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
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
US-based customer experience software firm Sprinklr has appointed former Walt Disney exec Venke Sharma to a lead role driving its Sprinklr Insights product, which provides real-time consumer, competitor and market insights. He is based in Mumbai. More
California-based Dataplor, which collates data on business locations worldwide, has raised $10.6m in a Series A funding round, with which to accelerate its ongoing expansion and make a number of strategic hires. 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
DIY online survey pioneer SurveyMonkey has promoted Priya Gill to Global Head of Marketing, leading its marketing strategy and execution across all markets. More
Comscore has partnered with consumer engagement specialist Thece to track viewers' attention to livestreaming ads, and with marketing automation platform iZooto to deliver precise traffic and revenue insights to its publisher clients. 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
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
Insights technology and panel provider Toluna has appointed Lucia Moir as Chief Operations Officer and promoted Priyanka Sarkar to Chief Research Officer. 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
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
Santa Monica, CA-based research tech firm Fuel Cycle has enhanced its Research Engine platform with the addition of Universal Connections, a feature allowing users to run projects from within insight communities using their preferred insights tools, whether or not they are fully integrated with the platform. More
Social media management software firm Hootsuite is to acquire listening specialist Talkwalker, for an undisclosed sum. More
Ipsos has announced senior role extensions for five employees in its qualitative division Ipsos UU, in India, as it gears up for product launches and 'ambitious growth targets'. The five are Sapna Parmar, Neha Dutta, Shelly Jain, Geetika Singh and Ashwini Sirsikar. More
UK-based consumer and B2B researcher 2CV has announced eleven promotions, including Chris Oatey and Jon Smetherham to Regional Directors, responsible for leading the Asia team based in Singapore; and in the UK Kar Hoo Lee to Associate Director of Data Services and Abigail Plank to Associate Director. More
Mumbai, India-based digital tech and customer experience solutions provider Datamatics has announced the acquisition of Salesforce services firm Dextara Digital. More
Experience Management (XM) company Qualtrics has appointed Juan Rodriguez as Chief Information Officer and Assaf Keren joins Qualtrics as Chief Security Officer. More
Kantar has promoted Amanjit Singh to Regional Marketing Director - APAC, after more than thirteen years at the company. More
MCI, a tech-enabled business services conglomerate headquartered in Miami Beach, FL, has agreed to acquire Atlanta, GA-based Market Force Information, whose range of CX solutions includes customer feedback surveys, mystery shopping, operational audits and competitive benchmarking. More
Anil Goel has joined Nielsen as Chief Engineering Officer, leading its technology and engineering teams to drive product innovation and advanced technology adoption. He is based in Bengaluru, India and will report to CEO Karthik Rao. 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
Insight and analytics group BVA BDRC has launched synthetic data product Pixel.AI, which it says accurately predicts responses from restricted segments by training on existing and representative data. More
Insights and experience tech company PG Forsta has appointed Mike Thompson as Chief Analytics Officer, and says he will drive the development of new AI-driven capabilities and products, following the company's commitment to invest $500 million in the area over five years. More
Southeast Asia-based qual and quant marketing intelligence and panels provider Divergent Insights has appointed Swagata Moitra Ghosh to its Leadership Team as VP Global Research and Insights. 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
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
Consumer and B2B research agency 2CV has promoted Sabine Cronick to the role of CEO of UK/EU, and James Redden to CEO of US and APAC. 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
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 US, research agency Shapiro+Raj has added an AI Innovation Group to its Technology Practice, with Scott Swigart still leading the enhanced unit. 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
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
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
The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) has launched a new Socio-Economic Classification System, ISEC, which it says is 'far more representative, stable and less volatile' than its predecessor, NCCS. 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
Nielsen has announced that its Pacific Broadcaster & Publisher Lead Tony Boyte will be stepping down in April, to be replaced by eighteen-year company veteran Scott Gillham. More
Kantar has announced a partnership with computer vision and attention measurement specialist Realeyes, integrating the latter's Verify identity recognition software into the former's anti-fraud software QubedAI. More
Ipsos India has expanded the role of Archana Gupta, adding responsibility for Shopper Research and for developing the firm's base of young talent; and has hired former NIQ exec Malavika Mani as Executive Director, servicing large accounts in the west zone. 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
Canada-based analytics and MR solutions provider Torfac has appointed Srinivas K M as Director of Client Development, based in Bangalore, India. 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
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 Ziad Issa as the new Media CEO in the MENA region, succeeding Elie Aoun who has decided to step down after 32 years at the company. More
Consumer intelligence provider NIQ has announced two key leadership changes in the Asia Pacific region. Pacific MD Megan Treston will transition to a regional role as APAC Consumer Panel Service (CPS) Product Lead, while recent arrival Pete Sheridan steps into her old role. 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
Food, facilities and hospitality services provider Sodexo has announced the global launch of an Accelerator Programme with categories for entrepreneurs in data analytics and customer experience. 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
Former Ugam Solutions and Discuss exec Vinay Raj Rao has launched BioBrain, a platform which claims to 'seamlessly connect the entire research ecosystem' for improved efficiency and deeper insights. 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
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
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
Ipsos India has appointed Shrutika More as Country Service Line Leader for the Creative Excellence vertical, with immediate effect. She joins from pharma firm Abbott Healthcare. 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
Data sharing and activation platform LiveRamp has agreed to acquire clean room software provider Habu, for cash and stock totalling around $200m. LiveRamp says the deal will 'unlock powerful measurement and analytics use cases' as well as more generally enhancing its collaboration offer. More
Agile research tech and hyper-niche panels firm Borderless Access has appointed Robert Pierson as Head of Business Development for the US and Canada. 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
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
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
WPP is examining a possible sale of its remaining stake in Kantar, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. 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
Kantar Media may be up for sale in 2024 for 'as much as £1bn', according to reports on Sky News. More
In Mumbai, professional body the Market Research Society of India (MRSI) says the country's market research and insights industry grew by 17.6% in 2023, reaching $US 2.9bn - the world's third largest, overtaking China. The Society expects further strong growth to $3.4bn in 2024. More
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