comScore Sale and Launches Underline New Focus

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'.

The technology assets and customer accounts of the big data-based Digital Analytix business will be transferred to Adobe for an unknown price, with the deal expected to close next month. Adobe exec Bill Ingram (pictured) says the company will aim for a seamless transfer from the point of view of Digital Analytix customers, honouring all existing contracts and maintaining access to comScore accounts managers 'through the closing and beyond'.

comScore says the divestiture 'improves our competitive position, allowing complete focus on our mission to make audiences and advertising more valuable across all the screens that matter' - and CEO Serge Matta says it also 'removes a friction point' between the two companies - possibly heralding further co-operation between them in future. The precise future of comScore employees from the division is not known at present.

Digital Analytix would have contributed $4.85m in revenue next quarter - just over 5% of the total.


The deal with Spotify, which will see it providing measurement for the pioneering music service, starting this year and covering 75 million active users in 58 countries over desktop and mobile.


Meanwhile the 'Total Home Panel' aims to measure household media consumption across all screens, platforms and devices. Matta, quoted on www.adexchanger.com , calls the panel a 'next-generation media appliance' - it will cover usage of the full range of electronics including TV, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, OTT, wearables and others linked in the Internet of Things (and symbolised by the refrigerator). Currently building from a platform of around 800 homes and 11,000 devices, the Panel should reach 25 - 50,000 homes by the end of 2016, and will 'complement rather than replicate' television viewing data supplied by Rentrak.

Web sites: www.adobe.com/analytics and www.comscore.com .