and first half of fiscal 2008, ending December 31. Acquisitions drove the overall Q2 revenue figure up 13% on the year, but pro forma organic revenue dropped 2%, mainly due to a 5% decline in North America. More
Online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has appointed Peter Blansjaar to head up its operations, project delivery and quality assurance systems in the Asia Pacific region. More
In London, TNS is ready to launch what it claims is the UK's first one-day turnaround Omnibus, aiming to provide clients with an 'instant snapshot of consumer opinion and behaviour'. More
London-based panels firm Research Now has ended the 2007 financial year with a 168% rise in revenue to £25.8m, and has doubled its organic revenue, now £19.2m. More
In London, newspaper group Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has announced that current AOL UK Head of Marketing Barry Flanigan will join the group in March as Marketing Director, working across all marketing disciplines including research and strategy. More
UK telecoms giant BT has selected WPP-owned Kantar Group to manage its consumer brand and customer tracking projects. More
Online research software firm Confirmit has posted a 68% increase in revenue for the final quarter of 2007, including 38% organic growth. The Q4 total of $12.8m includes $2.5m consolidated revenue from the acquisition of MR software firm Pulse Train. More
Nielsen has expanded its telecom and mobile research division Nielsen Mobile, with the establishment of operations in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Russia. The firm plans additional expansion throughout Europe later this year. More
TNS is launching its 6thdimension Interactive Research services in Latin America and has appointed Trixie Cartwright as Regional Director for Interactive Research, based in Buenos Aires. More
UK-based agency B2B International is taking its panel of medical practitioners online, to allow respondents to complete questionnaires at their own convenience. More
Panels and online research firm Research Now is to open its third office in Germany on 1st March, in Munich, and has appointed Client Development Manager Oliver Tjarks to lead it. More
Warner Brothers has promoted Sue Kroll to President Worldwide Marketing - a new position where she will oversee all aspects of the studio's marketing from market research to campaigns and publicity. More
In the UK, IT/telecoms insight specialist the Analysys Mason Group has appointed George Stojsavljevic as Sales Director of its research division, where he will be responsible for global sales of reports, syndicated programmes and custom research projects. More
Global marketing communications group Havas has signed an agreement with TNS Media Intelligence (TNSMI), ending its contract with Nielsen Monitor-Plus and making TNSMI its primary provider for competitive advertising intelligence. More
In the UK, marketing budgets in the last quarter of 2007 were cut significantly in response to concerns about the economy and weak sales, says the latest IPA Bellwether quarterly survey of marketing spend. Just 6.2% of budget was allocated to market research during the year. More
TNS says it expects revenue growth of more than 5% for 2007, based on strong performance in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. Also this week, TNS Media Intelligence has acquired Irish media analysis firm MediaMarket for an undisclosed sum. More
In the UK, MR and consulting group Cello has bought a 23% stake in youth market research and creative agency Face, with options to buy the remaining equity through a staged earn-out during the next three to five years. More
Nielsen has promoted Justin Sargent from Executive Commercial Director to UK MD. He succeeds Eleni Nicholas, who has taken on the role of Commercial Development Officer, Nielsen Europe while retaining her Group MD role for Nielsen's UK and Irish business. More
Global marcoms giant WPP has acquired consumer market research firm Yankelovich, and will be merging the company into its consumer trends and future research agency, Henley Centre HeadlightVision. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More
UK commercial radio association RadioCentre is creating a new team of five, to bring together its research and insight capabilities. More
UK holding group Optimisa has announced that Paul Nola is the new MD at Buckingham Research Associates. Previously an Account Director at sister company kae: marketing intelligence, Nola replaces MD Tony Isaacs who is leaving the firm after seven years. More
GfK has expanded its global network with the acquisition of Australian research firm the Blue Moon Group, while taking a 51% majority stake in Macedonian MR agency Stratum Research. More
Market research recruiter Sinead Hasson has launched her own consultancy, Hasson Associates Recruitment Ltd. Based in Soho, London, Hasson will draw on her experience from leading teams at Pricejamieson and RP Cushing Recruitment. More
Greenfield Online-owned Ciao Surveys has hired Chris Watson as Senior Director, Client Development for the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands; and promoted Leslie Abell, Christophe Deguignet and Cedric Maury. More
UK-based TMN Group plc, parent company of panel operator iDFactor and Internet specialist ICD Research, has made its first overseas acquisition, Dutch digital DM company TAPPS B.V., for up to £7.94m. More
Greenfield Online will be launching its Real-Time Sampling(TM) virtual panels in the UK and Canada later this month, and plans to launch in Germany and France in the first quarter. More
Recently launched online panel and community research consultancy Beehive Research has appointed former Confirmit Senior Solutions Consultant Rune Wennesland as Head of Operations. More
Technology researcher ABI Research has appointed Cesar Bachelet to the position of Senior Analyst, Multi-Channel Video and Zippy Aima as Industry Analyst, Digital Media. More
Following TNS' major contract win with UK audience measurement body BARB earlier this week, Ipsos MORI has agreed a new six-year deal with the organisation, to provide its Establishment Survey. More
WPP's brand development business Added Value has acquired US-based consultancy Cheskin. Cheskin Added Value will retain a high degree of autonomy with Darrel Rhea maintaining his leadership role as CEO. More
Audience measurement continues to bring its share of legal problems for Nielsen worldwide. Today, the court in the Philippines 'bribery' case ordered a halt in TV audience fieldwork; while in Spain, a newspaper has filed a claim against the ratings giant for losing it '$1.4m' in ad revenue. More
TNS has appointed Rosie Hawkins as Global Head of Brand & Communications Research. Relocating to London, she will report to Global Head of Strategy & Innovation John Abraham. More
Research Now has added three more online panels to its global offer – in Mexico, Chile and Argentina. The firm already operates panels in the US, Canada and Brazil, as well as Europe and Australia. More
BARB has awarded the contract to provide UK TV audience measurement currency to TNS. Beginning in 2010 after a year's trial running in parallel with the current service, TNS will operate a 5,100 home meter panel. More
From January, GfK will replace its existing five business divisions with three sectors in order to exploit synergies in the cross-divisional use of technology, data collection and the application of methods. The firm has also appointed Debra Pruent to its Management Board. More
The MrWeb site has had its first major overhaul and redesign in several years, including a new logo and frame-free html. More
In the UK, YouGov's former Head of Market Research Mark Hodson has launched a new agency with the aim of providing the 'handmade' feel of traditional market research in the online marketplace. More
Millward Brown has hired James Galpin, previously of Carat Insight, as Senior VP in its Global Media Practice, the specialist division which supports other Millward Brown companies. More
Caroline Rushton has rejoined UK-based research firm Quaestor, as a Director of Qmedia, its specialist media division. More
FreshMinds was again named Agency of the Year at the MRS Research Excellence and Effectiveness Awards, the second biggest event in London last night. Essential, TNS and Firefish scooped other key awards and Nick Sparrow received the association's Silver Medal. More
Canadian online panel firm Vision Critical has expanded into the European market with the opening of an office in central London. The firm has also launched the latest release of its survey authoring, support, panel management and reporting and analysis system, Panel+. More
Search engine optimisation (SEO) firm Top Position has launched a service combining standard SEO services with a range of competitor analysis tools. More
YouGov has announced trading 'in line with the Board's expectations' in the 2007 financial year to date, including in its three newly acquired businesses. Meanwhile Dr Michel Floyd joins as Global CTO. More
Sampling solutions provider Survey Sampling International (SSI) has appointed three new VPs to strengthen its global operations. Kim Giangrande will manage Global HR; Suresh Subbiah, Global Client Services and Delivery; and Harold Kelley, Global Marketing. More
Social enterprise firm Votivation is to use its online voting system to canvass the opinion of 300,000 young people who are eligible to vote at next January's UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) elections. More
Online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now is aiming to raise £7m by placing 2.33 million shares with institutional investors. More
In the UK, retail analysis specialist Cartogen has launched a new service to help e-commerce businesses with consumer profiling by providing access to demographic, lifestyle and behavioural information based on postcode data. More
Television marketing body Thinkbox and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) are to undertake a joint research project in the UK, to look at the effectiveness of using TV and online ad campaigns in tandem. More
One time world-leading PC-maker Dell has announced a new agency agreement with WPP valued at $4.5 billion in billings over three years. The deal envisages a very close partnership within the framework of a new global integrated marketing and communications agency. More
WPP's insight division the Kantar Group is restructuring its media businesses, in response to 'a rapidly changing media environment'. A newly formed Kantar Media Research (KMR) unit will bring together the media audience measurement assets and talent from across Kantar. More
The BBC will look for 'willingness to innovate and adapt' in both survey methodology and the debriefing of its own employees, as it seeks agencies for its qual research roster covering radio, online and future media. More
In Australia, following a three-month review of how online audiences should be measured, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced that a panel-based methodology should become the industry standard. Nielsen Online has branded the decision 'a step backwards'. More
The European Union's Article 29 Working Party, which examines data protection issues, is to investigate privacy concerns connected with targeted online advertising. More
Millward Brown (MB) has promoted former EVP Global Development Gordon Pincott to the position of Chairman - Global Solutions, in charge of both existing and newly developed client offerings. He will now sit on the firm's Global Management Board. More
UK-based Vox Pops International has launched its own Internet TV service, with access to an archive of filmed consumer interviews; and a youth service comprising video interviews conducted with 15-21 year-olds across China, Germany, Mexico, India, Russia and the USA. More
European panel and survey technology provider Toluna has announced an exclusive cooperation agreement with b2b information provider Incisive Media Limited, to build panels across the latter's vertical markets including financial and professional services. More
As Toluna announces its agreement with Incisive, UK-based rival The iD Factor has announced the availability of 22 specialist panels covering 'a comprehensive range of niche markets', based on pre-profiling of 145,000 UK consumer members of its Home of Research panel. More
UK-based software firm Netemic has launched iFeed Agency, a monitoring and analysis tool helping PR and communications specialists to query and monitor social media such as blogs, forums and wikis. More
Online agency MetrixLab has acquired web site and software usability research specialist 2C in the Netherlands. More
Ipsos has reported revenues of Euros 664.2m for the first nine months of 2007, and says it is expecting full-year growth of at least 9%. More
Online panel provider Lightspeed Research has strengthened its UK team with the appointment of Anna Morgan, Donna Franklin and Eunice Vicente. More
Reports in the UK suggest that the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) could be about to award its next £10m TV audience measurement contract to TNS/Arbitron. The current contract runs out in 2010. More
M:Metrics and BMRB have partnered to deliver a new set of metrics which will enable companies to evaluate mobile media consumption. The UK launch will take place in the first quarter of 2008 and a roll out in Europe is planned for later in the year. More
Radio ratings leader Arbitron has responded to a strong attack on its PPM device and methodology by the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB). NABOB points to 'significant flaws' and 'tremendous fee increases'; Arbitron says the PPM is tried, tested, audited and better than diaries. More
Online research software firm Confirmit has announced the release of its Confirmit 12 product, which includes what it calls 'the world's first engine for concurrent sampling'. More
London-based marcoms group Cagney plans to launch an offshoot of its consumer behaviour consultancy Tree, in the new year, focusing on analysis of user-generated web content. More
Greenfield Online has reported a 29.9% Q3 net revenue hike to $32.3m, and a 25.4% climb in profits. The firm's Chairman Peter Sobiloff will step down at the end of the year to be replaced by Joel Mesznik, who has served as a Board member since 1999. More
Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) rating service has come in for fierce criticism from Bob Neil, President and CEO of Cox Radio, during his firm's third quarter conference call. More
Harris Interactive has reported fiscal first-quarter revenue up 17% to $55.2m, mostly due to the inclusion of $6.1m from acquisitions made earlier in the year. Organic growth year-on-year was 4%. More
Microsoft has begun beta testing its new Google Analytics competitor, intended to offer web publishers and adCenter advertisers advanced tools for measuring how people found their sites, and their behaviour once there. More
In the US, a coalition of nine privacy and consumer groups has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to implement a 'Do-Not-Track' list for Internet users who do not want their online activities tracked, stored and used by advertisers and marketers. More
Online measurement firm comScore has reported a 39% increase in revenue to $22.4m for the quarter ended 30 September 2007. This compares with an increase of 8% for the second quarter of the year. More
Former EQ Chief Executive Bob Bond is planning to kick off the new year with the launch of a new consultancy Ganbatte Capital, providing investment and consultancy services to media, technology and marketing services firms both in the UK and US. More
TNS has announced a global quality programme for its panels, Six Degrees of Online Quality - to begin next year. More
Technology consultancy Gartner, Inc. has reported results for the third quarter, with rapid growth in its Research business segment. The segment represents almost two thirds of its revenue and in Q3 saw contract value rise 18% year-on-year to a record $704.7m, following investment in its sales force. More
In the UK, communications research agency MESH Planning has hired Anna Wills as Account Manager, supporting new clients Sony and Orange. More
Online competitive intelligence service Hitwise is launching 'New and Returning Visitors', the latest feature for its Clickstream service. The new data will split web site visitors into new and repeat traffic, with information on where each type comes from and goes to. More
Two European online ad bodies, IAB Europe and the EIAA, are to collaborate to develop 'standard, comprehensive international definitions' for interactive audience measurement. The standards will cover site-centric, user-centric and combined measurement systems. More
European-based panels firm Toluna has launched what it calls 'the world's first Web 2.0 online panel community'. The new 'widget' format system, available initially to UK panellists, enables them to conduct their own research including polls, opinion reviews and debates. More
London-based media intelligence provider Screen Digest Ltd is to acquire Adams Media Research, based in Carmel, California and focused on the US home entertainment market. More
UK consultancy dunnhumby is to use the ultimate consumer panel – data from the Loyalty Clubcards of 13 million households visiting its key client, Tesco – to offer evaluation of the impact of marketing activity on shopper behaviour. More
In a trading update prior to half-year results, the TMN Group says it expects 12.5% year-on-year growth, with research divisions The iD Factor and iCD performing 'particularly strongly' in the past two months. The Group will also have a new Chairman, Peter Harkness, at the end of November. More
In the third quarter of the year, MR software firm Confirmit has increased its revenue by 82% to $8.9m, while operating profits were $833,000, 50% higher than in Q3 2006. More
Online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has launched a US panel comprising 400,000 individuals who can choose to take surveys in either English or Spanish. More
Marketing intelligence firm Xtract has appointed former Microsoft Finland MD Martti Mehtälä as Chair of its Board of Directors. Alan Moore from SMLXL and Canadian management advisor William Greenberg also become members of the Board. More
B2b specialist Kadence has made ten new appointments, reflecting significant business growth across its worldwide operations. Two people join the firm's UK headquarters in London and eight more are added to offices in Boston, Malaysia and India. More
In the US, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced the release of final guidelines for ad impression measurement in Rich Internet Application (RIA) environments. It also published a report on the state of in-game advertising. More
UK ratings body RAJAR Limited (Radio Joint Audience Research) has appointed David Mansfield as its new Chairman, succeeding Lord Gordon of Strathblane, CBE, who retired earlier this year after four years in the post. More
YouGov has announced results for the financial year ended 31 July, with group turnover up 51% to £14.3m, profit before tax and goodwill up 39% to £5.7m and both global acquisitions and launches in new sectors promising another buoyant year to come. More
i-to-i Research, which became part of the Publicis Group in July 2006, has been acquired by its Chief Executive Claire Spencer in a management buy-out. More
Recruitment consultancy Pricejamieson, whose specialist teams cover marketing and digital communications in addition to MR, is expanding its research services to Asia Pacific. Senior Consultant Rowan Haylett moves from the London office to parent company Aquent in Australia. More
In London, youth research agency Q Research has launched what it says is the UK's first weekly omnibus to uncover the opinions, attitudes and behaviours of 11-25 year olds. More
In the UK the Market Research Society (MRS) has incorporated coverage of Social Networking and Web 2.0 into its training programme, to offer practitioners at all levels an understanding of the research potential of interactive online media. More
The Nielsen Company has laid off 1,250 of its staff, but says the losses are probably 'the last for some time' and the total of c.4,000 redundancies originally planned for 2007 will not be reached, according to Reuters. More
Plans for a joint venture between UK-based polling firm YouGov and Australian marketing services firm Photon Group have reportedly been abandoned, with Photon instead said to be buying social research specialist Auspoll. More
TNS will be merging its Media Intelligence and Media Research (iTRAM) units into one, in an effort to further develop its TV and online audience measurement services. More
Consumer psychology research specialist Synovate Censydiam has developed a suite of interactive tools. They include a panel of respondents with shared contextual motivations, and a tool for conducting pre-field interactive chat sessions. More
In the UK, OnePoint Surveys has launched SMS Surveys, a tool to capture real-time feedback through text surveys distributed to respondents' mobile phones. More
Nielsen Media Research has informed its TV network and syndication clients that its Monitor-Plus tracking system is struggling to identify some new forms of 'live' TV advertising; and asked them to work with it to solve the problem. More
David Walker has joined fast-growing UK-based agency Incite after a dozen years at Research International, latterly as UK MD. More
Researchers worldwide expect another year of increased use of online data providers and access panels, according to the Online Research Barometer conducted by Greenfield Online and Ciao Surveys. The firms also highlight the healthy state of the b2b research market. More
At the second day of the ESOMAR Congress in Berlin, two UK research veterans talked about the changing skill sets and training needs of research professionals. David Smith predicted a boom in online learning; while Phyllis MacFarlane gave some ideas about new ways of training graduates. More
Swedish company Simstore International AB has received $2m in venture capital to develop SIMSTORE360®, an Internet based tool for the analysis of consumer decision-making at the point of purchase, using virtual store environments. More
TNS has unveiled BriefScape, a research product for the early stages of brand communications development. The global agency says its range of offerings in the area now constitute 'a research solution for the complete brand communications lifecycle'. More
Dutch online reporting specialist Intellex Datamanagement has appointed Tariq Mirza to lead its business development in the UK, as he returns to the industry after a year out. More
In London, online market research firm BrainJuicer has posted a 77% rise in pretax profit to £113,000, in its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007. More
UK-based online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has developed a standard toolkit for quick and easy Flash survey enhancements. More
European agency SKOPOS Market Insight has seen its turnover increase by 72% in the first half of 2007. The company says an extended high-end analysis offer, including the launch of 'Ultra-Analysis' and a new Kwal(TM) department, has contributed. More
Web-based US consumer researcher BuzzBack has opened in Europe, appointing Martin Oxley, formerly of Ipsos and TNS, as Managing Director for the region. More
US-headquartered online and mobile research technology specialist Invoke Solutions has opened a London office to serve its clients in the UK and throughout Europe. More
Software and panels provider GMI has partnered with Amsterdam-based MR firm DervalResearch to launch SLIC (Second Life Interview Corner), claiming to provide a new perspective on conducting one-to-one research interviews in a virtual environment. More
Harris Interactive has announced the rebranding of its German and French subsidiaries, MediaTransfer and Novatris, as of September 1 – both will now operate under the Harris Interactive name. More
London-based online market research firm BrainJuicer has appointed Eric Kenelm ('Ken') Ford as Non-Executive Chairman. John Kearon remains the agency's Chief Executive. More
TNS has today released unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007. The firm says underlying revenue growth of 5.9% and operating profit up 8.9% to £45.4m show the successful implementation of a strategy commenced last year. More
Research-focused marketing services group Munro Global has bought London-based agency Media Lab Research (M-Lab), its fourth MR buy since its formation last summer. More
Nielsen has announced it will shortly begin the syndicated measurement of professional healthcare web sites. The research giant says the move will create a new standard for measuring healthcare professionals' activity on the Internet. More
Digital marketing solutions firm ADTECH – whose Helios IQ software enables web publishers to evaluate online advertising campaigns – has appointed Lawrence Chmara as Sales Manager for the UK and Ireland. More
Measurement firm comScore has been suspended from online privacy organisation TRUSTe's Trusted Download Program (TDP), after a comScore distributor broke its rules on getting user consent for downloads. More
Massachusetts-based search engine firm Northern Light has launched an IT analyst research solution called Analyst Direct to help technology marketers search reports from multiple research firms simultaneously. More
Millward Brown has enhanced its LINK(TM) suite of advertising research tools to help advertisers understand the overall effect of their multimedia communications. The new LINK360 tools will help to measure the impact of online video, blogs, print, TV, radio, outdoor and online campaigns. More
Harris Interactive has announced results for the fourth quarter and its full fiscal year 2007, ending 30th June. Fourth quarter revenue declined to $57.1m – down 3% from the same period a year ago – and full year revenue was $211.8m, similar to figures a year ago and well down on forecasts made then, of $230-240m. More
In the US, the Web Analytics Association (WAA) has published an expanded set of metrics definitions covering visits, content, and conversion, which it says promote a better overall understanding of web analytics. More
MrWeb has announced a partnership with the US-based association MRA (Marketing Research Association). The deal aims to give MRA members access to daily updates of global news and job vacancies while promoting MRA's services and programs to readers of Daily Research News. More
UK-based pollster YouGov has signed a joint venture with Photon Group, owner of several MR agencies, to establish an online panel business, YouGov Australia. The partners hope to build a panel of 50,000 adults in time to cover the country's forthcoming federal election, in October. More
comScore has updated its qSearch analytics suite to encompass market share measurement of the five major US search engines; the top 50 most trafficked properties where search activity is observed; and vertical search locations such as eBay, Amazon and Expedia. More
Flat panel technology specialist DisplaySearch is to begin tracking the DVD sector, and has hired Paul Erickson to lead this unit. Takao Tsukahara also joins, with a remit to expand the firm's research into small and medium display markets. More
London-based Infiniti Research has announced the launch of TechNavio, a broad online business intelligence database for IT industry sales and strategic planning teams. More
As promised to shareholders in July, panels firm Research Now has appointed a CFO, Nathan Runnicles – he will join the Board on 19th November 2007. More
Harris Interactive has acquired research firms Decima in Canada and MarketShare in Asia Pacific in deals with a combined value of more than $24 million. More
Online research is cheaper but more profitable, says WPP, and that's why its research division's revenues are stagnant while its margins are buoyant. The Group's information, insight and consultancy firms saw organic growth of only 1.3% in Q2, but gross margin improved 5.9%. More
UK publisher and media group Emap has bought online retail research and intelligence firm Planet Retail in a £23 million cash deal. More
London-based online survey firm Demographix is to pilot a hosted panel management system, which it says will help users overcome the problems they encounter when using ordinary email management software to circulate survey invites. More
New web site Sutori.co.uk has been launched to offer British consumers a real-time measure of opinion about companies and their brands, and enable them to 'take the pulse' of a brand before committing to buy. More
Ipsos and Nielsen have reported results for the first half of the year. Ipsos increased revenue by 8.7% over the year earlier period to €443.1m, while Nielsen's grew from $2,019m to $2,241m. More
In the UK, the Market Research Society (MRS) has joined with six other associations to create the B2B Best Practice Alliance and raise the profile and standard of B2B marketing communications. More
Greenfield Online has announced good second quarter results for its survey solutions and comparison shopping businesses, with the latter particularly strong. Both divisions saw double-digit growth in revenue, as did overall operating income and adjusted EBITDA. More
Online competitive intelligence provider Hitwise has launched 'Hitwise Widget', which will supply online usage trends from its 'Hitwise To Go' RSS-based feed. The feed provides stats on online behaviour for the US, UK and Asia Pacific markets. More
GfK has reported first half results which are 'moderate compared with the highly successful prior year'. Business in two divisions, Custom Research and HealthCare, fell short of expectations, although others forged ahead giving respectable overall organic growth of 4.9%. More
Lightspeed Research has begun the roll-out of a global service offering consumer surveys via mobile devices, with initial launches in Great Britain and Australia. The firm says it plans to expand into the US and other countries in Europe and Asia Pacific over the next few months. More
In the UK, Guardian News & Media has bought public sector research, publishing and event services company Kable and will add it to its Guardian Professional division. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. More
eMarketer, provider of MR information for online marketers, has hired Mickey Alam Khan for the new role of Editor in Chief. He will lead the analyst team and oversee publication of more than 80 reports a year, plus the content of the firm's daily newsletter. More
Continuing a busy week, YouGov has agreed amicably to dissolve its YouGov Execution (YGX) joint venture with Execution Ltd after 18 months, in order to launch a fully owned firm developing the same idea, YouGovAlpha. More
Lightspeed Research has announced the launch of a new GB Sports Panel. The panel pre-identifies consumers on the basis of sports watched and participated in. More
YouGov has announced a major expansion of its international presence, completing its buy of US-based Polimetrix and also acquiring Nordic agency Zapera, while raising around £27m by means of an institutional share placing. More
Ciao Surveys has promoted Richard Thornton, currently VP Client Development Europe, to manage the whole of its European sales operation as Head of Client Development. More
In the UK iCD Research, sister company of The iD Factor and part of the TMN Group, has launched an online-only Readership Tracking survey with a 12-month contract from business daily City A.M. More
Online measurement firm comScore has announced results for the quarter ended June 30, with revenue up 23% on the year to $20.8m. It also reports a growth in the proportion of its income from subscriptions, and strong investment for the future. More
Synovate owner Aegis Group plc has agreed to acquire the consolidated Ion Global network from CDC Corporation. Ion is a digital marketing specialist with businesses in Seoul, San Francisco and Hong Kong, and its services include consulting and user experience analysis. More
Greenfield Online, through its subsidiary Ciao, has expanded its presence in the Asia Pacific region by adding Greenfield-Ciao in Shanghai to existing offices in Sydney, Australia and Gurgaon, India. More
UK-based Synovate subsidiary Fieldwork International Healthcare has launched a specialist Diary Team to focus on managing complex diary projects across all methodologies. More
In the UK, TNS has appointed Kerry Brown and Jonathan Brown to develop existing and new client relationships as Directors of the firm's UK Media division. More
Automotive research specialist R.L. Polk has agreed to acquire a majority interest in ROADTODATA, a supplier of real-time automotive price and specifications data with operations in Europe, South America and Australia. More
Ipsos Interactive Services (IIS) has launched a global division that will focus on research using client supplied or specialist sample data. More
Research Now has launched a proprietary online Brazilian panel, Opiniões de Valor, its first in South America. More
Swiss digital MR firm ArgYou AG has partnered with German-based TNS Infratest to promote its ArgYou tool, which allows clients to align the content of their web sites with the search terms most frequently used by potential clients. More
American Matthew Fagan, accused of killing Research Now Finance Manager Cathy Marlow, pleaded not guilty to the murder at the Old Bailey in London on Friday. His trial will now commence in the last week of February next year. More
UK-based agency eDigitalResearch has launched eProductRating, a service allowing consumers to record their personal feedback about products and services allowing manufacturers to build online brands through word-of-mouth recommendation. More
Google yesterday reported a 58% year-on-year increase in Q2 revenue, but a decline in profits saw its share price fall more than 6.5% in the day. Recent comScore figures for search engine share show a rare dimple in the market leader's long-term growth, with Microsoft the main beneficiary. More
MR software and panels firm GMI (Global Market Insite) has appointed Matt Shepherd as Managing Director of UK Sales based at its EMEA headquarters in London. More
In London, online direct marketing organisation TMN Group plc has announced record revenue and profit levels. Its online panel specialist subsidiary The iD Factor experienced 90% growth. More
Nielsen has promoted Lisa Lee to the role of Senior Vice President, International Communications, where she will take responsibility for all corporate and marketing communications outside North America. More
MR software companies Confirmit and Pulse Train have completed their previously announced merger and announced increased revenue of 34% and pre tax profit of 65% for the second quarter 2007. More
NetRatings has announced the addition of 'Total Minutes' and 'Total Sessions' metrics to its syndicated audience measurement service NetView, in line with changing attitudes to what constitutes a successful web site. More
TNS has issued a trading update, ahead of reporting interim results on 3 September. The group says its previously troubled US custom business has returned to growth and expects underlying organic revenue growth of over 5% for the first six months of 2007. More
UK-based online performance researcher eDigitalResearch has announced two hires for its technical development team. Duncan Grist joins as Senior Product Developer and Robert Piasek as Systems Administrator. More
Business intelligence (BI) software firm MicroStrategy® has announced launches for two products, one delivering BI information directly to BlackBerry smartphones and the other testing the accuracy of BI applications by validating data and report integrity. More
Online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has reported a pre-tax loss of £235,000 in the first half of its financial year, but also a strong start to the second half with record sales in May and June. More
Daily and Sunday Telegraph Owner TMG has appointed Michael Moore, formerly of AOL Europe, to the role of Executive Director of Consumer Markets. He joins next month to spearhead marketing, research and strategy and will also be developing the group's multimedia activity. More
Online specialist YouGov has been named 'Brand of the Year' in the Business XL 10 awards, hosted in London last night. More
Research Now has seen its share price plummet by around half in the space of two days, after a profits warning with the identification of further unrecorded costs of £0.6m in the first half of the year. More
Online ad spending in the UK is growing much faster than in the US and other developed nations, according to eMarketer: this year the UK should account for more than half of all online ad spending in Western Europe. More
Panels provider Research Now has launched a multi-country online qual focus group facility, offering clients online groups in a chat-room-style environment similar to that seen in online communication tools such as MSN Messenger and Skype. More
Harris Interactive has launched its Advanced Strategy Lab (ASL) in Europe to provide simultaneous anonymous input from participants at any location. More
Nielsen is acquiring San Francisco-based syndicated telecom MR firm Telephia, in a move designed to accelerate measurement of consumer behaviour across the $350 billion mobile phone sector. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More
The Nielsen Company has completed its merger with NetRatings, Inc. NetRatings becomes a privately held company, wholly owned by Nielsen and its subsidiaries, and with its shares delisted on Friday from the Nasdaq Global Market. More
Harris Interactive has introduced GlobalSynch(SM), an integrated, web-based platform giving fast and easy real-time access to research data collected anywhere via any method. More
CMP Technology publication EE Times has established an Intelligence Unit, which it describes as 'part of a commitment to deeper analysis of industry issues'. Senior Analyst Loring Wirbel will work closely with group publication Heavy Reading to set up and lead the unit. More
Graham Saxton has left MTV Networks to take up an MD role at OTX (Online Testing eXchange). He will head the Media and Entertainment Insights International Division, with a remit for rapid growth of its syndicated and custom research products. More
Advertising industry pioneers George Wiedemann and Kenneth Lomasney have established Wiedemann & Lomasney (W&L), a holding company aimed at creating a 'customer centric marketing services firm'. The partners plan to announce a first buy before the end of the month. More
UK marketing services group Creston has announced a 60% growth in revenue to £69.7 million, in its preliminary financial results for the year ended 31 March. More
Google has cut the length of time it keeps users' personal search data from '18-24 months' to a maximum of 18 months, following questioning by European Union data protection officials. The firm says the limit balances privacy with considerations of 'security, innovation and compliance'. More
Having announced its plans to go public earlier in the year, online audience measurement firm comScore has now confirmed its initial public offering of 5 million shares valued at an estimated price of between $14 and $16 per share. More
A study sponsored by the Web Analytics Association (WAA) suggests that in most organisations (82% of those polled) the subject is poorly understood, and those who interact with web data do not understand what the data actually means. More
UK not-for-profit organisation Patient Opinion has launched a new web site for patients to share their experiences of healthcare and feed back comments and improvement ideas to the NHS. More
Social networking web site Facebook has launched a new polling feature called Facebook Polls, enabling marketers to pose quick questions to its vast user base. More
UK-based eDigitalResearch has launched eDigitalCommunities, a service offering help to businesses setting up interactive forums to collect feedback from their web site visitors. More
Synovate UK has launched a media research offering based on the consumer motivation model developed by the global group's Censydiam practice. The company plans to roll out the offer across Europe and Asia. More
The Nielsen Company has reported revenues for the first quarter of 2007 up 5% over the same period last year, helped by a strong performance (up 7%) from its Media Research division. More
UK-based travel web site lastminute.com has hired Shai Eilon as its new Group Head of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), replacing Lopo Champalimaud who has become MD of its European lifestyle division. More
The Nielsen Company has appointed Paul Baynton as General Manager of its media planning and analysis software business IMS Worldwide. He has been with the division for two decades and was previously MD of IMS International. More
Greenfield Online has formally split its European subsidiary Ciao into two separate entities: the booming comparison shopping business will retain the short name Ciao, while the Internet survey solution wing, also growing fast, will be known as Ciao Surveys. More
In the UK, online marketing services group TMN has hired Tim Heald from ORB to take on a business development role with its research units, The iD Factor and iCD Research. Heald will take up the new post on 1st June. More
US-based online analytics firm Omniture, Inc. aims to raise $121.8m from a new share offer. The money will be used for acquisitions, to part-fund its previously announced purchase of Touch Clarity, and for expansion of its sales and marketing operations. More
MR software companies Confirmit and Pulse Train are to consolidate their businesses and product portfolios. More
The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) will work to 'educate' the marketplace about the different ways of measuring web site traffic, the body revealed this week. The commitment was made as NetRatings and comScore both agreed to audit timetables at their recent closed doors meeting. More
A month after Google bought DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, Microsoft's plans to acquire Internet ad agency aQuantive for $6 billion will provide its Ad Center clients with insight on which ads and keywords are most profitable. More
A London-based polling agency and Christian news provider have joined forces to launch an online service gathering opinion from UK Christians. Communicate Research and Premier Christian Media say Cpanel will include all denominations and age groups. More
London-based media and consumer agency Essential Research has hired Alex Vishney as an Associate Director and Head of Quantitative Research. More
The Nielsen Group has launched Brand3 – 'Brand Cubed' – linking retail market measurement data, household panel information and customised survey results to provide clients with a holistic perspective of a firm or product's brand equity. More
Babel Media, a quality assessment outsourcing company for games developers, has launched a new international gameplay testing service. More
Internet specialist Greenfield Online has posted strong revenue growth to $27.5m for Q1 2007, up from $21.5m in same period last year. The group's comparison shopping business led the charge, but online survey revenue grew an impressive 14.3%. More
Online marketing services group TMN has promoted Paul Dixon to the position of Managing Director of its research units, The iD Factor and iCD Research. More
Ipsos has announced a strong first quarter with revenues up 8.9% to Euros 204.7m. Organic growth was 10.3%, the highest for a first quarter since Ipsos' IPO in 1999. More
The GfK Group has announced healthy first quarter results with sales up 5.2% to Euros 261.3m, with organic growth of 6.8%. Margin was up from 8.5% a year previously to 9.5%, and adjusted operating income rose by 17.3% to Euros 24.8m. More
London-based academic and business publishing and events group, Informa, has agreed to buy rival market intelligence firm Datamonitor in a £502 million ($993 million) cash deal. More
Online audience measurement firm Hitwise has launched a new service, Hitwise To Go, an RSS-based service providing updates on online consumer activity and statistics. The firm say the key audiences are journalists and academics. More
Nielsen//NetRatings has launched a new syndicated measurement service dubbed VideoCensus, which combines panel and census methodologies to gauge audience size, demographic composition, engagement and competitive activity for video content. More
The man accused of murdering Research Now Finance Manager Cathy Marlow appeared briefly today at London's Old Bailey. US citizen Matthew Fagan entered a plea, the case for which will be heard on June 29th. One count of burglary was added to the murder charge. More
Harris Interactive CEO Greg Novak has apologised to shareholders as the company reduced its earnings projections and reported a mere 1% rise in Q3 revenue totals. However, he told DRNO this afternoon that 'Our strategy is working' and outlined the well-targeted acquisitions he believes will help. More
Online panels firm Research Now has made an interim financial statement reporting sales growth on target. Operating profit missed its target due specifically to the £500,000 cost of relocating after the murder in January of Finance Manager Cathy Marlow. More
AIM-listed marketing services holding company Optimisa PLC has agreed to acquire Report International Ltd (RIL) for up to £2.2m. Optimisa is already the owner of UK research agency Andrew Irving Associates (AIA). More
The Nielsen Company is to acquire the remainder of word-of-mouth media tracking agency BuzzMetrics, of which it already owns 58%. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. More
After a 13 year career with ACNielsen, Robert Tomei has joined TNS as Global Head of Access Panels to establish, lead and deliver a growth strategy for the firm's global access panel business, 6thdimension(TM). More
More investment in text analytics from Reuters: the information giant is to acquire Israeli-American text analytics firm, ClearForest, to make its web content easier to search. Financial terms of the deal have not been released. More
Global news and information company Reuters has enhanced its machine-readable news service to include analysis of news sentiment, driven by linguistics software created by text analytics firm, Corpora. More
UK-based Cello Group has paid £150,000 in cash for a 21% share of London-based online qual agency, Nqual - its fourth substantial investment since the start of the year. More
UK recruitment consultant pricejamieson is to be acquired by Boston-based Aquent. The combined firm will be a global force in the marketing and communications staffing arena and plans to grow its already substantial MR division. More
comScore and Nielsen//NetRatings have issued positive responses to the call by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) for them to submit to a third-party audit; but the Bureau has challenged them to back up their promises by setting and sticking to a scheduled timetable. More
Mobile media research agency, M:Metrics, has appointed Evan Neufeld as VP Consulting and Senior Analyst. More
US trade association the Interactive Advertising Bureau has sent an open letter to two of the major Internet audience measurement firms, comScore and Nielsen//NetRatings, asking them to submit to a third-party audit of their measurement processes by the MRC. More
A week of headlines for Google. On Friday the search giant announced first quarter revenue up 63% to $3.66bn, and rocketed to the top of Millward Brown's BRANDZ(TM) index with a worth dwarfing current figures - $66.4bn. Google also made headline deals and gained search share against rivals Yahoo! and Microsoft. More
A fortnight after the announced flotation of rival comScore, online audience measurement firm Hitwise is to be acquired by information giant Experian, in a $240m cash deal which will close in May. More
Arbitron, Confirmit and IMS Health have all reported buoyant first quarters, with revenues up 7.9%, 14% and 35% respectively. More
Synovate has agreed a worldwide partnership with GMI giving the former access to over six million panellists across the globe. The move reflects changing attitudes to panel 'ownership' according to Synovate Global CEO Adrian Chedore. More
Consumer products giant Unilever plans to increase the use of the Internet as an MR tool in the UK, following the success of its web-based research programmes in the States. More
Online panel provider Lightspeed Research has hired James Riley as VP of Operations, based in the agency's London office. More
New York-based competitor intelligence (CI) firm, Sedulo Group, has acquired two CI and MR firms – Sharp & Associates in Shanghai and Perspicacite de Strategie in Paris. The move will more than triple the size of Sedulo's consulting offer. More
Sports Marketing Surveys has announced a partnership with Sponsor Statistik, the largest sponsorship research house in South Africa, which will henceforth operate under the Sports Marketing Surveys brand name. More
Last week DRNO covered a report looking at Google and the 'threat' it poses to the publishing and information industry. This week the concern is even closer to home, as the world's biggest research firm ponders the intentions of the search giant. More
The Nielsen Company has announced results for the full year 2006, with pro forma unaudited revenues of $4,174m, up just 2.8% on the previous year, but up 5% at constant currencies, the firm said. Four acquisition-related items totalling c.$316m affected operating income which was down to $212m (2005: $373m). More
Online researcher Invoke Solutions has hired Josh Mendelsohn as its new Director of Marketing. He joins from Chadwick Martin Bailey, and takes over from Joanne Manley who moves to manage the company's Europe's strategic alliances in London. More
Synovate has extended its two regional media surveys to probe into the digital media consumption and lifestyles of affluent consumers and business decision makers in Europe and Asia Pacific. More
Millward Brown's Bob Meyers has relinquished his CEO responsibilities to the firm's President of Global Development, Eileen Campbell. Meyers will remain as Chairman for the rest of 2007, and is likely to take another role within Kantar. More
YouGov has announced interim results for the six months ended 31 January 2007, with turnover up 61% to £6.1m year-on-year, mainly through organic growth, and operating profit up 57% to £2.2m. It also announced a JV with networking guru Carole Stone. More
Harris Interactive has revised its forecasts for the second half of the year following sales bookings around $8m lower than expected in the third quarter of its financial year. The firm also chose today to announce a new loyalty tool, the Commitment Model. More
US Internet ratings provider comScore has moved its European HQ to larger London premises, opened a marketing suite in Paris and announced the latest worldwide rankings from its World Metrix service. More
UK-based Sports Marketing Surveys Ltd has launched mediatrak, a new service giving subscribers instant access to TV and radio clips mentioning their brand, sport or other key words of their choice. More
Internet ratings firm comScore is going public, with an IPO aimed at raising up to $86.25 million. The company filed yesterday in the US with the Securities and Exchange Commission to list on the Nasdaq National Market. More
Greenfield Online, Inc. and Frost & Sullivan have announced a partnership to create a new business-to-business panel. Respondents will be offered access to the latter's research reports as an incentive for sharing their own business expertise. More
Database and credit checking giant Experian has continued its programme of acquisitions with the purchase of an undisclosed minority share in Chinese agency, Sinotrust Marketing Research and Consulting. More
Harris Interactive has bought Hamburg-based online FMCG MR firm, MediaTransfer AG Netresearch & Consulting, for a cash price of EUR 9 million (c.$12 million). More
UK marketing services group TMN – which includes online fieldwork agency iD Factor and online research consultancy iCD Research – has been named 'Online Business of the Year' in the inaugural T-Mobile Fast Growth Business Awards. More
Online panel provider ToLuna has announced full year results ahead of market expectations. Pretax profit for the year to 31st December 2006 is up 220% from £0.7m to £2.2m, while revenue grew 180% versus pro forma figures for 2005, to £8.4m. More
WPP-owned online panel provider Lightspeed Research has acquired global employee research firm, Foresight International, for an undisclosed sum. More
The BBC is inviting submissions for its new Quantitative and Tracking Roster, a shortlist of agencies which can then bid for projects including ad hoc quant surveys and some major tracking studies. The Pulse contract, currently with GfK but due to expire in March 2008, will also be included in the current tender. More
A survey released by home technology MR specialist, Park Associates, has revealed that around one-third of US households, or 31 million homes, have no access to the Internet and do not plan to subscribe in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, broadband usage is once again on the up, underlining the so-called 'digital divide'. More
Two online specialists have announced expansion into new Central London premises this week, UK-based YouGov and the UK office of Survey Sampling International (SSI). More
London-based MR agency Continental Research has created the new position of Head of Media Research, and appointed ex-BskyB researcher, Kiri Mitchell, to the role. More
The UK's eq group plc, parent of MR firms Quaestor and Buckingham Research, has reported on 'a difficult year'. Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2006 show turnover down 8% to £10.50m and adjusted operating profit down 21% to £1.30m. More
Researchers are always worrying about the client / agency relationship, an old Conference chestnut if ever there were one; but they're only just getting to grips with Web 2.0 and 'Research 2.0'. Our conference correspondent Phyllis Vangelder reports on these two key sessions from Brighton. More
In our third and final article reviewing the Golden Jubilee MRS Conference in Brighton, Phyllis Vangelder reviews papers looking forward at the future of research, and the future of the planet. More
Panel and software provider, GMI (Global Market Insite), has increased the size of its panels in China by 65% and in India more than fivefold. Meanwhile senior Board member Larry Schack has left the company and the west coast, reportedly to work for his previous employer, PSB. More
Global group Ipsos has published results for the full year 2006 showing organic growth of 6.5%, above the industry average but below its own high expectations. Revenue increased 19.4% to Euros 857.3m, with the majority of the rise due to acquisitions. More
The Nielsen Company has announced the launch of a new web-based software tool for evaluation of past and present product placements; and the integration of consumer purchasing behaviour into its multi-country Global Track analysis tool. More
In the UK Peter Bowman, a veteran of joint industry initiatives including the NRS and BARB, has been appointed as the inaugural General Manager of JICIMS, the Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems. More
Boston-based Strategy Analytics has organised its services for suppliers in the key markets surrounding new media convergence into five syndicated research programs, some new and some rebranded and/or restructured. More
NetRatings has released financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2006. Full year figures show a profit for the first time, with a net income of $2.8m in 2006 vs a loss of $8.4m in 2005. Revenue rose 20% from $68m in 2005 to $81.8m in 2006. More
Internet audience measurement provider, comScore Media Metrix, has designed a new set of metrics to measure the frequency with which a person views web content. The launch of 'visits' comes as reliance on page view stats declines among Internet properties and advertisers. More
In an exclusive interview with DRNO, Mike Connors admits the quarter billion dollars raised last month for his new acquisition company is 'burning a hole in our pockets' and that ISG will base its strategy on buying one information services firm worth $200-700m, within eighteen months tops. More
Vodafone marketing leader David Wheldon has used a conference speech to question the relevance of current copy-testing techniques in the 'multi-platform age', singling out Millward Brown. Bob Meyers, the agency's Group CEO, told DRNO he thinks the remarks have 'to some extent' been taken out of context. More
GfK NOP has appointed former Channel 4 RM Gary Roddy as Research Director, to work across its portfolio of media clients, and develop new business from its London headquarters. More
Technology analyst Forrester Research Inc. will rewrite its old accounts, as it continues to put its own house in order following its discovery of financial irregularities in December. This week, it also released results of a study of innovation round the world, listing Switzerland among five leaders in the field. More
Norwegian MR software business, Future Information Research Management (FIRM) has changed its name to Confirmit, matching its flagship web-based survey, feedback and reporting software product. More
TNS has released full year results for 2006, showing revenue almost flat at £1,004.2m (up 0.5% from £999m in 2005). However the firm, whose US custom business has been restructuring since reporting problems a year ago, said results in other divisions were good. More
Austin, Texas-based word of mouth research and promotion specialist Bazaarvoice is opening a London office, its first venture outside the USA, and has appointed Shareen Campbell to lead the office as Sales Director. More
Ipsos Interactive Services (IIS) has merged its North American and European organisations into one global online research body, to be managed by CEO Andrei Postoaca. More
Online agency YouGov has announced a 50:50 joint venture with Marketing Week publisher Centaur Media plc. YouGovCentaur will develop specialist panels covering Centaur's key sectors including marketing, legal, financial services and engineering. More
Healthy preliminary figures indicate that GfK Group's 2006 organic growth of 5.4% was again ahead of the estimated industry average of 4-5%. Declining sales in Japan meant overall Asia Pacific growth was nil, but the firm's operations in Central and Eastern Europe continue to boom. More
TNS has launched TNSInsightTvLive(TM), an interactive online platform which allows respondents to see a survey moderator via a real-time video link, and enables him or her to demonstrate visual material while at the same time, analysing survey responses. More
Jon Cruddas, a contender for Labour's deputy leadership, is one of the latest in a long line to criticise the government's 'over-reliance' on focus groups. Neither is he the first, we suspect, to dislike its 'direct marketing techniques'. But can he seriously be down on 'using research on the Internet' as well? More
Compiler of Internet trend forecasts, eMarketer.com, estimates that while US online advertising spend has risen by more than 30% each year for the past three, the 2007 increase will be just 19%. Not that that's bad... but it's certainly a change of pace. More
Ambitious online agency MetrixLab has announced that its revenue and profit before tax more than doubled in 2006, to Euros 8.2m and Euros 3.3m respectively. The firm hopes to use strong organic growth and acquisitions to hit the Euros 50m revenue mark by 2009. More
Technology analyst IDC has reported results for 2006, with worldwide revenues up 12% to $297 million. Twenty new countries were added to its coverage in the year, bringing the total to 93. More
UK fieldwork firm The Wire, part of Illuminas, is launching new products to complement its 100 CATI station facility. Features include real-time progress checks and interim analysis on data; and a package integrating telephone and online contacts with individual respondents. More
TNS has acquired US shopping behaviour specialist Sorensen Associates for an undisclosed sum, and created a global practice, TNS Retail and Shopper Insights. More
Research predicts that UK online shopping could quadruple and account for c.40% of retail sales by 2020. The study was conducted by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research on behalf of price comparison service uSwitch. More
Philip Kleinman, The MR Journalist, has died in hospital following heart surgery. He was well known in the industry as former editor of 'Campaign' and a regular contributor to Admap, before founding the pioneering web site MRNews in the late 1990s. More
Research and predictive analytics software giant SPSS has reported a record 36% increase in its 2006 fourth quarter operating income, to $11.7m. The firm's annual revenue was up 11% from $236.1m in 2005 to $261.5m in 2006. More
Continuing a recent trend among public sector organisations on both sides of the Atlantic, five authorities in the English county of Bedfordshire are to establish their own panel of consumers, BedsVoice, to assess public services. More
Founder and CEO Rob Monster is to leave the helm of panels and software provider GMI, to pursue other interests. Monster will continue to serve as a board member and will participate in the selection of a new CEO, while the Chairman's role is taken by Enrique Godreau III, current GMI board member and MD of one of its major investors Voyager Capital. More
Nielsen has announced the consolidation of its digital television set top box measurement activities into a new service, Nielsen DigitalPlus. The system will take data from both cable system operators (MSOs) and satellite providers and integrate it with other Nielsen information. More
US digital marketing agency iCrossing has bought UK-based Spannerworks. Both firms specialise in search engine marketing (SEM) but both have a growing interest in insight and analytics, including the measurement of online 'buzz' surrounding brands and its impact on client firms. More
UK research publisher Mintel is to spice up its reports with video from MR specialist Vox Pops International. The new partners say the clips will 'illustrate selected trends identified in the report' and allow subscribers 'to see the consumer perspective for themselves'. More
London-based firm Intellitracker Ltd has launched an update of its Enterprise web analytics package which features IntelliMap, a new suite of visitor behaviour visualisation tools. More
Panel company Greenfield Online has reported quarterly and annual financial results, showing a profit of c.$8.5m in 2006. President and CEO Albert Angrisani says the firm has re-established growth for its Internet survey solutions business and is in 'the last stages of solidifying its overall turnaround.' More
Michael Connors, until recently Chairman and CEO of VNU's MMI Group, has resurfaced at the head of an acquisition company with almost $260m in funds. Information Services Group, Inc. (ISG) completed its IPO oversubscribed this week and boasts a strong line-up including several former Nielsen and VNU Execs. More
Direct marketing firm Interactive Prospect Targeting (IPT) has bought a majority stake in online MR group RealWorld Customer Experience Ltd (RWCE), the parent of research firm Tpoll. More
The Nielsen Company is to buy the remainder of online audience specialist NetRatings, for a total purchase price of $327m cash, or $21.00 a share. It already owns 60 per cent. More
WPP has acquired data collection company All Global Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. The London-based firm, whose services include healthcare panel research, telephone recruiting and qual interviewing, employs 44 people and had revenues of £7.3m for the year ended 30th April. More
Accounting and professional services firm Ernst & Young has launched a media performance auditing unit, part of its Marketing and Advertising Risk Services (MARS) practice. More
MR software firm Pulse Train is the latest to announce a mobile survey solution. A partnership with Embrace Mobile will bring the Bellview® data collection suite to mobile phones. More
Panels company Research Now has announced the acquisition of Samplenet e-Research Solutions, which trades as OpenVenue. The price for Canada's largest specialist online fieldwork company is a maximum of C$47.5m (£20.5m), subject to performance. More
Survey Sampling International (SSI) has announced a number of senior promotions to support its worldwide expansion, following the recent appointment of Jim Follett as CEO. Among them, MD Europe Kees de Jong is promoted to Director of Globalization with COO Europe Michel Guidi stepping up to fill the MD Europe role. More
GfK and entertainment sales data firm Media-Control, have announced the formation of a joint venture, GfK M², to track mobile content sales. The company will get its data direct from content and network providers, and hardware and component manufacturers. More
Synovate has acquired Amsterdam-based Interview-NSS, The Netherlands' largest independent full-service market research company – and its European Data Collection Centre (EDCC). The buys will be integrated with Synovate's existing operations in the country and led by MD Carlo Stokx. More
UK-based MR and consulting group Cello has bought a controlling interest in qual researcher Rosenblatt Limited and Internet specialist Digital People Online Limited, for a total maximum consideration of £3m. More
UK-based Illuminas has promoted Joe Brown to its Global Board with immediate effect. He is charged with developing the firm's digital economy offer. More
Three recent surveys highlight new technology's effect on consumer habits and the challenge facing advertisers. Newspapers' web sites are boosting their offline circulation; broadband video is bringing new and more lucrative advertising opportunities; and the days of the standalone DVR may be numbered. More
Online survey software provider, FIRM (Future Information Research Management), has reported 2006 revenue up 26% to $21.8 million, and a 13% EBIT margin. More
The majority of online gamblers aren't playing to win money long-term; it's more about entertainment value, according to the findings of the 'eCOGRA Global Online Gambler Survey'. The study plots the behaviour and attitudes of 11,000 players across 96 countries. More
UK-based B2B research agency Circle Research has added b2b guru David Willan to its senior team. Willan spent twenty years building up BPRI, the agency he co-founded in 1986, which is now part of WPP. More
The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) has launched a survey to measure European corporate SEM spending and highlight key trends in the European market. More
VNU today continued its radical overhaul following its return to the private sector, by changing its name to 'The Nielsen Company'. The firm says the move 'emphasizes its best-known brand name and underscores its commitment to create an integrated, streamlined global organization'. More
The body of Cathy Marlow, Finance Manager for panel firm Research Now, was discovered in the shower cubicle of the firm's London head office on Saturday night. Police say the 28-year old was murdered in a 'frenzied attack', and are questioning a man in connection with the inquiry. More
Thriving UK-based pollster YouGov plc has appointed Roger Parry, former Chairman and CEO of Clear Channel International, as a Non-Executive Director. As of 26th April, Parry will also become Non-Executive Chairman while current Chair Peter Kellner moves to the role of President. More
UK-based Marketing Sciences has appointed Danni White to its Board, and promoted both Eileen Sutherland and Chris Peach to Research Director roles. More
YouGov has hired Dr. Andy Brown as Director leading a new Organisational Consulting offer. Meanwhile its Middle Eastern subsidiary YouGovSiraj has announced an online Omnibus Service covering the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco and Egypt. More
TNS Media Intelligence, the media monitoring arm of TNS, has acquired rival agency PressWatch Media, to boost its UK market position. More
Consumer research and consulting firm, OTX (Online Testing eXchange), has hired Dave Kaye from Flamingo International, to head its newly launched qualitative arm in Europe and Asia. More
European MR agency SKOPOS has found a novel way to promote the launch of its new Media & Music Insight Division – the simultaneous release of a video, single and album via web site, YouTube and myspace. More
Online fieldwork provider Research Now has announced its Final Results for the year to 31 October 2006, with turnover nearly trebled to £9.6m (2005: £3.6m) and profit before tax more than trebled to £1.6m (2005: £0.5m). More
The MRS is agency dominated and will work hard to get research clients more involved, according to Chairman Simon Lidington. The UK association must also broaden its base to include emerging professions and techniques on the edge of the sector – 'if we don't represent them, somebody else will'. More
Jim Follett, former COO of NOP World, is to replace Bev Weiman as Chief Executive Officer of panels firm Survey Sampling International (SSI). Weiman, who co-founded SSI along with Tom Danbury in 1977, cited personal reasons for her departure. More
Online survey professionals need to choose the right day and time to send invitations to potential respondents, according to a study by Lightspeed Research. Invites sent on a Monday afternoon got the best response rates (up to 39%) while for Friday afternoon mailings the rate fell to 28%. More
Research software firm Globalpark UK has moved to larger London premises following rapid expansion in 2006. The company, which recently launched a new version of its Surveycenter package, has also boosted its sales team with the appointment of Diana Dawkins. More
As the MRS reveals that 'happiness expert' Richard Reeves is to deliver the opening keynote slot at its annual conference in March, US provider Luth Research has published results of a survey into happiness around the world, highlighting the differences between countries and regions. More
UK research guru David Smith has revived his old company name and is back in business just days after vacating the Chairman's seat at Illuminas. The new DVL Smith Group already has offices in London Docklands and, thanks to a partnership with Australian financial specialist John Marinopoulos, in Melbourne. More
Middle managers on both sides of the Atlantic are spending up to two hours a day rummaging around for the information they need to do their jobs - yet more than 50% of what they find is of no value. The results come from a recent survey by Accenture. More
Industry veteran and MRS Fellow Cliff Holmes has been appointed a Non-Executive Director of Essential Research, the specialist media research agency launched in 2005 year by three former BBC Audience Researchers. More
The conversion from analog radio to digital radio is 'well under way around the world and gaining momentum rapidly', according to research by In-Stat. Worldwide, the market for digital radio receivers will grow from 5m units in 2005 to almost 25m in 2010, with Europe leading. More
The 'next Bill Gates' is more likely to come from either China or Japan (49%) than from the United States (21%), according to a poll by Zogby International and 463 Communications. The poll also looked at perceptions of the Internet and its effect on work and society. More
A dozen research suppliers have submitted a total of 24 proposals to UK audience measurement body BARB in response to its invitation on next generation measurement. More
VNU has begun what it calls a 'major corporate transformation' including the phasing out of its existing group structure and the cutting of up to 4,000 jobs in 2007. NMR CEO Susan Whiting is promoted to a new group-wide EVP role while Frank Martell and Steve Schmidt will leave the company. More
Internet searches for the Nintendo Wii have ousted the perennial favourite iPod to become the UK's most searched-for gadget in the run-up to Christmas, according to Hitwise. The recall of a wrist strap, due to over-enthusiastic users throwing remote controls around, can't have hurt its worldwide sales either. More
VNU says it will sell 'substantially all' of its Business Media Europe (BME) group to European private-equity and venture capital company 3i. Operations in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium are included although France is still under discussion. More
Yankee Group and Chinese technology advisor Analysys International have announced a partnership agreement. The exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed today, commits the firms to working together on research reports, consulting projects and the hosting of industry events. More
UK success story YouGov plc is hoping to use its magic formula in the US: today it announced it has acquired a 32% shareholding in Polimetrix Inc., an online political and social research agency founded in 2004 by Stanford Professor Douglas Rivers. More
Hi-tech agency Metrixlab has announced 'sensational' results for an 'online eye tracking' tool which uses mouse movements to measure the attention paid to a web page by users. The firm says large scale validation of the method at Groningen University shows a 0.9 correlation with 'traditional' eye tracking. More
UK-based online quant agency Aurora Market Research has announced expansion plans, including a larger London office, staff appointments, a rebrand and the launch of its own consumer panel. More
In the UK TMN plc, which owns panels firm The iD Factor and newly launched online research consultancy division iCD, has announced record revenue (£8m) and profits (£1.4m) in its half-yearly statement to the stock market. iD Factor grew fastest of its three core divisions, with sales up 122%. More
UK agency SKOPOS Market Insight has been chosen as the official partner of Research Conferences and will provide research services for all 2007 and 2008 MRS conferences including the 2007 Jubilee Conference in Brighton. More
Business to business specialist Kadence says it will double its turnover to $8m in 2006. UK business has leapt by 70% year-on-year and turnover in the US has grown by 66%, while the firm's newer Asian offices also report good growth. More
Online survey firm Ciao has launched a 'Career Profile' option. The new data allows clients to use job categories to select samples from its panelists in 23 countries across Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia. More
Ipsos ASI's Peter Haslett has moved from Canada, where he was President and MD, to take up the role of UK Chairman. He will take responsibility for building the advertising research firm's UK and global presence. More
The Internet has become the number one medium for data collection for quantitative physician studies, used for 43% of studies according to research by specialist US provider Medefield. Online research made strong gains versus face-to-face and telephone research for the third year running. More
VNU has announced its quarterly and 9-month financial results for the period to September 30. Pro forma operating revenue for the third quarter was Euros 904m, up 6% on the previous year at constant currency, while operating income fell 29% to Euros 72m. More
Two surveys out this week shed light on the world of online music. The technology is new – Ipsos says more and more Americans are trying mobile music downloads – but the content is often golden oldie, with Genesis taking the no.1 spot in Hitwise's UK online search chart. More
Research software firm Nebu has found a new UK Managing Director from a familiar source; released new versions of its panel management and web interviewing systems; and announced a partnership with Embrace mobile to facilitate mobile phone surveys using text messages. More
comScore Networks has revealed that Google web properties edged out those of Microsoft in October to become the most visited in the UK for the first time. EBay, Yahoo! and BBC sites round out the top 5. More
UK demand for video downloading lags far behind both the recent hype and the development of technology, according to data from TNS Worldpanel Entertainment. Of the 10,000 people interviewed every two weeks for the service, not one has yet legally downloaded a video. More
Bundled telecoms and entertainment services are big business in the US, but in their infancy in the UK. However, according to Continental Research's latest convergence report, the concept appeals to the great majority of UK consumers. More
Digital media and panels firm Ciao has appointed ex-TNS Director, Ross Broadbent, as New Product Development and Product Management Director. More
Can results from online panels be trusted? Gian Fulgoni, Chairman of US-based comScore Networks set alarm bells ringing at this year's CASRO Conference with statistics about three-a-day survey respondents; but panel firms say the industry is taking a mature approach to the issue. More
The battle for cricket's most famous trophy resumes in a few hours, with Australians hoping for a change of ownership, but continuity Down Under is the theme of two recent surveys. GMI / Anholt research finds the country's image little changed, while Ipsos finds its executives combining new media use with reading more newspapers than ever. More
Online MR software company FIRM will pre-launch version 11 of its Confirmit MR suite at the ESOMAR Panel Research conference in Barcelona next week. The new release includes a new Community Panel module which promises to enhance panellist engagement and response rates. More
Panel and research technology provider Toluna is to expand into the Asia Pacific market with the launch of an Australian panel community, currently at 30,000 members. More
European online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has opened a Chicago office and appointed Mike Gray, Vice President – Client Development, to build the Chicago team. Nine other staff join the agency's US team. More
Greenfield Online has reported results for the third quarter of 2006, ended September 30. The figures show improvements over those for the previous year and President and CEO Albert Angrisani says there has been progress 'in many areas of the business' but that the management are 'not satisfied'. More
VNU has announced the appointment to its Supervisory Board of James M. Kilts, until a month ago Vice Chairman of The Procter & Gamble Company and since co-founder of advisory and equity firm Centerview Partners. Centerview will also make an investment in VNU alongside its six existing private-equity owners. More
TNS' Media and Internet, Television and Radio Audience Measurement (iTRAM) divisions have helped the Guardian Newspapers Ltd and Sky Media scoop the gold and silver awards for 'Best Research Initiative' at this year's Media Week Awards. More
Nielsen Media Research and News Corporation have announced an eight-year agreement for audience measurement services. Relations between the two firms had been troubled since News Corp company Fox TV questioned Nielsen's methods in 2004 and at one point called for government regulation of TV ratings. More
Online research software company FIRM has announced third quarter results with organic revenue up 32% year on year, from £3.7m to $4.9m. EBIT margin rose to 11% from just 2% in Q3 2005. More
WPP's media planning and buying division GroupM has agreed to use the ad monitoring systems of Thomson Intermedia, and to promote them to its UK client base of more than 650 advertisers. More
SKOPOS Market Insight has hired former aerospace engineer and IT consultant Duncan Wells for its Client Consulting team. More
Delhi is the latest new location for fast-growing b2b research specialist Kadence, which already has companies in Boston, London, Singapore and Sydney. Kadence Research India launches with a senior team of three directors, headed up by Aman Makkar, who becomes MD. More
Information giant Experian has launched six new solutions under its Marketing Services unit, to optimise marketers' communications with their best customers and prospects. The six, aimed at 'making insight actionable', include Prospectvue, an advanced, multichannel analysis tool. More
Online audience specialist NetRatings has expanded its patent enforcement program with the filing of lawsuits against four companies, including WebTrends, Inc., alleging infringement of patents it owns or controls. More
Two companies providing services for research firms have scooped high profile awards in Asia Pacific: RPO specialist Pulse Group winning an APICTA 2006 Award, and software developer QSR International a top Australian Export award. Meanwhile in the UK, GfK NOP's Field Marketing team has also carried off a number of prizes. More
GfK has announced that, with the integration of NOP World running well and reduced net debt, it has arranged syndicated credit facilities of EUR 430 million and US$ 170 million. The Group has also launched a home shopping tracker, covering orders made through the Internet, digital TV, mail order and the post. More
UK agency HPI Research has been bought by its management from communications group Interpublic, for an undisclosed sum. More
Harris Interactive has launched a European unit for its Service Bureau. HISB Europe will offer MR firms in Europe a range of services including telephone, face-to-face and online data collection, the SynTrack Online survey transitioning service and Integrated CATI-WAPI (ICW), among others. More
Despite mobile phone providers' endeavours to recruit 3G customers, third generation technology remains a low priority for mobile users across the globe, with cost the biggest deterrent, according to Global Technology Insight (GTI), the massive annual mobile study by TNS. More
YouGov plc, the polling and MR provider with bases in the UK and Middle East, has announced rapid growth in its preliminary results for the year to 31 July. Sales have more than tripled to £9.5m from £2.9m, while operating profit grew 302% to £3.9m. More
Ciao, the European company of online survey solutions provider Greenfield Online, has hired a new Director of Panels, Cyril Stern, and promoted several key sales and marketing executives within its European organization. More
GfK NOP has hired Richard Matthews for the new role of Director of Insight for its Technology division, tasked with developing a suite of services to integrate insight into client processes. Matthews worked client side in senior insight functions at Vodafone and Nokia for nearly ten years. More
TNS has appointed Matthew Froggatt, a thirteen-year veteran of the company, as Global Sector Head of its Technology division, replacing Tacis Gavoyannis who has left to pursue other interests. Froggatt will be based in London. More
UK-based TMN plc has announced the formation of a new online research company, ICD Research. The new division will sit alongside panels specialist The iD Factor one of whose Directors, Paul Dixon, leaves to head up ICD. More
VNU has announced results for the three months ended June 30, dominated by an adjustment of Euros 71m for costs relating to the sale of the company in May. Excluding this, pro forma operating revenue was up 6% year on year in constant currency to Euros 943m, and operating income up 11% to Euros 114m. More
UK-based panel specialist The iD Factor has recruited five new members of staff, three as business developers. The firm says the expansion programme, which has already doubled its headcount to 34 in just 12 months, is ongoing. More
US-based panels and software firm GMI has passed another busy month, with the opening of a Netherlands office, seven appointments including an MD, Business Development, and the news that its Chinese panel now includes roughly 1 in every 1,000 of the population. More
Lux Research, Inc., a research firm focused on nanotechnology and the physical sciences, has appointed Joe Raguso as Vice President of Strategic Business Development. He was previously CEO of UK-based QinetiQ Nanomaterials, Ltd. (QNL), a subsidiary of major defence and security company QinetiQ Group plc. More
Online competitive intelligence provider Hitwise UK has announced the addition of paid and organic search term data to its Search Intelligence(TM) 4.0 product. The new data will allow online marketers to analyse their competitors' paid and organic search strategies at a keyword level. More
Online survey software company FIRM (Future Information Research Management) has announced the formation of an advisory board for its Confirmit product. The Board is made up of prominent executives from research providers, including TNS' Tony Cowling. More
Advertising assessment specialist MediaAnalyzer has announced a US expansion with new headquarters in New York City, and has named media veteran Charles Boyar as VP to lead its US business. More
Two global agencies have this week released latest results from elite surveys. Ipsos Media reveals that European business leaders are compensating for increased time away from home with gadgets, cars and holidays; while hybrid methodology is helping Synovate's Media Atlas get past the security gates to chart the rise of AsiaPac's urban affluent. More
ESOMAR drew to a close its 59th Congress in London yesterday, and announced the winners of four prizes. A new overall award for the best paper 2005-6 went to speakers from Australian agency The Leading Edge and client Carlton & United Beverages. More
It may be another six years before London hosts the Olympics, but we've limbered up with this year's ESOMAR Congress... The annual flagship event of the worldwide association of research professionals has just concluded, sampled by our correspondent Phyllis Vangelder. More
Italian online research specialist Nextplora is the latest in the booming sub-sector to announce international expansion. The Milan-based company has launched sites in English, French, German and Spanish and will offer analysis and advice covering Europe's five largest economies. More
MR software and panels provider GMI has launched an initiative aiming to protect the online research industry from fraudulent panelists. PureSample.com offers online MR firms the opportunity to match panelists against a database of 'known offenders', and report offenders of their own. More
Global MR turnover topped US$23.3bn in 2005, according to ESOMAR's Industry Report, launched at its annual Congress today. France overtook Germany to become the third biggest world market, while China grew at 25% and will break into the global top 5 markets in 5-6 years if current growth continues. More
Starfish Research & Strategy has launched BluRay Select, a virtual concept testing tool for new product development, allowing consumers to interact with three dimensional concepts or prototypes. More
Yankee Group Research has acquired emerging technology specialist Trendsmedia, Inc., which also produces the WiMAX World conference. Trendsmedia founder and President Eliot Weinman joins the Yankee Group Board in the new role of President of the Events & Publishing Division. More
Online audience specialist Hitwise has launched a Data Centre for easy access to the latest UK Internet stats, giving top-line competitive intelligence data. Meanwhile Ipsos Insight has launched a site section giving easy access to its 'Face of the Web' consumer studies. More
European online panel specialist ToLuna has announced strong results for the six months to 30 June. Revenue for the six months is £3.6m, already twenty per cent up on full year pro forma 2005 figures. More
Research faces a future of constant change, but recent legislation is unlikely to hinder its continuing growth, according to the 2006 Research Industry Trends Report. Last week we looked at data collection methods and world regions - this week, legislation, changing suppliers and the general outlook. More
The Internet is leaving CATI far behind as the research industry's main data collection method, but also contributing to a move towards 'richer and more rewarding interactions among clients, providers, and the public', according to the 2006 Research Industry Trends Report. More
Greenfield Online subsidiary Ciao has announced the launch of a global media panel, which will give clients the ability to target survey respondents based on their preferences for various media including television, radio, newspapers and magazines. More
Another European-based panel provider is expanding across the Atlantic: ToLuna PLC has today announced the opening of a New York office, to act as the hub of its US and Canadian operations. The news follows ResearchNow's announcement yesterday of a new US office and staff. More
UK-based online fieldwork company The iD Factor has announced a series of deals with local panel providers, giving its clients access to a network of panels in 41 countries on five continents. More
Research Now has followed up news of multiple UK appointments with the announcement of a new San Francisco office, the expansion of its existing US office in New York, and four senior hires. More
Nintendo and Sony are left as the only two global players in the handheld games market, according to analysis from technology specialist In-Stat. In the past year the Nokia N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac, and Gizmondo have all been taken off the market. In-Stat expects Nintendo's DS to retake top spot from the Sony PSP. More
Following yesterday's appointment of a new head for its Public Sector research, ORC International has announced the arrival of Andy Waller, previously of GfK, as Head of Operations at its European Information Centre based at the Angel, Islington. More
GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) has acquired London-based interactive survey specialist Media Intelligence. The buy gives GMI access to leading edge animated graphics and interactive techniques which will enable its clients to create simulations including product designs and store layouts. More
TNS has announced its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June. Unspectacular overall revenue growth of 4.5% (underlying growth 3.0%) reflects a decline in US custom business, while the rest of the group achieved organic revenue growth of almost 6%. More
UK-based SKOPOS Market Insight & Consultancy Ltd has relaunched its services under the banner of 'Full Circle'. Features include dedicated sector-based research teams, and fieldwork support agreements with IFF, ORC Direct, Sparkler and Consumer Profile. More
UK-based online specialist Research Now has announced senior appointments for its London team, with Chris Dubreuil joining as Client Development Director and Paul Botje as COO. Also arriving are twelve staff for the client development, panel analytics and delivery teams. More
Tariq Mirza, one of the best known figures on the UK research software scene, is leaving the industry after 14 years for a 'different challenge' heading up a start-up toy company. Mirza was until now MD of Nebu UK. More
Marketing professionals in the US and UK are struggling to acquire the new online skills they need, according to 'The Face of the New Marketer', a study by online analytics firm Coremetrics. More
TNS has today announced the launch of a Global Interactive business unit, led by Arno Hummerston as MD, and bringing together three co-ordinated areas – commercial, development and Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) support. More
David L. Calhoun, previously Vice Chairman of General Electric Company (GE), was announced today as the new Chairman and CEO of VNU, based in New York. He succeeds interim CEO Rob Ruijter, who will revert to concentrating on his role as CFO. More
US provider Outsell, Inc. has announced the acquisition of London-based Electronic Publishing Services Ltd (EPS). Both companies provide advice and consulting for the information industry itself. More
Harris Interactive has released its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter (Q4) and fiscal year ended June 30, 2006. Revenue for Q4 was up 11% year-on-year to a record $60.0m and for the fiscal year up 10% to $216m. Net earnings leapt almost 500% to $9.5m or $0.15 per share. More
ToLuna has announced a dedicated panel for European mobile telecommunications, to be drawn from its core European panel of 1.1 million active members. TolunaMobile(TM) is described as 'Europe's most highly profiled online mobile telecoms research panel'. More
Jon Beaumont has left Continental Research, where he led the media division, to join online consumer generated media (CGM) specialist WaveMetrix. His role as Chief Research Officer will include development of the firm's fast-growing client roster. More
A few days after communications regulator Ofcom announced that 'online is rapidly becoming the lead medium for young people in the UK', video research specialist Vox Pops International has released results suggesting that 'when it comes to money, teenagers treat the World Wide Web with reserve'. More
TNS has appointed Andrea Mezzasalma as global head of its Internet, Television and Radio Audience Measurement sector (iTRAM) - he will relocate from Milan to London. He takes over from Mike Gorton who will retire from TNS this year but function as a consultant. More
The UK's four million SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises, with less than 250 employees) account for half its jobs and half its GDP. However, they take a DIY approach to their advertising, according to agency B2B International which has recently published a White Paper on SME advertising practices and launched an SME panel. More
Research Now has announced the launch of four more of its proprietary research-only panels. The addition of Portugal, Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands brings the online specialist's total coverage to eighteen European countries, plus Australia. More
Yahoo! has recruited comScore Media Metrix President and CEO Peter Daboll as its new Chief of Insights and Head of Global Market Research. The role involves drawing together all the Internet giant's internal and external data sources. More
By the end of 2006, Tesco will not only be UK's biggest food retailer, but also its largest non-food retailer, according to a report published this week by retail analysts Verdict Research, part of the Datamonitor Group. More
UK panel operator and online research provider The iD Factor has recruited six new members of staff and relocated to new central London premises. It now shares a building with the other divisions of its parent group TMN plc, TMN Media and email ad agency EDR. More
BMRB has launched TGI Europa Elite, a survey identifying upmarket European consumers, using a sample of 40,000 adults across France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. Separately, the firm has also announced a new version of its Compose channel planning tool. More
A group of big-spending advertisers will insist on audited ratings from their online media from mid-2007 and measurement certified numbers by 2008, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced yesterday. More
Second quarter results for online survey solutions provider Greenfield Online show net revenue down to $24.5m from $26.3m in Q2 2005, and operating income down to $3.7m (15.1% of revenue) from $4.5m (17.2%). However, the firm's 'turnaround' is said to be underway and some forecasts have been raised. More
Global top twenty agency Opinion Research Corporation has been bought by consumer and business database and marketing firm infoUSA Inc., for $12 per share in cash, valuing the research company at around $134.3 million, including the assumption of debt. More
Fresh from its purchase of Dubai-based Siraj, YouGov has announced plans to introduce a comprehensive brand indexing scheme for the Middle East region, based on the successful UK system. More
High profile UK agency Nunwood has upgraded its online web portal 'FIZZ' and has announced a record month in July. In an industry where the demise of the medium-sized player is much discussed, Nunwood grew revenue 44% in 2005 and in July ('06) made more than £1m in sales for the first time. More
Greenfield Online Inc. and its European subsidiary Ciao have announced the establishment of an Indian panel. 24,000 panellists are already recruited and is planned to reach a target of 75,000 respondents by the end of the year. More
NetRatings has announced results for the quarter ended June 30. Revenues were $19.9m, up 17% on Q2 2005. Net income for the quarter was $931,000, turning round a $2.3m net loss in Q2 2005. The company has also appointed Louise Ainsworth as MD of its European business. More
MR software and panel provider GMI has announced a worldwide restructuring, gearing up for further growth following its recent closing of $35 million in venture capital. The moves include senior promotions for Dr. Larry Schack in the US and Dietmar Walter in London, and a new Asian leadership team chaired by Tatt Chen. More
UK audience research body BARB has issued a Request for Proposals for measurement contracts for 2010 and beyond. The request highlights the need to measure 'all audiences to televisual services within the UK' – underlining BARB's interest in coverage of out-of-home viewing and new media. More
UK-based pollster and MR firm YouGov Plc has made its first international acquisition, buying Dubai's Siraj Marketing Research and Consultancy Boutique for approximately $2.2 million (DHS 8 million). The new firm will be known as YouGovSiraj. More
At an EGM on Friday, VNU changed its legal name, formally converted to a private company and welcomed new board members including Lord Hollick, following shareholder approval. Today the firm has named R. Ford Dallmeyer as the new legal chief for its MI Group. More
ESOMAR has revealed top line results from its 2005 Global Market Research Report, showing global MR turnover up 4.3% to $23 billion in 2005, with Europe cornering 45% of the global market. Meanwhile, online research's share of data collection revenue has grown from 11% in 2004 to a staggering 20% in 2005. More
In the UK Ray Poynter, MD of The Future Place, has launched a blog looking at the leading edge of innovation in Market Research. Poynter is a regular conference speaker and workshop leader and well known among online researchers. More
The two MDs of Ciao, Max Cartellieri and Gunnar Piening, have resigned and will be replaced by Nicolas Metzke. Ciao's parent company, Greenfield Online, Inc. also announced that it will begin the formal separation of Ciao's two main businesses, Internet survey and comparison shopping operations. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has announced results for the second quarter, ended June 30, with total revenues were $48.5million, up nearly 24% from $39.2m for the second quarter of last year. The firm also published results from a report on Asian adoption of broadband and other technologies. More
TNS has today launched a Travellers' Panel, the fifth sub-panel of its 6thdimension service. The new panel provides access to 500,000 international respondents across 6thdimension's half dozen European countries. More
Latest research from MINTEL shows that although Germany is the largest economy in Europe, Internet retail sales in the UK (9.79bn Euros) stood some 80 million Euros ahead of Germany (9.71bn Euros) last year, making the UK Europe's biggest on-line retail market. More
The summer is hot, and British audiences have sport and entertainment very much on their minds, it seems. Surveys and analyses out this week reveal the popularity of the Sport Relief web site; the growing numbers watching World Cup matches on the 'Net or on mobiles; the importance of the grey market to the success of music festivals; and the success of Wilson racquets at Wimbledon. More
Online MR software specialist FIRM has announced second quarter revenues up 31% on the year. Sales totalled US $4.6m in the second quarter of 2006 compared to $3.5m in Q2 2005. More
Online fieldwork specialist Research Now has announced the launch of a sub-panel screener creating a detailed automotive profile for 900,000 selected consumer panel members. The screener has been designed to be used in a consistent manner across the five biggest European markets. More
Sarah Sanderson has joined BMRB as a Director heading up the proprietary media research unit, BMRB Media. She leaves Ipsos MORI where she ran the newly combined ad hoc media research unit. More
In the UK, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has launched cross-media research with Carat Insight to measure the effectiveness of different media in encouraging consumers' engagement with automotive brands. More
Independent European online agency MetrixLab has acquired London-based QuickWise Ltd, a specialist in high quality ad hoc brand research. More
Hours before its shares ceased trading on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, VNU yesterday announced plans to change its financing structure, including the raising of new funds, and the proposed addition of five members to its supervisory board. The five include former NOP boss Lord Hollick. More
Synovate has announced an expansion of its media research services and the promotion of Asia Pacific boss Steve Garton to lead a new global group, based in London. In addition, Craig Harvey joins from Publicis as Director, Media Research - Asia Pacific. More
TNS' UK share price looks more stable today after a dramatic fall on Thursday and Friday last week. The drop followed a warning on full year operating margin and comments by Chief Executive David Lowden, who blamed problems on the 'unacceptable' performance of the American custom business. More
European online fieldwork agency Research Now has announced that its proprietary online consumer research panels are now available in the Nordic region. Alex Sunnerstam will lead the team, supported by Victor Bergh who joins from Lightspeed Research. More
GfK has announced a co-operation agreement with media analysis software provider DAP Systems. The deal will help GfK to develop and market audience research software for the international market, based around its forthcoming Evogenius system. More
GfK has published its twice-yearly report on UK IT trends. As well as highlighting the winners and losers, the report headlines increasing convergence, the continuing move towards notebooks and wireless connections, and the ongoing fall in prices in the sector. More
UK online marketing specialist themutual.net plc has announced results for the year ending April 30 2006, including a trebling of its annual turnover to £9m and operating profit more than doubled to £1.70m. The group is the parent of online fieldwork agency the idFactor. More
The various agencies within WPP's GroupM have combined to launch Connections, an exclusive consumer-led research and communications planning tool. Connections promises to help marketers and planners to analyze and evaluate the full range of media and communications options available to brands. More
UK agency Ipsos MORI has appointed Ian Bramley and Stuart Grant as Global Account Director and Associate Director, respectively. Both will be working in the entertainment practice of Ipsos-ASI, the advertising research specialist division of Ipsos MORI. More
How do you get your company's news included in Daily Research News Online and other industry publications? You can of course just email it to us, but there's an art to keeping editors happy and boosting your chances. DRNO's Nick Thomas will be among those joining a live podcast discussion on Tuesday 18th July, part of the new ResearchTalk(TM) series. More
VNU's sales for the three months ended March 31st rose to Euros 890 million compared to Euros 791 million in the first quarter of 2005. Operating income fell from Euros 58 million to Euros 25 million. More
Hitwise has this week announced the launch of Hitwise Conversions, a new custom reporting capability that provides clients with insight on how online users navigate within specific sections of competitive web sites. More
Mobile phone and mobile data markets continue to expand and diversify, giving rise to a large number of published reports and top line results releases. Here DRNO covers a few, from cellphone feature requirements to MR opportunities, to the challenges facing corporate Blackberry managers. More
European agency SKOPOS has opened an office in South Africa, based in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. Susanne Reese, previously head of the company's field and tab offering SOS Bureau UK is named as its Director. More
TNS Media Intelligence has launched TNS PRess, billed as a straightforward, cost effective ad hoc press monitoring tool for the PR industry. More
European online fieldwork provider and panel specialist Research Now has announced its Interim results for the half year to 30 April 2006. Sales nearly trebled, profit before tax doubled and operating profit has already passed the figure for the preceding twelve months. More
Two research studies this week look at privacy and security in the digital age. Ofcom, the UK's independent communications regulator, has published research examining approaches to Internet consumer protection in the UK and other countries, while Evans Data says developers in the EMEA region report a fall in security breaches. More
Edinburgh-based user experience consultancy User Vision has introduced new 'eye tracking' technology to help with its evaluation of web site and product usability and accessibility. More
Nielsen Media Research has announced that it will provide integrated, all-electronic ratings for television regardless of the platform on which it is viewed, under the 'Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement' initiative (A2/M2). More
Global online provider Lightspeed Research is offering researchers more effective access to children (under 12) and young people (ages 13-17) online, using a new pre-approved system. The company secures parents'/guardians' permission and works to ESOMAR and COPPA guidelines. More
Online agency RSM is once again running its annual 'State of the Industry' survey of UK research professionals, with fieldwork for the fifth wave underway. More
Valcon has set a date for the delisting of MR and media giant VNU, of which it now owns around 99% of shares. 10 July will be the last day that shares can be traded on the Exchange. More
Research Now has announced the appointment of Charles Pearson, formerly VP at Greenfield Online, as Senior VP, Business Development. Pearson will relocate from San Francisco to London, for a role which includes bringing top US techniques to Europe, and building North American business for the European-based online agency. More
VNU and Valcon announced yesterday that the consortium now has more than 97% of shares in the MR and media giant, and confirmed that the process of delisting and of 'squeeze-out' of remaining shareholders will proceed. More
Harris Interactive has announced a reorganisation of its UK operations including the closing of facilities in Macclesfield and Stockport, and the loss of between ten and fifteen jobs. The company also announced the resignation of its UK Managing Director Aled Morris. More
Britain's terrestrial TV broadcasters have selected TNS to recruit and monitor a panel of 450 households to trial the latest High Definition (HD) technology on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services. More
In the UK, the Ofcom Consumer Panel has published its second annual report, reiterating its support for consumer-focused regulation and its commitment to research. Meanwhile, Ofcom reports rapid progress for digital, with Freeview for the first time outnumbering traditional analogue TV on primary sets in British homes. More
Sue Elms has stepped up to lead Millward Brown's Global Media Practice, with the title of Executive Vice President. She joins from Carat Insight where she spent five years as MD, a role now filled by her former Deputy Mark Greenstreet. More
Online audience measurement firm comScore Networks has launched qSearch Retail(TM), a tool to measure the impact of Web search behaviour on consumer spending online and across retail channels, including in-store, catalog and phone purchases. More
Online panel and software company GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) announced today that it has raised a further $35m to fund its expansion, leaving it 'well-positioned to reinvent the market research industry' according to Chairman and CEO Rob Monster. More
Digital marketing agency WebSideStory has announced the launch of its Active Marketing Suite in Europe. The Suite integrates on-demand digital marketing applications including web analytics, site search, keyword bid management and web content management. More
UK agency ORC International has launched OmniPanel, an opinion panel to track consumer usage patterns, behaviours, preferences and buying intentions in the mobile telecoms industry. More
A new corporate reputation study by TNS released this week in the UK has named Nokia top out of 21 household companies. Almost 50% of consumers rated it highly for each of three key factors: business success, trustworthiness and product/service quality. More
RAJAR has awarded contracts to Ipsos MORI, RSMB and TNS covering radio audience measurement for two years starting January 2007. Ipsos MORI will continue to operate the core survey with a redesigned diary, while TNS will trial a PPM-based electronic measurement panel in London, providing both radio data for RAJAR and TV for co-sponsor BARB. More
Private equity consortium Valcon has declared its offer for VNU unconditional, and intends to take the group private as soon as possible. Only 78.7% of VNU's share capital was tendered or committed by the deadline last Friday, missing even the revised target of 80% set just over two weeks ago. More
Last week's BIG Conference on the Welsh border once again provided b2b researchers from the UK and abroad with a memorable couple of days, from papers on the ethnography of financial advisers and business research as quantum physics, to tennis ankle deep in water. More
VNU's acquisition by the Valcon consortium looks likely to go ahead after Knight Vinke Asset Management (KVAM), hitherto the loudest opponent of the deal, said it would tender its shares at the new bid price, before the deadline for acceptance passed this afternoon. More
Synovate is planning further acquisitions, with Internet panel companies and analytics & modelling specialists among the possible targets. Global CEO Adrian Chedore talks exclusively to DRNO about buying companies, keeping people, and how a fast-growing top ten agency can stay 'small'. More
On-demand web analytics firm Omniture has opened its first European offices in London and Paris, and hired Neil Weston to head up its European operations as VP and General Manager EMEA. Neil Morgan (VP Marketing EMEA), Georges Anidjar (GM, France) and Wolfgang Allisat (Director of Sales, EMEA) complete the new senior team. More
comScore Europe has appointed Delphine Gatignol as Sales Manager for France. She will be based in the London office, but will take responsibility for new business initiatives in France and Belgium, as well as managing day-to-day client relations and supporting existing clients. More
European online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has launched three online panels in Eastern Europe. The panels in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic are all stand-alone, locally recruited propositions, with their own local country incentive choices. More
Data compiled by RAJAR reveals that, for the first time, more than half the UK adult population claim to own a DAB radio set or to have listened to the radio via digital television (DTV) or the Internet. More
Panel provider Greenfield Online has announced results for the first quarter (Q1) of 2006, ending March 31. The results show the beginnings of 'tangible results from our turnaround efforts' according to President and CEO Albert Angrisani - but also 'a considerable amount of hard work in front of us, particularly in North America'. More
Harris Interactive has announced results for its fiscal third quarter 2006, ended March 31. Total revenue was $52.2m, up 3% on the same period a year previously. Strong US growth of 9% (revenue now $42.4m) was counterbalanced by poor figures for Europe, where revenue was down by $2.0m / 17% to $9.8m ($0.8m due to exchange rates). More
comScore Networks has announced the launch of comScore World Metrix, the first true estimate of global online audience size and behaviour based on activity from the company's global online panel. More
Synovate has announced the rapid expansion of its global opinion panels across Europe and in the Asia Pacific region; and has appointed Emiel van Wegen and Shaun Griffin to help guide the process. More
MR software companies SPSS and FIRM have both announced strong results for the first quarter of 2006. SPSS has net revenues of $62.2m, up 8% on Q1 of 2005, while new license revenues rose faster, up 15% to $29.9m. FIRM's revenue was $4.8m, representing a rise of 29% at constant currencies. More
Global group GfK has confirmed its upbeat preliminary announcement from 28th February regarding results for 2005, announcing 'the most successful year in the company's history' with sales up by over 40% to Euros 937.3m, 6.5% organic growth and margin improving to 13.3%. More
Ofcom yesterday published its Communications Market Report for the Nations and Regions of the UK. The report examines the availability, take-up and usage of Internet, telecoms and broadcasting services across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the nine English Regions. More
Online competitive intelligence service Hitwise has announced an upgrade to its online audience targeting system, Lifestyle V2.0. The new release promises marketers easier identification of top performing and niche sites that attract their most desirable customers, as well as faster visitor profiling. More
Online survey software specialist FIRM has launched a new complementary online analysis and insight collaborative platform, Confirmit Rapid Results, for users of its flagship Confirmit product. More
The UK's Media Research Group has elected Hugh Johnson of the Huge Organisation as its new Chair, with Roger Gane stepping down from the position and from the committee. Eight other candidates were elected to serve on the committee. More
comScore Europe has announced plans for a Marketing Solutions Group to help European clients improve their online marketing. Piers Stobbs, a native of the UK, will move from the firm's Chicago office to London to head it up. More
Google gained in year-on-year search market share for the eighth consecutive month and maintained its status as market leader in March with 42.7% of US searches conducted on its sites, according to qSearch analysis from comScore. In the UK, Hitwise stats show Google is far more dominant with 74.8%, nearly ten times its nearest rival MSN. More
VNU, which is holding an EGM in Amsterdam today to persuade shareholders of the merits of the current private equity offer, says it will make 'a compelling and thorough case' for this being the best option, and has posted on its web site the presentation it will use to structure its argument. More
BIG, the UK's association for b2b research professionals, is gearing up for 4 weeks of activity with its AGM, a comprehensive review of b2b panel providers, and the annual Conference all scheduled. More
Mobile phones could soon overtake PCs as the most widely used means of accessing the Internet, according to the Ipsos 'Face of the Web' study. Internet access via the mobile phone actually outpaces wireless access from a notebook PC in many of areas of the world. More
Survey Sampling International has appointed Pete Cape, founder of TNS Interactive, to head up a new unit to be known as the Knowledge Department, Internet Sampling. In addition, the company is to open its first Asia Pacific office, in China, and has made two key hires for it. More
European online specialist Research Now has opened an office in Paris – its first in France – and recruited a new executive team for it, led by Jean-Luc Daurelle and Emmanuel Probst. More
Triple play services that bundle offerings of TV, phone and Internet have proven effective for operators and service providers in reducing customer churn and delivering operational economies. Now ABI Research says some operators will be adding a fourth element, wireless. More
MR sampling solutions provider Centurion Marketing Systems has released a new version of its sampling tool, MARSC. Enhanced features improve respondent targeting and give new panel management options. More
VNU has published a detailed presentation to counter criticism from its outspoken shareholder KVAM, and promote the firm's recommended private equity offer. The document describes KVAM's proposed 'Plan B' as flawed, and its opposition as based on 'misleading assertions and incomplete analysis'. More
UK-based research buyers want agencies to understand and help ease the pressures they are under from internal clients, according to a survey for the latest MRWho. Many are still making scant use of online data collection, and those that are face new challenges finding time to be thoughtful in much-reduced project timetables. More
Power price rises have forced more Britons into reconsidering their supplier, according to the second annual Service in Britain survey, conducted by Research Now and Andrew Smith Research. Postal services are 'most improved' while train and bus companies and local councils are the least satisfactory. More
European online agency SKOPOS has appointed Donna Joy Hubbard as Head of Client Connections, based in its London office. More
Following the dropping of the separate Bloomerce name last week, Survey Sampling International (SSI) has a new logo and web site backed by a promotional campaign to support its global expansion. More
UK agency YouGov has announced dramatic growth for the six months to 31 January 2006, with turnover up 192% year-on-year to £3.8m. Organic growth has been rapid in the UK, but the new Dubai-based subsidiary YouGov Middle East has already all but matched UK revenues. More
OTX (Online Testing eXchange) has launched an ad testing suite, MediaCEP(TM), based around the CEP(TM) Test (Cognitive and Emotive Power), which measures the strength of a consumer's emotional response to an ad. More
US-based panels specialist Survey Sampling is rebranding its European subsidiary Bloomerce with the parent company name. More
US technology researcher Forrester has announced a raft of senior hires made in recent months. The ten new arrivals have an average of 18 years of experience in their fields of expertise. More
Papers on online research generally draw good audiences, and the session on Friday afternoon was no exception. Despite the difficulty of finding the theatre and the sessions being held in complete darkness, a capacity audience attended, according to our reporter Phyllis Vangelder. More
The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) in the UK has just revealed the results of its groundbreaking TouchPoints Survey: a week in the life of a representative sample of the GB adult population during the latter part of 2005. More
Stuart Knapman, formerly Head of Pan-BBC Audience Research has left the corporation to join new agency Essential Research. Essential was founded by two former senior researchers from the BBC, Luca Antilli and Alex Charlton. More
Global agency Lightspeed Research has named David Day as European Chief Executive Officer with effect from June 5 this year. Day was previously Managing Director for NetRatings, Europe, Middle East and Africa. More
MR software company FIRM and US-based consultancy The NPD Group have announced a partnership to develop a new panel management and sample selection platform. The move, described by FIRM's CTO as 'sure to change the entire MR industry', reflects researchers' fast-growing use of external panel providers. More
Two of VNU's major shareholders could scupper the US$10.3 billion private equity buyout backed by the group's Board earlier this week. Fund manager Fidelity International, which owns 15% of VNU, said it was 'unlikely to support this offer', while FT reports suggest 2% holder KVAM is 'actively looking' for a Chief Executive to run VNU. More
VNU, parent of ACNielsen and Nielsen Media Research, has announced that it has agreed to a public offer from a private-equity consortium including AlpInvest Partners, valuing the company's equity at approximately EUR 7.5 bn in cash, or EUR 28.75 per common share. The option of breaking the company up has been rejected. More
VNU has announced 'better-than-expected results' for 2005. The Media Measurement & Information division (MMI) showed 11% organic growth, led by a strong Nielsen Media Research (NMR). Group-wide, organic growth was only 5%. VNU says favourable settlement of tax audits 'more than offset' the $55m cost of the recent IRI settlement. More
MR software company FIRM has announced plans to launch Confirmit Kiosk, a new module of Confirmit which it says will 'revolutionize market research activities such as mall interviewing and onsite product testing'. More
Online data collection specialist Ciao, the European subsidiary of Greenfield Online Inc., has announced the completion of a major reorganization of its Client Service Department. Around 40 project managers, translators, DP and survey scripting staff have been hired, and a shift system provides client service 16 hours a day. More
An MR outsourcing provider will appear in FORTUNE magazine as one of the outsourcing industry's top 100 providers. Indian-based Cross-Tab Marketing Services made the 'rising star' category in the ranking, compiled by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). More
TNS has announced results for the year ended 31 December 2005. Revenue is up 5.7% (adjusted 4.1%) to £999.0m and adjusted operating profit up 9.5% to £112.6m. Strong growth across syndicated services and in custom business in continental Europe and emerging markets contrasted with 'challenging conditions' in the US and UK. More
UK agency Spring Research has launched a youth division, Tuned In, dedicated to helping clients connect with young consumers, to be run by former planner, Douglas Dunn. The name reflects the division's focus on using music and music terminology to help get access to their audience. More
In recent weeks both British Gas and Powergen have announced plans to raise prices, and recent research from Nielsen//NetRatings reveals how the UK online population has been flocking to energy sites over the last month. More
Nielsen Media Research has declined its option to work with Arbitron in developing the latter's PPM technology as the primary measurement tool for US media ratings currency. Nielsen has spent millions of dollars on assessing the technology since signing an agreement in 2000, but will now pursue a multi-stranded 'portfolio strategy'. More
Ofcom has published a report providing an overview of developments within the UK's telecoms, radio and television industries. Among the highlights, the number of broadband connections has passed ten million, while total TV reach has declined two years running. Other research shows online radio listening growing fast in the US. More
GfK's preliminary results, published today, confirm the company's upbeat forecast from a week ago and reveal what the group calls 'a year of extraordinary success'. Total sales of 935.4m euros, up 39%, include 198.0m euros for NOP World companies and 737.4m euros for the rest of the group. Organic growth was 6.5%. More
The GfK Group has a majority share in a new joint venture in Israel, and has announced several other recent moves to expand its global presence. They include an increased stake in Swiss agency Research Matters, the establishment of a branch for its HealthCare division in Thailand and the integration of New York's Audits and Surveys. More
The membership of the British Market Research Association (BMRA) has voted in favour of proposals to integrate its services into the Market Research Society (MRS), with effect from April 2006. The BMRA will cease to exist as of April Fools' Day. More
Online intelligence provider Hitwise has launched a Client Advisory Board, consisting of users from the US, UK and Australia who will contribute to its product development plans. More
VNU and IRI have settled their ten-year antitrust case, with VNU agreeing to pay IRI US$55m. The case was recently valued at around $650m but was on appeal following judgement in favor of VNU and its co-defendants. Both sides appear to have preferred the settlement to the possibility of the case rumbling on for a number of years more. More
A group of VNU shareholders is pressing the Dutch company to break itself into three divisions and sell each separately rather than agree to the proposed 7.3bn Euro buyout deal with private-equity firms, according to reports today in the Wall Street Journal. More
Less than one in five Americans is expecting a romantic Valentine's day, according to research by QuestionPro. Meanwhile, NetRatings says half of Australians are planning to buy a Valentine's gift, and Hitwise finds that Brits are opting for Tesco flowers, backed up by romantic poetry downloaded for free. More
Greenfield Online and its European subsidiary, Ciao, have established native-language MR panels in Japan, South Korea and China. The news follows Friday's announcement of disappointing financial results for Greenfield, particularly in North America. More
TGI, BMRB's continuous survey of the UK population, is introducing 'word of mouth' questions to help marketers make the most of viral marketing, by enabling them to target and understand the most influential and knowledgeable consumers. More
London-based online survey provider Demographix Ltd has joined forces with Telmar, a supplier of media information services and software, to offer Telmar-Demographix - an online survey tool for media companies. More
VNU, owner of ACNielsen and Nielsen Media Research, announced this morning that it is continuing 'active talks' with a private-equity consortium over a proposed buyout. The company's Supervisory and Executive Boards plan to give their view of the offer by the end of this month. More
UK online MR specialist eDigitalResearch has launched a survey translation feature for its online survey tools. Surveys can now be programmed in one language (usually English), and professionally translated into multiple languages, before returning the results to the home language. More
Decima Research in Canada is working with web publisher the 50Plus Group to conduct research into consumers aged 50+. Meanwhile, the UK's Age Concern Research Services has joined forces with magazine publishers and media agencies to launch quarterly surveys of the 50+ market. More
US online radio audiences increased 177% in the last year, according to the first figures from the joint Arbitron and comScore measurement service. Meanwhile, Nielsen//NetRatings says that community web sites such as Friends Reunited and MySpace are now visited by more than half the UK Internet population every month. More
Fast-forwarding adverts can increase their impact on the brain, according to new research for Sky Media, which suggests that DVRs do not spell the end for TV ads. The research will be presented at the MRS Research 2006 Conference, to be held in London in March. More
US-based Survey Sampling International (SSI) has announced an integrated approach to providing sampling services in Europe. The company has appointed Andrew Moffatt as Sales Director for Europe, is planning new offices in Madrid and Frankfurt, and is developing a panel in Ireland. More
Marketers should target single adults - a group set to make up 45% of the UK population by 2010, according to Singledom, a new research study from Carat. Meanwhile, a study from Deloitte & Touche USA advises retailers to meet the needs of another growing group - older consumers. More
Marketing consultancy dunnhumby has appointed Jeremy Caplin, formerly of Nestlé, to the newly created role of UK Media Director. Reporting to Graham Thomas, the newly appointed Head of Communications and Media, Caplin will be responsible for developing the company's media planning and evaluation services. More
Technology and automotive MR firm ABI Research has appointed Stuart Carlaw, formerly of IMS Research, as Principal Analyst for Wireless Connectivity in its new London office. More
VNU is to buy a majority interest in BuzzMetrics, a US-based firm that measures and analyses online consumer-generated media such as blogs. At the same time, VNU itself is the subject of a takeover bid and BuzzMetrics is due to acquire rival firm Intelliseek. More
After weeks of speculation, VNU revealed today that it a private equity consortium has offered to buy the company for 28 to 28.5 Euros per common share. VNU says it is considering the proposal, and is not proceeding with discussions with any other party. More
Greenfield Online, through its subsidiary Ciao, has launched new online panels in Europe, Latin America and Australia, offering access to 200,000 new panellists. The launch follows news last month that Greenfield Online was cutting 39 jobs in a bid to save $7m a year after disappointing financial results. More
US technology MR firm ABI Research has opened its first European office in London. The company has employed research and sales teams in the UK for some time, and now plans to further develop its operations across Europe. More
London-based research agency Tpoll Market Intelligence has launched a new division - Tpoll Direct - to focus on online fieldwork and reporting. The division will manage the whole data preparation and collection process from questionnaire design to sampling, project management and reporting. More
US-based Internet research agency OTX (Online Testing eXchange) has opened its first European office in London. Ian Wright, a former board director at Ipsos UK, will lead the company's European operations. More
Online survey management and fieldwork services agency iD Factor has been bought by themutual.net (TMN), a leading UK online direct marketing company and rewarded shopping portal, in a deal worth up to £2.86m. The buy gives TMN a foothold in the fast-growing online survey market. More
Technology specialist Forrester Research has appointed Charles Rutstein to the position of President, Forrester Americas, with a territory covering c.75% of Forrester's client base. From April 1 2006, he succeeds Neil Bradford who leaves the company to return to his native UK. More
Internet shopping measurements on both sides of the Atlantic indicate a happy Christmas season for online retailers. comScore reports a 24% rise in online shopping since last year, while Hitwise UK measured a 14% increase. Both identify a growing trend for last-minute buying. More
Global telecoms industry revenue will reach $1.2 trillion by the end of 2006, with growth in wireless leading the way, according to Insight Research. Meanwhile, a study from the Leichtman Research Group finds that US broadband providers acquired a record 2.6m new subscribers in the third quarter of 2005. More
VNU expects its earnings per share and revenue growth for 2005 to fall below previous estimates, due to disappointing results in Europe, coupled with the costs of the aborted VNU/IMS Health merger. The company has also confirmed that it is currently evaluating approaches made by potential buyers. More
UK-based online fieldwork specialist Research Now has launched a new Spanish client service team to offer domestic and international clients access to the 110,000 members of its Spanish consumer panel. The news follows last week's announcement that Lightspeed Research is introducing a Spanish online panel. More
Global consultancy Accenture has expanded its Marketing Sciences practice through the acquisition of Media Audits, a specialist in measuring return on advertising investment. The Marketing Sciences practice will now comprise 200 staff, working to help clients measure, evaluate and optimise marketing and media investments. More
UK-based online specialist Lightspeed Research has appointed Ralph Risk, formerly of ORC International, as Marketing Manager for Europe. Based in London, he will develop a European marketing strategy for the company. More
Shares in VNU, owner of ACNielsen and Nielsen Media Research, rose more than 4% on Friday after reports that two private equity firms were considering making bids for the Netherlands-based company. More
More than three quarters of market researchers worldwide are planning to increase their use of online research in the next six months, according to the Greenfield/Ciao Online Research Barometer. Fifty per cent of European researchers say they have replaced face-to-face studies with online research over the last year. More
Online panel specialist ToLuna has reported a pro forma pre-tax profit of £0.56m for the first nine months of 2005 - compared with a loss of £0.13m in 2004. The company, which floated on the UK's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in May, now has 650,000 panel members across 13 European countries. More
US-based online agency MarketTools, Inc. has announced three senior appointments. Jeff Greenberg joins as President of Worldwide Operations, Pamela S. Kramer as Chief Marketing Officer and W. Michael Conklin as Chief Methodologist. More
Three new reports give varying degrees of encouragement to the advertising industry. Nielsen Media Research highlights healthy growth in the US, and the UK's Advertising Association forecasts long-term growth in display, while ZenithOptimedia's global projections offer most optimism for the Internet... and for market researchers. More
The average European Internet user is online five days a week, and spends 10 hours 15 minutes a week online - a 17% increase since last year and 56% longer than in 2003,according to research conducted for the EIAA by SPA and Synovate. The latest from comScore meanwhile shows US surfers making good use of streaming media. More
MR trade body ESOMAR is working with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) on next year's World Research Conference, taking place in Shanghai in June. The event, entitled Worldwide Multi Media Measurement (WM3), will focus on how to develop a consumer-centric vision of cross-media consumption. More
Online MR firm Global Market Insite (GMI) has appointed four former employees of SPSS Europe to expand its European management team. The company has also appointed a Director for Russia, and several new project management staff, and recently announced the opening of a new Los Angeles office. More
Ciao, the European subsidiary of online survey specialist Greenfield Online, has launched a new comparison shopping portal in the Netherlands. As well as comparing prices and offering consumer product reviews, the portal encourages visitors to take part in surveys. More
One in four European Internet users visited a job web site between July and September 2005, up from around a fifth the previous year, according to new research from Nielsen//NetRatings. The study also shows the popularity of university web sites. More
International marketing company dunnhumby has appointed Adrian Sanger, formerly of Millward Brown, to a new Insight Director role, designed to increase the agency's research capabilities. This follows last year's appointment of Martin Hayward to the new position of Director of Consumer Strategy and Futures. More
Online research specialist Research Now has reported a surge in trading since it floated on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in August. The company, which recently opened US and Australian offices, expects turnover for the year to 31 October to be more than five times the previous year's £701,000. More
Along with the Christmas decorations comes a flurry of Christmas spending forecasts. Research from Maritz suggests consumers plan to spend less than last year, while comScore and Hitwise predict a boom for online retailers. More
VNU's CEO Rob van den Bergh is stepping down, following the announcement that the company's planned takeover of IMS Health has been terminated due to strong resistance from VNU shareholders. Under the termination agreement, VNU will reimburse IMS $15 million for out-of-pocket costs. More
The US-based Yankee Group has introduced a five-year projection and analysis of the business and consumer wireless markets. The Global Wireless/Mobile Premium Forecast provides data for unique users in 23 nations across North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, using data from the Group's Mobile User and Video-Capable Device Surveys. More
'You have to be in Asia, be outsourcing, and using the Internet if you want to be in the future of MR' according to TNS Chairman Tony Cowling, speaking at the BMRA's annual conference yesterday. Other speakers predicted the demise of the phone interview and the death of the medium-sized firm. More
European online fieldwork provider Research Now is following up its recent Australian launch with a sales office in New York. The office, supported by two new Directors, will sell survey data from the company's European online panel of over 700,000 potential respondents to the US market. More
Online panel specialist Greenfield Online has reported 'disappointing' financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2005. New President and CEO Al Angrisani, who was brought in at the end of September to turn the company round, said the company had 'launched an aggressive corrective process'. More
The Monster Employment Index, which measures online recruitment activity, continues to show rapid growth. The European index is now 113 - up from 94 last December, while the US index is 143 - its highest ever level, and 29 points higher than a year ago. More
Harris Interactive has announced its financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2005. Revenue for the quarter (classed as Q1 2006) was $48.9m, up 24% from $39.3m in the same period last year. This was in part due to the acquisition of Wirthlin Worldwide. Growth in European Internet research revenue was particularly strong at 29%. More
European online fieldwork specialist Research Now has launched Irish Opinions - an online panel for the Republic of Ireland. The company has already recruited 20,000 panel members for what it claims is the first research-only panel in the Republic. More
UK agency Incepta Marketing Intelligence (IMI) has appointed Kenrick Leung as Director of its Hong Kong office. Leung takes over from Alice Page, who left for Ipsos earlier this year. He will report to IMI's CEO Andy Dexter. More
European online research agency MetrixLab added another 1 million Euros to its turnover in the third quarter of this year, representing a 71% increase compared with the same period last year. The company's net profits grew by 44% over the same period. More
Ownership of a DAB digital radio in the UK has more than doubled in the past year, according to RAJAR. Its latest figures also show increases in radio listening via mobile phones, digital TV, and the Internet - although these new methods have had little impact of the overall number of radio listeners. More
What do companies mean by insight? How does it differ from traditional MR outputs? And how can researchers ensure they are recognised for providing it? All these questions - and more - were addressed in the Association of Users of Research Agencies (AURA) panel discussion at yesterday's Insight Show in London. More
According to Harris Interactive, 81% of UK adults dislike the trend of locating call centres overseas, and 54% believe companies who do so will lose business. The survey also suggests that overseas centres struggle to provide a good service, as 50% of customers do not trust them enough to disclose personal details. More
The International Journal of Market Research (IJMR), produced by the Market Research Society (MRS), has provided new guidance for potential contributors, encouraging case study-based articles from MR practitioners. The Journal's new Viewpoint section also allows practitioners to have their say about burning issues in around 500 words. More
European MR software firm Nebu has released a new version of Dub Knowledge - its panel management and sampling tool. The latest edition allows for easier exclusion of respondents from future surveys, and offers several new features. More
UK online polling firm YouGov is using its Internet panel to compile BrandIndex, an evaluation of more than 11,000 consumer brands. Initial findings, based on 30,000 interviews, put Tesco as UK consumers' leading brand, while McDonalds and Sunny Delight are both in the bottom ten. More
UK web site specialist Virtual Surveys has relaunched its brand. The launch includes a new look and feel for the company's own web site, along with plans to expand its offices, and a renewed commitment to being 'the UK's leading experts in web site research'. More
Dan Foreman, formerly Planning Director at ad agency WFCA, has been poached to spearhead the launch of FocusVision Europe. The US-based company, which specialises in video recording technologies for market research, opened its first European office in London in July. More
US survey provider Itracks has released a new web-based reporting system for all its surveys, whether conducted on or offline. Also announcing new products this week are Nunwood, with a new application to facilitate business information sharing, and IRI, which launched a new retail space planning tool. More
One in ten of the world's population now shops online, according to a new global survey from ACNielsen. In separate studies, the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts a 5% increase for US spending this holiday season, and GQ magazine finds US men increasingly succumbing to the pleasures of shopping. More
The annual conference of the British Market Research Association (BMRA) is four weeks away. Delegates will get the chance to debate the future of MR with the leaders of TNS, Synovate and YouGov, and to hear from clients ranging from Microsoft to the Islamic Bank of Britain. More
Ipsos UK - to be merged with MORI following this week's acquisition - has appointed Helen Simpson, formerly of Australian Business Ltd, and Mo Alam, from Orange, as Directors in its Loyalty division. Both will report to Gailynn Nicks, MD, Ipsos Loyalty. More
UK online survey specialist YouGov has announced 48% turnover growth, and 47% growth in profit before tax, for the year ending 31 July 2005. The company, which floated on the UK's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in April, saw turnover increase from £1.9m to 2.9m between 2004 and 2005. More
The results of the 2005 British Business Survey (BBS) announced today by Ipsos reveal a UK business elite that watches far less TV than the rest of the country, continues to rely heavily on traditional print media, but also leads the way in the use and ownership of technology. More
Global research group Ipsos has acquired MORI, the UK's largest independently owned MR agency, in a deal worth £88m. Ipsos UK and MORI will combine to form a new company to be known as Ipsos MORI. The purchase will almost double Ispos' UK revenue. More
US-based Harbor Research and UK-based e-principles have announced a merger. The European operation will henceforth be known as Harbor Research Europe, and will focus on the business impacts of networked devices and technology, known as the 'pervasive Internet' and M2M (machine to machine) markets. More
Google is improving its already dominant position in the UK search engine market, according to data from Hitwise. Google UK powered 63% of all UK Internet searches in the four weeks to 1st October, and Google.com a further 7%. Unlike in the US where Yahoo! clocks nearly half Google's searches, no other UK property gets into double figures. More
New research from AOL UK, conducted by Quaestor, finds that the nation's ten-year-olds know all about the Internet, but still prefer playing out, and have not yet succumbed to digital cameras and MP3 players. Meanwhile, VoxPops International's video research reveals kids and teenagers' demands about technology. More
The European Commission's Information Society and Media Directorate General (DG) has published a call for tenders to research online public services. The call consists of two lots: the first is the sixth annual measurement of online public services, and the second is a pilot study aimed at improving e-government quality indicators. More
There may be a slump on the high street, but the UK online retail sector is set to grow 25% between July and December this year - representing a 12% year-on-year increase since December 2004. These predictions come from the newly released Hitwise UK Online Retail Report. More
US-based SRC has launched a UK version of its DemographicsNow business intelligence web site - the first of several planned international launches. The site uses a consumer and market profiling tool, providing companies with online life-stage profiles and other demographic information for any selected area in the UK. More
At this week's ESOMAR Annual Congress, two papers focused on ways to overhaul or reinvent Internet-based consumer research. A joint paper by agencies Ciao and Fat Planet called for increased innovation in online surveys, while Dutch agency Blauw discussed its use of an online qual panel to aid new product development. More
ESOMAR wound up the 58th Congress in Cannes today and announced the winners of its awards. Speakers from The Leading Edge agency and Carlton & United Brewers, Australia, won the Best Paper Overall Award, while employees of Brainjuicer, Maritz and LG Electronics were also recognised. More
Online MR solutions company GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) has announced the acquisition of three companies -- Seattle-based NetReflector, Insight in Shanghai, China, and MI Pro AS in Drobak, Norway, which will operate as wholly owned subsidiaries of GMI. GMI has also formed a new strategic alliance with ARO Sistemas in Sao Paolo, Brazil. More
UK business information company Datamonitor has acquired retail analysis specialist Verdict Research Limited for a maximum consideration of £4.7 million in cash. More
Digital technology is everywhere - three sets of surveys results released this week illustrate the growth of networked entertainment and storage devices and of color laser MFPs in the US. However, it can sometimes get ahead of consumers, as shown by a survey of UK digital TV subscribers. More
ESOMAR's 2005 Congress, Making a Difference - The Impact of Powerful Research - opened today in Cannes, attended by 1000+ market and social professionals from 75 countries worldwide. The Congress also heralded ESOMAR's rebrand, and its renewed commitment to improving the image of MR - a theme touched on by several of the day's speakers. More
This morning's main session at ESOMAR Congress gave delegates an update on major companies' attempts to put customers' views and needs at the heart of their business. Some like it hot - watching consumers in their kitchens - while others take a cool look at customer loyalty stats. DRNO News Editor Tessa Russell reports live from Cannes. More
Harris Interactive is dropping the separate identity of its European subsidiary, which will no longer be known as HI Europe but will share the parent's name. The company says the alignment will achieve 'considerable synergies in its marketing, data collection and client management programmes'. More
Conference season in the MR world is also product launch season. With ESOMAR Congress next week, and other major events imminent, new or expanded services announced in the last few days include the NPD Group's 'Technology Track', Synovate ViewsNet for Western Europe and a new version of FIRM's ConfirmIt software. More
SSI/Bloomerce, the European arm of Survey Sampling International, has hired Michel Guidi as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Europe. Guidi leaves online panels specialist Ciao, where he was VP for Operations. More
European online panel specialist Ciao is launching an Internet omnibus service for the UK, Germany and France. The survey will run bi-monthly, using Ciao's existing panel, and will complement the existing US omnibus services provided by Ciao's parent company Greenfield Online. More
UK-based online research agency Virtual Surveys has launched a new Marketing Sciences division to provide advanced analytics together with web-based research. The division will be led by Ray Poynter, one of Virtual Surveys' Directors and leader of the Future Place research consultancy. More
Ipsos is working with media database specialist New Age Media Systems to provide EzTAB software for Ipsos UK's media clients, which include BARB, NRS and RAJAR. The web-based software provides easy access to viewing figures and reader numbers, and allows clients to incorporate their own data into the system. More
Carat, part of the Aegis Group, has increased its 2005 forecast of world ad spend growth to 5.2% -highest in China (18%) and Central Europe (11.4%) and lowest in Germany (1%). Its predictions for increased online ad spend are echoed by a new report from Roy Morgan in Australia. More
Montreal-based data collection and analysis software provider Voxco is launching a new MR software package, with previews at the ESOMAR Congress in Cannes later this month, followed by displays at MR conferences in Boston, Toronto, Warsaw, London and Paris. More
High-tech US MR agency In-Stat has hired George Stojsavljevic as Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Sales. He was previously VP of EMEA sales at RHK, a telecom industry research firm acquired by London-based Ovum Ltd in June this year. More
With effect from today, GfK is merging NOP Research Group (the UK arm of NOP World) and GfK Martin Hamblin UK to form a new combined company - GfK NOP Ltd, based in London. This follows GfK's acquisition of NOP World in June, and the establishment of GfK Custom Research North America in July. More
The latest update from UK media and telecoms regulator Ofcom shows that, while local commercial radio listening is on the decline, multi-channel digital TV is now reaching 30% of households, 8 million households have broadband access, and consumer spend on mobile phones has increased by 17% since 2004. More
You wait ages for a taxi and then two come along at once... Research Now's OmniTaxi has been joined on the list of new MR releases by Quali-Taxi, a service from Brainjuicer using its 'MindReading' technology to replicate the qualitative insights from a focus group – but using large, nationally representative samples. More
UK-based customer and BtoB research specialist Network Research has continued its expansion with the appointment of Kirstin Meudell, previously from MORI, to a newly created Associate Director position. More
United Business Media, former owner of NOP World, has acquired Light Reading Inc, a market research, events and publishing company for the telecoms industry. Light Reading will be an autonomous business unit within CMP Media, a division of UBM. More
New analysis from Datamonitor lists ten overarching trends that it says will shape future products and services. The report states that, in order to retain customer loyalty, companies must capitalise on at least one of these 'mega-trends', which reflect changing attitudes to age, gender and lifestyles. More
The annual conference of the BMRA (British Market Research Association), taking place this November in Brighton, will assess what the future holds for the UK industry, what part technology will play, and the opportunities and challenges presented by the evolving roles of media and advertising. More
A new study by J.D. Power finds buyers increasingly satisfied with digital cameras, especially those in the lower price segments; while two other recent surveys suggest strong demand for high-tech mobile services - as long as they are cheap. More
Despite a steady decline in gambling in recent years, ORC's annual GamblerTrack study reveals that 60% of the UK population still participates in gambling. Online gambling is on the rise, increasing by 46% last year, while traditional methods are declining. More
European online research agency MetrixLab is opening a new London office, with Roy Patel, formerly of Nielsen//NetRatings, as its UK Commercial Director and Nathalie Vaandrager from Kraft Foods as a Senior Business Consultant. More
Visits to mapping web sites have grown 26% in the last year, according to analysis from Hitwise UK. This growth bodes well for the travel industry, as around a fifth of online map users go on to visit travel agency sites. More
Trading in the shares of online agency Research Now plc began yesterday on the UK's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) with shares at 130 pence each. The company raised £9.2 million from its flotation, well in excess of the previously given public estimate of £5m. More
E-Tabs, a provider of MR reporting solutions, has introduced Enterprise Lite - a scaled-down version of its Enterprise automated reporting software. The company has also added new capabilities to both versions of the software, making it more suitable for use with ad hoc projects. More
Healthcare and pharmaceutical agency Fieldwork International (FI) has announced three senior staffing changes, as its online panel of physicians reaches 30,000 members. Changes include the appointment of a Global MD, Peter Boyle who will concentrate on extending FI internationally. More
According to the latest data from Hitwise, visits to blogs in the UK currently account for almost one in 200 visits to all web sites - representing a 130% increase from 2004. More
UK telecoms and media regulator Ofcom has promoted former Downing Street media policy adviser Ed Richards to the role of Chief Operations Officer, with responsibility for market research and consumer policy. Three other senior appointments have also been made. More
Keynote Systems, a US provider of web performance data and analysis, has appointed Haran Sold as VP and MD for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. More
Michalis Michael, former MD of Synovate in Central Europe and Russia, is now head of the company's online and panel business, and former Western Europe CEO Peter Huijboom is the company's new CEO Global Client Relationships. Meanwhile, Bruce Wells and Paul Cooney have been appointed as Chief Information Officers. More
RONIN Corporation has appointed Marek Vaygelt, formerly Director of Operations at HI Europe, as the company's UK General Manager. More
Three surveys out this week highlight the continuing growth of our digital culture. In the US, purchases of hi-tech products are set to increase, while increased uptake of digital services means UK consumers now spend a third more on TV, radio, and mobile communications than in 2004. More
UK Internet users have been busy searching for Harry Potter in anticipation of tonight's release of the sixth Potter novel, according to Hitwise. More
Results of the latest Ipsos survey of Europe's high-earning elite reveals a surge in hi-tech gadgets and online shopping, while readership of print publications is stable. The Europe 2005 survey represents the media habits of ten million high earners and business leaders (4% of all adults) in 16 countries. More
Mo Rice has been appointed as Client Service Director at pharmaceutical online fieldwork provider Medefield Europe. She joins the company from GfK Martin Hamblin, and has seven years' experience conducting international online projects. More
The MR landscape is to undergo a seismic shift as VNU, the world's biggest research provider, buys IMS Health, the next biggest in the US, in a transaction valued at 5.8 billion Euros ($7.0 billion). VNU's CEO is confident that the deal will quickly lead to major cost savings and new revenues. More
UK-based online fieldwork company Research Now has announced its intention to list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), with approximately £5 million of new and existing shares. The flotation will finance Research Now's continuing growth: in the eighteen months to 30 April 2005, the company's turnover increased by an average 53% each quarter, and staff numbers grew from four to 35. More
European online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has launched the OmniTaxi - an online alternative to the traditional omnibus. The service, which it is claimed will be more flexible, cost effective and targeted than an omnibus, will be available in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. More
ZenithOptimedia has dropped its forecast for 2005 UK ad spend growth from 4.9% to 2.9%, but states that Internet advertising will grow by 30% this year. Across the water, TNS Media Intelligence has predicted a moderate 3.4% growth for US ad spending - largely driven by increased cable TV and Internet spending. More
It's high season for UK conference calls and awards announcements, so if you've done anything you're particularly proud of lately – MR-oriented that is – take note. The Worshipful Company of Marketors wants entries for the first ever marketing book prize, the MRS has called for papers for its 2006 conference, and the IGD is looking for examples of consumer insight. More
Analysis from Hitwise shows that the official Live 8 web site, home of a mammoth online petition, was the sixth most-visited site in the UK on Saturday, outranked only by Google UK, eBay, Hotmail, MSN UK and Wanadoo. More
Two new surveys released this week try to figure out what consumers want from mobile phone technology. Research from Forrester shows that Europeans are not interested in advanced mobile features, while a new Mintel report predicts that mobile gambling is set to rise rapidly in the US. More
A new UK recruitment and training agency is to focus on the operations side of MR. Gina Moore has set up and run field and ops functions for several agencies and worked most recently at Kantar's Operations Centre. manstonmoore's expertise will include operational, project management, front of house and admin staff, as well as programmers. More
If Wimbledon were a popularity contest, Maria Sharapova would win hands-down. And even Anna Kournikova would be in with a shout, despite her recent retirement. Data from Hitwise reveals the most searched-for tennis personalities online aren't always the best performers on court. More
Carat International has appointed Anthony Jones as Head of Insight. Jones has spent the last seven and a half years at ZenithOptimedia Worldwide, latterly as Worldwide Research Director, and replaces Phil Gullen who has left Carat after 13 years to develop other business interests. More
Oslo-based survey and reporting software provider FIRM (Future Information Research Management) has appointed Henning Hansen as its new President and CEO. He previously held the same titles at data security company Norman, which he joined in 2001. More
The 2005 ESOMAR Congress will introduce two new features: 'Masterclasses' offering individual skills development ideas for delegates, and debating sessions. ESOMAR says the new features are designed to 'refresh and reinvigorate the market research contribution'. More
High Street brands enjoy greater online brand strength than their pure-play competitors but are missing significant opportunities for customer acquisition from search, according to online competitive intelligence provider Hitwise in its latest 'Retail Update'. More
Surveys by London-based agency HI Europe will provide the backbone for a new Channel 4 comedy series, '8 Out of 10 Cats'. Two teams led by comedians will debate the results and the issues they highlight in a light-hearted style. More
Ipsos UK has announced that it is entering a mobile phone-based measurement system to compete with devices from Arbitron, NOP/Eurisko and GfK in the ongoing trials conducted by UK radio body RAJAR. Trials will use the Nokia 60 Series. More
The value of the online research market is set to triple in three years, reaching $4 billion by 2008 and introducing a large number of smaller users, according to a new study conducted for solutions provider GMI by Simon Chadwick of Cambiar. More
NOPWorld has announced that its Mystery Shopping division will monitor sales of UK rail tickets for ATOC, the Association of Train Operating Companies. The contract runs for up to 5 years. More
The Welsh are rapidly adopting broadband, according to research for The Welsh Assembly by ORC International. However, its men are more likely to rate themselves as 'advanced' computer users, while women often admit to finding the screen and keyboard 'a bit scary'. More
Daily Research News has appointed a full-time News Editor, who will start in June. Tessa Russell joins from Which? magazine where she has worked for the last eight years, most recently as an Assistant Editor leading the food and health team. More
Lightspeed Research has opened an office in Frankfurt, Germany, to service a growing number of clients in the country, where it has operated since 2003. Gernot Plüm joins the company as Account Director and will head up the office. More
Central and Eastern European companies are ahead of their Western European counterparts in the use of integrated marketing campaigns, according to Millward Brown's EuroMedia Trends 2005 Study. Online marketing is increasingly important across the continent, but as yet well behind the US in adoption. More
Qual research should only be done by specialist quallies, according to the ever-controversial Neil McPhee of Nuance Research, addressing a workshop at last week's BIG Conference. However, the excellent afternoon and evening programme subsequently proved that tennis should not be left to tennis players, and that good things come in threes... More
Around a hundred b2b researchers, mostly UK-based but with a smattering of guests from Scandinavia, Austria, the States and elsewhere, gathered in Wales last week for the BIG Conference. As usual the papers included some thought-provoking pieces relevant within and beyond b2b circles. More
ESOMAR will be holding its 58th Annual Congress in the glamorous setting of Cannes from 18 – 21 September 2005, with around 1,000 MR and marketing professionals in attendance. This year's theme is 'Making a difference. The impact of powerful research'. More
UK agency Holden Pearmain has announced a suite of dedicated decision-making tools for NPD and sales forecasting. re:New, re:Formulate and re:Develop use conjoint analysis, build statistical models from the results and deliver forecasts using customised electronic reporting. More
Harris Interactive Chairman and CEO Robert E. Knapp has announced his surprise resignation from the company, by mutual agreement with its Board of Directors. The Board has appointed President and COO Gregory T. Novak as Acting CEO and George Bell as Chairman. The company also announced results for Q3 2005, showing a steep rise in revenue but a net loss of $2.7m. More
US-based technology analyst ABI Research has acquired Concise Insight Europe Ltd, which focuses on research among wireless operators. The buy gives ABI a local base from which to study European technology markets. More
Labour has a four point lead over the Conservatives, among those who are most likely to vote in the British General Election tomorrow, according to the latest from HI Europe. These figures suggest a closer race than those reported by MORI yesterday. More
British employees are wasting up to 80 working days every year through inefficient office practices, according to a study by Research Now for BACS Payment Schemes Limited. The leading time-wasters are technology (48 minutes), 'dealing with colleagues' (34 minutes), and unnecessary phone calls and meetings (26 and 23 mins respectively). More
The latest round of the Ipsos Face of The Web study paints a picture of the global take-off of a broad range of Internet activities beyond simple browsing. Seven in ten Internet users in the 12 countries surveyed have purchased and half have banked online; two thirds have sent digital pictures or videos; and one in ten has already downloaded a feature length movie. More
Harris Interactive has hired Aled Morris as MD of its HI Europe UK operations. He was previously MD of the UK division of major recruitment services firm Spherion. More
More than half of the UK's 16-24 year-olds (56%) would be interested in using their phones to make what it terms 'micropayments', buying small items such as public transport tickets or vending machine goods, according to new research from TNS. Around a third (32%) are 'very interested'. More
Online fieldwork and panel specialist Research Now has appointed Jo Winning, former Account Director at Lightspeed Research, as its Client Service Director. Winning will combine client service responsibilities with new business development and will focus on media, FMCG and Financial Services. More
The BMRA has published its league table of UK research agencies for 2004. Whilst we remain cautious given problems in previous years with interpretation, there are some notable highlights. Total turnover for the sector was just under £1.3bn (up 5.4%), with international business in particular recovering strongly. More
TNS Media has been appointed by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) to undertake the main survey work for its 'TouchPoints' UK media study. TNS says the research will be the first to 'connect single media channels such as TV, radio, print media and online through an industry-wide measurement system'. More
UK radio audience research body RAJAR has agreed a further £500,000 to fund the next stage of its extensive testing and analysis of two audiometers, the Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM) and the Eurisko Media Monitor. TV research body BARB will piggyback its own test of the PPM on the RAJAR study. More
RONIN Corporation has appointed Bertrand Jolibert as International Panels Manager, with specific responsibility for maintaining and growing their multi-country IT Decision Makers and Medical Specialist Panels. Jolibert was previously Epanel Europe Manager at ACNielsen-BASES, in Brussels. More
German-owned GfK has won the bidding for NOP World, acquiring it from United Business Media for £383 million (c.EUR 550m) in cash. The transaction remains subject to approval of the competition authorities in the United States and in Germany, but GfK says approval is expected at the end of May. More
GfK has announced 'a year of extraordinary success' with sales up 12.8% to EUR 671.7m and a margin of 13.6%, putting the Group 'top of the market research sector in terms of profitability'. EBIT including income from participations increased by 31.2% to EUR 91.1m and the dividend by around 43% to EUR 0.30. More
eQuesta, the online division of healthcare and pharmaceutical field agency, Fieldwork International has appointed Lyndon Woods, formerly of RI, to oversee the expansion of its physician panel, and has announced the availability of video-streaming at its viewing facilities in Fulham, London. More
Greenfield Online has announced the completed acquisition of fellow online survey specialist Ciao AG for cash plus shares to a total value of c.$150 million. The move creates a major new global force in Internet panel research. More
Media measurement specialists will be gathering in Montreal, Canada in June for WAM 2005 (World Audience Measurement), jointly organised by ESOMAR and The ARF. In addition to its established format, the Conference will for the first time dedicate a day to the evaluation of Branded Entertainment and Sponsorship. More
FIRM and Moskowitz Jacobs Inc. (MJI) have launched the new Confirmit® IdeaMap® integrated software announced last autumn. The service aims to bring conjoint analysis out of the realm of 'specialists with large budgets' and give it the speed, ease and lower cost of online technology, for use by anyone. More
comScore Networks has announced the formation of a newly consolidated European business unit, comScore Europe, and the appointment of marketing and media research veteran Bob Ivins to head it up as MD. More
Lightspeed Research has added new office space to its European headquarters office in Wimbledon, UK, doubling the size of the site. The company has made ambitious projections for 2005, with heavy demand for online research fuelling the launch of new panels and the extension of existing ones. More
Search engine marketing spend in Europe will grow by around 65% this year, according to Forrester Research, Inc. The technology analyst expects the market for services including paid listings, contextual search, site optimization, and paid inclusions to rise to c.€1.4 billion. More
Online panel provider Bloomerce, recently acquired by Survey Sampling International, has appointed Pete Cape, formerly MD of TNS Interactive, as its UK MD. More
Aegis Group plc has announced strong preliminary results for 2004, acknowledging a good contribution from its market research arm, Synovate, which almost doubled revenues in the EMEA region and added 24.4% to turnover worldwide. Organic growth at 8.3% is well above the estimated industry average of 4.25%. More
Nielsen parent VNU has released its full year financial statements for 2004, showing 'solid' growth in 2004. Strong results from the Media Measurement & Information (MMI) group and most of the Marketing Information (MI) group were offset by ACNielsen Europe's protracted move to a new data factory. More
TNS has announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2004, the first full year since the acquisition of NFO WorldGroup, Inc. (NFO) in July 2003. Revenue increased 17.4% to £945.3m and underlying revenue up 4.1%. Operating profit is up 28% to £102.0m while operating margin increased 0.9% to 10.8%. More
The UK's Incepta, owner of a number of MR brands and companies including Hauck and DVL Smith Ltd, is to merge with PR group Huntsworth. The resulting group will have an estimated market capitalisation of c.£195.4m, around two thirds from Incepta and one third Huntsworth. More
The number of people globally with broadband Internet access grew by 24% last year according to Ipsos-Insight's annual 'Face of the Web' study. A majority of US users now have high-speed connections, and growth in France, the UK and urban Brazil has been particularly pronounced this year. More
The vast majority of British adults (86%) make at least one complaint to a service provider each year, according to the new 'Service in Britain' survey by Andrew Smith Research and Research Now. The major utilities, telecoms providers and supermarkets top the list of target organisations. More
The BBC has announced the appointment of Tim Davie, currently VP, Marketing and Franchise, PepsiCo Europe, as Director of its Marketing, Communications and Audiences division. More
The GfK Group has announced record growth in its preliminary results for the financial year 2004. Sales increased by 12.7% from EUR 595.3 to EUR 671.0m, well ahead of its own forecast. Highlights include 10% plus organic growth for the Retail and Technology division and the Asia & Pacific and Central & Eastern Europe regions. More
Following RAJAR's announcement this week that the GfK Telecontrol MediaWatch had been dropped from its next wave of audiometer trials, the Group has issued a statement saying it is 'highly astonished' and questioning the scientific basis of the tests. More
UK agency SKOPOS has appointed Noreen Hussain to its London office as Head of Research and Quality, partly to assist an expansion from its online base into some more traditional areas of MR. More
TNS today launches the '6th Dimension', an online access panel covering the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The service, to be co-ordinated from Amsterdam, is seen as a major plank of the MR giant's future offering. More
UK radio audience measurement body RAJAR has announced the result of its Audiometer Validation Test which took place in November 2004. The Arbitron PPM and the Eurisko Media Monitor have been selected for further fieldwork tests, while the GfK/Telecontrol MediaWatch has, for the time being at least, dropped out of the running. More
Online survey specialist Ciao has moved its London team to new, larger offices in Covent Garden, and has appointed five new members of staff. More
The UK's online retail sector performed very strongly during the January period, according to online competitive intelligence service Hitwise. Retail sites saw a 20% increase in traffic year-on-year from January 2004 to January 2005. More
More than eight out of ten Japanese households used the Internet in 2004, while the US market, thought by some to be at or nearing saturation point, broke through a two-year plateau with a 27% online population increase, according to Ipsos-Insight's Face of the Web study. More
With the tax return deadline today and fines for late filing, UK taxpayers are rushing to the web site of the Inland Revenue, according to online measurement specialist Hitwise. Visits to the site are up 48% since the first week of January. More
UK audience measurement body RAJAR has announced the findings of its industry-wide consultation survey on the future of radio research. More
Hitwise has reported that UK visits to the online travel sector in the first week of January were up 14% compared with the same week in 2004. In what looks to be a promising start to the year, travel web sites have received a significant boost in traffic as Britons look to escape the dismal winter weather for sunnier climates. More
Restructuring TNS has announced the merging of its existing Telecoms and IT research divisions into a single technology 'sector'. The move reflects increased client demand for expertise bridging the two markets, and the rise of wireless comms in general. More
A panel of UK students has been launched by new provider Opinionpanel. The Student Panel gives researchers access to 20,000 students across a profile reflecting the UK's total student population, analysed by over 100 different variables, and delivers full results within 3 days. More
Lightspeed Research has strengthened its global operations team with a series of new appointments and recruits. This includes the creation of a new post of Chief Operations Officer with the appointment of Chris Stevens. More
Survey Sampling International (SSI) is expanding its overseas presence with the acquisition of European online sampling company, Bloomerce Access Panels Europe. Located in the Netherlands with 40 employees, Bloomerce has more than one million panel members in Europe. More
The number of banner advertisements run on European web sites has increased by 24%, from around 76,000 in November 2003 to just under 95,000 in November 2004, according to Internet audience measurement specialist Nielsen//NetRatings. Sweden, France and the Netherlands experienced the strongest growth. More
The 2004 Christmas season saw the strongest ever performance for the Internet retail sector in the UK, with a 23% increase in traffic versus December 2003, according to online intelligence provider Hitwise. Online offerings from High Street names dominate much of the top 20 sites but with eBay and Amazon way out in front the dotcoms still have a major share. More
Member companies of the British Polling Council (BPC) have agreed to restrictions on the publication of poll data, following recommendations by The Electoral Commission in its report on the European Elections. The agreement prohibits the publication before the closure of polls of separate data about those who have already voted (eg by post). More
UK Internet pioneer Virtual Surveys has promoted Quentin Ashby to the role of Managing Director, with founder Pete Comley moving to the more strategic role of Chairman. More
UK charity web sites have seen a fivefold increase in usage as Internet users rush to give their support, according to data from Hitwise. The Disasters Emergency Committee and a Tsunami blog site are among the biggest risers. More
Online MR solutions provider Ciao has appointed a new US Sales Director - Bill Hoover joins the Westport, CT office with in-depth sales and marketing experience from 25 years in the broadcasting industry. More
The UK's High Court has thrown out Kelvin MacKenzie's legal challenge to RAJAR over radio audience measurement methods. The judge ruled that claims RAJAR had abused its market power under competition laws 'simply did not correspond with the facts'. More
VNU has issued a trading update indicating that 2004 case earnings per share (CEPS) should be at the top end of its 7-9% forecast (constant currencies), due to 'positive developments during the second half year'. The upturn comes despite delays in moving data production systems to a new European 'data factory'. More
The number of people actively surfing the web from home each month in the UK has grown by 15% to 22.8 million in the past 12 months, according to the latest from Internet audience measurement specialist Nielsen//NetRatings. More
EQuesta, the online division of pharmaceutical and healthcare data collection agency Fieldwork International, has announced that its European physicians panel has doubled in size over the past year to 19,000, and is currently growing at a rate of 2000 members per month. More
The rise of the 'phishing' scam notwithstanding, three in ten British adults (30%) are 'more confident' about the security of online banking now than they were three years ago, according to TNS. This rises to 41% among people aged 16-24 years old. More
Online survey & reporting software provider FIRM has announced the release of a new version of its flagship Confirmit system and reports dramatically improved user productivity. More
This year's Christmas shoppers are feeling cautious, according to MINTEL's latest UK Retail Briefing. One in ten (10%) adults say that they will be spending 'a lot less than last year' whereas only 5% said this 12 months ago. The report looks at online buying intentions, projected spend and the types of present in and out of fashion. More
Thanksgiving looms in the US and pre-Christmas activity of course started in about August in other parts of the world - but the holiday shopping season is just moving into high gear. Two initial releases from Hitwise and one from Nielsen//NetRatings this week show that the online segment is breaking records once again. More
Software supplier CfMC, whose data collection tools Survent and WebSurvent power some 65% of the interviewing stations at US research firms, is adopting a new identity after 37 years. More
'We are a research and consulting organization first. The Internet and telephone are a means to an end'. Gregory Novak, President and COO Harris Interactive talks in depth to MrWeb's Michael Kenyon about Internet research, Sesame Street strategy and 'the perfect acquisition'. More
The BBC has appointed Nielsen//NetRatings, in partnership with SageMetrics, to provide traffic analysis for its bbc.co.uk web site. The three-year contract was offered as an open tender process through EU procurement regulations and almost 40 companies initially expressed an interest. More
UK banks are the most crowded in Europe, serving on average over 5,000 people per branch, according to a new report by Datamonitor. The figure reflects mass closure of high street branches in the late 1990s and is five times that for Spain. More
Europe will outpace the US in online holiday sales this year, with eCommerce during the holiday season in Western Europe up 44% to €13bn, according to forecasts by technology specialist Forrester Research. Forrester forecasts around €10bn ($13bn) for the US, while a separate forecast by comScore Networks says it may top $15bn. More
'Net-based data collection specialist Ciao has completed interviewing for the Ciao Online Research Barometer, a U&A study among 260 market researchers in Europe and North America who are users of online surveys. Top-line results show the rapid development of the medium. More
European online panel specialist SKOPOS has hired methods and stats expert Dr. Olaf Wenzel, previously with German agency Psyma, to work on more complex research designs and conduct advanced analyses. More
Harris Interactive has announced financial results for its fiscal first quarter 2005, showing consolidated revenue up 22% (versus a year ago) to $40.7 million and operating income up 34%. The company's Internet revenues continue to grow faster than off-line. More
New research from Mintel sheds light on British parents' involvement with their children's play and their purchase of toys. Among other findings, the survey shows more children playing on their own and more being left to watch TV or play TV games: but also more money spent on toys and the existence of substantial groups prioritising 'quality time' or home education. More
Online competitive intelligence provider Hitwise has expanded its demographic sample to include more than 2 million UK households, allowing better profiling of online audiences using basic demographics and/or lifestyle data. More
FIRM, the company behind Confirmit online survey & reporting software, has announced that it is preparing for a listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE). The Initial Public Offering (IPO) is expected to take place in 2005, depending on market conditions. More
UK-based agency The MMR Group has announced the formation of a new company specialising in Internet research. Qubiq-Online aims to combine the research expertise of the Group, including proprietary techniques such as its Liking Segmentation® tool, with online expertise to provide 'Real research online'. More
A very enjoyable Awards dinner at the Café Royal last night saw some familiar and some new faces carrying off the major gongs. Two were carried off to a noisy Nunwood table, including the 'Best Agency' Award for which they were pipped last year by Flamingo – and two went to the team of Robert Heath at the Value Creation Company and Pam Hyder from Standard Life. More
Internet-based panels provider Ciao AG has added seven new execs to its international project management team. The new staff, mostly based in Madrid, will allow the company to continue its policy of using a dedicated project manager and account manager for each project despite a rapidly growing volume of work. More
ORC International is to give executives from Swedish car manufacturer Saab access to a new online system to evaluate marketing effectiveness. The tool links breaking research data with existing information such as advertising spend and retail sales. More
Online fieldwork agency Bloomerce has opened a UK office, to be led by Martin Cawley, previously of Sample Answers. More
Research agency ORC International has earned the internationally recognised ISO 9001:2000 quality certification... for its web designers. More
Hitwise has released rankings of the UK's strongest online retail brands, based on searches by 8.4 million UK users. eBay continues to dominate online shopping with 4 times as many successful searches as nearest rival Amazon, and almost 30% of visits to the sector in the week ending 9th October. More
Eurisko, the Italian arm of NOP World, has been formally invited to take part in RAJAR's Audiometer Validation Trial in November 2004. Eurisko's passive portable radio and TV metering system is said to rival those currently on offer by Arbitron and GFK. Further details of the trial format have also been released. More
GfK Martin Hamblin has restructured of its research divisions and made a number of senior appointments. Sue Wheeler and Reza Chady join the Board, and become General Managers respectively of the B2B and Technology Departments, within the newly formed Custom Research Division. More
Awareness of diet and obesity issues may have increased among children and young people in the UK over the past five years, but their interest in sport has declined and more spend time in their rooms watching TV, according to the Youth TGI survey by BMRB International. More
The number of UK consumers shopping online has reached its highest level yet and now stands at 16 million - around 1.3m higher than May 2004, according to BMRB's Internet Monitor survey. More
Fast-growing UK-based agency Nunwood Consulting has made four new appointments, strengthening its Quantitative, IT and web site teams. More
Radio audience measurement body RAJAR has committed itself to a 'roadmap' with a timetable for up-grading the current system, including the possible introduction of electronic measurement. The tender process will be launched in April 2005 and the new contract awarded as early as September 2005. More
Internet-based data collection and researcher Ciao AG has appointed Georgette Thaler, formerly of NFO Worldgroup, as Sales Director North America. Three further appointments, at the London office, reflect the continued boom in online research demand. More
UK agency Research Now!, which with 250,000 members claims to be the largest online panel owner in the UK, has launched a new panel web site under the brand name Valued Opinions. More
Ipsos has appointed David Pring as Senior VP and General Manager of its Consumer Products Division in New York. Pring, who joins from Protocol Research Solutions (formerly CLT Research), where he was president, will now be responsible for providing strategic research solutions to East Coast CPG clients. More
According to the latest figures from TGI, mobile phone ownership levels in Sweden are considerably higher than any other country, at 88% - Great Britain is second with 78% and Japan third with 74%. The study looked at 15 markets. More
Online competitive intelligence service Hitwise reports continued strong growth in traffic to UK travel web sites. In July, visits to Travel related web sites represented 5% of all online visits, compared with 4% in January 2004. More
Online fieldwork and panel specialists Research Now! have added four new employees including former Red Sheriff boss John Caldwell as Director of Client Services. More
ESOMAR and EMAC (European Marketing Academy) are to co-host a Marketing Conference on October 10-12 in Warsaw, Poland. Under the theme 'Where Science Meets Practice', topics will include brand management, understanding consumers, advanced uses of the Internet, and research in emerging markets. More
Europe will have 4.6 million HDTV households by 2008, up from 50,000 at the end of 2003, according to the latest from Datamonitor. More
In the first senior appointment to its newly restructured team, TNS Media has recruited Neil Sharman, formerly Advertising Planning Manager at News International. As a Director, Sharman will head up one of three ad hoc teams working across a range of media sectors. More
E-Tabs, provider of delivery, portal and automation software for the MR industry, has opened an office in New York and recruited Aaron Benedict from CRM Metrix to head it up. Existing offices are in London and Chicago. More
The UK PC market continued to go from strength to strength in Q2 of 2004, recording double-digit year-on-year growth for the fifth quarter running, according to a report this week from IDC. More
Thirty-six per cent of the software installed on computers worldwide in 2003 was pirated, according to a study released recently by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). This represents a loss of nearly $29 billion to the major software manufacturers who are its members. More
With the football now over, the latest analysis from Nielsen//NetRatings shows the BBC Sport site attracting the largest audiences in the UK throughout the Euro 2004 tournament. More
Last week, the end of Euro 2004: this week the launch of Europe 2004, the fifth wave of Ipsos-RSL's media survey of business decision-makers and leading consumers in Europe. The survey measures readership, TV viewing, web site use, consumer and business behaviour and attitudes of the top 10 million (4%) of Europe's consumers and decision makers. More
The Euro 2004 tournament, now approaching its knockout stage, is attracting record audiences to related Web sites, according to research from Nielsen//NetRatings. More
Shipments of VoIP (Voice-over IP or Internet calling) PBX phones in the US are expected to grow at a compounded rate of more than 20% over the next five years, according to a new report from Insight Research. However, VoIP phones in the enterprise will not represent the majority of the installed PBX base until 2009. More
comScore Networks has announced the launch of qSearch Europe, which provides insight into usage of the top search engines and portals, based on actual search queries. The new service adds figures for the UK, France and Germany to the existing measures for Canada and the US, and initial results show an interesting comparison. More
A majority of the public in the UK think gambling reform will do more harm than good according to a new report by YouGov and The Gambling Consultancy. More
The cyclical upswing in net new IT spending is continuing, according to the 2004 Wendover-Global Insight IT Spending Index. The Q2 2004 Index is now predicted to show a 60% increase over the Q2 2003 level, which was the lowest level of IT spending recorded by the Index. More
Virgin Mobile, appearing in the category for the first time, tops the pre-pay customer satisfaction tables in the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 UK Mobile Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study[SM]. Among contract (pay monthly) providers, Vodafone narrowly beats Orange for the top spot. More
The BIG Conference, the UK's flagship b2b research event, is in full flow in Chepstow, Wales. In this first feature article we look at highlights of the first day's papers, with topics including 'Innovation' and research's contribution to the spread of broadband. More
Survey software provider Merlinco has enjoyed its best results to date, despite difficult times for the industry. MD Peter Jackling told the 13th annual User Group meeting last week that the successful year reflected both encouraging sales of newer technologies and continuing enthusiasm for tabulation packages. More
FIRM (Future Information Research Management) has released a new version of its flagship software system Confirmit. Online and offline reporting capabilities are enhanced, survey generation is faster and overall performance improved by up to 1200%. More
The number of people who have tried or used some form of wireless Internet through a mobile device has risen 145% from 55 million unique users to 134 million in 2003, according to The Face of the Web, the annual study of Internet trends by Ipsos-Insight. This represents around 40% of the total Internet population in the study's measured countries. More
Visits by UK Internet users to travel related web sites have increased by over a quarter in the 12 months to April 2004, and now represent about 3.7% of all online visits, according to online competitive intelligence providers Hitwise. More
Nielsen//NetRatings has appointed David Day as MD for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More
Harris Interactive® has released results for the third quarter of fiscal 2004, showing revenue of $35.4m for the quarter, 10% up on the same period the previous year. Worldwide sales bookings rose above $40m for the first time, with a sharp rise in Internet-based revenue (42%) more than compensating for an 18% fall elsewhere. More
Online survey software supplier FIRM (Future Information Research Management) has announced record first quarter revenues of $3m. The company's first quarter revenues grew globally by 46 percent and in the US by 70 percent versus the same period in 2003. Dutch software company NEBU has also announced good results, for 2003. More
From this week, MrWeb is offering free advertising of vacancies for interviewers and coders for agencies with full entries in its directory. The service will be trialled in the UK before rollout to Australia, the US and elsewhere. More
YouGov has announced that it will work on a large-scale project funded by the American National Science Foundation (NSF) and centred around a monthly tracking study of the British electorate, administered online. More
RedSheriff UK Ltd has completed its rebranding as Nielsen//NetRatings SiteCensus, following its acquisition in February and the integration of the two companies' UK commercial teams in one office in Clerkenwell, London. More
A second look at the Mintel British Lifestyles survey, showing ten year trends in spending / activity in the areas of housing and pensions, telephone and internet banking, food and health, travel and clothing. More
European mobile users 'have dealt a massive blow to the prospects of early mass 3G adoption' according to an HI Europe Poll of just under 10,000 mobile users in six EU countries. The findings come just months ahead of the widespread launch of 3G services across Europe. More
More than 55 million Europeans use Google as their search engine, according to recent figures from Internet analysis specialists Nielsen//NetRatings. With an active reach of over 47% of the Digital Media Universe in January 2004, 'Googling' is becoming a part of the language. More
More than one million Britons visited the Inland Revenue web site in January 2004, just prior to the tax return deadline, according to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings. More
Fewer than one in six IT professionals (15%) believe that 'most IT companies can be trusted completely', according to a new TNS survey evaluating the drivers of IT brand trust. Findings from the UK, US, France and Germany all suggest that IT professionals are wary of their suppliers. More
Issues and challenges familiar to offline researchers are becoming more dominant online, according to some of the UK industry's best known Internet specialists. An article in next week's MRWho looks at trends in online research, touching on panel recruitment, accompanied surfing, 'inclusion' regulations and skills needs. More
Today sees the official launch of a home page for Australian researchers. MrWeb has attracted a significant audience of MR professionals Down Under for most of its 5 years, without much specific targeting, but from today is providing specific feature content, a job search and recruiter index, and directories with a more Australian focus. More
NOP World has announced the launch of Flight Track(TM), a new ad tracking product designed to give 'the clearest picture yet' of attitudes and brand disposition. The product combines new metrics Ad Potency(TM) and Investment Efficiency with online data collection and delivery. More
Nearly a fifth of British men buy a Valentine's card 'because they feel they have to', while half of their American counterparts feel the day 'gets too much attention'. With the red roses still fairly fresh in the vase, DRNO brings you a quick summary of Valentine's Day polls and web site visitor stats. More
HI Europe has announced the extension of the QuickQuery(tm) online omnibus service, created in the US by Harris Interactive® in 1999, to Great Britain. The company plans to add France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium in the near future. More
Online data collection specialist Itracks (Interactive Tracking Systems Inc.) is to establish a European office and has announced that Bjørn Haugland, founder of online software pioneers FIRM, will lead the initiative as President of Itracks Europe. More
Nearly a third of UK adults (13.8m) are 'online savvy' consumers using the Internet to buy airline tickets, download music, buy and sell at auction and/or organise their banking, according to a report from Continental Research. More
Harris Interactive® will close its Rochester, NY telephone research facility by June 30 this year. The decision to close the last US Center reflects the growth of Internet data collection, compared to which telephone work is 'too costly and too slow'. More
UK public opinion pollster YouGov has launched a research panel of over 3000 girls aged 11-17, teaming up with the mykindaplace web site. Results of the first wave of interviews reveal some of their views and habits regarding music, fashion, games, gossip, mobile phones and politics. More
Customers of Future Information Research Management (FIRM) completed a record 30 million online survey interviews in 2003 using its online survey & reporting software Confirmit. The figure represents an increase of 59% over 2002, bringing revenue growth of more than 40%. More
Research and advisory firm Financial Insights, an IDC Company, has announced further expansion in Europe, with two key appointments. Robert Giffords becomes Director of Research and Consulting for the EMEA Region, joined by Martin McKenna as Director of Sales. More
Five million people in the UK are considering changing their current account provider in the next couple of years, according to the new Current Accounts report from consumer, product and media intelligence provider MINTEL. This equates to some 13% of all current account holders, up from just 7% in 2002. More
IT buyers expect spend on Open Source/Linux applications to grow by 2.8% in 2004, according to the NOP World Technology Confidence Barometer. Thirty per cent of organisations surveyed are using Open Source with a further 32% considering implementing it in the next 12 months. More
Around half of all British Web users purchased goods online in the run-up to Christmas 2003, capping a very good year for British e-commerce, according to recent research conducted by NOP World. The Internet User Profile Survey (IUPS) found that 10.4m British adults made pre-Christmas purchases, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 21%. More
The UK's Market Research Society (MRS) has this week published guidelines covering the conduct of Internet research. The guidelines, which cover surveys conducted via WAP and 3G technology in addition to PC-based research, reinforce the key principles of the Society's Code of Conduct and are 'binding' for all its members. More
The UK's Market Research Society (MRS) has announced its second online training course – 'Market Research – An Introduction' is designed to broaden understanding of research and its role in society and business. More
UK agency ORC International treated clients and the press to a glimpse of its Vision for the future of MR last week in Central London. The company's survey management, analysis and reporting will all be Web-based on most projects, giving clients continuous access to project progress and often to results as they emerge. More
UK customers have higher opinions of their online banks than a year ago, according to Quarter 4 '03 results from Web specialists Virtual Surveys. 70% of online bank customers now rate the service as excellent or very good. More
John Aitchison, formerly with TNS, has set up a specialist online market research company, First Line Research, offering full service research, consultancy and training services. More
The success of UK-based online bank smile reflects not only its service levels and interest rates, but also its ethical stance, according to recent customer research by Nunwood Consulting. The research, among credit card consumers, provides pointers for banks wishing to remain competitive in an increasingly crowded market. More
Harris Interactive has appointed Robert E. Knapp, previously EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Gartner, Inc., as its new Vice Chairman and CEO. Current CEO and founder Dr. Gordon S. Black will continue as Executive Chairman when Knapp starts on January 26. Al Angrisani, President and COO, will continue to oversee the daily operations of the Company. More
ESOMAR's market research technology & innovation conference takes place on February 1 – 3 at the Intercontinental Princesa Sofia Hotel in Barcelona. The event offers researchers a glimpse of some of the ways in which leading edge technology is being used – and being influenced – by market research. More
NetRatings has acquired a majority interest in Internet audience measurement specialists RedSheriff. The transaction will help Nielsen//NetRatings to satisfy industry demand for integrated panel-centric and site-centric measurement solutions. More
Arbitron Inc. and TNS have signed a license agreement giving TNS the right to use the Portable People Meter (PPM) system and its audio encoding technology for radio and television audience measurement in selected countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. More
Former Evening Standard MD Sally De La Bedoyere, appointed the new Managing Director of RAJAR last week, faces a number of immediate challenges. Ms De La Bedoyere starts on January 5th 2004 and replaces Jane O'Hara who is leaving to pursue personal interests. More
An overall increase in IT investment of 5.3% across Europe and the US is forecast in 2004, according to NOP World's annual Technology Confidence Barometer. More
Xtreme Information and YouGov have recently launched Impact Check, a new rapid turnaround, quantified research service for organisations with PR issues. More
The latest quarterly results from the British Market Research Association (BMRA) in the UK suggest that the market research industry is showing signs of modest but real growth after a flat year in 2002. More
A major survey, involving 110 of Europe's largest companies, has revealed the Top Companies for Leaders in Europe. The study, which was carried out by global HR outsourcing and consulting firm Hewitt Associates, identifies the leadership practices that differentiate the most effective organisations for developing talent and which can be linked to financial success. More
Nielsen//NetRatings has this week announced the introduction of Digital Media Universe tracking to its reports, providing the most comprehensive view of Web and digital media usage. More
More pre-Christmas retail cheer – this time for shopping Web sites, which have increased their share of all UK Internet user visits from 5.85% in October 2002 to 8.66% a year later, according to the Hitwise Online Retail Report 2003. The figure should rise to more than 10% in December. More
'Phishing', the recent and potentially massive email fraud conning Britons into revealing their banking information through fake web sites, was effectively nipped in the bud through rapid action and wide publicity by most online banks. However, some potential users have been deterred and there are lessons to be learned about using the media to alert customers, according to NOP Financial. More
UK video research specialist Vox Pops International (VPI) has launched an online archive of market information and clips called Reality Check. The service offers easy access to recent responses and analysis on a wide range of current business, political, consumer and lifestyle issues. More
Measurement company Market Metrix, LLC have announced third quarter results from their Hospitality Index (the MMHI), measuring customer satisfaction with Web sites. JetBlue Airways and Enterprise Rent-A-Car each win their category for the fourth time in the last five quarters. Four Seasons were number one in the hotels category. More
ComScore Networks has launched a Survey Solutions business unit offering survey-based research services via a panel of more than 1.5m consumers, and appointed Randall S. Smith as president and CEO. More
An apocryphal tale told by Internet sceptics sometime late in the last century held that UK catalogue retailer Argos, in its first year online, sold only eleven items. Now the Argos Web site has been ranked Number One in Europe in a study by Forrester Research, which more generally gives catalogue retailers credit for leading the way online. More
Sports Marketing Surveys and Eurosport have announced the launch of the Eurosport Poll, a joint venture using online research to deliver rapid feedback to sponsors, event organisers, consultancies and federations on an omnibus basis. More
Nunwood Consulting is using personal digital assistants (PDAs) alongside software developed in-house to enable the uploading of interviews as they are completed, allowing researchers 'back at base' to instantly monitor, collate and view quantitative results, 'real time'. More
Online competitive intelligence provider Hitwise has announced the most visited UK retail sites from Quarter 3 2003 (July / August / September). Both Empire Direct and The Gadget Shop have enjoyed rapid rises to no.1 in their categories, while Asda has overtaken sainsburystoyou to reach no.2 spot in the Grocery & Alcohol category. More
More than a third of British households reject digital TV on the grounds that they are happy with existing channels, according to Ipsos-RSL's Digital Audience Research Tracker (DART). Four in ten UK households now receive digital TV, but the number is not set to rise rapidly in the next year. More
September was the busiest month of 2003 so far for Internet shopping sites, according to online measurement company Hitwise. The retail sector accounted for 8.06% of all online traffic during September - a 44% increase in market share compared with the same period last year. More
European online research specialist SKOPOS has announced that it has finalised a merger agreement with fellow online insight company MDS. The new company will retain the name SKOPOS, and will boast a broader range of specialist market sectors. More
The Association for Survey Computing has announced four nominees for the MRS / ASC Joint Award for Technology Effectiveness, which aims to promote excellence in creating software or technology aiding the practice and delivery of research. More
The number of children online in Europe has grown by three million in the last 12 months, according to new research from Nielsen//NetRatings. There are now four million under-12s online, and nine million 12-17 year olds. Growth rates range from nought in Italy, to 58% in the UK. More
The total value of the worldwide MR market remained flat in 2002 according to ESOMAR's latest global market research study. The 2002 figure of US$16.6bn (Euro 17.6bn) is up in dollar terms but down in Euros due to exchange rate movements. The USA and the EU each accounted for 38% of the total world market in 2002. More
Three quarters (76%) of council officers feel that the government is being unrealistic about the resources needed for authorities to meet the e-Government agenda, according to recent survey results from ORC International. The target for authorities to make all government services available electronically, set by the Office of the e-Envoy, is December 2005. More
BIG, the UK's b2b research association, has announced its autumn programme of 'Forum' events, which begins on October 14th and includes a review of b2b advertising research, a look at life on the client side and relations with agencies, and an update on business information web sites. More
Taylor Nelson Sofres plc (TNS) have announced positive interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2003, with steady growth in the market for syndicated and continuous tracking services, but continued pressure in media intelligence and ad hoc customised research. More
UK-based consultancies Citigate DVL Smith and Hauck Research Services, both owned by the Incepta Group Plc, are to be merged to form Incepta Marketing Intelligence. The various businesses and company brands within the group will continue to be run separately, reporting to the new Board, of which David Smith will be Chairman and Liz Hauck Deputy Chairman. More
The Market Research Society will be showcasing its training courses and professional development qualifications at the Insight Show in London in November, under the banner of the 'MRS Academy'. Visitors will be able to get a taste of some of the more popular training courses available, from a series of thirty-minute presentations. More
Despite sluggish sales in the European consumer electronics sector in early 2003, certain newer technologies are achieving rapid growth, according to a report on the global market for technical durable goods, published by GfK to coincide with a major show in Berlin. More
Opinion Research Corporation has announced a multi-year strategic alliance between its commercial marketing research unit, ORC International, and Greenfield Online, Inc., a pioneer in conducting marketing research via the Internet. Greenfield will power ORC International's online research data collection needs for its syndicated and proprietary research products and for new online offerings. More
The third annual wave of The National Online Recruitment Audience Survey, NORAS 2004, will be supported by nearly twice the number of recruitment sites of the 2003 survey. The survey is produced by consultants Enhance Media and provides advertisers with comparative user data for online recruitment sites, mostly generalist job boards. More
MrWeb has today launched the first four of its new 'Sector Focus' pages. Each page brings together the site's news, desk research links (UK-based) and listings of suppliers for researchers working in a particular vertical sector. More
Online MR agency Lightspeed Research has announced the launch of the Lightspeed Consumer Panel Web site in Australia. The site signifies the beginning of a planned move into the Asia Pacific market. More
VNU has reported its interim financial statement for the first six months of 2003, showing 'solid underlying results despite weak global economic conditions'. First-half organic growth was led by strong performances from ACNielsen and from the Media Measurement & Information business. More
With the new Premiership 2003/04 football season starting this weekend, traffic to football sites has increased by 33% in the last 12 weeks, now accounting for 0.94% of all Web traffic in the UK, according to Hitwise. The most visited football site is Football365.com, which accounted for 7.26% of football site traffic, and unsurprisingly the most visited club site is Manchester United. More
NOP World has appointed Jim Follett as Chief Operating Officer. Follett joins from Information Resources, Inc where he spent 15 years in various senior roles, most recently President, US Client Services and Consulting. More
There are a bewildering variety of Internet-based radio stations and broadcasters, so it may be enlightening for DRNO readers to get an idea of who is listening to what, courtesy of Arbitron's Internet Broadcast Ratings. Recently published data for the week of July 21st shows Virgin Radio as the number one commercial Internet Broadcast Station but AOL stations make up 11 of the top 20. More
AdLINK Internet Media AG, the leading independent provider of digital comms solutions in Europe, has signed up to Nielsen//NetRatings' online ad campaign planning tool, WebRF on a multi-country basis. The AdLINK network ranks in the top five domains in many European countries including the UK, Spain and Germany. More
Online competitive intelligence service Hitwise have announced the launch of a new service, Search Terms. The service monitors searches made across 70 of the world's most popular search engines by more than 8 million UK Internet users. More
Harris Interactive has released its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter and for the full fiscal year ended June 30, 2003. Revenue for the full fiscal year was $130.6 million, up over 30% on the fiscal year 2002. Pre-tax earnings were $8.2 million or $0.15 per share, compared to a loss of $14.8 million, or ($0.32 per share) reported for fiscal year 2002. More
Responses to a survey conducted online may suggest sharper opinions than a paper equivalent, with more high and low ratings and strong agreements / disagreements, as opposed to fence-sitting or moderate answers, according to a paper at the recent ORC International 8th annual employee research conference. More
Online banking customers in the UK are increasingly pleased with the service they receive, according to the latest results from the Virtual Surveys' Online Banking Survey (V-OBS). 65% of all customers rated their online bank as excellent or very good in the second quarter of 2003, compared with 58% a year before and 49% two years ago. More
Next year's UK b2b research flagship event, the BIG Conference, will again be held at the St. Pierre Conference Centre in Chepstow and will run from Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st May. More
TNS is strengthening its advertising experience in Europe by bringing Kym Penhall, Director for the TNS branded solutions MarketWhys(TM) (Brand / Ad Tracking programme) and Miriad(TM) (Dedicated Tracking Analysis Platform), to the UK from America in August. He will be responsible for extending TNS' MarketWhys(TM) practice throughout Europe. More
Internet audience measurement specialist NetRatings, Inc. has announced the acquisition this week of NetCrawling S.A., the developer and marketer of LemonAd, Europe's leading online advertising monitoring service. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. More
The British Market Research Association (BMRA) has released figures from its annual survey of the industry showing growth and decline in revenues for specific sectors. More
A study sponsored by a US center for mid-and long-term strategic thinking has predicted that the US will continue to lead the IT revolution, while Europe's prioritisation of the protection of existing business will hold it back. The study also looks at the relative strength of Asian economies in IT and the way in which IT may transform the world in the next 20 years. More
Consumers in most countries feel closer to their own culture than they did a few years ago, and more distant from American culture, according to the recent Roper Reports 2003 Worldwide study. Some of the likely causes are short-term and results vary with region, but generally consumers are more likely to be thinking as well as acting local. More
UK market research salaries have remained fairly flat in the past 12 months, according to the first statistics from MrWeb vacancies for Jan to June '03. Full details will be in this month's MRWho. The number of jobs posted (and specifying salaries) has risen by 27% in the last 6 months. More
Web site competitive intelligence provider Hitwise has published lists of top performing UK sites for the year June 2002 - June 2003. The stats are arranged by sector and are interesting both from the point of view of individual battles and the whole dotcom vs High Street saga. More
Taylor Nelson Sofres plc has announced the completion of its acquisition of NFO WorldGroup, Inc. (NFO), from The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (Interpublic). The acquisition, which was announced on 14 May 2003, consolidates TNS' position as one of the top three global companies in its industry. More
Prices charged by UK research agencies will be investigated over the next few weeks by UK Consultancy RHMR - this is the 6th year in succession that the price check has been carried out. Between 1998 and 2002 the average quotation received from participating agencies has risen by only around 10-15%, reflecting very competitive conditions in the industry. More
ESOMAR has been pressing ahead with its 'Quo Vadis project' to promote the convergence of worldwide MR standards, despite recent setbacks in the creation of a Federation of Research Associations. More
Online MR software company FIRM (Future Information Research Management) has announced that founder Bjørn Haugland is to leave the company. More
Ipsos-RSL has released data from Europe 2003, the fourth wave of its annual survey of 'top' Europeans for pan-European media planning. The results give a picture of an elite 4% (10.4m) of Europeans including insight into their outlook and attitudes, alongside their media consumption and lifestyle. More
In what will undoubtedly be the MR Event of the Year, BMRA Chairman Peter Jackling and fieldwork guru Jill Lonsdale completed their planned merger in a ceremony in Chalfont St Peter in June. More
Once again Tim Henman is a few hours away from a possible Wimbledon semi-final - it would be his fifth - and his official Web site has shot up the rankings in the last week according to data from Hitwise. However, 'though Henman is famously good at the net, he is by no means No.1 on the Web. More
US CPG research giant Information Resources Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a newly formed corporation owned by Symphony Technology II-A, L.P. and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC. IRI's Board of Directors has unanimously approved the acquisition. More
In the recent Week of Audience Measurement in Los Angeles, AGB unveiled its latest television audience measurement technology, UNITAM. Radical advances claimed for the technology include measurement of all kinds of TV platforms without requiring embedded codes in the broadcast signal, accurate measurement of time-shifted viewing such as that permitted by TiVo, and simplicity of installation. More
The six nominations for the John and Mary Goodyear Award for Best International Paper were presented at the WAM (Worldwide Audience Measurement) 2003 Conference held earlier this month in Los Angeles. There are 6 categories: radio, TV, Media Mix, Print, Out-of-home/Ambient Media and Online. More
Women make up only 42% of the European online population, according to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings. The proportion is growing but only slowly, and if current trends continue it will be nearly a decade before parity is reached. More
With the 5th Harry Potter book launched at one minute past midnight on Saturday, statistics about the many records already broken by this and previous volumes have been all over the papers this weekend. But even the build-up to the launch produced massive surges in Internet traffic, according to Hitwise. More
PulseTrain has announced that SPSS MR clients can now analyse their data in Pulsar, the company's end-user survey analysis package. This will allow users to open Quanvert, mrInterview, SAV and other files without requiring any understanding of the original proprietary formats. More
A typical survey will cost over a third more to conduct in the USA or Japan than it does in the UK, France or Germany, according to new research from ESOMAR, the World Association of Research Professionals. The 2003 Research Prices Study invited 407 member companies worldwide to quote for six different types of project. More
The online banking sector continues to show strong growth in the UK with traffic to the sector increasing by 65% in one year, according to the latest report from Hitwise. Banking web sites now account for 1.42% of all Web traffic, up from 0.86% a year ago. More
The MrWeb site, combining news, jobs, directories, diary and link libraries for market researchers, enjoyed a busiest-ever month in May with record numbers of jobs posted, pages viewed, recruiters advertising and subscribers signed up. On three occasions in the past four weeks, more than 10,000 site pages have been viewed in one day. More
MR agency Nunwood Consulting is are offering Local Authorities in the UK an online system for disseminating data and documents across various user groups. The launch of 'e-Government Solutions', a secure information management system, follows a two-year development period involving extensive liaison with a number of authorities. More
Following last week's sneak preview of our 'Hours and pay in MR' survey, DRNO continues its summertime navel-gazing with the help of a series of video interviews conducted by Vox Pops International with delegates at the recent MRS Conference, and based around a SWOT analysis for the UK research industry. More
The Board of MORI, the UK's largest independent MR agency, is entering discussions with a number of potential buyers. The company was the subject of an MBO 3-4 years ago and the decision to invite bids is reportedly in line with the original plan under the venture capital model. A price tag of £100m has been mentioned by the FT, but has not, according to MORI, come from anyone within the company. More
Results are in from MRWho's June poll of over 200 UK research professionals, and the shock news is that only thirty per cent think that MR is 'Not Very Well Paid'. We had certainly feared worse, and the 1% who think it is 'Very Badly Paid' are a drop in the ocean. Hours worked are also less off-putting than they might have been, with a mean of only 43 a week. Nevertheless, many researchers dream of dropping out and 'doing some good for society'. More
TNS today announced details of a new partnership with CNN and TIME magazine to provide consumer opinion based research across eleven European countries. The research will cover current affairs and world issues and findings will feature in CNN programmes as well as regular news items in the European edition of TIME magazine. More
For those conference enthusiasts out there already planning next year's schedule of events, The Market Research Society in the UK has released the first details on its annual conference for 2004 entitled 'Welcome to the Dream Economy'. The conference, for the first time in its history, is to be held in central London. More
Employees' trust in upward communication has risen dramatically in the past decade, according to MORI's latest research in the UK, presented at the Communicators in Business conference in May. The survey pinpoints the most and least trusted information channels, enabling internal communicators to fine-tune their communications strategies. More
More than a quarter of Europe's online population are now using Broadband, according to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings. Countries which have been slower to get online are in the vanguard of broadband take-up with many users skipping the dial-up stage altogether. More
Digital Download Day 2, the event organised by music company OD2 to raise the profile of legal Internet music downloads, can be considered a partial success, according to the latest figures from Nielsen//NetRatings. The April 18th event helped the website of the company sponsoring the event, OD2.com, attract 523,000 visitors during April to become the UK's fifth music website for that month. More
UK-based Bloor Research and Boston-based Baroudi Group, both research and analyst firms servicing high-technology clients, have announced a partnership to offer a broader range of analyst services, providing expertise from both the US and European markets. The US arm of the operation will be known as Baroudi Bloor. More
ORC International will be hosting its eight annual employee research conference in London on 3 June for client-side HR personnel. The event will enable participants from a wide range of organisations to share best practice for conducting employee research, and provide the opportunity to discuss how employee research can be used to address the challenges facing HR professionals. More
Hitwise has this week introduced demographic information to its real-time competitive intelligence service. With profiles on over 3,500 UK websites available now, rising to 30,000 by the end of the year, Hitwise aims to offer its clients access to an unparalleled breadth and depth of business critical data. More
WebSurveyEurope, (a leading Internet survey company in the healthcare industry) and Martin Hamblin GfK, have signed a Letter of Intent to deliver online physician surveys. More
The Market Research Society (MRS) and the Association for Survey Computing (ASC) in the UK have announced a new award, the MRS/ASC Joint Award for Technology Effectiveness. More
Europinion (part of the Virtual Surveys group) is running a free seminar on the subject of online research on 17th June in central London. The seminar will aim to provide a thorough understanding of the issues and best approaches for conducting conventional research online. It will also provide an update on the latest trends in the area of website research. More
Online marketplace eBay has overtaken Amazon as the number one e-commerce site in the UK for the first time since Nielsen//NetRatings began reporting the behaviour of Briton's online population since March 2000. More
UK survey software company Merlinco has this week announced the acquisition from Datasphere of the web and touch-screen survey software modules MPI-Web and MPI-Touch. More
Early booking for the ASC (Association for Survey Computing) International Conference entitled 'The Impact of Technology on the Survey Process' closes next week on the 30 April. The conference itself takes place in September at Warwick University. More
Media Guardian and NOP Research UK have formed a long-term partnership to develop a unique resource for the whole media industry, the first findings of which are released this week. More
Figures released this week by the British Market Research Association indicate that expenditure on market research in the UK grew by 2.6% in 2002, to a value of £1.18 billion. More
The American news sites cnn.com and news.google.com experienced the biggest monthly audience increases among UK surfers in March as Britons turned to the Internet to find different perspectives on the war in Iraq. Figures released this week by Nielsen//NetRatings show that the news sector as a whole saw a 25% jump in audience during March, with audiences peaking at 1.3 million on March 20th, the day war was declared. More
The Market Research Society (MRS) and Pearson Education in the UK have this week launched two books which broaden the learning resources available for prospective and new entrants to the market research profession, and for marketing professionals seeking to extend their skills in market research. More
The Market Research Society's (MRS) Census and Geodemographics Group is to host a new seminar to encourage market and social researchers to make better use of the wide array of alternative data sources now available. The 'Using External Data in Market Research Seminar' will take place on 31 March in London. More
Business in the Community in the UK has recently published the first Corporate Responsibility Index. This is the first business-led, voluntary, Index, publicly benchmarking the responsible business practice of companies in a range of different industry sectors - no company was excluded because of the nature of its core business. More
Confidence among senior marketers in the UK has hit rock bottom, in sharp contrast with the position just three months ago, according to the latest figures from The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). More
According to reports in the media press, BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board) in the UK is looking into a measurement system for interactive TV advertisements. More
In the second of our features looking at what's on show at this week's Market Research Society conference in Birmingham, MrWeb previews a paper by Keith Dugmore from Demographic Decisions on the 'New Free Data for Researching the UK's Population from the 2001 Census'. More
Prior to the annual MRS Conference next week, this year to be held in Birmingham, MrWeb previews some of the papers to be given at the event. Firstly, we look at a paper entitled 'Oh no, the consultants are coming!'(presented by Sid Simmons from Incite Marketing Planning and Angela Lovejoy from McKinsey) which looks how the research industry can learn from the consulting sector and whether the traditional apprehensions about management consultancy by researchers are truly justified. More
Companies of any size can develop a brand to sustain business performance during tough times, according to Laurie Young, a Trustee of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the UK and marketing partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. More
Businesses in the UK seeking a better understanding of the opportunities and pitfalls of the online world have been given access to a new platform for advice and knowledge sharing, thanks to a new partnership between NOP and e-consultancy. More
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in the UK (IPA) and media lawyers DJ Freeman have recently published the new online Guide to Marketing and Communications Law and Regulation. More
'Reality Research', organised by research agency SKOPOS and the Market Research Society in the UK, is gearing up for action this Friday, 7th March. The event will turn the tables on market researchers and offer the public a chance to put them under surveillance, 'Big Brother' style. More
Henley Centre Chairman Martin Hayward predicts a distinct change in consumer attitudes during 2003, towards taking a long term view and away from the 'sod the consequences' thinking of the past few years. More
Aggressive marketing of the ITV Digital replacement, Freeview (for a one-off payment consumers can buy a digital box enabling them to receive around 30 extra digital channels free of charge) is proving a considerable boost to the multi-channel industry, according to Continental Research's Winter 2003 Digital TV Report. More
Global information group Reuters has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire financial information provider Multex for $7.35 (GBP 4.56) per share in cash. More
Global brand design agency Enterprise IG has set up a new specialist practice area to advise organisations on internal brand engagement. Three WPP Group companies, Enterprise IG, MCA Communicates and Added Value Internal Communication , are joining together to launch 'Babe'. More
The number of people shopping online for Christmas in the UK has grown steadily from 1.5 million in 1999, to 2.1 million in 2000, to 3 million in 2001, to its current level of 4.4 million in 2002 according to Continental Research's Winter 2003 Internet Report. More
MrWeb, the publisher of Daily Research News and MRWho, has appointed Michael Kenyon to the new post of Director, US Operations. The move follows a successful year in which the company has consolidated its no.1 position in the UK research job ads market and broadened out into new areas. More
The E-Tabs 'Round Table 2003' European User Conference is being held on Monday March 10th in London, following similar events in New York, Melbourne and Toronto. More
The British Market Research Association (BMRA) is teaming up with the Market Research Society (MRS) and Marketing Week to create the first awards to cover the market research industry in a single event - The Market Research Effectiveness and Excellence Awards. More
The IPA s new report, 'Beyond the Red Button', which is published this week is a snapshot of the commercial market for interactive TV in the UK and highlights how this exciting medium is currently being used by both advertisers and broadcasters. More
Newly appointed CEO of UK software agency Pulse Train, Pat Molloy, speaking at a recent company meeting, has reported solid progress across the company's broad range of products and services. More
Confirming that virtual retailing is now taking off in a big way, latest research from NOP World indicates that the pre-Christmas period was the most successful ever, with 8.4 million adults shopping online in the UK - a growth rate of 52% when compared to December 2001. More
Market research would benefit if it were more business-focused, according to the newly elected Chairman of the British Market Research Association (BMRA), Peter Jackling. More
The noticeable transition of the in-house research function from passive to pivotal was the major topic of discussion at a recent one-day client forum hosted by Nunwood Consulting in the UK. More
The Q4 2002 Bellwether Report, the quarterly survey of marketing budgets in the UK, published this week by NTC Research on behalf of the IPA, shows marketing budgets were revised down in Q4 2002 for the second consecutive quarter. However the extent of the downward revision was less than seen in the same period a year ago. More
The run up to Christmas 2002 saw the strongest performance by Internet retailers in the UK, according to the latest data from Nielsen//NetRatings. More
A study by RedSheriff across 50 websites and 2 million visitors has found that this Christmas websites saw a steeper drop-off of visitors than at Christmas 2001 across four business vertical sectors. More
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the UK has appointed a new chief executive, Peter Fisk, as the organisation looks to increase its presence within the international marketing arena. More
The lineup of keynote speakers for the forthcoming Market Research Society conference, 'RESEARCH2003 -the thought leadership: revolution', has now been announced. The event takes place in Birmingham between 19 and 21 March. More
For the first time, the British Safety Council (BSC) has formed a partnership with employment research consultancy, ORC International, to promote the importance of measuring stress in the workplace by using the company's recently launched online survey tool called ORC SAFE (stress analysis for employers). More
In a survey of over 1,600 grocery shoppers by Europinion in the UK in the run up to Christmas, online supermarkets topped the lists. Shoppers were asked where they shopped last and how satisfied they were with the supermarket. Over a half of online supermarket shoppers said they were extremely/very satisfied. This compares with less than 4 in 10 for Tesco, the country's biggest high street supermarket. More
Latest results from the Virtual Surveys' Online Banking Survey (V-OBS) reveal stark differences in levels of customer satisfaction with the UK's leading online banks. More
Nielsen//NetRatings has announced its top websites of the year for 2002, based on continuous measurement of the audience and growth of the Internet in the UK, as well as analyst's own opinions and insight. More
According to research released from NOP Broadband this week, while some 81% of UK General Practitioners claim awareness of what broadband means and see many advantages for using broadband to improve the way they work, they are yet to be convinced that these benefits should be extended to improve the patient experience of general practices. More
Monthly Internet shopping soared into ten figures for the first time in November as Britain's 14.3 million online shoppers flooded e-retailers with £1,000 million worth of orders, according to the IMRG Index. More
BT has achieved a significant reduction in the number of customers who express dissatisfaction with its service, following the implementation of ViewsCast's Customer Satisfaction Measurement (CSM) technology in its Marketing Operations, Sales teams and three primary UK call centres. More
The IPA, the PRCA and MCCA in the UK have agreed to establish the Communications Agency Federation (CAF) with immediate effect. The Federation will provide a forum in which the associations can exchange views, co-ordinate their work and manage joint projects. More
Today's older children are transforming tactical marketing because they are more independent and comfortable with money, according to the latest research carried out in association with The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the UK. More
AOL has today announced the promotion of Karin Sieger to the position of UK Director of Research & Analysis, marking the increasing importance of the research function to the company. More
Corporate responsibility continues to be an important influence on the opinions and behaviour of stakeholders - including consumers - towards companies, according to new research in the UK by MORI. The results are from MORI's annual Corporate Social Responsibility survey. More
Research consultancy, ORC International, has recently eveloped a mathematical analysis ool for Nationwide Building Society in the UK that reveals the link between employee commitment, customer satisfaction and business performance. More
Internet research agency RedSheriff is running its syndicated Christmas survey for the third consecutive year this December. Over the past 3 years, more than 250,000 respondents have completed RedSheriff surveys from 30 countries. More
According to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings, the UK's most popular source for news and information is the news.bbc.co.uk, which regularly attracts a unique audience of at least two million visitors per month. In the last six months, its audience peaked in June 2002 when over three million people went to the site from home or work. More
The latest research released this week from Ipsos-RSL' s digital survey, DART, reveals the enormity of the task facing the Freeview syndicate (BBC, SKY and Crown Castle). The survey revealed that only 5% of households indicated that they will switch to digital TV in the next 12 months. More
Marketing is the biggest driver of business results, reveals PA Consulting Group in new research underpinning the October 2002 Marketing Effectiveness campaign run by The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). More
Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has just announced the launch of 'EmployeeScore', a new approach for measuring employee satisfaction and commitment in Britain. More
Latest research from Mintel finds call centres in the UK are dramatically failing in terms of meeting customer service expectations. Exclusive research questioning 2,020 adults finds just 5% of consumers having never experienced a problem with a call centre. A further 5% of adults do not use call centres. More
Scrutinising the future of corporate reporting is the theme of a new half day conference organised by The Market Research Society in the UK to be held in London on 6 December under the title, 'Corporate Reporting and Performance Measurement: The Challenge'. More
CRAM International and Second Sight International have launched QualiQuant (QiQ) International to add the measurement of consumer emotions to the group's resources for clients around the world. More
According to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings, Nectar, the UK's newly launched loyalty scheme for Debenhams, Sainsbury's, BP and Barclaycard customers, attracted over 1.84 million visitors in its first month of launch. The websites of two of the partners in particular, Sainsbury and Barclaycard, experienced a 50% increase in traffic in September. More
The first GfK Brand Check survey carried out by Martin Hamblin GfK shows that Heinz is the most popular unprompted recalled brand in the UK. More
The Market Research Society (MRS) has this week announced the launch of new guidelines on Employee Research, aimed at reinforcing The MRS Code of Conduct in this sensitive area of research. More
Three quarters of CAD/CAM managers operating within the mechanical engineering sector in the UK use the Internet to research CAD/CAM hardware or software product information, according to recent research conducted by The Business Advantage Group Plc. More
The Market Research Society (MRS) in the UK has this week announced the launch of its first Internet-based training course. Developed in partnership with specialist electronic publisher Nelson Croom, The MRS Questionnaire Design course will be delivered entirely online and is designed to improve the professionalism and skills of research practitioners, both in the UK and internationally. More
Latest gfk-webgauge findings show that increasing numbers of Internet users in Europe are using online auctions to buy or sell items. In Germany, in particular, snapping up bargains, curios or treasure has become increasingly popular. More
A wide range of prices is being quoted for identical surveys, suggesting agencies may not be maximising their profits. This is a major finding from £quotecheck, a recent pricing study undertaken among MR agencies by research consultancy Richard Horswell Market Research (RHMR), in its latest survey - the third to date. More
According to the latest research from BMRB Interactive, in general, the public's perception of SMS texting is very negative. 7 out of 10 mobile users agree with the statement 'text messages from companies are too intrusive'. Around a fifth say that commercial SMS is not intrusive, indicating that there is a large sub-group of around 6 million adults who are open to receiving messages by phone. More
Never before has the need to understand the interaction between economics, consumer behaviour and attitudes, political and technological factors been so great. To provide the boardroom with the best possible chance of calling next year correctly, The Henley Centre has designed a one day event 'Planning for 2003' to be held on November 8 in London. More
Following the Harris Interactive acquisition of Total Research Corporation last year, the global research and consulting firm is rebranding several business entities in the United Kingdom under one brand, HI Europe, as it embarks on building Internet research business in the country. More
The most recent annual statistics breakdown of the UK industry from the BMRA (British Market Research Association) shows total industry turnover for the year 2001 was £1.15 billion, up from £1.07 billion in 2000. Although lower than the 9.3% increase over 1999, when turnover was £1 billion, last year's increase still outstripped inflation. More
IT agency ATP has just released Winyaps 3.43. This version contains two important new features as well as providing numerous small enhancements requested by customers. In addition research agency NFO have standardised on Winyaps as their table presentation and distribution software after a lengthy evaluation process. More
8% of British Internet users now surf the Net with a fast-access/broadband connection, a rise of 60% when compared to 6 months ago, according to a survey published this week by NOP World. More
With the first wave of 2001 Census outputs expected in September in the UK, how many readers are prepared to act on the new information? The outputs from the 2001 Census will provide unprecedented detail about the UK population - both the traditional residential population and also the workplace population of each specified area. More
Summer 2002 has seen Internet penetration reach the magic 50% among British adults, according to a new survey by NOP World. The latest Internet User Profile Study reveals growth rates that translate into 6,000 new users per day over the last 12 months, much of it driven by women. More
The Independent Consultants Group (ICG) in the UK is hosting the 'Research Clinic', an exclusive service for research buyers and consultancies, at the forthcoming Research Show to be held in early October in London. More
The Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK is challenging the traditional strategy of reducing costs, especially marketing spend, and cutting investment to ride the storm of a downturn in consumer spending. More
The latest audience figures from Nielsen//NetRatings on the Internet and Channel 4's own TV audience figures show that the recent Big Brother TV series recorded unprecedented levels of interest on both the web and TV during May, June and July. More
The National Statistics unit in the UK is holding an Open Day on October 11 in central London giving statistics users the chance to hear about latest developments and to discuss future directions and priorities. More
A recent study by RedSheriff shows that UK users are not falling behind their European counterparts when it comes to Broadband Internet access. More
Despite the launch of lower cost digital adaptor boxes available from the High Street, the digital market has not grown. The latest research from Ipsos-RSL' s digital survey, DART shows that 35% of UK households receive digital TV services - no change from last October. More
The Market Research Society (MRS) in the UK has recently announced the launch of new draft guidelines on public opinion research - one of the most sensitive areas of market research. More
According to the latest data from BMRB Interactive, there are now 15.4 million home Internet users in the GB. The proportion who have a broadband connection continues to increase - from 7% in November 2001 to 9% in February 2002, to 12% now. Almost 2 million people now have a home broadband connection. More
According to a new report by media analysts Screen Digest and investment bank ABN Amro, British consumers are spending more time and money on media than ever before. Indeed, the total media market could be worth a staggering £56bn by the end of the decade. However, whilst the winners are electronic and online media, the losers are printed media. More
Online estate agents in the UK have experienced a surge in visitors to their sites so far this year, and have been able to convert them into loyal customers, according to the latest research from Nielsen//NetRatings. More
Following a survey of over 8,700 UK Internet banking customers, Virtual Surveys in the UK has published its latest online banking awards. More
Two pioneers of Internet research, Ray Poynter and Pete Comley, have teamed up to launch a new company called Europinion Ltd to specialise in conducting conventional research online. More
For those readers experiencing conference withdrawal symptoms as the summer season approaches, The Market Research Society in the UK has just unveiled radical new plans for its annual Conference, 'Research 2003'. This will take place between 19-21 March 2003 and will run at a new venue, the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. More
Over two-thirds (69%) of analysts in the City and Wall Street think the outsourcing of business critical processes can improve a company's share price. Meanwhile 64% think such outsourcing can have a significant impact on a company's profitability. More
Figures for job postings and mean salaries from MrWeb for the first six months of the year show an industry returning to normal. Mean salaries are higher than in the first half of 2001 and numbers of jobs advertised are very similar. There has been a significant shift towards recruitment of senior people and away from junior, and a steep rise in client side hirings since March. Detailed stats will appear in MRWho later this week. More
ORC International is hosting its second free seminar in London on 11 July 2002. Focusing on Internet technology and statistics, the half-day should help researchers combine these new tools with more traditional methodologies. More
More people are shopping online in Great Britain than this time last year, according to Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Interactive. The agency's new third annual Global e-commerce Report shows that nine percent of Brits have shopped online in the last four weeks, compared to just six percent in 2001. More
A polite reminder from the MRS has just reached the offices of DRNO. Apparently, the annual researchers' Golf Tournament, sponsored by NOP, is set for Thursday 27th June, at the Wyke Green Golf Club in Middlesex. More
Billions of dollars are spent worldwide on marketing to children, but this type of promotion is seen as a highly contentious and controversial one. Many European countries ban it, while others are considering imposing further restrictions. More
People generally claim not to be responsive to advertising, whether the ads are online or offline. However, BMRB has found new evidence suggesting that a core of people are in fact positively responsive to online ads. This is according to findings in BMRB's latest Internet Monitor and TGI.Net survey. More
Claritas Interactive, the email marketing division of Claritas Europe, has re-launched its consumer-facing website, emailinform.com. Developed in conjunction with High Street names, the site now offers discounts, vouchers and special offers in return for information on consumers' lifestyles and interests. More
With the rise of new breed video electronics, are old-fashioned technologies disappearing? Are DVDs killing off VCRs? New TGI data from Spring 2002 helps find the answers. Only one in ten (14 percent) of UK homes owns a DVD player at present, compared to nearly all (90 percent) households owning a VCR. More
As a research provider, do your know how your prices compare with the market? Are you charging your clients too much? Could you benefit from greater marketplace intelligence? Independent consultants Richard Horswell and Sally Donovan are possibly able to help you with these difficult questions. More
Motorists are beginning to wise up to rising motoring insurance costs, according to new research published this week by Mintel. The latest report on the subject details how consumers are now seeking at least three quotations before renewing their policies. More
Inadequate e-payments solutions are a huge obstruction to the online retail industry's progress. Three quarters (72 percent) of the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) recently voted 'payments problems' as the main issue to be solved in the next year. This is according to the IMRG's 'Payments Review' workshop held earlier this month. More
Most researchers believe that response rates have declined steadily over the past 20 years. Many are gloomy about the future as well, with rates set to continue falling. In the face of this, the CMR Group are running a seminar for all concerned researchers offering some smart solutions to this serious problem. More
Total online ad spend in Britain grew by 7% in 2001 to reach around £160 million according to the latest survey from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). It is thought that the data show signs of strong growth in contrast to the wider depressed advertising scene. More
The latest CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) Marketing Trends Survey in the UK shows a major upward revision to planned sales growth. At the same time, however, confidence that these plans can be achieved has dropped back close to its lowest ever level. More
The 5th Annual Media Research Seminar, organised by WARC and Admap, in association with the MRS, takes place on 13th June in central London. The event aims to tackle the increasingly complex world of the media and how to get the best out of media measurement. More
Reflexions Communication Research has launched a new interview engine capable of 'chat room' style conversation over the Internet. The system is specifically designed to collect qualitative data from interviewees online. More
Over 80 percent of US 'Brand Loyalists' think consumers generally get what they pay for, and almost 50 percent equate quality with price. These are some of the findings from recently released research in the 'Jupiter Consumer Survey Report: Consumer Packaged Goods'. More
Our enthusiasm for e-government appears to be on the rise according to a new survey released by KPMG Consulting. In a repeat of its February 2001 study, KPMG's research shows that two-thirds of Brits would now like at least one local service available for interaction online. More
E-retail is facing a year in which shopping online will becoming 'everyday'; merchants will get to optimise their existing e-commerce assets; and 'interactive media' will start to re-shape much of retail overall. This is according to the latest annual statement from the IMRG (the e-retail industry body) released earlier this week. More
Luxury car manufacturers are failing their consumers by over-using technology on their websites. This is according to new 'usability' research from interactive specialist RedSheriff. More
'Pitch Stick' has just been launched by youth consumer insight team, Fat Group to provide marketing clients with a cost-effective rapid tool for gaining a deeper insight into the attitudes and motivations of the ever-changing youth market. More
The recent decline of the monkey is not the only bad news for Britain's digital TV industry. Overall uptake is believed to have stalled at a third (36%) of all homes receiving digital TV. This is the same percentage as six months ago, according to the latest research from Ipsos-RSL's Digital Audience Research Tracker (DART). More
Part of the problem surrounding the whole issue of consumer loyalty, according to new analysis from Through the Loop, is that all too often marketers are focusing on attracting new customers rather on satisfying their existing customer base. More
Employee research specialist ORC International is hosting a free seminar at its London offices on 2 May, focussing on its new on-line tools designed to help HR professionals collect and analyse their employee research data. More
QualiQuant International and CRAM International have just launched The QualiQuant Toolkit on the market. This innovative web-centric technology allows interviewing to be carried out online or offline using Computer Assisted Interviewing and is thought particularly useful for finance, pharmaceutical, B2B sectors, employee research and youth markets. More
While cautious about short-term prospects, key IT decision-makers within the US and UK believe that IT spend will increase in 2002 and for the next few years. More
The future of smart cards, and their likely effects on us good or bad, is to form the basis of an intriguing half-day seminar from Logica Consulting and Teleconomy. To be held in London on the 2nd May, the session promises to reveal useful new research on consumer behaviour. More
A recent usability index conducted by interactive research specialist RedSheriff found that four of the leading banks in the UK are failing their customers by not providing sites that are easy to navigate. More
Voxco UK and Data Capture Handheld are joining forces to promote a new feature developed by Voxco as applied to M-CAPI Express. In order to enhance the M-CAPI Express service offered by Data Capture, the data collected can now be viewed online, using Voxco's Interviewer Web Online Field Reporting tools. More
Research agency RDSi has just completed a brand new survey on pregnant women and parents of pre-school children. The results are to be presented at two seminars in early May at the agency's London offices. More
Latest data from the British Market Research Association shows the UK MR industry is holding up well economically. It appears to be showing better returns than other marketing disciplines, such as advertising, and has fair prospects for the present year's trading in total. More
A quarter of all net-connected British businesses are planning to adopt broadband Internet in the next 12 months, according to the latest wave of the Business Internet survey, published by NOP Business. More
Whatever the economic climate, measuring the effectiveness of your advertising campaign or the strength of your brand is a critical factor to business success. Drawing on over 20 years of advertising insight, Paul Feldwick's latest book, 'What is Brand Equity Anyway?' (published by WARC) is likely to be of interest to anyone concerned with brands, marketing and advertising. More
RedSheriff, has just launched a set of four 'off-the-shelf surveys' for website owners. These are in the form of their new general, customer satisfaction, e-commerce and demographic products. More
TNS Tellex and Parker Bishop have announced that they are to re-brand as one dedicated media monitoring agency - TNS Media Intelligence - from the beginning of April this year. More
When asked to rank their brands' attributes, marketers gave 'value for money' the highest average ranking in the Chartered Institute of Marketing's (CIM) recent Marketing Trends survey in the UK. More
To what extent are today's consumers interested in environmental and other sustainability issues? How can advertisers and agencies reflect this in their communications? These are the two key issues to be addressed at the IPA's 'Can Sustainability Sell?' conference to be held this Wednesday 20th March 2002. More
Over half the UK's viewing public (52%) believe that TV programmes have at least remained as good as in previous years. Half also believe that there is the right amount of regulation on air at present. These are two of the findings from recent Independent Television Commission (ITC) research. More
In the second of a special feature on papers coming up at the forthcoming MRS conference, we look at the issue of branding and size as presented by Mark Kingsbury of Research International. More
UK recruitment consultancy pricejamieson, has introduced a dedicated team to provide HR services for its clients, with Claire Lloyd appointed as Head of HR Services. More
This week sees a two day conference (March 14 and 15) in central London organised by IQPC entitled 'Generating and Leveraging Consumer Insight'. More
The UK's first national email ethics survey has revealed that over half (53%) of white- collar employees from the UK's largest cities behave 'e-morally' on email whilst at work. This untoward behaviour includes the use of email to 'back stab' colleagues, along with the deliberate sending of racist, sexist, pornographic or discriminatory emails. More
With under a month to go until the MRS annual conference, Mr Web is privileged to feature a synopsis of some of the papers to be presented at the event. The first paper we look at examines a new framework for npd research developed out of the technology sector as presented by Andrew Vincent and Jerome Norris of Business & Market Research. More
Ivor Stocker, Chairman of the British Market Research Association, has been appointed to the council of the Market Research Society in the UK. More
Net auditor RedSheriff is offering UK website owners a two month, reduced rate fee for the measurement and filtering of their ABC traffic data. ABC ELECTRONIC already offers website owners a half price registration fee to all those that use RedSheriff. More
More evidence of the ever-improving state of online sales is emerging. Some 5.4 million GB adults made Net purchases during the month to Christmas 2001. As such, NOP's latest Internet User Profile figures point to a 12 percent year-on-year increase. More
The Independent Consultant's Group (ICG) in the UK has this week launched its website at http://www.indepconsultants.org More
Quancept Web and Quancept CATI users can now use a recently released online survey results package from IT supplier ATP. Developed in the form of Topline software, this latest web resource allows users to view their survey results as data is created. More
The latest Trends in Television Report covering the fourth quarter of 2001 released this week by the IPA shows that television is on the way out. More
MRS Conference-goers among us will probably remember that the annual Brighton event approaches soon. As ever, the events will include an auction for the Market Research Benevolent Association (MRBA), to be managed this year by NOP. More
Do you want to hear industry views on 'Understanding and Overcoming the Limitations of Web-Based Market Research'? If so, the forthcoming second annual Henry Stewart conference on the subject is scheduled for central London on 26th February. More
The UK's Internet population has grown to an estimated 18 million adults according to new data released by BMRB. The latest Internet Monitor research also shows that people are using the web less for work-related purposes and more for fun and relaxation. More
As the theme for the Chartered Institute of Marketing's 2002 conference to be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 22nd February, branding will be investigated in a number of ways. More
As of today you can register for a free, regular email with details of market research *events* of relevance to you - conferences, seminars, courses, speaker meetings, training, interest groups and others. Select the types of event you want and choose from weekly, fortnightly or monthly emails. Register at www.mrweb.com/input/evt-not.htm or read more details first... More
Research2002, this year's Annual Conference of The Market Research Society (MRS), is now approaching fast, to be held in Brighton on 20th to 22nd March. The central theme of this year's event is 'Insight into Action' with the aim of demonstrating to attendees how, in an increasingly competitive market, consumer insight has clear implications for marketing activity in both the public and private sectors. More
The IPA report by Howard Unna, published this week in the UK, provides a fascinating insight into DiTV through Unna's experience as one of the first DiTV retailers, responsible for the launch of the first retail shop to start trading on 'Open' almost three years ago. More
The Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK just has launched an important initiative 'The Knowledge Centre'. CIM's goal is to create an encyclopaedia of knowledge, tools and information, which practitioners will find practical and useful. More
The 4Q 2001 Bellwether Report, the quarterly survey of client spending intentions recently published by NTC Research on behalf of the IPA, shows a further easing in the rate of economic growth. There were further downward revisions to fourth quarter 2001 budgets and the weakest rise in budget setting in the survey's two-year history. (for US ad spending figures, see yesterday's DRNO). More
Organisations that depend on telephone for their business are alienating thousands of customers every day, according to a recent survey from NOP World. More
Jupiter MMXI has released its first monthly report showing how the British use the Internet at work. The research is based on the behaviour of a representative sample of Internet users who have installed Jupiter's tracking software onto their PC. More
Research consultancy Teleconomy has just announced its purchase of Net Profit, the UK based Internet analyst and publisher. The deal sees Teleconomy restructured into a new strategic research consultancy and publishing group, with specialisms in consumer and corporate behaviour across virtual channels. More
Netusability has been appointed by iVillage UK, the UK's leading women's website, to undertake a usability testing project to analyse customer opinion of its newly-redesigned website. More
The willingness of British children to give out their home address on the Net has dropped by two-thirds in 18 months, according to a survey just published by NOP Family. More
Glen Mallaby has been hired as UK Sales Director at SPSS MR. Glen is responsible for driving UK sales and was appointed as part of the organisation's overall aim to employ experts who can advise customers in both IT and market research. More
WARC and Admap are hosting the Third Annual conference on Measuring the Effectiveness of Sales Promotion in London on 5th February. More
According to the latest MORI annual Captains of Industry survey, belief in the value of the Euro to Britain has risen again following a decline over the previous three years. By around 3:2, Britain's business leaders support rather than oppose Britain joining. More
According to recent research conducted by The Business Advantage Group, three out of ten UK CAD/CAM sites are currently outsourcing some part of the product design and development process. More
The British Market Research Association (BMRA) is hosting a free directors' briefing on 31st January in central London with the aim of helping to benchmark your company's performance. More
WARC is holding its fourth one day conference on Models of Thinking later this month on Thursday 17th January in central London. The event promises to explore how creative thinking can improve your brand, your marketing strategies and your methods of communication. More
Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) players have become the UK's fastest growing consumer entertainment product ever. The player has sold almost three million in its first three years, according to a Warner Home Video report published earlier this week. More
New retail research from Mintel shows that almost a third of British consumers are willing to spend more on all their Christmas needs this year than last. British men are the most optimistic for Christmas 2001, with some 35% planning to spend more this season. By contrast, women are proving thriftier, with only 29% planning to spend more. More
A quarter of the UK workforce is connected to the Internet, with 7.8 million people having access and regularly going online during office hours. An estimated 15 million British people also have home Internet access according to new research on Internet usage revealed by NetValue this week. More
A new website has just been launched by the Marketing Council to demonstrate best practice on the web. http://www.e4M.biz recently reviewed in the '2020' newsletter, is the UK's first non-commercial website designed to guide senior corporate executives on the best practice and theory of e-marketing. More
One in five UK CAD/CAM users who have not yet used web-based training would consider doing so in future, according to recent research conducted by The Business Advantage Group Plc. Meanwhile, a quarter might consider web-based training in future and nearly three fifths said that they would not be interested in future. More
The Market Research Society (MRS) has just completed a deal with publishers Pearson Education to develop a textbook and website for The MRS Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research Practice. More
Britain's industrial sector has recorded its worst annual output in October since the country's last economic recession a decade ago. This is according to the latest official industrial production data from the National Statistics office. More
Only 8% of CAD/CAM users in the UK currently have access to broadband, and only 8% of the rest definitely plan to switch to a broadband connection in the future. These are the key findings from new IT research conducted by The Business Advantage Group Plc. More
NOP World has announced strategic online alliances with Tiscali and iPoints as it launches its new e-Omnibus service in Britain. The largest GB Internet Omnibus, e-Omnibus is representative of the weekly online user population, estimated to be some 15 million adults. More
The IPA has commissioned Howard Unna, e-business advisor and former Head of e-Commerce for Woolworths, to write a report on the status and future development of digital television (DiTV) in the UK. More
Consumer e-commerce occurs among 60% of the UK's major companies, half of which expect to see sales grow over the next year. Two thirds also advertise on the net, half of which plan to increase their spend in the coming 12 months. These are the key findings of an ISBA /Advertising Research Consortium (ARC) study on net marketing released recently. More
According to the latest results from NetValue, more than six million people in Britain were exposed to Dell Computer's online advertising campaign in October 2001. More
It is predicted that a tenth of home Internet users will be hooked up to broadband access this time next year, according to BMRB's latest Internet Monitor results. This represents more than double the number of today's home users (estimated at just 4%) who have signed up with either a cable provider or an ISP offering ADSL. More
More than a third (38%) of SMEs (small to medium enterprises) in Britain believe that the UK economy is currently experiencing a "slow down" rather than a recession, according to the findings of a recent survey from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More
Is your company doing all it can to capture the £10 billion a year of student spending? This is the main issue under discussion at the forthcoming "Marketing to Students 2001" conference organised by Marketing Week on the 5th December. More
WARC and Admap are hosting the 2nd Annual Benchmarks in Buyer Behaviour one day seminar in London on November 27th. The event will examine patterns of buyer behaviour based on results from the R&D Initiative at South Bank University. More
ORC International has announced the introduction of two new online tools for HR managers. Launching at the end of this week, the new tools in particular should greatly aid research into employee pay and benefits. More
The official Harry Potter website has emerged as the most visited movie site in Britain for October 2001. New data from NetValue now estimates that a third of a million home users visited the site, and did so prior to the actual release of the film in the UK. More
Following recent speculation Rob Monster, CEO of Global Market Insite, has issued a statement to set the record straight re the current position of GMI. It shows a complex picture of a company which has recently seen the departure of a number of senior staff and is selling the Dutch company Telder back to its original owners, but will finish 2001 in profit after a year of rapid expansion. More
Brits overwhelmingly believe that UK companies should show a high degree of responsibility to the public in difficult economic times. This is the headline finding from MORI's latest survey on Corporate Social Responsibility. More
UK research agency Hauck Research Services has been acquired this week by Incepta Group plc, the international marketing and communications group. More
Britain's overall Internet advertising market during the first half of 2001 notched a notable year-on-year increase of £26 million (up 42%). This is according to the latest data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) research for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). More
More than half of GB Internet users who did not shop online at Christmas last year (one third of all users) intend to do so this year. This is according to a new survey released this week by Lightspeed Research (LSR). At the same time, two fifths of users claim they had shopped for Christmas online last year and would do so again now. More
The Online Publishers Association (OPA) is to link up with Millward Brown IntelliQuest to undertake two new studies of online advertising - Workplace Use of the Internet and Media Mix. Research will start shortly and initial results from the studies will be released in December 2001 and January 2002 respectively. More
The latest website monitoring data from Jupiter MMX1 reveals that friendsreunited.co.uk, the online friend finding service, has now entered the UK's top 20 listings. According to research for October, the site is believed to have attracted over two million unique visitors for the month. More
Thomson Intermedia has revealed the findings of its detailed investigation into the marketing and advertising strategies of the key players currently targeting the "Affluent Grey" market in the UK. More
The latest Trends in Television Report covering the third quarter of 2001 shows that non-terrestrial channels in the UK now hold over 20% share of television viewing for the first time. More
The CBI has renewed pressure for a half-point cut in interest rates after publishing a survey showing the US terrorist attacks further eroding UK business confidence. The survey of almost 250 top executives, carried out by MORI, paints the most comprehensive picture yet of the impact that September 11 had on British firms and will have in future. More
Research carried out this month by Martin Hamblin GfK on behalf of the European Commission indicates that consumer confidence is still falling. The October Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB), which measures the public's confidence in the UK's economic climate, shows confidence dropping by 4 points to register a score of -5, the lowest score since the fuel crisis last autumn. More
In a bold new move, the MRS and the BMRA in the UK have decided to rationalise their directory publications. This is in place of the previous publication of the two separate listings of research suppliers and services. More
How can firms maximise the revenue they generate from their online activities? This is the central issue to be examined at "Maximising Key Revenue Streams", Forrester Research's forthcoming free Executive Breakfast to be held on November 6 in London. More
FDS International is to sponsor the Customer Insight category in next year's Marketing Society Awards. This category is open to all those who demonstrate the best use of research or database development to provide real insights into customer behaviour. This can include research for new product development. More
Just over four fifths of the share-owning population believe investing in the stock market represents a good long-term investment. This is the headline finding from the recently released 2001 British Share Ownership Survey, conducted for the London Stock Exchange and ProShare by MORI and the World Investor Link. More
The Annual Research Industry Angling Competition will take place at the Willinghurst Estate Fishery near Cranleigh, Surrey on Friday 2nd November. Once again, the day will be generously sponsored by the New Fieldwork Company with tackle prizes and trophies being presented to the winners. More
The Internet has touched virtually everyone's lives in the last two years. It has grown at an astounding rate and proved itself to be an important source of information, communication and services. These are the main research conclusions from Jupiter MMXI's new "Web Milestones October 1999 - September 2001" report published recently. More
Peter Hutton, deputy managing director of MORI and BMRA Council member, has reported on the recently conducted survey of BMRA members in the organisation's newly launched newsletter. The results show an overall desire for the MRS and BMRA to work more closely together. More
The most recent wave of BMRB's Digital Viewers Survey shows that almost half of all digital viewers have interacted with a programme via digital TV. Interactive programming has most appeal for viewers under 35. There is, not surprisingly, quite a steep decline in usage and interest amongst older respondents. More
French agency Ipsos has reported strong first half results with revenues up 64% and net income up a considerable 106% as well as an improvement in operational profitability. More
Many marketers believe that a strong brand and a clearly defined communication strategy is critical to today's financial services sector. This is the premise behind WARC's seventh annual "Marketing & Advertising Financial Services" conference, to be held on the 23rd October in London. More
Market research consultant, ORC International, is hosting a free seminar at its London office on 1st November, to explore the impact that the latest Internet market research techniques are having in the IT/Telecoms sector. More
Are you interested in the emerging new science of website performance? Then the forthcoming Henry Stewart conference on Web Analytics could be of interest. Scheduled for the 23rd October in London, it promises to discuss the evolving use of all types of data on website performance. More
The MRS in the UK (Market Research Society) has announced the launch of its Accredited Interviewer Training Scheme (AITS), a cross-industry initiative designed to enhance professional standards of interviewing throughout the market research industry and improve the experience for interviewees. More
Customer dissatisfaction with ITV Digital is thought to have reached new proportions. This is according to a recent BMRB survey of Britain's 8.5 million digital TV homes. The findings reveal that nearly one fifth of respondents are actually disappointed with their service. More
Research consultancy, ORC International, is organising two free seminars at its London (11 October) and Manchester (8 November) offices, focusing on the needs of HR professionals. More
Habbo Hotel (www.habbohotel.com), the growing teenage community website, was recently commissioned by the online youth market research company, the Fat Group to supply a large sample of UK teenagers for a new product development task for a major food and drink client. More
ORC International is hosting an one day Stakeholder Consultation seminar in London on October 25th. The event will address a number of factors to be borne in mind at the outset of a stakeholder consultation programme. More
Youth research agency, 2cv:research (2cv), has launched txtsurvey - a new survey method which uses text messaging on mobile phones to target selected audiences at specific times. More
WARC is hosting an one day event on October 2 in London which aims to stimulate the brain cells. "Rethinking the Consumer" promises to bring new thought processes into how consumers are researched and targeted. More
The Market Research Society (MRS)in the UK has just received accreditation from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). This move makes The MRS the sole official UK awarding body for qualifications in market research. More
Henry Stewart is organising an one day event in London on September 26th, designed to provide assistance to all those who collect, analyse and use data from market research. "Case Studies in the Application of Mathematical and Statistical Techniques that Add Value to Marketing" promises to illustrate what can be achieved and how to achieve it by using state of the art maths and statistics. More
While many large companies have come through the dot.com hype having implemented clear and effective online communication strategies, others appear to have gone backwards by failing to adjust their global Internet strategies to meet public demand. This is the conclusion of the third annual Rainier Web-Index(TM) Study on the use of the Web by FTSE 100 and the top 100 Fortune companies. More
At a time of usage consolidation on most levels, British online shoppers are filling their virtual baskets with an increasingly broad range of goods, according to a new survey from NOP World. More
The Census and Geodemographics Group of The Market Research Society is hosting a seminar on 24 October in London on "Market Research Meets Database Marketing". Aimed primarily at market researchers and database users, the event is designed to enable practitioners to get the most out of their research sources for database marketing and customer relationship management. More
e-MORI, the electronic technologies division of market research company MORI, has agreed a deal to provide information to the e-business advice web site, e- consultancy.com. More
Market research consultancy ORC International is hosting a free seminar at its London offices on 20 September 2001, focusing on the practical use of the Internet for research purposes. The half-day event is aimed at the needs of marketing, market research and e-commerce professionals and will include some of the do's and don'ts of using online research methods. More
Latest analysis from Jupiter MMXI reveals that between April and June this year, over 33 million Britons used the Internet. The Online Market Landscape surveys over 5,000 people every three months to understand how the Internet is accessed and used in the UK. Launched recently, the first published report covers April to June 2001. More
Thomson Intermedia has recently published a detailed investigation into the marketing and advertising strategies of the key players in the UK online betting industry. More
Three quarters of all 7 to 16-year-olds in the UK are now Internet users, according to a survey just released by NOP Family. Based on the latest six-monthly findings from kids.net, NOP reports a 10% surge in Internet use growth in the six months to April 2001. More
According to the recently released Summer 2001 Marketing Trends Survey (MTS) from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the marketing profession is facing a great deal of uncertainty. As a consequence, marketers have little confidence and have generally set very cautious company sales targets. More
The latest figures from NetValue on adult websites show that more than a quarter of the entire UK home Internet population are visitors. Research from the month of June reveals that 3.8 million home Internet users in the UK visited these websites. More
Coca-Cola is still the UK's biggest consumer brand, but Britons are developing a taste for health foods and Australian wine. This is the headline conclusion of the annual survey of the UK's top fifty brands conducted by ACNielsen and Marketing magazine. More
New research has found that 37% of UK ISP users believe connection speed/access is the most important factor influencing their levels of satisfaction. This is according to the findings of the "2001 U.K. Residential Internet Service Provider (ISP) Customer Satisfaction Study." More
Harris Interactive has announced the acquisition of Market Research Solutions Ltd (MSRL), the Oxford-based research agency. In a part cash and part stock deal, Harris Interactive has agreed to employ 75 MRSL employees, as well as running the existing offices in Oxford and Newport. MRSL is expected to add up to £6 million to revenues in the first year. More
There has been a huge increase in the number of adults buying online in the six months to March this year, according to the latest Target Group Index (TGI) data. The figures show that buying has risen from almost nothing in October 2000 to 30% this last Spring. More
Gambling, advertising and the wide range of programming available are thought to be the most popular aspects of the UK's interactive TV system (iTV) at present. This is according to Netpoll's new Hands On TV study into users' attitudes towards the new medium. More
New research and analysis from Jupiter MMXI reveals that four and a half million Britons logged on to the net to find a flight or book a holiday in June. Travel is, therefore, proving to be one of the most popular online categories in the UK, attracting 30% of the net audience. More
The Consumers' Association has commissioned ORC International to conduct an online "mystery shopping" programme. This is intended to assess the service levels as provided by companies whose websites display the Which? Web Trader "seal of approval." More
A recent survey conducted by MORI and Vox Pops International has found that reality TV is playing a major part in young people's lives. Indeed, three in five (61%) 15 to 24 year olds in the UK agree that these programmes help to teach them about the ways in which people interact with each other. More
Despite the continued growth in e-commerce, only 55% of all UK business Internet users regard Internet transactions as secure. This is according to results from the latest Business Internet Survey from NOP World Business. More
Children are becoming increasingly alert to Internet "stranger danger." According to the findings of a new survey published by NOP Family, the various campaigns to alert young users appear to be finally hitting home. More
The Media Edge has formed an exclusive partnership agreement with TechEdge, a team of Danish media specialists. Part of the WPP Group, The Media Edge is a global media company specialising in the development and implementation of media communications campaigns. More
New research from UK research company Dynamic Logic and interactive agency eBrands shows that Internet advertising builds brands without the support of offline advertising. More
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